Advocates, local farmers, and company owners pushed for a rewrite of California’s cannabis tax code as they fight to survive in the face of increasing operational and regulatory fees. Participants assembled outside the Capitol in Sacramento to voice their cause and stress that the California cannabis business will fail if prompt action is not taken. Co-founder and executive director of Supernova Women Amber Senter called out the crisis in the cannabis industry’s crisis, which she says is “on the brink of collapse.” “Not only has the state fallen short in promises to right the wrongs inflicted ..read more

Back in 2016, when Californians were asked to legalize marijuana for recreational use, voters were promised that doing so “will incapacitate the black market.” Obviously, that hasn’t happened. The black market is thriving in California — take a look at the illegal grow operation that copsbusted this fall in San Leandro, where at least 100,000 plants were confiscated. But in the next few days, a few top cannabis company leaders are threatening to begin a tax revolt they say is directed at saving the state’s $4.4 billion legal cannabis industry. California may be pulling in more cannabis tax re ..read more

Studies have repeatedly identified an association between the legalizing marijuana and reductions in crime—but the impact of the policy change is being significantly understated because of limitations in the research methodology, a new paper co-authored by a federal official asserts. Most studies looking at crime and cannabis rely on FBI data sourced from local police departments across the country. But reporting that data to the federal agency is entirely voluntary, leaving knowledge gaps that have underplayed the extent to which legalizing medical cannabis reduces violent and property crime ..read more

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed legislation Friday that would have allowed cannabis products to be advertised on freeway billboards in most of California, a bill that sought to negate a court order in November that had banned the signs. The bill would have permitted marijuana ads on billboards along interstate freeways and state highways that cross state borders, except within 15 miles of another state. “When the voters passed Proposition 64, they enacted robust protections shielding youth from exposure to cannabis and cannabis advertising,” Newsom said in a veto message. “Amo ..read more

Next to wine, cheese, olive oils and craft beer, marijuana cultivation will be judged for the first time at one of the world’s largest state fairs.   CALIFORNIA, USA — The best of California’s commodities are showcased at county and state fairs. Now for the first time ever, cannabis is entering the competition at the California State Fair. “We are going to be educating what that means and really having campaigns around education and teaching people about what the cannabis plant is,” said Brian Applegarth, CEO of Cultivar Brands. The California State Fair will return in July 2022 which wil ..read more

The governor of California on Tuesday signed a bill to require hospitals to permit medical marijuana use by certain patients. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) approved the legislation, signaling that his prior concerns about an earlier version that he reluctantly vetoed in 2019 have since been resolved. The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Ben Hueso (D), has been pushing for his measure to allow cannabis use in medical facilities for terminally ill patients over multiple sessions. He recently sent a letter to the head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) seeking clarification on whether the pol ..read more

“It’s going to be tight. We’re going to be draining everything by the time this is over,” a cannabis cultivator who doubles as the fire chief said of his receding pond   HUMBOLDT COUNTY, Calif. — Driving through a dense canopy of towering redwood and old growth fir trees in southern Humboldt County, Ryan Hale’s rental car bucked and bounced as he laid out the rules of the day. The first point of contact, a veteran cannabis grower who asked not to be identified, would lead the way to a secluded compound deep within the Emerald Triangle, a widely known cannabis-growing region comprising Hum ..read more

An advisory group to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will review whether cannabis should remain a banned substance, a move that comes after American track and field star Sha’Carri Richardson missed the Tokyo Games after testing positive for it. The scientific review will be initiated next year, WADA said on Tuesday. Cannabis is currently prohibited in competition and will continue to be in 2022, it added. Richardson tested positive for a chemical found in cannabis during the U.S. Olympic Track & Field trials in June, which wiped out her trial results. She was also hit with a one-month ..read more

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Department of Cannabis Control aims to unclog a glut of temporary licenses and transition them to annual permits as well as ease regulatory red tape and financial burdens on businesses. That’s according to spokespeople at the newly established agency, which launched in July and amounts to one of the state’s biggest regulatory overhauls in years. The Department of Cannabis Control (DCC), which counts nearly 400 employees, is led by Director Nicole Elliott, a Newsom confidante for more than a decade. From the start, the new agency’s goals represent a lofty to-do li ..read more

WASHINGTON — The Senate is preparing to wade into a controversial conversation about federal policies on marijuana after Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, a Democrat from New York, released draft legislation this month that would legalize weed at the federal level. The draft bill, known as the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, follows a similar bill that passed the Democratic-controlled House in December and comes as recent polling from the Pew Research Center shows that about 60% of Americans support legalizing marijuana for recreational and medical use. But Sena ..read more