Notoriously risk-adverse Big Law firms are building cannabis practice groups as a rising number of states legalize recreational and medicinal use, even though the drug remains largely banned under federal law.

Cannabis practitioners hail from a variety of specialties, reflecting the range of issues that their clients face. The lawyers have to be flexible in the rapidly changing area as voters and lawmakers act to advance—and sometimes fight—legalization.

“This is not for the weak of stomach,” said Eric Berlin, who co-leads Dentons cannabis practice and helped craft and pass the Illinois and Ohio medical cannabis laws. “You have to deal with a level of uncertainty there.”

Cannabis data and analytics specialist Headset just released its latest report comparing US medical and recreational cannabis market development, bearing results that reveal sales patterns and unifying trends across the industry.  The report’s findings are grounded in the context of the predominant pattern of a three-step process in cannabis market development, including prohibition, medical access, and adult-use legalization. Though there are exceptions to this evolution where markets leapfrog medical use and go straight from cannabis prohibition to adult-use legalization, flagship states like California, which approved medical use in 1996 but took another twenty years to allow adult-use cannabis, follow a more predictable pattern.

Sometimes this job feels more like political analysis than stock market prognosticating. The reason? Marijuana stocks are intrinsically tied to politics. After all, until prohibitions against cannabis are lifted the world over, pot stocks won’t reach their full potential.

Which brings us to a tantalizing new prospect.

I’ve been writing about marijuana stocks for years now, and I’ve cooked up a number of ways federal U.S. marijuana legalization could get it done. From Congressional maneuvers, to presidential executive orders, to ballot initiatives, to Supreme Court interdictions, it’s safe to say that I’ve thought a lot about how U.S. pot legalization could happen—and happen fast.

After all, many of the pot stocks I routinely write about would skyrocket in value in the event of marijuana legalization in the U.S.

Which brings me to what I want to focus on now: the flagging Democratic Party approval ratings.

Jack Dwyer pursued a dream of getting back to the land by moving in 1972 to an idyllic, tree-studded parcel in Oregon with a creek running through it. “We were going to grow our own food. We were going to live righteously. We were going to grow organic,” Dwyer said. Over the decades that followed, he and his family did just that. But now, Deer Creek has run dry after several illegal marijuana grows cropped up in the neighborhood last spring, stealing water from both the stream and nearby aquifers and throwing Dwyer’s future in doubt. (Photo By: Shaun Hall/Grants Pass Daily Courier via AP)

The legalization of recreational marijuana use has broadly increased the availability of cannabis and the number of cannabis users. In the latest information (2019) compiled by SAMHSA, an estimated 31.5m individuals over 12 in the US used cannabis in the last month. These rates are growing at approximately 10% per year, with the largest growth in use by adults over 26 (19% growth in 2018-2019). However, growth in the sales of edible cannabis products has outpaced even these trends: sales of edible expanded 60% from 2019 to 2020 for an estimated market of $1.23 billion. (As Originally seen on Benzinga By: Nate Guzowski)

This rise in edible cannabis has had several unintended consequences, in particular a rise in the number of cases of accidental over ingestion. Edibles contain a range of different THC concentrations, including many with several times the average dose for an adult. Also the onset of drug effects for edibles is much longer than for smoked or vaped cannabis products, and this can lead to individuals overconsuming these products under the impression that they have under-dosed.

There is evidence that these cases of over-consumption have lead to an increase in the rates of acute cannabinoid intoxication (ACI) requiring medical attention. Poison control centers have documented a dramatic increase in the number of reports involving edible cannabis, rising from 8.4% to 31.2% of reports from 2017 to 2019.

This report also documented the increased risk to children from edibles, with these products making up 48% of reports involving children under 10, despite being only 11.1% of cannabis sales nationwide. The availability of gummies, cookies, brownies, and other sweets likely exacerbates the issue. ACI is a medical emergency in children and is associated with encephalopathy, coma, severe respiratory depression requiring ventilation, and even death. 

New Problems Require New Solutions

Anebulo Pharmaceuticals is developing a treatment to help address the issues of ACI from edibles and other products. The company’s lead compound ANEB-001 is an antagonist of the CB1 receptor responsible for the effects of cannabis and THC intoxication. ANEB-001 works by binding to and blocking these receptors from engaging THC and other cannabinoids (eg. synthetics like K2 or Spice). 

Although it is true that great cocktails come down to the perfect balancing of spirit, sweet, sour and bitter and salty, there is creativity and achievement to be made in this exciting realm of marijuana mixology.It seems like every time you enter a dispensary, there is a brand-new way to consume cannabis. Whether it is an edible in homage to a favorite snack food, or a tiny discreet vaporizer, there is no lack of creativity in product development.One of the latest trends in recreational cannabis consumption is less inspired by exotic creativity and scientific achievement; it’s derived from hundreds of years of mixing and shaking behind the dark mahogany bars of the world.The cannabis cocktail is quickly gaining popularity as a fun and effective way to ingest CBD or THC. Retail beverages like THC seltzers are available in recreational dispensaries nationwide, and they are exploding in popularity.

These retail beverages are a popular way to enjoy marijuana, but some enthusiasts are turning the concept of drinking cannabis into its highest art form — the crafted cocktail. By savoring cannabis through a straw, a union has formed between budtender and bartender, and the result is delicious.

Successful mixology is the art of balancing a cocktail’s key components, which, according to Diageo Bar Academy, are sweet, sour, bitter, saltiness, temperature, texture and alcohol (or the lack thereof). Cannabis cocktail experimentation maintains the same balancing act, but adds the very specific flavor profile of marijuana. Although the perfect balance for a great cocktail can be found using an array of different specific ingredients, certain flavors are already beginning to stand out as favorites.

Citrus flavors like grapefruit, lemon and lime are among the most common popular ingredients in many cannabis cocktail recipes. Grapefruit drinks, like Wunder’s Grapefruit Hibiscus sparkling — its most popular and award-winning flavor, according to Popsugar — are sought-after flavors. Its bright acidity and slight bitterness likely helps compliment the flavor of the cannabis while also balancing the flavor profile of the overall drink.

Amy Reid is serious about medical marijuana.

She’s a Wichita registered nurse and president of the Kansas Cannabis Coalition. She describes herself as a cannabis navigator for her patients, and she is all business when it comes to advocating for medical weed. I couldn’t help but chuckle when she told me the name of a sister organization, the Kansas Cannabis Chamber of Commerce. She asked me what was so funny.

Um, the name, I said, guilty as a schoolboy. The hard K, the alliteration, all ending with “chamber of commerce.” It was like no chamber I’d ever heard of, but the only one I might want to join.

It’s not funny, Reid told me. There are people in Kansas who need medical marijuana to relieve their pain, especially from cancer, and it’s far better than using opioids. It was an outrage, she said, that somebody living on the Missouri side of the river in Kansas City had safe and legal access to medical marijuana, while just a couple of blocks away in Kansas the same patients risk a felony conviction.

“We are simply asking our lawmakers to allow Kansas residents access to the therapeutic effects of this amazing plant,” Reid told me. “Three of our four neighboring states allow this, and it’s time Kansas stepped out of the ‘Reefer Madness’ mentality and allowed patients to have a choice.”

“My relationship with cannabis has changed a lot over the years, as has the flower itself, as well as its perception in pop culture and in society as a whole. The industry has also changed a lot, same as the science behind the plant,” declares rapper G-Eazy (born Gerald Earl Gillum) during an exclusive interview.

As a teen, Gerald conceived cannabis as a drug, a fun, rebellious thing to do and nothing else. Still, he loved the “alien, wonderful” feeling he got from consuming it since day one. (As originally seen on Benzinga by: Javier Hasse)

Notwithstanding, G would remain in the proverbial cannabis closet for years. He didn’t want his mother to find out he was smoking weed as a youngster.

“The irony was my mom had also been hiding it for me,” he quickly adds, laughing. “Obviously, later, I hit a point with my mom where we finally came clean to each other and we had a ceremonious smoking experience together, which was pretty awkward at the time. But now it's something we share; it’s a really positive thing. Cannabis can be a connector that brings people together.”

Nowadays, G, who leads an extremely active lifestyle, uses cannabis to help him decompress and sleep. At the same time, he consumes marijuana to stimulate creativity in the studio.

Here’s an interesting fact for your next Zoom call “ice breaker,” an 800-pound cow will produce about 100 pounds of poop a day.

There are about 9 million dairy cows in the United States at any given time, producing about 900 million pounds of poop a day. Second in volume only to the House and Senate. ( As ori

It’s a lot of poop, and of course one of the results of their waste is methane.

Before we all get on our Impossible Burger soapboxes, there are technologies available today that are harvesting the power of cow poop to help capture methane gasses, recycle water for farms, and even create fertilizer that is cleaner and more abundant than peat moss and other fertilizer components. 

Yes, there is a peat moss shortage.

Investing in cannabis stocks can be like looking for a goose that lays golden eggs -- but finding only lemons much of the time. Between the ever-present hype about questionable companies and the industry's struggles with efficiency, even savvy buyers can make mistakes; I know I've made a few! 

The good news is that becoming a wiser investor is easier than it may seem. And today, I'll be sharing four of my best tricks for identifying the best marijuana stocks so that you'll be equipped to succeed.

Now that recreational use of cannabis is legal in New York, what happens to the records of individuals convicted of marijuana related charges?

With the passing of the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act in March, marijuana-related convictions that are no longer criminalize in New York will be automatically expunged.

However, the caveat is that legislation allows the New York State Office of Court Administration up two years to expunge the records.

This is New York State Senator Jeremy Cooney, who represents New York’s 56th Senate District is hosting an expungement clinic on Saturday in Rochester to give folks an opportunity to speak with legal experts for free about their case and how they can expedite the process.

“They can give applicants the best advice on how to position themselves, how to be honest with employers, and a realistic time table in removing the offense off their record,” said Cooney.

Hemprise launched in 2019 with the purchase of 25 acres of land in southern Indiana that will eventually house what the company claims will be one of the largest hemp processing facilities in the U.S. with 100,000 square feet of processing space when completed. (Photo courtesy of Hemprise)

The company is completing phase I of the buildout, which consists of a 10,000-square-foot workshop on about half of the property located in Jeffersonville. Hemprise plans to launch phase II of construction when cannabidiol (CBD) is a federally regulated ingredient for food, beverages and dietary supplements, according to Zheng Yang, the company’s general manager.

After the markets close Sept. 21, Aurora Cannabis (NASDAQ:ACB) will release results for its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended June 30. The troubled Canadian pot company's stock is already down by about 20% year to date -- a sharp contrast to the sector benchmark Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences ETF, which is up 5% -- and the upcoming report could be pivotal in determining whether the share price gets out of the red for 2021. Investors aren't expecting to see Aurora turn a profit in the final quarter of its fiscal year, but there are other ways that the company can show it is making progress. Here are the three main areas you should keep a close eye on when the company reports next week.

Sonoma County cannabis growers and their allies gathered by the dozens Friday outside the Board of Supervisors’ office in Santa Rosa to denounce the county’s handling of commercial cannabis regulation and taxation, calling it overly burdensome and costly.

Taxes levied by the county are excessive, growers say, and a slow, convoluted local permitting process has hampered the expansion of their industry since California voters legalized adult-use recreational marijuana in 2016.

Without major changes, growers will be chased off or forced back into the black market, they say.

“They’re overburdening us with unachievable regulations,” said David Drips, a co-owner of cannabis farm Petaluma Hill Farms and co-organizer of Friday’s protest, which drew about 80 people.

Tensions have mounted between farmers and neighbors over safety, water use and other impacts on neighborhoods. The county has agreed to study those impacts in an lengthy environmental report advanced by supervisors in May and likely to take at least a year to complete.

In a live-streamed event, NBA star Al Harrington, four-time Grammy-award winner Drake, world champion boxer Badou Jack, rapper & activist Killer Mike, Meek Mill, NFL player Julio Jones and NBA star John Wall and others announced on Tuesday that they’d co-written and signed a letter to President Joe Biden requesting a general pardon for “all persons subject to federal criminal or civil enforcement on the basis of a nonviolent marijuana offense.”(Photo by David Becker/Stringer/Getty Images)

What Happened

The letter to President Biden, spearheaded by Weldon Angelos of the Weldon Project/Mission Green and Academy for Justice Director Erik Luna, includes signatures from some 150 artists, athletes, producers, lawmakers, law enforcement officials, academics, business leaders, policy experts, reform advocates and other professionals.

The stories of those this will help are compelling, Angelos told Benzinga, noting that Drake, Lil Baby, Meek Mill, Killer Mike and dozens of other hip-hop artists signed on the letter in support of their friend and fellow rapper Ralo, who is facing 8 years for a nonviolent marijuana offense.

“I appreciate my friends and peers in the hip-hop community, such as Drake & Killer Mike, for supporting my clemency because it’s just not right that corporations are allowed to violate federal law and become millionaires while people like myself go to prison for years,” Ralo said. “This is hypocrisy. But I am hopeful that Joe Biden will honor his campaign promise and grant us clemency, without delay, so that we can return home to our families and communities.”

Angelos added, “The long-term effects on the formerly incarcerated for federal marijuana convictions go beyond the prison walls, making it difficult if not impossible for someone to get a job, have access affordable housing, educational loans etc. They’re limited in so many ways that people don’t realize when they just want to begin again and contribute to society. Enough is enough. No one should be locked up in federal prison for marijuana.”

There’s nothing worse than taking a smooth hit only to be greeted by the taste of resin and dust. Not only does unkempt herb gear soil even the highest grade of flower, but it also stinks up your home and clothing. Avoid harsh hits and foul odors by sticking to a habit of cleaning all your favorite pieces.

Keeping your smoking accessories clean is an essential step in any seasoned stoner’s routine. Some smokers opt for rinsing out the rig after every session, while others commit to a thorough cleaning session every so often. Whichever practice you choose, cleaning your accessories involves a few essential tools and steps. Consider this complete guide to cleaning your cannabis gear.

How to clean a dab rig

Wax concentrates quickly build up in the intricate percolators of a dab rig. To loosen up the herbal gunk, you can use a few things. Start by bringing water to a boil and let it cool for a few minutes before adding it to the piece. Cover the nail space and mouthpiece with a paper towel or plastic wrap and shake roughly for a few minutes. Once the resin is dissolved, pour out the solution and wipe clean.

If your rig requires a more heavy-duty method, swap out the hot water with room-temperature isopropyl alcohol. Add a bit of salt to exfoliate stubborn wax and shake until the rig is cleaned. By regularly cleaning your piece, you can keep hand-blown rigs like those from MJ Arsenal looking good as new.