Darren McCarty said he wouldn't be alive today if he never found marijuana.

The former NHL star and four-time Stanley Cup champion balanced a 16-year hockey career with binge drinking and alcoholism, McCarty told Insider in an interview. But once he retired in 2009, there was no sport left to balance out his addiction, and his drinking habits escalated to life-threatening levels over the next six years.

"I was 280 pounds," McCarty said. "My blood pressure when I was in the hospital was 265 over 145. I should be dead."

Alabama became the 36^th state to allow cannabis for medical use when Gov. Kay Ivey signed into law the Darren Wesley ‘Ato’ Hall Compassion Act on May 17, 2021. The act establishes a process through which applicants will compete for a limited number of licenses in the following categories: (1) cultivator; (2) processor; (3) dispensary; and (4) “integrated facility” (which can cultivate, process, transport, and dispense medical cannabis under one license), as well as a to-be-determined number of licenses for secure transporters and testing laboratories.

A proprietary hemp extract shows promise as a supplement to help promote weight loss, according to research funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health. Data from the double-blind, placebo-controlled study showed that all 100 participants who took Nitro-V hemp extract daily lost weight, shedding up to 22 pounds over a 90 days. The minimum weight loss for those taking the supplement was five pounds, while 64% of participants in the placebo group either gained weight or saw no change.

Governor Jared Polis and the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) announced today the launch of the Cannabis Business Office, housed within the Business Support and Rural Prosperity division.

“The Cannabis Business Office shows our administration’s focus on growing this thriving industry that supports jobs and our economy,” said Governor Jared Polis “This office will offer tools like technical help and improve access to money for businesses. Where the federal government has fallen behind, Colorado will lead. Colorado is, and always has been, the best place to live, work, grow and sell cannabis.”

Dr Mark Ware, Chief Medical Officer at Canopy Growth Corporation, discusses medical cannabis as a treatment for fibromyalgia.

Fibromyalgia, also referred to as fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), is a long-term condition that causes pain all over the body. Whilst there are treatments which can ease the symptoms of fibromyalgia, there is currently no cure. Medications including painkillers and antidepressants are some of the most commonly prescribed treatments for the condition. However, these can have serious side effects.

When the New Mexico Legislature was considering a bill that eventually became the Cannabis Regulation Act, one of the major topics of concern was water use. Ultimately, lawmakers agreed to require cannabis growers to prove they had legal access to water.

U.S. researchers acknowledge that new study results should not be considered irrefutable, but they still offer some guidance about whether or not men should be consuming cannabis if trying to start a family.

Noting that cannabis consumption is common among men presenting for a fertility evaluation, the investigators suggest using weed “may have a detrimental effect on semen quality, particularly morphology and volume.”

Maine’s recreational marijuana market continued its eye-popping growth in June, the state has reported.

Sales of cannabis for recreational, adult use topped $6.47 million for the month, up from $5.36 million in May, according to new data from the Maine Office of Marijuana Policy. More than 86,000 purchases took place during June.

The value of June sales is the highest monthly total since Maine’s recreational marijuana market launched last October, and represents a 20.6% increase over the dollar amount in May. That’s slightly less than the 23.2% growth in May over the previous month.

To date, sales have totaled nearly $30 million, according to the OMP. June sales were roughly six times the total in the first month.

Canada is opening their border to vaccinated U.S. travelers on August 9, but while cannabis is now legal in New York state and Canada, it’s still illegal to take it between the two locations.

Since Canada legalized cannabis in 2018, Mike Niezgoda with U.S. Customs and Border Protection said there have been a number of smuggling cases.

“We had an incursion that came via helicopter that landed in Grand Island, just north of Buffalo,” he said. That was in 2019 when Border Patrol agents recovered four duffel bags carrying a total of more than 100 pounds of weed with an estimated street value of more than $100,000.