Federal Policy

Federal regulators have unveiled a new policy that will enforce an FDA ban on fruit and mint flavors in e-cigarettes.

While the budget rider protecting medical cannabis from federal interference remained intact with the new omnibus package, recreational industry protections have been stripped.

The Environmental Protection Agency has approved 10 different pesticides for use on industrial hemp crops — the new approvals include nine biopesticides and one conventional pesticide product.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, a Republican from Idaho, says he does not support the SAFE Banking Act because it fails to address issues such as high cannabis potencies and marketing strategies that target children.

Chris Hagedorn is the general manager for Hawthorne Gardening Company, a business venture that provides all the cultivation needs of a state-legal cannabis operator.

Federal regulators have removed barriers that blocked industrial hemp companies from accessing traditional financial services despite the crop’s federally legal status.

As the first piece of federal legislation that would end cannabis prohibition to make it through committee, the MORE Act deserves a closer look; unfortunately, the bill is expected to be dead on arrival if it ever reaches the Senate.

Federal cannabis patient George McMahon passed away on Saturday, November 30, 2019 — he was one of the last three patients who still receive cannabis from the federal government.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell recently met with FDA Commissioner nominee Dr. Stephen Hahn and discussed the need for a federal CBD regulatory framework.

Federal officials at the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration have prohibited any federal funds meant to combat opioid addiction from being used on medical cannabis.

A key congressional committee approved the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act today in a historic vote, setting the legislation up for consideration on the full House floor.

In a landmark occasion for cannabis reform, federal lawmakers in the House Judiciary Committee are expected to vote tomorrow on the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act tomorrow; the bill aims to federally legalize adult-use cannabis.

Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg each said this week they would support medical cannabis access for veterans if they win the presidency.

The cannabis industry lobby has reached a new high of $3.77 million in Capitol Hill spending this year, far surpassing the $2.76 million spent in 2018.

Gallup polling data suggests that 66 percent of American voters continue to support the nationwide legalization of cannabis; when Gallup first asked the question in 1969, just 12 percent of voters supported such reforms.

Recent cannabis reforms legalizing possession and home cultivation in the Australia Capital Territory will have “no effect” because it does not address differences in federal law, says Australian Attorney-General Christian Porter.

Former Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin has called on the federal government to eliminate the “hoops” making cannabis research so difficult.

A coalition of dietary supplement trade associations has called on Congress to pass consumer protection legislation for dietary supplement products containing CBD.

The National Industrial Hemp Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation are teaming up to lobby the EPA into approving 10 submitted pesticide applications for hemp production.

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed that cannabis industry workers have the same rights under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act as workers in traditional (and federally legal) industries.

The House of Representatives passed the SAFE Banking Act this afternoon in a historic and bipartisan landslide of support for giving state-legal cannabis companies access to banking services.

The SAFE Banking Act, which would normalize banking for the cannabis industry, is expected to receive a House vote next week.

A cadre of cannabis legalization advocates has called on House Democrats to delay a vote on the SAFE Banking Act in favor of pursuing more broad and “holistic” cannabis reforms, first.