Author: News Room

At the end of last year I wrote a piece for our December issue about the roller economy that was sprouting up. Titled ‘the Year of the Hash Hole’ I detailed how thanks to the Hash Hole, rolling seems to have become its own profession. Sure, there were always people rolling the prerolls to throw into branded containers – much preferred to the ‘machine packed’ types – but now these rollers are developing a demand of their own, with some now offering their credibility to the brands inside the wraps as opposed to the other way around. It’s a wild…

The Italian government has again done an about-face on CBD, issuing a new decree categorizing the hemp-derived compound as a narcotic substance. The change comes after a similar decree in 2020 was reversed days after it was issued, and a subsequent 2022 decree banning CBD that was eventually struck down by a regional court in Lazio, which ordered authorities to adjust Italian law to get in line with the EU. In a legally binding ruling applicable in all EU member states, the European Commission declared in 2020 that CBD is not a narcotic, following a celebrated European Union Court of Justice ruling to that…

Bipartisan lawmakers are calling on New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) to sign legislation that would allow the state’s licensed marijuana producers to sell products to tribal retailers, who could then legally sell them on indigenous lands. If the measure becomes law, it would provide the state’s beleaguered cannabis growers and processors with another avenue to offload products amid delays that have caused a bottleneck in the market. Despite legal sales beginning in New York last December, only about two dozen legal retailers have opened statewide. On Wednesday, the chairs of New York’s Senate and Assembly agriculture committees—Sen. Michelle Hinchey…

The California legislature has sent a bill to the governor that would change how marijuana plants must be tracked in a way that supporters say will promote environmental sustainability by eliminating the use of single-use plastic tags. The legislation from Sen. Ben Allen (D) passed both chambers with unanimous votes over recent months, with the Senate advancing it in a final concurrence vote last week. While the text of the measure doesn’t explicitly discuss the current use of plastic tags under California’s track-and-trace rules, cannabis businesses and industry groups say the transition away from that practice will prevent waste while…

Let me set the scene for you: I’m frantically calling cab companies at the Hudson Amtrak station, trying to hitch a ride into Coxsackie, NY, for a MoodRXtreats women’s cannabis retreat, hosted by Holly Teegarden of the Pittsburgh hemp dispensary Moodporium. There are no Ubers, no one’s picking up, and I have no weed, because the retreat insists they will provide more than enough for the two-night escapade.I am pissed, wondering if trekking upstate from New York City to attend a retreat for women, namely women in their 30s and older, to explore cannabis and participate in ‘woo woo activities’…

“Odor of marijuana should be considered along with the totality of any other circumstances to determine whether there is a fair probability that a search will yield contraband.” By Christopher Ingraham, Minnesota Reformer The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled that the odor of marijuana, on its own, does not establish probable cause for police officers to search a car. The ruling came in the case of a 2021 traffic stop in Meeker County where Adam Torgerson was pulled over by Litchfield police for having too many auxiliary lights on his vehicle’s grill. The officer claimed he smelled marijuana coming out…

Advocates must continue to push for modest but meaningful changes to a bipartisan marijuana banking bill in order to maximize its social equity impacts, a former top Los Angeles cannabis regulator says in a new research paper that outlines recommended revisions. The analysis from Cat Packer, who serves as vice chair of the Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition (CRCC) and director of drug markets and legal regulation at the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), comes as Senate leaders plan action for the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act within the next several weeks of the current work session. Packer says…

The same day California lawmakers signed off on a bill to legalize psychedelics last week, staffers at the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) released their review of a proposed ballot initiative that would funnel $5 billion generated from bonds toward psychedelic therapies for mental health. While the proposal would cost California nearly $6.6 billion over 30 years, the new report says, it could also earn the state revenue from new scientific discoveries. Known as the TREAT California Act, the would-be measure would not itself change the legal status of any substances. Rather, it would establish a state agency called the…

A powerful House committee has cleared two psychedelics amendments for floor consideration as part of a large-scale spending bill covering the Department of Defense (DOD). But it also blocked separate marijuana-related proposals from advancing. Several bipartisan members filed drug policy reform proposals that they hope will be attached to the Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations legislation. And on Tuesday, the House Rules Committee made the two psychedelics measures in order, allowing them to advance to floor votes. The DOD bill is one of four spending packages on the committee’s current agenda, and all three of the remaining measures contain at least…

The U.S. justice system is irrefutably flawed and has a dark side, but one company rose from the ashes of a cruel ruling. Richard DeLisi is one of America’s longest-serving and most harshly-punished prisoners for a nonviolent cannabis-related crime, serving 32 years of a 90-year sentence coupled with an eight-year sentence for a total of 98 years. He was freed from prison in December 2020 thanks to the valiant acts of volunteers, pro-bono attorneys, and advocates. Finally free after over three decades of confinement, DeLisi launched his own brand, DeLisioso, providing flower, pre-rolls, and live rosin, while giving back a…