Author: Chris Roberts

[ad_1] (This story is part of the cover package in the March-April issue of MJBizMagazine.) Hemp drinks are big business in the United States and poised to grow even bigger. Mary Bernuth wants in, and she’s not alone. Thanks to the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill, hemp-based products are at least quasi-legal across the United States – and, unlike marijuana, they’re shippable across state lines. Companies big and small are betting on hemp-derived drinks becoming the next big thing for health-conscious, smoke-wary consumers. Bernuth’s Pharos Brands was one of 30 hemp-derived THC beverage companies at the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America’s January expo…

[ad_1] Georgia is set to prohibit sales of hemp-derived cannabinoid products to anyone younger than 21, including goods containing CBD as well as intoxicating, synthetically derived cannabinoids such as delta-8 THC and delta-9 THC. The new age restrictions for consumers – as well as new registration and testing requirements for hemp cultivators and producers – are part of a bill passed by the state General Assembly. The so-called Georgia Hemp Farming Act, titled Senate Bill 494, now heads to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp to be signed into law. Lawmakers in Georgia have sought to regulate hemp-derived products in the state…

[ad_1] The soonest Kansas could legalize a medical marijuana program is now 2025. The Republican-controlled state Senate voted Thursday to punt a restrictive MMJ legalization proposal to next year’s legislative session, Topeka TV station KSNT reported. Kansas is one of only 10 states in the U.S. without access to either legal medical or adult-use cannabis. Senate Bill 555, introduced last month, would have created a five-year pilot program to allow very ill people access to limited MMJ products. Popular products such as smokable flower, vaporizer cartridges and flavored edibles would have all been banned. That was still too much for…

[ad_1] Did you miss the webinar “Women Leaders in Cannabis: Shattering the Grass Ceiling?” Head to MJBiz YouTube to watch it now! (Photo by Felix Mizioznikov/stock.adobe.com) (This is a developing story, so please check back for updates.) Florida is poised to become the next state to legalize adult-use marijuana. The state Supreme Court ruled Monday afternoon that an industry-funded ballot initiative will appear on state voters’ November ballots. Attorneys for state Attorney General Ashley Moody had argued the Smart & Safe Florida initiative was misleading to voters. They also argued that it would unfairly entrench the market dominance of Tallahassee-based…

[ad_1] As was widely expected, Virginia’s Republican governor vetoed a bill that would have finally legalized adult-use marijuana sales in the state. “The proposed legalization of retail marijuana in the Commonwealth endangers Virginians’ health and safety,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a statement announcing his Thursday veto, adding that other states that have legalized recreational cannabis sales are following a “failed path.” “States following this path have seen adverse effects on children’s and adolescent’s health and safety, increased gang activity and violent crime, significant deterioration in mental health, decreased road safety, and significant costs associated with retail marijuana that far…

[ad_1] Minnesota cannabis operators could sell low-THC beverages on tap if changes made this week to the state’s 2023 adult-use marijuana law are finalized. Though Native American tribes in Minnesota started selling recreational products in August, the state’s full adult-use market isn’t expected to open until early 2025 as lawmakers continue to debate edits to the legislation. Among the tweaks approved by the state House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee on Wednesday: Allowing popular low-THC beverages derived from hemp to be sold on tap as well as at liquor stores. Awarding social equity licenses via a “vetted lottery” rather than…

[ad_1] Moving marijuana to Schedule 3 of the Controlled Substances Act, as Biden administration health officials have recommended, violates U.S. promises to other countries. That’s what three Republican U.S. senators – led by former presidential nominee Mitt Romney of Utah – told U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration chief Anne Milgram on Wednesday. President Joe Biden’s October 2022 directive to reexamine marijuana’s status under federal law led to an August 2023 recommendation by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to downgrade the drug from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3. But doing so – according to the letter from Sens. Romney,…

[ad_1] Cookies, the most recognizable brand in cannabis, traces its origins to San Francisco and the pre-legalization marijuana underground in the city that’s considered by many to be the birthplace of the legal industry in America. But as of earlier this year, there is no longer a Cookies-branded marijuana store in San Francisco. The brand terminated the licensing agreement it had with Berner’s on Haight, an adult-use store that’s borne the name of the Cookies co-founder since 2020, company President Parker Berling told MJBizDaily. Exactly what happened is still a mystery, as the involved parties are not discussing details publicly.…

[ad_1] Congressional Republicans should oppose marijuana reform, including banking protections, because MJ is a “dangerous, addictive … gateway drug,” according to a GOP policy memo. The memorandum recommends that Republicans vote no on cannabis banking reform as well as the CURE Act, which would prevent denial of federal security clearances for past marijuana use. The memo was published in February but first reported Monday by Marijuana Moment. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives could be asked to consider marijuana reform bills such as the SAFER Banking Act, which passed out of Democrat-controlled Congress seven times. If that bill does make it…

[ad_1] South Dakota legalization advocates will try for a third time to put adult-use marijuana on voters’ ballots. The campaign, South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws, has until May 7 to collect 12,500 signatures from registered voters to qualify to appear on the 2024 presidential ballot in November, according to Sioux Falls-based TV station KELO. South Dakota voters have approved adult-use legalization once before. A successful 2020 ballot initiative campaign was later overturned by the state Supreme Court, thanks in part to challenges from Republican Gov. Kristi Noem. Low turnout – and the vocal opposition from Noem and other statewide…

[ad_1] New York regulators on Friday approved 114 more adult-use marijuana licenses, but illicit stores continue to outnumber legal operators by nearly 24-to-1. Estimates vary as to how many unlicensed cannabis sellers there are in New York. But according to figures obtained by The New York Times, there are at least 2,000 illicit operators in the state. Conversely, 87 licensed marijuana retailers are open for business in the state, according to the latest Office of Cannabis Management data. And of those, 10 are delivery-only, the OCM data shows. Of the 114 licenses approved by the Cannabis Control Board (CCB) on…

[ad_1] President Joe Biden’s revolutionary proposal to move marijuana to Schedule 3 of the Controlled Substances Act might mean the end of more than 50 years of “failed policy” as well as new opportunities in science and business. But such a move wouldn’t change the federal government’s classification of psilocybin as more dangerous than the fentanyl fueling the country’s overdose crisis. Psilocybin – the psychoactive ingredient in so-called magic mushrooms – is another increasingly popular drug with tremendous therapeutic potential and virtually no potential for fatal overdoses. Rescheduling mushrooms The Controlled Substances Act still classifies psilocybin mushrooms as a Schedule…