Author: News Room

WNBA player Brittney Griner is returning to the U.S. after the government secured her release from Russian detention after serving 10 months of a nine-year sentence for low-level cannabis possession. And while there’s widespread relief over the development, already there are calls from advocates and lawmakers to follow up with domestic reform and increased diplomatic efforts to release other U.S. citizens imprisoned abroad, including one teacher who is similarly imprisoned in Russia over medical marijuana. The White House was asked about that case at a press briefing on Thursday, and Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre deferred to the State Department, arguing…

TALLAHASSEE, Florida, Dec. 8, 2022 – PRESS RELEASE – Trulieve Cannabis Corp., a multistate cannabis company in the United States, announced the official launch of Khalifa Kush premium medical cannabis products statewide in all Trulieve Branded Pennsylvania retail locations starting Dec. 12. This is an exclusive partnership with multi-platinum selling, GRAMMY and Golden Globe Award-nominated recording artist Wiz Khalifa.To celebrate the product launch on 12/12, a date designated as “Wiz Khalifa Day” by the Pittsburgh City Council, Wiz Khalifa will be on-site at the Trulieve Pittsburgh-Squirrel Hill and Trulieve Washington locations to meet with medical cannabis patients.Trulieve will also be hosting…

As congressional marijuana banking reform remains in flux, facing a recent setback on its path to passage in the lame duck session, a new report is highlighting one of the key reasons supporters say the legislation is necessary: the status quo leaves cash-intensive cannabis dispensaries uniquely vulnerable to crime. Also, while some have suggested that the businesses see more crime because burglars are after the marijuana product itself, the report from David Borden of StoptheDrugWar.org shows that cash it the primary target, with limited cases of people stealing only cannabis from the storefronts. The analysis looks at data on marijuana…

In a new report, Whitney Economics assesses that the total output of cannabis cultivated in the U.S. exceeds 48.8 million pounds. The figure from the 2022 U.S. Cannabis Supply Report includes cannabis in both the legal and illicit markets and covers all product types, such as flower, concentrates and edibles.Beau Whitney, founder and chief economist at Whitney Economics, said total supply is up slightly from 2021. This year’s supply pretty closely matches  the demand, he said.Some cultivators in Northern California and Southern Oregon have bumper crops and cultivate more, Whitney said, adding, “But generally, the common practice is if they…

“Court litigation will be necessary to iron out the ambiguities. We can try and fix the issues with new legislation, but the House and Senate are limited in what we can do because Amendment 3 is a constitutional amendment and not just new legislation.” By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent Thursday is a big day for Missouri. It’s the day the constitutional amendment legalizing recreational marijuana use goes into effect, allowing Missourians 21 or older to legally buy or possess up to three ounces of marijuana and grow up to six marijuana plants. It’s also the day Missouri’s Department of Corrections…

New Frontier Data compared cannabis sales data for the month of November in 2021 and 2022, which shows a shift in sales patterns. While Green Wednesday was the third-highest grossing sales in 2021, sales collected in 2022 on Friday, Nov. 4; Friday, Nov. 11; and Sunday, Nov. 18 were nearly equivalent as Nov. 23 (this year’s Green Wednesday) and Nov. 25 (Black Friday). New Frontier Data consulted many of its leading experts to analyze the reasoning behind this change. According to New Frontier Data Senior Research Analyst Noah Tomares, the Michigan cannabis industry is evolving rapidly compared to mature markets…

Ed Rosenthal is a legend in cannabis known for bucking the rules. The longtime cultivation author went up against the feds for providing marijuana to medical patients in 2003 and was ultimately sentenced to a single day in prison, time served. Rosenthal’s devoted his life promoting cannabis—he’s responsible for proliferating the classic South African landrace Durban Poison, partnered with at least 50 European seed companies for multiple books in his Big Book of Buds series, and even has a cultivar, Ed Rosenthal Super Bud, named after him—but he’s never released his own genetics. That is, until now. Back in April,…

Viola is adding edibles to its product lineup.The Michigan-based operator is partnering with Puff Cannabis for the launch of its gummy edibles, with an in-store release event at Puff’s Madison Heights, Mich., location on Dec. 16. The edibles will also be available at Puff’s Hamtramck and Utica locations.Beyond Michigan, Viola plans to expand its edibles offerings to Arizona, California, and Colorado in early 2023.The edibles will be available in four different flavors—Auntie’s Punch, Big Apple Dreamin, Paradise Island, and Uptown Espresso—all of which were inspired by Viola Owner Al Harrington’s grandmother, the company’s namesake.RELATED: Viola Spreads The Wealth“We’ve been working…

Texas activists are collecting signatures to reverse a move by the Harker Heights City Council to overturn a voter-approved marijuana decriminalization ballot initiative. Meanwhile, lawmakers in another Texas city, Killeen, voted to enact a similar local decriminalization initiative—but they removed a key provision. Harker Heights was one of five Texas cities that passed decriminalization measures with strong margins on November 8, but it’s the only one so far where local lawmakers have overturned the will of voters. Ground Game Texas, the organization that led the reform initiatives throughout the state, discussed the possibility of taking action shortly after the lawmakers…

Some gray-market CBD products available online in North Carolina are selling for more than approved medicinal CBD prescribed by doctors, resulting in a “paradoxical disconnect” in the market that threatens consumer safety, according to a team of researchers from two state universities. The paper, by a cross-disciplinary team with expertise in cancer, pain management, health policy, data science, media and social sciences from Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, calls for state policies that limit access to non-pharmaceutical grade CBD products promoted and sold online and “a more efficient strategy” to enforce federal and…