The Texas Department of Public Safety said last week that it would not perform testing to distinguish between hemp and marijuana in misdemeanor cases. The situation comes after the Texas Legislature changed the definition of marijuana last year in order to legalize hemp, drawing a new distinction between two substances that can look and smell […]
New research shows that the number of U.S. adults over 65 who reported using cannabis sky-rocketed from 2.4% in 2015 to 4.2% in 2018 — an increase of 75%. “We don’t think increases in use are due to legalization, although increasing social acceptability in general might have helped drive these increases,” co-author Joseph J. Palamar, […]
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is making the rounds as he prepares for the legalization of marijuana in the Empire State. Cuomo has previously stated he wants legalization passed by state officials before April 1, when the state budget must be approved. See the original article at Daily Voice
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren has unveiled her plan to legalize cannabis if she is elected president — the plan includes expungement of past convictions, research funding, medical cannabis access for veterans, and more. Warren unveiled the plan before a campaign stop in Denver, Colorado and said during the rally that the reforms are […]
Asked in a new interview about President Trump’s position on changing federal marijuana laws, a top reelection campaign aide said the administration’s policy is that cannabis and other currently illegal drugs should remain illegal. “I think the president has been pretty clear on his views on marijuana at the federal level,” said Marc Lotter, director […]
The head of the labor union that represents U.S. Border Patrol agents acknowledged that states that legalize marijuana are disrupting cartel activity. While National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd was attempting to downplay the impact of legalization, he seemed to inadvertently make a case for the regulation all illicit drugs by arguing that cartels […]
Los Angeles County, California is set to expunge 66,000 cannabis-related convictions, including 62,000 felony convictions and 4,000 misdemeanor convictions dating back to the early 1960s. District Attorney Jackie Lacey, who filed the motion to erase the convictions, said her office went above and beyond what current cannabis laws require and dismissed felonies for cultivation, transporting, […]
President Trump’s budget proposal for the fiscal year 2021 would remove a rider containing protections for state-legal medical cannabis programs; congressional lawmakers, however, are expected to override the move. The proposal also includes restrictions to block Washington D.C., where cannabis possession and personal cultivation are legal, from establishing an adult-use marketplace. See the original article […]
Virginia lawmakers have passed legislation that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. Those caught with the drug would instead receive a fine of no more than $25. See the original article at WRIC
The USDA created a pilot hemp insurance program that covers against loss of yield for hemp grown for fiber, grain, or CBD; the agency also gave hemp farmers access to the federal Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program. To be eligible for the pilot program, hemp producers must have at least one year of production history […]
The Virginia House of Delegates approved a bill to decriminalize marijuana on Monday, and the Senate is expected to pass similar legislation later this week. The House-passed proposal would make simple possession a civil penalty punishable by a maximum $25 fine. Current policy stipulates that a first offense is punishable by a maximum $500 fine […]
A newly filed proposed ballot initiative would repeal the section of the Colorado Constitution that says cannabis “should be legal for persons twenty-one years of age or older and taxed in a manner similar to alcohol.” The measure, submitted to state officials for review last month, would not change Colorado laws concerning medical cannabis or […]
According to a recent poll, 9 out of 10 people living in Kentucky support the legalization of medical cannabis, up from 78% in 2012. 95 percent of Democrats, 92 percent of independents, and 90 percent of Republicans support some form of reform. The poll also found 59 percent support for allowing adults to buy and […]
Washington’s well-publicized “10 percent concentrates bill” has been stopped in committee for the 2020 session. HB 2546, “Concerning the Potency of Marijuana Products,” would have limited cannabis concentrates in the state at just 10 percent potency for THC. See the original article at Ganjapreneur
Illinois cannabis shops brought in nearly $40 million in the first month of legal recreational marijuana sales, the state’s Department of Financial and Professional Regulation announced. During the 31-day period, almost 1 million individual marijuana products were sold across the state. Many of those transactions came from out-of-state cannabis tourists, who purchased $8.6 million worth of […]
Former New York City Mayor and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg called efforts to legalize marijuana “perhaps the stupidest thing anybody has ever done.” The position from the billionaire politician would seem to be out of step with Democratic leaders in his state and liberal voters nationwide. See the original article at Newsweek
In 2018, cannabis offenses amounted to 40% of the 1.65 million total drug arrests in the U.S. The second-largest category of drug arrests involved “other” drugs (29%), followed by heroin, cocaine or their derivatives (25%) and synthetic or manufactured drugs (6%). See the original article on Pew Research
Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-VT) campaign is encouraging the candidate to promptly legalize marijuana without waiting for Congress if he is elected to the White House. Directing the Justice Department to reclassify cannabis under federal law is among dozens of executive actions that are under consideration for Sanders’s “first days as president.” See the original article […]
California officials announced that marijuana vape cartridges seized in illegal shops in Los Angeles contained potentially dangerous additives, including a thickening agent blamed for a national outbreak of deadly lung illnesses tied to vaping. Officials also found that the illegal vapes typically were not as potent as advertised, and sometimes contained just a fraction of the THC claimed […]
President Trump could be heard saying that using marijuana makes people “lose IQ points” in a secretly recorded conversation released on Saturday. “In Colorado they have more accidents,” the president said in the clip captured by Lev Parnas, an associate of Trump attorney Rudolph Giuliani, who is at the center of the Ukraine scandal that […]
The board of commissioners of the Chicago Housing Authority voted on Tuesday to approve a new policy to help protect residents from being evicted for using cannabis. The board’s action revises an announcement from the agency last year that warned to end assistance for those found in possession of pot despite the legalization of marijuana in Illinois. […]
Citing concerns about a suspected connection between cannabis and psychosis, a group of Washington state lawmakers wants to slash the allowed potency of all non-medical cannabis concentrates, limiting THC levels to no more than 10%. Leo Beletsky, a professor of law and public health at Northwestern University, said that a blanket ban on such a […]
Medical cannabis will now be available free of charge in the Sicily region, according to a decree signed today by Sicilian health chief Ruggero Razza. The cost of prescriptions, available to patients suffering from chronic pain, cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis, will be covered by the Sicilian regional government. See the original article at The […]
A 3% tax on cannabis retailers was approved by a Cook County panel is expected to be approved by the full Board of Commissioners meaning taxes on some pot products in Chicago could exceed 41% by the summer. That 3% would be in addition to the city’s 3% planned tax and state excise taxes of […]
Two lawmakers in Colorado are pushing for passage of a law that would protect employees in the state from being fired for their use of pot off the job. If passed, the bill would prohibit employers “from terminating an employee for the employee’s lawful off-duty activities that are lawful under state law.” See the original […]
Voters in Florida will have to wait at least two more years before they get the opportunity to decide whether the state should legalize pot. Make it Legal Florida, the group that spearheaded the campaign to get the proposed amendment on the 2020 ballot, said this week that it is tabling the effort, with an […]
A cannabis decriminalization bill has been introduced in Tennessee. In addition to the statewide reforms, the legislation would allow counties to legalize cannabis for adult use. The measure would broadly decriminalize possession by adults up to one-half ounce. See the original article at Ganjapreneur
The town of Bessemer, Michigan has voted to spend approximately $3,400 to purchase a device to smell marijuana plants and train police officers in its use. “The city of Bessemer stinks,” council member Linda Nelson said. “You can smell marijuana everywhere. We’ve got people who can’t sit in their backyard because the smell from their […]
A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee is scheduled to hold a hearing on various reform proposals on Wednesday, including cannabis reform. This comes months after the House Judiciary Committee held a historic vote approving a comprehensive legalization bill sponsored by the panel’s chairman, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY). That legislation—the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act—will be one of […]
With the lack of regulatory oversight many consumers have questioned whether the labels of these cannabinoid-infused products can be trusted. In an exposé published last year, only about half of the products tested contained within 20% of the CBD that was labeled. Among those that failed, four CBD water products tested below 20%, with three […]
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo vowed to legalize marijuana in New York, prioritizing a push that fell apart last year amid tensions over who should be allowed to sell the drug and where the revenue should go. The governor described the effort as a long overdue criminal justice reform that could help salve wounds in communities […]
A Colorado county has launched a public service campaign to warn residents that there may be risks associated with using cannabis. Eric Aakko, a spokesman for the department, said that local officials want the public to realize that the legalization of marijuana does not imply that that cannabis use is risk-free. See the original article at […]
In 2014, a new farm bill opened up industrial hemp cultivation to state-controlled pilot programs. The following year, 1,500 acres of hemp were planted in the US. Today, nearly 100 times that many acres of US farmland are covered in the stuff—146,000, according to new data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). See the […]