Aug 01 2023

Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives Votes to End Pre-Employment Marijuana Testing

The Northern Mariana Islands’ House of Representatives have overwhelming approved a bill to end pre-employment cannabis testing for most government jobs.

Filed by Representative Diego Vincent Camacho, the legislation was passed by a 17 to 1 vote in the House, sending it to the Senate for consideration. The move comes around five years after the US territory legalized recreational marijuana, the first to do so in the US via the legislative and not the initiative process.

The proposed law would make it so that government agencies would no longer be allowed to test potential employers for THC, one of the main compounds found in marijuana. The change would apply to most all government positions, but would not apply to jobs where transportation or a firearm is involved.
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Aug 01 2023

Study: CBD “Shows Promising Effects in Limiting Adolescent Alcohol Binge Drinking”

According to a new study published in the journal Phytotherapy Research, the marijuana compound cannabidiol (CBD) “shows promising effects in limiting adolescent alcohol binge drinking and rebalancing the bio-behavioural abnormalities.”

The study was published online ahead of print by the National Library of Medicine, with the title Cannabidiol tempers alcohol intake and neuroendocrine and behavioural correlates in alcohol binge drinking adolescent rats. Focus on calcitonin gene-related peptide’s brain levels.

“Alcohol binge drinking is common among adolescents and may challenge the signalling systems that process affective stimuli, including calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) signalling”, states the study. “Here, we employed a rat model of adolescent binge drinking to evaluate reward-, social- and aversion-related behaviour, glucocorticoid output and CGRP levels in affect-related brain regions. As a potential rescue, the effect of the phytocannabinoid cannabidiol was explored.”
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Aug 01 2023

Arkansas Medical Marijuana Patients Now Have Explicit Gun Rights

Arkansas legislation that codifies gun rights for medical marijuana patients has officially taken effect.

House Bill 1784, which took effect today, alters Arkansas’ laws related to concealed carry licenses to state that officials “shall not consider a person’s status as a qualifying patient or designated caregiver under the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment of 2016, Arkansas Constitution, Amendment 98, § 2, in determining whether an applicant is eligible to be issued a license to carry a concealed handgun under this subchapter.”

House Bill 1784 was passed through the full Senate by a vote of 26 to 3, and was passed by the House of Representatives 82 to 5. It was signed into law by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
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Aug 01 2023

Marijuana Possession and Cultivation is Now Legal in Minnesota

As of today, August 1, the possession and personal cultivation of recreational marijuana is legal in Minnesota for everyone 21 and older.

Minnesota legal marijuana

Minnesota is now officially the 23rd state with legal recreational marijuana. The new law allows for the possession of up to two ounces of dried marijuana flower while in public and up to two pounds at a private residence.  The possession of up to eight grams of marijuana hash, oil and wax will also be allowed, as will possessing marijuana edibles with up to 800mg of THC.

The law allows for the personal cultivation of up to eight marijuana plants. These must be in an enclosed location at a person’s personal residence.
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Jul 31 2023

South Dakota Initiative Would Repeal Medical Marijuana Law

South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley has released a draft ballot explanation for a proposed initiated that would repeal the state’s medical marijuana program.

This proposed initiated measure would repeal the state’s medical marijuana program that was approved by voters in the 2020 general election. The repeal would make all possession, use, cultivation, sale, manufacture, sale of marijuana, and marijuana products a crime.. The ballot explanation can be found here.

The measure is proposed by Travis Ismay of Newell. According to a press release from Jackley, the “Attorney General takes no position on any such proposal. He has provided a fair and neutral explanation on the proposed constitutional amendment to help assist the voters.”
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Jul 31 2023

Study: New York is Top Marijuana-Consuming City in the World, Montreal Has Cheapest Prices

According to the the 2023 Cannabis Global Price Index, New Yorkers consume the most marijuana in the world.

The study found that New York City residents consume an average of 62.3 metric tons of marijuana each year, the highest amount in the world. Sydney, Australia came second with 45.8 metric tons per year, despite marijuana remaining illegal in Australia.

At 35 metric tons per year Los Angeles ranked third, followed by Chicago at 24.9 metric tons and Rome, Italy at 21.9 metric tons per year.
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Jul 30 2023

Second Minnesota Tribe Votes to Legalize Marijuana Stores, Sales to Begin Tuesday

Although the first state-licensed marijuana store isn’t expected to open in Minnesota until 2025, two tribes in the state are planning to open legal marijuana stores in just a couple days with no requirement to be a tribal member.

On Friday the White Earth Nation Tribal Council voted to legalize recreational marijuana for everyone 21 and older, including nontribal members. According to members of the council, sales are expected to begin Tuesday, August 1, the day marijuana officially becomes legal throughout all of Minnesota (although marijuana becomes legal on August 1, the state isn’t expected to issue the first marijuana retail licenses until sometime in 2025).

The tribe’s vote follows the actions of Red Lake Nation, which similarly voted last month to allow legal marijuana sales to anyone who’s at least 21 years old.
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Jul 28 2023

This is the Last Weekend in Minnesota Without Legalized Marijuana

In just three days, on August 1, marijuana will become legal in Minnesota.

Starting Tuesday those 21+ will be allowed to possess up to two ounces of marijuana in public, and up to two pounds at a private residence. They will also be allowed to possess up to eight grams of marijuana concentrates and 800mg of marijuana edibles, and they can grow up to eight marijuana plants at a private residence (given it’s in an enclosed location).

All of this is possible due to the passage of legislation that was signed into law by Governor Tim Waltz in May. The law went through an extensive process that included over 30 committee hearings.
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Jul 27 2023

Study: CBD/THC Spray Significantly Reduces Pain in Those With Chronic Back and Neck Pain

According to a recently published study, in patients with chronic neck and back pain a spray containing both CBD and THC “showed clinically significant reductions in pain compared to baseline pain scores.”

The study is published in the peer-reviewed journal Medical Cannabis and Cannabinoids, with the abstract also published by the National Library of Medicine. It was conducted by researchers at the University of Sydney, the University of New South Wales, St Vincent’s Hospital, Holdsworth House Medical Practice, the Australian Clinical Research Network, Cymra Life Sciences and the University of Technology at Sydney.

The aim of the study “was to demonstrate the safety and tolerability of cannabidiol (CBD) with Δ9-THC in patients with moderate to severe chronic back or neck pain unresponsive to over-the-counter non-opioid analgesics.”
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Jul 27 2023

New Pennsylvania Bill Would Allow Medical Marijuana Patients to Grow Their Own

Legislation filed today in Pennsylvania’s Legislature would legalize the cultivation of marijuana for patients.

Senate Bill 869 was introduced by Senator Sharif Street along with a bipartisan coalition of seven other lawmakers.

Under the proposed law an authorized medical marijuana patient who has “been a resident of this Commonwealth for a period of at least 30 days may cultivate cannabis for personal use”. Patients would be allowed to grow up to six plants at a private residence, in an “enclosed, locked space”.
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