Global Ganja Report

With growing legal and cultural space for cannabis, can the mere smell of the stuff still be sufficient cause for a search that could potentially land you in jail? The answer is that the courts are divided on this question. Meanwhile, cannabis attorneys warn against the fatal error of consenting to a search.

The boom in "gray market" cannabis street sales in the Big Apple since legalization took effect in New York state has now reached the point of actual unlicensed and unregulated storefront dispensaries—which are apparently tolerated. This development is raising skeptical eyebrows from aspiring cannabis entrepreneurs still waiting for Albany to put a regulation structure in place.

A multimedia extravaganza on the history, culture and politics of the cannabis plant opens in New York City next month.

It is certainly a propitious moment for a theatrical concert celebrating cannabis to hit New York's off-off-Broadway scene, as the Empire State this year actually legalized.

Five years in the making, Cannabis! A Viper Vaudeville seeks to be didactic as well as fun, tracing the plant from its origins on the remote steppes of Central Asia straight through the hip-hop culture that animates the show.

New York's new Gov. Kathy Hochul is hyping the coming cannabis boom in the state — although no adult-use licenses have yet been issued, and the bureaucracy is just starting to move on this. Meanwhile, the cops in Gotham City are turning a blind eye to small outfits that are setting up tables in the parks and on the sidewalks, selling edibles, extracts and bud. How long will this utopian free-for-all last?

The horrific and deepening crisis at New York City's principal jail, Rikers Island, was crystalized by the 11th death at the facility this year — that of Isaabdul Karim. Despite a supposed official policy of drawing down the number held at the facility in preparation for its closure, it turns out he was only being held for parole violations. And, despite New York state's new legalization law, one of these concerned cannabis use. Are there others similarly held on cannabis-related violations at the facility that has been called a "moral stain" on the Big Apple?

Military veterans continue to be denied much-needed treatment by the VA because of their cannabis use, even in states that have legalized. While there has been some progress on the question, vets are still being cut off—amid a combined national crisis of veteran suicides and opioid abuse.

New York City's Happy Munkey "cannabis lifestyle purveyor" held two after-hours affairs this month at the East River waterfront venue hosting the popular Immersive Van Gogh exhibit. The twin soirées were seen as marking the arrival of an open presence for cannabis in the Big Apple's vaunted cultural life.

After years of activist effort, New York state finally passed the Marijuana Regulation & Taxation Act (MRTA), signed into law by a politically besieged Gov. Andrew Cuomo. This is being hailed as a victory by advocates, who pledge to craft a model of legalization that will dismantle a long legacy of racism and oppression under the prohibition regime.