May 01 2023

Colorado Legislature Approves Bill to Establish Framework for Legal Psychedelics

Colorado’s full legislature has now passed a bill to establish a regulatory framework for legal psychedelics.

The Colorado House of Representatives voted 45 to 18 on Saturday to pass Senate Bill 23-290. The proposal has already been passed by the full Senate, 25 to 11, but will go back for one final vote to concur on House amendments before it can be sent to Governor Jared Polis. With the amendments being relatively minor, concurrence is seen essentially as a technicality at this point and the measure is expected to reach Governor Polis shortly.

The proposal is in response to a voter-approved initiative that legalized certain psychedelics while tasking the legislature with establishing a regulatory framework. SB 23-290 would place no possession limits on the personal use of psilocybin, ibogaine, mescaline, DMT and psilocyn, for those 21 and older. Consuming these substances in public would be a civil infraction but not a criminal offense, punishable by an $100 fine.
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May 01 2023

Montana Bill to Reappropriate Marijuana Tax Revenue Sent to Governor

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte will soon receive legislation that would reappropriate some of the revenue generated from marijuana taxes.

After both the Senate and House approved slightly amended versions of Senate Bill 442 earlier this month, the two chambers have now coalesced around the same language with the Senate voting today to send the proposal as amended by the House to Governor Gianforte for consideration. The final House vote was 82 to 17 with the final Senate vote being 48 to 1.

Although Governor Giantforte has the option of vetoing the measure rather than signing it into law or allowing it to become law without his signature, the proposal was passed with well more than the 2/3rds support required to override a veto.
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May 01 2023

Oklahoma Governor Signs Medical Marijuana Tax Bill Into Law

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt has signed into law legislation that makes several changes to the state’s medical marijuana tax laws.

Filed by State Representatives John Pfeiffer and sponsored in the Senate by Senator Dave Rader, House Bill 2289 was signed into law today by Governor Stitt. It passed the Senate on April 20 by a vote of 44 to 2, and it passed the House a month prior, 92 to 1.

According to its official summary HB 2289 updates numerous provisions in the tax code by:
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May 01 2023

California Bill to Legalize Some Psychedelics Advances to Senate Floor

Legislation to legalize the personal possession of several psychedelic substances, including magic mushrooms (psilocybin), has advanced to the floor of the California Senate.

Senate Bill 58 would legalize the possession of up to two grams of DMT, 15 grams of ibogaine, two grams of psilocybin (or up to four ounces of “a plant or fungi containing psilocybin”) and two grams of psilocyn (or up to four ounces of “a plant or fungi containing psilocybin”). The proposal has advanced through the Appropriations Committee after Chair Anthony Portantino utilized a committee rule allowing the measure to be sent directly the Senate floor, according to a spokesperson for the senator.

SB 58 would legalize the “possession, preparation, obtaining, transfer, as specified, or transportation” of the above-mentioned substances” for personal or facilitated use”. It would also allow for “group counseling and community-based healing” and would legalize “any spores or mycelium capable of producing mushrooms or other material which contain psilocybin or psilocyn.”
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May 01 2023

Over 180 Marijuana Workers Unionize in Illinois and California

Over 180 employees at legal marijuana stores in Illinois and California have unionized.

According to a press release Teamsters Local 777 have reached a tentative agreement with workers at five different marijuana stores in Illinois. All are owned by Verilife, a subsidiary of PharmaCann.

The collective bargaining agreement covers more than 100 workers at Verilife stores in Chicago and suburban Arlington Heights, Ottawa, Romeoville and Rosemont.
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May 01 2023

Florida: 841,000 Signatures Collected to Put Marijuana Legalization Initiative to a Vote

A campaign to put a marijuana legalization initiative on the November, 2024 ballot in Florida has submitted over 841,000 signatures from registered voters, over 90% of their goal.

According to the Florida Division of Elections as of the end of April the Smart & Safe Florida campaign has submitted 841,130 valid signatures on their marijuana initiative. This is just 50k signatures short of the 891,523 required to put their proposal on the 2024 general election ballot.

The initiative would allow those 21 and older “to possess, purchase, or use marijuana products and marijuana accessories for non-medical personal consumption by smoking, ingestion, or otherwise.” Licensed marijuana retail outlets would be allowed to distribute the plant, with any of the state’s licensed medical-marijuana dispensaries allowed to “acquire, cultivate, process, manufacture, sell and distribute such products and accessories.”
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May 01 2023

Report: Legal Marijuana States Have Garnered $15 Billion in Tax Revenue Since 2014

According to a new report released by the Marijuana Policy Project, legal marijuana states have made over $15 billion in taxes since the first states began legal sales in 2014.

As of the end of 2022, states have reported a combined total of $15,114,520,975 in tax revenue from legal, adult-use cannabis sales since 2014 when sales began in Colorado and Washington. In 2022 alone, legalization states generated more than $3.77 billion in cannabis tax revenue from adult-use sales.

“States that have made the decision to legalize and regulate cannabis are benefiting from hundreds of millions in tax revenue each year”, said Toi Hutchinson, President and CEO of the Marijuana Policy Project. “These new streams of revenue are helping to fund crucial social services and programs across the country, such as education, alcohol and drug treatment, veterans’ services, job training, and reinvestment in communities that have been disproportionately affected by the war on cannabis.”
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Apr 30 2023

New Mexico Marijuana Sales Surpass Half a Billion Dollars Since April, 2022

In New Mexico legal recreational marijuana sales began a little over a year ago on April 1, 2022. Since then sales have surpassed half a billion dollars.

(Photo credit: Getty Images)

According to data released by the New Mexico Regulation & Licensing Department, those 21 and older purchased $488 million worth of marijuana and marijuana products between April 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023. A spokesperson for the department tells us that sales for April are expected to be over $40 million, meaning marijuana sales have officially passed the $500 million mark.

With April not yet finished and data for the final days not yet tabulated, it’s not yet known if April will be able to top the $47 million sold in March, which was a new monthly record. Marijuana sales in April, 2022 were $39.5 million.
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Apr 30 2023

Study Finds CBD and THC Have No Impact on Testosterone Production

In a new study being published in The World Journal of Men’s Health, testosterone production did not change upon CBD and/or THC exposure versus controls.

testosterone production

In addition to being published in The World Journal of Men’s Health, the study was published online ahead of print by the US National Library of Medicine with the title The Acute Exposure of Human Adult Testis Tissue to Cannabinoids THC and CBD Does Not Impact Testosterone Production Nor Germ Cell Lineage.

“While an increased risk of developing germ cell tumors has been established in regular cannabis consumers, there is conflicting evidence about an association between cannabis use and testosterone levels in those regular consumers”, states the study’s abstract. “In this context, we aimed to determine whether Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), the two major and best-studied cannabinoids present in cannabis, also the most used for therapeutic applications, can directly impact the steroidogenic function and germ cell lineage of the human adult testis.”
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Apr 30 2023

Ohio Marijuana Legalization Initiative Campaign to Begin Collecting Signatures Soon

Ohio’s Legislature has until Wednesday to legalize recreational marijuana, or a campaign to put the issue before voters can begin collecting signatures on their initiative.

ohio

If the legislature doesn’t act on marijuana legalization by Wednesday (at this point no bill has even been filed to do so), the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol can begin collecting signatures on their marijuana legalization initiative with the goal of putting it on the November 7 ballot.

“We’re committed and confident that we will have the team and time to get on the ballot,” said Tom Haren, a spokesperson for the Coalition. The group’s proposal would legalize the possession and personal cultivation of marijuana for those 21 and older. The initiative would also establish a legal marijuana industry, with licensed retail outlets authorizes to sell marijuana and marijuana products.
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