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A Florida campaign hasn’t thrown in the towel just yet on its proposal to put marijuana legalization on the November ballot, with an appeal concerning the invalidation of about 71,000 signatures now before the state Supreme Court. While the court recently agreed to close a separate case involving a legal review into the ballot measure from Smart & Safe Florida, it’s now been handed another case challenging the earlier mass signature invalidation. The state’s First District Court of Appeal submitted a notice to invoke discretionary jurisdiction and notice of appeal to the Florida Supreme Court on Monday, opening back up the possibility that voters could decide on legalization at the polls later this year. That’s contingent on justices accepting the case and the campaign prevailing, of course. Smart & Safe Florida “contends that approximately 70,000 petitions designated as invalid should be counted towards the number of signed petitions required for ballot placement,” the notice states. “Smart & Safe Florida invokes the discretionary jurisdiction of the Florida Supreme Court to review the decision of this court rendered January 23, 2026. The decision expressly affects a class of constitutional or state officers.” Back in December, advocates filed a lawsuit in the Leon County circuit court, claiming Secretary of State Cord Byrd (R) unlawfully directed county election officials to invalidate about 42,000 signatures from so-called “inactive” voters and roughly 29,000 signatures collected by out-of-state petitioners. That lawsuit came after another court upheld a previous decision to strike about 200,000 signatures that the state said were invalid because the petitions didn’t include the full text of the proposed initiative. The campaign contested the legal interpretation, but it declined to appeal the decision based on their confidence they’d collected enough signatures to make up the difference. Smart & Safe Florida has generally disputed the secretary of state’s signature count, asserting the campaign submitted over 1.4 million petitions—hundreds of thousands more than the 880,062 valid signatures required to go before voters. In a recent filing with the Supreme Court, Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) said his office was withdrawing its earlier request for a legal review in the constitutionality of the proposed cannabis initiative because the state claimed the campaign submitted an insufficient number of signed petitions. The last count, according to the secretary of state’s office, was 783,592 validated signatures. In its reply brief, Smart & Safe Florida said the secretary of state’s office made a determination that the campaign didn’t satisfy requirements for ballot placement based on a “conclusion that the Sponsor failed to meet the requisite signature threshold in light of the invalidations that the Sponsor is contesting.” Ahead of the signature turn-in, Florida’s attorney general and several business and anti-marijuana groups urged the state Supreme Court to block the cannabis initiative, calling it “fatally flawed” and unconstitutional. The Florida Chamber of Commerce, Florida Legal Foundation and Judge Frank Shepherd filed a separate joint brief stating that the parties remain “especially vigilant about the abuse of the citizen initiative process by out-of-state interests that think of Florida as just another market and the citizen initiative process as just another means of exploiting that market.” The Florida Chamber of Commerce has consistently opposed attempts to move forward with adult-use legalization, even as its own polling has shown majority support for the reform. The campaign fought several legal battles this cycle to ensure that its initiative is able to qualify for ballot placement. Last month, the state attorney general’s office opened dozens of criminal investigations and submitted subpoenas requesting records from Smart & Safe Florida and its contractors and subcontractors over alleged fraud related to the petitioning effort. Activists said in November that they’d collected more than one million signatures to put the cannabis measure on the ballot, but it’s also challenged officials at the state Supreme Court level over delays the certification process, arguing that the review of the ballot content and summary should have moving forward months ago when it reached an initial signature threshold. The state then agreed to move forward with the processing. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) campaigned heavily against an earlier version of the legalization proposal, which received a majority of voters in 2024 but not enough to meet the 60 percent threshold required to pass a constitutional amendment. Former Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) unsuccessfully contested the prior initiative in the courts. Last March, meanwhile, two Democratic members of Congress representing Florida asked the federal government to investigate what they described as “potentially unlawful diversion” of millions in state Medicaid funds via a group with ties to DeSantis. The money was used to fight against a citizen ballot initiative, vehemently opposed by the governor, that would have legalized marijuana for adults. The lawmakers’ letter followed allegations that a $10 million donation from a state legal settlement was improperly made to the Hope Florida Foundation, which later sent the money to two political nonprofits, which in turn sent $8.5 million to a campaign opposing Amendment 3. The governor said last February that the newest marijuana legalization measure is in “big time trouble” with the state Supreme Court, predicting it would be blocked from going before voters this year. “There’s a lot of different perspectives on on marijuana,” DeSantis said. “It should not be in our Constitution. If you feel strongly about it, you have elections for the legislature. Go back candidates that you believe will be able to deliver what your vision is on that.” “But when you put these things in the Constitution—and I think, I mean, the way they wrote, there’s all kinds of things going on in here. I think it’s going to have big time trouble getting through the Florida Supreme Court,” he said. The latest initiative was filed with the secretary of state’s office just months after the initial version failed during the November 2024 election—despite an endorsement from President Donald Trump. Smart & Safe Florida expressed optimism that the revised version would succeed in 2026. The campaign—which in the last election cycle received tens of millions of dollars from cannabis industry stakeholders, principally the multi-state operator Trulieve—incorporated certain changes into the new version that seem responsive to criticism opponents raised during the 2024 push. For example, it now specifically states that the “smoking and vaping of marijuana in any public place is prohibited.”Another section asserts that the legislature would need to approve rules dealing with the “regulation of the time, place, and manner of the public consumption of marijuana.” In 2023, the governor accurately predicted that the 2024 cannabis measure from the campaign would survive a legal challenge from the state attorney general. It’s not entirely clear why he feels this version would face a different outcome. While there’s uncertainty around how the state’s highest court will navigate the measure, a poll released last February showed overwhelming bipartisan voter support for the reform—with 67 percent of Florida voters backing legalization, including 82 percent of Democrats, 66 percent of independents and 55 percent of Republicans. — Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments. Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access. — In the background, a recent poll from a Trump-affiliated research firm found that nearly 9 in 10 Florida voters say they should have the right to decide to legalize marijuana in the state. Meanwhile, last week, Florida senators approved an amended bill to increase the amount of medical marijuana a registered patient can buy and slash the fee for medical cannabis identification cards for military veterans. The vote came after the Senate Regulated Industries Committee passed separate legislation to ban smoking or vaping marijuana in public places. Rep. Alex Andrade (R) is sponsoring a similar bill to ban public cannabis smoking in the House. Here’s an overview of other pending Florida marijuana bills: A House lawmaker is sponsoring a bill to legalize recreational marijuana that also aims to break up what he calls “monopolies” in the state’s current medical cannabis program by revising the business licensing structure. Another representative’s bill would protect the parental rights of medical cannabis patients, preventing them from losing custody of their children for using their medicine in accordance with state law. A senator is sponsoring a bill to legalize home cultivation of marijuana for registered medical cannabis patients in the state. Photo elements courtesy of rawpixel and Philip Steffan. The post Florida Marijuana Campaign Asks Supreme Court To Restore 71,000 Legalization Ballot Signatures State Officials Tossed appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

Virginia’s House and Senate have given initial approved to two differing versions of bills to legalize marijuana sales in the Commonwealth—teeing up final votes and bicameral negotiations on the reform while also advancing separate legislation to provide a pathway to resentencing for people with past cannabis convictions. On Monday, the House passed a marijuana sales measure from Del. Paul Krizek (D) on second reading—and the Senate did the same with its version from Sen. Lashrecse Aird (D)—setting the stage for final floor votes in their respective chambers on Tuesday, which is the deadline for bills to cross over from their originating chamber to the other body. The Senate also gave final third reading approval to a separate resentencing bill, sponsored by Senate President Pro Tem Louise Lucas (D), in a 21-17 vote on Monday, while the House version from Del. Rozia Henson, Jr. (D) passed in a voice vote on second reading. While both House and Senate marijuana sales measures are aimed at giving adults a legal means of buying cannabis, the possession and home cultivation of which was legalized in the state in 2021, there are several substantive differences that will need to be resolved before the reform potentially goes to the governor’s desk. Those differences between the chambers’s versions include the start date for legal sales, cannabis tax rates and conversion fees for current medical marijuana businesses to participate in the recreational market, among other issues. “This bill establishes a framework to create a regulated retail market administered by the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority with robust licensing oversight and enforcement built into the process,” Krizek said on Monday, adding that “we have had a number of years now where we’ve been perfecting this bill…and even tinkered with it all the way up until today.” There was no substantive discussion about the Senate bill on the floor of that chamber on Monday, but senators recently clashed in committee about amendments to the body’s version of the bill that would have added new penalties for illegal cannabis activity. The amendments at issue from the Courts of Justice Committee included penalties for consumers who buy from unlicensed sources, the recriminalization of cannabis possession by people under 21 and making sales a class 1 misdemeanor for a first offense and a crime punishable by mandatory jail time for a second offense. As revised, the bill would have also raised the penalty for unlicensed cultivation to a felony punishable by up to five years in jail and made it a felony to transport with intent to distribute cannabis across state lines. But the Finance and Appropriations Committee reversed the amendments last week amid pressure from a coalition of advocacy groups that sent a letter to senators saying they undermined the “intent” of the legislation and the “will of the people” by adding criminal penalties for certain cannabis-related activity. Despite some key differences, both chambers’ commercial sales bills largely align with recommendations released in December by the legislature’s Joint Commission to Oversee the Transition of the Commonwealth into a Cannabis Retail Market. Since legalizing cannabis possession and home cultivation in 2021, Virginia lawmakers have worked to establish a commercial marijuana market—only to have those efforts consistently stalled under former Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), who twice vetoed measures to enact it that were sent to his desk by the legislature. Here are the key details of the Virginia marijuana sales legalization legislation, SB 542 and HB 642: Adults would be able to purchase up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana in a single transaction, or up to an equivalent amount of other cannabis products as determined by regulators. The House bill sets the state date for legal sales as November 1, 2026, while the Senate measure would allow them to begin on January 1, 2027. The Senate bill would set an excise tax on cannabis products of 12.875 percent, in addition to a 1.125 percent state sales tax and a mandatory 3 percent local tax. The House measure would apply an excise tax of 6 percent as well as a 5.3 percent retail sales and use tax, while allowing municipalities to set a local tax of up to 3.5 percent. Under the House bill, the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority would oversee licensing and regulation of the new industry, while the Senate legislation tasks that to a new combined Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Control Authority. The House bill calls for revenue to be distributed to a new Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund (60 percent), early childhood education (10 percent), the Department of Behavioral & Developmental Health Services (25 percent) and public health initiatives (5 percent). The Senate proposal, meanwhile, would put 30 percent toward the equity reinvestment fund, 40 percent for early childhood eduction, 25 percent to the behavioral and developmental health services department and 5 percent to public health initiatives. Local governments could not opt out of allowing marijuana businesses to operate in their area. Delivery services would be allowed. Serving sizes would be capped at 10 milligrams THC, with no more than 100 mg THC per package. Existing medical cannabis operators could enter the adult-use market if they pay a licensing conversion fee that is set at $15 million in the Senate bill and $10 million in the House measure. Cannabis businesses would have to establish labor peace agreements with workers. A legislative commission would be directed to study adding on-site consumption licenses and microbusiness cannabis event permits that would allow licensees to conduct sales at venues like farmers markets or pop-up locations. It would also investigate the possibility of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority becoming involved in marijuana regulations and enforcement. Newly sworn-in Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) supports legalizing adult-use marijuana sales. Meanwhile, House and Senate lawmakers are also advancing separate legislation to provide resentencing relief for people with prior marijuana convictions. The legislation would create a process by which people who are incarcerated or on community supervision for certain felony offenses involving the possession, manufacture, selling or distribution of marijuana could receive an automatic hearing to consider modification of their sentences. The measure applies to people whose convictions or adjudications are for conduct that occurred prior to July 1, 2021, when a state law legalizing personal possession and home cultivation of marijuana went into effect. — Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments. Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access. — Meanwhile, the Virginia House last week approved a bill to protect the rights of parents who use marijuana in compliance with state law. Separately, the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry recently published a new outlining workplace protections for cannabis consumers. The post Virginia House And Senate Approve Differing Marijuana Sales Legalization Bills, Setting Up Final Votes And Negotiations appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

“There were at least 20-some states doing this today, they don’t seem to have a problem with it, and they’re all spending it, right?” By Henry Culvyhouse, Mountain State Spotlight This story was originally published by Mountain State Spotlight. Get stories like this delivered to your email inbox once a week; sign up for the free newsletter at https://mountainstatespotlight.org/newsletter. Last October, Mountain State Spotlight discovered $34 million from West Virginia’s medical cannabis program had never been spent, despite state law prescribing its specific uses. Since then, the Treasurer’s Office has said it is working through the legalities of spending the money. Numerous other states already spend the revenue they get from marijuana sales. On Tuesday, State Treasurer Larry Pack said he thinks his office is close to figuring it out. “I think we’re really close to getting it and making sure that money is available for the programs that it was intended for,” Pack said. Del. Evan Worrell, R-Cabell, said he read an article about the situation and decided to submit a bill to fix it. “There were at least 20-some states doing this today, they don’t seem to have a problem with it, and they’re all spending it, right?” Worrell said. Under the bill, all money from the sale of medical cannabis would revert to the state’s general fund, then be transferred to fund the Office of Medical Cannabis, research programs at Marshall University and West Virginia University, the Fight Substance Abuse Fund and testing of medical cannabis at the Department of Agriculture. Previously, a chunk of the money was supposed to go to law enforcement support, but Worrell said that didn’t make sense. “The thought process was, how is that helping the medical cannabis program?” Worrell said. But House Finance Chair Del. Vernon Criss, R-Wood, said he’s reluctant to put it on his committee’s agenda, due to the legal gray area surrounding marijuana. Worrell said he believes there is political will to get the bill passed. He said, “we have medical cannabis on the books, right? That means we support it. We need to make sure we’re not trying to always make it fail.” This article first appeared on Mountain State Spotlight and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. The post West Virginia Lawmaker Pushes To Allocate Medical Marijuana Revenue That’s Going Unused Amid Federal Law Concerns appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

As the November election approaches, Nebraska candidates for Congress are pledging to stand with voters in support of medical marijuana access—in part by ousting members of the current delegation who have worked to undermine cannabis reform while the state is inexplicably excluded from federal non-interference protections that exist for other states. During a webinar hosted by Americans for Safe Access (ASA) and Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana on Monday, Nebraska State Sen. John Cavanaugh (D) and independent Dan Osborn—who are running for U.S. House and Senate, respectively—joined advocates for the launch of a campaign aimed at supporting patient medical marijuana access and states’ rights to set their own cannabis policies without the threat of federal intervention. “Medical cannabis is on every federal ballot in 2026,” Steph Sherer, founder and executive director of ASA, said. “The next Congress will decide whether cannabis is fully integrated into American healthcare—or left vulnerable to political rollback impacting the millions of Americans, seniors, veterans, children with severe conditions, cancer patients, and people living with chronic illness who rely on cannabinoid medicines.” “The Compassionate Candidate Campaign gives patient advocates the tools to educate candidates about their needs and how to address them in federal statute,” she said. “The Compassionate Pledge makes clear, when patients head to the ballot box, which candidates are prepared to represent them.” That pledge—which counts Cavanaugh and Osborn among its initial signatories—is a commitment by candidates to cosponsor legislation in Congress creating a national medical cannabis program under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). “Candidates in every district are applying for the job of representing us,” Sherer said. “Patients are demanding Medical Cannabis Champions at the ballot box this year. The pledge makes it unmistakably clear who is prepared to lead.” Cavanaugh said that “Nebraskans made it clear that patients deserve safe and legal access to medical cannabis,” and “it’s time for Congress to catch up.” “I signed the Compassionate Pledge because patients should not have to live in fear or uncertainty when following their doctor’s recommendations,” he said. “A national framework that treats cannabis as medicine may be the only way to ensure the will of Nebraska voters is respected.” On Monday, the state senator reflected on the years-long push in Nebraska to secure medical cannabis—a fight that continues in the face of opposition from top state officials, certain lawmakers in the legislature and members of the state’s current congressional delegation such as Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE). “We fought all of these battles, and we’ve had people pay lip service to those things on the floor of the legislature and not carry forward,” Cavanaugh said. “Now we have seen this very troubling aspect, where the federal exemption for Nebraska has been left out, which was, I think, driven by our delegation and its continued attempt to undermine what the people want.” The lawmaker was referencing the fact that, while nearly all medical cannabis states are covered under a congressional appropriations rider preventing the use of federal funds to interfere in state programs, Nebraska is oddly excluded from that list. “I’m running for Congress for a number of reasons, but one of them is that we need to make a change at the national level,” he said. “We need congressional action that is actually going to allow the people of Nebraska to get the medicine that they voted overwhelmingly for, and to allow these families to provide medical care that they desperately need for their children.” “We will continue to make progress in every place or push forward every place that we can until…all of these kids are able to get the medicine that we have voted for and that we’re promising to them,” Cavanaugh said. Osborn, a military veteran and industrial mechanic, said he’s motivated to provide medical marijuana protections for patients based on his belief in “personal freedom and accountability.” “I have seen firsthand how outdated federal policies hurt real people. Nebraskans who need medical cannabis deserve respect, access, and research; not stigma or more bureaucratic limbo,” he said. “I signed the Compassionate Pledge because I plan to fight for patients’ rights the moment I arrive in Washington.” Today I signed the @SafeAccess Compassionate Pledge, committing to fight for a national medical cannabis program the moment I get to Washington. 71% of Nebraska voters approved medical cannabis, but @PeteRicketts has done everything he can to OBSTRUCT the will of the voters.… pic.twitter.com/4lG99INB0a — Dan Osborn (@osbornforne) February 16, 2026 The U.S. Senate candidate said it’s an “important” issue to him, but it’s ultimately “pretty simple” because he’s standing with the 71 percent of Nebraskans who voted to provide medical marijuana access on the ballot in 2024. “They voted for it. They signed the petitions. They showed up. My job that I’m applying for is to represent the people, and the people in this state have already spoken,” he said, adding that “there’s a lot of people in pain and “a lot of veterans suffering from PTSD—and they’re furious that politicians keep getting in the way.” “This really isn’t a partisan issue. The only people that are fighting it are politicians who think they know better than the patients and the caregivers, which is completely ridiculous to even think of that notion,” Osborn said. “But as an industrial mechanic, I know people with pain that never leaves, who can’t sleep through the night, who are handed opiates instead of options, and they deserve every treatment that science has to offer. Medical cannabis is certainly one of them.” “We need the federal law changed so that no hostile commission, no attorney general, no billionaire politician can keep standing between Nebraskans and their medicines,” he said. “Right now, without federal legislation, millions of patients face an impossible choice: Follow your doctor’s advice, risk losing benefits, federal benefits, housing, job even—and nobody should have to choose between their rights and their health.” “Federal prohibition is also blocking the research that this medicine deserves science. Science should be driving this, not politics,” he continued. “When I’m elected senator, what it means for Nebraska is finally to have a senator who will vote and align federal law with the science and with the will of the people. I will cosponsor legislation to build a real national medical cannabis program with proper safety standards, real research investment and protections so patients are not penalized for following their doctor’s advice.” “The families who have been waiting over a decade earned this. And you know, I’m going to make the fight real,” he said. Crista Eggers, the mother of a child with severe epilepsy who benefits from cannabis and the lead petitioner behind Nebraska’s medical marijuana campaign, represents one of those families. And she said that, when it comes to the state’s exclusion from the congressional rider, “this wasn’t an oversight in our eyes.” “Our current U.S. senator, Pete Ricketts, has been one of the most outspoken anti-medical cannabis officials, I believe, in the country,” she said. “I think this is really the final straw for us… I think it leaves patients in a very, very difficult position—a compromising position—and what the effects will be, I think, has us very scared.” In Nebraska, the process of standing up the state’s medical marijuana program has been rife with complications. But Gov. Jim Pillen (R) this month started accepting applications to replace the chair of the voter-established Medical Cannabis Commission who resigned. Concerns about that commission remain high among advocates, however, and there are additional worries about the prospect of expanding the body’s authority under a recently filed bill in the legislature. — 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, last November, a Native American tribe in Nebraska, as well as cannabis reform activists, punched back against the governor and state attorney general over comments suggesting that people would be prosecuted if they buy marijuana from businesses on its reservation. While the state approved its first medical cannabis business license to a cultivator, there is still no lawful means for patients to access products yet. Meanwhile, last year, Nebraska activists filed an initiative to legalize marijuana and establish a constitutional right to use cannabis for adult over the age of 21. If organizers collect enough valid signatures from registered voters, it could appear on the 2026 ballot. The marijuana reform push also comes as the state attorney general is cracking down on sales of intoxicating hemp-derived products, including those containing delta-8 THC. The approval of two medical marijuana ballot measures in 2024 came after an earlier attempt in 2020 gathered enough signatures for ballot placement, but saw the measure invalidated by the state Supreme Court following a single-subject challenge. Supporters then came up short on signatures for revised petitions in 2022 due in large part to the loss of funding after one of their key donors died in a plane crash. Photo courtesy of Max Pixel. The post Nebraska Congressional Candidates Vow To Fight For Medical Marijuana Access And Protect State Law From Federal Intervention appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

“The evidence from other states is unambiguous: over-taxation kills cannabis markets’ ability to displace illicit sales and generate sustainable revenue.” By Max Jackson, Cannabis Wise Guys Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s (D) 2026/27 budget proposal to legalize marijuana projects $729 million in first-year cannabis revenue to address Pennsylvania’s $4.8 billion structural deficit. It’s a politically appealing pitch: legalize cannabis, capture tax dollars currently flowing to neighboring states and fund education and infrastructure without raising income taxes. But Shapiro himself acknowledged the central challenge in his budget proposal: approximately 60 percent of customers at New Jersey and Maryland border dispensaries are Pennsylvania residents. Nearly half of Pennsylvania’s population lives in a county bordering a state with legal cannabis. Pennsylvania residents are already cannabis consumers—they’re just funding other states’ tax programs instead of Pennsylvania’s. The $729 million projection assumes those customers will shift to Pennsylvania dispensaries once adult-use sales begin. But that only happens if Pennsylvania’s legal market can compete on price, quality and access with the options consumers already use: border-state dispensaries, illicit dealers and THCA hemp shops. And the fastest way to guarantee they don’t is to design a tax structure that treats cannabis as a captive revenue source while expecting it to compete in an open market. The Tax Stacking Problem When states layer multiple taxes on cannabis to maximize short-term revenue extraction, they create a predictable failure pattern. A state excise tax of 10-15 percent, combined with local municipal taxes of 3-5 percent, plus standard sales tax of 6-7 percent, creates cumulative tax rates in the 20-25 percent range or higher. That pricing premium makes legal cannabis uncompetitive with illicit alternatives—and consumers making purchasing decisions don’t distinguish between “fair” and “unfair” taxes. They see the final out-the-door price and decide whether it’s worth paying. Pennsylvania’s challenge is even more acute because of the border dynamics Shapiro acknowledged. A Pennsylvania resident living in a border county isn’t just choosing between legal and illicit options—they’re choosing between Pennsylvania’s dispensary and the one thirty minutes away in Ohio, Maryland or New Jersey. If Pennsylvania’s tax structure makes its legal cannabis 20-30 percent more expensive than neighboring states, consumers will keep doing what they’re already doing: buying elsewhere. Michigan’s Live Experiment: What Happens When You Kill a Working Market Michigan built one of the country’s most successful legal cannabis programs by allowing competitive licensing and tax rates low enough to let legal operators undercut illicit pricing. The result was robust illicit-market displacement and growing tax revenue. Then, facing budget pressures, Michigan legislators imposed an additional 24 percent wholesale tax on cannabis beginning January 1, 2026 to fund road repairs. The state is now conducting a live experiment in whether you can retroactively over-tax a working market without driving consumers back to illicit options or across state lines. Early indicators suggest the answer is no—operators are warning of closures, and consumer advocates are predicting a resurgence of illicit market activity as legal prices become uncompetitive. Pennsylvania legislators should watch carefully. Michigan had the advantage of an established legal market with consumer habits already formed. Pennsylvania could be launching directly into a high-tax environment, asking consumers who currently have multiple options to choose the most expensive one. The Wholesale Tax Mistake California Already Made California initially imposed a per-ounce wholesale cultivation tax, treating cannabis as a commodity that could absorb taxation at every supply chain stage. The result was predictable: cultivators couldn’t survive the economics, wholesale prices collapsed and the illicit market thrived because legal operators couldn’t compete on price while carrying a tax burden their illicit competitors didn’t face. California repealed its wholesale cultivation tax in 2022 after recognizing it was actively undermining the legal market. If Pennsylvania imposes wholesale cultivation taxes in addition to retail-level taxation, the state will replicate California’s mistake—cultivators will face impossible economics, and the tax revenue Pennsylvania projects will never materialize because the businesses expected to generate it won’t survive. The Industry Infrastructure Problem Shapiro’s budget allocates $25 million for social equity programs. But the deeper problem is what happens when states extract maximum tax revenue from cannabis to plug general budget deficits: the industry can’t fund the regulatory infrastructure, technical assistance programs and support systems it needs to function. Cannabis regulation is expensive. State regulators need funding for inspections, compliance monitoring, laboratory oversight and enforcement. Social equity programs require technical assistance, business development support and access to expertise to help new operators survive the critical first years, when most cannabis businesses operate at a loss. If Pennsylvania siphons all cannabis tax revenue out of the industry to address unrelated budget shortfalls, these systems don’t get built—and the market fails to develop the way revenue projections assume it will. Equity licenses without operational support systems are performative policies that set participants up for failure. But the same principle applies across the entire market: if the industry can’t retain enough revenue to build functional infrastructure, compliant businesses struggle, regulatory oversight weakens and the illicit market wins. The Revenue Only Works If the Market Works Shapiro is correct that Pennsylvania is losing potential tax revenue to neighboring states. He’s correct that cannabis legalization could capture some of that revenue. But the $729 million projection is only realistic if Pennsylvania builds a market that works—for consumers who need competitive pricing and convenient access, and for businesses that need viable economics and clear regulations. The evidence from other states is unambiguous: over-taxation kills cannabis markets’ ability to displace illicit sales and generate sustainable revenue. Michigan is discovering this in real-time. California learned it and reversed course. Pennsylvania has the advantage of learning from these mistakes instead of repeating them. Shapiro stated the core problem: 60 percent of border dispensary customers are Pennsylvania residents. Those consumers have demonstrated they’ll travel for their cannabis. Pennsylvania’s legal market must compete for their business—it can’t assume their compliance. The fastest way to lose that competition is to design a tax structure that makes Pennsylvania’s legal cannabis the most expensive option in a fifty-mile radius. Pennsylvania residents are already cannabis consumers. The question isn’t whether they’ll buy cannabis—it’s whether Pennsylvania will build a market competitive enough to capture their business, or whether they’ll keep funding New Jersey, Maryland, Ohio and the illicit market instead. The $729 million budget projection depends entirely on getting that answer right. Max Jackson is the founder of Cannabis Wise Guys and specializes in translating between cannabis operations, investment and public policy. Photo courtesy of Max Jackson. The post Pennsylvania Must Not Over-Tax Marijuana If Legalization Is Going To Work Well (Op-Ed) appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

The New Hampshire House of Representatives has approved a bipartisan bill to legalize the regulated use of psilocybin for medical purposes. After unanimously passing the House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee late last month, the full chamber advanced it in voice vote on the consent calendar on Thursday. It now goes to the House Finance Committee before a final floor vote that could move it to the Senate. The legislation from Rep. Buzz Scherr (D) would create a regulatory pathway for patients with certain conditions to access the psychedelic for therapeutic use through a program overseen by the state Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Rep. Yury Polozov (R) said in a committee report that the bill would provide needed access to psilocybin “under medical supervision for conditions such as treatment-resistant depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorders, and other qualifying diagnoses determined by an advisory board and the department.” “This legislation offers a balanced, medically-supervised approach to therapeutic psilocybin use,” he said. “It addresses unmet needs for individuals with severe, treatment-resistant conditions by providing access in a controlled environment, grounded in emerging scientific evidence and harm reduction principles.” Here are the key provisions of HB 1809: DHHS would be responsible for approving licensed medical professional to serve as providers of psilocybin for qualifying patients. In order to qualify for the program, patients would need to be diagnosed with treatment-resistant depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance use disorder or another condition authorized by an advisory board and DHHS. The legislation specifically stipulates that only natural psilocybin could be administered, excluding synthetic versions of the psychedelic. Providers would also need to be approved by the department to grow and harvest their own psilocybin products. The process for treating qualifying patients with the psychedelic would need to involve a preparation session, administration session and integration session. A Medical Psilocybin Advisory Board would be established, comprised of a representative of DHHS, a qualifying patient, a veterans advocate and eight medical professionals. Those medical experts would need to include a psychedelics researcher, two regulators overseeing existing medical psilocybin programs and specialists in the treatment of addiction, palliative care, veterans’ affairs, naturopathy, nursing and mental health counseling. The board would be tasked with analyzing data on patient outcomes from DHHS, consider adding qualifying conditions for participation in the program and determine whether the law should be expanded. The program would only be implemented if the advisory board, within two years of the bill’s enactment, notifies lawmakers, regulators and the governor that it can be effectively administered. The prospect of the psilocybin legislation advancing to enactment into law this session remain unclear, but lawmakers have been increasingly active in pursuing psychedelics reform in recent years. Last June, the New Hampshire Senate voted to scrap compromise legislation that would have lowered the state’s criminal penalty for first-time psilocybin possession while also creating mandatory minimum sentences around fentanyl. As originally introduced, the legislation would have completely removed penalties around obtaining, purchasing, transporting, possessing or using psilocybin, effectively legalizing it on a noncommercial basis. However a House committee amended the bill before unanimously advancing it last March. — Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments. Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access. — Meanwhile in New Hampshire, the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday rejected a House-passed bill to legalize marijuana in the state. That proposal is one of several cannabis bills filed for the 2026 session, including legislation from Rep. Jonah Wheeler (D) that seeks to put a constitutional amendment on the state ballot that would let voters decide if they want to legalize marijuana for adults 21 and older, allowing them to “possess a modest amount of cannabis for their personal use.” Members of the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee took up that legislation late last month. Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R) has already threatened to veto any legalization bill that reaches her desk, though the constitutional amendment proposal would not require gubernatorial action. The governor said in August that her position on the reform would not change even if the federal government moved forward with rescheduling the plant. Since then, President Donald Trump has directed the attorney general to finalize the process of moving cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). In the Senate, the Judiciary Committee last month also took up a bill from Sen. Donovan Fenton (D) that would allow adults over the age of 21 to legally possess up to four ounces of cannabis in plant form and 20 grams of concentrated cannabis products, as well as other products containing no more than 2,000 milligrams of THC. Last June, the New Hampshire Senate voted to scrap compromise legislation that would have lowered the state’s criminal penalty for first-time psilocybin possession while also creating mandatory minimum sentences around fentanyl. As originally introduced, the legislation would have completely removed penalties around obtaining, purchasing, transporting, possessing or using psilocybin, effectively legalizing it on a noncommercial basis. However, a House committee amended the bill before unanimously advancing it last March. The post New Hampshire House Approves Bill To Legalize Psilocybin For Therapeutic Use appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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The Justice Department should “take about 20 years” to finish the marijuana rescheduling process, a GOP congressman who staunchly opposes cannabis reform tells Marijuana Moment. With the proposal to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) still pending, Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) is in no rush to have DOJ see the process through—despite President Donald Trump’s December executive order directing the attorney general to quickly finalize the rule. “Last I looked, it hasn’t been rescheduled. The president said to look into it,” Harris said in an interview on Thursday, adding that he hasn’t directly communicated with the Justice Department about the issue but that “everybody understands what I want it to look like.” “I don’t think I’ve been subtle about it,” Harris said. “All I know is every day that goes by and it’s not rescheduled is another good day.” The prohibitionist congressman said he isn’t sure if internal disagreements within DOJ are to blame for the delayed rescheduling action, but “the wheels grind a little slowly around here sometimes.” “On this one, they should take about 20 years to grind,” he said. In December, Harris separately said Trump doesn’t have the authority to unilaterally reschedule marijuana via executive order. But while lawmakers could overrule any administrative move to enact the reform, it would be a “heavy lift” in the Republican-controlled Congress, he acknowledged. For what it’s worth, the congressman may be at risk of being unseated in November due to redistricting in his state. The Maryland House of Delegates earlier this month approved a congressional redistricting proposal that would leave anti-cannabis Harris especially vulnerable in the next election, according to analysts, giving Democrats an advantage in the state’s first congressional district for the first time since the last map was drawn in 2011. It remains to be seen whether the Senate will follow the House’s lead to pass the legislation, however. Meanwhile, another GOP lawmaker on the other side of the debate, Congressional Cannabis Caucus co-chair Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH), recently told Marijuana Moment that while marijuana rescheduling might not be at the top of the agenda for the Justice Department or White House amid competing interests, he and bipartisan colleagues will be ready when “opportunity does present itself.” Joyce separately said last month that he doesn’t think the attorney general would seek to undermine the president’s executive order to move marijuana to Schedule III despite any personal reservations she may have about the policy change. A DOJ spokesperson told Marijuana Moment last month that it had no “comment or updates” to share on the topic. However, an agency official more recently told Salon that “DOJ is working to identify the most expeditious means of executing the EO.” That phrasing is notable, signaling that the department is uncertain about the administrative pathway to finalize rescheduling. The hope among advocates and industry stakeholders was that the process would be more simple, with a final signature on the existing reform proposal that was released following a scientific review initiated under the prior Biden administration. DOJ has been notably silent on the issue in the weeks since Trump signed the order—even as the White House recently touted the president’s order as an example of a policy achievement during the first year of his second term. Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Trump’s first pick for attorney general this term who ultimately withdrew his nomination, raised eyebrows last week after posting on X that he’s been told the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is actively drafting a rescheduling rule and intended to issue it “ASAP.” There’s some confusion around that point, however, as a rule is already pending before the Justice Department—and a new rule would presumably be subject to additional administrative review and public comment. Last week, meanwhile, the White House declined to comment on the status of the rescheduling process, deferring Marijuana Moment to the Justice Department. A Democratic senator told Marijuana Moment earlier this month that it’s “too early to tell” what the implications of Trump’s cannabis order would be—saying that while there are “things that look promising” about it, he is “very concerned about where the DOJ will land.” “The ability of the Trump administration to speak out of both sides of their mouth is staggering,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) said. “So I’m just going to wait and see right now. Obviously, there’s things that look promising—to end generations of injustice. I really want to wait and see.” — 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. — Also last month, two GOP senators filed an amendment to block the Trump administration from rescheduling cannabis, but it was not considered on the floor. Meanwhile, last month, DEA said the cannabis rescheduling appeal process “remains pending” despite Trump’s executive order. A recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report discussed how DOJ could, in theory, reject the president’s directive or delay the process by restarting the scientific review into marijuana. Attorney General Pam Bondi separately missed a congressionally mandated deadline last month to issue guidelines for easing barriers to research on Schedule I substances such as marijuana and psychedelics. The LCB contributed reporting from Washington, D.C. Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images. The post Justice Department ‘Should Take About 20 Years’ To Reschedule Marijuana, GOP Congressman Says appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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Trump pardons NFL star for marijuana; New Farm Bill hemp provisions; VA cannabis sales legalization; MD psychedelics; CO medical marijuana access 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… BREAKING: Journalism is often consumed for free, but costs money to produce! While this newsletter is proudly sent without cost to you, our ability to send it each day depends on the financial support of readers who can afford to give it. So if you’ve got a few dollars to spare each month and believe in the work we do, please consider joining us on Patreon today. https://www.patreon.com/marijuanamoment / TOP THINGS TO KNOW The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has finalized a rule to provide federal health insurance coverage for CBD, according to an executive with the hemp product company Charlotte’s Web, which has been collaborating with the agency on the initiative. President Donald Trump pardoned former NFL player Nate Newton over a conviction for trafficking 175 pounds of marijuana, as advocates point out that there are still people in federal prison for lesser amounts of cannabis than that. House Agriculture Committee Chairman GT Thompson (R-PA) filed a new Farm Bill that “reduces regulatory burdens” for industrial hemp producers—including by reducing testing and background check requirements and establishing a process to accredit testing labs. The Virginia Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee amended and approved a bill to legalize recreational marijuana sales, sending it to a floor vote as similar legislation with key differences is also advancing toward passage in the House of Delegates. The Colorado Senate Health & Human Services Committee approved a bill to allow terminally ill patients to use medical cannabis in healthcare facilities such as hospitals. The Maryland Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on a bill to extend the Task Force on Responsible Use of Natural Psychedelic Substances for another year and require a new report with updated recommendations to ensure “broad, equitable and affordable access to psychedelic substances.” Steph Sherer of Americans for Safe Access argues in a new Marijuana Moment op-ed that the FY2026 federal budget is largely a “letdown” for medical cannabis patients who need “comprehensive federal legislation that creates a national medical cannabis framework to recognize cannabis-based therapies as part of modern healthcare.” A Missouri bill to restrict hemp THC products stalled amid a filibuster on the Senate floor. The Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division is considering changing rules that allow cannabis companies to choose their own product samples for testing by instead requiring independent labs or outside vendors to select them. Mike Simpson of Lovewell Farms argues in a new op-ed that Congress should delay the impending recriminalization of hemp THC products and give officials more time to “regulate with evidence rather than panic.” / FEDERAL Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he “used to snort cocaine off of toilet seats.” Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) and 16 cosponsors filed a resolution noting that “the United States-backed drug war, along with economic displacement attributable in part to United States-sponsored free trade agreements, resulted in another major wave of migration from Central America and Mexico during the first two decades of the 2000s.” The House bill to create a pathway for patients to access Schedule I drugs got one new cosponsor for a total of 15. / STATES The Oregon Senate Committee on Early Childhood and Behavioral Health approved a bill to limit cannabis edible to 10 milligrams of THC. The Virginia Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee deferred a bill to criminalize possession of marijuana products outside the original sealed container in the passenger area of a vehicle until next year. Florida lawmakers are advancing legislation to decriminalize drug checking tools. Washington State House Democrats sent a press release about the passage of a bill to allow terminally ill patients to use medical cannabis in healthcare facilities. A New York senator explained why he voted against legislation to provide greater zoning flexibility for marijuana businesses. Colorado regulators issued an expanded health and safety advisory about marijuana products with aspergillus, yeast and mold above acceptable limits. Massachusetts regulators published guidance on enrolling in the medical cannabis program. New Jersey regulators took action on alleged marijuana business violations. The California Legislative Analyst’s Office published a report about the budget request for the Cannabis Control Appeals Panel. The Virginia Cannabis Control Authority Board of Directors will meet on Tuesday. — 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 Chicago, Illinois’s mayor vetoed a measure to ban hemp products. A Cincinnati, Ohio City Council member is proposing to use marijuana revenue to fund record expungement, lead abatement, youth employment and workforce development programs in communities impacted by cannabis criminalization. / INTERNATIONAL French regulators are expected to release medical cannabis pricing and reimbursement rules on Wednesday. / SCIENCE & HEALTH A study found that “CBD protects human skin from [airborne particulate matter]-induced molecular damage and supports its potential as a functional bioactive ingredient for anti-pollution applications.” A study found that “prolonged CBD exposure can precondition the tumor microenvironment toward an anti-tumor state, improving disease control and potentially lowering relapse risk,” suggesting “CBD pretreatment as an immune-modulatory strategy with high translational potential for glioblastoma management.” / ADVOCACY, OPINION & ANALYSIS The chair of the Missouri Republican Party discussed the benefits of ibogaine therapy. / BUSINESS Planet 13 Holdings Inc. completed its exit from the California market. 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 Feds finalize Medicare CBD coverage rule, hemp industry operative says (Newsletter: February 16, 2026) appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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

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