Author: News Room

By M.E. as told to Joe Delicado M. E. doesn’t look like a Hollywood movie star. His face is too fat, his ears too large, his nose poorly shaped. And yet he would make a compelling appearance on screen. He has a distinctive style, a gruff but likeable voice, and he moves across a room as though he’s an actor in a movie of his own making. At the age of 32 he’s a veteran Hollywood marijuana dealer, cautious, sly and usually silent about his work. On the first day I met him at the Bel Air Sands Hotel he…

“We never thought for a moment he would actually override the will of the Legislature and turn his back on the beneficiaries of the bill.” By Amanda Eggert and Arren Kimbel-Sannit, Montana Free Press The sponsor of a popular initiative seeking to divvy up more than $50 million of marijuana tax revenue is requesting that lawmakers be given an opportunity to override a veto Gov. Greg Gianforte issued in the final hours of the 2023 legislative session. At issue is Senate Bill 442, which proposes to divide tax revenues levied on recreational marijuana sales between the General Fund, county road construction…

The gifting industry is lacking in imagination these days. Boxes of chocolates, themed gift baskets, and edible arrangements are kind gestures but they’re often overused and lacking in innovation. While the gift of flowers is timeless, brands such as Lovepot are taking things up a few notches by offering luxurious floral arrangements that include high-quality hemp. Lovepot founder Cevon Lee Iny has led a successful career in the fashion and jewelry industries. She’s secured roles managing production at Gucci factories in Italy, spent years as a Playboy wardrobe stylist, and sold jewelry at Jacquie Aiche, a high-end jewelry company based…

The broad brush strokes of the legislation are the same in both chambers. By Christopher Ingraham, Minnesota Reformer Minnesota is poised to become the 23rd state allowing legal marijuana sales following the passage of bills in the state House and Senate this spring. Before that can happen, however, negotiators from the two chambers must meet to iron out the differences between the bills. The broad brush strokes of the legislation are the same in both chambers. Minnesotans 21 and older would be able to buy marijuana products at licensed retailers, grow their own plants and keep a certain amount for personal use. The legislation would…

Oregon regulators have approved the nation’s first license for a psilocybin service center where people will be able to use the psychedelic in a supervised and facilitated environment. The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) awarded the license to EPIC Healing Eugene. With this development, Oregon has now officially approved at least one license for each of the four business categories created by the state’s psilocybin law. “This is such a historic moment as psilocybin services will soon become available in Oregon, and we appreciate the strong commitment to client safety and access as service center doors prepare to open,” Oregon Psilocybin…

Bipartisan congressional lawmakers have filed a bill to mandate the automatic sealing of criminal records for certain non-violent federal marijuana convictions. Reps. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) and Nancy Mace (R-SC) reintroduced the Clean Slate Act last week. The measure would also provide relief to people who have been arrested for other offenses that did not result in a conviction. The legislation has been filed over the last several sessions, and the previous version advanced through the House Judiciary Committee last year. It wasn’t ultimately taken up on the floor, however. “Since coming to Congress, the Clean Slate Act has been…

“There is not one piece of evidence that suggests that word was used purposely by anybody to stain cannabis.” By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent I was talking to a cannabis business owner I’ve known for a while and respect. The man, who is white, told me he refused to use the term “marijuana” because it’s racist. It was one of my first conversations on the cannabis beat, which I’ve been on for a month now. And my mind was bursting with questions. Should I be offended by the word marijuana??!! This Chicana journalist has been on a mission to get…

A top federal health official says there is emerging evidence that psychedelics carry “significant potential” as therapeutic treatments for certain mental health conditions, and it’s a topic of “great interest” for researchers. At a hearing before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Thursday, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) asked National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Director Nora Volkow about the status of the agency’s research into psychedelics. The NIDA head acknowledged that “psychedelic research effectively was halted for many years” amid cultural stigma and ramped up criminalization under the drug war, but noted that the situation has now changed. “As the evidence…

A key Senate committee has officially scheduled a hearing for a bipartisan marijuana banking bill for next week. The Senate Banking Committee will take up the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act on Thursday, May 11 at a meeting titled “Examining Cannabis Banking Challenges of Small Businesses and Workers.” Hours before the hearing was scheduled, the panel’s chairman, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), told reporters that senators planned to “move quickly” on the legislation from Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Steve Daines (R-MT). The description of the event, which will follow an executive session on unrelated matters, says that both…

A Texas Democratic senator brought the issue of marijuana legalization to the Senate floor on Thursday, seeking to attach to an unrelated resolution an amendment that would’ve allowed Texans to vote on ending prohibition at the ballot box. But the symbolic proposal was ultimately shut down. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), who presides over the Senate, agreed to another member’s point of order, deeming the cannabis amendment not germane to the broader legislation. As advocates wait to see what the Senate will do with House-passed bills to decriminalize marijuana and expand the state’s medical cannabis program, the procedural defeat raises…