The drug’s history of healing and experimentation stretches from ancient China to American counterculture — yet its promise remains trapped in a legal straitjacket. This article is adapted from The MIT Press Reader and reprinted with permission. It is adapted from Cannabinoids by Linda A. Parker, published by MIT Press. An altered state of consciousness,… Keep Reading
From home labs and deadly butane blasts to solventless rosin, police raids, and a legal gray zone, Spain is entering a more potent and more volatile phase of cannabis culture. On a cold night in late January 2025, a home lab in Espinardo (Murcia) ended in tragedy. Two young men were killed when a butane-based… Keep Reading
Ali and Muha Garawi built Muha Meds from a $15,000 startup into one of cannabis’s most dominant brands — without outside money, without losing the culture and without losing each other. “A lot of people wait for the right moment or for some perfect circumstance,” says Muha Garawi, “but when you have a background like… Keep Reading
From medical rumors to a possible upper-crust grow op, a new story is once again linking King Charles III to cannabis. This time, however, it has nothing to do with health speculation or the monarch’s well-known passion for botany. Instead, the connection comes by way of a police raid at a historic property tied to… Keep Reading
A Travis County judge temporarily blocked Texas from enforcing new hemp rules that had effectively pushed smokable THCA flower and pre-rolls off shelves. For now, the fight is back in court, and back in business. Texas tried to shut the door on smokable hemp. A judge just cracked it back open. A Travis County district… Keep Reading
Dispatches from the soft underbelly of being high. I cry more often than I’d like to admit when I’m stoned, which is inconvenient because I’m stoned more often than I’d like to admit. There’s no heaving, bumbling, or swelling movie score. It’s quieter than that. A small internal weather event. The air shifts. Gravity turns… Keep Reading
From music and movies to video games and porn, creators and psychologists explain why some cultural experiences hit your nervous system like a substance. Spanish philosopher Antonio Escohotado used to say that we often play with drugs to manipulate our psyche like a pianist would play the notes on a keyboard. Tap-tap-tap. With a little… Keep Reading
A new survey conducted by Pew Research examined what is considered “morally acceptable” in 25 countries. From Indonesia to Brazil, from Turkey to the Netherlands, thousands of people were asked about the moral acceptability not only of certain behaviors, but also of their fellow citizens and people from other countries. The survey reveals interesting data on… Keep Reading
From the Bronx to Brown Budda. “I grew up in the Bronx. My mother’s a type two diabetic.” Marquis Hayes’s entry into cannabis was personal. He recalls waking up to medical emergencies at home–moments that forced responsibility early. “I would usually wake up to a mom that had a sugar coma, and I would have… Keep Reading
Dispensaries and cannabis brands are increasingly borrowing a page from mainstream retail by using secret shoppers to evaluate the in-store experience. Secret shoppers enter a store like any other customer, make a purchase, and observe how staff perform, without employees knowing they’re being evaluated. Cannabis dispensaries are a bit different from other retail environments. Products… Keep Reading
