Bill Weinberg's blog

Litigation blocks issuing of retail cannabis licenses in New York

New YorkLegal action has blocked the issuing of several retail cannabis licenses in New York state, with a would-be entrepreneur arguing that equity measures favoring those with in-state cannabis convictions violate the US Constitution’s interstate commerce clause.

Industry peddles 'Pandora's box' of unregulated cannabinoids

Posted on November 22nd, 2022 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , , , , , .

Delta-8The legalization of hemp-derived cannabinoids by the 2018 Farm Bill has left a yawning regulatory gap that is being avidly exploited by purveyors of high-potency edibles and sketchy vape products.


That's the contention of a report just issued by the leading California cannabis trade group, warning that the law inadvertently opened a "Pandora's box" that poses threats to public health.

Ecological cannabis in Massachusetts

Posted on November 9th, 2022 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , , , , , , .

Berkshire budSmall is Beautiful for the Berkshires’ Badass Bud

Nestled in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts is the town of West Stockbridge, where Wiseacre Farm boasts that it is the smallest artisanal cannabis producer in the commonwealth.

New York: the taming of the 'Wild East'?

Posted on September 5th, 2022 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , , , , .

NYCNew York state is just now accepting applications for retail cannabis licenses. But the Big Apple already sees a thriving retail trade in cannabis products, from both storefronts and street stalls—more or less tolerated by authorities. What legal rights do these unlicensed operators have, and will they survive the imposition of the licensing regime?

Cannabis and climate change: challenge for an emerging crop

Planet WatchSome of the key cannabis cultivation zones around the world are also those feeling the earliest and harshest impacts of the impending global climate disaster. How can the global cannabis community respond?

Cannabis! A Viper Vaudeville traces history of plant and culture

Posted on July 20th, 2022 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , .

Baba IsraelNew York’s East Village this summer witnesses the world premiere of a multimedia extravaganza centered on the cultural politics of our favorite herb.

Five years in the making and twice postponed by COVID lockdowns, a theatrical concert dedicated to celebrating cannabis, and raising consciousness around the pant, has opened in New York.

Cannabis! A Viper Vaudeville uses music and projected images as well as dialogue to trace the journey of cannabis from the herblore of ancient India and China through bohemia, prohibition, counterculture and finally legalization.

Oregon's cannabis paradox: legal market depressed; illicit market booms

OregonIndustrial-scale illicit cannabis grow operations are being raided by police in Southern Oregon. Licit-market prices are totally depressed in Oregon, yet the illicit market continues to be evidently lucrative. What explains this contradiction, and what can be done?

Brittney Griner gets her day in court —amid geopolitical intrigue

Posted on June 30th, 2022 by Bill Weinberg and tagged , , , , , , , , , , .

Brittney GrinerUS Olympic gold-medalist Brittney Griner, held in a Russian jail since February, is finally going before a judge. But the trial is looking more and more like a political show.

The odds for justice in Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian Russia are already slim—and especially, we may assume, for a dreadlocked African American icon of the international LGBTQ community. But the war in Ukraine and the geopolitical rivalry between Moscow and Washington are now explicitly at play in the case of Brittney Griner.

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