Author: News Room

A study group in Indiana’s legislature is encouraging lawmakers to authorize a psilocybin pilot program to research psychedelic-assisted therapy for mental health in the 2024 session. A report approved at the final meeting of Indiana’s interim study committee on Public Health, Behavioral Health and Human Services says that while psilocybin is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance at the federal level, the “prevailing view is that psilocybin should not be a Schedule I drug and has proven medical benefits.” The committee recommended that “the Indiana General Assembly take an approach that strikes a balance between access, research, and prudence.”…

“There is an increasing sense that we are on the wrong road. Not only are careers being cut short, but vital industries, starved for highly skilled workers, are losing talented, safety-conscious employees for no reason.” By Lee Seham of Seham, Seham, Meltz & Petersen LLP As a social conservative, alcohol has always been my drug of choice. For me, the odor of marijuana on a city street evokes a discomfiting sense of lawlessness and societal decline. But I remind myself that Carrie Nation, who attacked alcohol-service establishments with a hatchet in the lead-up to prohibition, had the same feelings toward…

Departing Berkeley, California on a foggy Wednesday morning, I was in for a treat. I knew I was headed to my favorite place and to what is, in my experience, the best cannabis farm in the world. On the drive north, everything got more beautiful, sunnier, golden, and green. I drove all the way to Dos Rios Farms in Dos Rios, California. This farm opens my heart. The locale and the people there are unparalleled and so is their herb. Dos Rios is in northeastern Mendocino County on the way to Covelo. The road to Covelo has a complicated history.…

“This is absolutely a preventable misstep. I’m hoping that we can get to the bottom of it in our budget committee.” By Joe Mueller, The Center Square The city of St. Louis will lose approximately $500,000 in tax revenue after it failed to submit documents with the Missouri Department of Revenue to collect a voter-approved recreational marijuana tax. City voters approved a 3 percent tax on recreational marijuana in April. State law would have allowed the city to begin collecting the tax on October 1 if paperwork was filed by June 30. Bill 139 was passed unanimously by the St.…

Arik “Moonhawk” Roper has been essential in helping define a visual style for countless bands and projects that use the word “stoner” in their description. His instantly recognizable illustrations look like a cross between something from an old pulp fiction novel and Heavy Metal magazine. The wild, sci-fi fantasy feelings that Roper’s work evokes have made him a household name in both the music and design world.  A graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York City, Roper’s lettering and art have helped forge an artistic schema for the genres of stoner metal and stoner rock. If music…

Marijuana regulators in California and New York are encouraging people to take advantage of Black Friday deals and support small businesses by shopping for cannabis at licensed retailers. As companies promote savings on the post-Thanksgiving sales occasion, both the California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) and the New York Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) shared posts on Friday to help people find marijuana from authorized venders. “Don’t follow the hordes of shoppers today!” California’s DCC said. “This Friday shop smart, shop licensed cannabis.” Don’t follow the hordes of shoppers today! This Friday shop smart, shop licensed cannabis. To find your…

A bill to legalize medical marijuana in Ukraine that was supposed to be taken up for a final vote this week is being effectively blocked, with members of one party filing hundreds of so-called “spam” amendments to procedurally delay passage. Ukraine’s unicameral legislature, the Verkhovna Rada, was scheduled to consider the reform measure on Wednesday. It advanced through committee last month, with the support of President Volodymyr Zelensky, and it was expected to easily pass in a final reading—but MP Olga Stefanyshina says opponents are using a time-consuming legislative tactic to keep it from enactment. “The bill on medical cannabis…

The office of Hawaii’s attorney general is pushing back against criticism of the official’s recently released marijuana legalization plan, defending its public health and safety provisions as members of the law enforcement community voice opposition to the reform. After announcing in April that her office would support efforts to enact legalization, Attorney General Anne Lopez (D) unveiled a comprehensive cannabis bill last week, earning praise from supporters in the legislature and mixed reactions from advocates who want to see it revised to more aggressively address equity issues and reduce criminalization. On the other side of the debate, however, Honolulu Prosecuting…

The governor of Wisconsin has granted another round of pardons, including dozens issued for people with prior marijuana convictions. As Democratic lawmakers in the state continue to push for legalization amid opposition by GOP legislative leaders, Gov. Tony Evers (D) announced on Tuesday that he’s exercised his constitutional authority to provide relief to 82 more people, raising the total number of pardons under his administration to 1,111. About one-third of the latest pardons were granted to people who had marijuana possession, cultivation or sales convictions on their records, with the majority of the cannabis cases related to simple possession. Another…

People with anxiety experience better quality sleep on days when they use marijuana compared to days when they use alcohol or nothing at all, a new federally funded study has found. For the study, published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review, researchers at the University of Colorado, Colorado State University and University of Haifa analyzed the subjective sleep quality of 347 people who reported using cannabis to treat anxiety. They wanted to understand the different ways sleep was affected by the use of marijuana, alcohol, neither or both on a given day. To that end, people participating in the…