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Medical marijuana is “commonly” used to treat symptoms of cancer such as pain, nausea, anxiety, depression, poor appetite and sleep disturbance, according to a new study—and 80 percent of patients report that it provides relief and improved quality of life. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Kentucky, surveyed 237 adults receiving radiation therapy for cancer at either an urban or a rural oncology practice in Kentucky, which is described in the paper as “a unique geographical area with high endemic use of narcotics.” About half of the patients (51 percent) reported they had used marijuana at least once in their lifetimes, with the researchers saying that “self-administration of unprescribed medicinal cannabis use was common across demographic groups and was primarily directed toward symptom management.” “Overall, most patients in our study reported improvement in both symptoms and quality of life metrics after self-prescribed medicinal cannabis use post-cancer diagnosis.” “All recent self-prescribed medicinal cannabis users identified symptoms precipitating cannabis use post-cancer diagnosis including nausea, fatigue, sleep problems, anxiety, stress, depression, poor appetite, pleasure seeking (high), weight loss, confusion, and desire to combat their malignancy,” the study, which was supported by the National Cancer Institute and published in the journal The Oncologist, said. The most commonly identified symptoms precipitating cannabis use were pain nausea, anxiety and depression. Eighty percent of patients reported feeling at least “a little better” with regard to their main identified symptom as a result of medical cannabis use, while 20 percent said there was “no change.” With respect to questions that asked about overall quality of life, 89 percent of participants said they felt “a little better” with medical marijuana use, while 11 percent said there was “no change.” “Users most commonly reported cannabis for pain, nausea, anxiety, depression, poor appetite, and sleep disturbance; at least 80% reported symptom and quality-of-life improvement.” Patients who used medical marijuana, on average, had higher pain scores than those who didn’t. “This may possibly mean some patients turn to self-prescribed medicinal cannabis use for pain relief after traditional measures have failed or they do not have sufficient and appropriate access to a physician to manage them,” the authors wrote. Interestingly, the study found that medical cannabis use was more common among patients surveyed at the urban treatment center (21 percent) as compared to the rural one (9 percent). “Cannabis may have a role as an adjunct for cancer-related symptoms such as pain, nausea, anxiety, and appetite loss, particularly when conventional treatments do not provide adequate relief, are poorly tolerated, or are difficult to access,” the study concluded. “We found that patients use self-prescribed medicinal cannabis to improve symptoms related to cancer itself or cancer treatment and perceive self-prescribed medicinal cannabis use as effective.” The researchers cautioned, however, that the study has some limitations, including that it relies on self-reported date, that respondents were not racially diverse and that the survey instrument used has not been validated. The new paper is the latest to latest to show that medical marijuana can provide relief for people struggling with cancer. For example, a recent federally funded study found that “cannabis use conferred therapeutic benefits for several health issues commonly encountered by cancer patients“—including “pain relief, improved sleep, physical relaxation, emotional regulation, and reduction of concomitant medication.” Another recent study conducted by Minnesota state officials found that medical marijuana appears to help cancer patients by decreasing pain, nausea, vomiting, anxiety and depression while also improving sleep. A separate study found that nearly one in five cancer survivors say they’ve used CBD after getting their diagnosis—primarily to manage pain, sleep difficulties and emotional distress. And more than half of those who used it for specific symptoms reported at least some benefit. Another recent study determined that medical marijuana extracts “meaningfully” improve cancer-related symptoms such as sleep difficulties and anxiety—though responses varied among patients depending on personal preferences for individual cannabinoid content of the extracts. Researchers separately found that components of marijuana show “consistent and statistically significant anti-tumor effects” in certain types of cancer, including glioblastoma and breast cancer. The study also showed that cannabinoids seem to “enhance chemotherapy efficacy.” Another systemic review concluded that studies “consistently show” that the CBD is a potential “anticancer agent across different cancer types”—and that effect applies to dogs as well as humans. A similar analysis showed that CBD “holds substantial promise as an anti-tumor agent” in addition to its other anti-inflammatory properties. Scientists explored CBD’s effect on many types of cancer—including some of the most aggressive ones, such as glioblastoma, which affects the brain. They also noted it can help suppressing the growth and metastasis of other cancers, including breast, lung, colorectal, ovarian and prostate, among others. In 2025, a paper published in the journal Pharmacology & Therapeutics, assessed a range of clinical and preclinical findings that the efficacy of chemotherapy drugs can be enhanced by medical marijuana. In a sign of greater acceptance of medical applications of cannabis, President Donald Trump’s choice to serve as the next White House drug czar has called medical marijuana a “fantastic” treatment option for seriously ill patients and said she doesn’t object to legalization, even if she might not personally agree with the policy. Also last year, a study found that “patients with cancer using cannabis report significant improvements in cancer-related symptoms.” The post Medical Marijuana Improves Symptoms And Quality Of Life For 80% Of Cancer Patients, Study Finds appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

“If Black Virginians only make up 19 percent, how is it that they are 47.7 percent of those who are receiving the citations?” By Markus Schmidt, Virginia Mercury Youth advocates are urging Virginia lawmakers to reconsider stiffer penalties for public marijuana use before the state opens its legal adult-use market next summer, warning that the changes could place a disproportionate burden on young people, their families and Black communities. The maximum civil penalty for consuming or offering marijuana in public is set to rise from $25 to $250 on July 1, 2027, the same day retail sales are scheduled to begin. A second offense also carries a $250 fine and requires substance-use education or treatment, or both, if available, while a third or subsequent offense is a Class 4 misdemeanor. Valerie Slater, executive director of RISE for Youth, told the Joint Commission to Oversee the Transition of the Commonwealth into a Cannabis Retail Market earlier last week that the higher fine would take effect as marijuana enforcement involving young people increasingly begins in schools. “What’s really troubling is how increasingly the enforcement has moved into the schoolhouse while we are also looking at an increased impact on Black adults,” Slater said. Her presentation was one part of a broader commission meeting that also examined marijuana offense trends and plans for enforcing the new market. The Virginia Cannabis Control Authority is expected to lead that work, with temporary assistance from the Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Authority while the cannabis agency builds its enforcement staff. Complaints shift towards schools Marijuana-related juvenile intake complaints fell 30 percent between fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2024, from about 2,700 to 1,904, according to Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice data cited by RISE for Youth. But the share originating in schools rose from 17 percent to 54 percent, while the share involving 16- and 17-year-olds fell from 68 percent to 48 percent, indicating a shift toward younger adolescents. Girls also grew from 25 percent to 30 percent of the youth involved in marijuana-related complaints, although the decline in total complaints means the figures do not necessarily show an increase in the number of girls referred. “We did not stop enforcing, just where we went with it changed,” Slater said. “We stopped looking at the community, and we started looking at schools.” Current Virginia law separately imposes a civil penalty of up to $25 and mandatory education or treatment for underage marijuana possession or consumption. Possessing or consuming marijuana on public school grounds during school hours or activities can be charged as a Class 2 misdemeanor. Slater warned that a young person could face several consequences from the same incident, including school discipline, juvenile intake, the underage penalty and the higher public-consumption fine. Whether those provisions could overlap would depend on the circumstances and how authorities decide to charge the case. “It’s not going to be that middle schooler who’s going to be paying for it,” Slater said. “It’s going to be their family. That’s who’s going to shoulder that burden.” Slater also noted Black Virginians make up about 19 percent of the state’s population but accounted for 47.7 percent of public-use citations in data analyzed by RISE for Youth. “If Black Virginians only make up 19 percent, how is it that they are 47.7 percent of those who are receiving the citations?” she said. “If indeed 47.7 percent of all of the public-consumption citations are against Black Americans, then we move now to $250 as the amount that is being assessed against Virginians, I can promise you, that’s a whole lot of money.” RISE for Youth’s written report also pointed to disparities throughout Virginia’s juvenile justice system. In fiscal 2025, Black youth represented 44.2 percent of intake cases, 53.4 percent of detainments and 70.9 percent of direct-care placements, according to DJJ data cited in the report. The figures measure different groups at separate stages of the system and do not establish that marijuana enforcement caused the disparities. Slater argued, however, that they show the risks of increasing penalties within a system where Black youths already experience disproportionate outcomes. Del. Cia Price, D-Newport News, said the presentation placed firm numbers alongside experiences long described by affected communities. “It does not come as any surprise based on what was happening to the adults, but it is sickening and disheartening to see that it is following our youth,” Price said. Advocates seek changes before the market opens Slater asked lawmakers to leave the public-consumption fine at $25. If the increase remains, she said, minors should be explicitly exempted. RISE for Youth also wants lawmakers to eliminate criminal penalties and delinquency treatment for youth marijuana possession and consumption, adopt a cannabis education curriculum developed by Stanford Medicine and dedicate 30 percent of retail marijuana tax revenue to youth education, treatment and other services administered by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. “Why are children using, not how can we get money out of our families?” Slater said. “Why are children using, and what should we be doing to ensure that they are not using?” Del. Paul Krizek, D-Fairfax, who sponsored the cannabis retail legislation in the House, said lawmakers should focus on changing behavior rather than increasing a penalty that has not been shown to work. “Having data that shows $25 doesn’t work, $250 is just going to double down on something that’s not working,” Krizek said. He also raised concerns that unpaid fines could be sent to collection agencies, potentially damaging young people’s credit before they turn 18 or leaving their families responsible for the debt. “It’s a bad cycle, and we all know it is, and so we need to figure out what we can do that will change that,” Krizek said. He added that revenue from legal sales could support educational programs for young people. Separate data presented by the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission showed that marijuana possession charges under the state’s former criminal statute have nearly disappeared, falling from 31,837 in fiscal 2018 to three in fiscal 2026. The commission’s principal measure of marijuana distribution charges also declined from 5,439 in fiscal 2019 to 1,342 in fiscal 2026. The figures do not include Fairfax Circuit Court or juvenile court data. This story was first published by Virginia Mercury. The post Virginia Lawmakers Warned That Increasing Fines For Public Marijuana Use Will Worsen Racial Disparites appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

A Pennsylvania Republican senator is asking colleagues to support a forthcoming bill she plans to introduce to keep hemp THC products legal in the state while adding age limits as well as new requirements for registration, testing and labeling. Sen. Dawn Keefer (R) announced the Pennsylvania Hemp and Cannabinoid Act in a cosponsorship memo on Friday. “The bill gives responsible hemp businesses a clear state framework and keeps intoxicating products out of the hands of children while federal hemp policy remains unsettled,” she wrote. While federal hemp policy remains in flux, there is no statewide system for consumable hemp products—with “no Pennsylvania age gate, no uniform testing or labeling standard, and no retail accountability,” the senator said. “Those products are sold next to candy and snacks,” she said. “Some are packaged and flavored to appeal to children.” Keefer said that while her bill would protect “responsible Pennsylvania farmers, manufacturers, and retailers” who have “built a lawful market,” it is “not adult-use marijuana legalization.” The legislation, which has not yet been filed, would not create a new regulatory body to oversee products or alter existing rules for medical cannabis. “What it does is protect the responsible consumable hemp industry and keep harmful products away from children,” the senator’s cosponsorship memo says. “It requires Department of Agriculture registration, independent testing and truthful labels, 21-and-over sales with ID checks, and a ban on candy-style packaging and youth-targeted marketing. It also grandfathers existing Pennsylvania operators who can document lawful pre-enactment operations.” 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, the president signed new legislation containing provisions that redefined hemp to make it so only products with 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container would remain legal after November 12. Now, however, under provisions included in a funding bill Trump signed this month, the effective date of the ban for most products is being pushed back to December 11 to give lawmakers more time to craft regulations for hemp derivatives. There is a carve-out, however, to allow the recriminalization on November 12 of synthetic cannabinoids “that are not capable of being naturally produced by a Cannabis sativa L. plant.” Keefer said that “federal delay is not a reason for Pennsylvania inaction.” “If Congress lets the federal cap take effect, our state still needs age limits, testing, and a public registry so responsible operators can comply,” she said. “If Congress replaces the cap with a regulated federal market, Pennsylvania still needs its own 21-and-over retail rules.” The senator is asking her colleagues cosponsor the forthcoming bill “to protect Pennsylvania’s responsible consumable hemp industry, give law enforcement a clear state standard, and keep harmful intoxicating products out of the hands of children.” A separate bill that has already been introduced in the Pennsylvania Senate would create a new Cannabis Control Board (CCB) to oversee the state’s medical marijuana program and significantly restrict most hemp THC products. That legislation, from Sen. Dan Laughlin (R), was defeated on the Senate floor in June, though it is pending reconsideration. Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers in Pennsylvania are stepping up the call for broader marijuana legalization. The speaker of the Democratic-controlled House said last week that the state could legalize recreational marijuana next year if her party wins a handful of seats in the November elections and takes a Senate majority. The House last year passed a bill to legalize marijuana and put sales in state-owned dispensaries, but the Republican Senate majority has criticized that plan while also not advancing a cannabis legalization model of its own. A Democratic senator recently filed a discharge resolution seeking to bring a bipartisan cannabis bill out of committee. — 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. — The legislative maneuvering around cannabis as a recent poll shows that Pennsylvania voters overwhelmingly support marijuana legalization—and that the largest share put the blame on Republican lawmakers for the fact that the state has not yet enacted the reform. Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) has repeatedly called on lawmakers to send him a marijuana legalization bill and for the last several years has included the reform in his budget requests to the legislature. Republican gubernatorial nominee Stacy Garrity, who is running against Shapiro, recently pledged to veto a marijuana legalization bill if lawmakers ever sent one to her desk—though she added that she doesn’t think the reform stands a chance of making it that far in the state. Her running mate for lieutenant governor, Jason Richey, claimed that legalizing marijuana would be “catastrophic” for the state, arguing it would increase the size of the illegal market, undermine job creation and harm public health. The governor earlier this year, as he has in past years, included cannabis legalization and the resulting expected revenue in his budget request. The state’s Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) reported in February that legalizing cannabis in Pennsylvania would generate nearly half a billion dollars in annual revenue by 2028, an estimate that is a significantly larger cash windfall compared to projections from Shapiro’s own office. A spokesperson in the governor’s office said the Trump administration’s federal marijuana rescheduling move is an “important step” that “adds support” to his push to legalize cannabis. A GOP senator also said that federal reform will make it easier to legalize marijuana in the state. In June, the House of Representatives passed a bill to allow terminally ill patients to use medical cannabis in hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Similar legislation is up for consideration in a Senate committee this week. The post Pennsylvania GOP Senator Announces New Bill To Regulate Hemp THC Products With Age Limits And Testing Requirements appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

California’s governor has signed a pair of bills revising various state marijuana laws related to product testing, tracking, consumer access to information and cannabinoid content. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Sunday gave final approval to AB 1965 from Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins (D), which would specify that all marijuana products for sale in the state are subject to testing or retesting and allow the Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) to obtain products for off-the-shelf laboratory testing. The new law also mandates that cannabis retailers are required to provide a product’s certificate of analysis if requested by a consumer. The measure additionally requires testing labs to undergo performance testing “to ensure consistency of results across laboratories.” Such performance testing can include “blind proficiency testing, round robin testing and any other type of programs that may be used to demonstrate competent performance of a testing laboratory,” the bill says. The governor also signed AB 2250 from Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D), which makes a number of technical and enforcement-related changes to hemp rules. Among other reforms, the bill excludes cannabinol (CBN) isolate from that definition of “cannabis concentrate,” building on an earlier law that removed CBD isolate. The changes mean that those cannabinoids won’t be subject to criminal penalties for concentrated cannabis. The legislation additionally expands the scope of the state’s cannabis track and trace program to include information on cultivation, harvest, processing, manufacturing, distribution, inventory, sale and delivery. It also says that any business that sells cigarettes or tobacco products is prohibited from selling cannabis. The newly signed law also clarifies the ability of authorities to seize cannabis products and makes a number of other technical and consistency change to existing statute. Last month, Newsom signed legislation to more clearly define the types of marijuana packaging and labeling that is prohibited due to appealing to children. Earlier this month, the governor touted the fact that that legal marijuana sales have generated nearly $8.4 billion in tax revenue for the state since voters legalized recreational cannabis in 2016, saying that the money “helps fund programs that benefit Californians, including childcare and early childhood development, youth substance abuse prevention, medical research and environmental recovery.” Newsom recently took credit for helping to lead the push for the state to legalize marijuana and discussed his own limited experience with using cannabis. Last October, however, the governor 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. — 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 September, the governor also signed a measure into law to put a pause on a recently enacted tax hike on marijuana products. Meanwhile, a lawmaker spoke to Marijuana Moment about her decision to put her own bill to legalize cannabis dispensary drive-thru windows on hold for now. California’s treasurer recently said the marijuana legalization law that voters approved a decade ago has been a “complete failure” and should be replaced with a new ballot initiative that prioritizes consumers and small businesses. Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton, who is endorsed by President Donald Trump, recently told Marijuana Moment that taxes and regulations on cannabis are “too high.” California’s top cannabis regulator spoke recently about how the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) hasn’t been cooperative in answering questions about the implications of the Trump administration’s rescheduling move. DCC Director Clint Kellum said that there have been “national-level efforts” to contact DEA in conjunction with cannabis regulators from other states, but they “just really haven’t seen any sort of interest on that front, unfortunately.” The post California Governor Signs Bills On Marijuana Testing, Tracking And Consumer Access To Information appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

A federal agency is highlighting how a technique that was created to capture specific compounds from air samples for analysis to help detect bombs after 9/11 is now being used to aid in the development of a marijuana breathalyzer to identify impaired drivers. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) cited the cannabis technology effort as part of a new post on how scientific discoveries often have unexpected applications. “Painter Bob Ross taught us that ‘happy accidents’ can make for beautiful art,” the agency said. “Happy accidents also happen in science, when experiments take research in unexpected directions. Probably the most dramatic example is Sir Alexander Fleming’s accidental discovery of penicillin.” The post, which was published as part of National Forensic Science Week, notes how law enforcement agencies began relying on dogs to help sniff out bombs after the 2001 terrorist attacks but that explosive compounds evolve faster than the animals can be trained to learn their scents. As a result, researcher Tara Lovestead, who now works at NIST, developed a method called the “headspace technique” that separates compounds from air samples in the hopes it could be used as part of an electronic device to do the work of bomb-sniffing dogs. That post-9/11 work is now the “foundation” for the development of a cannabis breathalyzer, NIST said. “While sniffer dogs and the human nose can smell the musky odor of cannabis in luggage and from a burning joint, these compounds are not the intoxicant,” the federal agency said. “THC is the intoxicant, and it’s a heavy compound that is difficult to detect in breath. Despite this challenge, industry is working to create breathalyzers for law enforcement and workplace safety.” Lovestead said that applying the headspace technique to investigate how THC behaves in human breath “has been the most difficult measurement challenge and most rewarding work of my career.” The NIST post also cites other examples of scientific discoveries having unexpected results, such as human DNA genome mapping aiding forensic DNA testing and techniques developed for clothing recycling being used in crime scene analysis. “The need to be able to use scientific evidence in court means forensic scientists sometimes have to reach out to other technologies and fields to be able to develop things in more detail,” John Butler, NIST fellow and special assistant to the director for forensic science, said. “And NIST has played a role in many developments in forensic science going back to the 1960s, when automatic fingerprint technology was initially developed at NIST.” NIST has undertaken a number of cannabis-focused projects in recent years. In July, NIST published a new report that aims to assist state marijuana officials in developing standards for scales used in the sale of cannabis products. NIST announced in June that it added dozens of new marijuana components to an official government library of compounds that is used to help identify unknown substances in food, drugs, cosmetics, the environment, body fluids and forensic evidence. In 2025, NIST hosted a workshop aimed at facilitating “an open and candid discussion” about the development and implementation of technology to test a person’s breath for marijuana impairment. Also last year, researchers with the agency said they made the first-ever detection of THC in human breath following the consumption of infused edibles—a possible step forward in terms of field testing for cannabis impairment. NIST has also published a series of reports as part of a project called the Cannabis Laboratory Quality Assurance Program (CannaQAP). Meanwhile, NIST has made a series of updates to an industry standardization handbook it publishes as a result of cannabis-related stances adopted by the National Conference of Weights and Measures. The post Federal Agency Explains How Marijuana Breathalyzer Development Was Boosted By Post-9/11 Bomb Detection Technology appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

Campaign ad highlights senator’s anti-marijuana stance; Poll: MA voters oppose legalization rollback; State cannabis officials want DEA cooperation 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… Your good deed for the day: donate to an independent publisher like Marijuana Moment and ensure that as many voters as possible have access to the most in-depth cannabis reporting out there. Support our work at https://www.patreon.com/marijuanamoment / TOP THINGS TO KNOW Pennsylvania’s House speaker said the state can legalize marijuana next year if Democrats flip a handful of state Senate seats in November. The chair of the House Appropriations Committee said that cannabis’s tax revenue potential “is going to drive us to actually legalizing adult use very soon in the commonwealth.” Nebraska independent U.S. Senate candidate Dan Osborn’s campaign launched a new ad highlighting Sen. Pete Ricketts’s (R-NE) claim that “if you legalize marijuana, you’re gonna kill your kids.” A new poll shows that Massachusetts likely voters overwhelmingly oppose an initiative on the November ballot to roll back marijuana legalization, 71 percent to 24 percent. The Cannabis Regulators Association’s Gillian Schauer argues in a new Marijuana Moment op-ed that the Drug Enforcement Administration has “not meaningfully engaged” state officials about the cannabis rescheduling process, even though its implementation will “depend heavily on state regulatory systems.” “States need federal guidance on planned implementation to give them time to adjust laws and regulations and to give operators time to adjust their operations to meet federal requirements.” Oregon psilocybin businesses are celebrating a decision by state regulators to rescind proposed fee increases—though questions remain about the financial stability of the psychedelic services program. Melissa Johnston of Tryon Distributing argues in a new op-ed that North Carolina lawmakers should enact “reasonable regulation—not a ban” on hemp-derived THC beverages. “The consumer demand in North Carolina is clear, and the passing of this near-total ban bill would take good actors like us out of this space and allow bad actors to flourish in an illicit black market that would be created by our General Assembly.” / FEDERAL Attorney General Todd Blanche met with the CEO of Americans for Ibogaine. Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) said in a Senate floor speech that “through buying up American farmland, malign actors have brought the production of illegal hemp-derived products into our communities, and our children are paying the price.” The House bill to remove past marijuana use as a consideration for federal employment or security clearances got one new cosponsor for a total of two. / STATES Maine Republican gubernatorial candidate Bobby Charles said he thinks marijuana is a “gateway drug.” Oklahoma Republican attorney general candidate Jon Echols discussed his plan to combat illegal marijuana cultivation operations. The Arkansas Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit concerning a medical cannabis cultivation license after a settlement was reached. Colorado regulators issued a health and safety bulletin about marijuana products with an ingredient that contained methylene chloride. Montana regulators adopted changes to rules on marijuana business day-to-day operational control requirements and dispute resolution. The U.S. Virgin Islands Cannabis Advisory Board voted to remove hemp sales time limits from draft rules. Michigan regulators released price guidance for cannabis products. Guam regulators are moving to deny a marijuana business license application after not being able to contact the company in question. New Mexico officials took enforcement action against a large-scale cannabis operation. The New York Cannabis Control Board will meet on Thursday. — 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. — / LOCAL An Atlantic City, New Jersey public official was charged with soliciting bribes from a cannabis business Pueblo, Colorado’s mayor is proposing to pause marijuana business licensing for two years. / INTERNATIONAL Canadian regulators are proposing changes to cannabis tracking rules. The Scottish Parliament Information Centre published information about medical cannabis laws. / SCIENCE & HEALTH A study provided what researchers said is “most comprehensive functional annotation of the C. sativa [terpene synthase] repertoire to date, elucidating the genetic and biochemical bases of terpene diversity and providing a foundation for targeted metabolic engineering and cultivar improvement.” A study found that “cannabis use was associated with modestly lower risks of metabolic disease overall, hypertension, T2DM, and obesity.” / ADVOCACY, OPINION & ANALYSIS The chair of the Denton County, Texas Democratic Party said Republican elected officials’ moves to restrict hemp THC products are “pissing a lot of people off” and could be an issue in the November elections. Focus on the Family published an article about a proposed constitutional amendment on Idaho’s November ballot that would block voters from ever being able to legalize marijuana. / BUSINESS Cresco Labs Inc. is taking steps to list on a senior U.S. exchange. Greenlight Marijuana Dispensary workers in Joplin, Missouri voted to unionize. Metrc renewed its marijuana track and trace contract with Colorado regulators. Illinois retailers sold $122.8 million worth of recreational marijuana products in August. 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: The post Pennsylvania could legalize cannabis next year, House speaker says (Newsletter: September 28, 2026) appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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“The consumer demand in North Carolina is clear, and the passing of this near-total ban bill would take good actors like us out of this space and allow bad actors to flourish.” By Melissa Johnston, Tryon Distributing via Carolina Journal North Carolina holds an immense opportunity to create the best hemp beverage law in the county, and I would like to see us take advantage of it. In August, the General Assembly decided to table the hearing of HB 328—a bill that would have cemented an all but total ban on all hemp beverages, even if sensible regulation happens on a federal level. The legislature chose to delay the hearing of this bill until November, so they could learn more about the issues at hand. My family’s company is an independent, statewide wholesale distributor that has served North Carolina for 42 years. When we added our first hemp beverage brand in 2024, we had modest expectations for the category. Since then, hemp beverages have grown to become one of the brightest spots in our portfolio. These beverages are also providing valuable revenue for our customers—North Carolina’s bars, restaurants and homegrown grocers—helping them stay afloat in the face of rising rent, labor costs and raw goods prices. As sales of these beverages grew at our company, we realized the need to bring on more employees to support this developing part of our business. We also decided to invest in cannabis beverage certifications for our entire sales team, reflecting our commitment to bringing these products to market responsibly. While the legislature argues over the protection of kids, and how to handle these products, we are losing valuable time to make real, meaningful legislation that would protect kids while allowing small businesses to thrive. We share the legislature’s commitment to protecting children and ensuring strong public safeguards, but HB 328 in its current form would cause significant harm to North Carolina’s economy and small businesses. We agree that sensible regulation is needed. Measures such as 21+ age requirements, clear labeling and mandatory third-party lab testing are essential to protecting children and our communities, and we support their inclusion in any final legislation. The consumer demand in North Carolina is clear, and the passing of this near-total ban bill would take good actors like us out of this space and allow bad actors to flourish in an illicit black market that would be created by our General Assembly. I am also deeply concerned about the economic impact of a ban. A 2026 study by Whitney Economics valued the hemp industry in North Carolina at $3.2 billion and found it supports 16,000 jobs—figures that do not even account for the hospitality sector, where the true impact on our local restaurants and breweries is likely greater. Local breweries have begun making hemp beverages to offset declining beer sales, Michelin star restaurants now serve hemp cocktails alongside their other offerings and hemp beverages now sit on the shelves alongside beer and wine in some of the state’s favorite local grocery stores. If HB 328 passes in November in its current form, North Carolina will cede this industry to neighboring states that are pursuing sensible, federally aligned regulation instead of prohibition. I believe reasonable regulation—not a ban—is the right path forward. And I would like to see our General Assembly revive SB 265, a bill that works for everyone and protects consumers and communities while preserving this important part of our state’s economy. North Carolina currently has a blank slate for its hemp market. We have an equal chance of getting this right or getting this terribly wrong. I urge anyone reading this who enjoys hemp beverages, or who cares about the small farmers and family businesses this industry supports, to reach out to their state representative and ask them to support real regulation, not prohibition. North Carolina has a chance to showcase how great of a state we can be; let’s take it. Melissa Johnston is the vice president of strategic development at Tryon Distributing and a founding voice behind the Regulate Don’t Ruin NC hemp beverage advocacy campaign. This piece was first published by Carolina Journal. The post North Carolina Lawmakers Should Regulate Hemp THC Drinks Instead Of Banning Them (Op-Ed) appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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“This was an industry fighting for its survival, and it really came together. This is a profound thing.” By Jake Thomas, Oregon Capital Chronicle State regulators have backed off pursuing sizable fee increases on Oregon’s magic mushroom businesses after dire warnings from the legal psilocybin industry that it would buckle under the added costs. The Oregon Health Authority announced Tuesday that it would not adopt proposed rules that would have doubled the annual licensing fees for businesses across the psilocybin supply chain while eliminating discounts for veterans and low-income people. Regulators justified the fee increases as necessary to cover the cost of managing the first-of-its-kind program where adults age 21 and older take the psychedelic drug under the watch of a trained facilitator. But the hikes drew backlash from an industry already struggling under regulatory burdens even as research points to psilocybin’s potential as a life-changing mental health treatment. “This was an industry fighting for its survival, and it really came together,” said Andreas Met, the co-founder of Satya Therapeutics, an Ashland-based service center where adults take legal trips. “This is a profound thing.” While the industry celebrates the defeat of the fee hikes, questions remain about the financial stability of a program that supporters promised would pay for itself. It’s unclear how the authority will fund the program, and what comes next will follow criticisms that the agency wasn’t transparent about the potential consequences of the fee hikes. ‘We can’t be a part of the solution’ The authority released a document last week in response to a records request from Met showing that increasing fees could worsen the program’s finances. The document included figures showing how the state’s psilocybin licenses have dwindled since the program began in 2023. Under the document’s worst-case scenario, the program would have a $4.2 million shortfall in the current two-year budget cycle as a result of psilocybin businesses abandoning their licenses instead of paying higher fees. Even without the fee increases, the document projected a $3.8 million shortfall. It included a third scenario where licenses held steady despite the fee increases but still came up $2.9 million short. The document’s findings seem to contradict the authority’s rulemaking notice that the “overall fiscal and economic impact of the rules cannot be quantified at this time.” Health authority spokesperson Erica Heartquist did not answer follow-up questions. She deferred to a statement issued Tuesday that indicated that the authority dropped the fee increases based on feedback from the Oregon Psilocybin Advisory Board, rule advisory committees and public comment period. The authority will also “post documents on the psilocybin program website in response to questions and requests on the psilocybin budget,” according to the statement. Everyone who spoke during two public comment hearings held last week opposed the fee increases. Multiple speakers called on the authority to disclose more information on the program’s budget. “People like me want to be a part of this industry, and we want to help solve this budget shortfall,” said Paul Volk, a Portland resident training to be a facilitator. “But we can’t be a part of the solution without the data and transparency to understand the problem.” The document was dated August, a month after the authority met with an advisory committee to get feedback on the proposed fee hikes and other regulations. Met, who leads the Psilocybin Alliance trade group, said the authority released a document containing an analysis of the fee increases just days before public comment on the rules closed. Earlier this month, he wrote a letter to the authority on behalf of his group faulting the rulemaking process for not including a fiscal analysis of how the fee increases would affect the industry. Program faces budget uncertainty Released documents suggest the health authority does not expect lawmakers to support the psilocybin program with money from the state’s general fund in the upcoming budget cycle. The groundbreaking program received general fund money to cover its startup costs after it was created via a ballot initiative in 2020. The ballot initiative campaign promised that the program would be sustained with fees and wouldn’t require additional taxpayer support once it was established. Heidi Pendergast, Oregon director of the Healing Advocacy Fund, which advocates for psilocybin access, questioned whether licensing fees can cover the program’s cost. Her organization has been lobbying for policymakers to support the program, arguing it’s safe and a potential tool to help Oregon’s underdeveloped mental health system. A recently published study in JAMA Network Open found that 346 adults who used Oregon’s psilocybin services reported decreases in depression, anxiety and PTSD symptoms, in addition to improved mental well being. The health authority will begin a new rulemaking process unrelated to proposed fee changes. Documents also show the health authority is considering an increase to the psilocybin product tax to help support the program. People who use service centers pay the 15% tax on psilocybin products they use during their session. Both Met and Pendergast said the authority should be more transparent as it seeks financial stability for the program. “We can’t create a program where the license fees pay for a program and we don’t know what they specifically are paying for,” Pendergast said. This story was first published by Oregon Capital Chronicle. Photo courtesy of Workman. The post Oregon Psilocybin Businesses Celebrate As State Officials Rescind Proposed Fee Hikes appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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Pennsylvania is poised to legalize marijuana as soon as next year if Democrats can win a handful of key state legislative races in the November elections, a top lawmaker says. House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D) said at a Black Cannabis Week event on Friday that the state still has “a ways to go” to catch up with its neighbors that have already “moved in the right direction” by enacting marijuana legalization. While McClinton’s chamber passed a bill to legalize cannabis last year, it has stalled in the Senate, where Republican have a narrow majority. However, the “exciting thing” is that “Pennsylvania voters may go a different direction” by electing Democrats in November and helping them flip the three seats the party needs to take a majority in the Senate, the speaker said. “What it looks like for us to have change is we have to change who is making the laws in that chamber,” she said, urging voters to “do the best thing for people to have business opportunities, health improvement, community empowerment, restorative justice—things that are long overdue.” House Appropriations Committee Chair Jordan Harris (D) also spoke alongside McClinton on the Black Cannabis Week panel, noting that “attitudes are changing in Pennsylvania with regards to cannabis” but that “one of the reasons why we don’t have full adult use legalized here is because of the attitudes of a handful of members of the Pennsylvania State Senate.” “If we had those attitudes changed and/or the attitudes of their constituency, we would pass a bill out of the House, we would send it to the Senate and they would be able to run it,” he said. Harris, who oversees fiscal issues in his committee leadership capacity, said “it is the finances that’s going to finally drive the conversation, regardless of how we personally feel.” “At the end of the day, it’s going to be about the money, and I think that money is going to drive us to actually legalizing adult use very soon in the commonwealth,” he said. “Our friends in the bordering states are benefiting from us not legalizing cannabis,” Harris said, noting that Pennsylvania residents are crossing the border to buy marijuana. “We are missing out on that tax revenue here, and so for me, it would be a real boom to our economy here in Pennsylvania for us to legalize it.” Sen. Sharif Street (D), who has sponsored legislation to legalize marijuana for several sessions, said that if Democrats take a majority in the Senate, “we may be helping to move this process forward and having a different kind of say” as compared to his ability to advance legislation in the minority caucus. “Pennsylvanians in 39 days could put us in a position where we can have that,” he said. The Black Cannabis Week panel came ahead of a hearing on marijuana legalization that the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Policy Committee held later in the day. Democratic lawmakers in Pennsylvania are continuing to push for marijuana legalization, including with a discharge resolution that Street filed seeking to bring a bipartisan cannabis bill out of committee. The measure, which was signed by every Democratic senator, aims to increase pressure on the chamber’s Republican majority to allow a vote on legalizing cannabis. The bill in question is sponsored by Street along with Sen. Dan Laughlin (R), who chairs the Senate Law & Justice Committee but hasn’t called the legislation up for consideration in the panel. The GOP chairman has instead focused on moving a separate bill to create a new Cannabis Control Board to regulate medical marijuana and hemp. That measure failed on the Senate floor in June amid partisan fighting about the best way forward for cannabis in the state. The marijuana legalization bill that Street wants to advance, SB 120, would allow adults aged 21 and older to possess up to 30 grams of cannabis flower, 1,000 milligrams of THC in edible products and 5 grams of concentrate. It would also create a process to expunge prior marijuana-related criminal records. If enacted, there would be an 8 percent excise tax on cannabis sales, alongside the state’s regular sales tax of 6 percent. The legislative maneuvering around the bill comes as a recent poll shows that Pennsylvania voters overwhelmingly support marijuana legalization—and that the largest share put the blame on Republican lawmakers for the fact that the state has not yet enacted the reform. Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) has repeatedly called on lawmakers to send him a marijuana legalization bill and for the last several years has included the reform in his budget requests to the legislature. Republican gubernatorial nominee Stacy Garrity, who is running against Shapiro, recently pledged to veto a marijuana legalization bill if lawmakers ever sent one to her desk—though she added that she doesn’t think the reform stands a chance of making it that far in the state. Her running mate for lieutenant governor, Jason Richey, claimed that legalizing marijuana would be “catastrophic” for the state, arguing it would increase the size of the illegal market, undermine job creation and harm public health. The governor earlier this year, as he has in past years, included cannabis legalization and the resulting expected revenue in his budget request. The House last year passed a bill to legalize marijuana and put sales in state-owned dispensaries, but the Republican Senate majority has criticized that plan while also not advancing a cannabis legalization model of its own. The state’s Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) reported in February that legalizing cannabis in Pennsylvania would generate nearly half a billion dollars in annual revenue by 2028, an estimate that is a significantly larger cash windfall compared to projections from Shapiro’s own office. A spokesperson in the governor’s office said the Trump administration’s federal marijuana rescheduling move is an “important step” that “adds support” to his push to legalize cannabis. A GOP senator also said that federal reform will make it easier to legalize marijuana in the state. — 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, Laughlin is blaming the governor for the defeat of his bill to create a new Cannabis Control Board (CCB) to oversee the state’s medical marijuana program and intoxicating hemp products and that could also one day oversee recreational cannabis if it is legalized. Most GOP senators in the Republican-controlled chamber voted for the legislation from Laughlin, and all but two Democrats opposed it—with even some lawmakers who signed onto the measure as cosponsors ultimately voting against it. The measure would transfer regulatory authority for the state’s existing medical cannabis program from the Department of Health to a new seven-member CCB. The body would oversee cannabis permits, enforcement, seed-to-sale tracking, advertising, labeling, testing and other aspects of the legal industry. Moments after the bill’s defeat on the Senate floor, the chamber adopted a motion to reconsider—but it’s not yet clear when or if the legislation will get another vote. Laughlin’s legislation would also significantly restrict most hemp THC products, aligning the state with a new federal policy that is set to take effect later this year recriminalizing preparations with total THC content of more than 0.3 percent on a dry-weight basis or more than 0.4 milligrams of THC per container. The action on the cannabis regulatory bill, SB 49, came shortly after the House of Representatives passed a bill to allow terminally ill patients to use medical cannabis in hospitals and other healthcare facilities. The post Pennsylvania Can Legalize Marijuana Next Year If Democrats Flip Three Legislative Seats, House Speaker Says appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

Massachusetts voters overwhelmingly oppose an initiative on the November ballot that would roll back the state’s marijuana legalization law, according to a new poll. The survey, released on Thursday by The University of New Hampshire, shows that nearly three-quarters (71 percent) of respondents plan to vote against the anti-cannabis measure, while just 24 percent plan to support it. Another 5 percent said they don’t know or aren’t sure how they will vote on the proposal. The initiative—which would repeal laws allowing the regulated commercial sales of recreational cannabis and home cultivation while maintaining legal possession and continuing the medical marijuana system—had less support than any other Massachusetts ballot initiative included in the poll. Registered Democrats are opposed to the anti-cannabis proposal, 68 percent to 21 percent, while Republicans are against it, 62 percent to 29 percent. Unaffiliated voters oppose the measure 72 percent to 26 percent. The survey also asked voters how well they understand the various initiatives that are on the ballot. When it comes to the marijuana legalization rollback, 46 percent said they understand it very well, 32 percent said somewhat well, 11 percent said not very well and 9 percent said not well at all—indicating that supporters of the measure don’t have a large pool of voters who they can still educate about it. The poll involved interviews with 564 likely general election voters between September 17-21 and has a margin of error of +/-4.1 percent. A separate poll released last month found that Massachusetts voters oppose the marijuana legalization repeal measure, 55 percent to 33 percent. The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, which regulates the legal industry, announced this month that the state has surpassed $10 billion in adult-use cannabis purchases since the market launched in 2018. CCC Chair Chris Harding told Marijuana Moment that he can’t comment directly on the initiative and that the commission does not take positions on pending ballot questions or legislation, but he said that, in general, “repeal of the adult-use industry could eliminate thousands of jobs, hundreds of businesses and billions in tax revenue.” Meanwhile, a top labor union—the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Massachusetts State Council—is urging voters to reject the cannabis legalization rollback initiative. While the latest survey results provide some comfort to cannabis reform supporters, advocates are not resting. A coalition of Massachusetts marijuana business leaders, healthcare professionals and other advocates have launched a campaign to defeat the measure. The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) recently issued a warning that passage of the legalization rollback measure would have “disastrous political and economic consequences for legal cannabis markets everywhere.” “Even a too-close victory would spook markets and incentivize a rash of similar initiatives in states around the country, each costing millions to try and defeat,” the group said. After the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Office determined that organizers for the anti-cannabis proposal had turned in enough valid signatures to put the measure before voters, a marijuana reform advocate filed an objection with the State Ballot Law Commission claiming that various signatures were not genuine, obtained through fraudulent means or were not “signed substantially as registered.” The body rejected the challenge to the legal marijuana rollback measure, however, clearing it to go before voters to decide. In June, the campaign behind the anti-legalization ballot measure fired a signature gatherer it says was shown appearing to engage in “wholly unacceptable” conduct in a recent video. As Marijuana Moment reported, a man petitioning for the Massachusetts initiative as well as a similar anti-cannabis proposal in Maine was depicted in recent social media posts seeming to argue that voters who support legal marijuana access should sign the petitions in order to advance or protect reform. The campaign later said it has “zero tolerance for any circulation tactics that would mislead petition signers.” “The identified canvasser was immediately terminated, in coordination with our vendor, upon being made aware of the alleged conduct,” the group said. “The conduct apparent in the video would be wholly unacceptable and does not reflect how this campaign operates. We demand honesty, transparency and professionalism from everyone associated with our effort.” A video posted to Reddit of the signature gatherer shows the man collecting signatures outside a retail store in Massachusetts next to a sign that says “keep cannabis legal.” When confronted by a marijuana reform supporter who recorded the petitioner’s interactions with voters, he appeared to be trying to convince them that it is important to qualify the anti-cannabis measure for the ballot in order to then defeat it. “This is what we’re fighting against right here. That’s why we vote no,” he said. “If we can get this to the ballot right here, we vote no.” The person who captured the video pointed out that Massachusetts voters already approved marijuana legalization years ago, and that the only way it could be imminently repealed is if the new ballot measure qualified for the November election. If the initiative does not get enough signatures to go before voters, the state’s laws will remain the same. “It’s my job,” the petitioner insisted, however. “I know what I’m talking about.” “It’s a group of rich folks from out of state that want to basically take marijuana to when it was a medical marijuana card,” he said. “We don’t want that to happen.” The same man also appeared to also be gathering signatures for a separate measure in Maine that would similarly repeal laws allowing regulated adult-use marijuana sales and home cultivation rights for adults while keeping possession legal and adding new testing requirements for medical cannabis. A staffer for the prohibitionist organization Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), whose affiliated group SAM Action is largely funding the anti-cannabis ballot campaigns in both states, declined to comment about the petitioner’s conduct when reached by Marijuana Moment. The campaigns have previously been accused of misleading petitioning tactics. In Massachusetts, some voters reported that the campaign used fake cover letters for other ballot measures on unrelated issues like affordable housing and same-day voter registration during the first round of petitioning. Legal cannabis supporters filed an earlier formal complaint about the prohibitionist effort’s tactics, but the State Ballot Law Commission rejected the challenge. The measure also faced a legal challenge from cannabis industry operatives who argued it contains “impermissibly unrelated subjects,” and that the state attorney general’s official summary is “misleading and deficient.” The state Supreme Judicial Court heard oral arguments on the litigation challenging the anti-marijuana initiative but it ultimately ruled against the lawsuit. The governor of Massachusetts this week filed legislation proposing to increase military veterans’ access to medical marijuana by allowing them to receive patient cards without having to get a doctor’s recommendation. Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer. The post Almost Three-Quarters Of Massachusetts Voters Oppose Ballot Measure To Roll Back Marijuana Legalization, Poll Shows appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

A new ad from the campaign of Nebraska independent U.S. Senate candidate Dan Osborn is highlighting his opponent’s claim that legalizing cannabis will lead to the death of children. “If you legalize marijuana, you’re gonna kill your kids,” Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) is heard saying in the ad that challenger Dan Osborn’s campaign released on Thursday. The comments are from 2021, when Ricketts was Nebraska’s governor. He was speaking at a press conference ahead of a vote in the legislature on a bill to legalize medical cannabis. While that legislation ultimately failed, Nebraska voters approved medical marijuana legalization ballot measures in 2024. This is the most honest Pete Ricketts ad we’ve seen. pic.twitter.com/uIl21C9cer — Dan Osborn (@osbornforne) September 24, 2026 Although Osborn’s ad opens with the Ricketts marijuana quote, it is otherwise focused on the senator voting in favor of funding cuts to Medicaid while receiving campaign contributions from insurance companies. That said, Osborn has often discussed his support for cannabis reform in detail. “In 2024, 71 percent of Nebraska voters voted to legalize medical marijuana but Pete Ricketts has sabotaged the will of the people at every turn,” the independent candidate’s campaign website says. “He spent $500,000 on ads lying about medical marijuana. He said it would ‘kill your kids.’ He lobbied against legislation that would have properly regulated it.” “I will stand up for patients and caregivers to make sure people can get the medicine that helps them,” it says. “I will not only stop the obstruction, I will actively work to support the adoption of medical marijuana in our state.” Beyond medical use, Osborn has said that the government should more broadly “stop putting people in prison for cannabis use.” “The cat’s out of the bag on this one. The current regime only makes it easier for high schoolers to score,” he said. “Ask anyone who’s underage what’s easier to get, beer or weed, and they’ll tell you. Our current policy is government overreach at its finest.” Ricketts, for his part, teamed up with a chapter of prohibitionist group Smart Approaches to Marijuana in 2021 to appear in an advertisement arguing against medical cannabis. “The only difference between medical marijuana and recreational marijuana is word choice,” the then-governor said in the ad. “Doctors can’t prescribe it and pharmacists can’t provide it because it’s not medicine.” “Today the marijuana industry has set its sights on Nebraska. And the real goal is the legalization of recreational marijuana across the state,” he said. “We’ve seen what happens when progressive politics trump science and common sense. That can’t happen. It’s up to us to protect our kids and defend our communities. Big Marijuana’s way is the wrong way for Nebraska.” In addition to opposing medical marijuana in Nebraska, Ricketts has also taken a number of anti-cannabis steps since joining the Senate. He has advocated against the Trump administration’s move to reschedule marijuana, for example, and has cosponsored legislation that would continue to block cannabis businesses from taking federal tax deductions under Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code 280E—even under rescheduling. Rickets has also opposed legislation to allow banks to work with state-licensed marijuana businesses. Photo courtesy of Max Pixel. The post Senate Candidate Highlights GOP Opponent’s Claim That Legalizing Marijuana Will Cause Children To Die appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

“States need federal guidance on planned implementation to give them time to adjust laws and regulations and to give operators time to adjust their operations to meet federal requirements.” By Gillian Schauer, Cannabis Regulators Association The federal government’s successful implementation of a final rule rescheduling medical marijuana will depend heavily on state regulatory systems. Yet the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) headquarters has not meaningfully engaged the state regulators responsible for those systems—or the organization that represents them—despite offers to help address unresolved questions, identify conflicts between federal and state requirements and promote consistent implementation across the country. That engagement is especially important because the rescheduling rule itself relies extensively on state medical marijuana programs. Issued by the U.S. attorney general in April, the rule immediately moved U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved products containing marijuana, as well as cannabis “in any form covered by a state medical marijuana license,” from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). State programs are cited in the rule as being central to compliance with international drug laws and treaties. It says that state licensing systems “demonstrate a sustained capacity to achieve the public-interest objectives that underlie the CSA’s registration framework.” The attorney general further determined that incorporating those systems into the federal framework represents “the most effective and efficient means of achieving the CSA’s objectives” while promoting marijuana’s medical benefits and minimizing disruption for patients and existing state systems. State Officials And CANNRA Are A Resource To Aid In Policy Implementation As a nonpartisan, nonprofit association of state and territorial governments that regulate medical marijuana—the very regulatory regimes referenced throughout the rescheduling rule—the Cannabis Regulators Association (CANNRA) reached out to DEA following publication of the final rule in the Federal Register to assist with its implementation across states. CANNRA has continued to offer itself as a resource to DEA to share insight from governments with varied regulatory schemes. While DEA acknowledged our initial outreach, as well as some of our subsequent outreach, it has not met with or engaged with CANNRA, nor has DEA convened states to share information about the cannabis rescheduling rule. CANNRA is not an advocacy group and does not lobby for any particular policy. Our members are regulatory implementers, ensuring that policies passed into law are enacted on the ground. This uniquely positions CANNRA and our members to assist any federal agency seeking to implement cannabis-related policies and programs across states. CANNRA serves as a conduit of information to state regulators and continues to engage in efforts to educate regulators on rescheduling and foster information sharing across state and territorial governments, even without engagement from DEA. Fundamental Questions About Implementation Of The Rescheduling Rule Remain Unanswered In one letter CANNRA sent to DEA leadership, we shared a list of unanswered questions compiled from our members and requested a meeting to talk through them, even if they could not yet be answered. These include questions about how DEA will communicate and engage with states, what federal and state data sharing will be needed, how DEA is reviewing and interpreting differences among state laws in implementing the rescheduling and several core questions about the final rule itself. For example, will licensees in states with dual medical and recreational marijuana licenses be able to obtain DEA registration? Will DEA register licensees that have owners or employees with past criminal convictions, which several state programs allow by design? How will the federal purchase-and-resale mechanism work with state statutes governing product transfers and sales? What will DEA enforcement entail, and what will happen to state-legal, licensed operators that are not DEA-registered? Questions also remain about how to resolve areas where the final rule and state statutes conflict. For example, it states that documents certifying medical use—such as patient medical marijuana cards—must contain the name of the recommending practitioner, yet very few state statutes require that information, and some states have regulations or laws that could prevent compliance with such a requirement. The final rule also requires warning labels to comply with 21 U.S.C. 825(c), stating that it is a crime to transfer the drug to any person other than the patient. However, some state laws expressly allow designated caregivers, providers or dispensing agents who are not the patient to purchase, transport and grow cannabis on behalf of a patient. States need federal guidance on planned implementation to give them time to adjust laws and regulations and to give operators time to adjust their operations to meet federal requirements. DEA Regional Field Divisions Are Engaging With States While DEA headquarters has not engaged with CANNRA, a number of DEA field divisions have engaged productively with states. State regulators generally empathize with the task given to division offices, since regulators are no strangers to implementing brand-new marijuana regulatory programs. Communication between state regulatory agencies and DEA division offices has been welcomed and is essential to effective policy implementation. However, not all states have heard from their regional DEA division offices, including some states that have only medical marijuana programs. Information And Implementation Have Varied Across Regions Perhaps because fundamental implementation questions remain unanswered, information provided about the final rule, as well as approaches to its implementation have varied across regions. For example, state regulators across the country have received different answers about whether licensees holding both state medical and state recreational licenses or licensees with criminal records can become DEA registrants. Variation in information, implementation and communication creates confusion among licensees—many of whom operate across different states and DEA regions. It can also create enforcement challenges for state regulators. For example, if DEA requires alternate packaging or labeling and a state regulator is not aware that the federal agency has imposed a requirement that differs from state statutes, compliance and enforcement of existing state laws become increasingly complex. Varied approaches to implementation can also create uncertainty for patients and clinicians involved in state-regulated programs. DEA headquarters has reached out to most states to request data related to each state’s medical marijuana program. While the same data have been requested across states, state regulatory context and statutes vary widely. Understanding this variation in state regulatory policy and markets is imperative when interpreting any data and makes data aggregation across states difficult. This is another area where CANNRA can, and would like to, provide assistance. Without appropriate context, data could lead to policies that do not work in practice or cannot be implemented in all states. What Could Improve Implementation On The Ground? Cannabis regulators across the country have learned through their own state regulatory work that successful implementation depends on coordination across all levels of government, consistent implementation across licensees and license types and regular, clear communication both internally with government partners and externally with stakeholders and the public. Accordingly, implementation of the final rule could be greatly strengthened if DEA headquarters worked with state regulators and CANNRA to: (1) discuss variation in state policy and areas where federal policy may conflict with state statutes, or vice versa; (2) hear about regional variation in implementation of the final rule to inform a more consistent approach across the country; and (3) discuss ways to strengthen implementation of, and communication about, the final rule in collaboration with state government officials. As a nonpartisan, government-only association composed of the very state medical marijuana regulatory programs named in the final rule, CANNRA continues to stand ready to provide technical support to any federal government agency responsible for implementing marijuana rescheduling. Gillian Schauer is the executive director of the Cannabis Regulators Association, a nonpartisan, nonprofit association of state, territorial and international governments that regulate marijuana, cannabinoids and hemp. The post DEA Should Coordinate With State Officials To Ensure Marijuana Rescheduling Is Successfully Implemented (Op-Ed) appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

MA gov’s bill to increase veteran medical marijuana access; Study: Every legalization state sees reduced teen cannabis use; Psychedelic therapy op-ed 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… Your good deed for the day: donate to an independent publisher like Marijuana Moment and ensure that as many voters as possible have access to the most in-depth cannabis reporting out there. Support our work at https://www.patreon.com/marijuanamoment / TOP THINGS TO KNOW Texas Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton has accepted more than half a million dollars in alcohol industry-linked donations to his political campaigns while taking steps to crack down on cannabis, a review of campaign finance records by Marijuana Moment shows. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) filed legislation proposing to increase military veterans’ access to medical marijuana by allowing them to receive patient cards without having to get a doctor’s recommendation. A new report from the Marijuana Policy Project shows that teen use of marijuana has decreased in every single state that has legalized cannabis for adults—contradicting opponents’ scare tactic messaging that claimed the reform would harm kids. Psychedelic therapist Melissa Scannell argues in a new Marijuana Moment op-ed that access to substances like psilocybin or ibogaine is “not the entire treatment” and that successful therapy requires “careful preparation, skilled support and meaningful integration afterward.” “Access to a substance without access to a therapeutic container is not comprehensive mental health care.” / FEDERAL The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy announced nearly $70 million in Drug-Free Communities Support Program and Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act Local Drug Crisis Program grants. The Drug Enforcement Administration highlighted tips for students to stay safe in the context of drugs during the beginning of the school year. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) filed an amendment to a college sports bill to prohibit agreements with student athletes that promote “gambling, tobacco or nicotine products, marijuana, alcoholic beverages, or sexually explicit commercial products or services.” Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) tweeted, “From mayor to senator, I’ve always been pro legal weed. While I don’t partake, it’s a freedom issue — adults should be able to make their own choice to use it or not.” / STATES Nebraska’s attorney general said he won’t be challenging the state’s voter-approved medical cannabis law anymore after losing in the state Supreme Court. The Michigan Senate amended and approved a House-passed bill to require officials to develop and distribute a notice on the effects of cannabis, hemp and nicotine products to schools. Florida regulators filed proposed changes to rules on background checks on medical cannabis business employees and owners. Maine regulators are considering changes to rules on medical cannabis research grants. Illinois regulators have granted approvals that double the number of dispensaries licensed to sell medical cannabis. Delaware’s top marijuana regulator visited a cannabis cultivation facility. Kentucky regulators posted an update on growth of the medical cannabis program. Georgia regulators will host a medical cannabis conference on October 16. — 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. — / LOCAL The Nevada City, California City Council approved a resolution making criminalization of psychedelics among the city’s lowest law enforcement priorities. Los Angeles, California officials announced that the first cannabis dispensary has joined the city’s Green Business Program. / INTERNATIONAL Scotland First Minister John Swinney said he supports decriminalizing drugs. / SCIENCE & HEALTH A study provided “preclinical evidence that Lebanese Cannabis sativa L. crude ethanolic extract possesses antitumor and chemosensitizing potential in colorectal cancer models.” A review concluded that “results support MDMA-[assisted therapy] for PTSD core symptoms and quality-of-life measures.” / ADVOCACY, OPINION & ANALYSIS The Hemp Beverage Alliance announced members of a supply chain advisory board. / BUSINESS Aurora Cannabis Inc. filed an application with the Alberta Securities Commission seeking an order requiring Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. to address “several deficiencies” in its unsolicited bid to acquire the company. Curaleaf took out a full-page ad in the New York Post calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) to sign legislation aimed at addressing out-of-state cannabis entering the New York’s market. IM Cannabis Corp. regained compliance with Nasdaq minimum price bid requirements. Herbal Wellness Center in Jackson, Ohio reopened after a temporary closure that followed reports of adverse health effects from people who bought vape pens there. / CULTURE Matthew McConaughey spoke about smoking marijuana with Willie Nelson. 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 Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images. The post GOP Senate candidate takes alcohol money while opposing cannabis reform (Newsletter: September 25, 2026) appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net