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YouTube sensation ‘Nonna Marijuana’ explains her rise to stardom
Four years ago, Aurora Leveroni, popularly known as Nonna Marijuana, posted a cooking video on YouTube. That was the first time Leveroni, who was 88 years old at the time, cooked with cannabis.…
Women try to advance stake in marijuana industry
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – As the marijuana industry outgrows its male-dominated infancy, women backed by an international network are jostling for a bigger slice of profits from pot.…
What we’re reading: Week 11
Different strategies for groups pushing legal marijuana (Joshua Miller, The Boston Globe, Aug. 4) Massachusetts groups are looking to legalize recreational marijuana. One calls for an approach that involves regulation and taxation. The other focuses on individual liberty.…
Video preview: What do Americans think about marijuana?
News21’s Emi Sasagawa and Matias J. Ocner have put together a stop-motion video – using construction paper and a bit of origami – on how American public opinion on cannabis has changed over the years.…
Two cannabis species: Indica vs. Sativa
PHOENIX – Indica and sativa are the two main subspecies of cannabis. These two can be combined to grow a hybrid marijuana strain, but alone they each have distinct characteristics.…
Michigan closer to listing autism as a qualifying condition for children
PHOENIX – A Michigan panel recently recommended adding autism as a qualifying condition for children to use medical marijuana.…
Marijuana warnings and endorsements: Where medical communities stand
PHOENIX – Medical communities nationwide have raised concerns in response to the thousands of parents across the country advocating for access to medical marijuana for their children with severe and intractable diseases. Those opposed to treating children with medical marijuana c…
Interactive video: Highlights from the News21 marijuana project
News21’s Dom DiFurio highlights some of the work the journalists did on this year’s investigation project – from a stop-motion video to interactive graphics.…
U.S. Forest Service: Illegal marijuana growers pollute national forests
PHOENIX – Drug-trafficking organizations harvest illegal marijuana grows in national forests across the country, and federal officials say they’re throwing off the ecosystem.…
Cultivating Conversation, Episode 10: Leonard Downie Jr. wraps up marijuana investigation
The final episode of Cultivating Conversation, the News21 podcast, was released today.…
Connecticut treats medical marijuana system like pharmaceuticals
PHOENIX – The marijuana is grown in sterile setups under careful supervision. It’s tested and weighed and labeled with the amount of THC it contains. The dispensaries that stock the end product can’t openly display pot. They can’t advertise, either. Popular street names for strai…
Clinical trials for cannabis: Doctors weigh in on Epidiolex
PHOENIX – Parent advocates nationwide are clamoring for access to medical marijuana for children who suffer from severe and intractable disorders.…
What we’re reading: Week 9
A Canadian company called Cannabix is working on a cannabis-detecting breathalyzer machine (Sasha Zients, Quartz, July 16) In states where marijuana is legal, laws limit driving under the influence of the drug. One company is developing a prototype of a THC-detecting breathalyzer…
What we’re reading: Week 8
Johann Hari: Everything you think you know about addiction is wrong (Johann Hari, TED Talks, July 9) Johann Hari explores the causes of addiction. He makes the argument that the way we, as a society, treat addicts today isolates them further into a life of addiction. “The opposit…
What we’re reading: Week 7
Inside the California weed industry (Pete Brook, Medium, July 2) Vantage takes a look at photographs by H. Lee, which is an alias, from her time living on a pot farm in the Emerald Triangle of California. Lee’s experience and photos give an inside look at what is at stake and wha…
What we’re reading: Week 6
Cannabis for kids: The children behind the debate (National Geographic) Cannabidiol, or CBD, oil is used to treat children with cancer, epilepsy and other ailments across the U.S. This documentary follows three families through the challenges of using CBD oil.…
What we’re reading: Week 10
A teen died after eating pot. Guess how many died from alcohol poisoning? (Christopher Ingraham, The Washington Post, July 28) The Washington Post’s Wonkblog points out that pot doesn’t have a known lethal dose. Alcohol poisoning, on the other hand, kills more than 2,200 people i…
This week in Congress: Measure to spur pot research thwarted, banking bill introduced
PHOENIX – A measure that would have allowed federal researchers to more easily study medical marijuana failed in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, crushing a bipartisan effort to reclassify the drug in the eyes of the government.…
Senate panel approves marijuana businesses access to banks, enables D.C. regulation
PHOENIX – The U.S. Senate’s appropriations committee on Thursday approved an amendment that would prohibit the federal government from spending money to punish banks that serve marijuana businesses in states where pot use is legal.…
Preview: Oregon man suffering seizures finds hope
News21’s Kathryn Boyd-Batstone and Nick Swyter traveled to Oregon to report on the changing cannabis scene there. They interviewed people whose lives have been impacted by marijuana.…
Perspectives from Pine Ridge
Though members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota say they don’t favor legalizing recreational marijuana, they might consider medical marijuana – but not any time soon, according to President John Yellow Bird.…
Pennsylvania parents call for compassionate cannabis use
HARRISBURG, Penn. – A group of mothers in Pennsylvania has taken extremes to care for their sick children: They’ve signed off on risky brain surgeries, given their children dangerous doses of pharmaceuticals and traveled to Colorado to obtain marijuana.…
Oregon: Pot becomes legal, but sales remain banned
PORTLAND – Starting Wednesday, adults 21 and older can legally possess, grow and use marijuana on private property in Oregon.…
Obama pushes prison reform for nonviolent offenders
https://www.whitehouse.gov/videos/2015/July/071415_NAACP_Convention_HD.mp4 By Josh Benson @News21…
Nevada’s first medical marijuana dispensary opens
PHOENIX – Nevada’s first dispensary was packed right from the moment it opened at 10 a.m. Friday. The line went out the door. But the dispensary is not in Las Vegas. It’s in Sparks, a suburb of Reno, population about 93,000.…
Nevada businesses question role of medical marijuana on job
PHOENIX – As Nevada inches closer to opening its long-awaited medical marijuana dispensaries, businesses are in search of some clarity on their cannabis-consuming employees.…
Mesa child first to openly use cannabis oil at Camp Candlelight
PHOENIX – Rock climbing. Archery. Dancing in the dining hall. Activities any camper would experience at a summer camp. At Camp Candlelight in Prescott, Arizona, campers have another experience in common as well: epilepsy.…
Meet the Fellows: Quint Forgey
BEFORE NEWS21: I’m the news editor of Louisiana State University’s award-winning, 128-year-old student newspaper, The Daily Reveille.…
Meet the Fellows: Nick Swyter
BEFORE NEWS21 : I worked at UMTV, the University of Miami’s student-run television station for four years and served as the station’s manager my senior year. I have experience working at MetroTV News in Indonesia, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, Knight Foundation and the…
Meet the Fellows: Montinique Monroe
BEFORE NEWS21 : I worked as the multicultural writer and photographer for OSU’s independent student-run newspaper, The O’Colly. The Oklahoma chapter of Society of Professional Journalists recently honored me as the first place winner for diversity coverage at its annual awards. I…
Meet the Fellows: Matias J. Ocner
BEFORE NEWS21: My first steps into the world of journalism took place at Miami-Dade Community College where I wrote small stories for the school newspaper, the Reporter. After obtaining my associate’s degree in arts, I transferred to Florida International University. I majored in…
Meet the Fellows: Lex Talamo
BEFORE NEWS21: I taught middle school writing for four years on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota before moving to Arizona to teach high school English for a year. My experiences with at-risk youth ignited a desire to pursue journalism. As a result, I enrolled in the Wal…
Meet the Fellows: Lauren Del Valle
BEFORE NEWS21: I am the editor-in-chief of Hofstra’s student-run publication, The Hofstra Chronicle, where I previously served as news editor and a copy editor. I also conduct social media trend analyses under a research grant with Professor Kelly Fincham. I found my love for dat…
Meet the Fellows: Kelcie Johnson
BEFORE NEWS21: News21 is my first internship. My work has been published in the Apache Junction Gold Canyon Independent, North Central News, Downtown Devil and The State Press.…
Meet the Fellows: Josh Benson
BEFORE NEWS21: I spent the last 16 months working on my master’s degree and completing a research assistantship with Investigative Reporters and Editors. During that time, I covered various beats for the Columbia Missourian and contributed to a Washington Post investigation of sh…
Meet the Fellows: Jayson Chesler
BEFORE NEWS21: I am the executive editor of the Downtown Devil, a publication that covers downtown Phoenix and a national finalist in the Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Awards’ “Best Independent Online Student Publication” category. I’ve interned at Gannet…
Meet the Fellows: Clarissa Cooper
BEFORE NEWS21 : I started out writing stories for the Downtown Devil when I started college. Since then, I have interned The Arizona Republic as a breaking news reporter and AZ Big Media, writing for several of their publications like AZ Business Magazine.…
Meet the Fellows: Calah Kelley
BEFORE NEWS21: I have worked as a reporter, news director, videographer and producer for the North Texas Daily news station at the University of North Texas. I served as president and founder of the university’s chapter of the Broadcast Education Association. I also was one of si…
Meet the Fellows: Brittan Jenkins
BEFORE NEWS21: I worked at Oklahoma Watch for a year and helped lead a mobile-video project funded by the Online News Association. The project’s goal was to start a conversation between residents of low-income communities and lawmakers and city leaders.…
Meet the Fellows: Anne M. Shearer
BEFORE NEWS21: I’ve worked internships at both Cronkite News, where my work was published by media outlets across Arizona, and the Arizona Capitol Times, where I wrote articles and took photos for the web and print.…
Las Vegas doctors promise ‘one-stop’ shops for medical marijuana
LAS VEGAS – Giant marijuana leaf-emblazoned billboards across Las Vegas promise an easy way to “get legal today!” Online advertisements laud money-back guarantees. Websites offer payment plans and free consultations.…
Florida man smoked 130,000 tax-funded pot cigarettes
FORT LAUDERDALE – Irvin Rosenfeld likes to start his Sunday mornings by smoking a couple marijuana cigarettes, enjoying another one on his drive to a softball field, playing some ball and then lighting up again after the game while his friends drink beer.…
Cultivating Conversation, Episode 9: One man’s experience with ‘The Green Doctors’ of California
Episode 9 of Cultivating Conversation, the News21 podcast, was released today.…
Cultivating Conversation, Episode 8: Anti-pot spokesman urges education for Hawaiian youth
Episode 8 of Cultivating Conversation, the News21 podcast, was released today.…
Cultivating Conversation, Episode 7: Tribes keep tradition alive – with or without pot
Episode 7 of Cultivating Conversation, the News21 podcast, was released today.…
Cultivating Conversation, Episode 6: Louisiana man finds solace in marijuana
Episode 6 of Cultivating Conversation, the News21 podcast, was released today.…
Cultivating Conversation, Episode 5: Oregon ‘speakeasy’ owner shares past
Episode 5 of Cultivating Conversation, the News21 podcast, was released today.…
Colorado: Marijuana extraction law takes effect Wednesday
PHOENIX – Starting Wednesday, officials in Colorado will attempt to lower the number of marijuana-related explosions in the state by restricting several extraction methods in the manufacturing of concentrates such as hash oil, shatter and wax.…
Big Tobacco may be dreaming of Big Marijuana
PHOENIX – Big Tobacco is poised to transform the fledgling marijuana market into a business bigger than legalization advocates have imagined, according to researchers wary of the consequences.…
92-year-old YouTube star ‘Nonna Marijuana’ describes first experience with pot
News21’s Emi Sasagawa, Sean Logan and Kelcie Johnson traveled to California to report on how cannabis culture has changed. They met YouTube star Aurora Leveroni, also known as Nonna Marijuana.…
What we’re reading: Week 4
Delaware becomes 18th state to decriminalize marijuana (Polly Mosendz, Newsweek, June 19) On Friday, Delaware decriminalized the private use of marijuana. People in Delaware will be able to possess up to an ounce of marijuana when the new laws go into effect in six months.…
What we’re reading: Week 3
A periodic rundown of stories we’re reading when researching marijuana legalization stories:…
What we’re reading: Week 2
A periodic rundown of stories we’re reading when researching marijuana legalization stories:…
Oregon: What does marijuana legalization mean for students?
By Tamsyn Stonebarger @PINBureau Posted: June 9, 2015…
Washington: Do you have experience with marijuana collective gardens?
By Tamsyn Stonebarger, Adam Wojciechowski and Samantha Shotzbarger @PINBureau…
Washington D.C.: Share your marijuana legalization experience
By Samantha Shotzbarger @PIN Bureau…
The sacrament of cannabis: Indianapolis church prepares first service
PHOENIX – Like many traditional religions, worshippers will sing and recite spiritual doctrine, but at the conclusion of the First Church of Cannabis service, the congregation will smoke cannabis.…
Public policy roundtable discusses marijuana legalization in Arizona
PHOENIX – With recreational legalization looming as a potential 2016 ballot item, representatives from law enforcement, the marijuana industry and public health on Thursday debated the potential benefits and consequences of legalizing marijuana in Arizona at a roundtable hosted b…
Obama administration removes hurdle for medical pot research
PHOENIX – President Barack Obama’s administration on Monday removed a requirement that non-government funded medical marijuana research must undergo an extra layer of federal review.…
NEWS21: Reporting on marijuana across the U.S.
This summer, 28 journalism students and recent graduates from 19 universities are traveling nationwide to examine the political and cultural divide between those who support marijuana legalization, and those who oppose it.…
News 21 launches weekly podcast focused on marijuana
News21 released its first podcast episode of Cultivating Conversation today. The podcast will follow the News21 team throughout the summer to talk about sources and findings that stand out.…
Nevada’s medical marijuana: one step closer to shelves (maybe)
PHOENIX – Nevada’s medical marijuana program requires laboratories to test weed before dispensaries can begin operating. So far, it has taken the state the better half of this year to develop regulations for the labs.…
Mobile audio slideshow: Capturing Colorado
News21 fellow Dom DiFurio built this mobile audio slideshow to update his team’s progress on covering marijuana legalization in Colordado.…
Meet the Fellows: Tom Blanton
BEFORE NEWS21: I was opinion editor of Northern Arizona University’s student newspaper, The Lumberjack, for two years. During that time, I also covered music for The Noise Arts and News and contributed soccer-related content to Football.com. I also have written business stories f…
Meet the Fellows: Sean Logan
NAME: Sean Logan, Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation Fellow…
Meet the Fellows: Rilwan Balogun
BEFORE NEWS21: While at the University of Tennessee, I worked as anchor and reporter for UT Today, a news magazine program that broadcasts on the NBC affiliate. In the summer of 2014, I interned with NBC News and worked on the coverage of the MH17 Malaysia plane crash.…
Meet the Fellows: Michael Bodley
BEFORE NEWS21: I crunched numbers for The Baltimore Sun as a business reporting intern, covering everything from earnings reports to minimum wage issues for giant retailers. At Elon, I serve as editor-in-chief of the university’s Pacemaker-winning newspaper, The Pendulum.…
Meet the Fellows: Martin do Nascimento
SCHOOL: University of Texas at Austin, dual-degree master’s candidate in journalism and Latin American studies.…
Meet the Fellows: Katie Campbell
BEFORE NEWS21: I spent two years with WUFT News, the NPR and PBS affiliate at the University of Florida, where I worked as chief web producer and a multimedia reporter. I also worked for The New York Times Editing Center, and I have written for Elite Daily, PBS MediaShift, NetNew…
Meet the Fellows: Kathryn Boyd-Batstone
BEFORE NEWS21: I have interned at a video production house in Seattle called Vignette Creative, the San Francisco Chronicle and Oregon Public Broadcasting. My passion lies in reporting on stories that focus on humanizing environmental research in a visual form.…
Meet the Fellows: Karen Mawdsley
BEFORE NEWS21: I worked as an editor for the University of Maryland’s award-winning student newspaper, The Diamondback. I also interned with The Herald-Mail, The Baltimore Sun, McClatchy-Tribune and Capital News Service. Alongside my journalism experience, I’ve explored my intere…
Meet the Fellows: Jessie Wardarski
BEFORE NEWS21: I have done international reporting through Cronkite’s Borderlands Initiative. I was a photographer and assistant photo editor for the university paper, The State Press, as well as a photographer for the State Press Magazine. In my senior year, I was a photo intern…
Meet the Fellows: Emi Sasagawa
SCHOOL: University of British Columbia, Canada, 2015 master’s graduate…
Meet the Fellows: Dom DiFurio
BEFORE NEWS21: I have worked with ASU’s State Press developing multimedia content as the publication moved away from print and toward online-only publishing. I’ve done investigative video work across Arizona, including a project on the state’s water usage, which was a Hearst fina…
Meet the Fellows: Brianna Gurciullo
NAME: Brianna Gurciullo, The Kathryn Green Endowment and The Stephen Holly Bronz Endowment Fellow…
Meet the Fellows: Alexa Ard
BEFORE NEWS21: During my first two years of college I wrote for the sports section of the student newspaper, The Nevada Sagebrush, and contributed to a startup called UsportsHub by writing feature stories on pre-draft picks for the 2013 NBA Draft. I then gained an interest in rad…
Medical marijuana advocates converge in Florida
PALM BEACH – Sunlight flooded into the Palm Beach County Convention Center from the floor-to-ceiling windows that lined much of the space in the heart of scenic West Palm Beach, Florida.…
Marijuana issues: Busy week in Washington, D.C
PHOENIX – The U.S. Senate’s appropriations committee on Thursday approved a measure that would forbid the federal government from encroaching on states’ medical marijuana laws.…
Marijuana industry: tell us about growing
By Samantha Shotzbarger @PINBureau…
Legalization advocates optimistic after U.S. House marijuana votes
PHOENIX – Marijuana legalization advocates have high hopes after Wednesday’s “marijuana vote-a-rama,” in which a series of marijuana-related amendments garnered bipartisan support in the U.S. House of Representatives.…
Is marijuana use among children on the rise?
As legalized marijuana in 23 states has become available to adults, experts say children and teens may be using marijuana recreationally because they now see it as a “safe” drug.…
Inform our reporting: Veterans and marijuana use
By Sara Weber @PINBureau…
Colorado: How are employers handling employee use of marijuana?
By Sara Weber @PINBureau…
California: Do you have experience with medical marijuana?
By Alexandra Watts @PINBureau…
How prevalent is marijuana in El Paso County, Colorado?
By Alexandra Watts and Sara Weber @PINBureau…
How is Georgia handling the legalization of marijuana?
By Margaret Staniforth @PINBureau…
Hawaii set to open dispensaries
The state of Hawaii will have medical marijuana dispensaries as soon as July 2016, with or without the signature of Gov. David Ige .…
Have you been in a marijuana-related accident?
By Margaret Staniforth @PINBureau…
Follow the Fellows as they report from the field
News21 teams are traveling to several states this month to research and report on issues regarding the legalization of marijuana. Follow their progress through social media.…
Cultivating Conversations, Episode 3: No “euphoria” yet in Nevada
Episode three of Cultivating Conversation, the News21 podcast, was released today.…
Cultivating Conversation, Episode 4: Medical marijuana in Hawaii
Episode 4 of Cultivating Conversation, the News21 podcast, was released today from Hilo, Hawaii.…
Cultivating Conversation, Episode 2: Caregiver doesn’t focus on dollars
Episode 2 of Cultivating Conversation, the News21 podcast, was released today from Augusta, Maine.…
Charlotte’s Web growers seek to expand to Florida
PHOENIX – Florida patients suffering from cancer and seizures are one step closer to accessing the popular Charlotte’s Web marijuana derivative, and others like it.…
California bill: Doctors can’t discriminate against marijuana patients for organ transplants
LOS ANGELES – A bill to prohibit discrimination against medical marijuana patients from receiving organ transplants is awaiting final approval from California Gov. Jerry Brown.…
Arizona tribes leery of legalization
PHOENIX – Native Americans have the right to legalize the use of marijuana on their own lands, but many tribal members in Arizona told News21 they have no plans to do it because of the “message” it would send to their youth and skepticism about federal policy.…
Arizona chamber CEO: There’s ‘no upside’ to recreational marijuana
PHOENIX – The leader of one of Arizona’s most influential business groups on Thursday laid out his opposition to possible 2016 ballot initiatives to legalize recreational marijuana.…
What we’re reading: Week 5
Just Move (Cara Selemme, The Unlikely Advocate, June 24) This blog from a mother in Pennsylvania outlines some of the frustrations and concerns parents across the country are voicing about their efforts to gain access to medical marijuana for their children.…