Policy

CFN Media to Film Interviews at CWCBExpo in Los Angeles on September 8-9

CFN Media, the leading creative agency and digital media network dedicated to legal cannabis, today announced that it will be filming and interviewing exhibitors and thought leaders attending the Cannabis World Congress & Business Expo (CWCBExpo) at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California on September 8th and 9th, 2016. “We are excited […]

Melissa Etheridge to Moderate Sports Panel on CTE, Concussion and CBD at Cannabis World Congress in Los Angeles

The Cannabis World Congress & Business Exposition (CWCBExpo) is pleased to announce that Melissa Etheridge, Grammy and Academy Award Winning singer-songwriter, will return to the event as Moderator for its thought-leadership panel, “CTE, Concussion and CBD.”  Taking place on Thursday, Sept. 8th, former pro athletes, leading medical researchers and advocates for alternative medicines, will discuss […]

Ohio’s Cannabis Licensing Requirements: Racial Justice or Discrimination?

Staying true to form, Cannabis has once again proven itself to be both controversial and deeply divisive.  In June 2016, Ohio passed its Substitute House Bill 523 which legalized the cultivation, sale, and use of Cannabis by authorized companies and individuals.  The mechanics and full regulatory provisions of the licensing process have yet to be […]

Health Canada OK’s Limited Home Growing of Medical Marijuana

Medical marijuana patients will be permitted to grow their own cannabis or get someone to grow it for them under new, expanded rules coming into effect on August 24, according to Health Canada in a technical briefing earlier this month. The news comes after a Federal Court judged struck down the Conservative government’s 2013 law […]

High Powered Panel to Discuss California Legalization at CWCBE LA

The Cannabis World Congress & Business Exposition (CWCBE) will be taking place from September 7th through the 9th in Los Angeles, California this year. At the conference, the ‘Failure is Not An Option’ panel will discuss the upcoming Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) Prop 64 in California and how its passage in November could […]

DEA Rejects Bid to Reclassify Marijuana

The Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) announced that marijuana would remain a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act. DEA Chief Chuck Rosenberg said that the decision is rooted in science and gave ‘enormous weight’ to conclusions reached by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) earlier this year, adding that the decision wasn’t based […]

DEA Delays Marijuana Reclassification

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said that it expected to issue its decision on the reclassification of marijuana during the first half of the year in a letter to U.S. senators earlier this year. Despite several senators pushing the agency to make a decision, the July 1 deadline has passed and it seems that the […]

California’s Ballot Officially Includes Prop 64 to Legalize Adult Use Marijuana

California’s November 2016 ballot will include Proposition 64 to legalize adult-use marijuana in what would become the country’s largest market. With recent polls showing 60% support for Prop 64, the measure is expected to pass into law and potentially push the federal government into developing more comprehensive legislation to address the drug. Proposition 64 would […]

It’s Official: Marijuana Reform is Added to the Dems 2016 Platform

The Democratic National Committee approved a plank calling for broad marijuana reform, which officials adds the controversial topic to the party’s 2016 platform. “We believe that the states should be laboratories of democracy on the issue of marijuana, and those states that want to decriminalize marijuana should be able to do so,” said the DNC […]

2nd Active NFL Player Publicly Supports Medical Marijuana

Derrick Morgan of the Tennessee Titans became the second active NFL player to publicly support medical marijuana and encourage the league to study the drug’s potential long-term health benefits. The move is significant given former Baltimore Ravens player Eugene Monroe who announced support for the drug research and was cut from the team a month […]

Could Microsoft Make Cannabis Mainstream?

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) plans to break into the cannabis industry by providing tracking services to state governments through a partnership with KIND Financial. The move is a sign that the stigma associated with the cannabis industry is rapidly falling as a growing number of states legalize the drug. While Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska […]

Teen Cannabis Use Drops as States Legalize

Cannabis use among teenagers continues to fall around the country, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The news comes as a growing number of states have legalized both medical and recreational forms of cannabis. The 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Study found that high school students’ reported lifetime […]

NFL May Be Changing Its Tune on Medical Marijuana

Ravens Offensive Tackle Eugene Monroe has been pushing for the National Football League (NFL) to consider medical marijuana as a serious treatment for years. While the sports franchise has publicly avoided these conversations, the Washington Post reported that two prominent members of the NFL’s medical personnel discussed medicinal uses of cannabis with researchers from Johns […]

Nationwide Cannabis Tax Could Raise $28 Billion per Year

Conventional tax rates on the commercial production and retail sale of marijuana throughout the country could yield $28 billion in federal, state, and local tax revenue each year, according to The Tax Foundation, an independent think tank in Washington D.C. The vast majority of the revenue – $20.5 billion – would go to states that […]

Study Finds Limited Adverse Health Effects from Cannabis

The legalization of recreational cannabis has many opponents concerned over the effects on public health. After all, tobacco and alcohol have had profoundly negative effects on society over the years and cannabis appears on the surface to fall into the same category. A study published in JAMA Psychiatry may help ease some of these concerns. […]

Canada Looks to Legalization Marijuana in 2017

Canada’s Liberal Party government will introduce laws next year to legalize recreational marijuana throughout the country, according to Health Minister Jane Philpott. The promise to legalize marijuana was a major campaign issue for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who was elected last fall in a landslide victory. Unlike the United States, the country has already implemented […]

Denver NORML Proposes Social Use Cannabis Initiative

Cannabis laws around the country have started off much stricter than traditional tobacco or alcohol laws. For instance, Colorado law requires cannabis users to smoke within their personal residence and doesn’t permit smoking in public places. The Denver chapter of NORML aims to change these laws to permit cannabis users to enjoy a legal product […]

Polls Finds Marijuana Support Higher than Any Presidential Candidate

A new Quinnipiac University poll found that the majority of voters in three swing states favor marijuana legalization – 56% of voters in Florida, 52% of voters in Ohio, and 57% of voters in Pennsylvania. Comparing these results to a separate poll, the support for recreational and medical marijuana legalization remains significantly higher than the […]

Cannabis Apps: What are the Must-Have Downloads?

Mobile apps are used for everything from keeping up with friends to making online purchases these days. With the legalization of medical and recreational cannabis in several states, many users have turned to cannabis apps to find strains and dispensaries. WeedMaps, MassRoots, and Leafly have quickly become staples on the stoner’s smartphone, but there are […]

Medical Cannabis: Cancer Cure or Just a Placebo?

The federal government began to restrict the use of medical marijuana in the 1930s, against the recommendation of the American Medical Association, beginning a decades-long fight between patients and lawmakers. With widespread recreational consumption in the 1960s, the drug developed a negative connotation throughout mainstream society. People found themselves unable to distinguish between the recreational […]

Why the Hemp Industry is Poised to Profit

The hemp industry is projected to grow from $400 million to $1.5 billion by 2020, according to the Hemp Biz Journal‘s The State of the Hemp Industry report, driven by the lifting of legislative barriers. The Farm Bill of 2013 cleared the way for industrial hemp research activities, while the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of […]

Cannabis Edibles Could Capture Half the $5.4B Market

The cannabis industry reached $5.4 billion in 2015, according to ArcView Market Research, which is up from just $4.6 billion a year earlier. According to many dispensary owners, cannabis edibles and other infused products account for at least half of the total market. These figures are growing as consumers that were previously turned off by […]

Why is Denver Putting Recalled Pot Back on Store Shelves?

The City of Denver released 28,000 marijuana products that it had recalled for pesticides, despite Governor John Hickenlooper’s executive order mandating that all of the contaminated samples be destroyed, according to the Denver Post. After instituting its ninth recall of tainted marijuana in early December of last year, tens of thousands of packages of marijuana-infused […]

Crowdfunding Cannabis: Marijuana Start-ups Get the Capital They Need

The cannabis industry may be booming in terms of revenue, but marijuana start-ups looking to raise capital face a number of hurdles. The traditional banking sector has shunned the industry, despite the Obama Administration’s attempts to open up access. In 2013, Attorney General Eric Holder created a “reduced prosecution safe harbor” for commercial banks, but […]

Forget the US, Canada’s Cannabis Industry has Big Potential

Canada has been rapidly moving toward legalization following Justin Trudeau’s election as Prime Minister in late-2015. Shortly after taking office, he sent mandates to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General to look into implementing recreational marijuana legalization across the country, following up on a campaign promise to make it a priority if elected. The […]

Another Day, Another Recall for Tainted Pot

Denver health officials issued their ninth recall of tainted marijuana last week, highlighting the growing need for effective and reliable cannabis testing services. The latest voluntary recall affects more than 12,600 packages of marijuana-infused edibles made by Gaia’s Garden. According to the company, the recall came from pesticide-containing marijuana plants purchased from the TruCannabis cultivation […]

Top 5 Health Benefits of Medical Marijuana

Medical marijuana has been legalized in 23 U.S. states and Washington DC, while non-psychoactive derivatives of the drug have been approved in even more states. While politicians have long debated the merits of medical marijuana, researchers have become increasingly convinced that the drug may provide many different health benefits. These studies have led an increasing […]

Cannabis Industry Rallies Around Weed for Warriors

Many veterans suffer from a variety of different issues following their combat tours, ranging from post traumatic stress disorder to amputation-related pain. While cannabis has been used for centuries to remedy both physical and psychological pain, VA doctors cannot legally prescribe or even discuss the use of the drug under restrictive federal laws. Veterans must […]

Alaska May Have Opened the Door to Cannabis Lounges

Alaska’s Marijuana Control Board voted to permit consumption of marijuana at retail stores, which could make it the first state to allow consumption outside of a person’s home. While the board voted 3-2 in favor of the amendment, Lt. Governor Byron Mallott must sign off on the new rules in order for them to be […]

Many Tribes Second Guess Marijuana Operations

The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued a memo to U.S. attorneys last year directing them not to prioritize prosecuting federal marijuana laws in cases where Native American tribes have legalized the drug for medical or recreational use, so long as the tribes took measures to ensure that pot was kept out of the hands of […]