• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, January 16, 2015

Marijuana is in the air -- or rather, airwaves. This week, The National Marijuana News, a new talk-radio program devoted to all things marijuana-related, signed up its first broadcast affiliate with the announcement that WXXM (92.1 FM The Mic), a “progressive” broadcaster serving the Madison, Wisconsin area, will begin carrying the show.

Previously, TNMNews, produced by DigiPath, Inc., was only available via online streaming.

The show, which launched online in June of last year, will air on the weekends on WXXM, and can also be heard on the HD radio subchannel of WKKV–FM (100.7 HD3). According to its producers, TNMNews covers a range of topics, including marijuana’s scientific, medicinal, political, commercial, legal, spiritual and cultural dimensions.

TNMNews President Todd Denkin stated: “We offer the public reliable, unbiased information on marijuana that is sorely lacking in the media today. We believe WXXM's listeners will appreciate the open dialogue we're working to create and know that other terrestrial stations will soon follow suit.”

The show’s broadcast launch comes as a growing number of states have legalized marijuana for medicinal and recreational use, sparking interest in a number of related areas, including the commercial potential of the marijuana business. This in turn has prompted the launch of new media outlets and online networks focused on the drug.

The list of new launches include: Leafly, an online platform that provides information about marijuana strains, products and legal sellers; MassRoots, a social network entirely devoted to enabling medical marijuana patients to connect with each other and share marijuana-related pictures and articles; Marijuana Business Media and CannaBusiness Media, both founded in 2011; and the CannaBusiness Leader Newsletter, launched by the National Cannabis Industry Association in May of this year.