WeedLife News Network

DENVER — Charlotte’s Web on Oct. 27 introduced a new full-spectrum hemp extract treat targeting dogs with skin and allergy concerns. The company’s Skin Health & Allergy Support Chews are formulated to support sensitive skin and seasonal allergies.

"As we continue to learn more about the science of allergies in our dogs, we are finding it often requires a multimodal approach – combining traditional and alternative therapies for the best outcome," said Kwane Stewart, DVM, a veterinary media personality and web brand ambassador for Charlotte’s Web.

BOSTON — While recreational marijuana sales have soared in 2021 as Massachusetts emerges from the pandemic, business complications and governmental actions have slowed the pace of the industry's growth, cannabis advocates say.

Massachusetts legalized marijuana in 2016, becoming the seventh state to do so, but only licensed sales in 2018.

“Right out of the gate, the Legislature delayed everything by six months to rewrite the initiatives,” said Jim Borghesani, the communications director of “Yes on 4” in 2016. Massachusetts was the only state to rewrite the law passed by voters on marijuana legalization.

Oregon authorities are trying to shut down any illicit cannabis grows with ties to Mexican cartels.

Law enforcement officers and other authorities in southern Oregon say that a rash of illegal marijuana cultivation operations in the area are linked to Mexican drug cartels intent on overwhelming local resources as a strategy to maximize profits. 

In Jackson County, officials declared a state of emergency last month and said that the proliferation of illicit pot farms had strained local law enforcement and other resources. In a letter to Oregon Governor Kate Brown and state lawmakers, the Jackson County Board Commissioners called for more funding and personnel to support law enforcement and code compliance efforts in the area. 

Jackson County Commissioner Rick Dyer told reporters that other illegal activities including human trafficking, forced labor and unsafe living conditions for workers are tied to the unregulated marijuana cultivation in Oregon, where cannabis commerce is legal for licensed businesses. He added that illegal operators intimidate and abuse their workers, who are often minors or the parents of young children.

Officials in Jackson County hope that their counterparts in neighboring Klamath and Josephine Counties will declare a similar state of emergency so that the region sends a unified message to state leaders.

“It’s harder to ignore when it’s a regional declaration of an emergency,” Dyer said. “And the more of a united front we present it will make it harder to ignore. It is a regional problem, and it could be a regional solution.”

New Mexico might implement new laws that would limit recreational cannabis tourism. Officials claim these limits would ensure public safety.

Regulators in New Mexico held a public hearing this week to discuss rules for the state’s forthcoming recreational cannabis market. 

The state’s Regulation and Licensing Department, as well as its Cannabis Control Division, fielded questions and comments from the public during last Thursday’s hearing over the rules that will govern cannabis retailers and manufacturers.

According to the local website NM Political Report, the comments at the hearing “varied from proposed regulations for packaging requirements, general business practices to cannabis deliveries to both businesses and residences.”

“Requiring all manufacturers to prove water rights for their application, I think, is unreasonably burdensome, because it’s just not going to be a factor for a number of them,” Duhigg said, as quoted by NM Political Report. 

Lawmakers in New Mexico passed a bill legalizing recreational pot use for adults during a special legislative session in the spring. The legislation was signed into law in April by Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. This means big things for New Mexico, as for the first time ever, they will finally have a legal cannabis industry. 

For Christopher Fevry, the CEO and co-founder of cannabis delivery company Your Green Package, October has brought a milestone of crossing 2,500 deliveries.

A group that failed to get a recreational marijuana amendment on the ballot four years ago and sued the attorney general over procedural issues hopes to give Arkansas voters a chance to legalize recreational marijuana next year.

Arkansas True Grass, a group of marijuana advocates and volunteers, is gathering signatures for a constitutional amendment that would allow Arkansans aged 21 and over to purchase up to four ounces of marijuana a day and grow up to 12 plants of their own. The group needs 89,151 verified signatures to make the November 2022 ballot. The deadline to submit petitions is July 8, 2022.

The new measure would also expand the number of businesses allowed to sell marijuana. The amendment allows for an unlimited number of business licenses, which spokeswoman Briana Boling said would be “affordable” and would be administered by the state Department of Agriculture. Under the state’s medical marijuana program, the Medical Marijuana Commission licenses dispensaries and cultivators, while the Alcoholic Beverage Control division regulates those businesses. The state Department of Health issues cards to qualified patients.

While the amendment would not change the framework of the state medical marijuana program,  it would increase competition and drive down prices, Boling said.

The Arkansas True Grass proposal would also expunge convictions for some marijuana offenses. Under the amendment, anyone incarcerated or serving parole or probation for a violation of the Arkansas Uniformed Controlled Substances Act and whose current and only conviction is for a marijuana-related offense would be released. All criminal records of such convictions before the passage of the amendment would be expunged.

Marijuana activists in California managed to achieve a couple of legislative victories last week. Two bills were put before the governor, the first being the removal of the ban on smokable hemp flower. The second was a measure requiring hospitals to allow qualifying patients access to medical marijuana.

Medical marijuana in California hospitals?

Sen. Ben Hueso (D) has been lobbying for terminally ill patient’s right to use medical marijuana in hospitals and medical facilities. The senator recently sent a letter to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services seeking clarification on whether the policy change could potentially affect funding for those facilities.

The progressive bill codifies that hospitals will have the power to allow certain patients to use medical marijuana while in their care. On Thursday, the bill was cleared by the Assembly in a 57-1 vote. On Friday, the Senate signed off on the chamber’s other amendments in a 36-1 vote.

“For many Californians, particularly terminally-ill patients, medicinal cannabis is a preferred alternative to other drugs, providing therapeutic relief without the caveats that may come with other medicines. The bill marks an opportunity for California to continue to lead the way in cannabis regulation and reform,”  Eddie Franco, legislative and regulatory affairs manager at CCIA, told Marijuana Moment.

PHOENIX – An MMA event at Celebrity Theatre is not unusual. Pairing that competition with a cannabis expo is.

That was the case Saturday when promoter RUF 44 hosted “RUF, Puff & Rumble, the first time the two industries have collided in the Valley.

Marijuana and sports have often had a precarious relationship. Within combat fighting, various state commissions have looked down on the plant in years past, handing out suspensions of up to five years for repeated positive tests of THC, the psychoactive property within marijuana. Times have changed however, as the Arizona State Boxing & MMA commission adopted the UFC model of testing, allowing fighters to consume marijuana freely until fight day, making more events like RUF 44 possible.

Dr. Joel Lopez, the CEO and Founder of RUF Nation, first thought of teaming MMA and marijuana two years ago but his vision finally came into fruition once Trap Culture Promotions, a local organization promoting cannabis-related events, reached out to Lopez. From there, the two sides met and turned what was once an idea into a reality.

“So I went to their office. First we passed around a good smoke. Alright, what’s up? And they’re like, `We got an idea,’” Lopez said. “This is what we do. We go to social events, mainstream events, and we provide an event itself. They go to like arcades and just provide full consumption areas. I’m like, what? Holy crap. I got it: RUF, Puff & Rumble.”

Drive-thru windows to purchase cannabis likely won’t be allowed in Manteca once marijuana dispensaries are legal.

A representative of marijuana retailers pitched the possibility of drive-thru windows saying it would be an effective marketing tool for a Manteca dispensary located near Highway 99. He noted curbside service for orders placed online had been effective and without problem at a number of dispensaries when pandemic lockdown rules were stringent.

The suggestion was made during Wednesday’s City Council workshop on ordinance that would allow marijuana dispensaries and possibly other cannabis related businesses to open in Manteca as early as 2022.

Several council members quickly batted the idea down.

“We don’t want to create another (Chick-fil-A),” said Manteca Mayor Ben Cantu in reference to the fast food restaurant that often has its drive-thru lane traffic back up onto Yosemite Avenue and even the nearby southbound Highway 99 off-ramp.

The council was open to a suggestion that dispensaries be allowed in commercial mixed use zones that allow apartments and similar residences after it was pointed out the designation covered most of the Yosemite Avenue and Main Street corridors. As such, it would exclude almost all likely locations for dispensaries to open in existing buildings in Manteca.

PORTLAND, Maine - Two sheriff's deputies accepted new cars and an ownership stake in an operation that illegally sold more than $13 million in pot grown for Maine’s medical marijuana program, federal prosecutors said.

Two other law enforcement officers and a prosecutor aided the operation by providing intelligence and tipping off participants, prosecutors said.

Federal documents unsealed Wednesday when one of the defendants pleaded guilty revealed an elaborate program in which marijuana that was grown in western Maine for registered caregivers was sold outside the program, with profits being laundered through a corporate structure.

Twelve people were charged in the 14-count complaint, including a Rangeley select board member, an assistant district attorney, two Franklin County sheriff's deputies, an Oxford County sheriff's deputy and a Wilton police officer.

Halloween is almost here. As costumed revelers prepare for a weekend of celebrations, the cannabis industry readies for the beginning of the holiday shopping season just around the corner.

Article originally appeared on Benzinga. Green Wednesday, Black Friday and December holiday shopping sales dominate the collective minds of business operators. However, Halloween is a time to possibly see sales spike around edibles, but also as a moment to look back at the industry's tricks and treats so far.

The latest data on national drug use and health shows that an encouraging trend took place among America’s younger demographic in 2020: pre-teens and teens showed far less interest in using inebriating substances like cannabis, alcohol, and other drugs.

According to data provided by the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) published earlier this week in the latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the use of cannabis among young people fell significantly between 2019 and 2020.

There is plenty of data to show that the rate of cannabis use among youth has fallen consistently as more states legalize cannabis, so the continued drop in use doesn’t come as a surprise. Rates of underage drinking also fell in 2020, as did rates of illicit drug use, including the use of illicit drugs like hallucinogens and cocaine, and the misuse of prescription drugs.

Breaking Down The Numbers: Cannabis

When it comes to cannabis, lifetime use among youth aged 12 to 17 dropped from 15.8 percent in 2019 to 12.4 percent in 2020, while past year use fell 25 percent, from 13.2 percent to 10.1 percent. The same age group also saw a 20-percent reduction in past month use compared to 2019.

Switzerland has given the green light to develop a comprehensive national framework for cannabis in the country.

It’s easy to get excited about the cannabis industry when you hear that legal cannabis sales in the U.S. grew 30 percent in 2020 to a whopping $22 billion, outpacing the $17.5 billion spent on wine. If you’re a savvy, experienced businessperson, you might mistake that kind of booming market with an opportunity to turn a quick profit.

But there are a few aspects of operating a business in the cannabis industry that are dramatically different from running a typical business. Here are three hard truths about cash flow that people need to understand before even considering launching a cannabis business.

Hard Truth 1: You Need Considerable Liquid Funds to Start and Operate a Cannabis Business

Arkansas sees another campaign to potentially legalize cannabis in the state. Advocates hope this spells the end of state-wide prohibition.

A group headed by a former Arkansas lawmaker has joined the charge to reform cannabis policy in the state by organizing a group to campaign for a constitutional amendment to legalize recreational marijuana. Eddie Armstrong, a former Democratic state representative from North Little Rock, is listed as the chair of the organization Responsible Growth Arkansas in a filing with the Arkansas Ethics Commission submitted on October 15.

The text of the proposed constitutional amendment had not yet been filed with the office of the Arkansas Secretary of State as of the beginning of the week. The group’s statement of organization, however, notes that the organization will “advocate for the passage of an amendment to the Arkansas Constitution to allow the regulated sale of adult-use cannabis in the state,” according to media reports. 

In an email to reporters, Armstrong wrote that more details of the proposed constitutional amendment to legalize recreational cannabis will be released in the upcoming weeks.

Medical Marijuana Legalized in 2016

Arkansas voters legalized medical marijuana in 2016 with the passage of Issue 6, a constitutional amendment ballot measure that received 53 percent of the vote. Under the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment, patients can receive a doctor’s recommendation to possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis for the treatment of one or more qualifying medical conditions.

Medical marijuana dispensaries began serving patients in 2019. However, statutory limits on the number of cannabis cultivators and retailers could soon leave patients with an inadequate supply of medicine, says medical marijuana advocate Melissa Fults.

A new set of studies aims to explore how weed affects people from diverse communities, including queer and trans folks

Between the legalization of cannabis in late 2018 and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, the amount of cannabis Canadians are using is increasing. At the same time, a greater emphasis has been put on mental health as people cope with the loss, isolation and hardship of the pandemic. Yet there are still many gaps in our knowledge of how cannabis use affects our mental health, and debate abounds over whether it is an effective coping tool or a harmful crutch. 

Within the research that does exist, people from diverse communities are under-studied and under-represented, especially LGBTQ2S+ people. To better understand the unique relationship these communities have with cannabis use and mental health, the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC)—in partnership with the Canadian Institute of Health Research, the Canadian Consortium for Early Intervention in Psychosis, the Schizophrenia Society of Canada Foundation and Veterans Affairs Canada—has funded a series of year-long research projects.

“I’m hoping we can really expand the conversation about the relationship between cannabis and mental health, so it’s not just all negative,” Bartram says. “It’s important not to close the door on the possibility of benefits, while at the same time not being naive about risks.” 

While we wait for the studies’ results, here’s what you need to know about the relationship between cannabis and mental health, and the unique needs of diverse populations. 

In about one year — by October 2022 — Vermont's retail cannabis market is scheduled to go into place, and the state's Cannabis Control Board has already made some key decisions that will shape Vermont’s legal marijuana marketplace.

VPR’s Mitch Wertlieb spoke with senior political correspondent, Bob Kinzel. Their conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Mitch Wertlieb: In one of their earliest and most important decisions, the board has decided to prioritize small marijuana growers, and why are they doing this in particular?

Bob Kinzel: Mitch, they're really doing this at the direction of the Legislature, and I think it might be one of the most important decisions that they've made, because it has a rippling effect on many aspects of this issue.