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Schumer “confident” cannabis banking can pass (Newsletter: June 22, 2023)
NH legalization study deal; Colombian legal marijuana bill stalls; NV cannabis lounge licenses; Christie on ending drug war; NORML descheduling op-ed
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/ TOP THINGS TO KNOW
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is “confident” a marijuana banking bill will pass this session, according to a cannabis entrepreneur he recently spoke to about the issue.
A New Hampshire conference committee of House and Senate lawmakers has agreed on creating a commission that will draft legislation to legalize marijuana through a system of state-run stores.
The Colombian Senate defeated a marijuana legalization bill in the final of eight debates—giving it majority support but not enough for the required threshold for passage. The country’s interior minister said the government will continue to “insist” on enacting reform in the future.
The Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board approved the state’s first conditional licenses for marijuana consumption lounges.
Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie is vowing to “end” the war on drugs if elected—sort of, at least when it comes to consumers of illicit substances, which he compared to his mom’s cigarette smoking. But he also wants to keep cracking down on sellers.
NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano argues in a new Marijuana Moment op-ed that if the Biden administration’s cannabis review ends in simple rescheduling, it would do “nothing” to address the federal-state divide and that the “only productive outcome” would be full descheduling.
/ FEDERAL
The Drug Enforcement Administration published a final rule on reporting thefts or significant losses of controlled substances.
Sen. Michael Bennett (D-CO), in a Senate floor speech, contrasted the country’s moves to legalize marijuana and restrict abortion, saying, “If you told me that when I was a teenager in America, I would have said: What are you smoking? That is impossible.”
/ STATES
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) touted his signing a medical cannabis legalization bill as a top bipartisan accomplishment.
Arkansas’s attorney general wants to appeal a judge’s ruling that struck down medical cannabis laws, but plaintiffs in the case say he can’t do so yet.
Wisconsin’s Senate minority leader appeared on a cannabis podcast.
The Delaware representative who sponsored the state’s new marijuana legalization law said that Gov. John Carney’s (D) nominee to be the state’s top cannabis regulator is “a good pick to get that work done.”
A New Jersey senator said that pending legislation on youth behavior is “basically telling kids, ‘don’t drink, smoke pot instead.’”
A Missouri senator spoke about the marijuana industry’s banking access issues.
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands senators pressed a nominee for a seat on the Civil Service Commission about whether government employees should be allowed to use marijuana off the job.
North Carolina residents can now apply for patient cards to participate in the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ medical cannabis program.
Washington State regulators initiated rulemaking on products containing THC and withdrew a statement of inquiry on cloud storage for records.
Oklahoma regulators published a medical cannabis supply and demand study.
Colorado regulators published average market rates for retail marijuana.
Vermont regulators will consider marijuana rules changes on Monday.
Alaska’s Advisory Task Force on Recreational Marijuana will meet on Monday.
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Marijuana Moment is tracking more than 1,000 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.
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/ LOCAL
Portland, Oregon’s mayor discussed his plan to crack down on public drug use.
The Ocean City, Maryland City Council voted to ban marijuana on-site consumption businesses and to pause the application process for cultivation, processing and dispensary businesses.
Denver, Colorado officials awarded the city’s first marijuana mobile hospitality license.
/ INTERNATIONAL
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said that legalizing marijuana does not seem “to be the right way today.”
/ SCIENCE & HEALTH
A study found “mixed evidence of cannabis exposure on opioid-related outcomes at the county level” and that “increasing exposure to recreational cannabis is associated with a statistically significant decrease in number of 30-day fills and inpatient visits, but not total [morphine milligram equivalents] nor [emergency department] visits.”
/ ADVOCACY, OPINION & ANALYSIS
The Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research has a new director.
The New York Post editorial board said the state’s marijuana legalization law is “bad policy, executed terribly.”
/ BUSINESS
TerrAscend Corp. received conditional approval to list on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Amuse workers in Lynwood, California voted to join Teamsters Local 630.
Evermore Cannabis’s assets are being auctioned off.
Ascend Wellness Holdings, Inc. announced a private placement offering to raise an aggregate of $7 million in equity financing.
Leafwire is launching what it says is the “largest re-targeting audience in the cannabis business industry.
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