Author: News Room

A GOP congressman who has sponsored marijuana reform legislation is filing a new bill to target immigrants who’ve lied about illicit drug use on their visa applications—sending a political message amid conservative scrutiny of the UK’s Prince Harry, who has disclosed using psychedelics and cannabis before moving to the U.S. On Tuesday, Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) introduced the Substance and Possession Abuse Restrictions for Entrance (SPARE) Act, the name of which is a reference to the duke’s memoir—titled “Spare”—about his experience growing up as British royalty. The congressman’s stunt comes after a conservative think tank sued the Department of Homeland…

Minnesota’s governor says that Iowa adults are welcome to visit his state, catch a baseball game and buy marijuana under the state’s newly implemented legalization law. In an interview with Iowa PBS that aired on Friday, Gov. Tim Walz (D) was asked whether Iowa residents could visit his state and participate in the cannabis market while their own state maintains prohibition. Walz started by saying that “prohibition doesn’t work,” that marijuana enforcement has disproportionately impacted Black communities and that the “illicit cannabis trade is also now dangerous with fentanyl and xylazine and some of the other things we see on…

The NAACP has voted to adopt a resolution that renews its support for federal marijuana legalization with a new call to protect workers’ rights in the cannabis industry. At the 114th NAACP National Convention late last month, delegates held a plenary session where they voted on a variety of measures, including one that reaffirmed the organization’s prior cannabis reform platforms while adding a new position on labor peace agreements and marijuana industry worker protections. The resolution, which was adopted without discussion during the session, notes that “the majority of people in the cannabis industry will be workers rather than owners”…

“We will reevaluate, go through the investigative process and see where we are. So those of you who have not received a license today don’t lose heart. I think there may be another day.” By Alander Rocha, Alabama Reflector The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission Thursday re-awarded the licenses for the production and distribution of medical cannabis after questions about the evaluation of applications stopped the process in June. Nearly all the firms awarded licenses two months ago got them back, and the commission granted additional licenses to firms looking to grow medical cannabis. Rex Vaughn, elected chair of the commission…

As someone who was born in the Netherlands and moved to the United States as a teenager, I am often asked what I feel is the biggest difference between America and Europe. To their surprise, it’s not the fact that people on this side of the Atlantic can own semi-automatics, unironically order breakfast at McDonald’s, or have to be 21 to legally drink beer.  It’s that, whenever you turn on the television, there’s a good chance you’ll run into a commercial for some kind of prescription medication. Antidepressants, immunosuppressants, antipyretics, analgesics, antiseptics, even those DIY colon cancer screeners are advertised…

Connecticut adult-use marijuana sales reached another record high for the seventh month in a row in July, state data shows. The state Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) released the latest sales totals on Thursday, showing $13 million in recreational cannabis purchases last month. That’s about $500,000 more than the prior month and nearly three times as much as the state saw during the opening month in January. Medical marijuana sales amounted to $10.6 million for July, for a combined total of $23.6 million. That’s slightly down compared to the combined $23.8 million record for marijuana sales that was set in…

A federal appeals court has ruled that the ban preventing people who use marijuana from possessing firearms is unconstitutional—the latest and highest-level blow to the long-standing federal prohibition that’s actively being challenged in a number of cases across the country. A three-judge panel agreed on Wednesday to reverse the conviction of a man who was sentenced to nearly four years in prison after being pulled over with firearms and admitting to occasionally using cannabis. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit cited a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that says any firearm restrictions must be consistent with the historical…

A first-of-its-kind health care provider has released top-level findings from its ketamine treatment plan for employees of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap, revealing significant relief for mental health conditions among those who participated. Enthea, which says it is the first and only licensed health insurance benefits provider that covers psychedelics-assisted treatment, shared results of the year-long partnership with Dr. Bronner’s, which makes hemp-based soaps and other products, and whose CEO David Bronner has advocated for and helped fund psychedelics reform efforts across the country. About seven percent of the Dr. Bronner’s workforce took advantage of the unique ketamine coverage and completed…

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) says it has no record of a letter from the White House regarding President Joe Biden’s marijuana scheduling review directive, seemingly contradicting what the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) recently testified to lawmakers. At a House Judiciary Committee hearing last month, DEA Administrator Anne Milgram told Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) that the president “had sent a letter to the secretary of HHS and to the attorney general to ask for the scheduling—descheduling process to begin.” Attorney Matt Zorn filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for a copy…

“The very people that are benefiting from the legalization of weed aren’t the people that were most affected by the prohibition.” By Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Current Roberto Pena knows firsthand the damage the War on Drugs has done to communities of color. “Their life gets on pause for something that is seemingly so minor as smoking weed, never mind selling it,” he said Wednesday. “I used to sell weed to get through college and was one of the few lucky friends that never got caught.” Though marijuana has been legal since last December, Pena said not much positive change…