Author: News Room

“This is the Judgment Day that we all predicted while sharing a conspiratorial joint in the dark days of prohibition. It’s surreal to see our fears manifesting in real time.” By Deb Tharp, NuggMD Politico recently published an extensive Q&A with Howard Sklamberg, a former top Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official who currently works at the law firm Arnold and Porter. Many advocates for legalization and restorative justice have concerns about the rescheduling of cannabis to a Schedule III substance—fears that Sklamberg believes are “alarmist and misguided.” As a longtime advocate, I have to say that I don’t share…

A month after Virginia Sen. Adam Ebbin (D) declared he was confident a marijuana sales bill could pass the legislature and reach the governor’s desk this year, lawmakers have officially filed legislation to make it happen. Del. Paul Krizek (D) introduced the sales legalization bill, HB 698, in the House of Delegates on Wednesday, with an identical bill from Ebbin expected to be filed in the Senate shortly. The legislation follows a proposal Ebbin put forward last session that passed the Democratic-controlled Senate but died in committee in the GOP majority House of Delegates. Use, possession and limited personal cultivation…

As the governor of California pledges to continue working to “strengthen” the state’s marijuana market, he’s also proposing to help close an overall government budgetary deficit by borrowing $100 million from a cannabis tax fund designated for law enforcement and other public safety initiatives. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) presented his budget plan on Wednesday, previewing a series of steps he wants to take to address the state’s $37.9 billion deficit. That includes taking a $100 million budgetary loan from the Board of State and Community Correction (BSCC)’s Cannabis Tax Fund subaccount to support the General Fund. A summary of the…

Washington State lawmakers are again trying to allow adults in the state to grow their own marijuana, having introduced a new bill that would allow the cultivation of up to six plants at home. Washington voters legalized marijuana through a ballot measure in 2012, but the law still makes it a felony for anyone but medical patients to grow the plant. And though several bills have been introduced to allow home cultivation over the years—stretching back to 2015—so far each has failed to find traction. The latest bill, HB 2194, is an update to a homegrow proposal introduced last year,…

On the one-year anniversary of the opening of the adult-use marijuana market in Connecticut, state officials announced Wednesday that 2023 saw more than a quarter-billion dollars ($274 million) in total sales between the recreational and medical cannabis markets combined. In December, the most recent month for which sales data is available, adult-use retailers sold just over $17.1 million in cannabis products, while medical marijuana sales exceeded $10.3 million. Together, the markets’ roughly $27.5 million in sales marked the highest single-month sales total so far recorded, according to the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection (DCP). Last month’s record broke the previous…

Delaware House lawmakers have approved a bill to significantly expand the state’s medical marijuana program ahead of the launch of adult-use sales that may take another year to implement. At a meeting of the House Health & Human Development Committee on Wednesday, members took public testimony and then voted to pass the reform legislation from Rep. Ed Osienski (D). The bill would make a series of changes to Delaware’s medical cannabis program, including removing limitations for patient eligibility based on a specific set of qualifying health conditions. Instead, doctors could issue marijuana recommendations for any condition they see fit. Osienski,…

A California Assembly committee has unanimously approved a revised bill to create a state workgroup that would be tasked with exploring a regulatory framework to provide therapeutic access to psychedelics like psilocybin and ibogaine. The Assembly Health Committee passed the legislation from Assemblymember Marie Waldron (R) in a 11-0 vote on Tuesday. It now heads to the Appropriations Committee before potentially moving to the floor. If the legislature were to enact a regulatory framework as recommended by the workgroup, which would be situated under the California Health and Human Services Agency (CalHHS), the bill would also allow health practitioners to…

“We’re seeing lots of hemp flower—doing air quotes—out in the marketplace, and we don’t have the regulatory authority over that flower.” By Peter Callaghan, MinnPost This story was originally published by MinnPost. A loophole in the state’s new recreational marijuana law allowing the sale of high-potency raw cannabis flower to go unregulated will be the subject of a summit this week between regulators, law enforcement and local government associations. The state Office of Cannabis Management is convening the January 11 meeting, along with hemp regulators at the state Department of Health, to discuss with sheriffs and police chiefs how best…

Cannabis and its compounds hold the potential to limit the “susceptibility and severity of infection” from COVID-19, while also showing promise in the treatment of long COVID symptoms such as anxiety, depression and decreased appetite, according to a new study. Researchers at Dalhousie University in Canada carried out a comprehensive review of the scientific literature, publishing their findings about marijuana as a preventive therapeutic in the Journal of Clinical Medicine late last month. The study found that “cannabinoids have been shown to prevent viral entry, mitigate oxidative stress, and alleviate the associated cytokine storm” of early COVID-19 infections. “Post-SARS-CoV-2 infection,…

Hello. The internet be can overwhelming. News can be scary. Here are a few things, people, etc. that may or may not ease the pain of being on Earth. Everywhere at the end of time by The Caretaker Leyland Kirby, aka The Caretaker, made ambient music that explored memory and was supposed to sound like the progression of dementia. Listening to it is a very haunting and beautiful and sad, cathartic experience—perfect for a moment spent alone. Judith Baca Courtesy UCLA If you live in Los Angeles area, you’re very lucky because you’re able to go to Valley Glen and…