New York magazine asks whether Joe Biden’s “fringe views” on legalization could get President Trump re-elected. The top-tier candidate recently said he supports a state’s right to legalize, but he wants a lot more research into whether weed is a gateway drug before national legalization. He proposes making cannabis a schedule three drug to facilitate research, a move that could make life miserable for the industry.
Cannabist (R.I.P.)

In New York, journalist Eric Levitz argues “Salt-of-the-earth Americans in flyover country want big government to keep its hands off their bongs.” I’ve similarly said no politician wants to be the one who takes away the people’s weed, but Levitz has lots more charts to make the case.
Slate

At this week’s Democratic debate in Atlanta, Biden was enough of an outlier that lagging candidate Sen. Cory Booker, (N.J.) joked he thought Biden “might have been high” when he expressed his views on legalization.

However, the race’s dynamic could change now that former New York City Mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg said he would run and placed a huge $30M+ ad buy. In January Bloomberg called legalizing marijuana “perhaps the stupidest thing anybody has ever done.“
AP, The Hill

A bill to legalize kratom could be introduced in Colorado’s 2020 legislative session. Some users believe the plant, which is native to Southeast Asia, relieves their pain and helps them kick opioids. But it faces questions about its own safety and addictive potential.

In more other drug news, more U.S. seniors are getting curious about ayahuasca.
N.Y. Times

Beleaguered media brand High Times will cut back its print edition from monthly to quarterly as it searches for a cash infusion.

As Nevada faces several lawsuits related to the fairness of its application process, a state audit concluded the process was imperfect but “adequate, and conditional licenses were granted to more qualified applicants.”
Las Vegas Review Journal

Other regional news…

China, where the cannabis plant originated, remains adamantly opposed to REC legalization, and trafficking can carry the death penalty. But the country is bullish on hemp, the WSJ reports:

The heart of these efforts is in Yunnan in southwestern China, the first province to make it legal to farm cannabis on an industrial scale. Here, farmers have planted vast plots of hemp that tower above their heads and stretch for miles. In the fall, those leaves and flowers are hand-harvested, sun-dried and turned into CBD powders and oils for export.

Meanwhile stateside, at Medium, there’s an interesting piece about the lengths farmers go to to ensure their hemp crop is below 0.3% THC. Crops that fail the test are considered “hot” and have to be destroyed at the grower’s expense.

With less than two months before REC goes on sale, major players Cresco Labs and PharmaCann secured some of the most desireable REC dispensary locations in downtown Chicago.
Chicago Sun-Times

The Illinois legislature passed a bill to smooth the upcoming REC rollout. It included a ban on lawmakers or their immediate families from owning a stake in a cannabis company for two years after leaving office.
Capitol News Illinois

An NYU study found problematic teen pot use rose 25%, from 2.18% to 2.72%, in states with legal shops.
Business Insider

Related: The Boston Globe looks at the uptick in cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome. “It’s honestly hell,” says cannabis P.R. Pro Alice Moon, who stopped consuming cannabis after vomiting for 16 days straight.

Since the House passed the SAFE Banking Act in September, all eyes have been on Senate Banking Committee Chair Mike Crapo (R-Id.). He seems to get the rationale for allowing the industry to access banks, but as Matt Laslo reports at Wikileaf, Crapo might want to tackle issues such as product safety and money laundering as well, which would likely slow the bill’s passage through the Senate.

MedMen and (WeedWeek advertiser) Flow Kana became the two latest prominent California brands to lay off staff.

Canada’s major players reported earnings this week and Canopy Growth revealed a big loss on the quarter. It’s stock fell as much as 17%. ????WW Canada has more.
CNBC

At Forbes, commentator Mike Adams goes so far as to discuss reasons why legalization seems to be failing. “It’s hard to argue that marijuana legalization is working,” he writes. “It should be, but the scene is just too convoluted.”

But at New Cannabis Ventures, analyst Alan Brochstein sees some reasons for optimism.

Quick Hit