The current state of legalized marijuana varies from country to country. Possession of the weed is illegal in most countries and has been since the beginning of widespread cannabis prohibition in the late 1930s. However, its possession has been decriminalized in many countries and sub-national entities in several parts of the world.Yet decriminalization alone does not tackle the harms of prohibition of weed– such as high levels of crime, illegitimate markets, and the harmful health consequences of drugs produced in the absence of regulatory oversight.

Racial disparities and other social justice issues are a big part of the reason I have advocated both personally and professionally for cannabis policy reform.  I grew up in St. Louis and had many black friends from the city, as I was in the throws of desegregation at the time.

A recent poll reveals that a majority of Canadians support expungement of marijuana criminal records. It has certainly been interesting to follow the national trends in our northern neighbor Canada for cannabis legislation and overall public opinion about cannabis as we try to navigate this territory in the United States.In our most recent coverage of Canadian cannabis policy, we reported on the unveiling of their plans to implement legalization via the Cannabis Act, which is an act that was introduced to Canadian Parliament in 2017 that would legalize cannabis in Canada.

NFL HOF Linebacker Jack Ham advocates for cannabis in Pennsylvania and will serve as a spokesperson and consultant for AGRiMED, which has plans to grow and provide cannabis for patients who meet a qualifying medical condition for the therapeutic use of marijuana.  This partnership plans to advocate for medical marijuana in Pennsylvania  by connecting patients with the medicine they need.

As a follow up to our coverage on Minnesota marijuana policy, we wanted to bring you the latest on what is going on in the State right in America’s heartland. Will Minnesota marijuana legalization happen in 2017?To set the stage, medical marijuana became legal in Minnesota on July 1, 2015 after a bill full of restrictions and regulations passed the State Legislature in 2014. Last year, the state added intractable pain to the list of qualifying conditions, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is set to be added to the list towards the end of the summer.

We’ve covered how to pass a drug test for marijuana before. But, how long does marijuana stay in your system is the most frequently asked question that we receive. While there is no definitive answer, we have presented some guidelines.The data used to create this infographic is gathered from research on drug testing methods and the information presented by drug screen manufacturers. Some resources include Redwood Toxicology, Cannabis Drug Testing, California NORML.

We have been covering the proposed marijuana legalization bill in Vermont very closely this legislative session, so you can imagine my disappointment when this letter came to my inbox today, stating that Vermont Governor Phil Scott vetoes legalization bill.Governor Scott states that he want to get this right and that perhaps they need to move a little bit slower on this issue in both his letter and his press conference.

Although the cannabis industry is weathering through some tough times with the current administration in the U.S., the election last November made it clear that this moment and industry is only going one way with the public: forward.  This was pronounced even further by a recent study done by Marijuana Business Daily, where it was discovered that, if the U.S. government legalized marijuana federally, legal marijuana sales could be even bigger than ice cream!As reported by Forbes:Annual ice cream sales are only $5.1 billion. Total recreational cannabis sales in the U.S.

I have been writing for The Weed Blog for several months now, but many of you might not know that the whole reason my path ever crossed with the site’s owners was because of a by-chance meeting at an event at Serra Cannabis on SE Belmont. Leah was so intrigued with my story about how I walked or took public transportation to all 181 of Portland’s dispensaries that she wrote an article about it.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions directs prosecutors to seek toughest drug charges, harshest practices of the drug war.  How will cannabis industry professionals respond to Jeff Sessions memo?In a two-page memo sent to more than 5,000 assistant U.S. attorneys across the country and all assistant AGs in Washington, the policy orders prosecutors to “charge and pursue the most serious, readily provable offense.”The tough approach had fallen out of favor in recent years with a bipartisan movement to undo the damaging effects of mass incarceration.