Cannabis Wire is a news desk covering cannabis policy, regulation and research, written by journalists who work the beat full time.
Who they are
It was founded by Nushin Rashidian and Alyson Martin, two reporters who have covered cannabis for national and international outlets and co-wrote an early book on the end of prohibition. Their founding position is deliberate: not whether legalisation should happen, but how it is actually being written into law.
What they cover
Regulation, rescheduling, Congress, lobbying, enforcement, equity, hemp, business and scientific research. Coverage is organised state by state across the entire United States and country by country across roughly thirty jurisdictions, from Canada and Germany to Thailand, Lesotho and Uruguay.
Format and cadence
The centre of gravity is a newsletter that lands every weekday morning. A paid tier adds data products - United States and global datasets, a bill tracker and a starter kit - alongside the reporting itself. Most of it sits behind a subscription.
Who it's for
Operators, lawyers, regulators, investors and policy staff who need to track legislation and rulemaking rather than product news. For the same beat in a weekly digest shape, WeedWeek covers overlapping ground.
Where to find them
Reporting arrives by email and on its own site. LinkedIn is the one social channel it points readers to.
Background and significance
Cannabis Wire is an independent, subscription-supported news organization focused on cannabis policy, regulation and research. Its founders are career journalists with long experience on the cannabis beat, and its weekday newsletter is supplemented by legislative trackers, jurisdictional data and research-focused editions.
Distinctive role
Its reporting is organized around institutions, statutes, rulemaking and evidence rather than consumer products or lifestyle coverage. A reader-supported model reduces dependence on advertising from companies within the industry, while the paywall supports specialized reporting and data products. Cannabis Wire is most valuable when the question is not merely what happened, but which agency, bill, hearing or regulatory mechanism produced the change.