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California’s top marijuana regulator says the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) hasn’t been cooperative in answering questions about the implications of the Trump administration’s rescheduling move—while the federal agency is simultaneously asking the state itself to share more information about its medical cannabis program. “We have received no formal updates from DEA headquarters on implementation guidance of the order,” California Department of Cannabis Control Director Clint Kellum said at a meeting of the Cannabis Advisory Committee on Tuesday. “We have been trying to communicate with DEA headquarters to get a better understanding of what their expectations rule set will be for operators under the guidance,” he said. “Unfortunately, to date, we have not been offered any information on that front.” 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 California official said that regulators are waiting for further guidance from the feds before they make further changes to state rules related to marijuana’s evolving federal legal status. “The last thing what we want to do is try to be guessing what they’re going to be doing, and then trying to make changes that have widespread effects across our market, and then ultimately to find out that there’s some sort of different path or vision,” he said. “I know that’s probably not sufficiently satisfying, but I think we want to sort of be methodical in our approach and make sure that we have the correct underpinning of information before we make wholesale significant changes.” In May, DCC adopted initial emergency rules changes for the state’s marijuana licensing process that are intended to make it easier for businesses to qualify for benefits in line with the Trump administration’s recent decision to move ahead with federally rescheduling medical cannabis. In April, Attorney General Todd Blanche issued an order immediately moving marijuana products regulated by a state medical cannabis license from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to Schedule III, along with marijuana products that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). A DEA hearing that recently concluded testimony is considering broader marijuana rescheduling. Meanwhile, DEA launched a form for cannabis businesses to register for federal protections in line with rescheduling. Kellum, of DCC, said that “other states are starting to see DEA inspections” of marijuana businesses that registered, but that the agency has been “focused more in areas with clear state medical cannabis programs than mixed states like ourselves.” “There appears to be some regional variation in the approach to those inspections and some of their questions,” he said, in line with reporting from Marijuana Moment showing that DEA officials are posing differing sets of follow-up questions to cannabis business from state to state. California has “received data requests from the DEA in relation to medicinal production and dispensing figures in the state,” Kellum said. “We have asked questions in relation to what the data will be used for, and would like to spend some time with them, helping them understand California’s market and sort of the different incentive models and structuring,” he said. “In our market, someone identifying their medical use is is not really incentivized, and so not knowing how they would use that data, we kind of haven’t been able to sort of share information the way we would hope.” Kellum also noted that federal rescheduling could have implications for international and interstate cannabis commerce, saying that officials would be “spending some time this fall thinking about” the issue. Ultimately, the top California cannabis official said that there are four major things the state is tracking for “material changes.” Those are actual DEA guidance, the result of the agency’s broader rescheduling hearing, guidance from the Internal Revenue Service on cannabis business tax issues and litigation that has been filed to challenge the reform. In the meantime, Kellum’s comments about DEA’s lack of communication isn’t the first time that top state cannabis officials have complained about a lack of guidance from the Trump administration about the rescheduling process. “None of us really can effectively advise our licensees, which is just incredibly frustrating, especially with a ticking clock,” James Pepper, chair of the Vermont Cannabis Control Board, said earlier this year. Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer. The post DEA Hasn’t Shown ‘Any Sort Of Interest’ In Helping States Prepare For Marijuana Rescheduling, Top California Official Says appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

A North Carolina government commission that was appointed by the governor is considering recommending lawmakers legalize marijuana sales through a system of state-run stores that could be supplied by a “central cannabis warehouse”—while leaving cultivation and manufacturing to private businesses. The North Carolina Advisory Council on Cannabis, which Gov. Josh Stein (D) convened last year, has been holding an ongoing series of meetings, including via subcommittees focused on specific aspects of marijuana reform. The body’s Market and Regulatory Subcommittee convened on Friday to discuss options for how to structure a legal marijuana industry, including its production, distribution and retail tiers. While the panel has not yet made a formal recommendation to the legislature, a document accompanying the subcommittee meeting agenda shows that it is weighing a model where the “state exclusively controls the retail channel while private businesses remain responsible for cultivation, manufacturing/processing, and wholesale distribution.” The approach, it says, is a hybrid that combines North Carolina’s current “regulatory architecture and experience with state-controlled liquor retail” and Quebec, Canada’s “exclusive cannabis retail channel” and “explicit objective of moving consumers into the regulated market.” For cultivation and manufacturing, there would be multiple license types, including one for small-scale craft farms, as well as a standard licensed for larger commercial operations. Another license would cover manufacturers and processors who purchase cannabis from cultivators. At the wholesale tier the panel is weighing several options. One would involve licensing private entities that compete for businesses from producers for the right to supply a state retail system. Another contemplates the state itself operating a “central cannabis warehouse” that would be analogous to one currently run by the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission (NC ABC). A third hybrid option would involve regulated private wholesale, an option state central warehouse and state-controlled retail. When it comes to retail, the panel is considering recommending that the state create a new North Carolina Cannabis Control Commission or assign retail control functions to an existing state entity with a separate state cannabis retail corporation/system, according to the document. The objective is “bringing consumers into and keeping them in the legal market without encouraging cannabis consumption,” it says. The document lists two options for how the state-controlled stores could work. The first involves centralized state retail with a state-run corporation and stores, and the other contemplates decentralized control, similar to how the state handles alcohol, with a state commission, local boards and stores. The document for the meeting, which involved a presentation from NC ABC’s Renee Metz, also lists several “important elements” for consideration. Those include protecting the three-tier system from vertical integration, requiring state product approval, craft farms, control of the retail footprint, a role for local governments and a closed-loop financial model. It also specifies that “state-controlled does not have to mean state-set pricing.” The document additionally lists a number of questions for discussion, including: 1. Should NC’s cannabis system use a three-tier structure modeled on the state’s alcohol system? 2. Should cultivation/manufacturing, wholesale distribution and retail ownership be separated? 3. Should retail cannabis be sold exclusively through state-controlled stores? 4. Should NC use a centralized state warehouse, private licensed wholesalers, or a hybrid? 5. How should the Craft Farm License be structured so small farmers can participate without creating regulatory loopholes? 6. What forms of vertical integration and common ownership should be prohibited? 7. How should the state determine retail prices and adjust them in response to the illicit market? 8. What role should local governments have in determining where state cannabis stores operate? The panel’s consideration of state-run cannabis stores comes as a new poll shows that North Carolinians strongly support legalizing medical marijuana, and that a majority wants to go even further by legalizing cannabis for recreational use. Meanwhile, the governor is continuing to pressure the GOP-controlled legislature for marijuana reform. Last month, the governor called on lawmakers to legalize and regulate cannabis in a way that “protects kids” while lawmakers this week are considering a bill to restrict hemp THC products. In a social media post he noted that lawmakers are considering legislation that “aims to eliminate the Wild West that is North Carolina’s THC market.” The governor has repeatedly called on lawmakers to broadly legalize and regulate cannabis, though GOP legislative leaders have been more interested in focusing on the narrower hemp issue. A bill to restrict hemp and kratom products that was recently approved by the Senate now awaits potential action in the House. Meanwhile, lawmakers in North Carolina have been considering legislation to legalize medical cannabis for the last several sessions—with the Senate approving several proposals and the House refusing to follow suit. North Carolina’s Senate president pro tempore recently said that lawmakers will take a more serious look at legalizing medical marijuana following the Trump administration’s move to reschedule cannabis at the federal level. — 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 governor-appointed cannabis commission in North Carolina issued a report in April initially recommending that the state move away from a criminalization-based approach to the plant and toward a system of “robust” regulations that provide for adults’ legal access to THC products. The North Carolina Advisory Council on Cannabis, which Stein convened last year, said that the current “absence of regulation for North Carolina’s intoxicating cannabis market raises numerous concerns,” noting that hemp products are readily available yet largely unregulated and that marijuana remains prohibited altogether in the state, even for medical use. “Compared to regulated marijuana frameworks in other states, this environment presents identifiable risks,” the interim report says. “While some operators voluntarily implement consumer protection protocols, these safeguards are not required under state law.” Stein, for his part, thanked the group for its “expertise, hard work, and thoughtful deliberation” in a press release and reiterated his support for legalizing marijuana. Members are tasked with developing and submitting initial recommendations on a “comprehensive cannabis policy, including any proposed legislation,” with a final report due by December 31 of this year. During his time as the state’s attorney general, Stein led a separate task force under then-Gov. Roy Cooper (D) that examined racial injustice issues and ultimately recommended decriminalizing marijuana and studying broader legalization in response to racially disparate enforcement trends. A tribe in North Carolina, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, launched the state’s first marijuana dispensary in 2024—despite the protests of certain Republican congressional lawmakers. Democratic lawmakers recently filed legislation to allow voters to decide whether to legalize marijuana for personal or medical use at the ballot box this November—though Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger (R) said the bill is unlikely to advance. Meanwhile, bipartisan North Carolina lawmakers have been stepping up the push for psychedelics reform legislation. Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer. The post North Carolina State Panel Considers Government-Run Marijuana Dispensaries And Centralized Warehouse appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

“Everybody’s being held to the same standards as far as testing is concerned.” By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent State cannabis regulators issued a recall Wednesday after random testing found mold in pre-rolled joints sold in the state. The product, Juicy J’s cherry limeade infused pre-rolls, failed testing for aspergillus, “a common mold that can be tolerated in small amounts by healthy individuals but may cause adverse health effects in high amounts or in individuals with compromised immune systems,” the recall notice states. No adverse reactions have been reported, according to the Missouri Division of Cannabis Regulation. The division said it is working with the Ellisville-based manufacturing facility to address the problem. The Independent did not immediately receive a response from the company. Last year, regulators began double checking the work of licensed testing labs to catch potential problems with mold, pesticides and other contaminants. Mold, in particular, has been a concern raised by cannabis testing experts. During an MJ Unpacked cannabis conference panel in 2024, testing experts discussed information obtained through the Missouri Sunshine Law that showed 82 percent of Missouri’s cannabis testing is conducted at one licensed lab, Greenway Magazine reported. The data showed the laboratory detected mold problems far less frequently than other Missouri labs and laboratories nationwide. The lab, identified in the data as “Lab D,” reported an aspergillus failure rate of just under 0.5 percent—roughly one-eighth the national average. The state’s other labs had a failure rate of 3.3 percent, compared with the national average of 3.8 percent. The disparity raised questions about whether cannabis products were being adequately screened for mold. However, Ryan Bernard, the division’s testing and research unit manager, told The Independent last year that those results didn’t raise any alarm for him. “Everybody’s being held to the same standards as far as testing is concerned,” Bernard said. The manufacturer of the recalled Juicy J’s products is owned by CCMRB Processing LLC, whose owners also lead Michigan-based cannabis company Common Citizen. The group also owns a Fresh Karma dispensary through CCMRB Retail LLC, which was named in a lawsuit against Good Day Farm filed in May. Wednesday’s action is the second cannabis product recall Missouri regulators have issued this month. The division also issued a recall earlier this month for several products made at a manufacturing facility in Cuba whose parent company is GF Extraction Lab LLC. The ownership group also owns five Root 66 Dispensary locations. According to that recall notice, “The recalled products contain cannabinoids produced through chemical modification, conversion, or synthetic derivation of cannabinoids.” In previous recalls in which regulators cited the same issue, the products involved hemp or cannabinoids that did not originate in Missouri. Asked whether the recalled products were properly entered into Metrc, Missouri’s statewide marijuana tracking system, the division’s spokeswoman Lisa Cox said, “We cannot comment at this time due to it being an ongoing investigation.” The Independent repeatedly sought comment from the owners of GF Extraction Lab but did not receive a response. This story was updated to correct the location of the CCMRB Processing LLC manufacturing facility. This story was first published by Missouri Independent. The post Missouri Marijuana Officials Announce Recall Of Pre-Rolled Joints Following Mold Testing Results appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

Democratic lawmakers in Pennsylvania’s Senate are stepping up the push to legalize marijuana in the state by scheduling a hearing focused on the issue for this week. The Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Policy Committee will host the meeting on Friday to “examine modernizing the commonwealth’s adult use cannabis laws,” according to an announcement. The committee’s chair, Sen. Nick Miller (D) will lead the hearing, alongside Sen. Sharif Street (D), who has long championed marijuana reform and has sponsored several bills to enact legalization. “The focus will include enforcement and safety needs, social and economic considerations, as well as how to ensure that meaningful criminal justice reform updates are included,” the committee’s announcement said. The hearing, titled “Adult-Use Cannabis: Criminal Justice, Safety & Economic Impacts,” will be held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Philadelphia and is set to follow a separate summit event that is part of the 9th annual Cannabis Opportunities Conference that’s also being held at the hotel. The event comes as Democratic lawmakers in Pennsylvania continue to push for marijuana legalization, including with a discharge resolution that Street filed seeking to bring a bipartisan cannabis legalization 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 Senate Democrats Highlight Need To Legalize Marijuana With New Hearing appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

Illinois would substantially expand its efforts to repair the harms of marijuana criminalization enforcement under a new bill that seeks to give cash payments directly to people impacted by prohibition laws. The legislation, filed on Thursday by Rep. La Shawn K. Ford (D), would create a new Illinois Freedom Program “for the purpose of issuing direct cash payments to eligible individuals who have been disproportionately impacted by historical cannabis enforcement.” The effort would supplement the state’s existing Restore, Reinvest, and Renew (R3) program, which uses marijuana tax revenue to support community reinvestment in areas harmed by the war on drugs. The cash payments would be administered through a new Illinois Freedom Fund, which the bill says would “consist of the incremental growth in cannabis tax revenue.” The legislation specifies that the existence of the cash payments program “shall not reduce, reallocate, or otherwise diminish” the amount of cannabis revenue distributed to grantees under the existing R3 program. “The Restore, Reinvest, and Renew Program Board shall ensure that the distribution of funds to R3 Area grantees is neither reduced below base year levels nor delayed as a result of the Illinois Freedom Program,” it says. That board, in cooperation with the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, would be authorized to adopt rules to implement and administer the new cash payments program under the bill. If HB 5815 is enacted into law, the program would take effect on July 1, 2027. Ford, the legislation’s sponsor, is running for a seat in Congress in the November elections to replace the retiring Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL). Meanwhile in Illinois, lawmakers and Gov. JB Pritzker (D) this year enacted omnibus cannabis reform legislation that doubles the amount of marijuana that adults can legally possess, allows drive-thrus and curbside pickups at dispensaries and lets them stay open for longer hours of operation, among other changes. The new law also allows existing recreational marijuana dispensaries to get permission to begin selling medical cannabis, which is taxed at a much lower rate than adult-use products. Regulators granted 37 such new medical marijuana approvals this month. Last month, Illinois officials separately added sickle cell disease and polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS) with chronic pain as new medical cannabis qualifying conditions. The governor held a signing ceremony for the cannabis expansion legislation at a marijuana dispensary, saying he is “proud that Illinois continues to lead the nation in showing what thoughtful, balanced cannabis policy can achieve.” In 2019, Pritzker signed the state’s initial marijuana legalization policy into law. The post People Harmed By Marijuana Criminalization Would Receive Direct Cash Payments From The Government Under New Illinois Bill appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

IA Democratic governor candidate: Legalize marijuana; Study: medical cannabis for lower back pain; AL withdraws objection to rescheduling 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… Free to read (but not free to produce)! We’re proud of our newsletter and the reporting we publish at Marijuana Moment, and we’re happy to provide it for free. But it takes a lot of work and resources to make this happen. If you value Marijuana Moment, invest in our success on Patreon so we can expand our coverage and more readers can benefit: https://www.patreon.com/marijuanamoment / TOP THINGS TO KNOW Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Zachary Nunn (R-IA) filed a bill to make it so past marijuana use could not be used to deny federal employment or security clearances. Iowa Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand said legalizing marijuana is a “no-brainer” move to raise revenue and help ward off a “fiscal time bomb” that could lead to cuts in funding for education and public safety. A new study that followed patients with chronic lower back pain for a period of 10 years found that “medical cannabis therapy was associated with reductions in opioid use (−89.8%), pain intensity (−84.2%), and functional disability (−30.4%).” “Substantial polypharmacy reductions and acceptable tolerability were observed.” The Alabama State Committee of Public Health unanimously voted to withdraw a previous objection to rescheduling marijuana under state law in line with the Trump administration’s federal move. The University of Maine’s Karyn Sporer and Robert Glover argue in a new op-ed that 25 years of data on Portugal’s successful drug decriminalization law shows that “reducing the harms of drug use requires painstakingly building and sustaining a system that connects people with treatment, healthcare and social support without making abstinence a precondition for receiving help.” “Although the Portuguese still hold negative views of substance use, problematic use increasingly came to be understood as a health and social problem rather than a moral failing warranting punishment.” / FEDERAL U.S. Tax Court is considering petitions from a cannabis business that is challenging taxes and penalties, arguing that its products aren’t controlled substances because of their low THC content. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is proposing to revise some National Survey on Drug Use and Health questions to ask about “using” marijuana rather than “smoking” it in order to to “measure other ways of using marijuana that are common with youth, such as vaping or edibles.” The Drug Enforcement Administration is hosting a New England summit on Monday. Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) expressed concerns about federal marijuana rescheduling, while independent challenger Dan Osborn discussed his support for the reform. / STATES An Idaho representative discussed his support for a proposed constitutional initiative to block voters from legalizing marijuana or other drugs through ballot initiatives. Texas state Senate candidates detailed their views on hemp THC product policy. Michigan regulators announced a recall of marijuana products after testing indicated they contain a banned chemical. New Mexico regulators granted the state’s first medical psilocybin producer permit. California regulators are proposing changes to rules on group tagging of cannabis plants. New Jersey regulators published guidance about marijuana business violation penalties. Kentucky regulators posted guidance for advanced practice registered nurses to renew their ability to recommend medical cannabis. Minnesota regulators sent a newsletter with various cannabis updates. The North Carolina North Carolina Advisory Council on Cannabis’s Market and Regulatory Subcommittee met. Colorado regulators will hold a hearing on proposed changes to marijuana tax rules on October 15. — 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. — / INTERNATIONAL New South Wales, Australia lawmakers approved legislation to protect medical cannabis patients from DUI charges. Canadian regulators published updated guidance on analytics methods in cannabis testing. / SCIENCE & HEALTH A study found “no statistically significant impact of cannabis legalization on fatal THC-positive crashes or all crashes” in Canada. The findings of a study of dogs “support the potential of cannabinoids as safe adjuvants in multimodal anesthesia in veterinary medicine.” / ADVOCACY, OPINION & ANALYSIS Pacific Legal Foundation officials authored an op-ed arguing that a scheduled federal ban on hemp THC products will undermine the Trump administration’s plan to cover CBD through Medicare. / BUSINESS Smiling Bud workers in Ridgefield, New Jersey voted to unionize with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 360. Vireo Growth Inc. issued shares to Altmore and Altmore Debt I, LP in connection with a confidential settlement agreement with SHWZ Altmore, LLC. 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 Cannabis & federal employment bill in Congress (Newsletter: September 21, 2026) appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

“Reducing the harms of drug use requires painstakingly building and sustaining a system that connects people with treatment, healthcare and social support.” By Karyn Sporer and Robert Glover, University of Maine via The Conversation Nearly 70,000 Americans died of a drug overdose in 2025. While that is a decline from the nearly 108,000 deaths recorded in 2022, these grim figures distinguish the U.S. from other high-income countries. At the peak of the opioid crisis, the U.S. overdose death rate was 68 percent higher than Canada’s and nearly five times that of Australia. And death is only the starkest indicator: Substance use disorder imposes hundreds of billions of dollars in healthcare, criminal justice and lost productivity costs each year—to say nothing of the incalculable disruption to families and communities. For decades, U.S. drug policy has aimed to reduce drug use by disrupting supply, punishing possession and use and promoting abstinence. But this isn’t the only approach to addressing drug use. 2026 marks the 25th anniversary of Portugal’s landmark decision to decriminalize the possession of all drugs for personal use. This is one of the world’s longest-running efforts to center public health and harm reduction in national drug policy. As a criminologist and a political scientist, we have spent the past three years teaching a course on drug policy and harm reduction in Portugal, bringing dozens of students to the country to study its approach firsthand. That experience has given us a close look at both the promise and the limitations of the Portuguese model. Surprising assumptions While in Portugal, our students meet with policymakers, health and law enforcement officials, treatment providers and practitioners. These experiences complement our research on how policies once considered unthinkable can gain acceptance among the public and policymakers. We also examine nonpunitive approaches to problematic drug use—that is, recurrent drug use that significantly interferes with a person’s health or quality of life. What always strikes us in our work here are the pragmatic and, compared with the U.S., surprisingly apolitical assumptions that underlie Portugal’s approach: People will use drugs, and public policy can reduce the harms associated with that use even when it cannot entirely prevent it. In practice, this means measures such as providing sterile equipment to consume drugs, expanding harm-reduction services that can help people better understand the substances they are using and operating overdose prevention sites where substances can be used under medical supervision. These measures do not treat drug use as harmless, nor do they abandon recovery as a goal. Instead, they recognize that reducing harm has value in itself, and that keeping people alive and healthy can be the first step on a path away from disordered use. A devastating problem Portugal embraced this approach during a devastating heroin crisis in the late 1990s. Injection drug use was fueling one of Europe’s worst HIV epidemics, while problematic drug use was felt in Portuguese communities across social and economic lines. At that time, an estimated 1 percent of the population was addicted to heroin, with overdose deaths rising sharply. By the turn of the century, Portugal had the highest HIV incidence in the European Union among people who injected drugs. Even before formal decriminalization, police, healthcare professionals and other workers who came into contact with people using drugs had already begun directing them away from punishment and toward care. These emerging practices soon became the basis for a broader national response. In 1998, the Portuguese government appointed a multidisciplinary commission of experts, including physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, legal experts and researchers, to rethink the country’s drug policy. Its recommendations became the basis for a national strategy integrating prevention, treatment, harm reduction and social reintegration that was adopted in 1999, followed by decriminalization in 2001. Decriminalization does not mean that possession simply goes unaddressed: People found to have small amounts of substances for personal use can be referred to multidisciplinary dissuasion commissions, which can connect them with services or impose minor administrative sanctions. But they cannot be criminally charged or incarcerated for possession. Drug manufacturing and trafficking, meanwhile, remain criminal offenses. Portugal’s financial investment in this strategy has remained in place despite financial crises and budget cuts. The country continues to provide multiple ways for people who use substances to access healthcare and treatment, while also addressing problems such as housing and unemployment that can make sustained recovery difficult. Dramatic results The results have been striking. Drug-related deaths fell sharply as Portugal adopted its new approach, and they remain low by European standards. In 2023, Portugal recorded 105 fatal drug overdoses, up slightly from 96 the previous year and 81 in 2021, but still far below the levels seen at the height of the country’s drug crisis. New HIV diagnoses associated with injection drug use, which still numbered in the hundreds annually in the mid-2000s, fell from 583 in 2005 to just 19 in 2024, a decline of roughly 97 percent. Treatment also remains central to the Portuguese model: In 2023, more than 24,000 people received care through the country’s specialized public outpatient system. This system consists of a nationwide network of multidisciplinary treatment teams providing medical care and connections to other health and social services. The use of cannabis—which, like all drugs in Portugal, is illegal though not a criminal offense—is now one of the leading reasons people enter this system. Portugal also experienced a broader shift in how problematic drug use was publicly understood. Although the Portuguese still hold negative views of substance use, problematic use increasingly came to be understood as a health and social problem rather than a moral failing warranting punishment. An international model—or one of a kind? These outcomes helped turn Portugal into an international model for drug policy reform. But its experience has proven easier to admire than to replicate. More recent experiments underscore a less celebrated lesson from Portugal: These policies depend on an integrated system of health and social services, sustained political support and buy-in from the institutions, including law enforcement, charged with making them work. British Columbia’s 2023 decriminalization pilot offers a more complicated example and an important contrast with Portugal. Despite Canada’s universal healthcare system and an established harm-reduction infrastructure, the province did not replicate Portugal’s integrated model. Police were not required to refer people to services, treatment providers received no additional funding and waitlists persisted. The three-year pilot sharply reduced possession offenses and police drug seizures, but there was little evidence of broader health benefits. Amid growing concerns about public drug use, the province allowed the experiment to expire in January 2026. If British Columbia illustrates the limits of reform even with a comparatively robust public health system, Oregon’s experience illustrates the risks of pursuing such a strategy without one. In Oregon, voters approved Measure 110 in 2020, decriminalizing drug possession while directing cannabis tax revenue toward expanded treatment and recovery services. But a December 2025 state audit concluded that implementation was plagued by unstable leadership, delayed services and poor coordination. Unlike Portugal, and to a lesser extent British Columbia, Oregon also failed to secure buy-in from law enforcement, leaving many officers opposed to the policy and skeptical of their role in implementing it. Rather than creating an integrated system of care, new services often operated alongside the state’s already fragmented behavioral health system. Meanwhile, highly visible drug use, rising fentanyl deaths and a citation system that rarely connected people to treatment fueled public frustration and political pressure to reverse the course. Oregon lawmakers recriminalized possession in 2024, before the state had even developed reliable data to assess whether the experiment had improved access to care or reduced drug-related harms. Building a sustainable policy Twenty-five years on, Portugal’s most important lesson may not be about decriminalization itself. Rather, its experience shows that reducing the harms of drug use requires painstakingly building and sustaining a system that connects people with treatment, healthcare and social support without making abstinence a precondition for receiving help. Changing drug laws can be part of that project. The harder work is building and sustaining the institutions that make a public health approach possible. Karyn Sporer is an associate professor of sociology at the University of Maine, where Robert Glover is an associate professor of political science and honors. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. The post 25 Years Of Drug Decriminalization In Portugal Shows Importance Of Investing In Public Health Approach (Op-Ed) appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

“The program’s already live, even though it’s still Schedule I in Alabama.” By Anna Barrett, Alabama Reflector Alabama’s public health officials on Thursday withdrew their objection to the federal rescheduling of marijuana, a move officials characterized as procedural, following a July public hearing. The governing body of the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) in May voted to delay the rescheduling so that officials could have more time to determine how to implement it, but noted that they “fully intended” to reschedule the drug. State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said Thursday morning that he did not see any issues with the change, and the public comments did not reflect the impact of rescheduling but rather marijuana itself. “I would say there are a lot of really passionate people that had a lot of really strong feelings about it, and I don’t want to minimize that or oversimplify that,” Harris said. “The comments were people who really support medical marijuana or who really don’t support medical marijuana. The comments weren’t really about what we were trying to get at, which [was] ‘what are the consequences of rescheduling.’” Conservative activists at the public hearing said the rescheduling would “harm children” and “worsen Alabama’s mental health crisis.” The only proponent of rescheduling at the public hearing said not doing so would instill distrust between patients and doctors. Harris said ADPH’s legal team resolved all of the department’s concerns, like the impact to pharmacies and those seeking the medication. In April, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) moved marijuana from Schedule I—the Drug Enforcement Administration’s list of drugs with the greatest potential for abuse and least legitimate use—to Schedule III, with drugs considered to have a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The order followed an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in December instructing the DOJ to move towards rescheduling. Former President Joe Biden instructed DOJ to reschedule the drug in 2024, but hearings on the move were canceled in early 2025. The federal order applies to state-licensed medical marijuana products in the states that allow medicinal use of the drug. The move means those businesses can deduct business expenses from their federal taxes and researchers have access to state-legal products. As a Schedule I drug, only cannabis grown in a federally approved facility could be studied, severely limiting the supply available to researchers. Alabama’s medical cannabis program was created by the Legislature in 2021. Three dispensaries are open in the state, with seven more to open within the next few months. At the program’s full capacity, there will be nearly 40 dispensaries. Harris said the rescheduling would not impact the state’s medical cannabis program. “The program’s already live, even though it’s still Schedule I in Alabama. The reason is, the statute was written essentially to decriminalize it for people who are authorized to have it,” he said. The committee unanimously withdrew its objection. This story was first published by Alabama Reflector. The post Alabama Officials Withdraw Objection To Rescheduling Marijuana Under State Law In Line With Trump’s Federal Move appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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Legalizing marijuana is a “no-brainer” move to help ward off a “fiscal time bomb” in Iowa that could otherwise lead to cuts in funding for education and public safety in the state, the Democratic candidate for governor says. “I think we should treat it the way we treat alcohol. That seems like a no-brainer to me, right?” Rob Sand, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, said at a town hall event in Dallas County on Wednesday in response to a question from a voter who said Iowa is “losing money” to other states that have legalized cannabis. “Alcohol is a dangerous drug. You shouldn’t abuse it. Also, we’re not going to throw you in prison for having a beer,” Sand said. “Why is it any different for marijuana? It is a dangerous drug. You shouldn’t abuse it. We shouldn’t be throwing people in prison just for using it.” The Democratic candidate said that “when I say treat it like alcohol, I literally mean treat it like alcohol.” He then went through a list of common objections to cannabis legalization and explained how he would respond to them. “So when I hear people say, ‘Well, I don’t want to smell it.’ Same. You shouldn’t be allowed to smoke it in public. Simple rule: you can’t drink alcohol in public, right? People say, ‘Well, I’m worried about kids. I’ve heard cases in Colorado where they got colorful gummies, and the kids find them, and then the kids get sick.’ I agree. You shouldn’t be able to market it to children. You shouldn’t be able to use colorful designs on your packages. And if you’re doing gummies, they can look like an eraser, right? They don’t need to be red and blue and green and look like gummy bears. People say, ‘Well, I don’t know, Rob. It’s a lot stronger than the stuff that I was smoking in the 70s.’ To which I say, ‘I wasn’t there. Whatever you say, I believe you.’ I don’t have a basis for comparison then or now. I actually haven’t used it. But how do we handle that with alcohol? When you buy a beer, you can see what the alcohol content is on the beer, right? We treat hard liquor differently, but you can see when you buy hard liquor what the content is on that, and that way you know what you’re getting into. We can do that with marijuana as well.” Sand, who is currently Iowa’s state auditor, said the state currently has a budget surplus, but that annual spending is overtaking revenue. “I call this a fiscal time bomb. Our budget is nine and a half billion,” he said. “Imagine the cuts to public education and to public safety if we don’t take action to fix this.” “So we need to do something now,” he said, arguing that legalizing marijuana is “one of the things that we should do.” “We would have hundreds of millions of dollars every single year if we just treat marijuana the way we treat alcohol,” Sand said, adding that the thinks the state should also put an income limit on school vouchers and make data centers pay fair taxes. “All three of those would save us hundreds of millions of dollars a year alone,” he said. “So if we do all three of them, we do them right away, all of a sudden, our time horizon on how long that surplus is going to last gets a lot longer, and we can think about other ways to help address that and get back to having a balanced budget.” Sand also spoke about his support for legalizing marijuana at an earlier event last month, saying that he thinks cannabis should be legalized and treated like alcohol, even if he thinks it’s “dangerous.” “Marijuana is a dangerous drug,” he said at the time. “You shouldn’t abuse it, but we also shouldn’t throw people in prison just for using it. We should treat it the way we treat alcohol. Alcohol is a dangerous drug. You shouldn’t abuse it, but we don’t throw you in prison just for having a beer when you get home.” The Democratic gubernatorial candidate said that Iowa is “spending perfectly good tax dollars to lock people up” for marijuana while people who want to use it are driving across the border to purchase it in other states. “They’re spending their money in Illinois, or they’re spending it in Missouri. And then they’re driving back without their money,” Sand said. “The money stays there, and the tax dollars stay there.” Republican gubernatorial nominee Zach Lahn reportedly opposes legalizing cannabis but doesn’t appear to have spoken extensively about the issue. Josh Turek, the Democratic nominee in a U.S. Senate race, said this month that cannabis’s longtime restrictive Schedule I status is “ridiculous.” Marijuana “should be legalized and regulated, and let’s tax it,” he said. Meanwhile, Iowa regulators are circulating proposed rules changes to remove the residency requirement for patients in the state’s medical cannabis program while also ensuring that military veterans qualify for reduced registration fees. The residency-focused part of the regulatory change from the state Department of Health and Human Services is meant to comply with provisions of a bill that Reynolds signed into law in June. In addition to allowing out-of-state residents to register in the medical cannabis program if they have a certification from an Iowa healthcare provider legislation, that legislation also doubles the number of medical cannabis dispensaries that are allowed to operate in the state. Regulators said in the new rule filing that removing the residency requirement is expected to “primarily impact qualified Nebraska residents since Nebraska is the only bordering state that does not currently have an operational medical or adult-use cannabis program.” “Although Nebraska has taken steps to establish a medical cannabidiol program, implementation has experienced significant delays and setbacks,” the regulatory explanation says. Beyond the residency change that is part of the bill the governor signed this year, the new rule change also restores regulatory language that was “inadvertently removed during the 2023 Red Tape Review process” that allowed proof of military veteran status to be used to qualify for a reduced patient application fee of $25 instead of the standard $100. Under prior law, Iowa’s limited medical marijuana program allowed only five dispensaries. That has doubled to 10 under HF 990, which the governor signed. — 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 Iowa Medical Cannabidiol Board, which oversees the state’s medical marijuana program, recommended in a 2023 report that the state allow more licenses “in an effort to provide Iowans with greater geographical access to medical cannabis products.” Under the program, patients with certain conditions can obtain cannabis products containing no more than at 4.5 grams of THC every 90 days. Flower and smoking are not allowed. Healthcare practitioners can allow greater amounts of THC for patients who are terminally ill or who have experience with the program and for whom the provider believes 4.5 grams is not enough. Separately this session, Iowa lawmakers considered a bill to create a state-regulated therapeutic psilocybin program for patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Last year, the governor vetoed earlier legislation that would have allowed doctors in the state to immediately prescribe a synthetic form of psilocybin in the event of federal approval of the psychedelic substance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), arguing that it “surrenders state authority to make an informed determination about classification to federal officials.” The post Legalizing Marijuana In Iowa Is A ‘No-Brainer’ Move To Help Raise Revenue, Democratic Candidate For Governor Says appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

Bipartisan congressional lawmakers have introduced a bill to protect people from being denied federal employment or security clearances due to past marijuana use—and to provide relief for people who have already lost opportunities due to cannabis. Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Zachary Nunn (R-IA) introduced the legislation—titled the “Cannabis Users’ Restoration of Eligibility (CURE) Act”—on Thursday. The bill says that “past use of marihuana by a covered person may not be used in any determination with respect to whether such person” is eligible for a security clearance or otherwise suitable for federal employment under existing code. Within one year of enactment, all federal agencies would be required to create a process to review each past decision to deny security clearances or job opportunities over cannabis use going back to January 1, 2008, the bill says. They would need to maintain a website that details the process of reviewing such prior marijuana penalties. “Upon receiving a request from any individual who was so denied a security clearance or employment (as the case may be), not later than 90 days after the date such request is so received, the Federal agency that denied such clearance or employment shall review the decision and determine if such decision was based solely on past marihuana use,” the legislation says. The text of the newly introduced bill, which has not yet been posted on Congress’s website but which was obtained by Marijuana Moment, is nearly identical to a version of the CURE Act was approved by the House Oversight and Accountability Committee Committee in 2023. The previously introduced version of the legislation was scaled back by that panel from its original broader scope, which would have also protected federal workers from being punished for current marijuana use, and not just that which occurred in the past. An amendment from Chairman James Comer (R-KY), however, limited the protections to prior marijuana use alone, so federal workers and holders of security clearances would continue to be penalized for active consumption. The amendment additionally removed additional language related to agencies’ responsibility to review whether past security clearance or employment denials were based on marijuana use alone. The CURE Act represents an expansion of an amendment that Raskin filed as part of a House-passed cannabis legalization bill in 2022. That measure would have only covered security clearances instead of also including overall employment decisions as is the case under the new legislation. However, the retroactivity would have required a review of denials going back further, to 1971. The amendment was narrowly defeated on the House floor. — Marijuana Moment is tracking more than 1,000 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 the Senate, a similar bill, the Dismantling Outdated Obstacles and Barriers to Individual Employment, or DOOBIE, Act, from Sen. Gary Peter (D-MI), was approved by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in 2024. That bill stated that covered agencies “may not base a suitability determination with respect to an individual solely on the past use of marijuana by the individual.” The White House Office of Personnel Management (OPM) would also need to adopt that policy. The bill further said that “the head of a Federal agency may not base a determination that a covered person is ineligible for a security clearance solely on the past use of marijuana by the covered person.” They additionally could not use prior cannabis use to deny a personal identity verification credential, which enables federal workers to access various facilities and information. Also under the proposal, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) would be required to enact regulations that update its own cannabis policies and assist other federal agencies in implementing the employment and security clearance changes. Read the full text of the new bill on marijuana and security clearances and federal employment below: The post People Couldn’t Be Denied Federal Jobs Or Security Clearances Due To Past Marijuana Use Under New Bipartisan Bill In Congress appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

Using medical marijuana helps people who suffer from lower pain significantly reduce their opioid use as well as experience lower pain intensity and functional disability, according to a new study that involved hundreds of patients. Researchers with Tel Aviv University, Rabin Medical Center and Clalit Health Services in Israel enrolled 1,000 patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP) who had previously never used cannabis and tracked their pain, disability status and medication usage annually for a period of 10 years at a specialized orthopedic pain clinic. After a decade, opioid use, measured in morphine milligram equivalents, “decreased substantially” by 90 percent. “Opioid reduction was rapid in the first year and remained stable through Year 10,” the researchers wrote. Pain intensity also dropped by 84 percent, and functional disability was reduced by 30 percent. The study, published in the European Spine Journal, also looked at how many patients achieved significant pre-specified thresholds for the outcome measures. For reduced opioid use, 91 percent of patients met the target of at least 50 percent reduction in opioid use. The goal of 30 percent of greater reduction on a pain intensity scale was achieved by 62 percent of participants. Sixty-two percent of patients reached the targeted decrease in functional disability scores of 10 points or more on a standardized scale. “Medical cannabis therapy was associated with reductions in opioid use, pain intensity, and functional disability over 10 years, accompanied by polypharmacy reduction and acceptable tolerability.” There was also a “substantial” reduction in use of other non-opioid medications among patients who completed the study. “Tramadol/tapentadol use decreased from 89.7% to 5.6% (−84.0% points), benzodiazepines from 78.8% to 5.3% (−73.5 pp), SSRIs from 77.7% to 5.8% (−71.9 pp), and gabapentinoids from 31.3% to 0.6% (−30.7 pp),” the study said. “These reductions were clinically driven rather than protocol-mandated, reflecting individual physician-patient decisions based on symptom response. The pattern of polypharmacy reduction paralleled opioid reduction, occurring primarily in the first 2 years.” The reduction in use of several different kinds of medications suggests that “medical cannabis may address multiple symptom domains simultaneously,” the researchers wrote. “Chronic pain patients frequently require polypharmacy to manage pain, sleep disturbance, anxiety, and depression, each of which carries risks of adverse effects and drug interactions,” the said. Participants in the study used marijuana products that included dried flower for vaporization and cannabis oils for oral/sublingual administration. There was some patient drop off as the study went on, and 638 of the 1,000 who enrolled ended up completing the final follow-up observation. The researchers cautioned that the single-arm observational nature of the study means that causality cannot be inferred. They also noted that the size of the reductions in the outcome measures in the study “substantially exceeded” those from previously published randomized controlled trials, suggesting that “observational biases contribute to these findings.” Nonetheless, they said their study is the “longest follow-up of medical cannabis therapy specifically in CLBP patients and demonstrates sustained, clinically meaningful improvements exceeding pre-specified [minimal clinically important difference] thresholds for opioid reduction, pain relief, and functional disability.” “In this 10-year single-arm observational study, medical cannabis therapy was associated with reductions in opioid use (−89.8%), pain intensity (−84.2%), and functional disability (−30.4%), with high proportions of patients achieving pre-specified MCID thresholds,” the study concluded. “Substantial polypharmacy reductions and acceptable tolerability were observed.” This is far from the only study supporting the efficacy of marijuana in the treatment of pain—nor is it the first to suggest cannabis can serve as a substitute for conventional therapies such as opioids. A study published earlier this year found that medical cannabis use by people with chronic lower back pain leads to “large, sustained, and statistically robust improvements.” In April, a study found 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 determined. 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 last year 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. Further 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 Medical Marijuana Improves Lower Back Back Pain And Reduces Opioid Use, New 10-Year Study Shows appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

American Legion backs psychedelics bill for veterans; Poll: NC support for marijuana & hemp reform; Analysis of Reddit cannabinoid posts 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 Reps. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) and Warren Davidson (R-OH) filed a bill to protect insurance companies from being punished for covering marijuana businesses. The American Legion, which represents more than 1.2 million military veteran members, is endorsing a congressional bill to promote research into the therapeutic potential of psychedelics by creating a new office focused on the issue in the Department of Veterans Affairs. A new poll shows that North Carolina adults support legalizing marijuana for recreational and medical purposes—and that a majority also wants to keep hemp THC seltzers and gummies legal, but with new age limits. Data scientist and public health researcher Sunehera Hasib explains in a new Marijuana Moment op-ed that an analysis she did of nearly 18,000 Reddit posts shows that “the minor cannabinoids that receive far less attention in the mainstream market are often the same compounds patients repeatedly describe as helpful.” / FEDERAL President Donald Trump designated an annual list of major drug transit or major illicit drug producing countries. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy issued a drug threat notice about increasing prevalence and potency of fentanyl analogues such as carfentanil, fluorofentanyl and methylfentanyl. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) tweeted, “The SAFE Banking Act is about making it easier for legal cannabis businesses to access banking and other financial services that will help them protect their workers and customers. This legislation is key for small businesses in Nevada, and I will continue working until we pass it into law.” / STATES Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer (D) signed a bill to rename the Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement as the Division of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Marijuana Enforcement. Florida independent gubernatorial candidate Frank Russo revealed that he is a registered medical cannabis patient and discussed broad public support for recreational marijuana legalization. A New Jersey assemblymember filed legislation aimed at preventing consumption of cannabis and psilocybin by underage kids. Missouri regulators announced a recall of marijuana products did not pass testing for aspergillus. Massachusetts regulators launched an overhaul of marijuana rules. Alaska regulators are proposing changes to rules on deadlines for marijuana businesses to file a notice of defense following violation accusations. Michigan regulators announced penalties against a marijuana business over alleged violations. Virginia regulators touted the opening of the first medical cannabis dispensary in an area of the state. California regulators sent updates on various cannabis issues. — 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. — / INTERNATIONAL Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte made his first appearance before an International Criminal Court trial chamber where he is facing charges related to the country’s bloody “war on drugs.” / SCIENCE & HEALTH A study found that CBG “prevents behavioral changes induced by psychotomimetic drugs.” A study found that “psilocybin prevents chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy through mitochondrial trafficking preservation.” / ADVOCACY, OPINION & ANALYSIS The American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp is lobbying lawmakers to ensure the federal recriminalization of hemp THC products. / BUSINESS Lawyers for Curaleaf reportedly sent a journalist 32 pages of demands related to his reporting, including article rewrites, tweet deletions and identification of his readers in the UK. A former Ascend Wellness Holdings Inc. executive is suing the company for alleged contract breach. Cresco Labs Inc. has a new board of directors member. 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 Cannabis company insurance bill filed in Congress (Newsletter: September 18, 2026) appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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North Carolinians strongly support legalizing medical marijuana, and a majority wants to go even further by legalizing cannabis for recreational use, according to a new poll. The survey published on Thursday by Elon University also found that North Carolina adults support keeping THC-infused hemp products like seltzers and gummies legal in the state, although with age limits. Medical cannabis legalization is supported by 75 percent of respondents, with only 11 percent in opposition. While there is bipartisan support for the patient-focused reform, Democrats are much more likely to support it, at 89 percent, as compared to Republicans, only 57 percent of whom are on board. Broader recreational marijuana legalization comes in at 55 percent in support overall and 30 percent opposed. While 74 percent of Democrats favor the reform, just 33 percent of Republicans do. Meanwhile, as North Carolina lawmakers continue to debate how to handle the issue of hemp-derived THC products, the poll shows that most state residents want to keep them legal. When asked whether North Carolina should “allow or prohibit the sale of hemp-derived products like seltzers and gummies with THC levels that can cause intoxication or a ‘high,'” 53 percent said they back keeping them legal, while 28 percent said they should be banned. As with broader cannabis legalization, a majority of Democrats (62 percent) were on board with legal hemp THC products, and only a minority (35 percent) of Republicans were. In a separate question, 82 percent of all respondents said they back banning sales of hemp-derived consumable products to people under the age of 21, including majorities across party lines. Jason Husser, director of the Elon University Poll and professor of political science and public policy, noted that support for marijuana legalization has remained stable in the state in recent years. “We found a significant increase in support for legalization between 2017 and 2021 as North Carolinians saw legalization occurring in other states,” he said in a press release. “Over the last five years, support for legalization has largely been stable with a large majority supporting medical legalization and a small majority favoring recreational legalization.” “In turn, support for allowing hemp-based THC has similar levels of support and high correlation with support for recreational marijuana,” he said. “However, North Carolinians are largely unified in wanting hemp consumables restricted to those 21 or older.” The poll involved interviews with 1,121 North Carolina adults between August 21-31 and has a margin of error of +/-5.09 percentage points. The results come as Gov. Josh Stein (D) is continuing to pressure the GOP-controlled legislature for marijuana reform. Last month, the governor called on lawmakers to legalize and regulate cannabis in a way that “protects kids” while lawmakers this week are considering a bill to restrict hemp THC products. In a social media post he noted that lawmakers are considering legislation that “aims to eliminate the Wild West that is North Carolina’s THC market.” The governor has repeatedly called on lawmakers to broadly legalize and regulate cannabis, though GOP legislative leaders have been more interested in focusing on the narrower hemp issue. A bill to restrict hemp and kratom products that was recently approved by the Senate now awaits potential action in the House. Meanwhile, lawmakers in North Carolina have been considering legislation to legalize medical cannabis for the last several sessions—with the Senate approving several proposals and the House refusing to follow suit. North Carolina’s Senate president pro tempore recently said that lawmakers will take a more serious look at legalizing medical marijuana following the Trump administration’s move to reschedule cannabis at the federal level. — 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 governor-appointed cannabis commission in North Carolina issued a report in April recommending that the state move away from a criminalization-based approach to the plant and toward a system of “robust” regulations that provide for adults’ legal access to THC products. The North Carolina Advisory Council on Cannabis, which Stein convened last year, says in the new document approved in April that the current “absence of regulation for North Carolina’s intoxicating cannabis market raises numerous concerns,” noting that hemp products are readily available yet largely unregulated and that marijuana remains prohibited altogether in the state, even for medical use. “Compared to regulated marijuana frameworks in other states, this environment presents identifiable risks,” the interim report says. “While some operators voluntarily implement consumer protection protocols, these safeguards are not required under state law.” Stein, for his part, thanked the group for its “expertise, hard work, and thoughtful deliberation” in a press release and reiterated his support for legalizing marijuana. Members are tasked with developing and submitting initial recommendations on a “comprehensive cannabis policy, including any proposed legislation,” with a final report due by December 31 of this year. During his time as the state’s attorney general, Stein led a separate task force under then-Gov. Roy Cooper (D) that examined racial injustice issues and ultimately recommended decriminalizing marijuana and studying broader legalization in response to racially disparate enforcement trends. A tribe in North Carolina, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, launched the state’s first marijuana dispensary in 2024—despite the protests of certain Republican congressional lawmakers. Democratic lawmakers recently filed legislation to allow voters to decide whether to legalize marijuana for personal or medical use at the ballot box this November—though Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger (R) said the bill is unlikely to advance. Meanwhile, bipartisan North Carolina lawmakers have been stepping up the push for psychedelics reform legislation. Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer. The post North Carolina Residents Support Legalizing Marijuana And Keeping Hemp THC Products Legal For Adults Over 21, Poll Shows appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

“The minor cannabinoids that receive far less attention in the mainstream market are often the same compounds patients repeatedly describe as helpful.” By Sunehera Hasib The cannabis industry spends millions pushing specific products. But patients are having a very different conversation among themselves. In a recent analysis of nearly 18,000 posts and comments across major cannabis and medical marijuana communities on Reddit, an unfiltered picture of patient-led experimentation emerges. Unlike a clinical trial or industry survey, these were everyday conversations between people trying to figure out what works for them. And what emerged was a striking landcape of patients experimenting beyond the cannabinoids that dominate dispensary shelves and marketing campaigns. In some cases, the compounds receiving the least attention were the ones patients repeatedly mentioned when describing relief. To capture these patterns, I compiled posts from the subreddits r/MMJ, r/hempflowers, r/trees, r/MedicalMarijuana, r/marijuana, r/MedicalCannabis_NI and r/CBD. Of the posts noting a clear outcome, 84.6 percent described positive results. These self-reported experiences cannot replace clinical trials or prove medical efficacy, but they do reveal something vital. They give us a direct look at patient behavior, showing what people are experimenting with at home and which cannabinoids consistently earn a mention when patients talk about real-life relief. It is worth saying up front that this is self-reported, unverified and not something anyone should read as a clinical finding. Minor Cannabinoids Are The Focus Of Some Of The The Highest Rates Of Positive Experiences THC and CBD together still dominate the conversation; they’re mentioned far more often than CBG, CBN or CBC combined. But among patients who said whether a cannabinoid worked for them, CBG and CBN show up with some of the highest shares of positive reports in the dataset, particularly around pain, inflammation and sleep. CBG, posts about inflammation: 40 of 40 outcome-reporting posts described a positive experience. CBG, posts about pain: 97.1 percent of firsthand reports were positive (67 of 69) CBN, posts about sleep: 95.3 percent positive (122 of 128 firsthand reports) CBG, posts about anxiety: 90.1 percent positive firsthand (73 of 81) For comparison, CBD alone for pain came in at 94.4 percent positive and THC alone at 90.1 percent, both strong numbers in their own right. CBG’s share was a bit higher, though the sample sizes for CBG are smaller, and this isn’t a controlled comparison of any kind, so it’s more of a pattern worth watching than a verdict. Patients Are Working Things Out For Themselves What stood out most was how detailed these posts got. Instead of a one-line “it helped,” people described actual routines: stacking CBG in the morning with CBD in the evening and CBN before bed, choosing CBG because they felt it didn’t carry the sedation some associate with high-dose CBD, using CBG topically alongside THC during flares. Whether or not that reflects anything pharmacological, it’s the kind of granular, self-taught trial-and-error that hasn’t shown up much in mainstream product marketing yet. Terpenes Are Also A Focus Of Conversation Terpenes are mentioned far less often than cannabinoids in casual posts, so these patterns are more suggestive than conclusive. Patients frequently associated myrcene with muscle relaxation and pain relief, caryophyllene with reduced inflammation and limonene with improved mood. Posts naming those terpenes skewed positive. Pinene stood out, though for less reassuring reasons. In 29 posts specifically discussing anxiety, pinene skewed noticeably negative compared to other terpenes, with firsthand reports highlighting heightened anxiety rather than relief. A couple of patients noted this pattern themselves: one mentioned avoiding sativa strains because of their pinene content, pointing to it as a trigger for worsened PTSD symptoms; another described pinene as energizing but warned that “for you it might be anxiety.” With a sample this small, it is not something to draw a firm conclusion from, but it is a distinct enough pattern that it seemed worth flagging. Anxiety Is The Most-Discussed Condition, But Results Are The Least Consistent Anxiety was the single most-discussed condition in the dataset, and it’s also where results looked the most mixed: CBD-heavy anxiety posts ran 88.1 percent positive firsthand, while THC-heavy posts dropped to 58.1 percent, with a real cluster of reports describing heightened panic or paranoia instead of relief. That doesn’t mean cannabis “doesn’t work” for anxiety. It may say more about cannabinoid choice, and possibly delivery method, mattering more for anxiety than they seem to for pain or sleep. Several people described switching from smoking to CBD-only or low-THC formats after noticing their own reactions, through their own trial and error rather than any guidance. This contrast also raises questions about how cannabinoid dose and individual differences in the endocannabinoid system may influence responses to THC. Without accessible guidance on cannabinoid dosing, product selection and individual responses, many people appear to be navigating these threshold effects largely through trial and error. Patients are essentially running a massive, decentralized process of personalized experimentation on their own. They test products, track outcomes and share insights publicly without relying on brand marketing or formal medical guidance. Structuring this organic community data will never replace clinical research, but it points to a gap the industry should acknowledge: the minor cannabinoids that receive far less attention in the mainstream market are often the same compounds patients repeatedly describe as helpful. Finally, a note about methodology: This analysis used keyword and pattern-based sentiment classification across publicly available Reddit posts. With any large-scale natural language processing workflow, minor classification noise or misassigned edge cases can occur. However, the overarching patterns across these 17,789 posts remain remarkably consistent, and these findings are hypothesis-generating and could help identify questions for future clinical research. The full dataset filtered by symptom and cannabinoid is available on my interactive dashboard. Sunehera Hasib is a data scientist and public health researcher with interests in behavioral health, clinical research and digital health. Her work focuses on using health data to better understand patient experiences, identify unmet needs and translate research into practical insights. The post Medical Marijuana Patients Are Turning To Lesser-Known Cannabinoids Like CBG And CBN, Analysis Of Reddit Posts Shows (Op-Ed) appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

The largest veterans organization in the U.S. is calling on Congress to pass a bill to promote research into the therapeutic potential of psychedelics by creating a new office focused on the issue in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The American Legion, which represents more than 1.2 million members, adopted a resolution at its national convention earlier this month endorsing the Veterans Health Administration Novel Therapeutics Preparedness Act, which it said would “establish a dedicated VA Office of Novel Therapeutics and Centers of Excellence in each VA regional district to build the governance, workforce and clinical infrastructure required to responsibly deliver these therapies to eligible veterans.” “Rapid-acting novel therapeutics” such as psychedelics like psilocybin “have demonstrated clinically significant results for treatment-resistant PTSD, anxiety, depression and co-occurring mental health conditions in peer-reviewed clinical trials, including U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) studies showing PTSD remission in two-thirds of participants—findings of a magnitude not previously achieved with any existing VA-approved treatment,” the resolution says. The measure notes high suicide rates among veterans and says that “existing VA-approved treatments, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and trauma-focused therapies, fail to achieve sustained remission in the majority of veterans with combat-related PTSD and carry dropout rates of up to 40% in military populations, leaving a critical unmet clinical need.” “The American Legion urges Congress to enact legislation establishing a dedicated federal coordinating framework to eliminate the bureaucratic barriers preventing timely veteran access to rapid-acting novel therapeutics with demonstrated clinical efficacy for mental health conditions and traumatic brain injury, including the establishment of a Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Office of Novel Therapeutics and Centers of Excellence at VA medical facilities, full funding for implementation and a directive to the secretary of Veterans Affairs to report within 90 days on the specific barriers causing the documented latency between U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorization and VA clinical implementation and the steps being taken to eliminate them; and further urges the Department of Veterans Affairs to immediately accelerate access to these therapies without waiting for the conclusion of full FDA licensure processes where interim pathways exist.” Juliana Mercer, a Marine Corps veteran and past commander of the Montana American Legion Post 426, which initiated the resolution, told Military.com that passage of the measure “sends a powerful message from one of the nation’s largest and most influential veterans service organizations.” “Veterans want continued research, responsible implementation and access to novel therapeutics that could fundamentally change how we treat some of the most difficult mental health conditions and traumatic brain injuries affecting our community,” she said. “The alignment we’re seeing between veterans, Congress and VA matters. Now we have an opportunity to turn that momentum into lasting change, continuing the research while building the workforce, infrastructure and systems necessary so that, if these treatments are approved, veterans can actually access them.” The new VA Office of Novel Therapeutics contemplated by the bill that the American Legion is now backing would help to advance the development innovative treatments for serious mental health conditions and assist in reviewing the scheduling status of drugs like psilocybin, ibogaine and MDMA. The legislation’s findings section says that “emerging therapeutic interventions, including certain psychedelic-assisted therapies under evaluation by the Food and Drug Administration as of the date of the enactment of this Act, may significantly alter the treatment landscape for post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and other mental health conditions affecting veterans.” “The administration of certain emerging therapies may require intensive clinical engagement, interdisciplinary teams, dedicated clinical space, structured preparation, and post-treatment integration that differ substantially from traditional outpatient mental health services,” it continues, adding that VA is “uniquely positioned to deliver integrated, veteran-centered care that combines medical, mental health, and peer support services within a single system of care.” That’s the only explicit mention of “psychedelics” in the bill, and it doesn’t list specific psychedelic substances that would be prioritized for research, but that’s a common feature of recently filed proposals touching on the issue, with various other examples using catchall terminology like innovative or novel treatments or therapies effectively serving as a stand-in for “psychedelics.” Under the measure, a new Office of Novel Therapeutics would be established under the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to facilitate the research initiatives. Studies exploring the alternative treatments would focus on substances such as psychedelics that are under review for potential approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). “Absent centralized governance and implementation planning, the Department may face delays, safety risks, or inconsistent access following regulatory approval of such therapies,” the bill’s findings section says. “Establishing a dedicated Office of Novel Therapeutics will ensure that the Department is prepared to responsibly evaluate, research, and implement emerging treatment modalities consistent with patient safety and evidence-based practice.” There would be at least one “Center of Excellence” to facilitate the program in each VA regional district to help develop a national model for the initiative. A Veteran Advisory Committee would be established, comprised of veterans, experts and health professionals, to advise on matters such as access barriers and safety protocols. VA would also need to coordinate with other federal agencies—including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), FDA, Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS), the Department of Defense (DOD) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)—to consider regulatory issues, possible rescheduling action for novel therapies and means of providing health care coverage for psychedelics access and treatment. VA would need to furnish annual reports to Congress updating lawmakers on its progress. Within 180 days of the bill’s enactment, the department would need to report on practical considerations such as staffing needs and regulatory barriers. The American Legion, for its part, cheered a psychedelics executive order that President Donald Trump signed earlier this year. The veterans group has also regularly called for the federal rescheduling of marijuana, and its national commander appeared in the Oval Office last year when Trump signed a separate cannabis-focused executive order. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia/Workman. The post American Legion Endorses Psychedelics Bill In Congress, Highlighting Potential Benefits For Military Veterans appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

Bipartisan congressional lawmakers have filed a bill to provide a safe harbor to insurance companies that work with state-legal marijuana businesses. The Clarifying Law Around Insurance of Marijuana (CLAIM) Act was filed by Reps. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) and Warren Davidson (R-OH) on Wednesday. The legislation would protect insurers, brokers and agents from being penalized by federal regulators for providing insurance services to state-licensed marijuana companies. “Because of the conflict between federal and state law, insurers are still hesitant to write policies for cannabis businesses,” Velázquez said in a press release. “That means thousands of legal small businesses are operating without a safety net. One fire or one storm could wipe out everything an owner has built, with no way to recover. The CLAIM Act fixes this by giving these entrepreneurs access to the same basic insurance protections every other legal business takes for granted.” Davidson said that “businesses operating legally under state law should be free to purchase insurance, and insurers should be free to serve them.” “The federal government should not use regulation to interfere with lawful commerce or override decisions made by the states,” he said. “The CLAIM Act removes that federal interference and protects the freedom of insurers and their customers to do business.” Earlier this year, Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) filed similar legislation in the Senate. This is the fourth Congress in a row that the cannabis business insurance measure has been introduced, and the text of the current bill, H.R.10471, remains largely the same as prior versions. Earlier this year, bipartisan House and Senate lawmakers filed related legislation to provide safeguards for banks that work with the cannabis industry. As it stands, cannabis firms are limited in their ability to gain property, casualty and title insurance coverage. The CLAIM Act would prohibit federal agencies from penalizing insurance providers for simply covering those businesses, and it would bar insurers from terminating or limiting policies for marijuana companies or ancillary businesses due to the nature of their enterprise. The legislation also includes a requirement that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) study and issue a report on “barriers to marketplace entry, including in the licensing process, and the access to financial services for potential and existing minority-owned and women-owned cannabis-related legitimate businesses.” It additionally provides protections for employees of insurers, affirming that they could not be held liable just because they work with a cannabis company. Supporters of the legislation have argued that providing insurance access to these businesses would mitigate safety risks and prevent the companies from being denied bank financing, which can occur when the businesses lack insurance coverage. — Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments. Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access. — Meanwhile, the Trump administration is moving forward with the process of rescheduling marijuana under federal law. Attorney General Todd Blanche in April issued an order that immediately reclassified state-licensed medical cannabis, as well as marijuana products approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to Schedule III. Under a separate order the attorney general signed, a hearing is considering more comprehensively moving marijuana to Schedule III. The post Insurance Companies That Provide Coverage For Marijuana Businesses Would Be Shielded From Federal Punishment Under New Congressional Bill appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

House passes bill on marijuana, fentanyl & drug testing; MI cannabis industry backs GOP governor candidate; Alabama marijuana arrests 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… 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 The House of Representatives passed a bill to require the Department of Health and Human Services to study how prevalent drug testing for marijuana, fentanyl and other drugs is in hospital emergency departments. The U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to decide whether state marijuana business licensing laws that discriminate against out-of-state residents violate the Dormant Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The Michigan Cannabis Industry Association is endorsing Republican gubernatorial candidate John James due to his pledge to repeal or significantly roll back a recently enacted wholesale tax on marijuana. Alabama writer Tiffany McElrath argues in a new Marijuana Moment op-ed that her state should “stop treating responsible adults like criminals” and arresting so many people for cannabis. “Cannabis is not for everyone. Adults should still have the freedom to decide whether it is right for them—just as they may decide whether to drink alcohol, take a prescribed medication or use neither.” / FEDERAL The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System said that traditional community banking organizations that serve marijuana-related businesses may require Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering and financial crime platform providers with “more advanced capabilities.” The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation hosted a panel about cannabis equity and unregulated marketplaces at its conference. The Senate bill to federally legalize marijuana got one new cosponsor for a total of 17. The House bill to codify provisions of President Donald Trump’s psychedelics executive order got one new cosponsor for a total of five. / STATES Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) cited the “threat to our hemp industry” in answering a question about Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) returning to work in the Senate. Oklahoma lawmakers spoke about potential medical cannabis legislation that could be considered in 2027. California regulators announced a recall of marijuana products produced under unsanitary conditions and with the methods, facilities or controls that did not conform with pesticide rules. Colorado regulators issued a health and safety advisory about marijuana products with butane above acceptable limits. Alaska regulators filed proposed changes to rules on total THC limits for cannabis edibles. Hawaii regulators published guidance about hemp business registration. Oregon regulators will consider changes to marijuana and hemp rules on Thursday. Minnesota regulators will host a cannabis listening event on October 1. — 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 A judge delayed a ruling on a challenge to a Menominee, Michigan referendum concerning the number marijuana retail licenses. / INTERNATIONAL India’s Supreme Court said it is “very liberal” in bail cases involving marijuana. / SCIENCE & HEALTH A study found that CBG and a full-spectrum cannabis extract “exert analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects, with [the full-spectrum extract] providing faster acute relief and CBG produced a more prolonged antinociceptive effect.” A study of rats found that “CBD showed no effect on locomotor activity but increased center time, suggesting anxiolytic-like effects.” / BUSINESS Christina Lake Cannabis Corp. said it received a second offer to be acquired. 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 SCOTUS asked to take up cannabis licensing dispute (Newsletter: September 17, 2026) appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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“Cannabis is not for everyone. Adults should still have the freedom to decide whether it is right for them—just as they may decide whether to drink alcohol, take a prescribed medication or use neither.” By Tiffany McElrath Cannabis is not for everyone. Neither is alcohol. Neither are antidepressants, benzodiazepines or opioids. Every one of them can carry risks, cause side effects or be used irresponsibly. Only one of them can still get me arrested simply for choosing it. I live in Alabama, where adults may legally buy enough alcohol to drink themselves into oblivion. They may drink in front of their children, keep a fully stocked liquor cabinet at home and joke publicly about needing wine to survive parenthood. Unless their behavior becomes dangerous, the law generally treats their alcohol use as a personal decision. To be clear, alcohol and prescription medications can also lead to arrest. A person can be charged with DUI, public intoxication or disorderly conduct when alcohol use results in dangerous or unlawful behavior. Possessing prescription medication without a valid prescription can also be illegal. But that is not the comparison I am making. Those laws address dangerous conduct or unauthorized possession. Cannabis prohibition allows an otherwise responsible adult to be arrested for possession itself—even when that person is at home, harms no one and creates no threat to public safety. An adult who discreetly uses cannabis at home after putting the children to bed is treated differently. That person may face arrest, a criminal record and potentially devastating consequences for employment, housing or child custody—not because anyone was harmed, but because the substance they chose remains illegal. I am not defending becoming dangerously impaired while responsible for children. I am asking why responsible alcohol use is socially acceptable while responsible cannabis use is treated as evidence of criminality or parental unfitness. This is personal for me. I have struggled with clinical depression and severe anxiety. At one point, I was prescribed Xanax and antidepressants. My experience was not pleasant. The medications made me extremely sleepy. I was knocked out early and unable to be present for my family. The antidepressants also destroyed my libido, which could have created serious intimacy problems in my marriage had I continued taking them. Cannabis affected me differently. It helped ease some of my symptoms without leaving me completely sedated and disconnected from my life. That is my experience, not a universal medical claim. Cannabis can impair judgment and coordination. Frequent or high-potency use can lead to dependence, and it may worsen anxiety or other mental-health symptoms in some people. It should be accurately labeled, kept away from children and treated like any other adult substance: responsibly. But acknowledging those risks does not justify prohibition. It strengthens the case for legalization and regulation. People deserve honest, evidence-based information about both the benefits and risks of cannabis so they can make informed decisions. That means leaving “Reefer Madness” exaggerations in the past, but it also means refusing to pretend cannabis is harmless. Adults should be able to discuss every reasonable treatment option with their healthcare providers. They should also be allowed to decide what they put into their own bodies without being jailed for conduct that harms no one else. Our laws do not reflect a rational comparison of risks. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, excessive alcohol use is responsible for approximately 178,000 deaths in the United States each year. Yet alcohol remains legal, regulated and widely available. Meanwhile, police made at least 218,152 marijuana-related arrests nationwide in 2025, according to FBI data. That number is an undercount because approximately 13 percent of law-enforcement agencies did not report arrest data. Alabama reported 8,583 marijuana-possession arrests in 2025, the tenth-highest raw total in the country. But raw numbers do not account for the size of each state, so I looked at the same information on a per-capita basis—and the picture became even more striking. FBI age data show that 8,242 of Alabama’s possession arrests involved adults. Compared with Alabama’s adult population of 4,075,161 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimates, that equals approximately 202 possession arrests for every 100,000 adults. After applying the same calculation to all 50 states, Alabama had the nation’s ninth-highest reported adult marijuana-possession arrest rate. The consequences of prohibition now depend largely on geography. The same behavior that can saddle someone with an arrest and criminal record in Alabama is legal for adults in nearly half the country. Changing the state line does not make the conduct more dangerous. It merely changes who the government has chosen to punish. Alabama’s medical-cannabis experience makes the contradiction even more obvious. State lawmakers approved a medical program in 2021, but patients waited more than five years for the first dispensary to open. Alabama’s first medical-cannabis dispensary opened on June 4 of this year, followed by a second location in August. Access remains extremely limited, and state law prohibits raw cannabis, smoking, vaping and conventional edible products. During those five years, patients legally recognized as deserving access were still waiting while Alabama continued arresting people for cannabis possession. That is not a coherent public-health policy. It is prohibition surviving long after its original justifications stopped making sense. Legalization does not have to mean encouraging everyone to use cannabis. We do not need to pretend that every product is therapeutic or that every pattern of use is safe. We can establish age limits, require testing and accurate labels, restrict advertising to children, punish impaired driving and hold adults accountable when their behavior genuinely endangers someone. What we should stop doing is destroying people’s lives merely because they chose cannabis. Cannabis is not for everyone. Adults should still have the freedom to decide whether it is right for them—just as they may decide whether to drink alcohol, take a prescribed medication or use neither. Regulate it. Educate people honestly about it. Keep it away from children. Punish genuinely dangerous behavior. But stop treating responsible adults like criminals. Tiffany McElrath is an Alabama writer, entrepreneur and former family caregiver who writes about personal freedom, mental health and the everyday consequences of public policy. The post Cannabis Isn’t for Everyone, And Neither Is Alcohol—But Only One Can Still Get Me Arrested (Op-Ed) appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net