Newsletter
Feds want to test workers’ hair for cannabis (Newsletter: September 15, 2020)
TX official wants medical marijuana for toothaches; MO funds vets’ health with cannabis money; USDA OKs hemp plans; New psychedelic science center
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/ TOP THINGS TO KNOW
The Department of Health and Human Services’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is proposing allowing federal agencies and certain regulated businesses to drug test workers’ hair—a method that science shows could disproportionately lead to people of color losing their jobs.
Texas’s agriculture commissioner said he supports expanding the state’s limited medical cannabis law to allow patients to use it for toothaches and other maladies.
- “If it’ll help somebody, I’m for it. Whatever it is. I mean, a toothache, I don’t care. If it’s a cure, if it [alleviates] pain, we should be able to use that.”
Missouri sent $2.1 million in medical marijuana revenue to a program that funds military veterans’ health services, and legal sales haven’t even started yet. This first haul—funds left over after implementation costs—is from business and patient licensing fees.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture approved hemp plans for Utah and another Indian tribe. The number of state, territory and tribal hemp proposals that federal officials have signed off on now stands at 60.
The University of California, Berkeley launched a new center dedicated to research and education on psychedelics.
/ FEDERAL
Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) reiterated a pledge to decriminalize marijuana under a Biden administration.
The office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) sent a press release highlighting some apparent Democratic discontent with plans to hold a House vote on marijuana legalization next week.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) pledged to move marijuana reform legislation if Democrats win control of the Senate. He also tweeted, “Senator McConnell has said he will never bring any marijuana bill to the floor of the Senate. Here’s what I told @Leafly: If Democrats retake the majority in the Senate, I am going to do everything I can to put the Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act on the floor.”
Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) touted federal funding for a project to use hemp for “improving environmental effects of acid mine drainage.”
Tennessee Democratic congressional candidate Christopher Hale tweeted, “Why is that kids and veterans who smoke marijuana in rural Tennessee have criminal records, but the Wall Street executives who committed billions of dollars of consumer fraud and wrecked our economy do not? Let’s legalize weed now and invest the money in our schools and roads.”
/ STATES
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) appointed members to the Adult Use Cannabis Health Advisory Committee.
New Hampshire Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Feltes adopted the marijuana legalization platform of his former primary rival.
Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor tweeted, “Pennsylvania’s recreational cannabis revenue? $0. Now more than ever, we need to take that money away from illegal dealers and use it to offset the burden to taxpayers. Please tell your legislators to act now.”
A Texas judge heard arguments in a case challenging the state’s ban on smokable hemp.
The California Osteopathic Medical Board discussed guidelines for the recommendation of medical cannabis.
A lawsuit challenging Utah lawmakers’ move to replace a voter-approved medical cannabis ballot measure with an alternate law is being dropped.
Maine regulators adopted amended marijuana testing rules.
Hawaii and Virginia are suspending state hemp production regulations and are directing farmers to apply for licenses from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Oregon regulators published guidance on medical cannabis caregiver issues.
Washington State regulators will consider marijuana rules on Wednesday.
Ohio regulators released updated medical cannabis patient and caregiver numbers.
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/ LOCAL
A San Francisco. California supervisor filed legislation to postpone the implementation of a voter-approved tax on marijuana sales.
Denver, Colorado’s Psilocybin Mushroom Policy Review Panel held its fourth meeting.
/ INTERNATIONAL
The British Virgin Islands’s medical cannabis industry is on hold while the governor reviews relevant legislation.
The Canadian government awarded a contract to the Canadian Association of People Who Use Drugs to study the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on harm reduction services.
Here’s a look at possible challenges to the European Union’s classification of CBD products.
/ SCIENCE & HEALTH
A study found that “cannabis use worked as an alternative to prescription opioids in just over half of patients with low back pain and as an adjunct to diminish use in some chronic opioid users.”
Vaping of marijuana and nicotine by U.S. 19-to-22-year-olds more than doubled between 2017 and 2019.
/ ADVOCACY, OPINION & ANALYSIS
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial board said that Missouri’s medical cannabis rollout has been a “debacle.”
Prohibitionist organization Smart Approaches to Marijuana is closing its Manhattan office and is selling expensive furniture, including a $1,400 dining table, $1,500 set of chairs and a $2,500 pair of lounge chairs.
The Montana Chamber of Commerce is opposing the state’s marijuana legalization ballot measures.
Americans for Safe Access filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a case challenging marijuana’s federally illegal status.
/ BUSINESS
Charlotte’s Web Holdings, Inc. reported quarterly revenue of $21.6 million and a net loss of $14.4 million.
Aurora Cannabis Inc. plans to divulge “certain material weaknesses in the Company’s internal control framework” in its upcoming quarterly financial filings.
/ CULTURE
Travel writer Rick Steves is campaigning for marijuana reform ballot measures in several states.
Jeopardy had a question about the congressional marijuana bill H.R. 420.
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Photo courtesy of Brian Shamblen.
