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The evidence for keeping weed illegal keeps mounting — even as the laws get looser. A new, peer-reviewed study (on a significant data set of nearly 60,000 Canadians) has shown that adults who misuse pot have a 60% higher risk of experiencing their first heart attack, stroke, or other major cardiovascular event. In other words: Weed’s not a harmless vice. It’s a killer, like cigarettes. And unlike cigarettes, it literally drives people insane. A massive Danish study based on nearly 7 million health records drew a strong correlation between heavy cannabis use and increased risk of schizophrenia in young men....

Though tobacco use is declining among adults in the US, cannabis use is increasing. Laws and policies regulating the use of tobacco and cannabis are also moving in different directions. Tobacco policies are becoming more restrictive, with bans on smoking in public places and limits on sales, such as statewide bans on flavored products. In contrast, more states are legalizing cannabis for medical or recreational use, and there are efforts to allow exceptions for cannabis in smoke-free laws. These changes mean an increasing number of people are likely to get exposed to cannabis smoke. But how safe is direct and...

On a recent weekday afternoon, the high-end flagship’s shoe department smelled less like Manolo Blahnik leather and more like a head shop, a stylist told The Post. “It’s jarring when you walk into a high-end department store where you used to smell Chanel perfume and now it’s weed,” the stylist, who requested anonymity, said. (The Post has reached out to Saks for comment). But, she admitted: “Everywhere you go in New York City smells like weed. It’s not just Saks — it’s at Bloomingdales, at the movies … there’s no high-end anymore.” Indeed, brazen New Yorkers are lighting joints on...

Across the US, the legal weed industry is under pressure from a 'ganja glut' Prices have plunged even as dispensaries complain of high taxes and red tape Industry group warns pot business is 'on the verge of collapse' without reforms Across the US, the legalized marijuana industry is buckling under the strain of plunging prices, patchwork state regulation, and burdensome taxes, analysts and industry groups say. 'All of these issues are chipping away at the health of the industry to the point where I would describe the industry as in crisis in the United States,' Beau Whitney, senior economist for...

Minnesota is reportedly set to pay out “reparations” to communities that have been disproportionately affected by marijuana laws. The “reparations,” as some are calling it, will be paid out as per a “CanRenew” grant program stuck into a new marijuana law that made the drug illegal to use, possess, and grow in the state starting as of August 1st. “Starting in fiscal year 2026, the program will award $15 million a year to eligible organizations in communities that have high concentrations of people who were convicted for a marijuana offense or had family members who were convicted,” the Star Tribune...

Getting high is becoming as American as apple pie. Half of U.S. residents have tried marijuana, and 17% currently smoke weed — both new highs since the tune-in drop-out 1960s, a new Gallup survey released Thursday revealed. The poll attributed the increases to growing acceptance of cannabis, with 23 states including New York, legalizing recreational use of weed and 38 states allowing the sale for medicinal purposes. “As marijuana has become more available to Americans and legal in an increasing number of states, their reports of use and experimentation have increased too. Now, half of the country has tried it,...

“The increased risk of getting schizophrenia after drug-related psychosis is even higher than what we find in first-degree relatives of those who have been given the diagnosis,” Bramness says. First-degree relatives are parents and children. The risk of being diagnosed with the malady for sons and daughters of a sick mother or father is "only" five to ten per cent. In other words, there is no other risk factor for schizophrenia that is higher than related to drug-induced psychoses. Trauma, infections and moving to another country are other known risk factors for schizophrenia, but these increase the risk to a...

An infectious pathogen inside California’s pot farms is attacking cannabis plants and growing invisibly for months only to spoil a crop just as a farmer is ready to harvest. Scientists believe that it’s in nearly every pot farm in the state and could be causing billions of dollars in damages to the national weed economy. Hop-latent viroid, or HLVd, shrivels pot plants and reduce how much weight they produce by as much as 30%. It also destroys the amount of THC, pot’s most common active compound, that a plant produces, greatly reducing the value of affected plants. Advertisement HLVd was...

A Columbia University study has found that teens who use cannabis recreationally are two to four times as likely to develop psychiatric disorders, such as depression and suicidality, than teens who don’t use cannabis at all. The research, published in JAMA Open Network(link is external and opens in a new window) May 3, also finds that casual cannabis use puts teens at risk for problem behaviors, including poor grades, truancy, and trouble with the law, which can have long-term negative consequences that may keep youth from developing their full potential in adulthood. "Perceptions exist among youth, parents, and educators that...

The more marijuana is consumed, the more evidence mounts up that it ruins lives. As more states legalize marijuana, and as popular culture increasingly treats the narcotic as though it were harmless, it becomes increasingly apparent that using it involves serious risks. Lawmakers should stop decriminalizing recreational marijuana use, and allow it only as prescribed, via strict protocols, by licensed medical doctors. Even then, its use should be a last resort. The latest worrisome study, released earlier this month, was conducted by researchers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health and at the National Institute on Drug Abuse and Mental...

This is a story about weed (i.e., marijuana or cannabis), and it’s a story about greed — greed on the government’s part, which encourages more greed on the part of those willing to break the law for profit. There has been a long-running debate over legalizing the recreational use of drugs, especially marijuana. Proponents argued that legalization – or at least decriminalization – would undermine black market sales of those drugs. Prices would fall and organized crime and gangs, which have long profited from the distribution and sale of illegal drugs, would diminish. Meanwhile, the government could regulate vendors to...

A 22-year-old content creator and model is getting real about withdrawal symptoms she said she’s experienced since she stopped smoking marijuana two months ago. Suede Brooks from Las Vegas made a viral TikTok on Sunday in which she claimed to have gone through a pound of weed every three months while smoking every day for nine years. “Thought I would open up a bit,” she captioned the clip, which has sparked over 2.3 million views. “For the longest time, I never thought I had a problem with it until I realized the amount of money that I was spending …...

There's a new type of farmers market in San Francisco, but instead of buying fruits and vegetables, customers get to buy a famous California crop that is best enjoyed smoked. This market is dedicated entirely to cannabis. The new monthly event takes place at one of two downtown San Francisco dispensaries: Moe Greens on Market Street and Barbary Coast on Mission Street. The showcases allow customers to learn about dozens of different cannabis strains directly from the farmers who grow them. The farmers market is the brainchild of Susan Tibbon, who teamed up with the owners of Barbary Coast and...

Legal pot sales in California shrank last year, falling 8% compared with 2021. This is the first time cannabis revenue has dropped since the sale of cannabis became legal in 2018. Customers purchased $5.3 billion worth of legal pot products in 2022, according to data released Wednesday by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. That represents an 8% drop, or a decrease of $473 million, from what customers purchased in 2021. The falling sales come as the legal cannabis industry faces multiple headwinds, including competition from a booming illegal market, crashing wholesale prices and yearslong licensing delays. Hirsh...

A marijuana brand bearing the name of one of the world's most famous stoners has pulled out of California as the state's cannabis taxes gut legal operations and allow the black market to thrive. Garcia Hand Picked - founded by the relatives of Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia - removed its products and operations from California as the state's laws coupled with Federal taxes have left legitimate producers paying as much as 80 percent in taxes. As businesses jump through hurdles to produce and sell marijuana, black market operations and illegal farms have managed to operate without legal barriers and...

The number of seniors visiting emergency rooms in California for cannabis-related issues is growing, according to new research. From 2005 to 2019, the state’s emergency departments saw a 1,808 percent relative increase in the rate of cannabis-related trips among those aged 65 and older. Cannabis is currently legal for both medicinal and recreational use in California. The state became the first in the country to legalize medical marijuana in 1996, while the substance was not approved for recreational use there until November 2016. The study found that cannabis-related emergency department visits in California rose sharply among seniors from 2013 to...

Part of the adventure in luring your friends out to the high desert terrain in Northern California, where a valley floor spills from the northern backside of Mount Shasta, is that precious moment when they look at you as though you’ve led them into danger. Having discovered Pluto’s Cave from a map, I was prepared for some sagebrush whacking. What I wasn’t prepared for was that reaching the trailhead required navigating a maze of dusty roads. The cave is considered an easy hike — no serious spelunking experience necessary — and located less than 20 minutes from Interstate 5. Pluto’s...

… Pot farms across the state are shutting down as wholesale cannabis prices have crashed by as much as 95% since California voters legalized weed in 2016, according to SFGATE interviews with over a dozen California cannabis farmers, who could get as much as $2,000 for a pound of pot in 2016. Today, they’re lucky to get $400 — and some pot is selling for as little as $100 a pound. Economists have been predicting that legalization would cause a drop in wholesale pot prices since states first began discussing the pot reform. But cannabis farmers say that California’s government...

A woman identified as Melissa Stout said she attended the wedding from Michigan. After feeling buzzed from a couple of drinks, she ate some food to stop herself from becoming too intoxicated. She had a Caesar salad, a pasta with white sauce and bread with herb dip, according to an arrest warrant obtained by Law and Crime. 'After eating the food, she felt much worse,' deputies say. She 'didn't notice anyone else getting sick as she was on her hands and knees throwing up.' Every guest tested for cannabis showed positive results, according to the warrant, and none who were...

Cannabis plants could be the missing player in human's fight against climate change, as hemp can absorb carbon dioxide from the air more than twice as effectively as trees. Numerous studies have shown that hemp captures up to 16 tons of greenhouse gas annually, while trees suck up about six tons. The carbon dioxide also becomes permanently encased within hemp fibers that are used in a range of products - from textiles to medicines and car parts. Hudson Carbon, a New York research center that studies carbon storage, found that one acre of cannabis plants can store up to three...