Articles by Michael R. Blood

California OK’s Pot Deliveries into Communities that Ban Sales

California has endorsed a rule that will allow home marijuana deliveries statewide, even into communities that have banned commercial pot sales. The regulation by the state Bureau of Cannabis Control was opposed by police chiefs and other critics who predict …

More Marijuana Products in California Passing Safety Tests

A higher percentage of California marijuana products are passing strict safety tests, but the sudden closing of a lab that state authorities found wasn’t correctly checking for pesticides has raised new questions about the system intended to protect the purity …

More Marijuana Products in California Passing Safety Tests

A higher percentage of California marijuana products are passing strict safety tests, but the sudden closing of a lab that state authorities found wasn’t correctly checking for pesticides has raised new questions about the system intended to protect the purity …

Numerous California Marijuana Products Failing Safety Tests

Nearly 20 percent of marijuana products in California have failed tests for potency and purity since the state started requiring the checks on July 1, a failure rate some in the industry say has more to do with unrealistic standards …

California Considers Rule Changes as Legal Pot Market Struggles

The nation’s largest legal marijuana market is struggling. Illicit sales continue to thrive in California and shaky supply chain has customers looking at barren shelves in some licensed shops. There are testing problems. And a proposal to allow home marijuana …

Los Angeles to Begin Licensing Marijuana Growers

Los Angeles began accepting license applications from marijuana growers, manufacturers and testing companies this week, after months of delays that left many businesses in the state’s largest legal marketplace struggling to survive. The start of the process arrived with a …

Trump ‘Probably’ Will Back Lifting Federal Ban on Marijuana

President Donald Trump said last Friday that he was inclined to support a bipartisan effort in Congress to ease the U.S. ban on marijuana, a proposal that would dramatically reshape the nation’s legal landscape for pot users and businesses. The …

Tribes Left out of California Marijuana Pondering Growing Their Own

American Indian tribes that say they have been cut out of California’s legal marijuana market have raised the possibility of going their own way by establishing pot businesses outside the state-regulated system that is less than two months old. The …

Too Few Legal Pot Operators in California Concern for Those in Pipeline

Like many pot shops in California, the Urbn Leaf in San Diego bulked up its inventory before legal sales began on Jan. 1, stockpiling enough marijuana to last for months because no one knew what the era of legal pot …

California’s Marijuana-Tracking System Not Being Used

California’s legal pot economy was supposed to operate under the umbrella of a vast computerized system to track marijuana from seed to storefronts, ensuring that plants are followed throughout the supply chain and don’t drift into the black market. But …