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“No one could have foreseen that a single hit of marijuana that night would have caused Ms. Spejcher to have a total psychotic break from reality, certainly not Chad and certainly not Ms. Spejcher. In light of these facts, I do not believe that further incarceration of Ms. Spejcher is appropriate,” Judge David Worley said in court. He sentenced her instead to two years of probation and 100 hours community service, educating the public on the dangers of THC.

The new research is more evidence linking cannabis to an increased risk of mental health disorders, including schizophrenia, anxiety and depression, particularly in adolescence. Teenagers who used cannabis within the last year had a dramatically higher rate of developing a psychotic disorder, according to a study published Wednesday. The study, led by researchers from the University of Toronto, found an 11 times higher risk of developing a psychotic disorder among teenagers who used cannabis compared with those who did not. When the analysis was limited to just emergency room visits and hospitalizations, there was a 27-fold increase in psychotic disorders...

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration quietly ended a $200 million program aimed at helping disadvantaged entrepreneurs open cannabis dispensaries, amid allegations of predatory lending practices. The Social Equity Cannabis Investment Fund, which was overseen by DASNY, came under fire last month after a report by local nonprofit news outlet The City alleged that DASNY entered into an agreement that allowed a private equity firm to provide $50 million to the fund at a 15% interest rate.

The Biden administration on Thursday submitted a proposal seeking to begin the formal process of reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug.

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration will take a historic step toward easing federal restrictions on cannabis, with plans to announce an interim rule soon reclassifying the drug for the first time since the Controlled Substances Act was enacted more than 50 years ago, four sources with knowledge of the decision said. The Drug Enforcement Administration is expected to approve an opinion by the Department of Health and Human Services that marijuana should be reclassified from the strictest Schedule I to the less stringent Schedule III. It would be the first time that the U.S. government has acknowledged its potential medical...

Hundreds of neighbours left terrified by lawless teenagers running riot in their sleepy Sussex village held an emergency meeting to address the growing crimewave. Villagers in Barnham, West Sussex, say they are scared to leave their homes after shocking footage emerged on social media of a group of teenage girls assaulting an emergency worker after sparking a huge brawl at the station. Within 48 hours, a second clip went viral of another group of young girls appearing to loot the village's local Co-op. The chaos sent shockwaves through the leafy coastal village - so much so, an emergency public meeting...

New York weed shops are stocking their shelves with Mike Tyson-branded edibles shaped like an ear with a bite mark – a callback to Iron Mike’s heavyweight showdown with Evander Holyfield. The 57-year-old Brooklyn native — who’s planning a comeback fight against Jake Paul in July — is rolling out his Tyson 2.0 brand “Mike Bites” and he’s planning a promotional blitz at shops next month, including an event in Times Square, a spokesperson told The Post. But the gummies have already appeared at dispensaries Strain Stars in Farmingdale, Housing Works in Greenwich Village, Grow Together in Brooklyn, Flynnstoned in...

After decades of public debate and lengthy deliberations in parliament, adults in Germany will legally be able to smoke weed on the street beginning on April 1. That became possible after the upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, gave a law partially legalizing cannabis the green light on Friday, and decided not to send the legislation to a mediation committee. It had been passed by the lower house last month. After years of cannabis policy that had led to unnecessary deaths and a growing black market, the new law was designed to "close Pandora's box," Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said....

A study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association and funded by the National Institutes of Health found that those who smoke weed daily are at a significantly higher risk of suffering heart attack and stroke than those who don’t. “We know that toxins are released when cannabis is burned, similar to those found in tobacco smoke,” said Abra Jeffers, a data analyst at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and former researcher at the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco, where the study was based. “We’ve known for a long...

LANSING, Mich. -- The State of Michigan announced on Thursday that it will be doling out a total of $87,093,279.90 across 99 cities, 30 villages, 69 townships and 71 of the state's 83 counties. SNIP "This week, many Michigan municipalities and counties will begin seeing their share of adult-use marijuana payments appear in their banking accounts," State Treasurer Rachael Eubanks said. " (SNIP) Aside from the more than $87 million in funds handed out to municipalities and counties, $101.6 million was sent to the School Aid Fund for K-12 education and another $101.6 million to the Michigan Transportation Fund.

Chinese gangs have set up thousands of illicit weed farms across the US as they begin to challenge Mexican cartels for supremacy as America's cannabis kingpins. Authorities in Oklahoma, Oregon, California, New Mexico and Maine have all been battling a surge in Chinese weed farms, with some thought to be linked to criminal gangs known as 'triads'. The spread is seemingly uncontainable, with police in Penobscot County, Maine, last week arresting three Chinese nationals at a weed farm and seizing 40 pounds of the drug alongside $4,700 in cash. It is thought to be one of around 270 illegal weed...

State’s licensing process has created too much product and not enough places to sell it, a consultant and retail-store applicant sayNew York state has only opened about 50 legal stores, yet state-legal cannabis farmers grew enough product this past summer and fall to supply up to 1,500 stores, a consultant who works in the industry said. [Snip] Meanwhile, the illicit market continues to thrive, with thousands of unlicensed shops. While the state has issued 460 retail licenses to nonprofits and people displaced by the war on drugs under its CAURD program, it’s been difficult for most licensees to find real...

A California woman who stabbed a man she was dating 100 times and killed him, before turning the knife on herself and her dog, has been handed 100 hours of community service. Bryn Spejcher, 32, was given the astonishingly low sentence following psychiatrists' ruling that the tragedy was '100 percent' caused by cannabis-induced psychosis, which she suffered after taking two hits of the victim's bong. The judge ruled that Spejcher 'experienced a psychotic break from reality' and 'had no control over her actions' when she killed Chad O'Melia, then 26, on Memorial Day weekend 2018. She will spend the 100...

Researchers at Washington State University (WSU) say they have identified key neurons in the brain that are behind an appetite-inducing phenomenon familiar to cannabis users called the munchies. Previous research found a link between cannabis use and increased activity in the hypothalamus, which, among other things, regulates appetite. The new research study takes those studies even further by identifying typically dormant appetite-increasing neurons within the same brain region, which become activated after cannabis use. The researchers behind the finding believe their work can not only aid sufferers of anorexia and other eating disorders, but may also pave the way toward...

PORTLAND, Maine — Illegal marijuana grows run by Chinese nationals have sprung up all across the state of Maine, and residents say law enforcement isn’t doing enough to stop their spread. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) identified 270 suspected Chinese illegal marijuana grow operations in the state that could be making an estimated $4.37 billion in revenue, which are often used for more criminal activities or are sent back to China, the DCNF exclusively reported in August.

A Southern California pot farmer is suing Riverside County for what he characterizes as an illegal law enforcement raid on his property. The farmer, Preston McCormick, is alleging that deputies with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office ransacked his business and left 75 pizza boxes behind following the operation last year. In his suit filed Friday against several individuals and public entities — including the County of Riverside and the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department — in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Preston is claiming $10 million in losses and damages. In his complaint, as Law360 first...

Hundreds of illegal Chinese-owned marijuana growing operations have been popping up across Maine over the past three years.A criminal marijuana growing operation in Henryetta, Oklahoma. Illegal grow operations are a nationwide problem, responsible for billions in revenue. (Picture courtesy Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics)On Tuesday, Nov. 28, local law enforcement shut down an illegal marijuana grow that was being operated in a building located behind a licensed marijuana cultivation facility in Franklin County.Officers from the Wilton Police Department were assisting investigators from the Maine Office of Cannabis Policy (OCP) during a routine follow-up inspection of a licensed facility in Wilton when...

Maine officials said they seized some 3,400 marijuana plants and 111 pounds of processed marijuana in June at a property in Carmel, Maine, identified as one of many unlicensed marijuana-growing operations in the state run by Chinese networks. PHOTO: PENOBSCOT COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICECARMEL, Maine—An astronomical electricity bill was the first tipoff that something unusual was going on at a former chicken farm in this town of 3,000 people off Interstate 95.A Massachusetts-registered construction company had bought the 5.5-acre property in 2021. But instead of construction equipment moving in, a new power pole sprang up. Electricity use jumped to nearly...

This spring, rumors were swirling that HERBL, one of California’s largest cannabis distribution companies, was on the verge of collapse. So Mike Beaudry, the company’s CEO, sent out an email on May 18 declaring that “these rumors are categorically not true. HERBL continues to be fully operational.” Less than a month later, HERBL had completely collapsed. HERBL’s failure left a trail of damage that hurt small pot brands and shorted the state some $17 million in unpaid taxes. HERBL is only the latest high-flying California pot startup to crumble, following companies like Flow Kana, which raised $175 million in capital...

Two people were arrested after a U-Haul truck filled with approximately 2,000 pounds of marijuana into the gate of a police station in Sierra Madre, California, on Thursday. The driver of the truck claimed that he had been shot. ABC 7 reports: According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the driver reported that he was shot somewhere in the Temple City area before driving over to Sierra Madre, where the apparent crash happened. What was he thinking? Driver crashes U-Haul truck filled with bags of marijuana into SoCal police station. The wild investigation now on ABC7 Before crashing into...