Author: News Room

A bipartisan group of 29 congressional lawmakers from both the House and Senate sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Thursday, asking that he formally back federal marijuana legalization as the administration carries out a review of cannabis scheduling at his direction. The letter, the text of which was obtained by Marijuana Moment last week, was circulated by Congressional Cannabis Caucus co-chairs Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Dave Joyce (R-OH), Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Brian Mast (R-FL), as well as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and has gained about two dozen additional signatories. “While we do not always agree on specific…

Twitter appears to have ended a federal partnership that had presented users who searched the site for certain drug-related keywords, including “marijuana,” with a suggestion they consider entering drug treatment. No such suggestion had appeared for “alcohol” searches. Launched in 2020, the feature has been a source of contention for advocates, who’ve criticized the social media company for suggesting that any interest in marijuana is indicative of a potential substance misuse problem. It did not disaggregate searches for policy news and products, for example. At some point this month, the feature—which was rolled out in concert with the federal Substance…

A team of researchers from Texas A&M AgriLife is working to develop new hemp varieties that can withstand the southern U.S.’ high temperatures and substantial drought conditions, and meet legal requirements.Russ Jessup, a Texas A&M AgriLife Research hemp breeder and associate professor in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, told Texas A&M Today that the “goal is to create a collection that incorporates the majority of genetic variation across all cannabis within C. sativa that will benefit farmers with high-yielding cultivars, biofuel refineries with reliable feedstocks, customers with quality products, and society with beneficial ecosystem services.”The researchers received a…

How does your company grow (its cannabis, that is)?This year, sustainable cultivation practices and in-house R&D efforts emerged as common trends that growers pursued, both in the U.S. and abroad.Here, three cultivators share which techniques they focused on in 2022 and what they may try going into 2023.1. Biodynamic FarmingPhoto courtesy of Stone Road FarmsCorwinLex Corwin, founder and CEO of Nevada City, Calif.-based Stone Road Farms, shared with Cannabis Business Times in January that the company, which grows cannabis in greenhouses and outdoors, uses elements of biodynamic farming.“Obviously, [we don’t do] all of the crazy stuff, like combining cow manure with…

Washington, D.C. lawmakers have approved a criminal justice reform bill that contains a newly added amendment to automatically expunge marijuana possession records for offenses that took place before the District enacted a limited cannabis legalization law in 2014. The D.C. Council unanimously passed the Second Chance Amendment Act, including the marijuana-focused provision, in a 13-0 vote on Tuesday, sending it to Mayor Muriel Bowser (D). Prior to passage, lawmakers adopted an amendment from Councilmember Christina Henderson (D) that clarified the expungements language, specifying that records related to possession of “any quantity of marijuana” before the legalization law took effect in…

MÜV Lake City is located at 2938 W US Highway 90, a busy thoroughfare with an average daily traffic count of roughly 32,000 vehiclesIn 2022, Verano has opened 21 new MÜV locations in Florida, underscoring the company’s continued retail expansion across the stateVerano’s active operations span 13 states, comprised of 120 dispensaries and 14 cultivation and processing facilities with more than 1 million square feet of cultivation capacityCHICAGO, Dec. 21, 2022 – PRESS RELEASE – Verano Holdings Corp., a leading multistate cannabis company, announced MÜV Lake City will open on Dec. 23, marking the company’s 62nd Florida dispensary and 120th retail location…

Magic mushrooms have exploded in popularity recently, largely because of their tremendous potential to treat a variety of health conditions. Psilocybin in magic mushrooms gets converted to psilocin in your body, and the latter is what causes you to feel the psychedelic effects of magic mushrooms.  Various factors determine how long mushrooms take to kick in and how long a trip will last, including the potency of the mushrooms, dosage, and your own body’s metabolism and chemistry. Learn about how long shrooms stay in your body and drug tests to detect them below. How long do shrooms take to kick…

The Florida Department of Health (DOH) and Florida Office of Medical Marijuana Use (OMMU) announced a plan Dec. 19 to issue up to 22 additional medical cannabis licenses across the state.The rule would allow health officials to accept new license applications in a batching process, limiting all new licenses from being available at once. It would also increase the nonrefundable application fee for new licenses to $146,000.According to the emergency rule, a “Batching cycle means the grouping for comparative review of applications for MMTC (medical marijuana treatment centers) licensure that are submitted for a specified number of available MMTC licenses…

New York’s adult-use cannabis program won’t be fully implemented before the end of the year, but state regulators announced Dec. 21 that at least one licensee will begin sales before 2023. Housing Works Cannabis Co., one of eight nonprofits that the state’s Cannabis Control Board approved for a retail license in November, plans to begin serving adult-use cannabis customers at 4:20 p.m. on Dec. 29 at its facility at Broadway and Eight Street in Manhattan, Chris Alexander, executive director for New York’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM), announced at Wednesday’s board meeting.We’ve done it NY! Dec. 29, the FIRST 21+…

A congressional lawmaker representing Washington, D.C. tells Marijuana Moment that she’s “really disappointed” that Democratic House and Senate majorities failed to remove an ongoing rider blocking the District from allowing recreational cannabis commerce as part of an omnibus spending bill that was released on Tuesday. While advocates and stakeholders have largely focused on the exclusion of cannabis banking language from the appropriations legislation, the fact that the D.C. rider was maintained in the final deal stings differently, especially considering that both the House and Senate had omitted it from their respecting spending bills that advanced earlier this year. Rep. Eleanor…