Global Ganja Report

Inauguration of a global hemp research lab has been announced at Oregon State University, where a multidisciplinary team will be working to establish standards for the worldwide industry.

Colorado has passed a law allowing Amsterdam-style public cannabis smoking in "Marijuana Hospitality Establishments," as well as a measure lowering the penalties for cannabis in quantities exceeding those permitted for the adult-use market.

Colorado's Supreme Court ruled that thanks to the constitutional changes instated by the 2012 cannabis legalization vote, police require probable cause before using drug-sniffing dogs. A dissenting opinion holds that the decision oversteps federal authority, and undermines the jurisprudential basis for Colorado legalization. Are these fears realistic?

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won praise from activists when she decried a white-dominated legal cannabis industry. As if to prove her point, the man she ousted in her 2018 Congressional run, Joe Crowley, is now joining an investment firm linked to the cannabis industry.

Northern Swan, a New York investment house specializing in the cannabis industry, just announced the appointment to two prominent political figures to its advisory board.

A group of attorneys general from 38 states and territories penned an open letter urging Capitol Hill to pass a pending bill to allow cannabis businesses access to the federal banking system.

Idaho is considering legislation that would raise the number of signatures needed to get an initiative on the ballot—in an apparent bid to undercut a medical marijuana legalization effort. Local activists with the Idaho Cannabis Coalition are saying the law would be "tyranny."

With approval of new regs, Alaska is set to become to the first state to officially oversee cannabis use at licensed retail outlets. Municipalities in Colorado and California have pursued this "Amsterdam model" by working around the state law. But The Last Frontier is once again breaking new ground in personal freedom for cannabis tokers.

With Oregon's cannabis surplus so big that authorities estimate 70% of the state's output goes unsold, "craft" producers are calling for a novel solution—allowing export to other states that have legalized.

The cannabis market is flooded in the Beaver State, and that's a real problem for an industry that has seen explosive growth since Oregonians voted to legalize in 2014. But some say this provides an opportunity.