Author: News Room

“It is my position as a commissioner, we owe a responsibility of transparency to the people of this state.” By Ralph Chopoco, Alabama Reflector The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission Monday formally voted to delay granting licenses for the growth, manufacture and production of medical cannabis until a third party reviews how applications for the licenses were scored earlier this year. The decision, following a June 16 meeting where the commission decided for delay amid controversy over the process, also signaled a rejection of calls to restart applications entirely. Two commissioners, health care attorney Loree Skelton and Charles Price, a retired Montgomery County…

Researchers might have finally cracked the code on rolling the perfect marijuana joint. As pre-rolled joints take over a larger share of the legal cannabis market, scientists at a Delic Labs, a Vancouver-based marijuana and psilocybin research facility, recently conducted a novel experiment to discover how the size of the ground-up cannabis flower affects a consumer’s experience. They took marijuana broken up into one-, three- and five-millimeter-diameter grounds, packed three grams into commercially available pre-rolled papers and artificially smoked them using a “smoke cycle simulator” device that inhaled several times at a consistent rate while the resulting smoke was analyzed…

Political strategists in Massachusetts have quietly filed paperwork to put a therapeutic psychedelics legalization initiative on the state’s 2024 ballot. The newly formed Massachusetts for Mental Health Options (MMHO) committee submitted initial documents to the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF), signaling their intent to secure ballot placement for the measure, details of which are currently sparse. An organization statement filed last week says that the purpose of the group will be to “expand mental health treatment options in Massachusetts by providing new pathways to access natural psychedelic medicine therapy.” The filing also says that the forthcoming ballot…

Among the cannabis community and beyond, it’s no secret that 420 is the most widely celebrated, weed-centric holiday, but the summer brings another canna-focused holiday to the forefront specifically for concentrate and oil lovers: 710. The July 10 holiday may not be as widely known or celebrated as its April 20 sibling, though it’s steadily gained momentum over the years, especially as the cannabis concentrate industry has continued to flourish. Named simply for its July 10 date, or 710, resembling the word “OIL” flipped upside-down, it’s a day to specifically turn attention to the marvels of concentrates like wax, shatter,…

Monday marks the 10-year anniversary of the first filing of a congressional marijuana banking bill that’s now known as the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act—a milestone that comes as lawmakers prepare once again to try and advance the reform in what they hope will be the final push needed to enact it into law. The cannabis banking legislation has evolved significant since its first introduction in the 113th Congress in 2013, when it was sponsored by former Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) and titled the Marijuana Businesses Access to Banking Act. It’s grown from seven to 38 pages as…

Passing a marijuana banking bill is a priority during the upcoming summer work session in the Senate, but it “will not be easy” and needs GOP support to advance, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in a letter to colleagues that notably omitted his typical call for attaching criminal justice provisions like expungements. The letter that Schumer released on Sunday says that lawmakers will first focus on advancing must-pass appropriations and defense legislation. But he said that Democrats “will also continue our work with our Republican colleagues to advance legislation in a range of policy areas.” That includes “making progress…

Six months into the launch of Connecticut’s adult-use marijuana market, the state saw nearly $24 million in combined medical and recreational cannabis sales in June—a record monthly high—according to the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP). Since adult-use sales began six months ago in January, Connecticut cannabis purchases have collectively totaled about $122 million. June also marked the second month in a row where adult-use sales ($12.5 million) exceeded medical marijuana purchases ($11.3 million). People purchased 313,510 products recreational cannabis products during the month, compared to 303,293 medical marijuana products. The department also released data showing the types of marijuana items…

A Democratic congressman says that he believes there could be “very bipartisan support” for recently filed marijuana-related amendments to a defense bill, including his proposal to prevent the denial of security clearances for federal jobs based solely on prior cannabis use. In an interview with MSNBC on Sunday, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) was asked about his amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which is one of multiple drug policy measures that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle submitted and are up for consideration by the House Rules Committee this week. The congressman said that the status quo…

Berkeley, California lawmakers are poised to take up a resolution to scale back psychedelics enforcement on Tuesday—a local development that comes as the state legislature also considers broader legislation to legalize the possession and facilitation of substances like psilocybin and ayahuasca. The Berkeley City Council agenda lists the psychedelics measure for this week’s meeting, with an unanimous “positive recommendation to approve” from the Health, Life Enrichment, Equity & Community Committee. The chair of that panel, Councilmember Sophie Hahn, is sponsoring the resolution. The committee voted to advance the proposal—which would call on police to deprioritize enforcement of laws against all…

From the hash and honey oil of the hippie era to the array of consistencies today, concentrates have evolved over time and they’ve come a long way. The 420 holiday, celebrating all things cannabis, gave way to another holiday: 710. The Brotherhood of Eternal Love first smuggled in hash oils from Kabul, Afghanistan in the late ‘60s before concentrates were being made domestically. Honey oil methods were refined by the early ‘70s, with a few notorious concoctions that were made by pressing bricks of hash with an industrial press. A book entitled Cannabis Alchemy: The Art of Modem Hashmaking, written…