Tag: legalized marijuana

Minnesota Officials Form Interagency Plan To Rein In Sales Of High-THC Marijuana Being Sold As Legal Hemp

Minnesota’s cannabis regulators say they have a plan to fill a gap in state law that could be letting some hemp retailers sell marijuana flower without consequence.

Charlene Briner, the interim director of the new Office of Cannabis Management, said Thursday that she is working with other agencies to provide a temporary method to inspect and test raw cannabis flower to make sure it does not violate current law.

She said the agency will look into using inspectors from the Office of Medical Cannabis and the Department of Agriculture to exercise the Office of Cannabis Management’s authority to stop the sale of cannabis flower that is illegal marijuana masquerading as legal hemp.

“OCM is evaluating how to leverage existing enforcement capacity at the Office of Medical Cannabis to act on OCM’s behalf and how we can develop capacity to test raw cannabis flower,” Briner said.

“We’ll be sharing more about those plans as we put them in place,” she said.

To be legal to sell now, hemp flower must contain only 0.3 percent delta-9 THC or less. Such hemp plants do not have enough THC to be intoxicating when eaten or smoked. But by processing the hemp for edibles and beverages, the THC content can be enhanced to produce an intoxicating effect.

Some hemp retailers and smoke shops have been selling raw cannabis flower that might or might not exceed those legal limits. Hemp inspectors have not acted against such sales—or even to test the flower—because while the Office of Medical Cannabis regulates hemp sales, the law doesn’t give it any authority over unprocessed flower.

The loophole became public late last year when former Office of Medical Cannabis director Chris Tholkes discussed it on the national podcast Weed Wonks. She said her inspectors have seen sales of raw cannabis flower that the stores claim is legal hemp but that the inspectors suspect is not.

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Illinois Supreme Court To Rule On Whether Smell Of Marijuana Alone Is Cause To Search A Vehicle

“Even the claim of smelling cannabis can be discretionary. Honestly, it can be made up sometimes when officers are being less than honest because there’s no way to challenge it.”

The Illinois Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday as to whether the smell of cannabis alone is grounds for police officers to search a vehicle, marking a test of the state’s 2020 recreational marijuana legalization law.

The court heard two consolidated cases of individuals who were in vehicles that were searched after an officer used the smell of cannabis as probable cause.

In People v. Redmond, defendant Ryan Redmond was pulled over by Illinois State Police for an unsecure license plate and driving three miles per hour over the speed limit, court records show. Upon smelling cannabis, the officer searched the vehicle and found about one gram of cannabis in the center console. He later charged Redmond with a misdemeanor for failure to transport cannabis in an odor-proof container, according to court documents.

The other case, People v. Molina, involved defendant Vincent Molina, who was a passenger in the vehicle when an Illinois State Police trooper smelled cannabis and searched the car, finding a small box of rolled joints, according to court records. Molina told the trooper he had a medical marijuana card prior to the search, the records state. Molina was charged with unlawful possession of cannabis by a passenger in a motor vehicle for not storing the cannabis in an odor-proof container.

Lawyers for Molina and Redmond argued the smell of cannabis alone should not be probable cause to search a vehicle given that the substance is no longer illegal in Illinois.

But Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office argued the law requires drivers to transport cannabis in an odor-proof container. Thus, the presence of cannabis odor is grounds for a search, even if the passenger is possessing an amount under the legal limit or has a medical marijuana card.

“It remains illegal to use cannabis in a vehicle and to transport cannabis in a vehicle in a container that is not odor-proof,” a November brief filed by Raoul reads. Thus, “the odor of cannabis—whether in raw or burnt form—continues to provide police with probable cause to search.”

Mitchell Ness, assistant attorney general, continued the argument before the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

“Cannabis is no longer contraband in every circumstance, but that doesn’t absolve the person from following the laws that are in place,” he said.

Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis said the central matter of the cases was roadway safety.

“The concern here is the safety of the public driving down the highway and impaired drivers,” Theis said at the oral arguments. “We’re concerned about drunk drivers, and we’re concerned about high drivers.”

Nationwide and state-level chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers filed a brief in support of Molina and Redmond, writing that allowing the odor of cannabis as cause for searching a vehicle will lead to biased enforcement against Black and Latino Illinoisans.

“There is a decades-long pattern of police in this state using pretext like cannabis odor to disproportionately stop and search Black and Latino drivers,” the brief reads. Illinois’ stop and search policy “unfairly subjects (Black and Latino drivers) to at-will intrusions of their privacy and relegates them to second-class citizenry.”

The organizations argued the legalization of cannabis means its presence is not indicative of contraband or crime.

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Why Some Activists Fear Marijuana Rescheduling: Responding To Former FDA Official’s Dismissal Of Our Concerns 

Politico recently published an extensive Q&A with Howard Sklamberg, a former top Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official who currently works at the law firm Arnold and Porter. Many advocates for legalization and restorative justice have concerns about the rescheduling of cannabis to a Schedule III substance—fears that Sklamberg believes are “alarmist and misguided.”

As a longtime advocate, I have to say that I don’t share that view. Honestly, I can’t believe Sklamberg said some of the things that he said—and I think the fears that we have are well-informed, reasoned and practical, if for no other reason than the worrying lack of transparency coming from regulatory agencies since rescheduling was recommended last year. We advocates are not always right, but our track record on drug policy is better than that of the policymakers and regulators who campaigned for, created and continued the so-called war on drugs.

Regulators, elected officials and their surrogates could benefit from hearing and taking seriously the other side: the concerns that advocates have about cannabis rescheduling. I’ve done my best to capture some of them below.

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After Several Failed Efforts, Washington Lawmakers Introduce New Bill To Legalize Home Marijuana Cultivation

Washington State lawmakers are again trying to allow adults in the state to grow their own marijuana, having introduced a new bill that would allow the cultivation of up to six plants at home.

Washington voters legalized marijuana through a ballot measure in 2012, but the law still makes it a felony for anyone but medical patients to grow the plant. And though several bills have been introduced to allow home cultivation over the years—stretching back to 2015—so far each has failed to find traction.

The latest bill, HB 2194, is an update to a homegrow proposal introduced last year, which passed out of one House committee before being pulled from consideration in a second committee. In addition to the six-plant-per-adult limit, it would cap the total number of plants grown by any one household at 15.

Notwithstanding the state’s personal possession limit of one ounce of marijuana flower, adults would also be able to keep the cannabis produced by their legal plants.

“I just see it as a fundamentally illogical thing that we’re doing,” lead sponsor Rep. Shelley Kloba (D) told Marijuana Moment. “We’ve made it criminal to grow a plant whose products you can walk into a retail store and purchase.”

She noted that beer and wine are also both legal, “and those things are legal to produce in your home as a hobbyist. It doesn’t make sense that you can’t do that with cannabis.”

Under Kloba’s plan, it would be a civil infraction for an individual to grow between six and 15 plants, while growing 16 or more plants would be a class C felony—the current penalty for growing any marijuana at home. The felony charge carries a maximum five years imprisonment and up to a $10,000 fine.

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California Lawmaker Revives Bill To Legalize Marijuana Cafes Months After Governor’s Veto

A California lawmaker is renewing his push to legalize cannabis cafes in the state, with a newly introduced bill and plans to work with the governor and regulators to address concerns that resulted in the last version being vetoed.

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

Accordingly, Haney says he’ll be exploring ways to resolve those concerns in collaboration with the governor’s office and the state Department of Cannabis Control (DCC).

As filed last week, however, it seems the basic provisions of the bill were kept the same as those discussions continue. The sponsor told The San Francisco Standard that the legislation will be amended to address the governor’s concerns “in the coming months.”

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Colleges In States That Legalize Marijuana See Spike In Applications From Higher Achieving Students, Study Finds

Colleges in states where recreational marijuana became legal over the past decade saw a significant but short-term boost in applications from top-notch students. They also got more applications overall. Those were the key findings of a new study our team published recently in the peer-reviewed journal Contemporary Economic Policy.

In the year that a particular state legalized recreational marijuana, the number of applications for that state’s colleges grew by about 5.5 percent more than colleges in states that did not legalize. This means that colleges in legal-marijuana states received a temporary boost in applications. We didn’t detect any increase beyond the initial spike. Our results control for school quality, tuition prices and labor market conditions that may affect student application decisions.

At a more detailed level, the gains were strongest for the largest schools, which observed a nearly 54 percent increase in applications compared with similarly sized schools in nonlegal states. Public colleges and universities benefited more than private ones, though applications for private schools rose in states where recreational marijuana became legal as well.

In addition, schools got more applications from high-achieving students. Standardized test scores for the top 25 percent of applicants spiked along with the quantity of applications.

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New Colorado Marijuana Hospitality Rules Take Effect As Regulators Tout Earlier ‘Successes’ Like Online Sales

Colorado marijuana regulators are promoting new rules for the industry that take effect on Monday—including increased sales limits for cannabis hospitality businesses that allow on-site use. They are also touting “successes” from the past year such as opening up online sales.

The state Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED) shared a list of rules that have been enacted under legislation passed by lawmakers and signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis (D) last year.

At the top of the list is the online sales development, which took effect last August. Customers must still physically pick up the marijuana products from retailers, but now they can browse and electronically purchase cannabis online ahead of visiting the store.

As of January 8, other key regulations are being implemented, too. That includes increasing the amount of cannabis that can be sold at licensed marijuana hospitality businesses to one ounce of flower and eight grams of concentrate.

The new rules will also require hospitality businesses to provide patrons with information about transportation options and establish standards to prevent overconsumption, while exempting them from certain requirements related to video surveillance at certain areas of spas.

Regulations that have already taken effect this past year that MED highlighted include new authorizations to seize and destroy regulated marijuana products that pose a threat to public health, a rule that allows new cannabis businesses to maintain and renew state licensure even if they’re rejected by local governments and empowering regulators to promulgate rules allowing or banning “chemical modification, conversion, or synthetic derivation of cannabinoids.”

“As we approach the new year, we are committed to leveraging the unique opportunity we have to reflect on our successes and lessons learned as one of the most mature adult-use cannabis markets in the nation,” Dominique Mendiola, senior director of MED, said in a press release. “We look forward to continuing our work together to demonstrate a model for responsible regulation as directed by the voters of Colorado and the General Assembly.”

The regulatory update comes days after Colorado’s governor, advocates and stakeholders celebrated the 10th anniversary of the first legal cannabis sales nationally and globally in the state.

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Colorado Governor’s Office Slams DeSantis’s Marijuana Stance, Pushing Back Against Claim Legalization Led To ‘Bigger’ Illicit Market

If Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) needs some advice on how to promote “economic and personal freedom,” the state of Colorado is “happy” to explain the advantages of marijuana legalization, Gov. Jared Polis’s (D) office said after the Republican presidential candidate doubled down on his opposition to cannabis reform.

On Friday, DeSantis peddled a dubious claim that Colorado’s illicit market is “bigger” today than it was before legalizing adult-use cannabis in 2012, justifying his own personal opposition to the reform.

In response, a spokesperson for the Colorado governor’s office offered to correct the record for the 2024 GOP presidential hopeful in a statement to Marijuana Moment.

“The facts are that Colorado voters approved the legalization of marijuana which is curbing the illicit market, getting dealers off the streets, reducing youth use, funding school construction, supporting jobs and Colorado’s economy,” the governor’s spokesperson said. “Colorado is happy to provide the Florida governor advice on how to increase economic and personal freedom like we have in the free state of Colorado.”

In an interview on the radio station KCPS that aired on Friday, first noted by Florida Politics, DeSantis had challenged the idea that regulating marijuana sales puts illicit operators “out of business,” stating that it’s an “interesting” concept that he says hasn’t played out in Colorado, despite evidence to the contrary.

“There have been states like Colorado who’ve done things like legalized marijuana and the argument was, well, you want to have a black market? It will be above-board, taxed and all that stuff,” DeSantis said during the interview. “Yet Colorado has a bigger black market of marijuana since they’ve legalized it.”

It’s well-understood that enacting legalization doesn’t fully eliminate the illicit market, and states have had varying degrees of success to that end. But research indicates that Colorado has been among the most effective at transitioning people to the legal marketplace.

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Ohio GOP Governor Pushes Lawmakers To Allow Marijuana Sales ‘Very Quickly’ And Ban Intoxicating Hemp Products

Ohio’s Republican governor is adamant that lawmakers must pass legislation as soon as possible to expedite regulated recreational marijuana sales and also ban purchases of intoxicating hemp products.

With the legislature coming back into session for the new year, Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said “we just need to get something done” to address the adult-use sales rollout timeline under a voter-approved legalization law that took effect last month.

It’s a “strange situation” the state has found itself in, he said, with sales currently set to open up in late summer or early fall. DeWine said he supports a bill the Senate passed last month, which would provide for sales through existing medical cannabis dispensaries within 90 days of enactment. However, he acknowledged the House has a differing version and pushed for lawmakers to “work together and make sure that we can deal with with this problem.”

“Our bill that we would prefer would allow us to start selling this marijuana in a controlled basis. The people who said they were for this said, ‘Let’s do it the same way we do with liquor—control how it’s done,’” he said. “Under our bill, we would be able to sell that very quickly now, early in this year, through the facilities that now do the medical marijuana.”

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Washington Bill Would Roll Back New Marijuana-Related Employment Protections For Drug Treatment Professionals

As a new law in Washington State took effect this week to shield most job applicants who legally use cannabis from facing employment discrimination during the hiring process, two lawmakers have filed legislation to roll back those protections for workers in the drug treatment industry.

HB 2047, sponsored by Reps. Tom Dent (R) and Lauren Davis (D), would add to the new law’s list of exemptions, which already include law enforcement, jobs requiring a federal background investigation or security clearance, fire departments, first responders, safety-sensitive positions, corrections officers and those in the airline or aerospace industries.

Specifically, the bill would allow employers to deny people who test positive for cannabis a position “as a substance use disorder professional or trainee, or any position as a health care professional licensed or certified…where the person will be providing services directly to clients or patients receiving treatment for substance use disorder.”

While the legislation would not require employers to screen job applicants for marijuana, they would no longer be subject to the newly effective provision making it “unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a person in the initial hiring for employment if the discrimination is based upon” the use of marijuana off the job and away from the workplace or a positive drug test for cannabis metabolites.

Notably, the new anti-discrimination cannabis law applies only to job applicants. Employers can still maintain drug-free workplaces or prohibit the use of cannabis by workers after they’re hired.

Davis, who’s long said she supports an end to criminal cannabis prohibition but has concerns about the dangers of legalization, filed two marijuana-related bills in 2023 during the first part of the two-year session. One, HB 1641, would place various restrictions on marijuana products with more than 35 percent total THC, including banning advertising and prohibiting sales of the products to people under 25. The other, HB 1642, would ban the production and sale of concentrates with more than 35 percent THC unless the products were intended for medical patients.

In 2020, she sponsored legislation that would have banned all concentrates with more than 10 percent THC.

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