Author: News Room

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green (D) spoke about the state’s path to marijuana legalization this legislative session during an interview this week, calling the policy change a “big social issue that remains” to be addressed in the state and saying he’d likely sign a bill to end cannabis prohibition if one is sent to him by lawmakers. But Green also said the change “is a little more complicated because the feds have not changed the way they schedule marijuana yet, which is really wacko.” The governor also pushed back against opponents’ fears that legal cannabis would cause public health problems in…

A medical cannabis bill passed the Senate last year but stalled in the House. By Alan Wooten, The Center Square Nearly 8 in 10 North Carolinians support the Legislature revisiting and passing a medical marijuana bill in the short session this year. According to this month’s release of the Meredith Poll, 78 percent support passage and only 18 percent said they were opposed. In the long session last year, the North Carolina Compassionate Care Act passed the Senate but did not get a vote in the House of Representatives. Known as Senate Bill 3, some lawmakers are hopeful for its…

A Virginia Senate committee voted unanimously in favor of advancing a bill on Wednesday that would prevent the state from using marijuana alone as evidence of child abuse or neglect. The change is meant to protect parents and guardians from discrimination around cannabis use and possession, which the commonwealth legalized in 2021. The Senate Courts of Justice Committee, voted 15–0 to report the measure, SB 115, which is sponsored by Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas (D). If it becomes law, the measure would further provide that drug testing in child custody and visitation matters “shall exclude testing for any…

Congressional researchers are acknowledging that the lack of banking access for state-legal marijuana businesses leads them to be “heavily reliant on cash transactions, making them a target for theft.” But they are also raising questions about whether it makes sense for lawmakers to pass legislation protecting banks that service the industry “when other participants in cannabis markets continue to be exposed to prosecution under federal law.” In a report on Federal Reserve policy that was published by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) on Tuesday, experts examined the unique financial issues that afflict the cannabis industry and discussed one potential bipartisan…

Killer Mike just made massive headlines when he was arrested and detained at the Grammys, but speaking out on this incident hasn’t been the only time he’s made the news in the past month. He also spoke up about the government giving the marijuana industry to Black people. Killer Mike was detained and subsequently released by the Los Angeles Police Department on the heels of his three wins at the 2024 Grammy Awards this past Sunday.  Mike, aka Michael Render, was handcuffed and escorted out by the police. Naturally, viral social media videos and coverage by The Hollywood Reporter came…

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) says it’s time to “join the 21st century” and legalize marijuana—but Stephen Colbert didn’t let it go unnoticed that she declined to answer his question about whether was high herself during an appearance on The Late Show on Monday. Colbert asked the senator a two-part question on cannabis: How is marijuana descheduling distinct from legalization? And “are you high right now?” Warren, a longstanding advocate for marijuana legalization who recently led a letter with 11 colleagues imploring the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to deschedule cannabis, took the first question. “The answer is legalization is what you…

An eighth city in Massachusetts has adopted a local policy to deprioritize arrests around psychedelic plants and fungi, also urging county prosecutors to stop pursuing cases of possession, cultivation or distribution of the substances. The City Council of Medford passed a resolution Tuesday evening declaring that investigation and arrest of adults for “planting, cultivating, transporting, distributing, engaging in practices with, and/or possessing entheogenic plants and fungi…shall officially be the lowest law enforcement priority for Medford.” Further it states that the use and possession of all controlled substances “should be understood first and primarily as an issue of public health by…

South Carolina’s Senate convened for an initial debate on Wednesday about a bill that would allow medical cannabis access for patients with certain health conditions. It’s a renewed push by lawmakers after the body passed an earlier version of the legislation in 2022 that went on to stall in the House over a procedural hiccup. During the floor debate on the measure from Sen. Tom Davis (R), members held a lengthy discussion on the merits of the reform proposal and also adopted an amendment on vaping. It’s expected to receive an initial vote on second reading, possibly as soon as…

European Union (EU) officials have cleared activists to launch a signature drive for a multi-national initiative that would foster access to medical marijuana and promote research into the therapeutic potential of cannabis. The European Commission announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to partially register the initiative, meaning advocates will have six months to start a petitioning drive and then one year after that point to collect one million signatures from at least seven member states to force consideration of the proposal. The activists behind the measure laid out three objectives they want the commission to pursue, but the body…