Author: News Room

The Justice Department extending a public comment period concerning its marijuana pardon certification process that was established under a directive from the president last year. In a notice published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, DOJ’s Office of the Pardon Attorney said the comment window will now be open until August 15 as it requests authorization from the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to process applications for cannabis pardon certificates for an additional three years, rather than continue to request approval on a month-to-month basis. The department launched an online portal for people to submit their request…

A new law legalizing the possession and personal cultivation of marijuana for adults in Luxembourg officially takes effect on Friday, the government has announced. The Ministry of Justice published a statement about the forthcoming policy change in the Official Journal on Tuesday—a procedural step that means the legislation will come into force in four days. This comes about a month after Luxembourg’s Parliament passed a legalization bill, making it the second country in the European Union to end cannabis prohibition following Malta’s vote to legalize in 2021. The law in Luxembourg, which was first proposed by the ministers of justice and…

New York City officials have announced they’re seeking lenders to support a marijuana equity fund that will promote participation in the industry by people who’ve been disproportionately impacted by criminalization. The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) posted a request for proposal (RFP) on Tuesday, soliciting lenders and an administrator for its Cannabis NYC Loan Fund, which will provide low-cost financing to social equity applicants looking to enter the marijuana market. Officials are aiming to raise $20-30 million for the fund, which was developed in partnership with the NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS). That includes an initial…

Over 90 percent of U.S. military veterans who use medical marijuana say that it improves their quality of life, with many using cannabis as an alternative to over-the-counter and prescription medications, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts, University of Utah and cannabis research institutes looked at self-reported survey data from 510 veterans who said that they consume marijuana, seeking to better understand the purpose and experiences of their usage. A majority of the respondents (67 percent) said that they use cannabis daily. And about one-third (30 percent) said that they consume marijuana to reduce the…

Democratic senators are seeking to pass a series of marijuana reform amendments, including a proposal to legalize medical cannabis for military veterans, through a must-pass defense bill that’s set to be considered this week. Lawmakers are aiming to attach the cannabis measures, as well as a separate GOP-sponsored amendment that would ramp up fentanyl-related enforcement while removing barriers to research for Schedule I drugs, to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). While the House under GOP control quashed more than a dozen bipartisan drug policy reform amendments that were proposed for that chamber’s version of NDAA last week, the Senate…

Missouri has been selling about $4 million worth of marijuana per day on average since the state’s adult-use market opened up in February—and the state saw a record $121.2 million in cannabis purchases last month—state data shows. Since recreational sales started, the adult-use market has quickly overtaken the state’s medical marijuana program, which has seen sales gradually taper off after retailers started servicing adult consumers. Via Missouri Health Department. Collectively, Missouri has sold $592.3 million in recreational and medical cannabis products since February, when retailers opened under a legalization law approved by voters last year. And more than $1.2 billion…

California officials have cleared a campaign to begin signature gathering for a 2024 ballot initiative to legalize the possession, sale and regulated therapeutic use of psilocybin. It’s one of at least two campaigns in the state that are seeking to enact psychedelics reform through the ballot process next year. Decriminalize California, which has previously sought ballot placement for similar measures in two prior election cycles, announced over the weekend that the state attorney general’s office approved the title and summary for the current initiative on Friday. This time around, the signature threshold needed to get on the ballot is lower…

Officials from the Florida legislature and the office of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) estimate that a marijuana legalization initiative that may appear on the 2024 ballot would generate between $195.6 million and $431.3 million in new sales tax revenue annually if voters enact it. And those figures could increase considerably if lawmakers opted to impose an additional excise tax on cannabis transactions that’s similar to the ones in place in other legalized states. On  Thursday, the state Financial Impact Estimating Conference (FIEC), which consists of economists representing the legislature, state agencies and the governor’s office, held the last of four…

A GOP congresswoman is touting recently released Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidance on psychedelics research and calling for additional work to study the therapeutic benefits of marijuana for military veterans. In a speech on the House floor on Wednesday, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) talked about the need to support “novel forms of research” to unlock the potential of psychedelics and cannabis for the treatment of conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that commonly afflict veterans. “As a doctor, former director of the Iowa Department of Public Health and 24-year U.S. Army veteran, the mental, emotional and physical health of…

Colorado researchers have found that CBD passes through the placenta of pregnant women and accumulates in the fetal brain, risking harm to preborns. The finding, by a team at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, lends credence to warnings from health officials about potential dangers of the widely available compound. “This study is important to help clinicians and pregnant patients know that consuming CBD during pregnancy may have some effect on the brain development of offspring,” said Emily Bates, Associate Professor at the university’s Anschutz Medical Campus. “We need clinicians to start asking about CBD consumption at prenatal visits…