Author: News Room

As a North Carolina Senate-passed medical marijuana legalization bill hangs in the balance in the House, the GOP Senate sponsor is taking a novel approach to pressure the opposite chamber to act by holding an unrelated piece of legislation hostage. House Speaker Tim Moore (R) confirmed recently that there’s a lack of consensus around the medical cannabis measure, SB 3, in his caucus and said “it will not come up for a vote” unless a majority of Republican members in his chamber indicate they support it. But Sen. Bill Rabon (R), who has consistently fought for the reform over recent…

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a 2024 Democratic presidential candidate, says that he would legalize marijuana and psychedelics if elected to the White House—and he’d tax both substances, using revenue to create “healing centers” where people recovering from drug addiction could learn organic farming as a therapeutic tool. He also voiced support for freeing up banking services for the cannabis industry. The candidate’s position on drug policy reform had been vague around the time he entered the race—but it’s quickly come into sharp focus as he promotes progressive policies that in some cases go well beyond that of incumbent President Joe…

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and its players union have officially signed a collective bargaining agreement that removes marijuana from the league’s banned substances list and lays out rules allowing players to invest in and promote cannabis brands—with certain exceptions. About two months after NBA and National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) reached an agreement on the seven-year contract, it has now been signed and enters into force this weekend. The 676-page document contains a number of cannabis provisions—though arguably the most impactful is the removal of marijuana from the list of prohibited substances for players. Players will also be allowed…

The New Hampshire legislature has sent a bill to the governor’s desk to create a commission tasked with preparing legislation to legalize marijuana through a system of state-run stores. And because the governor has concluded that legalization is “inevitable” in the state, he’s pushing for the novel regulatory framework, concerned that lawmakers might otherwise pass a bill less favorable to him with a veto-proof majority. About a week after bicameral and bipartisan lawmakers reached an agreement on the incremental commission legislation in a conference committee, the House and Senate gave final approval to the measure in voice votes on Thursday,…

A new law on CBD in Washington has the potential to radically realign the CBD market as it now exists in the state by essentially handing the sector over to the marijuana industry.  Under the law, signed by Gov. Jay Inslee last month, CBD products that contain even trace amounts of total THC are now effectively considered “marijuana” and subject to regulation by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB).  That means CBD sales will likely be limited exclusively to licensed pot dispensaries in the state.  Specific regulations in Washington are not expected for a month or more, and…

A leader of one of the country’s largest labor unions is calling on the Biden administration to enact a complete end to federal marijuana prohibition—and couple that reform with specific policies that address the harms of the drug war, protect cannabis workers and prevent monopolization in the industry. In a letter obtained by Marijuana Moment, the president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) urged Attorney General Merrick Garland and U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra to comprehensively tackle cannabis reform as their departments work to complete a federal marijuana scheduling review that President…

The Wisconsin Senate has rejected two amendments to a budget bill that would have legalized marijuana—putting lawmakers on record about the popular voter-supported policy. After Republican senators stripped cannabis provisions from the governor’s budget in committee last month, Senate Minority Leader Melissa Agard (D) gave the full chamber a chance to enact the reform, with one omnibus amendment that would have restored several administrative priorities including marijuana legalization and another clean measure focused exclusively on legalizing cannabis. The standalone marijuana reform amendment failed on the floor in a party-line vote of 22-11 on Wednesday. “We know that Wisconsin is continuing…

Bipartisan lawmakers have introduced a bill that would require the State Department to explain to Congress why it has not designated a U.S. citizen incarcerated in Russia over medical marijuana possession, as well as other Americans detained abroad, as “wrongfully detained.” The legislation is titled the “Marc Fogel Act,” named after a teacher and former U.S. diplomat who is serving a 14-year sentence in Russia for possessing medical cannabis that he lawfully obtained as a registered patient in Pennsylvania. Lawmakers have worked several angles to get the State Department to classify him as a wrongfully detained individual, a designation that…

The president of Ukraine is calling for the legalization of medical marijuana to help Ukrainians cope with trauma amid the ongoing war with Russia. In an address to the Ukrainian Parliament on Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that “all the world’s best practices, all the most effective policies, all the solutions, no matter how difficult or unusual they may seem to us, must be applied in Ukraine so that Ukrainians, all our citizens, do not have to endure the pain, stress and trauma of war,” according to a translation. “In particular, we must finally fairly legalize cannabis-based medicines for all…

Luxembourg’s Parliament has approved a bill to legalize marijuana possession and cultivation for adults. About two years after the government first proposed ending cannabis prohibition, members of the Chamber of Deputies passed the non-commercial legalization bill in a 38-22 vote on Wednesday. This makes Luxembourg the second country in the European Union to enact the reform, following Malta’s vote to legalize in 2021. The law in Luxembourg, which was first proposed by the ministers of justice and homeland security in 2021, will allow adults to possess up to three grams of cannabis and grow up to four plants in a…