Author: News Room

Massachusetts activists say local election clerks across the state have certified that they turned in more than enough valid signatures to force legislative consideration of a psychedelics legalization initiative before potentially putting the issue on the state’s 2024 ballot. After submitting signed petitions to local clerks last month, the campaign Massachusetts for Mental Health Options (MMHO) says that those officials have now verified more than 95,000 of the signatures. Those petitions will now be forwarded to the secretary of state’s office on Wednesday for final validation. Supporters need 74,574 valid signatures to initiate the first step of the process, which…

Minnesota marijuana regulators have opened a second survey round to collect public feedback on issues related to pesticides, fertilizers and environmental controls as they work to craft rules for the state’s cannabis market. They are also touting the hundreds of responses they received from an initial survey that was focused on cultivation, processing and manufacturing. The Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) is planning to circulate a total of five surveys on marijuana consumer and industry topics through next month, with the aim of informing rulemaking under the state’s legalization law that was enacted earlier this year. The office said…

Ohio senators held a second meeting on a bill to significantly change the state’s marijuana legalization law that’s set to take effect this week, hearing public testimony amid sharp criticism of the GOP-led effort. In other chamber, meanwhile, a Republican representative has filed alternative legislation that would largely preserve what voters approved at the ballot, with certain exceptions such as a proposed ban on sharing cannabis between adults. One day after the Senate General Government Committee gave initial approval to the cannabis overhaul measure, voting to attach it to an unrelated House-passed bill, the panel reconvened on Tuesday to take…

With the congressional effort to remove federal restrictions on marijuana banking still ongoing, a coalition of financial institutions has released new guidance for cannabis businesses trying to secure banking services. While compliance can be onerous compared to banking for most businesses, the report published on Monday by the Cannabis Industry Financial Group (CFIG) says it’s nevertheless possible for the marijuana industry to obtain above-board, reliable financial services without waiting for passage of the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act. “While conflicts between federal and state cannabis policies remain, some financial institutions have chosen to offer banking services to…

The governors of six U.S. states—Colorado, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Louisiana—sent a letter to President Joe Biden (D) on Tuesday urging the administration to reschedule marijuana to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act by the end of this year. The move, they say, will provide economic and tax benefits for cannabis businesses, protect public health and more closely align government policy with public opinion. “Rescheduling cannabis aligns with a safe, regulated product that Americans can trust,” says the governors’ letter, which points to a poll that found 88 percent of Americans support legalization for medical or…

Nevada officials have officially adopted a proposal to amend hiring standards for police officers to allow job candidates who were previously disqualified for certain marijuana-related offenses to now be eligible for law enforcement positions. After holding a public hearing on the reform in October, the state Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) voted to approve the change, revising regulations around hiring that currently prevent a person from becoming a peace officer if they have been convicted of an offense involving the unlawful use, sale or possession of a controlled substance. The new language says the restriction doesn’t apply…

“Whatever is ultimately decided must reflect what Ohio voters approved. The politicians had numerous chances, numerous decades, to change Ohio’s antiquated laws. They refused.” By Gary Daniels, ACLU of Ohio via Ohio Capital Journal Less than a month ago, Ohio voters approved marijuana use, possession, and sales for adults. It was a 57 percent to 43 percent vote, a considerable landslide in voting terms. The margin was not a surprise. Legalization is popular across numerous demographics and, apparently, across the state. Issue 2 also passed as an initiated statute, not a constitutional amendment. The difference is the initiated statute process,…

A state commission charged with studying how to legalize marijuana in New Hampshire has issued its final report, capping off months of meetings at which members failed to agree on a way forward for cannabis policy in the state. “Ultimately, the Commission voted not to recommend legislation for the 2024 Session,” the new report says. “The Commission was unable to reach a consensus because of a large number of unresolved issues.” As the new legislative session kicks off next month, says the report, submitted by commission chair Sen. Daryl Abbas (R), the commission “expects legislation to be introduced but with…

Adult-use cannabis retailers in Illinois sold a record monthly amount of legal marijuana in November—to Illinoisans, at least. In terms of overall sales including those to out-of-state residents, last month saw the fifth-highest monthly figure since stores opened in January 2020. Total sales of recreational marijuana in Illinois totaled $139.1 million in November, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) reported on Monday. Of that, $105.5 million was sold to residents of the state, the agency said, and another $33.6 million was purchased by visitors. The figures do not include taxes. State-licensed retailers also sold more individual adult-use…

Findings of a study examining marijuana’s neurocognitive effects “suggest that prescribed medical cannabis may have minimal acute impact on cognitive function among patients with chronic health conditions”—which may come as a relief to long-term cannabis patients who are concerned about potential neurological drawbacks of the drug. Authors of the report, published last month in the peer-reviewed journal CNS Drugs, wrote that they found “no evidence for impaired cognitive function when comparing baseline with post-treatment scores.” To conduct the study, researchers had 40 people in Australia self-administer a single dose of medical marijuana in a laboratory setting, following instructions on the…