Cannabis continues to expand across the country, with new jurisdictions opening up regulated markets, new products finding their way onto shelves and massive companies getting in on the action in unexpected ways.
CHEROKEE MOVE ON MEDICAL
On Aug. 5, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians approved the creation of a legal medical marijuana market on their lands in western North Carolina. This comes two months after the tribe decriminalized possession of up to 1 ounce of cannabis on tribal lands."The Council's approval of a medical marijuana ordinance is a testament to the changing attitudes toward legal marijuana and a recognition of the growing body of evidence that supports cannabis as medicine, particularly for those with debilitating conditions like cancer and chronic pain," Principal Chief Richard Sneed said in a press release.
At the state level, both medical and recreational cannabis remain illegal in North Carolina, making the tribal lands the only part of the state where cannabis restrictions have been loosened.
SMOKABLE HEMP IN TEXAS
Loopholes and workarounds are everywhere in the patchwork world that is cannabis policy in the United States, and another just opened up in Texas. As reported by Hemp Grower, an appeals court in Texas struck down the state's prohibition on the sale of "smokable hemp" products.Hemp was legalized federally with passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, and Texas added its own state regulations a year later. Legally, hemp is cannabis that contains less than 0.3 percent THC by dry weight. Any more THC, and it becomes illegal cannabis. However, there are no restrictions on the CBD content of hemp. Smokable hemp products include flower and oil consumed for its CBD content, but with a THC content so negligible that consumption does not produce any intoxicating effects.
BUZZFEED WEED
BuzzFeed is known simultaneously for its vapid, clickbait quizzes and serious, hard-hitting, Pulitzer Prize-winning news reporting. If you thought the massive content company couldn't get any more all over the place with its offerings, think again.Last week Forbes reported that BuzzFeed is expanding into cannabis. Not reporting on cannabis or creating quizzes about cannabis — they already do both — but rather producing and selling cannabis. The new media behemoth has partnered with a California cannabis producer and will be rolling out its own line of cannabis products in the Golden State.
The line of products are part of the company's Goodful brand and, for better or worse, not called BuzzWeed. ♦
