There’s a bill sitting on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk that could radically change end-of-life care options for some patients in California hospitals. Senate Bill 305, which passed both chambers of the Legislature with unanimous votes last month, would prohibit health care facilities from interfering with a terminally ill patient’s use of medical cannabis, giving dying […]
The Week in Weed
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Make Greta Proud
There’s been a lot of attention on global climate change this week, what with Greta Thunberg’s fiery, scornful speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 23 and the Global Climate Strike that saw millions of people take to the streets a few days earlier. And rightfully so. The climate crisis is real and […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Banking and Vaping
The U.S House of Representatives will vote later this month on a bipartisan bill designed to allow cannabis businesses access to the federal banking system, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has told multiple media outlets. The legislation — known as the SAFE Banking Act — would lift long-standing federal rules that prohibit banking institutions from […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Vaper Beware
Shortly before the Journal went to press Sept. 10, news broke that the nation had recorded its sixth death from a mysterious outbreak of lung disease related to vaping or e-cigarette use that has resulted in at least 450 cases spread across 33 states. The rash of illnesses and hospitalizations have vexed health officials and […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Reefer Madness, 2.0
For the first time since 1982, cannabis was issued its very own health advisory by the Surgeon General’s Office last week, which declared the need to raise the “national alarm” about the “dangerous drug.” Raising the nation’s top doctor’s hackles is what Surgeon General Jerome Adams lamented as a “rapid normalization of marijuana use” across […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
A Reckoning in Rohnert Park
It seems something was very rotten in the city of Rohnert Park. Lawyers representing the city agreed Aug. 20 to pay a Texas man $415,000 to settle a federal lawsuit alleging that Rohnert Park police unlawfully seized 3 pounds of legal marijuana during a 2017 traffic stop outside city limits. The settlement came just a […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
The 2024 Tipping Point
It’s no secret that California’s recreational cannabis market has limped out of the gates. Eighteen months into this grand legalization experiment in the world’s fifth largest economy, sales and tax revenue have lagged behind projections and much of the state has prohibited retail sales. Meanwhile, consumers complain of high prices and those within the industry […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
‘Illicit Markets’ and Cultural Insensitivity
I got an email a couple of weeks ago from a source who works for a cannabis advocacy organization informing me that, “across the industry,” folks in the weed world are asking the press not to use the term “black market” any longer because it is “not culturally sensitive.” “Illicit or illegal market is the […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Sheriff’s Office, National Guard Begin Week of Warrants
Humboldt County’s Marijuana Eradication Team, working with the National Guard, is in the midst of serving multiple search warrants on unpermitted grows in a multi-day crack down on the illicit cannabis market. The team eradicated more than 7,000 plants Aug. 5, according to Sheriff’s Office Lt. Mike Fridley, who heads MET. “We hit four search […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Flower Service Comes Tableside
A recent audit by the California Department of Finance on the state’s nascent cannabis regulatory framework found the newest arm of the Golden State’s bureaucracy is suffering some growing pains. The audit found the state Bureau of Cannabis Control is currently unable to “provide effective and comprehensive oversight of cannabis activities” within the state and […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
No Show
The high-powered U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs met July 23 for what was hailed to be a landmark hearing. Lawmakers, industry executives and advocates lined up to testify on the topic of the day: how Congress could ease federal cannabis banking restrictions, making the industry safer and more lucrative in states […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Collateral Damage
It would appear Humboldt County remains a cannabis trendsetter. Leafly is reporting that Humboldt County’s controversial strategy of dealing with illicit grow operations through civil code enforcement abatement notices and fines of up to $10,000 per day, per violation has caught other jurisdictions’ attention. A similar program is already in place in Sonoma County, according […]