Top Stories (2026) -
(209 items)
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| Feb 20, 2026 |
Florida Supreme Court Considers Appeal to Put Marijuana on State Ballot Efforts to legalize recreational cannabis in Florida remain active as the state’s highest court weighs whether to take up a key appeal that could determine if voters see the issue on a future ballot. The Florida Supreme Court is reviewing a request from the Smart and Safe Florida campaign after roughly 71,000 petition signatures were thrown out. If the justices agree to hear the case and ultimately side with the campaign, the proposed constitutional amendment could move forward to the ballot in November. |
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| Feb 20, 2026 |
The penny shortage is a serious cannabis retail problem President Donald Trump killed the penny. Cannabis retailers need to prevent the coin's gradual disappearance from becoming a problem. |
| Feb 20, 2026 |
Poland Medical Cannabis Market Data Shows Full Post-Ban recovery, With a Catch Polish pharmacies dispensed nearly 5,450 kilograms of dried cannabis flower in 2025, a 12% increase from the prior year, according to new data obtained by Prohibition Partners. By October, monthly volumes had surpassed the pre-ban peak for the first time, reaching a new all-time high in December. |
| Feb 20, 2026 |
Recreational Cannabis Market Report 2026-2035: The recreational cannabis market is poised for growth due to increasing legalization, public acceptance, and demand for high-THC strains and innovative products like premium edibles and vape formats. Opportunities lie in product innovation, expanding digital retail, and capitalizing on changing attitudes toward cannabis use. |
| Feb 20, 2026 |
Four More States Advance Bills To Allow Medical Marijuana Access In Hospitals Lawmakers in multiple states are advancing bills meant to provide patients with access to medical marijuana in health care facilities, with lawmakers from Virginia to Hawaii making the case this week for a policy change they say is necessary to ensure patients have a full range of treatment options at their disposal. |
| Feb 20, 2026 |
Emotional Zombies: How Weed Can Teach Us to Feel (Again) Never before in human history have we been exposed to so many sensory stimuli at once, and never, ever, have we felt so little. We live perpetually overloaded with screens, multitasking, demands for constant performance, and hyperproductivity. Thus, the mind remains permanently switched on, without the possibility of taking restorative breaks. And from so much noise and so little substance, a kind of permanent mental chatter arises that pushes us toward a progressive disconnection from our most basic emotions. |
| Feb 20, 2026 |
OCS issues recall for Cannabis Cartel QUADS’ Dubai Inspired Chocolate
The Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) has issued a recall for Cannabis Cartel QUADS’ Dubai Inspired Chocolate. The OCS says the recall is being conducted as a “precautionary measure following an aflatoxin result identified in the non-cannabis, un-dosed chocolate ingredient.” The products were packaged on September 30, 2025 and November 27, 2025 with the UPC#: 00846067004731. |
| Feb 20, 2026 |
Canadian Cannabis Sales Bounced to a New Record Level in December Statistics Canada released December retail sales for the country, with cannabis sales increasing from the November levels, up 5.3% to C$503.7 million, a new record monthly total. This sequential increase was up 1.9% on a per-day basis more due to the higher number of days than in the prior month. November, originally reported at C$477.9 million, was revised slightly higher to C$478.4 million. The sales in December were up 2.9% from a year ago, down from the level in May at 8.3%, from 7.5% in June and the 6.2% in September. This was also down from the 20.3% August 2023 growth rate and better than the prior lowest annual growth rate since legalization commenced of -0.9% in September 2024 and then -1.6% in October due to the BC strike, and it was down substantially from the December 2024 growth of 9.1%. The prior record level in August was only 1.8% above the year-earlier level. In 2024, total sales increased 4.5% to C$5.39 billion, and they were up 4.1% in 2025 to C$5.62 billion. |
| Feb 19, 2026 |
Massachusetts Considers Freezing Issuance of Marijuana Cultivation Licenses Cannabis stores across Massachusetts are moving more product than in previous years as the number of licensed businesses reaches a record high in what has become a $1.6 billion annual industry. Even so, regulators are weighing a temporary halt on new cultivation licenses as growers grapple with falling wholesale and retail prices. |
| Feb 19, 2026 |
Satiety Bypass: How Cannabis Overrides the Brain’s "I’m Full" Signal Summary: The urgent, ravenous onset of "the munchies" after cannabis use is no longer just a cultural trope—it is a measurable cognitive phenomenon. A collaborative study has pinpointed exactly how THC overrides the brain’s natural "I’m full" signals. |
| Feb 19, 2026 |
Marijuana Legalization Is On The Ballot In Texas During The Primary Election That’s Happening Now Texas voters who go to the polls for the primary election that’s currently underway have the opportunity to weigh in on whether marijuana should be legalized in the state—at least if they select a Democratic ballot. |
| Feb 19, 2026 |
BC's cannabis scene navigates a market built for bigger players British Columbia has the highest per capita growers in all of Canada, with a cannabis culture that spans decades. There's a whole constellation of small, craft, local growers that have morphed their old ways into the new legal ones, and the quality old clients were used to can now be partially found in licensed retailers. Holly and Cam met because of, or perhaps thanks to, cannabis, and their union gave birth to Sassy Weed, a micro processor-cultivator based in BC. |
| Feb 19, 2026 |
Cannabis: What Is the Profile of Adults at Low Risk of Dependence? A new study led by Marie-Pierre Sylvestre, professor at the Université de Montréal School of Public Health, examines cannabis use 4 to 5 years after Canadian legalization by adopting a different perspective: rather than focusing solely on at-risk cases or those associated with problems, it identifies the socio-demographic, mental health, and lifestyle profiles of those who present a low risk of cannabis use disorder (CUD). |
| Feb 19, 2026 |
Hunting for the world's most mythical cannabis: Big Sur Holy Weed California is racing to save iconic cannabis strains before legalization kills them |
| Feb 18, 2026 |
RCMP shares "blunt truth" about organized crime and the Canadian cannabis market The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have shared a new document about how organized crime groups exploit the cannabis market as part of its online section dedicated to federal policing and organized crime. |
| Feb 18, 2026 |
Virginia Cannabis Sales Bill Moves to Senate Floor for Consideration Virginia legislators have moved closer to creating a legal retail cannabis market, advancing a revised Senate proposal. The updated bill cleared the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee on a 7 to 5 vote, sending it to the full Senate for debate. Meanwhile, House members are preparing to debate their companion bill. |
| Feb 18, 2026 |
Cannabis jobs used to pay well. Now minimum wage is catching up. When it comes to paying her employees, Jasmine Johnson is one step ahead. Minimum wage in Florida, where the CEO of hemp-derived THC retailer Gud Essence opened her first location in Clearwater, will increase from $14 to $15 an hour Sept. 30. But Johnson already pays front-line employees significantly more – and people appear to have noticed. |
| Feb 18, 2026 |
Arizona Senators Take Up Bills To Criminalize 'Excessive' Marijuana Smoke, Even On Private Property Arizona lawmakers are considering at a pair of measures that would make the act of creating "excessive" amounts of marijuana smoke a nuisance crime punishable by jail time, even if the person is using cannabis in compliance with state law in their own homes. |
| Feb 18, 2026 |
Costa Rica opens applications for medical cannabis, hemp permits Costa Rican companies and individuals interested in developing activities related to hemp for food and industrial use and psychoactive cannabis for medicinal and therapeutic use will now be able to manage permits digitally. |
| Feb 18, 2026 |
Two years of legal cannabis from specialized retail stores: Swiss pilot project shows positive effects For more than two years, the scientific pilot project "Grashaus Projects" has been underway in the Swiss canton of Basel-Landschaft. The study examines the regulated, legal sale of recreational cannabis to registered participants through licensed specialty stores, operating under clear legal requirements and providing individualized professional counseling. Implemented operationally by the Sanity Group under the scientific leadership of the Swiss Research Institute for Public Health and Addiction (ISGF), the project is now delivering robust, up-to-date data on how controlled access to recreational cannabis can function in practice. The central findings: legal specialty stores can help push back the illicit market, strengthen consumer competence, and promote harm-reducing behavior - factors that are highly relevant both for Switzerland's ongoing legislative process on cannabis legalization and for Germany. |