Author: News Room

For Chris Goldstein, being invited to the White House to talk with Vice President Kamala Harris about his marijuana pardon last week represented a pivotal opportunity to do exactly what he was doing at the time of his arrest 10 years ago: advocate for cannabis legalization. The Philadelphia-based activist had built a career around marijuana reform, and on Friday he found himself inside the hallowed Roosevelt Room in the company of Harris, two other pardon recipients, the governor of Kentucky, rapper Fat Joe and other officials discussing what clemency meant for him—and, importantly, why it’s crucial that the administration go…

Second Amendment advocates are criticizing a pair of recent developments around marijuana and firearms—issues they say underscore the need for further reform. Last month during a routine audit of a gun dealer, a federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigator reportedly ordered the store to stop the sale of a pistol because the investigator claimed the would-be buyer smelled of marijuana. “I wasn’t high,” the prospective buyer told the Second Amendment Foundation, according to the outlet Ammoland, which referred to the individual only as Daniel. “None of this makes any sense to me.” Daniel had already filed…

A panel of Vermont lawmakers moved forward with planned amendments to a psychedelics bill on Friday, scaling back a proposal that originally would have legalized possession and use of psilocybin in the state to instead merely establish a working group that would study whether and how to allow therapeutic access to psychedelics. The Senate Health and Welfare Committee approved the modifications, which members first floated earlier this month, and voted 3–2 to advance the amended measure, S. 114. Members spent no time Friday discussing the pivot away from decriminalization, instead going over changes to the makeup of the would-be working…

In a new federal court filing, lawyers for a group of marijuana companies argue that ongoing broad cannabis prohibition has “no rational basis,” pointing to the government’s largely hands-off approach to the recent groundswell of state-level legalization. The lawsuit alleges that while Congress’s original intent in banning marijuana through the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) was to eradicate illicit interstate commerce, lawmakers and the executive branch have since abandoned that mission as more states have moved to regulate the drug. “Dozens of states have implemented programs to legalize and regulate medical or adult use marijuana,” the new filing from the plaintiffs…

Lil Wayne’s private life is one thing, and his business drug policy is another, recently unveiled documents indicate. In 2021, Lil Wayne received $8.9 million for his Young Money Touring Inc. company, like many other businesses impacted by pandemic shutdowns, and he was forced to abide by drug-free workplace standards in order to secure the loan. Business Insider reports that recently uncovered documents reveal Lil Wayne had to establish a drug-free workplace or lose out on millions in Small Business Administration (SBA) loans that rolled out after the COVID pandemic. The SBA began approving loans greater than $500,000 on Oct.…

Wyoming high school students successfully lobbied for a law banning intoxicating hemp products after six of their classmates suffered health problems from delta-8 THC. Students in a Youth For Justice program at a high school in Cody pushed for introduction of the bill, Senate File 32 (SF 32), recently signed by Gov. Mark Gordon. The ban goes into effect July 1. The legislation was prompted by reports that six teenagers from Cody High School (CHS) were taken to the emergency room after consuming a product laced with delta-8 THC, a synthetic substitute for delta-9 THC, the most common form of THC found…

“Now that cannabis is legal and profitable in this state, how do we reckon with the injustice perpetuated by its illegal activity dating back to the 1970s with the proliferation of the War on Drugs policies in the United States?” By Emma Davis, Maine Morning Star Maine legalized recreational marijuana use in 2017, however the criminal records Mainers have for possession and cultivation from before legalization remain. The Judiciary Committee heard proposals on Friday that would seal those records as well as make permanent a committee tasked to review issues with expunging criminal records and finding ways to prevent past…

“He should immediately commute the sentences of those sitting in prison for conduct involving amounts of cannabis that are far less than what state-regulated dispensaries routinely handle on a daily basis.” By Sarah Gersten, Last Prisoner Project As President Biden listed off his first-term accomplishments during his State of the Union address, Richeda Ashmeade sat studying for midterms in her last year of law school. Listening to the president tout his executive actions on cannabis, she was acutely aware of those whom his reforms have left behind. Despite all the rhetoric and applause breaks, her father, Ricardo Ashmeade, is still…

About two and a half hours north of San Francisco lies a lesser-known wine region within a small valley that—with walk-in availability, bottles of pinot noir priced around $40, farm-fresh cheeses, fine dining, apple orchards, vineyards, and redwood groves—feels unpretentious, but appropriately vacation fancy. Driving there on the first weekend of November 2023, the grapevine leaves are turning rasta colors—red, green, and gold—as the valley unfolds, driving west towards the Pacific Ocean. The rolling hills and roadsides are primarily lined with evergreen oaks and redwoods, cut with the occasional yellow-leaved alder or statuesque giant golden ginkgos. After Boonville, in a…

Officials in Illinois voted this week to add female orgasmic disorder as a new qualifying condition for medical marijuana, Known as FOD, the condition is also being weighed as a possible way for patients to qualify for medical cannabis in other states, including Ohio, New Mexico and Connecticut. In order to be formally enacted, the Illinois Medical Cannabis Advisory Board’s new recommendation will need to be approved by the state Department of Health. Gabriella Bova, an Illinois resident who submitted the petition to add FOD to the list of qualifying conditions, told the panel at a meeting on Monday that…