Author: News Room

Roughly 100 CBD products have been disqualified to date by food safety officials in the UK, according to an update that became public last week. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has struck the products from a public list of more than 12,000 accepted for review earlier this year in the preliminary stage of the regulator’s regimen for approving new or “novel” foods. A summary of the removals, published by UK-based website BusinessCann, shows the FSA began eliminating products as early as March; the latest removal occurred in late September. FSA’s unit focusing on novel foods is addressing a CBD gray…

Medical officials in Brazil have suspended a resolution that would have limited CBD to medicine available by prescription only to those who suffer a narrow range of maladies. The Plenary of the Federal Council of Medicine temporarily suspended the restrictive resolution, and scheduled public hearings to further explore CBD’s proper fit in the Brazilian food and medical landscapes. The development comes as Brazil continues to build a legal and regulatory framework for the hemp industry, a process that started in 2015 with an original bill that was later replaced with an updated proposal in 2020. As the regulatory landscape continues…

New Jersey’s governor is teaming up with a coalition of major cannabis brands to launch a campaign meant to educate and encourage consumers about the risks of buying marijuana products outside of regulated markets. The U.S. Cannabis Council (USCC) is leading the “Buy Legal” effort, which was announced on Thursday in New Orleans at the Black CannaBiz Expo. Marijuana companies including Canopy Growth, Columbia Care, Cresco Labs, Cronos Group, Curaleaf, Jushi, PAX, Viola and Wana are signed on as partners for the campaign, which is also being supported by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D). “Since adult-use cannabis became legal…

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) might be a fan of riding Amtrak and an advocate for federal marijuana legalization—but a spokesperson for his office confirmed to Marijuana Moment on Thursday that he has not been working to broker a deal to let train passengers buy and use cannabis during their travel, despite the fact that some people have accepted the idea to be true after the fake news was published this week. The serious-sounding Buffalo Chronicle has tricked readers before as they’ve doled out a mix of flagrantly satirical items and what the publisher has described as “factual” articles.…

Another questionable study is being used to stoke Reefer Madness 2.0. Here’s what that study really found, and why it’s being used to mislead the public. Earlier this week the Wall Street Journal published a health article titled “Marijuana May Hurt Smokers More Than Cigarettes Alone,” attempting to raise concerns that smoking cannabis may be more harmful than smoking cigarettes. The article was based on a new study from Canada, which compared the lung health of cigarette smokers, and cigarette smokers who also smoke cannabis. But many outlets are spinning the data before washing it in context for readers. That…

Albania’s Ministry of Health has put forth a plan to update and refine rules for the production of industrial hemp, but would limit business activity in the extracts sector to experienced companies from other European countries, and limit trade of those products to exports. A National Agency for the Control and Monitoring of the Cultivation and Processing of the Cannabis Plant would be set up to oversee the production of cannabis for industrial and medical purposes, according to the draft bill. All marijuana and hemp extracts – including CBD and other minor cannabinoids derived from hemp – would be considered medical…

The governor of Rhode Island announced on Tuesday that the state’s first adult-use marijuana retail sales will begin next week, on December 1. Gov. Dan McKee (D) and the state Department of Business Regulation (DBR) said that five existing medical cannabis dispensaries have been licensed as “hybrid” retailers that will be the first to serve adults 21 and older. “This milestone is the result of a carefully executed process to ensure that our state’s entry into this emerging market was done in a safe, controlled and equitable manner,” McKee said in a press release. “It is also a win for…

People who use psychedelics like psilocybin are generally more connected to nature and knowledgable about climate change—traits that tend to translate into pro-environmental behavior—according to a new study. Researchers at the University of Innsbruck in Austria and the University of Zurich in Switzerland conducted an international study to explore the relationship, and their findings were recently published in the journal Drug Science, Policy and Law. Past studies and surveys have identified a link between psychedelics use and nature relatedness, but they’ve largely relied on self-reports from participants, raising questions about possible psychological bias. To account for that subjectivity, the new…

South Dakota voters on Election Day rejected the proposal to legalize cannabis for adult use by a 53%-47% margin, the Argus Leader reports. It marks the second time voters in the state have rejected the reforms, voting down a similar ballot measure in 2018.  The measure would have allowed adults 21 and older to legally possess up to an ounce of cannabis for non-medical purposes and allowed sales from state-licensed dispensaries. In a statement to the Leader prior to the final results, Protecting South Dakota Kids Committee Chair Jim Kinyon compared the proposal to “putting lipstick on a pig.”  “We’ve had…

After a seven-month delay caused by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), the Cannabidiol and Marihuana Research Expansion Act has finally been sent to President Joe Biden’s desk for signing. The bill is intended to lessen the burden of studying cannabis. Currently, the federal Schedule I status of marijuana makes it extremely difficult for researchers to legally obtain and study the plant. If you thought this bill had already been passed, you’re not alone. The House and Senate approved the measure last spring. Leafly’s David Downs covered that action on April 4, 2022. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) set it on…