Author: News Room

Denver has achieved a new marijuana milestone, with adult-use and medical cannabis tax revenue now exceeding $500 million since 2010, city data released on Monday shows. As Colorado touts the fact that adult-use retailers have now sold more than $15 billion in marijuana products since legalization, the state’s largest city has released a report that shows how those purchases locally have translated into hundreds of millions in tax dollars to support public programs and services. Since 2010—four years before adult-use shops opened in Colorado—Denver has yielded $501,538,144 in cannabis tax revenue, including money generated from medical marijuana sales, the city…

After months of meetings and consideration, a group of 99 Irish citizens selected by the government to weigh in on the nation’s drug policy has voted to recommend decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of currently illicit substances and adopting a public health approach to the issue. The panel also narrowly voted against endorsing the legalization and regulation of marijuana, however. The Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use posted summaries of 36 policy recommendations online Monday following the body’s final meeting over the weekend—the culmination of what the body’s chair, Paul Reid, called “the most comprehensive, wide-ranging, and representative discussion on…

New Jersey marijuana regulators are accepting public comments on proposed rules to expand the types of edible cannabis products that could be sold at licensed shops, including beverages, chocolates, baked goods and jams. As it stands, the state’s legalization law restricts cannabis edibles to non-perishable products such as lozenges, pills and gummies—a limited variety compared to other adult-use states. Now, months after regulators already waived certain requirements to authorize the sale of additional marijuana edible types, the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJ-CRC) has opened a 60-day public comment period on proposed rules to codify an expanded list of infused…

Rhode Island’s top marijuana regulator was quizzed about a range of cannabis-related topics during a local TV news interview last week, including preparations to issue new retail licenses, the availability of hemp-derived cannabinoids and an error in state-reported sales data that was identified by Marijuana Moment. Cannabis Control Commission Chair Kimberly Ahern appeared on WPRI-TV’s “Newsmakers” on Friday, emphasizing that regulators are working to take a measured approach to stewarding the state’s adult-use market, which opened for sales through existing medical marijuana dispensaries in December of last year. Ahern called the coming round of licensing, under which the state is…

As the U.S. House of Representatives enters its third week without a speaker, more GOP lawmakers with varying records on marijuana policy are making their bids for the nomination—including a member who has been arrested for cannabis and another who co-chairs a congressional psychedelics caucus. Most of the candidates in the leadership race have voted in favor of cannabis banking reform, even if they’ve been unsupportive of broader legalization. After Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was ousted as speaker in a historic motion to vacate earlier this month—and the former conference nominees for the position, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH)…

Alaska Airlines is suing a mechanics union in federal court over a recent arbitration decision that reversed the 2022 firing of a technician who tested positive for THC. The company alleges the arbitration board that rendered the decision earlier this month “acted in excess of its authority by dispensing its own brand of industrial justice.” The five-page complaint, filed on Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, says the board reinstated the worker, Gregory Chappell, “based on a series of findings and conclusions that were wholly unsupported by fact or reason.” In comments to Marijuana Moment…

A new survey of Ohio lawmakers suggests that a majority—54 percent—believe voters will approve a ballot initiative next month to legalize marijuana in the state. The expectation of the imminent end of cannabis prohibition crosses party lines, with majorities of both Democratic (63 percent) and Republican (52 percent) lawmakers saying that Issue 2 will pass—despite the fact that the GOP-controlled Senate recently passed a resolution urging voters to reject the reform. Nine percent of surveyed lawmakers were undecided. The survey question polled 35 members of Ohio’s legislature from October 17 to 19. That’s a sample—albeit not a random one—that represents…

A newly published study finds that people who practice yoga after consuming marijuana experience improved mindfulness and mysticality, indicating that setting and behavior may play an important role in modulating a person’s cannabis experience. The paper, published as a University of British Columbia psychology dissertation, aimed to explore “the impact of contextual factors during cannabis use on well-being outcomes.” As author Sarah Elizabeth Ann Daniels wrote, such considerations are common in the realm of psychedelic therapy but less so when it comes to cannabis. “When using other psychoactive drugs to treat mental health conditions, researchers pay particular attention to contextual…

By Robert Randall Once a week I go to a pharmacy located near my home in Washington, D.C., to pick up 70 prerolled cigarettes containing two and a half ounces of marijuana. The transaction is perfectly legal. My marijuana dealer is the U.S. government. I have glaucoma, a painless, incurable eye disease. Uncontrolled, it results in blindness. In 19731 accidentally discovered that smoking marijuana significantly reduces the eye pressure associated with my disease. Armed with the medical knowledge of a tenth-grade biology student, I conducted trial-and-error tests to determine if a drug I enjoyed using could prolong my sight. By…

The New Jersey Fraternal Order of Police is lashing out against a newly filed lawsuit by Jersey City officials that seeks to undo a state policy that generally allows police officers to use marijuana while off duty, calling the legal challenge “an unfortunate waste of taxpayer dollars.” Jersey City and its public safety director, James Shea, sued the state in federal court on Monday, arguing that the policy, released by the state attorney general’s office in February, is preempted by federal law. The lawsuit, the fraternal organization said in a press release, risks undermining what’s otherwise clear guidance from state…