Apr 04 2023

Oregon Committee Approves Marijuana Bill

A House committee in Oregon has voted in favor of legislation that would direct the Liquor and Cannabis Commission to make changes to the state’s recreational marijuana law.

Filed by State Representative John Lively, House Bill 2516 directs the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) “to adopt rules to allow small-scale marijuana producers to sell marijuana items directly to consumers.” It was passed today by the House Committee On Economic Development and Small Business, sending it to the Committee on Ways and Means.

The proposed law also requires the OLCC to adopt rules “to permit delivery of marijuana items by licensed marijuana retailer to consumer at hotel or inn”, and to allow licensed marijuana wholesaler “to sell or transfer marijuana items to licensed marijuana retailer at trade show or similar event.”
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Apr 04 2023

635,961 Valid Signatures Collected to Put Florida Marijuana Legalization Initiative to a Vote

A Florida campaign to put a marijuana legalization initiative on the 2024 general election ballot has submitted over 635,000 signatures from registered voters.

According to the Florida Division of Elections as of the end of March the Smart & Safe Florida campaign has submitted 635,961 valid signatures, just 255,628 short of the amount required to put their marijuana initiative to a vote in November, 2024.

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.” Continue reading

Apr 04 2023

Minnesota Marijuana Legalization Bill Passed by Another Senate Committee

Legislation to legalize recreational marijuana for everyone 21 and older has now been passed by a dozen Senate committees.

Today the Senate Rules and Administration Committee voted to pass SF 73, making their committee the 12th to do so. The marijuana legalization bill is sponsored by Senator Lindsey Port, with a companion bill in the House (HF 100) filed by State Representative Zack Stephenson. HF 100 has passed through over a dozen committees and is nearing a vote by the full House of Representatives, but as with SF 73 it will need to pass through a couple more committees before it can be considered by its full chamber.

Both bills would allow those 21 and older to possess up to two ounces of marijuana and grow up to eight plants for personal use. The proposed law would establish a regulatory framework for licensed marijuana retail outlets, with a newly created Cannabis Management Office charged with overseeing the legal marijuana industry.
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Apr 04 2023

Washington House Committee Passes Psilocybin Bill

Legislation to create a task force designed to research psilocybin and create a pathway to full legalization while establishing a pilot program for supervised psilocybin use has been passed by a key House committee in Washington State.

Psilocybin BillThe House Appropriations Committee has voted in favor of 2nd Substitute Senate Bill 5263 (23 to 8), filed by Senator Jesse Salomon along with a coalition of 21 bipartisan cosponsors. The measure has already passed the full Senate 41 to 7, but will need to go back for an additional vote before it can be sent to Governor Jay Inslee given it was amended by a House committee.

The measure establishes a legal framework for supervised psilocybin use for medical and therapeutic use, while establishing the Washington Psilocybin Advisory Board within the Department of Health in order to research the substance and create a pathway towards legalization. The Senate amended the bill to only include the research provisions, but a House committee amended it further to allow for supervised psilocybin use but with a more limited approach than the original text of the bill.
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Apr 04 2023

Connecticut Dismisses Over 1,500 Pending Marijuana Cases

Connecticut officials have moved to dismiss charges in over 1,500 marijuana cases.

Chief State’s Attorney Patrick J. Griffin’s prosecutors reviewed around 4,000 pending drug-possession cases and decided to dismiss 1,562 of them, all related to marijuana charges.

“It has been the shared position of this committee and the division that persons charged with a possession of a cannabis-type substance offense that has subsequently been de-criminalized should not be prosecuted for that offense,” said Griffin.
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Apr 03 2023

Massachusetts: Price of Marijuana Down Almost 50% Since Start of Legal Sales in 2018

According to data released by the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, the price per gram of legal marijuana as of February was $7.12, a new all-time low.

The $7.12 average is a 49.4% decrease from the $14.09 average at the start of legal recreational marijuana sales in December, 2018. This is lower than the $7.61 average the month prior, which itself was a new low. The all-time high was in January, 2020 with the average per gram at $14.68.

In total there has been around $5.165 billion in legal marijuana sold between December, 2018, and February 19, 2023. Of this $4.17 billion was recreational marijuana sales, with the remaining $995 million being from the distribution of medical marijuana.
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Apr 03 2023

New York Approves 99 New Licenses for Marijuana Stores

Officials in New York have announced the distribution of 99 new provisional licenses for recreational marijuana stores.

Despite New York legalizing recreational marijuana in 2021, there is currently just seven licensed marijuana stores open. This was largely due to a court ruling that halted license distribution in many regions.

However, just days after the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of lifting the injunction the Cannabis Control Board announced that they’ve provisionally approved 99 licenses for marijuana stores located in areas where the ban had been in effect. Applicants are still required to complete a supplemental application.
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Apr 03 2023

Study: Hemp Seed May Reduce Copper Toxicity, Has “Therapeutic Role” in Animal Feed

Hemp seed supplementation “showed significant improved results against copper toxicity” and “could be recommended as an animal feed ingredient for its therapeutic role”, according to new research.

The research is being published in the May, 2023 issue of the journal Biological Trace Element Research, with the abstract epublished online ahead of print by the National Library of Medicine. The study was conducted by reseatchers from Quaid-I-Azam University, the Islamia College Peshawar and University of Sialkot, all in Pakistan.

“For decades hemp has been used as a therapeutic agent for enhancing immunity in animals”, states the study’s abstract. “Current study was conceptualized to find out the protective role of dietary hemp seed products (hemp seed oil (HO) and hemp seed (HS)) against copper-induced toxicity in fish.”
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Apr 03 2023

WA Bill to Protect Marijuana Users When Job Hunting Sent to Governor

Legislation that would prohibit businesses from refusing to hire someone for testing positive for marijuana has been sent to Governor Jay Inslee for consideration.

Senate Bill 5123 was passed last week by the House of Representatives 57 to 41, after having already passed the Senate 28 to 21. Given it was amended slightly in the House it required a concurrence vote in the Senate before it could be sent to Governor Inslee. Now that the bill has been approved through concurrence, Governor Inslee has the option of signing the measure into law, allowing it to become law without his signature or vetoing it.

The measure states that “It is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a person in the initial hiring for employment if the discrimination is based upon:

(a) The person’s use of cannabis off the job and away from the workplace; or
(b) An employer-required drug screening test that has found the person to have nonpsychoactive cannabis metabolites in their hair, blood, urine, or other bodily fluids.”
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Apr 02 2023

Montana House Votes 65 to 35 to Redirect Marijuana Tax Revenue to General Fund

Montana’s full House of Representatives have passed House Bill 669 through its second reading.

Filed by State Representative Bill Mercer, House Bill 669 passed the House in its second reading 65 to 35, just a few days after it passed the Appropriations Committee 15 to 8. It will now need to pass through a 3rd and final reading in the House before it can be sent to the Senate.

The proposal would redirect marijuana tax revenue away from items like wildlife habitat, state parks and trails and recreational facilities, and would instead put all revenue into the state’s General Fund.
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