Latest Cannabis News: February 22, 2022
Latest Cannabis News: February 22, 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
Indiana: Indiana is one of 13 states with no medical cannabis program. Outside of CBD products derived from hemp, cannabis products rich with THC remain illegal. What this looks like legislatively is a ban on all delta-9 THC products, delta-9 being the primary chemical constituent of most cannabis products sold in those regulated markets.
A new bill would change that terminology in Indiana to include all THC products outright—specifically bringing delta-8 THC products into the ban.
Senate Bill 209 was introduced by State Sen. Liz Brown, a Fort Wayne Republican, and State Sen. Michael Young, an Indianapolis Republican. They intend to close a perceived legal loophole that has allowed unlicensed smoke shops and other retailers to sell delta-8 gummies and other products. The concern is that delta-8’s intoxicating effects mimic those of delta-9, providing both producers and customers with a chemical end-around.
Source: https://www.hempgrower.com/article/indiana-bill-delta-8-thc-products-ban/
Kentucky: Democratic lawmakers unveiled new legislation Thursday morning to legalize marijuana in Kentucky. The lawmakers said identical bills would be filed in the House and the Senate.
If enacted, the legislation would create the Cannabis Control Board, which would be composed of seven members, none of whom could have a direct or indirect interest in a cannabis business.
The board would mirror the work of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, but in this case, establish and enforce regulations from seed to sale. Helping the board would be four advisory committees focused on medicinal and adult-use, cultivation, and social and economic equity.
Source: https://www.wkyt.com/2022/02/17/lawmakers-filing-bills-legalize-marijuana-kentucky/
South Carolina: Lawmakers are gearing up for the next step in South Carolina’s medical marijuana debate. A bill that would legalize medical marijuana in South Carolina — the Compassionate Care Act — is in committee in the House after Senators voted 28-15 to send it there last week. Lawmakers are gearing up for the next step in South Carolina’s medical marijuana debate.
A bill that would legalize medical marijuana in South Carolina — the Compassionate Care Act — is in committee in the House after Senators voted 28-15 to send it there last week.
Source: https://www.wyff4.com/article/medical-marijuana-bill-debate-vote-sc-house/39112893#
Wyoming: Another attempt at legalizing marijuana — this time, for medical use — has been filed in the Wyoming Legislature. House Bill 143, sponsored by Green River Libertarian Rep. Marshall Burt, would allow Wyoming doctors to recommend marijuana as treatment and task the state’s liquor division to regulate its distribution.
During last year’s session, a bill that would have authorized a study on medical marijuana in Wyoming failed along with an attempt at legalization. The bill, as written, would allow doctors to recommend marijuana to treat conditions including cancer, HIV, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, Crohn’s, dementia, Alzheimer’s, Tourette’s, any terminal illness, and others.
It would also apply to anyone experiencing symptoms that marijuana has been found to alleviate — including PTSD, anxiety, nausea, migraines, seizures, or opiate dependency.
Medical
Alabama: Supporters continue to push for Alabama to join the ranks of states that have decriminalized small amounts of marijuana. But the state senator behind the bill acknowledges that the measure has a bleak outlook in an election-year session. On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill by Sen. Bobby Singleton (D-Greensboro).
It would make possessing less than two ounces of marijuana punishable by a civil fine instead of a criminal penalty. An offense would be classified as a violation, a step below a misdemeanor, and carry a fine of up to $250.
Delaware: The legalization of recreational marijuana passed another hurdle in the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee on Thursday, and it now awaits debate in the full House. According to a release, Friday, the Delaware Cannabis Advocacy Network and Delaware NORML call House Bill 305 to be scheduled for a vote when the General Assembly reconvenes in March.
“We are hoping that HB305 moves just as quickly as the set of alcohol bills recently moved that further loosen Delaware’s alcohol laws,” said Zoë Patchell, executive director of Delaware CAN. “And we hope to garner the same support from all the legislators who co-sponsored and supported those bills.”
Hawaii: A Hawaii Senate committee on Monday approved a bill to make it so people 65 and older can automatically qualify for medical marijuana, regardless of whether they have a diagnosed condition that would otherwise make them eligible.
Critics at state agencies say this effectively amounts to legalizing recreational cannabis for the older population without creating a broader regulated adult-use market like the ones that exist in other states.
The bill cleared the Senate Health Committee unanimously 3-0, with two members absent from the vote. This action came days after the panel advanced separate legislation related to establishing a working group to study the therapeutic potential of psilocybin mushrooms.
New Hampshire: New Hampshire would sell recreational cannabis from its state-run liquor stores under a plan approved this week by the House of Representatives.
The bipartisan proposal, approved by a vote of 235-119, would allow adults 21 and older to buy cannabis from state-run dispensaries operated by the New Hampshire Liquor Commission. Adults would be allowed to possess up to four ounces of cannabis under the proposal, but home cultivation would be outlawed.
Pot advocates criticized the proposal as a “poison pill” that would create a state cannabis monopoly and put the state into conflict with federal law, which considers marijuana illegal.
Ohio: The state’s medical marijuana dispensary lottery amassed more than 1,400 applications in a new process officials say will more than double the number of dispensaries in the state. His lottery, where officials drew names of hopeful businesses, took place during the last week of January. Tom Wilke is the economic development director for the city of Kent. He has been keeping a close eye on the lottery because it is possible that the city could be adding a new medical marijuana dispensary.
Ohio has 57 dispensaries, and 73 new licenses are being issued across the state. “There were 1,473 applications for 73 licenses,” Wilke explained. “So, one out of 20, essentially.”
The lottery was used in an effort to keep things fair, so the state drew names for the provisional dispensary licenses.
Source: https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2022/02/13/how-the-ohio-medical-marijuana-lottery-works-
South Dakota: A bill to legalize marijuana in South Dakota was approved by a Senate committee on Thursday, sending it to the floor. And a separate panel advanced legislation earlier in the week to set up a tax scheme for an adult-use cannabis market if legalization is enacted.
These developments come as activists explore ways to end prohibition legislatively or through the ballot. South Dakota voters already approved legalization during the 2020 election, but the state Supreme Court struck down the reform following a challenge from the governor’s office.
The Senate Commerce and Energy Committee has passed S.B. 3 in a 5-3 vote. Sponsored by Sen. Michael Rohl (R), the bill, as amended, would allow adults 21 and older to purchase and possess up to two ounces of cannabis from licensed retailers.
Recreational
Connecticut: Over 40% of Connecticut towns have opted to place bans or moratoriums on adult-use cannabis businesses, including 75 out of the state’s 169 municipalities, according to Hearst Connecticut Media Group data outlined by the New Haven Register. The opt-outs are primarily in small towns and suburbs.
Lawmakers approved Connecticut’s adult-use law in July 2021. Like many states, it includes provisions that allow localities to outright ban or take a “wait and see” approach to the new policy. 25 of the towns implemented bans, while 53 implemented moratoriums. In the surveys and interviews conducted by Hearst Media, some leaders say they still need time to review the new law to craft regulations. Notably, cities like Greenwich cited a conflict between Connecticut and federal law as the reason for their ban.
Maine: Maine lawmakers are considering a plan to divert tax revenue from cannabis sales to cities and towns to help them cover the impact on municipal services. If approved, the legislation would require at least 5% of the state’s 15.5% combined taxes on recreational cannabis to local governments that host retail shops and cultivation facilities.
Maine approved recreational marijuana in 2016, allowing adults age 21 and older to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and it authorizes regulated cultivation and sales. The products are subject to a 10% excise tax and the state’s 5.5% sales tax. According to state data, in 2021, profits from recreational pot sales in Maine topped more than $81 million.
But local governments don’t see any of that money – even if they host a cannabis business – and are forbidden from charging local pot excise fees on the businesses.
Michigan: More than 500 ounces of potentially contaminated marijuana — including some that tested positive for a fungus that can lead to lung infections or death — was quietly returned to store shelves in Michigan late last year, an MLive investigation revealed. The action was the latest in a chain of events set in motion by a November 2021 recall of nearly 64,000 pounds of marijuana deemed potentially unsafe by the state’s Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA).
MRA spokesman David Harns told MLive on Jan. 13 that nearly 32 pounds — that’s 513 ounces of marijuana — failed safety testing yet made it to store shelves with no clear indicator on packaging notifying customers of potential danger. “This product has been sold” or” is currently available for sale,” Harns said. There were 2,475 other individual products — items not sold as loose flower, potentially pre-rolled joints — that also failed testing and were cleared for sale.
Harns said the figure doesn’t include an additional unidentified amount of failed marijuana remaining at processing or grow facilities that had yet to ship to retail stores.
New Jersey: Union fever is spreading like wildfire among the state’s cannabis workers even though the adult-use recreational market has yet to open up.
The workers prepping for that day say they want careers, not just jobs, and that’s spurring union drives throughout New Jersey. The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission, the entity charged with regulating the new industry, is still reviewing applications for licenses and is likely to miss a Feb. 22 targeted deadline to open the state for adult-use cannabis.
Despite the delay, union drives are moving full speed ahead.
Oregon: Lawmakers from Southern Oregon celebrated the passage on Thursday of a bill in the state Senate that targets the issue of illegal marijuana grows being passed off as”hemp.”
The bill authorizes the Oregon Department of Agriculture to put a temporary moratorium on hemp grower licenses if a county has declared a state of emergency on the issue of illegal marijuana. Cannabis grows for state-sanctioned THC products are relatively few and tightly regulated by Oregon agencies. But hemp grows, which are legalized under a broader federal mandate, have become a more accessible front for black market growers seeking to grow marijuana and ship it out of state.
Under SB 1564, a county Board of Commissioners that has declared a state of emergency related to cannabis can notify ODA and ask that the agency impose a moratorium on hemp grower licenses.
Virginia: The Virginia Senate voted to speed up the timeline for retail marijuana sales Tuesday, approving a plan to allow existing medical dispensaries to open sales to the general public in September. And, in what senators framed as a bid to give Virginia farmers a piece of what is expected to be a lucrative recreational market, the legislation also opens early sales to a handful of sizeable industrial hemp processors.
The proposed timeline represents a 16-month head start for the businesses over the 2024 start date still contemplated for the broader industry. But while the legislation cleared the Senate on a bipartisan, 23-16 vote, its final passage remains far from assured at the halfway point in Virginia’s legislative session.
Washington, D.C.: The mayor of Washington, D.C. has signed a bill into law that will expand access to the district’s medical marijuana program in a series of ways.
Now, senior citizens will be able to self-certify their eligibility for cannabis without getting a recommendation from a doctor. The law also further extends the registration renewal deadline for patients and creates a week-long medical marijuana tax relief” holiday” that coincides with the unofficial cannabis event known as 4/20.
Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) signed the bill two weeks after the D.C. Council voted unanimously in favor of the proposal sponsored by Chairman Phil Mendelson (D).
The emergency legislation is meant to ease logistical burdens for patients in the jurisdiction and incentive people to obtain cannabis from licensed dispensaries rather than buy their products from gray market vendors who have taken advantage of a workaround related to the district’s policy allowing for marijuana gifting between adults.
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