Cannabis info and related links and post from around the web
Holiday shopping is shifting as adults buy toys and tweens buy beauty. Age lines are blurring fast, forcing retailers to rethink segmentation and strategy.
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“These facts compel the federal government to recognize that marijuana can be legitimate in terms of medical applications.”
The post President Trump Takes Executive Action to Federally Reschedule Marijuana appeared first on NORML.
A great smoke session is more than a pastime — it’s a ritual. Whether it’s lighting up with friends on a Friday night, zoning out to music, or sparking creativity during deep conversations, the right strain can make all the difference. In 2025, cannabis culture is thriving, and with the help of verified seed platforms […]
The post The 10 Best Cannabis Strains for Epic Smoke Sessions appeared first on Stoner | Pictures | Stoners Clothing | Blog | StonerDays.
On occasion, geography offers up some profoundly useful glitches. Other times, with skill and ingenuity, humankind turns that geography into an asset. And in the case of the park bench that stars in this story, you’d swear the hand of God intervened purely for the people’s enjoyment. In Plaza Abaroa, in La Paz’s posh Sopocachi neighborhood, an anonymous structure has existed for years, used by Bolivian citizens to smoke weed outdoors, communally.
Popularly known as “Banco Pipa” (“Pipe Bench”) or “Banca Comunal” (“Communal Bench”), a particular park bench became a rite of passage for a bunch of young people into the wonderful world of weed. There, for hundreds of afternoons and eves, university students, executives from large companies, lawyers, engineers, and responsible adults would gather to light up a joint on one end and catch the smoke on the other. Hence, the name “Pipe Bench”. That’s also why it was called “Communal Bench”: because unless you’re as bendy as Fantastic Four’s Reed Richards, you always needed someone else’s help to use it properly.
“What is the ‘Pipe Bench’? It was one of those old park benches, not one of the modern ones, that had crossbars. And in one of those bars, they had made a little hole to smoke who knows what,” explains TikToker Edu Torrico, while calling for “a moment of silence” for the little bench.
“Some friends took me to that bench, showed me how it worked, and then it became very normal for me to go there. Even though I got into the habit of smoking my own pipe, I still miss it. When they renovated the plaza and took it away, it felt like losing a friend,” says Pietro, a local barista and a regular at the famous (if now defunct) “Pipe Bench.”
No one knows when or how this cornerstone of La Paz’s 420 culture began, but we do know when its reign ended: three years ago, when the place was renovated. “My last spot was five years ago, when I got my first pipe,” Pietro continues, with a touch of nostalgia. With saudade, as Brazilians say.
For instance, Bolivian law classifies marijuana as a prohibited drug, just like cocaine, and punishes possession (even of a single gram) with prison sentences of 10 to 25 years. However, the “Pipe Bench” survived clandestinely and with absolute discretion for years. “Discreet,” we say, even though it was located in the middle of a public square, within one of La Paz’s most upscale neighborhoods. But even then, those who frequented it passed the info among like-minded individuals, with little regard for the law.
“I never knew how it started, but I was always grateful that it existed. The crazy thing is that you couldn’t use it alone. You always needed another person. It was a communal thing, about sharing with others,” says our stoner Pietro.
Some reasons for its demise: despite being a plaza teeming with young people and students, and also a popular gathering place for skaters and other wheeled athletes, Plaza Abaroa is located just steps away from important public buildings such as the Ministry of Defense, the Departmental Electoral Court, the Presidential Palace, and (get this!) an Integrated Police Station (EPI), posing a rather obvious dilemma for our pot-smoking brethren.
In fact, nowadays, this space is often at the center of daily political discussions, as it’s where citizens’ protests and rallies usually take place. “Today, almost nobody goes there. Many go to University Park or Plaza Olivia. The people who used to come to smoke at Banco Pipa have moved to other plazas,” Pietro explains. Those who frequented the plaza say that “nowadays, it’s not such a private place; it’s more open, you’re more exposed. And since the police station is right there, you risk spending a couple nights in a cell.”
Nowadays, Plaza Abaroa welcomes tourists looking for typical La Paz postcards, and small concerts and open-air markets are also held there. “I’m still looking for a place like that, and so far I haven’t found anything like it anywhere else,” Pietro laments. Meanwhile, the skaters continue to smoke weed, a bit more discreetly, and still yearn for the mythic presence of that plaza bench, which was more than just a bench… It was a friend.
<p>The post The Untold Story of Bolivia’s ‘Pipe Bench,’ a Lost Landmark of Communal 420 Culture first appeared on High Times.</p>
Dec 19 On December 18, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order (the “Order”) directing the federal government to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”). The White House frames the Order as a research-forward initiative intended to better inform patients and physicians by reducing barriers […]
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Between work deadlines, family responsibilities, and endless notifications, daily stress has become a constant for most adults. While some unwind with a drink or a scroll through social media, more people are turning to cannabis as a natural, science-backed way to reduce anxiety and tension — without the hangover or fog. But how exactly does […]
The post Can Cannabis Help Manage Daily Stress? Here’s What the Science Says appeared first on Stoner | Pictures | Stoners Clothing | Blog | StonerDays.
Wiz Khalifa has been sentenced to nine months in prison in Romania for lighting up a joint on stage during a music festival. A small amount of cannabis in a country with little tolerance, a crowd packed with young fans (something judges said worsened the offense), and a criminal ruling that crossed borders.
According to the BBC, the sentence was handed down by a Romanian appeals court, which overturned an earlier fine and opted for a custodial sentence, even though the artist is not currently in the country.
The incident itself isn’t new. It happened in July 2024 at the Beach, Please! festival in the coastal city of Costinești. After the show, the rapper was briefly detained by police and later charged with drug possession for personal use.
In a written ruling, judges from the Constanța Court of Appeal said the punishment wasn’t based solely on possession, but on the public message they believe Khalifa sent. According to the court, the act amounted to “a message normalizing illegal behavior” and encouraged “drug use among young people.”
They also described the gesture as an “ostentatious act,” stressing that Khalifa performed “on the stage of a music festival very popular with young people” and consumed cannabis in front of “a large audience, predominantly made up of young attendees.”
Authorities stated that the artist had more than 18 grams (roughly 0.6 ounces) of cannabis in his possession and consumed an additional amount during the performance.
A day after the incident, Wiz Khalifa took to X to defuse the situation, promising he’d be back, just without the big ass joint next time:
Last nights show was amazing. I didn’t mean any disrespect to the country of Romania by lighting up on stage. They were very respectful and let me go. I’ll be back soon. But without a big ass joint next time
— Wiz Khalifa (@wizkhalifa) July 14, 2024
Since then, the rapper has continued his usual schedule, appearing at shows across the United States and streaming from home on Twitch.
The sentence was issued in absentia, and all signs suggest it won’t be enforced in practice, at least as long as he doesn’t return to the country. Romanian criminologist Vlad Zaha said extradition is highly unlikely and described the ruling as “unusually harsh.” As he explained, Romania has little legal or political leverage to compel the U.S. to hand over the artist to serve the sentence.
The case highlights a growing and increasingly visible tension: global artists operating under cultural codes that don’t always align with local legal frameworks. Wiz Khalifa isn’t just known for hits like See You Again or Young or Wild & Free, he’s also built a public identity deeply tied to cannabis, including founding his own brand back in 2016.
<p>The post Wiz Khalifa Sentenced to 9 Months for Lighting a ‘Big Ass Joint’ on Stage in Romania first appeared on High Times.</p>
Marijuana will be federally rescheduled under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Thursday.
The directive also aims to address federal hemp laws to promote access to full-spectrum CBD that could be covered under federal health insurance plans.
Months after Trump said a decision on the cannabis reform proposal was imminent, the president issued the directive for agencies to begin moving forward with the plan to transfer cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).
“We have people begging for me to do this, people that are in great pain for decades,” Trump said. “This action has been requested by American patients suffering from extreme pain, incurable diseases, aggressive cancers, seizure disorders, neurological problems, and more—including numerous veterans with service-related injuries and older Americans who live with chronic medical problems that severely degrade their quality of life.”
This marks one of the most significant developments in federal marijuana policy since its prohibition a half a century ago, with a Schedule III reclassification recognizing that marijuana has medical value and a lower abuse potential compared to other Schedule I drugs like heroin.
Rescheduling will not federally legalize cannabis. However, the policy change will enable state-licensed marijuana businesses to claim federal tax deductions that they’ve been previously denied under an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code known as Section 280E. It will also remove certain research barriers applied to Schedule I drugs.
The change may also spur additional states to modernize their own policies on cannabis, as some lawmakers have cited the federal government’s restrictive classification of marijuana as a reason they have been uncomfortable with enacting legalization or at least allowing medical use.
In addition to directing the attorney general to expedite the completion of the process of rescheduling marijuana to Schedule III of the CSA, the executive order also includes a novel proposal to allow Medicare recipients to access non-intoxicating CBD that’d be covered under the federal health care plan.
That is a policy Trump seemed to endorse over the summer when he shared a video calling for that specific reform while promoting the health benefits of cannabidiol, particularly for seniors.
Marijuana Moment first reported on leaked details from a White House briefing about the plan on Thursday ahead of the signing event. That includes a directive for top White House staff to work with Congress to give patients access to full-spectrum CBD products, “while still restricting the sale and access to products that cause serious and potentially life-threatening health risks.”
The order also urges Congress to examine updating the definition of hemp to ensure that full-spectrum CBD is accessible to patients—a policy change that could mitigate some concerns in the sector about a recent spending bill Trump signed with provisions that would broadly ban consumable hemp products.
Separate from Trump’s order, Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), will also be announcing “a model that will allow a number of CMS beneficiaries to benefit from receiving CBD under doctor recommendation at no cost,” a White House official said during the briefing.
Trump endorsed rescheduling—as well as industry banking access and a Florida adult-use legalization initiative—on the campaign trail last year. The president had been largely silent on the issue since taking office during his second term, until an August briefing, where, in response to a reporter’s question, he announced that the administration would decide on rescheduling within weeks.
By moving forward with the plan, Trump is completing a process initiated under the Biden administration. That involved a scientific review by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—which concluded that Schedule III is a more appropriate category for marijuana—as well as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Recent news reports revealed that Trump was planning to issue the executive order directing federal agencies to move ahead with cannabis rescheduling following a meeting with marijuana industry executives, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz. During that meeting, Trump reportedly phoned House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who expressed his opposition to rescheduling cannabis.
The rescheduling announcement comes weeks after the president signed a key spending bill that would effectively ban most consumable hemp products, drawing criticism from stakeholders in the hemp industry who argue the policy change would eradicate the market.
Meanwhile, amid the heightened rumors that the Trump administration would be moving forward on marijuana rescheduling, multiple top congressional Democrats made the case that the reform would not go far enough—including one senator who said the move is only an attempt by the president to “gaslight” voters into thinking he legalized cannabis to boost his “pathetic” approval ratings.
Dozens of Republican members of Congress have urged Trump not to reschedule marijuana, arguing that it would harm public health and safety.
Written by Kyle Jaeger for Marijuana Moment | Featured image by Gina Coleman/Weedmaps
The post Trump Signs Executive Order To Reclassify Marijuana By Removing It From Schedule I appeared first on Weedmaps News.
