This is the first in a series of whitepapers by the SmokeReports.com editorial board.  Smoke Reports is a small San Francisco company working hard to improve the relationship between cannabis and human beings through education, outreach and technology.  Our editorial whitepapers are intended to express our views on cannabis and the cannabis industry.  They are meant to engage a discussion among all members of the cannabis community – cultivators, manufacturers, dispensaries, retailers, patients, doctors and consumers.  We encourage your comments and feedback.

While the state of Florida continues to pussyfoot around with the implementation of a CBD-only law, the stage is being set to to legalize a full-scale medical marijuana program in 2016. United For Care, whose proposal to legalize the leaf for medicinal purposes failed by a narrow margin in last year’s November election, is now preparing to launch the second coming of the initiative in hopes of bringing medicinal herb to the Sunshine State once and for all. 

City says organizers do not have a permit to set up tents on July 1 at the Vancouver Art Gallery

The City of Vancouver has told organizers of an annual Canada Day marijuana festival to 'cease and desist' any marketing or promotion because they have not obtained a permit.

'Cannabis Day' is held every year on July 1 in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery. Thousands of people usually show up to support marijuana legalization and peruse the smorgasbord of pot products— like candies, cookies, lemonade, and free joints — offered by cannabis vendors in pop-up tents.

ONESBOROUGH, Tenn. (AP) - Farmers in Tennessee have started receiving highly regulated hemp seeds to produce the state's first legal harvest of the crop in more than 70 years.

The Johnson City Press reports that 46 farmers are receiving the seeds this year through a pilot program offered by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture. Officials hope to learn what varieties of hemp will grow best in which areas of the state.

Washington County farmer Wayne Smith says he expects to harvest the crop in four months and sell hemp oil at a local farmers market.

Portugal is one of the first countries in the world to decriminalise drug possession. In 2001, Portugal considered holding of small quantities of drugs as a public health issue. So instead of jail time, the drug user would get a referral to the local shrink. Many predicted catastrophic outcomes, but in reality, the drug overdose deaths have come down

Scenic views, campfires and – could someone pass the blunt? Summer camp just got a whole lot more sophisticated with the opening of a new ranch-style, all-inclusive resort in Colorado that takes marijuana-friendly vacationing to new heights. Called CannaCamp, it is America’s first mountain getaway for adults that encourages guests to consume pot (legally, that is.)

COMMERCE CITY — Those who want to run a recreational marijuana store can now apply to open a business in Commerce City after council lifted a ban that had been in place since 2013.

And recreational as well as medical marijuana businesses (or testing, cultivation or manufacturing facilities) now have more site options and a streamlined application process after City Council last week also approved updated zoning and licensing rules.

Medical marijuana businesses have been allowed in Commerce City since 2012. Back then, basic marijuana regulations for things like distance from schools and parks were adopted into the city code. But in the three years since then, no one applied to open a store in Commerce City.

Colorado is leading again, this time with a permanent tax break on recreational marijuana. The state is lowering the tax from 10% to 8% effective in July 2017, a move that could cut into Colorado’s black market. Colorado was the first state to legalize marijuana for recreational use, and now it’s passed a marijuana tax relief. There is even a one-time tax holiday on September 16, 2015, from the 10% state sales tax.

Mexican drug cartels have a craving for American-made pot.

Twenty-three U.S. states allow legal marijuana in some form. The permission of lawful growhouses make it easier for the country’s vendors to perfect high-quality weed. That prompted one gang member to rave to news media giant Bloomberg about the variety, novelty and quality of marijuana from north of the border.

“Connoisseurs in Juárez are noticing, they’re starting to demand Purple Haze or Kush from American dispensaries. Gang members bring the quality stuff back from the U.S.," the gangster said

PBS NewsHour correspondent Spencer Michels inspects marijuana grower Casey O’Neill’s crop on a farm that uses rainwater. O’Neill is hoping pot will become legal and regulated in California.

Behind a gas station, just off the main highway that runs through Garberville, California, is a nursery that sells plants and seedlings. It’s called Wonderland, and by “plants and seedlings” it means cannabis. Its rooms and greenhouses are filled with a pungent array of marijuana plants that can be bought by people with a doctor-signed medical marijuana card. Then they can grow their own.

The openness of the business, in a state which has yet to legalize recreational marijuana, can be shocking to those used to the years of war against cannabis.