Newsletter
House passes cannabis & psychedelics amendments (Newsletter: July 27, 2023)
OH legalization poll; Kevin Durant on marijuana in NBA; MO cannabis microbusiness licenses
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/ TOP THINGS TO KNOW
The House of Representatives approved amendments to let military veterans get medical cannabis recommendations from their Department of Veterans Affairs doctors and to encourage research on the benefits of psychedelics.
- The House Rules Committee blocked separate amendments that would end the practice of drug testing job applicants for marijuana at certain federal agencies and separately address VA medical marijuana issues.
A new poll shows that Ohio voters support a marijuana legalization initiative that activists are close to qualifying for the November ballot.
NBA All-Star Kevin Durant says he personally lobbied the league’s commissioner to remove marijuana from the banned substances list—saying that at one meeting the official caught a whiff of cannabis on him.
- “Everybody does it. It’s like wine at this point.”
A Black Missouri lawmaker and the head of the St. Louis City NAACP clashed over whether a new marijuana microbusiness license program that’s launching this week can help foster racial and social equity in the cannabis industry.
A new Seattle, Washington law provides job retention protections for employees at marijuana businesses undergoing ownership changes.
/ FEDERAL
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and other senators filed to legalize drug test strips nationwide.
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) spoke on the House floor in support of a bill on fentanyl trafficking while saying that “we should be careful not to repeat the excesses and inequities that undermined the war on drugs previously.”
The House bill to let Department of Veterans Affairs doctors issue medical cannabis recommendations got one new cosponsor for a total of six.
/ STATES
A Pennsylvania senator discussed his bill to legalize marijuana.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services carried out an inspection sweep of food establishments selling products containing hemp extracts.
Massachusetts’s top marijuana regulator said she wants to scale back restrictive rules for businesses.
The chairman of the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission is facing a challenge to his appointment to the body.
Several Minnesota agencies put out a press release about the dangers of marijuana-impaired driving.
Oklahoma regulators discover approximately 4,000 untagged marijuana plants during an inspection at a licensed medical cannabis business.
Oregon regulators are accepting applications to serve on the Cannabis Advisory Committee.
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/ LOCAL
The Huntsville, Alabama City Council held a work session on a proposal to allow police to issue citations, rather than make arrests, for marijuana possession that has been held up due to state lawmakers’ refusal to advance legislation on the issue.
Duluth, Minnesota City Council members are debating the scope of a proposal to restrict public use of marijuana.
/ INTERNATIONAL
A Victoria, Australia lawmaker visited Thailand to study the country’s cannabis laws.
/ SCIENCE & HEALTH
A study of people with multiple sclerosis found that “compared with placebo, cannabinoids likely reduce the severity of spasticity and improve well-being in the short term.”
A study found that “CBD enhances the cognitive score of adolescent rats prenatally exposed to THC and fine-tunes relevant effectors of hippocampal plasticity.”
/ BUSINESS
Mastercard Inc. told payment processors and banks to stop allowing marijuana transactions on its debit cards.
Tilray Brands, Inc. reported quarterly net revenue of $184.2 million and a net loss of $119.9 million.
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Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.
