Policy

Uruguay’s Cannabis Market Continues to Expand

Uruguay became the first country to legalize recreational marijuana on a national level about a year ago under the guidance of former President Mujica. Despite early opposition by the Broad Front’s political rivals, who vowed to repeal it if elected, Tabare Vazquez’s election cemented the program’s future in stone – at least for the next […]

Texas House Passes Historic Medical Marijuana Bill

The Texas House of Representatives approved a limited medical marijuana bill that would provide epileptic patients with access to trace amounts of cannabis oil. With only trace amounts of THC in the cannabis oil, the substance is not expected to produce a “high” for users and would require a prescription for use by only epileptic […]

Colorado’s Governor Cracks Down on Misused Medical Marijuana

Colorado’s Governor Hickenlooper signed a new law that will crackdown on improperly used and untaxed medical marijuana this week. The law limits caregivers to 99 plants and forces high-volume growers to be treated as commercial growers – subjecting them to increased oversight, licensing fees, and background checks. Recreational marijuana growers supported the measure to help […]

Senate Votes in Favor of Marijuana Law Reform for Veterans

The Senate Appropriations Committee passed a bipartisan amendment last week that will permit the Veterans Administration’s (“VA”) doctors to recommend medical marijuana to patients in states where the drug has been legalized. As an addition to a must-pass military construction and veterans affairs spending bill, it’s certain to pass on the Senate floor and be […]

FDA Says CBDs Can’t Be Marketed as Dietary Supplements

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) ruled that cannabidiol (“CBD”) products don’t fit the legal definition of dietary supplements and therefore can’t be marketed as such under the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The FDA’s Q&A covering CBDs specifically addresses the issue: “Based on available evidence, FDA has concluded that cannabidiol products are […]

Bernie Sanders Supports Decriminalization of Marijuana

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) indicated that he supports the decriminalization of marijuana possession and the legalization of medical marijuana, while suggesting that he’s open to other reforms when it comes to recreational marijuana. “The state of Vermont voted to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana and I support that,” said Sen. Sanders in […]

Secondhand Smoke Could Create Regulatory Headaches

A new study found that exposure to secondhand marijuana smoke under unventilated conditions can lead to detectable levels of the drug in urine or blood. In fact, individuals exposed to the smoke may even get a “contact high” to be unable to think clearly, according to a report appearing in LiveScience. The research team recruited […]

Oregon Reworks Marijuana Tax Structure

Oregon’s legislators proposed a new retail sales tax for marijuana designed to replace the harvest tax approved by voters last November. While the new sales tax didn’t cite a specific percentage, staffers are reportedly working the numbers to charge roughly as much as the harvest taxes. There are number of advantages to charging sales tax […]

Wyoming Statistics May Back-up Colorado’s Approach

The States of Oklahoma and Nebraska filed a lawsuit lsat December against the State of Colorado, saying that the state violated the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause by overstepping crystal clear federal laws on a state level. In addition, the group insists that marijuana is flowing over the border and putting financial and other strains on […]

Outgoing Israeli Police Chief Takes Surprising Stance on Cannabis

Israel’s outgoing Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino urged police to reconsider their position on marijuana and support legalization in “one way or another” when speaking to high school students in Beit Shemesh near Jerusalem. “I think it’s time the police and state reexamined their traditional attitude,” said Mr. Danino to the audience, according to a report […]

Universities Begin Embracing Cannabis Opportunities

The legal cannabis industry brought in $2.4 billion last year, according to ArcView Market Research, which has attracted private and public companies to the space. At the same time, mainstream investors like Peter Thiel have committed large amounts of capital to the space, which should continue to expand the number of companies, while ongoing regulatory […]

Study Confirms that CBDs are Safe & Well-Tolerated

GW Pharmaceuticals plc’s [stockquote symbol=GWPH] Epidiolex – an investigational CBD-based drug designed to treat Dravet and Lennox-Gastaut syndromes – has been shown to be safe and well-tolerated in an early safety study. With a total of 213 people taking part in the study, ranging from young children to adults, participants reported only minor negative reactions […]

Organized Labor Target the Pot Industry

The United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which represents many food workers at companies like Safeway, has been looking to bring organized labor to California’s marijuana industry since 2010. While only about 1,000 workers have signed statewide, the organization has been playing a big role in laying the foundation for recreational marijuana legalization in a […]

California’s Voters May have Five Options Now

Californians are gearing up for the legalization of marijuana, but analysis paralysis remains a key risk for the state, with five proposals filed with the Attorney General. The latest proposal – The 2016 California Bipartisan Decriminalization of Cannabis Act – was submitted by Jason Porter and Lara Marie Collinsworth and demonstrates just how diverse thoughts […]

Ecuador Looks to Decriminalize Cannabis (and All Drugs)

Ecuador is considering the decriminalization of all illegal drugs – including cannabis – in a bill authored by Carlos Velasco. While unconventional in most of the world, the law is intended to put an end to the country’s war on drugs by providing drug users with treatment options and rehabilitation instead of sending them to […]

California Could be the Key to Legalization Nationwide

The legalization of adult-use marijuana in California represents more than twice the combined size of Colorado, Washington, Alaska, and Oregon, which could be enough to push the federal government toward taking a decisive action. California was the first U.S. state to legalize medical marijuana back in 1996, while hundreds of dispensaries have made smoking a […]

Puerto Rico Moves to Legalize Medical Marijuana

Puerto Rico governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla signed an executive order to allow marijuana to be permitted for medical uses this week, which will go into effect immediately after a lengthy public debate on the U.S. territory. The territory’s health secretary will be given three months to prepare a report on how the executive order will […]

Reps Reintroduce the Marijuana Business Access to Banking Act

U.S. Reps. Ed Perlmutter, Denny Heck, and a bipartisan group of 16 other Democrats and Republicans reintroduced the Marijuana Businesses Access to Banking Act of 2015 (H.R. 2076) earlier this week to “create protections for depository institutions that provide financial services to marijuana-related business”. In reality, the bill would do much more to help the […]

Supreme Court Risks Confusion in Colorado Case

Colorado is facing three lawsuits over its recreational cannabis market. Nebraska, Oklahoma, a Washington D.C.-based group called Safe Streets Alliance, and a group of sheriffs and prosecutors from Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado itself are all suing the state. Among other things, they are concerned that the state’s legalization program has created a spillover effect into […]

San Francisco Gears Up for Cannabis Legalization

San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener is looking to create a task force to help plan local policies if cannabis is legalized during the 2016 California election. If the city doesn’t prepare for the possibility, it could end up having a “chaotic fire drill” after legalization occurs, according to Mr. Wiener in a statement. He plans […]

Cannabis Could Reduce Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy Pain

Researchers at the University of California found that inhaling cannabis could demonstrate a dose-dependent reduction in pain in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy. The results seem to confirm similar studies that have evaluated cannabis’ effects on other types of physical and neurological pains. The 16 patients participating in the small study were given either placebo […]

Ohio Students Invent THC Detection Device

Mariam Crow and Kathleen Stitzlein, two students at the University of Akron, won a $10,000 investors’ award for developing a sensor that they believe will enable police to determine in minutes if a driver is under the influence of marijuana. “Today, if a driver is suspected of impaired driving due to marijuana, law enforcement officers […]

Texans Look to Legalize Marijuana

Rep. David Simpson, a Republican from Longview, introduced House Bill 2165 to put an end to Texas’ century-long prohibition of marijuana. Unlike many such bills across the U.S., the legislator believes that marijuana should be regulated in the same manner as tomatoes, jalapenos, and other popular Texas vegetables – a far less stringent treatment than […]

Republicans Get Behind Low-THC Cannabis Legalization Efforts

The majority of states permit the use of low-THC cannabis for medical purposes, but growing the plant remains a federal crime that’s harshly punished. Support for medical cannabis has historically been strong among Democrats, but Republicans are finally starting to get behind the movement. In particular, Congressional Republicans have been taking the fight for legalization […]

New Study to Evaluate Marijuana’s Effect on PTSD

The National Institute of Drug Abuse informed the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies that it’s ready to supply researchers with marijuana required to study the plant’s use by veterans in treating post traumatic stress disorder. The study will become the first federally approved study where participants can ingest whole-plant marijuana by smoking it, rather than […]

Florida Lawmakers Consider MMJ for Pets

Lisa Miller, a lobbyist with nearly three decades of experience pitching lawmakers on insurance issues, wants to add animals to a research component included in Senate medical marijuana proposal SB 7066. The single sentence amendment would permit the Department of Health to contract with a veterinary research organization to evaluate the use of medical-grade marijuana […]

Obama Takes Pro-Cannabis Stances in CNN Documentary

The latest installment of CNN’s medical marijuana documentary series, WEED 3, featured an interview with President Barack Obama. In the interview, Obama signals support for medical marijuana and the idea of rolling back the federal government’s war on drugs that conflict with many U.S. states. “You know, I think I’d have to take a look […]

Georgia Governor Signs Bill to Legalize Cannabis Oil

Governor Nathan Deal signed a bill that makes Georgia the 36th U.S. state to legalize cannabis oil for the treatment of eight serious medical conditions. Patients will be permitted to possess up to 20 ounces of cannabis oil, which has no more than 5% tetrahydrocannabinol (“THC”) – the psychoactive component of the drug. “We can […]

U.S. NIDA Revises Its Stance on Marijuana’s Medical Use

The U.S. National Institute of Drug Abuse revised its publication on marijuana, admitting that it offers benefits to some cancer patients. According to the report, “recent animal studies have shown that marijuana extracts may help kill certain cancer cells and reduce the size of others … Evidence from one animal study suggests that extracts from […]

New Poll Shows Majority Support for Legalization

A new poll from Pew Research Center found that 53% of American support legalization, which is slightly lower than the 54% support seen last year. Not surprisingly, millennial voters appear to be the most supportive of marijuana legalization, with 68% of those between 18 and 34 supporting such measures – a full 16 points higher […]