Author: News Room

A pro-business, center-left group of House Democratic lawmakers is pushing to use the next Farm Bill to reduce regulatory burdens on industrial hemp growers. The New Democrat Coalition, which is comprised of nearly 100 House members and describes itself as “united behind a mission to build an economy that works for every American,” released an endorsement slate on Monday that lays out policy priorities as lawmakers begin to craft the 2023 Farm Bill. One of the 44 bills they want to incorporate is the Industrial Hemp Act from Reps. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) and Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA). I’m proud 3⃣ of…

“Making sure Nebraskans can move on from past mistakes and are fully able to find good jobs is one of the most effective anti-recidivism tools, and is critical for our shared public safety goals.” By Paul Hammel, Nebraska Examiner A trio of state senators renewed their call Tuesday for the State Board of Pardons to adopt a “streamlined” process for people to be forgiven for minor marijuana convictions that do not involve violence. In a letter, State Sens. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln, and Terrell McKinney and Justin Wayne, both of Omaha, said that a “second chance” should be afforded to…

A Massachusetts campaign to put psychedelics legalization on the 2024 ballot has decided to pursue a version of the initiative that would allow for home cultivation. About a month after the state attorney general’s office cleared two versions of the proposal from Massachusetts for Mental Health Options, the campaign says it’s made a decision to go with the slightly more expansive iteration. The only difference between Version A and Version B is that the former would let adults grow their own entheogenic plants and fungi. They’re otherwise identical. The choice to go with Version A was partly informed by internal…

A bipartisan coalition of 22 state attorneys general is calling on Congress to pass a marijuana banking bill that cleared a key Senate committee on Wednesday. In a letter sent to congressional leaders on Tuesday, the top law enforcement officials of nearly half the states in the U.S. said they have a “strong interest in enabling economic growth and stability while simultaneously protecting the physical and economic wellbeing of constituents working in this industry.” Citing the fact that a majority of states have legalized cannabis in some form, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in profit,…

Roughly three out of five Ohio voters support a marijuana legalization measure that will appear on November’s ballot, according to a newly released poll, with nearly two thirds of respondents saying they believe legalization in the state is “inevitable.” With less than two weeks before widespread early voting kicks off, 55 percent of respondents said they “definitely” or “probably” will vote yes on the legalization initiative, while about 34 percent “definitely” or “probably” will oppose it. Only about 11 percent remain undecided, says the survey of 843 likely voters, which was commissioned by the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol…

Lawmakers, advocates and stakeholders across the spectrum are reacting to Wednesday’s committee passage of a bipartisan marijuana banking bill—with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) pledging to bring it to the floor “very soon” and a group of four GOP senators vowing to kill the legislation. Just before the Senate Banking Committee approved the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act, Schumer committed to bring the bill “to the floor for a vote as quickly as possible.” “Our SAFER Banking Act will connect cannabis businesses, especially ones in minority and underserved communities, to find to traditional financial resources like…

Young adults who used marijuana frequently before legalization “showed significant reductions in use and consequences” following the policy change, according to a new study of Canadian data published by the American Medical Association that challenges the widespread worry that ending prohibition will lead to a dangerous rise in youth cannabis use. Consumption did tick up slightly among young adults who claimed not to have used marijuana prior to legalization, but that slight rise didn’t lead to a corresponding increase in cannabis-related consequences, says the study, published on Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network Open. “These…

The Senate Banking Committee is meeting on Wednesday for a much-anticipated vote on a bipartisan marijuana banking bill that will decide if it advances to the floor. Members will vote on the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act, sponsored by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Steve Daines (R-MT), one week after it was filed with revisions that were meant to bolster its bipartisan buy-in. The committee is expected to adopt several technical, clean-up changes that are considered to be non-controversial. But several senators are also reportedly planning to file additional amendments on issues such as cannabis industry access…

Senators are reportedly planning to propose a variety of amendments to a bipartisan marijuana banking bill at Wednesday’s Senate Banking Committee markup, several sources familiar with the discussions say. While the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act was formally introduced last week following weeks of bipartisan negotiations, there is still evidently disagreement among members over issues such as cannabis industry access to stock exchanges, banking regulations aimed at preventing discriminatory enforcement, broad justice-focused marijuana reform and more. It’s not clear which amendments may ultimately be filed, but there’s also talk among certain Democratic members about moving to significantly…

The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed another federal court brief last week in an effort to dismiss a lawsuit by a Philadelphia-based nonprofit trying to open a supervised drug consumption site. In it, the government argues the organization doesn’t qualify for federal religious exemptions that it is claiming—nor any of the other exceptions raised in the suit. The court filing comes about a month after 35 Christian and Jewish faith leaders from 19 states submitted an amicus brief in which they supported the nonprofit Safehouse’s establishment of overdose prevention site under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). That friend-of-the-court brief…