Author: News Room

At the finale of the Christmas show last year in Eugene, OR, I came out as a skid-row Santa, complete with rubber nose, plastic sack full of beer cans, and a pint of peppermint schnapps to fortify the holiday spirit. I also borrowed my wife Faye’s blue egg bucket and labeled it: “Homeless.” I’d jangle the cans like a bagful of aluminum sleigh bells while I worked the mainfloor aisle seats: “Hey, come on, buddy. Put something in the bucket, for Chrissakes. Don’t you know it’s Christmastime? Hey, that’s better. God bless you. You’re beautiful.” I ended up with only…

If you’ve been around the cannabis industry long enough, you’ve likely heard the saying that the cannabis industry ages in dog years. This is to say that one year in cannabis feels like seven (or more) in any other industry, due to the constant change and normalization of a newly legal industry.The cannabis landscape across the U.S. has changed dramatically over the past 10 years since Washington and Colorado first legalized adult-use cannabis in 2012. More states have legalized both adult-use (21 states) and medical cannabis (39), creating a new, multibillion-dollar industry in just a few short years.But with so…

Regulators, lawmakers and industry members have spent the past year laying the groundwork for an adult-use cannabis industry that was legalized in March of last year. In that time, they’ve built a unique plan that attempts to prioritize equity by offering additional opportunities to those disproportionately harmed by the war on drugs; minority, women and small business owners; and hemp growers. (See below for a full timeline of New York regulators’ initiatives throughout the year.)But despite their efforts, the state has yet to begin retail sales, as regulators had planned do by the end of this year. With just days…

A new bill prefiled in Washington State this week represents the latest effort to expand U.S. cannabis markets across state lines. With similar laws already on the books in Oregon and California, passage would set the stage for marijuana products to travel legally up and down the West Coast and beyond. Even if the interstate cannabis commerce bill becomes law in the coming session, however, actual cross-border marijuana deals couldn’t commence without approval from the federal government. Senate Bill 5069, prefiled Monday by a bipartisan group of four state senators led by Sens. Ann Rivers (R) and Karen Keiser (D),…

My experience watching Avatar: The Way of Water couldn’t have been more different from my experience watching the original Avatar back in 2009. When that movie came out, I was in middle school. My parents wouldn’t drive me to the cinema, so I ended up watching it in class. I had heard so much about the movie and was excited to finally see it, but by the time the credits rolled I failed to grasp what all the hype was about. Maybe I was too young to appreciate what director James Cameron had accomplished, or maybe our teacher’s dinosauric projector…

Detroit officials announced the winners of the city’s first 33 adult-use cannabis dispensary licenses Dec. 22 after legal challenges delayed the process.The city’s Office of Marijuana Ventures & Entrepreneurship announced Thursday that it awarded licenses to 13 non-equity applicants and 20 equity applicants under Detroit’s revised adult-use cannabis ordinance, which city officials adopted in April.The Office of Marijuana Ventures & Entrepreneurship awarded the non-equity licenses to the following applicants:Luxury LoudTHC DetroitDet NaturalJars CannabisHouse of DankSMOKOz CannabisMPP ServicesWest Coast MedsCookiesSouthwest MedsLeaf and BudPlaya KindThe following equity applicants were issued licenses:House of ZenLIV CannabisMotor City KushLiberty CannabisHigh ProfileChronic CityPlan BDaCutBlue WaveThe RemedyCloud…

Wisconsin’s Democratic governor said he thinks Republicans who control the state legislature may be willing to work with him to legalize medical marijuana in 2023. In an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio on Tuesday, Gov. Tony Evers (D) said there is “no question” that he will again include recreational cannabis legalization in the biennial budget request he submits to the legislature early next year, but indicated his willingness to proceed with a more limited medical marijuana program if GOP leaders remain unwilling to end prohibition altogether. “There’s an increasing number of people in the legislature that might be willing to…

Hip-hop artist and cannabis community icon Afroman announced over the weekend that he is running for president of the United States in 2024. Afroman, who became a hero of the weed crowd with his song “Because I Got High” in 2000, announced his bid for the White House on Sunday during a concert performance at the Black River Coliseum in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, according to a report from TMZ. Two days later, he took to social media to spread his message to a broader audience. “My Fellow Americans, there comes a time in the course of human events when change…

A group of 29 lawmakers are urging President Biden to understand the necessity of federally descheduling cannabis after Biden announced plans in October to direct Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice to launch a review of how cannabis is scheduled under the Controlled Substances Act.Reps. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., Dave Joyce, R-Ohio, Barbara Lee, D-Calif., and Brian Mast, R-Fla., as well as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., led 24 of their colleagues in submitting a letter calling on Biden’s administration to deschedule cannabis.“The instruction for the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and Justice to review the…

The lead sponsor of marijuana banking legislation made one final symbolic push for his measure on Friday in his last committee meeting as a member of Congress before he retires. Frustrated that the Senate has consistently failed to take up the bill even after it has passed the House several times, Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) filed the text of his Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act as an amendment to large-scale omnibus appropriations legislation. The congressman called the exclusion of his cannabis provisions one of a handful of “glaring omissions” from the bill, but he did not end up…