Welcome to our end of the year wrap-up post for The Week in Weed; it's hard to believe another year has come and (almost) gone, but the calendar doesn't lie. In what we are calling an homage to Dave Barry and his always hilarious Year in Review, we'll organize these stories by month.

Without further ado, here's a look at the stories that grabbed our attention in 2018.

In January, the year started off with a bang. California legalized marijuana, Vermont legalized marijuana and the Cole Memorandum was rescinded.

February's news involved criminal records. San Francisco and Seattle both took steps to expunge past convictions for cannabis-related crimes that are no longer a crime in those jurisdictions.

March saw developments on both the federal and state level. The Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment, protecting state medical marijuana programs, was included in the budget bill. And Senator Mitch McConnell indicated he was supporting hemp. Meanwhile, residents of Chicagoland passed a nonbinding referendum in favor of legalizing recreational use.

April was a quieter month, but did include former Speaker of the House John Boehner revising his views on cannabis.

May brought a rough day in Congress for Acting Drug Enforcement Administration head Robert Patterson, whose testimony brought widespread scorn for his lack of marijuana knowledge.

As the temperatures rose in June, the cannabis news heated up as well. Oklahoma legalized medical marijuana and the Food and Drug Administration approved its first cannabis-derived drug.

In July, the United Kingdom legalized medical marijuana and Senator Chuck Schumer introduced legislation that would de-schedule cannabis.

More international news appeared in August, when the Republic of Georgia legalized marijuana, but not its sale or cultivation. So maybe you just have to "find" it somewhere?

In September, Delaware enacted legislation to expunge criminal cannabis records and the Northern Mariana Islands voted to legalize recreational marijuana.

Then there was October, when Canada became the largest country in the world to legalize recreational marijuana. This was such big news that we devoted an entire "Weed in Weed" post to it. Perhaps most importantly, the NHL is maintaining a neutral stance on player use.

And if you thought that was a blockbuster month, it was followed by November. What happened in November, you ask?

First and foremost, there was the election. See our coverage here and here. Michigan legalized recreational marijuana and Missouri and Utah legalized medical marijuana. North Dakota voted against legalizing recreational marijuana.

Then, Attorney General Jeff Sessions left the administration. The well-known foe of marijuana in any form was forced out after the midterms.

And there was more international news when Mexico legalized cannabis. The Supreme Court decreed that the national ban was unconstitutional. And South Korea became the first East Asian nation to legalize medical marijuana.

Finally, Massachusetts opened its first marijuana stores. Not surprisingly, there were big crowds.

Which brings us to December, when industrial hemp was fully legalized (thanks to Senator McConnell's strong support – surely you've not forgotten the hemp pen?) and Luxembourg moved forward on marijuana legalization.

All in all, it's been quite a year. 2019 has its work cut out for it to top this. Rest assured, we at The Blunt Truth will keep you apprised of all the news you need to know!

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