Authorities shut down Red Hook smoke shop over alleged illegal cannabis sales

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This article was adapted from an original report published on news.google.com. All rights belong to the original publisher.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) — Memphis police say a man is dead and two others are critically injured after a Saturday night shooting in Frayser.

The shooting occurred around 10:30 p.m. near a smoke shop on Frayser Boulevard near Ardmore Street.

When officers arrived, they found three men who had been shot. One was pronounced dead at the scene; the other two were taken to the hospital in critical condition.

Preliminary information indicates a disturbance took place inside the store before the shooting. That altercation involved two of the victims and two unidentified men. The two unidentified men then left the scene.

Officers describe one of the men who fled as wearing all black clothing and the other as wearing a blue shirt.

Anyone with information should call Crimestoppers at 901-528-CASH with tips.

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This article was adapted from an original report published on actionnews5.com. All rights belong to the original publisher.

Huntington vape shop owner and employee arrested for selling marijuana, THC products

Local authorities arrested the owner and an employee of a Huntington vape shop after they were found selling marijuana and THC products, according to News 12 Long Island.

The hemp industry is bracing for layoffs, production cuts and billions in lost revenue after Congress slipped a surprise provision into a government funding bill late Wednesday that would ban nearly all hemp-derived consumer products.

Hemp, a form of the cannabis plant, was legalized for industrial uses such as rope, textiles and seed by the 2018 Farm Bill. But that law’s broad definition opened a loophole in federal THC rules, experts say, letting producers extract psychoactive cannabinoids from federally legal hemp. Companies used that gap to flood the market with gummies, drinks and vapes that can produce a marijuana-like high.

The new ban, tacked onto legislation that ended the longest shutdown in U.S. history, outlaws products containing more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container. Industry executives warn that threshold will wipe out roughly 95% of the $28 billion hemp retail market when it takes effect in a year. For context, a single hemp gummy typically contains 2.5 to 10 milligrams of THC, according to the Journal of Cannabis Research. “We have lost the battle this time,” said Jonathan Miller, general counsel for the U.S. Hemp Roundtable. “In effect, this is a total, all out, complete ban on hemp products in the United States.”

Cannabis beer and other cannabis-infused drinks were featured at a “Mary Jane” hemp trade fair. (Monika Skolimowska | Picture Alliance | Getty Images)

The 0.4-milligram cap replaces the 2018 Farm Bill’s definition of hemp, which was based on THC concentration and allowed products with less than 0.3% THC by weight rather than a hard total-amount limit. “We have a year to figure this out but in the meantime you could see losses across the industry if we can’t,” Miller said.

More than 300,000 jobs tied to the hemp economy are at risk, according to Whitney Economics — from farmers and extractors to manufacturers, logistics firms and retailers. The fallout could ripple into land use, contracted acreage and equipment financing, as farmers who scaled up hemp cultivation after 2018 could suddenly face canceled or restructured contracts, said Michael Gorenstein, CEO of Cronos Group. States with the most hemp infrastructure, including Kentucky, Texas and Utah, are likely to see the steepest economic pain, hemp executives said. “There’s a lot of the small retailers, small businesses and farmers that are relying on hemp sales to survive,” Gorenstein told CNBC. “It’s going to create a lot of pressure when they start losing business, losing jobs and losing crops.”

The crackdown marks a dramatic reversal from 2018, when Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., championed hemp legalization to create a new national agricultural commodity and economic driver for Kentucky. After the bill passed, the lack of federal rules produced a patchwork market with documented safety problems — from mislabeled and untested products to items with potency rivalling recreational marijuana, government officials and industry experts say.

McConnell and other Republicans argue the new restriction “restores the original intent” of the Farm Bill. Closing the loophole, McConnell has said, is key to protecting his agriculture-policy legacy before his retirement next year. “This was his [McConnell’s] signature law, the hemp law, and he wanted to correct it,” Boris Jordan, CEO of Curaleaf, told CNBC. “Usually the Senate will back a retiring senator, particularly someone as senior as him, as their last action. This was a request by him at the last minute.”

Not all Republicans agree. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul has sparred with colleagues for months over hemp and blasted the provision as an overreach that is “killing jobs and crushing farmers,” warning that “every hemp seed in the country will have to be destroyed.” “This is the most thoughtless, ignorant proposal to an industry that I’ve seen in a long, long time,” Paul said after the ban was passed.

In a July 5, 2018 photo, then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell inspected a piece of hemp at a processing plant in Louisville, Ky., after leading the push to legalize hemp. (AP Photo | Bruce Schreiner)

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This article was adapted from an original report published on cnbc.com. All rights belong to the original publisher.

Tobacco conference to weigh up stubbing out cigarette butts

An estimated 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are littered every year.

GENEVA — Next week’s global tobacco-control conference will take up the growing environmental toll of discarded cigarette filters — and some delegates will push to ban them entirely.

“The best thing that we could see for the environment is getting rid of filters altogether,” Andrew Black, acting head of the secretariat of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), said Thursday.

Plastic cigarette filters are the world’s most common litter, the FCTC secretariat said, leaching toxic chemicals, breaking down into microplastics and doing little for smokers’ safety.

The 11th conference of the parties to the FCTC runs in Geneva from Nov. 17-22.

The WHO warned Wednesday that the tobacco industry is trying to infiltrate and undermine the meeting.

Litter and pollution

Black said the conference will examine the environmental damage caused by tobacco products. “An estimated 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are littered each year worldwide, making them the most common form of litter on the planet,” he told reporters. “These discarded butts are toxic and a significant source of plastic pollution, due to their filters, which do not biodegrade.”

He added that plastic filters “don’t provide any meaningful increase in the safety of cigarettes.”

Rudiger Krech, the WHO’s environment and climate change chief, said it was “high time to ban those plastics… because they are the highest pollutants in waters” and are “contaminated also with toxicants,” he told a press conference.

Ultimately, countries will decide what measures to adopt. Around 180 states have ratified the FCTC, which took effect in 2005 and introduced measures such as picture warnings on packs, smoke-free laws and higher taxes.

Death toll

Black warned the conference’s decisions will shape the trajectory of the global tobacco epidemic for generations. He said more than seven million deaths a year are attributable to tobacco — an “entirely preventable” toll.

Other agenda items include the “aggressive marketing” of tobacco products and concerns that new formats are drawing children into addiction. The WHO’s first global estimate of e-cigarette use puts vapers at more than 100 million people, including at least 15 million teens aged 13 to 15.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “Although e-cigarettes are often promoted as safer alternatives to conventional tobacco products, there is no evidence of their net benefit for public health — but mounting evidence of their harm.”

Infiltration attempts

Tedros said Wednesday the tobacco industry is driven by “one thing only: generating profit.” “We are aware of attempts by the tobacco industry to infiltrate and undermine” the conference, he told journalists.

Benn McGrady, head of the WHO’s public health law and policies unit, said the industry is “lobbying like crazy” and “trying to sow division.” He warned that new products are being marketed as harm-reduction consumer goods but feature elements “specifically attractive to children,” such as bright colours and sweet flavours.

Pointing to an “alarming rise in use among children” of e-cigarettes, McGrady said the industry is launching products on social media — “spaces in which children and young people shape their identities.”

The WHO is calling for comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, including for e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches.

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This article was adapted from an original report published on bangkokpost.com. All rights belong to the original publisher.

Clown‑clad thieves file out of a single car before heist

President Trump signed a funding bill this week to end the government shutdown — but Forbes and other industry observers say a hidden amendment in that legislation could upend the nation’s $28 billion hemp industry. The change rewrites the federal definition of hemp and, after a 12‑month grace period, would effectively outlaw most hemp‑derived THC products, including the fast‑growing market for THC beverages and edibles.

Since the 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp and its derivatives, intoxicating hemp products have spread nationwide, sold online and in mainstream stores without the regulatory limits applied to marijuana. The new amendment closes that gap by banning synthetic cannabinoid conversion (for example, CBD‑to‑THC processing) and imposing a THC cap of 0.4 mg per package — a threshold far below what nearly all current hemp products contain. Many products contain at least 5 mg per package, and some reach as high as 1,000 mg.

“This is an extinction‑level event for the CBD products industry, and the greater hemp and hemp beverage industry,” said Jim Higdon, cofounder of Louisville‑based Cornbread Hemp. “If we can’t stop it, and we don’t pivot, it will destroy our business. Every product that we make currently will become a Schedule I narcotic when it is implemented.”

Industry leaders — from beverage makers to multistate cannabis operators — warn the change would wipe out companies built around hemp‑derived THC and say they will lobby aggressively for revised rules during the one‑year window. The amendment has also sparked political friction: Senator Mitch McConnell, who helped lead the 2018 push to legalize hemp, is now spearheading efforts to restrict intoxicating hemp products amid growing worries about youth exposure.

“Mitch McConnell, the man who gave us the seeds to grow hemp, now wants to burn the crop and salt the ground,” said Thomas Winstanley, executive vice president of Georgia‑based Edibles.com. “[We see] it as not one year to ban, it’s one year to regulate. We do not see this as the end. The clock started, but there’s still runway for better policy here. It was a tough battle to lose, but it’s not the end of the war.”

For now, the amendment sets a steep deadline and a high stakes fight over the future of hemp‑derived THC products. Industry groups and lawmakers now face a year to shape how — or whether — the market survives.

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This article was adapted from an original report published on tobaccoreporter.com. All rights belong to the original publisher.

Zimbabwe’s tobacco sector is poised for major growth, with the government projecting the industry could reach $7 billion by 2030. The Agriculture Food Systems and Rural Transformation Strategy 2 (2026–2030) lays out an ambitious jump in the sector’s gross value contribution from $1.2 billion in 2025.

In 2025 Zimbabwe produced 340 million kg of tobacco, according to the Tobacco Industry & Marketing Board. The Tobacco Transformation Plan aims to boost that output to 500 million kg by 2030. A key part of the plan is to process far more tobacco domestically rather than exporting roughly 90% of it in raw form. The strategy also seeks to develop specialty varieties — including cigar, shisha, naturally cured, and dark fire-cured tobacco.

As Africa’s largest tobacco producer, Zimbabwe’s industry supports more than 130,000 households and accounts for over half of the country’s agricultural exports. More than 85% of the crop is grown by small-scale farmers, many of whom benefited from land reform.

Yet the sector faces significant challenges: global anti-smoking measures, tightening traceability and environmental rules, concerns over child labor, and outdated legislation. Agriculture Minister Dr. Anxious Masuka said the new strategy reflects broad consultation across government, industry and farming stakeholders, and is organized around ten pillars focused on policy reform, climate resilience, rural industrialization, financing, infrastructure and land management.

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This article was adapted from an original report published on tobaccoreporter.com. All rights belong to the original publisher.

Thieves embrace their inner clowns as they all climb out of the same car before a heist

Hidden chute uncovered inside Bed-Stuy smoke shop during $1.7M cannabis bust

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This article was adapted from an original report published on news.google.com. All rights belong to the original publisher.