Latest Cannabis News: February 7, 2023
Latest Cannabis News: February 7, 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.
No legislation
Nebraska: A bill filed in the Nebraska Senate would legalize marijuana for adult use despite ongoing federal cannabis prohibition. A second bill would legalize medical marijuana.
Sen. Terrell McKinney (N) filed Legislature Bill 634 (LB634) on Jan. 18. Under the proposed law, adults over 21 could possess, process, transport, purchase, obtain, or give away up to 1 ounce of marijuana. An individual could also cultivate up to six marijuana plants. The proposed law would also establish a regulatory and tax structure for commercial marijuana cultivation and sales.
LB634 includes provisions creating a process to expunge criminal records related to past marijuana crimes.
A second bill introduced by Sen. Anna Wishart (N) would legalize medical marijuana. Legislature Bill 588 (LB588) would create a program to license and regulate the possession, cultivation and distribution of marijuana for medical use. The proposed law would create a system of medical cannabis dispensaries where people could purchase up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana if they have one of 16 eligible conditions, including cancer, epilepsy, HIV/AIDS and chronic pain.
CBD
Georgia: Progress toward launching a regulated medical marijuana market in Georgia has been stymied after the state’s cannabis regulator rescinded recently approved industry rules.
However, the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission (GMCC) plans to revise the rules soon and try again. The GMCC had signed off on the rules in late January, paving the way for the sale of low-THC cannabis oil to registered patients.
However, during a Thursday GMCC session, commission Chair Sidney Johnson said notice of the January meeting was not provided to Georgia’s Office of Legislative Counsel as required by state law, according to Atlanta TV station WAGA.
Johnson said the GMCC would post a notice of proposed rulemaking by Feb. 6, according to a video recording of the meeting posted online by WAGA.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/georgia-medical-marijuana-regulator-rescinds-rules-on-technicality/
Indiana: State Senator Jon Ford (R) recently supported two marijuana-related bills in the Hoosier State where possession is illegal though there is support for both recreational and medical legalization.
Ford explained that he become interested in this legislation when a member of law enforcement approached him and brought the confusing issue to his attention. Confusing because Indiana borders Illinois where adult-use cannabis is legal and Hoosiers are attracted to the idea of crossing into the neighboring state and buying pot. Sen. Ford co-authored Senate Bill 336 with Sen. David Niezgodski (D) aiming to create “a procedure for the lawful production and sale of cannabis in Indiana.” The legislation proposes a 10% tax on the sales price per ounce and the creation of a cannabis commission. On the other hand, it holds no protection for employees who test positive for cannabis.
Another bill, Senate Bill 377, co-authored by Sen. Rodney Pol (D) and Sen. Ford and introduced on Jan. 19 would allow marijuana use by adults over 21 and people with a serious physician-confirmed health condition. It also creates the recreational marijuana excise tax and regulates cannabis programs to allow cultivation, processing, testing, transportation and sale by licensed businesses.
Iowa: A new bill in the Iowa Senate would legalize the sale of dried cannabis within the state’s medical marijuana program. Senate Study Bill 1113 allows dispensaries to sell marijuana buds — the actual dried plant — as long as it’s consumed through a vape. It also expands the number of statewide dispensary licenses from five to 10.
Source: https://www.axios.com/local/des-moines/2023/02/03/medical-marijuana-bud-marys-legalize-bud-plant
South Carolina: As we reported last fall, South Carolina’s medical cannabis bill – the South Carolina Compassionate Care Act – was passed by the South Carolina Senate but died in the House after it was ruled unconstitutional. This month, Sen. Tom Davis (R) has breathed new life into the push for medical cannabis in South Carolina.
Davis filed a new version of the Act, which does away with language prescribing a tax on medical cannabis sales that led to the House’s rejection of the last bill on constitutional grounds.The Act’s main substance remains unchanged. It would couple a relatively narrow list of qualifying conditions with a licensing regime most akin to Alabama’s, with separate license types for each part of the cannabis supply chain.
The Act would allow 15 “cultivation center” licenses, 30 “processing facility” licenses, one “therapeutic cannabis pharmacy” (the Act’s term for a dispensary) license for every 20 traditional pharmacies in the state, and “integrated operator” (the Act’s term for a vertically integrated operator) licenses in an amount recommended by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DCEC), in addition to four transportation and five testing lab licenses.
Tennessee: A new GOP-led bill is seeking to make sales of certain cannabis products illegal in Tennessee.
SB 0378, introduced by State senator Richard Briggs (R – Knoxville) bans the sale of products containing “hemp-derived cannabinoids,” including Delta-8 THC, Delta-10 THC and THCp, to those under 21.
The measure would also prohibit the distribution of product samples in public places like streets, sidewalks and parks.
One of the bill’s provisions imposes a 5% sales tax on the listed products, with money going into the state’s general fund later to be used by the Department of Agriculture to utilize in the regulation of THC products. The legislation does not apply to CBD products and products with low amounts of THC.
Medical
Florida: A marijuana industry-backed campaign to put a legalization initiative before voters on the 2024 ballot has cleared its first hurdle, with enough signatures on a petition to initiate a state Supreme Court review of its language.
Smart & Safe Florida filed the measure last summer, and the campaign has so far turned in 294,037 valid signatures to get the review started—a key step toward ballot placement, as News Service Florida first reported. They needed 222,898 signatures to prompt the court review of the initiative.
The Florida Supreme Court will be looking to make sure that the text of the proposal doesn’t violate the state Constitution’s single subject rule and isn’t affirmatively misleading to voters.
If the court determines that the initiative meets those standards, the campaign will need to collect a total of at least 891,589 signatures to make the ballot next year.
Minnesota: A bill to legalize marijuana in Minnesota cleared its sixth House committee on Thursday. A Senate panel hearing on a companion version was also scheduled, but it’s been postponed.
The House Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee approved the legislation from Rep. Zack Stephenson (D) in a voice vote. The bill is now nearly halfway through its expected committee stops in the chamber. On the Senate side, the measure is being sponsored by Sen. Lindsey Port (D). It passed through the fourth of 18 committees last Monday. A planned hearing in the State and Local Government and Veterans Committee for Thursday is being pushed back.
With majorities in both the House and Senate and control over the governorship this session, Democratic-Farmer-Labor party officials are confident that legalization will be enacted in short order following the extensive committee consideration.
This latest development comes about a week after the governor released his biennial budget request, which included proposed funding to implement marijuana legalization and expungements, and made projections about the millions of dollars in cannabis tax revenue that his office estimates the state will earn after the reform is enacted.
New Hampshire: A New Hampshire House committee on Wednesday discussed a bill to legalize marijuana sponsored by top Republican and Democratic lawmakers.
A House Commerce and Consumer Affairs subcommittee briefly talked about the chair’s proposal to significantly amend the legislation from Majority Leader Jason Osborne (R) and Minority Leader Matt Wilhelm (D) during a work session.
The bipartisan leaders’ introduced version of the bill would create a system of licensed and privately operated cannabis businesses—but the subcommittee is now considering an amendment that merges its provisions with a separate bill that in its current form would put marijuana sales in state-run dispensaries. Hunt’s proposed amendment that he circulated would make several changes to the Osborne bill, HB 639. While it would keep cannabis businesses private and not government-owned, they would be regulated by the state Liquor Commission instead of a new separate Cannabis Commission as under the legislation as filed.
It would also remove provisions allowing home cultivation and annulling past marijuana convictions, among other changes.
North Dakota: North Dakotans won’t be consuming medical cannabis edibles anytime soon. The two bills seeking to legalize the medical marijuana product category failed to advance through the state legislature.
Last Tuesday, members of GOP-led North Dakota House of Representatives killed House Bill 1202 from Rep. Steve Vetter, R-Grand Forks, in a 55-37 vote and House Bill 1164 by Rep. Vicky Steiner, R-Dickinson in a 20-72 vote. Both measures required a supermajority for passage, reported the Bismarck Tribune.
The often-conservative state legalized medical marijuana in November 2016, and the first store opened on March 1, 2019.
Ohio: A lawmaker in Ohio has introduced a bill that would help marijuana users in the state avoid a costly impaired driving charge.
News 5 Cleveland reports that the legislation, introduced by a Republican state senator, “would change the standards of the Operating a Vehicle Under the Influence (OVI) law,” and “help update Ohio laws due to the prevalence of medical marijuana licenses.”
The station said that the bill would help drivers avoid “facing charges for driving with THC in their system as long as they can prove they weren’t impaired.”
“Under the current statute for an OVI, it’s testing whether or not it’s in your system. Now that we have legalized it for medical purposes, I think we need to update the statute to where we’re looking at whether or not somebody is impaired,” GOP state Sen. Nathan Manning told News 5 Cleveland.
Source: https://hightimes.com/news/ohio-bill-would-relax-penalties-for-drivers-with-thc-in-system/
Recreational
Illinois: The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation is accepting applications for 55 more cannabis dispensary licenses. Those licenses will be distributed to regions all across the state. All applications will be submitted online through the department’s website.
Applicants need to register as a business and provide information such as the name of their organization, list of principal officers, contact information, and a $250 fee. During the license lottery process, principal officers cannot be included on more than one lottery entry and applicants cannot have more than one lottery entry across all 17 regions.
The IDFPR is accepting applications until Friday, March 3, 2023. A lottery will then be conducted to determine the license recipients.
Maryland: Maryland House and Senate lawmakers on Friday unveiled a much-anticipated bill to tax and regulate marijuana, months after voters approved a legalization referendum on the ballot.
Dels. Vanessa Atterbeary (D) and C. T. Wilson (D) are sponsoring the House legislation, while Sens. Brian Feldman (D) and Antonio Hayes (D) are carrying their chamber’s companion.
The measures would get the state prepared to regulate cannabis commerce as the state law legalizing possession of up to 1.5 ounces of marijuana for adults takes effect on July 1. Under the proposals, cannabis would be taxed at six percent for the first fiscal year starting this summer. It would increase by one percent each year until 2028, maxing out at 10 percent.
Existing medical cannabis dispensaries would be converted into dual licensees at the same time that legalization takes effect on July 1 if they’ve paid a fee. Regulators would need to start approving additional marijuana business licenses by July 1, 2024.
Montana: In its first major revision proposed to Montana’s marijuana laws since the state legalized recreational use in 2021, a House panel heard a series of bills that would adjust and change laws governing pot.
Among those bills and changes is House Bill 128, proposed by Rep. Josh Kassmier, (R), which makes a number of changes to the 68-page law that passed in 2021. Among those changes was moving the marijuana testing laboratories from the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services to the Montana Department of Revenue, fixing a loophole that closed out nearly two dozen medical marijuana providers from selling recreationally, and addressing concerns about accurate dosing and labeling.
New York: A federal judge rejected New York’s effort to toss a lawsuit that’s been delaying the opening of recreational marijuana stores across the state, including in Brooklyn.
That means the indefinite wait for the issuance of 63 of the state’s planned 150 adult-use retail licenses will continue. In November, a Michigan man named Kenneth Gay sued the state Office of Cannabis Management on behalf of his company, Variscite.
The suit alleges that the requirement that cannabis retail applicants have both a “significant presence” in New York and a criminal record for a marijuana-related conviction under state law creates irreparable damage to the company.
It’s one of several marijuana social equity programs Gay is challenging across the country, including Los Angeles. The New York state attorney general’s office asked a judge to toss the lawsuit and also limit the areas in the state affected to only Finger Lakes.
In his ruling Tuesday, Sharpe rejected both requests. New York is likely to appeal the challenge to its adult-use marijuana regulations to the federal Circuit Court of Appeals.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/judge-rejects-new-york-challenge-to-suit-delaying-adult-use-marijuana-stores/
Virginia: Legislators in Virginia advanced two marijuana bills that would establish adult-use sales in 2024 and allow licensed businesses to take tax deductions prohibited under federal tax code.
The bills face an upward climb in a divided Legislature led by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who appears to be lukewarm about expanding Virginia’s medical marijuana program into recreational sales. Asked if he would sign legislation to create a framework to allow recreational marijuana sales in Virginia, Youngkin said he’s more concerned with legislation that deals “with hemp and delta-8 and the regulations and consumer safety around those products,” according to Richmond TV station WRIC.
One bill would allow medical marijuana dispensaries to sell adult-use products on Jan. 1, 2024, though taxation and social equity provisions could derail a consensus.
The other bill would allow cannabis operators to deduct certain taxes prohibited under Section 280E of the U.S tax code.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/virginia-lawmakers-advance-2-marijuana-bills-in-divided-legislature/
Washington: A new bill under consideration this week in the State Legislature would create a cannabis commission in Washington State.
Lawmakers say the commission would help growers and producers to compete nationally if or when federal restrictions are finally loosened, and the entire U.S. market opens up. Under HB 1581, the commission’s purposes would include things like research, advertising government agencies, reviewing market metrics, educating and advising producers, advancing knowledge and practice, and limiting youth access.
It would also grant powers for acquiring, creating and owning intellectual property rights, licenses and patents.
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