Author: News Room

Call us Pot-stradamus—last year, we looked into our crystal bongs and correctly predicted the future of weed in America with 74% accuracy! Is it second sight? No. Bruce and I have occupied the weed news trenches for a combined 25-ish years. Trends follow clear trajectories: like, for example, the spread of legalization from West to East. Below, we outline our predictions for the next stages of federal and state legalization, hot new strains, mushrooms, and CBD. We got 40 weed prognostications strongly likely to come true.* Cannabis strain predictionsGastroPop. (Courtesy Sonoma Hills Farm)It’s going to be the year of Rainbow Sherbert…

As New York begins legal recreational marijuana sales this week, state lawmakers have pre-filed a bill for 2023 to legalize certain psychedelics like psilocybin and ibogaine for adults 21 and older. The legislation, which will be formally introduced next week, is being sponsored by Assemblymembers Linda Rosenthal (D), Jo Anne Simon (D) and Karines Reyes (D). The proposal would amend state statute to make legal the “possession, use, cultivation, production, creation, analysis, gifting, exchange, or sharing by or between natural persons of twenty-one years of age or older of a natural plant or fungus-based hallucinogen.” DMT, ibogaine, mescaline, psilocybin and…

A federal health agency is highlighting a variety of marijuana-related research topics that are being funded, promoting a new online resource that compiles active cannabis study grant opportunities as well as an overview of projects that have already received government support. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) recently launched a landing page that directs people to a database detailing research projects that are being federally supported, broken down into three main categories: cannabinoid research, cannabidiol research and therapeutic cannabinoid research. The National Institutes on Health, which NCCIH falls under, “supports a broad portfolio of research on cannabis…

By Benjamin M. Adams, Jimi Devine, Ellen Holland, and Ashley Kern Brand-building is big business, particularly in cannabis where customer loyalty reigns supreme when it comes to success. Whether it was in making new types of cannabis, growing quality flowers, or crafting terpy and potent concentrates and delicious edibles, here are our picks of some of the brands that defined 2022. WEST Compound Genetics went into 2022 riding on a high and just kept on sailing along. Massive seed drops and a variety of people taking home trophies all over North America with their gear are seemingly commonplace for them…

New York’s first legal, state-licensed weed store opened this afternoon. Lawmakers, cannabis lovers, and legacy pioneers all joined the historic moment.New York’s first legal cannabis sales took place on Thursday afternoon at Housing Works, the state’s first adult-use dispensary, which is located in downtown Manhattan. Key lawmakers Chris Alexander and Tremaine Wright made ceremonial first transactions behind closed doors before doors opened to the public.At 4:20 p.m., Housing Works’ new retail dispensary at 750 Broadway, one block west of Astor Place in Greenwich Village, welcomed its first official customers for legal weed sales. Shoppers waited in line outside of the…

A top White House official is touting President Joe Biden’s marijuana pardons and scheduling directive among the administration’s top accomplishments in 2022 as the year comes to an end. Domestic Policy Council Director Susan Rice said on Thursday that the president’s cannabis clemency and review moves have helped address the country’s “failed approach to marijuana” and represent key parts of the administration’s “remarkably productive year.” Rice has repeatedly highlighted Biden’s pardons, which affect Americans who’ve committed federal marijuana possession offenses, as well as those who violated the law in Washington, D.C. She was among various officials who cheered Oregon’s governor…

If there’s one thing that has made 2022 slightly different than any year before it, it’s gotta be the proliferation of the hash hole. Although infused doobs are nothing new, these expert level jumbo-sized cigar-like products have become all the rage with everyone from trappers to casual consumers looking for a memorable experience. Although historically products like moon rocks have largely not captured the hearts and minds of general consumers, and while cannagars have been around for ages, somehow, the $100 to $150 plus pre-rolls filled with hash rosin have taken center stage for heady boys both domestic and abroad.…

Customers are lining up in downtown Manhattan to take part in history as the state marks its first day of regulated adult-use sales.New York’s first legal cannabis products weren’t sold to average customers. Chris Alexander and Tremaine Wright, the leaders of the state’s cannabis legalization efforts, made the ceremonial first purchases just after 11 a.m. on Thursday following a press conference at Housing Works, New York’s first legal adult-use weed store in Greenwich Village, NYC.“It has been a long road for us to get here. There have been lots of pits and challenges. And a lot of people didn’t think…

A coalition of Minnesota activists announced on Thursday that they’ve launched the next phase of a campaign to legalize marijuana in the state, which includes grassroots advocacy and lobbying lawmakers to pass a revised reform bill that advanced through the House last year. Outgoing House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler (D) sponsored that legislation, and he’s now joining the coalition as campaign chairman, MN is Ready said in a press release. We’re excited to announce the next phase of the MN is Ready campaign that will push for the passage of a comprehensive adult-use cannabis legalization bill in 2023 that prioritizes…

It wouldn’t be December if we didn’t have another tumultuous year in the cannabis industry to look back on. In that way, 2022 did not disappoint.  With just a few U.S. states notching some cannabis reform wins, this was not the splashiest year in legalization history. But all progress is progress. Political winds in Washington, D.C., weren’t terribly strong, but it did seem like cannabis at least became a more meaningful point of conversation in the halls of the federal government. Whether we’ll see any action anytime soon is a different story. Elsewhere in the industry, challenges and hurdles rose up constantly.…