Quarantine caused by the global outbreak of COVID-19 is forcing people across the world to find ways to entertain themselves.

In Michigan, people are lighting up.

According to a Twitter survey conducted by the health blog bodynutrition.org, Michigan residents are smoking marijuana more than any other state during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Analysts used trends software with direct access to geotagged twitter data to arrive at the conclusion.

District Cannabis, the standard bearer of premium medical cannabis in the DMV region, announced the completion of their pharmaceutical-grade manufacturing facility in Hagerstown, MD.  The facility, which was made possible due to a successful capital raise of $9.2 M,  will produce  consistently  high-quality cannabis to meet Maryland's growing patient demand.

The Hagerstown facility's footprint will ultimately encompass more than 82,000 sq ft, including the recently completed Phase 1 high-tech grow rooms, and the Phase 2 expansion planned for later this year.  The cultivation complex, upon completion of Phase 2,  is expected to yield more than 6 times the current production capacity.

The meeting room was packed on Jan. 15 for the Maryland Hemp Exchange Roundtable.

Hosted by the Maryland Farm Bureau, the roundtable included speakers Jim Drews, operations manager with the Office of Plant Industries & Pest Management of the Maryland Department of Agriculture; Dan Galluzzo and Eryck Stamper from the Maryland Hemp Exchange; and Kevin Atticks, founder & CEO of Grow & Fortify.

Attendees came hoping for guidelines on Maryland’s hemp production plans and regulations. Fred Coulbourn, who owns 38 acres in Caroline County, hopes to get in on the production ground floor.

“There’ll be an abundance of growers once hemp catches on,” Coulbourn said. “They’ve got to take it past the growing to processors and markets.”

New medical marijuana products will soon be available in Maryland. Cannabis edibles, like cookies, brownies and various forms of candy, will be made and sold at authorized dispensaries.

Patients say it's a welcome option, but the state is scrambling to come up with rules and regulations to keep people, especially children, safe.

Ariana Foote is a medical cannabis patient. She puts it in a variety of foods, like pasta, butter, brownies and olive oil. She uses it to treat symptoms of depression and anxiety and to help her sleep.

The University of Maryland is now offering a master’s degree in cannabis that is being billed as the first in the nation. In the two-year program, students will study the basics of medical marijuana, including the clinical uses and adverse effects of cannabis. Course work will also cover public health considerations and state and federal policy and legislation. Students who complete the program will earn the Master of Science (MS) in Medical Cannabis Science and Therapeutics from the university’s School of Pharmacy.

It looks as though many hemp farmers in the USA have been facing an uphill battle in protecting their crops from pests – the two-legged kind.

It wasn’t that long ago news of hemp theft wasn’t all that common, but with so many states now permitting cultivating the crop and harvest season in play, incidents are being reported daily.

Among the instances of plants being stolen reported across the country over the last few weeks:

The legal marijuana industry is budding before our eyes. What had once been considered a taboo industry that was swept under the rug by lawmakers has now become a front-and-center issue, as well as a big-time moneymaker for investors and companies involves in the pot industry.

CBD edibles and vapes spiked with a variety of synthetic marijuana compounds have found their way to consumers in Louisiana, Maryland and nearly a dozen other states, according to a nationwide Associated Press investigation into unregulated cannabidiol products. Synthetic marijuana, often marketed as K2 or Spice, has been linked to mass hospitalizations and other health emergencies across the U.S. and Europe.

Bob Dylan wrote his indelible classic “The Times They Are a-Changin’” at a moment of enormous political and cultural upheaval in the country. Nearly 60 years later, the lyrics have been invoked—in a court of law, no less—to capture the winds of change in marijuana policy.