Global Ganja Report

Alabama's Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill May 17 legalizing the use of medical cannabis products in the state—on strictly limited terms. The new law, coming after decades of Republican opposition, allows use of extracts, tinctures, tablets or gel cubes—but not herbaceous flower, or any other products that can be smoked or vaped. Edibles such as cookies or candies are also barred.

After years of activist effort, New York state finally passed the Marijuana Regulation & Taxation Act (MRTA), signed into law by a politically besieged Gov. Andrew Cuomo. This is being hailed as a victory by advocates, who pledge to craft a model of legalization that will dismantle a long legacy of racism and oppression under the prohibition regime.

Voters in Montana passed a ballot measure mandating legalization of adult-use cannabis. But there was a pre-emptive attempt in the state legislature to repeal it before it even passed. Montana's road to legalization has been a long and twisted one, and there may be further political fights ahead. 

A new amendment to the Defense Department budget could allow service members to use CBD products—a direct response to a move by Pentagon brass to explicitly restrict all cannabis derivatives.

A ground-breaking British Columbia dispensary that has been operating for 20 years won a request for an "exemption" from the licensing requirements of Canada's Cannabis Act by vote of the Victoria city council. This municipal action is a challenge to the national crackdown on Canda's "gray-market" dispensaries.

The higher consciousness associated with the best values of the cannabis community is manifested in Toronto activist Amy Anonymous, who for nine years now has been giving out bags of milk, cookies, warm clothes and (for those who want it) cannabis, to help the city's homeless make it through the harsh Canadian winter.

As the cannabis industry is embraced by corporate power and finance capital, the patenting of strains, products and applications is an increasing concern. But the international patchwork of legality makes for a confusing environment. Illegality has served as a paradoxical break on privatizing of varieties. Growers and advocates are devising means to protect the genetic commons in the new cannabis order.

With the legal cannabis market increasingly dominated by "Big Bud," more Canadians are turning to homegrown—both for reasons of economy and an ethic of self-sufficiency. And they are fighting in the courts and the public squares for their right to do so—challenging both the federal limit on plants per household and efforts by two provinces to ban homegrown outright. So far, they are winning.