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First cannabis bill of new Congress focuses on guns (Newsletter: January 17, 2023)
Biden talks marijuana pardons at MLK Day event; NH psychedelics legalization bill; VA lawmakers’ cannabis focus for 2023
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/ TOP THINGS TO KNOW
President Joe Biden used an appearance at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day breakfast to tout his mass marijuana pardons, saying that the move is part of an “equal justice” agenda.
Reps. Alex Mooney (R-WV), Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Brian Mast (R-FL) introduced the first marijuana reform bill of the new Congress—a gun rights measure for medical cannabis patients.
A New Hampshire representative filed a bill to legalize psychedelics like LSD, psilocybin and mescaline.
Virginia lawmakers are considering bills on allowing marijuana sales and enacting regulations for hemp-derived products like delta-8 THC and CBD this session. The Senate majority leader said it’s “weird” that it is legal to possess cannabis but not to sell it.
/ FEDERAL
White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Rahul Gupta discussed the importance of harm reduction.
Reps. Dave Joyce (R-OH) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) spoke about the prospects for advancing cannabis banking legislation with expungements provisions attached.
/ STATES
Washington, D.C.’s attorney general criticized Congress for interfering with the city’s marijuana laws.
Florida’s Senate president appointed two lawmakers to the Industrial Hemp Advisory Council.
Hawaii’s Senate majority leader said that “examining the state’s medical marijuana industry and other potential agricultural revenue streams that will promote diversity within Hawaii’s economy” is one of the priorities for the new session.
The Connecticut legislature’s General Law Committee will consider several cannabis and hemp bills on Tuesday. Separately, a representative introduced legislation to require 16- and 17-year-olds seeking driver’s licenses to complete a course about marijuana-impaired driving.
A South Carolina representative tweeted, “In #SouthCarolina politicians literally discuss how bad marijuana is and why they will not legalize it while at the exact moment smoking cigarettes in one hand and having a whiskey in the other hand.”
A New Jersey senator tweeted that it is “time to act” against unregulated hemp-derived products.
A New York senator tweeted about his support for the Asian Cannabis Roundtable.
Texas regulators are accepting applications for additional medical cannabis dispensary licenses.
Massachusetts regulators clashed over a new state curriculum on marijuana-impaired driving.
Alabama regulators provided a timeline for issuing medical cannabis business licenses.
Oklahoma officials released updated medical cannabis revenue numbers.
Utah regulators posted an update on the medical cannabis program.
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/ LOCAL
A Charles Town, West Virginia City Council member is pushing to decriminalize marijuana.
/ INTERNATIONAL
Luxembourg’s health minister spoke about plans for cannabis legislation.
The U.S. trial of a former Mexican secretary of public security who is charged with accepting bribes from a drug cartel begins this week.
Irish lawmakers launched a podcast about drugs.
/ SCIENCE & HEALTH
A study found that “about 30% of the sample was able to discontinue the use of prescription medications because of cannabis.”
/ ADVOCACY, OPINION & ANALYSIS
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee tweeted, “Republicans have been blocking commonsense cannabis legalization for years [in Minnesota]. Now that Dems have complete control of the legislature, they’ll be able to take up the issue!”
/ BUSINESS
Tilray is laying off workers at a medical cannabis production facility in Cantanhede, Portugal.
/ CULTURE
Bryan Cranston joked about Seth Rogen being high at the Golden Globes.
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