Tag: legalized marijuana

Colorado Amendment Addresses Concerns On Banning Social Media Marijuana Posts, But Questions On Psychedelics And Other Drugs Remain

Colorado lawmakers advanced an amended social media bill on Thursday that, as introduced, would have forced platforms to ban users for talking positively about marijuana online. But while the sponsor says the issue has now been “worked out” with recent changes, critics contend the revised legislation still fails to address concerns around statements regarding other substances, including state-legal psychedelics, certain hemp products and even some over-the-counter cough syrups.

The bill, SB24-158—a broad proposal concerning internet age verification and content policies—would require social media platforms to immediately remove any user “who promotes, sells, or advertises an illicit substance.”

Initially that provision would have applied to all controlled substances under state law, but an amendment from the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Chris Hansen (D), includes language saying that “a social media platform may allow a user to promote, sell, or advertise medical marijuana or retail marijuana to users who are at least twenty-one years of age” so long as the content complies with state cannabis laws.

Members of the Senate Committee on Business, Labor and Technology at Thursday’s hearing unanimously approved the amended bill, advancing it to the Appropriations Committee with a favorable report.

“We have worked out adjustment language with the MJ industry,” Hansen told Marijuana Moment in an email about the amendment last week, in response to questions about the potential consequences of the bill. “Those amendments will be distributed later today in preparation for the bill being voted on in committee on Thursday.”

But even before the amendment landed in committee this week, a fellow at the center-right think tank R Street Institute, said the changes leave major issues unaddressed.

“The updated version would still prevent users from from promoting NyQuil or anti-anxiety medications among many others, even though it exempts marijuana,” Shoshana Weismann, who first called out the potential problems in the bill’s drug-related language, told Marijuana Moment in an email. “And if you promote those medications, you will be reported to law enforcement. That is asinine.”

The amended bill also still specifies that its restrictions apply to certain hemp products with more than 1.25 milligrams THC or a CBD-to-THC ratio of less than 20 to 1, as well as most other hemp-containing products intended for human consumption that are not “a dietary supplement, a food, a food additive, or an herb.”

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Minnesota Lawmakers Propose Raft Of Changes To State Marijuana Law, Including Homegrow And Equity Adjustments

The lead sponsors of 2023’s recreational cannabis law are sensitive to suggestions that the sweeping law needs “fixing.” Such a word might be interpreted as endorsing Republican talking points that the bill—along with much of the work of the 2023 session—was rushed and that mistakes were made.

Instead, top sponsors of House File 100 say changes they are both proposing, as well others filed by other lawmakers, are expected and routine. The law will be “modified,” not fixed.

“As I said many times last year, it won’t be the last time the Legislature hears a cannabis bill,” said Sen. Lindsey Port, the Burnsville DFLer who was the lead sponsor in the Senate. “Prohibition of alcohol ended nearly 100 years ago and we still have a liquor bill nearly every year.”

That said, what is being proposed to change the law at the midpoint between legalization and retail sales? Both Port and Rep. Zack Stephenson (DFL-Coon Rapids) have said they expect to have an omnibus cannabis bill that will contain all changes in one package.

The Office of Cannabis Management’s 100-page proposal—Senate File 4782/House File 4757—is the stage setter. Even though these bills show Port and Stephenson as sponsors, they put their name on top as a courtesy to the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM). Their own work will likely be affixed to the OCM bill.

The long list of changes would adjust how so-called social equity licenses are distributed, change the ownership ratios for such license holders, bring the hemp-derived market regulation under the Office of Cannabis Management sooner and put numerical caps on each type of license rather than let OCM decide how many the market requires. Many of the changes were suggested as ways to get to the same end point as HF 100 but with less risk of litigation.

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GOP Senators Tell DEA To Reject Marijuana Rescheduling, Arguing It Would Violate International Treaties

Three Republican senators are urging the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to reject the top federal health agency’s marijuana rescheduling recommendation, arguing that it would put the U.S. out of compliance with international treaty obligations and make it harder to ensure that other countries continue to enforce drug laws, “including for deadly narcotics like fentanyl.”

In a letter sent to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram on Wednesday, Sens. Mitt Romney (R-UT), James Risch (R-ID) and Pete Ricketts (R-NE) said the agency should adhere to precedent and decline to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has advised.

“Any effort to reschedule marijuana must be based on proven facts and scientific evidence—not the favored policy of a particular administration—and account for our treaty obligations,” the Senate Foreign Relations Committee members wrote.

“Marijuana is controlled under the Single Convention—which is not surprising given its known dangers and health risks—and the United Nation’s International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) has fiercely criticized efforts to legalize marijuana in other countries as a violation of the treaty,” they said.

The letter notes that the Senate ratified the Single Convention that contains drug policy mandates for member states in an unanimous vote in 1967. And they pointed out that DEA has previously cited international treaty obligations in denying past rescheduling petitions.

“It is important that the DEA continues to follow the law and abide by our treaty commitments,” they said, listing a series of questions they’re asking the agency to answer.

For example, the senators asked if DEA still considers it necessary to keep marijuana in either Schedule I or Schedule II to comply with the Single Convention, as it concluded under the Obama administration.

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Germany’s Marijuana Legalization Bill Is Officially Signed Into Law And Will Take Effect On Monday

A bill to legalize marijuana nationwide in Germany has officially been signed into law, with the reform set to take effect next week.

Bundesrat President Manuela Schwesig signed the legislation on Wednesday, the last step to enactment. Usually German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier would sign legislation, but because he’s currently away on vacation, that responsibility was handed down to the head of the legislative chamber representing individual states.

This comes one week after members of the Bundesrat reached a deal with Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and other government ministers and declined to refer the cannabis legislation to a mediation committee that would have delayed implementation by six months. Instead, the law will go into force on Monday as planned.

The Bundestag passed the marijuana legalization measure last month. The Bundesrat previously tried to block the proposed reform in September but ultimately failed.

Effective April 1, adults will be allowed to possess up to 25 grams of cannabis and grow up to three plants for personal use. Then, beginning July 1, adults could join “social clubs” where they could buy up to 25 grams of cannabis, with a cap of 50 grams per month. That cap is 30 grams for members under 21 years old.

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Delaware Treasurer Promotes New Marijuana Banking Bill To Provide State-Level Protections

Delaware’s treasurer is promoting new legislation that would provide state-level protections to banks that provide services to licensed marijuana businesses.

The bill was filed by Rep. Ed Osienski (D) and Sen. Trey Paradee (D) in partnership with state Treasurer Colleen Davis (D). It comes amid mounting pressure on Congress to enact federal cannabis banking reform.

The Delaware measure is designed to clarify that banks, credit unions, armored car services and accounting services providers are not subject to state-level prosecution simply for working with cannabis businesses.

“This Act aims to facilitate the operation of cannabis-related businesses by helping to ensure that such businesses have access to necessary financial and accounting services,” the bill synopsis says.

Davis, the treasurer, said in a press release last week that “H.B. 355 will provide state-level legal protection, and a clear legal framework for banks, payment processors, and other financial service providers to follow.”

“It can also ease concerns about federal enforcement and regulatory compliance among these businesses—since it allows them to demonstrate to federal agencies that they’re following a clear legal framework, ultimately leading to a safer and more transparent marijuana industry,” she said.

A press release from Davis’s office also says that, in addition to providing the basic protections, the bill would effectively boost the economy, enhance safety and promote competition.

“Across the country, we’ve witnessed dispensaries and banks alike struggling with legal uncertainty surrounding financial and accounting services for cannabis businesses,” Osienski, the House sponsor, said. “This uncertainty not only undermines the operations of state-compliant dispensaries but also hinders their access to basic business functions such as access to banking, acquiring loans, or paying taxes.”

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House GOP Committee Urges Opposition To Marijuana Banking Bill, Saying ‘Gateway Drug’ Causes ‘Violence, Depression And Suicide’

A Republican House advisory committee is formally opposing marijuana banking legislation and a separate bill to remove past cannabis use as a disqualifying factor for federal employment and security clearances, while broadly criticizing the substance as a “gateway drug” that causes “violence, depression and suicide.”

The House Republican Policy Committee’s new marijuana report also says that Vice President Kamala Harris was “mistaken” when she said cannabis brings people “joy” as a 2020 presidential candidate, instead arguing that it is a “hazardous drug with short and long-term impacts.”

The guidance, which is meant to inform how the GOP caucus should approach marijuana policy issues, briefly describes the history of prohibition and the state legalization movement. It then makes the case that cannabis is a dangerous substance linked to mental health disorders such as schizophrenia, attributing that in part to “the high concentration of THC.”

The committee also cited questionable statistics to argue that state-level legalization is associated with increased violence. And it claimed that marijuana use causes workplace issues such as “decreased productivity, high unemployment claims, and lawsuits.”

“Instead of turning a blind eye to the dangers associated with marijuana and allowing states to have dispensaries on every corner, Congress should work to ensure that laws in relation to marijuana are enforced,” the guidance says.

It included two specific policy recommendations, stating that members should oppose the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking and the Cannabis Users’ Restoration of Eligibility (CURE) Act.

That’s despite the fact that both measures enjoy bipartisan support, and certain members of the policy committee such as Reps. Tom McClintock (R-CA) and Nancy Mace (R-SC) have been vocal champions of marijuana reform. McClintock is signed onto the banking bill and Mace is the lead GOP cosponsor of the federal employment and security clearance measure.

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California Bill Would Roll Back Marijuana Employment Protections For Law Enforcement Jobs

A California bill that was introduced last month as a minor technical fix to an existing law protecting workers from employment discrimination over legal marijuana use was substantially amended in committee this week with new section that would roll back the protections for various categories of workers, including those in law enforcement, coroners’ offices and animal control.

Under two pieces of legislation signed into law in 2022 and 2023, California employers are now prohibited from asking job applicants about past cannabis use, and most are barred from penalizing employees over lawful use of marijuana outside of the job.

The newly amended bill, SB 1264, sponsored by Sen. Shannon Grove (R), would remove those protections for “employees in sworn or nonsworn positions within law enforcement agencies who have or would have functions or activities” related to:

(1) The apprehension, incarceration, or correction of criminal offenders.
(2) Civil enforcement matters.
(3) Dispatch and other public safety communications.
(4) Evidence gathering and processing.
(5) Law enforcement records.
(6) Animal control.
(7) Community services duties.
(8) Public administrator or public guardian duties.
(9) Coroner functions.

The proposed change comes just months after the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training removed questions about marijuana from police job application forms. Several forms, the commission said at the time, were “modified to remove inquiries about a candidate’s prior cannabis use.”

Grove’s amendments were adopted on Tuesday, and the legislation currently sits before the Senate Rules Committee.

Both employment protections laws took effect on January 1 of this year. With certain exceptions, “it is unlawful for an employer to request information from an applicant for employment relating to the applicant’s prior use of cannabis,” one of them says.

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Political Stupidity and Bureaucratic Bungling Created New York’s Pot Legalization ‘Disaster’

As of last June, more than two years after New York legalized recreational marijuana, just 12 state-licensed dispensaries had opened for business, falling far short of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s prediction that more than 100 would be operating by that summer. Six months later, Hochul was bragging that “nearly 40 adult-use dispensaries will have opened in 2023.” The current count is 87. Those stores, The New York Times notes, “are far outnumbered by more than 2,000 rogue head shops, the target of complaints that they siphon customers, sell to children and attract criminals.”

New York’s rollout of marijuana legalization has been a “disaster,” as Hochul conceded in January. “Every other storefront” is an unlicensed pot shop, she told The Buffalo News. “It’s insane.”

That disaster has frustrated would-be retailers, left farmers in the lurch, played havoc with tax revenue projections, and made a joke out of any expectation that New York, by learning from the experience of states that legalized marijuana earlier, would do a better job of displacing the black market. The insanity that Hochul perceives is a product of bad decisions by politicians who should have known better and obstruction by regulators who sacrificed efficiency on the altar of diversity.

Unlike states such as New Jersey, where voters approved legalization in 2020, and Maryland, where a similar ballot initiative passed two years later, New York did not initially allow existing medical dispensaries to start serving the recreational market. Its slow and complicated licensing process, which was skewed by an “equity” program that prioritized approval of applicants with marijuana-related criminal records or their relatives, is maddeningly hard to navigate.

Those preferences invited lawsuits by people who were excluded, which further delayed approval of licenses. Guidance and financial help for people struggling to jump through the state’s hoops never materialized. And as in other states, high taxes and burdensome regulations have made it hard for licensed businesses to compete with unauthorized dealers.

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Nebraska Lawmakers Approve 100% Tax Rate For CBD And Hemp Products To Help Offset Property Taxes

A Nebraska legislative committee has given preliminary approval to a bill that would tax hemp and CBD products in the state at a whopping 100 percent rate.

The cannabis product tax hike is part of legislation designed to bring in more money to state coffers to offset property tax bills, according to an outline of the plan from Sen. Lou Ann Linehan (R), the legislation’s sponsor, that was posted by a Nebraska Public Media reporter.

The legislature’s Revenue Committee advanced the underlying measure, LB 388, on a 7–0 vote on Thursday, according to a report in the Nebraska Examiner. The state’s full unicameral legislature could take up the bill as soon as Tuesday.

“We are going to tax hemp and CBD at 100%,” Linehan’s document says, adding that, along with other reforms—including removing sales tax exemptions on soda, candy, pet services, advertising revenue over $1 billion and lottery tickets—the change is estimated to bring in $182 million in new revenue for the state.

The changes are not currently reflected in the bill’s language as available online, nor has any relevant amendment been posted to the bill page. Linehan, who also chairs the panel that approved the measure this week, did not immediately respond to emailed questions from Marijuana Moment.

Adam Morfeld, a former Nebraska state senator who co-chairs the advocacy group Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, reacted to the proposal with shock.

“The Legislature is going to tax hemp and CBD at 100 percent!??” he posted on social media.

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Legalizing Marijuana For Adults Does Not Drive Increases In Youth Use, New Federally Funded Study Finds

New federally funded research into the impacts of marijuana legalization on youth use found no association between legal adult-use cannabis sales and the prevalence of consumption among middle-school students.

To test whether legal sales led to an uptick in youth use, authors compared middle-school use rates in Nevada and New Mexico, looking at 2017 and 2019 data from two state-run surveys. At the time, adult-use marijuana sales were legal in Nevada, while New Mexico allowed only medical marijuana.

In both states, researchers found increases in the proportions of students that had ever consumed cannabis as well as those who had consumed within the past 30 days.

In Nevada, the share of middle-school students who said they’d ever consumed cannabis rose during the study period, from 9.7 percent in 2017 to 13.3 percent in 2019. Past 30 day (P30D) use also rose, from 6.3 percent to 8.9 percent.

New Mexico, where recreational marijuana remained illegal, saw lifetime use rise from 14.1 percent to 17.4 percent over the same period. Past 30 day use rose from 8.9 percent to 10.5 percent.

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