Global Ganja Report

In a strange irony, Vancouver is shutting down its long-tolerated but unlicensed cannabis dispensaries, pursuant to a British Columbia high court decision upholding its right to do so—even as the province struggles to meet demand amid a dearth of licensed retail outlets.

The claim that cannabis causes "mental illness" rears its dubious head like clockwork every few years, and this latest round has occasioned a virtual media frenzy—a seeming backlash to the recent advances in normalization of the herb and its aficionados. Scratching the claims, however, reveals more hype than rigor.

The headlines are all too familiar ones, but this time they got very prominent play.

In Episode 24 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg notes the historic strides toward liberation of the cannabis plant in 2018, from the fabled four corners of the Earth. Yet under capitalism, every advance also opens new contradictions.

With Trump's demands for Congressional funding to build his border wall having forced a shut-down of the federal government, a new report suggests that cannabis legalization has actually done more than security measures to reduce illegal drug flows from Mexico—and that this reality holds lessons for the immigration dilemma.

2018 saw historic strides toward the liberation of the cannabis plant, from the proverbial four corners of the Earth—North America to the Antipodes. Canadian legalization garnered big headlines, but there were significant breaks with the global prohibition regime in several other countries—including some seemingly unlikely candidates, in regions where the anti-cannabis stigma is deeply entrenched.

From the "Tulip Mania" in 15th century Holland to the Bitcoin bubble of 2017, high hopes for a commodity's market performance can lead to unsustainable overvaluation inevitably followed by a painful correction. Many observers believe that cannabis fell prey to this phenomenon in 2018—but are hoping for growth in a more rational and realistic market in the coming year.

It has long been established that cannabis can effectively treat glaucoma, a condition that damages the optic nerve and can lead to blindness. However, new research indicates that while THC helps fight glaucoma, its cousin cannabinoid CBD has the opposite effect—and could actually counteract the efficacy of THC.

When the United Kingdom announced the historic step of rescheduling cannabis and allowing physicians to prescribe it two months ago, there was concern from patients and advocates as to whether actual herbaceous flower would be allowed, or only extracts. Now the first patient is approved to receive cannabis under the program, and it is indeed to be dried flower. The bad news: with the National Health Service barred by bureaucratic hurdles from providing it, patients are at the mercy of the market—and the price is prohibitive.