Author: Marijuana Moment

[ad_1] “What’s actually happening is the prohibitionist conversation is happening as a reaction to the irresponsible sale of these drugs.” By David Abbott, Arizona Mirror Arizona legislators introduced more than a dozen bills focused on amending marijuana laws this year, but just five are left standing as lawmakers have passed the midpoint of their annual session. Remaining bills run the gamut from advertising restrictions to addressing the failures of the social equity program to regulating hemp production. Hemp battle continues In addition to its industrial use for products like rope and fabric, hemp is also a source for cannabinoids, including…

[ad_1] “The Florida Legislature is well on its way to eliminating several beneficial hemp and CBD products, ending Florida’s hemp industry as we know it.” By Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix The Florida Legislature has approved a bill to regulate hemp-derived products in the state and eliminate delta-8 THC, which is banned in 17 states and severely restricted in seven more—though it is a popular item sold in retail establishments and people have used it for chronic illnesses. Both chambers approved the legislation on Wednesday. The Florida Senate passed the measure (SB 1698), sponsored by Polk County Republican Colleen Burton, unanimously, 39-0.…

[ad_1] “Appellants’ declaration that they brought this suit to ‘promote the public health, safety, morals, and general welfare’ confirms that their claim to standing reduces to their abstract policy disagreement with CREAMMA.” By Sophie Nieto-Munoz, New Jersey Monitor A group of New Jersey residents is waging a legal battle against a Middlesex County borough over the town’s approval of cannabis sales, a fight the state Attorney General’s Office says could improperly nullify the state’s marijuana legalization law. The anti-cannabis group—seven Highland Park residents and a group called Cannabis Industry Victims Educating Litigators—say the town’s leaders are violating federal law by…

[ad_1] “We now have here in Arizona a situation where 24 of 26 of these social equity licenses are now fully controlled by companies or people who do not belong in these special groups to get this license.” By Natasha Yee, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting Arizona lawmakers are pushing to return social equity licenses for marijuana dispensaries to their original owners, alleging private investors and cannabis corporations used predatory tactics to seize control of nearly all the lucrative licenses. Senate Bill 1262, introduced by Republican Sen. Sonny Borrelli, seeks to restore power to those the state’s social equity program…

[ad_1] “We need to put a stake in the heart of the decriminalization because it is not compassionate to say, ‘Drugs are a choice and it’s OK if you make that choice.’” By Ben Botkin, Oregon Capital Chronicle The Legislature’s proposal to overhaul the state’s response to the fentanyl addiction and overdose crisis cleared a major hurdle on Friday with passage by the Senate. The bipartisan vote of 21-8 came a day after a similar 51-7 endorsement in the House, making the end of a long legislative journey that started last fall. House Bill 4002 now goes to Gov. Tina Kotek’s (D) office for…

[ad_1] “That’s the judge’s discretion, and I hate to keep taking judges’ discretion away from them.” By Clark Corbin, Idaho Capital Sun The Idaho House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee voted Thursday to hold a bill in committee that would have created a new $420 mandatory minimum fine for marijuana possession. The committee’s vote prevented House Bill 606 from advancing to the floor of the Idaho House of Representatives for a vote, likely killing the bill for the year. If the bill would have passed into law, it would have created a mandatory minimum fine of $420 for anyone convicted of possessing less…

[ad_1] “Criminalization for drug addiction is not the answer. I fear it may be taking a step backward.” By Ben Botkin, Oregon Capital Chronicle The Oregon House on Thursday passed a proposal to reshape the state’s response to the fentanyl addiction and overdose crisis and put more power in the hands of police and prosecutors to rein in drug users. The bipartisan vote of 51-7 kicks House Bill 4002 to the Senate, the last step in a long legislative process that started last fall. The bill would unwind voter-passed Measure 110 by putting in place a new misdemeanor charge for drug possession, a…

[ad_1] “These piecemeal approaches are only going to cause a lot of victimization, frankly, for those who are falsely accused.” By Sophie Nieto-Munoz, New Jersey Monitor Cannabis experts are concerned about a lawmaker’s attempt to require motorists suspected of driving under the influence of marijuana to provide a blood sample to police. Critics of the recently introduced bill say it would not only give police more power that would likely be wielded disproportionately against people of color, but they also argue the testing methods called for in the bill don’t even work. Joshua Bachner, a cannabis attorney at law firm Mandelbaum…

[ad_1] “There’s a bill being worked on that should be introduced here in the next week or two. I’m being told it has all these conservative features.” By Time Carpenter, Kansas Reflector The Kansas House calmly went through the motions of passing a bill making certain the state’s list of controlled substances was compliant with federal law when Wichita Democratic Rep. Silas Miller stepped forward with an amendment to delist marijuana entirely. It was like a shot of adrenaline to the heart in the House chamber as Democrats rallied to Miller’s quest to end the listing of cannabis as a…

[ad_1] “Marijuana possession? Nope, we’re just not doing it. Our law enforcement partners have pretty much accepted that.” By Blaise Mesa, The Kansas City Beacon More than 1 million Kansans live within an hour’s drive of Missouri and its dispensaries selling legal cannabis at seemingly every strip mall. Yet even with that new, easy access to legal weed, fewer people face arrest in Kansas on marijuana charges. Prosecutors and police remain obliged to enforce the state’s prohibition on cannabis—Kansas is one of only 11 states that outlaw marijuana even for medical purposes—but generally make it less of a priority. So,…

[ad_1] “We always want to tout that our state is open for business, until we don’t like that business.” By John Hult, South Dakota Searchlight The state Senate has voted to pass the original, stricter version of a ban on the widely available, hemp-derived “diet weed” products that induce highs similar to marijuana. House Bill 1125 had originally targeted a wide swath of products. The gummies, vape pens, pre-rolled joints and smokable flowers can be produced using high concentrations of the psychoactive chemicals present in minuscule amounts in industrial hemp, or using synthetically derived versions of those same chemicals. The…

[ad_1] “California is less than a $5 billion market today (and shrinking). The state has, by far, the lowest per capita sales of any mature cannabis market.” By Hirsh Jain, Ananda Strategy In late February, well into the seventh year of adult-use cannabis sales in California, the Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) announced to some fanfare that it had launched a set of “interactive data dashboards,” which it said would allow the public to view information on harvests, retail prices, sales and licensing in the state’s cannabis market. Following a private DCC briefing with cannabis industry reporters, some reported that…