California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed Senate Bill 700 into law.

After being overwhelmingly approved by the state’s legislature, Governor Newsom has signed SB 700 into law. 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”.

The measure would not apply to applicants or employees hired for positions that require a federal government background investigation or security clearance in accordance with regulations “issued by the United States Department of Defense pursuant to Part 117 of Title 32 of the Code of Federal Regulations, or equivalent regulations applicable to other agencies.”
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California Governor Gavin Newsom has vetoed a widely supported bill that would have legalized certain psychedelic substances.

“Today’s veto is a setback for the huge number of Californians – including combat veterans and first responders -who are safely using and benefiting from these non-addictive substances and who will now continue to be classified as criminals under California law”, Senator Scott Weiner, the bill’s prime sponsor, said in a public statement following the governor’s veto. “The evidence is beyond dispute that criminalizing access to these substances only serves to make people less safe and reduce access to help.”

Senator Weiner continued by stating that the veto “is a huge missed opportunity for California to follow the science and lead. This is not the end of our fight, however, and given the Governor’s commitment to work with the Legislature on legislation with a therapeutic focus – and openness to future decriminalization legislation- I look forward to introducing therapeutic-focused legislation next year.”
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Georgia will soon become the first state in the US where medical marijuana products can be purchased at independent pharmacies.

Nearly 120 pharmacies have agreed to provide medical marijuana from Botanical Sciences, one of the state’s two licensed production companies, following the Georgia Board of Pharmacy opening the application process. State officials expect it to take at least a few more weeks before any of these pharmacies will actually start carrying medical marijuana. Before the board can grant approvals inspections will need to take place.

Under Georgia’s restrictive medical marijuana law (passed in 2019), those with certain medical conditions such as cancer, Parkinson’s disease and PTSD are authorized to purchase and possess low-THC marijuana oil, if they receive a recommendation from a licensed physician.
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After four straight months of record-breaking marijuana sales, September saw a slight dip from August, but still surpassed $20 million.

There was $20,347,890 worth of marijuana sold legally in September, according to data released by the Maine’s Office of Cannabis Policy. This is a slight, albeit noticeable, decrease from the $21,648,253 sold in August. but is on par with the $20.8 million sold in July and the $20 million sold in June.

There were 357,460 different marijuana transactions in September, around 20,000 less than in August. The average price per gram of dried marijuana in September reached an all-time low of $7.71, a $0.12 decrease from the average in August.
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Drug sniffing dogs falsely alert their handler more often than they correctly identify the presence of drugs, according to newly released data.

According to an analysis of 10 years of data provided to members of the Australian Parliament by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, 75% of the searches conducted because a drug sniffing dog alerted their handler resulted in absolutely no drugs being found. Just one in four times a drug sniffing dog alerted their handler was their actually drugs in the vicinity.

The new data provided an analysis of almost 94,535 searches over the course of a decade (June 2013, to June, 2023). In 2014, the worst year for false report, only 21% of the roughly 14,000 searches resulted in illegal drugs being found. In 2016, the year drug sniffing dogs saw the most success, they still falsely alerted 68% of the time.
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Within the first year of a new marijuana waiver program, the United States Air Force has seen over three times the anticipated participation.

(Photo credit: Staff Sgt. Beaux Hebert/Air Force).

Last year the Air Force announced a pilot program that allows those that have tested positive for marijuana to receive a waiver in order to be retested and possibly enlisted. The move was seen as a way to address to growing trend towards marijuana law reform and an increase in marijuana use among service members.

A spokesperson for the Air Force tells Military.com that although they expected only around 50 people a year to make use of this new program, in its first year they issued 165 waivers, over triple expectations.
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