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Numerous news organizations over the past week have run exaggerated headlines about a supposed change in the federal government’s policy on bringing marijuana into airports and on airplanes. But it isn’t true, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) tells Marijuana Moment. “TSA’s policy on medical marijuana has not changed,” a TSA spokesperson said in an email on Wednesday. “Per TSA’s website: If any illegal substance or evidence of criminal activity is discovered during security screening, TSA will refer the matter to a law enforcement officer,” they said. While it is true that the agency’s listing for medical marijuana on the “What Can I Bring?” section of its website was updated on April 27, there was no substantive change in the policy. The site currently says that “Yes,” travelers can bring medical marijuana in both carry on and checked bags, with special instructions. But TSA cannabis policy has said “Yes” to medical marijuana, with the same caveats, since 2019. Both the current version of the page that was updated last month and an archived version from seven years ago say the following: “TSA’s screening procedures are focused on security and are designed to detect potential threats to aviation and passengers. Accordingly, TSA security officers do not search for illegal drugs, but if any illegal substance or evidence of criminal activity is discovered during security screening, TSA will refer the matter to a law enforcement officer.” The previous version also had this language about federally legal hemp products, but it has now been removed in the latest update: “Possession of marijuana and certain cannabis infused products, including some Cannabidiol (CBD) oil, remain illegal under federal law. TSA officers are required to report any suspected violations of law, including possession of marijuana and certain cannabis infused products. Products/medications that contain hemp-derived CBD or are approved by the FDA are legal as long as it is produced within the regulations defined by the law under the Agriculture Improvement Act 2018.” Many news organizations that didn’t bother to compare the current version of the TSA page with the prior one seem to have assumed that the Trump administration’s move to federally reschedule cannabis last month had caused the air travel safety agency to make a change in its policy, but that is not the case. “Periodic website updates occur for clarity and conciseness,” the TSA email to Marijuana Moment on Wednesday said. “TSA’s policy remains the same. No changes have been made.” Other agencies, meanwhile, have made cannabis policy changes in line with federal rescheduling. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has posted a draft update to a gun purchase form to acknowledge the federally legal status of medical marijuana under rescheduling. The revised section in question notably says that only “use or possession of marijuana for recreational purposes” is federally prohibited, leaving out the prior form’s mention of medical cannabis. The U.S. Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said they plan to issue new tax guidance for the marijuana industry following rescheduling. The reform will benefit state-licensed marijuana businesses by allowing them to take federal tax deductions they’re currently barred from under an IRS code known as 280E that doesn’t apply to Schedule III substances. Even the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which has long opposed cannabis legalization and was accused of stalling the rescheduling process initiative by the Biden administration, has launched a registration process for state-legal marijuana businesses to take advantage of federal benefits that come with the reform. The Department of Transportation, however, clarified last week that truck drivers, airline pilots and other federally regulated safety-sensitive workers still cannot use medical marijuana without being punished. TSA, for its part, posted a marijuana-pun-filled rant to commemorate National Brownie Day back in 2020. “We hear it’s National Brownie Day so we’re here to toke about something really sticky-icky-icky (ooh wee),” the federal agency posted to its Instagram account. “Hopefully this doesn’t post near 4:20, because we’re about to doobie down.” Following that high-flying introduction was a public service announcement of sorts, warning travelers not to bring cannabis through airports. “Marijuana whether dank or schwag, it isn’t dope in your carry-on or checked bag,” the post says, establishing a rhyme scheme and then immediately disregarding it: “This includes cannabis products and CBD oil, which remain illegal under federal law, except for products that contain no more than 0.3% THC on a dry weight basis or that are @FDA approved.” Among the hashtags included in the post are “#NationalBrownieDay,” “USAtraveling,” “#leaveitathome,” “#chronnic” (misspelled) and “#maryj.” Image element courtesy of Steve Fitzgerald. The post TSA Clarifies That Its Marijuana Policy ‘Has Not Changed’ Despite Clickbait Headlines appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

Louisiana lawmakers have passed a bill to let patients with terminal and irreversible conditions use medical marijuana in hospitals, sending it to the governor. The House of Representatives approved the legislation from Sen. Katrina Jackson-Andrews (D) in a 54-44 vote on Tuesday after it previously passed the Senate by a margin of 33-2 last month. It now heads to the desk of Gov. Jeff Landry (R). Under the proposal, hospitals would have to create written guidelines allowing covered patients to consume medical cannabis on-site in forms other than smoking or vaping. Under an amendment adopted by a Senate committee last month, emergency or outpatient departments would be exempted from the policy. The revised legislation also clarifies that patients and primary caregivers are responsible for acquiring and administering medical marijuana, which must be “stored securely at all times in a locked container provided by the patient.” Health care professionals and staff would be prohibited from “administering, storing, retrieving, or assisting the patient with the medical marijuana,” the text says. The amendment, which the sponsor worked on with help from the Louisiana Hospital Association, also allows hospitals to opt out of the policy if federal officials take action against any healthcare facility in the state over medical cannabis use, rather than only allowing those that were specifically targeted to stop complying. “This bill was brought at the request of constituents who believe that therapeutic medical marijuana, which is already legal in this state, should be offered in hospitals when patients are terminally ill or otherwise in need the comfort of this medicine,” Jackson-Andrews told the Senate Health and Welfare Committee when the panel took up the 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. — Meanwhile in Louisiana, another piece of drug policy legislation that has traction this session would create a psychedelic-assisted therapy pilot program, using opioid settlement dollars to fund clinical trials aimed at developing alternative treatments such as psilocybin, and ibogaine. Separately, a lawmaker recently filed a proposal that would create a new state task force to “study and develop findings and recommendations regarding the potential legalization of recreational marijuana.” At the same time, however, advocates are alarmed that lawmakers sent the governor legislation that threatens to send people to jail for up to one year if they smoke marijuana within 2,000 feet of a school property—including a college campus. Another Louisiana legislator, meanwhile, recently introduced a bill to create an adult-use marijuana legalization pilot program in the state to determine whether the reform should eventually be expanded and permanently codified. Rep. Candace Newell (D)—who has long championed legislation to end cannabis criminalization and filed a similar legal marijuana pilot program measure last session—is sponsoring what’s titled the “Adult-Use Cannabis Pilot Program Regulation and Enforcement Act.” Getting the bill across the finish line could prove complicated in the conservative legislature, however. Newell’s earlier version of the pilot program legislation didn’t advance to enactment last year, and lawmakers that session also rejected other marijuana reform proposals such as one that would have established a tax system to prepare the eventual legalization of adult-use cannabis. The post Louisiana Bill To Let Terminally Ill Patients Use Medical Marijuana In Hospitals Heads To Governor Following Legislature’s Approval appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

“People in this field definitely need somebody to stick up for them, because it’s a little easy to get steamrolled.” By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent It’s been about two years since Will Braddum was fired from his position at Sinse marijuana cultivation and manufacturing facility in south St. Louis, Missouri, along with more than a dozen others. For him, the marijuana industry had been a career, but he’d seen how “cutthroat” the corporate side can be, he said, and how vulnerable he and other employees were without representation. “The only way to pad myself from human resources is to cultivate a union movement and talk to my co-workers about job security,” Braddum said in an interview with The Independent in 2023. It’s been more than two years since Braddum and other Sinse employees voted in an election to unionize. The majority of the ballots had remained sealed because BeLeaf Medical, the facility’s parent company, challenged them—a challenge the company recently lost. On Friday, the ballots were finally opened, revealing a long-awaited 11-3 vote in favor of unionization. “It’s kind of like bittersweet,” Braddum said soon after the ballots were revealed Friday. “It’s really nice to have changed the industry for the better, even if the people over at Sinse don’t decide to go in the direction of unionizing and protecting their own rights, at least they have the opportunity now. It sets a precedent.” BeLeaf Medical’s owners have been arguing since 2023 that their “post-harvest workers” don’t have the right to unionize because they’re agricultural workers. Earlier this month, the National Labor Relations Board, which is the highest administrative body on labor conflicts and sets national policy on unionizing, rejected the company’s argument that employees are agricultural workers. Agricultural workers are excluded from the National Labor Relations Act, the federal law that protects most private-sector employees’ right to unionize without fear of retaliation. “We agree with the regional [NLRB] director, for the reasons provided in her decision, that none of the workers employed in the classifications at issue here are agricultural laborers under the secondary definition of agriculture,” the national board members wrote. The Sinse employees whose union votes BeLeaf questioned largely made pre-rolls, entered data on computers and processed dried marijuana into finished products, the board found. Douglas Purvis, BeLeaf Medical’s director of human resources, told the Independent in an emailed statement that the company respects “the outcome and the wishes of our employees.” “BeLeaf Medical is committed to bargaining in good faith,” Purvis said, “and look forward to working together toward a mutually acceptable agreement.” Several Sinse workers who organized the union effort and voted in the election gathered at a brewery in St. Louis to celebrate Friday evening. “Obviously, I wish the ballots would have been opened a little sooner,” said Scotti Iman, who worked at Sinse for more than two years. “I think this kind of shows that people in this field definitely need somebody to stick up for them, because it’s a little easy to get steamrolled.” Iman was among the original organizers, but he left his position to take care of a family member before the election. Iman said several workers made “sacrifices” to get it done and that Sean Shannon, a lead organizer with UFCW Local 655 who has been working with the Sinse employees since fall 2023, “worked his butt off to get this over the finish line.” “The votes are out and in the open now,” Iman said. “That’s awesome.” Shannon said the next step is to send a request to start setting bargaining dates, which the union plans to do Monday. Laura Kelley, president of UFCW Local 655, said the BeLeaf election shows why unions were first put in place. “The most important thing we have is our voice,” Kelley said, “and our attorney did a great job of making sure that their voices were heard. Labor has been around a long time, and I think sometimes people forget what we actually stand for—and we stand for that voice.” This story was first published by Missouri Independent. The post Missouri Marijuana Workers Win Union Vote After Federal Officials Reject Company’s Argument On Blocking Ballots appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

A coalition of hemp businesses that asked Virginia’s governor to veto legislation to legalize recreational marijuana sales before she did so this week says the move presents an “opportunity” to craft better cannabis policy. The Cannabis Small Business Association said in a press release on Tuesday that while its members support the idea of creating a “well-regulated adult-use cannabis market,” they were concerned that the now-vetoed bills would have “left Virginia’s existing small hemp operators and family-owned cannabis businesses without a viable path forward.” “The veto is not a conclusion,” CSBA’s release said. “It is an opportunity.” Days before Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) vetoed the cannabis commercialization legislation, CSBA, hemp companies and major alcohol retailer Total Wine & More sent the governor a letter asking her to do so and then “revisit” the issue in the 2027 session after “thorough stakeholder engagement and economic policy expert input.” The main thrust of the legislation was to create a framework for legal and regulated sales of adult-use marijuana, but provisions inserted at the last minute before the proposal was sent to the governor’s desk last month would have also made significant changes to Virginia’s rules for hemp. In particular, the final bill would have made it so only hemp products with no more than 2 milligrams of total THC per package would be legal. The letter from CSBA and its allies also raised concerns about the timelines in the marijuana legislation for the launch of the legal market as well as what it called the “expedited enforcement” of hemp restrictions, which it said together offer “limited realistic plant-touching opportunities for small and independent businesses” and “could prove to be devastating to aspiring and existing, law-abiding operators.” “Across the commonwealth, farmers, manufacturers and retailers have invested significant time and resources in reliance on changing laws over the past,” the groups wrote. “These enterprises support local economies, create jobs and provide consumers with access to lawful, regulated products. As the policy environment evolves, good-faith operators must not be displaced without a clear and practical path forward.” “Rather than prohibiting existing regulated product categories or excluding current participants, we encourage solutions that establish a safe adult-use market while maintaining continuity for compliant businesses. This means creating realistic, accessible pathways—by preserving the existing regulated hemp market, establishing transition mechanisms into the adult-use framework, and allowing both to coexist in a complementary and safe manner. A market structure that gives advantages to large, well-capitalized corporate operators over Virginia’s existing small businesses would undermine the very communities this legislation is meant to serve.” Barbara Biddle, who serves as president of CSBA and is also the founder of District Hemp Botanicals, stressed in a press release following Spanberger’s veto that the group “fully supports adult-use cannabis legalization in Virginia.” “What we could not support was this particular legislation and the consequences it would have had for small businesses and existing lawful operators who built this industry from the ground up,” she said. “We are grateful that Governor Spanberger took those concerns seriously. This veto is not a setback for legalization. It is a reset—and an invitation to do this right, together.” JM Pedini, development director for the advocacy group NORML and executive director for Virginia NORML, pushed back against the notion that the veto was ultimately good for cannabis policymaking. “Thousands of Virginians sent emails in support of these bills, but in the end their voices were outweighed by a handful of corporations led by a major alcohol retailer with a financial stake in preserving Virginia’s unregulated intoxicating THC market,” Pedini told Marijuana Moment on Wednesday. Looking ahead to 2027, CSBA said for its part that it will push for a cannabis regulatory framework that: Establishes clear, accessible licensing pathways for Virginia’s existing small hemp operators and independent cannabis businesses Provides workable transition timelines that allow compliant businesses to adapt without facing sudden financial collapse Builds a market structure that reflects Virginia’s entrepreneurial community—not one that consolidates early advantage among large, out-of-state operators Prioritizes consumer safety and market integrity alongside small business inclusion, treating these goals as complementary rather than competing Engages a broad coalition of stakeholders—farmers, manufacturers, retailers, consumers, and community members—throughout the drafting process Meanwhile, however, the federal recriminalization of hemp THC products looms. Hemp derivatives with less than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC on a dry-weight basis were federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill that President Donald Trump signed during his first term in office. But late last year, Trump signed new legislation containing provisions that will redefine hemp to make it so only products with 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container will remain legal after November 12. Several members of Congress have filed legislation to delay or alter the scheduled ban, but so far those proposals have not gained traction with leadership in the House of Representatives or Senate. Back in Virginia, lawmakers passed the cannabis sales bills in March, but the governor then suggested changes to the legalization proposal—including delaying the start date for sales by six months, increasing taxes and instituting new criminal penalties for cannabis consumers. The legislature last month declined to take up the amendments during a one-day reconvened session, however, effectively rejecting them. Personal marijuana possession and home cultivation of marijuana has been legal in Virginia since 2021, but then-Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) twice vetoed bills to provide consumers with a way to legally purchase regulated adult-use cannabis. Last week, Spanberger signed separate legislation to provide resentencing relief for people with past cannabis convictions. Sen. Lashrecse Aird (D) and Del. Paul Krizek (D), who sponsored the recreational cannabis sales legalization bills, criticized the governor’s veto on Tuesday, as did marijuana reform groups. Aird and Krizek had urged colleagues to vote against the governor’s amendments last month—even if that meant risking a veto from Spanberger when the legislation returned to her desk, which has now occurred. Spanberger, for her part, responded to earlier criticism of her cannabis amendments from the bill sponsors and advocates by saying the suggested changes came after she spoke to the leaders of other states that have already implemented adult-use marijuana markets. Here are the other key details of the cannabis bills—SB 542 and HB 642—as approved by lawmakers and with the governor’s suggested amendments: Lawmakers voted to allow adults to 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. That would represent an increase from the limit in current law of 1 ounce. The governor, however, wanted the amount increased to only 2 ounces. Under the legislature’s plan, legal sales could begin on January 1, 2027, but the governor proposed to push that back to July 1, 2027. Lawmakers voted to impose an excise tax of 6 percent on cannabis sales as well as a 5.3 percent retail sales and use tax, while allowing municipalities to set an additional local tax of up to 3.5 percent. The governor’s plan was largely the same, though it would have increased the excise tax to 8 percent starting on July 1, 2029. Under the legislation as approved by lawmakers, revenue would have been distributed to the Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund (30 percent), early childhood education (40 percent), the Department of Behavioral & Developmental Health Services (25 percent) and public health initiatives (5 percent). The governor, however, wanted to put all revenue into the general fund while earmarking it “for purposes such as early childhood education, behavioral health, public health awareness, prevention, treatment, and recovery services, workforce development, reentry, indigent criminal defense, and targeted reinvestment in historically disadvantaged communities.” The Virginia Cannabis Control Authority would have overseen licensing and regulation of the new industry, and would have also taken on oversight of hemp, which is currently under the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Local governments could not have opted out of allowing marijuana businesses to operate in their area. Delivery services would have been allowed. Serving sizes would have been capped at 10 milligrams THC, with no more than 100 mg THC per package. The governor proposed to make public marijuana use a class 4 criminal misdemeanor instead of civil violation punishable by a $25 fine as under current law. She also wanted to make possessing cannabis by people under the age of 21 a class 1 misdemeanor, punishable with a mandatory minimum fine of $500 or 50 hours of community service, as well as the suspension of drivers licenses for at least six months. Illegally selling or distributing 50 pounds or more of marijuana would have been a class 2 felony punishable by life in prison. The governor sought to eliminate support for the Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund. Existing medical cannabis operators could have entered the adult-use market if they pay a licensing conversion fee that is set at $10 million. Cannabis businesses would have had to establish labor peace agreements with workers. As passed by lawmakers, the bill would have directed a legislative commission 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, but the governor is proposing to remove that language. A coalition of cannabis reform organizations sent the governor a letter this month urging her not to veto the sales legalization legislation even though her amendments were rejected. “Together, these bills address the real issues surrounding cannabis in the Commonwealth today: an already-existing, unregulated marijuana market operating openly across the state while consumers, communities, and law enforcement are left without the protections of a legal framework,” the groups wrote. “Let’s be clear: these bills do not create a marijuana market in Virginia. That market already exists,” the letter said. “What these bills do is replace today’s predatory and unaccountable illicit operators with a regulated marketplace, enforceable rules, oversight, product safeguards, age verification, and the strict consumer safety standards already in use for Virginia medical cannabis.” The letter was signed by Virginia NORML, Marijuana Justice, Virginia Cannabis Association, Marijuana Policy Project and other groups. Meanwhile, the governor signed several other reform bills last month—including measures to protect the parental rights of marijuana consumers and allow patients to access medical cannabis in hospitals. Read the full letter asking the governor to veto the marijuana sales bill below: The post Virginia Hemp Groups Say Governor’s Marijuana Sales Veto Is An ‘Opportunity’ appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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A lesser known cannabis component known as CBG could represent a novel treatment in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to a new study. Researchers at the Rambam Health Care Campus in Israel released preclinical findings from a study examining cannabigerol, a non-intoxicating cannabinoid, and its potential to reduce inflammation associated with arthritis. While most conventional RA therapies target certain proteins called cytokines, the study authors described using CBG to directly regulate white blood cells, or neutrophils, that can release certain cytokines linked to inflammation. The research findings were recently published in the journal Pharmaceuticals. The preclinical study involved introducing CBG to isolated neutrophils extracted human blood cells, as well as administering the cannabis compound to lab mice. Researchers determined that “CBG has anti-inflammatory capacity and therapeutic potential in regulating neutrophil-mediated immunity in RA.” “To date, there is no treatment that specifically targets neutrophils,” the study authors wrote. Yet they found that “CBG reduces the inflammatory output of human neutrophils by suppressing TNF-α and IL-6 production,” referring to select cytokines. “These findings highlight CBG as an effective preclinical modulator candidate for affecting neutrophil-mediated immune responses and attenuating inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis.” Specifically, cannabigerol was associated with deceases in the cytokines IL-6 by 98 percent and IL-1β by 60 percent. It also reduced MCP-1 by 22 percent and IL-1β by 38 percent in the joints. For the analysis of the isolated human cells, researchers found that CBG made it less likely that neutrophils would target an inflammatory signal, which is important because immune cells moving toward joints are a key part of the cycle associated with arthritis-related damage. In the mice portion of the study, test subjects treated with the cannabinoid showed improved arthritic scores and were less likely to experience weight loss compared to the untreated group. The disease still manifested, but with less severity. “These findings demonstrate that CBG exerts a regulatory effect by limiting inflammatory immune cell recruitment to inflamed joints in RA-diseased mice,” they said, while adding that human RA “is a highly heterogeneous and chronic condition” and “further long-term clinical studies are necessary” to confirm the efficacy of the cannabinoid in RA therapy. It should be noted that the company Raphael Pharmaceutical Inc., which supplied the CBG used in the study, provided partial funding for the research. The findings build on prior research, including a 2024 study that found, among people with rheumatic conditions such as arthritis, more than 6 in 10 patients who used medical cannabis reported substituting it for other medications, including NSAIDs, opioids, sleep aids and muscle relaxants. Most patients further said that the use of marijuana allowed them to reduce or stop using those medications entirely. In 2018, meanwhile, a study published in the journal Frontiers indicated that another non-intoxicating cannabinoid, CBD, can alleviate the symptoms of osteoarthritis in dogs. The post The Cannabis Component CBG Shows Promise In Treating Rheumatoid Arthritis With Its ‘Anti-Inflammatory Capacity,’ Study Finds appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

This article brings up an important discussion about alternative treatments for postpartum depression. It's great to see more conversations about cannabis as a potential solution, as mentioned in the Good Housekeeping piece about motherhood and mental health. For more insights, check out this related article on scritchy scratchy.

This article brings up an important discussion about alternative treatments for postpartum depression. It's great to see more conversations about cannabis as a potential solution, as mentioned in the Good Housekeeping piece about motherhood and mental health. For more insights, check out this related article on scritchy scratchy.

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Marijuana legalization might be a popular policy issue in recent polls, but most Americans don’t think cannabis itself is “cool,” according to a new survey. In fact, marijuana is considered less cool than things like sourdough bread, country music, math, word games and reading books. The YouGov poll looked at public opinion on the subjective concept of coolness—with findings that might challenge conventional thinking. When it comes to a wide range of commodities and activities, marijuana stood out as a comparatively lame, falling near the bottom of the cool list despite being commonly associated with popular cultural figures, political movements and lifestyles. If that comes as a surprise to people, they wouldn’t be alone. In a separate question in the new survey, respondents overrated how cool other people think marijuana is as compared to their own views. Overall, just 36 percent of American adults described marijuana as cool, with 13 percent saying it is “very cool” and 23 percent grading it as “somewhat cool.” Another 10 percent weren’t sure, while 55 percent said cannabis isn’t cool—with 35 rating it as “not cool at all” and 20 percent believing it is “not very cool.” The survey listed a total of 36 things or activities that respondents were tasked with rating on a coolness scale. Marijuana was was the fourth to last on that list, with just guns, sports betting and cryptocurrency considered less cool. Perhaps as surprising as the relative un-coolness of cannabis were some of the items that ranked as significantly more cool. Among the picks that a majority of adults described as either very or somewhat cool were science (87 percent), outer space (83 percent), reading books (81 percent), tea (65 percent), math (59 percent), sourdough bread (59 percent), country music (56 percent) and avocados (51 percent). Via YouGov. “The results suggest the typical American is a bit of a square,” YouGov’s senior data journalist David Montgomery wrote. However, “there are many activities that Americans are less likely to consider cool than to think other people think are cool.” To that point, the survey’s cannabis finding showed that it’s somewhat common for people to overestimate how cool other people view marijuana. Just over one-third of adults said they themselves think cannabis is cool, but the respondents on average said they expected about half of other people (49 percent) to regard it as cool. Via YouGov. The poll involved interviews with 2,236 U.S. adults from April 9-17, with a +/- 3 percentage point margin of error. That’s a relatively common margin for online surveys. But as Montgomery conceded, it’s worth noting that, in this poll, the adults who were asked to judge what’s cool and what’s not cool are also adults who voluntarily elected to take an online survey in the first place. Meanwhile, a polling report from the Pew Research Center released in March found that Americans across every demographic—age, gender, religion and political affiliation—all agree that using marijuana is not morally wrong. However, Republicans are still twice as likely as Democrats to say consuming cannabis is a moral no-no. Pew also released a poll last year that showed an overwhelming majority of Americans—nearly 9 in 10—support legalizing marijuana in some form. An earlier Pew survey from 2024 separately highlighted views on the societal impacts of recreational legalization, and a majority (52 percent) said the reform is “good” for local economies. A 42 percent plurality additionally agreed that legalization would make the criminal justice system “more fair.” The post Americans Say Marijuana Is Less Cool Than Math And Country Music—But Is Cooler Than Guns Or Cryptocurrency, Survey Shows appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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Army wants soldiers about marijuana, hemp & CBD; CA emergency cannabis rules for rescheduling relief; LA marijuana penalty bill to gov; Opioid study Subscribe to receive Marijuana Moment’s newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning. It’s the best way to make sure you know which cannabis stories are shaping the day. Get our daily newsletter. Email address: Leave this field empty if you're human: Your support makes Marijuana Moment possible… Before you dig into today’s cannabis news, I wanted you to know you can keep this resource free and published daily by subscribing to Marijuana Moment on Patreon. We’re a small independent publication diving deep into the cannabis world and rely on readers like you to keep going. Join us at https://www.patreon.com/marijuanamoment / TOP THINGS TO KNOW Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) vetoed legislation to legalize recreational marijuana sales after lawmakers rejected her proposed amendments to delay the launch of the market by six months, increase taxes and institute new criminal penalties for cannabis consumers. The U.S. Army published a warning reminding soldiers that use of cannabis is prohibited—including “even common hemp items containing CBD, such as vape juices, food, hair care products, oils, lotions and other cosmetics.” “All types of cannabinoids can pose risks to both physical and mental readiness.” The California Department of Cannabis Control is proposing emergency rules aimed at making it easier for the state’s marijuana businesses to take advantage of federal benefits under the Trump administration’s rescheduling move by letting those with current licenses covering both medical and recreational products secure a secondary license through a streamlined process to separate out the segments of their operations. Louisiana lawmakers sent Gov. Jeff Landry (R) a bill that threatens to send people to jail for up to one year if they smoke marijuana within 2,000 feet of a school property—including college campuses. A new federally funded study that analyzed claims data on 107.5 million commercially insured adults found that marijuana legalization is “associated with significant reductions in non-fatal opioid poisonings.” “Greater cannabis access…may reduce [non-fatal opioid poisoning diagnoses] in heavily impacted populations, indicating possible substitution of cannabis for opioids.” The deputy senior director of the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division said that the amount of chemically converted hemp being illegally sold as marijuana is “larger than we can quantify” and “would probably explode your minds” in a meeting with industry representatives, according to a leaked recording. / FEDERAL The Drug Enforcement Administration is proposing to change the process by which it sets annual production quotas for drugs. The Substance Use and Mental Health Services Administration issued an advisory on addressing cannabis use disorder. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) cited Tennessee’s failure to enact medical or recreational marijuana legislation as an example of how the state is “really backwards” and “slow.” Nebraska independent U.S. Senate candidate Dan Osborn posted a video of himself discussing medical cannabis and Sen. Pete Ricketts’s (R-NE) opposition to it. Florida Republican congressional candidates agreed on opposing legalizing marijuana during a debate. / STATES Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) appointed new members to a restructured Cannabis Control Commission. The New Jersey Assembly passed a bill to allow sales of large-container hemp beverages and to let medical cannabis dispensaries add adult-use marijuana sales without local approval. A former New Hampshire representative coauthored an op-ed criticizing federal marijuana rescheduling. Oregon regulators filed a brief opposing a lawsuit that seeks to expand psilocybin services access to homebound patients. Kentucky regulators will host a webinar for medical cannabis patients on Wednesday. The Virginia Cannabis Control Authority Board of Directors will meet on June 2. / LOCAL Pawtucket, Rhode Island firefighters who claimed in a lawsuit that they were improperly fired for off-duty marijuana use are being reinstated. / INTERNATIONAL South Africa’s deputy minister in the presidency visited a medical cannabis facility. / SCIENCE & HEALTH A review concluded that “CBD exerts antitumor effects through multi-target and multi-pathway mechanisms involving oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, endoplasmic reticulum stress, calcium homeostasis imbalance, and modulation of signaling networks.” / BUSINESS SHF Holdings, Inc., d/b/a Safe Harbor Financial reported quarterly revenue of $2 million and a net loss of $1.8 million. TerrAscend erroneously received more than $8 million in tax refunds, federal officials said in a lawsuit. FundCanna secured a new senior credit facility of up to $60 million. / CULTURE Football player Rashee Rice has been ordered to spend 30 days in jail for violating probation by testing positive for cannabis. Make sure to subscribe to get Marijuana Moment’s daily dispatch in your inbox. Get our daily newsletter. Email address: Leave this field empty if you're human: Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan. The post Virginia cannabis sales bill vetoed by governor (Newsletter: May 20, 2026) appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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Virginia’s governor has vetoed legislation to legalize recreational marijuana sales after lawmakers rejected her proposed amendments to the proposal. Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) killed the reform bills on Tuesday, days after signing separate legislation to provide resentencing relief for people with past cannabis convictions. “I share the General Assembly’s goal of establishing a safe, legal, and well-regulated cannabis retail marketplace in the Commonwealth,” the governor said. “Virginians deserve a system that replaces the illicit cannabis market with one that prioritizes our children’s health and safety, public safety, product integrity, and accountability.” “As Virginia pursues a legal retail market, it is critical that we incorporate lessons learned by other states and ensure that our regulatory framework is fully prepared to provide strong oversight from day one,” she said. “That includes clear enforcement authority and sufficient resources for compliance, testing, and inspections, and robust tools to crack down on bad actors who continue to profit from the illicit market.” “I greatly appreciate the patrons’ time crafting this important piece of legislation as well as our continued dialogue and collaboration to strengthen this framework ahead of the next legislative session. I remain committed to working with members of the General Assembly, stakeholders, and law enforcement to get this right.” Lawmakers passed the cannabis sales bills in March, but the governor then suggested changes to the legalization proposal—including delaying the start date for sales by six months, increasing taxes and instituting new criminal penalties for cannabis consumers. The legislature last month declined to take up the amendments during a one-day reconvened session, however, effectively rejecting them. Sen. Lashrecse Aird (D), who sponsored the Senate version of the now-vetoed marijuana commerce bill, said on Tuesday that “once again, Virginia’s efforts to establish a safe, regulated and equitable adult-use cannabis marketplace has been halted despite years of work, public input and broad recognition that the status quo is failing Virginians.” Personal marijuana possession and home cultivation of marijuana has been legal in Virginia since 2021, but then-Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) twice vetoed bills to provide consumers with a way to legally purchase regulated adult-use cannabis. “The governor’s decision leaves the commonwealth exactly where we have been since 2021: with an unchecked illicit market, hurting our communities, harming our youth and putting adults at risk,” Aird said of Spanberger’s move. “Virginians deserve better than continued inaction veiled behind excuses about getting it right.” Del. Paul Krizek (D), sponsor of the House version of the marijuana sales bill, said it was “the product of years of policy development, stakeholder engagement and extensive deliberation through the Joint Commission to Oversee the Transition of the Commonwealth into a Cannabis Retail Market, reflecting a balanced and thoughtful approach shaped by the very people who will be impacted by and responsible for implementing it.” “Five years ago, Virginia legalized cannabis in recognition that the War on Drugs has caused disproportionate harm to Black families and communities,” he said. “The question now is whether Virginia will continue allowing an unregulated illegal market to thrive, or finally establish a safe, transparent system that protects consumers, keeps products away from children, and keeps our commitment to ending racially discriminatory marijuana policing in Virginia.” This veto and its consequences belong to the Governor and the Governor alone. Delegate @KrizekForVA and I release the following statement as our historic legislation HB642/SB542 establishing a regulated adult-use cannabis retail market in Virginia was vetoed: pic.twitter.com/DBZqVNBxzE — Senator Lashrecse Aird (@lashrecseaird) May 19, 2026 The senator and delegate added in a joint statement: “The governor’s veto ignores the reality that cannabis is already being sold everyday across Virginia. The only question is whether we as leaders will finally ensure those sales occur within a legal, regulated market or continue turning a blind eye to a booming illicit market while pretending to be outraged by its existence. The General Assembly provided Virginia with an opportunity to lead on this issue, but instead this veto prolongs uncertainty and provides comfort to those profiting from the illicit market. This veto and its consequences belong to the governor and governor alone.” Aird and Krizek had urged colleagues to vote against the governor’s amendments last month—even if that meant risking a veto from Spanberger when the legislation returned to her desk, which has now occurred. Lawmakers will now have to start the push for reform over again with new bills in the 2027 session. Spanberger, for her part, responded to earlier criticism of her cannabis amendments from the bill sponsors and advocates by saying the suggested changes came after she spoke to the leaders of other states that have already implemented adult-use marijuana markets. Here are the other key details of the cannabis bills—SB 542 and HB 642—as approved by lawmakers and with the governor’s suggested amendments: Lawmakers voted to allow adults to 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. That would represent an increase from the limit in current law of 1 ounce. The governor, however, wanted the amount increased to only 2 ounces. Under the legislature’s plan, legal sales could begin on January 1, 2027, but the governor proposed to push that back to July 1, 2027. Lawmakers voted to impose an excise tax of 6 percent on cannabis sales as well as a 5.3 percent retail sales and use tax, while allowing municipalities to set an additional local tax of up to 3.5 percent. The governor’s plan was largely the same, though it would have increased the excise tax to 8 percent starting on July 1, 2029. Under the legislation as approved by lawmakers, revenue would have been distributed to the Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund (30 percent), early childhood education (40 percent), the Department of Behavioral & Developmental Health Services (25 percent) and public health initiatives (5 percent). The governor, however, wanted to put all revenue into the general fund while earmarking it “for purposes such as early childhood education, behavioral health, public health awareness, prevention, treatment, and recovery services, workforce development, reentry, indigent criminal defense, and targeted reinvestment in historically disadvantaged communities.” The Virginia Cannabis Control Authority would have overseen licensing and regulation of the new industry, and would have also taken on oversight of hemp, which is currently under the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Local governments could not have opted out of allowing marijuana businesses to operate in their area. Delivery services would have been allowed. Serving sizes would have been capped at 10 milligrams THC, with no more than 100 mg THC per package. The governor proposed to make public marijuana use a class 4 criminal misdemeanor instead of civil violation punishable by a $25 fine as under current law. She also wanted to make possessing cannabis by people under the age of 21 a class 1 misdemeanor, punishable with a mandatory minimum fine of $500 or 50 hours of community service, as well as the suspension of drivers licenses for at least six months. Illegally selling or distributing 50 pounds or more of marijuana would have been a class 2 felony punishable by life in prison. The governor sought to eliminate support for the Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund. Existing medical cannabis operators could have entered the adult-use market if they pay a licensing conversion fee that is set at $10 million. Cannabis businesses would have had to establish labor peace agreements with workers. As passed by lawmakers, the bill would have directed a legislative commission 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, but the governor is proposing to remove that language. JM Pedini, development director for the advocacy group NORML and executive director for Virginia NORML, said the governor action is “a profound disappointment to the many Virginia voters who believed her when she said on the campaign trail that she supported establishing a regulated adult-use cannabis market.” “It is also a slap in the face to the years of serious work undertaken by lawmakers, policy experts, advocates, public health stakeholders and regulators who spent more than half a decade researching, debating and carefully crafting this legislation,” Pedini told Marijuana Moment. “Rather than build upon that work, the governor dismissed it in favor of out-of-touch proposals to recriminalize cannabis consumers that lawmakers rightly rejected.” “Now, instead of finally taking marijuana out of smoke shops and placing it behind an age-verified counter, Virginia is once again being forced to tolerate another yet year of dangerous illicit market activity in every corner of the Commonwealth. Just as under Glenn Youngkin, unlicensed and predatory operators will continue to profit while public health and safety are left unprotected.” Chelsea Higgs Wise, executive director of Marijuana Justice, noted that “for five years, Virginia has been stuck in a limbo where adults can legally possess, share and grow cannabis, but there is still no regulated way to purchase it.” “By rejecting the retail bill, the governor has chosen to extend that chaos rather than move us toward a transparent, accountable retail system that centers public health, public safety and justice,” she said. “We are deeply concerned that instead of focusing on repair and relief, the administration has signaled a willingness to introduce new penalties and harsher enforcement in future proposals,” Wise said. “Adding more punishment to an already unjust landscape does not make our families, children or communities safer. It only widens the gap between those who are penalized and those who profit. These choices also carry a real price tag: every new offense and prosecution drives up system costs, drains taxpayer dollars and pulls law enforcement away from real public safety needs.” A coalition of cannabis reform organizations sent the governor a letter this month urging her not to veto the sales legalization legislation even though her amendments were rejected. “Together, these bills address the real issues surrounding cannabis in the Commonwealth today: an already-existing, unregulated marijuana market operating openly across the state while consumers, communities, and law enforcement are left without the protections of a legal framework,” the groups wrote. “Let’s be clear: these bills do not create a marijuana market in Virginia. That market already exists,” the letter said. “What these bills do is replace today’s predatory and unaccountable illicit operators with a regulated marketplace, enforceable rules, oversight, product safeguards, age verification, and the strict consumer safety standards already in use for Virginia medical cannabis.” The letter was signed by Virginia NORML, Marijuana Justice, Virginia Cannabis Association, Marijuana Policy Project and other groups. Meanwhile, the governor signed several other reform bills last month—including measures to protect the parental rights of marijuana consumers and allow patients to access medical cannabis in hospitals. The post Virginia Governor Vetoes Marijuana Sales Legalization Bill After Lawmakers Rejected Her Amendments appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

States that legalize medical or recreational marijuana see “significant reductions” in opioid overdoses among adults with employer-sponsored health insurance—indicating that a “substitution” effect may be at play—according to a new federally funded study. While numerous studies have linked state-level legalization to reduced opioid deaths, researchers at the University of Kentucky’s College of Public Health said their data is the first of its kind to identify an association between cannabis access and non-fatal opioid poisonings. The study, published in the journal Preventive Medicine Reports, analyzed claims data on 107.5 million commercially insured adults aged 18-64 from all 50 states and Washington, D.C. from 2011 to 2021. Medical marijuana dispensaries and adult-use cannabis legalization was associated with “significant reductions in non-fatal opioid poisonings in the employer-sponsored insured population, particularly among male and younger populations,” the study authors found. Specifically, access to medical cannabis dispensaries (MCDs) and recreational cannabis laws (RCLs) were associated with a 15.47 percent and 11.92 percent reduction in non-fatal opioid overdoses per 100,000 enrollees per quarter, respectively. “The reductions tied to medical dispensaries were significant for both men and women, and especially notable among younger adults ages 18–34, who saw a 23.27 percent reduction,” the researchers found. “These findings suggest that expanded access to cannabis through MCD and RCL is associated with lower [non-fatal opioid overdoses among] adults with employer-sponsored insurance,” the study said. “Greater cannabis access through MCDs and RCL may reduce [overdoses] in heavily impacted populations, indicating possible substitution of cannabis for opioids.” Though this speaks to an increasing common theme in cannabis research as it relates to opioid use, this is “the first study to our knowledge, to examine and find a negative association of MCD and RCL with [non-fatal opioid overdoses] in adults with employer-sponsored insurance,” the authors said. “Findings support continuing evidence-based opioid use disorder treatments, while policymakers treat legalization as complementary and prioritize harm reduction and treatment expansion,” it concludes. The research was funded through a grant from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). The specific data might be novel, but the takeaway is consistent with a growing body of scientific literature on the broader topic. For example, another research study found that, as opioids continue to drive overdose deaths, making medical cannabis available and affordable seems to help patients reduce their use of the prescription painkillers. That research came on the heels of a recent study showing that using medical marijuana appears to help people reduce the use of other medications, including opioids, sleeping aids and antidepressants. They also experience far fewer negative side effects after switching to cannabis from prescription drugs, the study involving more than 3,500 patients found. — 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. — It also comes after President Donald Trump said marijuana can “make people feel much better” and serve as a “substitute for addictive and potentially lethal opioid painkillers.” Last month, the Trump administration announced it is moving ahead with the federal reclassification of marijuana by moving state-legal medical cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). About one in three Americans who use CBD say they take it as an alternative or supplement to at least one medication—particularly painkillers—according to a federally funded study published in February. Similarly, another recent federally funded study, published by the American Medical Association (AMA), added more evidence that marijuana can serve as an effective substitute for opioids in chronic pain treatment. Other AMA-published research has found that legalizing marijuana for medical or recreational purposes is “significantly associated with reduced opioid use among patients diagnosed with cancer.” A separate paper published in October similarly found that medical marijuana legalization is “associated with significant reductions in opioid prescribing.” In August, meanwhile, Australian researchers published a study showing that marijuana can serve as an effective substitute for opioids in pain management treatment. Another study published last year in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review found that, among drug users who experience chronic pain, daily cannabis use was linked to a higher likelihood of quitting the use of opioids—especially among men. Other research also found that legalizing medical cannabis appeared to significantly reduce monetary payments from opioid manufacturers to doctors who specialize in pain, with authors finding “evidence that this decrease is due to medical marijuana becoming available as a substitute” for prescription painkillers. Other recent research also showed a decline in fatal opioid overdoses in jurisdictions where marijuana was legalized for adults. That study found a “consistent negative relationship” between legalization and fatal overdoses, with more significant effects in states that legalized cannabis earlier in the opioid crisis. Authors estimated that recreational marijuana legalization “is associated with a decrease of approximately 3.5 deaths per 100,000 individuals.” “Our findings suggest that broadening recreational marijuana access could help address the opioid epidemic,” that report said. “Previous research largely indicates that marijuana (primarily for medical use) can reduce opioid prescriptions, and we find it may also successfully reduce overdose deaths.” Another recently published report into prescription opioid use in Utah following the state’s legalization of medical marijuana found that the availability of legal cannabis both reduced opioid use by patients with chronic pain and helped drive down prescription overdose deaths statewide. Overall, results of the study indicated that “cannabis has a substantial role to play in pain management and the reduction of opioid use,” it said. The post Marijuana Legalization Is Linked To ‘Significant Reductions’ In Opioid Overdoses, Federally Funded Study Finds appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

Louisiana lawmakers have voted to send the governor a bill that threatens to send people to jail for up to one year if they smoke marijuana within 2,000 feet of a school property—including a college campus. The legislation from Rep. Gabe Firment (R) was passed by the Senate in a 23-10 vote on Monday after having cleared the Senate last month. It next heads to the desk of Gov. Jeff Landry (R), whose staff previously testified in favor of the measure at a committee hearing. HB 568 applies to people who violate drug laws “while smoking, vaping, or otherwise abusing such controlled dangerous substance while on any property used for school purposes by any school, within two thousand feet of any such property, or while on a school bus.” Firment previously told senators at a House committee hearing that his bill “strengthens enforcement of Louisiana drug-free school zone laws by creating a clear behavior-based offense, so that when someone is openly smoking or vaping illegal drug in the school zone, law enforcement can act and prosecutors can prove the case.” “For marijuana, the bill establishes a clear and consistent penalty—up to a year in jail and $1,000 fine, ensuring that violations in school zones result in real, enforceable consequences,” he said. Sen. Rick Edmonds (R) argued on the Senate floor ahead of Monday’s final vote that the bill “strengthens enforcement of Louisiana drug school zone law by adding a behavior-based trigger for violations and clarifying the penalty structure.” “The bill does not change what’s legal. It gives law enforcement a practical tool [and] ensures consistent consequences in school zones,” he said. Kevin Caldwell, Southeast legislative manager for the pro-legalization Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), said the group is “disappointed” that lawmakers passed the bill. “In almost all urban, as well as suburban, areas of the state this is a return to the failed policies of mass incarceration for cannabis,” he told Marijuana Moment. “Historically, data shows us these punitive penalties fall on the working poor and people of color. The arbitrary area, rarely if ever properly marked, is a geographic trap. The idea to make public consumption a felony is not based on reason and is not inline with the nature of the offense. The language is particularly vague for a felony charge.” “This flies in the face of polls that continue to show that the citizens of Louisiana want to see prohibition end, not ramp up enforcement,” Caldwell said. “This legislation was a priority of Governor Jeff Landry, who personally lobbied state representatives and senators to pass this legislation without any amendments. A major step backwards for Louisiana.” In 2021, then-Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) signed a bill decriminalizing marijuana by removing the threat of jail time for possessing up to 14 grams. — 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, a Louisiana Senate bill to let patients with terminal and irreversible conditions use medical marijuana in hospitals is also advancing toward final passage. Separate legislation to create a psychedelic-assisted therapy pilot program, using opioid settlement dollars to fund clinical trials aimed at developing alternative treatments such as psilocybin and ibogaine is also being considered this session. A lawmaker recently filed a proposal that would create a new state task force to “study and develop findings and recommendations regarding the potential legalization of recreational marijuana.” Another lawmaker also introduced a bill to create an adult-use marijuana legalization pilot program in the state to determine whether the reform should eventually be expanded and permanently codified. Rep. Candace Newell (D)—who has long championed legislation to end cannabis criminalization and filed a similar legal marijuana pilot program measure last session—is sponsoring what’s titled the “Adult-Use Cannabis Pilot Program Regulation and Enforcement Act.” Getting the bill across the finish line could prove complicated in the conservative legislature, however. Newell’s earlier version of the pilot program legislation didn’t advance to enactment last year, and lawmakers that session also rejected other marijuana reform proposals such as one that would have established a tax system to prepare the eventual legalization of adult-use cannabis. The post Louisiana Bill To Jail People For Smoking Marijuana Near College Campuses Passes, Heading To Governor’s Desk appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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“One of the problems in being first, like Colorado was, into the legalizing of cannabis, is that you have to learn all the unintended consequences and unforeseen outcomes the hard way.” By Christopher Osher, Denver Gazette via ProPublica This story was originally published by ProPublica. A top regulator for Colorado’s Marijuana Enforcement Division acknowledged in a private meeting with industry representatives that the amount of chemically converted hemp being illegally sold as marijuana is far greater than the agency has publicly disclosed. The remarks confirmed testing by The Denver Gazette and ProPublica, which found signs of hemp in marijuana vapes sold at dispensaries, as well as reporting that regulators have discovered that some hemp-derived vapes were contaminated with a toxic chemical. The virtual meeting, an audio recording of which was reviewed by the news organizations, was convened by members of Colorado Leads, a marijuana industry trade group, in March to discuss a problem they said had “metastasized” and now posed an “existential threat” to the nation’s first legal recreational marijuana market. During the meeting, Kyle Lambert, the enforcement division’s deputy senior director, said the number of hemp-derived products is “larger than we can quantify.” He said the agency feared the prevalence of banned hemp was driving down the price of marijuana in the state and helping facilitate the diversion of high-grade marijuana out of Colorado and into the black market in other states. Describing anomalies in the system the state uses to track marijuana production and sales, Lambert told the industry players that the extent of suspicious transactions in the system “would probably explode your minds.” Two weeks after that meeting, the division sent a bulletin to the industry that it plans to crack down on companies that illegally sell cheaper and potentially hazardous hemp products as marijuana and that it would pursue emergency rules. But it hasn’t done so yet, and other reform efforts failed during this year’s legislative session. Despite the regulators’ concerns, Colorado lawmakers, who weren’t at the March briefing, abandoned a bill that would have let voters decide whether to overhaul how marijuana products are tested for contaminants. (The Denver Gazette and ProPublica investigation found that other states have adopted stronger safety measures.) Dominique Mendiola, the senior director of the Marijuana Enforcement Division, said in a statement that the agency has “consistently been proactive in pursuing the necessary rules, legislation and authority to combat this issue.” “Lambert was speaking frankly to highlight the scale and complexity of the problem, as nominal-dollar transactions do not amount to definitive evidence of non-compliance,” Mendiola said. She added that investigations into such transactions require extensive resources and can take significant time. The problem of companies substituting hemp for marijuana dates to 2018, when Congress legalized hemp, a close cousin of marijuana that has only trace amounts of THC, the psychoactive compound that makes people high. Federal lawmakers had hoped to support farmers while satisfying advocates who believe the high levels of the nonintoxicating compound CBD in hemp help with seizures, pain and sleep. But hemp manufacturers quickly figured out how to convert CBD in hemp into THC through a process that involves toxic solvents, creating products that sometimes contain harmful chemicals and that can be more potent than products made from marijuana. Colorado became one of the first states to ban that chemical conversion process and prohibit the sale of intoxicating hemp products to its residents. But manufacturers were allowed to produce hemp products for export to other states, and some companies continue to rely on hemp within Colorado because it is cheaper than using marijuana to make the honey-colored THC distillate that goes into vapes and edibles, industry insiders say. “This has become pervasive to where it’s, like, half the market,” said Jordan Wellington, a marijuana industry lobbyist and consultant, during the meeting with Lambert and a four-person investigative team that handles the agency’s most difficult cases. “We’re past Stage 1 cancer of it being, like, one spot. It’s fully metastasized.” He said “rampant” use of hemp and other illicit material was putting pressure on honest manufacturers to cut corners to survive. “It might be the most important and existential threat we’ve ever faced as an industry,” Wellington said. When the state legalized recreational marijuana in 2012, it promised to establish a “seed-to-sale” system to track marijuana from the initial planting to the purchase of pot, vapes and other products in dispensaries. Close tracking would prevent marijuana grown in Colorado from being diverted to states where it remained illegal, supporters promised. Tracking also was supposed to assure consumers that they were buying safe, quality products. But during the March video conference, Colorado regulators confided to industry lobbyists that the tool for rooting out fraud isn’t working. “There’s a lot of really crap data in there that is hard for us to proactively go take action on,” Lambert said of the tracking system. Extensive fraud in sales transaction reporting likely means the state has lost out on millions of dollars in marijuana excise tax revenue while businesses that follow the law have paid more than their fair share, industry insiders claim. Unprocessed marijuana typically can fetch more than $600 a pound on the open market, depending on the category, but manufacturers often report to the state’s tracking system unrealistic nominal sales, often as low as a penny or dollar a pound, Lambert said. When pressed by regulators, businesses typically defended those valuations, arguing that they had submitted placeholder numbers while they were still negotiating the price of products, Lambert said. The division, which employs 26 investigators to monitor roughly 2,100 marijuana businesses, doesn’t have the resources to investigate all cases adequately, he said. “We’d love to set up, you know, surveillance on places and track vehicles and see where they come from,” he said. “Did they come from a hemp plant? Did it come from here? Where did it go? We’re not resourced or equipped to do those types of investigations.” In April, state Sens. Kyle Mullica, D-Thornton, and Marc Snyder, D–Colorado Springs, introduced the Cannabis Consumer Protection Act, which would have placed a ballot measure before voters this fall to overhaul how marijuana products are tested for contaminants, bringing Colorado in line with other states. The ballot measure would have put private labs in charge of collecting marijuana samples for the testing required before products go to dispensaries. Currently, manufacturers can select their own samples. Regulators have caught companies gaming that system by substituting samples that were different from what they sold in stores or by treating the samples with chemicals. The act also would have shifted oversight of safety and testing from the Marijuana Enforcement Division to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and funded a program in which regulators would randomly collect marijuana products from dispensaries to test them for contaminants. But the legislation collapsed as different segments of the marijuana industry clashed over a provision tucked into the bill that would have increased taxes on products with higher amounts of THC. Manufacturers of highly concentrated THC products argued that the proposed potency tax would cut into their profits while lowering costs for manufacturers of edibles like gummies. Consumer safety groups also weren’t satisfied and wanted the bill to be tougher, pushing for a strict cap on potency like Vermont has. Ultimately, the main industry trade group opposed it, and Gov. Jared Polis, through a spokesperson, said he feared the bill would cause too much regulation. The bill died, though Snyder, the cosponsor of Senate Bill 26-161, said he plans to revisit the issue in the 2027 legislative session. Snyder said he had hoped to give regulators more tools to tackle fraud. “One of the problems in being first, like Colorado was, into the legalizing of cannabis,” he said, “is that you have to learn all the unintended consequences and unforeseen outcomes the hard way.” 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 Marijuana Official Said Size Of State’s Illegal Hemp Market ‘Would Explode Your Minds’ In Leaked Meeting Recording appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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California officials are making additional reforms to help the state’s marijuana businesses take advantage of federal tax and other benefits under Trump administration’s rescheduling move. Specifically, the Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) on Monday proposed emergency regulations to let businesses with current licenses covering both medical and recreational marijuana secure a secondary license through a streamlined process to separate out the segments of their operations in light of the fact that the federal scheduling change currently only covers medical cannabis. Under DCC’s proposal, marijuana businesses would be able to “create a second, related entity and hold two distinct licenses (one adult-use and one medicinal) at the same premises” under the expedited regulations. “DCC is working on making this pathway available due to the timing and uncertainty of the federal process,” the department said. “Additional operational components—such as track and trace requirements, local authorization, tax collection, and other implementation matters—are still being evaluated and will be addressed through future guidance or rulemaking as needed.” The proposed rules come weeks after the Justice Department finalized a process moving medical cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). One of the more consequential policy impacts of that reform is that state-licensed medical cannabis businesses will be able to take federal tax deductions under an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code known as 280E. Broader rescheduling of marijuana will be considered at a hearing starting next month. “Things are moving quickly, and we currently have limited information about how federal implementation will unfold,” DCC Director Clint Kellum said in a notice about the move, which marks an expansion of initial reforms the department announced just days after the rescheduling announcement last month. “We continue to request meetings with the federal offices leading this work, but so far, we have not received guidance beyond what is publicly available,” he said. “We recognize this creates uncertainty for our licensees, given the size and complex structure of our medicinal and adult-use markets. ” “Our immediate focus is creating a pathway for operators interested in exploring federal registration. This includes proposing emergency regulations to create a pathway for licensees authorized to engage in retail activities to create a second, related entity and hold two distinct licenses (one adult-use and one medicinal) at the same premises.” DCC added that, in order to “maintain the integrity of the existing licensing system, certain conditions will be placed on any new licenses issued under this process to ensure that the resulting medical cannabis businesses continue to comply with all existing requirements.” Public comments on the emergency rules must be submitted to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL), with DCC copied, between May 27-31. In its prior rescheduling-related update, DCC announced that cultivation licensees “no longer need to wait until renewal to request a change to their adult-use (A) or medicinal-use (M) designation.” Additionally, DCC no longer requires a new local authorization for requests that change a license to medical designation only or add a medical designation to an existing adult-use designation. — 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. — In order to take advantage of legal benefits in line with the move to Schedule III, state-licensed medical cannabis businesses must register on DEA’s website. A currently available form covers dispensaries, and the agency recently announced that additional forms for marijuana manufacturing, distribution and testing businesses will soon be posted. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said they plan to issue new tax guidance for the marijuana industry following the rescheduling announcement. Back in California, state lawmakers are advancing legislation this session to allow marijuana retailers to offer drive-thru windows to serve customers. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), meanwhile, recently took credit for helping to lead the push for the state to legalize marijuana and discussed his own limited experience with using cannabis. In October, however, Newsom vetoed a bill that would have allowed certain marijuana microbusinesses to ship medical cannabis products directly to patients via common carriers like FedEx and UPS, stating that the proposal “would be burdensome and overly complex to administer.” Newsom did sign a bill earlier that month aimed at streamlining research on marijuana and psychedelics. In September, the governor also signed a measure into law to put a pause on a recently enacted tax hike on marijuana products. California officials recently awarded nearly $30 million in grants for marijuana-focused academic research projects. Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images. The post New California Emergency Marijuana Rules Aim To Help State’s Businesses Benefit From Trump’s Federal Rescheduling Move appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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