Cannabis Wire is a cannabis policy and regulation newsroom founded by journalists Alyson Martin and Nushin Rashidian. It publishes the weekday CW Daily newsletter and the Cannabis Wire+ research service. On September 22, 2026 it reported that an industry-backed PAC had spent $3.7 million supporting House Republicans.
Two reporters and A New Leaf
Martin and Rashidian have covered cannabis since 2010. They co-wrote A New Leaf: The End of Cannabis Prohibition, published by The New Press in 2014, and both serve as adjunct faculty at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
Martin has written for the New York Times, The Nation and The Atlantic. Rashidian worked with Columbia Journalism School’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism. The newsroom states that its team holds “a stake not in the cannabis industry, but in an informed public.”
From a Magic Grant to Civil
Cannabis Wire launched on October 22, 2015 with a pitch to document “the end of a prohibition and the birth of an industry” as it happened. Initial funding came through a Brown Institute Magic Grant, along with a fellowship at The Made in NYC Media Center by IFP. Its first feature ran with The Guardian as partner.
In March 2018 it was announced as a newsroom on Civil, the Ethereum-based journalism platform in Brooklyn, alongside Popula, Sludge and Block Club Chicago. A Civil grant paid for expansion, and by 2018 the staff had grown by three reporters and an editor. The founders kept advertising and weed ratings out of the product and built toward subscriptions.
CW Daily and Cannabis Wire+
CW Daily lands on weekday mornings with original reporting and analysis. Cannabis Wire+ adds a research layer: a Starter Kit on core U.S. policy issues, U.S. state data, global data and a bill tracker for state and federal legislation.
Coverage is organized by topic and place. Topic desks cover business, Congress, enforcement, equity, hemp, lobbying, regulation, rescheduling and research. The geographic files track all 50 states plus territories and more than 30 countries, from Canada and Mexico to the U.K. and Australia.
Following the money and the workforce
Money in politics is a steady beat. In August 2025 Cannabis Wire reported an industry PAC had raised nearly $4 million and contributed to Trump, and the September 2026 follow-up tracked $3.7 million spent on House Republicans. A September 9, 2026 story covered a GAO finding that no bank had been punished for serving cannabis businesses.
Workforce stories run through the same desk. A May 2025 piece covered a UCLA report on cannabis labor that found tough conditions and a young, driven workforce. California pay across those roles is the subject of a 2026 cannabis jobs salary guide. Other 2025–2026 stories covered Scotts Miracle-Gro stepping back from cannabis and Target selling hemp THC beverages in Minnesota.
California, New York and the street-level fights
A February 2019 feature asked how California could crack down on illicit sales without echoing the war on drugs. That question returned with the state’s $227 million push against the illicit market, covered in a Prop 64 grants explainer. In June 2019 Cannabis Wire covered New York’s billboard battle between SAM and Weedmaps.
The newsroom also hosts live conversations in New York City. State Sen. Jeremy Cooney, chair of the Senate cannabis subcommittee, sat down in June 2023. City Council member Gale Brewer and Tom Harris of the Times Square Alliance followed in October 2023. Naturae founder Nicolas Guarino and Gotham founder Joanne Wilson joined in May 2024.
Official channels
Cannabis Wire publishes at cannabiswire.com and posts updates on LinkedIn.