Thailand: Russians caught selling magic mushrooms for ‘stress relief’

Thailand: Russians caught selling magic mushrooms for ‘stress relief’


Thailand: Russians caught selling magic mushrooms for ‘stress relief’

PHUKET – Police have busted a group of Russians selling hallucinogenic mushrooms as a form of stress relief therapy from a house in Muang district they had named the “Mushroom Temple”. They were arrested by Cholong police acting on information that psilocybin mushrooms, also known as magic mushrooms, were being sold at a rented house […]

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Relm and Prohibition Partners Launch Cannabis Risk Briefing for Emerging and High-Growth Industries

Relm and Prohibition Partners Launch Cannabis Risk Briefing for Emerging and High-Growth Industries

Relm and Prohibition Partners Launch Cannabis Risk Briefing for Emerging and High-Growth Industries

Relm Insurance (Relm), the leading insurer focused on emerging industries, today released its Risk Briefing: Cannabis 2026, an inaugural global report produced in collaboration with Prohibition Partners, the industry-first discovery platform for B2B cannabis.

The briefing examines how regulation, operational practice, and insurance intersect across the cannabis supply chain, and where risk maturity is beginning to shape long-term market stability.

The global cannabis sector has moved from early experimentation to established commercial activity, with operators now facing sustained regulatory scrutiny, operational complexity, and financial exposure.

Relm Risk Briefing: Cannabis 2026 draws on market data, case studies, and interviews with operators and regulators across Europe, North America, and Canada to identify where risk concentrations are most acute, and how leading businesses are responding.

The report analyses five stages of the cannabis supply chain, from cultivation and manufacturing through testing, distribution, and retail.

It highlights recurring drivers of loss, including contamination, quality failures, logistics disruption, and governance gaps, alongside examples of improved controls, data transparency, and insurance adoption that signal growing risk discipline in the sector.

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Global Medical Cannabis Legalization Map

🗺 Click to view full size

Global Medical and Adult-Use Cannabis Market Forecast

📊 Click to view full size

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Joseph Ziolkowski, Relm’s CEO and Founder, said: “Cannabis is no longer an experimental market. It’s a global industry with real balance sheets, real investors, and real consequences when risks emerge.

This briefing reflects what we see as insurers, which is a widening gap between operators who treat risk as a strategic function and those who still see it as an afterthought. Insurance does not remove risk, but it does reward clarity, governance, and credible operations. That distinction is becoming more visible each year.”

Stephen Murphy, Co-founder and Managing Director of Prohibition Partners, said: “The cannabis industry is moving decisively from theory to reality. What were once experimental frameworks and early-stage business models are now operating at scale, with real capital, real patients and consumers, and real operational consequences. As markets mature, short-term thinking gives way to the need for durable infrastructure, credible governance, and long-term support systems.

What we are seeing globally is a clear shift. The companies that will succeed are those investing early in structure, compliance, and risk management, not as a box-ticking exercise, but as a foundation for sustainable growth. This is the point at which cannabis begins to resemble other regulated industries, where professionalism, transparency, and accountability determine who can scale and who cannot.”

Relm Risk Briefing: Cannabis 2026 is available to download here.

The post Relm and Prohibition Partners Launch Cannabis Risk Briefing for Emerging and High-Growth Industries appeared first on Business of Cannabis.

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New Virginia Bill Would Legalize Recreational Marijuana Sales And Increase Possession Limit

New Virginia Bill Would Legalize Recreational Marijuana Sales And Increase Possession Limit

New Virginia Bill Would Legalize Recreational Marijuana Sales And Increase Possession Limit

A Virginia lawmaker has filed a bill that would legalize and regulate recreational marijuana sales while also increasing the amount of cannabis that adults can possess under the state’s current noncommercial legalization law.

The new legislation from Del. Paul Krizek (D) is largely in line with recommendations released last month by the legislature’s Joint Commission to Oversee the Transition of the Commonwealth into a Cannabis Retail Market, which the lawmaker chaired.

Since legalizing cannabis possession and home cultivation in 2021, Virginia lawmakers have worked to establish a commercial marijuana market—only to have those efforts consistently stalled under outgoing Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), who twice vetoed measures to enact it that were sent to his desk by the legislature.

Incoming Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger (D) supports legalizing adult-use marijuana sales, however.

“A consumer should always know what they are buying, and so that means strong labeling,” she said in an interview last month. “That means understanding the strength… If you go and you buy a pack of beer, you know what percentage alcohol that beer is, you know what proof a liquor is, so you have an understanding of what it is that you’re actually purchasing. I think that is extraordinarily important with all marijuana-related products.”

Krizek’s new bill, in addition to establishing a system of licensed and regulated businesses to cultivate, process, test and sell cannabis would also increase the amount of marijuana that adults over 21 years of age can legally possess from one ounce to 2.5 ounces. They could also continue to grow up to four cannabis plants at home for personal use.

Here are the key details of the new Virginia marijuana bill:

  • Retail sales could begin on November 1, 2026.
  • Adults would be able to purchase up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana in a single transaction, or up to an equivalent amount of other cannabis products as determined by regulators.
  • The Virginia Cannabis Control Authority would oversee licensing and regulation of the new industry. Its board of directors would have the authority to control possession, sale, transportation, distribution, delivery and testing of marijuana.
  • A tax of up to 11.625 percent would apply to the retail sale of any cannabis product. That would include a state retail and use tax of 1.125 percent on top of a new marijuana-specific tax of 8 percent. Local governments could levy an additional 3.5 percent.
  • Tax revenue would be split between the costs of administering and enforcing the state’s marijuana system, a new Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund, pre-kindergarten programs, substance use disorder prevention and treatment programs and public health programs such as awareness campaigns designed to prevent drug-impaired driving and discourage underage consumption.
  • Local governments could not opt out of allowing marijuana businesses to operate in their area.
  • Delivery services would be allowed.
  • Serving sizes would be capped at 10 milligrams THC, with no more than 100 mg THC per package.
  • Existing medical cannabis operators could enter the adult-use market if they pay a $10 million licensing conversion fee.
  • Cannabis businesses would have to establish labor peace agreements with workers.
  • A legislative commission would be directed to study adding on-site consumption licenses and microbusiness cannabis event permits that would allow licensees to conduct sales at venues like farmers markets or pop-up locations. It would also investigate the possibility of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority becoming involved in marijuana regulations and enforcement.

Meanwhile, Virginia lawmakers have filed other marijuana-related legislation for the 2026 session, including proposals to provide resentencing relief for people convicted of past cannabis crimes and to let terminally ill patients use medical marijuana in hospitals and other healthcare facilities.

Separately, the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry recently published a new outlining workplace protections for cannabis consumers.

The post New Virginia Bill Would Legalize Recreational Marijuana Sales And Increase Possession Limit appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

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Cannabis Reclassification Could Finally End The Industry’s Financial Exile

Cannabis Reclassification Could Finally End The Industry’s Financial Exile

Cannabis Reclassification Could Finally End The Industry’s Financial Exile

Nearly two decades after individual states began allowing cannabis to be used for medicinal purposes, many licensed dispensaries still can’t accept credit or debit cards because payment processors won’t take them on as clients.

They also have trouble getting loans from traditional banks, where cannabis companies are viewed as high-risk clients.

Ever since the Controlled Substances Act was signed into law in 1970, federal regulators have grouped cannabis together with some of the most restricted drugs in America, such as heroin and LSD.

This classification, known as Schedule I, is reserved for drugs the government believes have no known medical benefit and a high risk of dependence. Manufacturing, buying, selling and possessing Schedule I controlled narcotics without specific authorization is a federal crime.

To Read The Rest Of This Article On NBC, Click Here

The post Cannabis Reclassification Could Finally End The Industry’s Financial Exile appeared first on Marijuana Retail Report – News and Information for Cannabis Retailers.

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Multiple States Facing Marijuana Legalization Repeal Threats in 2026

Multiple States Facing Marijuana Legalization Repeal Threats in 2026

Multiple States Facing Marijuana Legalization Repeal Threats in 2026

A person's arm is shown handcuffed in front of cannabis plants representing marijuana criminalizationA person's arm is shown handcuffed in front of cannabis plants representing marijuana criminalization“The public remains committed to adult-use legalization and medical cannabis access, and it is our responsibility to galvanize this public opinion and ensure that it prevails in 2026 at state houses and at the ballot box.”

The post Multiple States Facing Marijuana Legalization Repeal Threats in 2026 appeared first on NORML.

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One In Three Americans 'Pre-Game' With Marijuana Before Family Holiday Gatherings, Survey Finds

Georgia under pressure to expand low-THC medical cannabis in 2026

Georgia under pressure to expand low-THC medical cannabis in 2026

Back in session as of earlier this week, Georgia lawmakers are set to reconsider a major expansion of the state’s limited, low-THC medical cannabis program.

That would be good news for medical marijuana operators in the state, where patient growth remains stagnant under the status quo, according to a recent state report.

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Last fall’s legislative session ended without definitive action on Senate Bill 220, which proposed legalizing vaporizable cannabis flower for the first time and raising allowable THC from 5% to 50%, as Fox 5 reported.

Current access is restricted to low-THC oil, also included in edible products.

According to Axios, medical cannabis advocates are pushing lawmakers this session to revisit the bill, which would also expand the list of medical

The post Georgia under pressure to expand low-THC medical cannabis in 2026 appeared first on GrowCola.com.

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