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Governor signs legal cannabis bill in US territory (Newsletter: Sep. 21, 2018)
FDA head: marijuana more dangerous than nicotine; NY lawmakers schedule legalization hearing; NJ sheriff’s racist legalization comments caught on tape
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/ TOP THINGS TO KNOW
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Gov. Ralph Torres (R) signed a marijuana legalization bill into law, making the territory the first place in the U.S. to end prohibition without first having a medical cannabis program.
U.S. Food and Drug Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said that we should be more worried about teens using marijuana than nicotine.
The sheriff of New Jersey’s most populous county was caught on tape making racist comments about marijuana legalization:
- “Christ almighty, in other words let the blacks come in, do whatever the fuck they want, smoke their marijuana, do this do that, and don’t worry about it. You know, we’ll tie the hands of cops.”
Four New York Assembly committees scheduled the first of what will be four separate joint hearings on marijuana legalization this fall.
/ FEDERAL
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is facing a potential lawsuit over its role in an investigation into a California marijuana distribution company.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Chicago office tweeted, “IS EATING MARIJUANA MORE DANGEROUS THAN SMOKING MARIJUANA? YES! There is high potential for overdose from #marijuana #edibles. #DontDoDrugs”
Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) said, “We just have to be not so stupid as to impair our own progress. There is no reason for us to be creating wealth in Canada for cannabis companies by importing Canadian weed.”
- Gaetz also tweeted, “Last week, the @HouseJudiciary passed my bill, the Medical Cannabis Research Act, which will help scientists and researchers study #cannabis and #unlock its medical potential. Congress must continue working across party lines to pass meaningful #CannabisReform”
West Virginia Democratic congressional candidate Richard Ojeda defended himself from attacks by the state’s Republican Party for meeting with Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), tweeting, “Yep. I was out there with a congressman who wants to work together to create legislation to protect 2nd Amendment Rights for those who receive a medical cannabis card. Are you guys pro 2nd???”
- Ojeda also tweeted, “Hemp and medical cannabis combined with the jobs those industries create would be a game changer for our state.”
/ STATES
California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed a bill preventing marijuana businesses from sharing consumers’ information for commercial purposes.
New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Marc Molinaro said the state should not legalize marijuana but instead expand access to medical cannabis.
Massachusetts recreational marijuana stores are unlikely to open until late October at the earliest after regulators failed to issue any final licenses at its Thursday meeting.
Florida regulators are asking an appeals court to overturn a judge’s ruling allowing a man to grow his own medical cannabis.
West Virginia lawmakers are asking the state attorney general for an update on his legal opinion about providing banking services to medical cannabis businesses.
A Utah billboard urging people to support the state’s medical cannabis ballot measure is being temporarily taken down while the advertising company reviews election laws concerning anonymous political ads.
A Missouri medical cannabis ballot initiative campaign is raising money to place its first ad on TV.
Maryland regulators have been forced to repeatedly override medical cannabis rules in recent weeks due to problems with the state’s track-and-trace software.
Alaska regulators will meet on October 16 and 17 to consider marijuana establishment license applications and related rules.
Arkansas’s hemp research program is experiencing delays.
/ LOCAL
Manhattan’s district attorney tweeted a video of a talk he gave at a marijuana event.
/ INTERNATIONAL
Mexico’s incoming government will approve medical cannabis regulations, a top health official said.
/ ADVOCACY
A report from the Southern Poverty Law Center found that “black people were 2.9 times as likely as white people to be arrested for marijuana possession in Louisiana,11 despite evidence that black people and white people use marijuana at similar rates.”
The Marijuana Policy Project published a voter guide for New Hampshire’s general election.
/ SCIENCE & HEALTH
A federal survey found that Americans aged 55 to 64 are now slightly more likely to smoke marijuana on a monthly basis than teens aged 12 to 17.
A review concluded that “cannabinoid drugs were associated with modest increases in experimental pain threshold and tolerance, no reduction in the intensity of ongoing experimental pain, reduced perceived unpleasantness of painful stimuli, and no reduction of mechanical hyperalgesia.”
A study found that MDMA “enhances acute prosocial behaviors” in octopuses.
/ OPINION & ANALYSIS
A poll found that New Mexico voters support legalizing marijuana, 60%-32%.
/ BUSINESS
Bloom Automation is building robots to harvest marijuana.
The Associated Press looks at growing interest in marijuana stocks on Wall Street.
/ CULTURE
Actor Dax Shepard defended his wife Kristen Bell’s marijuana use.
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Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.
