Jan 18 2024

New Jersey Officials Approve Rules Allowing Marijuana Consumption Lounges

New Jersey officials have voted unanimously to approve rules that will allow marijuana consumption lounges where marijuana can be legally consumed onsite.

The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission voted 4 to 0 yesterday to approve the proposed rules, which will establish a license for marijuana consumption lounges.

At these locations patrons would be able to purchase and consume marijuana and marijuana products. Consumption lounges would be prohibited from selling food or alcohol, although the commission notes that food could be delivered to the establishment.
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Jan 18 2024

WA Bill Would Put Department of Agriculture in Regulatory and Licensing Control of Legal Marijuana Industry

A House committee in Washington State held a public hearing today on legislation that would transfer cannabis regulatory and licensing activities to the department of agriculture. A potential vote is scheduled for next week.

House Bill 2334 was filed last week by State Representative Kristine Reeves along with four bipartisan cosponsors. Today the House Committee on Regulated Substances & Gaming held a public hearing on the measure, with an executive session and potential vote scheduled for January 25.

If passed into law, the measure would transfer “the responsibilities of the Liquor and Cannabis Board for the regulation and licensing of the production, processing, and testing of cannabis and cannabis products to the Department of Agriculture.
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Jan 18 2024

Report Shows First Overdose Prevention Center in the US Saved Over 600 Lives in First Year, Was Used Nearly 50,000 Times

The nation’s first overdose prevention center, operating in New York City, was used nearly 50,000 times and saved hundreds of lives in its first year, according to a new report.

OnPoint NYC, operator of the only locally-approved overdose prevention centers (OPCs) in the United States, recently released a baseline report with detailed findings from year one of their operation, the first report of its kind. The OPC model allows for trained professionals to be constantly present while those addicted to drugs can consume them in a safe, sterile environment. This allows professionals to intervene within seconds of the onset of overdose symptoms.

This model also plays a role in bringing public drug use inside, removing hazardous waste (particularly needles and other drug paraphernalia) from public spaces, and connecting people who use drugs with treatments and other health services.
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Jan 18 2024

Washington Committee Passes Bill To Require Cities to Get Voter Approval Before Banning Marijuana Stores

A Washington State House committee voted this morning to pass legislation requiring cities to get voter approval before they can ban marijuana businesses.

House Bill 1650 was approved today through the House Committee on Regulated Substances & Gaming. The proposed law would “ban local governments from prohibiting cannabis retail businesses in their jurisdiction after July 1, 2027, unless a majority of voters in the jurisdiction voting in a general election vote to approve an ordinance prohibiting cannabis retailers.”

Proponents of the measure call this an important step forward, given that a majority of cities do not allow marijuana stores despite the state legalizing marijuana in 2012. In many of the cities that have banned marijuana stores, their city council did so despite a majority of the city voting to approve Initiative 502 to legalize marijuana.
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Jan 17 2024

US Legal Marijuana Sales Surpassed $20 Billion in 2023

Across the US legal marijuana states combined to sell over $20 billion worth of marijuana and marijuana products.

According to an analysis by The Marijuana Herald of the most up-to-date data that is currently available via state agencies and cannabis commissions, there was $20.7 billion worth of marijuana sold in 2023. Sales numbers include the legal distribution of dried marijuana flower and marijuana concentrates, as well as a variety of other marijuana products including edibles, tinctures and topicals.

For the majority of the states included in our analysis sales data was available for all of 2023. However, for a few states data was only available through the end of October or November. For these states we estimated marijuana sales totals for November and December using data from prior months and by analyzing sales trends and patterns for each state.
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Jan 17 2024

Colorado Marijuana Sales Topped $1.5 Billion in 2023

There was over $1.5 billion worth of legal marijuana sold in Colorado throughout 2023.

In total licensed marijuana retail outlets sold around $1.52 billion in marijuana last year. The top month for marijuana sales was March, with $139 million in sales. This was followed by July with $137 million and August with $132 million.

The $1.5 billion in sales for 2023 resulted in over $270 million in tax revenue for the state, while the $15.5 billion in lifetime sales has garnered the state $2.6 billion in taxes. This is according to data released by the Colorado Department of Revenue.
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Jan 17 2024

NFL Partnering With University to Study CBD for Treating Pain and Concussions

The National Football League (NFL) is partnering with researchers in order to conduct clinical trials on the safety and efficiency of the marijuana compound cannabidiol (CBD) for treating pain and providing protection against concussions.

“The goal of this open-label, placebo-controlled, dosage escalation study is to learn about the safety of a Cannabis/Hemp Isolate Extract in normal healthy adults engaged in elite contact sport competition”, states a notice announcing the study.

The main question it aims to answer is “Are cannabis/hemp-based products with high CBD safe, well-tolerated and without adverse physiological and psychological dysfunction, when administered on a daily basis?”
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Jan 16 2024

WA House Committee Holds Public Hearing on Legislation to Legalize Personal Marijuana Cultivation

A legislative proposal that would allow those 21 and older in Washington State to grow marijuana for personal use received a public hearing today in a House committee, and all but one person spoke in favor.

House Bill 2194, filed by Representative Shelley Kloba with 12 cosponsors, would legalize the personal cultivation of up to six marijuana plants for everyone 21 and older. The proposal specifics that no more than 15 plants “may be produced at any one time on the premises of a single housing unit, regardless of the number of residents living on the premises of the housing unit.”

Under current law growing even a single marijuana plant can result in a Class C Felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Despite Washington being one of the two states to first legalize marijuana in 2012, they remain one of the only states among the 24 with legal marijuana to not allow personal cultivation.
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Jan 16 2024

Bipartisan US House Bill to Protect States That Legalize Marijuana Gains New Sponsor

Federal legislation that would protect state marijuana laws and allow commerce between legal marijuana states and tribes recently gained a new legislative sponsor.

The STATES (Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States) Act 2.0 was filed last month by Representative Dave Joyce (R) with four cosponsors. The measure has since gained two additional cosponsors, including garnering its seventh cosponsor on Thursday, January 11, with Rep. Gregory Steube (R-FL) joining the list.

Other sponsors to the bill are Representatives Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R), Brian Mast (R), Troy Carter (D), Earl Blumenauer (D) and Luis Correa (D-CA).
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Jan 16 2024

US Congressional Researchers Release Report Titled “Legal Consequences of Rescheduling Marijuana”

A new report released today by the Congressional Research Service details the legal consequences of the federal government rescheduling marijuana.

The report starts by noting that on August 29, 2023, “the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reportedly recommended to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) that marijuana be rescheduled from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA)”, with the DEA “currently reviewing HHS’s recommendation.”

When considering whether to schedule or reschedule a controlled substance, “DEA is bound by HHS’s recommendations on scientific and medical matters. However, DEA has also stated that it has “final authority to schedule, reschedule, or deschedule a drug under the Controlled Substances Act.”
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