Author: News Room

The governor of Colorado says his state should be at the “center” of the national and global marijuana trade once broad prohibition is lifted—and in the meantime he’s proposing new cannabis tax revenue distributions at the state level to further promote equity and streamline licensing as he pushes for federal reform. Gov. Jared Polis (D) spoke about his newly released budget proposal in an interview on VS Strategies’s “Weed Wonks” podcast on Thursday, highlighting new ways he’s asking the legislature to appropriate millions of dollars in marijuana tax dollars for workforce development, licensing and industry investment in lower-income areas. In…

A California campaign has withdrawn its proposed ballot initiative to create a $5 billion state agency tasked with funding and promoting psychedelics research. That leaves two separate campaigns left to put psychedelics reform on next year’s ballot after the governor vetoed a bill to legalize possession of substances like psilocybin and begin work to establish regulated access. Just weeks after supporters began collecting signatures for the Treatment, Research, Education, Access and Therapies (TREAT) California Act, the campaign announced on Thursday that it is suspending the effort. The decision was informed by recent polling from the firm FM3 Research, which showed…

For nearly as long as the federal government has classified marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been evaluating applications from researchers seeking to develop therapeutic drugs from the plant. In a pair of newly published documents, the agency looks back on more than half a century of investigational cannabis-based drugs and offers its perspective of what the future of drug development might hold. That includes studying a broader range of methods of consuming marijuana such as edibles as well as investigating lesser-known cannabinoids and other components like terpenes. Over the past 50…

“We owe it to the taxpayers, the Hoosiers here in Indiana, to thoroughly study this.” By Casey Smith, Indiana Capital Chronicle Could Indiana be moving towards less stringent marijuana laws, or even total cannabis legalization? State lawmakers floated those questions Wednesday during a six-hour meeting at the Statehouse. The Interim Study Committee on Commerce and Economic Development is examining “the legalization of adult-use cannabis in Indiana as it relates to workforce impacts and teen use.” Although not specifically tasked with doing so, the committee further entertained testimony around the possibility of decriminalizing simple marijuana possession, and discussed potential health and…

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an independent 2024 presidential candidate, says the U.S. needs to “legalize pot to end addiction.” In a campaign ad that pulls clips from a September C-SPAN interview, Kennedy describes his plan to federally legalize marijuana and earmark tax revenue for substance misuse treatment and rehabilitation. The candidate, who launched his campaign as a Democrat before switching to independent last month, said he wants to build that infrastructure “as part of my presidency,” adding that the “renewal centers of detoxification” will help address “the rise of mental illness and PTSD and drug addiction that is debilitating our…

Country cannabis outlaw and icon Willie Nelson entered the Michigan cannabis market, debuting his cannabis brand in the state last week. Michigan is the eighth state so far to sell flower from the singer-songwriter’s exclusive cannabis brand, Willie’s Reserve, which will be available at all Puff locations and several other dispensaries across the state.  Nelson has earned his name in the cannabis world after decades of support. Now at 90 years old, Nelson has attributed cannabis—a secret to a long life—as a main driving force in quitting cigarettes and alcohol, his lifetime battles with addiction. He’s ready to share his…

Two advocacy coalitions reresenting opposite ends of the political spectrum have joined forces to call for President Joe Biden to remove marijuana from the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA), saying it’s the only path that would fulfill the president’s campaign promises to decriminalize cannabis. The two groups are the left-leaning Marijuana Justice Coalition and the more conservative Cannabis Freedom Alliance. The former includes members such as American Civil Liberties Union, Human Rights Watch, Center for American Progress, Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights and Drug Policy Alliance, while the latter is steered by organizations including the libertarian-minded Reason Foundation, Americans…

A pair of Democratic congressmen have filed an amendment to a large-scale spending bill that would prohibit the use of federal funds to interfere with state and local laws allowing the use and sale of psilocybin for medical purposes. Reps. Robert Garcia (D-CA) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) are seeking to attach the psychedelics measure to appropriations legislation covering Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS). It will be up to the House Rules Committee to determine whether the amendment will be made in order for a floor vote. The members separately introduced standalone legislation in September to prevent federal interference…

The city of Lubbock, Texas has certified that activists turned in enough valid signatures to put a marijuana decriminalization initiative on the local ballot if lawmakers there do not enact the reform legislatively. Two weeks after the Freedom Act Lubbock committee turned in more than 10,000 signatures for the measure, the city secretary held a press conference on Thursday announcing that they ultimately verified 5,185, which is about 300 more than required for qualification. “A resolution and certification of the petition will be presented to the Lubbock City Council” on Tuesday, the official said in a notice. “This is for…

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is looking to substantially build up domestic production of delta-9 THC and other cannabinoids for research purposes next year, while also maintaining high levels of psychedelics production as scientific interest continues to grow. Just days after DEA proposed increasing its 2023 quotas for cannabis compounds and psychedelics like psilocybin and ibogaine, the agency said in a notice published in the Federal Register on Thursday that it plans to continue that trend next year, in part due to a transition away from cannabinoid imports to domestic manufacturing. Earlier this week, DEA announced that it wants to…