Author: Chris Roberts

[ad_1] Florida voters will likely see marijuana legalization on their presidential election ballots this fall, Gov. Ron DeSantis suggested. The Florida state Supreme Court is currently weighing a constitutional challenge brought by the DeSantis administration against a campaign to legalize marijuana for adults 21 and over in the state, currently the largest medical marijuana market in the country. A ruling is pending. But while wrapping up his failed presidential election bid in New Hampshire, DeSantis told a marijuana lobbyist that the legalization measure will “be on the ballot,” according to Marijuana Moment. “I think the court is going to approve…

[ad_1] Virginia lawmakers this week resumed their quest to legalize adult-use marijuana retail operations in their state, the largest to legalize use and possession without also launching sales. Meanwhile, elected representatives in West Virginia reintroduced a recreational marijuana legalization proposal. In Virginia, state Sens. Adam Ebbin and Aaron Rouse introduced a bill that would allow for adult-use sales to begin in the state in 2025. It’s similar to an effort that failed last year. And the familiar standoff between Virginia’s Democratic lawmakers, who control both chambers of the General Assembly, and Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin remains. Virginia legalized adult-use cannabis…

[ad_1] The Biden administration’s push to reclassify marijuana under federal law would not by itself open the door for pharmaceutical companies to seize control of the $34 billion legal U.S. cannabis industry. But moving marijuana from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3 would – as has been widely reported – promise tax relief to legal marijuana businesses, a report released Tuesday by the Congressional Research Service confirms. Beyond that, for the U.S. cannabis industry’s status quo to drastically change, Congress would need to take further action or the U.S. Department of Justice would have to launch a legal but unprecedented and…

[ad_1] State-regulated medical cannabis programs and illicit users are at least in part to thank for the Biden administration’s recommendation that marijuana be moved from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3 of the Controlled Substances Act. Federal health authorities who recommended rescheduling cannabis also concurred with one of marijuana advocates’ core arguments: Compared to other widely available and abused substances – namely, alcohol – cannabis is safer, if not harmless. The significance of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ 252-page memo to the Drug Enforcement Administration – released Friday – and how the HHS reached its conclusion is profound,…

[ad_1] The Biden administration on late Friday released the unredacted exchange between federal authorities recommending marijuana be rescheduled. “After assessing all available preclinical, clinical and epidemiological data, FDA recommends that marijuana be rescheduled from Schedule I into Schedule III of the CSA,” the Department of Health and Human Services wrote to the Drug Enforcement Administration. “Schedule III drugs are classified as having a potential for abuse less than the drugs or other substances in (Schedules) I and II, a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence that may…

[ad_1] The Biden administration’s push to move marijuana to Schedule 3 of the Controlled Substances Act now has the support of 12 state attorneys general. The AGs, all of whom represent states with legal adult-use and/or medical marijuana markets, sent a letter to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration chief Anne Milgram on Friday to “encourage” the DEA to concur with federal health officials’ August recommendation to reschedule the drug. “We see this as a public safety imperative and write in support of this policy change,” the attorneys general wrote, according to a copy of the letter posted online by Colorado Attorney…

[ad_1] If legal California cannabis businesses teetering under the weight of heavy taxes will see any relief this year, it’s unlikely to come from the governor. In the past, Gov. Gavin Newsom has cut taxes for marijuana operators in the state, signing a 2022 budget that eliminated California’s cultivation tax and capped the excise tax at 15% for three years. But this year, Newsom is tasked with closing a $38 billion budget deficit. And, to do that, he is banking on revenue from marijuana taxes, which is projected to exceed $1 billion for the 2023 calendar year once final figures…

[ad_1] Connecticut’s attorney general filed civil lawsuits against seven businesses accused of selling “potent, illicit” marijuana products without proper state licenses. The Tuesday announcement by AG William Tong comes on the heels of a record month of legal cannabis sales in the state. According to the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, the state’s cannabis industry reported $27.5 million in combined recreational and medical marijuana sales in December. It’s the highest monthly total since the state launched adult-use sales in January 2023. Combined sales for all of 2023 topped $274 million, the agency said Wednesday. Despite such impressive sales numbers, the illicit…

[ad_1] Six more licensed California cannabis labs are now compliant with new state rules and allowed to resume testing flower and non-infused pre-rolls. The Tuesday announcement by the state’s Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) comes only days after the agency said that less than one-third of the state’s 37 licensed cannabis testing labs began the new year allowed to test products in those two categories. That’s because, at that time, only 12 labs had submitted paperwork verifying compliance with new rules imposing a standardized testing method for THC. Since then, an additional six labs have “demonstrated verification of the standardized…

[ad_1] A federal court in Washington state has rejected a cannabis entrepreneur’s initial effort to upend the market’s marijuana social equity program. And U.S. District Judge Tiffany Cartwright hinted in her Jan. 5 ruling that a constitutional challenge to social equity programs and preferential licensing similar to other actions that’s wreaked havoc in legal markets such as California and New York is likely to ultimately fail in Washington state. Those challenges were launched by Kenneth Gay, a self-identified Michigan resident with a below-median income and a marijuana charge in his home state on his record. Companies affiliated with Gay have filed for…

[ad_1] Republicans in the Wisconsin State Assembly introduced a medical marijuana legalization proposal that offers limited business opportunities. Only nonsmokable marijuana would be available to seriously ill state residents with either a terminal diagnosis or a chronic health condition, the Associated Press reported. Regulated cannabis would be dispensed by pharmacists and sold only at five “state-run dispensaries,” according to sponsors who introduced the legislation Monday. And that’s as far as the Republicans who control the state Legislature are willing to go for now, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said. Wisconsin is one of two states in the Great Lakes region without…

[ad_1] Fewer than one-third of California’s 37 licensed cannabis testing laboratories began the new year permitted to test marijuana flower and non-infused pre-rolls, state regulators told MJBizDaily. That’s because only 12 labs are currently compliant with a recent state law imposing standardized methods to test for THC potency, according to the California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC). Any labs that tested flower while not in compliance could face consequences, an agency spokesperson said. Observers are hopeful that a standardized method for determining THC content will help control what many industry insiders believe is a longstanding and widespread problem with THC…