WASHINGTON (AP) — Gun rights and cannabis legalization are usually on opposite ends of the political spectrum, but both movements have brought about seismic shifts in the United States in recent decades.

Now those forces are lining up for a rare overlap in a case coming before the Supreme Court on Monday, and it is not the only unusual alliance.

The Republican Trump administration will be defending a firearm restriction, with backing from gun-control groups typically more aligned with Democrats.

On the other side is a pairing of the National Rifle Association and the American Civil Liberties Union.

At stake is a federal law that bars people who regularly use marijuana from legally owning guns. It is an issue that has divided lower courts since a landmark 2022 Supreme Court decision expanded gun rights.

Cecillia Wang, legal director at the ACLU, said the law violates the Second Amendment and is unconstitutionally vague about what it means to be a drug user.

“We’re deeply concerned with the potential of this statute to basically give federal prosecutors a blank check,” she said. “Millions of Americans use marijuana and there is no way for them to know based on words of this statute whether they could be charged or convicted of this crime because they own a firearm.”

Cannabis is legal for medicinal use in most states and for recreational use in about half the country.

But the law also applies more widely against all illegal substances, meaning the case could allow broader legal gun use by other drug users. The group Everytown for Gun Safety said the law meets the Supreme Court’s requirement that gun laws must have a strong grounding in the nation’s history and tradition.

“Restricting firearm use by illegal drug users is ‘as old as legislative recognition of the drug problem itself,’” attorneys wrote.

Cannabis remains illegal on a federal level, though President Donald Trump has signed an order to fast-track its reclassification as a less dangerous drug.

His Justice Department is also asking the justices to revive a criminal case against Ali Danial Hemani, a Texas man who was charged with a felony because he had a gun in his house and acknowledged smoking marijuana every other day. FBI agents also found a small amount of cocaine when they searched his home as part of a broader investigation, but the gun charge was the only one filed against him.

The conservative-leaning 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the case, finding that only people who are intoxicated while armed can be charged with a crime.

The administration has argued in favor of gun rights in other cases, but government lawyers say this law is a justifiable restriction. “Habitual illegal drug users with firearms present unique dangers to society — especially because they pose a grave risk of armed, hostile encounters with police officers while impaired,” they wrote in court documents. The law fits within the nation’s history of restrictions on people who were frequently drunk, they argued.

While the conservative-majority Supreme Court has expanded gun rights, it also has upheld a federal law disarming people who are subject to domestic violence restraining orders. The Department of Justice argues that drug users are similarly risky. The law it is asking the court to uphold was also used in the case of Hunter Biden, who was convicted of buying a gun when he was addicted to cocaine.

But the NRA and other gun-rights groups, typically aligned with the GOP, are arrayed against the administration in Hemani’s case.

“Americans have traditionally chosen which substances are acceptable for responsible recreational use, and the fundamental right to keep and bear arms was never denied to people who occasionally partook in such drugs — unless they were carrying arms while actively intoxicated,” lawyers for the Second Amendment Foundation wrote in court documents.

The cannabis group NORML agrees, saying one of the fastest-growing groups of users are baby boomers trying products such as marijuana gummies to relieve arthritis and sleep problems.

“It’s laughable to think that by outlawing cannabis users possessing firearms you’ll minimize the problem with gun violence,” said Joe A. Bondy, chair of the board of directors for NORML, one of the country’s oldest and largest groups advocating for the legalization of marijuana.

He became more interested in the plant’s potential benefits after seeing family members suffer from cancer and opioid abuse. Panks and his wife founded HomeGrown ORegonicX, a small medical cannabis farm that serves the deaf community in Oregon, and started smoking pot frequently every day to test different strains.

He was shocked in 2013 when he was struck by vicious bouts of vomiting. He would start vomiting in the morning and continue the rest of the day non-stop, sometimes for days at a time. He couldn’t eat or keep down fluids. Only a hot shower would offer some relief. The condition would fade, then reemerge after two or three months, often at times of stress..

Panks lost 50 pounds as his body seemed to be trying to purge something. His abdomen and back ached from constant dry heaves. His throat was burned by the stomach acids, and a dentist told him his teeth were ruined.

When a doctor gave him his diagnosis, he initially refused to believe it: cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, or CHS. While Panks doesn’t scream from it, other people affected sometimes cry out in pain, leading to its other name: scromiting, for the combination of screaming and vomiting.

“Sometimes it goes 14 days, where my whole body starts to seize up,” Panks said. “I have to go to the ER and get fluids. It can be very, very brutal. You’re sliding down the stairs because you don’t have the strength to stand up.”

The condition is rare and the mechanism of its cause unexplained, prompting some cannabis advocates to refuse to believe it. But Panks is far from alone. A new study of hospital emergency departments nationwide by the University of Illinois Chicago found the number of diagnosed cases of CHS jumped sevenfold from 2016 to 2022.

The increase came at the same time as increased cannabis legalization and potency, and peaked at 33 cases per 100,000 ER visits during the COVID pandemic, when substance abuse increased sharply. The increase came primarily among young adults, 18 to 35, most of them men.

Most people with CHS are long-term users who smoke every day, often high potency weed or concentrates, research shows. Seventy-five percent of people diagnosed with CHS consumed cannabis every day, a systematic review found.

Normally, cannabis is well-known for its ability improve appetite. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved synthetic THC for the treatment of nausea from conditions such as chemotherapy, though many patients prefer flowers from the plant itself.

But like any drug, what can have mild effects in moderation may have toxic effects from over-consumption. It is known that cannabis acts on the endo-cannabinoid system, which helps regulate the digestive system.

The lead author of the UIC study, professor James Swartz, said he believes the increase in state legalization and higher potency were the main factors at work behind the increase. He hopes the study will encourage clinicians to consider CHS when treating patients.

“There is still some skepticism,” Swartz said. “Proponents of cannabis say this is being alarmist, it hardly occurs. No, this is real, and it’s common enough that it’s of concern.”

People should consider the condition when considering how much to use and what’s safe, and take “a long hard look” at very high potency products, he said.

Swartz has some unlikely allies in the cannabis world.

Tim Blake, founder of The Emerald Cup, the Oscars of the cannabis world, said he ran into a wall with hyperemesis years ago and had to cut way back on his consumption.

Blake is 68 and has been smoking since he was 14, with a few periods of abstinence. He has grown cannabis and used it to deal with three rounds of metastatic cancer, so he is an enthusiastic advocate.

But a little more than 10 years ago, he got very sick with cyclic vomiting. It only went away after he quit smoking for several months to eliminate the buildup of THC, the main component of pot that gets users high, and which accumulates in the body’s fatty tissues.

Now, like drinkers who abstain from alcohol for “Dry January,” he starts every year by abstaining from cannabis for a month or two to clean out his system. When he stopped smoking, he would sweat profusely for five days to clean out his system. He stopped using concentrates, but still vapes once a day or so, and meditates daily.

He decries the high THC dabs and concentrates that have transformed the use of marijuana for some, and advocates a more moderate approach to consumption, comparing weed to alcohol.

“We shouldn’t be drinking 151 rum shots every day,” he said. “We should do more beer and wine. It is a real issue we want to address so people can safely and effectively use cannabis.”

Panks, who with his wife started Deafining Cannabis to develop sign language related to the plant, said that instead of focusing on high THC, users should look more into the effects of cannabis terpenes, the compounds that help give cannabis and other plants their distinctive effects.

“We need to stop looking at THC percentages and more at the terpenes, so you can understand how your body reacts,” he said. “I hope to be part of a study that can further define the mechanism of CHS and a documentary on the process so that we all can have a better understanding of the science behind it.”

CHS research remains in its infancy, but may be enhanced by recent federal efforts to reclassify cannabis as a less dangerous drug. The World Health Organization only recently recognized CHS as a medical condition. Everyone affected by CHS wants more research to explain its causes, cures, the potential roles of neem oil and other pesticides, and why it affects some people and not others.

For now, abstinence remains the only known cure for CHS.

Prominent cannabis advocate Alice Moon said she wants more research so maybe she can use cannabis again someday.

“I promote a substance I cannot consume,” she said. “I’m adamant about spreading awareness, because I don’t want anybody to be as sick as I was.”

Dr. Smita Das often hears the same myth: You can’t get hooked on pot.

And the misconception has become more widespread as a growing number of states legalize marijuana. Around half now allow recreational use for adults and 40 states allow medical use.

But “cannabis is definitely something that someone can develop an addiction to,” said Das, an addiction psychiatrist at Stanford University.

It’s called cannabis use disorder and it’s on the rise, affecting about 3 in 10 people who use pot, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Here’s how to know whether you or a loved one are addicted to marijuana — and what kinds of treatment exist.

How to identify signs of cannabis use disorder

If pot interferes with your daily life, health or relationships, those are red flags.

“The more that somebody uses and the higher potency that somebody uses, the higher the risk of that,” Das said.

It’s become more common as cannabis has gotten stronger in recent years. In the 1960s, most pot that people smoked contained less than 5% THC, the ingredient that gets you high. Today, the THC potency in cannabis flower and concentrates in dispensaries can reach 40% or more, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Cannabis use disorder is diagnosed the same way as any other substance use disorder — by looking at whether someone meets certain criteria laid out in the latest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the main guide for mental health providers.

These include needing more of the drug to get the same effect, having withdrawal symptoms and spending a lot of time trying to get or use it.

“When we break it down into these criteria that have to do with the impacts of their use, it’s a lot more relatable,” Das said.

What the different levels of addiction are

If you’ve met just two of the criteria for cannabis use disorder in the last year, doctors say you have a mild form of the condition. If you meet six or more, you have a more severe form.

According to the latest version of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 7% of all people 12 or older had cannabis use disorder in 2024 and most had a mild form. About 1 in 5 had a severe form.

People can be dependent on and addicted to substances. Dependence is physical, while addiction involves behavior changes.

Marijuana doesn’t affect everyone the same way, though. The same amount can have “major impacts” on one person’s daily life but have no impact on another person’s, Das said. “It really comes down to: How much is that substance impacting someone’s functioning and life day-to-day?”

Where people can get help for cannabis use disorder

Many marijuana users first come to Das for help coping with something else, like alcohol use disorder. Later, she said, they’ll often come back and mention a struggle with cannabis.

She assures them that there are effective treatments for the disorder.

One is called motivational interviewing, a goal-oriented counseling style that helps people find internal motivation to change their behavior. Another is cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT, a form of talk therapy that helps people to challenge negative thought patterns and reduce unhelpful behaviors.

Twelve-step programs like Marijuana Anonymous can also be helpful, Das said. But whether someone chooses to join a group or not, even being able to lean on a community of people who aren’t using pot is an important part for recovery.

Dave Bushnell, a retired digital executive creative director, started a Reddit group 14 years ago for people who, like him, had developed an addiction or dependency to cannabis and wanted help recovering. Its discussion forum has 350,000 members and continues to grow.

Bushnell, 60, said peer support is essential to recovery and some people feel more comfortable chatting online than in person. “This is potheads taking care of potheads,” he said.

Doctors urged people who need help to get it, whether it’s with a professional or in a peer group.

As with alcohol, “just because something’s legal doesn’t mean that it’s safe,” Das said.

Associated Press reporter Leah Willingham in Boston contributed to this story.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

A provision significantly limiting the sale of intoxicating hemp products made its way into legislation to reopen the federal government just a day before the Senate approved the bill. Its inclusion follows years of pressure from states and the marijuana industry.

While states continue to expand access to legal marijuana, a separate market of hemp-derived intoxicants has blossomed. The products, from drinks to gummies, are sold in gas stations and smoke shops. Critics say some companies have exploited a legal loophole from 2018 to manufacture products that get people high — without the safety regulations and taxes facing the legal marijuana industry.

That’s led dozens of states to limit or ban certain intoxicating hemp products. Most states also have pushed for federal changes, though some farm states worry the pending federal bill — which the House is expected to vote on as soon as today — goes too far.

A bipartisan group of 39 state attorneys general recently urged Congress to clarify the federal definition of hemp, arguing that the underregulated industry threatens public health and undermines law enforcement.

Texas lawmakers this year approved a strict ban on intoxicating hemp, but that measure was vetoed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. The governor raised constitutional concerns because federal law allowed the products, but he then issued an executive order increasing state agency regulations, including age restrictions.

This summer, Florida regulators seized tens of thousands of packages of hemp products that failed to meet new child protection standards, including child-resistant packaging, marketing restrictions and enhanced labeling rules. In Tallahassee, the state Senate approved a ban on hemp-derived THC products, including beverages, but that measure died in the state House. A similar effort last year was vetoed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who said it would harm small businesses.

Last month, California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation strengthening state enforcement of its ban on intoxicating hemp products. Similarly, Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine declared an emergency last month in an executive order banning intoxicating hemp products for 90 days while lawmakers debate potential legislation.

Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the primary psychoactive component of the cannabis plant. The 39 state attorneys general argue manufacturers are manipulating hemp to produce synthetic THC that can be more intoxicating than marijuana.

“In this way, legal, nonintoxicating hemp is used to make Frankenstein THC products that get adults high and harm and even kill children,” the attorneys general wrote.

Hemp-derived gummies and beverages are sold without consistent age restrictions or labeling regulations and oftentimes resemble candy. During his announcement, DeWine showcased brightly packaged intoxicating hemp products that resembled name-brand candy products.

“Certainly, it’s easy to see how a child will confuse this product with real candy and eat a few gummy bears and ingest enough THC to require hospitalization,” he said, according to the Ohio Capital Journal.

Though it has faced mounting restrictions in the states, the hemp industry says the federal change poses an existential threat.

On Monday, the U.S. Hemp Roundtable said the legislation pending in Congress would wipe out 95% of the nation’s $28.4 billion hemp industry.

“The language will force patients, seniors and veterans who rely on hemp products to break federal criminal law to acquire them,” the trade group posted online.

Jonathan Miller, general counsel for the organization, said the industry has been pushing for regulation rather than outright prohibition. He acknowledged the problem of bad actors, but said those can be addressed with strong regulations like those that exist in Kentucky and Minnesota.

“These are good examples of states that have put together robust regulations. But we need to see that at the federal level, and we’ve been supporting legislation to do that for the last seven years,” he told Stateline.

Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, Kentucky’s senior senator, said he included the hemp measure in the bill to close an unintended legal loophole and that the measure would still allow farmers to grow hemp for fiber, oil and drug trials.

But fellow Kentucky Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul said the move would “eradicate the hemp industry” and could override some state laws. Paul offered an amendment to remove the hemp provision but failed.

The hemp loophole

Hemp derives from the same cannabis species as marijuana, but is legally defined by its lower levels of THC, the psychoactive component of the plant.

While marijuana remains illegal under federal law, Congress sanctioned hemp in the 2018 farm bill to allow an agricultural market for hemp-based textiles, animal feeds and human wellness products centered on cannabidiol, or CBD, products. The farm bill allowed cultivation of hemp plants with a THC concentration of 0.3% or lower by dry weight.

But that threshold has become essentially meaningless, said Katharine Neill Harris, a fellow in drug policy at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

That’s because manufacturers have found ways to convert legal hemp plants into potent forms of synthetic marijuana. Aside from the potential of creating very strong products, she said the process requires the addition of solvents and other ingredients that raise many safety questions.

“With marijuana products, you can get some very potent products,” she said. “But the psychoactive components to THC are naturally occurring. It naturally occurs in that natural amount. You’re not doing a whole bunch of manipulation to increase the potency of the product and adding ingredients.”

Harris has tracked the growing number of states regulating the industry: Six states and the District of Columbia now ban all consumable hemp products with any amount of THC. In 24 states, intoxicating hemp products are permitted, though 15 of those states allow only low-potency products.

But even states with strict regulations still must contend with legal online markets.

“There’s a big part of that activity that you can’t control as a state when something is federally legal, and so that’s one thing that they’re asking for is federal leadership on this issue,” she said. “I think there is a big demand for some sort of industry standards.”

If approved by Congress and signed by the president, as expected, the new hemp legislation will likely have uneven impacts across the states.

For example, the change likely won’t dramatically alter the legal landscape in Alaska, where the regulators have banned all intoxicating hemp products. Marijuana businesses complain those products are still being sold, despite the ban.

But in a state like Nebraska, where lawmakers have been unsuccessful in limiting intoxicating hemp, the change could drastically alter both consumer access and business sales, depending on enforcement.

On Monday, Paul said the federal legislation would wipe away hemp regulations in many states, including Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine and Utah.

“The bill before us nullifies all these state laws,” he said.

‘Running with knives’

The hemp industry has argued that a lot of the opposition to it stems from marijuana businesses looking to protect their own markets, noting that campaigns for restrictions are often more organized in states that have legalized marijuana.

But producers of intoxicating hemp are looking for market access without the associated safety regulations and tax structures states have created for marijuana, argued Chris Lindsey, the director of state advocacy and public policy at the American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp, an organization representing the legal marijuana industry.

“They want to have some kind of regulatory framework that’s somehow different than the one that states already have [for marijuana],” he said.

His organization cheered the Senate’s efforts “to address the dangerous proliferation of unregulated synthetic THC products.”

Lindsey said hemp-derived products can contain contaminants, including pesticides. Many hemp products can be sourced cheaply overseas, he said, and with lax oversight, there is no system to recall tainted products here.

“To me, that’s like running with knives,” he told Stateline.

The Missouri Cannabis Trade Association recently purchased hemp products from gas stations and smoke shops from across the state to test them in an effort to show they need more regulation.

In its “Missouri Hemp Hoax Report,” the organization said independent testing found 53 of the 55 products purchased were actually intoxicating marijuana well above the legal limit of THC. Third-party lab results also showed some of the products contained pesticides and heavy metals.

Those results underscore that the products should face the same rules as legal marijuana does, said Andrew Mullins, president and executive director of the cannabis trade association. State law requires marijuana to be grown and manufactured in Missouri, mandates lab testing and allows for sales only at licensed dispensaries.

“In my mind, if it’s marijuana, which most of this is, then it should be regulated like marijuana,” Mullins said.

He said calling the unregulated products “hemp” is akin to someone selling whiskey and calling it corn: “Everybody is using hemp as a cover to basically sell intoxicating drugs.”

Mullins acknowledged the confusion among policymakers and law enforcement. But he said there are already laws — including those against trafficking marijuana without a license — that could help address the issue.

Catherine Hanaway, a Republican who was sworn in as Missouri’s new attorney general in September, has vowed action on unregulated hemp products, particularly THC beverages that are booming in popularity.

“Our focus is on the health and safety of Missourians,” James Lawson, her deputy chief of staff, told the Missouri Independent last month. “This is an unregulated industry that makes untested, unknown substances available to the public without any oversight, including children where we think it’s particularly detrimental.”

Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at khardy@stateline.org.

©2025 States Newsroom. Visit at stateline.org. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska officials missed a deadline this week granting licenses to marijuana growers as part of a voter-approved measure that legalized medical marijuana, offering the latest example of pushback in Republican-led states against efforts to legalize the drug.

“How many times do we have to go down this road of fighting for our lives?” Lia Post asked through sobs Tuesday to the newly formed Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission as it became clear the body would not meet the Wednesday deadline.

Post lives in eastern Nebraska and suffers from a condition that causes chronic pain in her extremities. Marijuana provides relief from the condition and allows her to avoid addictive opiates.

“There’s no begging left in me,” Post cried during the commission meeting, where three members hand-picked by Republican Gov. Jim Pillen said they had to postpone licensing.

Nebraska Republican leaders from the governor to the state’s attorney general and conservative lawmakers are working to weaken or even kill the new law, despite its overwhelming support at the ballot box.

Most states have legalized some marijuana use

Twenty-four states and Washington, D.C., have legalized recreational marijuana for adults, although some efforts in Florida, North Dakota and South Dakota recently failed at the ballot box. The medical use of marijuana is more accepted and allowed in 40 states and the District of Columbia, including 17 states where voters approved it.

But some Republicans in those states have continued to fight against medical marijuana approved by voters. In South Dakota, a Republican state lawmaker unsuccessfully pushed a bill this year to repeal voter-approved medical marijuana. In Idaho, lawmakers proposed a constitutional amendment that would forbid citizen initiatives to legalize marijuana and instead leave such decisions to the Legislature.

And in Mississippi, the effort to undo a 2020 voter-backed medical marijuana law seems to have gutted that state’s citizen initiative process after the Mississippi Supreme Court voided it, ruling the state’s initiative process is outdated.

Reasons for the pushback appear rooted in the belief that marijuana is a dangerous drug.

Law enforcement has long opposed it as a gateway to other drug use and as a driving-while-intoxicated hazard that can’t be measured in the field by a Breathalyzer. Many cite the federal government’s continued classification of marijuana as a dangerous drug on par with heroin and LSD.

Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies at the Marijuana Policy Project, said polling has shown a majority of Republicans support legalized medical marijuana.

“It’s like a small part of the Republican Party, but some of them are vehemently opposed,” O’Keefe said. “It’s people that bought into reefer madness.”

Unlike marijuana, O’Keefe noted thousands of Americans die annually from prescription opiates and adverse incidents from other drugs.

Nebraska pushback on medical marijuana ‘unique’

The medical marijuana law passed by Nebraska voters in November required that licenses be issued by Wednesday. The reason for the delay? Days earlier, Pillen forced the resignation of the two commission members he hadn’t appointed. They had been tasked with checking the qualifications of cultivator applications.

Pillen has insisted he is not opposed to medical marijuana, but has made several moves that critics say are designed to keep people from accessing it. That includes appointing members to the commission who have publicly opposed legalizing marijuana, even for medical use. Pillen also asked the commission to limit the number of marijuana plants to be licensed for medical use to 1,250 — a number the industry argued is too low to accommodate the number of state residents seeking prescription marijuana.

“The purpose in doing so was to ensure that an overabundance of plants would not saturate the market and lead to the creation of unregulated and potentially illegal sales,” Pillen spokesperson Laura Strimple said.

The new Nebraska commission has so far flouted provisions of the voter initiative — including passing emergency rules that ban smoking, vaping or marijuana edibles for medical use, which are specifically allowed under the law voters passed. The commission has also forbidden flavorings to improve the taste of bitter tinctures and pills that are allowed, has drastically limited the number of growers and dispensaries to be licensed, placed burdensome and expensive continuing education requirements on doctors and restricted the amount and strength of medical marijuana that can be prescribed.

State Attorney General Mike Hilgers has turned to the courts to try to invalidate the ballot initiative, approved by more than 70% of voters.

“I would say Nebraska is unique in the level of hostility of trying to overturn the will of the people,” said O’Keefe with the Marijuana Policy Project.

Attorney general says he’s following the rule of law

Hilgers lost a court battle last year in which he called into question the validity of thousands of signatures gathered to place the question on the November ballot. A former Republican state lawmaker also sued to void the new law, arguing that it violates federal prohibitions against marijuana. He lost that challenge in district court but has appealed to the state Supreme Court.

Hilgers said his legal fights are solely about protecting the rule of law, accusing the petition process of “unprecedented levels of fraud.” So far, the only success Hilgers has had in court is the misdemeanor conviction of a petition circulator accused of forging signatures on petitions.

“Someone cannot justify this wrongdoing by simply pointing to the favorable results on the ballot; if you could, it would create a dangerous precedent for future petition initiatives,” Hilgers said.

But Hilgers has made no secret of his opposition to even limited legalization of marijuana. In a March editorial, he said “marijuana is easily abused and is not safe to consume even under medical supervision.”

Advocates defend will of the people

Crista Eggers, who led the medical marijuana ballot initiative, argued a “black market” thrives when marijuana for medical use is too severely restricted.

“If you are one of the 71% that voted in support of medical cannabis, you should be angry, because the system and the regulatory framework that is coming down from this commission is not at all what voters intended,” she said.

Paul Armentano, of the marijuana advocacy organization NORML, said elected officials in states dominated by one political party count on voter partisanship.

“I can only presume that lawmakers are emboldened to take these steps because, generally, they don’t fear there will be repercussions from the voters at the ballot box,” he said.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — There are thousands of illegal marijuana farms around the country.

But when the federal government decided to stage one of its largest raids since President Donald Trump took office in January, it picked the biggest legal grower in California.

Nearly two weeks later, the reason for the federal raid at two Glass House farm sites northwest of Los Angeles remains unclear and has prompted speculation. Some say the raid was intended to send a chilling message to immigrants in the U.S. illegally — but also to rattle the state’s legal cannabis industry.

Meanwhile, the Republican Trump administration has been feuding with heavily Democratic California over funding for everything from high-speed rail construction to wildfire relief, so it’s also possible Glass House was pulled into a broader conflict between the White House and Sacramento.

“There are plenty of other places they can go to find illegal workers,” said political consultant Adam Spiker, who advises cannabis companies. “A lot of people believe there is a hint of politics in this. It’s federal enforcement coming into California to go after cannabis.”

What happened during the raids?

On July 10, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents executed a search warrant for Glass House’s farms in Carpinteria and Camarillo, court filings show.

At the Camarillo site, armored vehicles blocked the road, which is lined with fields and greenhouses, as masked agents deployed onto the property. One farmworker who fell from a greenhouse roof while running to hide later died from his injuries.

Outside the farm, officers faced off with demonstrators and fired tear gas to disperse them, a federal agent wrote in court filings. One demonstrator threw a gas canister back at Border Patrol officers, according to the agent. Another demonstrator, who is sought by the FBI, appeared to fire a gun.

More than 360 people were arrested, most suspected of being in the country without legal status. Those arrested included four U.S. citizens, including U.S. Army veteran George Retes, 25, who works as a security guard and was held for three days.

The operation came more than a month into an extended crackdown across Southern California that was originally centered in Los Angeles, where local officials say the federal actions are spreading fear in immigrant communities.

Why Glass House?

No cannabis was seized and the criminal search warrants used to enter the farm sites are under court seal. Authorities refused to share them with The Associated Press.

The government said the business was being investigated for potential child labor, human trafficking and other abuses. Agents found 14 children at one site. No information has been released about the minors.

The company has not been charged.

Federal and state laws allow children as young as 12 to work in agriculture under certain conditions, though no one under age 21 is allowed to work in the cannabis industry.

Company officials did not respond to calls or emails. In a brief statement on the social platform X, Glass House said it complied with immigration and naturalization warrants and “has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors.”

Some believe the raid was aimed at the legal marijuana market

After the raid, United Farm Workers — the country’s biggest farm worker union — posted an urgent message to its social media accounts warning that because marijuana is illegal under federal law, workers who are not U.S. citizens should avoid jobs in the cannabis industry, including state-licensed facilities.

“We know this is unfair,” it said, “but we encourage you to protect yourself and your family.”

Industry experts point to unwelcome publicity the company received after rival Catalyst Cannabis Co. filed a 2023 lawsuit alleging that Glass House “has become one of the largest, if not the largest, black marketers of cannabis in the state of California.” The lawsuit, formally filed by Catalyst parent 562 Discount Med Inc., was dismissed last year but the headlines might have drawn the interest of federal investigators.

Who runs the Glass House farm sites?

The company was co-founded by Kyle Kazan, a former Southern California police officer and special education teacher turned cannabis investor, and Graham Farrar, a Santa Barbara tech entrepreneur.

Glass House started growing cannabis in a greenhouse in Carpinteria in Santa Barbara County when once-thriving cut flower operations were being reduced. It later bought property in Camarillo in neighboring Ventura County for $93 million that had six greenhouses and was being used to grow tomatoes and cucumbers.

To date, two of the greenhouses have been converted to grow cannabis. Workers’ relatives said tomatoes are still being grown in other greenhouses at the location.

How did Glass House do it?

The raids have put the spotlight on a company that is alternately admired and reviled because of its meteoric rise in the nation’s largest legal market.

Glass House is the state’s biggest legal cultivator, dwarfing its nearest rivals. Glass House Farms is part of the broader company Glass House Brands, which has other businesses that make cannabis products.

“There is no farmer in California that can compete with them at scale,” Sacramento-based cannabis consultant Sam Rodriguez said.

Many legal operators have struggled despite the passage of Proposition 64 in 2016 — which was seen as a watershed moment in the push to legitimize and tax California’s multibillion-dollar marijuana industry. In 2018, when retail outlets could open, California became the world’s largest legal marketplace.

But operators faced heavy taxes, seven-figure start-up costs and for many consumers, the tax-free illegal market remained a better deal.

But as other companies folded, Glass House took off, fueling envy and suspicion by rivals over its boom at a time when much of the state’s legal market was in crisis, in large part because of competition from the robust underground market.

In a recent call with investors, Kazan said company revenue in the first quarter hit $45 million — up 49% over the same period last year. He said he remained hopeful for a federal shift that would end marijuana’s classification as a Schedule I drug, alongside heroin and LSD.

But “we are a company that does not require federal legalization for survival,” Kazan said.

Glass House’s sales grew as many others around the state declined.

“I remain steadfast in the belief that it is not if but when the cannabis industry becomes America’s next massive normalized industry, and I’m excited to participate along with investors in the corresponding reward that that change will bring,” he said.

Benjamin Han, a geriatrician and addiction medicine specialist at the University of California, San Diego, tells his students a cautionary tale about a 76-year-old patient who, like many older people, struggled with insomnia.

“She had problems falling asleep, and she’d wake up in the middle of the night,” he said. “So her daughter brought her some sleep gummies” — edible cannabis candies.

“She tried a gummy after dinner and waited half an hour,” Han said.

Feeling no effects, she took another gummy, then one more — a total of four over several hours.

Han advises patients who are trying cannabis to “start low; go slow,” beginning with products that contain just 1 or 2.5 milligrams of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the psychoactive ingredient that many cannabis products contain. Each of the four gummies this patient took, however, contained 10 milligrams.

The woman started experiencing intense anxiety and heart palpitations. A young person might have shrugged off such symptoms, but this patient had high blood pressure and atrial fibrillation, a heart arrhythmia. Frightened, she went to an emergency room.

Lab tests and a cardiac work-up determined the woman wasn’t having a heart attack, and the staff sent her home. Her only lingering symptom was embarrassment, Han said. But what if she’d grown dizzy or lightheaded and was hurt in a fall? He said he has had patients injured in falls or while driving after using cannabis. What if the cannabis had interacted with the prescription drugs she took?

“As a geriatrician, it gives me pause,” Han said. “Our brains are more sensitive to psychoactive substances as we age.”

Thirty-nine states and the District of Columbia now allow cannabis use for medical reasons, and in 24 of those states, as well as the district, recreational use is also legal. As older adults’ use climbs, “the benefits are still unclear,” Han said. “But we’re seeing more evidence of potential harms.”

A wave of recent research points to reasons for concern for older users, with cannabis-related emergency room visits and hospitalizations rising, and a Canadian study finding an association between such acute care and subsequent dementia. Older people are more apt than younger ones to try cannabis for therapeutic reasons: to relieve chronic pain, insomnia, or mental health issues, though evidence of its effectiveness in addressing those conditions remains thin, experts said.

In an analysis of national survey data published June 2 in the medical journal JAMA, Han and his colleagues reported that “current” cannabis use (defined as use within the previous month) had jumped among adults age 65 or older to 7% of respondents in 2023, from 4.8% in 2021. In 2005, he pointed out, fewer than 1% of older adults reported using cannabis in the previous year.

What’s driving the increase? Experts cite the steady march of state legalization — use by older people is highest in those states — while surveys show that the perceived risk of cannabis use has declined. One national survey found that a growing proportion of American adults — 44% in 2021 — erroneously thought it safer to smoke cannabis daily than cigarettes. The authors of the study, in JAMA Network Open, noted that “these views do not reflect the existing science on cannabis and tobacco smoke.”

The cannabis industry also markets its products to older adults. The Trulieve chain gives a 10% discount, both in stores and online, to those it calls “wisdom” customers, 55 or older. Rise Dispensaries ran a yearlong cannabis education and empowerment program for two senior centers in Paterson, New Jersey, including field trips to its dispensary.

The industry has many satisfied older customers. Liz Logan, 67, a freelance writer in Bronxville, New York, had grappled with sleep problems and anxiety for years, but the conditions grew particularly debilitating two years ago, as her husband was dying of Parkinson’s disease. “I’d frequently be awake until 5 or 6 in the morning,” she said. “It makes you crazy.”

Looking online for edible cannabis products, Logan found that gummies containing cannabidiol, known as CBD, alone didn’t help, but those with 10 milligrams of THC did the trick without noticeable side effects. “I don’t worry about sleep anymore,” she said. “I’ve solved a lifelong problem.”

But studies in the United States and Canada, which legalized nonmedical cannabis use for adults nationally in 2018, show climbing rates of cannabis-related health care use among older people, both in outpatient settings and in hospitals.

In California, for instance, cannabis-related emergency room visits by those 65 or older rose, to 395 per 100,000 visits in 2019 from about 21 in 2005. In Ontario, acute care (meaning emergency visits or hospital admissions) resulting from cannabis use increased fivefold in middle-aged adults from 2008 to 2021, and more than 26 times among those 65 and up.

“It’s not reflective of everyone who’s using cannabis,” cautioned Daniel Myran, an investigator at the Bruyère Health Research Institute in Ottawa and lead author of the Ontario study. “It’s capturing people with more severe patterns.”

But since other studies have shown increased cardiac risk among some cannabis users with heart disease or diabetes, “there’s a number of warning signals,” he said.

For example, a disturbing proportion of older veterans who currently use cannabis screen positive for cannabis use disorder, a recent JAMA Network Open study found.

As with other substance use disorders, such patients “can tolerate high amounts,” said the lead author, Vira Pravosud, a cannabis researcher at the Northern California Institute for Research and Education. “They continue using even if it interferes with their social or work or family obligations” and may experience withdrawal if they stop.

Among 4,500 older veterans (with an average age of 73) seeking care at Department of Veterans Affairs health facilities, researchers found that more than 10% had reported cannabis use within the previous 30 days. Of those, 36% fit the criteria for mild, moderate, or severe cannabis use disorder, as established in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

VA patients differ from the general population, Pravosud noted. They are much more likely to report substance misuse and have “higher rates of chronic diseases and disabilities, and mental health conditions like PTSD” that could lead to self-medication, she said.

Current VA policies don’t require clinicians to ask patients about cannabis use. Pravosud thinks that they should.

Moreover, “there’s increasing evidence of a potential effect on memory and cognition,” said Myran, citing his team’s study of Ontario patients with cannabis-related conditions going to emergency departments or being admitted to hospitals.

Compared with others of the same age and sex who were seeking care for other reasons, research shows these patients (ages 45 to 105) had 1.5 times the risk of a dementia diagnosis within five years, and 3.9 times the risk of that for the general population.

Even after adjusting for chronic health conditions and sociodemographic factors, those seeking acute care resulting from cannabis use had a 23% higher dementia risk than patients with noncannabis-related ailments, and a 72% higher risk than the general population.

None of these studies were randomized clinical trials, the researchers pointed out; they were observational and could not ascertain causality. Some cannabis research doesn’t specify whether users are smoking, vaping, ingesting or rubbing topical cannabis on aching joints; other studies lack relevant demographic information.

“It’s very frustrating that we’re not able to provide more individual guidance on safer modes of consumption, and on amounts of use that seem lower-risk,” Myran said. “It just highlights that the rapid expansion of regular cannabis use in North America is outpacing our knowledge.”

Still, given the health vulnerabilities of older people, and the far greater potency of current cannabis products compared with the weed of their youth, he and other researchers urge caution.

“If you view cannabis as a medicine, you should be open to the idea that there are groups who probably shouldn’t use it and that there are potential adverse effects from it,” he said. “Because that is true of all medicines.”

©2025 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

A study from travel tips website Upgraded Points uncovered which cities in the United States are best for cannabis-friendly travel.

The study used data that included where marijuana is legal, the number of premium dispensaries, and unique experiences to create a list of destinations with the highest cannabis vacation appeal.

Denver, Colorado, leads the way with a 32% increase in weed-friendly accommodations since 2022, and boasts 48 dispensaries and ample guided cannabis tours. Portland, Oregon, finished in second with affordable lodging at just $161 per night, a 20% boost in dispensary access, and some of the nation’s lowest weed prices.

Rounding out the top five weed-friendly destinations in the U.S. are Boulder, Colorado; Missoula, Montana; and Burlington, Vermont, all of which reported ample cannabis options for travelers.

“Cannabis travelers are looking for an atmosphere where relaxation, adventure, and good vibes go hand in hand,” Upgraded Points editor-in-chief Keri Stooksbury said.

“With more states legalizing recreational marijuana, Upgraded Points updated its 2022 report to take a fresh look at the best destinations for a cannabis vacation,” Stooksbury continued. “From dispensary density to the cost of cannabis in general, we’re hoping to help you plan the ultimate ‘canna-cation.’”

Marijuana has been recently legalized in several prime vacation destinations, so Upgraded Points also ranked new smoke spots as well. Missoula, Montana, earns the top spot, while Cleveland, Ohio, broke into the top 10 after legalizing weed in 2023.

Arizona has more cities in the top 10 than any other state, since Scottsdale (No. 2), Tucson (No. 4), and Phoenix (No. 10) all made the list.

©2025 Northstar Travel Media, LLC. Visit at travelpulse.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

NEW YORK (AP) — Teen drug use hasn’t rebounded from its drop during the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the results from a large annual national survey released Tuesday.

About two-thirds of 12th graders this year said they hadn’t used alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes or e-cigarettes in the previous 30 days. That’s the largest proportion abstaining since the annual survey started measuring abstinence in 2017.

Among 10th graders, 80% said they hadn’t used any of those substances recently, another record. Among 8th graders, 90% didn’t use any of them, the same as was reported in the previous survey.

The only significant increase occurred in nicotine pouches. About 6% of 12th graders saying they’d used them in the previous year, up from about 3% in 2023.

Whether that has the makings of a new public health problem is unclear. The University of Michigan’s Richard Miech, who leads the survey, said: “It’s hard to know if we’re seeing the start of something, or not.”

The federally funded Monitoring the Future survey has been operating since 1975. This year’s findings are based on responses from about 24,000 students in grades 8, 10 and 12 in schools across the country. The survey is “one of the best, if not the best” source of national data for substance use by teens, said Noah Kreski, a Columbia University researcher who has studied teen drug use.

Early in the pandemic, students across the country were told not to go to schools and to avoid parties or other gatherings. They were at home, under parents’ supervision. Alcohol and drug use of all kinds dropped because experimentation tends to occur with friends, spurred by peer pressure, experts say.

As lockdowns ended, “I think everyone expected at least a partial rebound,” Miech said.

Even before the pandemic, there were longstanding declines in teen cigarette smoking, drinking and use of several types of drugs. Experts theorized that kids were staying home and communicating on smartphones rather than hanging out in groups, where they sometimes tried illicit substances.

But marijuana use wasn’t falling before the pandemic. And vaping was on the upswing. It was only during the pandemic that those two saw enduring declines, too.

Some experts wonder if the pandemic lockdowns had a deeper influence.

Miech noted that a lot of teens who experiment with e-cigarettes or drugs start in the 9th grade, sometimes because older adolescents are doing it. But the kids who were 9th graders during the lockdowns never picked up the habit, and never had the opportunity to turn into negative influencers of their younger classmates, he said.

“The pandemic stopped the cycle of new kids coming in and being recruited to drug use,” Miech said.

Mental health may also be a factor. There were increased reports of depression and anxiety in kids after the pandemic began. Depression is often associated with substance use, but some people with depression and anxiety are very wary of messing with drugs, said Dr. Duncan Clark, a University of Pittsburgh psychiatrist who researches substance use in kids.

“Some teens with anxiety are worried about the effects of substances. They may also be socially inhibited and have less opportunity to use drugs,” Clark said. “It’s a complicated relationship.”

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

“Sand City has a lot of projects going on and while this has been a priority, it hasn’t been at the top of our list,” said City Manager Vibeke Norgaard.

Nearby Del Rey Oaks led the way in 2015 when it opened Monterey County’s first cannabis dispensary.

The Sand City City Council will open a public hearing at its meeting Tuesday with a first reading of an ordinance dictating commercial cannabis uses among other aspects of allowing such businesses within its city limits.

Sand City was awarded a Cannabis Retail Access Grant of $115,000 from the State of California Department of Cannabis Control in October 2023, and received notification of approved contract documents – a revised budget and schedule – in August 2024, receiving the fully executed grant agreement last week.

The Department of Cannabis Control will now distribute $80,000 to the city of Sand City, which is 80% of the city’s award, according to city documents. The remaining 20% of the award and $15,000 of equity bonus funding, will be distributed after the city has established the cannabis retail licensing program and cannabis retail equity program. Expenses may be incurred until June 2026.

Equity bonus funding is included in the grant to enable the city to hire a contractor to assist social equity applicants, says a staff report from City Manager Vibeke Norgaard and Brian Foucht, contract planner, EMC Planning Group. Such applicants are defined as individuals who meet two of the following three criteria: (1) Low-Income; (2) a prior California Cannabis Arrest or Conviction; (3) ten years’ cumulative residency in a Disproportionately Impacted Area.

“Grant funds are used to prepare and adopt the ordinance and procedures,” said Norgaard. “$15,000 are to be used to assist equity applicants. Grant funds may not be used to administer the program and are only for the purpose of establishing the ordinance, procedures and to assist equity applicants.”

Commercial and medicinal cannabis businesses are currently prohibited within the city of Sand City, along with the cities of Carmel, Gonzales, Pacific Grove and Soledad. Retail sales of medical cannabis only are allowed in the city of Monterey. The County of Monterey allows commercial and medical cannabis to be sold in its unincorporated areas.

“Dispensaries are now commonplace all over California,” said Norgaard. “If a business were to approach Sand City to open a retail facility, the city wants to be prepared to entertain it.”

In 2021 the Sand City City Council directed its staff to prepare a draft Commercial Cannabis Ordinance, after extensive consideration at City Council meetings, a community survey, resident mailings and the community stakeholder workshop. An initial draft ordinance was provided to the City Council in April 2022.

The revised draft ordinance incorporates the City Council’s prior direction to limit the allowable areas in which to place cannabis retail businesses to the city’s shopping centers, and limit the ordinance to allow retail of cannabis and not allow manufacturing of cannabis related products, according to the staff report. It also includes city standards for permitting and operation of licensed Commercial Cannabis Business uses and seeks to ensure the public health and safety and, at the same time, streamline the city’s process.

Norgaard said the City Council has directed the ordinance to limit the number of storefront retail cannabis businesses to two, and can only be in the regional shopping centers – the Sand Dollar Center and the Edgewater Shopping Center.

Sand City is at least 10 months away from its first cannabis retail store opening.

“If approved by the Council for the first reading (Tuesday) night and adopted in November, the ordinance will take effect in December,” said Norgaard. “The city will need to adopt procedures and develop a process for selection of eligible retailers.”

Norgaard said that after that, it will take about 60 to 90 days for a selected retailer to obtain a city conditional use permit, then another 4 to 6 months to obtain a State License.

“And after that, the licensee would have to obtain an administrative operator permit and business license from the city,” said Norgaard. “This involves a building permit plan check for tenant improvements and final occupancy approval from the building department, planning, fire, and police department inspections for tenant improvements. This could take 30 to 45 days.”