Sep 27 2023

New York Plans to Issue Up to 1,500 More Licenses for Marijuana Businesses

New York’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) announced today that it plans to issue up to 1,500 more marijuana business licenses including for growers and retail outlets.

New York legalized recreational marijuana in 2021, but a slow rollout of the program means that less than two dozen licensed marijuana stores are currently open throughout a state with a population of almost 8.5 million. The newly announced rollout of hundreds of additional licenses is meant as at least a step towards remedying this.

The OPM said it will begin applications for those seeking these licenses on October 4, with potential applicants having 60 days to get their applications completed. Licenses will be issued for marijuana cultivation and processing, and for marijuana retail outlets and microbusinesses.
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Sep 27 2023

Poll: 67% of Ohio Voters Support Legalizing Marijuana

New polling released by FM3 Research shows that a strong majority of voters in Ohio support legalizing marijuana.

The poll, conducted between August 14 and August 23 with a margin of error of +/- 3.5%, is a good sign for the proponents of Issue 2, an initiative to legalize marijuana throughout Ohio that is being voted on this November.

The poll found that 50% of voters “strongly” support legalizing marijuana, while 17% support it but “not strongly”. Just 18% “strongly” oppose legal marijuana, with 9% opposing it but “not strongly”. 6% remain undecided.
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Sep 27 2023

Bipartisan Group of 22 Attorneys General Send Letter to Congress Urging Passage of Marijuana Banking Act

A bipartisan coalition of 21 state attorneys general and the attorney general of D.C., have sent a letter to congressional leaders urging them to pass the SAFER Banking Act.

Earlier today the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs passed the SAFER Banking Act (S.2860), with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer vowing to give it a floor vote “very soon“.

Adding to the proposal’s growing momentum, a large group of attorneys general has sent a letter asking congress to pass the bill. The act would provide federal legal protections for banks, credit unions and other financial institutions that provide financial services to marijuana businesses that are legal under their state’s law.
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Sep 27 2023

Oregon and WA: Decriminalizing Drugs Not Linked to Higher Overdose Death Rates

New research published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association Psychiatry found that in Oregon and Washington, two states that implemented drug decriminalization policies in early 2021, there is no evidence of an association between decriminalization and fatal drug overdose rates.

The findings are the result of a collaboration between the Center for Opioid Epidemiology and Policy at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the Network for Public Health Law, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The research team’s goal was to investigate whether fully or partially decriminalizing drug possession changed rates of overdose deaths in either state in the first year after the policy change.

“Our analysis suggests that state decriminalization policies do not lead to increases in overdose deaths,” said Corey Davis, JD, MSPH, assistant clinical professor with the Center for Opioid Epidemiology and Policy in the Department of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, and the study’s senior investigator.
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Sep 27 2023

US Senate Majority Leader Says Full Senate Will Vote “Very Soon” on Marijuana Banking Act

Shortly after the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs passed the SAFER Banking Act (S.2860), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer vowed to give it a floor vote.

Senator Schumer says that the SAFER Banking Act will receive a vote in the full Senate “very soon”, indicating he’s confident it has enough support to pass the 60 vote threshold required to pass the measure and send it to the House of Representatives.

The proposed law would provide federal legal protections for banks, credit unions and other financial institutions that provide financial services to marijuana businesses that are legal under their state’s law. This would allow thousands of marijuana stores located throughout the dozens of legal marijuana states to switch from a risky cash-only model, to a model that allows them to accept debit and credit card transactions. It would also give them access to things such as bank loans.
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Sep 27 2023

United States Senate Committee Passes Marijuana Banking Bill

A key Senate committee has given approval to groundbreaking legislation that would explicitly allow banks and financial services to work with marijuana businesses that are legal under state law.

The United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs gave approval to the SAFER Banking Act today, a week after its introduction. The vote was 14 to 9. This sends the measure to the floor of the Senate, with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer planning to swiftly put it to a vote alongside a proposal to allow for marijuana expungements (the HOPE Act).

The SAFER Banking Act (S.2860) would provide federal protections for banks, credit unions and other financial institutions that provide financial services to state-legal marijuana businesses. This would allow them to accept deposits, provide credit, or provide payment services to these businesses.
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Sep 26 2023

New Jersey: Marijuana Job Fair Being Held October 11 By Union County Commissioners

The 2023 Cannabis Job Fair will take place in Union County, New Jersey on Wednesday, October 11.

The fair, taking place at 40 West Jersey Street, Elizabeth, New Jersey in room 519 of the Kellogg Building (Union College), is being put on in a collaboration between the Union County Board of County Commissioners, the Elizabeth Development Company, and Union College of Union County.

“The cannabis industry is growing at a rapid rate here in New Jersey,” said Commissioner Chairman Sergio Granados. “Right now, there are over 30 dispensaries in New Jersey, which allows easy access for medical marijuana for patients who can benefit from its therapeutic properties, as well as adult-use cannabis.”
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Sep 26 2023

North Carolina Governor Likely to Sign Kratom and Hemp Bill Into Law

A North Carolina bill that would regulate the sale of kratom and products made from hemp is likely to become law this year.

Kratom products.

A spokesperson for Governor Cooper says he will likely sign House Bill 563 into law if given the opportunity. The proposal was passed unanimously through House of Representatives recently in a 110 to 0 vote, sending it to the Senate. The following day the Senate passed the proposal through its first of three readings and assigned it to the Rules and Operations Committee.

Filed by State Representative Jeffrey McNeeley along with a bipartisan coalition of 10 other lawmakers, House Bill 563 would require a specific license in order to legally distribute kratom and “hemp-derived consumable products”. According to its official summary, House Bill 563 would:
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Sep 26 2023

US Senate Committee to Vote Tomorrow on Marijuana Banking Bill

Tomorrow, September 27, the US Senate Banking Committee will vote on a groundbreaking piece of legislation that will allow marijuana businesses that are legal under state law to more easily access banks and other financial services.

The SAFER Banking Act (S.2860) would provide federal protections for banks, credit unions and other financial institutions accepting deposits, extending credit, or providing payment services to an individual or business engaged in marijuana-related commerce in states where such activity is legal. It also provides a safe harbor to credit unions and employees who are not aware if their members or customers are involved in cannabis businesses.

In a recent interview the chair of the Banking Committee Senator Sherrod Brown said “[W]e’ll pass it decisively”, with “a strong majority”.
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Sep 26 2023

Alaska: Starting October 8 Marijuana Businesses Can Advertise, Give Free Samples

A law allowing marijuana retail outlets in Alaska to give free samples and advertise their business goes into effect soon.

Signed into law by Lt. Governor Nancy Dahlstrom on September 8, the new law goes into effect on October 8. The new removes a law prohibiting marijuana businesses from purchasing advertising for their company. Although placing billboards still won’t be allowed, companies could purchase other forms of advertising such as bus ads, yard signs and so on.

Under the new law localities would still have the authority to place additional restrictions or bans on marijuana advertising.
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