Author: News Room

Ohio voters are heading to the polls on Tuesday to decide on a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana in the state as polls have consistently shown strong support for the measure. This marks the culmination of an intensive campaign to put legalization before voters, which took activists to the courts, legislature and finally the ballot. If the proposal becomes law, it would bring the total number of states with adult-use legalization to 24. The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol (CTRMLA) initiative would establish a regulatory framework to allow adults 21 and older to purchase, possess and cultivate cannabis. And…

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. That seems to be the motto of one Democratic congressman who has spent the past few months repeatedly attempting to prevent the use of federal funds to drug test job applicants for marijuana. As more states have legalized cannabis in some form, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) has committed to enacting the modest reform as by filing it as a proposed amendment to 12 separate appropriations bills covering multiple federal agencies. So far, the GOP-controlled Rules Committee has blocked every one from getting a floor vote, but the congressman is pushing forward…

Nigerian-born artist Burna Boy, 32, revealed that he turned down a $5 million offer to perform in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) because smoking cannabis is banned in the city, and the punishments are severe.  Per the local law, attempting to enter Dubai with cannabis can result in a five-year sentence, and if you’re caught smoking weed there, you might face a minimum of three months behind bars, and you’ll possibly be deported once you’re released. Before changes were made to ease and update drug laws two years ago, travelers caught with weed could face up to 10…

Significant delay in enacting the upcoming U.S. Farm Bill could further hamper a hemp industry that’s hoping to bounce back after two years of historically low production. A nearly $1 trillion spending package, the Farm Bill authorizes agriculture and food policies ranging from crop subsidies to nutrition assistance programs. It’s a once-in-five-year chance to advance hemp industry goals. Specifically this year, the legislative package is an opportunity for a desperately needed reset that can clarify hemp rules for business and to protect consumers. With a politically divided Congress, the 2023 bill (officially, the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2023) represents one…

Organizers at SXSW this week unveiled a slate of more than 450 sessions chosen for the conference set to kick off in March. Among them are a handful of panels focused on legal marijuana and a whopping 13 sessions on psychedelics. It’s a sign of the shifting interest of the cutting edge conference as cannabis becomes more embedded into the mainstream and psychedelics emerge as the next big thing in drug policy. The sessions on MDMA, psilocybin and other substances are part of a new psychedelics-specific track at SXSW 2024, one of two dozen different themed focus areas to be…

by Amos Poe If we have learned anything from New Wave (punk) rock, it’s an aesthetic for the new form: the minimal sound and the maximum idea that what is fresh and unpretentious is somehow more truthful and—maybe—more honest. What’s the use of Elton John speaking of pain (unless of a hair transplant) or Peter Frampton talking of sorrow, when we all know that these two men can buy their way out of five or six infernos and can jet from here to eternity and never miss a gig? Not that rich boys don’t experience pain or that a fat…

“Dispensaries are just so much easier to stand up, and they’re easier to get funding for because they can start making revenue on day one.” By Alex Nitkin, Illinois Answers Project A gentle hum of movement filled a cannabis packing room on a recent Friday morning as hundreds of pounds of marijuana were prepared for market at Helios Labs manufacturing warehouse in west suburban Broadview. Nearly two-dozen technicians sat at their stations, pre-rolling joints and slapping labels onto boxes. The next room over, a pair of workers measured out THC oil to drip into vape cartridges. They faced an empty…

A Minnesota psychedelics task force charged with studying the medical benefits of psilocybin, MDMA and LSD and preparing the state for possible legalization will convene on Monday for its first meeting, at which members are expected to select a chairperson and lay out the trajectory of the coming months. The group must return a final report to the state with findings and recommendations by January 1, 2025, and at least one key lawmaker says he plans to file a reform bill shortly thereafter. The meeting is happening more than three months late, according to a state omnibus bill passed in…

Wisconsin stands to generate nearly $170 million annually in tax revenue under an adult-use marijuana legalization bill introduced by a top Senate Democrat, according to state officials. About one month after the cannabis bill was filed by Senate Minority Leader Melissa Agard (D), the Department of Revenue released a fiscal estimate of its potential economic impact, offering projected revenue from taxes and fees for the first three years of implementation. While the bill’s prospects of advancing through the GOP-controlled legislature seem slim, with Republican leadership staunchly opposed to adult-use legalization, the economic analysis underscores what supporters have long argued: replacing…

The Washington State Department of Commerce released a document this week recommending how $200 million should be spent to address racial, economic and social disparities created by the war on drugs. The 92-page Community Reinvestment Plan was developed by the department, the state Office of Equity and the Harriet Tubman Foundation for Safe Passage, which together worked with community members to advise how the reinvestment money should be spent. The plan, paid for out of the state’s general fund, next returns to Gov. Jay Inslee (D) and the state legislature. “This plan offers a blueprint for how we can begin…