Yet another Minnesota Senate committee has passed a bill to legalize recreational marijuana.

The Senate Environment, Climate, and Legacy passed the measure in a tight 5 to 4 vote, making them the fifth committee in the Senate to approve the measure and move it forward in the committee process. It will need to pass a total of 18 Senate committees to reach a vote by the full Senate.

On the House of Representatives side of things, seven committees have approved the measure, with seven more to go in order for the bill to receive a full House vote. Approval by the full House and Senate would send the legislation to Governor Tim Walz, who supports it.

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A citizens’ initiative that would legalize marijuana for everyone 21 and older will be voted on in Oklahoma next month on March 7th.

In October Governor Stitt issued a proclamation setting a special election on marijuana legalization for March 7, 2023, now just a month away. On that date voters will decide the fate of State Question 820. The initiative didn’t make it on the November ballot despite getting the required number of signatures signatures to do so due to a delay in signature counting at the Secretary of State’s Office.

State Question 820 would allow those 21 and older to possess, consume, cultivate and purchase marijuana for any purposes. The possession limit would be set at one ounce of marijuana, eight grams of marijuana concentrates and eight grams of marijuana-infused products. The cultivation limit would be set at six mature plants and six seedlings.
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A bill that would lower the scheduling of magic mushrooms and create a statewide advisory board for the psychedelic has been passed by Virginia’s full Senate.

Introduced by State Senator Ghazala Hashmi, the measure would establish a statewide psilocybin advisory board and would adjust the psychedelic to be a lower schedule under state law, from Schedule I to Schedule III.

The proposal was passed by the full Senate today in a 25 to 15 vote. It now goes to the House of Delegates. Passage in the House would out it before Governor Glenn Youngkin for consideration.
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The Australian government has announced that it is rescheduling psilocybin (magic mushrooms) and MDMA to allow for medical use for those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and treat-resistant depression.

The country is moving the substances to Schedule 8 under the country’s drug code, allowing psychiatrists to prescribe them for medical and therapeutic uses. The substances will remain in the stricter Schedule 9 for non-medical use.

“The decision acknowledges the current lack of options for patients with specific treatment-resistant mental illnesses,” said Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) on Friday. “It means that psilocybin and MDMA can be used therapeutically in a controlled medical setting starting on July 1. However, patients may be vulnerable during psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, requiring controls to protect these patients.”
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Proponents of a constitutional amendment to legalize recreational marijuana in Florida have submitted enough signatures to put the proposal before the state’s Supreme Court, clearing an important hurdle on the way to putting the measure to a vote in 2024.

According to the Division of Elections’ website, the “Smart & Safe Florida” political committee submitted 294,037 valid petition signatures as of Thursday, well more than the 222,898 signatures required to put their initiative before the Supreme Court.

Once the signatures are verified, the Supreme Court will review the wording of the proposal to ensure that includes just one primary subject and is not misleading to voters.
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