Entries by Elijah Reyes

California’s Craft Cannabis Industry May Soon Collapse

Advocates, local farmers, and company owners pushed for a rewrite of California’s cannabis tax code as they fight to survive in the face of increasing operational and regulatory fees. Participants assembled outside the Capitol in Sacramento to voice their cause and stress that the California cannabis business will fail if prompt action is not taken. […]

Forget the Boston Tea Party. Here comes the California Weed Tax Revolt

Back in 2016, when Californians were asked to legalize marijuana for recreational use, voters were promised that doing so “will incapacitate the black market.” Obviously, that hasn’t happened. The black market is thriving in California — take a look at the illegal grow operation that copsbusted this fall in San Leandro, where at least 100,000 […]

SCIENCE & HEALTHImpact Of Marijuana Legalization On Crime Reduction Is Being Underestimated, New Study Finds

Studies have repeatedly identified an association between the legalizing marijuana and reductions in crime—but the impact of the policy change is being significantly understated because of limitations in the research methodology, a new paper co-authored by a federal official asserts. Most studies looking at crime and cannabis rely on FBI data sourced from local police […]

Newsom vetoes bill that would have allowed cannabis advertising on freeway billboards

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed legislation Friday that would have allowed cannabis products to be advertised on freeway billboards in most of California, a bill that sought to negate a court order in November that had banned the signs. The bill would have permitted marijuana ads on billboards along interstate freeways and state highways that cross […]

California Governor Signs Bill To Allow Medical Marijuana Use In Hospitals For Severely Ill Patients

The governor of California on Tuesday signed a bill to require hospitals to permit medical marijuana use by certain patients. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) approved the legislation, signaling that his prior concerns about an earlier version that he reluctantly vetoed in 2019 have since been resolved. The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Ben Hueso (D), has been […]

Drought, wildfires create new challenges for California cannabis growers

“It’s going to be tight. We’re going to be draining everything by the time this is over,” a cannabis cultivator who doubles as the fire chief said of his receding pond   HUMBOLDT COUNTY, Calif. — Driving through a dense canopy of towering redwood and old growth fir trees in southern Humboldt County, Ryan Hale’s […]

World Anti-Doping Agency to review cannabis ban for athletes

An advisory group to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will review whether cannabis should remain a banned substance, a move that comes after American track and field star Sha’Carri Richardson missed the Tokyo Games after testing positive for it. The scientific review will be initiated next year, WADA said on Tuesday. Cannabis is currently prohibited […]

California completes marijuana regulatory agency merger; new cannabis czar takes over

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Department of Cannabis Control aims to unclog a glut of temporary licenses and transition them to annual permits as well as ease regulatory red tape and financial burdens on businesses. That’s according to spokespeople at the newly established agency, which launched in July and amounts to one of the state’s biggest […]

Senate moves to legalize pot at federal level. What are the chances?

WASHINGTON — The Senate is preparing to wade into a controversial conversation about federal policies on marijuana after Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, a Democrat from New York, released draft legislation this month that would legalize weed at the federal level. The draft bill, known as the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, follows a similar bill […]