Cannabis legalization has dramatically reduced the number of marijuana arrests in Washington, Colorado, and other adult-use states. But as the overall number of arrests plummeted, the racial disparities within those numbers remained stubbornly intact. In fact, the disparity has gotten worse. Before legalization, black people were 2.4x more likely to get arrested for cannabis. After […]
Bruce Barcott
Posts by 'Bruce Barcott'
‘The Haymaker’ is Leafly Deputy Editor Bruce Barcott’s opinion column on cannabis politics and culture. Hester Burkhalter is my new hero. Burkhalter is the 69-year-old North Carolina great-grandmother who was arrested last month at an Orlando Disney World security checkpoint after a guard found a small bottle of CBD oil in her purse. Cops in […]
Legalizing medical marijuana in Wisconsin would yield a net benefit of $1.1 billion to the state over five years. That’s the conclusion of a recent cost-benefit analysis undertaken by the University of Wisconsin’s La Follette School of Public Affairs. Researchers estimate that medical legalization would prevent 49 overdose deaths every year in Wisconsin. Wisconsin is […]
On the eve of April 20, the global cannabis holiday, officials at the US Department of Homeland Security have issued a policy alert declaring that immigrants applying for naturalized citizenship will be rejected if they admit to consuming state-legal cannabis or work in the legal industry. US Citizenship and Immigration Services, an agency of Homeland […]
‘The Haymaker’ is Leafly Deputy Editor Bruce Barcott’s opinion column on cannabis politics and culture. It’s time to talk about the fact that American doctors have a cannabis problem. And it’s harming their patients. I know because I’m one of them. The latest evidence came yesterday from the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, which […]
If you sampled some of the local hash last month at Spannabis, Spain’s annual cannabis festival, and came away feeling in less than tip-top health, we have news you can use. Scientists tested 90 samples of illicit hash obtained in Madrid. 75% were contaminated with fecal matter. Spanish researchers who recently analyzed 90 samples of […]
‘The Haymaker’ is Leafly Deputy Editor Bruce Barcott’s opinion column on cannabis politics and culture. The cannabis industry’s equity problem has long been a ticking time bomb. This week it finally exploded. In Albany, a legalization measure that once seemed as unstoppable as a locomotive ran completely off the rails. The push to include adult-use cannabis […]
As state legalization measures in New York and New Jersey stumbled near the finish line this week, better news emerged from Washington, DC, as Congress made progress on two of the most prominent federal reform measures. The House Rules Committee chairman has pledged to bring the STATES Act to a full House vote “within the […]
The US Drug Enforcement Administration may still consider CBD an illegal, Schedule I drug, but the national drugstore chain CVS apparently disagrees. America’s largest drugstore retailer confirmed earlier this week that it’s selling CBD products in at least eight states and will soon carry CBD products from Curaleaf. Those states include Alabama, California, Colorado, Illinois, […]
When a friend sent me the photo this morning of Malcolm Abbott, rapper and son of accused college admissions cheats, earlier this morning, I assumed it was a bit from The Onion. “Son defends parents caught in college admissions scandal while smoking blunt,” read the headline attached to a photo too well staged to be […]
