Latest Cannabis News: February 14, 2023
Latest Cannabis News: February 14, 2023
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.
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Kansas: The Kansas Senate has introduced a bill that could lead to the cultivation, distribution, sale, and use of medical cannabis for veterans suffering from chronic illnesses, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and/or struggling with opioid use.
Senate Bill 171 was introduced to the chamber on Tuesday, Feb. 7, to regulate the “cultivation, distribution, sale, and use of medical cannabis,” as well as establish a cannabis regulatory committee and impose an excise tax on the cultivation and sale of cannabis.
According to Kansas Senator Tom Holland, if the bill is enacted into law, eligible patients that currently serve in any military branch or who have been honorably discharged or generally discharged under honorable conditions will receive a patient identification card within the first 60 days of enactment.
Source: https://www.wibw.com/2023/02/10/medicinal-cannabis-bill-eligible-veterans-introduced-senate/
Nebraska: Nebraska senators held a hearing on a newly refiled medical marijuana legalization bill on Thursday, taking testimony from experts and advocates who shared information about the therapeutic value of the plant.
The unicameral legislature’s Judiciary Committee discussed the legislation from Sen. Anna Wishart (D), who has been fighting to enact the reform over the past several years, pursuing it through both legislative avenues and activist-led ballot campaigns. Members of the same committee also met later in the afternoon to discuss separate proposals to legalize marijuana for adult use.
CBD
Georgia: A Georgia House committee has approved legislation aimed at breaking a legal logjam that has held up the state’s medical marijuana program for years.
House Bill 196, which cleared the House Judiciary Committee (Non-civil) late Wednesday, would expand the number of medical cannabis production licenses the state awards to 14, up from the current six.
The eight licenses not already awarded would go to companies that filed lawsuits when their bids for licenses were denied. Those legal protests remain pending and — if unresolved — could drag on for up to two years, preventing the program from moving forward and providing low-THC cannabis oil to Georgia patients suffering from a range of diseases.
Kentucky: Legislation is pending, House Bill 467, to legalize the use, possession, and retail sale of marijuana for adults in Kentucky! The bill would allow adults to possess up to one ounce of marijuana. Adults that apply for a permit and pay a $250 fee would be allowed to grow up to five mature plants for personal use. The measure would also facilitate the expungement of certain prior misdemeanor marijuana convictions.
Currently under state law, possession of up to eight ounces of marijuana is considered a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 45 days in prison and a fine of $250.
Source: https://norml.org/kentucky-marijuana-legalization-legislation-is-pending/
Texas: Recreational marijuana could be legalized by some cities and counties across the state if a newly filed bill passes the Texas legislature.
State Representative Jessica Gonzalez (D-Dallas) filed House Bill 1937, which would allow for counties and municipalities to make their own decisions on the use of the recreational use of cannabis for Texans 21 and older.
An adult would be allowed to possess no more than 2.5 ounces of marijuana under the bill. The bill would impose a 10% tax on all cannabis products.
Medical
Alabama: The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission plans today to notify business applicants about deficiencies in their paperwork, according to an industry trade association. “If your application needs additional information, you will receive an email notice at the email address you provided on your application upload,” the commission said in a written statement. Businesses will have until March 3 to correct and resubmit their applications.
Ninety-four entities applied for cannabis licenses by the commission’s Dec. 31 deadline. The commission received 12 applications for cultivator licenses, 12 for processors, 18 for dispensary, 11 for secure transporter, three for state testing laboratory and 38 for integrated facility licenses.
The commission is scheduled to award licenses in each license category at its June meeting. Once the business licenses have been issued, physicians may begin the certification process to recommend medical cannabis to qualified patients. Medical marijuana products are expected to be available to those with select medical conditions late this year or in early 2024.
Source: https://aldailynews.com/cannabis-commission-asking-some-to-correct-applications/
Arkansas: State senator Joshua Bryant (R-Rogers) filed a bill Wednesday that would place a constitutional amendment on the 2024 general election ballot to legalize recreational marijuana in Arkansas.
The bill, SJR13, would legalize marijuana for adults and allow for craft and home grow. The bill does not define craft growing. The purpose of this joint resolution is to amend the Arkansas Constitution to legalize marijuana for the purposes of craft or home growing and adult use by Arkansas residents of a certain age.
The bill follows a failed effort to pass legalization at the polls in 2022. The Arkansas Adult Use Cannabis Amendment, funded by the state cannabis industry, would have legalized marijuana use for adults in Arkansas but would not have allowed home grow. The amendment, criticized as being too favorable to the existing marijuana industry, would have granted recreational dispensary licenses to existing medical marijuana dispensary license holders and would have allowed 12 new small cultivation facilities.
Florida: Florida’s medical marijuana industry soon will be open to new business entrants for the first time in more than five years.
State health officials will accept applications for up to 22 new medical marijuana licenses beginning April 24, Gov. Ron DeSantis’s administration announced on Friday. The new licensees would double the number of vertically integrated operators active in the state.
Under state law, each individual operator is allowed multiple cultivation and sales locations.
The state’s existing 22 operators had a total of 413 locations as of last year, according to the 2022 MJBiz Factbook. However, that market has been closed to new entrants since 2017 despite a mandate to grant new licenses to keep pace with the state’s registered patients.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/florida-sets-application-date-for-22-more-medical-cannabis-licenses/
Louisiana: For the third year in a row, the Louisiana legislature will have the chance to vote on a proposal to legalize recreational marijuana and incorporate its cultivation and sale into the state’s economy.
House Bill 17, sponsored by Rep. Candace Newell (D), is one in a package of bills that would build a new industry for recreational marijuana in Louisiana.
In a phone interview Friday, Newell said the bill would establish state regulations and pave the way for cannabis to create new jobs and a windfall of revenue from taxes and licensing fees.
The proposal would allow the state to issue 10 licenses for facilities to cultivate, process and manufacture recreational marijuana and 40 permits for retailers to sell the flower and related cannabis products. The permits would be distributed evenly across eight geographic regions in the state.
Source: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/louisiana-lawmaker-files-marijuana-legalization-bills-for-2023/
Minnesota: A bill to legalize marijuana in Minnesota cleared its fifth Senate committee on Thursday—and it received an impassioned endorsement in testimony from the state’s celebrity former governor, Jesse Ventura.
The Senate Environment, Climate, and Legacy approved the legislation from Sen. Lindsey Port (D) in a 5-4 vote on Thursday. The measure is expected to go through 18 committees before potentially reaching the floor. On the House side, the companion bill that’s being carried by Rep. Zack Stephenson (D) cleared its seventh committee on Wednesday, meaning it’s about halfway through the committee process.
New Hampshire: As New Hampshire lawmakers work to advance marijuana legalization, a House committee met on Thursday to discuss a more modest reform to allow medical cannabis patients to grow their own plants for therapeutic use.
The House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee held a hearing and received testimony on HB 431 from Rep. Wendy Thomas (D), as well as other proposals to expand the state’s medical marijuana program.
The home grow bill would allow registered cannabis patients and designated caregivers to cultivate up to three mature plants, three immature plants and 12 seedlings. They would have to be grown in an “enclosed, locked space” at a location that would have to be reported to regulators at the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
South Dakota: Two bills placing more restrictions on medical marijuana passed the House Health and Human Services Committee Tuesday.
HB 1172 requires a medical assessment of a patient in a licensed healthcare facility to obtain a medical cannabis card.
The other bill, HB 1129, requires that a doctor certify that they have assessed the patient’s medical history. It would also require the visit is not for obtaining a marijuana card unless it is a referral, and that any contra-indications of medical cannabis are indicated.
Both bills were sponsored by Republican Rep. Fred Deutsch from Florence.
Source: https://www.blackhillsfox.com/2023/02/07/south-dakota-lawmakers-tighten-medical-marijuana-laws/
Recreational
Montana: On Wednesday morning, the House Business and Labor Committee met to consider House Bill 351, which would effectively ban most marijuana advertising in Montana. In its current form, the bill would prohibit a marijuana business from utilizing outdoor signage and billboards and any use of a dispensary’s brand name or logo in print, TV, radio, or sponsorship. In keeping with current law, HB 351 allows for one exception: listings in online directories.
If passed, HB 351 would restrict Montana’s approximately 400 dispensaries’ ability to promote themselves, and prevent media organizations from selling ad space to cannabis businesses. Representatives of the cannabis industry contend that it would also impact customers’ ability to discern between businesses, result in fewer sales statewide, and generate less tax revenue for the state.
New Jersey: In a bid to boost a sagging adult-use marijuana market and encourage minority participation, New Jersey state regulators abolished the state’s cultivation license cap.
New Jersey’s legalization law capped the number of large cultivation licenses at 37 for an initial two-year period, but that restriction expires Feb. 22. To encourage growth in a still “developing market” as well as diversity, the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) elected Wednesday not to renew the expiring cap, NJ.com reported.
But to date, only 17 cultivation facilities have opened in New Jersey, according to the CRC.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/new-jersey-eliminates-marijuana-cultivation-license-cap/
Virginia: The Virginia Senate on Tuesday approved bills to start adult-use marijuana sales. The adult-use cannabis sales legislation from Sen. Adam Ebbin (D) cleared the full Democratic-controlled chamber in a 24-16 vote.
Ebbin’s measure would allow recreational cannabis sales to begin on January 1, 2024. The legislature approved a bill to legalize possession and home cultivation of marijuana by adults 21 and older in 2021, and this new measure would create a regulatory framework for a commercial market.
Sales would take place through existing medical cannabis dispensaries as well as at new businesses run by people who live in “historically economically disadvantaged communities.” Those operators would receive training and support from current cannabis companies. The recreational marijuana market would be regulated by the independent Cannabis Control Authority.
Meanwhile, the legislation also seeks to establish regulations for hemp-derived cannabinoid products such as delta-8 THC, including testing and labeling requirements.
Washington: It has been 11 years since the state of Washington legalized the recreational use and sale of marijuana. Now, there are two bills aiming to address high-potency cannabis products. The first bill would raise that as much as 65% on products with at least 60% in potency. It also requires warning labels for those products and prohibits sales to anyone under 25.
The second bill prohibits selling cannabis concentrates with a THC concentration greater than 35% unless it’s for medical use. Despite this push for more regulations on high-potency products, there’s opposition.
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