“Here’s the quantifiable truth: America’s marijuana laws are not applied or enforced in the same way for all people. We can’t let our country keep making the same mistakes of the past — it’s time to legalize marijuana at the federal level.”
– Sen. Kamala Harris

A coal-free Christmas stocking just stuffed full of news!

Vermont

With Signing Of 2018 Farm Bill, Vermont Agency Of Agriculture issues Hemp Guidance


Unidden: Trip to Grassachusetts


Unhidden: Queer, Queued, and Recreational at the Northampton Dispensary


Heady Vermont Visits BTV Ward 6 To Talk Cannabis

Employers seek looser drug-testing laws after pot legalized

The Cannabis Catch-Up: Seeing Through the Haze

Dozens Turn Out Seeking To Expunge Old Convictions

Marijuana panel wants roadside testing before regulated market opens

Commission’s Final Report Charts Path To Retail Pot Sales

Vt. Pot Panel: Testing Before Legalization

Vermont panel proposes 26 percent tax rate on pot sales in report


Marijuana commission finishes report on ‘tax & regulate’ system

Regional

Cannabis Legalization Accelerating In The Northeast

 Connecticut

• Legalizing and taxing weed would be more nullification

 Maine

• Maine shuts down pot Facebook page after critics poke fun
• Marijuana law gives medical pot businesses more options

 Massachusetts

• Cannabis fans trek to DCU for a glimpse of pot heaven
• Mellow rollout for retail pot
• State closes dispensaries on Cape Cod
• Leaders of ‘marijuana-forward’ cities urge towns to welcome cannabis industry
• For pot shop opponents, Leicester’s traffic nightmare is a gift
• Boston Globe ed board: Congress pass marijuana reform in 2019
• Berkshire County’s towns vary in regulating marijuana sales, production
• MA tackles carbon emissions from pot after legalization

 New Hampshire

• Sununu Is Against Legal Marijuana

 New Jersey

• Lawmakers Won’t Vote on Legal Cannabis This Year
• Cops still lack tools to police stoned driving
• Bill Considers Marijuana Delivery
• See where NJ’s six new dispensaries will be
• No chance NY legalizes weed before NJ, insiders say

 New York

• New York Expected To Unveil Plan To Legalize Recreational
• Lawmakers looking to expand state MMJ program
• Will legalizing marijuana help disenfranchised communities?
• No Legalization Without Social Equity
• Legalizing marijuana is now one of Cuomo’s priorities.
• NY boundaries on pilot hemp program misinterpreted as ‘ban’ 
• Brooklyn DA to erase minor convictions and vacate outstanding warrants
• De Blasio Backs Marijuana Legalization
• Legalization in New York should be about making amends
• Legalization: a chance to address past racial and ethnic injustices

National

 Animals

• Ohio’s MMJ program: For dogs, cats?

 Business

• Tilray Signs Letter of Intent for Hemp-Derived CBD from the US and Canada
• California Cannabis Company Caliva Is Poaching Über Drivers And Executives
• Marijuana and CBD companies can’t advertise on Facebook and Google, so they’re getting creative
• When a Baggie Just Won’t Do: Packaging in the Age of Legal Pot

 CBD

• CBD Set for Big Boost From US Farm Bill
• Company Pledges to Give Away $1M Worth of CBD Product

 Culture

• Miss Universe Weighs In On Legalization
• Why men support legalization more than women do
• Herb Is The Healing of the Nation, Prohibition Is The Destruction
• Cannabis policies should reflect legal obligations, changes in society
• So your parents want to get high. 8 YouTube videos that can help.
• 2018 in Cannabis Reform: How Much Did Things Change This Year?

 Economics 

• The Economic Benefits of Cannabis Can’t Be Ignored
• JEC Dems Report: The National Cannabis Economy

 Education

• Midwest Cannabis Education Conference

 Fashion

• Hemp clothing is not just for hippies anymore

 Finance

• How hemp legalization could bolster marijuana banking bill

 Food

• Disrupting the cannabis kitchen with infused cocktails
• Budweiser maker teams up with cannabis company to explore pot drinks
• FDA weighs legalizing interstate sales of CBD in food and drinks

 Growing and Making

• Cannabis Tips: 10 Building Blocks to Plant Nutrition

Health

• Hemp proposed as alternative to medical marijuana
• From CBD to Weed Smoothies: Year In Cannabis & Health Review

 Hemp

• President Trump Signed the Farm Bill, But Don’t Celebrate Just Yet…
• President Trump Signs 2018 Farm Bill, Legalizing Hemp
• Hemp industry expected to blossom under new Farm Bill
• How The Farm Bill May Change Life As You Know It
• Hemp needs more research
• Everything You Need To Know About Hemp
• Hemp Is Now Federally Legal—But It’ll Be Heavily Regulated

 Holidays

• 5 Cannabis Strains For Celebrating the Holidays
• Cannabis Stocking Stuffers For the Stoner in Your Life

 Law Enforcement

• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that finding three marijuana stems in somebody’s trash doesn’t permit police to search their home for evidence of drug trafficking.

 Legalization

• Green Card Holders Caught With Pot Can Still Get Deported
• Time To Remove Cannabis From The Federal Drug Schedules
• Legalizing Weed Has Become a Race Between Lame Dads

 Medical

• Cannabis 101: The Medical Marijuana Card, Demystified

 Politics

• Sen. Cory Gardner Fails to Get Marijuana Reform Into Criminal Justice Bill
• How Legalizing Marijuana Is Securing the Border
• 2019’s Nasty Political Battles Will Make It A Historic Year For Cannabis
• Marijuana industry hunts for votes after helping to oust top opponent
• Senate to vote on Trump-backed federal pot legalization, but passage unlikely
• Rep. Matt Gaetz said electing more young people to Congress will lead to marijuana reform.
• US Attorney Holds Conference Against Marijuana Legalization
• Elizabeth Warren’s marijuana bill has majority support in the Senate
• Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights included descheduling of marijuana in its list of priorities for the 116th Congress.

Sen. Cory Booker joked about giving marijuana-infused brownies to Sen. Lindsey Graham, who replied that he could use some “right now.”

• Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) tweeted, “I am excited that the First Step Act has passed through the Senate; it’s a huge step forward for criminal justice. I wish @SenCoryGardner’s amendment, leaving marijuana policy and regulation to individual states, had been included. We must change America’s outdated cannabis laws.”
• Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA)  tweeted, “While the criminal justice bill going through Congress is a first step, we need to be bolder to finally end mass incarceration in America: ✅ End cash bail ✅ End mandatory minimum sentencing ✅ Ban private prisons ✅ Legalize marijuana”
• The evolution of congressional Republicans on criminal justice and marijuana.

 Science

• Most US Pharmaceutical Schools Now Have Medical Marijuana On The Curriculum

 Social Justice

• H2 Talent Announces SSDP Is Recipient Of First Giveback Program Grant
• If Marijuana Is Legalized, What About People Already Behind Bars?
• Inmate Sues State Prison After Being Denied Marijuana
• Cannabis Legalization and the Quest for Social and Economic Justice
• Social Justice in Commercial Cannabis

 Spirituality

• What is the Connection Between Rastafarianism and Marijuana?

 Sports

• NBA in conversation with players union about amending its marijuana policy

 Studies

• Rates of Teen Marijuana Use Lower Than 2012
• Vaping among high school seniors doubled from 2017-18
• Study finds some think pot can sober you up enough to drive
• MS Patients Report Beneficial Effects of Cannabis With Few Side Effects
• Study Finds Big Jump In Number Of Teens Who Vape
• Today’s More Potent Pot Means Higher Odds for Dependence
• Scientists Journey Into the Dark Side of Cannabis
• CBD in marijuana may worsen glaucoma, raise eye pressure
• Cannabis has “no significant effects” on brain structure

 Women

• Cannabis A Wide-Open Space For Female Pioneers
• We Can Make Cannabis as Socially Acceptable as a Glass of Wine
• Women Embrace Girl Time at Tokeativity’s “Glitter & Gold”
• Cannabis Farm Co-Owner Helping Rewrite Role of Women in Industry
• Liberation through Cultivation
• The CBD Revolution Is Being Led by Women

States

 Alaska

• Alaska regulators approve rules for onsite marijuana use

 Arizona

• Commercial hemp could help farmers with crops needing little water

 Arkansas

• Police Captain Appointed To MMJ Commission

 California

• Black Founders Open Oakland’s First Equity Dispensary
• Higher percentage of pot passing safety tests
• Is hemp on the verge of a comeback?
• Legalization’s threat to California’s legendary cannabis culture
• Legal cannabis lounges booming in San Francisco
• That Stench Is California’s Pot Fields

  Colorado

• Bees Love Hemp
• Marijuana Recalled For Unsafe Levels Of Yeast And Mold
• Colorado publishes latest statistics on impact of legalization

 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

• Regulatory body is taking shape.

 Florida

• Man arrested for trying to pay for McDonald’s meal with weed
• Jacksonville parents say MMJ is saving daughter’s life
• FAMU trustees want more details before choosing partners for hemp research

 Idaho

• Nilsson Troy looks to legalize hemp

 Illinois

• Researchers To Explore Feasibility Of Industrial Hemp
• Make Illinois pot law model for nation
• Will Illinois Help Fix the Weed Industry’s Diversity Problem?
• Town Hall On Recreational ‘Pot’ Set For Jan. 4
• Chicago’s black community needs equity-first cannabis policy

 Indiana

• Advocates push lawmakers to approve hemp cultivation
• Shelby County Farmer Says He’d Consider Growing Hemp
• MMJ’s Future in Indiana
• Region senator files proposal to legalize recreational marijuana

 Iowa

• Regulators add autism and ulcerative colitis as qualifying conditions

 Kentucky

• Hemp production set to blossom in Kentucky

 Louisiana

• Patients suffering because of delays in MMJ

 Maryland

• ForwardGro to Pay Fine for Using Banned Pesticides

 Michigan

• As metro Detroiters smoke legal pot, some await legal news on their future
• Bill to ban growing marijuana at home flames out
• Cannabis Businesses Gift Marijuana To Bypass Law
• College student’s business nets $1600 in just days
• Dozens of communities voting to ban marijuana shops

 Minnesota

• Farmers Considering Industrial Hemp

 Missouri

• Missouri begins process toward MMJ

 Montana

• Bitterroot Valley forms industrial hemp cooperative

 Nebraska

• Petition Seeks MMJ Ballot Measure in 2020
• Nebraska Is Serious About MMJ Legalization

 Nevada

• Incoming AG would defend marijuana industry from federal crackdown.
• Holiday shoppers flocking to dispensaries for Christmas gifts

 North Dakota

• MMJ bill would protect doctors
• AG endorsing decriminalization

 Ohio

• Gun rights go up in smoke for MMJ users
• MMJ patient e-cards double in second week
• Want a Career in Weed or Hemp? There Are Schools For That

 Oregon 

• What happens when a state grows way too much weed
• Lawmakers revisit worker protections for off duty pot use

 Pennsylvania

• School districts struggle with rules for administering MMJ
• Hemp may be just what the PA farming industry needs
• Gov. Wolf: Time to take a serious look at recreational marijuana
• Auditor praises talk of legal pot
• Senate GOP leader calls talk of legalization ‘reckless’

 Rhode Island

• Rhode Island Might Be Peer Pressured Into Legalizing By Neighbors
• Lawmakers Are Coming To Terms With Legalization

 South Carolina

• Killer’s lawsuit claims religion entitles him to smoke pot in prison
• Pro-MMJ lobbies spent $95,000-plus in SC Statehouse

 Tennessee 

• Mother Arrested After Child Was Found With Weed At School

 Texas

• Third MMJ company opens shop

 Utah

• US attorney for Utah reviewing how to deal with new MMJ law
• Utah shows marijuana compromise is possible

 Virgin Islands

• Senate Committee on Economic Development and Agriculture approved MMJ bill

 Virginia

• Norfolk City Council endorsed decriminalizing marijuana

 Washington

• Seattle Couple Looks to Grow Their Recreational Business
• Cannabis regulator approves new candy regulations
• State’s cannabis regulators: Candy can stay, but can’t be so colorful
• Adolescent pot use dropped after Washington legalized

 Wisconsin

• Marijuana taxes could help state
• Milwaukee opens dispensary aimed at helping veterans, inner-city residents
• Racine City Council directed police to no longer charge marijuana possession as a crime
• Hemp: The amazing chemical factory with huge potential

 Wyoming

• Representatives Think About Growing Hemp

International 

Is The United Nations Finally Coming Around About Cannabis?

 Canada

• Universities step up as 150,000 needed in pot industry
• Legalization voted Canadian Press’s Business Story of the Year
• How one simple change let a province sell residents live pot plants
• How To Buy Legal Weed Online Across Canada
• MMJ changed my life. Why is it being taxed … twice?
• An American Looks Back on the Day Canada Legalized
• Legalization has been a hot mess
• Canada Warns Citizens to Use Cash to Purchase Legal Weed So They Don’t Get Denied Entry to the US

 Israel

• Women’s Health A Focus Of Budding Israeli MMJ Industry

 Jamaica 

• Firm to ensure small farmers benefit from MMJ industry

 Luxembourg

• Luxembourg to Become the First EU Country to Legalize Recreational

 Malta

• Maltese Court Punishes Women For Growing Weed For Personal Use

 Mexico

• Mexican Officials Will Ask Other Countries For Legalization Advice

 New Zealand 

• New Zealand to vote on legalization in 2020
• MMJ Bill Passed

 South Africa

• Big business blocking use of hemp

 Thailand

• MMJ Coming to Thailand

 UK

• Smuggled Albanians forced to work in cannabis farms
• Cannabis oil saves boy, 7, he can learn about Father Christmas