Author: News Room

The California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) released its review this week of a prospective ballot initiative to legalize psychedelics, outlining not only the plan’s policy implications but also its potential fiscal impacts on the state—which the report calls “various” and “uncertain.” The measure, which proponents submitted the final language for earlier this month, would allow adults to legally grow, possess and use substances like psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, DMT, ibogaine and mescaline. A person would need a healthcare practitioner’s recommendations to purchase psychedelics at regulated stores. As filed, the so-called Psychedelic Wellness and Healing Initiative of 2024 refers to “entheogenic” plants…

President Joe Biden on Friday issued a proclamation expanding a marijuana pardon initiative he began last year by including for the first time people who committed cannabis possession offenses on federal properties. “Criminal records for marijuana use and possession have imposed needless barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities,” Biden said in a statement. “Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana. It’s time that we right these wrongs.” “Just as no one should be in a federal prison solely due to the use or possession of marijuana, no one should be in a local…

Sports medicine providers “generally have favorable views toward CBD and cannabis,” and most believe marijuana should be removed from the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) list of prohibited substances, according to a new survey of 333 doctors published this month. The study also found that most sports medicine physicians who participated support legalizing marijuana for recreational and medical use. That said, there are still “varying views” about cannabis within the field, authors found, and those “appear to be significantly affected by age, practice type, and gender.” Among demographic groups less likely to favor allowing marijuana for recreational use were women, older…

State marijuana regulators across the country are marking the holiday season with messages about gifting cannabis as a present, making infused Christmas cookies and keeping products secure. From California to New Jersey and New York to Virginia, regulatory bodies overseeing legal markets are engaging consumers on social media with holiday-themed posts, spreading the word about their respective marijuana laws and leaning into cannabis culture. California’s Department of Cannabis Control (DCC), for example, shared an animated GIF on X (formerly Twitter) that looks like a grandmother holding baked goods decorated with a marijuana leaf, with text that asks followers about their…

Strap in, Leafly nation—this one is going to be a doozy. Everyone in cannabis, as in any other industry or field, wants to be the best—but how do you tell who is actually the best? Well, look at the awards. With tens of thousands of strains and products available in your area (we hope), how do you choose where to spend your hard-earned Benjamins? We can tell you that. Cannabis competitions are back like they never left, and more state legalizations means higher bars to clear to call your stash fire. From the Bay to the Big Apple, and many detours…

The organizer of a prospective Florida ballot initiative to legalize home cultivation of medical marijuana by patients has withdrawn the proposal, explaining that the campaign raised barely more than $4,000 and couldn’t cover costs associated with trying to qualify the measure. Moriah Barnhart told Marijuana Moment this week that despite some volunteer signature gathering efforts, including at some state-licensed dispensaries, she would be unable to pay the necessary fees to have those signatures validated by state officials. “What happened was we got an influx of signatures that were going to be late, which is $50 to $500 if you look…

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), a 2024 presidential candidate, is suggesting that the increase in medical marijuana patients in his state is partly due people using the law as a “pretext” for recreational cannabis use. Even so, he said he supports a free market approach to all industries, including medical cannabis—despite recently backing a dramatic licensing renewal fee increase that’s facing strong opposition from the state’s limited number of medical marijuana businesses. At a campaign event in Iowa on Thursday, DeSantis was asked about marijuana policy as part of a panel discussion that also featured Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R)…

Maryland brought in more than $12 million in marijuana tax revenue during the first three months of legal cannabis sales to adults, which kicked off on July 1. The figures, released this week by the state comptroller’s office, detail revenues from the third quarter of the fiscal year, which spanned from July through September. Sales of recreational marijuana during that period totaled about $158.5 million, according to the Maryland Cannabis Administration (MCA). More than a third of the tax revenue—35 percent, or about $4.3 million—will be funneled into the state’s Community Reinvestment and Repair Fund, which is intended to support…

Wisconsin’s Republican Assembly leader says he now plans to unveil a restrictive medical marijuana bill next month, and he believes it will have enough support to move through both chambers of the GOP-controlled legislature in 2024. In a series of end-of-year interviews with local media outlets that were published on Thursday, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) said the much-anticipated legislation is nearly ready for prime time—the product of extensive internal talks within the Republican caucus over recent months. As expected, the bill will only provide for limited reform, allowing patients with serious conditions such as cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),…

Ukrainian lawmakers have given final approval to a bill legalizing medical marijuana nationally, sending it to be signed into law by President Volodymyr Zelensky, who supports the reform. The country’s unicameral legislature, the Verkhovna Rada, passed the legislation on Thursday with 248 votes—overcoming opponents who attempted to block the proposal with a deluge of hundreds of what critics called “spam” amendments last month. The bill would legalize medical cannabis for patients with severe illnesses and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) resulting from the nation’s ongoing conflict with Russia, which launched an invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago. To secure the…