Tag Archives: marijuana

Gothamist reports: New York City’s first licensed, recreational marijuana dispensary opened in the East Village Thursday afternoon, and other legal shops will follow in the coming weeks and months. Nobody is pretending the ability to buy weed at NYC stores is exactly new. Mayor Eric Adams recently announced a crackdown on the multitude of bodegas and smoke shops selling unregulated …

Politico reports: Ill-fated hopes that a Democratic-controlled Washington might loosen decades-old restrictions on the drug have given way to a market glut and plummeting prices that have put scores of businesses at risk of collapse. In Colorado, prices have dropped by 51 percent over the last two years. The price of a pound of weed has plunged by 36 percent …

The Hill reports: Marijuana advocates and executives are up in arms after opposition from Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) resulted in Congress failing to pass a key cannabis banking bill, dealing a massive blow to the industry. The $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill unveiled Tuesday includes all kinds of expenditures, but it does not include the SAFE Banking Act, …

Rupert Murdoch’s Page Six reports: We’re told Carlson invited heavyweight legend Mike Tyson to stay at his home before the champ appeared on his Fox Nation streaming show “Tucker Carlson Today.” But insiders say that Tyson thought he’d have to turn down the hospitable offer because he has a heavy weed habit and didn’t want to impertinently hotbox Carlson’s tastefully …

“Let’s go through the pros and cons of smoking marijuana. The pros: food tastes tastier, music sounds better and nature is more impressive. “Cons: It kills your sperm, girls don’t dig it, the scene isn’t as cool as people think it is. If you’re an athlete, it affects your conditioning. It stays in your system and it kills your brain. …

Axios reports: A bipartisan group of senators plans to attach significant marijuana legislation to “must-pass” year-end bills, Axios has learned. The group, led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), has the Justice Department’s blessing for legislation letting cannabis companies access banking institutions, and creating grants for state expungement of past marijuana convictions. In an email reviewed by Axios, the …

Marijuana Moment reports: Congressional lawmakers held a hearing on Tuesday to discuss federal marijuana legalization and state cannabis developments, hearing testimony from a panel of broadly pro-reform advocates. Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), who as a former chairman of the House Rules Committee regularly blocked cannabis amendments from advancing to the floor for votes, delivered a series of prohibitionist talking points …

ABC News reports: Voters approved recreational marijuana in Maryland and Missouri but rejected it in two other states, signaling support gradually growing for legalization even in conservative parts of the country. The results mean that 21 states have now approved marijuana’s recreational use. Arkansas and North Dakota voters rejected legalization proposals in Tuesday’s elections. A similar initiative went before voters …

Gothamist reports: Sean “Diddy” Combs is jumping into New York’s cannabis industry with a $185 million deal — a strong foothold that would also create the largest Black-owned cannabis company in the U.S. Combs is planning to purchase marijuana production facilities and retail shops in multiple states, including New York, from cannabis giants Cresco and Columbia Care, according to an …

Bloomberg News reports: Weed is coming to US gas stations. Green Thumb Industries Inc., one of the largest US cannabis producers, signed a deal with Circle K, the global convenience-store chain, to sell licensed marijuana at its Florida gasoline retailers. The partnership will begin next year with 10 of the company’s 600 locations in the state, Green Thumb said. The …

NBC News reports: Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on Tuesday set a statewide election for March 7 for voters to decide whether to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, a question Democrats had hoped would be on the November ballot to help energize liberal voters. Oklahomans for Sensible Marijuana Laws gathered enough signatures to qualify the question for a statewide vote …

Axios reports: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott won’t consider pardons for low-level marijuana offenders despite President Biden’s call for governors to do so. “Texas is not in the habit of taking criminal justice advice from the leader of the defund police party and someone who has overseen a criminal justice system run amuck with cashless bail and a revolving door for …

The Hill reports: Republican Rep. Nancy Mace (S.C.) on Thursday applauded President Biden’s decision to pardon all individuals convicted of simple possession of marijuana under federal law, giving the White House “credit where credit is due.” “I want to give credit where credit is due. I don’t always agree with the Biden administration, I’ve been very vocal about that, but …

The Associated Press reports: President Joe Biden is pardoning thousands of Americans convicted of “simple possession” of marijuana, as his administration takes a dramatic step toward decriminalizing the drug and addressing charging practices that disproportionately impact people of color. He is also calling on governors to issue similar pardons for those convicted of state marijuana offenses, which reflect the vast …

The Hill reports: Pennsylvania Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman called on President Biden to deschedule marijuana, with a goal of ultimately decriminalizing the drug, ahead of Biden’s visit to the state next week. Biden is expected to travel to Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, two key swing states, on Labor Day ahead of the November midterms. “It’s long past time that we …

The New York Daily News reports: State regulators approved rules Thursday governing New York’s soon-to-begin retail cannabis sales, ensuring the first batch of licenses will go to business owners with past pot convictions. Under the state’s Seeding Opportunity Initiative, between 100 and 200 dispensary licenses could be issued by this fall, with sales allowed before the end of the year. …

NBC New York reports: The New York City Sheriff’s office seized at least a dozen trucks operating for Weed World Candies, which may or may not be shopping more than CBD products, for outstanding parking tickets totaling a half-million dollars. Twelve trucks were towed from the area of 45th Street and 12th Avenue in Manhattan and officials said more were …

The New York Daily News reports: Mayor Adams promised Friday to not take a “heavy-handed” approach toward those who sell marijuana illicitly in the city and gave New Yorkers his blessing to smoke more pot. While New York legalized recreational weed use last year, the licensing system that’s supposed to regulate cannabis sales isn’t expected to kick off until late …

The New Jersey Advance reports: New Jersey legal weed sales topped $24 million in the first month of the roll out at a dozen locations, according to the state Cannabis Regulatory Commission. Actual receipts reported to the CRC showed $24,201,875.38 million in recreational weed sales from April 21 to May 21. Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposed $48.9 billion budget for the …

The Huffington Post reports: Even though a supermajority of Americans say marijuana should be legal for adults and the House has passed a bill to legalize it, major cannabis reform remains unlikely this year. Why? Because Republicans and a few Democratic senators don’t want to do it. “Marijuana? I haven’t even thought about marijuana. Jesus Christ, you smoking?” Sen. Joe …