Global Ganja Report

The Louisiana Senate voted 20-17 on June 7 to lift criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of cannabis. Introduced by Rep. Cedric Glover (D-Shreveport), HB 652 was overwhelmingly approved by the House in a 68-25 vote in last month. It now awaits the signature of Gov. John Bel Edwards.

Louisiana's medical marijuana program has been stalled for years, and was strictly limited to begin with. Now, just as cannabis products are finally becoming available, a wave of progressive legislation in the Pelican State includes measures that could expand the program's scope.

The Trump administration has issued rules allowing drug tests (including for cannabis, of course) for those receiving unemployment benefits. But as more states embrace legalization, pressure is mounting to do away with cannabis testing for workers altogether.

There has been significant progress toward cannabis legalization in the United States and globally over the past years, but pockets persist of the most repressive and reactionary prohibition. What are the prospects for expanding cannabis freedom in the coming year?

A Louisiana coroner declared a local woman's death to be the first on record attributed to a cannabis overdose, winning lurid national headlines. But medical experts and even federal officials as well as advocates are skeptical of the claim.

A scandal in New Orleans over false positives in the city's drug testing program comes just as a cannabis legalization bid died in the Louisiana statehouse. The Pelican State continues to have among the harshest cannabis laws in the country, but the contradictions are becoming sharper.

After what has been an agonizing delay for many patients, Louisiana's first medical marijuana harvest has just cleared inspection. But there are still more hurdles before the first extracts and tinctures will begin arriving in the state's nine approved pharmacies. 

Medical marijuana users who demand their right to smoke herbaceous cannabis were dealt a double whammy as Oklahoma health authorities and a Florida court each issued edicts upholding strictures on smokable forms. But is it really medical marijuana if it doesn't include the right to smoke the herbaceous form of the plant?