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Alabama Governor Kay Ivey is still reviewing a medical marijuana bill that would allow registered patients with qualifying conditions to safely access and use medical cannabis. If Ivey signs the bill into law, Alabama would become the 37th state in the U.S. to legalize medical marijuana. Learn more in the video above.

Ivey on Thursday signed three bills into law, including legislation for wine delivery and permanent daylight saving time.

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COMPASSION ACT SUMMARY

Qualifying for the Program

Legal Protections

Physicians’ Role and Regulation

Click here to read the full breakdown of the bill.

Job growth for the United States in April 2021 might not have quite matched expectations with a disappointing increase of 266,000 jobs and an unemployment rate rise for the first time since 2020, but executive search and staffing firm Cannabiz Team’s latest Cannabis Industry Salary Guide for Q2 2021 tells a different story for the cannabis market. With 320,000 full-time cannabis jobs in the U.S., the cannabis industry ranks as the fastest-growing industry in America. As cannabis legalization spreads, projections have cannabis hitting $35 billion dollars in sales and providing 500,000 full-time jobs by 2024.

It’s entirely likely you or someone you know has made the unfortunate and all-too-easy party blunder of imbibing too much alcohol and then adding cannabis to the mix. What seems like a natural social combination of a few drinks and a few joints can quickly turn into nauseous, seemingly unending awfulness. The effects of both cannabis and alcohol can creep up on you unexpectedly, as your body interacts with the intake of chemicals at different speeds. I’ve certainly questioned on many a dark morning the plausibility of ever combining the two reliably, under any circumstances. The jury’s still out.

In the meantime, I can report firsthand that enjoying the two individually is the best plan. To take it even further, you can replace an alcoholic beverage with cannabis-infused mocktails, which is beneficial to your body, as opposed to the known havoc wreaked by alcohol. Instead of drinking a numbing poison for kicks, there is now the option of enjoying a plant that has been used throughout recorded civilization as a holistic natural medicine.

The question is, however, how can you enjoy cannabis consumption as innocuously and acceptably as drinking an alcoholic beverage?

Welcome to the world of “mocktails”: cannabis-infused drinks that are a delicious, effective and subtle alternative to an alcoholic beverage. Take extra care when drinking cannabis, as liquids are processed more quickly by your body than edibles, so you may feel the effects in as little as 10-20 minutes. Let it ride for at least 45-90 minutes before drinking more, to be on the safe side.

Remember: you can always drink more, but you cannot go back in time and drink less.

The U.S. is in a unique position right now to make drastic policy changes that will continue to benefit the country for decades to come.

You or someone you know wants the United States government to legalize marijuana. In fact, it’s more likely than not that most of the people you rub elbows with on any given day support ending federal pot prohibition.

The latest poll from the Pew Research Center finds that 91% of the population now thinks Uncle Sam should end cannabis criminalization across the board and allow it to be used for therapeutic purposes. They also think it should be taxed and regulated like alcohol and tobacco. This means only 1 in 10 Americans believe marijuana should remain classified as an illegal drug, and that most of the population considers it ridiculous to keep policing it.

Photo by RobinOlimb/Getty Images

So, hey, someone should let the federal government know that the country is primed for legal weed. Because the inner workings of that rusty machine are not likely to come to terms on this issue anytime soon.

US medical cannabis company MedPharm has been awarded a research grant to evaluate cannabinoid product label claims of potency.

The three-year study funded by the state of Colorado will delve into trends in consistency between laboratories, shelf life and label accuracy within product categories.

“The proposed work will allow a direct comparison of product content to product labels, enabling an independent quantification of any systematic biases that may exist across product types or testing facilities,” said MedPharm Director of Chemistry Dr. Tyrell Towle.

As well as help informing regulators on any potential issues and helping to shape policies and procedures for testing and dosing, the results will also be of interest to medical cannabis patients and scientists – they will be made public.

Dr. Towle says there have been no previous studies systematically testing the full range of cannabis products sold in Colorado’s retail market.

ALMOST 40% OF Irish people believe cannabis should be legalised for recreational use and there is an overwhelming support for the medical use of cannabis. 

New polling by Red C on behalf of The Journal shines a light on the nation’s views on legalising cannabis, with only 4% of people opposed to the medical use of cannabis.  

At present, the use of four cannabis-based products is allowed in Ireland in strict circumstances and under a pilot scheme.

There is near uniformity across different age groups in believing that medical use should be legal, but opinions vary on whether recreational use of cannabis should be permitted. 

A majority (56%) of 18-34 year olds believe that cannabis should be legalised for both medical and recreational use while this drops to just 21% for those aged over 55. 

On Thursday 15 April, a crucial summit hosted by the Centre for Medicinal Cannabis convened to shape the future of medical cannabis in Britain. Medical cannabis has been lauded as an industry-creating, health-changing, and socially progressive medicine, but the UK has had anything but a smooth transition of medical cannabis from experimental agent to licensed medicine.

Understanding how this group of medicines has developed in the UK is key to understanding where they are heading, and most importantly how best to foster productive interventions for the medical cannabis industry, the clinical space, and above all the benefit of patient care.

Cannabis in the UK

Prior to 2018, cannabis was not a considered a medicine in the UK. Under the Misuse of Drugs Act, cannabis possession was illegal, supply and distribution were strictly limited to the research sphere and no prescriptions had been written of dispensed on UK soil to date. This contrasted greatly with the regulatory landscape in the USA and Canada, where for a decade the prescription and dispensation of medical cannabis has been common practice and very much in the lexicon and formulary of clinicians.

That all changed in November 2018, when Charlotte Caldwell, whose unwell son Billy had been successfully treated with medical cannabis in Canada, sought to return to British soil and continue their lives at home with an ongoing prescription. When Caldwell and her son returned to the UK, his cannabis-based medicine was confiscated at the UK border. Billy fell desperately unwell and was admitted to Great Ormond Street Hospital. With the assistance of a group of experts, Charlotte was able to make contact with the Home Secretary, and after a matter of days the law was changed. Cannabis was moved from a schedule 1 drug, which could not be prescribed under any circumstances, to a schedule 2 drug, meaning it could now be prescribed by a specialist doctor within their area of expertise. The Centre for Medicinal Cannabis was born. Billy was reunited with his medicine, thankfully recovered, and now enjoys a life at home with his mother.

Policy changes

The Centre for Medicinal Cannabis continues to advocate for policy changes which bring the right medicines to the right patients in a way that is transparent, fair and measured. We anticipated an increase in the prescribing of cannabis-based medicines across the UK, but to this date this has not occurred to any significant level. We knew that this would not be immediate. However, after over two years the number of prescriptions written in the UK for such is barely out of triple figures. Any prescriptions written are largely within the small private sector, not the NHS as we would have expected.

Mississippi will remain in the minority of states without a medical marijuana program after the state Supreme Court on Friday overturned an initiative that voters approved last fall — a decision that also limits other citizen-led efforts to put issues on the statewide ballot.

At the heart of the ruling is the fact that initiatives need signatures from five congressional districts to get on the ballot, but because of Mississippi’s stagnant population, the state only has four districts.

Six justices ruled that the medical marijuana initiative is void because the state's initiative process is outdated. Three justices dissented.

The initiative process was added to the Mississippi Constitution in the 1990s as Section 273. It requires petitioners trying to get any initiative on the ballot to gather one-fifth of signatures from each congressional district. Mississippi had five congressional districts at the time that was written. But the state dropped to four districts after the 2000 Census, and language dealing with the initiative process was never updated.

“Whether with intent, by oversight, or for some other reason, the drafters of section 273(3) wrote a ballot-initiative process that cannot work in a world where Mississippi has fewer than five representatives in Congress," Justice Josiah Coleman wrote for the majority in the ruling Friday. "To work in today’s reality, it will need amending — something that lies beyond the power of the Supreme Court.”

Almost every American supports some marijuana legalization, which is nothing short of amazing in these divided times. The only difference is in what exactly they support. Also, the level of support differs depending on the age of the American you ask.

That said, a new report from the Pew Research Center finds Americans largely in agreement about the legalization of marijuana. That’s worthy of note at a time when so many Americans agree over nothing. 

The latest numbers come from an April 2021 study.

In a survey conducted in April 2021, Pew researchers found that 91 percent of adults in the United States say that marijuana should be legal. Of those, 60 percent say they support both legal recreational and medical marijuana. The other 31 percent support legal medical cannabis only.

Notably, only a small number - 8 percent - opposed legal cannabis in any form.

The support numbers are even higher than those seen the last few years in annual Gallup polls, where support for legal marijuana reached 70 percent last year.

Promoters of Medical Cannabis in Missouri said the fledgling business continues to see major success.

Medical Cannabis officials said dispensaries seem to be the only business without a hiring problem.

In fact, they are dealing with the opposite, too many people want to work there.

They said Missouri dispensaries are setting records for tax revenue and it's only going to get better.

The spokesperson for Missouri Medical Cannabis Trade Association, Jack Cardetti, said the revenue has been massive.

Promoters of Medical Cannabis in Missouri said the fledgling business continues to see major success.

Medical Cannabis officials said dispensaries seem to be the only business without a hiring problem.

In fact, they are dealing with the opposite, too many people want to work there.

They said Missouri dispensaries are setting records for tax revenue and it's only going to get better.

The spokesperson for Missouri Medical Cannabis Trade Association, Jack Cardetti, said the revenue has been massive.

Strong support for the legalization of medical cannabis was shown by the candidates from the National Liberation (PLN), Christian Social Unity (PUSC) and Citizen Action (PAC) parties. Of the eleven candidates, eight are in favor, one is against, and no response was received from two other applicants.

In the case of the liberationists, there are two candidates who are deputies and with the power to influence the approval of a bill along these lines. They are Carlos Ricardo Benavides and Roberto Thompson, both green and white legislators. Both are in favor of the initiative promoted by independent legislator Zoila Rosa Volio. File 21,388 was ruled the previous November by the Environment Commission, but since then there has been no progress by the Presidential Office.

“From the beginning I have been in favor of the project of the deputy Zoila Volio on Industrial Hemp and Medicinal Cannabis,” said Benavides. “I consider it a great opportunity for the country to generate wealth and employment in many regions of Costa Rica,” he added.

Other liberationists who agree to legalize medical cannabis are José María Figueres and Rolando Araya. “I would legalize medical cannabis, based on the ample scientific evidence in its favor. In addition, it would authorize the planting of hemp as a profitable alternative for our farmers”, wrote Figueres on his social networks.

For his part, Araya acknowledged being in agreement due to the expert investigations, although he considered the first thing to be to move the country forward. “It’s like the house is on fire and they ask about the color of the curtains, that will be later,” he said.

Having a regulated system of naming cannabis strains takes the pressure off marketing and PR strategists that most consumers feel are coming up with meaningless names.

Cannabis products are named the same way everything else in the world is named. Some names are unusual, some fascinating, some silly, and others logical. Most of these names have a tale behind them.

There are also cannabis strains that are named after the other older strains in the generation. A perfect example of this can be found in the naming system of the Kush varieties. Strains like Sputnik and Pre-98 Bubba Kush were named after unforgettable events in history.

Photo by Zummolo/Getty Images

And finally, we have names that give an idea of the taste or flavor of the product, for example, Sweet Dreams or California Orange, etc.

The Minnesota House of Representatives is planning a Thursday vote on a bill (HF 600) that would legalize adult-use cannabis in the state. The measure is expected to be passed by the House’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) majority in what will be the first cannabis legalization vote by the full legislative body in its history.

Under HF 600, adults 21 and older would be permitted to buy and use up to 1.5 ounces of marijuana for recreational purposes. Adults would also be allowed to cultivate up to four mature and four immature cannabis plants at home. The measure would establish a regulatory framework for the operation and taxation of licensed cannabis businesses. Cannabis taxes raised would be dedicated to youth access prevention and substance abuse treatment programs.

Under current Minnesota law, possession of even small amounts of marijuana is considered a misdemeanor criminal offense, although cases involving less than 42.5 grams of cannabis are punishable by a fine of not more than $200 instead of time in jail.

Additionally, the state has a strictly limited medicinal cannabis program. Patients with one or more of 18 serious medical conditions are eligible for the program with a doctor’s recommendation. Smoking of cannabis flower is not permitted under the state’s medical marijuana program. 

Pending legislation in Nebraska that would have established a medical cannabis industry failed by two votes, a frustratingly tight margin for advocates. The vote needed 33 yes votes to pass, and only received 31, making it unable to break a filibuster. LB 474 is officially off the table. 

Nicole Hochstein, a mother of a child with epilepsy, described herself as: “Devastated. Broken. In pieces because they literally voted my child’s life away” following the missed opportunity.

This isn’t the first time medical cannabis advocates in Nebraska have been let down. Back in September, the ballot measure to legalize medical cannabis through a vote was pulled by the Nebraska Supreme Court, who claimed the measure violated the single-subject rule. This was even after those supporting it had collected 196,000 signatures. 

“It’s beyond frustrating. This is literally our children’s lives here,” Hochstein said.

State Senator Anna Wishart backed LB 474, and now plans to start a petition to add the issue to the 2022 ballot. 

Zimbabwe abolished a rule which requires co-ownership between government and private investors in the cultivation of cannabis for medicinal use, seeking to encourage what the country sees becoming the biggest cash crop.

“Investors can have 100% ownership of their investments and locate their facilities anywhere in the country without prescription,” Douglas Munatsi, chief executive officer of the Zimbabwe Investment & Development Agency, said Wednesday in an emailed statement.

The decision is in line “with government’s investor-friendly stance to attract capital and to be competitive,” Munatsi went on to say by phone.

Zimbabwe sees export earnings from cannabis outstripping those of tobacco this year with sales expected to reach $1.25 billion, according to a Treasury forecast given in November. That may help boost an economy that’s been desperately stretched for some time.

The government also said it will guarantee the protection of property rights and ring fence investments against expropriation. The country in 2000 took over land without compensation from White farmers, displacing almost 4,500 people.

The latest study goes against the grain of previous research that shows how property values increase with the onset of legalization.

Marijuana legalization is happening across the United States. Naysayers have predicted that a veritable apocalyptic moment is coming on the heels of the movement, screaming about how ending marijuana prohibition would increase crime, minor consumption rates and contribute to the overall decline of civil society. Yet, the only thing that most of these people have proved is that they are no Nostradamus.

Marijuana legalization is working for the most part, and it hasn’t led to any drastic uprising in dread and downtrodden. However, if there has been a downfall to this progress, it’s that it seems to be lowering property values in neighborhoods that open dispensaries.

A recent study in the journal Regional Science and Urban Economics found that Washington state, one of the first jurisdictions to legalize for recreational use, has experienced a decline in property values in districts with cannabis dispensaries. Researchers found a 3-4% decrease in property values in homes that were .36 miles from retail pot shops. Although the study focused specifically on Washington state, it provides a glimpse into what might be expected nationwide as legalization spreads.

Photo by Kindel Media from Pexels

With all the talk of the current devastation to the honeybee community, and the possible repercussions to humanity in general, it makes the small, buzzing creatures a rather important feature in our ecosystem. Honey, much like cannabis, provides all kinds of benefits to health and nutrition, and with a growing interest in cannabis honey, the two are coming together to create some of the best products on the market. If you were unaware of how cannabis and honey go together, read on.

The best thing to hit the world of cannabis isn’t shatter, or live resin, or even THC distillate. It’s delta-8 THC. Unlike delta-9 THC, the standard THC of marijuana, delta-8 THC actually produces slightly less psychoactive effect, causes less anxiety and paranoia, and provides a clear-headed, energetic high. It’s all the good stuff about THC, with less of the issues that cause people problems. If you’ve only heard about it, and never tried it, we’ve got great delta-8 THC deals so you can experience it for yourself.

A little bit about bees

The first thing to know about bees, is that they’re not all the same. When whizzing past your face, they may look the same, but a wasp, a yellowjacket, and a honeybee are all very different species of flying bug. We are most interested in honeybees. There are several types of honeybees, with the most common being Apis mellifera. This specific honeybee is also referred to as the European honeybee, or the Western Honeybee.

As social insects, honeybees reside together in hives, and actually have a pretty intricate communication system between them consisting of dancing movements, which can go in depth enough to explain to other bees exact locations of food sources, their size, and even quality. Each honeybee community has a queen bee, worker bees, and drone bees. Worker bees are female bees that never reach sexual maturity, with the queens being females that are bigger in size. Male bees are called drones.

I could go on talking about the particulars of honeybees, but it’s not terribly important. Here are a few things that are. Bees require two kinds of food. The first is honey, which is made from nectar from flowers. The second is pollen, which comes from the anthers of a flower. This nectar and pollen is individual to each species of flower, and each flower within the species. Most bees will only collect one or the other, pollen or nectar. While collecting, nectar gets stored in a stomach specifically for nectar, from which it is transferred to other bees in the hive to use for honey production. This is separate from the bee’s own regular stomach, however, a valve exists between the two so that the bee can use some of the nectar for energy if needed.

Mexico is very close to becoming the third country in the world to legalize all uses of cannabis . The end of the approval process for the Federal Law for the Regulation of Cannabis in Mexico is approaching . Let us remember that the law was approved by the Senate in November 2020 and by the Chamber of Deputies in March 2021.

Due to the multiple modifications and changes that the deputies made to the bill, the bill had to return to the Senate for the changes to be validated and thus finally become a reality.

Back in the Senate, the project seemed to have the necessary consensus to move forward, so much so that it was taken advantage of by two of the three ruling committees; Justice and Legislative Studies.

However, the claim of errors and unconstitutionalities resounded in the leadership of the parliamentary majority, which through Ricardo Monreal completely stopped the advance of the project. In this way, the Senate made changes to the errors claimed, again the bill will go back to the lower house to ratify the modifications.

​What can happen?

There are several scenarios, the first is that the Senate requests, for the fourth time, an extension to the SCJN, hoping that this time will be the last, and that the issue will be discussed again in the next regular period of sessions, that is, of September to December 2021.