Author: Marijuana Moment

[ad_1] “We still need to consider the caregiver being allowed to administer the product on the premises, but I don’t know how that’s going to be worded.” By Alander Rocha, Alabama Reflector The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC) approved a set of rules Thursday for public comment to safeguard patients’ access to medical cannabis while they are in a medical facility. The proposed rules would ease licensing requirements for “professional caregivers,” or someone “whose career is to assist another person in a way that enables them to live as independently as possible,” according to the current AMCC rules, by applying…

[ad_1] “I think you need to get it right but I think timeliness is critical.” By Peter Callaghan, MinnPost Minnesota state cannabis regulators think a key to getting the state’s program up and running by next spring is a lottery. Not THE lottery, as in the Minnesota state lottery. But a similarly random method for deciding which applicants receive the first licenses to open stores, build large grow operations or create the combination enterprises known as cannabis microbusinesses and cannabis mezzobusinesses. While the method in current law—deciding which applicants win licenses based on how many points they accumulate—might be just…

[ad_1] “This is going to cause a lot of folks to probably avoid the program altogether.” By Alexander Lekhtman, Filter On March 12, legislation that would impose multiple barriers on medical marijuana access in Kentucky passed through the House and on to the Senate. Among other stipulations, the proposed bill would make many people convicted of drug possession ineligible for the state’s medical marijuana program. House Bill 829 would require prospective patients pass background checks before they can be issued a medical marijuana card. It would further require them to meet with a pharmacist before they can buy medical marijuana…

[ad_1] “This is Attorney General Mayes giving the marijuana industry something that the legislature would not.” By Jim Small, Arizona Mirror Arizona law bars the sale of “diet weed” products like delta-8 THC in smoke shops and convenience stores, Attorney General Kris Mayes said. But proponents of the hemp industry say the effect of a formal legal opinion that Mayes issued Monday goes far beyond the hemp-based intoxicants and will likely also sweep up the entirety of the CBD marketplace in Arizona, barring sales of products used to improve sleep and reduce body aches and pains. And it may prompt litigation aimed…

[ad_1] “It gets to what we needed to do. To make sure THC drinks are treated the same way as intoxicating beverages are treated.” By Peter Callaghan, MinnPost The law was confusing enough—and troubling enough—that some bars and restaurants decided it was safer to keep hemp-derived beverages off the menu. At issue was a provision in the state’s recreational marijuana law signed last May that would have prohibited bar servers from selling a patron alcohol and THC beverages in the same five-hour period. The first confusion was over when bars would start enforcing the “five-hour rule.” Some thought immediately after…

[ad_1] “We are starting to contact retailers as we speak to talk about inspections.” By Peter Callaghan, MinnPost It has been an open question—until now—whether registered hemp retailers in Minnesota are selling raw cannabis flower that crosses the line between legal hemp and illegal marijuana. Marijuana use is legal in Minnesota, but legal sales haven’t started yet outside of tribal reservations. That means a raw cannabis flower purchased in the Twin Cities that recently tested above the legal limit isn’t supposed to be sold in the state. Because of a gap in the state’s new recreational cannabis law, no state…

[ad_1] “The hemp product is so closely related to cannabis that it would probably benefit us and the consumers if we had the Cannabis Control Commission somehow involved.” By Bhaamati Borkhetaria, CommonWealth Beacon Beacon Hill is waking up to a regulatory loophole that has allowed hemp drinks and gummies with intoxicating doses of THC—the same high-inducing ingredient found in cannabis—to show up in liquor stores, smoke shops and restaurants across Massachusetts. At a legislative hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Michael Moore (D-Millbury) asked the commissioner of the state Department of Agriculture Resources what she was doing about the spread of these…

[ad_1] The medical cannabis expansion legislation comes as lawmakers are also considering broader recreational marijuana legalization. By Ethan DeWitt, New Hampshire Bulletin The New Hampshire House approved a group of bills expanding the state’s therapeutic cannabis program Thursday—as lawmakers continue to grapple with whether to legalize marijuana for everyone. The chamber voted to pass House Bill 1278, a bill to add debilitating or terminal conditions to the list of qualifications for using therapeutic cannabis, also known as medical marijuana. In a separate vote, the House approved House Bill 1349, which allows those with generalized anxiety disorder to be part of the therapeutic…

[ad_1] “As governor, my focus is on implementation.” By Ben Botkin, Julia Shumway and Lynne Terry, Oregon Capital Chronicle Gov. Tina Kotek (D) said she plans to sign the centerpiece bill that lawmakers passed in response to the state’s soaring drug addiction and fentanyl overdoses. House Bill 4002, a compromise proposal that won bipartisan support, will recriminalize possession of small amounts of hard drugs, reversing part of Measure 110, which voters approved in 2020. The bill has provisions to offer drug users multiple opportunities to enter treatment after an encounter with a police officer. “Finally, reforms to Measure 110 will…

[ad_1] “Appellants did not complete all the application requirements, and the state government should not be in the business of hand holding sophisticated entities.” By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent The Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday in a case marijuana regulators say could force them to issue “dozens” of new licenses to grow, sell and distribute cannabis products above the state’s self-imposed caps. Mo Cann Do Inc. applied for a cultivation license to grow marijuana in 2019. The company was denied when the state said it didn’t include a certification of good standing from the Missouri Secretary of State’s office…

[ad_1] “As those great philosophers Tommy Chong and Cheech Marin would say, ‘It’s up in smoke.’” By Graham Moomaw, Virginia Mercury Hopes that Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) might sign a bill legalizing retail sales of marijuana in Virginia faded fast this week as Democrats blocked one of the governor’s top priorities: the plan to bring a professional sports arena to Northern Virginia. As recently as Wednesday, according to multiple Capitol sources, the cannabis bill was being raised in closed-door budget talks with the governor as one of several Democratic priorities that could conceivably have been part of a package deal…

[ad_1] “The Legislature’s lawmaking authority is not subject to the governor’s whims, invented loopholes, or gamesmanship.  Despite the Governor’s repeated attempts to avoid responsibility, today’s order requires that he play by the same constitutional rules as everybody else.” By Blair Miller and Keila Szpaller, Daily Montanan The Montana Legislature needs an opportunity—“without further delay”—to override Gov. Greg Gianforte’s (R) veto of a 2023 bill that redistributed marijuana funds, a judge said Tuesday in response to the governor’s request to stop the court’s earlier order. Lewis and Clark District Court Judge Mike Menahan also said Gianforte and the secretary of state…