Author: News Room

Marijuana companies could secure financial services and confusion over banking for hemp operators could be clarified after the reintroduction of the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act in the U.S. Senate. The measure, which is strongly supported by both Republican and Democrat lawmakers, has passed the House of Representatives seven times previously. But the Senate has never voted on the SAFE Act, which stalled in the lawmaking process last year. The legislation now goes before the Senate Banking Committee ahead of a first Senate vote. Current rules discourage banks from providing financial services to marijuana businesses because their products…

The U.S. Cannabis Council (USCC)—a coalition of marijuana industry stakeholders and advocacy groups—has named a new executive director and made additional changes to leadership as it works to navigate cannabis reform under a divided Congress, the group told Marijuana Moment exclusively ahead of a formal announcement on Thursday. Edward Conklin, who’s served as vice chair of USCC’s board and previously worked as the head lobbyist for the cannabis company Curaleaf, will lead the advocacy organization as executive director. Conklin will replace interim CEO Khadijah Tribble, who stood in after the organization’s founding executive director Steve Hawkins left last year. Jessica Billingsley,…

Bipartisan congressional lawmakers refiled another marijuana bill on Thursday—this one proposing to provide a safe harbor to insurance companies that work with state-legal cannabis businesses. The Clarifying Law Around Insurance of Marijuana (CLAIM) Act is being sponsored Reps. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) and Warren Davidson (R-OH). This is the third Congress in a row that the measure has been introduced. The legislation would protect insurers, brokers and agents from being penalized by federal regulators for providing insurance services to state-licensed marijuana companies. It was filed just one day after House and Senate lawmakers filed a related bill to safeguard banks…

“This is a milestone for the commission, and certainly for the certified patients who will be able to legally obtain medical cannabis very soon. They’ve waited a long time for this relief.” By Ross Williams, Georgia Recorder After years of waiting, thousands of patients on Georgia’s medical cannabis registry may soon be able to legally receive their medicine. On Thursday, the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission granted five dispensing licenses to two companies to begin selling low-THC oil to patients on the list. Trulieve Georgia submitted three applications for facilities in Marietta, Pooler and Macon, and Botanical Sciences LLC…

The Minnesota House has passed an omnibus health bill that contains provisions to create a psychedelics task force meant to prepare the state for possible legalization. The large-scale Senate legislation was amended in the House earlier this month to include language from a standalone psychedelics measure sponsored by Rep. Andy Smith (D). It was further revised in the House Ways & Means Committee this week before clearing the full chamber in a 69-58 vote on Wednesday. The proposal is expected to move to a bicameral conference committee, where members will reconcile differences between the House and Senate proposals—including the psychedelics provisions…

We’re delighted to announce that Curaleaf International will be joining us as a Bronze Sponsor of Cannabis Europa London, 2023. Curaleaf International has the unique ability to handle cannabis all the way from seed to patient. The quality of their products is unrivalled thanks to a vertically integrated supply chain, tightly controlled at every point in the production process – designed to ensure reliability and consistency, batch after batch. As Curaleaf have a presence in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal and Poland; understanding local guidelines and patients needs across a range of countries is paramount to providing…

The Texas House of Representatives passed a bill to decriminalize marijuana and create a process to facilitate cannabis conviction expungements on Thursday, officially sending it to the Senate for consideration. The 87-59 vote on the legislation from Rep. Joe Moody (D) comes one day after the chamber preliminarily approved the measure on second reading. Also on Wednesday, a House committee heard testimony on a separate bill to more broadly legalize and regulate cannabis sales. The vote comes about a month and a half after the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee unanimously passed the measure, which would remove the risk of arrest or…

We’re delighted to announce that Releaf will be joining us as a Silver Sponsor of Cannabis Europa London, 2023. Releaf patients receive a first of it’s kind medical cannabis card. It contains a unique to you QR code, which digitally holds all details regarding medical cannabis prescriptions. It is designed to be carried with medicinal cannabis patients at all times, in an effort to facilitate swift validation that patients are permitted to legally carry cannabis. All details regarding medical cannabis prescriptions are secured via a passcode, which can be provided to police in the event of being stopped. Releaf’s aim…

A federal law enforcement agency has updated its employment policy to make it so applicants who’ve grown, manufactured or sold marijuana in compliance with state laws while serving in a “position of public responsibility” will no longer be automatically disqualified—whereas those who did so in violation of state cannabis policies won’t be considered. The new policy change by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)—which makes an explicit distinction protecting applicants abiding by state legalization laws, as compared to those whose cannabis activity was unsanctioned by the state—is particularly notable given ongoing federal marijuana prohibition. The federal government…

California marijuana regulators announced on Tuesday that they’ve awarded nearly $20 million in research grants to 16 academic institutions to carry out studies into cannabis, including novel cannabinoids like delta-8 THC and the genetics of “legacy” strains from the state. The research projects being funded by the California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) with marijuana tax revenue fall under six categories: cannabis potency, medical usage, marijuana industry health, monopolies and unfair competition, California legacy genetics and miscellaneous studies. “It is the Department’s aspiration that these studies will advance the body of scientific research, further our understanding of cannabis, and aid…