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This spring, rumors were swirling that HERBL, one of California’s largest cannabis distribution companies, was on the verge of collapse. So Mike Beaudry, the company’s CEO, sent out an email on May 18 declaring that “these rumors are categorically not true. HERBL continues to be fully operational.” Less than a month later, HERBL had completely collapsed. HERBL’s failure left a trail of damage that hurt small pot brands and shorted the state some $17 million in unpaid taxes. HERBL is only the latest high-flying California pot startup to crumble, following companies like Flow Kana, which raised $175 million in capital...

There's a new type of farmers market in San Francisco, but instead of buying fruits and vegetables, customers get to buy a famous California crop that is best enjoyed smoked. This market is dedicated entirely to cannabis. The new monthly event takes place at one of two downtown San Francisco dispensaries: Moe Greens on Market Street and Barbary Coast on Mission Street. The showcases allow customers to learn about dozens of different cannabis strains directly from the farmers who grow them. The farmers market is the brainchild of Susan Tibbon, who teamed up with the owners of Barbary Coast and...

Legal pot sales in California shrank last year, falling 8% compared with 2021. This is the first time cannabis revenue has dropped since the sale of cannabis became legal in 2018. Customers purchased $5.3 billion worth of legal pot products in 2022, according to data released Wednesday by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. That represents an 8% drop, or a decrease of $473 million, from what customers purchased in 2021. The falling sales come as the legal cannabis industry faces multiple headwinds, including competition from a booming illegal market, crashing wholesale prices and yearslong licensing delays. Hirsh...

Washington (AFP) – Marijuana use by young Americans reached record levels last year and the use of hallucinogens is also on the rise, according to a new study. Forty-three percent of the 5,000 young adults between 19 and 30 years old surveyed reported past-year marijuana use in 2021, up from 34 percent in 2016 and 29 percent in 2011, the Monitoring the Future study by the University of Michigan found. Twenty-nine percent reported using marijuana in the past month in 2021, up from 21 percent in 2016 and 17 percent in 2011. Daily marijuana use rose from six percent in...

Democrats in Washington state are cracking down on marijuana — not the actual drug, the word itself. The Evergreen State legislature recently passed a bill banning the word “marijuana” from official state law and documents over concerns that it is “racist.” At the same time, to help increase diversity in the cannabis business, a taxpayer-funded task force has been spending the last two years focusing on helping minorities in Washington state break into the marijuana business. “The term ‘marijuana’ itself is pejorative and racist,” Washington state Representative Melanie Morgan (D) said during testimony regarding the piece of legislation officially known...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Marijuana would be decriminalized at the federal level under legislation the House approved Friday as Democrats made the case for allowing states to set their own policies on pot. The bill is unlikely to become law since it is expected to die in the Senate. That would mirror what happened when a similar House-passed measure removing marijuana from the list of federally-controlled substances went nowhere in the Senate two years ago. Still, Friday’s vote gave lawmakers the chance to state their view on a decriminalization push that appears to have broad support with voters across the country....

OAKLAND, Calif. — Across from where the Athletics play baseball sits a two-story concrete building painted bright orange and white. It is home to a cannabis dispensary called Blunts and Moore. A pair of inflatable “tube guys” flap crazily on the roof, beckoning customers with their windblown gyrations. A food truck sells tacos in the parking lot under a bright California sun. But there are signs that all is not well here. Bullet holes etched by an assault rifle dot the entrance. Three security guards, dressed in military fatigues, screen customers as they pass through a metal detector. One of...

LOS ANGELES — Cannabis advocates, small farmers and business owners called Thursday for an overhaul of the California marijuana tax system as they struggle to keep afloat amid rising operating and regulatory costs. They gathered outside the State Capitol in Sacramento to make their case and warn that the industry could collapse if steps aren't taken soon. “We’re here today because the craft cannabis industry here in California is in crisis and on the brink of collapse,” said Amber Senter, a co-founder and the executive director of Supernova Women, a nonprofit organization that works to create opportunities for people of...

California adults can smoke marijuana without fear of going to jail, but using it after hours can still have consequences at work. A new bill in the Legislature aims to end a still common employment practice five years after Californians voted to legalize recreational cannabis in which private companies require can workers to test for marijuana use. Assembly Bill 1256, introduced by Assemblyman Bill Quirk, D-Hayward, is intended to prevent employers from using past evidence of marijuana use, such as a hair or urine test, as justification for discrimination against an employee, such as denying or terminating employment, according to...

Los Angeles (AFP) - Anxiety may be soaring under coronavirus lockdown, but a study Wednesday found Americans are enjoying more time with their partners and children, rediscovering hobbies and creative pursuits -- and smoking marijuana. The University of Southern California survey found Americans particularly miss visiting friends and relatives, dining at restaurants and shopping at real-world stores, but are adapting their habits at an astonishing pace. "We've been thrust into the greatest social science experiment of all time," Jeffrey Cole, the study center's director, told AFP. "Except that none of us prepared and none of us volunteered." "We're seeing massive...

CARPINTERIA - This picturesque coastal town cradled by mountains and sandy shores is a scene out of a Southern California postcard. Residents of Carpinteria say they feel lucky to live in what they consider a slice of paradise. But change is in the air. And sometimes, they say, it stinks. That’s because marijuana has become a new crop of choice in the farmlands surrounding this tight-knit community of 14,000, which has long helped fuel the U.S. cut flower industry. Residents say a thick, skunk-like odor from the marijuana plants settles over the valley in the evenings and before dawn. To...

Choudary: Refuses to discuss his dissolute youth At 39, Anjem Choudary should be a symbol of success for his peers. Born into the working-class family of a market trader in Welling on the outskirts of London, he has risen - thanks to the opportunities offered by the British education system - to become a qualified lawyer. But it is unlikely his old school will be inviting him to be guest speaker on prize-giving day. Their former pupil is not famous for his elegant oratory in court. Instead, the articulate Mr Choudary preaches hatred and murder in the streets of Britain...

STANFORD — Does smoking weed make you frisky? A major new Stanford University study shows a link between marijuana use and sexual desire, suggesting that there may be science behind the age-old practice of using the drug as an aphrodisiac. “It’s too early to recommend it as treatment,” said the study’s senior author, Dr. Michael Eisenberg, assistant professor of urology at Stanford University School of Medicine. However, the data does suggest a relationship between weed and sex. Women who were daily pot users had sex on average 7.1 times a month, compared with six times for nonusers. Among men, marijuana...

California marijuana growers north of San Francisco were facing mandatory evacuation orders as well as potentially tens of millions of dollars in crop damage and loss amid widespread wildfires in the region. The California Growers Association holds a regional check-in call every Monday morning, and today, six of their 18 regional leaders were under evacuation orders or helping neighbors who were. Regional dispensaries like Organicann reported being closed for the day, or are not answering their phones during business hours. Former Sebastopol mayor and former director of the Peace in Medicine dispensary in Sebastopol, Robert Jacob, reported on Facebook this...

Has anyone else heard about Malia Obama being fired from her job as an intern at the Spanish Embassy?

The grapevines that line rolling hillsides and sweeping valleys in Northern California’s wine country have become iconic – a symbol of the region’s rustic charm that helped California earn its reputation as a world-class wine and food destination. But winegrapes have new competition: weed. California’s legalization of recreational marijuana has led to the beginning of a major transformation of wine country. It’s been just seven months, but already investors are snapping up property where wine was once produced. Vineyard operators are developing expertise in cannabis cultivation. New, specialty marijuana businesses are sprouting up in Sonoma and Mendocino counties. And farmers...

Seattle pot supplier rolling thousands of joints for Seahawks fans Double doobie time! Solstice employees are trying to roll 12,000 joints for the retailer's special edition 12 Pack. The pot packages are targeted to fans who are medical marijuana users. BY DEBORAH HASTINGS NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Thursday, January 29, 2015, 5:38 PM A A A For Seattle Seahawks fans who want to be stoned while watching Sunday's Super Bowl XLIX, there's a new pack of pot for you. A Washington marijuana supplier has doubled its production time to keep up with demand for its 12 Pack special edition —...

Pot may be legal in Colorado, but you can still be fired for using it. Brandon Coats, a quadriplegic medical marijuana patient who was fired by the Dish Network after failing a drug test more than four years ago, says he still can't find steady work because employers are wary of his off-duty smoking. In a case being closely watched around the country, Colorado's Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear arguments in Coats' case, which could have big implications for pot smokers in the first state to legalize recreational sales of the drug. The case highlights the clash between state...

The usually progressive Rep. Debbie Wasserman Shultz continues to confound fellow liberals by voting against medical marijuana and other pro-weed legislation. Mrs. Wasserman Shultz, who serves at the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, three times broke with most of her fellow House Democrats early Friday to vote “no” on blocking feds from interfering with medical marijuana and hemp research in states where it’s legal. Mrs. Wasserman Shultz’s office said the votes were cast in defense of executive power. “The congresswoman believes that it is not appropriate to limit the ability of the Executive Branch to enforce federal law at...

DENVER - Federal agents and local officers are raiding four marijuana businesses tied to an alleged international money-laundering scheme. U.S. marshals arrested a suspect, Gerardo Uribe, a 33-year-old Colombian. Uribe was the last of four suspects arrested under a federal indictment unsealed Monday. The indictment charged Gerardo Uribe and his younger brother, Luis Uribe, along with another Colombian, Hector Diaz, and Denver attorney David Furtado with money-laundering crimes related to the illegal cultivation and distribution of marijuana.