US Cannabis Policy Updates

Maryland’s House Judiciary Committee yesterday considered legislation that would legalize adult-use cannabis, establish sweeping social equity provisions for the industry, and release prisoners currently serving time for cannabis crimes.

Organizers behind South Dakota’s highly successful medical cannabis legalization initiative are now seeking to compromise with state lawmakers who want to delay the program for at least a year.

In new amendments to his adult-use cannabis proposal, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is calling for a $100 million Cannabis Social Equity Fund and for establishing cannabis delivery in the state.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, months after the state voted to legalize, has finally accepted and signed into law the legislature’s cannabis legalization language.

Montana state Rep. Bill Mercer (R) has proposed delaying the state’s voter-approved cannabis legalization initiative until 2023, saying the voters’ decision, “doesn’t make any sense.”

For the first time ever, a proposal for legalizing adult-use cannabis has passed through a legislative committee in Minnesota.

Multiple lawmakers pushed back against disproven, anti-cannabis rhetoric espoused during a recent meeting of the Florida House Professions & Public Health Subcommittee.

Altria Group, the Big Tobacco firm behind Marlboro cigarettes, has registered to lobby on cannabis policy.

Virginia’s House and Senate have each passed broad cannabis legalization bills that must be reconciled and combined into final legislation, which would have to then pass both chambers again.

As Mississippi awaits a Supreme Court decision on its medical cannabis legalization amendment, state Sen. Kevin Blackwell (R) has proposed a separate bill to legalize the medicinal use of cannabis.

A bipartisan proposal being considered in Washington state would cap the potency of cannabis concentrates at 30% THC and raise the minimum age for purchasing extracts to 25 years old.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is further impeding the will of voters after calling for delaying implementation of the state’s voter-approved medical cannabis law by one year.

The Washington State Task Force on Social Equity in Cannabis has called for the state to prioritize race over location for equity applicants and to let funds reserved for equity applicants go to current licensees who would meet the program’s requirements.

Kathleen Sebelius, the former Health and Human Services secretary for the Obama Administration, has joined the National Cannabis Roundtable.

A South Dakota judge has ruled in favor of nullifying a cannabis legalization constitutional amendment approved by voters last November. The dispute moves next to the state’s Supreme Court.

A coalition of multi-state operators, tech firms, investor groups, and cannabis advocacy groups announced the formation of the U.S. Cannabis Council, an organization that will push for the federal descheduling and legalization of cannabis.

A Minnesota state Rep. has proposed reclassifying medical cannabis as a Schedule 2 substance so patients would be able to legally keep their firearms under federal law.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has signed legislation reducing the penalties for the possession of psilocybin mushrooms from a third-degree crime to a disorderly person offense.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) revealed his anticipation of cannabis legalization in the state after including revenue from legal cannabis taxes in his 2021-2022 budget proposal.

The Idaho Senate approved a measure to constitutionally ban any statewide legalization of non-pharmaceutical psychoactive drugs (including cannabis). The proposal still has to pass the House in a two-thirds vote and would then move to voters via a ballot initiative next year.

A bill to legalize medical cannabis in Alabama has advanced from the state’s Senate Judiciary Committee.

A group of Oregon activists, business owners, and lawmakers have put forward the Oregon Cannabis Social Equity Act, which aims to use cannabis tax dollars to help repair damage done by the racist drug war.

Minnesota Democrats are cranking up their efforts to enact sensible cannabis reforms with Democratic House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler calling adult-use legalization a “mainstream, bipartisan, broadly supported issue.”

New Mexico lawmakers have pre-filed two cannabis legalization bills for the coming session. Each measure would essentially do the same thing but differ on operational and enforcement details.