Author: News Room

With a calm, collected demeanor, Solomon Johnson has a presence that lets you know he’s ready for the next challenge. When we meet at a cafe in Berkeley, California, Johnson is readying to open a restaurant within his home state of Maryland. He’s just returned from a charity event in Savannah, Georgia, that raised funds for No Kid Hungry—an organization that aims to end childhood hunger in the U.S.—and is on the heels of hosting a six-course CBD-infused meal in Napa Valley the prior week. As a chef working his way through a global health pandemic that decimated the livelihood…

Five years into legalization, we wanted to see how to have fun as a stoner on Sunset Strip. Surprise—you totally can.Ride along with Leafly senior editor David Downs as he picks the top stores, flowers, growers, eats, and activities on Sunset Blvd.Visitors, download the Leafly app to line up a delivery to your hotel when you land.—Urbn Leaf runs deals on deliveries to tourists at their hotel.—Pineapple Express is the first social equity retailer on Sunset Blvd.—LAPCG is a 20 year-old dispensary and part of the soul of West Hollywood.—Indispensible on any trip to Hollywood—a visit to the cavernous Amoeba…

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a 2024 presidential candidate, is again calling for federally legalizing marijuana, opening up banking services for the industry and using cannabis tax revenue to fund drug treatment and rehabilitation centers. During an appearance on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal on Wednesday, Kennedy, who is running as a Democrat, took a question from a Republican caller who asked him to lay out his position on cannabis policy. The son of former Attorney General Robert Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy reiterated that he wants to make federal legalization, coupled with strategic use of tax revenue, “part of…

Nebraska activists launched a fundraising effort on Wednesday to support their push to get a pair of medical marijuana legalization initiatives on the state’s 2024 ballot. Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana (NMM) has already started circulating petitions and says it has met signature threshold requirements in two counties as of late August. Wednesday’s kickoff event in Lincoln was partly meant to help the campaign overcome one of the key challenges it faced last year: the loss of critical funding after a key donor’s death in a plane crash. This marks the third time NMM has worked to put the reform measure…

A new peer-reviewed study in the journal Nature says treatment with MDMA reduced symptoms in patients with moderate to severe PTSD. The Phase 3 trial findings mean federal regulators could consider approving the drug for wider use as soon as next year, says the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), which sponsored the research. “Thanks to the combined efforts of dozens of therapists, hundreds of participants who volunteered in MAPS-sponsored trials, and many thousands of generous donors,” said Rick Doblin, the group’s founder and president, “MDMA-assisted therapy is on track to be considered for approval by the FDA in 2024.”…

The White House is promoting President Joe Biden’s mass marijuana pardon and scheduling review directive as part of a “Fight for Our Freedom” campaign meant to “mobilize young people” as next year’s election approaches. A factsheet about the campaign that the administration published on Thursday contains a section dedicated to the president’s cannabis reform actions from late last year titled, “Addressing a Failed Approach to Marijuana.” “The criminalization of marijuana possession has upended too many lives—for conduct that is now legal in many states,” it says. “While white, Black and brown people use marijuana at similar rates, Black and brown…

The lead Republican Senate sponsor of a bipartisan marijuana banking says he’s hoping for a committee vote “sometime in September,” while a Democratic lawmaker who previously voiced concerns about a key section of the legislation says bipartisan lawmakers are “making progress” in negotiations. In a series of interviews this week, a number of senators from across the aisle weighed in on the status of the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act. The plan, according to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-OH), is to hold a markup during the current work session that ends October 6. Sen. Steve Daines…

Congressional researchers say it’s “likely” the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will follow the top federal health agency’s recent recommendation to reschedule marijuana, which would have “broad implications for federal policy” in areas such as taxes, housing, immigration, military eligibility, gun rights and more. In a report published on Wednesday, analysts with the Congressional Research Service (CRS) gave an overview of the cannabis scheduling review directed by President Joe Biden last year and assessed the potential impact of moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), as recommended by the U.S. Department of Health and…

The California Assembly has approved a Senate-passed bill that would prohibit employers from asking job applicants about prior marijuana use. About two weeks after the Assembly Appropriations Committee cleared the legislation from Sen. Steven Bradford (D) with technical amendments, the full chamber advanced it in a 59-8 vote on Wednesday. It now heads back to the Senate for concurrence on the minor revision before potentially moving to the governor’s desk. When employers ask applicants about past marijuana use, it “not only dissuades candidates from applying for these positions but also leads to situations in which individuals respond dishonestly to get…

Since an online portal launched in late July, Washington State officials have approved more than $276,000 in reimbursements to people whose past convictions for simple drug possession were vacated following a state Supreme Court decision that struck down the state’s felony drug law in 2021. That’s in addition to more than $9 million already paid out through municipalities. “As the result of this decision, known as State v. Blake, any Blake-related convictions qualify to be removed (vacated) from one’s criminal record, and any legal financial obligations (LFOs) paid as a result qualify for financial reimbursement,” according to the state Administrative…