In 2018, Michigan voters approved legalizing cannabis for adults age 21 and older, including possession, use, and cultivation. But what about all the people with previous criminal records for the very same activity now deemed legal?

In 2020, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed "clean slate" legislation that created a path for residents to clear many pot-related offenses from their criminal records. And earlier this month, the Michigan Attorney General created a website to help people apply to get the convictions expunged.

However, cannabis advocates like Barton Morris, an attorney at the Cannabis Legal Group, says the law doesn't go far enough.

While misdemeanors like possession and use are automatically expunged under the law beginning in 2023, now-legal activities that were previously considered felonies, like growing marijuana, isn't.

"Growing marijuana is now completely legal — you can grow 12 plants in your basement," he tells Metro Times. "Well, if you were doing that before 2018, you could be convicted of a felony. This law doesn't address that."

With nearly a dozen pot policy reform bills currently under consideration in the Texas legislature, Democratic Rep. James Talarico took advantage of the 420 high holiday on Tuesday as an opportunity to promote his recent move to get the ball rolling on Texas cannabis legalization. While the cannabis community was reveling in its celebration of the plant, Talarico turned to social media to share the news of a bill he filed last month.

“Happy 4/20! I’ve filed legislation to legalize cannabis, expunge past marijuana convictions, and use the new tax revenue to fund early childhood education,” Talarico tweeted on Tuesday.

To back up his push for Texas cannabis legalization, he went on to share public opinion data collected by the Texas Tribune in a recent survey, tweeting “this is a popular bipartisan idea. According to the latest polling, 60% of Texans support the full legalization of marijuana. Only 13% said it should be completely illegal.”

The member of the Texas House of Representatives also noted that human beings have been reaping the health benefits of cannabis for more than 3,000 years and that the herb can be used to treat a host of maladies including chronic pain, depression, and addiction. Talarico also posted that the commonly held notion that cannabis is a gateway drug to more dangerous substances has been thoroughly debunked.

“In fact, medical research suggests alcohol and tobacco are far more dangerous to our health than cannabis,” he wrote. 

There are several locations across Europe where cannabis use is as much part of the culture as French wine and Italian coffee.

In recent years, we’ve seen a huge increase in weed - otherwise known as cannabis or marijuana - becoming legalised for medical use across the board. CBD oil and hemp especially have seen a rise in popularity across markets from skincare to wellness.

While elements of cannabis have their advantages, the science doesn’t work in recreational joint-smokers’ favour. The drug is heavily associated with mental and physical health conditions including psychosis and schizophrenia.

So why have some places decriminalised it?

Well, the fact is when it comes to mind-altering substances, weed is one of the softer drugs. It’s believed to be on a par with alcohol (which is completely legal across the continent for those with legitimate ID). So rather than wrack up the bills and time associated with criminal offences, in some countries there’s more of a ‘we’d rather you didn’t, but if you must’ mentality.

Let’s find out where those places are.

At our recent Emerge Virtual Cannabis Conference & Expo, transformative thinkers and innovators voiced their insight on diversity, expungement, and prison reform to hundreds of eager virtual attendees.

The event hosted several prominent speakers from the industry, boasting a powerhouse assembly of cannabis enthusiasts.

Hemp and cannabis culture is all about community; it’s a space where everyone deserves representation.

As the demand for cannabis continues to grow, many revolutionary leaders within the industry, including Andrew DeAngelo, Wanda James, Steve DeAngelo, and others have been fighting for change within the hemp space to better reflect the inclusive nature of the plant. 

Wanda James

James is the CEO of Simply Pure and the first African American woman to own a dispensary in Colorado.

A bill that would expand access to medical cannabis in public schools in Colorado was passed by the state House of Representatives on Tuesday and is now headed to the desk of Democratic Gov. Jared Polis. The measure, Senate Bill 21-056, was approved by members of the House with a vote of 57 to 6. Under the bill, children with complicated medical conditions would be able to receive cannabis-based medicines from school personnel while on campus.

If signed into law by Polis, the bill would help students access medical cannabis in public schools by requiring school districts to create policy “for the storage, possession, and administration of cannabis-based medicine by school personnel.” The Senate bill would also protect school personnel who elect to administer cannabis medicines to student patients, who must have a doctor’s treatment plan on file with the school. Cannabis medicines used by students under the measure must be in a non-smokable form.

Teen cannabis activist Alexis Bortell, who was instrumental in the bill’s passage, shared the news of the House vote in a Facebook post on Monday. Now 15, Bortell moved to Colorado with her family at the age of nine so she could obtain cannabis medications to treat her intractable epilepsy. In her social media message, Bortell also shared a statement she made to state lawmakers, in which she testified about the frustration she experienced trying to enroll in a school that would allow her medicine to be stored on campus.

“You can imagine my disappointment and anger when I learned that I wouldn’t be able to attend high school in person due to my medical needs,” Bortell testified to lawmakers. “I was denied admission to both high schools I applied to (the only ones accessible to me) because neither school would allow my medical cannabis to be stored on school grounds or allow a school nurse/staff member to give me my medicine when I needed it.”

Bill to Expand Access To Medical Cannabis In Public Schools Cleared Colorado Senate Last Month

At a Senate Education Committee hearing in February, parents of medical cannabis patients explained the difficulties they face administering medicine to their children because of the restrictions on medical cannabis in public schools. Some parents noted they had to leave work to medicate their child on school grounds. Others said they opted to keep their children in remote learning because it was easier to administer cannabis at home. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called 4/20 an "unofficial American holiday."

The top Democrat made his case to "end the federal prohibition on marijuana."

April 20 is usually a day weed users celebrate the recreational drug.

As weed users across the country celebrate April 20 on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer marked the occasion as an "unofficial American holiday" and made his case for marijuana legalization.

"Today is what you might call a very unofficial American holiday: 4/20," the top Democrat said on the Senate floor Tuesday. "It's as appropriate a time as any to take a hard look at our laws that have over-criminalized the use of marijuana and put it on par with heroin, LSD and other narcotics that bear little or no resemblance in their effects either on individuals or on society more broadly."

And then, there were 50, with the newly codified Idaho hemp legalization.

On Friday, Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed House Bill 126, otherwise known as the “Industrial Hemp Research and Development Act.” Similar bills have passed in state legislatures across the country, ultimately earning the eager signature of their respective governors—a trend that was sparked by Congress’ passage of the 2018 Farm Bill. That bill legalized industrial hemp, paving the way for states to exploit what in recent years has emerged as a cash crop.

With Little’s signature on HB 126, that trend finally came to Idaho, which became the 50th state to legalize industrial hemp. 

Per the Associated Press, the “new law does not allow selling to Idaho consumers hemp products containing any amount of THC.”

Under the language of the bill, the director of the state’s department of agriculture “must prepare and submit a state plan as expeditiously as possible, but no later than September 1, 2021, to the secretary of agriculture in compliance with the 2018 farm bill and the rules promulgated thereunder.” 

The National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds (GKV), whose members insure 90% of the German population have released the data on reimbursed medical cannabis usage covering the entirety of 2020. The new data reveal that the reimbursed sales of medical cannabis were worth €165 million in 2020. 

The road to legalizing cannabis in Mexico has been full of twists, turns, and in some cases dead ends as the deadline approaches soon.

Near the end of 2018, Mexico’s Supreme Court issued a ruling in which cannabis prohibition was deemed to be unconstitutional.

As part of the ruling, the Court set a one-year deadline for lawmakers to pass a legalization measure to implement the ruling and to set up a regulated adult-use cannabis industry.

The initial deadline was not met due to political issues, a second deadline was not met due to the pandemic, and a third deadline was also not met due to the pandemic.

Yet another deadline was granted by the Court, and it appears that lawmakers will fail to meet the latest deadline which expires at the end of April.

An attempt by Idaho Republican leaders to make it impossible to legalize drugs in the state through a ballot initiative failed on Thursday, missing the supermajority support it needed in the House.

The proposed constitutional amendment would have required two-thirds of the House and Senate to approve the removal of a drug from Schedule I or Schedule II. Despite 26 co-sponsors who signed on to the amendment, House GOP leaders failed to garner the 47 votes needed to advance the measure to the Senate.

House members voted 42-28 in favor of the amendment, just short of the two-thirds required. The legislation divided Republicans, several of whom grew emotional as they spoke on the impact of drugs in their families. Many of them centered their debates around medical cannabis or hemp.

Several lawmakers who supported the measure on Thursday argued that putting the amendment on the 2022 ballot would give the public a voice on drug policy. Had the Legislature approved the measure, it would have been up for a vote in the 2022 general election.

If the amendment had passed in both chambers, voters potentially could have faced both the anti-drug measure and a medical marijuana initiative that groups are trying to get on the ballot.

The Mississippi Supreme Court heard arguments this week challenging the state’s overwhelming vote in support of medical cannabis last November but advocates still have their high hopes. 

The Mississippi Cannabis Trade Association released a statement following Thursday’s oral arguments that would determine the industry’s fate. If the challenge is successful it would essentially nullify the election night win for compassion in Mississippi. 

The idea behind the challenge is an old law that says you need 20% of your signatures to come from each of the state’s congressional districts. The problem? Mississippi lost a congressional district in 2003 and officials never updated the law. Now the opposition is attempting to use it as a de facto ban on ballot initiatives. 

“The Mississippi Cannabis Trade Association (MSCTA) looks forward to reviewing the Mississippi Supreme Court’s imminent ruling on the recent legal challenge to Initiative 65. At its very core, this is a matter of upholding the will of the citizens of Mississippi and their constitutional right to propose and enact amendments through the ballot initiative process,” the statement reads. “The state constitution expressly prescribes certain enumerated rights to the people of Mississippi, and therefore, its provisions should be interpreted in a manner that preserves these rights, not destroys them.”

The wildly high number of 75% of Mississippians voted in favor of medical cannabis for a list of 22 qualifying debilitating medical conditions last fall. To put it in perspective, that’s a 20-point larger victory margin compared to when California passed Proposition 215 in 1996. 

Cannabis is now legal in Michigan, but there are some hazy aspects of the new law. Let's clear the air and define what has become legal in the state and what was outlawed in 2020.

Both recreational and medical cannabis are legal in Michigan. The products for therapeutic purposes were legalized in 2008, making Michigan the 13th state that allows it for medical treatment. Cannabis for recreational use was passed in 2018. Its licensed sales started in 2019, and they're expected to grow this year.

Each municipality has the right to allow or restrict recreational cannabis sales. Keep this in mind while traveling across the state because many cities put a veto on these sales.

Consumption

Despite marijuana legalization, it cannot be consumed anywhere you want. It should be done in your own residence away from the public. If you smoke it at your friend's house, ask for the host's approval. People who live in a rented apartment should gain permission from their landlord.

Marijuana consumption on public property or public places (e.g., schools, hospitals, parks, cars, and bars) is banned and considered a civil infraction.

On Monday, New Mexico became the latest state to legalize adult-use cannabis, after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the Cannabis Regulation Act. Sales are expected to begin before April 2022.

Following a legalization wave led by New York and Virginia, this approval now puts more than 43 percent of Americans living in legal cannabis jurisdictions, according to The Marijuana Policy Project.

“The successful bill signing today of adult-use cannabis legislation in New Mexico would not have been possible without the leadership of Governor Lujan Grisham and the tireless support of the State Legislature,” said David Culver, vice president of global government relations at Canopy Growth.

The Bills

Signed bill HB2 allows New Mexicans 21 and over to possess up to two ounces of cannabis, and cultivate six mature and six immature plants at home. The bill also regulates the production and sale of recreational cannabis while including measures to incentivize populations disproportionately impacted by prohibition to enter the industry.

“We are going to increase consumer safety by creating a bona fide industry. We’re going to start righting past wrongs of this country’s failed war on drugs. And we’re going to break new ground in an industry that may well transform New Mexico’s economic future for the better,” said Gov. Grisham, a strong proponent of cannabis reform.

State marijuana regulators are reconsidering how they will now run a lottery to decide who wins licenses to operate six additional medical marijuana dispensaries after no business answered a bid solicitation to develop the process. 

"Unfortunately, the state did not receive any responses," Brian Hodge, a spokesman for the Department of Business Regulation, said Wednesday. "We are currently exploring alternative options and still expect to conduct the lottery by later this spring." 

In February the state sought a company to “design and develop the methodology for the random selection process,” that would be held, in public, around May 14. 

The bid proposal said the company would be "primarily responsible for securing all equipment, technology, or other necessary mediums to run the process.” 

It wasn’t immediately clear what alternative options regulators were now discussing. 

The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) has extended the licensure deadline for hemp farms from April 9 to May 28.

The department received multiple requests from hemp farmers over the last few weeks to extend the deadline. Many existing and prospective hemp farmers expressed that they are still experiencing delays in obtaining the necessary land and seeds to plant this spring, ODA told Hemp Grower in an email.

After considering farmers' concerns, the ODA decided to extend the deadline.

Any prospective licensee can download a guide to submit a new application here.

The change in the presidential administration has focused cannabis businesses on the potential for legalization nationwide.

Running parallel to full federal legalization will be a corresponding regulatory and taxation scheme replacing the current regime of IRC §280E which prohibits anything but the cost of goods sold being deducted from a state licensed cannabis operation’s income statement. 

The evolution of the federal taxation of cannabis started with the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, which applied tax to marijuana used for medicine.

Historians and critics alike maligned this legislation as an attempt to stop the use of cannabis rather than tax it.

The fines were greatly out of line with any failure in tax compliance — violators were fined up to $2,000 and a potential prison sentence of up to five years, while the actual tax was merely $1 per ounce or $24 per year. 

Despite all of the resistance, the fact is that cannabis legalization is happening right now. State by state, country by country, it’s going global.

When the Biden Administration took the White House, the headlines all clamored that it will be a “good time for cannabis”.

Stocks seemed to echo the sentiment.

Yet, since the administration took office, they fired staffers for admitting they smoked weed in the past, Kamala Harris rolled back her “pro pot stance” to align with the President’s, and now the entire “weed thing” has been put on the back burner.

Photo by Win McNamee/Staff/Getty Images

More than two years after Michigan voters approved marijuana for adult use, residents convicted of many pot-related crimes that have now been legalized have an opportunity to expunge them from their records.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a sweeping "clean slate" package of bills in October that will automatically expunge some criminal records in 2023, while others have to be applied for. On Monday, Attorney General Dana Nessel announced a new website where Michigan residents can learn about how to begin the process expunge the marijuana-related criminal records that require an application.

"Michiganders voted to legalize recreational marijuana use years ago," Nessel said in a statement. "Residents should rightfully be able to eliminate convictions for actions that are no longer considered a crime in our state."

According to the new website, "a person convicted of 1 or more misdemeanor or local ordinance marijuana crimes may petition the convicting court to set aside the convictions if they were based on activity that would not have been a crime after December 6, 2018, when a 2018 voter-passed initiative to legalize recreational use of marijuana in Michigan went into effect."

The website explains the requirements, including a checklist of eligible misdemeanor marijuana offenses. Additionally, a person convicted of one or more criminal offenses including felonies (but not more than a total of three felonies) may petition to expunge the convictions.