Global Ganja Report

As demands mount for expungement of cannabis convictions in the 10 states that have legalized, as well as in Canada, the cumbersome bureaucracy of court systems is an obstacle. Now San Francisco has teamed with a software company to automate the process—a partnership that could serve as a model for other jurisdictions across North America.

A measure to legalize cannabis in the Aloha State died in the legislature. But Hawaii's long-delayed medical marijuana program is finally taking off—and has now been opened to non-residents.

With rival cannabis legalization bills now pending in Albany, New York state activists are demanding "Day One Equity"—legislation consciously crafted to correct the injustices of the War on Drugs. Advocates and politicians came together to give voice to this demand at a recent forum on Manhattan's Lower East Side.

Sacramento is preparing to unleash the National Guard on small illegal growers in the Emerald Triangle just as it is pushing the "Twin Tunnels" project to facilitate water diversions to Central Valley ag-biz—which is increasingly growing cannabis. Small growers face punitive measures for irresponsible practices while big growers stand to gain from official water diversions that may be ultimately far more irresponsible.

A newly released study from the University of New Mexico actually finds more therapeutic benefits to THC than its sexy sibling cannabinoid CBD. However, the study is based on a single cellphone app—which, for better or worse, is certainly unorthodox methodology.

After a delay of a year beyond what was mandated by the law passed in November 2017, Peru has finally unveiled regulations for its new medical marijuana program. Now the activists who fought for the law say they will keep fighting for what has always been their central demand: the right to home cultivation by patient "associations."

Counterintuitively, the world's top legal cannabis producer, the United Kingdom, is now importing its first shipments of medicinal cannabis prodccts, from Canada and the Netherlands. This is an advance for the UK medical marijuana program, but a proverbial case of "coals to Newcastle"—pointing to the paradoxes of cannabis globalization.

In a sign of progress, the courts are increasingly siding with employees fired for use of cannabis under state medical marijuana programs. The latest such victory comes from Arizona, where precedent has been set. Other states, however, are still awaiting legal clarity on the question.

A former Arizona Walmart employee and card-holding medical marijuana patient who was fired after testing positive for cannabis has won a wrongful termination suit in federal court.