Global Ganja Report

Counterintuitively, the world's top legal cannabis producer, the United Kingdom, is now importing its first shipments of medicinal cannabis prodccts, from Canada and the Netherlands. This is an advance for the UK medical marijuana program, but a proverbial case of "coals to Newcastle"—pointing to the paradoxes of cannabis globalization.

In a sign of progress, the courts are increasingly siding with employees fired for use of cannabis under state medical marijuana programs. The latest such victory comes from Arizona, where precedent has been set. Other states, however, are still awaiting legal clarity on the question.

A former Arizona Walmart employee and card-holding medical marijuana patient who was fired after testing positive for cannabis has won a wrongful termination suit in federal court.

Following the crackdown on CBD-infused foods and beverages by authorities in New York City and elsewhere, Capitol Hill lawmakers are formally calling upon the FDA to provide immediate clarity on the question. Meanwhile, New York, at least is starting to lift the pressure.

After what has been an agonizing delay for many patients, Louisiana's first medical marijuana harvest has just cleared inspection. But there are still more hurdles before the first extracts and tinctures will begin arriving in the state's nine approved pharmacies. 

A bill that would legalize "recreational" cannabis is moving forward in Hawaii's state legislature. It would build on the dispensary system established by the state's medical marijuana program to bring about a regulated adult-use market.

CBD-infused foods and beverages are the target of a crackdown in New York City, as well as Maine and Ohio. A budding business of cannabinoid-enhanced concoctions and libations is feeling a sudden pinch. But some media coverage is failing to make clear that what is at issue here is the FDA's failure to keep pace with federal law—not any inherent risks of cannabidiol.

Already officially studying the possibility of cannabis legalization, Mexico's new President López Obrador has now announced a formal end to the "war on drugs" that has only seemed to fuel the narco-violence over the past 10 years.  However, military troops are still being mobilized for narcotics enforcement—including marijuana eradication.

With Oregon's cannabis surplus so big that authorities estimate 70% of the state's output goes unsold, "craft" producers are calling for a novel solution—allowing export to other states that have legalized.

The cannabis market is flooded in the Beaver State, and that's a real problem for an industry that has seen explosive growth since Oregonians voted to legalize in 2014. But some say this provides an opportunity.