Author: News Room

“While the Governor has the constitutional authority to veto SB 442, he cannot veto SB 442 or any other law in a manner that interferes with the Legislature’s constitutional authority to override that veto.” By Arren Kimbel-Sannit, Montana Free Press Interest groups filed a pair of lawsuits Wednesday in an effort to allow lawmakers to override Gov. Greg Gianforte’s (R) veto of Senate Bill 442, a bipartisan measure that spelled out how the state allocates taxes collected on the sale of recreational marijuana. The lawsuit filed by Wild Montana and the Montana Wildlife Federation asks a Helena district court judge…

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) is making another run for the presidency, announcing that he is seeking the 2024 Republican nomination. Christie—a former U.S. attorney who also served as chairman of an opioid commission under the Trump administration—has long criticized marijuana reform efforts efforts. During his 2016 presidential bid, for example, he made headlines for pledging to enforce federal prohibition in states that have enacted legalization and making disparaging remarks about cannabis consumers. While he did allow medical marijuana legalization to take effect in New Jersey as governor, he faced criticism for slow-walking the implementation of the law…

“The act places a strong emphasis on social equity and worker-owned cooperatives and I’m eager to get started on those aspects.” By Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Current If confirmed by a full Senate vote, Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee’s (D) long-awaited picks to the Cannabis Control Commission all said they plan to prioritize social equity applicants who seek to take part in the state’s growing recreational marijuana industry. McKee’s picks—former State Rep. Robert Jacquard (D), Kimberly Ahern and personal-injury attorney Layi Oduyingbo—were all unanimously advanced by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday for a full Senate vote. Committee Chair Dawn…

A strong majority of licensed truck drivers in the U.S. say that federal marijuana laws need to change, and most say that current cannabis testing policies for drivers are steering people away from the transportation sector amid a driver shortage, according to a new report. With an estimated 65,000-driver deficit in the country, the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) carried out an analysis of driver marijuana testing policies that also included revealing survey data from drivers who say that the status quo needs to change. “More than half of all positive trucking industry drug tests are for marijuana metabolite,” which…

This past weekend Puffco celebrated their 10 year anniversary, commemorating a decade evolving the hash consumption space. From humble beginnings to developing the industry-leading electronic rig experience, a lot has changed since 2013, not just for Puffco, but for the community at large.  You see, back in the day, hash culture was a much less vibrant and public community than it’s become today. Grown in the shadows out of fear of increased repercussions due to the manufactured and potent nature of the substance, when Puffco was founded as much of the game was about discretion as it was function. I…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is renaming a trade advisory committee to prominently feature hemp among a select group of specialty crops—reflecting the agency’s understanding of cannabis as a uniquely valuable commodity. Hemp and its derivatives like CBD were legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill, and USDA has spent that past few years working closely with the industry to support businesses and normalize the crop. Now it is symbolically recognizing hemp as part of one of its six Agricultural Technical Advisory Committees (ATACs). While USDA has already added one hemp industry representatives to the body, it’s being formally renamed…

Connecticut lawmakers have sent a budget bill to the governor that includes provisions to provide state-level tax relief to licensed marijuana businesses that are currently prohibited for making federal deductions under an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code known as 280E. A separate cannabis omnibus bill was also transmitted to Gov. Ned Lamont (D) this week that contains a number of reforms, including the establishment of off-site event permits for marijuana retailers, restricting intoxicating hemp-derived products and creating a new Office of the Cannabis Ombudsman. Under provisions of the budget legislation, licensed cannabis businesses in the state would be able to…

Planet 13 Vice President of Sales and Marketing David Farris describes what makes the company’s experiential retail model so successful, critical factors operators should consider when transitioning to this model, its associated challenges, and much more. Read the full article here

The “patchwork” of state marijuana laws being enacted across the country while federal prohibition remains unchanged is enabling large corporations to dominate the industry, harming communities that have been “decimated” by the drug war and underscoring the need for federal reform, a Democratic senator says. In a prerecorded video set to be played at an upcoming event on combating monopolization in the cannabis industry, Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) said that the existing state-by-state regulatory framework “creates confusion and barriers that big business exploits to make big bucks at the expense of communities already decimated by the war on drugs.” The…

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-OH) says his panel will vote on sending a bipartisan marijuana banking bill to the floor “in the next two or three weeks.” The committee held an initial hearing on the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, sponsored by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Steve Daines (R-MT), last month. And now, the chairman says, it’s heading to a markup this month before advancing to the floor. As its currently drafted, the measure would protect banks and credit unions, as well as depository institutions, from being penalized by federal regulators for working with state-licensed…