On February 9 Kamala Harris said “We changed federal marijuana policy”, in a video posted on the social media platform X. Despite that not being true, the video has been shared thousands of times and remains live.

In less than a month, the video has been viewed nearly half a million times, it’s been shared over 2,200 times, and it has nearly 3,000 comments. The video has clearly driven engagement, as was undoubtably its goal, but it does so while claiming provable falsehoods.

“We changed federal marijuana policy, because nobody should have to go to jail just for smoking weed”, said Vice President Harris in the video, which was designed to appeal to young voters and drive their enthusiasm and voter turnout.

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Legislation banning delta-8 THC has been approved by the Florida Legislature and sent to Governor Ron DeSantis.

Hemp, which is used to extract delta-8 THC.

Florida’s Senate gave final approval to Senate Bill 1698 yesterday in a unanimous 39 to 0 vote. The vote came soon after the House of Representatives passed the bill in a much more contentious vote, 64 to 48.

If signed into law by Governor DeSantis or allowed to become law without his signature, the bill would completely ban the sale of delta-8 THC, which is derived from hemp. Hemp was legalized under the 2018 farm bill.
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According to a recent analysis, over half of all hemp grown legally in the United States is grown in California.

According to an MJBizDaily analysis of the recent Census of Agriculture report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, California produced 56% of all U.S. hemp flower throughout 2022, which is used for a variety of purposes including to extract CBD and other cannabinoids.

In a distant second was Kentucky, which grows around 16% of all hemp grown in the US, followed by Oregon with 6% and Colorado with 4%.
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Legal marijuana sales in Nevada were not far from a billion dollars in 2023, with well over $100 million in marijuana tax revenue.

According to data released by the Nevada Department of Taxation, there was $936,031,174 in marijuana sold through licensed marijuana retail outlets and dispensaries in 2023. These sales resulted in $124,415,555 in marijuana tax revenue.

The top month for marijuana sales in 2023 was March, with $75,023,166 in marijuana sold resulting in $12,288,541 in tax revenue.
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A legislative proposal “providing a tax exemption for medical cannabis patients” has been passed by Washington’s full legislature.

By a vote of 82 to 14 in the House of Representatives and 36 to 13 in the Senate, House Bill 1453 has received final approval through the legislature and will soon be sent to Governor Jay Inslee.

The proposed law “Provides a permanent tax exemption from the 37 percent cannabis excise tax for qualifying patients and designated providers with a recognition card on purchases of cannabis products that are labeled as Department of Health (DOH)-compliant product and tested in accordance with the DOH’s rules.”
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Next week a Tennessee legislative committee will consider the Free All Cannabis for Tennesseans Act to legalize recreational marijuana.

House Bill 85 was filed last month by State Representatives Bob Freeman and John Clemmons. Today, the measure was placed on the calendar for consideration on March 12 in the Criminal Justice Subcommittee. This is a necessary step towards the measure working its way through the committee process to reach the full House of Representatives.

The proposed law would allow those who are at least 21 years old to purchase, possess, transport and share (without payment) up to 60 grams of marijuana, and up to 15 grams of marijuana concentrates. The bill would also allow for the personal cultivation of up to 12 marijuana plants.
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The United States House of Representatives has past a $460 billion package of spending bills; included among them is a provision prohibiting the federal government from interfering with state-level medical marijuana laws.

The House voted 339 to 85 to pass the package of bills, sending them to the Senate. Included in the portion of the bill covering Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies is a provision that makes it illegal for the federal government to interfere with state medical marijuana laws. The provision has been included in  multiple spending bills approved in previous years, but with a new Speaker of the House some advocates were concerned it could be removed.

Specifically the provision states:
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US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) says the Senate will “work very hard” to pass the SAFER Banking Act prior to the November election.

(Photo credit: J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press).

“We believe very strongly in so many things, and we are going to continue to work on the agenda that we put before us”, said Schumer at a recent press briefing. “We first have to fund the government, the supplemental is very important. But after that, you will see us turn to many of the bills that we passed: the SAFER Act, safety on the rails, so many other things.”

Schumer added “As you know, many of the bills we’ve passed are bipartisan… we’re going to work very hard on many different things.”
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A joint committee in Connecticut’s Legislature held a public hearing today on legislation to decriminalize the personal possession of psilocybin mushrooms.

Dried psilocybin mushrooms in a bowl.

The Joint Committee on Judiciary conducted a hearing today for House Bill 5297, which states that “Any person who possesses or has under such person’s control less than one-half ounce of psilocybin shall, for a first offense, be fined one hundred fifty dollars, and for a subsequent offense, be fined “not less than two hundred dollars or more than five hundred dollars.”

The measure clarifies that law enforcement officer issuing a complaint for a violation of subsection (a) of this section “shall seize the psilocybin and cause such substance to be destroyed as contraband in accordance with law.”
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