Global Ganja Report

The long-promised crackdown on unlicensed cannabis sales is finally arriving in New York City. The permanent cannabis carnival in Washington Square has been cleared by the police, and unlicensed stores are being raided. Yet, in a bitter irony, obstacles to the licensed retail sector, including legal challenges, continue to mount.

Montana this spring defeated the latest effort by anti-freedom forces to roll back legalization in Big Sky Country. And state policy has been tweaked to protect small operators, positioning this inland mountain realm to ride out the dilemmas impacting the cannabis industry on the West Coast.

New York City’s Empire Cannabis Clubs has been pushing the proverbial envelope on the possibilities for unlicensed dispensaries that still comply with the law. But raids on two of their Manhattan locations may provide a test case for the viability of this model.

Dasheeda Dawson is “excited to be back home.”

After a long sojourn as a cannabis patient, advocate and entrepreneur in other states, the Brooklyn native is in her home town as New York City’s first cannabis czar—officially, director of Cannabis NYC, a new office created by Mayor Eric Adams.

There is grim news from California, where cannabis industry profits are dropping, robberies of dispensaries are soaring, and police raids on unlicensed growers continue in the Emerald Triangle. Can the seeming slip back into pre-legalization dystopia be arrested?
 

In a paradox, New York authorities are finally unleashing the long-anticipated crackdown on the state’s legion and proliferating unlicensed cannabis retailers—while the licensing program continues to be slowed by obstacles, including legal challenges.

With the failure of Democratic Gov. John Carney to either sign or veto two bills on his desk, Delaware became the latest state to legalize cannabis on April 22. Carney allowed House Bill 1 and House Bill 2 to become law without his signature.

Rights for medicinal cannabis users in the workplace have not kept pace with the law in states that have embraced medical and even “recreational” use. Now a case in Vermont may push state and federal authorities alike to close the loopholes that allow workers to be dismissed—and denied unemployment insurance—for using state-legal medicine.