For the Culture By The Culture. ISSN: 3064-9331.
Singapore still executes people for cannabis under its decades-old Misuse of Drugs Act. Officials call it deterrence. Critics call it fear. With public approval topping 90 percent, reformers face a government that equates mercy with weakness. This is a nation that kills for control and calls it safety.
Ohio rewrites its legalization law before it even starts, Wisconsin offers fake reform, and Massachusetts keeps spinning its regulatory wheels. The FDA pretends to act on CBD while the European Union adds new walls around its market. Reefer Report Card Vol. 20 grades another week of confusion, contradiction, and missed opportunities in global cannabis reform.
The Netherlands is finally confronting its cannabis hypocrisy. After decades of letting coffee shops sell weed sourced from the black market, the Dutch government is expanding a state-run program that licenses legal growers. The plan could eliminate contamination, crush the illicit trade, and restore integrity to the nation that once sold the world on tolerance but never practiced it.
This week’s Reefer Report Card tracks chaos in Texas, Ohio, and Nebraska, plus international heat checks. Texas failed to ban hemp but criminalized vapes, Ohio towns blocked shops despite legalization, and Nebraska strangled access before patients got medicine. Switzerland moves toward retail while Thailand’s new prime minister brings cannabis reform back into focus.
Ed Rosenthal is taking the fight for cannabis reform to India, where centuries of cultural and spiritual connection to the plant were erased by prohibition. From preserving rare landrace genetics to pushing for re-legalization and hosting an All India Cannabis Convention, Rosenthal’s mission is clear: restore a legacy, ignite innovation, and help India reclaim its rightful place in global cannabis culture.
Google’s Canadian pilot program allowing cannabis ads exposes the deep hypocrisy in U.S. policy. While alcohol and gambling flood media, cannabis remains censored, costing legal businesses billions and reinforcing stigma. This shift could signal the start of global change.
