Dec 18 2023

Federal Legislation to Protect Legal Marijuana States and Allow Interstate Commerce Gains New Sponsor

Bipartisan legislation titled the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States (STATES) Act has gained its sixth sponsor.

The STATES Act was filed State Representative Dave Joyce (R) earlier this month, with Representatives Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R), Brian Mast (R), Troy Carter (D) and Earl Blumenauer (D) serving as cosponsors. On Friday, Representative Luis Correa (D-CA) joined the list, giving the measure six total sponsors at the time of publication.

The STATES Act would explicitly allow states to legalize marijuana without fear of federal persecution, while protecting those that already have. It would entirely prevent the federal government from enforcing federal drug laws in states where they’ve been legalized.
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Dec 18 2023

New Hampshire Lawmaker Prefiles Bill to Legalize Magic Mushrooms, LSD and Mescaline for Therapeutic Use

Legislation that would legalize the therapeutic use of certain psychedelics has been prefiled in the New Hampshire Legislature.

Psilocybin ("magic") mushrooms.

Psilocybin (“magic”) mushrooms.

Prefiled by State Representative Kevin Verville (R) for the upcoming legislative session that begins in January, House Bill 1693 has been referred to the Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee. The full text of the measure can be found by clicking here.

This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to create and administer a new program regulating the use of psychedelics for therapeutic purposes.  The bill models the proposed statute after the state’s law that established the use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes.
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Dec 18 2023

DEA Seeks to Place Two Psychedelics on List of Schedule I Drugs

The DEA is seeking to make two currently legal psychedelics Schedule I drugs under the Controlled Substances Act, making them illegal for all uses.

“The Drug Enforcement Administration proposes placing two phenethylamine hallucinogens, as identified in this proposed rule, in schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act”, states a notice published on the Federal Register. A public posting on the Register is a legal requirement for the DEA to place a substance on the list of Schedule I drugs.

“This action is being taken, in part, to enable the United States to meet its obligations under the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances for one of these substances 2,5-dimethoxy-4-chloroamphetamine [and 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine]”, continues the notice. “If finalized, this action would impose the regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and criminal sanctions applicable to schedule I controlled substances on persons who handle (manufacture, distribute, reverse distribute, import, export, engage in research, conduct instructional activities or chemical analysis with, or possess), or propose to handle these two specific controlled substances.”
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Dec 17 2023

“Stop Pot Act” to Withhold Federal Funds from Legal Marijuana States Unlikely to Receive Committee Vote

Federal legislation designed to withhold funds from states and tribes that have or plan to legalize marijuana appears unlikely to receive any real consideration in the House of Representatives.

The Stop Pot Act was filed in September by Representative Chuck Edwards (R-NC), and it currently has four cosponsors. The measure would withhold federal funding from states and tribes that have legalized recreational marijuana.

The measure has been assigned to the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. According to a spokesperson for Rick Crawford, Chair of the committee, the Stop Pot Act is “unlikely to receive a vote in our committee”.
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Dec 16 2023

US Congress: Federal Marijuana Banking Bills Have 131 Sponsors

Legislation to allow banks and financial services to provide banking options to state-legal marijuana businesses has 131 sponsors in the House and Senate.

In the Senate, the SAFER Banking Act is sponsored by 34% of the entire US Senate with 34 total sponsors. It also has the support of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), as well as a bipartisan group of 22 attorneys general.

The legislation, which recently passed the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, would explicitly allow banks and other financial institutions such as credit unions to provide services to marijuana businesses that are legal under their state’s law. This includes debit card services, business loans and so forth.
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Dec 15 2023

Study: THC May Improve Cognitive Function in Patients With Advanced Cancer

According to a new study, cognitive function improved in a group of patients with advanced cancer who took low-doses of dronabinol, a synthetic THC.

The study was published in the journal Palliative Medicine Reports, and it was epublished by the National Institute of Health. It was conducted by researchers at the North Denmark Regional Hospital and Aalborg University (also in Denmark).

“Cannabis may offer therapeutic benefits to patients with advanced cancer not responding adequately to conventional palliative treatment”, notes the study. “However, tolerability is a major concern. Cognitive function is a potential adverse reaction to tetrahydrocannabinol containing regimens.”
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Dec 15 2023

Maryland: Over 1,700 Apply for a Social Equity Cannabis Business License

Maryland regulators received over 1,700 applications during a 30-day window from those seeking to receive a social equity marijuana business license.

Maryland legalized marijuana earlier this year, with sales beginning July 1. Up until now, only outlets that were already serving medical marijuana patients are authorized to sell recreational marijuana, but that’s expected to change soon as the state begins the licensing process for new marijuana retail outlets and the growers and processors that will supply them.

The Maryland Cannabis Administration (MCA) opened a 30-day window from November 12 to December 12 seeking applicants for social equity cannabis business licenses (the first batch of marijuana licenses are going to “social equity” applicants who have been harmed by the war on drugs). MCA received 1,708 completed applications.
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Dec 15 2023

Delaware Bill Would Allow Physicians to Recommend Medical Marijuana for Any Condition, Allow Those 65+ to Self-Certify

Bipartisan legislation that would greatly expand the number of people eligible to become medical marijuana patients in Delaware has been filed in the state’s House of Representatives.

Delaware House Bill 285 was filed yesterday by State Representative Edward Osienski along with a bipartisan coalition of eight cosponsors. The measure has been assigned to the House Health & Human Development Committee.

The proposed law would amend the Delaware Medical Marijuana Act by removing the requirement that a patient have a debilitating medical condition to qualify for a registry identification card, instead allowing health-care providers to make the determination of whether a patient has a diagnosed medical condition for which the patient would receive therapeutic or palliative benefit from the use of medical marijuana.
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Dec 15 2023

Coalition of Former Federal Prosecutors Urges Biden Administration to Keep Marijuana Schedule I

A group of 29 former federal prosecutors have sent a letter to the leaders of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) urging them to retain marijuana as a schedule I drug.

The letter from the former prosecutors comes in response to a letter sent in August by the Department of Health to the DEA, officially requesting marijuana be reclassified as a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act (this would legalize it for prescription use across the country). A report released in September by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) states that it’s “likely” the DEA will reschedule marijuana to reschedule III, which will have “broad implications for federal policy”.

The letter from the former prosecutors, directed to Attorney General Merrick Garland and DEA Administrator Anne Milgram, states that “Almost no one has benefitted from legal weed, but there is one group coming out on top – drug cartels. Many states have enacted home-grow marijuana laws, which led to cartels growing marijuana in the United States to cut trafficking costs.”
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Dec 15 2023

US House Bill to Decriminalize Marijuana Nationwide Now Has 79 Sponsors, 37% of All Democrats

The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act gained three new sponsors yesterday, bringing the total number to 79.

The MORE Act (H.R. 5601) is now sponsored by 37% of all Democrats in the House of Representatives. The measure was filed in September by Representative Jerrold Nadler (D) along with four cosponsors. The legislation has steadily gained new sponsors since being filed, with Representatives Kweisi Mfume (D-MD), Kathy Castor (D-FL) and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) signing on just yesterday.

The MORE Act is described by Rep. Nadler as “one of the most comprehensive marijuana reform bills ever introduced in the U.S. Congress”. The measure would decriminalize marijuana at the federal level and remove it entirely as a controlled substance, while establishing a federal marijuana tax that would apply to legal marijuana states.
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