Canadians spent more than $364 million on retail cannabis products in the month of October, according to the latest figures from Statistics Canada. It marks a 35 per cent increase in sales, year-over-year, and a nearly three per cent increase from Septembers sales record of $354 million. The figures come a week after the latest quarterly report from the Ontario Cannabis Store , which noted that legal sales overtook the illicit market for the first time in the quarter running July to Sept. Ontario, which now has more than 1,200 authorized cannabis stores, led the country .... View more in new window

The governor of Wisconsin announced on Tuesday that he granted 30 pardons, primarily to people convicted of non-violent marijuana or other drug offenses. This raises the total number of pardons issued so far by Gov. Tony Evers D to 337 during his first three years in office, the most granted by a governor in the states history at this point into a first term. Advocates have been urging state and federal executives to exercise this type of authority, particularly for cannabis cases as more jurisdictions enact legalization. Im proud of our work to give a second chance to fo.... View more in new window

After months of delay, state regulators on Tuesday provided provisional licenses to 30 applicants seeking to operate medical cannabis facilities. Currently, only 23 medical cannabis facilities are operational in the state. That low total has led high prices and low supplies for the states estimated 120,000 registered medical cannabis patients. Under the states medical marijuana law, patients are not permitted to home-cultivate cannabis. Those issued provisional licensure will still need pass a series of background checks as well as site approval prior to opening their bus.... View more in new window

In the ongoing struggle among congressional Democrats over whether to prioritize incremental marijuana reform legislation over pushing for full federal legalization, proponents of the former saw a stinging defeat this week when Senate heavyweights stripped the SAFE Banking Act HR 1996 out of the Senate version of the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act NDAA. Democrats and even reformers are divided on how to advance marijuana reforms on Capitol Hill. Creative Commons The SAFE Banking Act would protect financial institutions that do business with state-legal mari.... View more in new window

Legalization opponents cannot succeed in the court of public opinion or at the ballot box, NORMLs Deputy Director Paul Armentano said. Thus, they are now petitioning the courts to overturn the will of the people. Whether or not one supports marijuana legalization, Americans should be deeply concerned by this trend and by the outcome of this case. Fifty-four percent of South Dakota voters decided on Election Day in favor of the ballot measure. However, shortly following the vote, Republican Gov. Kristi Noem facilitated litigation seeking to strike down the law as unconstitu.... View more in new window

The federal government has generally taken a hands-off approach to marijuana enforcement in states that have chosen to legalize the plant. So why did a federal agency recently raid a small, home cannabis garden of a medical cannabis patient living on Indian territory in New Mexico? Thats a question that officials with the Pueblo of Picuris are asking following the Bureau of Indian Affairs BIA raid in September. And the response from the agency, which falls under the Department of the Interior, has done little to clear things up. Why is Picuris being discriminated against .... View more in new window

Pennsylvania medical marijuana regulators take aim at vape products, Mexican cartel violence flares in Sonora and Zacatecas, and more. Marijuana Policy Massachusetts Poll Finds Majority Think Marijuana Legalization Has Been a Good Thing. Five years after voters approved legal weed, a new University of Massachusetts Amherst/WCVB poll shows strong continuing support for marijuana legalization in the Bay State. The poll found 61 percent of respondents said legalization has been a net positive for the state, 25 percent said it was neither positive nor negative, and only 13 .... View more in new window

President Joe Biden announced on Friday that he intends to nominate a new Food and Drug Administration FDA commissioner who has acknowledged the potential medical benefits of marijuana and says he actually prescribed a cannabinoid drug as a doctor. Robert Califf, who previously served a short stint as the FDA head under the Obama administration, hasnt been especially vocal about marijuana issues. But at a 2016 federally hosted research summit on cannabis, he recognized various therapeutic applications for the plant and its components and emphasized that the agency is inter.... View more in new window

A New Jersey judge`s ruling keeps an Atlantic City needle exchange program alive for now, the Scottish government is trying to find a way to open a safe injection site in Glasgow, and more. Colorado tightens its medical marijuana rules, mainly around concerns about youth, dabs, and wax. Creative Commons Medical Marijuana Colorado Announces New, Stricter Medical Marijuana Rules. As of January 1, the rules for purchasing medical marijuana will be tightened. Among the changes: daily purchases of marijuana flower will be limited to two ounces and eight grams of concentrates, .... View more in new window

The marijuana provided by the University of Mississippi for clinical research purposes is genetically dissimilar to cannabis strains commercially available at retail markets in legal states, according to an analysis published in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science. Since 1968, the University of Mississippis farm, which is governed by the US National Institute on Drug Abuse, has been the only legal source of cannabis for use in FDA-approved research. A team of researchers affiliated with the University of Northern California performed genetic analyses on NIDA-provided re.... View more in new window

An asset forfeiture battle pits Kansas deputies and federal prosecutors against Missouri medical marijuana companies, a South Dakota legislative panel recommends the state legalize marijuana after voters already did so last year with an initiative now tangled up in court, and more. Marijuana Policy South Dakota Legislative Panel Recommends Marijuana Legalization. As the state awaits for the state Supreme Court to decide whether or not voters legalized marijuana at the polls last November, the legislature`s Marijuana Interim Study Committee on Wednesday wrapped up its w.... View more in new window

Luxembourg is set to become the first European nation to legalize the growing and use of cannabis, the government announced in a statement on Friday. Under the new legislation, adults over 18 in Luxembourg will be allowed to use cannabis, and to grow up to four plants per household, which would make it the first country in Europe to fully legalize the production and consumption Decriminalization will also dramatically lower the current fines for possession of the drug to between US$29 and $581 for possession of three grams or less, down from the current fines of $291 to .... View more in new window

A lottery to select the operators of five new medical cannabis dispensaries in Rhode Island has been scheduled for next week, state officials said Friday. To ensure a fair process, the lottery scheduled for Oct. 29 will be public and livestreamed, using numbered balls from the state Lottery, and picked by a blindfolded former FBI agent from a transparent tumbler borrowed from Twin River Casino, according to the Department of Business Regulations Office of Cannabis Regulation.Twenty-three pre-approved companies have submitted 37 applications for the right to open a dispensa.... View more in new window

The National Institute on Drug Abuse NIDA told Congress in a report obtained by Marijuana Moment that the Schedule I status of controlled substances like cannabis is preventing or discouraging research into their potential risks and benefits. It also said that current restrictions that block scientists from studying the actual cannabinoid products that consumers can purchase at dispensaries is impeding research to an extent that constitutes a public health concern. In a document that was submitted to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, as requested under previo.... View more in new window