Author: News Room

People in Connecticut can’t legally buy alcohol on Christmas or New Year’s Day, the state Department of Consumer Protection reminded residents this week—but cannabis is A-OK. “If you choose to consume alcohol with your holiday celebrations, be sure to make those purchases ahead of time, and, of course, please drink responsibly,” Department of Consumer Protection (DPC) Commissioner Bryan T. Cafferelli said in a statement on Wednesday. “And, because we regulate many things you may be wondering about, Connecticut Law does not prohibit the sale of cannabis, or limit your ability to place wagers during the holidays.” “No matter how you…

During the first year of legal adult-use cannabis sales in Rhode Island, state-licensed businesses sold more than $100 million worth of marijuana products—including almost $70 million in recreational sales. Data recently updated through November by the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation show that retailers sold $105.0 million in legal cannabis since December 2022. Recreational sales, which began that month, made up about two-thirds of the total, with medical marijuana accounting for the rest. Purchasing activity rose steadily over most of the year in Rhode Island. It peaked in August, which saw the highest aggregate sales, and September, which set…

With prospects slim for CBD to be regulated in the absence of an updated U.S. Farm Bill, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) appears it will continue past practice – attempting to keep up enforcement by issuing warnings to producers while waiting on Congress to set rules.Congress failed to produce a comprehensive Farm Bill this year, meaning hemp and other issues are not likely to be resolved until September 2024. Regulations for CBD, and delta-8 and other synthetic, high-producing compounds made from CBD, are among key issues still to be resolved, and are likely to be contentious because hemp…

New York’s two-and-a-half-year-old legal cannabis program is like a fueled-up rocket just steaming on the launch pad, waiting for ignition. The state’s regulators have nearly run out of ways to fumble the ball, and stores are finally opening on a near-daily basis. The New York City metro area has about 2 million weed smokers, but up until now had just a handful of retail stores. That’s all changing, so we’ve started this NYC Weed Visitor’s Guide to get you oriented, hooked up, and having fun in the big city. Let’s freaking go.What are NYC’s weed rules?Weed is now legal for adults…

Pennsylvania lawmakers have advanced a pair of bills meant to prevent police from charging medical cannabis patients with impaired driving without proof of intoxication. The Senate version of the legislation from Sen. Camera Bartolotta (R) cleared the Senate Transportation Committee, with amendments, in a unanimous vote last week. Meanwhile, a House bill sponsored by Rep. Christopher Rabb (D), which is drafted differently but meant to achieve the same goal, passed that chamber’s Transportation Committee, 14-10. Bartolotta said the measure—an earlier version of which also advanced last year—is designed to close a “loophole” in Pennsylvania’s medical cannabis law that currently permits…

The attorney general of California has determined that the state could put itself and its employees at “significant legal risk” of federal enforcement action if it were to authorize interstate marijuana commerce. In a legal opinion sent to state cannabis regulators on Tuesday, Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) said there are “strong arguments” that state officials could be federally prosecuted for implementing a law that permits cannabis imports and exports between consenting legal states. The opinion comes in response to a request earlier this year from the California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC), seeking the attorney general’s assessment of potential…

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) says lawmakers will “hit the ground running” in 2024, aiming to build on bipartisan progress on several key issues, including marijuana banking reform—though he noted it “won’t be easy.” As the Senate recesses for the holidays, Schumer delivered a floor speech on Wednesday touting the chamber’s 2023 legislative achievements, while emphasizing that “there’s a lot we must do” in the second half of the 118th Congress. Senators “made large progress in a bipartisan way on new parts of our agenda,” Schumer said, adding that the same bipartisanship will be “essential in a divided government”…

“Any lawsuit will likely include claims relating to the department’s regulatory authority in other areas of the marijuana industry.” By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent Missouri’s crackdown on a cannabis company accused of illegally importing THC concentrate could lead to a showdown over the state’s authority to regulate the industry. Delta Extraction had its license to manufacture cannabis products revoked in November, months after a massive recall pulled more than 60,000 products off the shelves—which the state says were illegally made with a hemp-derived THC concentrate imported from out of state. As the legal battle continues to drag out, the company…

A Republican lawmaker in New Hampshire has prefiled legislation for the coming session that would legalize three psychedelic substances—psilocybin, LSD and mescaline—for therapeutic use with a healthcare provider’s recommendation. The bill, HB 1693, from Rep. Kevin Verville, would create a regulated psychedelics system for registered patients, with alternative treatment centers (ATCs) set up to produce and dispense the substances. The proposal is modeled after the state’s existing medical cannabis law, under which seven licensed marijuana ATCs currently serve patients. Psychedelics patients would be required to obtain state-issued ID cards, while designated caregivers could purchase and provide the substances to patients.…

Backers of a proposed Colorado ballot initiative to allow marijuana users to obtain concealed carry permits for guns appeared at a Denver hearing on Tuesday to discuss comments and potential changes to the measure’s language ahead of submitting it to the secretary of state for review. During the meeting, officials from the Legislative Council Staff and Office of Legislative Legal Services raised a small number of potential issues with the proposal as currently written, asking for clarification and walking through possible changes to the language. The hearing is the latest hoop for organizers to jump through as they attempt to…