Newsletter
Congressional vote to block cannabis rescheduling (Newsletter: July 10, 2024)
Feds sell $174/gram cannabis; PA lawmakers talk marijuana; WA psychedelics ballot measure; Reddit & marijuana study
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/ TOP THINGS TO KNOW
The House Appropriations Committee voted to block marijuana rescheduling while rejecting a separate amendment that would have protected state recreational marijuana legalization laws from federal interference.
Federal officials at the National Institute of Standards and Technology are now selling “some of the most carefully quantified cannabis ever sold.” The hemp reference material costs $174 a gram—far more expensive than marijuana that’s commercially available in states across the country.
The Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus held a press conference to announce a framework for marijuana legalization—saying that any bill must include relief for people harmed by criminalization and center equity in the industry.
Washington State activists filed a proposed ballot measure to legalize plant- and fungi-derived psychedelics and create a regulated system of “supportive services.”
A new study of how Reddit users in marijuana forum r/trees indicate how high they are on a scale of 1-10 found that “posters reported greater subjective highness when using language that referred to in-person social environments and lower subjective highness when using language that referred to online social environments.”
The director of Maine’s Office of Cannabis Policy and public health advocates are pushing for the state to adopt medical marijuana lab testing requirements.
Hemp company owners say new North Dakota Agriculture Department rules are adding unnecessary “hurdles” and “red tape” that make it hard to operate in the supposedly business-friendly state.
/ FEDERAL
Rep. Rose DeLauro (D-CT) tweeted to congratulate New Haven, Connecticut students “for curating interviews for a documentary about the effects the ‘War on Drugs’ had on black communities.”
The House bill to federally legalize marijuana got one new cosponsor for a total of 92.
/ STATES
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) signed a bill to include marijuana in the state’s open container law.
Massachusetts’s inspector general testified before the legislature’s Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy about his support for appointing a receiver to manage the Cannabis Control Commission.
An Ohio representative discussed a bill he is sponsoring to institute roadside saliva tests to help determine marijuana impairment.
Washington State marijuana regulators sent a notice about cannabis lab accreditation being transferred to the state Department of Agriculture.
The California State Fair announced the winners of its cannabis competition.
Virginia regulators posted about the impact of cannabis use on gun rights.
The New York Cannabis Control Board will consider marijuana business licenses and rules on packaging, labeling and marketing on Wednesday.
Nevada regulators will host a webinar on the availability of a cannabis business license in White Pine County on Wednesday.
The Colorado Retail Marijuana Public Health Advisory Committee will meet on Monday.
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/ LOCAL
The Missoula, Montana City Council approved a temporary moratorium on new marijuana business licenses as well as a separate proposal to institute criminal charges for cannabis business owners whose operations sell to people under the age of 21.
The Charleston, West Virginia City Council’s Ordinance and Rules Committee is considering a proposal to decriminalize marijuana.
The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania City Council is considering a proposal to block employers from drug testing workers for marijuana if they are medical cannabis patients.
/ INTERNATIONAL
The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration fined a magazine for allegedly promoting medical cannabis use.
/ SCIENCE & HEALTH
A review concluded that “cannabinoids exhibit potential as a complementary therapy for managing [multiple sclerosis] symptoms, especially spasticity and pain.”
A study of rats indicated that “hemp seed oil suppressed the prevalence of pathogenic bacterial genera such as Streptococcus, Rothia, and Parabacteroides.”
/ ADVOCACY, OPINION & ANALYSIS
Republican National Committee officials approved a party platform that says Republicans will “demolish the foreign drug cartels” and “mobilize Military personnel and assets as necessary to crack down hard on the cartels that traffic drugs and people into our Country.”
The Libertarian Party of Florida endorsed the marijuana legalization initiative on the state’s November ballot.
/ BUSINESS
SHF Holdings, Inc., d/b/a/ Safe Harbor Financial exited a $3.1 million loan that was previously in default.
The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is facing a shareholder lawsuit alleging “unjust enrichment, abuse of control, gross mismanagement, and a waste of corporate assets.”
305 Farms is being sued by former employees for allegedly failing to pay wages and for taking money for benefits that were never provided.
Arkansas dispensaries sold $135.5 million worth of legal medical cannabis products between January 1 and June 30.
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