Global Ganja Report

With the end of the legislative session in Albany closing in, odds for legalizing cannabis in New York state this year are fast diminishing. Now a new bill has been introduced, to reconcile rival versions pushed by the Assembly and Gov. Cuomo. It has won support from advocates—but, with the clock ticking, Cuomo equivocates on whether he will support it.

Finally settling a question that has vexed the Arizona medical marijuana program since it was launched nearly a decade ago, the state's highest court ruled that the program does indeed cover concentrates and extracts. The decision is a victory for patients who use edibles, tinctures or hashish.

A group of attorneys general from 38 states and territories penned an open letter urging Capitol Hill to pass a pending bill to allow cannabis businesses access to the federal banking system.

The federal bureaucracy is starting to catch up with the law, following passage of the ground-breaking 2018 Farm Bill. The US Patent Office has issued guidelines for trademarks on CBD products, while the Agriculture Department is preparing to recognize intellectual property in hemp varieties.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that he will reintroduce his bill to remove cannabis from the federal list of controlled substances—allowing states to set their own laws to regulate the plant without the shadow of Washington interference.

New York City's annual Cannabis Parade, launched long ago by Yippie counterculture freaks, this year headlined one of the Big Apple's highest officials, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams—a sure sign of that the leaglization cause has hit the mainstream. However, politicking in the statehouse in Albany has stalled passage of a long hoped-for legalization bill.

As New Zealand waits on a promised cannabis legalization referendum, a domestic industry is starting to blossom, with big capital inflows reported. But police cannabis seizures are actually up—and the government even shows sings of wavering on following through with its commitment to hold a binding referendum.

Albania is pledging another one of its endless and fruitless cannabis eradication campaigns, which never succeed in bumping the country from its spot as Europe's biggest illicit producer. The US is pressing the small Balkan nation for the campaign—and kicking in military aid.