Recently, Congress once again extended a ban on the Department of Justice using its funds to prosecute legitimate medical marijuana operations in states that have legalized the drug for medicinal purposes. However, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has asked lawmakers to end this prohibition and allow his prosecutors to go after medical cannabis. [More]
medical marijuana
Medical Marijuana Industry Uneasy About Its Future Under Trump Administration
By 5.15.17
Despite the fact that Congress recently passed a new spending bill that included a provision prohibiting the Department of Justice and Drug Enforcement Agency from interfering in states’ medical marijuana programs, the industry remains wary of President Trump’s administration and its stance on the drug. [More]
Medical Marijuana Safe From DOJ Prosecution — For Now
By 5.4.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Although Attorney General Jeff Sessions is not a fan of marijuana, federal law has prohibited the Justice Department from using any of the funding it receives from Congress to prosecute medical marijuana in any state where it’s legal. Thanks to a new omnibus spending bill that just passed the House and Senate, it’ll stay that way — at least for the moment. [More]
If Feds Crack Down On Recreational Pot, State May Let Marijuana Stores Reclassify As Medical Dispensaries
By 4.12.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
With the shadow of a possible federal crackdown on retail marijuana looming, Colorado lawmakers are taking steps to try to protect the state’s pot businesses by letting them re-classify as medical weed purveyors if the need arises. [More]
Slew Of New Bills Aim To Reform Marijuana Laws At Federal Level
By 3.30.17
While the Trump Administration has hinted at a coming crackdown on non-medical use of marijuana, federal legislators continue to introduce new bills — some with bipartisan support — intended to further legitimize the cannabis industry. [More]
Girl Scout Troop Challenges Pot Dispensary In The Name Of Charity
By 3.10.17
Remember a few years ago when Girl Scouts in San Francisco made headlines for the obviously brilliant move of selling cookies in front of a marijuana dispensary? They’re still allies, and this year, the girls threw down the gauntlet in a charity duel. [More]
New Legislation Seeks To End Federal Ban On Marijuana
By 3.2.17
The same week that the White House likened legalized recreational marijuana to the opioid epidemic, and let it be known that the Justice Department will likely begin cracking down on non-medical pot, a Republican Congressman from Virginia introduced a law that, if passed, would put an end to the federal criminalization of marijuana. [More]
White House May Crack Down On Recreational Marijuana
By 2.23.17
Even though federal law currently prohibits the Justice Department from using any of the funding it receives from Congress to prosecute medical marijuana in 40 states (and D.C., Guam, and Puerto Rico), no law blocks the DOJ from going after recreational marijuana operations, even in the growing number of states where it’s been legalized. This afternoon, the White House likened recreational pot use to the opioid epidemic and hinted that it may opt to crack down on non-medical pot. [More]
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Others Call On Treasury To Make It Easier For Marijuana-Related Businesses To Bank
By 1.3.17
With marijuana now legal — at least for medical purposes — in more than half the states, a small but growing number of federally insured banks have allowed pot retailers and other legitimate marijuana-related businesses to open accounts. Still, some 97% of U.S. banks won’t work with these companies over concerns about the regulatory ramifications, which is why a number of U.S. senators are asking the Treasury Department’s financial crimes division to help the marijuana industry — particularly those businesses that service the industry — move away from being purely cash operations. [More]
Your Marijuana Delivery Service Might Be Extra Busy This New Year’s Eve
By 12.28.16
If you live in a state where marijuana is legal in some form, you might be looking forward to bidding 2016 goodbye and easing into 2017 with your favorite bong or a fresh batch of pot brownies. You won’t be the only one: marijuana deliveries are expected to spike on New Year’s Eve. [More]
Recreational Marijuana Use Just Got Legalized In A Bunch More Places
By 11.9.16
Yesterday, voters in nine states voted on ballot initiatives related to marijuana — decriminalizing it, regulating it, taxing it, or legalizing for either medical or recreational marijuana use. So who voted yay, dude, and who voted nay? [More]
Court Upholds Federal Ban On Gun Sales To Medical Marijuana Cardholders
By 8.31.16
A large number of states have legalized marijuana use for medicinal purposes, even as the federal government continues to maintain that pot is as dangerous and addictive as heroin. However, even though you can’t currently be prosecuted by the feds for properly obtaining medical marijuana in a state like Nevada, your status as a confirmed marijuana user could be used to prevent you from buying a gun. [More]
Appeals Court Tells DOJ To Stop Spending Money Prosecuting Medical Marijuana (For Now)
By 8.17.16
People frequently refer to “legal” medical marijuana in the dozens of states that have approved at least some medicinal use of the drug but as the Drug Enforcement Agency recently made quite clear, the federal government still considers marijuana a Schedule I controlled substance with no proven legitimate medical applications. However, yesterday a federal appeals court reminded the Department of Justice that the law currently limits the government’s ability to prosecute medical marijuana cases in states where it’s allowed. [More]
Of Course There’s A Keurig-Like Machine For Marijuana
By 5.24.16
As with any new consumer industry, now that more people have access to marijuana, there are businesses who want to offer them tools and gadgets to go along with their legal medical or recreational pot. And because consumers love things in pods, there’s a weed vaporizer that’s being called the Keurig machine for marijuana in development right now. [More]
5 Things We Learned About The $300 Billion Painkiller Industry
By 4.28.16
Relieving pain isn’t a simple issue of taking a pill and feeling better. It’s a complicated cornucopia of treatments ranging from over-the-counter remedies to holistic healing to prescription medications, with some $300 billion a year spent each year on painkillers in the U.S. alone. [More]
Is It Inevitable That Big Tobacco Will Shift To Big Marijuana?
By 4.20.16
Four states and Washington, D.C., have already legalized recreational marijuana use, while medical marijuana use is currently legal (or about to become legal) in around 20 states — not to mention the many states that have decriminalized the drug. At the same time, tobacco use continues to decline and the few remaining cigarette giants can only merge with each other so many times. So is Big Tobacco destined to become Big Marijuana? [More]
California Appeals Court Puts The Kibosh On Medical Marijuana Delivery App
By 3.15.16
Californians who were hoping to summon medical marijuana to their homes with the tap of a smartphone app will have to find anther way to get their pot, after an appeals court upheld an injunction against a weed delivery app called NestDrop. [More]
Report: Marijuana Industry Worth $5.4 Billion In 2015, Will Keep On Growing
By 2.2.16
What a difference a few years makes: although marijuana is illegal under federal law, the recreational and legal cannabis industry raked in billions of dollars last year, and it’s only expected to keep on growing (pun totally intended). [More]
