Author: News Room

“Virginia’s new hemp law is a harmful piece of legislation that will devastate small businesses, interstate hemp commerce, and patient access and care.” By Travis Lane, Northern Virginia Hemp and Agriculture. It’s not every day you find yourself suing a state in federal court alongside your grandmother. But we’re doing it in Virginia to defend the burgeoning hemp industry and those who rely on it, and our first hearing in the case is coming up on Friday. On July 1, SB 903 went into effect, tying the hands of thousands of Virginia residents who rely on hemp for their livelihoods…

Sixty-six members of New York’s legislature—about a third of all state lawmakers—are urging Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) to sign a bill that would allow licensed marijuana producers to sell products to tribal retailers. The plan would offer a release valve to hundreds of cannabis farmers who are currently sitting on surpluses but have no place to sell their products. “Right now, there are over 200 cannabis farmers trying to sell their crops but only 23 dispensaries open statewide,” the bipartisan Senate and Assembly members wrote in the open letter to Hochul on Monday. “This has resulted in more than 250,000…

Rules are beginning to loosen, with changes in tax policy, relaxed standards on edibles, drive-up windows and other moves either already in effect or on the horizon. By James Brooks, Alaska Beacon Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom (R) has signed new regulations that allow the state’s legal marijuana businesses to advertise more widely and to distribute free samples of marijuana at retail stores. The regulations, signed September 8, go into effect October 8 and are part of a broad wave of regulatory changes affecting the state’s marijuana industry. After Alaska legalized the cultivation and sale of marijuana for recreational reasons…

More than 80 percent of surveyed psychiatrists now hold strong to moderate beliefs that psychedelics have potential to treat mental health disorders, according to a newly published study. Compared to a similar survey conducted in 2016, researchers found “significantly increased optimism regarding the therapeutic promise of hallucinogens and decreased concern about risks.” “Our data reveal a striking positive shift in attitudes toward the therapeutic potential of hallucinogens among American psychiatrists since 2016,” authors wrote, “with a majority of responding psychiatrists planning to incorporate hallucinogen-assisted therapy into their practice if regulatory approval is granted.” Researchers from Case Western Reserve University, Yale…

This is the third election cycle in a row that Crista Eggers has led the fight to put medical marijuana legalization on the Nebraska ballot. But this is the last time, she says. Defeat is simply not an option she’s willing to accept. “There’s just no choice,” she told Marijuana Moment in a recent phone interview. “I keep calling it the final time—not because there would be any giving up, but this is the final time. We’re going to get it done.” Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana (NMM) faced devastating setbacks in its last two attempts. They collected enough signatures for…

At its core, the litigation is a fraud and legal malpractice lawsuit, but it also offers a window into the usually closed world of big marijuana business. By Hunter Field, Arkansas Advocate When Arkansas’s medical marijuana industry began five years ago, it was somewhat of an open secret that some of the Arkansans said to own the first dispensaries and growing facilities were fronts for out-of-state cannabis firms. Explosive new allegations in a pair of lawsuits, if proven true, lay bare how these arrangements worked to benefit outside corporations at the expense of state investors. That’s a big if, and…

A group that represents state lawmakers across the U.S. is urging Senate leaders to pass a bipartisan marijuana banking bill to provide a “much-needed solution” to the “unsafe and untenable” challenges that the cannabis industry faces under prohibition. In a letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Monday, National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) CEO Tim Storey expressed the organization’s support for the revised Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act that was formally introduced last week and is scheduled for a Senate Banking Committee markup on Wednesday. NCSL,…

Tis the season for murder—terp murder, that is.Yes, terpenes—those aromatic molecules that make cannabis so special run an annual harvest gauntlet. More than half the terps the plant produces will never make it to the bag. Even more will be smoked without a proper cure. Growers chop plants too early, they burn terpenes in the dry room, or they rot terpenes in containers that were sealed too soon. Also, sellers sell and consumers smoke flower before it’s fully cured and in its prime.Leafly has tons of resources to get you through your first harvest season. But we also wanted to…

A City Council committee in Portland, Maine, unanimously advanced a resolution last week that advocates say would decriminalize certain psychedelic plants and fungi. The measure is now on track for a full council vote as soon as mid-October. The Health and Human Services and Public Safety Committee, which passed the resolution on a 3–0 vote on Tuesday, also amended the bill to cover home cultivation of natural entheogens for personal use and sharing without compensation. Criminal enforcement would not change for selling, dispensing, possessing on school grounds or driving under the influence of the substances. Plants and fungi that would…

President Joe Biden is again touting his mass marijuana pardon from last year, referencing the act of clemency at a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation awards ceremony. “I’m keeping my promise that no one—no one—should be in jail merely for the use or possession of marijuana. God Almighty,” the president exclaimed. “And those who are in jail, they’re going to be released and the records are going to be expunged.” The speech at the event with Black lawmakers is just the latest example of Biden proudly promoting the cannabis clemency move as part of his criminal justice reform achievements. Although, he…