In Maryland, Black lawmakers are furious that the state is moving forward to award dispensary licenses, despite outrage that none of the initial grow licenses were given to African-Americans.

Reason tracks the “ uneven course” of REC sales in Oregon. California may amend a tax rule favorable to MED consumers.

A few cities in south Florida have created a six-month moratorium on MED dispensaries. The new year could bring new vigor to the push for MED in Georgia.

Arkansas may delay its MED program. North Dakota too.

MED won a substantial victory in South Africa.

Cannabis private equity firm Privateer Holdings, which has raised $122M, has its eye on overseas markets.

The Financial Times does a deep dive into how the alcohol industry thinks about cannabis.

The New York Times visits a Washington grow that’s experimenting with energy efficient lights. Theworld’s largest marijuana factory could be built in Alberta. USAToday explores the $25 billion business opportunity in California.

LAWeekly asks if cannabis is a better business for Native Americans than casinos. The paper also says cannabis marketing is getting “ classier.”

The Texas Standard explains the huge proposed jump in CBD-oil business fees.

Due to safety concerns, Denver’s new social use rule will not include bars and other establishments with liquor licenses. Bar owners are not happy.

The NYTImes asks whether insurers will pay for patients’ MED.

New York broadened its MED law. Utah is studying its very-limited MED program.

The Onion weighs in on the possibility that weed weakens heart muscles.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has strengthened language confirming that marijuana users can’t buy guns.

The Inlander tells the story of Isaiah Wall, a teenaged police informant who ended up dead.

The Global Commission on Drug Policy, which includes former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, recommended that all drugs should be decriminalized.

Cannabis should be legalized, according to an new report from the Adam Smith Institute, a U.K. think tank. It has the equivalent of bipartisan support.

In Scotland, a court accepted a man’s explanation that his £25,000 in plants are for personal consumption.

Air travelers out of Fairbanks, Alaska can keep their weed, the TSA confirmed.

A barely-clothed model was hired to serve as a charcuterie platter during an industry party in Las Vegas. A photograph of her covered in what looks like salami, prosciutto and other cold cuts sparked some outrage. (Robert Weakley, CEO of Altai Brands, took responsibility and apologized.)

The owner of Med-West, a San Diego extraction company that was raided by local authorities in January is seeking a return of his frozen assets. $324,000 cash was seized during the raid. No criminal charges have been filed.

Police departments are becoming more tolerant of applicants’ past pot smoking.

Las Vegas police said they would still pursue possession arrests, though the district attorney said they wouldn’t be prosecuted.

With Trump’s election, federal inmates incarcerated for non-violent drug offenses fear their window to win clemency is closing. “Some of these people are bad dudes,”  Trump said at an August rally “These are people out walking the streets. Sleep tight, folks.”

CBS tells the story of Harry Anslinger, a leading figure in passing the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, which made it illegal.

The New Yorker sent Adrian Chen to the Philippines, where President Rodrigo Duterte is waging a brutal drug war. The article is subtly titled “ When a Populist Demagogue Takes Over.”

In California, police are concerned about home grows.

Vice learns how to make “ the most potent weed oil.”

The Washington Post recommends four books to understand the new weed reality. They include Marijuana: A Short History, by John Hudak, Jesse Ventura’s Marijuana Manifesto, Sacred Bliss: A Spiritual History of Cannabis by Mark S. Ferrara and Cooking with Cannabis by Laurie Goldrich.

The New Yorker published a pot-industry cartoon. It isn’t especially funny.