Latest Cannabis News: April 12, 2022
Latest Cannabis News: April 12, 2022
Stay up to date with the latest legalization and cannabis news with the C.B. Advisors. Every week, we will release a snippet of what’s happening with each state in the cannabis industry. Did you miss last week? No worries – click here for last week’s cannabis news.
CBD
Georgia: Georgia legislators disagreed on a bill to legalize the production and sale of medical cannabis products, even though low-THC, marijuana-based oil has been permitted for registered patients since 2015.
According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the state Senate tabled House Bill 1425 on a 28-27 vote just before the 2022 legislative session adjourned for the year. The upshot is that the entire Georgia medical marijuana industry – and the state’s 22,000 registered patients – will have to wait until 2023 to participate in a legal avenue MMJ program.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/georgia-lawmakers-fail-to-pass-bill-implementing-medical-cannabis-industry/
Indiana: Indiana’s Senate Bill 209 died in the 2022 legislative session because of worries that the bill’s language would go as far as to outlaw CBD oil.
Republicans proposed the bill to the General Assembly, which sought to change the definitions of drug schedules in Indiana by altering “delta-9 THC” in Indiana law to say “THC,” thus removing the legal grey area that allows delta-8 products, also known as “weed light” to some in the industry, to be sold by CBD retailers across Indiana. If the bill passed, individual hemp farmers and retailers risked losing $1 million in business.
Source: https://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/article/indiana-lawmakers-drop-thc-ban-bill/
Kentucky: Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday that he is considering what he could do to rescue a proposal to legalize medical cannabis currently languishing in the state’s general assembly. The first-term Democrat was asked by reporters “if he could potentially issue an executive order making medical marijuana accessible if the bill dies,” the Associated Press reported. “We’re going to explore that,” Beshear said, as quoted by the news outlet. “It’s something that we will look at. Its time has certainly come.”
Beshear’s comments came nearly a month after the Kentucky House of Representatives quickly passed legislation that would legalize medical cannabis in the state for qualified patients.
South Carolina: A bill to legalize medical marijuana passed a key South Carolina House committee on Thursday, days after the panel heard hours of testimony on the reform. If enacted into law, the measure would create what both supporters and critics acknowledge would be among the country’s most restrictive medical cannabis laws.
The House Medical, Military, Public, and Municipal Affairs Committee voted 15–3 to advance the bill, which now proceeds to the House floor. Thursday’s vote follows approval last week by a panel subcommittee.
In February, the Senate already passed the measure, sponsored by Sen. Tom Davis (R), on a bipartisan vote.
Wyoming: Members of the national and local Libertarian Party team up with Wyoming activists to get a medical cannabis legalization initiative on the state ballot next year.
According to the Casper Star-Tribune, the campaign – which doesn’t yet have a formal name – got the go-ahead this week from the Wyoming secretary of state to begin the signature-gathering process. In addition to the Wyoming Cannabis Patient Act of 2022 – which would legalize medical marijuana – backers are also trying to get adult-use MJ decriminalized with a second ballot initiative, the Wyoming Cannabis Amendments 2022.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/push-begins-to-put-medical-cannabis-on-wyoming-ballot-in-2022/
Medical
Alabama: In a stunning display of potential privacy conflicts, Senator Larry Stutts (R-Tuscumbia) revealed a measure that would require women from ages 25 to 50 to furnish proof of a negative pregnancy test to a dispensary to be eligible to receive medical cannabis in Alabama. This test must be from either a doctor or a medical lab and would have to be taken 48 hours before purchase. Yes, you read that correctly.
Senate Bill 324 is a piece of work generating a significant amount of backlash within multiple communities. The Senate committee passed the bill in a 7-2 vote last week and has been met with plenty of criticism.
Source: https://hightimes.com/news/alabama-bill-to-require-negative-pregnancy-test-for-medical-cannabis/
Maryland: Maryland’s Republican governor announced on Friday that he wouldn’t stand in the way of implementing marijuana legalization if voters approved the reform on the November ballot. Gov. Larry Hogan (R) included the cannabis legislation in a list of bills he is not signing or vetoing but is allowing to take effect without his signature. Last week, The Senate and House of Delegates approved separate measures to put a referendum before voters on whether the state should legalize marijuana and begin implementing the reform if the ballot question is approved. Both HB 1, the referendum measure, and HB 837, the implementation bill, was sponsored by Del. Luke Clippinger (D), who chaired the Judiciary Committee and led a legislative cannabis workgroup formed by House Speaker Adrienne Jones (D).
The former bill places legalization on the ballot and is not subject to action by the governor because it is a constitutional amendment. HB 837, meanwhile, sets basic rules for the adult-use program if voters approve the ballot referendum. Those provisions mainly concern issues such as penalties and expungement. That bill that Hogan announced would take effect without his putting pen to paper.
Under the law that would be enacted, if voters approve legalization on the ballot, the purchase and possession of up to 1.5 ounces of cannabis would be legal for adults. The legislation also would remove criminal penalties for possession of up to 2.5 ounces. Adults 21 and older would be allowed to grow up to two plants for personal use and gift cannabis without remuneration.
Mississippi: On Monday, MSDH released beginning measures, including qualifying conditions, on how to obtain a registry and identification card, how to certify as a practitioner who can prescribe medical marijuana, and much more.
MSDH outlines those who can partake in medical cannabis in Mississippi. The list includes patients who have: Cancer, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, muscular dystrophy, glaucoma, spastic quadriplegia, HIV, AIDS, hepatitis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis, sickle cell anemia, Alzheimer’s, agitation of dementia, PTSD, autism, pain refractory to opioid management, diabetic/peripheral neuropathy, spinal cord disease, or severe injury; chronic medical treatment that causes cachexia or wasting, severe nausea, seizures, severe and persistent muscle spasms, or chronic pain.
As outlined in the law, a person may only register and receive an identification card when prescribed the medicine by a doctor with whom they already have a bona fide relationship. It will be a $25 fee for a 12-month identification card.
New Hampshire: The New Hampshire House of Representatives voted 169-156 last week to legalize cannabis for adult use in the state; however, the bill would create a state-run monopoly system, the Associated Press reports. Under the plan, the state Liquor Commission would regulate the cultivation and sale of cannabis in at least ten stores.
The vote comes less than three months after the Republican-controlled chamber approved a separate measure that would legalize personal possession and cultivation of cannabis for adults 21-and-older. That bill, which still requires Senate approval, would allow adults to possess up to 3/4 of an ounce of cannabis – which is already decriminalized in New Hampshire – and allow personal cultivation of up to six plants. The proposal passed the lower chamber with a five-vote, veto-proof majority.
Ohio: Ohio medical marijuana regulators want to double the number of dispensary licenses in the state to satisfy patient demand, which has been much higher than anticipated since the program became operational.
Currently, there are 58 dispensaries throughout Ohio.
Ohio Board of Pharmacy staff are working on adding 73 new dispensary licenses, said Justin Sheridan, the board’s director of medical marijuana operations, at a Thursday cannabis discussion at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law.
Oklahoma: The Oklahoma Supreme Court has rejected a lawsuit challenging a marijuana legalization initiative that activists are pursuing for the November ballot.
The suit was brought against the New Approach PAC-backed campaign in January by another activist, Jed Green, the director of a separate campaign that filed its own pair of 2022 cannabis initiatives late last year.
In a ruling posted on March 28, the state’s highest court found that Green’s two claims—that the New Approach measure is unconstitutional under a single-subject law for ballot initiatives and that the summary (or “gist”) that would be presented to voters is misleading—are unfounded.
Recreational
Arizona: The Arizona Department of Health Services held a random, digital drawing Friday to give out licenses to run marijuana dispensaries in Arizona.
The 26 licenses went to people who have been disproportionally affected by marijuana laws. This drawing came after a judge dismissed a lawsuit that challenged the state’s rules for implementing the program. The case was dismissed in February.
California: The California State Senate confirmed Nicole Elliott as Director of the Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) by a unanimous 34-0 vote. Elliott was formally confirmed in a Senate Rules Committee hearing on March 30. She was appointed by California Governor Gavin Newsom on July 13, 2021, as the DCC’s first director.
According to a release from the DCC, Elliott has led cannabis policy development and implementation across California state and local government levels since 2017, just ahead of adult-use cannabis sales beginning in the state in 2018.
Source: https://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/article/california-confirms-new-cannabis-control-director/
Massachusetts: Wide-ranging marijuana legislation that targets some of the most persistent issues that activists, regulators, businesses, and municipalities have said are holding Massachusetts back from realizing the full potential of the 2016 legalization law cleared the Senate unanimously Thursday afternoon, with senators pitching it as both an economic development and racial justice bill.
The bill (S 2801) would put tighter restrictions and enhanced oversight on the host community agreements marijuana businesses are required to enter into with their host communities, make grants and loans available through a new Cannabis Social Equity Trust Fund to participants in the Cannabis Control Commission’s social equity (SE) program or economic empowerment (EE) priority applicants, and create a method for cities and towns to authorize the on-site cannabis consumption establishments that are already allowed under the CCC’s regulations.
Source: https://www.wbur.org/news/2022/04/08/senate-passes-bill-cannabis-sector-massachusetts
Michigan: The City of Detroit officially allows recreational marijuana to be sold in the city under a newly approved ordinance. Detroit City Council approved the proposed recreational marijuana ordinance on Tuesday with an 8-1 vote. Michigan, as a state, approved adult-use marijuana back in 2018, but Detroit opted out of opening businesses, along with several other communities in Metro Detroit. The Detroit ordinance will reserve half the licenses for social equity applicants and consider factors like drug convictions and communities severely impacted by drug policies.
The ordinance takes effect immediately.
New Jersey: In a system that will emphasize local control, the New Jersey cannabis regulators on Monday said 13 medical marijuana stores, including 7 in South Jersey, will be allowed to start selling recreational weed, possibly within weeks, giving millions of adults in the Philadelphia area local access to legal cannabis for the first time.
The action comes 17 months after New Jersey voters approved legalization in a referendum. And the five-member Cannabis Regulatory Commission was under increasing political pressure to launch the state’s recreational cannabis market. On Monday, the board voted to permit seven of the state’s ten operating medical cannabis companies to start sales.
At a special meeting, Jeff Brown, the commission’s executive director, said that the medical marijuana companies, known as alternative treatment centers ATCs), had presented convincing evidence that they were ready for recreational sales.
Source: https://www.inquirer.com/business/weed/legal-pot-new-jersey-starting-crc-approvals-20220411.html
Oregon: As of April 1, Oregon cannabis dispensaries can now officially sell recreational edibles that contain twice as much THC per package as previously allowed by the Oregon Health Authority (OHA). The change comes after years of pushback from Oregon cannabis retailers, asking the OHA to align the state’s recreational dosage limits with those in Washington, California, and Colorado.
The bill responsible for this, SB 408, was passed in June 2021. Ever since it went into effect on January 1 of this year, Oregon cannabis consumers may have noticed an increase in the amount of flower they can purchase (2 ounces per adult, per day) and doubled THC dosage limits for transdermal patches, extracts, and concentrates.
SB 408 gave the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) the authority to set concentration and serving size limits for recreational and medical marijuana. It also mandated that the OLCC increase the potency limit of recreational edibles to 100 milligrams of THC per package and 10 milligrams per serving—the limitations in Washington, California, and Colorado.
Vermont: With some applications for state approval now open, recreational cannabis businesses are one step closer to operating in Vermont. Yet, despite the support of regulators, prospective business owners face a lack of available banking options.
Last month, the state began soliciting pre-qualification applications, which allow regulators to judge whether an applicant can open a business based on their criminal history. The Cannabis Control Board began approving those applications on Monday.
Washington: In a narrow vote, the D.C. Council failed to approve emergency legislation that would lift the requirement of seeing a doctor before being able to purchase medical marijuana.
The setback for patients and dispensaries is good news for dozens of stores getting around the law by “gifting” marijuana with other purchases.
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