Jason Pinsky is a passionate advocate for cannabis legislation in New York. His own personal struggle to overcome a dependency to OxyContin after spinal surgery 15-years ago thrusted him into the cannabis advocacy and legislation sphere.  He was instrumental in the 2014 legislation that legalized cannabis for a select few within the state, and now he wants to improve the program so that everyone who needs medical cannabis can get it.

NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said on a local radio show over the weekend that marijuana is responsible for the “vast majority” of New York City’s violence, adding that it makes him “scratch [his] head” as to why states want to legalize marijuana.

“Interestingly enough here in New York City, most of the violence we see — violence around drug trafficking — is involving marijuana,” Bratton said. “Here in New York the violence we see associated with drugs, the vast majority of it, is around marijuana, which is ironic considering the explosion in the use of heroin now in the city.”

“I have to scratch my head as we are seeing many states wanting to legalize marijuana, or more liberalization of policies.”

The five companies awarded licenses to grow and sell medical marijuana in New York have joined forces to lobby lawmakers for changes to the state's Compassionate Care Act.

“We’re going around giving an update to the program [and] sharing some of our impressions and talking about ways that we think the program can be improved,” said Ari Hoffnung, chief executive officer of Vireo Health, one of the five companies that have formed the Medical Cannabis Industry Association.

The four others are PharmaCann, Etain, Columbia Care and Bloomfield Industries.

On April 17, Pennsylvania became the latest state to pass medical marijuana legislation, which will take effect this month. And recently Ohio’s House of Representatives has passed a plan to permit medical marijuana in the state.

On April 17, Pennsylvania became the latest state to pass medical marijuana legislation, which will take effect this month. And recently Ohio’s House of Representatives has passed a plan to permit medical marijuana in the state.

Developing tobacco plants into a source of cannabis for medical purposes is the goal of a biotechnology company with operations in Mocksville.

22nd Century Group Inc. said Thursday it has opened molecular biology laboratories on the Buffalo Niagara Medical campus that are focused in research involving industrial hemp/cannabis and tobacco.

The message written across the giant inflatable joint making its way down Broadway in Saturday’s pot parade seemed timely: “Obama, deschedule cannabis now!” 

With marijuana legal in some form in 24 states and Washington, D.C., the possibility of cannabis being “descheduled” from its federal status as a drug with “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse” may be closer than ever. New York appears to be making its own strides away from prohibition. The state launched a medical-marijuana program in January and has to some extent decriminalized the possession of small amounts of pot.

In a (successful) effort to stir up media attention for an Arizona legalization initiative, the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol this week put up Mothers Day-themed billboards in Phoenix and Tucson.

The ads turn the typical parental cannabis conversation on its head. “Have you talked to your parents about marijuana?” they ask.

As sticky as the slogan might be, the blast is the latest example of a broader trend. And in this case it’s not the message, it’s the medium.

It’s May, a time to celebrate the renewal of spring and remember the workers who fought and died for an eight-hour work day. For millions of marijuana users around the globe, May also means gearing up for the Million Marijuana March.

In fact, the first American May Day story brings us back all the way to the late 1600s, when wonderful weirdos of all stripes stuck it the stick-in-the-mud Puritans. So really, celebrating the counter-cultural tradition of cannabis at the beginning of May makes a lot of sense.

urban-gro is augmenting its expertise on the East Coast with the addition of former MedCann Advisors CEO Mark Doherty as Director of Sales. In this role, Doherty will work to meet urban-gro’s revenue growth objectives with commercial Cannabis cultivation facilities east of the Mississippi River. Doherty is based out of Utica, New York.  

“As legalization marches down the East Coast, Cannabis producers need urban-gro’s core expertise in lighting solutions, integrated pest management, fertigation and water treatment,” Doherty said. “My experience with large scale horticulture provides me with the knowledge to help commercial Cannabis cultivators determine product solutions for both start-up and established cultivators.”