Author: News Room

An initiative to legalize marijuana in Ohio will appear on the state’s ballot this November, officials announced on Wednesday. About two weeks after activists turned in a final round of signatures for the cannabis proposal, the secretary of state’s office has now certified that it met the requirements for ballot placement. The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol (CTRMLA) submitted more than 220,000 signatures for the measure last month, but the state found that advocates came up short by 679 valid signatures. They were then given an additional 10 days to make up the differences and ultimately turned in about…

“They told the judge they would comply with the act, and then they didn’t.” By Alander Rocha, Alabama Reflector A medical cannabis company Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC), alleging the commission violated the state’s Open Meetings Act (OMA) at its August 10 meeting. Alabama Always, which sued the commission last month over the appointment of former chair Steven Stokes, alleged that commission members privately nominated companies for public votes on license awards during an executive session. The lawsuit alleges that commission members were instructed to seal their nominations in an envelope during the executive session, and…

People who use marijuana are about half as likely to develop type 2 diabetes, according to a new meta-analysis of scientific studies. Researchers at the Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in Iran published the study in the journal Phytotherapy Research this month, expanding on the scientific literature examining the effects of cannabis on glucose regulation and insulin secretion that are tied to the chronic disease. To investigate the relationship, the researchers analyzed 11 relevant surveys and four epidemiological cohort studies that were published in scientific databases such as PubMed up through July 1, 2022. They found that the incidence of…

A California Senate-passed bill to legalize the possession and facilitated use of certain psychedelics has cleared a procedural hurdle, bringing it one step closer to a final Assembly committee vote before potentially advancing to the floor. The measure from Sen. Scott Wiener (D) was advanced by the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Wednesday to the panel’s suspense file, a legislative formality that means it is primed for final action to determine whether it can advance to the floor. The sponsor told Marijuana Moment on Tuesday that he expects that to happen at a subsequent committee meeting on or around September 1.…

In an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett on Monday, Janet Yellen recounted eating at a restaurant chain in Beijing called Yi Zuo Yi Wang, a meal that had Chinese social media abuzz last month. A post on Weibo, the popular Chinese blog platform, detailed what Yellen’s party ordered that day, including “jian shou qing, an unusual yet highly sought-after mushroom prized for its unique properties,” according to CNN. Those properties can include hallucinations –– unless the mushrooms are cooked and prepared a certain way, which was the case when Yellen dined there. “So I went with this large group of people…

“Recognizing the litigation surrounding cannabis and the risk of judiciary employees or a judge or otherwise having any interest as operators obviously compromises partiality.” By Sophie Nieto-Muñoz, New Jersey Monitor People who work for New Jersey courts can no longer take any jobs in the medical or recreational cannabis industry. Chief Justice Stuart Rabner last week approved an amendment to Canon 5, which deals with outside employment for judicial employees and exists to avoid impropriety and conflicts of interest. The change makes employment in the cannabis industry off-limits for judiciary employees, as it is for jobs in the casino industry…

I was ready. Everyone I know who’s seen Tears for Fears live sings their praises. My anticipation only grew the days before as I listened to their new album, The Tipping Point. It’s a year old, but as co-founder Curt Smith states, that’s not old at all to the band, now in their early 60s – at that creative crossroads between youthfulness and experience.  The Tipping Point is the band’s first studio release in over 17 years. It’s an album with vitality. If a band waits that long, you know they’re not releasing an album for the wrong reasons. Total…

More than any big city in America, San Francisco has always been on the cutting edge of cannabis consumption––from the beats and poets smoking “mezz” while inhabiting the 1950s North Beach “beat scene” to the openly stoned hippies of 1960s Haight-Ashbury. Cannabis consumption in the “City by the Bay” continued with the groundbreaking use of medical marijuana in the Castro District to treat those affected by HIV and AIDS, leading to America’s first dispensaries. San Francisco has likewise been the vanguard for providing consumption lounges to dispensary customers, offering a place for pot patients and weed aficionados to consume in…

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy says he supports federally legalizing marijuana and allowing veterans with PTSD to use certain psychedelics—but his campaign is also attacking a recent Fox News article that suggested he supports decriminalizing “certain hard drugs” even though he recently said the broader reform would be an “important” part of broader strategy. “Vivek is in favor of federal legalization of marijuana” his campaign said on Monday in response to the news report. “The current state-level ‘legalization’ farce contributes to the culture of lawbreaking. It’s literally against the law. For us to pretend otherwise only undermines the rule of…

South Dakota’s attorney general has released a final summary for a proposed initiative to repeal the state’s medical marijuana program that a Republican activist is trying to place on the 2024 ballot. Just days after Attorney General Marty Jackley (R) submitted a draft summary for a separate adult-use cannabis legalization measure, his office announced it finalized the explanation for the anti-reform initiative on Monday. The conservative activist behind the medical marijuana repeal proposal, Travis Ismay, is also seeking to put an additional measure before voters that would block the state from having future ballot questions to legalize any drug that…