This is WeedWeek, because cannabis news matters. 

Like WeedWeek on Facebook ,  follow it on Instagram  and Twitter  and share it with the link  weedweek.net . Subscribers’ names and contact info are confidential. You can also  follow me on Twitter .

List  your conferences, festivals and parties  for free on the site. Check out those upcoming events here .

Would you appreciate a WeedWeek regional supplement with more news from California and/or Canada ? Or more news about the opioid crisis ? Sign up at the appropriate link.

Want to advertise in WeedWeek? Contact Adrienne Nascimento at [email protected].

Consider supporting WeedWeek with a monthly contribution on Patreon.. Swag and discounts start at $2 a month. Brandbuilding opportunities start at $50 a month.

My heart goes out to everyone affected by hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Go to Red Cross to support relief efforts.

Here's the news:

Politics

GOP Congressional leadership will block a House vote on continuing the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment (previously Rohrabacher-Farr), which prevents the Justice Department from going after state-legal MED businesses. A failure to renew the amendment would be a major victory for anti-cannabis Attorney General Jeff Sessions (R).  

Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) wrote a Washington Post op-ed to support his amendment and pleaded for a vote in committee.

Trump confidant Roger Stone threatened to sue the Cannabis World Congress & Business Exposition for $1M, after it dropped him as a speaker during an upcoming Los Angeles event. The Minority Cannabis Business Association and other groups were boycotting the event on account of Stone’s history of racially charged remarks. For more see here .

L. A. city councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson is calling on the city to recruit minority cannabis entrepreneurs , create cannabis business incubators for them and do more to promote people of color in the industry.

California may allow growers and sellers to pool their licenses and operate at the same location. A California effort to ban pot advertising on clothing fell short. A group of California’s Native American tribes is signalling interest in the green rush. New Cannabis Ventures hosted a California cannabusiness roundtable on where things are headed..

The new Massachusetts cannabis commissioner, businessman Steven Hoffman, sought to convince critics that he supports REC. Four of the five Massachusetts commissioners opposed last year’s REC vote. It’s not clear if the commission has enough money to carry out its mission.

Boston mayor Marty Walsh (D), who opposed the REC vote, is welcoming dispensaries into the city.

Ontario dispensaries will be run by the province , the way liquor stores are in several Canadian provinces.

Candidates in Tennessee’s 2018 gubernatorial race have differing views on legalization. Liberal candidates in Minnesota’s 2018 gubernatorial race mostly favor legal REC .

Cannabis professionals are running for seats in the Illinois and California legislatures and the New York City Council, among other posts.

Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) said he won’t legalize pot or casino gambling to close the state’s $40 billion pension debt.

Clark County banned pot possession and advertising at the Las Vegas airport. Las Vegas suburb Henderson, Nevada’s second largest city, allowed REC dispensaries .

Alaska has three upcoming local elections on banning cannabis businesses .

German chancellor candidate Martin Schulz, head of the liberal Social Democrat party, said he favors a national referendum on legalization, but did not say how if he would vote. In the polls, he trails incumbent conservative Angela Merkel.

Business

Canadian MED companies are plotting “global domination .”

Canopy Growth, Canada’s largest producer, is doubling production . Toronto-based MED producer Cronos Group has a new partnership to grow cannabis on a kibbutz in Israel for export. British Columbia-based Tilray will invest C$30M to build a grow in northern Portugal and export product across the European Union.

Toronto’s Globe and Mail spoke to Canadian edible companies .

The Baltimore Sun meets some Maryland cannabis companies.

New Cannabis Ventures says the existing cannabis stock funds are “ poorly structured ” which helps account for their poor performance. The site also finds Sunset Island Group insiders made $3M off an $11,000 investment through a stock sale. NCV had previously expressed concerns about the company.

Following its acquisition of High Times, Oreva Publishing acquired Here Publishing which owns gay-oriented publications Out and The Advocate. The company, which is rebranding itself Pride Media, and has plans to go public, wants to acquire brands that have “strong emotional ties with a community.”

Denver-based cannabis law firm Hoban Law Group, is claiming the first nationally-run tv ad for a cannabis related service.

A industry study is bullish on concentrates and vapes in California , but predicts a contraction in the flower market.

A Washington broker seeks to bundle a dozen dispensaries in the state and sell them for $70M.

An anonymous survey conducted by Marijuana Business Daily found 17% of cannabis executives are racial minorities. [Editor’s note: After three years covering this industry I’d estimate the figure is more like 2% or 3%.]

Detroit dispensary Buds R Us received a trademark infringement letter from Toys R Us. I wrote about the Gorilla Glue infringement case for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Stanford psychiatry professor Keith Humphreys explains why legalization has sent cannabis prices plunging .

Some in the Dallas business community are interested in cannabis. Meanwhile, Texas’ CBD oil law may be unworkable .

Colorado-based edibles brand Incredibles is expanding to Puerto Rico .

All four cities The New York Times named as the most likely to win Amazon's new second headquarters -- Denver, Boston, Portland and D.C. -- have legal REC.

Rolling Stone meets six women shaping the industry .

Alaska’s “Made in Alaska” promotional campaign will allow cannabis businesses to use its logo.