Justice
Cannabis Social Equity Bill Introduced in Oregon
PORTLAND – Repairing the harm from decades of inequity from the War on Drugs is the goal of the Cannabis Social Equity Act introduced this week by a coalition of legislators in the Oregon State Legislature. HB 3112 is the culmination of months of work led by former State Rep. Akasha Lawrence Spencer including numerous cannabis companies, the ...
Idaho Senate Votes To Banish Cannabis Medicines
BOISE – Idaho's Republican-dominated Senate have mustered the votes needed to pass a measure effectively banning cannabis in the Gem state with a 24-11 vote. A proposed constitutional amendment that would prevent the legalization of pot and other psychoactive drugs has cleared the Idaho Senate and is headed to the House. The Senate mustered the ...
Kool Cigarettes Sues Bloom Cannabis For Logo Infringement
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Tobacco producer ITG has sued a California cannabis company Capna Intellectual doing business as Bloom Brands accusing it of infringing upon its logo. ITG say Bloom's interlocking OO design (pictured) was too close to the interlocking OO in Kool cigarette. ITG, who also make brands like backwoods, have sued Bloom for copyright ...
Senate Democrats Advance Plan For Federal Legalization Of Cannabis
WASHINGTON – Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) issued a combined news release yesterday saying they would work together to advance comprehensive cannabis reform legislation in the current Congress. “The War on Drugs has been a war on people—particularly people of color. Ending the federal marijuana prohibition is necessary to ...
Psilocybin Decriminalization Inches Forward At State Level
HONOLULU – With Oregon leading the way in the decriminalization of drugs, other states are following suit. A state bill to legalize psilocybin treatment was introduced in the Hawaii Senate last Friday. If approved, SB 738 mandates Hawaii's Department of Health to set up treatment centers for the therapeutic administration of psilocybin and psilocin, Marijuana ...
Oregon Begins Treating Addiction As Public Health Crisis
PORTLAND – Oregon's new law Measure 110, passed last November decriminalized drugs in that state. Oregon reclassifies possession of small amounts of drugs (e.g. less than one gram of heroin, 40 units of LSD, or 12 grams of psilocybin) as a civil violation. For possession of slightly larger amounts of some drugs (such as one to ...
New U.S. Senate Leader Endorses Ending Cannabis Prohibition
WASHINGTON – The change in Senate leadership means the increased potential for a number of policy areas to be addressed, including cannabis policy reform. With Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) now the first head of the upper chamber ever to publicly support ending federal marijuana prohibition, he’s made several commitments on multiple occasions to advance legislation to repeal the federal criminalization of ...
New Mexico Moves Ahead With Recreational Cannabis Legalization Plan
SANTA FE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Thursday announced her support for a measure to legalize recreational cannabis in New Mexico for adults aged 21 and older, an economic development driver that would create thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions in revenue for needed public services all across the state. Lujan (pictured) reiterated ...
MedMen Must Pay Ex-CFO At Least $500K In Legal Fees
LOS ANGELES – A California state court ordered cannabis retailer, MedMen, to pay its former CFO $500,000 reimbursement of legal fees amid his retaliatory firing suit, noting his contract covered attorney fees in any eventuality. Reports in Law360 say a California state court has ordered cannabis company MedMen to pay its former chief financial officer ...
Sale Of Recreational Cannabis Underway Across Arizona
PHOENIX – Medical cannabis dispensaries can now get licensed for recreational cannabis licenses, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Voters passed Proposition 207 in November, legalizing the sale and possession of recreational cannabis in Arizona. The sale of recreational marijuana will be through establishments that already had a license for the sale of ...
Local Activists Succeed in Decriminalization of Mushrooms In Michigan City
ANN ARBOR, MI — Magic mushrooms and other psychedelic plants and fungi are now effectively decriminalized in Ann Arbor, at least in terms of city police enforcement priority. This week, following up the Council's decision, the Prosecutor's Office in Washtenaw County announced they will not charge individuals with possession or small-scale distribution of mushrooms. City ...
Moving Closer To Legalization New York Proposes New Cannabis Regulator
ALBANY - Governor Andrew Cuomo pledged to legalize the recreational cannabis use in New York, proposing a new office to regulate the market and licensing opportunities for communities most affected by the disparate enforcement of drug laws. “I think this should have been passed years ago,” Mr. Cuomo said during a video briefing. “This is a ...
Mexico Gives The Green Light To Medical Cannabis
MEXICO CITY - Mexico’s health ministry have published rules this week regulating the use of medical cannabis, a first major reform that makes Mexico the world’s largest legal cannabis market. The new regulation was signed off by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and will now allow pharmaceutical companies to begin doing medical research on cannabis ...
Virginia Joins East Coast States In Push to Full Legalization
Virginia takes one step closer to legalizing cannabis sales with new legislation proposed today by Gov. Ralph Northam in a meeting in Richmond's state capital. Backed by state Senators Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, and Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, the new laws allow people 21 and older to sell the drug starting on Jan. 1, 2023. Back in ...
Four Cannabis Social Justice Organizations to Know
Cannabis has evolved from being the Nixon-era’s scapegoat to a modern element of pop culture that’s becoming a vibrant, booming industry. Last year alone, we’ve generated tens of thousands of jobs, crime rates have plummeted, and we’ve established a new consumer culture less harmful than alcohol. Yet, while America continues to become more progressive with ...
Weed Wins Big In Election 2020
The 2020 election season in the United States was one of the most politically divisive of all-time but one result was clear: Americans want legal cannabis. Pot stocks soared after news that voters in five states approved marijuana ballot initiatives, and the announcement of Joe Biden as President-elect had the industry celebrating even further. ...
Will November finally bring cannabis legalization?
2020 has been a long rough year as of late. But, we’re due for some excitement with the upcoming election November 3rd. With changes due under whichever presidential management, it’s a unique time to prepare for the upcoming changes in legislation. Thanks to state-level announcements the past months, we can observe which states will vote ...
