Author: News Room

A new study reveals the “striking contrast” in safety between marijuana grown for the legal versus illegal markets in Canada, with 92 percent of unregulated cannabis testing positive for numerous pesticides compared to just six percent of regulated products. The study, published in the Journal of Cannabis Research last week, involved testing 36 marijuana samples from licensed retailers and 24 illicit samples that were seized by law enforcement. The analysis allowed researchers to see if the products were grown with or contaminated by any of 327 different pesticides. For the legal cannabis, the contamination rate was just six percent, with…

When Arizona set out to legalize marijuana, backers emphasized their intent to make the program equitable and ensure that those who had been most hurt by cannabis criminalization were given priority in the new marketplace. Now, a new lawsuit is raising questions about whether the state is adequately meeting those equity goals. Of 26 business licenses that the Arizona Department of Health Services (AZDHS) awarded last year to social equity applicants, nearly all are now owned by other companies or controlled by larger corporate ownership groups, according to local news reports. In a newly filed suit in Maricopa County Superior…

“If Dark Horse is prohibited from selling or otherwise using these products,” a lawsuit says, “the financial consequences will be extreme.” By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent A Missouri judge denied on Wednesday a marijuana company’s effort to stop the recall of 62,000 products containing the company’s THC concentrate that the state deemed a “potential threat to health and safety.” The company, Delta Extraction, is a Robertsville-based licensed marijuana manufacturer that specializes in making THC distillate, a highly potent and pure form of THC used for things like vape pens, infused pre-rolled joints and edibles. On August 2, the state regulating…

One of High Time’s 25 Greatest Strains of All Time, Acapulco Gold is a legendary cultivar that is so rare these days the gold in the name might as well be a reference to its scarcity, rather than its color. Yet it was once one of the most commonly found cultivars in the hippie days of the 1960s on the West Coast of the U.S., and later was a crucial lifeline to funding the growth of the early punk scene in the 1980s.  History of Acapulco Gold As legend has it, Acapulco Gold (also called Mexican sativa) originated high up…

Colombian lawmakers have approved a bill to legalize marijuana—advancing the legislation through the first of eight needed debates as legislators restart the two-year process of enacting the reform over again after a prior version stalled at the last stage in the Senate last session. The new measure cleared the First Committee of the Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday. Rep. Juan Carlos Losada, who is again championing the legislation, said that the vote is a “reflection of a Congress that is aware of the progress that drug policy needs from prohibition to regulation,” according to a translation. Aprobado por unanimidad en…

Connecticut officials are rolling out a new loan program aimed at supporting social equity marijuana businesses, providing financial assistance to help people who’ve been disproportionately impacted by prohibition expand operations in the legal industry. As the state continues to see record high cannabis sales since the adult-use market launched in January, the Social Equity Council (SEC) and Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) said that applications are now open for its Canna-Business Revolving Loan Fund (CBRLF). The fund, made possible under the state’s legalization law, offers social equity licensees 3 percent fixed loans. Applicants who enroll in and complete…

News that the top U.S. health agency is formally recommending the moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under federal law has ignited a firestorm of commentary from top officials, including the governor of Colorado, congressional lawmakers and national advocacy groups. A letter that leaked on Wednesday revealed that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has completed its scientific review into cannabis and is now advising the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to significantly loosen restrictions under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The recommendation is being met with mixed reactions. While many are encouraged that HHS is…

The head of the top U.S. health agency is confirming news that his department is recommending marijuana rescheduling—posting about the development at exactly 4:20pm ET in an apparent wink to cannabis culture. Amid a flurry of reactions to reports that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is advising the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III, Secretary Xavier Becerra shared a post about it at the symbolic time on X (the social media site formerly known as Twitter). I can now share that, following the data and science, @HHSGov has responded…

As federal lawmakers prepare to reintroduce a bill to regulate kratom, a former Trump administration drug czar stressed the need to beat back “misinformation” from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has attempted to ban the substance in the U.S. and abroad. Members of the American Kratom Association (AKA) said during a webinar Tuesday that they expect federal legislation to regulate the drug “will be filed shortly” in Congress and could be taken up later this session. The text of the forthcoming bill “will be word-for-word the same” as congressional legislation introduced last session, said Mac Haddow, a senior…

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is officially recommending that marijuana be moved from Schedule I to Schedule III under federal law—a historic development that means the top health agency no longer considers cannabis to be a drug with high abuse potential and no medical value. After completing a scientific review into cannabis under a directive from President Joe Biden last year, HHS is now telling the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) that it believes marijuana should be placed in Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The recommendation is not binding, and DEA has the final…