Author: Ben Adlin

[ad_1] New York opened the application period for hundreds of new marijuana business licenses on Wednesday, marking the beginning of a massive expansion of the state’s legal cannabis system. So far only about two dozen retailers have opened statewide since adult-use sales began last December. Applications will be open until December 4, and regulators are expected to begin awarding the new licenses early next year. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) announced the launch of the new application period on Wednesday, at the same time emphasizing her administration is “ramping up” law enforcement efforts to go after unlicensed marijuana businesses, which have…

[ad_1] Licensed cannabis retailers in Maryland sold more than $90.7 million worth of marijuana products in September, the bulk of which was driven by record-high monthly sales to adult-use consumers. Medical cannabis purchases, meanwhile, have dipped slightly following the opening of adult-use stores in July. Adult-use sales have set a new record every month since the legal market launched. In September that number climbed to $54.3 million, up from $53.0 million in August and $51.3 million in July. Medical marijuana sales, meanwhile, were at $36.5 million—their second-lowest level of the year, behind only July. Between the two markets combined, sales…

[ad_1] A new partnership between two health organizations will give businesses a chance to offer medical marijuana coverage as part of their workplace benefits packages to reduce out-of-pocket costs for employees who use cannabis therapeutically. Bennabis Health, which describes itself as “dedicated to filling the holes in the health insurance industry for medical cannabis patients,” announced the partnership last week with New Jersey-based CannaCoverage, a cannabis consultant and insurance broker that works with the marijuana, CBD and hemp industries. Bennabis said in a press release that it’s the “first group health medical cannabis program” to offer the employee benefits. Not…

[ad_1] A hemp plant genetically engineered to produce lower levels of the cannabinoids THC and cannabichromene (CBC) “may be safely grown and bred in the United States,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced. The hemp plant was genetically modified and submitted for review by Growing Together Research, a biotechnology firm headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The company announced earlier this year that it had achieved “the first known stable transformation and regeneration of multiple THC-free hemp cultivars” and in June announced it would work to increase THC production in cannabis plants. “We reviewed the modified hemp plant to determine…

[ad_1] Illinois marijuana retailers sold nearly 3.7 million adult-use cannabis products in September, according to newly posted state sales data. That’s more products than during any other month since recreational sales launched in January 2020. The money consumers spent on those products, meanwhile—$139.5 million—marked the third-highest monthly sales amount since legal markets opened, according to the data posted on Monday by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR). That sum includes a record monthly high $105.1 million worth of products to in-state residents. Visitors from out of state, meanwhile, accounted for about a quarter (24.7 percent) of purchases,…

[ad_1] The City Council in Portland, Maine, has voted to deprioritize the local enforcement of laws against psychedelic plants and fungi, adopting a resolution on Monday that emphasizes treating the use and possession of all controlled substances as a public health matter. The body voted 6–3 in favor of the resolution, which says that the arrest and prosecution of people for possession, use, cultivation for personal use or sharing without compensation should be the lowest law enforcement priority for the city. “The opinion that we’re expressing here,” Councilor Anna Trevorrow said at the meeting, “is that use of psychedelic plants…

[ad_1] New Mexico’s legal marijuana retailers sold more than $47 million of combined adult-use and medical marijuana products in September, according to new data from the New Mexico Regulation & Licensing Department (RLD). While that marks a slight decline from the state’s $48 million monthly sales record set in August, the state has now reached the benchmark of half a billion dollars of recreational marijuana products being purchased since sales launched in April of last year. Since then, sales of adult-use marijuana have been generally increasing, while medical cannabis sales have been trending downward. New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department…

[ad_1] The chair of a New York Senate cannabis committee is inviting members of the public to apply to testify at an upcoming hearing on challenges facing the state’s legal marijuana industry. Members of the public interested in speaking at the October 30 meeting must fill out an online witness request form, Sen. Jeremy Cooney (D) announced on Monday. “The goal of this hearing is to solicit feedback from a diverse cohort of individuals involved in the adult-use space,” Cooney, who was appointed to lead the Senate’s first-ever cannabis committee earlier this year, said in a press release. “I believe…

[ad_1] The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) launched a new podcast last week about the future of veteran health care, and the first episode of the series focuses on the healing potential of psychedelics. Hosted by VA Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal, episode one of the New Horizons in Health podcast featured discussion from two other VA doctors—Ilse Weichers, executive director of the Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, and Joshua Woolley, whom the department describes as one of its “leading researchers on psilocybin-assisted therapies in San Francisco.” The three were joined by Jonathan Lubecky, a Marine…

[ad_1] A federal lawsuit is stepping up pressure on the U.S. Health and Human Services Department (HHS) to release a letter at the center of the Biden administration’s recent recommendation that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reschedule marijuana. A complaint filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., by attorney Matthew Zorn says the letter “has become an item of public interest” and asks the court to compel HHS to release what the suit calls “improperly held agency records.” The existence of the ostensible rescheduling recommendation letter, from HHS Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine to DEA Administrator Anne…

[ad_1] The physician advocacy group long known as Doctors for Cannabis Regulation (DFCR) has rebranded itself to reflect a growing focus on “a wider range of drug policy issues beyond cannabis,” including psychedelics and broader harm reduction matters. Its new name is Doctors for Drug Policy Reform (D4DPR), leaders announced on Monday—a change members didn’t take lightly. While individual doctors affiliated with DFCR have long been active on other drug-reform issues, the group as a whole has constrained itself almost exclusively to marijuana. “As an organization we have been very careful to stay to our mission,” Byron Adinoff, the group’s…

[ad_1] The era of pre-employment marijuana screenings for most would-be state workers in Michigan officially came to a close on Sunday as a code change approved in July took effect. The change is the result of an amendment unanimously approved in July by the Michigan Civil Service Commission, which also gives people who’ve already been penalized over positive THC tests an opportunity to have the sanction retroactively rescinded. Commission Chair Jase Bolger said at the time that the intention is to treat cannabis more like alcohol. A person who either “overindulges in alcohol” or uses marijuana on a Friday night…