Global Ganja Report

Days after legalizing medical marijuana, New Zealand's government has confirmed that a referendum on general cannabis legalization will be held in 2020. With the Green Party aggressively pushing the idea, prospects seem good for Aotearoa to follow Uruguay and Canada as the world's third country to legalize.

The name most associated with cannabis science in the minds of aficionados is that of Israeli scientist Raphael Mechoulam—who is credited with first isolating and identifying THC. But given the current craze for CBD, there is another figure who should receive his due. The American chemist Roger Adams is the man who first isolated cannabidiol. And, by some accounts, he even has a claim to being the one who first identified its pyschoactive cousin THC.

In addition to this, he played a little-recognized role in the great world political upheavals of his time, as he grappled with the role of science—and its misuses—in war and totalitarianism.

Nationwide cannabis shortages since Canada went legal last month are causing some provinces to rethink their distribution plans. Alberta has just announced that retail outlets will be barred from purchasing online but must place their orders manually to prevent the computerized system from being overwhelmed. Provincial authorities are struggling to break the logjam in the supply chain, and keep enough product in stock for those who purchase either online or from brick-and-mortar outlets.

Colombia is facing a strange contradiction—foreign capital is pouring in for the legalized cannabis sector, yet the new right-wing President Iván Duque is returning to the hardline "drug war" policies that the country has moved away from in recent years. This means not only a resumption of glyphosate spraying to wipe out illegal crops in the countryside, but an overturn of the former decriminalization policy. Street arrests for cannabis use and possession have soared since Duque issued his recrim decree.

There's been much controversy in recent years about the growing popularity of butane hash oil products such as dabs and shatter. But experts in the production of these high-potency concentrates all agree on the importance of vacuum purging to assure a safe, pure and flavorful BHO experience. 

As evidence mounts for the efficacy of cannabis in treating PTSD, medical marijuana is fast being normalized in the veterans' community. But many have been "exiled" from their home states that have no medical marijuana programs—and the federal Department of Veterans Affairs is only beginning to demonstrate any tolerance on the question.

With general legalization in Oregon, the number of people enrolled in the state medical marijuana program is plummeting, and there is talk of actually ending it. Authorities have already dramatically slashed the limit for daily sales, supposedly in a crackdown on diversion to the black market—which continues to thrive, even amid the notorious over-supply.

The push to legalize cannabis in the Empire State got a significant boost on Election Day as Democrats took control of the state Senate—long controlled by Republicans. A re-elected Gov. Cuomo played to a progressive base on the campaign trail, and will no longer be able to blame GOP intransigence for lack of progress. Will New York become the 11th state to legalize in 2019?