illicit cannabis market - Cannabuzz Columnist

Weedmaps Subpoenaed By Feds

- March 5, 2020April 26, 2020 01922

A potentially explosive announcement came out this week that Weedmaps, the website and app used by millions to locate dispensaries and delivery services, has been subpoenaed by the Feds to share information about how, and with whom, they do business. This seemingly is being done by the Feds to take action

Why The Cannabis “Black Market” Continue To Thrive

- February 27, 2020April 24, 2020 0752

The rapidly growing cannabis industry has a complicated relationship with the competing retail sector often described with a loaded term: the Black Market. “Black Market” is a reference to exchanges where seller and buyer deal in illegal goods and/or avoid taxes and regulations by conducting their business “in the shadows,” hence

Deportation Is a Danger of Vaping

Drug Laws and Policies

- February 26, 2020May 15, 2020 01276

It’s easy to forget that simply because a state has a medical cannabis program, that program doesn’t mean law enforcement is chill about anyone without a medical card using cannabis. “Bro, it’s just some weed” isn’t going to get you out of a jam with Johnny/Joanie Lawperson in some cases. As I

Cannabis Caused an Unwanted 12 Hour Erection

Sex and Cannabis

- February 25, 2020April 24, 2020 0666

Most of what I put forth in the written word in this space seeks to educate and inform, including calls to action, product reviews, breakthroughs in cannabis research, and legislation pertaining to cannabis reform among other topics. Then, every once in while... not so much. Dear reader, this right here is

Vapocalypse: 2020

EVALI
Vaping

- January 31, 2020April 24, 2020 0661

Just one month in, 2020 has proved to be a... challenging... year on many fronts, but some small comfort can be taken that the EVALI crisis seems to have substantially abated. New cases have slowed to a trickle, and the educational campaign strongly encouraging people to cease purchasing and consuming vape

Blazing up in the courtroom get Tennessee man jail time, to no one’s great surprise

- January 30, 2020April 25, 2020 0671

When I was 20, I did some pretty stupid shit. It was barely balanced out by doing some pretty cool shit, a small fraction of which still holds up today to the merciless scrutiny of the young peoples. But much as the meme proclaiming that while “you may be cool, but

Washington State Wants To Water Down Concentrates

- January 22, 2020April 25, 2020 0817

A group of Washington State lawmakers have put forth a bill which, while being well intentioned, could result in greater harm to the group of cannabis consumers they're expressing concern over protecting. It would also drastically reduce the quality and selection of products available to cannabis consumers, and send Washington consumers

Portland’s Shadowbox Farms Was Robbed of Cannabis, Carts

- November 6, 2019April 26, 2020 0898

Stealing isn't cool. It never has been, and never will be. Be it a candy bar or an election, you shouldn't take things that don't rightfully belong to you. Of course, dear reader, this is something you already know, nor do you need the admonishment that you should not purchase

Is This The Vapocalypse?

- September 26, 2019April 25, 2020 0893

This has been a scary time for people who vape, and for the companies that make vaping products and equipment. Every day provides more information about what’s happened, and the potential reasons behind this increasingly deadly health crisis. We still don’t have all the answers, but we know more than

Vapocalypse 2019: Avoid Illicit Cartridges

- September 18, 2019April 25, 2020 0778

We still don’t have all the answers about the recent rash of vaping-related hospitalizations and deaths, but among the information recently emerging is that some of these cases are related to illicit THC cartridges, AKA products from the black market. Such markets thrive in states that do not have a regulated

Florida Having Issues With Cannabis Enforcement, Because Science

- August 19, 2019April 26, 2020 0769

The legalization of hemp as a crop has led to some great things. (Yay, hemp!) But nothing is everything all the time, and legal hemp is causing some massive headaches for officials in Florida (much like the type of headaches you get when you smoke hemp). It's a very special Florida

LA Has So, So Many Illegal Dispensaries

- June 14, 2019April 26, 2020 0709

I visit LA regularly, but I struggle to adequately explain the differences that city's cannabis scene has with Oregon's, or even the Bay Area. In October 2017, I wrote a column about shopping at LA dispensaries shortly before California instituted their legalized recreational program. Even then, I wasn't able to get

3 Pounds Of Cannabis Results in Life Sentence

- May 31, 2019April 26, 2020 0637

Legalized cannabis programs have generated tax revenue and created jobs, and have also moved cities and counties to implement expungement programs to remove previous cannabis-related arrests and convictions. But these programs only go so far, and there are still those who may not be eligible for expungement but deserve their freedom. Should

Illegal Cannabis Grows On Federal Lands Down in Oregon, Washington

- May 16, 2019April 26, 2020 0636

Among the bad things cannabis prohibition wrought was the environmental damage brought on by illicit growers who secretly set up shop in our big, beautiful national forests. These growers weren't striving for permaculture—no Clean Green organic certification in these operation. In fact, one of the not-so-secret shames of the cannabis industry

Cannabis Grow Licenses In Oregon May Be Limited

- April 30, 2019April 27, 2020 0599

Earlier this year, a state bill to limit new recreational cannabis licenses was defeated, with an argument coming from Republicans that the cannabis industry should be dealt with by the free market like any other commodity. A new bill could change that. Per KTVZ, a Central Oregon NBC affiliate, Senate Bill 218