Puerto Rico’s new Act 204-2026 creates an exception to workplace protections for registered medical cannabis patients in certain safety-sensitive transportation roles. The law does not eliminate the medical cannabis program or protections for patients generally, but it gives employers a new legal basis for employment decisions involving covered workers.

In Puerto Rico, being a registered medical cannabis patient no longer guarantees the same workplace protections for everyone. A new law allows employers to apply an exception to those protections for certain transportation workers, even if they’re registered patients using marijuana for medical purposes.

On October 11, Governor Jenniffer González Colón signed Act 204-2026, which amends Puerto Rico’s medical cannabis laws to create a specific exception for workers in safety-sensitive transportation roles. The measure covers truck drivers, school bus drivers, taxi drivers, and rideshare drivers, among other jobs involving the transportation of people and goods.

As reported by Cannabis Magazine, the new provision doesn’t eliminate Puerto Rico’s medical cannabis program or strip all patients of their workplace protections. It does, however, give employers a new legal basis for employment decisions that might otherwise be considered discriminatory.

Medical Cannabis and Employment: What’s Changing Under the New Law?

To understand the change, we have to go back to 2021, when Puerto Rico passed Act 15-2021, establishing workplace protections for registered medical cannabis patients.

The law recognized these patients as a protected class under employment discrimination laws. That means employers cannot refuse to hire, fire, or penalize someone simply because they’re an authorized medical cannabis patient. But those protections were never absolute.

The legislation already included exceptions for situations in which cannabis use posed a real threat to others, interfered with essential job duties, or jeopardized federal licenses or funding, as well as cases involving the use or possession of cannabis during working hours without written authorization.

Now, the new law explicitly adds certain transportation roles to that list of exceptions.

To invoke the provision, an employer must demonstrate, under the preponderance of the evidence standard, that the person performs or intends to perform those duties. In other words, simply working for a transportation company isn’t enough. What matters is the actual job they’re doing.

The key distinction is that the law doesn’t broadly prohibit drivers from being medical cannabis patients. Instead, it limits the workplace protections available to them as registered patients.

Road Safety vs. Patients’ Rights

The measure, originally introduced as Senate Bill 896, received support from Puerto Rico’s health authorities.

According to the Puerto Rico Senate, the Department of Health and the Medical Cannabis Regulatory Board endorsed the proposal during an April legislative hearing, arguing that it prioritized transportation safety.

Still, the amendment raises questions about what it could mean for people who rely on cannabis as part of their medical treatment.

One issue is the distinction between using cannabis and actually being impaired while on the job. Being a registered medical marijuana patient doesn’t automatically mean someone is unfit to drive or work; yet the new exception could create conflicts even when cannabis use takes place outside working hours.

Questions also remain about how the new provision will be applied in individual cases and what evidence will be considered sufficient to justify an employment decision.

For now, Puerto Rico’s medical cannabis program remains intact, as do the general workplace protections for registered patients. What’s changing is how far those protections extend in certain jobs.

Cover photo: pedrik, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons // Edited with AI

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A new survey conducted in September among 1,008 U.S. adults interested in hiking and camping found that 35% had gone hiking while high on cannabis, while 44% had done so after using at least one substance. The reasons vary from enjoying the scenery and feeling closer to nature to relaxing and overcoming fears, although most substance-using hikers still stick to shorter, easier trails.

Hiking while high can be one of the best experiences out there for people looking to connect with nature in a different way, at least according to some weed-loving hikers. The sounds, the introspection, your heartbeat falling into rhythm with the natural world, the views hitting just right, and one stereotype that doesn’t quite hold up: the lazy stoner. Turns out, plenty of cannabis users are into hiking. And weed isn’t the only thing they’re bringing along for the ride…

Of course, not every hiker chooses weed before hitting the trail, and those who do aren’t necessarily doing it for the same reasons. Some want to feel more connected to nature. Others are in it for the visuals. But what about everyone else?

Weed, Shrooms, and Booze: What Are Hikers Into?

For some people, a good pair of shoes, a water bottle, and a breathtaking view are all they need to enjoy a hike. For others, it seems there’s still something missing from their backpack. And according to a new survey, for some hikers, that missing ingredient is marijuana.

Expedition company Climbing Kilimanjaro surveyed 1,008 U.S. adults interested in hiking and camping and found that 35% had gone hiking while high on cannabis. And while weed took the top spot among the substances mentioned, it was far from the only one hikers were using.

In fact, 23% of respondents said they’d gone hiking after drinking alcohol, while 15% had hit the trail under the influence of psilocybin, the psychoactive compound found in magic mushrooms. Another 7% had gone hiking after using CBD products, which contain cannabidiol, a generally non-intoxicating compound found in cannabis.

Overall, 44% of respondents said they’d hiked under the influence of at least one substance. And apparently, curiosity about exploring altered states of consciousness in the great outdoors isn’t exactly rare, either, since nearly one in four respondents (24%) said they were interested in trying psychedelics in nature but hadn’t gotten around to it yet.

One important caveat, though: these percentages aren’t mutually exclusive. The same person could have experimented with different substances on different hikes. Plus, the survey asked respondents about experiences they’d had at least once, meaning the results don’t necessarily reflect regular habits. In other words, just because someone’s used weed on a hike doesn’t mean it’s a must-have for every outdoor adventure.

High Hiking: Feeling Closer to Nature, Taking in the Views, and Calming the Nerves

But what makes someone want to alter their perception in the middle of nature? Aren’t the fresh air, the birdsong, and the spectacular scenery enough? Well, some hikers believe using substances can enhance the experience.

According to the Climbing Kilimanjaro survey, 48% of those who use substances while hiking do so to better enjoy the scenery, while 45% want to feel more connected to nature. So it’s not all about heightening the sensory experience: another 23% say using substances helps them relax and overcome certain fears.

Still, there’s a big difference between seeking a deeper connection with your surroundings and venturing into dangerous terrain under the influence. In fact, 51% of those who use substances on their hikes stick to short, easy trails close to home, while just 5% do so on more challenging trails or climbs.

“For some hikers, the natural high just isn’t enough, and they’re looking for even more ‘elevated’ ways to enjoy the trails,” Justin Mtui, a Kilimanjaro consultant for Climbing Kilimanjaro, told Marijuana Moment.

According to Mtui, cannabis and psychedelics aren’t competing with the outdoor experience; they’re becoming part of it. Some use them to relax, soak up the scenery, and feel more connected to nature. But when the terrain gets tougher, even people who enjoy using substances tend to prefer keeping a clear head.

And that makes sense. As appealing as it might sound to play around with perception in the great outdoors, substances like cannabis, alcohol, and psilocybin can affect coordination, balance, risk perception, and reaction time. Those effects might be less obvious on an easy walk, but they can become a serious problem when you’re dealing with a steep drop-off, a slippery trail, or a sudden change in weather.

After all, there’s a difference between wanting to get lost in the scenery and actually getting lost in it. Literally.

So Much for the Lazy Stoner Stereotype

For decades, the image of the stereotypical stoner was pretty straightforward: someone sprawled out on the couch, surrounded by snacks, with absolutely no intention of getting up anytime soon. But research has increasingly challenged that picture. And no, you don’t have to become an Olympic athlete to prove it.

A 2024 study examining the physical activity habits of 4,660 U.S. adults between the ages of 18 and 59 found that people who had recently used cannabis weren’t necessarily more sedentary or more intensely active. In fact, recent cannabis use was associated with a slight increase in light physical activity. In other words, rather than confirming the image of the permanently couch-bound stoner, the findings suggest that the relationship between weed and exercise is a lot more complicated.

And that’s not the only research pointing in that direction. A 2019 study involving 600 cannabis users in U.S. states where marijuana was legal found that roughly 80% used weed before or after exercising. What’s more, those who incorporated cannabis into their workout routines reported exercising for longer and having a more enjoyable experience. 52% even said weed boosted their motivation to work out.

Now, just because cannabis is associated with certain exercise experiences doesn’t mean weed improves athletic performance, or that getting high is what causes people to be more active. But these findings do challenge the familiar stereotype of the stoner who can’t peel themselves off the couch.

For some people, hiking through the mountains, listening to the sounds of the forest, and taking in the scenery are all extraordinary experiences in their own right. For others, cannabis is part of what helps them connect with nature. But when the trail gets tough, many hikers who enjoy getting elevated seem to prefer keeping their feet on the ground.

And their heads clear.

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The DEA has opened a new registration process for state-licensed medical cannabis manufacturers, distributors and analytical laboratories seeking to operate under Schedule III. The move brings qualifying medical cannabis businesses into a federal controlled-substances framework while potentially offering major tax advantages by ending the Section 280E deduction ban for those businesses.

Schedule III is starting to come with paperwork.

On October 5, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) opened a new registration process for state-licensed medical cannabis manufacturers, distributors and analytical laboratories seeking to operate under Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act, according to Cannabis Business Times. 

Businesses can now apply through DEA Form 225, the agency’s standard application for manufacturers, distributors and certain other handlers of controlled substances.

The portal comes months after the Justice Department placed FDA-approved marijuana products and marijuana products subject to qualifying state medical licenses into Schedule III, a change that took effect in April. Cannabis outside those categories, including adult-use products, remains Schedule I under federal law.

For manufacturers, the registration may cover cultivation, production, processing, packaging, labeling, and transfers. Distributors can register to receive and transfer medical cannabis, while analytical laboratories can seek authorization to test it.

The DEA had been signaling for months that updated applications specifically tailored to medical marijuana manufacturers, cultivators, distributors and labs were coming. Businesses that had already filed Form 225 applications to handle Schedule III medical cannabis do not have to start over; the agency previously said it would contact those applicants to continue processing their registrations.

Schedule III Is Coming With Federal Paperwork

The new process follows an initial 60-day registration window that opened after the April rule took effect. Applicants who filed by June 26 qualified for expedited treatment, with the DEA directed to make every effort to process those applications within six months. The rules also gave qualifying early applicants the ability to continue state-licensed medical operations while their applications were pending.

That deadline is over, but the door is not closed. The DEA says it will continue accepting medical cannabis registration applications after June 26; those later applications simply will not qualify for expedited processing.

The application asks companies to provide their business information, applicable controlled-substance schedule, state license details, background information and payment. Applicants handling medical cannabis must identify the relevant substances and disclose details about the activities they intend to conduct.

The background portion may prove particularly significant for an industry that spent decades operating in the gap between state authorization and federal prohibition. Applicants are asked about previous controlled-substance convictions, federal or state registration problems and disciplinary actions involving professional licenses.

Under federal law, Schedule III manufacturers and distributors are generally eligible for registration unless the DEA determines that granting it would be inconsistent with the public interest based on factors including state-law compliance, diversion controls and past controlled-substance convictions.

There’s Also the 280E Question

For cannabis businesses, however, the stakes go well beyond a federal registration number.

One of the biggest consequences of moving qualifying medical marijuana into Schedule III is the treatment of Section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code. The provision prevents businesses that traffic in Schedule I or II substances from deducting ordinary business expenses. The April federal rule expressly states that state medical marijuana licensees covered by the change will no longer be subject to that deduction disallowance. Treasury and the IRS have separately announced plans for guidance on the tax consequences of the rescheduling action.

Congressional researchers have also concluded that businesses handling covered medical cannabis will need DEA registration to operate in compliance with the Controlled Substances Act. In other words, Schedule III may offer major benefits, but it comes with federal oversight attached.

That oversight is not exactly cheap. Current annual Form 225 fees are $3,699 for manufacturers, $1,850 for distributors and $296 for analytical laboratories.

After years of cannabis companies operating almost entirely inside state regulatory systems, the portal represents something genuinely new: a pathway for portions of the existing medical market to step into the federal controlled-substances framework instead of simply existing alongside it.

And with that pathway now open, the next question is how many businesses will actually choose to walk through it.

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Jamaica has introduced two new special permits designed to help traditional growers and small farmers enter its regulated cannabis industry despite the financial, technical and administrative barriers that have historically kept them out. The reforms create transitional and community-based pathways into the legal market while extending cultivation licenses and simplifying some requirements.

Jamaica is one of the countries with the strongest cultural ties to cannabis in the world, but its traditional growers have faced enormous difficulties gaining access to the formal industry that emerged around the plant. Often, this was because entering the industry was too expensive, bureaucratic or technically demanding. A classic situation, typical of new public policies emerging across the broader 420 space.

Against this backdrop, Jamaica is now trying to correct one of the major contradictions in its legal cannabis market. How? Through the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA).

What Is Jamaica’s New Cannabis Reform About?

The central change is the creation of two new pathways into the regulated market: the Cultivator’s (Transitional) Special Permit and the Special Community Permit.

Both are part of the amendments introduced to the Dangerous Drugs (Cannabis Licensing) (Interim) Regulations, approved by the government and officially implemented during 2026. The authorities’ stated goal is to expand access to the industry and reduce some of the barriers that for years kept traditional growers and small producers out.

The Cultivator’s Transitional Special Permit is designed for individual farmers who already have experience with the plant but are not yet able to meet all the economic and technical requirements of a conventional license from the outset.

The scheme gives them two years to develop their operation and work toward at least a Tier One cultivation license. During that period, the CLA provides technical assistance through its Cannabis Specialisation Unit and allows participants to sell ganja—as marijuana is commonly called in Jamaica—within the licensed market. The authority’s CEO, Farrah Blake, explained when presenting the program that the goal is to allow them to start on a smaller scale and build capacity as they work toward the conventional licensing system.

In September, Shandel Hannam, senior director of Operations at the CLA, explained that applicants must be at least 18 years old, reside in Jamaica, provide certified photographs, official identification and police records, and demonstrate access to at least half an acre of land. Ownership is not mandatory: those without title can submit a formal lease agreement or written authorization from the landowner.

There is, however, a discrepancy among the available sources regarding fees. In September, the Jamaica Information Service reported that the Cultivator’s Transitional Special Permit does not require application or permit fees. In August, however, Walter Melbourne, director of Licensing and Applications at the CLA, told the Jamaica Observer that the application fee had been reduced from USD 3,000 to USD 150 and that there were no other payments after the farmer qualified for the program.

The second instrument, the Special Community Permit, is aimed at groups of traditional producers who want to organize and cultivate collectively.

The permit allows small farmers belonging to a community to group together under a registered entity and jointly cultivate up to 10 acres. The Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Aubyn Hill, explained in March that the group can consist of three, five, eight, ten or more people, as long as the total cultivated area does not exceed that limit.

The CLA also said that this scheme reduces financial barriers and allows producers to collectively access the formal market. Blake also highlighted that participants can receive assistance from the agency’s technical assistance team and sell their produce within the licensed system.

The economic issue is central. For a small producer, individually meeting security, infrastructure, documentation and regulatory requirements can represent a barrier that is difficult to overcome. For precisely this reason, Jamaican authorities presented these new schemes as a response to the problems traditional growers have faced for years due to the costs and requirements of the existing system.

Maurice Ellis, president of the Ganja Growers and Producers Association of Jamaica, argued that traditional growers had historically been excluded from the formal industry by structural barriers, high compliance costs, complex requirements and limited access to capital. According to Ellis, the new permits “begin to correct the imbalance,” and the transitional scheme functions as a “bridge” allowing experienced farmers to enter the regulated market without immediately having to meet all the requirements of a full license.

But Ellis also warned that the permits do not solve the problem on their own. Among other things, he called for simpler application processes, technical and financial assistance, and concrete pathways for producers to legally bring their harvest to market.

Why Does Making Room for Small Growers Matter So Much?

Because a legal industry is not necessarily an inclusive industry.

When a market is regulated but the costs of entry are within reach only of companies with capital, lawyers, infrastructure and administrative capacity, there is a risk that those who built that market over the years will be pushed aside just as it begins to generate legal value.

And in Jamaica, that tension carries enormous cultural weight.

Ganja has been part of the country’s identity long before there were licenses, herb houses or medical cannabis companies. However, the regulated system ended up being much more accessible to actors with resources than to many of the farmers who have cultivated the plant for generations.

The CLA itself has acknowledged the issue. During the Cannabis Special Permit Islandwide Tour in September, Hannam explained that “these permits were created for persons who cannot necessarily afford the standard licences to be able to come into the industry.”

There is also a concrete commercial reason to bring them in. According to Hannam, around 70% of industry players are retailers, meaning that Jamaica has many more points of sale than growers. In other words: the legal market needs more producers.

The regulatory amendments are not limited to the two new permits, either. They also extended the duration of cultivation authorizations from one to three years and introduced changes intended to simplify operational requirements and reduce entry costs. Among them, the Ministry mentions standardized security requirements and provisions to enable delivery services by retail operators.

In this way, Jamaica is trying to address two problems at the same time: expand its production base while preventing the legal market from developing without many of the farmers who have sustained the country’s ganja culture for generations.

These measures don’t eliminate every obstacle, but they introduce something that was missing from the beginning: a specific pathway for entering the regulated industry that does not depend exclusively on already having the capital and infrastructure and meeting all the requirements necessary to obtain a conventional license.

Cover photo: Cannabis Pictures, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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An experimental drug combining nabilone and gabapentin reduced the severity and bothersomeness of cannabis withdrawal symptoms in a small randomized, placebo-controlled trial involving adults with moderate-to-severe cannabis use disorder. The results offer an early signal of potential benefit, but with only 14 participants, a short study period and financial ties to the drug’s developer, much larger trials will be needed to determine whether PP-01 actually works as a treatment.

Quitting cannabis after frequent, long-term use does not typically produce the kind of potentially fatal withdrawal associated with some other substances, such as cocaine or opioids. Cannabis also does not cause fatal overdoses. Still, quitting the plant isn’t always easy.

There is a clinically recognized cannabis withdrawal syndrome. It can emerge after stopping or reducing heavy, prolonged use and can include irritability, anxiety, sleep disturbances, loss of appetite, restlessness or depressed mood, along with physical symptoms such as abdominal pain, sweating, tremors or headaches. It typically begins within the first 24 to 48 hours, peaks during the first week, and can last for one to two weeks.

That doesn’t mean everyone who uses cannabis will develop dependence, either. But there is such a thing as cannabis use disorder, a diagnosis that describes patterns of use that cause significant distress or impairment in everyday life. Withdrawal can be one of its manifestations and, for some people, can become a barrier to quitting or contribute to relapse.

That’s exactly what PP-01—an experimental drug recently evaluated in a small study published in The American Journal on Addictions—is designed to address.

Two Known Drugs, One New Combination

PP-01 combines nabilone, a synthetic cannabinoid, with gabapentin, a medication currently used for neurological indications. In the trial, the formulation contained 6 mg of nabilone and 600 mg of gabapentin. The hypothesis is that the two substances work through different mechanisms, potentially relieving several components of withdrawal at the same time.

The study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 1b/2a trial with a crossover design. It included just 14 adults with moderate or severe cannabis use disorder who consumed at least one gram of cannabis daily or on a near-daily basis and had previously experienced withdrawal when trying to quit marijuana. They were not seeking treatment.

The average age was 31.2 years, with participants ranging from 23 to 44 years old. 57% were women, 71% were Black, and 29% were White. On average, they reported using around 3.5 grams of cannabis per day before entering the study. Two participants didn’t receive treatment during the second period of the study.

During two study periods separated by 14 days, participants received PP-01 and placebo while remaining abstinent under supervision.

Did It Work?

The results are promising, but still very preliminary.

When participants received PP-01, they reported less severe withdrawal symptoms and said those symptoms were less bothersome than when they received placebo. Differences began to emerge within hours of the first dose. Improvements were also observed in cannabis-related hunger, or the “munchies,” and in sleep quality.

The drug was well tolerated during the trial, and no serious adverse events were reported. The side effects observed were mild and primarily included feeling “high,” relaxed, and fatigued.

That, however, is still a long way from proving that PP-01 is an effective treatment for cannabis withdrawal.

The study included only 14 people, lasted just a few days and was conducted at a single center. Its goal was to provide preliminary evidence of safety and potential efficacy, not to definitively determine whether the drug works in the general population. The researchers themselves note that the findings will need to be replicated in considerably larger trials.

There is also an important detail to consider when interpreting the results: the trial was sponsored by PleoPharma, the company developing PP-01. Three of the authors are company employees and hold stock or stock options, while other researchers served as consultants to the company.

For now, it is also worth noting that there is no FDA-approved medication specifically for treating cannabis use disorder or cannabis withdrawal syndrome. PP-01 aims to fill that gap, but it will still need to demonstrate in much larger studies that the signals observed in these 14 participants hold up.

Cover photo created with AI

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From South Dakota to Michigan, red states are trying to overturn legalization votes and blue states are taxing the market to death. Nearly 90% of Americans want legal cannabis. It’s time consumers acted like the majority they are.

This article originally appeared in High Times’ Spring/Summer 2026 print edition. Get yours here.

Nearly 90% of Americans—including majorities of Democrats and Republicans—say that marijuana should be legal for either medical or adult use. Yet far too often, lawmakers choose to either ignore this constituency or treat them with outright hostility.

In several Republican-led states, lawmakers have overturned (or are actively trying to overturn) voters’ decisions on cannabis policy, while in Democratic-led states, lawmakers are undermining existing legalization markets by drastically hiking marijuana-related taxes.

For example, Republican lawmakers in South Dakota spearheaded legislation in early 2025 to repeal the state’s medical cannabis access law, despite 70% of voters having approved it. The measure failed, but only by a single vote.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case in Nebraska, where state officials and the governor set aside several of the core components of the state’s voter-initiated medical cannabis access law, including patients’ access to inhaled botanical products. 

In Ohio, GOP lawmakers engaged in a multi-year effort to strip away legal protections afforded to cannabis consumers under a 2023 voter-approved initiative, including statutes protecting consumers from facing either workplace or professional disciplinary action for their private use of marijuana. 

In Texas, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton (now the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate) successfully sued several cities, including Austin, Dallas, and San Marcos, to halt them from implementing voter-approved marijuana decriminalization ordinances. Lawmakers also sought to enact new statewide legislation prohibiting voters from deciding any future citywide ballot measures to liberalize marijuana penalties. (It failed. Voters in Houston will decide on a similar local decriminalization ordinance this fall.)

Republican lawmakers Idaho are also seeking to take voters out of the equation. GOP lawmakers approved a constitutional amendment (HJR 4) to appear on November’s ballot forbidding voters from weighing in on any future ballot measure to legalize marijuana. The proposed ballot question comes after lawmakers enacted legislation imposing mandatory minimum penalties for first-time marijuana offenders.

Not to be outdone, Republican lawmakers in Louisiana enacted legislation in June imposing new felony penalties on certain marijuana possession violations — punishable by up to one year in jail and hard labor.

These concerted attacks are a stark reminder that the war on cannabis and its consumers is ongoing. In some cases, it is even escalating.

So far, politicians in traditionally blue states haven’t moved to overturn marijuana-related election results. (A legalization repeal measure in Massachusetts, Question 8, is being funded almost entirely by out-of-state dark money from a single marijuana prohibitionist group.) Many, however, are trying to address budget deficits by placing a disproportionate burden on consumers.

Most notably, Michigan lawmakers voted to impose a 24% wholesale tax on marijuana sold or transferred to licensed retailers. The new tax comes on top of the existing 10% excise tax on retail marijuana sales, in addition to the state’s 6% sales tax. Since its imposition, overall tax revenue from cannabis sales has declined, as more consumers return to the unregulated market. Several state-licensed cannabis businesses have also closed their doors, citing the excessive tax burden. (Legislation is now pending in both chambers to repeal the tax hike.)

But Michigan isn’t alone. Lawmakers in Maryland and Minnesota also enacted cannabis-related tax hikes last year. (California lawmakers similarly sought to increase cannabis taxes, but eventually voted to halt the move.)

These exorbitant tax increases not only lighten consumers’ wallets during difficult economic times, but they also hurt state-licensed businesses. When lawmakers push marijuana prices artificially higher, many consumers exit the legal market and begin patronizing the unregulated marketplace, undermining one of the primary goals of legalization.

Regardless of whether one lives in a red or blue state, or in a jurisdiction where cannabis is legal or illicit, it’s time for legalization advocates and consumers to stand up and assert themselves. Cannabis consumers are neither criminals nor ATMs. They’re hard-working responsible adults. And they vote.

Now is not the time for advocates to become complacent or presume that marijuana will somehow legalize itself. Change only occurs when we agitate for it—and when elected officials fear political consequences for failing to abide by voters’ demands.

Those who support legalizing marijuana aren’t part of the ideological fringe. We’re the majority. It’s time for us to act like it—and for lawmakers to treat cannabis consumers with the respect they deserve.

Paul Armentano is the Deputy Director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, America’s oldest cannabis consumers’ lobby. To become a member of NORML or to support NORML’s efforts, please consider making a donation.

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Thailand is moving closer to putting its medical-only cannabis model into national law, with a new bill that would require licenses across the supply chain, restrict sales to medical and research purposes, and prohibit advertising and promotion. Thousands of existing dispensaries could continue operating until their current licenses expire, but many would then need to transition into healthcare facilities and meet stricter medical requirements to stay open.

After four years of back and forth, Thailand is still reshaping its cannabis policy, seeking to turn into law the medical-only model it has been building since 2025.

On September 22, Thailand’s cabinet approved a new Cannabis Control Bill aimed at limiting use of the plant to medical and health purposes, as Forbes reported. The bill is not yet law: it will now be sent to the House of Representatives for consideration.

The move marks a new chapter in a story we’ve been following since Thailand decriminalized cannabis in 2022. That opening removed the plant from the narcotics list, but without creating a comprehensive regulatory framework at the same time, leaving room for thousands of dispensaries to flourish along with an adult-use market that was never formally regulated.

A Law to Close the Loopholes Left Behind Since 2022

The new bill establishes that the cultivation, production, sale, import and export of flower and extracts will be subject to three-year licenses. Cultivation sites will also have to be registered by size and location to allow for traceability.

The sale of cannabis and extracts would be limited to medical use by people over 20 under treatment prescribed by authorized professionals, as well as to research purposes. Roots, stems, branches, leaves and seeds would be subject to a more flexible framework when intended for medical use.

The proposal also prohibits advertising and promotion of cannabis and related paraphernalia. Additionally, it establishes fines and criminal penalties for illegal production, import, export or sale.

This isn’t an entirely new or unexpected turn… The government had already begun restricting adult-use cannabis in June 2025, requiring medical prescriptions, 30-day limits per patient and bans on online sales, vending machines and consumption inside dispensaries except in permitted medical circumstances.

What Will Happen to the Thousands of Dispensaries?

The most consequential change involves retail. Existing businesses will be able to continue operating under their current licenses, which expire on a staggered basis between 2026 and 2028. But when the time comes to renew them, shops that want to continue operating will have to meet the requirements of the new medical system.

That means many will have to transition into healthcare facilities and have a doctor on site to issue prescriptions. Public Health Minister Pattana Promphat estimated that more than half of existing businesses may need to undergo that transition, which has already been taking a toll on the sector. As we saw in April, thousands of licenses went unrenewed as the country moved from recreational dispensaries toward a clinical model. And in May, regulatory pressure and market saturation had already led to thousands of closures and a race to survive.

The difference now is that this shift could move beyond ministerial orders and finally become a national law specifically governing cannabis.

Thailand is not eliminating the industry but trying to redefine it; the problem is that it rushed to get into the game the first time around and is now backtracking a little more abruptly than retailers would like. What is clear is that, in recent years, Thailand has consistently pursued the same idea: less of an open adult-use market, more prescriptions, traceability and medical oversight. The next chapter will play out in Parliament.

Photo by Zitihayath Worawatthanachai on Unsplash

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Ecuador’s hemp sector is projected to approach or surpass $20 million in 2026 as companies move beyond raw biomass into chocolates, cosmetics, supplements, veterinary products and other finished goods. With more than 700 companies operating across the supply chain, the industry is now looking to capture more value domestically while expanding finished-product exports into international markets.

When people talk about the hemp industry, it can be hard to picture what that actually means beyond a field of crops. In Ecuador, the answer is starting to show up in very tangible products: chocolates, gummies, herbal infusions, craft beer, kombucha, creams, serums, oils and pet products are all part of an increasingly diverse market for non-psychoactive cannabis—meaning cannabis that does not get you high and contains very low levels of THC.

That shift from raw plant material to finished goods is at the heart of a sector that, according to figures provided by industry representatives, grew from roughly $10 million in revenue in 2024 to $15 million in 2025 and is projected to approach or surpass $20 million in 2026, according to El Universo.

The ecosystem now includes more than 700 companies involved in everything from seeds and cultivation to processing, laboratories, retail and finished-product manufacturing.

But that number tells only part of the story. One of the industry’s biggest bets is moving beyond hemp as biomass or raw material and capturing more value by turning it into finished products inside Ecuador.

From Hemp to Chocolate: The Money’s in Finished Products

Ecuador’s Cannabis, Industrial and Medicinal Hemp Industries Cluster brings together roughly 30 small and midsize companies, with goals that include strengthening the production chain and developing finished goods rather than biomass alone.

That strategy is already visible on store shelves and in product catalogs. Forbes Ecuador identified chocolates, gummies, teas, herbal infusions, craft beer, kombucha, ointments, creams, oils, flower, anti-aging products, balms, lubricants, probiotics, prebiotics and oils for pets already on the market.

One company that helps illustrate that range is CBD Solutions, a family business that began taking shape in 2020 and later developed its own small lab as it moved from artisanal production toward manufacturing under more formal standards. Its portfolio includes sublingual oils, creams, ointments, lip balms, chocolates, craft beer, kombucha, herbal infusions, gummies, coffee with CBD kief, extract cartridges and flower.

Hemp Ecuador Labs represents another part of the production chain: research and formulation. The company has operated since 2021 and, according to Forbes, has developed close to 200 products across its own projects and work for third parties, while offering around 45 products under its own brands. Its manager, Eduardo Monge, said bringing a cosmetic or supplement to market can take roughly six months of research, formulation, testing and analysis.

Mayu Ecuador, meanwhile, sells supplements, oils, infusions, chocolates, gummies, creams and a cosmetic serum, along with products for the veterinary market. The company distributes its lines through more than 100 locations nationwide and also works with two compounding pharmacies in Quito and Cuenca.

As far back as 2021, data from Ecuador’s National Agency for Health Regulation, Control and Surveillance, known as ARCSA, showed that 144 CBD products had been authorized for sale in the country, with 95 of them in the cosmetics category.

Among the examples at the time was Laboratorios Beautik, which had developed a CBD hair-care line including shampoo, conditioner, leave-in cream and a hair mask.

What has changed is the scale. Industry sources now point to more than 2,000 products with health notifications or registrations, while other recent counts cite more than 2,500 products registered with ARCSA and more than 50 types of veterinary products registered with Agrocalidad.

Ecuador Has Drawn a Clear Line Between Psychoactive and Non-Psychoactive Cannabis

Ecuador’s growth is taking place within a defined regulatory boundary separating this industry from debates over psychoactive cannabis and adult use. In the country, non-psychoactive cannabis—containing less than 1% THC by dry weight—was removed from the country’s controlled-substances framework and placed under agricultural regulation.

For processed foods and supplements, the rules are even more specific. Resolution ARCSA-DE-2022-014-AKRG allows parts of non-psychoactive cannabis, hemp, or their derivatives to be used as ingredients, but requires the finished product to contain less than 0.3% THC.

Companies seeking health notification must submit testing showing that concentration, along with analyses for heavy metals and pesticides. The same regulation prohibits the use of psychoactive cannabis or its derivatives in those foods and supplements, as well as THC concentrations of 0.3% or higher.

That framework helps explain why the recent shelving of a broader cannabis proposal did not halt this industry. The bill shelved in August addressed issues including adult use, home cultivation and THC-containing products, while the non-psychoactive segment has been operating under its own regulations since 2020.

This also puts another figure highlighted by the industry Cluster into context. According to its president, Lizbeth Fajardo, no health alerts have been reported in connection with the sale of registered products in this market.

The Next Step Is About Much More Than Exporting Biomass

Ecuador’s industry already exports raw material and biomass to other markets, including the United States, Switzerland and Germany, according to sector representatives. The next challenge is increasing exports of finished products, allowing more of the formulation work, technical know-how, intellectual property and commercial value to remain in Ecuador.

Hemp Ecuador Labs, for example, has already tested products in Colombia, Paraguay and the United States and is now working toward meeting the volumes required by those markets. 

Mayu, meanwhile, is working to enter the markets of the United States, Spain, Iceland, France and Costa Rica. One of its CBD chocolates was selected as a semifinalist in the II Ecuadorian Cacao Innovation Award, earning the company the opportunity to present it at the Salon du Chocolat in Paris.

That example captures where the industry wants to go. Ecuador can produce flower and biomass, but the business strategy behind that projected $20 million market goes much further: turning raw material into something recognizable, regulated, and marketable, whether that means a gummy, a cosmetic, or a veterinary product.

In that sense, the clearest way to understand what Ecuador’s “hemp industry” looks like today may be to stop looking only at the plant and start looking at everything companies are making from it.

Cover photo created with AI.

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Mormon Wives star Mikayla Matthews says medical cannabis was “literally life-changing” for her nerve pain and sleep, bringing weed into a show already built around the tensions between modern Utah life and Mormon expectations. But the Church’s position is more nuanced than a simple prohibition.

Mikayla Matthews, one of the stars of Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, has opened up about using medical cannabis for severe nerve pain and to help her sleep, calling the experience “literally life-changing,” according to Green State. 

In the season five premiere, Matthews visits a Utah dispensary with her husband, Jace Terry, where she speaks with a pharmacist and looks through different products. Matthews has said she suffers from Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome, or CIRS, a condition that has left her dealing with painful symptoms.

“It was mainly just for sleep at first,” Matthews says in the episode. “I had debilitating nerve pain through my whole body.”

Then came the moment that has attracted attention well beyond the reality-TV universe.

“The first time I tried it, it was literally life-changing,” she says. “It was the only thing that had ever taken away my nerve pain, and I’m finally well-rested.”

For a show with “Mormon” in its title, a dispensary trip might sound like an obvious act of religious rebellion. The reality, however, is considerably more complicated.

Actually… The Mormon Church Doesn’t Ban All Medical Cannabis

Matthews was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as the Mormon Church, although she has said she has not been an active member for around a decade.

The Church is famously associated with the Word of Wisdom, its health code, which restricts substances like alcohol, tobacco, coffee, and tea. Adult-use weed also falls outside what the Church considers acceptable. But… medical cannabis is a different matter.

Current Church policy explicitly distinguishes between recreational and medicinal use. The Church opposes cannabis for non-medical purposes but permits it when administered under the direction of a competent physician.

That makes Matthews’ dispensary visit less doctrinally explosive than it may initially appear. She is using cannabis within Utah’s regulated medical system and discussing it as a way to manage physical symptoms, not simply as an intoxicant.

Matthews herself appeared uncertain about the distinction on the show. “I assume that the Church doesn’t like marijuana, but they also didn’t like soda,” she joked.

The soda comparison is particularly telling in a Mormon context. Coffee and tea remain prohibited under Church teachings, while caffeinated soda does not—a distinction worth noting when considering Utah’s celebrated “dirty soda” culture.

The Mormon Church Helped Shape Utah’s Medical Weed Laws

The Church’s acceptance of medical cannabis does not mean it embraced legalization without reservations.

Utah became a major battleground over medical cannabis in 2018, when voters considered Proposition 2, a ballot initiative that would have established a statewide medical program.

Church leaders opposed the proposal, arguing that it was too permissive and did not contain sufficient safeguards around distribution, dosage, and access. At the same time, Church officials repeatedly emphasized that they did not oppose cannabis as medicine in principle.

Instead, Church representatives, lawmakers, medical organizations and cannabis advocates eventually negotiated a more restrictive compromise.

Utah voters nevertheless approved Proposition 2 with roughly 53% of the vote. Shortly afterward, state lawmakers replaced much of the initiative with the negotiated medical cannabis framework during a special legislative session.

The debate also showed that ordinary Latter-day Saints were hardly united against medical weed. Polling before the vote showed substantial support for legalization among Church members, although opposition increased among highly observant members after Church leadership publicly campaigned against the initiative.

So, medical cannabis had already been part of the conversation within Mormon communities for years before a Mormon Wives camera entered a dispensary.

‘Mormon Wives’ Has Always Been About Where the Rules Bend

The Hulu series follows members of MomTok, a group of Utah-based mothers and influencers whose relationships with Mormonism range from active religious participation to cultural identification and outright distance from the Church.

The show became a hit largely by leaning into that contradiction. Its cast navigates sex, marriage, divorce, drinking, therapy, cosmetic procedures, and Mormon expectations while constantly debating which rules still matter to them. Now cannabis enters that conversation.

The series has previously featured medical or wellness-oriented use of substances including ketamine and nitrous oxide, creating an unusual contrast with a religious culture that strongly discourages intoxication, but Matthews’ experience may be the clearest cannabis example yet.

She even tells viewers that, amid the stress surrounding the series and MomTok drama, cannabis has been “fixing everything.”

Photo by Bailey Burton on Unsplash // Edited with AI

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Researchers analyzing two ancient skeletons from Indonesia found dramatic dental wear and traces of arecoline, suggesting people may have sucked psychoactive areca nuts as far back as 25,000 years ago. The finding could represent the earliest known evidence of psychoactive plant use, while also shedding light on a practice that remains widespread today despite serious health risks.

We already know that plants and fungi have accompanied humanity since the dawn of time. And yes, some of them have psychotropic properties. But now we have more evidence—in fact, the oldest known to date—that people have been seeking altered states of consciousness since basically forever.

Australian researchers discovered two skeletons on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia, whose teeth were not only deeply worn down but also contained traces of arecoline. This psychoactive substance is found in the areca nut, also known as betel nut.

According to the study, such extreme dental wear (so deep that it exposed the dental pulp) may have been caused by constantly sucking on the nuts, thereby releasing arecoline, their main neuroactive alkaloid. This would produce a mild high, along with a numbing effect.

At first, the deep grooves in the teeth puzzled the researchers who discovered the skeletons (one about 7,000 years old and the other between 16,000 and 25,000 years old). “What the hell were these people doing? It’s like someone had a drill head shaped like a gobstopper and wore away the inner part of the tooth,” Adam Brumm, the study’s lead researcher, commented, according to The Guardian.

“Imagine you kept a stone in your mouth and you moved it from one part of your mouth to another, and if you did that day after day, hour after hour. Eventually it would wear down your extremely hard dental tissue to form these grooves,” he explained. The team therefore proposed that these people may have been sucking on betel nuts before humans discovered that chewing them together with slaked lime enhances their effects.

So, the researchers conducted an experiment: soaking areca nuts in artificial saliva. Sure enough, this released small amounts of arecoline—enough to produce a psychoactive effect. Brumm even tried it himself: “It’s a really bitter, astringent taste. It makes your mouth go numb.”

He also suggested that this may have been precisely the desired effect, and that these pre-agricultural users may have found themselves trapped in a kind of vicious cycle: at first, sucking on betel nuts may have served as a remedy for dental pain, but daily use would damage their teeth, making the problem worse and leading them to use more to ease the pain.

Thus, the study argues, we may be looking at the earliest evidence of psychoactive substance use by humans, showing that people have been getting high since prehistoric times, if not earlier.

What Is Betel Nut, How Is It Used and Why You Shouldn’t Try It

According to the researchers, around 10% of the world’s population currently consumes this seed, particularly in South and Southeast Asia. Its use is deeply rooted in ancient traditions across several countries, specific social circles and informal markets.

To produce the desired effects, it is typically chewed after being wrapped in betel vine leaves (hence the name, even though the nut itself comes from a different plant) and mixed with slaked lime. This produces a stimulant high and increased concentration, comparable, according to some sources, to drinking several cups of coffee. In India, for instance, people from impoverished communities use betel nut to relieve hunger.

But although it may seem harmless, regular betel nut use carries serious health risks. The list is long: from cancer (especially oral and esophageal) and addiction to various disorders affecting the endocrine, cardiovascular, nervous, gastrointestinal, metabolic, respiratory and reproductive systems. It might be easier to make a list of the systems that aren’t affected by consuming this seed.

Today, some consider this a neglected global public health emergency, not only because of the extremely high rates of use and abuse and the devastating health effects associated with them, but because there is still no coordinated global policy in place to curb the problem. Still, some countries have taken independent action to restrict its use, such as Papua New Guinea and Australia, but the nut is so popular and ubiquitous that the results of these measures have been less than satisfactory.

Photo by Michael Jerrard on Unsplash

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