1. The U.S. Attorney for Oregon has outlined priorities for enforcing cannabis laws in the state. Oregon is producing three times as much cannabis as the state can consume, causing the surplus to make its way to the black market and across state lines. In response to this problem, attorney Billy Williams said he will prioritize enforcement of overproduction, interstate trafficking, organized crime and cases involving underage use and environmental damage from illicit farms. – AP

2. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told police to end arrests for smoking cannabis in public. As of now, smoking cannabis in public can lead to arrest—particularly for people of color—while possession of small amounts can lead to a summons. This weekend, the mayor told the NYPD to stop making arrests and instead issue summonses for smoking pot in public. The department is taking de Blasio's suggestions into consideration, and any changes will happen by the end of the summer. – CNN

3. Despite legalization in Washington, the black market persists. Five years into the legal recreational cannabis market, Washington state is finding that the industry "still attracts criminals." The difference now is that illicit farms no longer try to hide what they're doing, and under the guise of legalization, they hide in plain sight. – NPR

1. A powerful congressional panel voted to protect medical cannabis from a federal crackdown. The bipartisan House Appropriations Committee voted to add a provision to legislation funding U.S. Attorney General Jeff Session's department for 2019 that restores the protections Sessions tried to abolish earlier this year. The amendment shields medical cannabis patients and providers who comply with state laws from prosecution by the federal government. – FORBES

2. Congressional Republicans have blocked amendments that sought to legalize hemp. The original measure was brought on by Republican Mitch McConnell, who was attempting to legalize industrial hemp by attaching it to the large-scale Farm Bill, which sets food and agriculture policy for the country. The House Rules Committee, however, decided that the proposal could not be considered on the floor. – MARIJUANA MOMENT

3. San Francisco is turning to tech to automatically expunge prior pot convictions. The city is working with a nonprofit to create a program that will allow automatically determine eligibility for record clearance of past cannabis-related convictions. The program will also automatically fill out the required forms and generate a completed motion, which the district attorney's office can then file with the court. – LA TIMES

4. Demand for medical cannabis in Germany has skyrocketed, and it's costing health insurance companies millions. Since medical cannabis was legalized in Germany in March of last year, an increasing number of citizens are using it—and their insurance companies are footing the bill. As of February nearly 16,000 patients nationwide had applied to be reimbursed for medical cannabis costs, compared to around 1,100 before the law came into effect. – BUSINESS INSIDER

5. Cannabis startups are paying their taxes with "bags of cash and stealthy deliveries." An increasing number of entrepreneurs are entering the gray market of legal cannabis, but with the industry still illegal on the federal level, these businesses have no access to bank accounts. That means when it's time to pay taxes, they're forced to risk robbery by delivering huge amounts of cash. – NYT

6. Airports are solving cannabis' no-fly problem with amnesty boxes. Because commercial flights are controlled by the federal government, passengers from legal cannabis states still can't fly with the drug. To help legal users avoid fines and penalties, airports have set up amnesty boxes—or mailbox-like receptacals—where people can anonymously ditch their stash. – CITYLAB

4. Legalizing cannabis in New York could create a $3.1 billion market. According to New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, legalizing cannabis in the state of New York would create "a new revenue stream," and will give resources to education and healthcare. With the projected $3.1 billion market, Stringer estimates New York state would gain $435.7 million annually in tax revenue and New York City would get about $336 million. – CNBC

5. A new drug is about to become the first cannabis-derived medicine to win the FDA's approval. The experimental drug, called Epidiolex, is CBD-based and made to treat epilepsy, and top researchers are coming out in support of it. The president of the American Epilepsy Society said he strongly believes Epidiolex "can and should be approved" by the FDA, which would be the first-of-its-kind to get that approval. – BUSINESS INSIDER

6. The proportion of young people using cannabis as their first drug doubled between 2004 and 2014, according to a recent study. The study found that among young people aged 12 and 21, the proportion of those who tried cigarettes as their first drug fell from about 21 percent to just under 9 percent. However, the proportion who turned first to cannabis almost doubled to 8 percent, despite previous studies that have that cannabis use among teens has fallen in recent years. – THE GUARDIAN

1. The Supreme Court's ruling on sports gambling could pave the way for cannabis legalization. The case centered on whether the Constitution’s anti-commandeering doctrine prevents the federal government from forcing states to keep prohibitions of certain federally banned activities on their own lawbooks. By ruling to allow states to legalize sports gambling, the Supreme Court may have opened up a channel for the cannabis ban to be ruled unconstitutional. – MARIJUANA MOMENT

3. Cannabis legalization has moved from the left-wing fringe to the forefront of the Democratic party. Heading into the critical midterm elections in November, Democratic congressional candidates around the country are embracing legalization in unprecedented numbers. And the shift hasn’t only occurred in liberal-leaning states. Other pro-legalization candidates include Beto O’Rourke, a House member mounting a credible Senate challenge to Ted Cruz in conservative Texas. – THE TORONTO STAR

4. The surest way to face cannabis charges in New York is to be black or Hispanic. Across the city, black people were arrested on low-level marijuana charges at eight times the rate of white, non-Hispanic people over the past three years, The New York Times found. Hispanic people were arrested at five times the rate of white people. In Manhattan, the gap is even starker: Black people there were arrested at 15 times the rate of white people. – NYT

5. Legal cannabis could cost people their guns, and the NRA is worried about it. Though legal on the state level, consuming cannabis is still illegal in the eyes of the federal government, which also prohibits any unlawful user of a federally restricted substance from purchasing guns. And with a good portion of the 50 million gun owners in the U.S. identifying as current marijuana users, that could pose a problem for the NRA. – DALLAS NEWS

6. One man is creating a high-tech solution to cannabis' smelly problems. Cannabis companies have been threatened with lawsuits based on complaints about pot's skunky smell, a byproduct of the cultivation process that has remained uncontrollable—until now. Hybrid Tech, founded by 39-year-old Daniel Gustafik, is mastering the art of constructing grow houses that control every aspect of the environment, including keeping the smell in. – ROLLING STONE

7. California regulations may force cannabis transporters to report themselves to the federal government. As the state's Bureau of Cannabis Control finalizes rules for the digital track-and-trace system that will license every vehicle used to transport weed across the state, transporters in the industry are getting anxious. That's because California’s pre-existing laws require many commercial vehicles operating within the state register with the federal Department of Transportation and tell the agency exactly how the vehicle will be used. With cannabis still illegal federally, this could be a dangerous prospect. – WIRED

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he has no plan to support the legalization of cannabis. McConnell introduced a measure in March to legalize hemp, taking it off the federal list of controlled substances and allowing it to be sold as an agricultural product. But this week, he made clear he has no plans to do the same with wee. “It is a different plant," he said of hemp. "It has an illicit cousin which I choose not to embrace." THE HILL

California Sen. Kamala Harris said she will support Sen. Cory Booker's legislation to legalize cannabis nationally. Booker's legislation would remove cannabis from the list of controlled substances as well as expunge federal cannabis-related crimes. Harris announced in a tweet that she plans to back his bill, citing the disparity in law enforcement's treatment of African-Americans who use the drug. "African-Americans use marijuana at roughly the same rate as whites but are approximately four times as likely to be arrested for possession. That's just not fair," she said. – CNN