Tag: the war on (some) drugs

An Ointment With The Marijuana Components CBD And CBG Can Effectively Treat Symptoms Of Eczema, Study Shows

Authors of a new report on cannabinoids and atopic dermatitis—also called eczema—say their study demonstrated that an ointment including cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabigerol (CBG) was “effective in reducing itching and improving the quality of life of patients…leading to symptom remission in some cases.”

Published in the journal Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, the original research looked a number of metrics of skin health, including hydration sebum level and pH, in nine adult patients diagnosed with atopic dermatitis (AD).

The transdermal ointment was used as an alternative “to conventional auxiliary therapies during both flare-ups and remission” from May to July 2022, the team wrote. “The results we achieved included improved skin hydration, sebum level, and TEWL [water loss] as well as reduced erythema [redness] in the studied areas (forearms).”

AD, or eczema, “is the most common, chronic, and relapsing non-contagious inflammatory skin condition,” authors noted.

The ointment itself consisted of 30 percent CBD, 5 percent CBG, hemp seed oil and cholesterol. Patients were instructed to “apply a generous layer of the ointment to the same site (the forearms) once daily before sleep and to cover the area with a wet wrap dressing to enhance its effectiveness and protect bedsheets,” the report says.

Photos and other metrics observed a marked improvement in skin appearance and health over a three-month period. Authors wrote that their preliminary analysis of the results “showed that the topical delivery of the ointment compounded with Cannabis Sativa L. var. sativa oil, cholesterol ointment, 30% CBD, and 5% CBG led to the remission of skin lesions on the forearms of the included patients.”

Patients who better adhered to the treatment regimen, they added, demonstrated greater improvement.

“In the course of the therapy, patients adhering to the topical cannabinoid regimen achieved satisfactory skin parameters, including normal hydration and sebum levels, as well as improved TEWL and erythema,” the study says, “as opposed to patients who reported failure to comply with the regimen owing to the fatty texture of the formulation, despite the instructions they received.”

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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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Trump’s Veterans Secretary Had ‘Eye-Opening’ Psychedelics Talk With RFK Jr.—And He Plans To Press Congress To Act

The head of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) says he had an “eye-opening” talk with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Trump administration’s top federal health official, about the therapeutic potential of psychedelic medicine. And he intends to press Congress to take action on the issue.

VA Secretary Doug Collins, a former Republican congressman, also said during an interview on the Shawn Ryan Show that was posted this week that he’s open to the idea of having the government provide vouchers to cover the costs of psychedelic therapy for veterans who receive services outside of VA as Congress considers pathways for access.

Collins noted that VA has already been conducting clinical trials into the therapeutic use of psychedelics for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI), and the initial results show it’s “working,” with “tremendous change” among participants.

The secretary said he and Kennedy, the health and human services secretary, “sat in my office two weeks ago and talked about this very issue,” including how to navigate the regulatory and bureaucratic barriers to freeing up funds to support psychedelics access.

“Because we’re actually a hospital, a healthcare organization, we’re bound by some of the laws that Congress has made that have bound us into what we can use and what we can’t use,” he said, adding that marijuana is a “big example” of an alternative therapy that VA isn’t able to provide under current law.

“You’ve had a lot of congressmen say, ‘We’re not gonna do that. We’re gonna keep it where it’s at’” under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). “And so that it binds us a little bit.”

Asked for details about his conversation with the HHS secretary, Collins said it was “eye-opening because, of course he is very ‘Make America Healthy Again—getting the food additives out, getting those kind of stuff.”

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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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Florida Officials Say Marijuana Legalization Campaign Committed ‘Multiple Election Law Violations’

Florida officials have sent a cease-and-desist letter to the campaign seeking to place a marijuana legalization initiative on the state’s 2026 ballot, alleging that the group has “committed multiple election law violations.”

The Office of Election Crimes and Security (OECS)—part of Florida’s Department of State—also fined Smart & Safe Florida more than $120,000 for submitting completed petitions more than 30 days after they were signed.

The issue has been referred to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for a “potential criminal investigation.”

The campaign was behind last year’s Amendment 3 legalization ballot measure, which failed to win the required 60 percent approval to become law, and is now working to qualify a revised constitutional amendment for next year’s ballot.

Among the claimed violations listed in the letter are that Smart & Safe Florida failed to provide the official text of the proposed constitutional amendment to voters when obtaining signatures as well as that it delivered “forged or fraudulent petitions”—such as one “purportedly signed by a Florida voter in February 2025, when, in fact, that voter has been deceased since November of 2024.”

In a statement to Marijuana Moment, a campaign representative said it has confidence in the process and intends to push back on the state’s assertion it violated election law.

“The claims made appear to be a targeted effort to thwart the ability for the people of Florida to express their support of a citizen-driven amendment,” the statement says. “We stand by the process and had legal counsel vet all forms and communications prior to mailing and look forward to challenging the validity of these claims.”

Other violations claimed by OECS assert that the campaign circulated non-approved petition forms “in a manner that has created the opportunity for fraud and has led to dozens of Florida voters completing and submitting multiple…petitions” and that it submitted completed petitions after a state-mandated deadline.

The letter demands “an immediate accounting of any and all petition forms that were obtained in response to one of your mailed packages that you or your agents have turned in” and further mandates that Smart & Safe Florida “immediately cease the mailing, use, or circulation of non-approved petition forms.”

“Initiative efforts must be undertaken in compliance with the law,” the document says. “The issues raised in this letter are serious and could serve to undermine public confidence in the initiative process.”

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Indiana Lawmakers Weigh Widespread Ban On All Marijuana Advertising, Not Just On Billboards

Indiana lawmakers could ban all marijuana advertising within state lines under an amendment adopted Monday in a transportation-focused committee. It goes beyond the billboard-specific prohibition taken in a Senate panel last week.

Rep. Jim Pressel (R-Rolling Prairie) said his community is “inundated” with billboards advertising illegal marijuana. The district is near Michigan, which has legalized it.

But that’s not all.

“My constituents, myself included, receive up to two—what would look like political mailers—a week advertising an illegal substance” at dispensaries in nearby New Buffalo, per Pressel. He chairs the House Roads and Transportation Committee.

He commandeered Senate Bill 73, dealing with utility trailer sales, for an amendment outlawing the advertising of marijuana and other drugs on Indiana’s list of Schedule I controlled substances. Indiana’s attorney general could sue for injunctions, civil penalties of up to $15,000 and “reasonable costs” incurred throughout the investigation and lawsuit.

“I’ve heard about [how] the First Amendment, I’m trampling on it. I don’t believe that to be true,” Pressel told the committee. He cited a federal appeals court decision that, “basically, if it’s a criminal activity, you have no First Amendment right to advertise. That’s my understanding.”

The ban would take effect upon the bill’s passage. Advertising from contracts entered into or renewed before the approval date would be exempt.

The committee accepted the edits by consent.

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Trump’s New White House Drug Czar Called Medical Marijuana A ‘Fantastic’ Treatment For Cancer Patients

President Donald Trump’s choice to serve as the next White House drug czar has 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.

Trump picked Sara Carter, a journalist known for her coverage of drug cartels, to serve as director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).

The president said Carter has “been on the front lines of this International Fight for decades” and ” will lead the charge to protect our Nation.”

Given the role of ONDCP director in setting and carrying out the administrative agenda on drug policy issues, the fact that Carter has gone on the record enthusiastically endorsing medical cannabis will likely be welcome news for advocates amid the Senate confirmations of 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.

“The Director…shall ensure that no Federal funds appropriated to the Office of National Drug Control Policy shall be expended for any study or contract relating to the legalization (for a medical use or any other use) of a substance listed in schedule I of section 812 of this title and take such actions as necessary to oppose any attempt to legalize the use of a substance (in any form) that— (A) is listed in schedule I of section 812 of this title; and (B) has not been approved for use for medical purposes by the Food and Drug Administration.”

Trump himself has previously expressed support for medical cannabis, as well as rescheduling of marijuana under federal law.

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New Hampshire Governor Reiterates Opposition To Marijuana Legalization, But May Consider Allowing Medical Homegrow

As bills to legalize marijuana for adults in New Hampshire makes their way through the legislature, Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R) is reiterating her opposition to the reform—but is also signaling that she may be open to separate legislation that would allow medical cannabis patients to grow their own medicine at home.

“I’ve been very clear on this,” Ayotte told reporters last Wednesday, the same day House lawmakers passed HB 198, which would legalize the use and possession of marijuana by adults 21 and older. “I ran on this issue, and the people of New Hampshire know where I stand on it. I don’t support it.”

A former U.S. senator and state attorney general, Ayotte said repeatedly on the campaign trail last year that she would oppose efforts at adult-use legalization.

HB 198 would, if enacted, allow adults 21 and older to possess up to two ounces of marijuana flower, 10 grams of concentrate and up to 2,000 milligrams of THC in other cannabis products. Retail sales of marijuana products, along with home cultivation, would remain illegal. Consuming marijuana on public land would also be prohibited.

The proposal, from Rep. Jared Sullivan (D), cleared the chamber last week in a 208–125 vote.

Ayotte said there were a number of reasons she’s against the change, according to a report from the outlet InDepthNH.

“I don’t think it is the right direction for the state for a lot of reasons,” she told reporters. “I believe, if you think about our quality of life, if you think about some of the concerns that can flow from that. I know…we talked about safety on our roadways. I think that there are a number of issues that states who have legalized cannabis have experienced in those regards that I just don’t think can be addressed at the moment with the existing technology.”

The governor of the Granite State also added that she’s “mindful of the message we send to younger people when we legalize something versus it being illegal.”

Despite Ayotte’s comments flatly opposing legalization, however, she left the door open to more modest cannabis reform. She told reporters she will review every bill that comes to her desk, including a separate House-passed measure that would legalize home cultivation by state-registered medical marijuana patients.

That bill—HB 53, from Rep. Wendy Thomas (D), would allow cultivation of up to three mature plants and three immature plants, as well as 12 seedlings. Patients could also possess up to eight ounces of usable cannabis from those plants.

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GOP Senator Paints Dire Picture Of Medical Marijuana Legalization In His State, Saying Voters Didn’t Understand ‘Consequences’

U.S. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said at an event on Friday that voters in his home state didn’t understand what they were doing when they legalized medical marijuana in 2018.

Pointing to a new report from the Texoma High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program, which covers north Texas and Oklahoma, Lankford said the state has been overrun by growers and dispensaries and has “seen rising crime, human trafficking [and] illegal migration coming into our state” since the law took effect.

Although citizens voted in favor of medical marijuana legalization, he said, “I don’t think a lot of Oklahomans realized, when that vote actually occurred, what the consequences of that would be.”

The senator’s comments are in keeping with criticisms that Republican politicians in Oklahoma have levied against medical marijuana for years. In 2022, for example, Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) similarly suggested that state residents misunderstood the cannabis initiative they voted to enact.

Stitt said at the time that he was directing law enforcement to “crack down hard on the black market,” adding that “drug cartels, organized crime, foreign bad actors have no place in the state of Oklahoma.”

But in comments on Friday, Lankford—a longtime critic of legalization—painted a dire picture of what’s happening in the state.

“The findings that are coming out are stark,” he said of the new HIDTA report. “We have Chinese criminal organizations and organized crime that has moved in to Oklahoma in just the last six years, in numbers that have skyrocketed.”

That’s led to what he described as “execution-style murders in rural areas of the state” that are connected “directly to marijuana grows and what is happening here on the ground.”

“We, as a state, have to decide what we’re going to do about it,” the federal lawmaker said. “We have hard decisions to be able to make on what we’re going to do to be able to protect our kids in the days ahead… This is a very serious issue that we need to be able to take on and to be able to address.”

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