Global Ganja Report

Some states that have legalized cannabis are seeing a surge in the illicit market—and attendant police raids and repression. The dystopia that legalization was supposed to leave behind has proved disconcertingly persistent. But is the problem, as conservatives claim, legalization itself—or that is hasn't gone far enough?

Paul Krassner, the legendary underground-press publisher, counterculture comedian, and the man credited with naming the Yippies, died July 21 at his home in Desert Hot Springs, Calif. He was 87 years old, and still active in radical press endeavors.

Activists in North Dakota are heartened by the state's recent reduction of cannabis penalties, but insist that (contrary to media reports) it is not true decriminalization. And they are gearing up a new effort to get a legalization initiative approved in next year's elections.

With industry waiting on the FDA to issue regs for CBD products, the agency instead released a statement explaining why it has not yet done so—including fears that the trendy cannabinoid may cause liver damage. But advocates charge that the claim is based on faulty research.

In a Capitol Hill hearing that advocates hailed as “historic,” numerous Congress members openly embraced lifting the federal strictures on cannabis—and even outright legalization. The discussion was particularly framed in terms of recognizing and correcting the racial and social iniquities of cannabis prohibition and the "war on drugs."

Manufacturers of vape cartridges filled with cannabis distillate for "dabbing" are facing something of a crisis as the market is flooded with counterfeit products. These contraband knock-offs are apparently fooling many consumers—but may contain toxin-laden and adulterated substances. Industry voices are urging buyers to beware.

The arrival of 7-10 as a special day to celebrate extracts and concentrates marks the growing embrace of "dabbing" by the cannabis community. But the laws governing such products and especially their production vary from state to state. And the real risks continue to garner grim headlines that cast the cannabis industry in a very poor light.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) last month issued its World Drug Report 2019—its 22nd annual survey of production, trafficking and eradication and enforcement efforts around the world. In addition to providing figures on cocaine and opiates, the report seeks to quantify the amount of cannabis cultivated in each producer country.