Author: Ben Adlin

[ad_1] A center-right think tank is raising alarm about a Colorado bill that it says would make it illegal to talk positively about marijuana online. The prohibition would also apply to many hemp products as well as some federally legal pharmaceuticals. Among other provisions, SB24-158—a broad proposal around internet age verification and content policies—would require social media platforms to immediately remove any user “who promotes, sells, or advertises an illicit substance.” The bill’s definition of illicit substance includes not only illegal drugs but also many that are legal and regulated in Colorado. It pertains to any controlled substance under state…

[ad_1] A panel of Vermont lawmakers moved forward with planned amendments to a psychedelics bill on Friday, scaling back a proposal that originally would have legalized possession and use of psilocybin in the state to instead merely establish a working group that would study whether and how to allow therapeutic access to psychedelics. The Senate Health and Welfare Committee approved the modifications, which members first floated earlier this month, and voted 3–2 to advance the amended measure, S. 114. Members spent no time Friday discussing the pivot away from decriminalization, instead going over changes to the makeup of the would-be…

[ad_1] Second Amendment advocates are criticizing a pair of recent developments around marijuana and firearms—issues they say underscore the need for further reform. Last month during a routine audit of a gun dealer, a federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigator reportedly ordered the store to stop the sale of a pistol because the investigator claimed the would-be buyer smelled of marijuana. “I wasn’t high,” the prospective buyer told the Second Amendment Foundation, according to the outlet Ammoland, which referred to the individual only as Daniel. “None of this makes any sense to me.” Daniel had already…

[ad_1] In a new federal court filing, lawyers for a group of marijuana companies argue that ongoing broad cannabis prohibition has “no rational basis,” pointing to the government’s largely hands-off approach to the recent groundswell of state-level legalization. The lawsuit alleges that while Congress’s original intent in banning marijuana through the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) was to eradicate illicit interstate commerce, lawmakers and the executive branch have since abandoned that mission as more states have moved to regulate the drug. “Dozens of states have implemented programs to legalize and regulate medical or adult use marijuana,” the new filing from the…

[ad_1] Lawmakers at a joint legislative hearing in Hawaii’s House of Representatives have advanced a Senate-passed bill that would legalize and regulate adult-use marijuana. The proposal, SB 3335, would allow adults 21 and older to possess up to an ounce of marijuana and up to five grams of cannabis concentrates and would establish a framework for licensed, regulated sales. The Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee approved the measure with a 7-3 vote on Wednesday, while the Agriculture and Food Systems Committee advanced it on a 5-1 tally. “I am really trying to follow the lead of the attorney general to…

[ad_1] Officials in Illinois voted this week to add female orgasmic disorder as a new qualifying condition for medical marijuana, Known as FOD, the condition is also being weighed as a possible way for patients to qualify for medical cannabis in other states, including Ohio, New Mexico and Connecticut. In order to be formally enacted, the Illinois Medical Cannabis Advisory Board’s new recommendation will need to be approved by the state Department of Health. Gabriella Bova, an Illinois resident who submitted the petition to add FOD to the list of qualifying conditions, told the panel at a meeting on Monday…

[ad_1] A House committee in Alaska held a hearing Thursday on a bill to create a state task force that would study how to license and regulate psychedelic-assisted therapy—a plan supporters say will help prepare the state for the forthcoming federal approval of substances such as MDMA and psilocybin. At the meeting of the House State Affairs Committee, the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Jennie Armstrong (D) told members that given federal Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) likely sign-off on psychedelic-assisted therapy, it’s important that Alaska be prepared at the state level. “The state has to do this work anyway,” she said.…

[ad_1] As the sponsor of a bill to legalize marijuana in New Hampshire that has already won initial House approval works to tailor her proposal to better fit the demands of a skeptical Gov. Chris Sununu (R), a senator who led an ill-fated study commission on cannabis legalization last year is offering an alternative legalization plan. At a hearing of a House Finance Committee panel on Wednesday, lawmakers considered not only the new changes from the legalization bill’s sponsor, Rep. Erica Layon (R), but also a franchise-based alternative put forward by Sen. Daryl Abbas (R). Both sets of changes are…

[ad_1] Though a bill to legalize and regulate retail cannabis sales in Virginia has been passed by the legislature and is now awaiting action by Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), supportive lawmakers now say they believe it is unlikely the proposal will become law this session. Reached for comment on Wednesday, the legislation’s sponsor in the House, Del. Paul Krizek (D), told Marijuana Moment that from the governor’s statements in the press, “it seems pretty clear that he is not a fan of a legally regulated retail market.” “He even said something to the effect that that he would not want…

[ad_1] A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Psychology looked at pairs of twins in an effort to untangle the relationship between psychedelic use and psychotic or manic symptoms in young people, concluding—contrary to popular fears—that use of psychedelics “may be associated with lower rates of psychotic symptoms among adolescents.” Manic symptoms, meanwhile, were linked to psychedelic use, but that appeared to be due to genetic predisposition. “Psychedelic use was associated with more manic symptoms for individuals with a higher genetic vulnerability to schizophrenia or bipolar I disorder than in individuals with a lower…

[ad_1] Since Massachusetts first opened its adult-use cannabis market, licensed retailers have sold more than $7 billion in legal medical and recreational marijuana, according to numbers from the state’s Cannabis Control Commission (CCC). The price per gram of legal marijuana, meanwhile, continues to fall to record lows. The sales milestone—roughly $7.05 billion—includes $5.81 billion in recreational purchases since adult-use sales began in late 2018 as well as $1.24 billion worth of medical marijuana receipts over the same time period. CCC’s sales data for the medical market extends back only to December 2018, when the commission assumed oversight of the system.…

[ad_1] A Hawaii Senate panel has significantly scaled back a measure that—as passed by the House last week—would have directed the state to automatically expunge tens of thousands of arrest and conviction records for low-level marijuana possession, amending the proposal to instead limit the relief  to a one-county pilot program. The move comes as lawmakers in the state are also advancing separate legislation that would legalize cannabis. “Instead of the bill’s statewide automatic expungement program for arrests and convictions,” said Sen. Karl Rhodes (D), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said at a hearing onTuesday, “I propose that we adopt…