Author: News Room

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), a Republican 2024 presidential candidate, says that he would “end” the war on drugs if elected, emphasizing the need for a treatment-based approach to people experiencing addiction—while at the same time maintaining that he’d seek to increase enforcement against those who sell drugs. During a recent town hall event hosted by CNN, a mother who said her son is in jail after struggles with fentanyl asked Christie what he would “do about the war on drugs, which has obviously failed so miserably.” “End it,” the former federal prosecutor replied, despite his opposition to…

Nevada regulators have approved the state’s first conditional licenses for marijuana consumption lounges—bringing three operators one step closer to opening the cannabis social use spaces for adults. The Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board (CCB) first announced in November that it had granted 40 prospective consumption lounge licenses for businesses that had submitted the requisite documentation. With Tuesday’s action, three of those entities have now moved on to the next phase, receiving authorization to continue building out the lounges, which could then open pending a final inspection and local approval. The businesses that received the conditional licenses are Planet 13, The Venue…

“Simply put, federally rescheduling cannabis does nothing to address the growing and untenable divide between state and federal cannabis laws.” By Paul Armentano, NORML Since California legalized the use of cannabis for medical purposes in 1996, there has existed a growing chasm between state-level marijuana policies and federal law. Today, the majority of states and the District of Columbia authorize the state-licensed production and sale of cannabis to qualifying patients. Twenty-three of these states also regulate the possession and use of marijuana by adults. Nonetheless, under the U.S. Controlled Substances Act (CSA) of 1970, the cannabis plant is classified as a prohibited controlled substance.…

A little over a year ago, I reviewed an Oscar-nominated short from Mexican-American screenwriter and director K.D. Dávila titled Please Hold, about an alternative (read: potential) future in which someone gets arrested by a drone for an undisclosed crime and placed in a fully-automated holding cell where a malfunctioning computer screen prevents him from communicating with his lawyer. In my review, I wrote that Please Hold feels a lot like Black Mirror, and for good reason. Its central theme of humanity getting stuck in a trap of its own making has been part of the Netflix hit’s DNA from the…

France will seek restrictions on CBD as an ingredient in cosmetics products in a proposal now before EU authorities.  The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced that France intends to propose “harmonized classification and labeling” (CLH) for CBD, which could, theoretically, lead to the elimination of skin-care products that include the compound in their formulas. The proposal, based on CBD’s “toxic potential for reproduction,” is in accordance with the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Regulation, the EU’s legislation that addresses the manufacture, import and use of chemicals. Current status CBD is not currently covered by the EU Cosmetics…

California marijuana regulators announced on Tuesday that they have awarded $4.1 million to cities and counties across the state to support local cannabis business licensing programs working to address unmet consumer demand and help curb the illicit market. The Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) unveiled the first-of-its-kind program in February, committing to provide about $20 million total to localities through its Local Jurisdiction Retail Access Grant. The $4.1 million in grants that it has now awarded to 18 jurisdiction represents the first phase of the program. “The Local Jurisdictional Retail Access Grant program will help provide access to regulated cannabis…

The governor of Wisconsin has signed a large-scale bill that contains a controversial provision blocking the ability of local governments to put non-binding advisory questions on the ballot—a policy that’s been used over the years to demonstrate widespread public support for marijuana legalization. Gov. Tony Evers (D) gave final approval to the legislation—which is principally focused on revenue sharing and increasing funding for localities—on Tuesday, without explicitly mentioning the advisory question issue. The local referenda have been used to take the temperature of voters on a number of issues, including those championed by Democrats like cannabis legalization and abortion rights…

A key House committee is calling on Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to “continue and increase” enforcement against CBD companies that make unsanctioned claims about the benefits benefits of cannabidiol as the agency works with Congress to develop a regulatory pathway for the product. The panel separately noted the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’s (VA) efforts to improve education around home loan benefit protections for military veterans who work in state-legal marijuana markets. Those issues are addressed in new reports attached to annual spending legislation approved by the House Appropriations Committee last week. The bill itself to fund the U.S.…

“I don’t know if they have the correct guidance on how to charge without overstepping.” By Sophie Nieto-Muñoz, New Jersey Monitor A New Jersey state lawmaker who visited Colorado and saw how the first state to sell legal recreational cannabis deals with motorists driving under the influence wants to create a marijuana enforcement division under the state Attorney General’s Office. Assemblywoman Shanique Speight (D) said she wants the new division to compile data to give law enforcement officers some clarity on the state’s cannabis law, which she said has left them confused over when they can and can’t charge drivers…

A pair of congresswomen will soon be reintroducing a bill to federally decriminalize all currently illicit drugs and facilitate mass expungements. Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) and Cori Bush (D-MO) announced on Saturday—the 52nd anniversary of President Richard Nixon declaring a war on drugs—that they will again be filing the Drug Policy Reform Act. The lawmakers first introduced the bill in 2021. While it didn’t advance, it marked the first congressional bill designed to comprehensively end drug criminalization and take a public health, rather than criminal justice, approach to substance use. “52 years ago, President Richard Nixon initiated a violent,…