Latest Cannabis News: February 15, 2022
Latest Cannabis News: February 15, 2022
Stay up to date with the latest legalization and cannabis news with the CB 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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Indiana: Hoosiers will have to wait at least another year for marijuana to be legalized, decriminalized, or permitted for medical use in Indiana.
None of the 13 marijuana-related bills filed in the Indiana House and Senate at the beginning of the 2022 legislative session advanced out of committee. Bills introduced included proposals for marijuana legalization, decriminalization, medical use, and regulation.
Before the session began, Democrats said they expected marijuana to be a “hallmark issue” for the 2022 state and midterm elections if the matter was not settled at the Statehouse.
South Carolina: A bill to legalize medical marijuana in South Carolina officially passed the Senate on third reading on Thursday, sending the reform measure to the House of Representatives for consideration. While final passage in the Senate was expected after Wednesday’s initial bipartisan vote to advance the bill from Sen. Tom Davis (R) on second reading, Thursday’s voice vote means the legislation will now be formally transmitted to the other body of the bicameral legislature.
The Compassionate Care Act was pre-filed in late 2020 and passed out of the Senate Medical Affairs Committee last March, but a lone senator blocked it from reaching the chamber floor in 2021. Since then, Davis redoubled his efforts to get the bill across the finish line, arguing that South Carolina voters are ready for what he’s repeatedly called “the most conservative medical cannabis bill in the country.”.
Tennessee: Although there are several proposed bills related to marijuana currently being considered in the Tennessee legislature, one that would ask voters three questions regarding legalization in the November 2022 ballot is continuing to make its way through subcommittees hearings. In July 2021, Rep. Bruce Griffey (R-Paris) filed HB1634, which proposes that county election commissions ask voters three non-binding questions related to the legalization of marijuana on the November 2022 ballot. Their answers are compiled as a public policy opinion poll with results shared with the general assembly.
If the bill is passed, the three non-binding questions marijuana would appear on the November election ballot across all Tennessee counties. The questions for Tennessee voters would be non-binding, and the secretary of state would be required to compile the results of the public opinion poll to be shared with members of the general assembly.
Wisconsin: The push to legalize marijuana in Wisconsin enjoys some bipartisan support, but backers of bills that would make it legal for either medical or recreational use say it won’t happen this year. Still, the top Democrat in the state Senate said Wednesday that Wisconsin is closer than it’s ever been to loosening its marijuana laws. Every neighboring state has legalized marijuana to some degree.
There are bills from Democrats and Republicans that would legalize medical marijuana, from Democrats that would also legalize it for recreational use, and a bipartisan measure that would decriminalize the possession of marijuana.
Medical
Maryland: A Maryland House committee began discussion this week of a pair of bills to legalize and regulate cannabis in the state—one that would ask voters whether legalize cannabis use and possession by adults 21 and older, and another that would begin the work of crafting rules for the would-be legal industry.
Both measures are from Del. Luke Clippinger (D), who chairs Maryland’s House Judiciary Committee, which gave the bills an initial hearing on Monday. Last year, Clippinger headed a House working group launched last summer by House Speaker Adrienne Jones (D) to study cannabis legalization in anticipation of the November 2022 ballot question.
Missouri: In a unanimous decision Tuesday, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that a lower court was justified in ordering the state health department to disclose medical marijuana application info that it had argued was confidential. The Department of Health and Senior Services refused to provide applications of businesses awarded licenses to grow and sell medical marijuana in an appeal by the California-based company Kings Garden Midwest LLC, which was denied licenses by the state.
The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed denied applicants’ right to appeal their denial and asserted that confidential application information is subject to discovery as part of the process.
South Dakota: One leading Senate Republican called the state’s voter-approved medical cannabis law akin to a “magician’s hat” filled with surprises, as the South Dakota Senate voted 25-10 to strip an affirmative defense for residents who possess medical cannabis but don’t yet have a card.
Recreational
California: California’s Department of Cannabis Control has started to disperse $100 million to 17 municipalities and counties to help them transition thousands of marijuana businesses holding temporary licenses over to annual permits.
The funding is intended to alleviate a bureaucratic logjam that has left thousands of marijuana companies with temporary “provisional” business licenses. As a result, some provisionally licensed companies are in danger of shuttering, at least temporarily. Local officials said they plan to use the $100 million to assist cannabis companies on a variety of fronts, including:
- Providing direct grants to businesses to help them through the transition process.
- Hiring staff and contractors to process more applications.
- Helping applicants meet environmental compliance under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
In many cases, CEQA compliance is costly, and the approval process can take years. Nearly three-quarters of marijuana business licenses in California are provisional. Companies must transition to annual licenses by Jan. 1, 2026.
Colorado: For years now, marijuana has been legal in Colorado on a recreational and medical level. However, employers in the state still can drug test for marijuana and implement a zero-tolerance policy. Now, state lawmakers are again considering a bill that would bar employers from firing workers simply over their cannabis use.
HB22-1152 would require employers to allow their employees to use medical marijuana on premises during work hours and use recreational or medical marijuana off-premises during non-work hours.
Connecticut: Connecticut gave the green light to recreational cannabis for adults 21 and older last year, but more than 40 percent of cities and towns are saying no — at least for now. The state’s recreational cannabis law, which went into effect last July, allows municipalities to develop their own rules, including whether to prohibit marijuana establishments from opening within their borders.
According to a Hearst Connecticut Media Group analysis, as retail sales are expected to start later this year, at least 75 of Connecticut’s 169 municipalities have instituted bans or moratoriums. Many are smaller rural and suburban towns, but some cities have also announced they are not interested in these businesses opening in their communities.
Source: https://www.ctinsider.com/news/article/Analysis-More-than-40-percent-of-Connecticut-16914378.php
Michigan: Three years after it was formed, the Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency is getting a new name. The agency will be renamed the Cannabis Regulatory Agency and take up the task of overseeing hemp processing, distribution, and sales in addition to its current regulation of the marijuana industry.
The change moves most hemp oversight from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to the Cannabis Regulatory Agency. The agriculture department will continue overseeing hemp cultivation.
The change made under the executive order and set to take effect in 60 days “will allow for a more effective, efficient administration and enforcement of Michigan laws regulating cannabis in all its forms,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office said in a statement.
New Jersey: Legal pot is supposed to hit the market in less than two weeks in New Jersey … that’s not going to happen. So, what’s the hang-up?
February was a semi-hard date thrown out there, but there is still tweaking needed, says the executive director of the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission. Once licenses are approved for the many industries that will grow, manufacture, distribute and sell cannabis, it will take time for these businesses to set up shop.
Medical dispensaries would most likely be the first to be ready.
Source: https://abc7ny.com/recreational-marijuana-new-jersey-pot-nj-mariajuana/11553127/
Virginia: The next phase of Virginia’s recreational marijuana retail market took a step forward last week. Legislation that would allow the state’s existing medical cannabis operators to jumpstart recreational sales next year was approved by the Senate’s finance committee at its Thursday meeting.
The committee also pushed forward a bill that would enact the formal launch of the broader recreational marijuana market on Jan. 1, 2024.
Both pieces of legislation now head to the full Senate for a vote by Tuesday.
Washington: Jim Buchanan is more than ready for change.
A second-generation Seattleite, cannabis retailer, and entrepreneur, he is also president of the Washington State African American Cannabis Association. He has spent months fighting for House Bill 2022, a bill that would make sweeping changes to Washington state’s cannabis industry.
The bill is the latest in a series of legislation intended to increase social equity and racial diversity in the cannabis trade. The bill currently before the Legislature incorporates many of the policies recommended by the task force and would create 38 new retail and 25 new producer and processor licenses each year through 2029.
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