Author: News Room

A slew of good news greeted America’s majority for cannabis legalization and reform. At the top of the list, pro-pot Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman clinched the win over “America First” Republican Dr. Oz for the crucial Senate seat. Fetterman has been a staunch supporter of cannabis legalization in his positions as Lt Gov. of Pennsylvania and mayor of Braddock, PA; his 2019 statewide tour report indicated the Keystone State wants and will benefit greatly from legal cannabis. Dr. Oz, by comparison, has stated in interviews that cannabis will make workers lazy and hinder the economy—despite the fact that he endorsed medical…

Potato chips, pizza, nachos—anyone who’s gotten high has experienced their own unique (or downright bizarre) snack choice when the munchies attack. If there’s one classic trope associated with cannabis, it’s a stoner with the munchies.  Weed can kick off fierce cravings and enhance your enjoyment of food. But why? Observations about the intersection of weed and food are believed to have been first recorded hundreds of years ago: Rajanirghanta, an ancient Hindu text that dates back to 300 CE, mentions the appetite-stimulating characteristics of weed.  Cravings for calorie-rich foods often prevail when the munchies strike. Big name brands tap into…

A proposed provision in landmark U.S. cannabis legislation under consideration would set an unnecessarily low level for trace amounts of THC in hemp flower-based food products, leading to “the elimination of the substantial majority of the hemp extract and CBD industry,” a trade group has warned. In a letter sent to main sponsors of the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA), filed in the Senate last month, the U.S. Hemp Roundtable (USHR), a Kentucky-based trade association, criticized the THC provision in the bill, which sets a limit of 1 milligram of total THC per 100 grams on a dry weight…

Missourians on Election Day voted to legalize cannabis for adult use by a 53%-47% margin. It marks the first time a mid-western state has backed an initiative to legalize cannabis for adults.   In a statement posted to Twitter, Legal MO 2022 Campaign Director John Payne noted the vote was also historic in that it is the “first state in the nation to automatically expunge past, nonviolent, marijuana offenses by a vote of the people.”  “This enormous step forward for criminal justice reform will result in hundreds of thousands of Missourians having their records cleared, at no cost to them, for…

Cannabis packaging creates a large volume of landfill waste and much of this can be traced back to compliance requirements. As the industry has developed, design experts have stepped into the space to encourage growth toward compliant yet more sustainable cannabis product packaging options. Lilli Keinaenen started Changemaker Creative because she needed change, loved sustainable design, and was very interested in cannabis. What has proliferated is a consulting and design business that is changing how we package and unwrap our cannabis products. This Q&A covers why Lilli first moved into the cannabis space, the most common issues with cannabis packaging,…

Pennsylvania’s Gov. Tom Wolf (D) has signed a bill intended to protect banking institutions and insurance companies who work with medical cannabis firms in the state from prosecution, Marijuana Moment reports. Originally a standalone Senate bill that passed the Republican-controlled Senate and later the House, also Republican-controlled, the bill was later attached to a non-cannabis banking bill as an amendment. The measure only protects banks and insurers who work with medical cannabis companies from state interference, not federal, the report says. The legislation says a “financial institution (and insurers) authorized to engage in business in this Commonwealth may provide financial…

Editor’s note: This editorial was contributed by Dan Serard, the Director Of Business Development & Strategic Partnerships for Cannabis Creative, a Massachusetts-based award-winning digital marketing agency specializing in cannabis and CBD. When California first opened up the floodgates of cannabis by legalizing medical marijuana in 1996, the industry was apprehensive and cold. As other states followed suit, dispensaries remained sterile, clinical places with bland products that resembled a pharmaceutical prescription. As we put those days in the rearview mirror, so too are brands and professionals that adhere to that image. Instead, we’re seeing sophisticated brands and innovative marketing teams changing…

The governor of Oregon is granting a mass pardon for state-level marijuana possession offenses that will provide relief to an estimated 45,000 people, her office said on Monday. Gov. Kate Brown’s (D) cannabis clemency action—which also involves forgiveness for more than $14 million in fines and fees—comes about a month after President Joe Biden issued thousands of pardons for federal marijuana possession cases and called on governors to follow suit. “No one deserves to be forever saddled with the impacts of a conviction for simple possession of marijuana—a crime that is no longer on the books in Oregon,” Brown said…

The pharmaceutical industry takes a serious economic hit after states legalize marijuana—with an average market loss of nearly $10 billion for drugmakers per each legalization event—according to a first-of-its-kind study. The peer-reviewed research article, published in the journal PLOS ONE on Wednesday, looked at stock return and prescription drug sales data for 556 pharmaceutical companies from 1996 to 2019, analyzing market trends before and after the enactment of medical and adult-use cannabis legalization laws at the state level. The stock returns were “1.5-2 percent lower at 10 days after legalization,” the study authors founds. “Returns decreased in response to both…

The wholesale value of marijuana across 15 adult-use states has reached $5 billion—making it the sixth most valuable cash crop in the country, above potatoes and rice—according to a new report. And that’s not even accounting for the massive medical cannabis market that provides for patients in almost two dozen other states. Leafly’s 2022 Cannabis Harvest Report fills in significant gaps in agriculture data about the crop, which has been understudied through traditional means because marijuana remains federally prohibited. The cannabis company analyzed licensing records for legal cannabis states, sales and tax reports, commercial pricing data, field measurements, U.S. Department…