Sep 14 2023

US Congressional Researchers Say DEA “Likely” to Reschedule Marijuana

A report released Wednesday by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) states that it’s “likely” the DEA will reschedule marijuana to reschedule III, which will have “broad implications for federal policy”.

Recently the Department of Health sent a letter to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) officially requesting marijuana be reclassified as a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act, which would effectively legalize it for prescription use. The letter came in response to a request by President Biden last year for the government to research and consider rescheduling marijuana.

“[I]f past is prologue it could be likely that DEA will reschedule marijuana according to HHS’s recommendation,” said the report. “If marijuana is rescheduled to Schedule III, it would have broad implications for federal policy… [and] this move would have significant implications for state medical marijuana programs and users of medical marijuana, but fewer implications for state recreational marijuana programs and those who use marijuana recreationally.”
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Sep 14 2023

California Assembly Passes Bill to Ban Employers From Asking About Marijuana Use

With an overhwleming majority the California Assembly passed Senate Bill 700, which has already been passed through the Senate.

The Assembly voted yesterday 59 to 8 to pass Senate Bill 700. The measure has already been approved by the Senate, but will need to go back for one final vote of concurrence before it can be sent to Governor Newsom.

Filed by Senator Steven Bradford, the proposal “would make it unlawful for an employer to request information from an applicant for employment relating to the applicant’s prior use of cannabis”.
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Sep 13 2023

Placebo-Controlled Trial Finds CBD Useful in Helping to Treat Chronic Gingivostomatitis in Cats

According to a newly published study, the oral administration of the cannabis compound cannabidiol (CBD) is a useful adjunct treatment for felines with chronic gingivostomatitis.

The study, titled Placebo-Controlled Trial of Daily Oral Cannabidiol as Adjunctive Treatment for Cats with Chronic Gingivostomatitis, was published in the recent issue of the journal Animals, and it was published online by the National Library of Medicine. It was conducted by researchers from four different universities and organizations in Portugal.

“A placebo-controlled study evaluated the clinical efficacy and safety of a commercially available cannabidiol (CBD) oral formulation as an adjunctive treatment for pain management for feline chronic gingivostomatitis (FCGS)”, states the study’s abstract. “CBD was included in a multimodal treatment routinely performed on client-owned cats with FCGS that were submitted to dental extractions.”
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Sep 13 2023

New York Bill Would Prohibit Marijuana Use Within 30 Feet of a Child or a Location Where a Child Resides

Legislation filed today in the New York Legislature would prohibit “the use of cannabis within thirty feet of a child or within thirty feet of any location in which children reside or attend for any recreational or educational purpose”.

Filed by Assemblymember Phillip Steck (D), Assembly Bill 8025 has been assigned to the Assembly Codes Committee.

Specifically, the measure would prohibit “smoke or vape cannabis within thirty feet of a child or within thirty feet of any location in which children reside or attend for any recreational or educational purpose, including areas separated by walls, closed doors or floors within a building.”
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Sep 13 2023

Minnesota Supreme Court Rules Marijuana Odor By Itself Does Not Justify Vehicle Search

In a landmark decision the Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled that the smell of marijuana on its own is not probably cause to search a person’s motor vehicle.

The ruling is based on a case brought by Adam Torgerson, who was pulled over in 2021 in Meeker County. Although Torgerson was pulled over for having too many lights on the grill of his vehicle, an officer claimed he smelled marijuana.

After a second officer approached the vehicle and said he also smelt marijuana, police ordered Torgerson, his wife, and his child out of the car and conducted a search of the vehicle, subsequently finding a small amount of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
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Sep 13 2023

Massachusetts Committee Approves Bill to Add PTSD and Opioid Use Disorder to Medical Marijuana Program

Legislation in Massachusetts that would expand the state’s medical marijuana program and ease access for veterans has been passed through its initial committee.

House Bill 4087 has been “reported favorably” by the House Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy, and referred to the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing. The bipartisan measure is sponsored by State Representatives Michael Soter (R), Joseph McKenna (R), Brian Murray (D) and Marcus Vaughn (R).

Under current Massachusetts law, a person can become a medical marijuana patient if they have a ​“debilitating medical condition”, which is defined as someone who has cancer, glaucoma, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, hepatitis C, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis. HB 4087 would expand this to include “post-traumatic stress disorder, opioid use disorder”.
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Sep 13 2023

Colorado: Over $22 Million in Taxes Made from August Marijuana Sales, $187 Million Year-to-Date

Colorado marijuana sales brought in over $22 million in tax revenue in August.

Data released by the Colorado Department of Revenue shows that the state made $22,861,745 in tax revenue from the legal distribution of marijuana. This is a modest increase over the $22.4 million in taxes made in July, and the $22.1 million made in June. However, it does fall short of the $24,323,079 made in April, the high so far for the year.

Colorado’s year-to-date marijuana tax total is now $187,515,080. The total since the start of legal sales in 2014 is $2,531,551,769.
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Sep 12 2023

Over $28 Million in Marijuana Sold in August in Montana, a New Monthly Record

For the second straight month Montana set a record for the most marijuana sold.

Licensed marijuana store sold $28,697,312 worth of marijuana and marijuana products in August, according to data released by the Montana Cannabis Control Division. These narrowly beats the monthly record of $28,552,001 set just last month. Prior to July the previous record of $27,098,679 was set in March of this year.

A large majority of the marijuana sold went to recreational consumers at $23,728,009. Marijuana sales for medical marijuana patients was $4,969,303. Gallatin was by far the top county for marijuana sales with $4.5 million, followed by Missoula at $3.4 million and Flathead at $3.1 million.
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Sep 12 2023

Study: Tobacco Users, But Not Marijuana Users, Have Greater Odds for Complications Following Ankle Injury

A study conducted at the Yale School of Medicine found that those who use marijuana but not tobacco were not at greater odds of an adverse event up to 90 days following an ankle injury.

“Ankle fractures are common orthopaedic injuries that may be indicated for open reduction internal fixation (ORIF)”, states the study, published in the journal Foot & Ankle International. “Although the negative impact of tobacco use on perioperative outcomes of ankle fracture ORIF has been described, the potential impact of cannabis use on related outcomes is not as well established.”

For the study researchers examined data from a total of 149,289 patients. Of these, 10% used only tobacco, 1.8% used both tobacco and marijuana, and less than 1% used marijuana (867 total).
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Sep 12 2023

14 US Congressmembers Send Letter Asking DEA To Keep Marijuana Schedule 1

A group of Republican lawmakers, led by Senator James Lankford (R-OK) and Representative Pete Sessions (R-TX), have sent a bicameral letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) urging the agency to not remove marijuana from the list of Schedule I drugs.

In a letter sent recently to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the Department of Health (DOH) officially requested that marijuana to be reclassified as a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act, which would effectively legalize it for prescription use. Now, a group of Republican lawmakers is urging the DEA to reject this request.

Lankford and Sessions were joined by Senators Mike Rounds (R-SD), Jim Risch (R-ID), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Tom Cotton (R-AR), and Ted Budd (R-NC) along with Representatives Chuck Edwards (R-NC), Robert Aderholt (R-AL), Hal Rogers (R-KY), Earl L Carter (R-GA), and Andy Biggs (R-AZ) in sending the letter to DEA.
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