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Through the first nine months of this year Illinois has already far exceeded the more than $669 million it did in adult-use recreational cannabis sales in 2020.

September sales totaled $121,717,709.51, compared to the $67,648,362.14 in statewide sales in September 2020.

The monthly report the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation released this week shows $997,067,100.34 in recreational cannabis sales through the first nine months of this year.

Illinois driver's licenses: 5 things to know about Illinois driver’s licenses, Real ID cards and the digital future

In addition to the significant increase in recreational cannabis sales over the last year, the number of Illinoisans registered for medical marijuana has also continued to grow by a large margin each year.

For all the blubbering I do about older strains, the hybridization of cannabis makes everything in my pipe bigger, faster and stronger. Growers take the yield and potency from a strain over here, match it with something flavorful over there, and maybe you have a winner. Kids don't always outshine their parents, though, and don't have to be A.J. Soprano to come up short. Sometimes Mom or Dad are just too tough of an act to follow.

Banana MAC had a big hill to climb from the start. The name sounds like a cartoon pimp who hangs out by a fruit stand, and then there are the legacies of parents Banana Kush and MAC (Miracle Alien Cookies) to live up to. Banana Kush still clings to the title of most popular banana-flavored strain, and MAC has been a dispensary superstar for years now, thanks to serious potency and a sterling extraction record. If plants knew the pressures of societal expectations and resentment, Banana MAC would either experiment with ecstasy a little too much in high school or constantly overachieve. But Banana MAC was bred for a reason, and we'd be wise to take it seriously.

Banana Kush is a fragrant, delicious strain, but its power largely reflects those of past decades. MAC's potency and trichome production are unquestioned, and they've helped usher in a new era of strains bred for extraction. No one has ever accused MAC's basic, earthy flavor of blowing their minds, though, so the obvious plan here was creating a banana-flavored strain with bigger biceps. And for the most part, the plan works.

Representing qualities of both parents, Banana MAC has bigger buds and a fuller head of trichomes than Banana Kush, and a much louder flavor profile than MAC. The high is one of the more dangerous I've come across in a while, but it's also a fair representation of the strain's lineage, taking me on a bungee-jump-like experience of disoriented energy before gluing me to the couch if I overdo it.

Prior to 1913, marijuana was legal nationwide. Motivated by anti-immigrant sentiment resulting from an influx of Mexican immigration after the Mexican War in 1910, states started to outlaw marijuana. By 1931, 29 states effectively outlawed it. The Controlled Substance Act of 1970 officially banned marijuana federally, as part of the government’s War on Drugs effort.

These policies have caused incredible suffering through the loss of lives and livelihood—police violence against black and minority communities, poverty, asset forfeiture, mass imprisonment, and health hazard through adulterated black-market products, to name a few.

However, 2020 was a big year for drug legalization, especially marijuana legalization, and 2021 seems likely to continue that trend. However, layers of regulatory inconsistency have imposed a de facto barrier in the production, distribution, and consumption of marijuana or marijuana-based products in the legal context. There is a lot more work to be done.

For example, the 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp, a marijuana derivative containing only 0.3 percent THC. Yet hemp farmers struggle to find banks to keep their legal business afloat. Erik Bogard, president of the hemp processing company Columbus Naturals, said: “I called probably 20 different companies and got denied 19 different times before I found someone, and it’s probably 10 times the cost of what it would be if we weren’t dealing with hemp.”

The strict 0.3 percent threshold is difficult to maintain since the concentration level varies depending on the growth period and harvesting environment. Testing requirements are not clearly laid out either. The Farm Bill puts the USDA in charge of setting testing regimes while the FDA and DEA are involved in other parts of regulating the derivates of marijuana.

If you’re a cannabis connoisseur, it can be easy to tell the difference between weed that’s been grown outdoors versus those that are grown indoors. But to the untrained smoker, the difference between the two isn’t noticeable.

There are advantages and disadvantages with each of these cultivation methods, so whether you’re looking to grow your own or simply want to become better at identifying your cannabis, learning about them is beneficial even if you prefer one to the other – or may not even care, until you find out how they differ.

At this point, no one really knows when indoor cannabis operations began though it’s safe to assume that people began looking for ways to do so when cannabis became illegal. During the later 20th century, more people began growing cannabis indoors for many reason and because of its popularity as well as the ability to customize many aspects of the plant’s growth, more people began believing that indoor cannabis is superior than those grown outdoors. But that simply isn’t true; there are more things that constitute what makes cannabis “good quality” than simply where it’s grown.

Color

One of the easiest ways to differentiate them is that outdoor grown cannabis are usually darker. So if the strain results in green flowers, its nugs will be a darker green, or even brown if it hasn’t been cured properly. On the other hand, indoor grown cannabis will exhibit bright colors. If the cultivar yields purple flowers, the outdoor cannabis will have a striking violet color while indoor grown cannabis will have lighter purple shades.

Size

Typically, outdoor grown cannabis means everything will be bigger including the buds and the stems. Indoor buds tend to have smaller buds that are more dense than the chunky nugs of the outdoor grown cannabis.

The two co-founders of CanaFarma Hemp Products have been charged with fraudulently raising $15 million from investors by making false statements about the “farm to table” hemp startup and its management.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Vitaly Fargesen and Igor Palatnik misrepresented CanaFarma as a “fully integrated” hemp company and inflated its revenue in materials for two private offerings of shares while pocketing $4 million of the investor funds for their personal use and purposes unrelated to CanaFarma.

They hit the throttle and sped through pitch-black water. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officers spotted a vessel of some sort in the distance, near the uninhabited Celeron Island in the Detroit River at 2:35 a.m., June 5, 2020.

Market dynamics steer smugglers to Michigan, and ‘submersible watercraft’

The good stuff

 A flurry of laws passed by the Nevada Legislature earlier this year took effect on Friday – ushering in reforms that Democratic lawmakers who have majorities in both the state Senate and Assembly have long campaigned to implement.

Five years after the the state’s voters approved legalizing recreational cannabis in Nevada, business owners can now apply for licenses to establish on-site consumption lounges, where adults can smoke, dab or eat THC-laced edibles that they buy.

The cannabis market made huge progress over the last several years. The increase in the number of users boosted the industry’s value. Thanks to premium platforms like Askgrowers.com, anyone interested can learn about cannabis strains and brands quickly. Even most governments seem readier than ever to adjust the laws and legalize cannabis. (As originally Seen on Benzinga)

An eight-year-old Woodstock child ate a large quantity of cannabis gummies over the weekend. The child was rushed to hospital and was in stable condition. Woodstock police wanted to remind people who consume cannabis, particularly edibles such as gummies or other sweets, to be mindful of safe storage away from children. Police encourage adults to safely store any alcohol and cannabis products out of reach or behind locked doors to ensure children do not consume them by mistake.

In the summer of 2020, Health Canada issued an advisory that children are being harmed after consuming illegal cannabis edibles that are not subject to safety and quality controls, do not have childproof packaging and have been stored by parents in places too easily accessible to kids. The caution was issued following several cases of children having been hospitalized after ingesting illegal weed edibles that looked like regular candies or treats.

Cannabis, also known as weed or marijuana, is used by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Although restricted in most countries, the increasing legalization of cannabis for recreational and medicinal consumption means that cannabis use is rising. Cannabis is also the most common illicit drug used by pregnant women, but the effects of cannabis on embryonic development are not well understood. It is also important to understand the effects of cannabis on individuals with a genetic predisposition, which means they carry genetic mutations that increase the risk of environmental conditions triggering a defect or disease.

A new study from scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA, has now revealed that THC, the chemical in cannabis that causes the sensation of feeling ‘high’, can cause birth defects in genetically predisposed mice. In this case, the researchers investigated whether THC could exacerbate a mutation that affects a mechanism that cells use to communicate with each other, called Hedgehog signaling. “Several years ago, it was reported that THC could inhibit Hedgehog signaling in cells grown in a dish,” said the study’s lead author Robert Krauss, PhD, Professor of Cell, Developmental and Regenerative Biology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “We reasoned that THC might be an environmental risk factor for birth defects, but that it would require additional risk factors, such as specific mutations in the genes required for Hedgehog signaling, to induce these defects in mice.”

To address this hypothesis, Dr. Krauss and colleagues administered a single dose of THC, equivalent to exposures achieved when humans smoke cannabis, to pregnant mice about a week after conception. They then studied the embryonic development of their pups, some of which carried a mutation that meant Hedgehog signaling was not functioning at full efficiency. The scientists found that pups without the mutation developed normally, even when exposed to THC, as did pups that carried the mutation but were not exposed to the drug. However, pups that were exposed to THC and carried the mutation developed a brain and face defect called holoprosencephaly, a common birth defect seen in 1 in 250 human conceptions that includes the failure of the forebrain to divide into two distinct segments.

These first studies in mice have important implications for human health, highlighting the need for more research into the effects of cannabis use during pregnancy in humans. “The THC concentration in cannabis is now very high, so it is important to perform epidemiology studies looking at whether cannabis consumption is associated with developmental defects. Women are already advised not to consume cannabis while pregnant, but our results show that embryos are sensitive at a very early period, before many women know they are pregnant. Cannabis consumption may therefore be inadvisable even when women are trying to get pregnant,” Dr. Krauss warned.

Although this study focussed on one chemical in cannabis and one genetic mutation, further research could reveal other combinations that cause similar effects. “Many of the mutations found in human holoprosencephaly patients could conceivably synergize with THC,” said Dr. Krauss. “We would also like to test the related chemical CBD in genetically predisposed mice. Like THC, CBD inhibits Hedgehog signaling in cells grown in a dish, but CBD appears to work differently. As CBD is widely available and often viewed as beneficial – or at least innocuous – it would be worth investigating this as well,” he added.

 Trulieve, the state’s largest medical marijuana operator, is now the nation’s biggest cannabis retailer, after closing on a $2.1 billion deal to acquire former competitor Harvest Health & Recreation Inc.

The transaction marks a major development in Florida, where Harvest held one of 22 licenses to cultivate, process and sell medical marijuana to a growing patient population, and in the nation’s rapidly expanding pot industry.

Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers called the closing of the deal a “transformational milestone” in her Gadsden County-based company’s brief history.

CBD Oracle (Tustin, CA), a cannabis review and news site, has published an analysis of 520 CBD companies, representing over 20,000 products. The study sought to uncover issues with transparency in the unregulated CBD marketplace, which can threaten consumer trust. According to a survey from Consumer Brands Association, 92% of American consumers either incorrectly assume or have no idea if CBD is federally regulated. Upon being informed that there are no federal agencies that regulate CBD products, 84% of respondents expressed concern about the safety of CBD products. 

CBD Oracle’s study offers an optimistic view of the industry. According to its findings, 89.4% of companies test their CBD products through accredited third-party labs, demonstrating a transparent industry. “Despite consumer apprehension being a huge problem, our analysis suggests an industry so conscious of its regulatory shortcomings it’s taking appropriate steps to fix them,” said Alisdair Mans Cornwell, senior editor at CBD Oracle, in a statement.

Additional findings showed that 89% of companies fully disclose their hemp source and cultivation practices. Most of U.S. hemp sourced for CBD products came from Colorado (30.1%), followed by Oregon (13.4%), then Kentucky and California (tied for 5.1%). Eight percent of hemp was source from Europe, according to the study. The most popular European sources of hemp were Holland, Lithuania, Switzerland, and Spain.

When it came to the most common type of CBD products offered, the majority of companies (72%) sell some type of CBD tincture. The second most popular option sold was topical CBD, offered by 65% of the companies in the analysis. The third and fourth most popular options were capsules and gummies, sold by 42% and 40% of companies, respectively. Unfortunately, 43% of CBD companies in the study did not disclose extraction methods used for their products. Of those that did disclose extraction methods, CO2 extraction was used by 42% of CBD companies, with ethanol extraction being the second most popular method (11%).

CBD Oracle also collected data about minor cannabinoids. According to its analysis, the most popular minor cannabinoid present in the marketplace is cannabigerol (CBG), sold by 20% of the 520 companies. This was followed by cannabinol (CBN), sold by 12% of the companies, and delta-8 THC, sold by 10% of the companies. CBD Oracle expected more companies to sell delta-8 THC. It cites data from New Fronteir Data that states sales of delta-8 THC has reached $10 million across the U.S. in 2020. Despite the exponential market growth of delta-8, CBD Oracle believes that restrictions on the sale of the minor cannabinoid across 19 states is likely contributing to relatively low adoption of delta-8 by manufacturers.

Unlicensed cannabis is not as strong as you may think it is. 

That's according to a recently published study by the New Brunswick Research and Productivity Council.

Researchers comparing samples of illicit and legal cannabis products found that the claims of potency for illicit products were significantly less accurate.  

The RPC's chief officer of science Diane Botelho said the study was taken on to find out whether there was any legitimacy to claims made about cannabis products on the illicit market being 'better'. 

"Our scientists have been curious for a number of years now as to whether or not illicit cannabis products were equivalent to legal cannabis products with respect to health and safety as well as potency claims," said Botelho. 

Following 11 months of collaborative dialogue, the Santa Barbara County Coalition for Responsible Cannabis (Coalition) and CARP Growers reached a historic agreement on Aug. 20, ensuring cannabis farms work in cooperation with the community group to resolve odor issues in a proactive and cooperative way across Carpinteria Valley.

The agreement holds all CARP Growers member farms accountable to a partnership with the coalition and a detailed odor abatement plan outlining a new expanded odor response process, and a comprehensive program to develop and implement next-generation odor technologies.

Community engagement in the plan will be encouraged for reporting, investigating, and resolving cannabis odor incidents.

Today, the Cannabis Freedom Alliance (CFA) added a new class of membership, Values Members, who share a vision with CFA of ending prohibition in a manner consistent with helping all Americans achieve their full potential and limiting the number of barriers that inhibit innovation and entrepreneurship in a free and open market; and three new working groups focused on CFA’s core values: Successful Second Chances and Competitive Open Markets.

CFA congratulates, and is proud to welcome, the newest additions to the coalition: Consumer Choice Center (CCC), End It For Good (EFIG), Nevada Policy (NP), R Street Institute (RSI), and Students for Liberty (SFL).

CFA is further proud to announce the creation of its three working groups:

Criminal Justice Reform and Successful Second Chances Working Group. This group seeks to advance policy changes that facilitate second chances for non-violent cannabis offenders through developing and socializing model policy around justice reform. In addition, the group will work to help secure clemency, commutation, pardons and the like for current non-violent cannabis offenders, as well as petitioning the White House for broader action on such clemency. This group will find ways to support former cannabis offenders in their reentry into society. This working group will be coordinated by former cannabis offender and second-chances advocate Weldon Angelos, Mission Green; and retired law enforcement officer Lt. Diane Goldstein, LEAP.

Weldon Angelos, co-Coordinator of CFA’s Steering Committee said, “We are very pleased to have so many organizations joining our mission to end the injustices of prohibition and reforming the policies that incarcerated so many individuals unfairly.”

A former federal law enforcement officer turned Pennsylvania lawmaker became the second Republican state senator to publicly endorse legalizing recreational marijuana in the Keystone State.

York County state Sen. Mike Regan, the chairman of the Senate Law and Justice Committee, circulated a co-sponsorship memo late Monday to colleagues soliciting support for a bill to legalize marijuana for those 21 and older.

He said the revenue could be used to fund police, fight violent crime in cities and pay for afterschool programs in disadvantaged neighborhoods. 

“Our law enforcement agencies and justice system do not have the manpower or time to handle these minor marijuana offenses that clog our courts and produce little return,” he wrote.

“Instead, police and prosecutors need to focus on protecting our residents from the violent criminals and large-scale drug importers that are also dealing in heroin and fentanyl, which kill thousands of Pennsylvanians each year.”

If you're looking for stocks that you can buy and hold for many years, it's important to choose companies with high-quality businesses and strong catalysts for growth. One industry that receives ample attention from investors of all ages and trading styles is the marijuana sector.

As more states have legalized pot for medical and recreational purposes, growers, retailers, and ancillary providers have popped up right and left. Legal cannabis sales in the U.S. shot up nearly 50% in 2020. And the global legal marijuana market is on track to reach a valuation of nearly $71 billion as soon as 2028.