World News Aggregator

Thai government officials are considering new rules to curtail the country’s cannabis industry by limiting cannabis sales to mostly licensed medical facilities, the Business Times reports. The proposal would also allow sales at herbal product shops, pharmacies, and through traditional medicine practitioners, but would require at least one practitioner with appropriate training from the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicines to be on-site at any cannabis retail location during its hours of operation. The change marks the latest step in Thailand’s reversal since adopting a blanket cannabis decriminalization policy in 2022, which sparked the country’s current fledgling market. But the recreational use of cannabis is again prohibited after government officials, after several years of decriminalization, last June decided to re-classify cannabis as a narcotic at the national level. Thailand’s cannabis industry had grown to over 18,000 retailers by the end of 2025. However, more than 7,000 licensees opted not to seek a license renewal, which signals that a significant number of dispensaries are planning to close in the coming year, the report said. In September, lawmakers appointed Anutin Charnvirakul, a former health minister who championed the nation’s cannabis decriminalization reforms in 2022, to be the country’s next prime minister.

Michigan Court of Claims Judge Sima G. Patel this week denied a request by state attorneys to rehear a motion to dismiss a lawsuit against the state’s new 24% cannabis wholesale tax, Michigan Advance reports. The lawsuit, filed in October by the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association, claims the wholesale tax is an unconstitutional update to the state’s voter-approved adult-use cannabis policy. Patel denied the plaintiffs’ request to block the January 1 rollout of the new tax, but is also choosing to let the lawsuit play out in the courts, despite the state’s motion to dismiss. Patel wrote in her judgment on Monday that, “It is not certain on this record whether the 24% wholesale excise tax will impact prices to the extent purchasers will be driven to the illicit marijuana market,” and that “discovery is required” to determine how the new tax will impact the voter-approved cannabis reforms. “In issuing this order, the court recognizes the serious questions about whether this discriminatory tax violates the intent of the cannabis legalization that Michigan voters approved in 2018. We’re looking forward to making our case that this tax will push Michiganders, who are already feeling stretched financially, into the illicit market.” — Rose Tantraphol, Michigan Cannabis Industry Association spokesperson, via Michigan Advance Lawmakers approved the tax in October as part of a road-funding plan. State attorneys say the policy did not alter the language of the voter-approved cannabis law. The voter-approved law only included a 10% excise tax on cannabis.

A ballot initiative in Arizona seeks to end retail cannabis sales in the state, Capitol Media Services reports. The effort, led by Sean Noble, president of the political strategy firm American Encore, would still allow personal possession and cultivation of cannabis and maintain the parts of the law that allow expunging of cannabis related criminal records.  Noble told Capitol Media Services that the 2020 voter-approved adult-use referendum has not lived up to its promise.    “They said, ‘We’re not going to be marketing to children, we’re not going to be making this easy, we’re not going to be making THC levels super extreme.’” — Noble to Capitol News Service  The petition, which was filed this month, will require 255,949 valid signatures by July 2. Noble said the campaign is being funded in part by Smart Approaches to Marijuana, a national group opposed to loosened cannabis laws.  Morgan Fox, political director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, told Capitol News Service that anti-cannabis groups “failed to make the case for continuing to criminalize cannabis consumers in Arizona and other states where voters had a choice in the matter.”   “Now they are trying to mislead voters into thinking that recriminalizing responsible behaviors and pushing consumers back to the underground market will somehow improve public health and safety,” he told Capitol News Service. “It’s shameful, disrespectful to voters and woefully misguided.”  Noble helped find the 2016 opposition campaign against the campaign to legalize cannabis for adult use. In 2016, voters rejected the proposal by a 51-49 margin. Voters would ultimately approve the reforms four years later.  

A Tennessee lawmaker included a proposal to legalize home cannabis cultivation among his 2026 legislative priorities, WMC reports. The Freedom to Farm Act, which Democratic State Rep. Antonio Parkinson intends to propose this legislative session, would allow one adult in each household to grow up to 15 cannabis plants for personal use.  “Five adult plants, five intermediate plants, and five budding plants, so they can continue to have the supply of marijuana that they need personally. Whether it is for medical purposes or whatever.” — Parkinson to WMC  The bill would not allow homegrown cannabis to be sold or otherwise distributed. It would require certification for people who grow cannabis and that the seeds be bought at a state co-op.   “If you are caught violating any rules, you will be prosecuted criminally,” Parkinson told WMC, “and you will never be able to take part in this opportunity again.”  Parkinson added that home cannabis cultivation would be significant for people with medical conditions.  “I am not a marijuana smoker,” he said to WMC, “but I do know there is some medical benefits to those individuals who suffer from debilitating diseases, medical issues, PTSD.”  The bill has not yet been formally introduced.

A bill proposed in Alabama would impose harsher penalties for individuals who consume cannabis in vehicles with children present, ABC 33/40 News reports. The legislation would classify smoking or vaping cannabis in a car with a child present as a Class-A misdemeanor, regardless of whether the vehicle is in motion, and whether the window is open or closed.  Democratic state Rep. Patrick Sellers said the bill aims to address concerns that he’s heard from educators.     “I kept listening to the concerns of educators, administrators, principals across the district, and one of the most alarming things is the smell and the sight of usage of marijuana within the cars as they drop kids off. And then kids have secondhand contact. … Marijuana usage has become almost normal. There was a time when people wouldn’t do that before they dropped their kids off at school. It’s affecting the ability for kids to learn and comprehend and be coherent and have a productive day at school.” — Sellers to ABC 33/40  The bill would also require offenders to attend an in-person course on the dangers of drug use around children, require law enforcement to report violations of the law to child welfare officials, and stipulate that mandatory reporters file a report if a child smells of cannabis, treating it as suspected child abuse or neglect.  The bill is in the chamber’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee.    

Researchers at the University of Washington (UW) Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences are investigating potential health hazards faced by workers in cannabis production, Cascadia Daily reports. The study is federally funded and supported by the National Institute for Occup...

The price of adult-use cannabis in Massachusetts has reached its lowest point since sales launched in 2018, MassLive reports. The average price of an eighth of an ounce of cannabis flower in Massachusetts was $14.20 in November, according to publicly available data from the Cannabis Control Commi...

Cannabis regulators in Massachusetts are set to begin reviewing license renewals of cannabis cultivators to determine whether they will be bumped down to a lower tier, State House News Service reports. If the Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) determines a licensee sold le...

Alabama’s stricter regulations on intoxicating hemp products took effect on January 1, the Montgomery Advertiser reports. The new rules require retailers to be licensed; impose an age limit of 21-and-older, require retailers to keep a certificate of analysis for each...

Kentucky’s first medical cannabis dispensary temporarily closed just seven days after it opened after running out of products, Spectrum News reports. Trip Hoffman, owner of The Post, located in Beaver Dam, told Spectrum News that he had imposed strict purchase limits – one uni...

About one-third of underage shoppers participating in a University of Minnesota Cannabis Research Center study went uncarded when attempting to purchase hemp edibles or beverages in the Twin Cities area, Minn Post reports. The study found that participants were not asked to show ID and verify the...

The San Diego Office of the Independent Budget Analyst (IPA) released a report showing that city officials likely overestimated the revenue potential of a cannabis business tax hike they implemented earlier this year. The report highlights diminished cannabis tax revenues as one of the largest ne...

New requirements for physicians looking to participate in Oklahoma’s medical cannabis program take effect January 1, KJRH reports. The new rules require doctors to complete an initial education course to register with the state Medical Marijuana Author...

A study published last month in the Journal of Medicinally Active Plants suggests that the type of soil hemp is cultivated in can significantly alter cannabinoid concentration. The researchers, from the Penn State College of Medicine, Penn State plant ...

About 14,000 certified medical cannabis patients in New Jersey allowed their registration to lapse in 2025, according to Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) data outlined by the New Jersey Monitor. As of mid-December, the state counted 51,776 registered medical cannabis ...