legal pot Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

How $1 Billion In Legal Marijuana Sales Gets Spent In Washington State

By NWPB News February 25, 2021

In this March 28, 2019 photo pot products line a display case at a marijuana shop in Seattle. A proposed constitutional amendment that would prevent the legalization of marijuana in Idaho has moved forward as lawmakers in the state try to halt the increasing acceptance of the drug nationwide. CREDIT: Elaine Thompson/AP

This year marks a milestone for the state’s legal pot industry. For the first time since voters approved recreational pot use nine years ago, the state of Washington is expected to collect more than $1 billion in marijuana sales taxes and fees over the course of its next two-year budget cycle.Read More

As More States Legalize Pot, Idaho Lawmakers Move To Cement A Permanent Constitutional Ban

By NWPB News January 29, 2021

As legal weed becomes a reality in every corner of the U.S., Idaho is putting up a fight. State lawmakers on Friday moved forward with a proposed constitutional amendment that would bar the legalization of marijuana in Idaho in an attempt to keep the growing nationwide acceptance of the drug from seeping across its borders.Read More

Washington And Oregon Have Legal Weed But Embrace Vaping Restrictions, Warning Of Black Market

By NPR News October 27, 2019

THC vape cartridges are a popular product in Washington's legal marijuana shops. A new ban on flavored versions of marijuana and nicotine vaping products recently went into effect across the state, and will remain in place at least four months. CREDIT: Will Stone for NPR

Many cases of vaping-related injury seem to involve THC, health officials say. That's led some states to take another look at the safety of the regulated cannabis market, as well as the black market.Read More

U.S. House Passes Landmark Bill On Marijuana Business Banking, Fate Uncertain In Senate

By Jeff Mapes September 26, 2019

Thirty states have legalized some form of medical marijuana. Nine of those states and Washington, D.C., allow recreational sale of the drug.CREDIT: TED S. WARREN

The U.S. House on Wednesday passed a landmark bill aimed at helping the fast-growing legal cannabis industry. Backers of fully legalizing marijuana said the 321-103 vote in favor of the so-called “SAFE Banking Act” is a key victory in their drive to bring the drug out of the legal shadows.Read More

5 Years In, Washington Regulators Considering Changes To Legal Marijuana Rules

By NWPB News August 27, 2019

Medical marijuana is dispensed in Takoma Park, D.C. in 2014. CREDIT: EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/WASHINGTON POST

Five years after Washington launched its pioneering legal marijuana market, officials are proposing an overhaul of the state's industry rules, with plans for boosting minority ownership of pot businesses, paving the way for home deliveries of medical cannabis and letting the smallest growers increase the size of their operations to become more competitive.Read More

Your Pups On Pot: Legalized Marijuana Presents Increasing Danger To Dogs

By NPR News June 21, 2019

"Dogs will get into anything and everything," says veterinarian Dorrie Black, of the veterinary clinic Animal Internal Medicine and Specialty Services. Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia now have legalized pot in some form. Read More

Legal Marijuana For All Takes A Toll On Medical Users, Analysis Shows

By NWPB News June 11, 2019

Scott Donnelly, assisted by his wife and licensed caregiver, Vicki Poppen, leaves Western Oregon Dispensary in Sherwood, Ore., after buying medical marijuana to treat muscle spasms caused by his multiple sclerosis. Donnelly visits the medical-only dispensary once a week and relies on it for the cannabis that eases his tremors long enough that he can fall asleep. The dispensary is one of two medical-only shops left in Oregon. CREDIT: GILLIAN FLACCUS/AP

When states legalize pot for all adults, long-standing medical marijuana programs take a big hit, in some cases losing more than half their registered patients in just a few years, according to a data analysis by The Associated Press.Read More

Bags Of Cash, Armed Guards And Wary Banks: The Edgy Life Of A Cannabis Company CFO

By NPR News April 10, 2019

Tom DiGiovanni's job as chief financial officer for Canndescent involves managing bags of cash by the millions which must be counted, then hauled in armored vehicles. CREDIT: Devan Schwartz for NPR

Marijuana is legal medically or recreationally in 34 states, but it's still illegal under federal law. And though many businesses have entered that new gray market, the financial services industry has not. No major U.S. banks will open accounts for a company like Canndescent or its retail clients.Read More

Ticket To Ride: Legal Marijuana Sellers Put Seniors On The Canna-Bus

By NPR News September 17, 2018

Megan Baker (left) of Papa & Barkley Co., a Cannabis company based in Eureka, Calif., shows Shirley Avedon of Laguna Woods different products intended to help with pain relief. CREDIT: STEPHANIE O'NEILL/NPR

Marijuana dispensaries are reaching out to seniors seeking help with the aches and pains of aging. They're discovering an array of products and some interesting side effects.Read More