Global Ganja Report

Inauguration of a global hemp research lab has been announced at Oregon State University, where a multidisciplinary team will be working to establish standards for the worldwide industry.

A showdown is shaping up in Vancouver, where the city's 420 event has always been held with no permit. This year it promises to be huge, with Cypress Hill headlining—and city authorities are pressing for cancellation. Organizers pledge to go ahead with the event—with approval of the bureaucracy or not.

Activists in Oregon say that cannabis legalization in the Beaver State has failed to live up to its promise, and are preparing to place a remedy before the voters in the form of a new ballot initiative. They also view their proposed Legalization Justice Act as a model to be exported nationally. 

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.

With cannabis now legal in 10 US states as well as Canada, demands are growing to wipe out past convictions for personal possession. Politicians have started to respond—but not fast enough for some advocates.

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.

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.

Justin Cooper is co-founder and CEO of British Columbia-based Green Planet, which supplies equipment to all of Canada's Licensed Producers of cannabis as well as producing its own line of fertilizers. He speaks with Cannabis Now about the fast-growing legal industry in his country, and what it means for the world.