Marijuana - The Boston Globe

VAPING ILLNESSES

Most vaping illnesses are tied to marijuana, but health officials can’t say where vapes were bought

The majority of the vaping-related illnesses in Massachusetts remain tied to marijuana, but state health officials said Wednesday they still can’t say whether the vapes making people sick are from regulated stores or the illicit market.

Where have people died from vaping-related illnesses?US vaping illnesses rise to nearly 1,300, cause still a mystery

CDC official pushes back against congressman linking legal marijuana to vaping deaths

A top official with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emphasized Wednesday that the majority of vaping-related injuries associated with THC-containing cartridges are being traced back to the illicit market, rather than state-legal cannabis shops.

Vaping-related illnesses still rising, though at slower pace

Health officials Thursday said there have been 1,479 cases and at least 33 deaths in the mysterious outbreak.

Deaths tied to vaping have occurred mostly among older users

Curaleaf gets OK to open its first recreational marijuana store in Mass.

Curaleaf, one of the country’s biggest marijuana companies, received its final approval from Massachusetts cannabis regulators Thursday to open its first recreational marijuana store in the state.

How Canada’s legalization is shaping cannabis laws elsewhere

Ever since Canada became the first major country to legalize marijuana for adults a year ago, other nations have been paying attention.

A year after pot legalization in Canada, it’s a slow roll

Governors in Northeast meet to work together on pot, vaping

The governors from several Northeastern states say they want to work together to regulate marijuana and vaping.

Jamaica’s government wants to talk to Trump about marijuana

Jamaica’s trade minister wants to export medical marijuana around the world. He says the United States is standing in his way.

MARIJUANA MOMENT
Snoop Dogg has a salaried marijuana blunt roller on staff
Snoop Dogg pays a person between $40,000 and $50,000 per year to roll blunts for him, he said during a recent appearance on The Howard Stern Show.

Authorities make 5th arrest in Wisconsin THC vaping business

Authorities have made a fifth arrest in connection with a black market THC vape manufacturing business in Wisconsin.

Amid vaping ban, a quiet club of nicotine addicts may add members

Public health experts are pushing nicotine gum and lozenges as ways to keep people away from tobacco, but many users of nicotine replacement therapies stay on them for years or decades.

Cigarettes, N.H., Craigslist: How the vaping public is contending with Baker’s ban

The country’s strictest anti-vaping measure is drawing backlash from critics who insist the hastily conceived ban will ultimately harm, not improve, public health.

More vaping coverage

As vaping became widespread with little known about its health effects, US government delayed key regulations

Massachusetts vaping shops facing financial ruin

Dank, the brand that isn’t, scrutinized amid vaping illness

Baker ban on vaping sales expected to survive first legal challenge in US District Court in Boston

Across the country

Nevada governor vows to root out crime in pot marketplace

Nevada’s governor expressed outrage Friday and vowed to tighten control of the state’s lucrative legal marijuana marketplace.

Marijuana legalization doesn’t cause increased crime, federally funded study finds

Legalizing marijuana has little to no impact on rates of violent or property crime, according to a new study that was funded by a federal agency.

Two presidential candidates voice support for drug decriminalization at Democratic debate

Tuesday marked the first time the issue of removing criminal penalties for possession of illicit substances beyond marijuana has been seriously discussed on a presidential debate stage.

New England

Maine on track for legal marijuana sales by spring 2020

Maine marijuana enthusiasts will probably be able to purchase their preferred products in retail stores by March 2020 after years of waiting.

Most vaping illnesses are tied to marijuana, but health officials can’t say where vapes were bought

The majority of the vaping-related illnesses in Massachusetts remain tied to marijuana, but state health officials said Wednesday they still can’t say whether the vapes making people sick are from regulated stores or the illicit market.

Vaping, guns, marijuana on tap for Maine legislative session

The Maine Legislature might consider restrictions on vaping, stricter gun controls, and new marijuana laws in the coming legislative session.

Deaths tied to vaping have occurred mostly among older users

Many of the adults who vape electronic cigarettes started smoking cigarettes years earlier, so their lung function is already diminished, and perhaps they already have lung or heart diseases, doctors say.

Man pleads guilty in charges stemming from wave of pot raids in Maine

A man in Maine whose properties were part of a federal raid of more than 20 marijuana sites has pleaded guilty to drug charges.

This Week in Weed

Finger-pointing as marijuana producers pressure CCC to loosen lab testing rules

The state’s dispensaries insist the problem is a backup at the two Massachusetts labs licensed to conduct required tests on recreational marijuana for potency and contaminants.

Nation

$1 million of illegal marijuana seized in California

Authorities say they seized illegal marijuana with a street value of $1 million after stopping a van on a Southern California street because a passenger wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.

World

How Canada’s legalization is shaping cannabis laws elsewhere

Ever since Canada became the first major country to legalize marijuana for adults a year ago, other nations have been paying attention.

The essential guide to buying and consuming pot in Massachusetts

These are the most common questions marijuana budtenders get asked

Here are the recreational marijuana shops open in Massachusetts

The hidden titans of pot

Massachusetts legalized the sale of recreational marijuana with the ambition to be different — and better. But two years since the law went into effect, troubling signs loom. This three-part series uncovers stealth moves by large investors poised to dominate this nascent industry and outmaneuver regulators.

These companies test the limits — and brag about it

No firm is allowed to own or control more than three recreational marijuana stores. But two companies — Sea Hunter and Acreage — are testing the limits.

Inside one battle that could change the marijuana industry

The race to open Mattapan Square’s first pot shop raises questions about trust and who gets to cash in.

For sale in the pot industry: political influence

Marijuana may be the hot, new retail business in town, but it largely plays by the old political rules.

More coverage

Eight takeaways from the Spotlight series on the state’s burgeoning marijuana industry

Marijuana company’s expansion plans test Mass. law

Massachusetts marijuana regulators investigating whether companies violated license limits

Beyond Massachusetts, states struggle to limit marijuana behemoths

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The Daily Rip, written Monday through Friday, dives into the top marijuana headlines of the day, in New England and around the world.

Special Report

Canada's lessons in legalizing cannabis

Reporter Naomi Martin takes a look at how Canada's legalization process is playing out. (Caitlin Healy/Globe Staff)

In legalizing marijuana, Canada did everything differently. Here’s what we can learn

Latest local headlines

The Boston Globe and Colorado Public Radio co-host ‘On Something — Life After Legalization’ live marijuana podcast recording
The Boston Globe’s cannabis reporting team will join Colorado Public Radio’s Ann Marie Awad for a panel and live recording for the podcast “On Something.”

First vaping-related death reported in Mass.
Massachusetts health officials announced Monday the first known vaping-related death in the state, a woman in her 60s from Hampshire County.

New Hampshire reports 1st vaping-related lung injury
New Hampshire health authorities say they’ve identified the first person in the state with a lung injury associated with electronic cigarette use.

Maine on track for legal marijuana sales by spring 2020
Maine marijuana enthusiasts will probably be able to purchase their preferred products in retail stores by March 2020 after years of waiting.

Maine’s cannabis conference happening as legal sales near
The longest-running cannabis conference in the Northeast is coming to Maine’s largest city this weekend.

Connecticut reports 1st death from vaping-related illness
Connecticut health officials are reporting the state’s first death associated with lung injuries related to vaping.

Baker ban on vaping sales expected to survive first legal challenge in US District Court in Boston
A federal judge in Boston heard arguments Friday for temporarily halting the ban.

Cigarettes, N.H., Craigslist: How the vaping public is contending with Baker’s ban
The country’s strictest anti-vaping measure is drawing backlash from critics who insist the hastily conceived ban will ultimately harm, not improve, public health.

E-cigarette stores, customers protest Baker’s vape ban
They criticized Baker’s four-month ban as overly broad, misguided, and harmful to small businesses and to the people using electronic cigarettes to quit smoking.

Mass. health official clarifies: Vape sellers can still sell products to consumers in other states
The state’s top public health official clarified Thursday that a four-month ban on the sale of vaping devices in Massachusetts does not apply to products that are delivered to other states.

DeLeo unsure if vape bill will address ban
The House is developing a “comprehensive” bill to regulate vaping products, and the chamber’s top Democrat, Robert DeLeo, said Wednesday he is unsure if the bill will address the Baker administration’s four-month ban on sales of e-cigarette products.

Brookline pot store blames marijuana shortage on testing backlog
The marijuana store closest to Boston is out of marijuana flower for non-medical customers while it waits to get test results back from labs that must approve all marijuana before it’s sold in Massachusetts.

Industry group asks federal court to end Baker’s Mass. vaping ban
The ban “will destroy the $331 million nicotine-vapor-products industry in Massachusetts, creating irreparable harm,” the Vapor Technology Association said in a lawsuit.

Bills would expand zones where marijuana stores are banned
Possible cannabis entrepreneurs turned out Tuesday to oppose bills that would add houses of worship, daycares, and locations where children might congregate to the list of places marijuana companies must stay away from. Marijuana businesses are already prohibited near schools.

Pot law fallout stacking up in Legislature
State government’s hands-off approach comes with benefits for the Cannabis Control Commission, which has settled into a rhythm of approving new business licenses while simultaneously expanding the industry to include things like home delivery and social use without legislative intrusion.

Vape ban lawsuit questions legality of Baker’s ban
Three vape shops sued the Baker administration Sunday over the state’s emergency four-month ban on sales of e-cigarette products, a ban that their lawyer said amounts to a “death sentence.”

Danvers mall vape shop sues state over temporary ban
Vapor Zone, which sells e-cigarettes and components in the Liberty Tree Mall, wants the court to void Baker’s declaration and find that state officials cannot enforce the ban, according to the court filing.

Vermont considering banning sale of vaping products
Officials say Vermont Governor Phil Scott is exploring whether the state should institute a ban on the sale of vaping products.

Maine to eye potential ban on vaping products
A state senator in Maine says she’s going to introduce a bill to ban the sale of vaping products in the wake of concerns about illnesses and deaths stemming from them.

Amid uproar, House eyes comprehensive vaping bill
On the heels of the state’s new temporary ban on the sale of all vaping products, a legislative committee on Wednesday endorsed a bill prohibiting the sale of all flavored tobacco and Speaker Robert DeLeo suggested the House will develop comprehensive vaping legislation.

most read on bostonglobe.com

Are recreational marijuana shops preparing to open in your town? Check our maps

Data released by the Cannabis Control Commission show where marijuana operators have set up shop and where they hope to.

All 2020 presidential candidates now support marijuana legalization efforts — even the Republicans

Bill Clinton “didn’t inhale” marijuana, and it was Obama’s “mistake,” but now all 12 official Democratic candidates told the Globe they support full nationwide legalization, Canada-style.