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Shortly after Nevada officials announced that licensed cannabis stores and medical dispensaries could reopen after lockdown, Nicolas MacLean said cars were lined up for five blocks waiting for curbside pickup.

Like many industries in Las Vegas, the cannabis industry used to rely on tourists for sales, but that changed when the pandemic hit, MacLean, who serves as the CEO of Las Vegas-based cannabis producer Aether Gardens, told The New York Times.

"Locals are very discerning — they want something they aren't going to find on the black market," MacLean said. "Especially when you are stuck at home."

The year of 2020 saw extraordinarily strong sales of legal cannabis in the US, up 46% from 2019 to a record $17.5 billion, according to cannabinoid market research firm BDSA.

"I expect this will be the first year Nevada does over a billion in cannabis sales," MacLean said. "And it happened on the back of what I think no one expected."

Researchers at the University of New Mexico (UNM) have found people suffering from nausea who consumed whole natural cannabis flower had at least some relief within five to 60 minutes.

But not only did individuals report significant symptom improvement almost right away — with nausea falling an average of almost four points on a scale of zero to 10 — that improvement increased by the hour-after mark.

“Symptom relief was statistically significant at five minutes and increased with time,” notes the study published last month in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology.

The investigation shows that 96.4 per cent of the study sample reported nausea relief within one hour. “Despite increasing clinical concerns regarding cyclical vomiting or hyperemesis syndrome in cannabis users, almost all users experienced relief,” study author Sarah Stith, an assistant professor at UNM, says in a statement on Sunday.

To get an idea of how using cannabis affected nausea, researchers employed a mobile phone app so sufferers could report symptom intensity. The study was based on data from 2,220 cannabis self-administration sessions recorded by 886 people using the Releaf App.

Studies that show no links between legal cannabis programs and marijuana use by young people should be encouraging news for advocates and those who are wary of cannabis.

A new batch of data shows that despite marijuana earning its legal status in several U.S. states, young people aren’t exactly getting their hands on the stuff any easier. This data adds to a growing body of evidence that indicates that legal marijuana doesn’t make it more likely for teens to consume it.

Marijuana use in teens and young adults is a serious concern, one that has been correlated with higher odds of developing a dependency on the drug and of developing mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, and psychosis.

Photo by Eliott Reyna via Unsplash

The data came from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) and was submitted by high schoolers between the years 2009 and 2019. The analysis demonstrated that there was not a significant change or increase in the percentage of students who consumed cannabis within the past 30 days.

The number of dogs becoming ill from accidentally consuming THC-containing cannabis products is – like the dogs – becoming higher, according to data from a new University of Guelph study.

According to experts, the increase in cannabis-intoxicated canines is directly linked to the increased legalization and/or decriminalization of the drug across North America in recent years.

“We found in the data that there was an association between a reduction in penalties for cannabis use and possession and dogs being poisoned with cannabinoids,” the study’s lead author Mohammad Howard-Azzeh said in a press release. “There is some evidence to suggest these poisoning events are increasing in the U.S.”

The research team studied data from calls to the Animal Poison Control Center (APCC) of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) via veterinary database AnTox, which “stores comprehensive clinical animal toxicology data related to those calls, identifies and characterizes toxic effects of substances in animals” gleaned from reports from veterinarians and pet owners.

While cannabis consumption is rarely fatal for dogs, even consuming small amounts of the drug – whether by inhalation or, more commonly, by eating it – the results can still be extremely serious. Dogs can experience symptoms such as loss of balance, urinary incontinence, vomiting, breathing problems, seizures, tremors, or even a coma. Symptoms can appear as long as 12 hours after ingestion, and in some cases can last for days.

Cannabis Stocks And 2021 Market Performance

As leading marijuana stocks appear to bounce back in the market which pot stocks are you investing in? In 2021 top cannabis stocks to buy have taken investors on a ride of market volatility that has left some investors down in the sector. After reaching new highs in February most pot stocks have seen a sharp decline in value for the past few months.

Cannabis stores are one of the fastest growing industries, and self-order technology is playing an important role in this emerging sector, currently valued at more than $18 billion, according to Leafly, a cannabis industry information resrouce, supporting the equivalent of over 300,000 full-time jobs.

A total of 17 states currently have legal adult use, as shown on the accompanying chart. More states are expected to legalize adult use, given the fact that polls show strong public support for it.

High-quality vapes with healthy components are not always expensive the same way expensive vapes are not always of the best grades. Here’s what to look for.

Vaping is popularly considered as the lesser of all evils for all cannabis users around the world. Nothing can be a hundred percent safe though.

Nowadays, the market is littered with various types of vaporizers with different atomizers and cartridges. Expectedly, choosing a vape might be a dilemma for customers, as well as canna-entrepreneurs — especially new investors.

Photo by Toan Nguyen via Unsplash

Safety is the most important thing to look for

All vapes do not have an equal measure of safety. Some are safer than others. Thanks to the ever-evolving technology, many unique types of vapes have been developed. Most brands choose profit over the health of their customers, which is why you should always check the components of your vaporizers before buying, including:

Is marijuana legalization about to go federal? Congressional leaders took the massive and potentially historic first step on Friday, when they introduced the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement Act of 2021, or “The MORE Act of 2021”.

The stated purpose of the MORE Act of 2021: “To decriminalize and deschedule cannabis, to provide for reinvestment in certain persons adversely impacted by the War on Drugs, to provide for expungement of certain cannabis offenses, and for other purposes.” 

The legislation was brought by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, the longtime Democrat from New York, along with members of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus.

The significance of the proposal can’t be overstated. If it passed, it would end the federal prohibition on marijuana—something a growing number of cities and states across the country have already done. 

“Since I introduced the MORE Act last Congress, numerous states across the nation, including my home state of New York, have moved to legalize marijuana. Our federal laws must keep up with this pace,” Nadler said in a statement. “I’m proud to reintroduce the MORE Act to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level, remove the needless burden of marijuana convictions on so many Americans, and invest in communities that have been disproportionately harmed by the War on Drugs.”

Cannabis remains illegal for any purpose under state law in North Carolina, with one major exception: The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) has leaped ahead of the state's government, passing a new law that decriminalizes cannabis and allows people to use medical marijuana in the 100 square miles of tribal land known as the Qualla Boundary.

Tribal leaders decided in April. The land covers 56,000 acres, spanning five countries in western North Carolina. It's a sovereign nation where the Cherokee tribe sets its own laws.

The new law allows possession, for those 21 and older, of up to one ounce of cannabis and three-twentieths of an ounce of hashish.  Selling or growing marijuana remains illegal on tribal lands.

Cherokee Principal Chief Richard G. Sneed told The Cherokee One Feather that the Tribal Council decision "is a first step towards better meeting the needs of our citizens who use cannabis as a medicine. I join those citizens in applauding the Council for its historic, compassionate, and morally upright action."

The opioid crisis 

Joey Owle, Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources for the EBCI, and Jeremy Wilson, EBCI governmental affairs liaison, led the movement to change tribal law. Part of their motivation is an opioid crisis that has hit the Cherokee tribe particularly hard.

A story equally impressive may be in its overseas activities.

2021 is looking to be the year in which we find some normalcy and recovery. For Curaleaf Holdings (OTC:CURLF), a vertically integrated cannabis producer, 2021 has so far been nothing short of record-breaking. The company recently reached a milestone $1 billion in annual sales, hitting $260 million in the first quarter of this year. 

While more research is needed, there are some promising results indicating that patients affected by Alzheimer’s and dementia may benefit from using medical cannabis.

For anyone going through the aging process, the thought of forgetting their life or precious memories associated with loves ones can be debilitating. But new studies on dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are finding surprising new ways to raise quality-of-life in the later years and what medicines can help patients experiencing the debilitating disease — right now.

In a 2015 study, researchers in the Czech Republic found that while dementia and Alzheimer’s do have a link, there was another stage in the process that was a precursor to memory loss: mild cognitive impairment (MCI) found to be a “boundary area between normal aging and dementia,” the stage before memory loss could hold the key to the development of the disease.

Photo by GDJ via Pixabay

Even more interesting, while cannabis and CBD were both being studied for Alzheimer’s disease, a 2020 study on dementia and cannabis opened the door to more knowledge. Lakewood Medical Health Clinic, a holistic medical marijuana practice located in Ohio, shared that, “In recent years, researchers have begun to study how medical marijuana could be used to treat Alzheimer’s and dementia. While more research is needed, there are some promising results indicating that patients affected by these two conditions may benefit from using medical cannabis.”

Delta-8 THC had a good run. People made money, customers were happy, and it all seemed legal to boot. Like all good things in life, states and the DEA are doing everything in their power to ensure that delta-8’s run comes to an end. Let’s talk about why.

For those of you who may not have been paying attention, delta-8 is one of many, many cannabinoids in cannabis (marijuana and hemp) plants. Unlike CBD, it gets you high. It’s not usually present in high volume in cannabis, so it’s usually derived by converting hemp CBD through chemical processes, and can’t be legally derived from marijuana under federal law.

In theory (or, more accurately, according to the literal text of the federal 2018 Farm Bill, if you care about little details like “what the actual law is”) hemp-derived delta-8 THC should be considered legal under present federal law. But the DEA apparently didn’t get that memo.

Late last year, the DEA issued an interim final rule (IFR) that says that all synthetic cannabinoids are Schedule I narcotics and illegal. Never mind that delta-8 is most commonly derived from a hemp plant and that the 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp and its derivatives because, well, the DEA apparently thinks it’s as dangerous as heroin. We wrote quite a bit on why the DEA was just wrong around the time the IFR was published, and generally stand by that opinion.

Surprisingly, the DEA didn’t see eye to eye with the entire industry. It even put delta-8 on its “Orange Book” of controlled substances. I won’t get into too much more detail on the status of federal delta-8 law, as my colleague Nathalie Bougenies recently did just that a few months back.

Lawmakers in Uruguay made history by passing an adult-use legalization measure that was signed into law in late 2013.

Uruguay will forever be known as the first country on earth to legalize cannabis for adult use, as well as the first country to allow legal adult-use cannabis sales.

Only one other country, Canada (2018), has legalized cannabis for adult use.

Uruguay’s legalization model differs quite a bit from Canada, with one of the biggest differences being who can legally purchase cannabis.

Rehydrating your weed is probably not something you want to be doing often. This is why prevention is always key.

One of the saddest things to happen to anyone is to roll a joint only to find out that their stash has gone dry.

There are two main reasons why weed gets dry: either it’s over-dried after harvest, or it hasn’t been stored correctly. If you are cutting down your weed to get ready to dry it, the stems will soon lose its stiffness. The best way to tell if it’s dried properly is if you’re able to snap a stem in half but if the stem continues to bend, then it requires more drying time.

However, if you’re living in arid climates, you may need a humidifier.

Photo by Elsa Olofsson via Unsplash

The fate of legalization will largely hinge on the ruling Socialists. The government, led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, has demonstrated a lack of enthusiasm for even medical cannabis legalization.

On May 13, the health committee of Spain’s Congress of Deputies approved a proposal to create a subcommittee that will consider other countries’ experiences with medical cannabis. The subcommittee’s findings could pave the way for medical cannabis legalization in Spain. According to a recent poll, approximately 90% of Spaniards would favor such a move.

Spain currently lacks a medical cannabis program at the national level. Two cannabis medications, Sativex and Epidiolex, have been approved by the regulator, but only for specified ailments; use to treat other conditions must be approved by a medical tribunal, subject to variations among localities. Moreover, costs can be prohibitive.

Photo by Henrique Ferreira via Unsplash

As the Founder and CEO of Humboldt Seed Company, I have been breeding cannabis for more than 20 years. I've seen many trends in the craft cannabis space. Here's what I see on the harvest horizon. 

From jobs to tax revenue to commercial real estate, the marijuana industry has a large – and growing – impact on the broader economy in the United States. The total U.S. economic impact from marijuana sales in 2021 is expected to reach $92 billion – up more than 30 percent from last year – and upwards of $160 billion in 2025, according to analysis from the newly published MJBizFactbook.

To measure the industry’s economic impact, MJBizDaily analyzed similar industries and applied a standard multiplier of 3.5 on projected recreational and medical marijuana retail sales. The numbers are a best guess because the marijuana industry’s structure is somewhat unique because it encompasses agricultural, manufacturing and retail activity.

The economic impact of the marijuana industry is not the same as supply-chain revenues that are often used to estimate the “total size” of an industry. Rather, the economic multiplier paints a picture of the impact the industry has on the broader economy. In this case, for every $1 consumers and patients spend at retail locations, an additional $2.50 will be injected into the economy, much of it at the local level.

That impact comes directly from the day-to-day needs of workers in the cannabis industry, including spending on life’s necessities such as housing, transportation, entertainment and more. Marijuana businesses, consumers and patients also pay hundreds of millions of dollars in state and local taxes that are used to fund state and local government activities, including schools and roads.

In addition, real estate receives a boost from new retail, manufacturing and agricultural businesses moving into an area or established companies expanding, increasing broader demand for commercial properties. Cultivating and manufacturing marijuana can require large investments in equipment and technology that boost not only the local economy but also areas throughout the U.S.

The year of the COVID-19 pandemic also appears to have been a year that more Americans got high. At least that’s where new research points.

Investors the ETFMG Alternative Harvest (ticker: MJ) exchange-traded fund, which holds a basket of marijuana-related stocks, will no doubt be smiling blissfully at the news. The fund was recently up 46% so far this year compared to gains of 12% for the S&P 500 index over the same period, according to Yahoo data. Neither figure includes dividends.

Billowing Use of Marijuana During in COVID-19 Pandemic

Drug testing of potential employees as well as testing of people who were recently involved in accidents showed there was a surge in cannabis use in 2020, according to drug testing firm Quest Diagnostics. The firm conducted 9 million such tests last year.

“[...] the rate of drug positivity remained stubbornly high despite seismic shifts to the workplace caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Barry Sample, a senior director of science and technology at Quest Diagnostics DGX +0.1%, in a statement.

More than one-in-eight of people given an oral fluid test showed evidence of marijuana use last year, up from less than one-in-10 in 2019, the company data show. Testing using hair samples also showed a surge with one-in-11 of the population testing positive in 2020 versus one-in-fourteen the previous year. Urine tests saw an increase in positive results for pot although they were much lower than with the other tests.

States that have legalized adult-use marijuana sales have seen billions of dollars in fresh tax revenue from cannabis, according to a new study.

The recently published research, which comes courtesy of the Marijuana Policy Project, found that, as of this month, “states reported a combined total of $7.9 billion in tax revenue from legal, adult-use marijuana sales,” while “cities and towns have also generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in new revenue from local adult-use cannabis taxes.”

That reported figure includes the states of Colorado and Washington, where voters passed legalization measures in 2012 and where sales began in 2014.

In Colorado, according to the study, there is a 15 percent tax on wholesale and a 15 percent tax rate on special retail (neither of which apply to sales of medical cannabis in the state). Since 2014, Colorado’s estimated tax revenue from cannabis sales is $1,557,878,973, with “$404.5 million of the total revenue generated from cannabis taxes has been dedicated to improving Colorado’s public school system.” The estimated tax revenue does not include “local sales tax revenues, which have been significant,” according to the study. In Denver, for example, $210.6 million in local tax revenue has been generated as of last month.

In Washington, where there is a 37% imposed on retail since July 2015 and a 6.5% sales tax, estimated state tax revenue from cannabis sales rounds out at $2,568,728,290, and that total does not include the estimated $167 million generated between July 2014 and March 2021.

New Hampshire will now be expanding the pool of patients eligible to receive medical cannabis, thanks to a newly signed bill, HB 89.

This week, Republican Governor Chris Sununu signed HB 89, which will go into effect July 21. Under this new law, physicians will be allowed to authorize patients who have moderate or severe insomnia to use medical cannabis. In addition to this exciting news, it also allows adults and pediatric patients with autism spectrum disorder to receive medical cannabis in some cases.

This move to sign HB 89 is in line with recently published data that shows autism spectrum disorder can be treated with cannabis safely and with favorable results. A recent study out of Israel looked at the safety and efficacy of cannabis and how administering CBD-heavy cannabis oil can help those with autism. 

The ratio they used was 30 percent CBD and 1.5 percent THC, and the study was conducted with 188 patients who all have autism spectrum disorder. The patients underwent the treatment for six months and provided feedback about their experience. Of those who participated, 90 percent said they had some level of improvement in their symptoms, such as relief from restlessness, seizures, and rage attacks. About one-third of those polled said they were also able to take less of other medications because of the CBD.

Authors concluded: “Cannabis as a treatment for autism spectrum disorders patients appears to be well-tolerated, safe and seemingly effective option to relieve symptoms, mainly: seizures, tics, depression, restlessness and rage attacks. … [W]e believe that double blind placebo-controlled trials are crucial for a better understanding of the cannabis effect on ASD patients.”