Jan 29 2024

South Dakota Bill Would Recognize Tribal Medical Marijuana Authorizations, Public Hearing Scheduled

Legislation filed last week in South Dakota’s Legislature would provide state protections to those issued tribal medical marijuana authorizations.

Filed by Senator Shawn Bordeaux (D), Senate Bill 141 was “first read in Senate and referred to Senate Health and Human Services” on January 24. It has been scheduled for a hearing in the committee for later today.

South Dakota legalized medical marijuana in 2021. The law legally recognizes “nonresident cardholders”, described as a person diagnosed “with a debilitating medical condition”, who is “not a resident of this state or who has been a resident of this state for fewer than forty-five days”, who was “issued a currently valid registry identification card or its equivalent by another state, district, territory, commonwealth, insular possession of the United States, or country recognized by the United States that allows the person to use cannabis for medical purposes in the jurisdiction of issuance”.
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Jan 28 2024

Final Four NFL Teams All From Legal Marijuana States

There are four NFL teams playing in the AFC and NFC Championship games today. All are from legal recreational marijuana states.

Although 20 of the National Football League’s 32 teams (62%) are from states that have legalized recreational marijuana, 100% of the teams that made it to the championship matches are from one of those states.

The Kansas City Chiefs are from Missouri, and the Baltimore Ravens are from Maryland; both legalized recreational marijuana via the initiative process in 2022.
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Jan 27 2024

Arizona Marijuana Workers Vote Overwhelmingly to Unionize

Employees at a marijuana cultivation facility in Arizona voted this week to unionize, with 90% of workers in support of the move.

On Thursday workers at the Trulieve Cannabis Corp central Phoenix production facility voted 37 to 4 in favor of unionizing with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Local 99.

“The successful union election at Trulieve Magnolia is the first for Arizona agricultural workers in the cannabis industry, and only the second-ever union election to be administered by the Arizona Agricultural Labor Relations Board (AERB)”, states a UFCW press release. “Established in 1993, the AERB’s statutes are patterned after the National Labor Relations Act, which specifically excludes agricultural workers from its jurisdiction.”
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Jan 27 2024

Marijuana Stock Index Up 30% From 90 Days Ago

The Global Cannabis Stock Index has seen a significant increase over the past 90 days.

At the time of publication the Global Cannabis Stock Index stands at 9.06. This marks a 30.7% increase over where the market stood 90 days ago, when it was at 6.93. The high point over the past 30 days came on Thursday, January 25, with the market at 9.13.

The slow but steady increase over the past few moths may be related to the fact that the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently confirmed that they’re in talks with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) regarding the potential rescheduling of marijuana. HHS is recommending that marijuana be moved to Schedule III, a move that would legalize medical marijuana for prescription use across the United States.
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Jan 26 2024

Poll: Majority of Likely Voters in All 50 States Support Legalizing Marijuana, Nationwide Support at 57%

According to newly released polling, a strong majority of likely voters int he United States, including a majority in all 50 states, support legalizing recreational marijuana.

For the Politics and Advocacy Poll, conducted by The Tarrance Group, participants were asked:

“As you may know, most states have legalized marijuana for medical use, recreational use or both.
But currently all uses of marijuana are illegal at the federal level. Do you favor or oppose legalization
of marijuana by the U.S. government, which would legalize it in all 50 states?”
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Jan 26 2024

Virginia Subcommittee Advances Bill to Legalize Recreational Marijuana Sales

Despite legalizing recreational marijuana in 2024, Virginia remains the only legal marijuana state to not allow sales in any capacity. A bill making its way through the state’s legislature could change that.

Yesterday a Senate subcommittee voted to advance Senate Bill 423, which would establish a licensed and regulated market for legal marijuana.

Under the proposed law, which must be approved through several more committees before it can be considered by the full Senate, the state would license up to 400 marijuana stores starting in 2025.
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Jan 26 2024

Federal Legislation to Allow Marijuana Banking Gains 99th Sponsor in US House

The SAFE Banking Act gained its 99th sponsor yesterday in the United States House of Representatives.

The SAFE Banking Act would provide federal protections to banks and other financial services such as credit unions that provide services to marijuana businesses that are legal under their state’s law. This includes debit card services, businesses loans and other banking services.

The proposal was filed in April with eight cosponsors. Yesterday, Representative Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) became the 99th person to sponsor the bill, and the 91st since its filing.
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Jan 25 2024

New Hampshire Committee Approves Bill to Allow Physicians to Recommend Medical Marijuana for Any Condition

A New Hampshire legislative committee has given approval to a bill that would greatly expand the number of people eligible to become a medical marijuana patient.

Filed by State Representative Wendy Thomas along with five cosponsors, House Bill 1278 was approved today in a unanimous 20 to 0 vote by the House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee.

The proposed law would repeal the state’s list of qualifying medical marijuana conditions and would replace it with a provision stating that “For adults 21 years of age or older, any debilitating or terminal medical condition or symptom for which the potential benefits of using therapeutic cannabis would, in the provider’s clinical opinion, likely outweigh the potential health risks for the patient.”
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Jan 25 2024

US Senate and House Bills Filed to Allow State-Legal Marijuana Use at Public Housing

Legislation that would allow those in public housing to use marijuana without fear of eviction if they are following state law has been refiled in the United States Senate and House of Representatives.

(Photo credit: Getty Images).

Congressmember Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced the Marijuana in Federally Assisted Housing Parity Act today to permit the use of marijuana in federally assisted housing, including public housing and Section 8 housing, in compliance with the marijuana laws of the state (including the District of Columbia) where the property is located. Under current federal law, users of drugs that are illegal under federal law, including marijuana, are prohibited from being admitted into federally assisted housing.

Federal law also allows landlords to evict residents of federally assisted housing for illegal drug use. Adult-use marijuana, medical marijuana or both are currently legal in D.C., New Jersey and 37 other states, and over 90 percent of Americans support legalized medical marijuana.
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Jan 25 2024

Delaware House Passes Bill to Enhance Patient Access to Medical Marijuana

Delaware’s full House of Representatives passed legislation on Thursday that would enhance patient access to medical marijuana, including allowing physicians to recommend the medicine for any condition they deem appropriate.

Sponsored by State Representative Ed Osienski, House Bill 285 would make several changes to the way medical marijuana cards are issued, and it removes barriers that prevent patients from accessing medical marijuana in Delaware.

“Following our successful passage of the Delaware Marijuana Control Act last year, establishing a framework for the legalization and regulation of recreational marijuana use in our state, we have actively engaged with and taken feedback from medical marijuana patients. Drawing from their insights, we identified numerous ways to improve our medical marijuana program,” said Rep. Ed Osienski.
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