Tag: medical marijuana

South Dakota Medical Marijuana Industry Cheers Sting Operations On Hemp Product Sellers

South Dakota’s medical cannabis industry voiced its support for sting operations targeting sellers of hemp products that create a marijuana-like high.

The comments from Jeremiah Murphy, a lobbyist for the Cannabis Industry Association of South Dakota, came during Tuesday’s meeting of the state’s Medical Marijuana Oversight Committee.

Murphy’s association represents the state’s 116 licensed medical cannabis cultivators, manufacturers and dispensaries.

The industry “commends the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office” for its sting operation targeting hemp-based THC products at eight Rapid City-area smoke shops and convenience stores, Murphy said.

Law enforcement bought samples of gummies, THC drinks and other products with “hemp-derived” ingredients. Strains of THC is a family of high-inducing molecules found in large concentrations in the cannabis plant.

The hemp plant is a cousin to cannabis that contains tiny quantities of THC. Hemp-derived intoxicants often get their THC from chemically modified or distilled CBD. CBD is a different, nonintoxicating molecule found in cannabis and hemp.

Hemp is legal to cultivate under the 2018 farm bill, and hemp-derived products are legal under federal law. Since mid-2024, however, South Dakota has barred the sale–but not the possession–of products made with chemically synthesized versions of THC.

The Rapid City compliance check followed a July 10 letter from Pennington County State’s Attorney Lara Roetzel to businesses suspected of unlawful hemp sales.

Katy Urban, spokeswoman for Roetzel’s office, says the agencies are waiting for testing results to determine if any laws were broken.

Sioux Falls Police Department spokesman Aaron Benson said the SFPD has performed one compliance check, and is waiting on results from a lab test to determine how to proceed with one case. Benson declined to say how many businesses were visited, citing the open investigation.

Committee hears support for compliance

At Tuesday’s medical marijuana committee meeting, Murphy repeated an assertion he’s used for nearly two years now:  The availability of hemp-derived alternatives to medical cannabis puts the state’s highly regulated medical marijuana industry at a disadvantage.

“Why do I go to a doctor and pay him, and why go pay the state to pay even more money, when I can go to the vape shop, or I can go to the hemp store and they’re selling exactly what I need?” Murphy said.

The number of medical marijuana cards issued in the state stands at around 14,000, but changes slightly every day, Whitney Brunner of the Department of Health told the medical marijuana committee Tuesday.

“Any data point presented on patient cards is representative of a snapshot in time,” Brunner said.

Cards issuance has picked up slightly since voters rejected a ballot measure to legalize recreational cannabis last fall, but remained at about 14,000 as of this week. A little more than 70 percent of the cards have been issued to people for the management of chronic pain, Brunner told the committee.

Medical cannabis purveyors supported the law banning the sale of synthetically altered hemp products, but the law hasn’t led to a crush of cases against sellers. Around 100 charges had been filed as of last month, between juvenile and adult cases, according to the Unified Judicial System. Several of those charges were attached to individual defendants.

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Federal Appeals Court Gives Medical Marijuana Patients Who Want To Own Guns A Win

As the U.S. Supreme Court considers a series of cases challenging the current ban on gun ownership by people who use marijuana, another federal appeals court has ruled in favor of medical cannabis patients who want to exercise their Second Amendment rights to possess firearms.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh District, in a opinion authored by Judge Elizabeth Branch, departed from the ruling of a district could that upheld the federal statute, Section 922(g)(3), that precludes any “unlawful users” of controlled substances from owning or purchasing firearms.

While the Justice Department has repeatedly argued that people who use cannabis, in compliance with state law, are uniquely dangerous—and that there are historical analogues in U.S. gun laws that justify the ban—the appeals court disagreed, vacated the prior ruling and remanded the case back to a lower court.

The federal government’s “allegations in the operative complaint do not lead to the inference that the plaintiffs are comparatively similar to either felons or dangerous individuals.”

The plaintiffs in the years-long case are Vera Cooper and Nicole Hansell, who are registered medical cannabis patients denied gun purchases over their admission to participating in the program, and Neill Franklin, a former police officer who wants to access medical marijuana without jeopardizing his right to own a firearm.

Former Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried (D) initially led the suit against the federal government, but she was removed from the case after leaving her state office. The Republican commissioner who replaced her declined to become involved in the legal proceedings.

One of the most controversial aspects of the many active firearms and marijuana cases deals with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2022 where justices generally created a higher standard for policies that seek to impose restrictions on gun rights. The ruling states that any such restrictions must be consistent with the historical context of the Second Amendment’s original 1791 ratification.

To that end, the Justice Department has argued that the two medical cannabis patients in the Florida case should be deprived of their gun rights due to their alleged felonious activity and dangerousness.

After reviewing the district court ruling on appeal, the Eleventh Circuit said “nothing in the [complaint] indicates that [plaintiffs] have committed any felony or been convicted of any crime (felony or misdemeanor), let alone that their medical marijuana use makes them dangerous.”

“Thus, the government failed to meet its burden—at the motion to dismiss stage—to establish that disarming medical marijuana users is consistent with this Nation’s history and tradition of firearm regulation,” the opinion says.

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Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals Revives Case Challenging Gun Ban for Florida Medical Marijuana Patients

In a decision issued Wednesday, a three-judge panel said the government had not met its burden of showing that disarming state-legal medical marijuana patients aligns with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.

The case was brought by several Florida medical marijuana patients, joined initially by former Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, who argued the restriction is unconstitutional given their lawful conduct under state law.

The court’s ruling nullifies a district court decision from November 2022 that threw out the challenge

The court noted that the individuals involved had not been convicted of crimes or shown to pose a danger that would warrant taking away their gun rights. Under federal law, marijuana use remains a misdemeanor offense, but Florida voters legalized medical marijuana in 2016. The panel ruled that this conflict was enough to allow the case to move forward.

U.S. Circuit Judge Elizabeth Branch, writing on behalf of the panel, noted that at most the plaintiffs were guilty of a federal misdemeanor for marijuana use. She emphasized that they had not been convicted of a crime and there was no showing at this stage that their drug use made them dangerous enough to justify stripping them of gun rights.

“Accordingly, the Federal Government has failed, at the motion to dismiss stage, to establish that disarming Appellants is consistent with this Nation’s history and tradition of firearm regulation,” she wrote.

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Cannabis Seed Oil Has ‘Superior Effectiveness’ In Healing Wounds Compared To Conventional Antibiotics, Study Shows

Cannabis seed oil can help accelerate healing of skin wounds—a promising development that authors say indicates that “hemp seed oil may serve as a promising natural and cost-effective adjunct for wound management”—according to a new study of mice.

The report, published in the journal Narra J, compared wounds treated with hempseed oil against those treated with the conventional antibiotic chloramphenicol. Another group of mice was given only a mild saline solution.

“The findings of the present study highlighted the efficacy of hemp oil in accelerating wound healing processes, particularly wound size reduction, epithelialization, granulation tissue formation, and vascularization,” authors wrote, “with results indicating superior effect compared to chloramphenicol ointment.”

The four-person research team, from Universitas Syiah Kuala in Indonesia, noted that there appeared to be specific portions of the healing process in which hemp oil outperformed treatment with chloramphenicol. During other time frames, however, it seemed “comparable” to the antibiotic.

“Hemp seed oil demonstrated superior effectiveness in accelerating wound size reduction compared to chloramphenicol ointment during days 14 and 21,” the paper says, “indicating its potential as a supportive therapy for prolonged wound healing phases. While both treatments improved epithelialization, the significant effect observed on day 14 in the present study suggested that hemp seed oil may provide particular benefits during this critical stage of wound healing, potentially accelerating the transition to tissue remodeling.”

In terms of tissue formation, “hemp seed oil treatment significantly accelerated granulation tissue formation during wound healing, particularly on day 14, where it outperformed chloramphenicol,” authors wrote. “However, its effect on day 21 was comparable to chloramphenicol.”

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The Top 200 Cannabis-Related Studies Published in 2025

Hundreds of peer-reviewed studies on marijuana and its components have been published in the first seven months of 2025, marking a surge in new research. In this article, we break down the 200 most important of these studies.

These studies cover a wide spectrum of conditions, from autoimmune disorders and mental health issues to gastrointestinal diseases and metabolic dysfunction. In addition, researchers are increasingly turning their attention to cannabinoids beyond THC and CBD, such as CBG, THCV, and CBC. Many studies also focus on novel delivery systems—like oral dissolvable films, skin patches, and advanced emulsions—while investigating how marijuana may affect pain regulation, sleep quality, immune response, and emotional health.

What follows is a detailed roundup of more than 200 marijuana-related studies released so far this year.

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Medical Marijuana ‘Significantly’ Decreases Use Of Opioids By Chronic Pain Patients, New Study Finds

A new study is offering more evidence that marijuana can serve as an effective substitute for opioids in pain management treatment.

Researchers in Australia at Murdoch University and the Perth Pain Management Centre set out to investigate how the integration of cannabinoids into treatment for people with chronic non-cancer pain would impact opioid use.

The study, published in the journal Pain Management on Monday, determined that “co-prescription of cannabinoids may enable patients to reduce their opioid consumption prescribed for chronic benign pain.”

To assess the relationship between cannabis and opioids in treatment, researchers followed two cohorts of patients over the course of a year: One group of 102 patients at a pain clinic who were already taking opioids and were co-prescribed cannabis and another group of 53 patients at a different clinic who were only receiving opioids, without marijuana.

At the baseline, the median patient was taking about 40 mg of opioids per day. After a year, the group that received a median dose of medical cannabis containing 15 mg delta-9 THC and 15 mg of CBD “significantly” decreased their opioid dose to 2.7 mg per day. The opioid-only cohort after one year was taking a median 42.3 mg per day.

“The introduction of cannabinoids can produce useful reductions in opioid consumption in real-world settings, with additional benefits for disability and insomnia,” the study authors said. “However, this treatment is tolerated by only a subgroup of patients.”

Among the cohort that incorporated cannabis into their treatment regiment, “opioid consumption decreased significantly after both 6 and 12 months.”

“Physical activity and sleep also improved. These findings indicate that medicinal cannabis can help patients to reduce their opioid consumption and improve their physical activity and sleep,” the study concluded.

The findings are also consistent with a growing body of scientific literature exploring the association between cannabis and opioid use.

For example, a study published earlier this year in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review found that, among drug users who experience chronic pain, daily cannabis use was linked to a higher likelihood of quitting the use of opioids—especially among men.

A study published late last year also found that legalizing medical cannabis appeared to significantly reduce monetary payments from opioid manufacturers to doctors who specialize in pain, with authors finding “evidence that this decrease is due to medical marijuana becoming available as a substitute” for prescription painkillers.

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Medical Marijuana Reduces Anxiety And Depression, New Federally Funded Study Shows

Medical marijuana was associated with “significant decreases in self-reported anxiety and depression” compared to before patients began treatment with cannabis, according to a new study funded in part by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

The observational study, published this month in the Journal of Affective Disorders, looked at 33 adults in Maryland with “clinically significant” anxiety and/or depression over a six-month period, evaluating them at baseline, and then again after one, three and six months from when patients began using medical cannabis.

“Significant decreases from baseline in anxiety and depression were observed, with mean scores dropping below clinically significant levels within three months of initiation,” the study says. Participants also reported sustained reductions in anxiety and/or depression symptoms over the six-month study period.

Most patients chose THC-dominant cannabis products. In addition to self-reported benefits to mental health, they also reported a decline in their perceived driving ability and an increase in feeling high.

“Acute effects were dose-dependent,” authors wrote: “10–15 mg of oral THC and at least 3 puffs of vaporized cannabis yielded the most robust reductions in anxiety and depression.”

Among participants, three-quarters said they had previously used marijuana. Just over a third (37 percent) said they’d used cannabis within the past year.

At the time of the study, medical marijuana was legal in Maryland but the substance remained illegal for nonmedical use.

The six-person team behind the new study represents the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and the university’s Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, as well as the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research in Melbourne, Australia.

A conflict of interest section of the report notes that some members have received funding or currently work for companies involved in medical marijuana.

In addition to NIDA funding, the project also received support a pilot grant from the Lambert Center for the Study of Medicinal Cannabis and Hemp at Thomas Jefferson University.

Authors said that while the findings of the new study were promising, “controlled clinical trials are needed to further investigate the efficacy and safety of medicinal cannabis for acute anxiety and depression symptom management.”

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Hawaii Governor Signs Medical Marijuana Expansion Bill, After Calling One Of Its Provisions ‘A Grave Violation Of Privacy,’

On the heels of signaling a possible veto of a bill meant to expand access to medical marijuana in Hawaii, Gov. Josh Green (D) instead signed the measure into law over the weekend, regardless of a provision he recently described as “a grave violation of privacy.”

HB 302 will make two main reforms around patient access. First, it allows a patient’s primary treating medical provider to recommend marijuana for any malady they see fit, regardless of whether it’s a specified qualifying condition in Hawaii. It also allows patients to receive medical cannabis recommendations through telehealth visits rather than having to establish an in-person relationship with a provider.

Before lawmakers sent the bill to Green, a conference committee revised the plan, inserting a provision to allow the state Department of Health to access medical marijuana patient records held by doctors for any reason whatsoever.

The revised bill authorizes the Department of Health to “inspect a qualifying patient’s medical records held by the physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or hospice provider who issued a written certification for the qualifying patient.” Providers who don’t comply with a department request for a patient’s records could see their ability to issue medical cannabis revoked.

Advocates initially supported HB 302 as a means to expand access to patients with conditions beyond those specified under state law. But many withdrew support following the conference committee’s changes.

An additional provision establishes a new Class C felony for unlicensed operation of a dispensary, adding another major charge on top of the state’s existing laws against illegal distribution of marijuana.

In early June, Green himself put the cannabis measure on a list of bills he intended to veto—an indication, though not a commitment, that he was leaning towards rejecting it.

“Although this bill’s authorization of medical cannabis certifications via telehealth expands access to medical cannabis,” his office wrote at the time, “provisions authorizing the inspection of patients’ medical records without warrant constitute a grave violation of privacy.”

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DeSantis Signs Bill To Strip Florida Medical Marijuana Cards From People With Drug Convictions

Some medical marijuana patients and caregivers in Florida could see their state cannabis registrations revoked under a bill signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) this week.

DeSantis on Monday signed SB 2514, a broad budget bill that touches on cancer, dentistry and other health-related matters. But it also contains a provision that directs the state Department of Health (DOH) to cancel registrations of medical marijuana patients and caregivers if they’re convicted of—or plead guilty or no contest to—criminal drug charges.

The measure says a patient or caregiver would have their registration immediately suspended upon being charged with a state drug crime, and the suspension would remain in place until the criminal case reaches a final disposition.

DOH officials would have authority to reinstate the registration, revoke it entirely or extend the suspension if needed.

Authorities would be required to revoke a person’s registration if the patient or caregiver “was convicted of, or pled guilty or nolo contendre to, regardless of adjudication, a violation [of state drug law] if such violation was for trafficking in, the sale, manufacture, or delivery of, or possession with intent to sell, manufacture, or deliver a controlled substance.”

The enacted version of the legislation focuses specifically on production and distribution. It does not contain an earlier restriction from prior versions that would have also revoked registrations for people who merely purchased illegal drugs, including more than 10 grams of marijuana for their own use.

It also clarifies that patients and caregivers would have a process to request their registrations be reinstated. That would involve submitting a new application “accompanied by a notarized attestation by the applicant that he or she has completed all the terms of incarceration, probation, community control, or supervision related to the offense.”

It’s not clear from the plain language of the revised bill whether it would impact only future criminal cases involving medical marijuana patients and caregivers or whether DOH would need to review the records of existing program registrants and revoke registrations of an untold number of Floridians with past drug convictions.

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White House Announces Withdrawal Of Trump’s Drug Czar Nominee Who Embraced Medical Marijuana

The White House has notified Congress that President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)—who has publicly backed medical marijuana access—is being withdrawn.

About three months after Trump picked Sara Carter to become the next White House drug czar, the administration told lawmakers on Thursday that she’s no longer up for consideration for the position.

It’s currently unclear whether Carter withdrew from consideration herself or if it was a decision made by the president. Marijuana Moment reached out to the White House for comment, but a representative did not respond by the time of publication.

The notice published in the Congressional Record about the withdrawal of the nomination reads:

“WITHDRAWAL

Executive Message transmitted by the President to the Senate on June 26, 2025 withdrawing from further Senate consideration the following nomination:

SARA CARTER, OF TEXAS, TO BE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL POLICY, VICE RAHUL GUPTA, RESIGNED, WHICH WAS SENT TO THE SENATE ON MAY 6, 2025.”

There was some enthusiasm about Carter’s nomination among cannabis reform advocates, as she’s previously called medical marijuana a “fantastic” treatment option for seriously ill patients and said she doesn’t have a “problem” with legalization, even if she might not personally agree with the policy.

Given the role of ONDCP director in setting and carrying out the administrative agenda on drug policy issues, the fact that Carter went on the record enthusiastically endorsing medical cannabis represented a welcome development for advocates amid Senate confirmations of other officials with a mixed bag of marijuana records.

Under longstanding federal statute, the drug czar is prohibited from endorsing the legalization of Schedule I drugs in the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), including marijuana. However, Democratic congressional lawmakers in April filed a bill that would remove that restriction.

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