Vice President Kamala Harris, in an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live, implied that calling marijuana a gateway drug is antiquated thinking and suggested that resources spent on marijuana prohibition would be better used to combat opioid addiction.

During the interview Jimmy Kimmel focused heavily on the Biden and Harris Administration’s recent efforts to reform federal marijuana laws, including the DEA’s move to reschedule marijuana.

“I think we both agree that people shouldn’t have to go to jail for smoking weed”, said Harris. “And we’ve pardoned a number of people.”
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The Ohio Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) has posted online instructions for those wanting to apply for a dual license to sell both medical marijuana and recreational marijuana, with the application process officially opening on Friday.

“Applications and materials related to the conversion of a current medical marijuana license to a dual-use cannabis license and new 10(B) dispensary licenses will be posted on this page when available. Frequently Asked Questions will be regularly updated”, states the new webpage, posted on the website for the Ohio Department of Commerce. “Pursuant to the initiated statute approved by Ohio voters in November 2023, the initial non-medical cannabis license applications are only open to current medical marijuana license holders.”

The page says that “Each current medical marijuana cultivator, processor, testing laboratory, and dispensary that wishes to participate in the non-medical cannabis market at their current location must apply for a dual-use cannabis license. Pursuant to O.R.C. 3780.10(B), the following licenses (i.e., “10(B)” dispensary licenses) must be issued:
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Federal legislation designed to permit banks to engage with licensed marijuana businesses has now received 124 bipartisan sponsors in the US House of Representatives.

The SAFE Banking Act (H.R. 2891) has gained an additional sponsor, Congressmember Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), who joined the initiative yesterday. This proposed law aims to offer federal protections for banks and credit unions that provide financial services to state-legal marijuana businesses. These businesses include medical marijuana dispensaries in the 38 states where they are legal, and recreational marijuana stores in the 23 states where they are authorized.

Furthermore, the legislation would enable state-legal marijuana businesses to take standard IRS tax deductions, a practice currently forbidden.
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In the two weeks since the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) filed its plan in the Federal Register to reschedule marijuana, public engagement has surged, resulting in over 11,000 comments submitted.

Upon the DEA’s submission of its proposal on May 21, a 60-day public comment period was officially initiated, set to conclude on July 22. In the following 15 days, 11,100 comments have been submitted, averaging nearly 800 each day.

Approximately 60% of these comments support further action to completely deschedule marijuana. Less than 5% of the total comments are urging the DEA to keep marijuana as a Schedule I drug, meaning it would remain illegal for all purposes under all circumstances.
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The full US House of Representatives has given approval to an amendment that would allow Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) doctors to recommend medical marijuana.

Currently, under the law, VA doctors are prohibited from recommending medical marijuana to their patients, even if those patients reside in states where medical marijuana is legal. However, a provision aimed at removing this prohibition and allowing VA doctors to recommend medical marijuana received approval today in the House by a vote of 290 to 116, following its passage by the House Rules Committee yesterday.

This vote officially incorporates the amendment into a $1.5 trillion Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies appropriations bill, which is essential for funding national defense and various military operations. The amendment is based on the text of the bipartisan Veterans Equal Access Act, which boasts 29 bipartisan sponsors.

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A Republican-led committee in the United States House of Representatives has released a spending bill that would allow Washington D.C. to open recreational marijuana stores roughly a decade after the district legalized them, while also allowing banks to work with state-legal marijuana businesses.

The House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Subcommittee has released its Fiscal Year 2025 Financial Services and General Government Bill. The measure would remove a long-standing provision under federal law that prevents Washington D.C. from allowing legal recreational marijuana sales, despite the district legalizing them in 2014. The removal of the provision was sought by Chair Dave Joyce (R-OH), who also co-chairs the Congressional Cannabis Caucus.

The spending bill also includes language that would protect financial institutions that provide services to marijuana and hemp businesses that are legal under state law
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In March, there was over $70 million in legal marijuana sold, and over $10 million in marijuana taxes garnered in Nevada.

Data released by the Nevada Department of Taxation Cannabis Tax Revenue shows that there was $73,167,470 worth of marijuana and marijuana products sold through legal means in March. This is considerably lower than the $83 million sold in February, but considerably higher than the $62 million sold in January. Marijuana sales for March resulted in $10,058,746 in tax revenue for Nevada.

$55,596,859 of these sales came from Clark County, just shy of $10 million came from Washoe County and $7.7 million came from “all other counties”.
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U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) led 10 of her colleagues in sending four letters to Senate Appropriators requesting robust funding to support a wide array of small businesses in Nevada, including one letter focused on marijuana businesses.

These requests would provide $37 million for the Rural Business Development Grant Program and $10 million for the Federal and State Technology Partnership Program to support the growth and development of small businesses in rural areas across the nation. These letters also call for “eliminating burdensome barriers to capital for certain small businesses – specifically providing nonprofit child care providers with greater access to loans from the Small Business Administration (SBA), and allowing legal cannabis small businesses in Nevada, and other states where cannabis is legal, to access SBA programs and resources.”

Senator Rosen in a press release said “Small businesses are the backbone of Nevada’s economy, which is why I’m leading efforts to cut through bureaucratic red tape that prevents them from accessing capital and working to secure the federal funding for resources they need to thrive. As a member of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, I’ll always advocate for Nevada’s small businesses and fight to support them.”
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