Global Ganja Report

After years of upholding employee firings for use of cannabis even under state medical marijuana programs, the courts are finally starting to turn around on the question.

One of the ways state medical marijuana programs have failed to fully extend protection to medicinal users is in failure to defend against employment discrimination. This is now beginning to change, thanks to a few recent court decisions in favor of patients and employees.

Last month, the DEA enthused the pharmaceutical industry but disappointed cannabis advocates by re-scheduling the drug Epidiolex—but not CBD, the cannabinoid that makes it work. Now word emerges of a letter to the DEA by the Food & Drug Administration essentially calling for the descheduling of CBD altogether.

Among several cannabis-related bills signed into law by California's Gov. Jerry Brown was one creating an "equity" program for the state's legalized industry, aimed at justice and inclusion for those communities hardest hit by marijuana prohibition. Another measure will erase past convictions for possession of cannabis in quantities that are now legal.

With the DEA's rescheduling of Epidiolex, shares in the British manufacturer of the drug are soaring. But CBD—the actual cannabinoid that the product is based on—is to remain in the restrictive Scheudle 1.

As the UN General Assembly met in New York, President Trump issued a "Global Call" to renew the war on drugs—to the dismay of activists and dissenting nations. But the UN itself has a contradictory cannabis policy—with some agencies recognizing its efficacy as medicine and others backing the prohibitionist doctrine of the Single Convention treaty.

The Northern Mariana Islands, a self-governing commonwealth in association with the United States, just became first US territory to legalize adult-use cannabis. It is also the second US jurisdiction (after Vermont this January) to do so by legislation rather than popular ballot.

Weeks after instating a new policy of not prosecuting for low-level marijuana violations, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr addressed a meeting of New York cannabis industry investors and entrepreneurs, where he discussed his vision for fairer policing in the city—and his study calling for legalization to be explored at the state level.

A verdict against glyphosate producer Monsanto in a case brought by a cancer sufferer has brought world attention to the dangers of pesticides and herbicides. This is a question with implications already felt in the cannabis industry—both legal and illegal.