Dec 19 2023

Study Finds Marijuana Legalization Correlates With “Improved Basketball Recruiting Outcomes”

Marijuana legalization “appears to improve basketball recruiting outcomes for in-state colleges”, according to a new study.

(Photo credit: Jack Dempsey/NCAA Photos via Getty Images).

Titled The Effects of Marijuana Legalization on NCAA Men’s Basketball Recruiting, the study was published in the recent issue of the Journal of Sports Economics and conducted by researchers at Georgia College & State University and Kennesaw State University.

“Over the past two decades, attitudes toward marijuana usage have softened”, states the study. “This shift in sentiment coincided with reduced punishments, decriminalization, and in some states, legalization. We find evidence of unexpected consequences of marijuana legalization.”
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Dec 19 2023

Florida Lawmaker Files Tax Relief Bill for Medical Marijuana Businesses

Legislation has been filed in the Florida Legislature that would allow licensed medical marijuana businesses to take tax deductions that they are currently prevented from taking due to federal law.

Senator Ana Maria Rodriguez (R) filed Senate Bill 974 on Friday. The measure is seen as at least a partial remedy to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code 280E, which prevents any business that distributes a federally illegal product from taking standard tax deductions, even if the business is legal under their state’s law.

Specifically, the measure would allow medical marijuana businesses to take tax deductions in an amount “equal to an expenditure that is eligible to be claimed as a federal income tax deduction but is disallowed because marijuana is a controlled substance under federal law”.
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Dec 18 2023

Colorado Cannabis Research Institute Announces Six New Marijuana Studies Funded With $800k

Colorado’s Institute of Cannabis Research (ICR) announced that they will be allocating $800,000 to fund six different cannabis studies.

The studies will be conducted at Colorado State University (CSU) and the University of Colorado (UC), with funding coming from the state’s Colorado Marijuana Tax Cash Fund. The ICR first opened in 2015, and has since conducted 40 completed studies.

According to Westword, who first reported on the new grants, the studies will cover a variety of topics, ranging from CBD and THC’s impact on children with autism spectrum disorder to an examination of interactions between cannabis and gut microbiota.
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Dec 18 2023

Federal Legislation to Protect Legal Marijuana States and Allow Interstate Commerce Gains New Sponsor

Bipartisan legislation titled the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States (STATES) Act has gained its sixth sponsor.

The STATES Act was filed State Representative Dave Joyce (R) earlier this month, with Representatives Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R), Brian Mast (R), Troy Carter (D) and Earl Blumenauer (D) serving as cosponsors. On Friday, Representative Luis Correa (D-CA) joined the list, giving the measure six total sponsors at the time of publication.

The STATES Act would explicitly allow states to legalize marijuana without fear of federal persecution, while protecting those that already have. It would entirely prevent the federal government from enforcing federal drug laws in states where they’ve been legalized.
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Dec 18 2023

New Hampshire Lawmaker Prefiles Bill to Legalize Magic Mushrooms, LSD and Mescaline for Therapeutic Use

Legislation that would legalize the therapeutic use of certain psychedelics has been prefiled in the New Hampshire Legislature.

Psilocybin ("magic") mushrooms.

Psilocybin (“magic”) mushrooms.

Prefiled by State Representative Kevin Verville (R) for the upcoming legislative session that begins in January, House Bill 1693 has been referred to the Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee. The full text of the measure can be found by clicking here.

This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to create and administer a new program regulating the use of psychedelics for therapeutic purposes.  The bill models the proposed statute after the state’s law that established the use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes.
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Dec 18 2023

DEA Seeks to Place Two Psychedelics on List of Schedule I Drugs

The DEA is seeking to make two currently legal psychedelics Schedule I drugs under the Controlled Substances Act, making them illegal for all uses.

“The Drug Enforcement Administration proposes placing two phenethylamine hallucinogens, as identified in this proposed rule, in schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act”, states a notice published on the Federal Register. A public posting on the Register is a legal requirement for the DEA to place a substance on the list of Schedule I drugs.

“This action is being taken, in part, to enable the United States to meet its obligations under the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances for one of these substances 2,5-dimethoxy-4-chloroamphetamine [and 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine]”, continues the notice. “If finalized, this action would impose the regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and criminal sanctions applicable to schedule I controlled substances on persons who handle (manufacture, distribute, reverse distribute, import, export, engage in research, conduct instructional activities or chemical analysis with, or possess), or propose to handle these two specific controlled substances.”
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Dec 17 2023

“Stop Pot Act” to Withhold Federal Funds from Legal Marijuana States Unlikely to Receive Committee Vote

Federal legislation designed to withhold funds from states and tribes that have or plan to legalize marijuana appears unlikely to receive any real consideration in the House of Representatives.

The Stop Pot Act was filed in September by Representative Chuck Edwards (R-NC), and it currently has four cosponsors. The measure would withhold federal funding from states and tribes that have legalized recreational marijuana.

The measure has been assigned to the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. According to a spokesperson for Rick Crawford, Chair of the committee, the Stop Pot Act is “unlikely to receive a vote in our committee”.
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Dec 16 2023

US Congress: Federal Marijuana Banking Bills Have 131 Sponsors

Legislation to allow banks and financial services to provide banking options to state-legal marijuana businesses has 131 sponsors in the House and Senate.

In the Senate, the SAFER Banking Act is sponsored by 34% of the entire US Senate with 34 total sponsors. It also has the support of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), as well as a bipartisan group of 22 attorneys general.

The legislation, which recently passed the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, would explicitly allow banks and other financial institutions such as credit unions to provide services to marijuana businesses that are legal under their state’s law. This includes debit card services, business loans and so forth.
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Dec 15 2023

Study: THC May Improve Cognitive Function in Patients With Advanced Cancer

According to a new study, cognitive function improved in a group of patients with advanced cancer who took low-doses of dronabinol, a synthetic THC.

The study was published in the journal Palliative Medicine Reports, and it was epublished by the National Institute of Health. It was conducted by researchers at the North Denmark Regional Hospital and Aalborg University (also in Denmark).

“Cannabis may offer therapeutic benefits to patients with advanced cancer not responding adequately to conventional palliative treatment”, notes the study. “However, tolerability is a major concern. Cognitive function is a potential adverse reaction to tetrahydrocannabinol containing regimens.”
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Dec 15 2023

Maryland: Over 1,700 Apply for a Social Equity Cannabis Business License

Maryland regulators received over 1,700 applications during a 30-day window from those seeking to receive a social equity marijuana business license.

Maryland legalized marijuana earlier this year, with sales beginning July 1. Up until now, only outlets that were already serving medical marijuana patients are authorized to sell recreational marijuana, but that’s expected to change soon as the state begins the licensing process for new marijuana retail outlets and the growers and processors that will supply them.

The Maryland Cannabis Administration (MCA) opened a 30-day window from November 12 to December 12 seeking applicants for social equity cannabis business licenses (the first batch of marijuana licenses are going to “social equity” applicants who have been harmed by the war on drugs). MCA received 1,708 completed applications.
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