May 12 2023

Michigan: $245 Million in Legal Marijuana Sold in April, Sales to Date Top $6 Billion

In Michigan there was $245 million in legal marijuana and marijuana products sold in April.

The $246,054,243 sold in April is a slight decrease from the $249 million sold in March, which remains the monthly record. Of the $246 million sold, just $7,842,858 was medical marijuana, with the remaining $238,211,384 coming from the legal distribution of recreational marijuana. All of this data was released by Michigan’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency.

Legal recreational marijuana sales to date for Michigan now stand at $4,824,354,219, with medical marijuana sales at $4,824,354,219. The combined total is $6,385,680,665
Continue reading

May 11 2023

Ohio Bill Would Amend DUI Laws for Marijuana

A legislative proposal filed by Ohio Senator Nathan Manning would remove the per se marijuana limit on those operating motor vehicles and would replace it with an evidentiary standard.

Under Ohio’s current per se driving laws, a person is automatically found guilty of operating a vehicle impaired if they have even a trace amount of THC in their blood or THC metabolites in their urine when driving. This is despite the fact that THC can stay in the system for days or even weeks after last use.

According to its official summary, Senate Bill 26 “removes the per se prohibited concentration limits for marijuana and marijuana metabolites as measured via a chemical test of a person’s urine, whole blood, or blood serum or plasma for purposes of determining an automatic violation”. This would apply to both vehicles and watercrafts.
Continue reading

May 11 2023

Vermont Senate Passes House-Approved Medical Marijuana Reform Bill

A Vermont bill that would make several changes to the state’s medical marijuana law has been passed by the state’s full Senate.

House Bill 270 passed the full Senate today, having already been approved by the full House of Representatives. However, amendments made in the Senate will require the House to take one final vote of concurrence before the proposal can be sent to Governor Phil Scott for consideration.

House Bill 270 would increase the maximum amount of THC allowed in packaged marijuana products from 50 mg to 100 mg, and would alter the number of plants a medical marijuana patient can grow for personal use from a total of nine to a total of 18, six of which can be mature. The bill would also change the renewal period to once every five years for all patients except those who qualify for chronic pain, who would still have to renew every year.
Continue reading

May 11 2023

Connecticut House Approves Bill to Decriminalize Psilocybin

Connecticut’s House of Representatives has approved legislation that would decriminalize the personal possession of psilocybin (the hallucinogenic compound in magic mushrooms).

Psilocybin mushrooms (also called “magic mushrooms”).

Connecticut’s House of Representatives voted 86 to 64 to pass House Bill 6734, which would remove the criminal penalties associated with possessing up to a half ounce of psilocybin or magic mushrooms.

Under the proposed law those caught possessing magic mushrooms could still face a fine of up to $150 with subsequent fines jumping to $200 and $500, but there would be no possibility of a criminal charge or jail time. Under current Connecticut law possessing even a single gram of psilocybin is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.
Continue reading

May 10 2023

Newly Filed New York Bill Would Repeal the Excise Tax on Medical Cannabis

Legislation filed today in the New York Legislature would repeal the state’s excise tax on medical marijuana sales.

Assembly Bill 7014 was filed today by Assemblymember Crystal Peoples-Stokes, a longtime proponent of reforming marijuana laws. The measure has been assigned directly to the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.

Under current New York tax code, medical marijuana dispensaries must pay a 7% excise tax on gross receipts from all medical cannabis sold.

The one-page bill states:
Continue reading

May 10 2023

In Connecticut Over $21 Million in Legal Marijuana Was Sold in April

In April legal marijuana sales in Connecticut surpassed $21 million.

Connecticut

In April, the third month of legal recreational marijuana sales, there was $21,626,987 in marijuana and marijuana products sold in Connecticut. $11.4 million of this amount came from the legal distribution of medical marijuana, with the remaining $10.2 million coming from recreational marijuana sales. The year-to-date total for legal marijuana in Connecticut is now $75,405,927.

In April patients purchased 314,985 different medical marijuana products. In terms of recreational marijuana products, consumers purchased 259,499 different products. The 314k medical marijuana products sold is a decrease from the 339k sold in March. However, the number of recreational marijuana products sold saw an over 10% increase, up from 234,974.
Continue reading

May 10 2023

NY Committee Votes to Expand Definition of Crops and Livestock to Include Cannabis.

A New York bill that would expand the legal definition of crops, livestock and livestock products to include cannabis has been passed unanimously by two separate Senate committees.

Filed by Senator Michelle Hinchey along with two cosponsors, the measure was passed by the Senate Agriculture Committee in January, 9 to 0. After three and a half months of inaction, yesterday the Senate Finance Committee gave approval to the bill, also unanimously (21 to 0). This allows it to be considered by the full Senate, with passage putting it before the state Assembly.

The simple one-page bill simple states “Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 301 of the agriculture and markets law is amended by adding a new paragraph m to read as follows: Cannabis as defined in section three of the cannabis law.”
Continue reading

May 10 2023

Florida: Enough Signatures Collected to Put Marijuana Legalization to a Vote in 2024

An initiative campaign to put marijuana legalization on the November, 2024 ballot in Florida has collected more than the 891,523 valid signatured required to do so.

As of the end of April the Smart & Safe Florida campaign had submitted 841,130 valid signatures, just 50k signatures short of the 891,523 required to put their proposal on the 2024 general election ballot. However, the group has now collected over 900,000 signatures, and will soon be submitting them to the state. If enough of these are valid (from registered Florida voters), as is expected, this will give Floridians the opportunity to legalize recreational marijuana eight years after they legalized medical marijuana.

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.” Licensed marijuana retail outlets would be allowed to distribute the plant, with any of the state’s licensed medical-marijuana dispensaries allowed to “acquire, cultivate, process, manufacture, sell and distribute such products and accessories.”
Continue reading

May 10 2023

North Carolina Tribe Plans to Open $50 Million+ Medical Marijuana Superstore This Year

A tribe in North Carolina plans to open a medical marijuana superstore later this year, in what would be the first marijuana dispensary in the state.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians legalized medical marijuana on their tribal land in 2021, and now they plan to open the state’s first dispensary, although there are disputes over the proposed costs.

Currently the tribe is converting a giant bingo hall into a medical marijuana superstore that will serve anyone with a physician recommendation to use the plant for medical purposes. The store will be a roughly three-hour drive from Charlotte.
Continue reading

May 10 2023

Colombia Chamber of Representatives Passes Marijuana Legalization Bill

Legislation that would make legal marijuana a constitutional right in Colombia has been passed by the nation’s Chamber of Representatives.

The Chamber voted 98 to 57 to pass the measure to the Senate. The Senate voted in December 56 to 3 to legalize marijuana, but the proposed law received amendments since then and thus the Senate will need to vote on the measure again before it can be sent to Governor Gustavo Petro for consideration.

“This is the constitutional reform that seeks to authorize the creation of a legal cannabis market for adult use in Colombia”, Representative Juan Carlos Losada said in a translated op-ed. “The regulation of cannabis for adult use in Colombia is the gateway for a new drug policy that abandons the failed paradigm of prohibition and opens the field to a policy guided by public health guidelines, the prevention of consumption and the guarantee of attention of consumer users.”
Continue reading