Top Stories (2026) -
(419 items)
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| Mar 27, 2026 |
Indiana Governor Blames GOP Leaders For Marijuana Legalization Inaction While ‘Half Of Hoosiers Probably Smoke It Illegally’ The Republican governor of Indiana says the “crescendo will rise” in the call to legalize marijuana, with regional dynamics and even law enforcement buy-in favoring reform down the line. But for now, he says GOP legislative leadership is “not interested in doing anything soon,” even if “over half of Hoosiers probably smoke it illegally.” |
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| Mar 27, 2026 |
CMS to Cover Up to $500 in CBD Health Program
A new initiative by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services could soon allow some patients enrolled in government-backed health insurance programs to receive partial coverage for hemp-based products. The proposal would allow eligible participants to access up to $500 annually in qualifying CBD products, with initial phases possibly starting as early as April 1. |
| Mar 27, 2026 |
State's cannabis industry marks 5-year anniversary with $3.3B in sales, 600 dispensaries ALBANY | Gov. Kathy Hochul marked the upcoming five-year anniversary of the passage of the Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act, which legalized adult-use cannabis, established the Office of Cannabis Management, and laid the foundation for a regulated, equity-driven cannabis industry in New York. Since the launch of adult-use sales, New York’s cannabis market has generated $3.3 billion in total retail sales and expanded to more than 600 licensed dispensaries statewide, with Pure Blossom on Manhattan’s Upper West Side recognized as the State’s 600th licensed retail location. |
| Mar 27, 2026 |
Why does cannabis give people 'the munchies'? One of the best-known side effects of smoking cannabis is "the munchies," or an intense increase in appetite. One minute someone might feel full, and the next they appear ravenous. This effect, known scientifically as cannabis-induced hyperphagia, is powerful enough that for regular marijuana users, it can even cause weight gain, a seven-year analysis found. So what's really going on? Why can cannabis make people want to eat even when they're already full? |
| Mar 27, 2026 |
Congressman Demands Marijuana Rescheduling Update From DOJ, Three Months After Trump’s Executive Order A Democratic congressman is pressing the Department of Justice for answers to a question that’s been on the minds of many Americans since President Donald Trump ordered the quick completion of the marijuana rescheduling process late last year: What’s the hold up? |
| Mar 27, 2026 |
New Zealand sun-grown cannabis site earns endorsement from Columbia University scientist Not every cannabis farm gets visited by a Columbia University professor. Fewer still get singled out as the best place on earth to grow the plant. That is what happened when Colin Nuckolls, an organic chemistry professor at Columbia and one of the most cited independent researchers on cannabis chemistry, toured Puro's K?kereng? farm on the Kaik?ura coast earlier this year. |
| Mar 27, 2026 |
Synthetic seeds show a glimpse of the future for cannabis breeding When tissue culture laboratories first emerged in the 1970s, they quickly became standard infrastructure for propagating tomatoes, corn, and dozens of other crops. Decades of scientific literature followed, refining the formulas and SOPs that made the process reliable at scale. For cannabis, that body of knowledge simply doesn't exist, effects from the prohibition era. It's a gap that companies like Microhemp, a tissue culture lab based in Italy, are now working to close. "Tissue culture laboratories have been existing since the 70s," says Marco Bianco, founder of Microhemp. "But when it comes to cannabis, this is quite the new space." |
| Mar 27, 2026 |
Vancity Original® enters legal cannabis market with launch of Vancity® Cannabis Brand VANCOUVER, B.C. — March 27, 2026 — Vancity Original®, the iconic Vancouver brand founded in 1998 by Jeff “Mister Martini” Martin, is proud to announce its expansion into the legal Canadian cannabis market with the launch of The Vancity® Cannabis Brand, alongside cannabis industry veteran Brad Nishimura and award-winning cannabis lawyer Robert Laurie of AD LUCEM LAW CORPORATION. |
| Mar 26, 2026 |
Cannabis Legalization Laws Associated With Lower Crime Rates Fairfield, CT: The enactment of laws legalizing cannabis for either medical or adult-use purposes is associated with declining crime rates over time, according to findings published in the scientific journal Economic Modeling. Researchers affiliated with the Jack Welch College of Business at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut and Barnard College in New York evaluated the relationship between statewide cannabis policies and crime rates nationwide. |
| Mar 26, 2026 |
German high court rules against medicinal cannabis advertisements
Germany’s Federal Court of Justice has ruled that advertising for medical treatments with medical cannabis violates the country’s law on advertising medicinal products. In a ruling posted on March 26, 2026, the First Civil Senate of the Federal Court of Justice, which handles competition law in Germany, ruled that a company operating an online platform that brokers medical cannabis treatments and connects patients with cooperating doctors violates medicinal product advertising law by publicly advertising prescription drugs. |
| Mar 26, 2026 |
Case of Mi’kmaq man facing cannabis charges moves to constitutional challenge in N.S. DARTMOUTH - The legal case of a Mi’kmaq man charged with selling unlicensed cannabis is moving ahead to a constitutional challenge. A provincial court judge has determined that Thomas Durfee’s treaty rights are not to be considered in the initial stage of the proceedings, and court dates for his constitutional challenge will be set on April 10. |
| Mar 26, 2026 |
Ghana: NCC unveils 11 licence categories to regulate cannabis industry The Narcotics Control Commission has announced eleven licence categories under a new framework aimed at regulating industrial and medicinal cannabis in Ghana. According to the Commission, the move is intended to promote transparency, safety and accountability within the licensing system. |
| Mar 26, 2026 |
US: Medical cannabis measure heads to Georgia governor’s desk Major changes to Georgia's medical cannabis program are now just a signature away. Senate Bill 220 passed the state House and Senate and now heads to the governor's desk for final approval. The bill removes a cap on the amount of THC in medical marijuana products. It will also legalize medical cannabis vaping products for medical use. There will also be new eligible conditions to qualify for medical marijuana, including lupus, severe arthritis and severe insomnia. |
| Mar 26, 2026 |
White House Schedules Meeting for FDA’s New CBD Compliance Enforcement Policy White House officials will review a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed rule concerning CBD product compliance and enforcement policies on April 1. The White House Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) informed the public on March 13 that it received the CBD guidance recommendation from the FDA. |
| Mar 26, 2026 |
Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke says no to retail cannabis After nearly a year of deliberation, the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke (MCK) announced on March 25, 2026 that it will not be allowing the sale of cannabis in their community. The Ratitsénhaienhs, the elected chiefs, have formally taken a position that the number of cannabis retail dispensary licences be set to zero, thereby prohibiting the retail sale of cannabis within the Territory of Kahnawà:ke. The Kahnawà:ke Mohawk Territory is a First Nations reserve of the Mohawks of Kahnawá:ke, located on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada. |
| Mar 25, 2026 |
Under Trump The Drug War Becomes a Tool of Conquest While Donald Trump positions himself as tough on hard drugs, his record tells a different story. During his presidencies he has handed out pardons and clemency to some of the most notorious drug figures in recent history: former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, convicted of flooding the United States with over 400 tons of cocaine; Ross Ulbricht, creator of the Silk Road dark-web empire that moved millions in anonymous narcotics; Michael “Harry-O” Harris, the violent trafficker who helped build Death Row Records; and Larry Hoover, the Gangster Disciples leader serving multiple life sentences for running a massive drug enterprise. |
| Mar 25, 2026 |
India Issues First Cannabis Research Grant That Could Help Open Up Market For the first time in over 5 decades, the Indian government has granted public funding to a cannabis research project, with ramifications which will determine ‘whether India can build a credible pharmaceutical industry’ around cannabis. |
| Mar 25, 2026 |
7 States with a Chance to Legalize Marijuana in 2026 Efforts to expand cannabis laws across the U.S. remain active as 2026 unfolds, with seven states weighing proposals that range from limited medical access to full adult-use legalization. Timelines vary, but advocates in multiple regions are working against approaching deadlines to move their measures forward. In Idaho, a campaign to permit medical marijuana is gaining momentum. The Natural Medicine Alliance of Idaho is pushing to place the Idaho Medical Cannabis Act before voters this November and is racing to submit more than 70,000 valid signatures by May. |
| Mar 25, 2026 |
US cannabis growth: "We are forecasting 2026 legal revenues to be $30.5 billion, an increase of 4.9% since 2025" Whitney Economics (WE), a global leader in cannabis and hemp business consulting, data, and economic research, today announced it has published its U.S. legal cannabis revenue forecast for the period of 2025 – 2030. "We are forecasting 2026 legal revenues to be $30.5 billion, an increase of 4.9% since 2025," WE founder and Chief Economist Beau Whitney said. "This is a welcome rebound from just a year ago, when the U.S. legal cannabis market experienced its first year-over-year revenue decline in the legal regulated market's history." |
| Mar 25, 2026 |
US: Examining the relationship between unions and the cannabis industry Cannabis was supposed to be different. Ask the budtenders at Exclusive Brands how that worked out. When Emily Hull, a budtender at the Ann Arbor dispensary of the Livonia-based chain with seven locations in Michigan, and a handful of coworkers walked off the job in August, they were asking to join a union. They wanted to join UFCW Local 876, the same union that represents 18,000 workers in grocery, meatpacking and food processing. And cannabis. |