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“Republicans, Democrats and independents alike understand that regulation is better than prohibition, and that good science takes time.” By Mike Simpson, Lovewell Farms via Rhode Island Current At a moment when Americans across the political spectrum say they want evidence-based policy, Congress is on the verge of repeating a familiar mistake: banning first and studying later. Bipartisan legislation recently introduced in both the U.S. House and Senate would delay the impending federal ban on hemp-derived products. This is not to legalize anything new, but instead to give regulators, researchers and farmers time to do what Congress says it wants to do: Gather data, set clear rules and regulate responsibly. I write this as a hemp farmer and small-business owner myself. Having started Lovewell Farms in 2018, I know firsthand the implications a ban on hemp-derived products would have on my farm, Rhode Island’s only USDA-certified organic hemp farm. Here is what legislators may not fully understand: Hemp is not something that can be turned on and off with a vote. Farmers need to know in the next 100 days if the plant they will harvest in October will be legal in November. Seeds are planted in April. Fields are cultivated all summer. Crops are harvested in October. A federal ban that takes effect in November lands after farmers have already committed an entire season’s labor, capital and compliance costs. There is no rewind button for agriculture. That uncertainty is already forcing farms to shut down. A sudden ban would finish the job. The Senate bill (S.3686), introduced by Sens. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, and co-sponsors Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, and Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, would delay enforcement of the hemp-derived product ban for two years, allowing Congress to pursue regulatory alternatives rather than defaulting to prohibition. A companion bill in the House (H.7010), led by Rep. Jim Baird, an Indiana Republican, also with bipartisan cosponsors, would do the same. Together, these bills recognize a basic agricultural reality: Farmers need predictability before they plant. Importantly, Congress is not only proposing a delay, it is also debating regulation. The Hemp Enforcement, Modernization, and Protection (HEMP) Act is yet another bipartisan bill introduced in the House (H.7212) that would establish a federal framework for hemp-derived products, including clear safety standards, labeling requirements, enforcement authority and defined potency limits by product type. The proposal sets per-serving and per-package caps for non-intoxicating oral hemp products, inhalables, topicals and THC-containing items, demonstrating that consumer protection and responsible oversight are achievable without resorting to prohibition. Taken together, these bills show that Congress has viable, bipartisan alternatives to an outright ban, if it chooses to use them. At this point, this is not a debate about intoxicating THC limits. It is about whether hemp policy will be guided by science or by fear. That distinction matters, because federal science is finally catching up. In 2025, the Trump administration issued an executive order directing federal agencies to expand cannabis and cannabidiol (CBD) research, including the use of large federal health datasets such as Medicare records to study safety, efficacy and outcomes. The order did not legalize CBD or add it as a Medicare benefit, but it explicitly acknowledged that cannabinoids require rigorous study before sweeping policy decisions are made. Congress is now hurtling toward prohibition at the exact moment the federal government is building the science-based research infrastructure needed to answer the hard questions. Even the concerns raised by opponents of hemp-derived products argue for regulation, not bans. If products require clearer labeling, age restrictions, potency standards or enforcement tools, like those already in place in Rhode Island, those are state-by-state regulatory challenges. Rhode Island already regulates hemp products. Farmers and businesses here should not be penalized because other states have dragged their feet to create a regulated market. Prohibition does not solve these issues; it simply pushes them out of sight, into unregulated markets that are less safe for consumers. A hemp ban would also push production overseas. If hemp farming in the United States collapses, demand will not disappear. It will just shift to imported cannabinoids from countries like Canada or China, where American regulators have far less visibility or control. That outcome harms local farmers, consumers, and public safety alike. Rhode Island’s Reps. Gabe Amo and Seth Magaziner previously voted against a federal hemp ban embedded in a larger spending bill. That was the right call. Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, however, explicitly voted to keep the hemp ban language in that same bill. Rhode Island’s senators now have an opportunity to support local farmers and small businesses by cosponsoring this bipartisan delay bill (S.3686). Rhode Island’s representatives can do the same with the corresponding companion bill in the House (H.7010). This is one of the few issues in Congress that remains genuinely bipartisan. Republicans, Democrats and independents alike understand that regulation is better than prohibition, and that good science takes time. Congress should not dismantle a domestic $30 billion agricultural industry with over 300,000 jobs just as meaningful research is beginning. A temporary delay protects farmers, supports small businesses, keeps hemp farming rooted here in the United States and allows policymakers to regulate with evidence rather than panic. Prohibition without evidence is not policymaking. Rhode Island’s delegation should stand with farmers, small businesses and science by cosponsoring the bipartisan bills that delay this ban and allow regulation to catch up with reality. Mike Simpson is the co-founder of Lovewell Farms, Rhode Island’s only U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) organic hemp farm. He is also a historian, educator and longtime advocate for policy reform. He was previously deputy director for Regulate Rhode Island and an initiative coordinator for Marijuana Policy Project in Maine. He now lives in Providence and farms in the village of Hope Valley in Hopkinton. This story was first published by Rhode Island Current. Photo courtesy of Max Jackson. The post Congress Should Delay The Federal Hemp Ban And Instead Enact Regulations For THC And CBD Products (Op-Ed) appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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“We have to make sure that we don’t have unintended consequences, and destroy things that do not need to be destroyed.” By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent A push for Missouri to immediately adopt planned federal limits on intoxicating hemp products ran into a filibuster in the state Senate Wednesday, with critics demanding any changes wait until national regulations go into effect in November. Democratic state Sen. Karla May of St. Louis led the two-hour filibuster of a bill that would immediately ban hemp-derived THC beverages and edibles as soon as the legislation was passed and signed into law. May argued during a Senate debate Wednesday that the federal limits will likely change before they’re enacted later this year. Congress passed the provision to ban these products as part of the federal spending package last year. She offered an amendment that would align the Senate bill with a proposal sponsored in the House by Republican state Rep. Dave Hinman of O’Fallon to allow Missouri to sell the products if Congress permits them nationwide. Hinman’s bill has cleared a House committee and is ready to be debated by the full chamber. “When Congress voted on this whole thing, this was just literally to reopen the government,” May said. “I mean, this wasn’t even a thoughtful conversation.” The bill debated Wednesday evening, sponsored by Republican state Sen. David Gregory of Chesterfield, would prohibit hemp products from containing more than 0.4 milligrams of THC per container and more than a total THC concentration of .3 percent on a dry weight basis, rather than only delta-9 THC. These mirror the federal limits. Intoxicating hemp products with as much as 1,000mg of THC are being sold in smoke shops—outside of Missouri’s licensed marijuana dispensaries — and they aren’t regulated by any government agency. Missouri lawmakers have failed to pass legislation regulating these products since 2023. Gregory argues his bill and the federal provision close loopholes that were opened when Congress legalized hemp in the 2018 Farm Bill. “My bill continues with Congress’s intent from three months ago, and of course, our great folks of Missouri’s intent,” Gregory said, “which is: if it is intoxicating from the cannabis plant, it is marijuana and must be highly regulated under these specific rules.” May has been a consistent critic of attempts to put a complete ban on intoxicating hemp products, arguing that they just need to be regulated. May said the amendment she offered Wednesday to Gregory’s bill was a “good compromise” because it would still align state and federal rules if Congress rewrites the federal limits. “It’s not getting rid of your language,” May told Gregory. “And if [Congress does] nothing, your language will be the law of the land for Missouri.” Gregory said her amendment went a “little too far” for him because Missouri would just be doing “whatever the feds tell us.” He said these products must be regulated urgently to protect children. After more than two hours of discussion, the Senate was forced to adjourn when it couldn’t get enough lawmakers in the chamber to achieve a quorum. State officials estimated in 2024 that 40,000 food establishments and smoke shops and 1,800 food manufacturers were selling products that would be banned under the proposed federal regulations. It includes low-dose THC seltzers, such as Mighty Kind and Triple, that have increased in popularity at liquor stores and bars. May said lawmakers need to consider these businesses when making decisions. “It’s a complicated situation,” May said. “And I think that we have to make sure that we don’t have unintended consequences, and destroy things that do not need to be destroyed.” Hinman told The Independent Thursday that he spent about 20 hours working on his bill this week so it hopefully wouldn’t run into as many roadblocks as Gregory experienced in a full-chamber debate. “There’s so many ifs involved in this,” Hinman said, “and trying to legislate that is really difficult.” There are three potential scenarios, he said, that could happen before November, when the federal limits are set to go into effect. The feds could stay the course with the current limits, he said, which “puts all of the hemp businesses out of business.” Congress could redefine what hemp is, and change the .4 milligram of THC per container limit to permit low-dose THC beverages and edibles. “So in that case, we’re looking to see what would happen if they just modify that piece of the puzzle,” he said. The third option is if Congress approves a two-year extension, he said, and “kick it down the can.” That would mean Missouri would need to put some kind of regulation in the meantime, he said. “We’re trying to write legislation that effectively would cover all three of those things,” he said, “So that’s what these tough negotiations are all about is trying to accomplish the goal of letting everyone succeed in this marketplace, if it’s possible by federal law.” This story was first published by Missouri Independent. The post Missouri Bill To Restrict Hemp THC Products Stalls Amid Senate Filibuster appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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“I think that sample fraud should be a death sentence for a licensee. Right now, it’s a $15,000 slap on the wrist.” By Christopher Osher, ProPublica and Evan Wyloge, The Denver Gazette This story was originally published by ProPublica. Colorado marijuana manufacturers would no longer be allowed to choose which product samples they send for mandatory lab testing under a new regulatory proposal discussed at a policy forum on Friday. Instead, the state’s Marijuana Enforcement Division may require independent labs or outside vendors to collect product samples for the testing that’s required before companies can sell their products to ensure they’re free of contaminants. The change would address a long-standing complaint from some marijuana manufacturers that bad actors are cheating the system. They say some companies are selecting samples that can pass tests while sending products to dispensaries that might be contaminated with chemical solvents, fungus or pesticides. A Denver Gazette and ProPublica investigation last month showed that the system for testing marijuana products relies on an honor code that’s open to manipulation. In 2024 alone, Colorado officials found two dozen cases in which companies had violated testing rules, often by submitting samples that were different from what the companies sold in stores or by using unauthorized chemical treatments, according to a review of enforcement actions by the news outlets. The state’s rules on selecting samples require what gets turned over to a lab to be representative of what marijuana companies actually deliver to dispensaries for sale to consumers. “Sample adulteration is a common violation,” Kyle Lambert, deputy director of the division, said during the policy forum. “This is something that we have an interest in more comprehensively addressing based on what we see out there.” Colorado officials have long prided themselves on creating the nation’s first regulated recreational marijuana market, but the news outlets found that the state has fallen behind as other states have adopted more robust regulations. The Denver Gazette and ProPublica highlighted how a popular brand of vapes contaminated with a toxic chemical ended up at marijuana dispensaries. In that case and others, manufacturers were found by regulators to be swapping marijuana distillate, the liquid that goes in vapes, for products chemically converted from much cheaper hemp, which is prohibited in Colorado. The company, Ware Hause, surrendered its marijuana manufacturing license. Its owner declined to comment on Tuesday. The Marijuana Enforcement Division first disclosed it is considering a new sampling system in January. The state’s move marks a shift: Last year, the state fought a lawsuit by a marijuana cultivator aimed at forcing the division to overhaul its testing rules. The suit, brought by Mammoth Farms, also pushed for the division to bar manufacturers from selecting product samples for testing. The division’s lawyers said in a court filing that such a revision would be “impracticable.” A Denver judge dismissed the lawsuit on technical grounds in May, stating that the company should have first petitioned regulators for rule changes. After the dismissal, Mammoth Farms sought rule changes with the Marijuana Enforcement Division. The division agreed to begin requiring more chemical testing this summer but did not adopt a proposal to overhaul how samples are collected. Dominique Mendiola, the senior director of the division, said in a statement that the move to consider changes stemmed from concerns raised by marijuana companies last year. “The division has committed to further researching this topic and leading the facilitation of this dialogue with stakeholders in order to analyze the details and operability of what it would take to implement recommendations to shift to third-party test batch collection requirements,” she said. Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia require lab personnel to collect samples to ensure manufacturers don’t cherry-pick products for testing while holding back contaminated products. Over the next few months, the state will hold discussions with testing labs, marijuana cultivators and manufacturers and industry experts to fashion a formal proposal, Lambert said. He added that he expects the division will take up specific policy recommendations this summer. State officials want to gauge the cost, Lambert said, and make sure they develop effective regulations. The state is also considering who would collect the samples—licensed lab personnel or third-party samplers the state would credential. Kareem Kassem, a director at SC Labs, which has a testing lab in Colorado, said during the forum that all sampling should be done under video surveillance and that vehicles that transport samples should be equipped with GPS monitoring. Other industry representatives noted that changing testing regulations could be expensive and that those costs would be passed on to consumers. They also stressed that other states had marijuana testing scandals even when lab personnel collected samples. Stephen Cobb, co-owner of the marijuana manufacturer Concentrate Brands, pointed to sample collection scandals in California and said the problem was only fixed after regulators stepped in. “We can solve sample fraud,” Cobb said, “but only if there is a massive investment in regulatory oversight on that. Otherwise, it just kind of passes the buck.” The Marijuana Enforcement Division said costs and budgeting issues would be part of the discussions. Still, Justin Singer, the CEO of Denver-based cannabis firm Ripple, applauded the division’s move. “I think that sample fraud should be a death sentence for a licensee,” Singer said during the policy forum. “Right now, it’s a $15,000 slap on the wrist.” He has tracked the division’s enforcement actions and provided The Denver Gazette and ProPublica a spreadsheet and links to those cases. Ripple’s analysis shows that, from the start of 2023 until now, half of the state’s 135 final enforcement actions against marijuana companies involved issues with self-sampling and testing. Singer is also pushing a legislative overhaul to the state’s marijuana testing regimen that would transfer testing oversight to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and create a program where state regulators would randomly test products from dispensaries to ensure they aren’t contaminated. “I hope we all can agree that if we’re not giving consumers as an industry what they think they are buying, then we’re destroying our own industry from within,” Singer said. “Sample fraud and testing fraud is a cancer on our industry. It is a cancer on the businesses that are trying to do good work. It is a cancer on the labs that are trying to be honest.” This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with The Denver Gazette. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories in your inbox every week. The post Colorado Officials Weigh Changes To How Marijuana Is Sampled For Testing To Help Avoid Fraud appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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A key House committee chairman has unveiled the latest version of a large-scale agriculture bill—with provisions his office says will reduce “regulatory burdens for producers of industrial hemp.” The proposed 2026 Farm Bill released on Friday by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson (R-PA) would maintain the industrial hemp program at a time when the cannabinoid industry finds itself threatened by a pending recriminalization of most consumable cannabinoid products under separate legislation President Donald Trump signed into law last year. But for farmers growing hemp for industrial purposes such as fiber and grain, the latest iteration of the Farm Bill is being pitched as a source of industry relief, with policies allowing the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), as well as states and tribes, to “reduce or eliminate testing requirements and background checks for producers,” for example. Those provisions are modeled after the standalone Industrial Hemp Act, bipartisan legislation introduced in the 118th Congress aimed at bolstering the hemp market that evolved after the crop and its derivatives were federally legalized in 2018 during Trump’s first term in office. Under the new 2026 Farm Bill, USDA would also face a mandate to “establish a process by which laboratories can be accredited for the purposes of testing hemp,” a section-by-section summary says. As it currently stands, only labs accredited by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) are able to test hemp yields for compliance purposes, which has historically created a bottleneck given limited resources. “A new farm bill is long overdue, and the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 is an important step forward in providing certainty to our farmers, ranchers, and rural communities,” Thompson said of the overall legislation in a press release on Friday. “This bill provides modern policies for modern challenges and is shaped by years of listening to the needs of farmers, ranchers, and rural Americans,” he said. “The farm bill affects our entire country, regardless of whether you live on a farm, and I look forward to seeing my colleagues in Congress work together to get this critical legislation across the finish line.” His panel is set to begin considering the bill on February 23. While the text of the legislation has just been publicly released, Democratic leadership has already taken issue with the proposal as drafted. “Our review of the legislative text is ongoing,” Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN), ranking member of the committee, said. “Based on what I know, the Republican farm bill fails to meet the moment facing farmers and working people.” “Farmers need Congress to act swiftly to end inflationary tariffs, stabilize trade relationships, expand domestic market opportunities like year-round E15 and help lower input costs. The Republican majority instead chose to ignore Democratic priorities and focus on pushing a shell of a farm bill with poison pills that complicates if not derails chances of getting anything done,” she said. “I strongly urge my Republican colleagues to drop the political charade and work with House Democrats on a truly bipartisan bill to address the very real problems farm country is experiencing right now—before it’s too late.” Again, regardless of how the proposed revisions to industrial hemp policy play out, a more pressing concern for the main economic driver of the cannabis market—that is, the farmers, manufacturers and processors of consumable cannabinoid products such as CBD—is not addressed in this latest Farm Bill. Under spending legislation the president signed, cannabinoid products containing even trace amounts of THC would be prohibited once again, which stakeholders say would effectively upend the already struggling marketplace. Since 2018, cannabis products have been considered legal hemp if they contain less than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC on a dry weight basis. However, the law that is set to take effect in November specifies that the weight would apply to total THC—including delta-8 and other isomers. It would also include “any other cannabinoids that have similar effects (or are marketed to have similar effects) on humans or animals as a tetrahydrocannabinol (as determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services).” The new definition of legal hemp would additionally ban “any intermediate hemp-derived cannabinoid products which are marketed or sold as a final product or directly to an end consumer for personal or household use” as well as products containing cannabinoids that are synthesized or manufactured outside of the cannabis plant or not capable of being naturally produced by it. Legal hemp products would be limited to a per-container total of 0.4 milligrams of total THC or any other cannabinoids with similar effects. A bill titled the Hemp Enforcement, Modernization, and Protection (HEMP) Act represents a potential alternative to the outright THC ban that was included in the spending bill Trump signed, affirmatively allowing the sale of consumable hemp products to adults 21 and older. That includes edibles, beverages and inhalable items. If the legislation is enacted, there would be various regulatory restrictions for the market. For example, packaging couldn’t appeal to youth and would need to be tamper-proof. It would also need to list all cannabinoids present and include QR code linking to a certificate of analysis. Hemp product makers would be prohibited from adding substances like alcohol, caffeine, tobacco, nicotine, melatonin or others “with effects that could interact with cannabinoids or enhance or alter their effects.” There would also be manufacturing and testing requirements, and hemp businesses would need to register their facilities. Additionally, there are provisions mandating the establishment of a total cannabinoid cap on hemp products. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would be charged with proposing cannabinoid limits within 60 days of enactment. Meanwhile, alcohol retailers recently came together to encourage Congress to delay the enactment of the law Trump signed to federally recriminalize hemp-derived THC beverages and other products. The coalition is calling on lawmakers to pass recently introduced legislation, the Hemp Planting Predictability Act, that would give the hemp industry two more years before a federal ban on THC products would take effect—which stakeholders hope will better position them to negotiate a broader regulatory compromise. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY), who is cosponsoring the proposal, appeared at a press conference last month alongside farmers who are concerned about the looming federal hemp ban’s impact on their businesses. For what it’s worth, four in five marijuana consumers say they oppose the recriminalization of hemp THC products under the spending bill Trump signed in November. However, it should be noted that that poll was conducted weeks before he issued a cannabis rescheduling order and took steps to protect access to full-spectrum CBD. Meanwhile, a separate recently filed Republican-led congressional bill would stop the implementation of the hemp ban under the enacted appropriations legislation. — Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments. Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access. — Hemp businesses and industry groups have warned about the potential ramifications of the ban, but despite his support for states’ rights for cannabis and a social media post touting the benefits of CBD, Trump signed the underlying spending measure into law without acknowledging the hemp provisions. GOP political operative Roger Stone said recently that Trump was effectively “forced” by Republican lawmakers to sign the spending bill with the hemp THC ban language. However, a White House spokesperson said prior to the bill signing that Trump specifically supported the prohibition language. The Democratic governor of Kentucky said that the hemp industry is an “important” part of the economy that deserves to be regulated at the state level—rather than federally prohibited, as Congress has moved to do. Also, a leading veterans organization is warning congressional leaders that the newly approved blanket ban on consumable hemp products could inadvertently “slam the door shut” on critical research. The post New Farm Bill Released By GOP Committee Chair Aims To Reduce Hemp Industry ‘Regulatory Burdens’ appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

President Donald Trump has pardoned a former NFL star who was convicted of trafficking 175 pounds of marijuana. As advocates await action on federal marijuana rescheduling—and many people continue to endure the consequences of ongoing cannabis criminalization—Trump granted clemency to five ex-NFL players, including Nate Newton, who helped lead the Dallas Cowboys to three Super Bowl victories in the 1990s. In 2002, however, Newton was arrested in Texas and convicted on federal drug trafficking charges after police discovered $10,000 in his truck and 175 pounds of marijuana in an accompanying vehicle. The president hasn’t publicly discussed the pardon or nature of the offense. “I would like to thank President Trump and all of those that work under him who put this Pardon into effect,” an X account labeled as belonging to Newton posted on Friday. “Thank you Sir for taking time out of your busy day in running this country. Thank you Sincerely and may God bless You.” I would like to thank President Trump and all of those that work under him who put this Pardon into effect. Thank you Sir for taking time out of your busy day in running this country. Thank you Sincerely and may God bless You. Nathaniel Newton Jr. — Nathaniel Newton Jr (@61NateNewton) February 13, 2026 Alice Marie Johnson, who herself received a pardon for a drug offense from Trump during his first term and now serves as the White House pardon czar, also didn’t speak directly to the cannabis conviction that was formally forgiven, but she said on Thursday that “excellence is built on grit, grace, and the courage to rise again,” and “so is our nation.” “Special thanks to [Cowboys owner] Jerry Jones for personally sharing the news with Nate Newton,” she said. “I’m holding Nate’s pardon in my hands today—what a blessed day.” Today, the President granted pardons to five former NFL players—Joe Klecko, Nate Newton, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry, and the late great Dr. Billy Cannon. As football reminds us, excellence is built on grit, grace, and the courage to rise again. So is our nation. Special thanks… pic.twitter.com/Y4FC5lQwGE — Alice Marie Johnson (@AliceMarieFree) February 13, 2026 Advocates have generally applauded any examples of clemency for people who’ve faced marijuana-related convictions, but such pardons have been relatively rare so far during Trump’s second term—even as he’s pushed the attorney general to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). “I’m encouraged to see President Trump recognize that past cannabis convictions deserve clemency. But there are still people serving lengthy prison terms for less cannabis than Nate Newton had,” Weldon Angelos, founder of the criminal justice non-profit The Weldon Project who received a cannabis-related presidential pardon during Trump’s first term, told Marijuana Moment. “I’m hopeful this momentum continues so that those still incarcerated for cannabis offenses will also receive clemency in the near future.” At the start of his second term, the president fulfilled a campaign promise by commuting the life sentence of Ross Ulbricht, a man who was convicted of running a dark web illicit drug market. The pardons and rescheduling push stand in stark contrast to other administrative drug policy actions, which has also involved military strikes resulting in the deaths of more than 100 people accused of participating in illegal drug trafficking. Newton’s pardon for trafficking 175 pounds of cannabis also comes as people continue to face incarceration or collateral consequences related to federal marijuana convictions for offenses involving lesser amounts of the controlled substance. — Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments. Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access. — Last year, Angelos, the pardon recipient and reform advocate, paid a visit to the White House, discussing future clemency options with Johnson, the pardon czar. Former marijuana prisoners who received clemency from the president during his first term also staged an event outside the White House last April, expressing gratitude for the relief they were given and calling on the new administration to grant the same kind of help to others who are still behind bars for cannabis. In the background of the latest pardons, industry stakeholders and reform advocates are closely monitoring the Justice Department to see what comes of Trump’s December executive order directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to expeditiously complete the cannabis rescheduling process. Separately, Trump recently signed large-scale spending legislation that continues a longstanding policy blocking Washington, D.C. from legalizing recreational cannabis sales. The post Trump Pardons Former NFL Star Convicted Of Trafficking 175 Pounds Of Marijuana appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

Virginia senators have advanced an amended bill to legalize recreational marijuana sales in the Commonwealth toward a floor vote while removing new criminal penalties that were recently added to the measure—setting the stage for negotiations between both chambers of the legislature as they work to enact differing versions of the reform. At a hearing before the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee on Thursday, members passed the legislation from Sen. Lashrecse Aird (D) in a 7-5 vote, along with several amendments that were adopted by the panel’s Resources Subcommittee earlier in the day. This was the last committee stop for the Senate bill, meaning it will next go to the full Senate for consideration at the same time that a House of Delegates version of cannabis sales legalization legislation is set to go to the floor in that chamber. While both are aimed at giving adults a legal means of buying marijuana, the possession and home cultivation of which was legalized in the state in 2021, there are several substantive differences that will need to be resolved before the reform potentially goes to the governor’s desk. In the Senate subcommittee on Thursday, members adopted revisions to increase the conversion fee for medical cannabis operators seeking to serve adult consumers to $15 million and to set an overall tax rate of 17 percent for cannabis products. The new revisions to the Senate bill also propose to make the Cannabis Control Authority a division of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority, forming a combined agency that would be called the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Control Authority. Additional changes add provisions to the bill regarding cannabis business banking, a prohibition on internet sales, product registration, packaging, background checks and the license application period, according to a summary delivered by Aird and committee staff. The version of the bill that advanced on Thursday also removes new penalties that were previously added to the bill by the Senate Court of Justice Committee. The latest action came amid pressure from a coalition of advocacy groups that recently sent a letter to senators imploring them to reverse course on those penalty amendments, saying they undermined the “intent” of the legislation and the “will of the people” by adding criminal penalties for certain cannabis-related activity. The amendments at issue included penalties for consumers who buy from unlicensed sources, the recriminalization of cannabis possession by people under 21 and making sales a class 1 misdemeanor for a first offense and a crime punishable by mandatory jail time for a second offense. As revised by the prior panel, the bill would have also raised the penalty for unlicensed cultivation to a felony punishable by up to five years in jail and made it a felony to transport with intent to distribute cannabis across state lines. A separate Senate marijuana sales legalization bill, sponsored by Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas (D), was rolled into Aird’s legislation on Thursday. Despite some key differences, both chambers’ commercial sales bills largely align with recommendations released in December by the legislature’s Joint Commission to Oversee the Transition of the Commonwealth into a Cannabis Retail Market. Since legalizing cannabis possession and home cultivation in 2021, Virginia lawmakers have worked to establish a commercial marijuana market—only to have those efforts consistently stalled under former Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), who twice vetoed measures to enact it that were sent to his desk by the legislature. Here are the key details of the Virginia marijuana sales legalization legislation, SB 542 and HB 642: Adults would be able to purchase up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana in a single transaction, or up to an equivalent amount of other cannabis products as determined by regulators. The House bill sets the state date for legal sales as November 1, 2026, while the Senate measure would allow them to begin on January 1, 2027. The Senate bill would set an excise tax on cannabis products of 12.875 percent, in addition to a 1.125 percent state sales tax and a mandatory 3 percent local tax. The House measure would apply an excise tax of 6 percent as well as a 5.3 percent retail sales and use tax, while allowing municipalities to set a local tax of up to 3.5 percent. Under the House bill, the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority would oversee licensing and regulation of the new industry, while the Senate legislation tasks that to a new combined Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Control Authority. Tax revenue would be split between the costs of administering and enforcing the state’s marijuana system, a new Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund, pre-kindergarten programs, substance use disorder prevention and treatment programs and public health programs such as awareness campaigns designed to prevent drug-impaired driving and discourage underage consumption. Local governments could not opt out of allowing marijuana businesses to operate in their area. Delivery services would be allowed. Serving sizes would be capped at 10 milligrams THC, with no more than 100 mg THC per package. Existing medical cannabis operators could enter the adult-use market if they pay a licensing conversion fee that is set at $15 million in the Senate bill and $10 million in the House measure. Cannabis businesses would have to establish labor peace agreements with workers. A legislative commission would be directed to study adding on-site consumption licenses and microbusiness cannabis event permits that would allow licensees to conduct sales at venues like farmers markets or pop-up locations. It would also investigate the possibility of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority becoming involved in marijuana regulations and enforcement. Newly sworn-in Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) supports legalizing adult-use marijuana sales. Meanwhile, House and Senate lawmakers are also advancing separate legislation to provide resentencing relief for people with prior marijuana convictions. The legislation would create a process by which people who are incarcerated or on community supervision for certain felony offenses involving the possession, manufacture, selling or distribution of marijuana could receive an automatic hearing to consider modification of their sentences. The bill applies to people whose convictions or adjudications are for conduct that occurred prior to July 1, 2021, when a state law legalizing personal possession and home cultivation of marijuana went into effect. — Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments. Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access. — Meanwhile, the Virginia House on Tuesday approved a bill to protect the rights of parents who use marijuana in compliance with state law. Separately, the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry recently published a new outlining workplace protections for cannabis consumers. Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images. The post Virginia Marijuana Sales Legalization Bill Moves To Senate Floor Vote, Teeing Up Negotiations With House appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net