Jun 17 2024
These legislative efforts span a range of issues from marijuana banking and veterans’ health care to housing and descheduling. All of these measures were filed since January 2023, and will expire if not enacted into law by the end of the year.
Below we will delve into the details of these prominent bills:
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Jun 17 2024
As more states adopt legalization, extensive data has become available, enabling a thorough analysis of its impact on crime rates nationwide and providing real-world evidence to inform the ongoing debate.
Colorado, one of the pioneers in legalizing recreational marijuana in 2012, has observed significant changes in crime rates. From 2012 to 2016, the state saw a decrease in property crimes from 2,364 to 2,034 per 100,000 residents. Additionally, the state experienced a decline in violent crime rates by 10% from 2012 to 2019, as reported by the Colorado Department of Public Safety.
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Jun 17 2024
The SAFE Banking Act (H.R. 2891) in the House of Representatives has 124 sponsors, the highest number for any marijuana-related measure in Congress. In the Senate, the updated SAFER Banking Act has 36 sponsors. Together, these 160 sponsors represent 30% of the entire Congress.
Both measures would provide federal protections for banks and credit unions that offer financial services to state-legal marijuana businesses. These businesses include medical marijuana dispensaries in the 38 states where they are legal, and recreational marijuana stores in the 23 states where they are authorized. Additionally, both measures would allow state-legal marijuana businesses to take standard IRS tax deductions, a practice currently forbidden. Continue reading
Jun 17 2024
Recreational marijuana is currently legal in 24 states, with medical marijuana legal in 38. Both of those numbers may climb higher following this November’s election, with three states voting to legalize recreational marijuana, one state set to vote on legalizing medical marijuana, and one set to vote on greatly expanding their medical marijuana law while establishing a federal trigger for recreational legalization.
Below is a look at these five states and their marijuana initiatives.
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Jun 17 2024
The Assembly Health Committee passed Assembly Bill 3852 today, moving it along in the legislative process. The move comes a little over a week after the Senate Heath Committee voted to approve a companion measure.
Initially devised as a way to legalize the personal use of psilocybin for everyone 21 and older, the measure was amended to apply exclusively to the medical/therapeutic use of the substance.
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Jun 17 2024
Filed by State Representatives Emily Kinkead and Aaron Kaufer, House Bill 2500 would establish a legal framework for the recreational sale of marijuana, prioritizing licensing for disadvantaged groups. It also seeks to expunge past criminal charges related to marijuana distribution.
“We know across the board that having marijuana be illegal has done only harm in our communities,” Kinkead told WESA, a local NPR affiliate. “And we’re recognizing that it has medicinal properties, [and] the world has not ended in all the states that have legalized it recreationally.”
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Jun 16 2024
Governor Moore is set to enact one of the country’s most extensive clemency measures for marijuana-related offenses on Monday via an executive order. This action aims to address the social and economic injustices that disproportionately affect individuals of color.
“I’m ecstatic that we have a real opportunity with what I’m signing to right a lot of historical wrongs,” Governor Moore told the Washington Post. “If you want to be able to create inclusive economic growth, it means you have to start removing these barriers that continue to disproportionately sit on communities of color.”
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Jun 15 2024
Dried psilocybin mushrooms.
By a vote of 42 to 16, the Arizona House has passed Senate Bill 1570, approximately 3.5 months after it was passed by the Senate with a vote of 24 to 4. The measure, filed by Senator Jarrett Keohokalole (D), now heads to Governor Hobbs.
Once enacted, the measure will legalize psilocybin therapy centers where individuals can legally consume psilocybin in a medical, supervised setting with trained staff constantly available. Licensing for these centers will be handled by the Department of Human Services (DHS). Additionally, an Arizona Psilocybin Advisory Board will be established under the bill, tasked with overseeing training criteria for those working at service centers and recommending potential law changes to lawmakers.
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Jun 15 2024
With the halfway point just a week away, approximately 18,000 comments have been submitted on the DEA’s proposal to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act. This change would make marijuana’s compounds eligible for prescription nationwide once they receive regulatory approval.
Of the nearly 18,000 comments submitted, just over half advocate for the DEA to deschedule marijuana entirely, rather than simply rescheduling it. The roughly 51% in favor of descheduling has remained consistent since before the 10,000-comment mark.
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Jun 14 2024
Hemp (left) and kratom (right).
The House voted 110 to 0 yesterday to pass Approval of House Bill 563 through the Senate Judiciary Committee comes roughly eight months after the measure was passed by the House of Representatives in a unanimous 110 to 0 vote. Filed by State Representative Jeffrey McNeeley along with a bipartisan coalition of 10 other lawmakers, the measure will be sent to Governor Roy Cooper if it’s passed by the full Senate.
According to its official summary, House Bill 563 would:
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