Tag: marijuana

Marijuana Industry PAC Ad Accuses Biden Of Waging ‘Deep State War’ Against Cannabis, Urging Trump To Save The Day With Rescheduling

A marijuana industry-backed political action committee (PAC) is making another targeted appeal to President Donald Trump.

This time it is accusing former President Joe Biden and his Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of waging a “deep state war” against medical cannabis patients—but without mentioning that the former president himself initiated the rescheduling process that marijuana companies want to see completed under Trump.

In its latest ad, titled “DEA Deep State,” the American Rights and Reform PAC said “medical cannabis has helped millions of patients,” leading to a rescheduling recommendation from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that was later endorsed by the Justice Department.

“But Joe Biden’s DEA deep state kept cannabis illegal,” it says. “Patients need help. President Donald Trump has beat the deep state before, and now Trump can finish what he started by leading the fight to reschedule cannabis and expand research and access to care.”

“It’s time to end Joe Biden’s deep state war on American patients,” it says, clearly attempting to leverage the sitting president’s desire to best his predecessor.

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Are Police In Memphis Overcharging Drivers Caught With Small Amounts Of Marijuana?

Memphis simmered in the July heat as a police cruiser pulled over a blue Nissan Altima motoring through the downtown business district. The car’s temporary tag had expired days earlier, an oversight police often resolve by issuing a citation.

But this traffic stop took a more serious turn when a Memphis Police Department (MPD) officer said he “could smell an odor consistent with marijuana coming out of the vehicle.’’

After questioning a female passenger, police found slightly more than a half-ounce of marijuana in her purse—a small but critical amount that led officers to arrest the family-focused grandmother on a felony drug-trafficking charge.

As a special task force begins reviewing U.S. Justice Department claims of abuse by MPD during traffic stops, reform advocates say the woman’s arrest is yet another example of overly aggressive policing in Memphis.

“It’s absolutely a trumped-up charge,” said Claiborne Ferguson, a longtime Memphis defense attorney who reviewed the July 2, 2024, police affidavit filed against the woman. He has no official connection to the case.

The woman, a cancer victim, said she is no drug dealer and doesn’t even smoke that much.

“It was crazy,” said the woman, who asked not to be identified. Although the charge against her was later dropped, she said she fears any association with a criminal charge. “I’m a real-life good person. I treat everyone with respect,” she said.

The incident is one of 13 traffic-stop cases identified by the Institute for Public Service Reporting (IPSR) in which Shelby County law enforcement officers signed felony marijuana affidavits, only to see those charges vacated in court. Attorneys who reviewed the affidavits for The Institute said they appeared deficient in supporting felony charges of intent to sell.

The charges—which often involved warrantless searches of vehicles—led arrestees to spend several hours or more in jail.

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Former Marijuana Prisoners Who Got Clemency From Trump Hold Event Outside White House To Request Relief For Those Still Behind Bars

Former marijuana prisoners who received clemency from President Donald Trump during his first term staged an event outside the White House on Thursday, expressing gratitude for the relief they were given and calling on the new administration to grant the same kind of help to others who are still behind bars for cannabis.

Flanked by cardboard cutouts of individuals pardoned or granted commutations by Trump, activists impacted by criminalization stood outside the White House with a message to “free all cannabis prisoners.”

The grassroots “Cannabis Prisoners Unity Day” called attention to the opportunity to build upon the executive-level relief. In addition to Trump’s clemency actions in his first term, former President Joe Biden also pardoned and commuted sentences for hundreds of people while he was in office. But numerous people remain behind bars over non-violent federal cannabis convictions.

“President Trump, we are your example of a victory,” Craig Cesal—who received a commutation for a life sentence he was handed down in 2002 for a marijuana distribution conviction—said during a panel discussion ahead of the White House meetup.

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For 4/20, Ben & Jerry’s Teams Up With Marijuana Justice Group To Push Governors To Free Cannabis Prisoners

As consumers and businesses across the U.S. gear up for the 4/20 holiday on Sunday, ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s is drawing attention to the “tens of thousands of people who will spend their 4/20 in prison for the same cannabis-related activity.”

This year the company—which has regularly used 4/20 to highlight justice-related cannabis matters—has partnered with the advocacy group Last Prisoner Project (LPP) to urge state governors to grant relief to those behind bars for marijuana.

“This 4/20, the need for cannabis justice is at an all-time HIGH,” Ben & Jerry’s said about the new effort.

The groups are also encouraging supporters to take action, recommending they reach out to their state governors to call for clemency, sign petitions to free people incarcerated for cannabis crimes, spread the word using the #420ForFreedom on social media and attend a Washington, D.C. event—the Cannabis Unity Week of Action, held April 29 through May 1—aimed at promoting broader marijuana legalization.

The company says that as “cannabis businesses will rack up sales, public figures will use their platforms to highlight cannabis culture, and millions of Americans will take advantage of their freedom and consume with friends and family” on 4/20, it’s crucial that advocates continue pushing to right the wrongs of prohibition.

“When we say legalization without justice is half baked, we mean that legalization while people, disproportionately Black and Brown, are still sitting in prison for cannabis or reeling from the detrimental impacts of having a cannabis conviction on their records is simply not justice fully realized,” Palika Makam, Ben & Jerry’s U.S. activism manager, said in a statement.

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Maryland Bill To Let Adults Make Marijuana Edibles And Concentrates At Home Heads To The Governor

A Maryland House bill that would allow adults to manufacture marijuana edibles and concentrates for personal use is officially heading to the governor. And a Senate companion version of the measure is also advancing through the legislature.

On Wednesday, the Senate gave final approval to the House-passed legislation from Dels. David Moon (D) and Luke Clippinger (D), voting 38-9 to send it to Gov. Wes Moore (D). The companion from Sen. William Smith (D), meanwhile, cleared the Senate in a 35-8 vote last week and now pending before the House of Delegates Rules and Executive Nominations Committee.

While the state’s cannabis law already allows adults to cultivate their own plants, the measures  would expand their options to account for non-flower marijuana products that can be made at home.

However, they would continue to prohibit the use of volatile solvents to create cannabis concentrates.

Under the legislation, possession, cultivation and distribution of high-volume cannabis in excess of 50 pounds would no longer be considered a felony punishable by a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison. Instead, it would be a misdemeanor carrying a maximum 10 year sentence and/or a $50,000 fine.

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New Hampshire Senate Committee Rejects Three Cannabis Bills, Including Legalization And Medical Marijuana Homegrow

A week after hearing testimony on four House-passed cannabis bills, a New Hampshire Senate committee has voted to recommend killing three of measures, including a Republican-led legalization proposal and a plan to let state-registered medical marijuana patients grow plants at home.

Another bill rejected by the Senate Judiciary Committee at a hearing on Tuesday would have allowed existing medical marijuana dispensaries—known in the state as alternative treatment centers (ATCs)—to buy nonintoxicating hemp cannabinoid products from commercial producers and, after lab testing, use them in products for patients.

Lawmakers voted 3–1 to designate each of the three bills as “inexpedient to legislate” (ITL), essentially recommending that they not proceed. All the bills will nevertheless move to the Senate floor, at which point the full body will have the option to approve them despite the committee’s recommendations.

While the legalization bill—HB 75, from Rep. Kevin Verville (R)—was widely seen as unlikely to make it through the Senate, advocates said the committee’s recommended rejection of the two medical marijuana proposals from Rep. Wendy Thomas (D) underscores the body’s critical reception in general of cannabis-related legislation.

“It appears that a few senators just want to kill every bill that deals with cannabis policy, no matter how modest and non-controversial,” Matt Simon, director of public and government relations at the medical marijuana provider GraniteLeaf Cannabis, told Marijuana Moment. “That’s very unfortunate because support for cannabis policy reform has always been bipartisan in this state.”

Simon added that he’s still hopeful the Senate will move forward on at least the hemp cannabinoids bill, HB 51, once it reaches the chamber floor.

(Disclosure: Simon supports Marijuana Moment’s work via a monthly pledge on Patreon.)

The panel did not act at Tuesday’s meeting on the fourth cannabis bill before it, HB 196, which would expand the state’s annulment process of past arrests and convictions around simple marijuana possession.

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