A Weekly Roundup of Stories We Found Interesting – From The Profound To The Profane

Vermont Becomes Ninth U.S. State to Legalize Marijuana
Vermont became the ninth U.S. state and third in the Northeast to legalize recreational marijuana use on Monday when Republican Governor Phil Scott signed a bill passed by the legislature earlier this month. The law legalizes possession of up to 1 ounce of the drug, two mature plants and up to four immature plants by people 21 and older beginning on July 1. It does not legalize trade in the drug.

Governor Phil Murphy Orders Expansion of Medical Marijuana in New Jersey
In a decision that may have sweeping effects, a judge has allowed an 11-year-old Illinois girl who suffers from semi-regular seizures to use medical marijuana at school.

Why Germans Love Marijuana to Kill Pain
Chronically and terminally ill patients in Germany can’t get enough cannabis. Demand for medical marijuana has far outstripped supply since becoming legally available early last year to patients suffering from debilitating pain. The country is now starting to grow its own. Last year, Germany’s federal drug institute issued 10 tenders for companies to grow up to 2 tons per year through 2021 and 6 tons from 2022 onward.

About That Joint: Marijuana Start-Ups Pass
These are a few of the inventions of an increasingly sophisticated set of marijuana start-ups, which argue that by pushing the industry past smoke, they can make cannabis convenient and ubiquitous — the drug of the future, and the next great American bonanza. The best line in the New York Times article, “The story here is that the average cannabis consumer is becoming the average American”.

Racist Policing Persists Despite Cannabis Legalization, Bemoans New Report from Drug Policy Alliance
The announcement of the nation’s first legal marijuana cultivation facility presages changes to the nation’s drug laws that will soon allow medical use of cannabis, Thailand’s top drug enforcement agent said Tuesday.

Are Property Values Affected By Weed Legalization?
The Wisconsin School of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison completed research indicating Denver property values have surged since Colorado’s legalization of recreational marijuana in January 2014. In their conclusions, if shacked up near a recreational cannabis dispensary within 0.1 miles, a single-family residence increased in value about 8.4%. This is compared to houses further away from a retail store after recreational marijuana sales became legal in 2014.