Colorado Gov. Jared Polis plans to mass-pardon 2,732 convictions of low-level marijuana possession through an executive order after signing a bill earlier this year that gave him that authority. “This really catches Coloradans up with where the law is today,” he said. House Bill 1424, passed by the General Assembly earlier this year, included a provision that allows the governor to pardon those who have convictions on their criminal records for possessing up to 2 ounces of marijuana — the current legal limit for medical marijuana users. Polis’ pardon, however, will only apply to convictions in state courts through 2012 of up to 1 ounce for recreational use, consistent with Colorado Amendment 64, passed by voters in 2012.

Legal cannabis production in Colorado emits more greenhouse gases than the state’s coal mining industry, researchers analysing the sector’s energy use have found. The production and use of cannabis for medical or recreational reasons is now legal in several US states, which has led to a booming industry. Hailey Summers and her colleagues at Colorado State University have quantified and analysed the greenhouse gas emissions produced by cannabis growers. They found that emissions varied widely by state, from 2.3 to 5.2 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per kilogram of dried flower produced. “The emissions that come from growing 1 ounce, depending on where it’s grown in the US, is about the same as burning 7 to 16 gallons of gasoline,” says Summers.

La comercialización de mariguana a manos de los cárteles de la droga en México ya puede considerarse un “fenómeno histórico”; además de la multiplicación de actividades delictivas a manos de estos grupos —como el tráfico de personas, armas y secuestro— el negocio central en narcóticos son las sustancias sintéticas, explicó Santiago Nieto, de la Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera (UIF) de la Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público. “Nuestro problema real está en el fentanilo, en las metanfetaminas, en la transformación cultural del narcotráfico que deja a la cannabis es una situación de mucha mayor simpleza”, explicó el funcionario. No quiere decir que los cárteles mexicanos hayan dejado de comercializar mariguana, sólo que ésta representa una fracción menor entre todas sus operaciones.

Se suponía que la legalización del cannabis enriquecería a una gran cantidad de empresarios, incluidos los operadores «heredados», un eufemismo tímido para lo que solía llamarse traficantes y cultivadores ilegales. Se suponía que tomaría algo usado ampliamente y borraría el elemento criminal de él. Gracias a una regulación excesiva, impuestos excesivos e inconsistencias que hay entre estado y estado, la mayor obviedad en la historia del capitalismo, legalizar la droga ilícita más popular del mundo, se está convirtiendo en una falla masiva del mercado. Alrededor del 95% de los cultivadores de cannabis de California tuvieron pérdidas el año pasado, según Jonathan Rubin, director ejecutivo de New Leaf Data Services, un rastreador de precios mayoristas de nivel institucional.

La economía de la marihuana legal en Estados Unidos recibió un nuevo empujón de confianza. Curaleaf Holdings, un entramado que controla desde la producción de marihuana hasta dispensarios en 12 estados, anunció la absorción de Cura Cannabis Solutions, la compañía más importante del sector en el estado de Oregón, en un acuerdo valorado en 1.200 millones de dólares. Se trata del mayor acuerdo entre compañías de venta legal de marihuana en Estados Unidos. Curaleaf Holdings tiene sede en Massachussetts y cotiza en el mercado canadiense. "La adquisición de Cura Cannabis y la marca Select Oils es otro paso en nuestro camino para crear la marca de cannabis más potente y accesible de EE UU", dijo Joseph Lusardi, director ejecutivo de Curaleaf Holdings.

Congressional Democratic leaders filed a marijuana legalization bill last week aimed at remedying the injustices of the drug war. But my experience as a regulator overseeing the implementation of Massachusetts’s effort to end marijuana prohibition tells me that without stronger measures, their plans will fall short of that worthy goal. In every state that has attempted to equitably legalize cannabis, big corporations quickly took over the market while those who were arrested and imprisoned under prohibition got next to nothing. We need to reverse this outcome at the federal level. But as federal lawmakers grapple with the complexities of beginning to repair the harms of the unjust war on drugs, it is critical that they study the experiences of states that have already attempted this.

In a first-of-its-kind hearing, a key congressional committee met to discuss how to finally put an end to federal cannabis prohibition. Titled Marijuana Laws in America: Racial Justice and the Need for Reform, it was the latest indication of just how far Congress has come on cannabis reform after decades of intransigence. Americans now broadly support cannabis legalization, with a majority of both Democrats and Republicans in favor. The bipartisan agreement was on display at a House Judiciary subcommittee meeting, where members of both parties expressed frustration at the current state of the country’s cannabis laws. But while lawmakers seemed to agree on the need for reform, the hearing also highlighted tensions between competing visions of what reform should look like.

Demand for marijuana illegally trafficked from Mexico will continue to decline as the legalization movement spreads, a new report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS) states. With a growing number of U.S. states—as well as Canada—allowing people to legally purchase cannabis in a regulated market, they’re less inclined to seek out the product through illicit channels. “Authorities are projecting a continued decline in U.S. demand for Mexican marijuana because drugs ‘other than marijuana’ will likely predominate,” CRS wrote in the report. “This is also the case due to legalized cannabis or medical cannabis in several U.S. states and Canada, reducing its value as part of Mexican trafficking organizations’ portfolio.”

The gap between federal and state marijuana policies continues to widen and shows no signs of stopping, congressional researchers said in a new report that also lays out options for how lawmakers could address the growing schism. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) published the 101-page analysis just days after the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill to federally legalize cannabis. It covers a wide range of policy implications caused by the ongoing prohibition of marijuana under federal law as more states move to legalize for medical and adult use. From banking challenges to trafficking trends, CRS thoroughly covered how the status quo “creates unique consequences for individuals who act in compliance with state law but violate federal law.”

As the House debates ways to reform policing in the United States, it’s critical that we not only analyze the structures under which law enforcement operates, but also the extraordinary powers that they have been granted — powers that often provide them with the ability to interact with citizens whenever and wherever they please. One common pretext provided by police for these citizen interactions is that they suspect that someone has either used or is in possession of marijuana. That is why Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.) has suggested the need to amend federal anti-marijuana laws during the recent hearing on policing practices. 

The administration of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) released a state Health Department report that says the "positive effects" of legalization "outweigh the potential negative impacts." "Numerous NYS agencies and subject matter experts in the fields of public health, mental health, substance use, public safety, transportation, and economics worked in developing this assessment," the 75-page document says. "No insurmountable obstacles to regulation of marijuana were raised." The report estimates that legal marijuana sales could generate between $248.1 million and $677.7 million in revenues for the state in the first year, depending on tax and usage rates. (See also: Cuomo moves closer to marijuana legalization in New York)

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced that he would push to legalize recreational marijuana next year, a move that could bring in more than $1.3 billion in revenue annually and put New York in line with several neighboring states. The highly anticipated proposal came in a speech Mr. Cuomo gave in Manhattan, in which he outlined his agenda for the first 100 days of his third term. “The fact is we have had two criminal justice systems: one for the wealthy and the well off, and one for everyone else,” Mr. Cuomo said, describing the injustice that he said had “for too long targeted the African-American and minority communities.”

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) vowed that his state will legalize recreational cannabis as he begins ramping up efforts in the new year to green-light legislation to legalize it. “We will legalize adult-use recreational cannabis, joining 15 states that have already done so,” he tweeted on Monday. The move, Cuomo said, will “raise revenue and end the failed prohibition of this product that has left so many communities of color over-policed and over-incarcerated.” Last week, Cuomo, who has made efforts in the past to make recreational marijuana legal in the state, announced a new proposal that aimed to legalize and establish an office that would oversee and regulate cannabis.

District Attorney Chesa Boudin joined other elected officials and activists to criticize Mayor London Breed’s plan to flood San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood with police and crack down on drug dealers as well as people who use drugs in the open. Boudin, Board of Supervisors President Shamann Walton and Public Defender Mano Raju said at a news conference that the plan was flawed because it relied on failed policies to deal with problems. Those who provide addiction treatment or harm-reduction services called for the mayor to quickly ramp up “evidence-based” alternatives, including treatment, housing, education and jobs. (See also: Breed’s emergency plan for the Tenderloin draws backlash | Advocacy orgs denounce Mayor Breed’s call for an emergency order)

The Obama administration has denied a bid by two Democratic governors to reconsider how it treats marijuana under federal drug control laws, keeping the drug for now in the most restrictive category for U.S. law enforcement purposes. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) chief Chuck Rosenberg says the decision is rooted in science. Rosenberg gave "enormous weight" to conclusions by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that marijuana has "no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States". (See also: DEA decides not to loosen restrictions on marijuana, keeping it schedule 1 (with heroin))

The decriminalisation of kratom, long used as a herbal remedy but which some health regulators around the world have criticised as potentially unsafe, was welcomed by human rights advocates. Kratom is part of the coffee family, used for centuries in Southeast Asia and Papua New Guinea for its pain-relieving and mildly stimulating effects. It has become increasingly popular in the United States. The change to Thai law means "the general public will be able to consume and sell kratom legally", government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri said, while more than 1,000 prisoners convicted of offences related to the drug will be freed. (See also: Thailand legalizes kratom, popular plant-based painkiller)

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and two other Democratic senators said that they will push to pass this year sweeping legislation that would end the federal prohibition on marijuana. That reform also would provide restorative justice for people who have been convicted of pot-related crimes, the senators said in a joint statement. “The War on Drugs has been a war on people — particularly people of color,” said a statement issued by Schumer, of New York, and Sens. Cory Booker, of New Jersey, and Ron Wyden, of Oregon. “Ending the federal marijuana prohibition is necessary to right the wrongs of this failed war and end decades of harm inflicted on communities of color across the country.” (See also: Democratic Senate leaders announce steps to federally legalize marijuana in 2021)

Voters in Denver, Colorado, made their city the first in the U.S. to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms by approving a ballot measure on the issue. Its provisions prohibit the city government from using any resources to impose criminal penalties against adults over 21 years of age for personal use and possession of psilocybin, the active ingredient in so-called "magic mushrooms." Initiative 301 also specifies that going after people for the mushrooms is the city's “lowest law enforcement priority” and establishes a review panel to assess and report on the effects of the change by early 2021. The new ordinance is just one example of how drug policy reform activists are increasingly setting their sights beyond marijuana. (See also: Denver first in U.S. to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms)

Does marijuana cause psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia, and do associated symptoms like paranoia lead to violent crimes? That’s what writer Alex Berenson is claiming. As part of his new book promotion, Berenson published a New York Times op-ed that also blames the drug for “sharp increases in murders and aggravated assaults” purportedly observed in some states that allow adult recreational marijuana use. As scientists with a combined 70-plus years of drug education and research on psychoactive substances, we find Berenson’s assertions to be misinformed and reckless.

A pharmaceutical company founder accused of paying doctors millions of dollars in bribes to prescribe a highly addictive fentanyl spray was convicted in a case that exposed such marketing tactics as using a stripper-turned-sales-rep to give a physician a lap dance. John Kapoor, the 76-year-old former chairman of Insys Therapeutics, was found guilty of racketeering conspiracy after 15 days of jury deliberations. Four former employees of the Arizona-based company, including the former exotic dancer, were also convicted. Opioid overdoses claimed nearly 400,000 lives in the U.S. between 1999 and 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.