Author: News Room

A coalition of 31 bipartisan House lawmakers has sent a letter to the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), urging the agency to take into account congressional and state marijuana legalization efforts as it carries out a review into cannabis scheduling. They also criticized the limitations of simple rescheduling as they push for complete a complete removal of marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The Friday letter to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram, led by Congressional Cannabis Caucus co-chairs Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Dave Joyce (D-OR), Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Brian Mast (R-FL) and first reported by Punchbowl News,…

“The reality is that this process will, regrettably, be subject to unending litigation if the Commission continues to use the scores.” By Alander Rocha, Alabama Reflector All 90 applicants for commercial medical cannabis licenses are back in the running after the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC) Thursday reset the license process. The AMCC rescinded all awarded licenses and denials from an August 10 meeting, setting the stage for a third round of license grants under rules adopted at a commission meeting on October 12. “We decided to start all over as far as the award,” said Rex Vaughn, the chair…

A top manufacturer of drug testing technology has announced a new screening panel that no longer detects marijuana and instead prioritizes fentanyl and other controlled substances in response to the “relentless change and the pressing need to adapt” as more states legalize cannabis. Psychemedics said its updated Advanced 5-Panel Drug Screen “will transform the way organizations safeguard their workplaces, shifting the spotlight from marijuana to the paramount threat of fentanyl.” The screening panel, which the company said has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, is also being touted for increased accuracy in the detection of cocaine, opioids, PCP…

The Republican sponsor of a medical marijuana legalization bill in Wisconsin says a push by her Democratic colleague to legalize cannabis more broadly for recreational use is hampering efforts to convince other GOP members to pass the incremental reform focused on patient access. Sen. Mary Felzkowski (R), a cancer survivor who supports a more limited medical marijuana system in the state, was speaking to PBS Wisconsin as part of a story on residents traveling to nearby Michigan to buy legal cannabis. Asked about the possibility of ending prohibition in her state, Felzkowski said that comprehensive changes may still be a…

“The very people who were victimized by cannabis laws in the first place are yet again on the losing end of what appears to be a distinctly inappropriate power grab.” By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent James Harnden has been a longtime activist for cannabis legalization, ever since he got slapped with a low-level felony possession charge for having an ounce of weed. The 56-year-old Rockford, Illinois, resident says that charge has cost him job opportunities for 30 years. Earlier this year, he saw an advertisement in the Craigslist “gigs” section posted by a Michigan cannabis real estate group called Canna…

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is calling for the creation of a centralized marijuana research center that’s designed to help scientists overcome barriers to studying cannabis under federal prohibition. In a notice of funding opportunity posted on Thursday, NIH said it’s looking for an eligible entity to operate a new Resource Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research through a cooperative agreement in order to “address challenges and barriers to conducting research on cannabis and its constituents.” The center should also “enable researchers to successfully generate more rigorous scientific evidence across a variety of research domains in both basic and…

The federal health agency is awarding researchers $3.2 million to study the effects of using cannabis while receiving immunotherapy for cancer treatment, as well as whether access to marijuana helps reduce health disparities. The University of Buffalo (UB) announced that one of its psychiatrists has received the research grant funding from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Cancer Institute, which will go toward a year-long study to assess how the common cancer treatment is affected by patients’ cannabis use. UB will be partnering Thomas Jefferson University and Oregon Health and Science University to carry out the study at three…

A coalition of major marijuana businesses represented by an influential law firm has filed a much-anticipated lawsuit against the U.S. attorney general, seeking to block the federal government from enforcing cannabis prohibition for state-legal activity. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Western Division, by multi-state operator Verano Holdings Corp. and the Massachusetts-based cannabis businesses Canna Provisions and Wiseacre Farm, along with Treevit CEO Gyasi Sellers A press release says that Ascend Wellness Holdings, TerrAscend, Green Thumb Industries, Eminence Capital and Poseidon Investment Management are “foundational supporters” of the suit. The law firms…

“We know delta-8 is a bad chemical, it’s a bad drug, and it hurts people.” By Cindy Gonzalez, Nebraska Examiner Pointing at what he called mislabeled and dangerous THC-containing products made to look like Nerds, Fritos and other child-enticing treats, Nebraska’s attorney general on Wednesday announced an “unprecedented” action to protect consumers. In the culmination of a monthlong investigation, Attorney General Mike Hilgers (R) said his office filed lawsuits against retailers in at least 10 counties across the state alleging violations of consumer protection and deceptive trade practices laws. His focus is on delta-8 products, and he said the lawsuits…

States that legalized marijuana in 2016 saw meaningful declines in traffic fatalities during the years immediately following the policy change, according to a new study by Quartz Advisor. Takeaways were less clear, however, over a longer period of time that included years the report describes as “anomalies” nationwide. Ultimately, the paper concludes, motor vehicle safety “should not be a significant concern for marijuana legalization initiatives,” especially when measured against alcohol. “As of yet, studies have failed to show that legalization of cannabis has resulted in any significant increase in traffic fatalities in the places where it has been legalized,” it…