Shaleen Title is the co-founder of THC Staffing Group, where she and co-founder Danielle Schumacher connect cannabis companies with high-quality job candidates who represent a diverse cross section of America. Four years ago, she helped legalize cannabis in Colorado as an organizer for Amendment 64. Now based in Boston, Title works with legalization campaigns in other states to include language that creates opportunities for diverse communities and people of color. Leafly spoke with her recently about the challenges of those initiatives and the opportunities for cannabis companies to expand diversity within their own ranks. 

The new commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Robert Califf, told a panel of FDA advisers last week that he will do "everything possible under our authority" to help the federal government curb an epidemic of drug overdoses.

A report released by the US Centers for Disesase Control and Prevention (CDC) in January revealed that drug-overdose deaths reached a new high in 2014, totaling 47,055 people. Opioids, a type of powerful painkiller that requires a prescription, were involved in 60% of those deaths.

The Massachusetts Hospital Association has voted unanimously against a proposed ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana in the state, as debate over legalizing pot for people aged 21 and over continued to rage statewide. Massachusetts decriminalized cannabis in 2008 and made medical marijuana legal in 2012, and the state has begun seeing a push to legalize pot for recreational use in a November ballot measure, the Boston Globe reported. 

The Massachusetts Hospital Association has joined a growing roster of opponents to a proposed ballot measure that would legalize marijuana in Massachusetts.

The group’s board of trustees voted unanimously last week to oppose the measure, citing public health and safety concerns, including greater youth access to the drug.

“Clinicians and healthcare leaders from around the state have a clear message — this ballot measure is the wrong prescription for Massachusetts,” said Lynn Nicholas, chief executive of the hospital association, in a written statement.

BOSTON – Massachusetts voters are expected to head to the polls in November and likely vote on a ballot measure fully legalizing marijuana, four years after they signed off on medical marijuana and eight years after approving decriminalization of small amounts of the substance.

A special state Senate committee, whose members recently traveled to Colorado to see the legal cannabis industry up close, issued its official report on Tuesday, sounding a skeptical note on legalization and hoping to promote a cautious approach.

Here are some takeaways from the report:

Camapaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol in an op-ed piece published yesterday, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, Attorney General Maura Healy, and Boston Mayor Martin Walsh urged voters to reject a marijuana legalization measure that is expected to appear on the state ballot in November. Meanwhile, state legislators released a 118-page report that assumes marijuana will be legalized and makes recommendations about how it should be regulated.

Voters in Massachusetts are set to decide on the legalization of cannabis for recreational purposes this fall, prompting the state’s governor, attorney general, and the mayor of Boston to come out against the idea in a recent op-ed for The Boston Globe.

While it’s unlikely these officials actually wrote the op-ed – the real author is probably a staff member for one of them – they did allow their names to be assigned to it, giving the ideas expressed therein the weight of their combined offices.

Robert Reich Bill Clinton’s Labor Secretary made political waves by endorsing Bernie Sanders last week, despite deep ties with the Clinton family, which even includes a date with the future Democratic front-runner during college.

The biggest day of the primaries is upon us, with more delegates up for grabs on March 1 than any other time in the race. While marijuana reform is not a priority for most primary voters, the candidates' positions on cannabis could have an impact on how voters perceive them – especially in states where marijuana policy is being discussed. 

Only two out of 22 Super Tuesday races are happening in a state or territory where cannabis is completely illegal. Most states have some form of medical marijuana in the books – even if it's just provisions for non-psychoactive CBD oil. Then there are the cannabis-friendly states of Colorado, which is having Democratic and Republican caucuses, and Alaska, where Republicans will be caucusing. 

Ribelle's Timothy Maslow is having an strange weekend

One of Boston's top chefs is out on bail this weekend after being arrested at the Canadian border. According to the Boston Globe, Timothy Maslow of Ribelle was allegedly caught reentering the United States at 4:44 a.m. on Friday with 22.5 pounds of THC edibles and a pipe in his vehicle.