“Here’s a great example of how NOT to cover #cannabis legalization: ask advocates on “both sides” what they think about an objective, observable fact. Fact: Teen use is flat or down following legalization in EVERY state.”

– Dave Silberman

A great big post-Christmas stocking of the week’s cannabis news.

Vermont

Southern Vermont Man Arrested For Butane Extraction


Unhidden: Stories From The Farmers Market

New CBD drive-thru in Brattleboro will soon dispense MMJ

The Cannabis Catch-Up: The Big Reveal

Have questions about hemp processing? Here’s what the experts said at a Hemp Fest 2018 panel discussion: Testing and Processing CBD – What Producers and Consumers Need To Know Featuring Fabio Roni of Icon Processing, Carl Christianson of Northeast Processing, and John MacKay of Synergestic Technologies Associates.

Will legalization encourage more teens to smoke pot?

Regional

 Massachusetts

• What happened to the first recreational pot sold in MA?
• Marijuana board to roll out rules on cafes, delivery
• Bill would bar workers from being fired for private pot use
• Recreational marijuana is here, so what’s the point of medical?
• Woman Fired For Using Marijuana, Lawmakers Stepping In
• 75-yo grandfather charged with trafficking 150 pounds of pot

 New Hampshire

• Legalization Proposal Estimates A $33 Million Windfall

 New Jersey

• Medical pot advances as recreational drive falters

 New York

• Governor Cuomo Comes Around on Cannabis

New Marijuana Study Confirms Everyone Knows You’re High And You Will Be Stoned Forever

National

24 Cannabis Predictions for 2019 That Will Come True

 Animals

• Most Veterinarians Do Think Marijuana Can Help Dogs

 Business

• CBD CEO stealthily backing a hemp plastics startup
• 2019 Predictions For The Legal Weed Business

 Cannabis

• Why Calling Different Marijuana Types ‘Strains’ Is Technically Wrong
• How to Deal with Memory Loss and Other Negative Effects of Cannabis

 CBD

• Benefits of CBD Oil you need to know about
• FDA casts shadow on hemp win, calling CBD products illegal

 Culture

• 15 Ways Marijuana Has Made History in 2018
• How the Pot Movement Changed in 2018
• Aging Well: More seniors using medical cannabis
• Legal Weed, My Kids, and the Corporate Buyout of Teenage Rebellion

  Food

• Does cannabis contain the next “superfood”?
• Cannabis Drinks Will Be Huge in 2019

 Hemp

• FDA casts shadow on hemp win, calling CBD products illegal
• Hemp helps farmers add value to business and boost soil health
• The power of hemp: Beyond profit

 History

• This is Prohibition Repeal’s 85th Anniversary

 Holidays

• Cannabis is a big hit for Christmas gift-giving

 Legalization

• 10 things that can happen after a state legalizes marijuana
• Why 2018 Marked High Point in Marijuana Legalization
• What Legalization Might Do to the Black Market

 Medical

• A Family Tries MMJ For Son With Autism

 Politics

• Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) pressed Homeland Security Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen about how her job would be a lot easier if the federal government ended marijuana prohibition.
• Rep. James McGovern (D-MA), the incoming House Rules Committee chairman, cosponsored the Marijuana Justice Act, which would deschedule cannabis and withhold funds from states with discriminatory enforcement.
• The House bill to deschedule marijuana and punish states with discriminatory enforcement got two new cosponsors, for a total of 43.

 Sports

• NFL Will Consider Changes to Marijuana Ban — For A Price

 Studies

• Legalization Means Safer Borders And Less Smuggling
• Marijuana can age your brain by 3 years
• Cannabis use associated with lower BMI
• What’s Behind Americans’ Increased Support for Legalization?
• How THC And CBD Affect Chronic Pain

 Women

• Indian-Canadian sets up platform to fund cannabis businesses
• 30-Hour Work Week? The Secret to Her Startup’s Success

States

 Alabama

• CBD hemp products now legal in Alabama

 Alaska

• Alaska First State to Approve Onsite Consumption

 Arizona

• Arizona’s MMJ market grows towards maturity

 Arkansas

• Arkansas voting by the numbers

 California

• 3 surprising things I learned from visiting 50 dispensaries
• Recall deals blow to California’s marijuana industry
• Marijuana questions made up 16% of all the local ballot measures
• A plan to help those hurt by the War on Pot
• Cannabis industry’s hope for California public bank derailed

  Colorado

• Cannabis Businesses That Aren’t Cannabis Businesses Are Growing
• A look at the market in Denver 5 years after legalization
• How marijuana tax money is spent
• Loveland hemp farmer judges pilot crop a success

 Delaware

• Delaware judge says fired MMJ user can pursue lawsuit

 Florida

• Florida lacks protections for workers’ legal marijuana use
• 2019 Could be the Year Florida Relaxes its MMJ Regulations
• MMJ proving to be popular

 Georgia

• Legal medical marijuana sales, cultivation proposed

 Guam

• Home cultivation of MMJ starts on Guam

 Hawaii

• State lawmaker hopes hemp could be HI’s next most valuable crop

 Idaho

• Lawmakers Could Decide Future Of Hemp This Session

 Indiana

• Gov. Holcomb strongly opposes legalization
• Lawmakers carry on MMJ fight

 Iowa

• Prohibition persists in Iowa – sort of

 Kansas

• Farmers hope to capitalize on hemp
• Kansas opens first industrial hemp academy

 Kentucky

• Comer recalls ‘seeding’ of state’s hemp program
• Kentucky leading nation on hemp

 Maryland

• How far MD’s cannabis industry has come

 Montana

• Processing industrial hemp

 Nebraska

• Hemp oil merchant may soon face police action

 Nevada

• Ancient Medical Marijuana at Las Vegas Sex Museum
• New regulation says edibles must be marked with special symbol

 New Mexico

• Ultra Health to start cultivating hemp

 North Carolina First Nations

• Dr. Bronner’s Celebrates Historic Victory for Hemp Movement

 Ohio

• How security regulations impact a patient’s experience at dispensary

 Oklahoma

• Oklahoma quickly becoming MMJ hotbed
• A red state with some of the most liberal MMJ laws in the nation
• MMJ Authority generates $9M in application fees in first 6 months

 Oregon 

• Hemp: the burgeoning industry of southern Oregon
• Budtenders make a living out of selling marijuana
• Oregon allows medical marijuana deliveries in banned areas

 Pennsylvania

• Gov. Tom Wolf: “We can’t just stick our heads in the sand” 
• Nothing wrong with a ‘serious and honest look’
• Top 10 of 2018 | MMJ to deliver local jobs
• Retiring rep plans to try marijuana whether or not PA legalizes

 Rhode Island

• Incoming AG not sure if 2019 is the right time to legalize
• Judge again rejects request by candidates to return 48# of pot
• Regulators urged to end ban on MMJ at community for veterans

 South Carolina

• Lawmaker proposes bill pushing the FDA to research MMJ

 South Dakota

• Summary of proposed 2020 legalization ballot measure

 Tennessee 

• Lawmaker believes MMJ bill will pass next year, help combat opioid crisis

 Texas

• Smuggling Empire: When El Paso Ruled Pot
• Federally approved cannabis drug offers hope for patients
• What are chances Texas will legalize MMJ in 2019?

 Utah

• Two healthcare providers directing physicians not to make MMJ recommendations yet

 Virginia

• Hemp production could be booming business
• Hemp hopes high after new Farm Bill
• Virginia to again consider decriminalization

 Washington

 West Virginia

• Prosecutor Continues Lawsuit Against Hemp Farm

Wisconsin

• Patrol says mom, grandma were using pot with children in car
• Hemp farmers hope bankers will realize value of crop

International

 Australia

• Hemp seed demand growing but more education needed
• Is it high time parents embrace hemp foods?

 Bangladesh

• Bangladesh will begin executing people for nonviolent drug offenses

 Canada

• Campaign to match hikes with strains of weed called ‘irresponsible’
• Real estate agent barred over sexual messages, offering tenants weed
• Activists Handed Out Warm Socks and Cannabis to Those in Need
• Montreal 2018: The day that weed and wine ran out
• The house that pot built

 Canada – First Nations

• Mississauga First Nation wants to open cannabis store this spring

 India

• India’s history of cannabis use encourages scientists to explore

 Ireland

• Farmers set to grow cannabis after Health Minister announces support

 Israel

• Israeli lawmakers approve medical cannabis exports law
• Moshe Feiglin: ‘Cannabis must be legalized’

 Malawi

• As the world smokes less, country turning to weed

 Malaysia

• Health Ministry wants documented evidence of MMJ benefits

 St. Vincent and the Grenadines

• Saint Vincent And The Grenadines Decriminalizes Marijuana

 South Africa

• South Africa poised for cannabis trade despite obstacles

 Thailand

• Thailand approves MMJ in New Year’s ‘gift’

 Trinidad and Tobago

• Prime Minister expects the country to decriminalize by June 2019