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Oaksterdam founder and longtime California cannabis advocate Richard Lee passes on at 61

Posted on July 28th, 2025 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , , , .

Richard LeeCalifornia's Oaksterdam University has announced the passing of its founder and longtime activist Richard Lee. As an entrepreneur, Lee opened some of the first Amsterdam-style cannabis coffeeshops in the United States, years before statewide legalization in California—the Blue Sky Coffeeshop and Bulldog Coffeeshop, both in an area near downtown Oakland that became known as "Oaksterdam " He founded Oaksterdam University in 2007, the first brick-and-mortar establishment to offer in-person educational training to those seeking to enter the cannabis industry. The University has graduated over 110,000 students.

Cannabis farm worker detained by ICE speaks out

Posted on July 20th, 2025 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , , .

George RetesUS citizen and Army veteran George Retes on July 16 spoke out after being arrested during an immigration raid at his workplace on a California cannabis farm, stating that he was detained for three days without explanation.

Worker killed as ICE raids California cannabis farm

Posted on July 13th, 2025 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , , , .

CaliforniaICE agents raided a cannabis farm in California's Ventura County July 10, sparking a clash with protesters and resulting in the death of an employee. Agents threw smoke canisters and flash-bangs into a crowd that gathered to confront them as the operation was taking place at Glass House Farms near Camarillo. A farmworker who had apparently climbed onto a roof to evade the agents fell during the chaos, and expired after two days on life support with a brain injury. Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first known person to die during one of the Trump administration's ongoing immigration enforcement operations. Similar confrontations were reported in a raid on a second Glass House Farms facility around 35 miles away in Carpinteria. ICE said that they detained 361 "illegal aliens" in the raids on the two sites. (KABC, LATNYT, SBI, NNN, USATAP)

Marijuana-friendly Mamdani scores in Gotham mayoral primary

Posted on June 26th, 2025 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , .

MamdaniNew York City's Democratic Party primary winner for the 2025 mayoral race Zohran Mamdani was a big supporter of marijuana legalization in New York state when the bill passed in 2021. He's also reportedly a cannabis consumer himself. In 2024, City & State New York said, "Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani enjoys cannabis personally." It's unclear whether Mamdani's ever been asked specifically about his personal use of cannabis. But on the day the Marijuana Regulation & Taxation Act (MRTA) was signed into law by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, March 31, 2021, Mamdani enthusiastically tweeted no less than 11 times. He also made the following memorable floor statement:

Texas political establishment divided by THC

Posted on June 26th, 2025 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , , , , , , .

TexasIn a last-minute move before the measure was to automatically become law, Gov. Greg Abbott on June 23 vetoed Senate Bill 3, which sought to ban the sale of all THC-laden products in Texas, whether Delta-8 and Delta-9. The bill would have also placed greater restrictions on CBD products, such as banning their sale to those under 21. Abbott has called for a special legislative session to revisit the question, which has pitted the hemp industry against the GOP establishment. Abbott's own Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick was a key advocate of the "THC ban." Patrick bashed Abbott over the veto, saying he "wants to legalize recreational marijuana."

Vietnam abolishes death penalty for drug offenses

Posted on June 26th, 2025 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , .

South East AsiaVietnam's National Assembly on June 25 voted overwhelmingly to abolish the death penalty for eight categories of criminal offenses: espionage, bribery, embezzlement, counterfeiting medicines, vandalism of state property, sabotage, acts aimed at overthrowing the government, and drug trafficking. The revised Criminal Code now imposes a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for these offenses. Under transitional provisions, all death sentences handed down before July 1 for these crimes will be automatically commuted to life terms.

Cannabis dreams go up in smoke as Thailand tightens policy

Posted on June 26th, 2025 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , , .

South East AsiaThailand's government on June 26 approved new measures restricting the sale of cannabis to those with a doctor's prescription, in the hope of reining in an industry that officials see as out of control. The public health ministry also says that consumption of cannabis is to be re-criminalized, although a date for that has not been set.

SCOTUS allows family to sue feds over 'wrong house' raid

Posted on June 14th, 2025 by Global Ganja Report and tagged , , , , .

SCOTUSThe US Supreme Court ruled June 12 in favor of an Atlanta family attempting to sue the federal government for damages after their home was mistakenly raided by an FBI Special Weapons & Tactics (SWAT) team.

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