Author: News Room

The U.S. government has released hundreds of pages of documents related to its ongoing review of marijuana’s status under federal law, officially confirming for the first time that health officials have recommended the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) place the substance in Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The 252 pages of documents explain that cannabis “has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States” and has a  “potential for abuse less than the drugs or other substances in Schedules I and II.” Federal health officials said they conducted an analysis that found more than 30,000…

“The court also notes that all three rounds of awards have been challenged as legally infirm.” By Alander Rocha, Alabama Reflector The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC) discussed its ongoing legal battles in a virtual hearing Thursday morning. In its first gathering since a delay issued by the court on January 3, the AMCC said that Montgomery County Circuit Judge James Anderson also granted a motion for expedited discovery, allowing plaintiffs to take six recorded live testimonies from the commission. The Commission objected to discovery during the ongoing hearings, and the judge has since stayed the deadlines for the depositions…

A South Dakota legislative panel advanced two bills on Friday aiming to better inform patients about federal restrictions on firearm ownership for people who use marijuana. One would require that medical cannabis patient applications include a written warning about the gun ban, while the other would mandate that informational signs be posted on-site at dispensaries while instituting daily fines for businesses that don’t comply. Lawmakers in the state’s House Judiciary Committee approved both proposals, unanimously passing the measure to include a written warning on patient applications and voting 8–4 on requiring dispensary signs. Both bills were introduced earlier this month,…

“Even the claim of smelling cannabis can be discretionary. Honestly, it can be made up sometimes when officers are being less than honest because there’s no way to challenge it.” By Dilpreet Raju, Capitol News Illinois The Illinois Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday as to whether the smell of cannabis alone is grounds for police officers to search a vehicle, marking a test of the state’s 2020 recreational marijuana legalization law. The court heard two consolidated cases of individuals who were in vehicles that were searched after an officer used the smell of cannabis as probable cause. In People v.…

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R), a 2024 GOP presidential candidate, has reaffirmed her position that marijuana legalization should be treated as a “state-by-state issue” without federal intervention. During a town hall event in Iowa days before the state caucus, Haley was asked whether she would move to legalize cannabis if elected president. “You know, in South Carolina, I did for medicinal cannabis, but I think it’s a state-by-state issue,” she said. “I think that’s something that needs to be handled close to the people, and so I think all the states should be able to decide on that.”…

As advocates renew their push to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms in Connecticut, the Democratic governor who signed marijuana legalization into law evidently has concerns about moving toward broader psychedelics reform. Lawmakers and activists held an informational forum on Wednesday, discussing the therapeutic potential of substances such as psilocybin and potential pathways to allow for regulated access. But as supporters plan for the reintroduction of a bill to decriminalize psilocybin—an earlier version of which passed the House but did not advance in the Senate last year—a spokesperson for Gov. Ned Lamont (D) is signaling that it may face a major barrier to…

The Democratic co-chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus have reintroduced a resolution “urging action to increase equity within cannabis policy and the legal cannabis marketplace,” calling not only for state and local decriminalization but also encouraging the adoption of specific “best practices” around regulated markets. The measure also expresses the “sense of the House” that President Joe Biden should direct administration officials to lobby the United Nations and its Commission on Narcotic Drugs to “deschedule cannabis from the international drug control treaties, expunge and forgive legal penalties relating to certain low-level marijuana offenses, and treat cannabis as a legal commodity,”…

In his annual State of the State address on Thursday, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) touted the state’s leadership on both adult-use marijuana and the emerging psychedelic reform movement—two areas where Colorado voters have led the country in adopting drug policy reforms. “Colorado was the first state to legalize recreational use of cannabis, setting a standard for innovation and safety and economic mobility that’s been replicated by states across the nation and countries across the world, who come here to learn what Colorado did right,” Polis said in the speech. “Now, thanks to our voters, we’re once again leading the…

Rapper and father Wiz Khalifa, 36, revealed on the Call Her Daddy podcast on Jan. 10 episode that he rolls up to parent-teacher conferences stoned to the bone. Wiz continues to be an example for stoned parents, showing them the way through his close relationship with his son. For the adventurous, there are places you’d be surprised to have fun high, no Visine needed: high at church, high at the gym, high at the supermarket, and in Khalifa’s case—high at a parent-teacher conference. Page Six, a New York Post site, reports that the rapper explained that in 2024, smoking weed…

Top Republican Wisconsin senators are already signaling that a newly unveiled bill from their Assembly GOP colleagues to create a strictly limited medical cannabis program may be a “non-starter”—especially as it concerns its novel proposal to have state-run dispensaries that the Senate majority leader is critically comparing to a “DMV for medical marijuana.” Just days after Wisconsin Assembly Republicans held a series of press conferences across the state to announce their much-anticipated plan to legalize medical cannabis, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R) and Senate President Chris Kapenga (R) are tempering expectations, raising concerns on behalf of their chamber’s caucus…