Political

In the humid rooms of industrial-sized greenhouses on the outskirts of Geneva live hundreds of hemp plants of more than 60 varieties, a large part of Cornell University’s hemp breeding and genetics program.

At Surge Laboratory, a short walk from the greenhouses, doctoral student Jacob Toth preps several test tubes for analysis. Their orange-hued broth contains genes responsible for making cannabinoids, the 100-plus chemicals found in the cannabis plant.

It's all about the green. No, the other green.

Amid the chaos of 2020, which has included a stock market crash, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and even some hoopla about the arrival of murder hornets, there's still the realization that this is an election year. In a little over four months, Americans across the country will be heading to the polls or mailing in their ballots to determine who'll lead the U.S. for the next four years.

The pandemic forced some legalization campaigns to fold, but others are still fighting to make it before voters in November.

The coronavirus pandemic may have upended marijuana advocates’ plans for a banner year of legalization ballot initiatives. But advocates in a handful of states are still fighting to salvage campaigns to put legalization questions to voters in November.

Marijuana legalization in South Dakota could see daylight in 2020. The state passed measures to legalize both recreational and medical marijuana. Luckily, both of the measures collected the required signatures before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The only issue was if the pandemic didn’t retreat by November, it would be hard for people to vote on the measures. Now that lockdown restrictions have been easing, voting should be possible.

State officials today moved to grant unconditional pardons to thousands of Nevadans with low-level marijuana convictions.

In the desert, Republicans and Democrats have found something to agree upon: A majority in both parties plan to vote to make marijuana legal in the upcoming Arizona election if they get the chance.

State lawmakers are scheduled to vote Thursday on one of two proposals to decriminalize weed and curb arrests that disproportionately impact Black people.

More Louisiana residents will have access to medical marijuana under a significant expansion of the state’s therapeutic cannabis program that Gov. John Bel Edwards has signed into law

More Louisiana residents will have access to medical marijuana under a significant expansion of the state's therapeutic cannabis program that was signed into law by Gov. John Bel Edwards.

Lawmakers are moving ahead with the second bill proposed in recent weeks that would decriminalize certain levels of marijuana possession in New Jersey, amid mounting protests both in the state and nationwide against racial inequality.

Their introduction comes months ahead of a ballot question set for November’s 2020 presidential election, where voters will decide whether recreational marijuana should be legalized for adult-use.

New York City, where I and 8.5 million others live, used to be the worst city in the United States to be caught with cannabis. This is no exaggeration.