Global Ganja Report

Mayor Bill de Blasio's new policy, discouraging New York City cops from making arrests for public cannabis smoking, is expected to further reduce pot busts in Gotham. But critics say that loopholes or "carve-outs" in the policy mean that the racial disparity in marijuana arrests could continue—or even get worse.

Recent years have seen ethnic tensions in the northernmost parts of the Emerald Triangle, as Hmong growers—immigrants from the Southeast Asian nation of Laos—have established themselves in local cannabis cultivation. This has led to civil rights litigation and a polarized atmosphere in Siskiyou County. But just to the south in Trinity County, a group is working to head off tensions by helping Hmong growers negotiate the transition to licensed cultivation.

A bill that would allow use of medical marijuana products in California's schools has arrived on the desk of Gov. Jerry Brown. The legislation would address an inequity in California's medical marijuana program, and is named Jojo's Act after a South San Francisco high school student who suffers from a severe form of epilepsy.

The California State Legislature on Aug. 27 approved a bill to allow students to use medicinal cannabis preparations on K-12 school campuses.

Tens of thousands of students across the United States have lost access to federal financial aid for their studies because they admit on the application form to having a drug conviction—including, of course, for cannabis. But a new bill introduced in the Senate could finally correct what student advocates have called an injustice that disproportionately denies education to the very communities most in need of financial aid..

In the surest sign yet of synergy between the cannabis and booze industries, one of North America's top brewers just dropped $4 billion into the continent's top legal cannabis cultivator. The move sent the cultirvator's stocks soaring—although not the brewer's.

The cannabis prohibition regime in South Korea is a harsh one. Authorities have long been intent on maintaining the official fiction of a "drug-free" nation. But the first crack has appeared in this intolerant edifice, with lawmakers and bureaucrats now moving to approve use of certain imported medical marijuana products.

Amid the various protesters that announced plans to gather in Washington DC as Trump held his military parade on Veterans' Day weekend, a group of military vets say they will be camping out at the national offices of the Veterans Administration—to demand access to medical marijuana, as well as protest budget cuts at the agency.

North Dakota may become the 10th state to legalize cannabis, following approval of enough signatures to get a ballot measure before the voters in November. But the surprisingly liberal measure of course faces opposition from law enforcement in a traditionally conservative state.