June 4, 2020
Tobacco 21 law is just the beginning
Society has a responsibility to protect its vulnerable members, including protecting them from themselves. Gov. Walz took a step in doing just that when he recently signed a bill raising the age to buy tobacco to 21.
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June 4, 2020
Congressional bill would require legal marijuana states to consider impaired driving policies
Democratic leadership in a House committee introduced a bill Wednesday that includes a provision requiring legal marijuana states — and only those states — to consider ways to promote education about the dangers of cannabis-impaired driving while curbing such behavior. The chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee filed the legislation, which is also being cosponsored by several chairs of subcommittees under the panel.
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June 4, 2020
New York Senator Pushes To Legalize Marijuana As Part Of Criminal Justice Package Amid Protests
As mass protests over police killings of black Americans continue across the U.S., there’s a renewed push in New York to pass a package of criminal justice reform legislation that includes marijuana legalization. The Safer NY Act is a collection of five bills that have been previously introduced and largely focus on policing reform, but it also contains legislation to legalize cannabis for adult use.
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In their first day back at the Iowa Capitol, the state senate passed legislation to expand Iowa’s medical marijuana program. The bill passed 32 to 17 yesterday. Currently, the limit of THC someone can get in a medical cannabidiol product is 3-percent in Iowa. The Senate bill allows people in Iowa's medical cannabis program to get up to 25 grams of THC every 90 days. Those who support the expansion say the state's program is too stringent. Opponents say more studies using CBD oil as a treatment are needed.
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Authorities on the largest Native American reservation in the U.S. are warning people against illegally growing marijuana and hemp. Navajo Nation police issued the warning Wednesday after confirming that officers were investigating complaints about marijuana or hemp being grown near the northwestern New Mexico community of Shiprock. Navajo Police Chief Phillip Francisco said his department has turned over its findings to tribal prosecutors for further review.
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After what farmers say was a lot of excitement before the hemp cultivation application process, only 191 Ohio farmers received permission to grow hemp after 207 across the state applied. Many of those farmers are preparing to plant their first crop in what will be the first growing season where hemp can be legally harvested.
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After coronavirus-related delays, Muskegon’s third marijuana dispensary is expected to open this summer. Redbud Roots, a Buchanan-based cannabis producer and distributor, expects its second retail location, at 237 W. Laketon Ave. in Muskegon’s marijuana overlay district, will open to the public on Saturday, June 27. The dispensary will cater to both medicinal and recreational users - and its design has been influenced by both Muskegon’s history and its recent brush with the COVID-19 outbreak, Alex Leonowicz, one of the company’s four co-founders, told MLive in a recent interview. “Curbside (pickup) is here to stay,” he said. Redbud Roots was founded in 2017 by Christopher Fanta, a real estate investor; David Murray, a hedge fund manager; Jim Finley, an entrepreneur; and Leonowicz, a corporate attorney specializing in cannabis law. They were licensed by the state in December 2018, according to Leonowicz. The company began as a cultivator and processor of cannabis, and currently produces 27 different cannabis-derived products in-house, including concentrates, edibles, waxes, tinctures and topical creams. Those products will make up half the stock at the 2,500-square-foot Muskegon store, which is still under construction, Leonowicz said. Last week, the company’s sign was installed outside its gleaming wood, metal and glass storefront. Just as the business’s first shop, in Acme, reflects northern Michigan’s vast woods, the Muskegon design is meant to reflect the city’s “grittier, more industrial feel,” Leonowicz said. Muskegon was a fit for the company because it was an “early adopter” of the cannabis industry, “and it’s also a great town,” said Leonowicz. Some of the company’s 92 employees are Muskegon natives, he added. The 14 people hired to work at the new store - security, managers, and sales associates known colloquially as “budtenders” - are all local, according to Leonowicz.
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If Arizona marijuana activists succeed in placing a legalization initiative before voters this November, it will likely pass by a wide margin, according to a new poll. In a survey of likely voters, about two-thirds (65.5 percent) of respondents said they would support the proposed measure, the Smart and Safe Arizona Act. That’s a notable shift since residents were surveyed late last year in a poll that showed 54 percent in favor of the policy change. The survey described the legalization initiative, which would make it legal for adults 21 and older to purchase and possess cannabis and also impose taxes on legal sales, and asked 400 respondents if they would vote yes or no on the proposal Forty-seven percent said they would “definitely” back it and 18.5 percent said they “probably” would. Nineteen percent said they “definitely” would not vote for it, while six percent said they “probably” wouldn’t. The campaign behind the initiative, Smart and Safe Arizona, said in April that it had collected enough raw signatures to qualify for the ballot. However, those haven’t been verified by the state yet and the group said it plans to continue petitioning to ensure success. Stacy Pearson, campaign manager for the organization, told Marijuana Moment on Tuesday that they’re “on track to turn in more than 400,000 signatures by the July 2 deadline.” “The HighGround poll is encouraging and tracks with what our internal polling shows—Arizonans are ready to legalize marijuana,” she said. “Particularly in this economic environment, new jobs and tax revenue are important to voters.” Activists asked the state Supreme Court to allow electronic signature gathering given challenges presented by the coronavirus pandemic, but that request was rejected. In the poll, which was conducted from May 18-22, the only group that appears divided on the issue are those who identify as “very conservative.” They were evenly split—47.6-47.6 percent—on whether or not they’d vote in favor of legalization. All other demographics were solidly in favor of the proposal.
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Local marijuana businesses are taking the state to court to protect their exclusive right to Maine’s adult-use marijuana market. In a lawsuit filed Friday, Maine Cannabis Coalition claimed the state Department of Administrative and Financial Services was violating state law by refusing to enforce the residency requirement that lawmakers included in the Marijuana Legalization Act. The law says only Maine residents can run a recreational marijuana grow, manufacturing plant or retail store.
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June 2, 2020
Louisiana Lawmakers Send Medical Marijuana Expansion And Cannabis Banking Bills To Governor’s Desk
Louisiana lawmakers sent bills to significantly expand the state’s medical marijuana program and to allow cannabis businesses to access banks to the governor’s desk over the weekend. The expansion legislation—which the House of Representatives initially approved last month and cleared the Senate on last week with one amendment—would allow physicians to recommend medical cannabis to patients for any debilitating condition that they deem fit instead of from the limited list of maladies that’s used under current law.
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