Cannabis Policy

The USDA has released guidelines for hemp businesses to apply for and receive federal loans.

Columbus, Ohio City Attorney Zach Klein says he will continue to decline to prosecute low-level cannabis cases despite the state’s crime laboratories having upgraded for the occasion.

The Dr. Bronners soap company announced it has contributed $1 million to the psilocybin therapy legalization campaign in Oregon.

New Zealand has unveiled the cannabis legalization plan that voters will decide on later this year; the proposal would set the legal consumption age at 20, would allow for so-called ‘coffee shops,’ and would permit home grows.

Santa Clara County in California is set to expunge or reduce over 11,500 cannabis convictions this week.

House Democrats have introduced legislation that would give cannabis businesses access to congressional coronavirus stimulus packages.

A recent poll of New Jersey voters suggests that 61 percent are likely to vote in favor of cannabis legalization this November.

There are significantly more Americans who believe that cannabis legalization reforms have been a success than those who think the policies have failed.

California officials from the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development are disbursing some $30 million in grant funding for local governments to fund low and no-interest loans for social equity cannabis operators.

Lebanese lawmakers have approved the legalization of medical cannabis and industrial hemp; the move was recommended by economic advisors prior to the coronavirus outbreak.

Congressional lawmakers are standing up for cannabis businesses’ right to access traditional financial services and the federal coronavirus stimulus packages that are currently unavailable to the industry.

Florida senators are hoping a new state law — which calls on the state Supreme Court to determine whether a ballot initiative might violate the U.S. Constitution — will block a proposed initiative for the 2022 legalization of adult-use cannabis.

New Approach Montana, a cannabis legalization group, is suing the state saying they should be allowed to collect petition signatures electronically during the coronavirus crisis.

High Times CEO Stormy Simon announced she is running for political office in her home state of Utah.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has signed a bill into law that includes the decriminalization of cannabis possession and the sealing of light cannabis convictions in the state.

Legal cannabis businesses spent nearly $11 million in federal lobbying efforts during 2019 — the spending is nearly three times what the industry spent in 2018.

Eleven U.S. senators — all Democrats — have filed a letter asking the federal Small Business Administration to open up loans and other financial assistance to state-legal cannabis companies amid the coronavirus crisis.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo admitted to reporters this week that cannabis legalization was “not likely” to make it into the final budget this year.

Oklahoma state Rep. Scott Fegatter (R) has proposed broad cannabis legalization, which he says would pad the state budget with up to $100 million in annual tax revenue.

Cannabis legalization efforts in Missouri have likely stalled after a stay-at-home order was issued for the state.

Oklahoma’s petition to legalize cannabis is on hold and likely dead for the year amid a 30-day statewide emergency declaration.

The coronavirus crisis in New York is likely to delay lawmakers’ efforts to legalize adult-use cannabis this session as the state reels from a staggering number of new virus infections.

Business analysts at DataTrek Research suggest more states could legalize adult-use cannabis in the near future to help their economies recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

A bill signed by Utah Gov. Hary Herbert (R) will allow cannabis patients to use a letter from their physician to purchase medical cannabis products until the Department of Health issues ID cards at the end of the year.