Jan 29 2025

Tennessee Senator Files Medical Marijuana Bill With Broad List of Qualifying Conditions

State Senator Janice Bowling (R) filed Senate Bill 489 today, legislation that would establish a regulated medical marijuana program in Tennessee, making them the 40th medical marijuana state.

The Tennessee Medical Cannabis Act outlines a framework for cultivation, production, distribution, and patient access to medical marijuana, while also supporting agricultural development and research into the benefits of THC.

The bill highlights that dozens of states, including Tennessee’s neighbors Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, and Virginia, have already legalized medical marijuana, noting that studies have linked medical marijuana programs to reductions in opioid overdoses. The proposal would create a Tennessee Medical Cannabis Program Commission to oversee the system, including the licensing of cultivation, processing, and dispensary operations.
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Jan 29 2025

President Trump Continues to Support the SAFER Banking Act and Marijuana Rescheduling

A spokesperson for President Donald Trump says he remains supportive of both marijuana banking reform and federal rescheduling.

“President Trump continues to support marijuana banking, particularly the SAFER Banking Act, and also continues to support rescheduling marijuana,” a deputy communications director told The Marijuana Herald today via e-mail.

The SAFER Banking Act, which had strong bipartisan backing last session and is expected to be refiled soon, would provide marijuana businesses access to financial services by allowing banks to work with state-legal marijuana businesses without fear of federal penalties. The bill would also allow legal marijuana businesses to take standard IRS tax deductions.
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Jan 29 2025

Colorado Issues Marijuana Recall Covering Products Sold at Nearly 60 Stores

The Colorado Department of Revenue (DOR), in conjunction with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), has issued a Health and Safety Advisory and recall due to the identification of contaminated marijuana flower produced and sold by Medpharm Holdings, LLC, d.b.a. Bud & Mary’s Cannabis.

(Photo credit: KTTN Radio).

The CDPHE and DOR deem it a threat to public health and safety when marijuana is found to have Total Yeast and Mold above the acceptable limits established in Colorado Marijuana Rule 4-215. This advisory includes Harvest Batches tested and found to have exceeded acceptable limits established for Total Yeast and Mold.

Medpharm Holdings, LLC collaborated with the Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED) to initiate a voluntary recall for the affected Harvest Batches, according to the public advisory. The affected product is listed below (by license number and Harvest Batch) and was sold between February 7, 2024, and December 20, 2024. The locations that sold the affected product are also included below.
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Jan 29 2025

New Hampshire House Bill to Legalize Psilocybin Set for Public Hearing on February 6

A bill that would legalize the possession and use of psilocybin for those 21 and older in New Hampshire is set for a public hearing on February 6 at 3:30 p.m.

The hearing will take place before the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee in Legislative Office Building 202-204.

Filed by State Representative Kevin Verville (R), House Bill 528 states that individuals 21 and older would not face penalties for obtaining, purchasing, transporting, possessing, or using psilocybin. However, those under 21 who engage in these activities would be subject to penalties outlined in RSA 318-B:26.
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Jan 29 2025

Ohio Senate Republicans Renew Push to Scale Back Voter-Approved Marijuana Law

Senate Republicans in Ohio held a hearing today on legislation to roll back key provisions of the state’s voter-approved recreational marijuana program, proposing cuts to home grow limits, increased taxes, reduced potency levels, and shifting revenue away from social equity programs.

“It’s not to do away with the ballot initiative,” said State Senator Steve Huffman, a Tipp City Republican. “It’s to work around the edges to make it better.”

State Senator Casey Weinstein (D) says that although many in his party do support marketing restrictions to protect children and for “sensible limitations” on public marijuana use, but they oppose cutting home grow limits and imposing restrictions on where people can smoke on their own property.
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Jan 29 2025

RFK Jr. Asked Zero Marijuana-Related Questions During Confirmation Hearing

During his confirmation hearing today for Health and Human Services secretary, RFK Jr. received not a single question related to marijuana or psychedelics, despite his long-held support for both.

During the hearing, RFK Jr. was asked numerous times about vaccines, abortions, rural hospitals and more, but none of the senators questioning him asked him to clarify the approach he’ll take to marijuana and psychedelics.

RFK Jr. has been a vocal advocate for marijuana reform, including endorsing legalization and removing marijuana as a Schedule I drug.
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Jan 29 2025

Study: CBD May Protect Against Chemotherapy-Induced Heart Damage

A new study published in Drug Design, Development and Therapy suggests that cannabidiol (CBD) may help protect the heart from damage caused by the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin (DOX) by activating the Hippo signaling pathway.

DOX is widely used to treat cancer but is known for its cardiotoxic effects. While previous research has indicated that CBD may have cardioprotective properties, the mechanisms behind this effect have remained unclear. To investigate, researchers analyzed gene expression data from healthy and DOX-injured myocardial tissues, identifying the Hippo pathway as a key player in DOX-induced heart damage. Molecular docking suggested that CBD interacts with multiple regulators of this pathway.

The team conducted both in vitro and in vivo experiments using H9c2 cardiomyocytes and C57BL/6 mice. Results showed that CBD improved cell viability, reduced oxidative stress, and decreased apoptosis in DOX-exposed heart cells. In mice, CBD mitigated DOX-induced myocardial injury, as confirmed by histological and immunofluorescence analyses. However, when the Hippo pathway was inactivated—either by YAP knockdown or treatment with verteporfin—the cardioprotective effects of CBD were reversed.
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Jan 29 2025

U.S. Marijuana Reform: A Breakdown of State Efforts to Legalize and Decriminalize Marijuana

By Marijuana Policy Project

Because less than half of U.S. states allow citizen-initiated ballot measures, in most states, the only way to reform cannabis laws is via the state’s legislature.

Polls show over two-thirds of Americans support making cannabis use legal and around 90% support allowing medical cannabis, but lawmakers lag behind the public.

Only 24 states have legalized cannabis for adults. Eleven states are even further behind the times — lacking even a medical cannabis law. And 19 states continue to jail their residents for even simple possession of cannabis.

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Jan 28 2025

Hawaii Committee Unanimously Approves Bill to Protect Medical Marijuana Patients From Workplace Discrimination

A legislative committee in Hawaii has voted unanimously to advance legislation to prohibit the workplace discrimination of medical marijuana patients.

The House Labor and Public Employment Committee voted 6 to 0 today to approve House Bill 325, filed on January 16 by eight lawmakers.

The proposed law would explicitly protect registered medical marijuana patients from workplace discrimination while upholding safety standards for certain professions. Employers would be barred from taking adverse actions, such as termination or refusal to hire, based solely on an individual’s status as a registered medical marijuana patient or a positive test for marijuana metabolites, as long as the individual is not impaired during work hours.
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Jan 28 2025

South Carolina Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Decriminalize Marijuana and Hash Possession

Legislation to decriminalize marijuana was filed today in the South Caroline House of Representatives.

South Carolina State Representatives Chris Hart (D-Richland), John King (D-York), and Rosalyn Henderson-Myers (D-Spartanburg) introduced House Bill 3804, a measure to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana and hashish. The bill has been referred to the Judiciary Committee for further consideration.

The bill would make possession of up to one ounce of marijuana and up to 10 grams of hash no longer a criminal offense. Instead of criminal charges, individuals found possessing these amounts would receive a civil citation, defined as a fine ranging between $100 to $200 for a first offense, and $200 to $1,000 for any subsequent offens. Notably, the bill specifies that individuals issued such citations would not be arrested or taken into custody for these violations.
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