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In the short term, marijuana hinders your learning ability, but doesn’t seem to cause long-term impairment.

Marijuana makes you dumb. At least according to the tired trope surrounding its use. Back in the day, stoners were considered slackers and anyone who smoked weed was on a one-way ticket to Loserville.

Today, many of those stigmas have fallen away. But some still linger in the popular consciousness, like the perception that every hit on a joint results in a lower IQ. But does smoking marijuana actually make you stupid?

Not really, according to a review published in the journal Neuropsychology. Canadian researchers Scot Purdon and Daniel Krzyzanowski aimed to better understand what long-term cognitive effects cannabis could have on users. They analyzed 23 previous studies to determine if marijuana abstinence had any impact on verbal learning and memory abilities.

Based on available literature, they wrote, whatever impairment marijuana use inflicted upon memory and verbal learning “appear to resolve between 7 and 28 days of sustained abstinence.” However, they added, “years of regular use were inversely related to longer periods of abstinence and verbal learning performance, undermining a confident inference that abstinence alone has direct benefits to verbal learning and memory.”

Detroit-based production company ASK-Y LLC is currently filming “Smokin’ Good,” a drama series set in the ‘world of cannabis.’

The series will follow August Good, portrayed by Shiek Mahmud-Bey, as he navigates his transition from the illicit cannabis market into the legal framework, notes a press release.

“The average person has no idea what this industry is really about,” says Andrew Watson, co-executive producer. “They primarily feed into the stigmas attached to cannabis, and that, in turn, affects their perception. This show will give them a taste of what the industry is, and from a very unique perspective. You rarely see a Black man’s point of view with cannabis, outside of being arrested and locked up from it.”

Watson called the show semi-autobiographical. “It details my successes, my failures and everything in between as a cannabis entrepreneur,” he says.

Mahmud-Bey called the series “a classic, from-the-streets-to-the-boardroom tale,” adding “those types of stories never get old, and the writing for this one is incredible.”

While we were watching other elections, voters in South Dakota legalized marijuana.

What will that mean for Minnesota?

In Rock County, Minn., close to the South Dakota border, bemused officials took in the news.

“It was a shocker,” said Rock County Sheriff Evan Verbrugge. “I think everybody in this area was really surprised that South Dakota voted this way before Minnesota.”

That’s pot politics. Lots of issues split along partisan lines — blue against red, liberal against conservative, us against them — but not marijuana. Never marijuana.

Down a rural farm road on the outskirts of Bergheim, 40 minutes north of San Antonio, lies the green pasture nurturing Texas' first legal hemp farm. At Texas First Hemp, visitors can take a look inside the farming operation, demystifying some of the stigma and buying samples on their way out.

Owners Jennifer and Austin Ruple were some of the first to receive hemp-growing permits after the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 1325 in June 2019, legalizing hemp farming in Texas. Hemp is a variety of cannabis that contains less than .3% THC, a compound known to produce psychoactive effects. The Ruples primarily focus on cannabidiol, or CBD, a naturally occurring extractable compound found in hemp plants. Hemp has been used in everything from soaps, clothing, and diapers to paper, foods, and building materials.

The Ruples became licensed in spring 2020 just after COVID-19 hit, and they were the first in the state to have seeds planted that would grow into the first legal hemp plants in Texas.

“People think of this industry, and they think long hair and beanies, but it’s all about integrity,” Austin says. “It’s all above-board. It is becoming more popular and so much more mainstream.”

Now that those seeds have blossomed into 8-foot plants with leaves and buds, they’re ready for harvest, and the Ruples have opened the farm to tours. While nearby Fredericksburg attracts wine lovers, people with an appreciation for hemp can go behind the scenes of the process.

It wasn't long Wednesday morning before Don Lantis had fielded three phone calls from people wanting to go into the marijuana dispensary business with him.

Lantis, the grand old man of fireworks in North Sioux City, is personally not fond of marijuana and has never used it. (He prefaced this several times by noting, "I'm 79 years old.") But it's impossible to deny the moneymaking potential of marijuana in North Sioux City, the same sort of opportunity that compelled his father to open Lantis Fireworks in the border town 75 years ago.

"There was money to be made there," Lantis said of his father's long-ago decision to sell fireworks directly across the border from Iowa where they were illegal.

The passage of medical marijuana in Mississippi by voters Tuesday is being hailed as an historic vote.

Jay Czarkowski, a Boulder Colorado-based cannabis industry consultant who donated to the campaign to get medical marijuana approved in Mississippi, said his best advice to Mississippians is to become involve in the process of establishing the rules and regulations for a medical marijuana program.

"There isn't anything urgent; It will take time for this program," he said.

What do you need to know about medical marijuana in Mississippi? We provide answers:

Who will be able to use marijuana under the proposal?

Initiative Measure No. 65 amends the Mississippi Constitution to allow qualified patients with debilitating medical conditions — certified by licensed Mississippi physicians — to use marijuana.

Some analysts predict that legal weed is on its way to becoming a $9 billion market. So, not many states — or the federal government — will be able to ignore the economic benefits too much longer.

While the federal government still considers marijuana to be a dangerous drug, the rest of America isn’t so crass. Five more states just legalized the leaf in Tuesday’s election, making it where one in every three Americans now lives in a state where marijuana is no longer bound by prohibition.

Some believe that such a substantial victory means that cannabis reform is poised for more progress in the coming year. We’re talking about more states with influence putting pot laws on the books and, perhaps, even a situation where Congress is finally forced to take a careful look at the issue. Although there is still a great deal of uncertainty about how this could or will shake out, you can bet there is plenty on the horizon for marijuana legalization in the United States.

One thing you can almost count on is New York finally working toward a fully legal market. Although lawmakers haven’t been able to come to terms on it for the past couple of years, New Jersey’s newfound legal status might pressure them to take another look. Voters in the Garden State overwhelmingly approved a measure on Tuesday that makes the cultivation and sale of cannabis a fully legal industry. If New York doesn’t do the same, the state will be forced to contend with interstate drug trafficking, and ultimately exhaust police resources needed for violent crimes.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo knows this is true. He told public radio station WAMC  earlier this week that he believes legislators are going to have to find the inspiration to approve pot legalization in 2021 or else. More than anything, he said, the state needs the tax revenue from the cannabis industry to help repair the economic downtrodden brought on by the coronavirus.  

Despite all the uncertainty surrounding the U.S. election, there’s a clear victor already: domestic cannabis companies.

Leaders across the industry cheered after marijuana measures passed in all five states that had them on the ballot Tuesday -- even in deeply red parts of the country. The results buoyed the biggest U.S.-based players in the market.

“Cannabis won, and won big,” said Boris Jordan, chairman of Curaleaf Holdings Inc., one of the largest cannabis companies. “It’s a green landslide.”

Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has promised swift action on legislation to remove cannabis from the nation’s list of controlled substances if Democrats take control of the U.S. Senate in Tuesday’s election, according to a report from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). The Democrat from New York said in comments made last week that lawmakers would move to pass the Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act, a bill that would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act. The measure also provides support for small businesses and grant funding to support efforts to review and expunge past marijuana convictions at the state level.

“I think we’ll have a good chance to pass that bill,” Schumer said.

“I’m a big fighter for racial justice, and the marijuana laws have been one of the biggest examples of racial injustice, and so to change them makes sense,” he added. “And that fits in with all of the movement now to bring equality in policing, in economics, and in everything else. Our bill is, in a certain sense, at the nexus of racial justice, individual freedom, and states’ rights.”

Schumer made a similar promise to advance cannabis reform legislation in an interview in September.

“My commitment is that if I am leader [of the US Senate], I am going to do everything I can to put the Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act on the floor of the Senate,” he said. “The odds are very high it will pass.”

California's most iconic cannabis cultivation zones and its local outdoor growers recently received a boost to their business when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 67 into law on Sept. 30.

The regulation amends Section 26063 of the Business and Professions Code while enacting a new terroir-based appellation for origin-specific products and its use of the environment during the plant's growth.

Any use of artificial lights, shelters or any other form of temperature or climate control is prohibited under the rules.

The passage of SB 67 is being heralded as a win for the state's iconic operators across California's fertile grounds, including the Emerald Triangle, by recognizing their claim to the fertile region.

San Francisco’s cannabis industry is expected to hang on to a bit more green next year due to a tax break that is likely to pass next week.

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman has proposed the one-year tax reprieve, delaying the implementation of the cannabis tax approved by voters in November 2018.

The estimated tax break and revenue loss to The City is $7.1 million, according to the budget analyst.

The Maryland Department of Agriculture has adopted new regulations that will expand the state’s industrial hemp program. The new regulations bring the state’s program into compliance with provisions of the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill, and will establish industrial hemp as an agricultural commodity.

“Hemp is an emerging agricultural commodity that presents a new opportunity for farmers looking to diversify their operations,” said Secretary of Agriculture Joe Bartenfelder. “We have seen significant interest in the first two years of the Industrial Hemp Research Pilot Program and we are excited to expand the state’s hemp industry with the new Hemp Farming Program.”

What is New Under the New Hemp Program?

Under the new Hemp Farming Program, growers may apply to produce and cultivate hemp for commercial purposes. In previous years, Maryland growers have only been able to produce hemp under the department’s Industrial Hemp Research Pilot Program.

In January 2019, the department began accepting applications for its Industrial Hemp Research Pilot Program. The pilot program is the result of Maryland House Bill 698, a 2018 state law that required growers to partner with the department or an institution of higher learning to grow industrial hemp for research purposes.

Applications for both programs’ 2021 growing season will be announced and posted on the program’s website in the coming weeks.

The Oregon secondary market for cannabis licenses and businesses remains lively. We have been helping industry buy and sell these businesses since 2016. This post is mostly about pricing for retail plays, which is still an evolving standard, but a standard nonetheless.

First, some context.

With marijuana and cannabis use rising rapidly nowadays, it is easy to see why more and more people are wanting to jump on the bandwagon and start their own marijuana seed business. If run and managed well, a marijuana seed business can be a lucrative market to be a part of and can offer a huge number of benefits for both customers and the business alike. But how can you go about starting up your own marijuana seed business? Learn more with our guide for getting started with your seed bank business today.

CANNABIS use is a hotly contested topic the world over - but what are the rules in the UK?

Here we explain the laws surrounding smoking weed, and if it is ok to do it in your own home...

The pungent, slightly floral smell of someone smoking cannabis is often hard to disguiseCredit: Alamy

Is it legal for people to smoke cannabis if it’s in their own home?

Simply, no.

Cannabis, marijuana or weed is classified as a Class B drug, putting it in the same category as ketamine and amphetamine.

A new study out last month from researchers affiliated with DePaul University and John Hopkins University helped illuminate some notable differences between men and women who are prescribed medical cannabis. 

The study, published last month in the Journal of Women’s Health, found that women “are more likely to report decreased use of prescription medications to treat symptoms, and report lower levels of support from physicians for [medical cannabis] use,” and that subsequent research on gender differences among those who use medical cannabis treatment “may benefit from more detailed data related to symptomatology, utilization, dosing, and outcomes associated with [medical cannabis], and interactions with the health care system to extend these findings.”

The researchers surveyed 361 patients who participate in Illinois’ medical cannabis program. “We summarized participants’ qualifying conditions, symptoms treated with MC, perceived physician support for MC use, use of MC and prescription medications, then analyzed differences by participant gender,” the researchers wrote, noting that they found that “that men report higher levels of support for [medical cannabis] use from both specialist and primary care physicians,” while women “were significantly more likely to increase use of cannabis after acquiring an [medical cannabis] card, and to discontinue prescription medications through [medical cannabis] use,” and that “that being a woman, using [medical cannabis] to treat multiple symptoms, and reporting higher levels of support for [medical cannabis] use from a primary care provider significantly increased the likelihood of discontinuing prescription medication through [medical cannabis] use.”

Gender and Cannabis Use

Researchers have long explored differences between gender when it comes to cannabis use. In 2016, a study from researchers at Columbia University found that “prevalence of past-year marijuana use increased for both men and women between 2002 and 2014.” In that same period, researchers found, “more men reported past-year use than women, but since 2007, the rate of increase was greater for men than for women, leading to a widening of the gender gap in marijuana use over time.” But despite such differences, the researchers said it was difficult to pinpoint a clear explanation.

“These changes parallel national trends in decreased perceived harmfulness of marijuana use, and legalization of both recreational and medical use in over half of U.S. states,” said Dr. Hannah Carliner, one of the authors of the Columbia University study.  “However, changes in attitudes and legality do not sufficiently explain why we observe a sharp increase in use in 2007, or why this increase was greater in men than in women.”

Why These Marijuana Stocks Are Still On Top

After several extended deadline extensions, Mexican lawmakers seem on course to legalize adult-use cannabis in the coming weeks.

The most recent indication comes from MORENA Senate majority leader Ricardo Monreal, who says the bill would pass by the end of October and before the Dec. 15 deadline.

Projections expect Mexico to be the most lucrative legalized market, bolstering the nation's economy.

Passing adult-use legislation is also expected to diminish the cartels' long-running, lucrative narcotics arm. That's just one of many benefits Mexico hopes to gain from expanding cannabis access.