Author: Ben Adlin

[ad_1] Vermont’s House of Representatives has passed a bill to create and fund overdose prevention centers in the state, part of a pilot program aimed at quelling the ongoing epidemic of drug-related deaths. It’s another attempt by lawmakers to allow the facilities following Gov. Phil Scott’s (R) veto of a 2022 measure that would have established a task force to create a plan to open the sites. If the measure, H.72, is enacted into law, Vermont would join Rhode Island and Minnesota in authorizing the facilities, where people can use illicit drugs in a supervised environment and be connected to…

[ad_1] As Hawaii’s new legislative session kicks off this week, Democrats in control of the Senate say that legalizing marijuana for adults remains a top policy priority for the new year, framing the reform as a means to boost the state’s economy. The Senate majority announced their legislative priorities in a release last week, listing cannabis legalization among a host of other issues around emergency preparedness, workforce development, education, natural resources and housing. The marijuana mention appears in a section about economic development and infrastructure. “The Senate remains committed to diversifying and expanding Hawai‘i’s economy, as well as improving infrastructure…

[ad_1] Rhode Island recreational marijuana purchases smashed the state’s monthly record in December, with more than $7.8 million in adult-use sales and patients buying another $2.4 million worth of medical cannabis products. Overall, 2023 saw more than $100 million in legal marijuana sales in the Ocean State, roughly two thirds of which were purchases by adult-use consumers. Of the $107.8 million worth of total cannabis sales from January through December last year, adult-use sales contributed $74.2 million, while another $33.6 came from medical sales, according to the latest data from Rhode Island’s Department of Business Regulation (DBR). While adult-use purchases…

[ad_1] A new collegiate athletics proposal would remove marijuana from the list of substances included in drug screenings for National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship competitions, with officials set to vote on the matter in June. Proponents say the approach is consistent with designing rules to focus on reducing harm rather than punishing student athletes. The plan would build on a 2022 change that increased the allowable THC threshold for college athletes, aligning NCAA’s rules with those of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The latest proposal would effectively treat marijuana more like alcohol. While NCAA doesn’t intend for the change…

[ad_1] A new bill in Indiana would create a psilocybin research fund aimed at providing money to research institutions studying the psychedelic  as an alternative treatment for mental health and medical disorders, from PTSD to migraines. The proposal, SB 139, was introduced this week by Sen. Ed Charbonneau (R) and already has a hearing scheduled before the Senate Health and Provider Services Committee on Wednesday. If passed, the measure would not amend Indiana’s criminal laws around psilocybin but would instead help pay for clinical trials into the drug’s efficacy, especially among military veterans and first responders. The legislation would create…

[ad_1] Overall sales of marijuana in Maryland set a new monthly record to close out 2023, with nearly $96.5 million in combined purchases between the state’s medical and adult-use markets. Recreational sales, which have set new records every month since the market opened in July, tallied more than $61.5 million in December, while medical sales came to just under $35 million—an uptick of more than a million dollars in purchases by patients from the month before, but notably less than typical medical marijuana sales prior to the opening of adult-use stores. All told, the state saw $787.5 million worth of…

[ad_1] The number of registered medical marijuana patients continued to rise in Florida during fiscal year 2023, a state panel said in a new annual report—although the rate of growth slowed slightly from previous years as the system matures and attention turns to an adult-use legalization measure that may go before voters on the November ballot. The number of individual patients enrolled in the program, for example, grew by 15 percent in fiscal 2023 compared to the previous year, down from 25 percent growth from 2021 to 2022. Average daily doses, meanwhile, were lower during the most recent fiscal year…

[ad_1] The U.S. government has released hundreds of pages of documents related to its ongoing review of marijuana’s status under federal law, officially confirming for the first time that health officials have recommended the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) place the substance in Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The 252 pages of documents explain that cannabis “has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States” and has a  “potential for abuse less than the drugs or other substances in Schedules I and II.” Federal health officials said they conducted an analysis that found more than…

[ad_1] A South Dakota legislative panel advanced two bills on Friday aiming to better inform patients about federal restrictions on firearm ownership for people who use marijuana. One would require that medical cannabis patient applications include a written warning about the gun ban, while the other would mandate that informational signs be posted on-site at dispensaries while instituting daily fines for businesses that don’t comply. Lawmakers in the state’s House Judiciary Committee approved both proposals, unanimously passing the measure to include a written warning on patient applications and voting 8–4 on requiring dispensary signs. Both bills were introduced earlier this…

[ad_1] The Democratic co-chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus have reintroduced a resolution “urging action to increase equity within cannabis policy and the legal cannabis marketplace,” calling not only for state and local decriminalization but also encouraging the adoption of specific “best practices” around regulated markets. The measure also expresses the “sense of the House” that President Joe Biden should direct administration officials to lobby the United Nations and its Commission on Narcotic Drugs to “deschedule cannabis from the international drug control treaties, expunge and forgive legal penalties relating to certain low-level marijuana offenses, and treat cannabis as a legal…

[ad_1] In his annual State of the State address on Thursday, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) touted the state’s leadership on both adult-use marijuana and the emerging psychedelic reform movement—two areas where Colorado voters have led the country in adopting drug policy reforms. “Colorado was the first state to legalize recreational use of cannabis, setting a standard for innovation and safety and economic mobility that’s been replicated by states across the nation and countries across the world, who come here to learn what Colorado did right,” Polis said in the speech. “Now, thanks to our voters, we’re once again leading…

[ad_1] The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has agreed to release documents related to its recommendation to federally reschedule marijuana “in their entirety” amid litigation over a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that was filed by a lawyer last year. “Good afternoon and thank you for your patience,” a Department of Justice attorney handling the case said in an email to attorney Matt Zorn on Thursday. “The agency has advised that it will release the letter and its enclosures in their entirety.” Zorn posted a screenshot of the email on his blog, noting that the release could…