From Our Writers

The Cannabis Research Institute, a collaboration between the University of Illinois and Discovery Partners Institute backed by the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago, officially launched last week.

USDA officials last week delayed the enforcement of a rule requiring consumer hemp products to be tested by labs registered with the DEA; it’s the third year in a row that officials have delayed enforcing the rule.

New Mexico lawmakers are considering giving new enforcement powers to officials with the state’s Cannabis Control Division; the proposal would establish a “Compliance Bureau” aimed at disrupting the illicit cannabis market.

Regulators with the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission this week released health and safety guidelines for the cannabis industry that dub “ground cannabis dust” a hazardous chemical that operators must evaluate and prepare for.

Colorado-based Bee’s Knees CBDs has agreed to pay the state attorney general a $225,000 settlement after an investigation found the company had misrepresented its product offerings, claimed false partnerships with nonprofits, and failed to verify customers’ ages.

New York cannabis regulators expect to see $800 million in retail cannabis taxes by the end of the year, far short of the $5 billion estimated by the state when it legalized adult-use cannabis.

The majority of women surveyed by YouGov indicated they would try cannabis products if there were perceived health benefits, with most (16%) saying they were interested in sleep quality improvements.

A study published this month in the American Journal of Public Health found that U.S. food service and accommodation industry workers have the highest rates of cannabis consumption.

The hemp technology firm Hempitecture recently received $8.42 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to support creating an industrial hemp processing and manufacturing facility in Tennessee.

Italy’s conservative leadership is planning to crack down on the country’s nascent — and already highly restricted — cannabis industry by banning products made from hemp flower, the industry’s only real source of cannabinoids.

Seven cannabis transportation companies in Illinois are suing the state Department of Agriculture claiming the agency’s licensing process favors larger, white- and male-owned companies.

Arizona-based DIZPOT was recently granted a U.S. patent for a child-resistant, biodegradable paper tube for packaging cannabis products.

The district attorney for Los Angeles County recently launched a public service campaign warning teenagers against the underage use of cannabis.

Cannabis regulators in New Jersey have started to implement new rules banning the unlicensed sale of hemp-derived cannabinoid products.

The publicly-traded cannabis brand TerrAscend recently announced its expansion into Ohio with the $10.3 million acquisition of Ratio Cannabis, a dispensary in Goshen Township.

An attorney for New Mexico cannabis company NNK Equity LLC says the company will sue the state after police seized and destroyed tens of thousands of pounds of cannabis. The authorities, however, say the seizure was lawfully executed against a noncompliant cannabis operator.

Kentucky voters across the state overwhelmingly passed ballot measures allowing medical cannabis operations at the local level.

Voters in the Texas cities of Dallas, Bastrop, and Lockhart voted this week to decriminalize low-level cannabis possession.

Oregon voted to secure cannabis workers’ right to join unions with the state’s Measure 119 drawing 55% voter support on Tuesday.

Massachusetts voters rejected the state’s medical psychedelics legalization ballot initiative with 57% opposed and 43% in favor. The proposal sought to legalize the medical use of psilocybin, psilocin, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), ibogaine, and mescaline for patients aged 21+.

South Dakota voters on Tuesday rejected the state’s adult-use cannabis legalization initiative.

Voters in North Dakota rejected adult-use cannabis reforms in the state for the third time in six years, with 53% opposed and 47% in favor.

Nebraska’s two medical cannabis initiatives — one seeking to legalize medical cannabis and another to establish a regulated medical cannabis marketplace — were approved on Tuesday with 71% and 67% voter support, respectively. There remains a legal challenge to the initiatives, however, that could stymie the results.

Florida’s Amendment 3, which sought to legalize adult-use cannabis by writing the reforms into the State Constitution, on Tuesday failed to garner the 60% supermajority support required of such amendments.