Washington House lawmakers Sunday passed a bill intended to address racial inequity within the cannabis industry by issuing previously forfeited, canceled and revoked retail licenses to applicants of a new social equity program.

House Bill 2870 would require the Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) to prioritize applicants who represent communities disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs. In issuing licenses, the agency would consider factors including the applicant’s race and gender, history of marijuana convictions during prohibition, and plans to employ people of color, as well as the impact the war on drugs had on their neighborhood.

Illinois dispensaries sold nearly $40 million dollars with of cannabis in the first 31 days of recreational cannabis sales, according to new numbers released last week.

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation announced the number on Feb. 3. Officials said the final total of $39,247,840.83 came from the sale of 972,045 cannabis products at licensed retailers across the state.

A little over seven years ago voters in Washington approved I-502, which legalized adult-use possession and sales in the state. TV station KREM in Spokane recently took a look at how well the state has fared under legalization.

They broke down the determination of success or failure into several categories, including tax revenue and legalization’s impact on criminal justice and public health. In those categories, it seems that tax revenue is exceeding expectations, and while little has changed in terms of people actually going to jail for marijuana, certainly fewer people are being entered into the criminal justice system over simple possession.

There is no doubt about it, lawmakers are always trying to find new ways to spoil the fun we’re all supposed to be having out here in the big, bad world. And Washington state is certainly no exception.

Some of the suits in Olympia are now so convinced that high-powered marijuana is contributing to a wicked increase in psychotic behavior that they are now pushing to outlaw most of the cannabis concentrates presently sold in dispensaries statewide. It’s an attempt to establish a prohibition 2.0 in a place where weed has been legal for the past six years. Lawmakers just can’t let go of the leash, which some believe will cause a savage uprising in illegal shenanigans that could, in turn, bring about much darker days than the ones they are trying to get away from.

It seems that whenever a new recreational cannabis market rolls out, reports of exaggerated lines, product shortages, and store closures never seem to be far behind.

A bill proposed last week by a group of Washington lawmakers would limit the THC content of all non-medical cannabis sold in the state to 10 percent. 

The legislation, co-sponsored by 22 Democrats in the state House, cited “health professionals and researchers [who] continue to find an association between the use of high potency marijuana and the occurrence of psychotic disorders.”

The effort to get banking access for legal cannabis businesses seems to have lost the wind in its sails for a moment, and while we wait for a new breeze in Congress, a wave of crime is targeting the legal cannabis industry’s fat stacks of cash.

After a string of burglaries at cannabis businesses in the state, a Washington regulatory agency is suspending an online resource that could be a valuable tool for the culprits.

The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board has taken down a map from its website that identified the locations of various marijuana companies.

State regulators have resolved some of the rancor that followed the announcement late last year that certain types of cannabis-infused candy would be taken off store shelves.

The Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board approved new regulations on packaging and labeling marijuana products earlier this month that the agency says are intended to keep them out of the hands of children. While the new rules prohibit marijuana products featuring “a name, design or brand” that is similar to something you’d see in a candy or toy shop, they aren’t as sweeping as the emergency ban swiftly approved last year, said Chris Marr, a former state legislator who is now a consultant for the new industry.

Cannabis culture includes a long, rich, and often times very interesting history of smuggling. And in many cases, these stories involve all sorts of creative methods for sneaking weed where it is not allowed.

Looks like this history has another incident to add to the books. This time, a man attempting to fly out of Nashville International Airport was caught with weed wrapped up to look like Christmas gifts.