Global Ganja Report

New York City's Cannabis Parade, flagship entry in the Global Marijuana March movement and a counterculture event dating back to the early 1970s, this year actually drew mainstream politicians and candidates. Nearly all struck themes of racial justice, emphasizing that a push for legalization in the Empire State must also address the social iniquities of cannabis prohibition and the "war on drugs."

A federal appeals court has turned down a challenge by the cannabis industry to the DEA's official finding that CBD is a controlled substance. But questions about whether CBD should be treated as a controlled substance remain pending at the state level.

Five months into legal cannabis in the Golden State, the temporary licenses issued by authorities to get things off the ground are running out. But the full annual licenses are still being held up by several factors—including the failure of local authorities to approve cannabis operations, and implementation of a "track-and-trace" system to monitor marijuana from seed to sale. 

Zimbabwe, seemingly an unlikely candidate, has just become the second African nation to legalize medical marijuana. The only other African country to have done so is the tiny landlocked mountain kingdom of Lesotho—where cannabis has long been tolerated as an economic mainstay. Given that Zimbabwe is traditionally one of Africa's more closed societies, this is a hopeful sign—both that things are loosening up there after the recent fall of its long-ruling strongman, and for an eventual daylighting of the dagga economy throughout the continent.

The city of Seattle has filed a motion to vacate hundreds of marijuana convictions going back more than 20 years. As these convictions disproportionately affected people of color, this is being hailed as an important step toward "cannabis equity"—implementing legalization in a way that addresses the social injustices associated with prohibition.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the Trump administration's most notorious anti-cannabis hardliner, surprised advocates when he said in Congressional testimony that he believes there may be "some benefits from medical marijuana." But when pressed on whether his Justice Department would continue the Obama-era policy of not enforcing the federal marijuana laws against medical users in states where it is legal, he failed to give a straight answer.

New Mexico is the latest state to announce that it will play host to the biggest legal cannabis grow operation in the United States. But other claims to that title over the past years have still not panned out, and a facility in Arizona now occupies the number one slot. And as various states vie for the honor, Canada is far in the lead of its southern neighbor.

A recent study about the impact of cannabinoids on bone density is raising concerns about possible ill effects on longterm heavy marijuana smokers. Earlier studies, however, showed potential for certain cannabinoids in treating bone fractures. The relationship between cannabis and bone-building function may be more complicated than recent media reports suggest.