About two and a half hours north of San Francisco lies a lesser-known wine region within a small valley that—with walk-in availability, bottles of pinot noir priced around $40, farm-fresh cheeses, fine dining, apple orchards, vineyards, and redwood groves—feels unpretentious, but appropriately vacation fancy. Driving there on the first weekend of November 2023, the grapevine leaves are turning rasta colors—red, green, and gold—as the valley unfolds, driving west towards the Pacific Ocean. The rolling hills and roadsides are primarily lined with evergreen oaks and redwoods, cut with the occasi ..read more

“Now that cannabis is legal and profitable in this state, how do we reckon with the injustice perpetuated by its illegal activity dating back to the 1970s with the proliferation of the War on Drugs policies in the United States?” By Emma Davis, Maine Morning Star Maine legalized recreational marijuana use in 2017, however the criminal records Mainers have for possession and cultivation from before legalization remain. The Judiciary Committee heard proposals on Friday that would seal those records as well as make permanent a committee tasked to review issues with expunging criminal records and ..read more

“He should immediately commute the sentences of those sitting in prison for conduct involving amounts of cannabis that are far less than what state-regulated dispensaries routinely handle on a daily basis.” By Sarah Gersten, Last Prisoner Project As President Biden listed off his first-term accomplishments during his State of the Union address, Richeda Ashmeade sat studying for midterms in her last year of law school. Listening to the president tout his executive actions on cannabis, she was acutely aware of those whom his reforms have left behind. Despite all the rhetoric and applause breaks ..read more

The French National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) has officially stated that flowers will not be incorporated into its forthcoming comprehensive medical cannabis framework. Although somewhat anticipated, the sudden decision and the ANSM’s failure to propose any feasible alternatives for patients reliant on cannabis flower have triggered widespread outrage ..read more

Just in is data analysis from the 2023 Monitoring the Future survey, led by researchers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). It reveals that about 11% of 12th-grade students nationwide reported using delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol (commonly known as delta-8-THC or delta-8) within the past year ..read more

Researchers have shown that healthy dogs may safely incorporate cannabinoids like CBD, CBDA, and CBG into their daily routines, demonstrating their potential for long-term use with low risks. This pioneering study was recently published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science ..read more

Ganja in Jamaica is more than just the cannabis plant; it’s a culture, a way of life, and an expression of people from varying cultural backgrounds who ended up on the Caribbean Island via the plantation model. The British monarchy was responsible for the cultural clash that saw enslaved Africans and indentured laborers co-mingling and participating in the smoking of ganja after a day’s work in the sugarcane plantations. This unique phenomenon gave birth to Rastafari, a religious and political movement rooted in African culture with Emperor Haile Selassie I from Ethiopia as its redeemer, the ..read more

“We still need to consider the caregiver being allowed to administer the product on the premises, but I don’t know how that’s going to be worded.” By Alander Rocha, Alabama Reflector The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC) approved a set of rules Thursday for public comment to safeguard patients’ access to medical cannabis while they are in a medical facility. The proposed rules would ease licensing requirements for “professional caregivers,” or someone “whose career is to assist another person in a way that enables them to live as independently as possible,” according to the current A ..read more

For the first time since joining the ticket as President Joe Biden’s running mate in 2020, Vice President Kamala Harris has called for the legalization of marijuana—signaling a possible shift in the administration’s platform heading into the November elections. Harris told a room of cannabis pardon recipients at the White House on Friday that “we need to legalize marijuana,” a participant in the meeting has revealed. Harris had already made news earlier in the day, calling on the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to reschedule cannabis “as quickly as possible” in public opening remarks be ..read more

The latest case involves a man named Diego Costa Silva in Ireland. He decapitated his wife, claiming he believed she was possessed by a serpent due to “cannabis-induced psychosis” – and that he had to remove her head to kill the snake entity. Two psychiatrists backed up his insanity plea, testifying that Silva genuinely suffered delusions and hallucinations from heavy cannabis use, rendering him legally not guilty by reason of insanity for the grisly murder ..read more