Jan 14 2024

Study: Combining Opioids With Marijuana Can Reduce Opioid Dosage and Mitigate Opioid Toxicity in Hospice Patients

Combination medical marijuana and opioid therapy “showed statistically significant pain relief and may have the potential for reducing opioid dose and mitigating opioid toxicity”, states a new study.

The study is being published in the American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, with the abstract published online ahead of print by the US National Library of Medicine. The research was conducted by researchers at Yale School of Medicine, Connecticut Hospice, The John D. Thompson Hospice Institute for Education, Yale-New Haven Hospital and Yale School of Public Health.

“Opioid therapy is critical for pain relief for most hospice patients but may be limited by adverse side effects”, states the study’s abstract. “Combining medical cannabis with opioids may help mitigate adverse effects while maintaining effective pain relief.”
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Jan 14 2024

Majority of Lawmakers Sponsoring Federal “Stop Pot Act” Are From North Carolina

The majority of those sponsoring the “Stop Pot Act” are from North Carolina.

Filed by North Carolina Congressmember Chuck Edwards in September, the Stop Pot Act would withhold federal funding from states and tribes that have legalized recreational marijuana. The measure was filed with just one cosponsor, with it since gaining three additional sponsors, bringing the total to five. Three of these five (60%) are from North Carolina, and all are Republican.

The proposed law would withhold 10% of federal highway funds from states and tribes that violate the federal Controlled Substances Act. Given marijuana is a Schedule I drug, this means that any state that allows legal marijuana sales would be violating the provisions of this proposal and would lose some federal funding. Despite having just five sponsors, the Stop Pot Act has more cosponsors than any other effort that would combat state marijuana laws, even though many Republican Congressmembers hold strong anti-marijuana stances.
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Jan 14 2024

Maryland: Legal Marijuana Sales Reach $96 Million in December, Nearly $800 Million in 2023

There was a record-breaking $96.4 million in legal marijuana sold in December in Maryland.

According to the Maryland Cannabis Administration there was $96,473,978 worth of legal marijuana and marijuana products sold in December, a new monthly record for the state. Medical marijuana sales were $34,967,892 while recreational marijuana sales were $61,506,086.

Total marijuana sales for the year finished just shy of $800 million at $787 million.
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Jan 13 2024

There’s Now Over 850,000 Medical Marijuana Patients in Florida

According to a new report, there was over 850,000 registered medical marijuana patients in Florida as of the end of fiscal year (FY) 2023.

According to the 2024 Physician Certification Pattern Review annual report, there was 859,026 medical marijuana patients as of the end of FY 2023. This is an over 100,000 patient increase from the 757,600 patients at the end of FY 2022.

Florida’s Physician Certification Pattern Review Panel is a seven-member body created by the Florida Board of Medicine and Board of Osteopathic Medicine. The panel is legally required to submit a report on the state’s medical marijuana program at the start of each year.
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Jan 12 2024

Wisconsin Bill to Create Medical Psilocybin Pilot Program Has 24 Bipartisan Sponsors

Legislation to create and fund a pilot program for the medical use of psilocybin mushrooms was recently filed in the Wisconsin Legislature.

Dried psilocybin mushrooms. (Photo credit: Rich Townsend/Getty Images)

House Bill 753 was filed last month by State Representative Nate Gustafson along with a bipartisan coalition of 23 cosponsors, and assigned to the House Committee on Health, Aging and Long-Term Care. Today the measure received an official fiscal note.

The measure would create “a medicinal psilocybin treatment fund and a pilot program to study the effects of medicinal psilocybin treatment on patients with post-traumatic stress syndrome at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and making an appropriation.”
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Jan 12 2024

US Health Department Releases 252 Page Document With Rationale for Rescheduling Marijuana, Says it Has “Accepted Medical Use”

The United States Health and Human Services Department (HHS) has released a 252 page document explaining their rationale for wanting marijuana moved from Schedule I to Schedule III.

HHS today released the full, unredacted 252 page document explaining why it sent a letter to the DEA in August requesting marijuana be rescheduled. In the letter HHS says that marijuana  “has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States”, while also noting that its “potential for abuse less than the drugs or other substances in Schedules I and II.”

In December HHS released the document after a pair of attorneys requested them through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). However, the 252 pages were heavily redacted. The documents released today were entirely unredacted.
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Jan 12 2024

Florida Chamber of Commerce Poll Shows 57% of State Voters Support Legalizing Marijuana

Polling released today by the Florida Chamber of Commerce shows that a strong majority of voters in the state support legalizing marijuana.

The Florida Chamber poll found that 57% of Florida voters support legalizing recreational marijuana. Although this is a significant majority, it’s short of the 60% threshold required for a constitutional amendment to be approved during the November election. Polling released late last year by the University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab found support for legalization to be 10% higher, at 67%.

“Supporters of the amendment have surpassed the signature requirement to gain access to the ballot however the amendment has not yet been approved or rejected for the ballot by the Florida Supreme Court”, states a press release. “Last fall, the Florida Supreme Court heard arguments for and against why the amendment should be on the ballot but has yet to rule on the proposed amendment’s ballot language and must do so by April 1st in order for the amendment to make the 2024 general election ballot.”
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Jan 12 2024

12 State Attorneys General Send Letter to DEA Urging Them to Reschedule Marijuana

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser today led a group of 12 state attorneys general on a letter encouraging the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to reschedule cannabis to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act in the interest of public health and safety.

In the letter to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram, the coalition of attorneys general explain that rescheduling cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III will “allow the state-regulated cannabis industry to continue to set the standard for legal products and work to eliminate the illicit market and unregulated intoxicating hemp products.”

The letter comes just days after the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) sent a letter to congressional lawmakers informing them that their review of marijuana as a schedule I drug is currently underway, while noting that the agency has “the final authority” when it comes to any rescheduling effort.
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Jan 11 2024

Presidential Candidate Nikki Haley Says She Supports States’ Marijuana Rights

Republican presidential candidate and former South Carolina Governor and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley says that although she doesn’t support legalizing marijuana federally, she does support states’ rights when it comes to marijuana laws.

(Photo credit: Frederic J. Brown/AFP).

“I think it’s a state by state issue,” said Haley when asked about legalizing marijuana at a town hall held earlier today. “I think that’s something that needs to be handled close to the people, and so I think all the states should be able to decide on that.”

Although Haley’s lack of support for legalizing marijuana nationwide is no surprise for those who know her politics, it’s notable that Haley would be willing to support state marijuana rights, given 24 states have legalized recreational marijuana despite marijuana remaining a Schedule I drug on the Controlled Substances Act.
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Jan 11 2024

Legislation to Legalize Marijuana Filed in West Virginia

A legislative proposal that would make recreational marijuana legal for everyone 21 and older has been filed in West Virginia.

Delegate Sean Hornbuckle filed House Bill 4483 yesterday. The measure was assigned to the House Health and Human Resources Committee.

If passed into law, the proposal would make the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana legal for everyone who’s at least 21 years old. The law would allow marijuana tinctures, but would not allow marijuana concentrates such as hash, oil and wax.
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