Latest Cannabis News: May 17, 2023
Latest Cannabis News: May 17, 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.
Medical
Florida: Florida marijuana reform advocates have collected enough raw signatures to qualify a legalization initiative for the state’s 2024 ballot, the campaign’s top financial supporter announced on Wednesday.
The cannabis company Trulieve, which is financially backing the Smart & Safe Florida campaign, announced that advocates have “gathered sufficient raw signatures for inclusion on the November 2024 ballot.” At the end of January, the measure cleared an initial major hurdle, getting enough signatures to initiate a state Supreme Court review of the measure’s language. That process, which is still pending, begins with a referral of the language from the state attorney general.
Minnesota: A Minnesota legislative conference committee held its second meeting on a pair of House and Senate marijuana legalization bills on Monday, reconciling most of the remaining differences as a deadline for final passage looms.
Bipartisan and bicameral negotiators tackled several key sections of the legislation, including provisions on licensing, expungements and criminal penalties. But tax- and appropriations-related issues must still be resolved by the panel—and agreed to by the full legislature—before the House’s planned adjournment for the year on Thursday. The reason for the conference committee is that both the House and Senate passed cannabis legalization bills last month that were separately amended over the course of a weeks-long committee process. As such, differences need to be addressed before a final unified bill can move through both chambers again and be sent to the governor’s desk.
New Hampshire: The New Hampshire Senate again voted to reject legalizing marijuana in the state Thursday, keeping New Hampshire the lone New England state where recreational cannabis use by adults remains illegal.
Republicans, who hold a 14-10 advantage in the Senate, voted as a near bloc to kill this bill, which would allow adults to possess up to 4 oz. of marijuana and would put the state Liquor Commission in charge of regulating it.