The Supreme Court declined to hear two cases challenging Minnesota’s denial of workers’ compensation for medical pot used to treat work-related injuries.

The United States Supreme Court on Tuesday denied petitions to hear two cases challenging Minnesota’s refusal to allow coverage for medical cannabis through the state’s workers’ compensation program. In both cases, workers sought a review of the Minnesota Supreme Court’s decision finding that the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) supersedes state law, resulting in a denial of coverage for medicinal cannabis for the employees’ work-related injuries.

After a dip during the peak of the pandemic in 2020, federal law enforcement agents and their partners arrested 25% more people for cannabis-related crimes in 2021, during the first year of the Biden Administration. 

But while a post-pandemic bump in arrests would have been fair to expect, the biggest jump in cannabis arrests in a decade was not. The nation’s oldest cannabis reform organization NORML noted the 6,606 marijuana-related arrests in 2021 represented the most since the 8,500 arrested in 2011. 

Today, Rep. Troy A. Carter, Sr., a Democrat from Louisiana, and Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, a Republican from Pennsylvania, introduced a new bill called The Capital Lending and Investment for Marijuana Businesses (CLIMB) Act. If passed and signed into law, The CLIMB Act could give a significant boost to a cannabis industry that is currently struggling with growing pains, a lack of access to capital, difficulty in obtaining banking and other standard business services, high taxes, and a consumer base feeling the sting of inflation and the potential for a looming recession.

Kandy Girl, a cannabis company that has managed to skirt federal marijuana regulations by selling THC infused edibles in larger sized gummies, announced on Monday, that their app is now live on the Google Play and Apple App Store.

The app allows consumers to purchase their edibles and checkout via credit card or Apple Pay.

The company says Cannabis consumers won't need to provide a medical card and due to the way their gummies are made, they actually contain significantly more THC than dispensary grade gummies.

Massage Envy, the nation's No. 1 provider of massage in the U.S. collectively across its franchise network and a national leader in skincare, and Charlotte's Web Inc., (TSX: CWEB) (OTCQX: CWBHF) the market leader in innovative hemp-derived CBD wellness products, are pleased to announce the availability of premium CBD wellness products at participating Massage Envy franchised locations nationwide. Massage Envy customers are now able to add Charlotte's Web CBD Clinic™ topicals as enhancements to most massage services.

Binoid Delta 8, THC-O, and Delta 9 gummies are some of the most sought-after on the hemp market, and will leave you with a clean, long-lasting, and fully legal high.

Maybe you’ve heard that you can buy delta 9 THC-infused gummies legally online. And, that it’s perfectly legal to do so. “Federally compliant” delta 9 is hemp-derived, and adheres to federal law, meaning that while it uses the same cannabinoid that makes marijuana illegal, you can buy it freely online without breaking the law. Binoid has the products you need.

Strict drug testing policies add to a shortage of drivers.

There is a serious truck driver shortage in the US in 2022 fueled by inflation and the pandemic. And for truck drivers who enjoy the benefits of marijuana, there is another speed bump: draconian Federal marijuana laws.

Commercial truck drivers are required to take randomized drug tests. But many who are marijuana users fail those tests because cannabis shows up in drug tests days or weeks after use.

This has kept truck drivers off the road and off cannabis, including those who live in legal states and use marijuana for recreational or medical purposes during their off-hours.

As one Alabama trucking company wrote to the Department of Transportation, according to Politico:

A new survey by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment showed that in 2021 young people were 35% less likely to use marijuana compared to prior years.

A decline in young people’s use of marijuana and other controlled substances seems to be a rising trend, as confirmed by yet another government-funded study. (Benzinga)

After Michigan’s annual Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey showed an unprecedented year-over-year decline in 8th-graders, 10th-graders and 12th-graders, Coloradans followed suit.

As we crawl out of the dark ages of marijuana research and knowledge, skeptics will have fewer reasons to oppose it.

Many lawmakers who oppose marijuana legalization say they need to see more research and studies on the subject before they vote to legalize marijuana on a federal level. Ample research and information is always important when voting on a major political matter. The problem, however, is that the century-long prohibition on marijuana has made it more difficult for researchers to study weed than legal substances.