May 04 2023

Study: Over a Third of Chronic Pain Patients Use Medical Marijuana

According to a new study published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, over a third of those in California suffering from chronic pain say they’ve used marijuana for medical purposes within the past year.

For the study researchers “surveyed a stratified random sample of adults in a large health system (aged 19-64) with and without documented chronic pain (CP) about their reasons for cannabis use” over a four month period. They “compared patients with and without CP on measures for medical, non-medical, pain-related, and mental health-related cannabis use based on self-reported symptoms.” The study was conducted by researchers from Kaiser Permanente and the University of California.

“Patients with CP reported higher past year medical use (34.6%) compared to patients without CP (22.8%), past year pain-related use (29.7% vs 15.5%), and past year mental health-related use (24.8% vs 18.9%)”, found the study.
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May 04 2023

Hawaii Bill to Make Multiple Changes to Medical Marijuana Law Passed by Legislature, Sent to Governor

Hawaii’s full legislature has given approval to legislation to amend the state’s medical marijuana law, sending it to Governor Josh Green for consideration.

Both the House of Representatives and Senate gave unanimous approval to House Bill 1082. The proposal was filed on January 3 by Representative Scott Saiki, and was sent to the governor exactly three months later on May 3.

The measure requires that written certifications for a patient with a chronic condition be valid for three years, and it “removes the requirement that a certifying physician or advanced practice registered nurse have a “bona fide” physician-patient or advanced practice registered nurse-patient relationship to certify that a patient has a debilitating medical condition.”
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May 04 2023

Maine Bill Would Legalize Marijuana Social Clubs, Establish Shelf Life for Marijuana Flower

Legislation filed in Maine would make several changes to the state’s marijuana laws, including legalizing marijuana social clubs.

House Bill 1880 was filed yesterday by State Representative Laura Supica, and today it was officially referred to the Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs.

The proposal states that cultivation facilities and product manufactures “may not sell or distribute cannabis flower harvested more than 12 months prior to sale or distribution.” Marijuana retail outlets would not be allowed to sell marijuana that was “harvested more than 18 months prior to sale.”
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May 04 2023

Study: Canada Marijuana Legalization Associated With 9% Reduction in Traffic Crashes

Toronto saw a 9% reduction in traffic crashes immediately following Canada’s legalization of marijuana, according to a new study being published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review and published online ahead of print by the US National Library of Medicine.

Conducted by researchers at the Université de Sherbrooke, this study “examines the association between the enactment of Canada’s Cannabis Act (CCA) and the number of cannabis stores (NCS) with traffic injuries in Toronto.”

For the study researchers applied two methods: hybrid difference-in-difference (DID) and hybrid-fuzzy DID. They used “generalised linear models using CCA and the NCS per capita as the main variables of interest”, and “adjusted for precipitation, temperature and snow.”
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May 03 2023

Colorado Psychedelics Bill Sent to Governor

Colorado’s Legislature has sent Senate Bill 23-290 (to legally regulate certain psychedelics) to the desk of Governor Jared Polis, who is expected to sign it into law.

(Photo credit: Paul Stamets)

On Saturday Colorado’s House voted 45 to 18 on Saturday to pass the proposal, which had already passed the Senate 25 to 11. However, amendments made in the House required the Senate to take up the measure once more. Yesterday the Senate did just that, voting 32 to 3 to concur with the House’s amendments. They then voted 24 to 11 to give the measure final passage and send it to Governor Polis.

Governor Polis has expressed support for the proposal, and is expected to swiftly sign it into law.
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May 03 2023

Montana Governor Vetoes Bill to Reappropriate Marijuana Tax Revenue

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte has vetoed a bill that would have reappropriated some of the revenue generated from legal marijuana sales.

Senate Bill 442 was passed overwhelmingly in both the House and Senate, 82 to 17 and 48 to 1. Despite this, Governor Gianforte has vetoed the measure. Typically the legislature could override an executive veto through a 2/3rds majority vote, but the legislative session ended on Tuesday. Although technically a veto can be overridden through the mail if the session has ended, it’s considered a difficult and unlikely move.

SB 442 would have created a new special revenue account for county roads, with the account funded by appropriating 20% of the revenue the state generates from legal marijuana sales. The funds would have gone to the Department of Transportation to be distributed monthly to county and consolidated city-county governments to be used for “construction, reconstruction, maintenance and road repair”.
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May 03 2023

Florida Medical Marijuana Telehealth Bill Passed by Senate

Florida legislation that would allow physicians to renew patients medical marijuana cards via telehealth was given approval today by the state’s Senate, and it has already passed the full House of Representatives

House Bill 387 was passed today through its second reading in the Senate, and placed on tomorrow’s calendar to receive a third and final reading. Given it was amended on the Senate floor once it’s passed through its third reading HB 387 will need to receive one final House vote before it can be sent to Governor Ron DeSantis for consideration.

If HB 387 is passed into law licensed physician would be allowed to use telehealth options such as Zoom when renewing a patient’s medical marijuana authorization card during annual renewals. The law does not, however, allow physicians to use telehealth when first authorizing a patient to use medical marijuana.
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May 03 2023

Denver Launches New Cannabis Cares Program

The Denver Department of Excise and Licenses has launched a new program for marijuana businesses.

Cannabis Cares badges.

The Cannabis Cares program is a City and County of Denver initiative that” recognizes cannabis businesses that go above and beyond to make a positive impact”, according to Denver’s official website. To qualify for recognition businesses must submit a social impact plan.

Submitting a plan can be done once per year, and must describe how a business will make an impact in five areas:
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May 03 2023

Maryland Governor Signs Marijuana Sales Bill Into Law, Sales to Begin July 1

Maryland Governor Wes Moore has signed into law legislation that establishes a regulatory framework for legal marijuana sales, which can begin on July 1.

“This will ensure the rollout of recreational cannabis in our state drives opportunity in an equitable way”, Governor Moore said at a signing ceremony for Senate Bill 516. “The criminalization of marijuana harmed low income communities and communities of color in a profound way. We want to make sure that the legalization of marijuana lifts those communities now in a profound way.”

The passage of Senate Bill 516 is needed given voters approved an initiative in November to legalize recreational marijuana. The initiative tasked the legislature to establish rules for the legal marijuana industry, with sales allowed to begin on July 1.
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May 03 2023

$46 Million in Legal Marijuana Sold in New Mexico in April, 16% Increase from Prior Year

In New Mexico there was $46 million worth of marijuana sold in April via licensed marijuana retail outlets, according to the New Mexico Regulation & Licensing Department

The $46,076,614 in total marijuana sales in April is just shy of the $47.7 million sold in March (a monthly record), but is 16% higher than the $39.5 million sold in April, 2022, which marked the first month of recreational marijuana sales. The $46 million sold in April includes both dried marijuana flower as well as marijuana products such as concentrates, edibles, topicals and tinctures.

Of the $46 million sold, $14,839,835 was medical marijuana sales. The remaining $31,236,778 sold was from recreational marijuana.
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