Author: News Room

Wisconsin Republican lawmakers have removed proposals to legalize marijuana for recreational and medical use from the governor’s executive budget for the 2023-2025 biennial. At a hearing of the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee on Tuesday, members voted 12-4 to eliminate numerous provisions of Gov. Tony Evers’s (D) budget request, including measures on legalizing, taxing and regulating cannabis in the state. The move was expected, as the GOP-controlled legislature has previously stripped marijuana reform language from past executive budgets, and top Republican lawmakers warned that any adult-use legalization proposal would not move through the process this year either. With a historic $7…

“I owe the people of Oregon an apology. I exercised poor judgment by contracting with a company that is owned by my political donors and is regulated by an agency that was under audit by my audits division.” By Ben Botkin and Julia Shumway, Oregon Capital Chronicle Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan (D) announced Monday she has resigned from her $10,000-a-month consulting side job and tearfully apologized for her “poor judgment” in moonlighting with a politically-connected cannabis company regulated by a state agency her office was auditing. Fagan also released a copy of her contract with Veriede Holding LLC,…

Colorado lawmakers have sent bills to the governor that would allow online marijuana sales and bolster protections for working professionals in the state. The online sales legislation from Reps. William Lindstedt (D), Said Sharbini (D) and Robert Rodriguez (D) passed the House last month and cleared the Senate in a 32-12 third reading vote on Monday. It would strike language from existing statute that explicitly prohibits cannabis from being sold on the internet, while adding regulations to provide for online commerce. Adults 21 and older would still need to physically pick up the marijuana products from the retailer, but they…

A top Germany health official has submitted a draft bill to legalize marijuana possession, cultivation and social clubs—the first of a two-part reform framework—to government cabinet officials. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach shared details about the legalization plan last month, and on Friday he distributed the legislative text to cabinet officials to consider before finalizing the bill and sending it to lawmakers. “Promise kept. Comments welcome,” Lauterbach said in response to news coverage about the latest development, according to a translation. Versprechen Gehalten. Kommentare willkommen https://t.co/G0VpIgarBY — Prof. Karl Lauterbach (@Karl_Lauterbach) April 28, 2023 While the draft legislation is not yet…

“The cost-benefit analysis of deciding how to allocate floor time actually tilts in favor of cannabis this Congress in a way that it didn’t before.” By Reggie Babin, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP With the recent reintroduction of the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, Congress is once again engaged in an effort to achieve a meaningful breakthrough on federal cannabis reform. Understandably, many have serious doubts as to whether this time will be any different than previous iterations while others are likely convinced that it won’t be. After spending the past six years working to advance…

It’s easy to forget you’re talking to an accomplished artist who’s collaborated with Kanye West, The Roots’ Black Thought, Busta Rhymes, and a slew of other notable hip-hop heavyweights, but that’s just who Westside Gunn is. He’s the kid from Buffalo, New York who made it. Despite all odds being stacked against him, he’s the one who escaped the perils of the streets and, in the words of Outkast, got up, got out, and got something. Along with his brother Conway the Machine and cousin Benny the Butcher, the Flygod took Griselda Records from a tiny, homegrown label to a…

Happy May, Zodiac friends! As we bask in the warmth and beauty of spring, flowers bloom, the clouds part, and the stars align to bring us new opportunities and insights. Let us guide you on a journey of self-discovery and growth as we explore the astrological energy of this magical month. Our favorite strains help us find balance, ease our anxieties, and spark our creativity, and this month offers no shortage of chances to better ourselves. So let’s embrace the Taurus energy of May and use our trusty buds to bring out our best qualities and get us through the challenges…

A California bill to legalize the possession of certain psychedelics and facilitated use of the substances is heading to the Senate floor under an accelerated process that is allowing it to skip further committee consideration. The legislation from Sen. Scott Wiener (D) cleared the Appropriations Committee without a hearing after the chairman invoked a rule to send it to the floor because it would have a negligible fiscal impact, the sponsor told Marijuana Moment on Monday. The measure, which was previously approved by the Public Safety Committee in March, is a more narrowly tailored version of a bill that Wiener…

Senators are urging action on a marijuana banking bill that was reintroduced last week, taking to Twitter to call for bipartisan work to enact the reform this session. The Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act was filed with much fanfare, earning the early applause of top legislators like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). In the days since its introduction, more than a dozen senators have cheered the bill’s introduction with tweets. While bipartisan lawmakers have filed a series of modest cannabis measures in recent weeks, advocates and industry stakeholders are especially focused on SAFE, which has been revised…

Florida marijuana advocates have collected 841,130 signatures for a marijuana legalization ballot initiative as of the end of April—about 94 percent of what’s required to put the issue before voters next year. Based on monthly signature data reported by the Florida Division of Elections, which updates petition counts on the measure at the end of each month, it seems that the legalization campaign is well positioned to reach the 891,523 signature mandate by the end of this month. At the end of January, the measure cleared an initial major hurdle, getting enough signatures to initiate a state Supreme Court review of…