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Investigative journalists play a critical role in cannabis safety by uncovering problems, testing claims, and holding institutions accountable.

That role has been important throughout the history of medical cannabis. Long before there was an established cannabis regulatory system, journalists helped document the experiences of patients, raids and arrests, conflicts between state and federal law, problems with implementation, and the real-world consequences of policies being written in real time. Their reporting helped make visible what patients and advocates were experiencing and gave the public a way to understand a rapidly changing issue that did not fit neatly into existing healthcare, legal, or regulatory systems.

Medical cannabis state programs were an experiment in building something that had never existed before. States had to create licensing systems for activities that remained prohibited under federal law, develop product safety and testing requirements from scratch, establish rules for cultivation and distribution, decide what information patients needed, and determine how agencies with little or no cannabis expertise would oversee an entirely new system. Patients, advocates, regulators, scientists, laboratories, healthcare professionals, businesses, investors, and many others all had a role in shaping those programs. Most were trying to build workable systems. Some made mistakes. Some had conflicting interests. And some took advantage of gaps in oversight.

That is one reason investigative journalism remains so important to cannabis safety. Laws and regulations tell us what is supposed to happen, but investigative journalism often shows us what is actually happening. By investigating those gaps, examining evidence, talking to affected people, and following problems beyond an official explanation or press release, reporters can identify risks that patients, consumers, workers, regulators, and even responsible businesses might otherwise never see.

The 2026 Watchdog Award recognizes journalists whose reporting helps the public better understand what is happening behind the headlines. Their work brings greater transparency to the cannabis marketplace, identifies problems that deserve attention, and gives patients, consumers, workers, policymakers, and the industry information they can use to make cannabis safer.

The 2026 Watchdog nominees are Rachelle Gordon, Edvin Brncic, Paige St. John, and Chris Roberts.

Learn more about the Watchdog Award!

MEET THE WATCHDOG NOMINEES

Rachelle Gordon

Rachelle Gordon makes cannabis journalism useful to the people who need it, translating a fast-moving mix of science, policy, health, business, products, and culture into reporting readers can actually understand. Her approach reflects an important part of cannabis safety: giving the public accurate information while keeping the experiences of patients and consumers visible.

Her reporting also challenges assumptions from every direction, examining emerging safety concerns while taking a closer look at alarming cannabis claims when the evidence does not support them. That willingness to follow the facts rather than a predetermined narrative is an essential part of watchdog journalism.

Edvin Brncic

Edvin Brncic brings an independent watchdog lens to the financial and governance side of the cannabis industry, following the money and asking difficult questions about the people and companies shaping the market. By investigating questionable business practices and warning the public about potential fraud, he makes accountability part of the cannabis safety conversation.

His work is a reminder that cannabis safety is not limited to what is inside a product. Transparency, responsible business practices, and trustworthy institutions also matter to the patients, consumers, investors, and communities relying on this growing industry.

Paige St. John

Paige St. John has used investigative reporting, records, and independent testing to examine pesticide contamination, worker safety, and regulatory failures in California’s legal cannabis market. Her reporting demonstrates the power of journalism to uncover safety concerns that patients, consumers, and workers may have no way to identify for themselves.

Her investigations have looked beyond whether safety rules exist on paper to examine whether those protections are actually working in practice. In doing so, her reporting has helped bring significant problems in one of the nation’s largest cannabis markets into public view.

Chris Roberts

Chris Roberts has spent years reporting on cannabis as a public health, public policy, business, worker safety, and consumer issue rather than treating it as a passing trend. His reporting scrutinizes business practices, regulatory systems, and claims that deserve a closer look.

His work has highlighted the connections between workplace conditions, product safety, and regulatory oversight. By continuing to investigate what happened, why it happened, and whether systems designed to protect people are working, Roberts demonstrates the value of sustained cannabis journalism.

Filling the Gaps Between Policy and Practice

Cannabis safety has never been achieved simply by passing a law or writing a regulation. What matters is how those rules work once patients, workers, businesses, laboratories, regulators, healthcare professionals, and consumers have to live with them.

Investigative journalism helps fill the gap between policy and practice. It can expose weaknesses in systems before regulators have recognized them, identify unintended consequences, challenge unsupported claims, and bring the experiences of people affected by those systems into public view.

The four nominees for the 2026 Watchdog Award approach that responsibility from different angles, but each shows how journalism can make cannabis policy, products, businesses, and institutions more transparent and accountable.

Cast your vote for the 2026 Watchdog Award through October 25.