8 Years After Legalizing Pot, California Will Finally Allow Cannabis Cafés
The new law should help licensed retailers compete with the black market while mitigating the odor that offends Donald Trump and J.D. Vance.
The new law should help licensed retailers compete with the black market while mitigating the odor that offends Donald Trump and J.D. Vance.
The state’s policies and practices seemed designed to strangle the legal cannabis supply.
Three years after the state legalized recreational marijuana, unauthorized weed shops outnumber licensed dispensaries by 23 to 1.
Clarence Cocroft filed a lawsuit this week challenging the state's virtual ban on advertising medical marijuana businesses, arguing the law violates his First Amendment rights.
The government treats its endless appetite for information about citizens as more important than people's ability to conduct business in a normal fashion.
The SAFER Banking Act is trying to address dual legality of cannabis laws between the federal government and the 38 states that have some form of legal cannabis.
"Government in general does a lot of things that aren't necessary," says Jared Polis.
Maria Elena Reimers has been caught in legal limbo for years.
Thanks to the city's Initiative 71, Lit City Smoke Shop is part of D.C.'s thriving weed-gifting industry.
Enjoy a special video episode recorded live from New York City’s illustrious Comedy Cellar at the Village Underground.
The smell of weed in the streets is a sign of progress and tolerance, not decline.
Financial institutions have been locked out of the cannabis industry because of a surveillance regime that appears to have done little to stop real criminals.
Cannabis consumers should have the same commercial leisure spaces that alcohol drinkers do.
While Biden's mass pardons for those with low-level marijuana possession convictions were greeted with cautious optimism, protesters expressed frustration over Biden's lack of action to actually release those imprisoned for nonviolent drug crimes.
As part of a new partnership, Green Thumb Industries will lease space from 10 convenience stores to build dispensaries.
The Golden State promises a progressive, environmentally conscious, labor-friendly war on weed.
Ten years after Colorado and Washington embraced legalization, the movement looks unstoppable.
An emphasis on corruption and enforcement downplays the very real influence of regulation and taxes on California's booming black market.
Empire State politicians will soon wonder why the marijuana black market still thrives.
The Senate majority leader’s marijuana bill would pile on more taxes and regulations, despite years of complaints about the barriers they create.
An earlier draft of the bill, favored by the Los Angeles Times, would have required the labels be huge, with 12-point font and yellow backgrounds.
Unfortunately, so do more regulations and potential fines.
Members of Congress keep saying they want to allow state-legal pot businesses to have access to the banking system, but they keep refusing to actually do it.
Federal regulations make it more likely that a driver can be suspended or fired for drug use, regardless of whether they ever drove unsafely.
The cultivation tax has driven up the cost of growing cannabis, fueling illegal operations and the state’s enormous black market.
Nearly two dozen towns that had said no to legal weed shops are reconsidering.
Black markets thrive under mismanaged legalization.
A new 2022 law will punish anybody “aiding and abetting” unlicensed dealers. It will most certainly harm low-level workers.
If only they would apply that lesson to other goods and services.
Despite state legalization, federal prohibition makes break-ins harder on marijuana shops and manufacturers.
Legalizing a market isn’t enough; you have to set the participants free.
Legislation advances and a ballot initiative circulates in response to a constitutional amendment that was struck down by the courts.
Lawmakers want to pay cities to help cannabis businesses navigate the state’s oppressive bureaucracy.
If left unamended, the bill could have crushed much of the nascent industry.
Maybe this year it will pass the Senate too.
Legalizing interstate sales and allowing outdoor growing would reduce the cannabis industry's energy consumption.
No home cultivation? Increased criminal penalties? This is not the way to end a drug war.
Protected financial access for politically targeted industries
The SAFE Banking Act is not a pork-barrel spending bill. Is that why it’s struggling?
A lesson for other governments making legalization plans
When the government tries to hoover up all the money earned from legalized drugs, this is what happens.
West Hollywood's Lowell Farms Cafe serves food, drinks, and marijuana.
There are stories of marijuana business owners showing up at California's tax agency offices with trash bags filled with cash, even though the agency generally doesn't allow cash payments.
It's a historic moment in Congress, but Senate support remains uncertain.
The SAFE Banking Act will be the first stand-alone marijuana legalization bill to reach the floor of the U.S. House.