US Cannabis Policy Updates

The California Senate Public Safety Committee has advanced a psychedelics decriminalization measure.

The Cannabis Freedom Alliance launched this week to advocate for the federal legalization of cannabis; the organization was reportedly devised during a Zoom call last year between Snoop Dogg, Charles Koch, and criminal justice reform advocate Weldon Angelos.

The Connecticut Judiciary Committee approved the governor’s cannabis legalization proposal this week, moving it one step closer to a full floor vote.

The Alabama Senate Judiciary Committee advanced a measure to ban Delta-8-THC and Delta-10-THC, which can both be derived from hemp.

South Carolina state Sen. Tom Davis (R) said he believes lawmakers will pass the medical cannabis proposal he sponsored this legislative session.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul (R) has reintroduced the Hemp Economic Mobilization Plan, his proposal to raise the federal THC limit for hemp products to 1 percent.

75 percent of Americans believe that cannabis should be made legal, whether at the state or federal level.

Montana’s legislature is considering three different proposals for regulating the state’s upcoming adult-use cannabis marketplace.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told reporters Wednesday that legislation to end the federal prohibition of cannabis is coming soon.

New Mexico lawmakers have advanced legislation to legalize adult-use cannabis and expunge prior cannabis criminal records. The governor said she intends to sign the bills into law.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam proposed changing the state’s legalization bill to allow cannabis home grows and to launch adult-use sales this July instead of in 2024.

North Dakota is considering legislation that would put the cannabis legalization question to state voters via a ballot initiative next year.

Cannabis use and possession are officially legal in New York after Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed the state’s legalization bill into law on Wednesday.

Nebraska’s Legislative Judiciary Committee has advanced legislation to establish a comprehensive medical cannabis program in the state, setting the bill up for a floor vote.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) called lawmakers back to the capital for a special legislative session specifically to reach a cannabis legalization deal.

New York lawmakers have reportedly reached a cannabis legalization deal and a vote on the still-unfiled legislation could come as early as next week.

Legislation to legalize adult-use cannabis in Maryland has officially stalled for the year after failing to make it out of committee.

Bipartisan legislation in the U.S. House and Senate seeks to guarantee insurance services for all businesses working in or adjacent to the cannabis industry.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) may support a bill that would decriminalize cannabis possession while limiting the number of homegrown plants allowed for medical cannabis patients.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) said she is planning to call a special legislative session after lawmakers failed to approve a cannabis legalization bill by its Saturday deadline.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed last week that five staffers in the Biden Administration’s White House lost their jobs due to employment policies related to past cannabis use.

The SAFE Banking Act has been reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill was first passed 18 months ago with immense bipartisan support but never appeared in the Republican-controlled Senate.

A new report reveals that the Biden White House punished multiple staffers with penalties including suspension, remote work assignments, and requests for their resignation due to their past cannabis use.

A recent Florida poll found a strong majority of respondents disapprove of capping THC content in legal cannabis and that support for medical and adult-use cannabis is continuing to grow.