As of Wednesday afternoon, Mexico is one step closer to becoming the world’s largest licensed cannabis economy. The country’s lower legislative house, also known as the Chamber of Deputies, approved legislation to regulate recreational marijuana by a healthy margin of 316 to 129 votes, with 23 abstentions.  The bill was already approved by the Senate, but underwent modifications leading up to the lower house’s vote, with amendments being discussed into the night on Wednesday.  The legislation will now return to the Senate where it will likely be approved, according to representat ..read more

In 2019, the Canadian government began offering former weed offenders the chance to wipe these crimes from their criminal records. But in the nineteen months that this program has been active, only 395 Canadians have been able to get their records successfully cleared. Another 251 applicants had their requests denied due to ineligibility or incomplete information. Canada legalized adult-use cannabis back in 2018, but the country did not initiate its cannabis expungement program until August 1st, 2019. Unlike the US, Canada has always allowed anyone who has been convicted of any crime, incl ..read more

Regular doses of CBD could help prevent cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s patients, according to a new study recently published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. Worldwide, there are nearly 50 million people living with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) today, and that number is predicted to increase by 14 percent or more by 2025. AD is now the 6th leading cause of death in the US, but there is no treatment on the market that can prevent, cure, or even slow the spread of this disease. Traditional medications have failed to treat AD, but researchers are now discovering that there may be a perfec ..read more

After nearly a century of prohibition, legal weed greenhouses are now springing up all across North America. Cannabis farmers love to grow weed indoors to protect their crops from thieves, extreme weather, and pests, but according to a new study, these indoor grow-ops are also a major source of greenhouse gases. Much of the discussion about cannabis legalization has focused on restorative social justice and financial revenue, but relatively few researchers have considered the environmental impact of large-scale pot production. Researchers from Colorado State University set out to rectify t ..read more

As Canada’s adult-use cannabis market matures and the US inches closer to weed reform, more and more alcohol and tobacco companies are investing their money in legal weed. British American Tobacco (BAT), the world’s third-largest tobacco firm, is the latest cigarette conglomerate to invest in weed. Last week, BAT announced that it would spend over $175 million to buy a 19.9 percent stake in Organigram, a licensed Canadian cannabis producer. Once the deal goes through, BAT will become Organigram’s largest shareholder. BAT currently owns American Spirit, Camel, Pall Mall, Newport, Lucky Str ..read more

Image via For the third year in a row, people of color still account for almost every single cannabis-related arrest made by the New York Police Department (NYPD).  The Legal Aid Society, an organization offering pro bono legal assistance to New York City’s most marginalized communities, is calling attention to new NYPD data showing that 94 percent of all cannabis arrests in 2020 targeted people of color. Last year, cops arrested 437 people for weed-related crimes, and only 20 of those people are white.  New York state decriminalized minor cannabis possession way back in 2014, bu ..read more

Colorado is one of the biggest success stories in the history of US weed legalization. Last year alone, the state’s legal weed market made over $2.2 billion in sales, bringing the state a hefty $400 million in additional tax revenue. But, despite the unprecedented success of this ever-growing industry, state lawmakers are proposing a new bill to rein it in with additional restrictions and regulations. This bill would create new data collection regulations on dispensaries to ensure that people are not violating the purchasing limits imposed by the adult-use law, and would also prohibit doct ..read more

Image via You may know him by his outlandish statements such as “marijuana causes psychosis” and “there is no such thing as medical marijuana,” but Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts has taken his advocacy for prohibition to a new level. And this time, it’s to protect the children.  “This is a dangerous drug that will impact our kids,” Ricketts told the press last week. “If you legalize marijuana, you’re gonna kill your kids. That’s what the data shows from around the country.” He cites studies that show an elevated incidence of cannabis in the system of kids who committed suicide as pro ..read more

As we grow older, it becomes especially important to keep on top of our health. Every human body accrues wear and tear as the years go by; this is an unavoidable aspect of life. But it doesn’t mean that we can’t enjoy a long, healthy, and happy old age! In the second half of life, most of us will see our hair turn grey (and then white!) and feel our joints grow stiffer. We will also become more susceptible to certain ailments and illnesses. This is simply the aging process in action. But if we employ a common-sense approach to staying healthy, it is entirely possible to enjoy a happy and act ..read more

We all know about the wonders of weed’s CBD and THC, otherwise known as delta-9-THC. But delta-9-THC can be a bit much for some people, and CBD can do too little.  However, there’s now a third option. It’s called delta-8-THC, a version of the THC we all know and love, but in a smoother, lighter package.  Delta-8-THC “is the median between CBD and delta-9-THC,” Swaroop Suri, Marketing Director at cannabis company Moonwlkr, told MERRY JANE. “The high is different.” What Is Delta-8-THC? To explain this, we’re gonna give you a quick crash course in organic chemistry. If this gets too ..read more