Pennsylvania Governor Signs Medical Marijuana Expansion Bill
North Carolina Senators Pass Medical Marijuana Bill in Committee
Texas Marijuana Activists Introduce Decriminalization Voting Initiative in Austin
Marijuana protections for immigrants and veterans, such as hemp and CBD measures, advances in Congress
Harvard University launches first psychedelic center
Federally funded study says testing other people for marijuana-related deficiencies in THC grades is “unreliable.
Marijuana use among youth remained strong after states began legalizing, according to a federal report
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Legal marijuana states have generated about $8 billion in tax revenue since recreational sales began, according to a report.
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Colorado sold more than a billion dollars of legal marijuana in the first 3 months of 2021
Missouri Medical Marijuana Company Property Information Would Be Disclosed on a House-Approved Amendment
Mexican President Plans to Include Marijuana in Polls After Supreme Court Decision
California Senator Meets to Get Bill to Legalize Psychedelic Ownership Before Key Vote
FDA director refuses to say marijuana is more harmful than tobacco
VA Continues to Oppose Marijuana Bill for Marijuana Veterans Biden
Conan O’Brien celebrates retirement by smoking marijuana with Seth Rogen on tv
Federal government reconsiders cannabis-related layoffs, committee said (Bulletin: June 30, 2021)
SCOTUS Court Claims Federal Hashish (Bulletin: June 29, 2021)
Federal government discusses cannabis with state regulators (Bulletin: June 28, 2021)
House advances hashish protections for banks and CDs (bulletin: June 25, 2021)
Biden’s manager opposes veterans’ cannabis research bill (bulletin: June 24, 2021)
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Rhode Island lawmakers on Tuesday approved a bill identifying amenities in which other people can simply control and use illegal drugs under medical supervision. Separately, a House panel evaluated a measure that would legalize marijuana for adults in the state.
The first bill, which would launch a pilot program for admission sites, was approved by the entire House of Representatives in an on-floor vote and then approved an amended Senate supplemental bill passed through that framework in March. Senate for consideration, according to a press release.
During a hearing following the floor consultation, the House Finance Committee also heard testimony on one of the 3 proposals presented at that consultation that would legalize hashish for adult use. Legislative leaders and the governor have indicated that they would like to reconcile the differences between the two. measures and potentially re-vote on a commitment bill at the end of this year.
Rep. Scott Slater (D), who brought the marijuana legalization bill to the House last month, said he intentionally brought the bill to the end of the session, which is expected to close this week, allowing him to incorporate comments into a separate session. Senate legalization bill like the one brought by Gov. Dan McKee (D), he said.
“I tried to heed everyone’s comments and compromise the bill I can see for legal recreational hashish for adult use,” Slater said at the hearing.
The primary purpose of his bill is to create a formula that is “modest and allows for expansion and replacement over time,” Slater said, explaining that a slow start in the advertising market would help oversaturation of the market.
The Senate has already passed a separate hashish legalization measure in a 29-9 vote. “It’s that we’re temporarily moving to enact a regulatory framework,” Senate Health and Human Services President Joshua Miller (D) said at the time, noting policy adjustments in states like neighboring Connecticut, where the state’s governor recently signed a legalization bill.
House leaders, however, indicated that the space is not yet in a position to pass a bill on legalization.
“Absolutely, we can and will have to [wait], because all the proposals are very divergent,” House Speaker Joseph Shekarchi (D) said in an interview last week, referring to the House measure, the Senate bill, introduced in March. and the governor’s proposal.
Shekarchi said, as he has done in the past, that the search for a deal among lawmakers may take until the fall.
“I don’t know if there’s a mix of the two” expenses that can simply be agreed upon, he said. “We’ll have to wait and see where everyone can come together. “
Slater said before Tuesday’s hearing that even if lawmakers don’t reach an agreement on legalization until later this year, he’s pleased his proposal will be heard in the House.
“I’m satisfied,” he told Marijuana Moment. I think that puts the bill on the line for the fall session. “He said the major major differences between his bill and the Senate measure come with who the new industry would be, the number of licensed licensees and the consequences of proposed offenders for violations of a law. new hashish law.
Under H 6370, adults 21 years of age or older can acquire and possess up to one ounce of marijuana in public. They can also grow up to six hashish plants at home, with a maximum of 12 plants allowed in apartments where more than one adult lives.
Unlike the governor’s measure and the one introduced through Senate leaders, the House proposal calls for automatic expansing of criminal records for others who have already been convicted of cannabis.
The Department of Trade Regulation, which would oversee the marijuana program, could first authorize 15 recreational retailers, five of which would be reserved for social justice seekers. Another license would be issued to a workers’ cooperative.
The 3 existing medical hashish dispensaries in the state, as six more operators expected to be awarded in a lottery scheduled for this summer, would get the remaining adult use licenses.
No new growers would be allowed to plan for a 3-year era.
The Senate measure, on the other hand, would identify a new hashish control commission for the market and factor advertising licenses. Existing growers would also be protected: under an amendment passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee before this month, “there will be no new Factored Hash Farming Licenses until July 1, 2023.
Each municipality can have at least 3 hashish stores operating in its jurisdiction under the Senate plan, and more stores can be approved for every additional 20,000 citizens above a baseline of 30,000.
The Senate bill has also been amended in its original form to require labor peace agreements for marijuana businesses, a provision that can strengthen progressive support. Some of those who testified in the public comments portion of Tuesday’s hearing called for a similar provision in the House. invoice.
Jared Moffett, crusade manager at the Policy Project, the marijuana legalization advocacy organization, suggested lawmakers temporarily pass the hashish law this year.
“First of all, I just need to sincerely thank Vice President Slater for his years of service and paintings on this subject. Despite the fact that there are difficulties and demanding situations to generate a complex bill like this, he has continued to move forward. , and I am grateful for your commitment to bringing this task to a successful conclusion,” said Moffett.
With more and more northeastern states legalizing cannabis, he said, “Rhode Island is about to be a marijuana-ban island in New England, and that’s not where the state wants to be. That’s why lawmakers prioritize the law. “and the status quo and functioning of an adult market. So there is still time to act, but not much.
House control and the governor recently indicated that differences between spending will likely be taken into account when lawmakers return to the House of Representatives later this summer or fall. The House Finance Committee has already discussed the governor’s proposal to end the ban at a hearing in April. .
“I’m pleased with all the contributions I’ve earned today,” Slater said at the end of the hearing, adding that he would work to incorporate it into his bill. “I am in a position to address equity issues . . . however, everyone has to take a step in the direction of some kind of compromise. “
Meanwhile, a separate law passed by the House to allow other people to verify the content and purity of illegal drugs they already received and then use them in a controlled environment now returns to the Senate to approve the changes.
This bill, H 5245, aims to combat the highest number of drug-related deaths in Rhode Island which alone has the most pandemic. He legalized the space with a vote of 62 to nine despite strong protests from some Democrats. It went through the Senate, S 0016, legal house without debate later Tuesday night.
Rep. Arthur Corvese (D) called the program a “moral oxymoron” that “runs counter to common sense” in Tuesday’s debate.
“We help them,” he said of other people with substance use disorders. “There are tactics to help them. And I’m not sure one of the tactics to help them is to ask the state to approve a program like this. “»
“This bill will keep other people alive,” replied the bill’s sponsor, Rep. John G. Edwards (D), who said the proposal is the main piece of advice from a recent task force convened through the governor to examine how to reduce drug-related deaths.
“That’s the end result,” Edwards said. People who would otherwise die alone somewhere in our state will still be alive. “
He noted that the bill would not only allow other people to use drugs in an environment, but would also allow other people to verify the content and purity of their medications, which Edwards said would prevent him from deaths from ingredients that users don’t know involve fentanyl. .
“Fentanyl is in everything,” he said. Fentanyl is what motivates this. »
Other Democratic supporters said a similar joy indicated the proposal would reduce public drug intake and put consumers in touch with recovery and remedy services.
The bill also garnered some Republican support. Congressional Minority Leader Blake Fillipi said he supported the pilot program, criticizing the federal government’s war on drugs and arguing that the severity of the state’s drug-related death crisis is forcing lawmakers to make all options.
Meanwhile, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing in March on a separate bill that would end the consequences of possession of small amounts of drugs and update them with a $100 fine, but got a vote.
On cannabis legalization, McKee, who took over after former Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) joined the Biden administration as Commerce Secretary, included policy replacement in his budget proposal earlier this year. He said after taking that “it’s time for [legalization]” to take place in the state.
While his predecessor had proposed a unique style that would allow Rhode Island to lead the hashish industry itself, McKee favors a “business strategy. “
That said, he has also recently downplayed the importance of politics replacing this legislative session. He told reporters last week that while he supported legalization, “it was not one of my highest priorities,” adding that “we’re not in the race. with Connecticut or Massachusetts on this subject. “
This year’s debate is the result of discussions that started the last legislative session. The Senate Finance Committee began the initial review of expired legalization last year in preparation for the existing term, and lawmakers sometimes accept reform as inevitable. will act on this issue, whether it’s more personal or more state-owned,” said Sen. Ryan Pearson (D), now chairman of the panel.
House Speaker Shekarchi, for his part, said late last year that he was “absolutely” open to the concept of legalizing cannabis.
Federal agencies reconsider firing marijuana workers, congressional committee urges
An earlier edition of this account incorrectly indicated that the law on admission sites would be sent to the governor’s workplace after the House passed Tuesday. Because the bill has been amended, it is returned to the Senate for consideration. The article has been updated.
Harvard University launches first psychedelic center
California Lawmakers Approve Bill to Legalize Psychedelic Property in Committee
Ben Adlin is a Seattle. Il editor who has been covering hashish as a journalist since 2011, and most recently as a senior editor at Leafly.
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Pennsylvania’s governor on Wednesday signed a medical marijuana law that expands some policies that were temporarily followed at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Under the legislation, curb hashish deliveries will continue, patients can get a 90-day, 30-day source of hashish, and the limit on the number of patients a caregiver can see would also be removed indefinitely.
“It’s been five years since Pennsylvania legalized marijuana for medical purposes, and this time, the Department of Health has reviewed the program’s successes and demanding situations and made vital recommendations to improve the law,” Gov. Tom Wolf (D) said in a news release. “This law provides vital updates to our state’s medical marijuana program so that certain patients have greater access to medications. “
– Office of the Governor (@GovernorsOffice) June 30, 2021
HB 1024 also maintains COVID-19 transitority policies that have convenient restrictions on offender background checks for hashish medical workers, and patients may still qualify to participate in the program through a remote medical telehealth.
Sponsors also argue that the move will create jobs by integrating hemp manufacturers into the medical marijuana chain.
Although advocates are encouraged through the codification of those provisions, they remain frustrated that the GOP-controlled legislature has rejected a Sen. Sharif Street (D) amendment that would have allowed patients over the age of 21 to grow up to five plants for their public use This would have marked a significant expansion of the state’s existing program through which hashish can only be legally obtained in the Clinics.
Under this measure, cultivation deserves to have taken place in an “enclosed and enclosed space,” and patients deserve to have “taken moderate precautions to ensure that plants are unauthorized access by adding unauthorized access through a minor user. “21.
In addition, it is possible that patients or caregivers have simply taken care of the plants, and violating the measure by developing more than five plants, promoting them or giving them away would have resulted in the loss of the house’s cultivation privileges, as well as other consequences provided for by law.
Some advocates are also involved in some other provision in the now signed bill that allows corporations to fix infected marijuana products and sell them after an independent lab has shown they have been restored, but this is a common practice among legal states.
StreetArray, however, was able to associate the language with the bill providing monetary assistance to low-income patients, and said it was “encouraged” by the fact that Republican lawmakers had supported the replacement even though they blocked the separate amendment on home cultivation.
“Accessibility and pricing have been a burden on patients for too long. We have taken a step to help many other people access this drug,” he told Marijuana Moment. “We still have paintings to make. “
Advocates, however, are disappointed by the Senate’s rejection of home cultivation rights for patients, and continue with broader proposals to legalize adult use.
Two Pennsylvania lawmakers are actively circulating a memo reinforcing a legalization bill they plan to file shortly, for example.
This comes as a bipartisan Senate duo is also drafting legislation to legalize hashish across the Commonwealth. Street and Sen. Dan Laughlin (R) announced some main points of the proposal before this year, but the bill has yet to be officially introduced.
Street told Marijuana Moment last week that the two were still “finalizing the language” of the legalization measure, but that they would introduce it before the end of this session.
Meanwhile, Laughlin joined his Republican colleagues in the vote to introduce the street house culture amendment.
Separately, two expenditures to decriminalize hashish alone were filed in the GOP-controlled House and Senate in January, yet they have still been heard through the committees they’ve referred to.
Outside of parliament, the governor said earlier this year that marijuana legalization was a priority while negotiating the annual budget with lawmakers; however, his formal request for spending did not include a law to bring about a change in hashish policy.
Wolf has continually called for legalization and insisted that the Republican-controlled legislature continue with reform, as it was pro-policy in 2019. Soon after, a lawmaker filed a separate bill to legalize marijuana through a state model. The proposal has been submitted to the existing legislative session.
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D), who is running for the U. S. Senate, has in the past led a statewide listening tour to seek public opinion on legalization. He attributed this effort to helping the governor adopt comprehensive reform. his workplace on Capitol Hill with a marijuana-themed décor in violation of a state law passed by the GOP-led legislature.
Fetterman has also been actively encouraging the governor to exercise his mercy force on hashish cases as the legislature prepares to push through reform.
Last month, Wolf pardoned a doctor who arrested, prosecuted and jailed for developing marijuana he used to relieve his dying wife. This is his 96th pardon for others convicted of hashish under the Accelerated Review of Marijuana-Related Nonviolent Crimes program administered through the Board. of pardons.
Overall, legalization is popular with Pennsylvania voters, with 58% of citizens saying they are ending the hashish ban on a ballot issued in April.
Another ballot released last month found that a majority of the state’s electorate is also in favor of decriminalizing all illicit drugs lately.
North Carolina Senators Pass Medical Marijuana Bill in Committee
Photo courtesy of Brian Shamblen.
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A key Senate committee in North Carolina on Wednesday introduced a bill to legalize medical marijuana in the state.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, which first heard testimony on the proposal last week, passed the bill in a vocal vote, but it still has to go through 3 more panels before it’s potentially on the ground.
The chairman of the regulatory committee, Bill Rabon (right), sponsors the measure, which would allow patients access to hashish if they suffer from a “debilitating medical condition” such as cancer, epilepsy, HIV/AIDS, Parkinson’s disease, sclerosis. Regulators would have the authority to charge more eligibility requirements.
The goal of the law is to “compassionately care for the express illnesses of others in North Carolina who wish to do so and turn them into law-abiding citizens,” Rabon said before the vote.
“I can tell you this moved me a lot because of my non-public experiences,” said the senator, who is a cancer survivor. “Sometimes it has been difficult for me to tell other people, but I repeat that the time has come, that it will have to be discussed and that we will have to take care of our neighbors in every way imaginable. and in any way that we can, as an organization, legalize it. “
Addressed to 3 committees. If he passes them all, then in the Senate.
Another war within the Republican Party, where some members voted no now on the committee.
The remains uncertain.
– Senator Jeff Jackson (@JeffJacksonNC) June 30, 2021
Majority Leader Kathy Harrington (right), whose husband recently diagnosed blood cancer, one of the panel’s positive votes.
“If you had asked me six months ago if I would accept this bill, I would have told you no,” he said. “But life comes to you fast. “
Under an election amendment passed by the committee last week, a 13-member hashish medical advisory council “would review petitions to burden a debilitating new medical condition and have the authority to charge a debilitating new medical condition,” according to a summary. “
Moreover, a nine-member Medical Cannabis Production Commission would be identified to “provide a safe and regulated source of hashish suitable for medical use through qualified registration identity card holders; ensure statewide access and affordable hashish for registration identity card holders; well-regulated formula, which adds an economically viable seed tracking formula for providers to ensure that certain patients have hashish and hashish-infused products of the highest quality; and generate sufficient revenue for the Commission to monitor and for the Department to maintain and operate the formula.
The measure would also create a hashish study program in North Carolina “to conduct objective clinical studies related to the management of hashish or hashish-infused products as a component of medical treatment. “
– Kirk deViere (@kdeviere) June 30, 2021
On Wednesday, members approved 3 additional amendments. One reduces the number of medical hashish dispensaries that can be licensed from 8 to 4 and also clarifies how violations of the program would be treated.
Another would be the accumulation of consequences for illegal crimes such as trafficking marijuana for medical purposes, applying a more severe penalty than the illegal non-medical cannabis industry.
An additional review requires doctors to involve approved strategies for administering medical hashish to patients and to require dispensary workers to do this data when conducting transactions.
The bill still has to pass through the Senate’s finance, physical care, and regulations and operations committees to succeed on the ground.
Most North Carolina adults are legalizing recreational marijuana, and 3 in 4 say it deserves to be legal for medical purposes, according to a survey released in February.
– Senator Wiley Nickel (@wileynickel) June 30, 2021
North Carolina Families for Medical Cannabis, which represents military veterans and others who would likely benefit from legalization, prompted lawmakers to enact the legislation.
– North Carolina Families for Medical Cannabis (@NCFMC1) June 29, 2021
It’s imaginable that the legislature will likely see more action on a variety of cannabis-related spending this year.
A medical hashish bill, adult marijuana legalization measures and several hashish decriminalization laws have also been introduced in recent months, which lately do not have a bipartisan co-sponsor and will most likely face a difficult war within the GOP-controlled legislature. .
While advocates have doubts about passing radical reform in North Carolina this session, Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger (R) recently stated that revisions were becoming related to marijuana in the state, and said Rabon in particular “for a long time has been on the issue.
“I feel like public opinion is turning to marijuana, whether it’s medicinal or recreational,” Rabon previously said. “I don’t know what the position of general assembly members is right now in terms of support for the bill, but it’s anything that we do. “let’s take a look and see how things play out. “
Pressure to end criminalisation is also intensifying at the regional level.
Virginia’s neighbors have become the first Southern state to legalize recreational marijuana in April, for example, and the sponsor of a bill to legalize medical hashish in South Carolina said it had obtained assurances from a senior Senate official that its measure would be the first on the calendar. early next year.
A task force convened through North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) supported decriminalization as part of a series of policy recommendations on racial equity that were released late last year. The organization also said previous hashish convictions deserve to be expunged and that the state deserves to legalize marijuana more broadly.
Under existing law, possessing more than one ounce of hashish up to 1. 5 ounz is a Class 1 offense, punishable by up to forty-five days in criminal offenses and a $200 fine. In 2019, there were 3,422 of those fees and 1,909 convictions. , being 70% of the condemned non-white.
Texas Marijuana Activists Introduce Decriminalization Voting Initiative in Austin
Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.
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A newly formed Texas progressive organization on Wednesday unveiled a crusade to put in place an initiative to decriminalize marijuana ownership and ban ban orders in the Austin election.
Ground Game Texas, a nonprofit led by former Democratic congressional candidates, doesn’t focus exclusively on hashish reform, yet it has made the factor a priority and addresses it in the first of many local voting measures across the state.
Austin, along with Dallas, have already independently followed the adjustments of law enforcement policies to arrests for marijuana-related offenses by issuing subpoenas and subpoenas. However, the activists’ new plan would take reform further.
The Austin Freedom Act aims to end arrests and citations for marijuana possession offenses in the city. In addition, it states that the police cannot factor in subpoenas for waste or paraphernalia of a property rate.
The measure would also prohibit the use of the city’s budget to request or verify whether hashish meets the state’s definition of a licit product. Hemp is legal in the state, creating headaches for law enforcement as they are now tasked with finding out if the seized hashish products comply with state law.
“Marijuana reform is a winning factor and local efforts will encourage voter participation. State lawmakers, Democrats and Republicans, failed us in the legislative session,” Heather Fazio, director of Texans for Responsible Marijuana Policy, told Marijuana Moment. political tension will attract their attention and lead them to participate in meaningful state reform. “
To qualify for the November 2021 election, attorneys will want to gather at least 20,000 signatures valid through July 20 and target at least 25,000 gross bids for success.
A representative said at a press convention Wednesday, held in front of a statue of hashish icon and musician Willie Nelson, that they already have about 3,000 signatures in hand.
As a component of this initiative, the execution of restraining orders would also be banned in the city, a policy that has attracted significant national attention after Kentucky officials made Taylor’s support public and fired a failed drug raid on him.
“In recent years, Austin police have issued thousands of citations and made tons of arrests for marijuana possession. These disproportionately targeted members of the black and Hispanic community,” the group’s online page says. “To publicize justice and waste taxpayers’ money, we need to redirect resources towards genuine public protection solutions. “
We called for the decriminalization of marijuana and the prohibition of “no-hit” arrest warrants in Austin.
It is time for direct democracy, for the disorders of the people to reach the people!Pic. twitter. com/MQeeu0WWV8
– GroundGameTX (@GroundGameTX) June 30, 2021
They also welcome volunteers to collect signatures.
By engaging the electorate in issues like marijuana reform that are popular with other young people and Democrats, Ground Game Texas can also theoretically influence turnout in the upcoming election, potentially changing the balance of GOP forces within the state’s conservative legislature.
There is no statewide citizen initiative procedure that allows advocates to include a factor like decriminalization or legalization on the Texas ballot, but at the local level, there are limited cases where activists can gain autonomy merits that allow for policy changes.
According to a recent poll, a large majority of Texa reform even more broadly. 60% of the state’s electorate legalize hashish “for all use,” noting that local projects for more modest proposals like decriminalization will likely succeed when they qualify for local elections.
Ground Game Texas begins shortly after the end of this year’s legislative session, which has noted that many drug policy proposals are moving forward, with spending to expand the state’s medical hashish program and requiring an examination of the healing prospects of certain psychedelics for military veterans. .
However, advocates remain disappointed that lawmakers haven’t passed more ambitious hashish bills, adding a decriminalization proposal that the House has yet to see action in the Senate.
The House passed a bill on hashish decriminalization in 2019, however, it has complex in the Senate this session.
Several progressive Texas politicians, in addition to former U. S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro, former state Rep. Wendy Davis and former U. S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, supported Ground Game Texas and said in a statement that it “will meet with Texans wherever they are. “pay attention to the most important problems.
Texas is the only state where organizers are looking to put marijuana on local ballots. Ohio activists recently called for a measure to decriminalize hashish on a 2021 local ballot, the first of a dozen reform proposals that can be presented to the electorate this year as a signature. Collection efforts continue throughout the state. The organization is also running to put marijuana projects on local ballots in South Carolina and West Virginia.
Meanwhile, advocates across the county are already executing a number of statewide hashish projects by 2022.
Activists in Missouri, for example, this month plan to present the electorate with a measure to legalize recreational marijuana next year.
Nebraska marijuana activists have announced plans for a “large-scale” crusade to put hashish legalization on the 2022 state ballot.
Two measures were introduced this month in Wyoming to put in place measures to legalize medical hashish and decriminalize adult use in front of the electorate by 2022.
Also this month, activists in Idaho introduced a measure to legalize the possession of adult marijuana that they hope to provide to the electorate in the 2022 election, in addition to a separate effort on medical hashish in the state.
North Dakota activists are planning a marijuana legalization measure after lawmakers failed to pass the reform in this session.
Meanwhile, the Florida Supreme Court blocked two hashish legalization projects for which activists had already collected thousands of signatures.
Read Austin’s marijuana decriminalization petition below:
Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan.