Author: News Room

The governor of Colorado says that while marijuana reform is “not really a partisan issue” anymore, there are still “stodgy nanny state Republicans who want to control it.” Meanwhile, he says, ongoing prohibition has inhibited research into the science of cannabis that’s kept it strictly criminalized at the federal level. Gov. Jared Polis (D) is hoping that will change sooner rather than later. He and the governors of five other states sent a letter to President Joe Biden this week, urging officials to reschedule marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) by the end of the year. In an interview…

LSD and psilocybin could offer promising therapeutic potential for the treatment of chronic pain “on a mechanistic and experiential level,” according to a newly published literature review that highlights scientific findings happening as part of the “psychedelic renaissance”—a recent thawing of stigma and opposition into psychedelics research after decades of prohibition. What’s more, authors note, the pain-relieving effects of LSD and psilocybin seem to increase with repeated treatment, unlike opioids, which display “decreased therapeutic effect” over time. The narrative review, published last month in the South African Medical Journal, charts both the history of the two substances as well as…

Being a state-registered medical marijuana caregiver or grower doesn’t automatically disqualify a person from owning a firearm, the FBI says. But merely possessing a medical cannabis card as a patient does render a person ineligible. Amid the growing tension between federal gun policies and the ever-expanding state marijuana legalization movement, a little-noticed FBI memo from 2019 offers a lens into the byzantine legal interpretations surrounding cannabis and firearms—an issue that’s recently been raised in multiple federal court cases. The government has several different ways it assesses firearm eligibility in the context of cannabis, according to the memo from FBI’s Criminal…

During a Senate hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) pressed the heads of major financial institutions on their commitments to marijuana banking reform and social equity. Warnock said he’s willing to support removing barriers to cannabis banking, but he wants to ensure the focus on commerce doesn’t obscure the need for justice after decades of criminal prohibition. “I want to be clear that I am open to SAFER Banking and more regulatory clarity around cannabis,” Warnock told the heads of Wells Fargo, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and others, “but my fear is that if we pass this…

A Florida medical marijuana certification company is seeking to block an adult-use cannabis legalization ballot initiative in the state Supreme Court, arguing that the reform “disproportionately prioritizes” profits from recreational sales and that it would “significantly impact our business operations and the well-being of our clients.” My Florida Green, a service that connects patients seeking medical cannabis cards to doctors who can certify them, is asking the court to allow it to submit an amicus curiae brief in the case contesting the Smart & Safe Florida legalization measure that was brought by state Attorney General Ashley Moody (R). The company…

More than three months after news leaked that the U.S. Health and Human Services Department (HHS) was recommending that marijuana be moved to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA), the agency has finally released a tranche of documents related to its recommendation and the detailed review it undertook on cannabis’s accepted medical value. Among the materials newly made public are correspondence from HHS officials to Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Anne Milgram as well explanations of the health agency’s reasoning for the recommended change after conducting a required eight-factor analysis under the CSA. Most pages are heavily…

Ohio’s voter-approved marijuana legalization law took effect on Thursday—but as lawmakers continue to push changes, advocates are calling attention to key provisions of a Senate-passed proposal that they say threatens to perpetuate criminalization and undermine social equity even while it walks back other significant alterations that were initially proposed such as a removal home cultivation rights. At the same time, House lawmakers held a second hearing on Thursday about a separate measure to amend the legalization law. After weeks of discussing revisions to the initiated statute, Republicans first unveiled legislation this week that would have done away with home grow,…

As marijuana legalization began to take effect in Ohio on Thursday, Cleveland Mayor Justin M. Bibb (D) announced that the city has “modernized” its drug testing policies for applicants for city jobs, eliminating “antiquated language around pre-employment marijuana testing that has previously hindered hiring efforts.” “The criminalization of marijuana in our state and the punitive effects it has had on education, housing, and employment opportunities have lasted far too long, but will eventually be a thing of the past—thanks to Ohioans who made their voices heard loud and clear last month when they voted to approve Issue 2,” Bibb said…

A Republican congressman has introduced a revamped version of a bill to end federal marijuana prohibition in legal states, legalize interstate cannabis commerce, normalize Internal Revenue Service (IRS) policy for the industry and contemplate a federal tax-and-regulate framework for the industry. Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) refiled the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States (STATES) 2.0 Act on Thursday. It’s being cosponsored by Reps. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR), Brian Mast (R-FL), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), and Troy Carter (D-LA). Like the version he sponsored last session, the bill would amend the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to undo federal criminalization of people acting…

As New York prepares to proceed with hundreds of new marijuana retailer licenses, regulators are aiming to simultaneously expand the state’s existing medical cannabis program, issuing a reminder that they welcome applications from prospective dispensary owners. It’s part of a state effort to balance enthusiasm for adult-use sales with the need to adequately serve patients. Much of the attention in New York has focused on the adult-use cannabis legalization rollout, including recent settlement agreements approved by the state Supreme Court and the subsequent lifting an injunction that’s blocked regulators from licensing additional recreational shops. But even as those licenses were…