Tag: legalized marijuana

Portland Baseball Team Becomes First Sports Team to Legally Sell THC Products During Games

The Portland Pickles baseball organization will become the first sports team in the United States to sell marijuana-based products during a live sporting event legally.

In an announcement, the Pickles revealed they have a new partnership with Cycling Frog, which sells THC-based seltzer drinks.

The team will start selling the THC-based seltzer drinks at their stadium on June 18th.

According to Oregon Live, the Seltzer drink contains 2MG of THC and 4MG of CBG and is available in lemon and passion fruit flavors.

Ross Campbell, the Pickles’ VP of Business Development, said, “The Portland Pickles have a responsibility in the sports industry to take leaps and set a precedent of innovative partnerships.”

Fans who want to purchase the drink must be over 21.

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Congressman Seeks To Block Feds From Seizing Marijuana From State-Legal Businesses Amid New Mexico Border Patrol Controversy

U.S. border patrol agents would be prevented from using its funds to seize marijuana from state-licensed businesses under a newly filed amendment to a large-scale spending bill.

Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM) submitted the amendment for consideration as part of 2025 Fiscal Year appropriations legislation covering the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The move appears to be responsive to recent reporting about Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents seizing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cannabis from state-legal businesses in New Mexico over recent months.

The amendment, which would need to be made in order for floor consideration by the House Rules Committee, reads:

SEC_. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to seize cannabis or products containing cannabis that are possessed, sold, or transferred by a cannabis distributor, licensed by a State, or a business in a State where cannabis has been legalized for recreational or medicinal use.

This is the latest in a series of drug policy-related amendments to be filed from lawmakers across the aisle that they’ve sought to attach to spending bills. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) has also filed an amendment to the DHS measure—as well as to separate appropriations legislation covering State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs—that would prevent the relevant agencies from testing job applicants for cannabis in states where it’s legal.

While Garcia has repeatedly attempted to enact that reform as part of numerous legislative packages, this is the first time that the language of the Vasquez amendment has been introduced.

The Rules committee is expected to meet next week to decide which amendments to the bills can receive floor votes.

The controversy over CBP seizures of marijuana from state-licensed businesses has prompted responses from multiple levels of government.

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New York Senators Call For Investigation Of State’s Marijuana Social Equity Fund After Exposé Of ‘Predatory Deals’

Citing an investigation by THE CITY, two state senators have called for New York’s social equity cannabis fund to cease issuing loans to dispensary operators and for any “trapped in these predatory deals to be made whole.”

“What this story describes is not a social equity fund. We must get to the bottom of this,” State Sens. Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) and Gustavo Rivera (D-The Bronx) asserted in a joint statement that pointed to the high interest rates and start-up costs highlighted in the article.

They called for an investigation by the state’s inspector general of the public–private fund, which was designed to finance a form of reparation for people whose lives had been disrupted by decades of racially discriminatory drug laws.

The governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The office has repeatedly refused to answer detailed questions from THE CITY seeking greater clarity about the fund’s operations.

THE CITY’s investigation found that officials of the state’s Office of Cannabis Management, or OCM, had repeatedly warned the governor’s office for months about how the cannabis investment fund was being managed. They raised red flags about how dispensary operators were being loaded with steep costs and trapped in loans with strict terms that they believed were likely to lead to defaults. And OCM’s own counsel warned in an email that the licensees would likely default on their loans under the proposed terms.

The story was based on more than 500 internal agency emails, memos and presentations from July 2022 to July 2023 when the state was having trouble opening more than just a handful of dispensaries.

Calling the fund’s practices “unscrupulous,” the legislators said, “We must take action to redress these loan agreements.”

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Youth Marijuana Use In Colorado Continues To Decline Since Legalization Took Effect, Contradicting Prohibitionist Fears

Rates of youth marijuana use in Colorado declined slightly in 2023—remaining significantly lower than before the state became one of the first in the U.S. to legalize cannabis for adults, contradicting prohibitionist arguments that the reform would lead to increased underage consumption.

That’s according to the latest biannual Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, which found that past-30-day use of cannabis among high schoolers was at 12.8 percent in 2023, a dip from the 13.3 percent reported in 2021.

In fact, since the first retail cannabis shops opened in Colorado in 2014, youth marijuana use has gradually declined. It’s fallen nearly 7 percentage points since 2013, when past-30-day use among high schoolers was at 19.7 percent.

The latest data is all the more notable when considering the dip since 2021, as some expected rates would have increased given that COVID social distancing restrictions were lifted and students generally returned to in-person schooling.

“We were very happy to see that dramatic historical drop, but assumed that the drop was at least partially because many youth were schooling from home during the pandemic and not around peers, which was why the dramatic decrease occurred,” Eric Escudero, communications director for the Denver’s Department of Excise & Licenses and the Office of Marijuana Policy, told Marijuana Moment. “We were bracing for a massive surge today in youth who said they used marijuana in Denver. And it did not happen.”

In addition to the regulatory safeguards that have been put in place under legalization, Escudero also pointed to the government’s cannabis tax-funded investment in youth prevention.

“Denver led the way as the first American city with legalized recreational marijuana, and we made a promise that we would use a portion of marijuana tax dollars on youth prevention,” he said. “We have kept that promise with one of the most highly successful youth marijuana usage prevention campaigns in U.S. history.”

For advocates, the new report reinforces a key argument in favor of adult-use legalization. That is, enacting a system of regulated sales where ID checks are mandated would mitigate youth access issues and actually lead to decreased underage use.

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California Senators Approve Bill To Legalize Marijuana Cafes Where People Could Smoke, Eat Food And Watch Events Such As Concerts

A California Senate panel has approved a bill to legalize cannabis cafes in the state, months after the governor vetoed a previous iteration of the proposal.

The Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee passed the legislation in a 9-2 vote on Monday, about three weeks after it cleared the full Assembly.

Assemblymember Matt Haney (D) is again sponsoring the proposal, which would allow on-site marijuana consumption at licensed businesses that could also offer non-cannabis food and non-alcoholic drinks and host live events such as concerts if they get permission from their local government.

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) vetoed the prior version, saying that while he appreciated that the intent was to “provide cannabis retailers with increased business opportunities and an avenue to attract new customers,” he felt “concerned this bill could undermine California’s long-standing smoke-free workplace protections.”

“Protecting the health and safety of workers is paramount,” the governor said at the time. “I encourage the author to address this concern in subsequent legislation.”

Speaking to senators on Monday, Haney clarified that his bill this bill does not legalize consumption lounges but instead would let marijuana businesses add new streams of revenue to those facilities that are already in operation.

“Consumption lounges currently exist throughout the state of California if authorized by the local government, and people are actively consuming cannabis at these lounges,” he said. “However, what is currently not allowed under existing law, completely prohibited, is the ability for cannabis retailers to diversify their business by selling food, drinks and an experience.”

“The cannabis industry is struggling. Issues like an oversaturation, high taxes and a still-thriving black market are hurting cannabis businesses who follow the rules and pay taxes,” Haney said. “By authorizing cannabis retailers to diversify their businesses, we are boosting revenue for California’s small businesses.”

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GOP Congressman Will Attempt To Remove Marijuana Banking Protections From Spending Bill Due To ‘Overwhelming’ Concerns

A GOP congressman says he’s “overwhelmingly concerned” with a provision of a spending bill that would provide limited protections for banks that work with state-legal marijuana businesses, and he’s threatening to file an amendment to strip the language as the underlying measure advances.

During a markup of the Fiscal Year 2025 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) appropriations measure on Wednesday, Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) spoke out against the cannabis banking section, which subcommittee chairman Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) secured in the base bill.

“I understand it’s not in order to propose amendments at this level, but I certainly intend to raise that issue at the appropriate time,” Edwards said, signaling that he will propose an amendment to remove the section in the full committee or on the floor.

He said that the proposal is not germane to an appropriations bill because, he argues, it is “an affirmative authorization disguised as a limitation” on the spending of funds. But his primary contention is with the policy substance of the measure, which would prevent federal regulators covered under the FSGG bill from using their funding to penalize financial institutions that service state cannabis businesses.

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College Enrollment Increases In States That Legalize Marijuana Without Hurting Graduation Rates, Study Finds

A newly published study of college enrollment data found that states’ adoption of recreational marijuana legalization (RML) “increases enrollments by approximately up to 9%, without compromising degree completion or graduation rate.” Increases in out-of-state enrollments further suggest the policy shift “boosts college competitiveness by offering a positive amenity,” the report says, with “no evidence that RML affects college prices, quality, or in-state enrollment.”

The findings by University of Oklahoma graduate student Ahmed El Fatmaoui were published last month in the journal Economic Inquiry. They build on past research, such as a 2022 study that found that schools in states that legalized marijuana saw larger application pools, with no apparent decline in the quality of student applicants.

As in the earlier study, El Fatmaoui used data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), which come from surveys conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics. He supplemented that in the new research with county-level data “to construct a panel dataset of colleges and their characteristics from 2009 to 2019.”

The main results of statistical significance, the latest study says, “indicate that RML increases enrollment by 4.6%–9%.” Increases in enrollment rates were seen in both men and women and, notably, took place after a delay following legalization.

“The results indicate that both women’s and men’s enrollments rose significantly after the fourth year of the first dispensary opening,” the report says, noting that the delay could be due to a number of factors. Among them may be “the slow and gradual development of a marijuana consumption culture,” the time it takes for students to decide on and apply to college as well as the sometimes sluggish rollout of marijuana retail markets.

Another possible explanation El Fatmaoui acknowledges is that “states may use the additional tax revenue from marijuana sales to subsidize their higher education sector,” which itself could draw higher enrollment.

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Adding CBD Or THC To Food Or Drinks Is Illegal, Massachusetts Officials Say In New Memo

Massachusetts agencies have declared that intoxicating hemp-based products can not be sold outside of licensed dispensaries and have tasked local boards of health to enforce what they say is federal law.

On Wednesday, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and Department of Agricultural Resources released a joint notice in order to address the recent influx of hemp-based products like gummies and drinks that contain the same active ingredient as cannabis products. The notice made explicit that the “addition of CBD and/or THC to food manufactured or sold in Massachusetts is illegal.”

This action by the two state agencies reflects what they have been saying about the legality of these products. Now, with the advisory, they have made the guidance explicit and have charged local boards of health to enforce it.

Following the notice, the Alcohol Beverage Control Commission warned its licensees that their licenses could be suspended or revoked if they are caught selling hemp-derived products.

“This is a big win for both the cannabis and the hemp industry, specifically those who are licensed by the CCC and MDAR,” said Ryan Dominguez, the head of the Massachusetts Cannabis Coalition. “This is a step in the right direction for us to be able to now enforce what was already on the books so there’s no kind of gray area.”

Intoxicating hemp products have been showing up in liquor stores, gas stations and smoke shops across the state because of a 2018 federal law that removed hemp from the definition of marijuana. There are many companies that have popped up to sell hemp products.

The hemp products, which are often marketed very similarly to cannabis products, are not regulated in the same way. Whereas cannabis products face strict regulations around testing, packaging, labeling, taxation and age restrictions, the hemp products have none of these requirements in Massachusetts.

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Video Of NYC Cops’ Marijuana Raid Raises Questions About Mayor’s Enforcement Offensive

As a new mayoral task force conducts sweeps of hundreds of shops suspected of selling illegal weed, a video of a raid on a Staten Island store obtained by THE CITY captures how enlisting police to conduct regulatory inspections can lead to criminal charges, igniting concerns about potential due process violations.

The 90-second clip taken from a store surveillance camera on May 18 shows seven uniformed law enforcement officers, most of them in NYPD gear, cursing, jumping over the store counter and charging at a shopkeeper after he asked them for a court order before opening the door to the back of the store.

Instead, the man was cuffed—before any unlicensed cannabis products were found—and taken to a local precinct where he was charged with obstruction of justice, records show.

“When a cop tells you to do something, you fucking do it,” one officer told the shopkeeper.

The surveillance video was shared with THE CITY on the condition that the identity of the shopkeeper be protected. The arrest and criminal charge was confirmed by police records.

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Ohio Officials Will Begin Accepting Recreational Marijuana Sales Applications This Week, But The Market Won’t Launch Immediately

Ohio’s top marijuana regulator says that while the state will open up applications for medical cannabis dispensaries to start selling to adult-use consumers by Friday, the exact timing for when they’ll be able to launch depends on whether they’ve satisfied a list of conditions.

Ohio Division of Cannabis Control (DCC) Superintendent James Canepa has previously suggested that businesses with dual licenses approved could begin selling to patients and recreational consumers as early as this month. That’s still a possibility, but he declined to commit to any specific timeline in a new interview with Cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer.

He said it’s likely there will be a “trickle in the beginning,” with a limited number of hybrid shops that are able to meet requirements to open their doors, such as enhanced security and updated point-of-sale systems to differentiate between medical and adult-use purchases.

Most dual dispensaries are expected to launch later, he said, “not that they’re not ready but that they’re a little more thoughtful about the scale for a new customer base.”

“Everybody keeps trying to get me to circle a day, and it’s impossible because like with liquor, you have to process the applicants as they are,” Canepa, who previously served as the state’s top alcohol regulator, said in the new interview. “You have to take them as they come to you. And there’s a whole checklist that they have to meet.”

In addition to the security and sales system updates, the superintendent also noted that businesses will need to ensure that their employees are properly badged. Their medical cannabis licenses must also be up-to-date in order to apply for a dual license.

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