Feb 24 2024

Virginia Bill to Protect Public Employees Who Use Medical Marijuana Passed by Legislature, Sent to Governor

Legislation designed to protect public employees who legally use medical marijuana has been passed by Virginia’s full legislature.

Senate Bill 391, a companion measure to House Bill 149, was given approval yesterday by the House of Representatives in an overwhelming 80 to 18 vote. The measure has already been passed through the full Senate 30 to 10.

The legislation, which now heads to Governor Glenn Youngkin, extends a law protecting medical marijuana users from workplace discrimination to include public employees.
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Feb 23 2024

New Hampshire: Second Committee Votes to Allow Medical Marijuana for Any Condition

A second committee in the New Hampshire House of Representatives has unanimously passed a bill that would allow medical marijuana to be recommended for any condition a physician deems appropriate.

The House Ways and Means Committee voted 19 to 0 today to pass House Bill 1278, roughly a month after it passed the House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee 20 to 0. Filed by State Representative Wendy Thomas, the measure now advances to the full House.

HB 1278 would repeal the state’s list of qualifying medical marijuana conditions and 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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Feb 23 2024

Virginia: Second Senate Committee Approves Bill to Protect Public Employees Who Use Medical Marijuana

A second Senate committee in Virginia has voted to pass a House-approved bill that would protect public employees who legally use medical marijuana.

House Bill 149 extends a law protecting medical marijuana users from workplace discrimination to include public employees, while expanding the definition to include marijuana products and not just oil. The measure was passed today through the Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services by a vote of 10 to 5. The vote comes four days after the measure passed the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor  14 to 0. On January 29 the proposal passed the full House of Representatives 78 to 20.

Under current law “No employer shall discharge, discipline, or discriminate against an employee for such employee’s lawful use of cannabis oil pursuant to a valid written certification issued by a practitioner for the treatment or to eliminate the symptoms of the employee’s diagnosed condition or disease”.
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Feb 22 2024

US House Bill to Deschedule Marijuana Has 78 More Sponsors Than “Stop Pot Act”

Legislation to fully deschedule marijuana was filed in the US House of Representatives in September, the same month as the “Stop Pot Act” to withhold federal funds from legal marijuana states. Nearly half a year later, one of the bills has drastically more support than the other.

The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act would decriminalize marijuana nationwide by removing marijuana as a controlled substance, while also allowing past marijuana possession charges to be expunged (removed) from people’s records. Filed in September with five sponsors, the measure currently has 83. The only other marijuana-related bill with more sponsors is the SAFE Banking Act.

The Stop Pot Act, also filed in September, would withhold federal highway funds from states and tribes that violate the federal Controlled Substances Act, which currently considers marijuana a Schedule 1 drug making it illegal for all purposes. Although the Stop Pot Act has more sponsors than any other piece of anti-marijuana legislation currently active in the US Congress, it only has five (16 times less than the MORE Act).
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Feb 22 2024

New York Officials Approve Rules Allowing Personal Marijuana Home Grows

After months of discussion New York officials have approved regulations allowing those 21 and older to grow recreational marijuana at home for personal use.

New York is one of 24 states that have legalized recreational marijuana, but one of just three of those that don’t currently allow personal marijuana cultivation. The Cannabis Control Board (CCB) gave approval to rules last week that would change this by allowing adults to grow up to six marijuana plants at a private residence, no more than three of which can be mature. The rules must now go through a legally required 60-day public comment period before they can be finalized.

Under the rules approved by the CCB, up to five pounds could be harvested from the three mature marijuana plants. Licensed providers would be authorized to sell marijuana seeds as well as immature plants.
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Feb 22 2024

The 3 States With Marijuana Legalization Bills Advancing Through the Legislature

Among the states that have not yet legalized recreational marijuana, most have active marijuana legalization bills. However, only a few states have bills that are actually advancing through their state’s legislature this session.

Currently there are 24 recreational marijuana states (23 that allow licensed sales), all of which passed their legalization laws since 2012. The vast majority of the remaining states have lawmakers working to make their state the next to legalize, but only some of these efforts are actually advancing through the committee process.

Below are the states with bills moving through the legislature:
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Feb 22 2024

Military Veterans and Law Enforcement Officials Call On Biden Administration to Reschedule Marijuana

In two separate letters sent this week a coalition of military veterans and an organization representing current and former law enforcement officials urged the Biden Administration to reschedule marijuana.

In the first letter a coalition of military groups, including the American Legion, the Blinded Veterans Association, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, AMVETS, American GI Forum, and the Minority Veterans of America, called on Biden to promptly reschedule marijuana to Schedule III, allowing it to be prescribed nationwide for medical use.

“The men and women who served in the U.S. Armed Forces often face difficult physical and mental challenges upon returning home. As such, we hope that in treating the wounds of war — both visible and invisible — that our servicemembers and veterans would have access to the widest array of possible treatments”, states the letter.
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Feb 22 2024

Bill to Legalize Recreational Marijuana Passed by New Hampshire House of Representatives 239 to 141

New Hampshire’s House of Representatives has approved a bill to legalize recreational marijuana, with 62% voting in favor.

House Bill 1633 was passed through the House today by a vote of 239 to 141, sending it to the state’s Senate. The measure would allow those 21 and older to possess up to four ounces of marijuana, 10 grams of marijuana concentrates and edibles with up to 2,000 mg of THC.

The measure would establish a system of licensed, regulated and state-operate marijuana stores. The law would retain criminal penalties for those caught smoking marijuana in public three or more times, with the first two times being a civil infraction.
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Feb 21 2024

Vice President Kamala Harris Said Biden Administration “Changed Federal Marijuana Policy”, Sticks With Claim

On February 9 President Kamala Harris posted a campaign video stating that the Biden/Harris Administration has “changed federal marijuana policy”. Despite this not being true (at least not yet), Vice President Harris has chosen to keep the video live on the social media platform X.

In the video appealing to “young voters”, VP Harris said “We changed federal marijuana policy, because nobody should have to go to jail just for smoking weed.” The video at the time of publication has over 434,000 views.

As we noted on February 10, Harris’ video may have been posted prematurely, given that at the time of publication the Biden Administration has not made any changes to federal marijuana policy. However, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is currently considering a request from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to reschedule marijuana to Schedule III, which would legalize the plant nationwide for prescription use. Congressional researchers call the change “likely“.
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Feb 21 2024

Arkansas Attorney General Approves Ballot Language for Initiative to Expand Medical Marijuana Access

Arkansans Attorney General Tim Griffin has given approval to the ballot language of an initiative submitted by  Arkansans for Patient Access.

AG Griffin’s approval of the ballot language allows the group to immediately begin gathering signatures on their initiative to expand access to medical marijuana. They must collect 90,704 signatures by July 5 in order for the measure to appear on the November, 2024 general election ballot.

The initiative would expand the state’s medical marijuana law, passed in 2016, to allow patients to grow their own marijuana at a private residence, with the limit set at seven mature plants and seven immature plants. It would also remove the retail prohibition on certain smokeable marijuana products such as pre-rolls.
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