Author: News Room

A panel of Texas lawmakers heard testimony Tuesday on a bill that would decriminalize marijuana possession, removing the risk of arrest or jail time and allowing individuals to eventually erase the matters from their criminal records. “Basically, the person is given a ticket goes to court, they’re assessed a fine, then the court tells them, ‘You’ve got six months to pay and you need to stay out of trouble during that time,’” the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Joe Moody (D), explained to colleagues on the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, which he chairs. “If the person does their part, the court dismisses…

Cannabis research can be a fickle beast. Decades of prohibition created a lot of red tape for researchers, so scientific knowledge of the plant is still in its infancy. Because cannabis hasn’t been studied extensively, research on it can yo-yo back and forth, and something proven one day can be disproven or reversed later on down the road, leaving cannabis consumers scratching their heads.  A recent example comes with two studies published in the past few months, which both claim that CBD does not reduce the psychoactive effects of THC, reversing a commonly held idea of one of CBD’s benefits. …

The North Carolina Senate gave initial approval a bill to legalize medical marijuana on Tuesday, putting it one additional procedural vote away from being sent to the House shortly after a top lawmaker there said his chamber is positioned to enact the reform this session despite blocking similar legislation last year. The measure from Sen. Bill Rabon (R) cleared its second reading in the Senate in a 36-10 vote, about a week after it easily sailed through three committees. Third reading passage is expected in the coming days, a step that will formally transmit it to the other body of…

After hitting the new Cookies Bangkok store in Thailand, Leafly’s Mikhail Harrison rolled up some GUMBO and ventured into the jungle for a super exotic session. If you could smoke weed with an elephant, which strain would you pick? I didn’t have any Peanut Butter Breath on me. But thankfully, my friend Dumbo didn’t turn his trunk up at the authentic Cookies GUMBO I puffed as we cruised the beautiful landscape. The Thai Elephant is the official national animal of Thailand, playing a major role in local tourism, transportation, labor, war, and royal iconography over the years. Now, for about…

Another Minnesota Senate committee approved a bill to legalize marijuana in the state on Tuesday, bringing the total number of panels in the chamber to advance the legislation so far this session to six. The Health and Human Services Committee passed the legislation from Sen. Lindsey Port (D) in a voice vote. The panel began considering the legislation and adopted several amendments last week but ran out of time to complete its work, necessitating the follow-up meeting on Tuesday. “This is not something we are flippantly moving without thought. This is something we’re taking very seriously,” Port told committee members…

“Marijuana flower with higher concentration of THC is more valuable. So there is incentive to exaggerate the THC content of flower—it can be sold for more money.” By Hunter Field, Arkansas Advocate A new civil lawsuit accuses Arkansas’s largest cannabis testing lab of conspiring with medical marijuana cultivators to inflate the amount of THC in certain products. An elderly, chronic pain patient targets cultivators BOLD Team, Osage Creek Cultivation and Natural State Medicinals as well as Steep Hill testing lab in the litigation. The complaint filed Thursday in Pulaski County Circuit Court points to third-party test results and statistical analysis…

Speaking at an event commemorating the end of Black History Month on Monday, President Joe Biden again touted his move to pardon people for marijuana—highlighting the racially disparate impact of cannabis enforcement. “Another thing about equal justice. I’m keeping my promise: No one should be in prison for the mere possession of marijuana,” the president said. “Too many minorities are in prison for that.” “So, what I’ve passed—we should pardon them, expunge their records as if it never happened so they have a chance again in society,” he said. Separately, the White House highlighted the cannabis policy actions took last…

New Jersey lawmakers sent the governor legislation on Monday that would allow licensed marijuana businesses to deduct certain expenses on their state tax returns, a partial remedy as the industry continues to be blocked from making federal deductions under Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code known as 280E. The measure was approved by the Senate in a vote of 32-3 following no debate or discussion on the floor. The legislation previously cleared the Assembly in October and advanced through the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee last month in a meeting at which senators took up companion measures from their chamber and…

Here we are again! February has flown by and while it’s still raining in Los Angeles, at least the days are starting to get longer. I think I touched on the winter sads last month, so no need to get too far into it this time. We all know the score. I will say, however, looking back this month has been just what I needed. Given the early curfew of the Sun this time of year I’ve been going to bed at like 9 pm every night, and thanks to the pod I mentioned last month I’m waking up feeling…

Going back as far as 3,500 years ago in ancient Greece, followers of a cult to the goddess Demeter participated in a secretive and profound religious ceremony during which they consumed a hallucinogenic drink. The rituals were meant to reenact the story of the goddess’ loss of her daughter to the god of the underworld, and their subsequent reunion.  Symbolizing death and rebirth, the ceremony, called the Eleusinian Mysteries, was meant to elicit feelings of awe, joy, and spiritual enlightenment, and to give followers a deeper understanding of life and death. Amplified by the consumption of a psychedelic potion, the…