January 1, 2021
Marijuana possession could be legal in Virginia by this summer, here’s where the bill stands
On Thursday, a Senate panel endorsed legalizing the possession of recreational marijuana in Virginia by this summer, though legal sales could take much longer. The change was suggested as members of the Senate Judiciary Committee continued to debate a lengthy and complex bill in which few provisions are final.
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January 1, 2021
New bill would allow you to grow your own marijuana as N.J. legal weed debate continues
As lawmakers and Gov. Phil Murphy debate change to a bill that will launch legal marijuana sales in New Jersey, one Republican senator has introduced a bill that would allow residents to grow up to six weed plants at home. Sen. Gerald Cardinale, R-Bergen, is the primary sponsor of S3407, introduced Thursday.
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After weeks of fruitless negotiations on penalties for underage marijuana use and with a deadline to sign two marijuana reform bills looming, Gov. Phil Murphy and lawmakers inched closer to a compromise Thursday. Talks resulted in a new cleanup bill to address the issue and discussions are continuing, according to two sources with knowledge of the negotiations.
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January 1, 2021
What Happens if India Legalises Marijuana: It Can Reach New 'High' and Beat China at its Game Too
The market for cannabis products, both recreational and industrial, seems to be on the verge of major growth. Though China dominates global supply, its grasp over the market might weaken if companies consider moving supply chains out of the country, as they have throughout 2020. This sentiment likely won’t last and must be taken advantage of...Rhea Chakraborty may never have heard of Harry Anslinger and has definitely never met him.
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December 21, 2020
Paul introduces bill to raise THC limit for hemp
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) introduced legislation that would change the legal definition of hemp, raising the limit of THC to 1% from 0.3%. The Hemp Economic Mobilization Plan (HEMP) Act of 2020 also would mandate testing of the final hemp-derived product rather than the hemp flower or plant itself, require hemp shipments to contain a copy of the seed certificate showing the plant was grown from 1% THC seed and define a margin of error for testing THC levels. Hemp farmers and processors in Kentucky are in favor of raising the THC limit; per current laws and regulations, the paper said, crops testing above 0.3% must be destroyed. The bill has received support from activists and farmers in Kentucky and national groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation. The Kentucky Hemp Association and Vote Hemp also expressed support for the legislation.
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December 21, 2020
N.J. lawmakers OK bills to create legal marijuana industry and approve bill to stop weed arrests
N.J. lawmakers OK bills to create legal marijuana industry and approve bill to stop weed arrestsN.J. lawmakers OK bills to create legal marijuana industry and approve bill to stop weed arrests; New Jersey legislators approved three bills Thursday that radically change how the state approaches drug use involving marijuana. The state’s Senate and Assembly voted first to create a new and legal marijuana industry from scratch and called for new regulations to be written within six months. Both houses also approved a bill that decriminalizes possession of up to six ounces of cannabis. That second bill is designed to stop arrests and expunge criminal records of low-level marijuana offenses. The third bill, meanwhile, will reduce penalties for possessing psilocybin, also known as magic mushrooms, from a felony charge to a disorderly persons offense. “This is an historic day, the culmination of years of work,” said Amol Sinha, executive director of the ACLU of New Jersey, on the vote to legalize marijuana for all adults. “The decriminalization bill is among the most progressive in the country.” Gov. Phil Murphy, who campaigned on a platform to legalize marijuana, is expected sign the bills into law as soon as next week. Business news and analysis sent straight to your inbox every Tuesday morning.
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December 18, 2020
Legal Weed Is Coming to New Jersey — But How Will That Work?
Election Day marked a turning point in the United State’s war on drugs, as Oregon decriminalized possession of drugs, Mississippi approved medical marijuana, and New Jersey passed its Question 1 proposed constitutional amendment legalizing cannabis. As the year draws to a close, however, just what needs to be done to make weed legal in the Garden State? The Election Day vote was, apparently, the easy part — 65 percent of voters cast a ballot for a constitutional amendment that legalizes a recreational cannabis market for adults 21 and older. It was up to legislators, then, to figure out what exactly that would look like. An initial set of bills outlining this plan included one pertaining to legalization and another detailing decriminalization. The whole plan hit a wall in November, though, when the State Senate voted to add psilocybin, the hallucinogenic compound in psychedelic mushrooms, to the decriminalization bill — a move that postponed the final vote on the legislation. That decision conceded with a call to add more social justice initiatives to the legalization bill, a move that would provide aid for the communities that have been negatively impacted by the war on drugs. (For example, the ACLU reports black people are 3.64 times more likely to get arrested for marijuana charges than white — even though both use cannabis at similar rates — so largely black communities are statistically in need of more aid.) Then, as they say, it was back to the drawing board. Legislative leaders finally announced they had agreed on a proposed plan on December 4th in a joint statement from Governor Phil Murphy, Senate President Steve Sweeney, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Nicholas Scutari, and Assembly Majority Conference Chair Annette Quijano: “We’ve reached an agreement on legislation providing the framework for legalization, which is a critical step in reducing racial disparities and social inequities that have long plagued our criminal justice system. This legislation will accomplish our shared goals of delivering restorative justice and ensuring that the communities most impacted by the War on Drugs see the economic benefits of the adult-use cannabis market. While there is still much work ahead, we are one step closer to building a new, promising industry for our state.” That legislation will be sent to the floor for the final vote on Thursday, December 17th. So, then, what’s next? And what, exactly, are they voting on?
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Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney wrote a letter to Gov. Northam supporting marijuana legislation. In the letter, Stoney says the first priority is to have ‘complete and total expungements’ for those who have been criminalized or incarcerated for marijuana possession. The second priority is to have costs associated with ensuring the movement operates within a regulatory framework built on best practices and pragmatic progressivism. “I join cannabis legalization advocates everywhere in looking forward to the 2021 legislative session,” Mayor Stoney said in the letter to Northam. “Legalization opens many doors to restore justice in our underserved communities. Let’s give it the intentionality it deserves and meet this moment with plans for a solid foundation upon which to build a more just Virginia.” Stoney also states, “the Commonwealth must invest in a legalization timeline that is equitable and fiscally responsible.” Stoney said the funds should also be an investment into Virginia families, particularly at the preschool level. “Not only will we see long-term improvements in children’s outcomes, but we will also see a short-term boost to maternal employment and economic participation,” he said.
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December 18, 2020
An equitable cannabis industry comes from lowering barriers to entry, not good intentions | Opinion
As the 12th state to legalize cannabis, New Jersey is positioned to learn from a decade’s worth of experiences to create a racially and socially just industry. As currently written, New Jersey’s bill to implement legalization repeats some of the mistakes that have led to an inequitable cannabis industry in state after state, including my home state of Massachusetts. New Jersey must create an inclusive and diverse industry from the start, by lifting the financial barriers to entry for applicants who have borne the greatest injustices of the drug war. Because of the early inattention to meaningful equity policies, the cannabis industry as a whole mirrors the vast majority of other industries – controlled by wealthy white men and corporate interests. Many states are now attempting to insert equity and community reinvestment into the existing marketplace. New Jersey has the opportunity to get it right from the start. Since New Jersey voters overwhelmingly approved cannabis legalization in November, advocates at multiple legislative hearings have delivered hours-long testimony with a unified message: for equity, lawmakers have to put their money where their mouth is. We need legislation that advances social justice not just symbolically but in reality. Massachusetts, where I am the co-founder and CEO of Major Bloom, LLC, a Certified Economic Empowerment Marijuana business, provides an object lesson in the limits of well-meaning policies that tried and failed to include those most harmed by the drug war in the new cannabis industry. Ultimately, the state’s failure to provide adequate access to start-up resources doomed those programs to become window dressing, incapable of countering a deeply inequitable status quo.
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December 14, 2020
Cannabis legalization, backed by Massachusetts delegation, could put $7B dent in federal deficit
The effort to decriminalize and tax cannabis, which finds strong support among Massachusetts lawmakers and advocates, could cut into the federal deficit to the tune of $7 billion over the next decade. On top of addressing what many Massachusetts Democrats and cannabis advocates describe as racist drug laws that disproportionately impact communities of color, the decriminalization bill that recently passed in the House of Representatives could shave about $1.2 billion off the ever-increasing federal deficit by 2025, and possibly $7.3 billion by 2030, according to recent analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Proponents of the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act are pressing to expunge federal marijuana convictions and free up states to create their own laws and build new economic opportunities. Leading reformers hope the big jump in revenues and hefty deficit cut could help draw support from Republicans in the U.S. Senate. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, and Reps. Jim McGovern, Ayanna Pressley, Joe Kennedy III, Katherine Clark, Lori Trahan and Seth Moulton all co-sponsored Senate and House versions of the bill. The Democrat-led House passed the bill last week 228-164, with Reps. Bill Keating and Stephen Lynch joining their Massachusetts colleagues by voting in favor. Only five House Republicans voted for the law; just six Democrats voted against. “It was sad that my Republican colleagues were unable to understand why we voted to reform our failed prohibition of cannabis,” Rep. Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat from Portland, Oregon, said in a statement. “They don’t care about honoring the will of the people and they are unable to grasp the enormity of the racial injustice and damage by selective enforcement against young Black and Brown Americans. But the CBO score may have some other reasons for them.”
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