Author: News Room

A strong majority of Americans support legalizing and regulating psychedelics therapy, and most back federally decriminalizing substances like MDMA and psilocybin, according to a new poll. The survey from Breakthrough Bulletin comes amid a wave of psychedelics reform efforts taking place in legislatures across the country. What they found is that a majority of likely voters (60 percent) are in favor of giving adults “access to regulated psychedelic therapy.” That includes 72 percent of Democrats, 58 percent of independents and a 49 percent plurality of Republicans. Support for the reform shot up after people were given additional context about emerging…

Victor Kwesi Mensah—known professionally as Vic Mensa—is a man who fully embodies what it means to be an artist. He’s got the drive, the spirituality, the sound, and most of all, the confidence. But how does one attain the knowhow to be a successful artist, let alone be successful at anything? The answer lies in a strong support system. Mensa has been surrounded by supportive people for most of his life, dating back to high school where his band Kids These Days was drawing the eye of major record labels and prominent record producers. It was during these formative years…

French authorities have approved temporary guidelines which allow CBD products to be declared as food supplements and remain on the market pending authorization under the EU’s food safety program. The development sends positive signals to CBD hemp growers, producers and investors anxious to take advantage of the French CBD market, estimated at €300 million. “It will build a lot of confidence up and down the value chain. Even though it’s not a full authorization, it is a step in the right direction” said Ludovic Rachou, President of the Union of Industrialists for the Valorization of Hemp Extracts (UIVEC), a trade…

Another Minnesota House committee has approved a bill to legalize marijuana, after members adopted a large-scale amendment to overhaul various provisions of the legislation. The House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee passed the measure in a voice vote on Monday. The panel, chaired by bill sponsor Rep. Zack Stephenson (D), first took up the legislation in January, but it was always the plan to have the proposal returned to the committee. Like a recently adopted change to a companion bill in the Senate from Sen. Lindsey Port (D), the House amendment that lawmakers approved is primarily meant to address concerns…

The changes span from minor language tweaks to new provisions on background checks and public records. By Sara DiNatale, Mississippi Today The Legislature has approved changes to Mississippi’s cannabis law that will limit the information available to the public about businesses’ citation records and will attempt to crack down on inconsistencies from the agencies tasked with running the new medical marijuana program. The bill, first filed in the House, was amended by a Senate committee and the full Senate before the House passed it last week. Gov. Tate Reeves (R) must sign the bill before the new regulations are added…

Texas lawmakers approved a bill on Monday that would allow doctors to recommend medical marijuana to patients if they have a condition causing chronic pain that would otherwise be treated with prescription opioids. The legislation from Rep. Stephanie Klick (R)—which would also quintuple the THC cap that was established under the state’s existing limited medical cannabis law—cleared the House Public Health Committee about a week after members took testimony on the proposal in an initial hearing. This development comes weeks after a separate House committee unanimously approved a bill to decriminalize cannabis possession in the state while provide a pathway…

U.S. lawmakers re-introduced two bills that would establish a legal framework for hemp-derived cannabinoids, hoping to revive a rulemaking process that has been slow to unfold. The measures would mandate that CBD and other cannabinoids from hemp be made lawful as food and food ingredients, and establish regulations for such products. Congress is under growing pressure to lay a pathway for CBD – which is on the market throughout the U.S. but unregulated – especially after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declared earlier this year that it can’t manage such products under the agency’s current structure. FDA called…

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a brief in a federal appeals court as part of an ongoing lawsuit over the government’s ban preventing medical marijuana patients from possessing firearms. Many of DOJ’s arguments in the brief filed on Wednesday mirror points that the agency made in earlier filings in the case, including in a federal district court that dismissed the lawsuit that’s now being appealed by its plaintiffs. But the latest document places new emphasis on the “wide-ranging consequences” that the Biden administration says would result from a ruling that favors the plaintiffs. Those plaintiffs are medical cannabis…

A Minnesota House committee on Thursday took up a bill to establish a task force to study and advise on the potential legalization of psychedelics like psilocybin, MDMA and ibogaine. As lawmakers in the state continue to advance a measure to legalize marijuana, the House Health Finance and Policy Committee agreed to pause further action on the psychedelics reform bill from Rep. Andy Smith (D) after adopting an amendment meant to bolster its bipartisan appeal. The idea is to hold it over in committee so that it can possibly be incorporated into broader omnibus health legislation that’s in the works.…

“The Kentucky hemp program is a staple for our agricultural community, but the selling and usage of unregulated THC is a danger to every Kentuckian who may use it.” By Melissa Patrick, Kentucky Health News In response to a court decision that deemed products containing delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol to be legal, a bill to regulate products with the substance has passed both houses of the General Assembly without dissent and has gone to Gov. Andy Beshear (D) for final action. “The Kentucky hemp program is a staple for our agricultural community, but the selling and usage of unregulated THC is a…