Newsroom
Off the wire.
An independent desk on the people, policy, and money moving cannabis, plus the science that cuts through the noise.
The Pentagon wants troops to know: rescheduling doesn't mean you can smoke
As the DEA's hearing wrapped and legalization keeps spreading state by state, the Department of War sent a blunt reminder that none of it applies if you're in uniform.
The Crushed Desk · 5d ago · 3 min read
Long Beach's first equity dispensary is open — with a $350K assist from the city
Off the Charts opened on Atlantic Avenue as the first storefront licensed through Long Beach's Cannabis Equity Program — a rare case of equity grant money turning into an actual open door.
5d ago · 3 min read
The first World Cup with legal weed didn't go how anyone expected
Seattle dispensaries braced for a green wave of soccer tourists — instead they got window-shoppers, a few curious Australians, and one budtender calling their own shop a "stoner zoo."
1w ago · 5 min read
San Francisco just voted to let you eat a sandwich at your dispensary lounge
The Board of Supervisors cleared cannabis cafes on a 7-4 first vote, teeing up food, tea, and live comedy inside consumption lounges that used to be sales-only.
1w ago · 4 min read
The stigma is gone — and the fastest-growing customer isn't who you'd guess
A majority of U.S. adults now call marijuana use acceptable. The growth segment brands are chasing is older, not younger.
2w ago · 4 min read
The UN's new numbers say cannabis is still winning the global drug-of-choice race
256 million people used cannabis in 2024 — more than opioid, amphetamine, cocaine, and ecstasy users combined.
3w ago · 4 min read
300 workers just staged the first-ever Teamsters strike at a cannabis grow house
Ascend Wellness's cultivation facility in downstate Illinois feeds dispensaries statewide — and it's been on strike since 2 a.m. Thursday.
3w ago · 4 min read
Strikes and smoke lounges: what cannabis culture looks like in a down market
Ascend workers walked out and New Jersey cleared a consumption lounge — two snapshots of an industry growing up under pressure.
3w ago · 4 min read
The budtender economy: meet the creators turning the counter into content
A new class of dispensary staff is building real audiences — and brands are paying attention.
4w ago · 4 min read