Cannabis Policy

Cannabis activists in Nebraska have submitted 15,000 signatures to establish the Legal Marijuana Now party in the state.

House Democrats say they will delay their vote on the MORE Act, which would federally legalize cannabis, in order to focus on the coronavirus pandemic relief bill.

A New York state prison that was shuttered in 2011 has been transformed into a new medical cannabis and hemp testing facility owned by Kaycha Labs.

Multiple cannabis advocacy groups and industry organizations have filed a friend-of-the-court brief in a potential Supreme Court case challenging the constitutionality of cannabis prohibition.

Lawmakers in Virginia’s House and Senate have approved separate cannabis expungement bills; advocates are hoping it’s a sign that an expungement proposal will soon reach the governor’s desk.

Nebraska’s Supreme Court has removed the state’s medical cannabis initiative from the November ballot following a legal challenge by the Lancaster County Sheriff.

Joe Biden, former vice president and current Democratic presidential candidate, said that he supports “mandatory rehabilitation” for people convicted of consumption-related drug crimes.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee announced it would mark up the Medical Marijuana Research Act this week; the bill proposes streamlining the cannabis research process.

Cannabis activists in Oklahoma are collecting signatures to put an expungement and decriminalization question on voters’ ballots this November.

Some petition circulators for Kanye West’s presidential campaign in Arizona have said they were collecting signatures for cannabis legalization — which has already qualified for the November ballot — in an effort to attract more voters.

New Jersey State Sen. Ronald Rice is accusing the state’s Democratic legislative leaders of delaying a “common sense” cannabis decriminalization measure.

Oklahoma cannabis activists formally withdrew this year’s legalization petition due to signature-gathering risks associated with the coronavirus pandemic.

The Virginia Senate advanced a measure last week that blocks police from searching vehicles during traffic stops based on cannabis odor alone.

The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote next month on the MORE Act, which would federally legalize cannabis by removing the plant from the Controlled Substances Act. It will be the first time either chamber of Congress will have officially considered ending cannabis prohibition.

Sheriff Terry Wagner of Lancaster County filed a lawsuit on Friday challenging Nebraska’s medical cannabis voter initiative. Initiative organizers say they will fight and overcome the challenge.

The Republican National Committee Chair said that the legal status of medical cannabis is an issue best left for individual states to decide.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has called for state lawmakers to legalize adult-use cannabis as a way to bridge the state’s budget gap.

Lawmakers in the Vermont Legislature are set to pass a measure that would automatically expunge cannabis possession convictions in the state.

Kamala Harris, Joe Biden’s pick for the second half of the Democratic presidential ticket, said in their first joint interview that the Biden-Harris Administration will pursue a national policy of cannabis decriminalization.

President Trump is reportedly concerned that cannabis legalization initiatives in multiple states, including swing state Arizona, could dramatically improve Democrats’ voter turnout in the 2020 election.

Recent polling suggests that 66 percent of New Jersey voters support cannabis legalization; pollsters also logged majority support for social-use consumption lounges and for writing social equity provisions into the state’s future industry.

The attorneys behind a potential landmark lawsuit challenging the federal prohibition of cannabis as unconstitutional are calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their case.

A ballot initiative to legalize cannabis for adult use in Montana has been approved by state officials to appear on the state’s General Election ballot in November.

Arizona’s Secretary of State confirmed this week that the state’s campaign for a cannabis legalization ballot initiative had submitted enough valid signatures to appear the November ballot.