It feels as 2019 was a long while ago however some things can’t be forgotten. Back in July of 2019 a staff director for Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee was placed behind other members on the dais. This staff director Brendan was paying attention to all-too-rare bipartisan harmony. Both sides formed a collective understanding: it is time for the federal marijuana prohibition to end.

We continue to see several conflations and misconceptions voiced in the discussion about microbial safety standards for cannabis products. The foundation for these misconceptions is the idea that cannabis testing regulations should mimic the food industry. We reject this idea because cannabis flower has two major departures from food: it contains high concentrations of antibiotics and it is dried and inhaled.

Cannabis Flower Contains High Concentrations of Antibiotics

As much as 20% of cannabis flower weight/volume is made up of cannabinoids, which are potent antibiotics. We have not seen any food on the market that is 20% (weight/volume) antibiotic.

Psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin and LSD can induce an experience known as oceanic boundlessness, which is characterized by a feeling of oneness with the world and a sense of awe. New research, published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, provides some preliminary evidence that high doses of cannabis can also produce this type of altered state of consciousness.

In Yukon this summer, a slow motion race is unfolding in indoor pots, under tents, and in backyards.

Week by week, the spiky green leaves of hybrid cannabis plants have been pushing their way up — the first crop in the territory's first-ever cannabis growing competition. 

It's called the Yukon Cannacup, organized by the Friends of Cannabis, described by president Ross McLeod as a "very informal affiliation of individuals" from around the country.  

"There's a lot of stigma in the Yukon, we're hoping this is a way to break some of the ice," said McLeod, who lives in Whitehorse, when asked why he started the Cannacup. 

Researchers from the U.S., Canada and China say a marijuana-like substance in the brain has both positive and negative implications for those suffering from seizures, resulting in less intense events, but potential memory loss.

Ivan Soltesz, Ph.D., a senior author and professor of neurosurgery at Stanford University, was among the members of a team exploring the effects of 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), which mirrors its plant-based counterpart.

Allowing marijuana to be part of national commerce would presumably make it subject to tighter regulations, including packaging that didn’t appeal to small kids.

It was once believed to be propaganda: The idea that children of cannabis consumers were somehow getting their hands on the herb, ingesting it, only to later be strapped to various machines and gizmos down at their local hospital until the high wore off.

Canadian grocery chain operator Empire Co. is taking its first formal steps to provide cannabis access to its pharmacy customers after announcing a partnership with Pathway Health Corp. to develop a medical marijuana program. 

Pathway will provide pharmacists who work for Empire's pharmacy businesses across a network of grocery chains that include Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland, and FreshCo with a certified online training program to educate them on how medical cannabis can be prescribed to patients. 

Pathway will also provide Empire's pharmacists with a management system that can offer medical cannabis assessments to patients and connect them with a physician for further evaluation through either physical or virtual care.

A study out of Denmark makes a strong case for cannabis use increasing the risk for developing schizophrenia, but the diagnosis itself is complex, and often overlaps with other conditions.

For thousands of years, societies across the world have used cannabis for medicinal, spiritual and social purposes. It continues to be the most used recreational drug worldwide, with the 2019 World Drug Report estimating that nearly 200 million people across the world consume it.

A new study shows promising evidence that CBD can benefit patients, specifically those with epilepsy, in myriad ways.

Despite years in the medical marijuana market, many still doubt the efficacy of cannabidiol (CBD) in treating symptoms for physical and mental health conditions such as anxiety or epilepsy. But a new study published in the journal Epilepsy & Behavior indicates that epilepsy patients who used a form of artisanal CBD-based product showed “higher quality of life, lower psychiatric symptom severity, and improved sleep” than those who did not.