Author: Melissa Schiller

[ad_1] Maine officials recently conducted audit testing of 120 samples from the state’s medical cannabis program and found that 50 of them—or 42%—were contaminated with mold, pesticides, heavy metals and more. While testing is voluntary in Maine’s Medical Use of Cannabis Program (MMCP), the report resulting from the audit conducted by the Office of Cannabis Policy (OCP) revealed that nearly half of the samples tested would have resulted in failed tests under mandatory testing standards in Maine’s adult-use market. Some of the 120 samples failed testing for more than one contaminant, while some failed for multiple contaminants. Thirty individual samples…

[ad_1] In the wake of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommending that cannabis be reclassified as a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., is calling on the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to do just that.Gillibrand announced Nov. 17 that she sent a letter to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram, urging her to consider rescheduling cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III.“While I continue to believe that marijuana should be descheduled entirely, I am urging the DEA to, at a minimum, consider rescheduling it from Schedule I to a Schedule…

[ad_1] Lawmakers sent a letter to federal officials Nov. 14 requesting that they update “out-of-date” guidance on providing banking tools to cannabis business owners convicted of past cannabis-related crimes.The letter, sent by a group of 20 Democratic members of the House and Senate to the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), references FinCEN’s 2014 guidance that the lawmakers said “unnecessarily” red flags businesses whose owners have been convicted of cannabis crimes that are no longer criminalized at the state level.The guidance, titled “BSA Expectations Regarding Marijuana-Related Businesses,” directs financial institutions to consider various “red…

[ad_1] Pennsylvania is one step closer to allowing all 25 of its medical cannabis grower/processor licensees to also obtain retail licenses after the House passed Senate-approved legislation that would remove a restriction in the state’s 2016 medical cannabis law that allows only five grower/processor licensees to be fully vertically integrated. Senate Bill 773 passed the Senate in September in a 44-3 vote. The House then approved a slightly revised version of the legislation Nov. 15 in a 114-89 vote. RELATED: Pennsylvania Senate Approves Legislation to Allow All Medical Cannabis Growers to Sell Directly to Patients The bill, introduced in June…

[ad_1] The University of Minnesota School of Public Health (SPH) announced Nov. 16 the opening of a Cannabis Research Center (CRC) that will help evaluate the public health impacts of adult-use legalization and inform future cannabis policy in the state.Minnesota became the 23rd state to legalize adult-use cannabis when Gov. Tim Walz signed a legalization measure into law in May.The law called for the establishment of an Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) by July 1, 2023. The office is responsible for overseeing Minnesota’s forthcoming adult-use cannabis program, as well as the state’s existing medical cannabis and hemp programs.RELATED: Minnesota Governor Withdraws…

[ad_1] Germany’s adult-use cannabis legalization bill, which was expected to pass the Bundestag and take effect before the end of the year, will not receive a vote until December. Bundestag member Carmen Wegge, of the Social Democratic Party, wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the legislation “will be decided in December. This means that we are not keeping to the schedule. I know this is a huge disappointment for many. That’s why this decision wasn’t easy for anyone. However, well-designed improvements are in all of our interests.” While it remains to be seen what final…

[ad_1] A rejected applicant has sued the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC) over the process it used to award business licenses and has asked a judge to issue a temporary restraining order on licensing—just days after the AMCC itself issued a stay to pause the medical cannabis business licensing process due to concerns over how the applications were scored.Alabama Always LLC filed the lawsuit June 22 in Montgomery Circuit Court, according to the Alabama Political Reporter.Alabama Always was one of many applicants denied a license after the AMCC voted at its June 12 meeting to issue the first batch of licenses to…