Author: Marijuana Moment
[ad_1] Rules are beginning to loosen, with changes in tax policy, relaxed standards on edibles, drive-up windows and other moves either already in effect or on the horizon. By James Brooks, Alaska Beacon Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom (R) has signed new regulations that allow the state’s legal marijuana businesses to advertise more widely and to distribute free samples of marijuana at retail stores. The regulations, signed September 8, go into effect October 8 and are part of a broad wave of regulatory changes affecting the state’s marijuana industry. After Alaska legalized the cultivation and sale of marijuana for recreational…
[ad_1] At its core, the litigation is a fraud and legal malpractice lawsuit, but it also offers a window into the usually closed world of big marijuana business. By Hunter Field, Arkansas Advocate When Arkansas’s medical marijuana industry began five years ago, it was somewhat of an open secret that some of the Arkansans said to own the first dispensaries and growing facilities were fronts for out-of-state cannabis firms. Explosive new allegations in a pair of lawsuits, if proven true, lay bare how these arrangements worked to benefit outside corporations at the expense of state investors. That’s a big if,…
[ad_1] “Chemical conversion of CBD to produce THC can result in a product with harmful residual solvents, other harmful compounds, and even new compounds of unknown impact.” By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent The Missouri Division of Cannabis Regulation is responding to questions about the effectiveness of the software it uses to track information about marijuana products, including the results of state-mandated testing. In a guidance document issued last week, the agency addressed questions regarding testing regulations that cannabis businesses rely on to ensure product is safe—defending its protocols by arguing that regulations can only do so much when “bad actors”…
[ad_1] “We shouldn’t let the stigma from the 1960s and ’70s and the War on Drugs prevent us from exploring [something] that can truly help people achieve sustained relief.” By Alexander Lekhtman, Filter Pennsylvania state lawmakers are pushing for legislation that supports research on psilocybin mushrooms for mental health treatment. The bill comes amid a wave of psilocybin policy reform nationwide. Representative Jennifer O’Mara (D) and Senator Tracy Pennycuick (R) initially introduced House Bill 1959 in 2021. It was intended to support psilocybin clinical studies, regulated by the state health department under the authority of an institutional review board. It…
[ad_1] “Erin emerged early as a leading candidate as we considered a wide range of qualified individuals for this important new leadership role.” By Christopher Ingraham, Minnesota Reformer Gov. Tim Walz (D) has named Erin DuPree, a cannabis industry consultant who until recently ran an edible dispensary in Apple Valley, as the first leader of the state agency tasked with regulating the nascent marijuana industry. “With direct experience in Minnesota’s hemp and cannabis industry and over 20 years of success in launching, managing, and growing businesses and organizations, Erin DuPree is an outstanding choice to lead the Office of Cannabis…
[ad_1] “Illegal marijuana grows are responsible for an alarming influx of organized crime into our communities, particularly from Mexican drug cartels and Chinese crime syndicates.” By Carmen Forman, Oklahoma Voice Oklahoma’s attorney general is asking citizens to report suspected illegal marijuana grow operations to a new anonymous tipline as part of efforts to crack down on illicit drug activity. The tipline goes hand-in-hand with a new task force Attorney General Gentner Drummond (R) created to combat illegal marijuana grows across the state. Drummond on Wednesday announced the formation of the Organized Crime Task Force, which will work with the Oklahoma…
[ad_1] “Discussions [between lawyers] have not yielded any business that the Commission needs to consider at this time.” By Alander Rocha, Alabama Reflector The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC) and lawyers for companies that sued over the licensing process are continuing negotiations over a possible settlement. The AMCC canceled a scheduled Tuesday meeting after lawyers for both sides met on Friday to discuss the impasse that has prevented the commission from issuing licenses to companies awarded one. A statement posted to the AMCC website said that “discussions [between lawyers] have not yielded any business that the Commission needs to consider…
[ad_1] It will be up to police officers to determine when someone using drugs in public poses a threat of harm to others and the course of action to take. By Josh Cohen, Crosscut The Seattle City Council voted 6–3 Tuesday to align the city’s municipal code with a 2023 state law making public drug use and possession a gross misdemeanor and give the City Attorney’s Office authority to prosecute those crimes. Councilmembers Lisa Herbold, Andrew Lewis, Debora Juarez, Sara Nelson, Alex Pedersen and Dan Strauss voted in support. Councilmembers Tammy Morales, Teresa Mosqueda and Kshama Sawant voted against. Supporters…
[ad_1] “Unfortunately our numbers have gone way down… In 2018, everybody wanted to grow hemp.” By Merrilee Gasser, The Center Square Oklahoma legislators are studying whether industrial hemp production would benefit rural development in the state. Growing hemp became legal in Oklahoma after Congress passed the 2018 Farm Bill, which removed industrial hemp from the Controlled Substances Act’s classification of marijuana and declassified hemp as a Schedule I narcotic. While there was a lot of initial interest in 2018, Oklahoma has seen a decline in interest from potential growers since then, according to Kenny Naylor, the director of Consumer Affairs…
[ad_1] “As with everything, we want to do what Massachusetts did and patch it up and make it better.” By Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Current As the state’s newly-formed Cannabis Control Commission starts drafting regulations on Rhode Island’s budding recreational marijuana industry, a group of cannabis workers and advocates is already working to advance some recommendations of their own. Still wet from rain, a group of around 30 met at Hopkinton-based Lovewell Farms on Monday evening to focus on an aspect commissioners have promised to prioritize: social equity measures for prospective business owners most likely to have been impacted by the…
[ad_1] “I am sharing job opportunities constantly with the students, and the students are reporting back getting hired within the industry before even graduating the program.” By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent Karina Hernandez’s ideal work environment is surrounded by plants, with her hands in the dirt. Although she already has a biology degree, she recently decided to go back to school to take classes in horticulture at St. Louis Community College at Meramec, the state’s largest horticulture program. And she was surprised to see courses on hemp and cannabis cultivation on the list. On the first day of her introduction…
[ad_1] “We are all in survival mode, and we are coming together to share our pain with you.” By James Brooks, Alaska Beacon In an unusual offseason hearing, a committee of the Alaska Legislature considered a proposal on Friday that could lower the state tax on marijuana sold in the state. House Bill 119, considered Friday by the House Labor and Commerce Committee, would shift the state’s marijuana tax system from a tax per ounce to a sales tax. The state’s marijuana industry says the change is desperately needed to help marijuana businesses compete with the state’s black market. “This…