Author: News Room

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-OH) says he voted in favor of a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana in Ohio, calling it a “hard decision” but one that was based on his belief that the reform would promote “safety” for consumers. The senator, who said in September that he was at that point undecided on Issue 2, revealed in a social media post and an interview that he ultimately voted yes on the cannabis reform measure last week during early voting. “It was a hard decision,” Brown told Spectrum News 1. “My wife and I spent a lot of…

The key question facing the division and commission is how the recalled products were created—and whether that process poses a risk to public health. By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent The state rolled back its recall of nearly 15,000 cannabis products last week and allowed them to return to the dispensary shelves, after requiring Missouri companies to keep them in storage since early August. The Missouri Division of Cannabis Regulation said in an October 20 notice that after a review of product-tracking records, regulators can verify that “some of the marijuana products on recall contain THC solely sourced from marijuana grown…

The Senate has approved a bill that includes an provision to allow doctors at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to issue medical marijuana recommendations to veterans living in legal states—setting the stage for conference with the House, which has separately advanced similar language in its own version of the appropriations legislation. Senators approved the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (MilConVA) measure with the cannabis amendment from Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) as part of a “minibus” package of three spending bills on Wednesday. The vote was 82-15. This comes about three months after the House passed its…

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) says he is continuing to “monitor” the progress of a bipartisan marijuana banking bill that he intends to amend to include “criminal justice provisions.” And key Senate Republicans say they’re prepared to move forward with the legislation, undeterred by the newly elected anti-marijuana House speaker. In a constituent letter to cannabis industry investor Todd Harrison, the majority leader said he wants to fold in criminal justice revisions that he hopes to borrow from a separate federal legalization bill he’s sponsored—mentioning expungements as he’s done in the past but also citing in the letter additional…

Even without robust federal regulations, the U.S. hemp industry in 2022 was larger than all state marijuana markets, and it roughly equaled sales for craft beer nationally, according to a new report. The research firm Whitney Economics published the report last week, offering a comprehensive assessment of the hemp industry that’s evolved since the crop was federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill. While there’s been frustration within the hemp market as businesses grapple with regulatory challenges, primarily related to cannabinoid products like CBD, the report says that the industry saw about $28.4 billion in sales of those products last…

Virginia hemp stakeholders suffered a setback in their efforts to halt enforcement of state rules that ban delta-8 THC. In an opinion this week, a federal judge turned back a requested injunction in an industry lawsuit that aimed to block a state law passed earlier this year, leaving rules in effect that carry stiff fines for businesses that continue to sell delta-8 and any other products that exceed total limits for natural and synthetic forms of THC. The rules set strict limits on total THC levels in hemp food products such as gummies and other “candies.” U.S. District Judge Leonie…

“Could it be that some creative lawyers could advise you to build a pocket park or a tiny library in a place where you don’t want a dispensary to be located?” By Bryan P. Sears, Maryland Matters County leaders are being warned to be reasonable when considering using zoning to restrict cannabis businesses. The warning comes as the Maryland Cannabis Administration is about to open the application window for a social equity round of licenses that will award more than six dozen new dispensary licenses. Some county officials are frustrated by what they see as a vagary in the state…

Beginning next month, adults in Connecticut will be able to buy up to half an ounce of marijuana in a single retail transaction—double the state’s current purchase limit of a quarter ounce. Connecticut’s Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) announced the scheduled increase on Wednesday, explaining that the limit is the result of ongoing analysis of supply and demand and is designed to “ensure businesses are able to maintain adequate supply for both adult-use consumers and medical marijuana patients.” Limits on medical marijuana purchases, currently set at five ounces per month, will remain unchanged. “DCP has continually reviewed available supply and…

Home values have grown at a significantly higher rate in states that have legalized marijuana compared to non-legal states over the past decade—with the average price of a home in a legalization state now 41 percent higher than those that have continues to criminalize cannabis—according to a new report on real estate trends. The study from Real Estate Witch and Leafly explored average home prices from 2014 to 2023, looking at the potential impact of regulated cannabis access for medical or recreational purposes on real estate value. The analysis found that, during the time period reviewed, the average price of…

New federal guidelines from the U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC) advising judges to treat prior marijuana possession offenses more leniently have officially taken effect. About seven months after members of the commission voted to promulgate a series of amendments—including a multi-part criminal history revision that adds cannabis possession as an example of an offense that generally warrants sentencing discretion—the new guidelines became effective on Wednesday. Federal judges have historically been directed to take into account prior convictions as aggravating factors when making sentencing decisions in new cases. But as more states have moved to legalize marijuana, advocates have pushed for the…