Ryan Hale is the chief sales officer for cannabis security firm Operational Security Solutions (OSS). What that means is that Hale works with a host of big, burly ex-police/ex-military guys you wouldn’t want to meet alone in a dark alley.

New data released by WayofLeaf suggests the demand for medical marijuana (MMJ) among actual and potential card applicants has been on the rise during the pandemic

Survey results show that 70.7 per cent of those applicants needed cannabis “more in the past 12 months” compared to other years, according to WayofLeaf. Almost the same percentage, 71 per cent, of those polled noted they would prefer to use medical cannabis under the guidance of a doctor, rather than on their own.

After witnessing a spike in MMJ card requests, the company surveyed 155 recent MMJ applicants to determine what might be behind the increased interest.

Just when you thought you knew all the rules and laws that regulated legal hemp growing in the U.S. at the federal level, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) went and made changes to those rules. They didn’t do it to cause headaches, but rather because they listened to what the public had to say and what growers learned during the 2020 growing season.

The regulations that first came out after the 2018 Farm Bill passed into law was an interim final rule. The interim regulations were published on October 31, 2019 and laid out guidelines for hemp growers to legally register, test their plants to stay within the THC limitations and generally stay out of trouble with the law.

Here is one basic fact of legalization that has permeated most reform movements in the United States at the state level and in Canada, if not just south of the Rio Grande (Mexico). To some extent, it is also the legal argument at the heart of German reform. It is absolutely the one at the heart of a major Spanish case now accepted for argument at the European Court of Human Rights. But here is the basic premise: Access to cannabis, particularly as medicine (but not limited to just medical access), is a basic constitutional right.

Although the latest talks regarding cannabis legislation have been slightly more hopeful, it seems pretty obvious that President Joe Biden isn’t a diehard supporter of legalizing the plant entirely.

Back in the 1980s, Biden was actually very committed to the war on drugs, and cannabis in particular, helping draft numerous pieces of legislation that would keep low-level, non-violent drug offenders incarcerated for years to come. As of 2010, his opinions hadn’t changed much and he can be quoted saying, “There’s a difference between sending someone to jail for a few ounces [of marijuana] and legalizing. The punishment should fit the crime. But I think legalization is a mistake. I still believe [marijuana] is a gateway drug.”

The new Food Network competition, hosted by comedian Ron Funches, will debut April 20 on discovery+

The Food Network has high hopes for cannabis content.

The network is launching "Chopped 420," a new twist on its cooking competition "Chopped," which will task contestants to cook with cannabis, Deadline reported.

 New hemp production and manufacturing rules from the USDA went into effect this week.

As the industry continues to grow across the country and here in Florida, stakeholders are continuing to press for safety.

“So what we’re doing here is packing off our gummies,” Margaret Richardson said, as she gave Spectrum News a tour of Global Widget, a CBD manufacturing company in Tampa. 

Richardson is Global Widget’s chief compliance and legal officer.

The company’s gummies are infused with CBD and made on their own confectionery line.

Virtually every business needs access to banking services, including a bank account to put money in, checks and debit cards, and other services that banks offer.

Unfortunately, members of the cannabis industry are often locked out of receiving banking services because of cannabis’ legal status in many countries.

Nowhere is that on greater display than in the United States where state-legal cannabis companies are either prevented from gaining access to banking services in the first place or have their accounts shut down not long after they are opened.

On March 17, the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced that it has invested over $8.5 million in funding for 29 research and extension grants.