Global Ganja Report

With the Democratic horserace having narrowed into a two-man contest, cannabis voters appear to face a clear-cut choice: Bernie Sanders supports legalization, while Joe Biden has only in recent years come to support decrim. A look at the details, however, reveals that Bernie too has compromised with the Drug War establishment in the past.

If there is one person with a claim to reviving the pharmacopoeia of cannabis in the post-prohibition age—and thereby undermining prohibition's pseudo-scientific foundations—that person was Tod Mikuriya. The Berkeley psychiatrist, who died in 2007, was hailed as the grandfather of the medical marijuana movement, backing up the activists with unimpeachable scholarly chops—to the rage of the Drug War establishment.

As the so-called "Boomers" advance in years, they are using cannabis more, a new study reveals. What may have been a symbol of rebellion and the counterculture in their youth, is increasingly seen as medicine to help deal with the challenges of aging.

One longtime California cannabis activist actually has a legal standard named in her honor. Pebbles Trippet established in the state's courts that the 1996 medical marijuana law implies a right to transport cannabis—a precedent-setting case. And this was but the most notable of her many legal battles.

The legendary hemp crusader Jack Herer drew up a California ballot initiative for a cannabis economy based on maximum freedom. He did not live to see its passage. But amid growing disillusionment with the Prop 64 legalization model, his heirs believe that in 2020, his hour has posthumously arrived.

The race is on as to which state will be the 12th in the union to legalize cannabis. In New Mexico, measures are pending in both houses of the Legislature, and have the support of the governor. However, the Land of Enchantment isn’t just racing against other states, but its own short legislative session.

Today equity is a watchword in the cannabis legalization movement, with state and local governments intentionally crafting models for an adult-use market designed to correct the social harms of prohibition and the war on drugs. But this consciousness is due to the work of many who pushed the issue long before doing so was entirely socially acceptable. Sister Somayah Kambui, a veteran Black Panther turned cannabis advocate, was one of those. And before her untimely death, she won  a groundbreaking "jury nullification" victory, upholding her right to provide cannabis to treat sickle-cell anemia.

A month into legal cannabis in Illinois, Chicago is considering various experimental models for cultivation and retail sales aimed at empowering those communities criminalized under prohibition. Ideas being weighed include a city-owned cultivation coop which residents could join, including the low-income on a "sweat equity" basis.