Arkansas Bans Billboards For In-State Medical Cannabis Dispensaries While Letting Missouri And Oklahoma Marijuana Companies Advertise On Them (Op-Ed)
“You’ve seen countless billboards for Missouri and Oklahoma cannabis businesses, yet you’ve never seen one for an Arkansas dispensary. So you assume Arkansas must not have dispensaries.” By Amanda Strickland, The Source Craft Cannabis I was two sips into a mezcal cocktail at a bar in Bentonville, Arkansas—Walmart’s hometown—when a new friend said the six […]
The Latino Community Is The Invisible Backbone Of The Cannabis Industry (Op-Ed)
“Continuing down the path of aggressive and over-punitive immigration policies poses a direct threat to the future of this industry.” By Ishaq Ali, Latino Cannabis Alliance Behind the sleek tech-adjacent branding and modern marketing of today’s cannabis industry lies a far older, unvarnished truth: cannabis is, at its heart, an agricultural product and Latinos are […]
Increase In Marijuana Misuse Diagnoses Among Veterans Is More Complicated Than It Looks, VA Records Reveal (Op-Ed)
“What emerges is not simply a story of rising diagnoses, but a deeper set of concerns about how those diagnoses are defined, applied and ultimately used to shape both policy and perception.” By Nate Landau, Veterans Action Council The number of cannabis use disorder (CUD) diagnoses among veterans has risen substantially within the Department of […]
Advice For Missouri Marijuana Microbusinesses On How Not To Get Scammed When Signing Contracts (Op-Ed)
“The most important protection for Missouri’s newest cannabis entrepreneurs may not be another rule. It may be knowing when not to sign.” By Adrian A. Holguin, CannaShark Consulting via Missouri Independent Missouri drew its final round of marijuana microbusiness applicants on September 9. The state received 888 applications and expects to issue approximately 77 licenses […]
North Carolina Lawmakers Should Regulate Hemp THC Drinks Instead Of Banning Them (Op-Ed)
“The consumer demand in North Carolina is clear, and the passing of this near-total ban bill would take good actors like us out of this space and allow bad actors to flourish.” By Melissa Johnston, Tryon Distributing via Carolina Journal North Carolina holds an immense opportunity to create the best hemp beverage law in the […]
25 Years Of Drug Decriminalization In Portugal Shows Importance Of Investing In Public Health Approach (Op-Ed)
“Reducing the harms of drug use requires painstakingly building and sustaining a system that connects people with treatment, healthcare and social support.” By Karyn Sporer and Robert Glover, University of Maine via The Conversation Nearly 70,000 Americans died of a drug overdose in 2025. While that is a decline from the nearly 108,000 deaths recorded […]
Medical Marijuana Patients Are Turning To Lesser-Known Cannabinoids Like CBG And CBN, Analysis Of Reddit Posts Shows (Op-Ed)
“The minor cannabinoids that receive far less attention in the mainstream market are often the same compounds patients repeatedly describe as helpful.” By Sunehera Hasib The cannabis industry spends millions pushing specific products. But patients are having a very different conversation among themselves. In a recent analysis of nearly 18,000 posts and comments across major […]
California Marijuana Businesses Should Act Now To Comply With New Packaging Rules That Don’t Take Effect Until 2028 (Op-Ed)
“2028 sounds far away. But artwork gets locked with the printer weeks or months before the run. Then the boxes sit in a warehouse until they are used.” By Adrian A. Holguin, CannaShark Consulting Last month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed AB 2249, a bill that puts a much clearer line around what cannabis […]
What Massachusetts Cannabis Consumers Need to Know About Question 8, The Ballot Measure To Roll Back Legalization (Op-Ed)
“If licensed adult-use retailers disappear, consumers will continue to seek cannabis through other channels… None of the alternatives will produce the safe and regulatory tested products, jobs and tax revenue the current legal market generates.” By Steve Reilly, Insa If you are a Massachusetts voter who has not been following the debate over cannabis policy, […]
Addressing Cannabis Safety Issues Is A Strength, Not A Weakness, For The Legalization Movement (Op-Ed)
“Acknowledging these problems is not a concession to prohibition. Solving them is how we protect the future of cannabis access.” By Steph Sherer, Americans for Safe Access For much of the modern cannabis movement, raising concerns about safety has been politically complicated. Advocates have spent decades fighting exaggerated claims about cannabis harms, and opponents have […]