Newsletter
What this week’s state elections mean for cannabis (Newsletter: November 7, 2019)
NY to allow CBD & hemp products in dispensaries; Study: Marijuana reduces depression & suicide in PTSD patients; LA mayor wants cannabis permit review
Subscribe to receive Marijuana Moment’s newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning. It’s the best way to make sure you know which cannabis stories are shaping the day.
Your support makes Marijuana Moment possible…
By starting a $10 per month pledge on Patreon—or about 45 cents per issue of this newsletter—you can help us rely less on ads to cover our expenses, hire more journalists and bring you even more marijuana news.
https://www.patreon.com/marijuanamoment
/ TOP THINGS TO KNOW
Marijuana Moment’s latest analysis takes a look at what Tuesday’s state and local elections across the U.S. mean for cannabis reform—from Virginia’s legislature tipping to Democratic control to Kentucky electing a new governor to cities voting on banning or allowing cannabis businesses.
New York regulators issued a rule allowing medical cannabis dispensaries to sell hemp-derived products such as CBD.
A study found that using marijuana “may contribute to reducing the association between post-traumatic stress disorder and severe depressive and suicidal states,” with people who have PTSD and don’t use cannabis being seven times as likely to suffer depression and 4.3 times as likely to consider suicide.
/ FEDERAL
Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer said he supports a combination of federal and state rules to regulate legal marijuana.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) tweeted that “American drug users are complicit in the murder and mayhem” in Mexico.
Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) tweeted, “It seems the state’s rights arguments Republicans push is only when it comes to guns and taking away a woman’s right to choose, not things that our states have actually passed through referendum, like the legalization of marijuana.”
The Senate bill to require the Department of Veterans Affairs to study medical cannabis got one new cosponsor for a total of eight.
/ STATES
Michigan’s attorney general tweeted, “I am grateful that these bills are moving forward after the committee accepted my proposed changes to make it easier for marijuana convictions to be expunged, along with a variety of amendments to the entire bill package.”
Florida’s agriculture commissioner spoke about efforts to regulate CBD products.
Georgia’s House speaker said he will soon appoint members to a panel charged with expanding the state’s medical cannabis program.
The chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court said it is good that low-level marijuana cases will disappear under legalization but expressed concern about a potential increase in impaired driving cases and said he doesn’t want legal sales in his community.
California regulators temporarily suspended the licenses of nearly 400 marijuana businesses until they implement track and trace system training and credentialing.
Missouri regulators filed an emergency rule saying that medical cannabis businesses can pay taxes “via any payment method normally acceptable to those agencies other than cash.”
Oregon regulators fined a hemp processing business $825,000 after it allegedly let employees to live and work in a condemned building.
New Mexico regulators reported that the state’s medical cannabis program generated $93.6 million in revenue for the first nine months of the year, and now has 77,168 patients enrolled.
—
Marijuana Moment is already tracking more than 1,000 cannabis 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.
Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.
—
/ LOCAL
Los Angeles, California’s mayor wants a third party independent review of the application process for the latest round of approvals for cannabis business permits.
/ INTERNATIONAL
Malaysia’s health minister approved the cultivation of hemp for research purposes.
Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo published an op-ed encouraging the country’s current leaders to decriminalize drug possession.
VICE looks at how a feared backlash against politicians who supported marijuana legalization in Uruguay never happened.
/ SCIENCE & HEALTH
A study on online drug searching data concluded that “trends found in these recreational marijuana states generally do not differ from the nation as a whole, implying no significant gateway effect.“
Scientists at Johns Hopkins University are launching a study on using psilocybin to treat anorexia nervosa.
/ ADVOCACY, OPINION & ANALYSIS
The Orange County Register editorial board says people should support drug policy reform to stem prohibition-related violence in Mexico.
The Wall Street Journal editorial board, in a piece about prohibition-related violence in Mexico, said, “There’s more social stigma in the U.S. against cigarettes than against cocaine or marijuana. Young people get the message, and rising drug demand feeds the cartels.”
/ BUSINESS
The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company reported 38% growth in quarterly sales for its cannabis-focused arm Hawthorne.
Cresco Labs launched an incubator program to provide marijuana social equity applicants with training and resources.
/ CULTURE
Drake launched a new cannabis line in partnership with Canopy Growth Corporation.
Football player Daniel Ross was arrested on marijuana and weapons charges.
Make sure to subscribe to get Marijuana Moment’s daily dispatch in your inbox.
