• California defiant in face of federal move to get tough on marijuana

    It is too early to tell how federal prosecutors around the country will interpret the Sessions memo
    The New York Times (US)
    Thursday, January 4, 2018

    california dispensaryThe sale of recreational cannabis became legal in California on New Year’s Day. Just four days later, the Trump administration acted in effect to undermine that state law by allowing federal prosecutors to be more aggressive in prosecuting marijuana cases. “There is no question California will ultimately prevail,” Gavin Newsom, the lieutenant governor of California, said. “The public has accepted legalization’s inevitability. It will be very difficult for Sessions to bring us back to a mind-set that existed five years or a decade ago.” The head of California’s Bureau of Cannabis Control, Lori Ajax, said legalization would proceed as planned, “consistent with the will of California’s voters.” (See also: Jeff Sessions’ marijuana crackdown makes national legalization more likely)

  • Morocco’s cannabis farmers are radically overhauling their grow methods

    Today, most European consumers increasingly want and expect the famous, prize-winning modern hybrids over the traditional, earthy flavors of the past
    Dope Magazine
    January 2018

    On a recent visit to the Rif region of Northern Morocco, we observed a dramatic and widespread evolution in cannabis cultivation techniques. We have previously reported on the rise of modern hybrid varieties in the Rif, which are rapidly outcompeting the traditional kif landrace. However, these recent developments go far beyond the introduction of new varieties, and point to a potential transformation of the entire industry. There is a clear need for the Moroccan hashish industry to evolve in response to global market pressures. The question of how successful these efforts will be has yet to be answered. But if no gains are made, it seems inevitable that the industry - and the farmers and families whose lives are inextricably entangled with it - will suffer immeasurably.

  • Marijuana stock analysts not too worried about Sessions's order just yet

    The cannabis space has had a huge run, particularly over the past few weeks. Today, this looks like the excuse investors need to take some money off the table
    The Globe and Mail (Canada)
    Thursday, January 4, 2018

    Cannabis analysts weren't too worried for the most part about the decision by Attorney General Jeff Sessions to rescind an Obama-era policy that effectively limited federal enforcement of marijuana laws in states where it was legal. Most industry observers said local governments and state-level AGs are unlikely to crack down in places where weed is already legal, though others warned the move could further hinder the sector's already limited access to traditional banks. Concerned investors sent the Bloomberg Intelligence Global Cannabis Competitive Peers Index down as much as 24 percent before it ended the day 19 percent lower. Canopy Growth Corp., the world's biggest pot company by market value, sank 9.9 per cent in Toronto.

  • Jeff Sessions faces a steep uphill battle in his war on pot

    Beyond public opinion, the burgeoning marijuana industry has already become a potent economic force in the states where it has a foothold
    The Washington Post (US)
    Thursday, January 4, 2018

    Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the repeal of Obama-era rules that set a federal policy of noninterference with state-legal marijuana businesses, setting up a potential clash between the federal government and state authorities backing an increasingly entrenched and popular industry. Rolling back that policy is likely to cause political headaches for the Trump administration given the widespread public support for legalization, the economic clout of the marijuana industry and the supporters legal marijuana businesses have won over in Congress. An October 2017 Gallup poll found a record-high 64 percent of Americans saying they supported marijuana legalization. (See also: Trump Administration takes step that could threaten marijuana legalization movement)

  • Sessions to rescind Cole Memo that kept feds out of legal marijuana states

    The move will leave it to U.S. attorneys where pot is legal to decide whether to aggressively enforce federal marijuana law
    Associated Press (US)
    Thursday, January 4, 2018

    Attorney General Jeff Sessions is rescinding the Obama-era policy that paved the way for legalized marijuana to flourish in states across the country. Sessions will instead let federal prosecutors where pot is legal decide how aggressively to enforce federal marijuana law. The move will add to confusion about whether it’s OK to grow, buy or use marijuana in states where pot is legal, since long-standing federal law prohibits it. It comes days after pot shops opened in California, launching what is expected to become the world’s largest market for legal recreational marijuana and as polls show a solid majority of Americans believe the drug should be legal. (See also: Sessions will end policy that allowed legalized marijuana to prosper | Here's why Trump can't beat pot)

  • Kriminalbeamte fordern regulierten Marihuana-Markt

    Deutschland solle sich ein Beispiel an den USA oder an Portugal nehmen, wo zum Teil eine deutlich liberalere Drogenpolitik umgesetzt werde
    Berliner Zeitung (Germany)
    Donnerstag, 4. Januar 2018

    germany police cannabisDer Bund Deutscher Kriminalbeamter (BDK) hat sich für eine regulierte Legalisierung von Cannabis in Deutschland ausgesprochen. „Es ist an der Zeit, auch hier das Kiffen für Konsumenten vollständig zu entkriminalisieren und einen regulierten Markt für Marihuana zu schaffen“, schrieb der Bundesvorsitzende André Schulz in einem Gastbeitrag für die „Hamburger Morgenpost“. Die Drogenbekämpfung sei mit einem immensen Personalaufwand verbunden, der jedoch nicht zum gewünschten Ziel führe, betont der Hauptkommissar des Hamburger Landeskriminalamts. Tatsächlich befassten sich 70 Prozent der von der Kriminalpolizei erfassten Drogenfälle nur mit den Konsumenten - und nicht mit Dealern und Gruppen organisierter Kriminalität.

  • More banks are welcoming marijuana businesses, federal data shows

    The rise comes despite continued confusion about the federal government's approach to marijuana
    Forbes (US)
    Tuesday, January 2, 2018

    A growing number of banks are willing to open accounts for marijuana businesses. The number of depository institutions that are actively banking the cannabis industry has increased roughly 18% since the beginning of 2017. Last January, 340 financial services providers were banking marijuana businesses. That number rose to 400 by the end of September, according to a report by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). In 2014, the Obama administration's Treasury and Justice Departments issued guidance to banks about how to serve the marijuana industry without running afoul of federal regulators. (See also: Where pot entrepreneurs go when the banks just say no)

  • California's marijuana legalization aims to repair damage from the war on drugs

    It didn't just legalize weed, the state also enacted one of the most progressive criminal justice reforms in the country
    The Huffington Post (US)
    Tuesday, January 2, 2018

    California is now the largest state in the nation to have legal and regulated recreational marijuana. And while that alone is a blow to the prohibitionist policies of the failed war on drugs, a lesser-known provision in the state’s new law, along with efforts in a few local jurisdictions, aims to repair some of the damage that the criminalization of marijuana has done to so many communities. A year ago, voters approved Proposition 64 to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes and reduce criminal penalties for various marijuana-related offenses for adults and juveniles. It also authorized a new process for individuals in the state to get previous marijuana-related convictions retroactively reduced, reclassified as lesser offenses or dismissed altogether.

  • Marijuana legalization 2018: Which states might consider cannabis laws this year?

    This is what's in the legislative pipeline for 2018
    Newsweek (US)
    Tuesday, January 2, 2018

    us 2018 initiativesThe legal marijuana market could blaze across the United States in 2018. At least 12 states are poised to consider marijuana legalization this year, with more possibly joining as legislative sessions continue, making 2018 a potentially pivotal year in the burgeoning bud movement. Some states are even preparing to take unprecedented legislative steps to make marijuana – either recreational or medical – legal and more easily accessible. "With over 60 percent of Americans now supporting the full legalization of marijuana for adults, the momentum behind marijuana law reform will not only continue but increase as we head into 2018," said Erik Altieri, executive director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML)

  • California rings in new year with broad legalization of marijuana

    About 90 businesses receive licenses to sell pot in most populous state
    The Guardian (UK)
    Monday, January 1, 2018

    The arrival of the new year in California brought with it broad legalization of marijuana, a much-anticipated change that comes two decades after the state was the first to allow pot for medical use. The US’s most populous state joins a growing list of other states, and the nation’s capital, where so-called recreational marijuana is permitted even though the federal government continues to classify pot as a controlled substance, like heroin and LSD. Pot is now legal in California for adults 21 and older, and individuals can grow up to six plants and possess as much as an ounce of the drug. But finding a retail outlet to buy non-medical pot in California won’t be easy, at least initially.

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