Author: News Room

A bipartisan marijuana banking bill remains a “very high priority” for the Senate, and members are having “very productive” bicameral talks to reach a final agreement, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) tells Marijuana Moment. The Democratic Senate sponsor of the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), also tells Marijuana Moment that the legislation is “gaining momentum” as lawmakers work to bring it to the Senate floor and pass it “this year.” Schumer, who said during a Democratic leadership briefing on Wednesday that the SAFER Banking Act is among the legislative items he’s aiming…

Virginia’s Democrat-led legislature passed a number of marijuana-related bills in recent weeks, sending the proposals to Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who has been cagey about embracing reform despite the commonwealth’s adoption of a law legalizing use, possession and home cultivation of cannabis in 2021. Among the legislatively approved measures are plans to legalize retail cannabis sales and resentence people incarcerated for past cannabis crimes—both of which passed on mostly party-line votes—as well as a more broadly supported measure that would prevent the state from using marijuana alone as evidence of child abuse or neglect. Here’s a roundup of the major…

Amid the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine, a U.S.-based psychedelics therapy training organization is teaming up with Ukrainian health professionals to offer their services to help treat trauma with plant-based medicine. One month after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed legislation to legalize medical marijuana—in part to help soldiers address physical and mental wounds incurred during the nation’s war with Russia—the U.S. company Fluence announced on Wednesday that it has rolled out a new initiative to facilitate treatment with psychedelics in the country. In partnership with the Ukrainian Psychedelic Research Association (UPRA) and the U.S. nonprofit Heal Ukraine Trauma (HUT), Fluence…

Organizers trying to protect firearms rights for marijuana consumers in Colorado notched a procedural victory on Wednesday as the state’s Initiative Title Setting Review Board approved the language of a prospective ballot initiative that could go before voters in November. Though the campaign, which is backed by the Second Amendment advocacy group Guns for Everyone, will still have to get official petitions formatted and approved, co-founder Edgar Antillon told Marijuana Moment that the next big hurdle is signature gathering. “There is basically still the submitting on how we’re gonna do the signature forms, and that has to get approved,” he…

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) says that a bipartisan marijuana banking bill is among the policy priorities his chamber will “work very hard” to enact this year ahead of the upcoming elections. During a leadership press briefing on Wednesday, Schumer was asked what he thinks the Senate could “realistically” be expected to pass before November. He said that passing the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act is among the legislative items he hopes to enact, as well as rail safety legislation, insulin affordability and other issues. “As you know, many of the bills we’ve passed are bipartisan,”…

The Hawaii House of Representatives has approved a bill to automatically expunge tens of thousands of arrest and conviction records for low-level marijuana possession cases. About four years after the state decriminalized possession of up to three grams of cannabis—and as lawmakers consider a proposal this session to legalize marijuana—the House passed the complementary expungements legislation from Rep. David Tarnas (D) on Tuesday, sending it to the Senate. While there’s already a process in place to request record sealing from the courts, advocates say the process can be difficult to navigate, often requiring people to seek out legal counsel and…

Connecticut lawmakers took up a bill in committee on Wednesday that would decriminalize low-level possession of psilocybin, despite the governor’s office recently indicating that it has concerns about the psychedelics reform. The legislature’s Joint Judiciary Committee considered the proposal, which would make possession of up to one-half an ounce of psilocybin punishable by a $150 fine, without the threat of jail time. A second or subsequent violation would carry a fine of at least $200 but not more than $500. A person who pleads guilty or no contest on two separate occasions would be referred to a drug education program.…

The National Animal Supplement Council (NASC) is promoting a new study that it says shows CBD is “safe for long-term use” in dogs—a significant finding given emerging research that cannabis can effectively treat conditions such as anxiety and certain skin diseases among canines. The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science last week, found that a variety of cannabinoids, including CBD, CBDA and CBG, were “well-tolerated” in healthy dogs at a dose of 5 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day. To investigate the issue, researchers designed a randomized, 90-day repeat dose study with a two-week recovery period.…

Getting high and sci-fi go together like a Jedi and her lightsaber. With rave reviews rolling in for Denis Villeneuve’s epic cinematic masterpiece “Dune 2,” we thought we’d join the legion of fans the only way we know how: With some sweet, sweet weed pairings for your trip to the total desert planet of Arrakis.Leafly presents a baker’s dozen strains that pair great with “Dune 2”—because of their popularity, effects, name, history, film tie-in, and more.Blue Dream(David Downs/Leafly)If you want eyes that sparkle blue from huffing spice, start with America’s best-selling strain, Blue Dream. It’s the perfect, balanced hybrid. Patients use…

Federal marijuana trafficking cases declined yet again in 2023 as more states enacted legalization, newly released data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC) shows. The USSC 2023 Sourcebook of Federal Sentencing Statistics, published on Tuesday, reveals a continuation of a trend that’s been observed over the past decade, with cannabis-related prosecutions dropping precipitously amid the state-level reform push and shifting federal enforcement priorities. The report this year doesn’t specifically cite the number of marijuana trafficking cases in 2023, but it dipped again compared to the previous 2022 low of 806, according to a chart that shows the trend. In comparison,…