Green State

Brian Kieling’s “psychonisms” are taking on human forms. The artist’s layered, abstract, mixed-media paintings are evolving, and cannabis culture-maker Champelli is putting Kieling’s artwork on actual bodies through streetwear. The two are longtime family friends. They met in Jalisco, Mexico, when Champelli (whose dad was an artist) was 12 years old. Champelli still holds close ties to the smugglers and artists who he came up under and dearly remembers the days of ganja gone by.

I made a film once about how nobody noticed their food had changed. King Corn followed two gentlemen growing an acre of corn in Iowa, trying to figure out where it went. The answer was everywhere and nowhere. Into syrup, into feedlots, into a thousand products that didn’t taste like corn. The government didn’t ban good food.

Countless women are helping shape the cannabis industry through leadership, advocacy, and innovation. They set new standards, amplify others, and break barriers for future leaders. A shining example is Dr. Roz McCarthy. The entrepreneur and educator received a special Grass Ceiling Honor at the IgniteIt Chicago Cannabis Capital Conference in recognition of more than a decade of advancing equity and inclusion in cannabis.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) kicks off hearings today that could reshape federal cannabis policy for years to come. The government moved state-legal medical marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III earlier this year. Now, the feds are poised to debate whether all cannabis (i.e., adult-use) should be reclassified as well. Wondering what the hearings mean — and what comes next? Here’s what you should know.

Judging by the THC hemp drinks on display at the Hemp Beverage Expo in Austin, Texas, it’s hard to believe the sector is staring down a November 12 deadline that could shut it down entirely. Drinks were flowing, booths were decked out, and business was getting done. While operators huddled to share contingency plans, they also talked about new flavors, new ingredients, and expansion. One of the biggest takeaways from the show was how quickly the category is expanding beyond flavored seltzers.

I’m sitting at a long, lively table of guests in conversation within a San Francisco dreamscape. We’re in the front parlor of a purple Queen Anne Victorian on Valencia Street at a private supper club experiencing a culinary pairing of food, wine, and flowers. Presented by Jamie Evans, aka The Herb Somm, the luncheon is fine dining as it’s generally understood with a twist.

The first cannabinoid scientists ever isolated from the cannabis plant wasn’t THC, and it wasn’t CBD. It was a molecule called cannabinol, or CBN, pulled from a “red oil” extract in 1896, decades before anyone had worked out what made the plant intoxicating. For a while, researchers even assumed CBN was the thing doing it. It wasn’t. Once THC was identified, CBN got filed away as a footnote: the weak, sleepy stuff that forms when THC breaks down with age, light, and heat.

At GreenState, we’re doing our best to keep you updated on the latest in cannabis law in the US. That’s why we partnered with Legalization Nation, an explanatory comic strip by Box Brown that provides a perspective to consumers and patients on the complexities of the emerging legal cannabis industry.

As attitudes toward cannabis shift, the arguments against it do too. In the 1930s, anti-marijuana campaigns often portrayed cannabis use as a cause of violent crime. Nowadays, claims about cannabis being laced with the dangerous opioid fentanyl are circulated in many communities. However, a new study may have debunked this theory. The study, published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences, tested 118 cannabis samples for 16 illicit substances. This included LSD, methamphetamine, and PCP.

The Justice Department’s decision to move state-legal medical marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III was a major development for the industry. On June 29, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will hold an administrative hearing to discuss whether all cannabis should be reclassified. However, it appears the proceedings will be fairly one-sided, as all participants seem to be anti-weed. Seven “interested parties” were selected to participate in the hearing.