Jan 15 2024

US House Resolution Filed to “Increase Equity Within Cannabis Policy and the Legal Cannabis Marketplace”

The RESPECT Resolution (H.R. 960) “Urging action to increase equity within cannabis policy and the legal cannabis marketplace”, has been filed by Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA).

The RESPECT (“Realizing Equitable & Sustainable Participation in Emerging Cannabis Trades) Resolution was filed in the US House of Representatives on Thursday, with the measure cosponsored by Congressmembers Alma Adams (NC), Janice “Jan” Schakowsky (IL), Henry C. “Hank” Johnson (GA), Earl Blumenauer (OR), James “Jim” McGovern (MA), Eleanor Norton (DC) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ).

Congressmember Lee in a press release says the resolution “aims to elevate the importance of equity within the legal cannabis marketplace, address disparities and proactively address and repair the most egregious effects of the War on Drugs on communities of color””
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Jan 15 2024

Arkansas Initiative Would Expand Medical Marijuana Program, Establish Federal Trigger for Recreational Legalization

An initiative that would significantly expand Arkansas’ medical marijuana program, while legalizing recreational marijuana if the federal government deschedules it, has been filed with the state.

The nonprofit political group Arkansans for Patient Access has officially filed the Arkansas Medical Cannabis Amendment of 2024 with Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin. The proposed constitutional amendment would allow medical marijuana patients to grow their own marijuana, while removing the list of qualifying medical marijuana conditions. This would allow physicians to recommend medical marijuana for any condition they deem necessary.

The initiative would allow patients to grow up to seven mature marijuana plants at a given time, as well as seven immature plants.
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Jan 15 2024

US Department of Health Secretary Confirms Agency In Talks With DEA About Moving Marijuana to Schedule III

The secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services  (HHS) has confirmed, for the first time, that their agency has recommended to the DEA that marijuana be rescheduled to Schedule III, while confirming they are in continuing talks on the issue.

In a recent interview with the New York Times, Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra says HHS has “communicated to them our position”, referencing the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). He says they’ve “put it all out there for them”, referencing a 252 page document that was recently released  publicly via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

Becerra confirms that the agency is requesting marijuana be moved to Schedule III, a considerable shift from its current Schedule I status. The move would effectively legalize medical marijuana for prescription use nationwide, while providing medical marijuana patients and businesses a plethora of legal protections.
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Jan 14 2024

WA Bill to Legalize Personal Marijuana Cultivation Scheduled for Public Hearing On January 16

Legislation that would legalize personal marijuana cultivation has been scheduled for a public hearing in the Washington State House of Representatives.

Washington remains one of the only legal marijuana states to not allow marijuana to be grown for personal use. House Bill 2194, filed by Representative Shelley Kloba with 12 cosponsors, would change this by legalizing marijuana cultivation for everyone 21 and older. The measure has now been scheduled for a public hearing in the House Committee on Regulated Substances & Gaming, a legally necessary state towards it becoming law. The hearing will take place Tuesday, January 16 at 4pm.

The measure would allow for the personal cultivation of up to six marijuana plants per person at a private residence. No more than 15 plants could be grown “at any one time on the premises of a single housing unit, regardless of the number of residents living on the premises of the housing unit.”
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Jan 14 2024

Study: Combining Opioids With Marijuana Can Reduce Opioid Dosage and Mitigate Opioid Toxicity in Hospice Patients

Combination medical marijuana and opioid therapy “showed statistically significant pain relief and may have the potential for reducing opioid dose and mitigating opioid toxicity”, states a new study.

The study is being published in the American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, with the abstract published online ahead of print by the US National Library of Medicine. The research was conducted by researchers at Yale School of Medicine, Connecticut Hospice, The John D. Thompson Hospice Institute for Education, Yale-New Haven Hospital and Yale School of Public Health.

“Opioid therapy is critical for pain relief for most hospice patients but may be limited by adverse side effects”, states the study’s abstract. “Combining medical cannabis with opioids may help mitigate adverse effects while maintaining effective pain relief.”
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Jan 14 2024

Majority of Lawmakers Sponsoring Federal “Stop Pot Act” Are From North Carolina

The majority of those sponsoring the “Stop Pot Act” are from North Carolina.

Filed by North Carolina Congressmember Chuck Edwards in September, the Stop Pot Act would withhold federal funding from states and tribes that have legalized recreational marijuana. The measure was filed with just one cosponsor, with it since gaining three additional sponsors, bringing the total to five. Three of these five (60%) are from North Carolina, and all are Republican.

The proposed law would withhold 10% of federal highway funds from states and tribes that violate the federal Controlled Substances Act. Given marijuana is a Schedule I drug, this means that any state that allows legal marijuana sales would be violating the provisions of this proposal and would lose some federal funding. Despite having just five sponsors, the Stop Pot Act has more cosponsors than any other effort that would combat state marijuana laws, even though many Republican Congressmembers hold strong anti-marijuana stances.
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Jan 14 2024

Maryland: Legal Marijuana Sales Reach $96 Million in December, Nearly $800 Million in 2023

There was a record-breaking $96.4 million in legal marijuana sold in December in Maryland.

According to the Maryland Cannabis Administration there was $96,473,978 worth of legal marijuana and marijuana products sold in December, a new monthly record for the state. Medical marijuana sales were $34,967,892 while recreational marijuana sales were $61,506,086.

Total marijuana sales for the year finished just shy of $800 million at $787 million.
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Jan 13 2024

There’s Now Over 850,000 Medical Marijuana Patients in Florida

According to a new report, there was over 850,000 registered medical marijuana patients in Florida as of the end of fiscal year (FY) 2023.

According to the 2024 Physician Certification Pattern Review annual report, there was 859,026 medical marijuana patients as of the end of FY 2023. This is an over 100,000 patient increase from the 757,600 patients at the end of FY 2022.

Florida’s Physician Certification Pattern Review Panel is a seven-member body created by the Florida Board of Medicine and Board of Osteopathic Medicine. The panel is legally required to submit a report on the state’s medical marijuana program at the start of each year.
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Jan 12 2024

Wisconsin Bill to Create Medical Psilocybin Pilot Program Has 24 Bipartisan Sponsors

Legislation to create and fund a pilot program for the medical use of psilocybin mushrooms was recently filed in the Wisconsin Legislature.

Dried psilocybin mushrooms. (Photo credit: Rich Townsend/Getty Images)

House Bill 753 was filed last month by State Representative Nate Gustafson along with a bipartisan coalition of 23 cosponsors, and assigned to the House Committee on Health, Aging and Long-Term Care. Today the measure received an official fiscal note.

The measure would create “a medicinal psilocybin treatment fund and a pilot program to study the effects of medicinal psilocybin treatment on patients with post-traumatic stress syndrome at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and making an appropriation.”
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Jan 12 2024

US Health Department Releases 252 Page Document With Rationale for Rescheduling Marijuana, Says it Has “Accepted Medical Use”

The United States Health and Human Services Department (HHS) has released a 252 page document explaining their rationale for wanting marijuana moved from Schedule I to Schedule III.

HHS today released the full, unredacted 252 page document explaining why it sent a letter to the DEA in August requesting marijuana be rescheduled. In the letter HHS says that marijuana  “has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States”, while also noting that its “potential for abuse less than the drugs or other substances in Schedules I and II.”

In December HHS released the document after a pair of attorneys requested them through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). However, the 252 pages were heavily redacted. The documents released today were entirely unredacted.
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