WeedLife News Network

Voters in South Dakota may have another crack at legalizing cannabis this year—unless lawmakers there do it first.

A bill to legalize recreational pot for adults narrowly advanced in the South Dakota legislature last week, winning approval in the senate by just a single vote. The legislation would bring some redemption to advocates who have been in a tug-of-war battle with the state for the last two years to end prohibition and finally get legal sales in the state. 

In 2020, 54 percent of South Dakota voters approved Amendment A, which would have legalized recreational marijuana, in addition to hemp and medicinal cannabis, within the state. (That same year, an even larger majority of voters passed a separate ballot measure that legalized only medical marijuana.)

But it was doomed from that moment forward, with Republican Governor Kristi Noem mounting a legal challenge against the amendment.

In February of last year, a circuit court judge in South Dakota ruled in Noem’s favor, saying that Amendment A violated the state’s constitution and could not become law.  

Months later, on the day before Thanksgiving, the state’s Supreme Court upheld that lower court ruling on the grounds that the amendment ran afoul of the constitution’s “one subject” requirement.

While few countries in NATO have cannabis laws as strict as Russia, some NATO countries are still slow to warm up to legalizing weed.

As tensions rise in Europe, there is noticeably more focus on NATO and the countries that belong to this organization. With NATO in the spotlight, there is a lot to digest in regards to where each of the 30 participating countries stand in regards to policy, especially compared to Russia.

Cannabis policy is an example of how tremendously different countries in NATO can approach a political issue. While few countries in NATO have cannabis laws as strict as Russia, which can involve detention for very small amounts of weed, some NATO countries are still slow to warm up to legalizing marijuana.

There are, however, five countries in NATO that are leading the way to legalizing marijuana on a country-wide level.

Canada

Our neighbor to the North legalized marijuana in October of 2018. The goal in legalizing marijuana in Canada was not simply to earn taxable income for the country. According to the government website, the legalization act was aimed to keep cannabis away from underage youth, take profits away from criminals and also to protect the health sector by providing legal cannabis for medicinal purposes. Canada now has a successful and multi-billion dollar legal cannabis industry.

Luxembourg

Luxembourg has made its first steps towards marijuana legalization. While COVID-19 has slowed some talks in the last two years, the government now allows its citizens to grow up to four cannabis plants for personal use. The goal here is to eliminate as much illegal drug activity as possible in this small NATO country. 

Nearly $2.5 billion has poured into Illinois since recreational marijuana became legal in 2020, and with every sale, part of the tax goes to help fund community organizations.

As CBS 2’s Marie Saavedra reported Thursday night, you can play a role in deciding which groups get the money.

One community group that has benefited from marijuana proceeds is the Chicago Youth Boxing Club in Little Village, where the consistent percussion of gloves hitting bags, and gloves hitting each other, is a symphony to Gabriel Navarro.

“To me, it’s exciting,” he said.

“It means there’s kids in the ring, sparring; there’s kids in the bags hitting the bags.”

Those who want to legalize it say high taxes would encourage illegal markets

A new bill in California hopes to end discrimination against those who use cannabis outside of the workplace.

California employers would be barred from discriminating against employees for cannabis use while off the job under legislation introduced last week. The measure, AB 2188, was introduced in the California Assembly by Democratic Assembly Member Bill Quirk on February 15.

If passed, AB 2188 would end discrimination based on drug testing for cannabis metabolites, which are non-psychoactive substances that can be detected in a person’s bodily fluids for up to several weeks after they have consumed cannabis. 

“The bill would make it unlawful for California employers to penalize or discriminate against a person when making decisions about hiring, termination, or other aspect of employment if the discrimination is based on the person’s off-duty cannabis use or the presence of non-psychoactive cannabis metabolites revealed in an employer-mandated drug screening,” Lauren Mendelsohn, an attorney with the Law Offices of Omar Figueroa in Sebastopol, California, explained in an email to High Times.

The legislation, however, has several limitations. Employers who are required to follow federal drug-testing mandates are exempt. AB 2188 does not require employers to permit employees to be high while working.

“The bill does not authorize employees to use or be impaired by cannabis while on the job, nor does it prohibit employers from administering impairment or chemical tests to determine whether an employee is impaired or has an active presence of THC in their system,” Mendelsohn noted. “Employers who are required to conduct screening tests for non-psychoactive cannabis metabolites, or who would lose federal benefits if they did not, may do so.”

Democrats in the House of Delegates defeated Republican attempts to amend two marijuana legalization measures on Wednesday, setting the stage for final action by the chamber later this week.

House Bill 1 would establish a referendum on a proposed constitutional amendment that would — if approved — make Maryland the 19th state to allow possession and use of small amounts of marijuana.

HB 837 is “contingent” legislation that would lay out a framework for how legalization would work if the referendum passes in November.

Lawmakers gave preliminary approval to both measures, after debating the issue for nearly 90 minutes with remarkably few fireworks.

In its current form, HB 837, sponsored by House Judiciary Committee chair Luke H. Clippinger (D-Baltimore) would set up a two-stage legalization timeline:

Rural Nevada is eyeing a new cash crop.

They’ll just need to get past the state’s cannabis regulators first.

White Pine County on Tuesday petitioned the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board to change the state’s marijuana regulations to let individual counties request a limited licensing window for businesses looking to obtain a marijuana business license within the county.

For White Pine, the petition signals a changing of the tune for the once cannabis-hesitant county. Years after imposing a moratorium on marijuana businesses, the county is now looking to capitalize on the state’s thriving marijuana industry and says that not having any licensed cannabis businesses is hurting the the county’s ability diversify its economy as it tries to expand beyond the traditional rural revenue streams of farming, ranching and mining.

“The lack of cannabis licenses is creating direct and tangible harm in White Pine County,” White Pine County Manager Mark Wheable wrote in the petition to the board dated Feb. 7.

Police aren’t the enemy, but after prolonged mental health stress, they could conclude that you are.

Recently, there have been two stories that came to my attention involving the police and drugs. The first is about a MET police commander, who wrote drug enforcement strategy, who took cannabis, LSD, and magic mushrooms. He is now facing “dismissal” due to his misconduct. The second story is about a Texas State trooper that was caught vaping a confiscated marijuana pen in his vehicle. All caught on dash cam.

Both of the individuals in question will either be disciplined or discharged completely.

While some were quick to chastise the officers in question, I thought to myself, “They totally should be taking psychedelics and cannabis!” In fact, I believe if this was adopted to a higher degree, we would probably have much better “police-citizen” relations.

This article will walk through my argument for why the police SHOULD be allowed to consume cannabis and even psychedelics, and why it would provide a net benefit to society.

The Job Is Dangerous

When you could be gunned down for simply putting on your uniform, life can be stressful. In fact, the position of “police officer” is often in the top 10 of most stressful jobs. Unfortunately, cops aren’t known for their “destressing” tactics and if we were to look at how the movies portray them, they are typically disgruntled alcoholics trying to drown out all the negative thoughts. Of course, this is not true for all the police, but it’s fairly safe to say that most cops don’t take too much care of their own mental health unless it’s required from them.

The new year brought new taxes to the cannabis community.

The new year brought new taxes to the cannabis community, with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration announcing a tax hike on cannabis cultivation starting on January 1, 2022. However, from my perspective as executive chancellor of Oaksterdam University, this move could have a detrimental impact on the legal cannabis industry.

Back in 2009, the very first “tax cannabis” initiative found success in Oakland, California, where roughly 80 percent of voters voted in favor of a medical marijuana tax of 1.8 percent in gross sales. In fact, Oaksterdam University founder Richard Lee, as well as other industry players, helped lobby for the tax’s inclusion on the ballot.

We at Oaksterdam have always advocated for a safe, regulated and taxed cannabis market, but we oppose this increase on farmers. The race to extract more fees and taxes, starting with the farmer, has a negative effect on the end consumer, as well as the entire industry.

Why should you care if you don’t even smoke weed? Because the potential result I see is a booming illicit market that empowers and enriches drug cartels.

Raising taxes is the opposite of what we as cannabis advocates are working hard to accomplish, which is to lower barriers in the industry. Raising taxes in an already over-taxed market could bolster the incentives to stay illicit and pay no taxes or fees. The higher cannabis taxes rise, the harder it could be for legitimate businesses to compete with unregulated growers and sellers.

While many neighboring communities have finalized or looked at creating their own retail marijuana regulations, the city of Caribou isn’t.

Any retail marijuana stores geared toward the general public, including those that only sell medical marijuana, cannot be developed within city limits.

Code Enforcement Officer Ken Murchison reviewed the city’s marijuana ordinance, which only allows nonprofit dispensaries and cultivation facilities registered for medical marijuana, when the Caribou Planning Board met recently.

Caribou’s decision to not invest in retail marijuana businesses is in stark contrast with neighboring communities. Presque Isle first approved the sale and manufacture of recreational pot in 2020 and has since seen four medical shops, two recreational stores and one cultivation facility open. That city’s ordinance specifies that shops cannot be within 1,000 feet of a pre-existing public or private school and must adhere to strict zoning rules.

The topic has come up among Caribou officials because of a permit application submitted in December for a proposed medical marijuana dispensary caregiver center that would be located in the former Pizza Hut building at 149 Bennett Drive.

Texas hemp manufacturers are in a legal battle with the state to try to stop it from banning THC isomer products their businesses have come to rely on in the last couple of years. But federal legislation introduced by a Democratic representative from Maine last week could make that fight for naught.

Dubbed the “Hemp Advancement Act of 2022,” the bill aims to do something Texas lawmakers attempted during the last legislative session: implement a low-percentage cap on all THC in hemp products, not just delta-9 THC. (Texas is also actively trying to ban all other THC isomers except for delta-9.)

Both federal and state hemp laws legalized the growing of the plant, as long as it contains less than 0.3% delta-9 THC, the main chemical in marijuana that gets users high. But, the law didn’t spell out any limitations on other forms of THC, like delta-8 and delta-10. These are THC isomers, chemicals that share the same formula as delta-9 but have different chemical structures and effects. Delta-8, for example, is generally regarded as less potent.

“The 2018 Farm Bill laid a legal pathway for hemp production but created overly complicated regulations and hardship for farmers and small businesses in the process,” Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine said in a press release about the bill.

“I am introducing The Hemp Advancement Act of 2022 to eliminate unworkable testing requirements, set reasonable THC thresholds for producers and processors while protecting consumers, and end the discriminatory policy that bans people with drug convictions from growing legal hemp.”

Largely overshadowed by legislation addressing crime and voting rights during this year’s 30-day Legislative session, a cannabis law clean-up bill failed to make its way to the governor’s desk. 

SB 100, sponsored by Sen. Linda Lopez, D-Albuquerque, would have made a series of changes to the Cannabis Regulation Act, which went into effect last June. Those changes included clarifying tax language, allowing certain cannabis businesses to wholesale their products, among other things. One of the more significant changes though was a proposed production increase for smaller cannabis businesses. The bill was praised by those already active in the state’s cannabis industry as well as industry newcomers. 

But early in the committee process, a new change to the Cannabis Control Act emerged: water.

The amount of water the new cannabis industry might use has been a big concern for many and part of the Cannabis Regulation Act requires that cannabis cultivators verify they have legal access to water. That language was stripped, in a bipartisan vote, from SB 100 and replaced with language that would allow a license to be revoked if the licensee was found to be using water illegally. 

With SB 100 failing to make it through the legislative process, some water conservation advocates are relieved that there is still a requirement to prove water access, but others are frustrated that what they see as needed changes will have to wait another year. 

Under bill, marijuana sales profits would go toward drug treatment, property tax relief.

CONCORD, N.H. - The New Hampshire House is advancing new legislation to legalize marijuana for Granite Staters age 21 and up and put the New Hampshire Liquor Commission in charge of sales.

"The benefits of this model, which New Hampshire already has the infrastructure in place for, is that New Hampshire will be selling a clean, superior, tax-free product at a lower price than any of the surrounding states,” Rep. Daryl Abbas, R-Salem, said.

"Tax relief, education funding, substance abuse treatment: These are concepts just about everyone in our state can get behind,” Rep. Casey Conley, D-Dover, said.

While the bill garnered a strong bipartisan majority of 235 votes, not all state reps are on board.

"Simply put, New Hampshire has wisely held the line on marijuana legalization. We do not need to become the first-in-the-nation drug cartel now,” Rep. Susan Homola, R-Hollis, said.

New York's cannabis market is set to make a major leap with state lawmakers granting final approval on Wednesday to a bill that would authorize adult-use licenses for the cultivation and processing of cannabis in the state by hemp growers.

The measure, approved this week in the state Senate and Assembly, will soon go to Gov. Kathy Hochul's desk for her consideration. 

The bill is meant to add a regulatory framework process for the licensing of growing marijuana in New York following the passage last year of the Marijuana Taxation and Regulation Act. 

"With the passage of this bill, we have the opportunity to create a responsible start to the adult-use cannabis industry by authorizing temporary conditional cultivator and processor licenses to current New York hemp farmers," said Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes. "This authority will help secure enough safe, regulated, and environmentally conscious cannabis products to meet the demand of the adult-use cannabis market when retail dispensaries open."

Applicants who are eligible for licences would need to have possessed valid industrial hemp grower authorizaiton from the state Department of Agriculture and Markets as of Dec. 31, 2021. The growers would need to have grown and harvested hemp for at least two of the last four years. 

Recent Gallup survey showed 68% of people are in favor of legalizing cannabis.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Some Tennessee lawmakers said this is the year the state needs to legalize medical marijuana. Democratic Rep. Jason Powell presented a resolution to the General Assembly to give the voters the final say.

Rep. Powell said, “We’ve seen a record number of cannabis’ legislation.”

If approved, voters would get the final say on medical marijuana which could change the state’s constitution.

“It’s time for Tennesseans especially those who are suffering and would benefit from medical cannabis,” Rep. Powell said.

This resolution would need 2/3 approval in both the Tennessee House and Senate to go to the November ballot.

This past summer, a little recognized thing occurred — one of the largest and most respected companies in the world quietly changed its policies in favor of cannabis. That company was Apple. As a result, they joined the ranks of Amazon as a global corporation advocating for policy reform that would open a federally legal, commercial cannabis industry in the United States.   

Unlike the big headlines we’ve seen recently from Amazon, Uber, the NFL, and other mainstream, institutional businesses, showing a positively changing attitude toward cannabis, Apple made no big-splash announcement that this had happened. Yet, this change came at a time of a shift in the cannabis paradigm for voters, policymakers, and the average American. 

The financial technology experts at Artis Intel are ahead of the curve in identifying the imperative to collaborate with tech leaders like Apple to update policy to reflect the mainstream adoption of cannabis. Co-Founder and CMO of Artis, Adair Lion shares, “As a fintech company on the cutting-edge of development in both cannabis and retail, Apple’s Policy changes are a monumental shift in the way our society does mobile transactions.”  

Then political leaders and Fortune 100 companies begin modifying policies and behavior to accommodate something that has been seen as fringe, elicit, or otherwise illegal, the hearts and minds of American start to change. It’s safe to say the tide is turning. 

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. (Article originally appeared on Benzinga)

Governor Gretchen Whitmer said in a press statement that these administrative changes will help the state continue growing the hemp and marijuana economy, create jobs and invest in local communities. 

"Consolidating multiple government functions into the newly named Cannabis Regulatory Agency will help us continue growing our economy and creating jobs," Gov. Whitmer said. "And to be blunt-safe, legal cannabis entrepreneurship, farming, and consumption helps us put Michiganders first by directing the large windfall of tax revenue from this new industry to make bigger, bolder investments in local schools, roads, and first responders." 

The Marijuana Regulatory Agency was formed by executive order in spring of 2019 to oversee the regulation of medical and recreational marijuana following the legalization of adult-use cannabis via ballot initiative in 2018. 

Santa Barbara County Planning Commission approves permits for cannabis farms near Carpinteria High School.

One of the largest cannabis greenhouse projects in the Carpinteria Valley, a close neighbor of Carpinteria High School and a flashpoint in the local pot wars, had its permit unanimously approved by the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission this month, amid hopes that an emerging technology from the Netherlands will give residents some lasting relief from the “skunky” stench of pot.

The Feb. 2 vote in favor of zoning permits for Ever-Bloom, an 11-acre cannabis greenhouse operation owned by Ed Van Wingerden at 4701 Foothill Road, came on the heels of the commission’s unanimous approval on Jan. 12 of permits for Maximum Nursery, a 4-acre cannabis greenhouse at 4555 Foothill Road, owned by Ed’s brother, Winfred Van Wingerden.

Under the county’s permissive cannabis ordinance, both cultivation projects, like many others in the valley, have been allowed to operate without permits for more than four years.

Between mid-2018 and last week, records show, Carpinteria residents have submitted 188 complaints to the county about the pungent smell of pot near Ever-Bloom and the soapy “laundromat” smell of the misting system that is used to neutralize it. They said the odors were driving them indoors and, in a few cases, causing breathing problems, headaches and stinging eyes.

Now, the Van Wingerdens are heading up an effort to install the latest generation of air filters in valley greenhouses to get rid of the stink of cannabis in the small beachside community. The coalition’s lawsuit is on hold. Forty of the filters, called carbon “scrubbers,” are expected to arrive in May for Maximum, and more than 100 are under installation at Ever-Bloom, a $2 million investment.

GRAND RAPIDS — Terrapin Care Station and JARS Cannabis are partnering with Higher Learning Institutions to launch a year-long professional development program for minority entrepreneurs looking to get into the cannabis industry.

The Cannabis Community Social Equity Scholarship will be available to 20 people. Anyone can apply, but applicants will be prioritized if they are from a community that has been disproportionately affected by cannabis prohibition, they have marijuana-related convictions, or have been registered as a primary caregiver in Michigan.

“The war on drugs disproportionately affected many groups and communities in Michigan,” Terrapin CEO Chris Woods said in a statement. “We feel a responsibility to help right those wrongs, and create pathways into the legal cannabis industry for those who were targeted the most.”

Terrapin has been working with Pontiac-based Higher Learning Institutions by providing tours and learning opportunities for students at its Grand Rapids growing and processing facility. Higher Learning Institutions is a licensed vocational and technical school for cannabis and has graduated 100 students since it opened in February 2020.

The 20 recipients of the Cannabis Community Social Equity Scholarship will go through an accelerated program that includes education on cultivation, extraction, cannabis consultation and business affairs related to licensing. The program will include facility tours, guest lectures and one-on-one mentorship with industry professionals.