Author: AggregatedNews

[ad_1] Massachusetts is now the first state to pardon the crimes of offenders charged with simple pot possession — after President Joe Biden did the same two years ago. Gov. Maura Healey’s first-in-the-nation plan to issue a blanket pardon for simple marijuana possession was met with the unanimous approval of the Governor’s Council on Wednesday, when councilors expressed broad support but wondered if it went far enough for the potentially hundreds of thousands of people hit by the state’s now-defunct marijuana laws. Healey’s pardon, according to the request for consent she sent to the council, would apply to “all adult persons who, on or before…

[ad_1] By Griffen Thorne, Attorney at Harris Sliwoski Cannabis contracts are – in the simplest sense – binding agreements between two parties. But how you get to something being “binding” can be complicated. And in the cannabis industry, where things move a mile a second and people often overlook basic contract requirements, the results can be disastrous. Today I want to focus on a concept known as “authority” and explain why I think it is so critical for the cannabis industry. What is the deal with authority in cannabis contracts? When an individual who is (a) an adult, (b) not…

[ad_1] Time has run out for Initiative 71 gifting shops that exist in D.C.’s marijuana gray market. As of last Friday, the D.C. Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration delivered 13 warnings to unlicensed cannabis businesses in the city, ordering them to stop gifting THC products, according to an agency spokesperson. Some D.C. gifting shops have voluntarily closed, but hundreds remain open. Since about 2015, I-71 shops have liberally interpreted an amendment in the District’s constitution to gift marijuana to adults over 21 without medical cannabis cards. Hundreds of cannabis shops have popped up across D.C., offering overpriced non-cannabis goods for…

[ad_1] A move to legalize marijuana for recreational use died Tuesday at the state Capitol, with opposing lawmakers saying more research is needed on the proposal’s potential impacts. Despite strong support in the state Senate, House leaders Tuesday afternoon announced they will not be holding any further hearings on the bill. The decision was not a surprise; the softness of support in the House was apparent and law enforcement, advocates and social conservatives banded together against it effectively. Leaders also mentioned the resistance on the floor during a vote March 22 to forward the bill to the House Finance Committee. Democrats…

[ad_1] Though the cannabis industry is one of America’s most lucrative new industries — with estimates that it will reach approximately $58 billion in sales by 2028 — the markets in several recreational states are suffering severe financial harm. In states like Oregon, the problems have gotten so out of hand that businesses are even pulling out of the state. And these problems are far from over. California is probably the best example of such a problematic state, as I wrote last week. Last year, reports from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration showed that the California cannabis industry’s total sales went down…

[ad_1] Now, the attorneys general want Congress to shutter the market it helped create. In the new Farm Bill, they want the legislature to enshrine in statute the idea that intoxicating cannabis is not federally legal — contrary to what the law currently states. In other words, they want Congress to say that, by definition, hemp can’t get you high. The rise of the legal (and intoxicating) hemp market runs counter to the development over the past decade of the highly-regulated recreational and medicinal cannabis industries that voters have approved across the country — a wild west of exotic cannabinoids sold without any of…

[ad_1] Marijuana campaigners in Germany lit celebratory joints on Monday as the country liberalized rules on cannabis to allow possession of small amounts. The German Cannabis Association, which campaigned for the new law, staged a “smoke-in” at Berlin’s landmark Brandenburg Gate when the law took effect at midnight. Other public consumption events were scheduled throughout the country, including one in front of the Cologne cathedral and others in Hamburg, Regensburg and Dortmund. The new law legalizes possession by adults of up to 25 grams (nearly 1 ounce) of marijuana for recreational purposes and allows individuals to grow up to three…

[ad_1] Administrative rulemaking for the state’s pending recreational marijuana program is moving full steam ahead, one industry trade association says, with sales likely to start by the third quarter of the year. Cannabis possession, use and home growth went legal for Ohioans who are 21 and older at the end of 2023 with voter approval of Issue 2. But sales to those adult-use, non-medical customers is not yet legal. The Ohio Department of Commerce is hammering out the program through its recently formed Division of Cannabis Control. “They have been moving very, very quickly to get a rule package in place and…

[ad_1] A push to establish a legal marijuana market in Virginia is officially dead after Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed legislation on Thursday. Virginia has allowed adults over 21 to possess and cultivate cannabis at home since the Legislature passed legalization legislation in 2021. But the law required another vote to implement commercial sales, which failed after Republicans won the House of Delegates later that year. “The proposed legalization of retail marijuana in the Commonwealth endangers Virginians’ health and safety,” Youngkin said in his veto statement. “It also does not eliminate the illegal black-market sale of cannabis, nor guarantee product safety.” [ad_2] Source link

[ad_1] Missouri’s health department on Wednesday stripped two coveted marijuana micro-licenses tied to an out-of-state company that had been accused of predatory practices and had listed the licenses for resale. The two micro-licenses, awarded to Seashore Rhythm, LLC in Arnold near St. Louis and Frankenstein Enemy, LLC in Columbia, were among nine licenses the state agency revoked for not being eligible for a program aimed at helping small and minority-owned businesses break into the lucrative marijuana market. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services announced Wednesday that it had revoked nine of the 48 licenses it had awarded in…

[ad_1] The long wait on whether Floridians will get a chance to vote to legalize recreational cannabis for adults 21 and older is almost over, as the Florida Supreme Court is on a hard deadline to rule on the proposed constitutional amendment’s ballot language within days. The high court must “render their written opinion no later than April 1” regarding any initiative petition, according to Article IV, section 10 of the Florida Constitution. One interested observer – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis – predicted earlier this year that the high court will approve the ballot language. “I think the court is going…

[ad_1] By Aaron Pelley, Attorney at Harris Sliwoski Despite continuously surpassing every other state with recreational cannabis in terms of total retail sales, California’s cannabis industry has faced continuous and far-reaching issues on multiple levels that have only spread even further. From declining sales that result in hundreds of millions less in total retail sales to a massive illicit market that the state ignores, problems abound. California has even seen a pattern of dispensaries and cultivation facilities across California being burglarized and robbed. Suffice it to say, the state’s industry has colossal problems, the magnitudes of which haven’t been seen…