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It's great to see continued pressure on Biden for these pardons! The impact of non-violent cannabis convictions is far-reaching and disproportionately affects communities. Hopefully, they get the update they're looking for soon. Speaking of things that bring people joy, anyone else ever get lost in the endless topping combinations of papa's freezeria? It's a surprisingly deep game!

This women-focused cannabis and psychedelics conference sounds like an amazing opportunity to connect with industry leaders! I've always appreciated platforms that bring together diverse voices and expertise in emerging sectors. Events like this are invaluable for networking and staying updated on compliance trends and market developments. If you're interested in exploring industry insights and connecting with professionals in cannabis or wellness spaces, checking out community platforms like Fnaf can help you discover similar events and build meaningful connections in these growing fields. Definitely worth keeping an eye on!

A federal appeals court has rejected a request from a drug testing industry association and a pharmaceutical company to block the Trump administration from moving forward with federal cannabis rescheduling while ongoing litigation challenging the reform is considered. “Petitioners have not satisfied the stringent requirements for a stay pending court review,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled on Wednesday. The National Drug and Alcohol Screening Association (NDASA) and MMJ International Holdings and its subsidiaries had argued in briefs supporting their motion for the court to put a stay on the rescheduling reform that “marijuana abuse has dangerous, lifelong consequences—especially for adolescents and pregnant women” and that “by cutting taxes on cannabis companies,” federal rescheduling “will stimulate the industry and increase marijuana abuse.” The Department of Justice had opposed the request to pause rescheduling, noting in a brief that the entities challenging cannabis rescheduling have “pocketbook interests served by keeping all marijuana in schedule I” and are not suitable challengers to the reform because they are not the “intended beneficiaries” of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Meanwhile, the court on Wednesday also rejected a request from two medical marijuana companies that had filed a motion to intervene in the rescheduling lawsuit by joining the side of the government and opposing the litigation from prohibitionists. “Medical Marijuana Companies fail to demonstrate that their interests in this litigation are not adequately represented by existing parties,” the court’s order said, though it is allowing the companies to file amicus briefs in the case. Lawyers for NDASA and the prohibitionist organization Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) had filed a brief arguing that the cannabis businesses should not be allowed to join the suit. Aside from the question of immediately blocking cannabis rescheduling from advancing via the stay, the appeals court is weighing three separate lawsuits against the overall proposal to move marijuana from Schedule I of the CSA to Schedule III that have since been consolidated. One suit is led by SAM and NDASA, who claim they are “aggrieved” by the reform. Another comes from a coalition of anti-marijuana activists, substance misuse professionals, doctors and MMJ, a cannabis-focused biopharmaceutical corporation. A third challenge was filed by the attorneys general of Indiana, Nebraska and Louisiana—though the latter state later withdrew from the suit. The court on Wednesday directed parties in the case to submit, within 30 days, proposed formats for briefings. “The parties are strongly urged to submit a joint proposal and are reminded that the court looks with extreme disfavor on repetitious submissions and will, where appropriate, require a joint brief of aligned parties with total words not to exceed the standard allotment for a single brief,” it said. “Whether the parties are aligned or have disparate interests, they must provide detailed justifications for any request to file separate briefs or to exceed in the aggregate the standard word allotment,” the court’s order said. “Requests to exceed the standard word allotment must specify the word allotment necessary for each issue.” Kevin Sabet, president and CEO of SAM, said that “while we disagree with the court’s decision on emergency relief, today’s ruling does not decide the merits of this case or resolve the serious legal and scientific questions surrounding this unprecedented reclassification.” “This policy sidesteps the rigorous scientific and medical standards normally required before a drug is treated as medicine,” he said. “We are confident those flaws will be fully considered as the case moves forward, and that ultimately the law and the science will prevail.” The court’s new decision on the stay comes as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and other parties participating in a hearing on broad marijuana rescheduling have filed their final briefs on the issue. The federal agency, which is charged with defending the proposed rescheduling move, said in its brief that “marijuana no longer fits the statutory requirements for Schedule I because it has a currently accepted medical use within the United States and it has an accepted safety for its use under medical supervision.” The agency noted that under the law it must give “significant deference” to an “extensive ten-month study on the scientific and medical properties” of cannabis conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which recommended rescheduling. “Currently there are over 30,000 practitioners treating more than six million patients in 43 U.S. jurisdictions,” DEA said. “Such practices demonstrate that there is no longer a lack of accepted safety for use of marijuana under medical supervision, and as such, marijuana does not fulfill the requirements of being a Schedule I substance.” It also said that there is “substantial evidence sufficient to show that marijuana’s abuse and dependency profiles better align with Schedule III substances than Schedule II” or Schedule I. “The vast majority of individuals who use marijuana do so in a manner that does not result in dangers to themselves or to their communities.” In conclusion, DEA asked the judge overseeing the hearing to “expeditiously recommend” that marijuana be transferred from Schedule I to Schedule III. Opponents of cannabis reform—including the SAM; the states of Idaho, Indiana and Nebraska; NDASA and others—also filed briefs. The anti-rescheduling entities argued that a new two-part test federal officials used to analyze cannabis improperly departs from a former five-part test, that marijuana does not have accepted medical value and that the reform would undermine drug testing of safety-sensitive workers, among other things. In 2024, the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) said the prior five-part test was “impermissibly narrow” and said the two-part review “is sufficient to establish that a drug has CAMU even if the drug has not been approved by FDA and would not satisfy DEA’s five-part test.” DEA has since embraced the new approach to evaluating cannabis for CAMU and it has been used to subsequently evaluate other substances. The DEA judge will now consider the final briefs and testimony delivered during the hearing and issue a recommendation on cannabis’s scheduling status. The final decision will ultimately be up to the DEA administrator, however. 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, the hearing is considering more comprehensively moving marijuana to Schedule III. The suit from SAM and NDASA challenging rescheduling was signed by attorneys at Torridon Law PLCC, where former U.S. Attorney General William Barr, led DOJ during Trump’s first term in office, is a partner. SAM had announced in January that it was hiring Barr’s firm to legally combat cannabis rescheduling after Tump signed an executive order directing officials to complete the process expeditiously. Meanwhile, the House Appropriations Committee voted to block federal officials from taking further steps to carry out cannabis rescheduling. Bipartisan lawmakers told Marijuana Moment, however, that they don’t expect the legislative effort to block rescheduling to succeed. Separately, SAM, MMJ and other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit seeking to block a Trump administration program to cover certain hemp-derived products through Medicare. That case was dismissed by a federal judge in May, but that decision is being appealed. Read the court’s ruling in the marijuana rescheduling lawsuit below: Photo elements courtesy of rawpixel and Philip Steffan. The post Federal Court Lets Trump Move Ahead With Marijuana Rescheduling, Rejecting Pharma Company And Drug Testing Industry Request To Block It appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

Retired boxer Mike Tyson is thanking President Donald Trump for his decision to free two people who were serving time for federal marijuana convictions last week—but he is making clear that even more acts of cannabis clemency should follow. “No one should lose decades of their life for nonviolent cannabis offenses,” Tyson told Marijuana Moment in reaction to the president’s action. Trump on Thursday commuted the sentences of Jerry Haymon IV and Kevin Harden, effectively ending their sentences and putting them on the path to being free. “I want to thank President Trump for giving Jerry Haymon and Kevin Harden a second chance,” Tyson told Marijuana Moment. “I hope this is only the beginning for those still waiting to rebuild their lives,” he said. The clemency applications from Haymon and Harden were both accompanied by a letter Tyson wrote to Trump in which he praised the president for his administration’s moves to federally reschedule marijuana, which the boxer had publicly pushed for in advance. “There are Americans still sitting in federal prison for the very conduct your order addresses, waiting to see if your historic words will extend to them,” he wrote. “With two-thirds of Americans in support of marijuana legalization, not more punishment, the politics align with common sense policy. Yet individuals remain behind bars under outdated federal laws for conduct that today would not result in prison in much of the country.” “Granting clemency to non-violent marijuana offenders would reunite families, restore lost opportunity, and write the final chapter of the federal war on marijuana—a chapter that only you have the power to close,” Tyson said in the letter. “It would be a legacy moment: bold, decisive, and right. I respectfully urge you to act.” Haymon was given a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence in federal prison for his participation in a marijuana distribution conspiracy, and had been living in home confinement for the past year. “Today is an amazing day that I will never forget,” Haymon told Marijuana Moment on Friday after receiving the news of his commutation, saying it feels like he has been “reborn again.” Thirty-six members of Congress sent a letter to then-President Joe Biden in support of Haymon’s request for clemency. While Biden issued mass pardons to people who committed federal marijuana possession offenses, he did not heed calls to free people serving time in federal prison for involvement in selling cannabis. Haymon’s case was championed by Weldon Angelos, founder of the criminal justice non-profit The Weldon Project who received a cannabis-related presidential pardon during Trump’s first term. “I also recognize Weldon Angelos and The Weldon Project for their tireless work bringing people home,” Tyson told Marijuana Moment. Harden, the other person that Trump granted clemency to on Thursday, had been serving a 30-year sentence after being convicted of conspiracy to distribute marijuana. His co-defendant in the cannabis case, James Romans, was granted clemency by Trump in 2021 on the final day of his first term in office. The two cannabis commutations are part of a broader package of clemency grants the the president issued last week. Trump’s move to free a handful of cannabis prisoners comes as his administration of moving forward with the process of federally rescheduling marijuana. 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 he signed, the DEA hearing was held to consider more comprehensively moving marijuana to Schedule III. An agency judge is currently considering a recommendation on the issue, and then the DEA administrator will issue a final determination. During the hearing, DEA officials charged with defending the cannabis rescheduling proposal highlighted testimony on marijuana’s medical benefits and its relative safety compared to other substances such as alcohol and opioids. Earlier this year, Trump pardoned a former NFL star who was convicted of trafficking 175 pounds of marijuana. At the start of his second term, the president fulfilled a campaign promise by commuting the life sentence of Ross Ulbricht, a man who was convicted of running a dark web illicit drug market. Tyson, for his part, spent time talking with Pennsylvania lawmakers last year about why that state should legalize marijuana. Image element courtesy of Super Festivals. The post Mike Tyson Thanks Trump For Releasing Federal Marijuana Prisoners, Saying He Hopes More Will Soon Be Freed appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

His Democratic opponent called the cannabis tax a “new and emerging issue” and hasn’t taken a clear stance on it. By Simon D. Schuster, Bridge Michigan This story was originally published by Bridge Michigan, a nonprofit and nonpartisan news organization. To get regular coverage from Bridge Michigan, sign up for a free Bridge Michigan newsletter here. Republican John James is proposing to “repeal or sharply reduce” Michigan’s new 24 percent wholesale tax on marijuana and courting industry donors as he competes to be Michigan’s next governor. The new tax was a key component of the bipartisan road funding deal Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed last year, but James argues it “drives up prices, gives illegal operators a competitive edge and has already fallen far short of revenue projections.” James publicly vowed to repeal or reduce the wholesale tax in mid-August, weeks after he had discussed doing the same at a campaign fundraiser organized by marijuana industry leaders. The gathering, hosted by executives of the JARS Cannabis dispensary chain, netted his campaign nearly $90,000, according to state disclosures. That’s a small fraction of the nearly $1.2 million James raised from donors since late July, but it underscored the willingness of industry executives to back opponents of a tax they see as an existential threat. “He was clear as a bell: He wants to get rid of that 24 percent tax,” said Tim Beck, a longtime marijuana advocate who attended the fundraiser and told Bridge Michigan that about 100 people attended. Marijuana officials have said they were blindsided by the wholesale tax, which is separate from the state’s 10 percent retail excise tax and was part of a road funding deal negotiated behind closed doors by Whitmer, Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks and Republican House Speaker Matt Hall. An industry group is suing to try to block it, arguing it violates the will of voters who legalized marijuana in 2018. As part of his proposal to repeal the wholesale tax, James noted state revenue collections have so far fallen short of projections. The House Fiscal Agency had projected the tax would generate $420 million annually to help fix Michigan roads as part of a promised $2 billion annual infusion, but state budget officials recently reported it had generated just $73.4 million in the first six months since implementation, below even revised estimates. James has not said how or if he’d try to make up road funding revenue if the tax is fully eliminated. His campaign did not respond to requests for comment, nor did a spokesperson for Hall, the GOP House Speaker. Benson takes wait-and-see approach Jocelyn Benson, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, has not taken a firm stance on the 24 percent wholesale marijuana tax, which her running mate, Brinks, supported in the Legislature. It’s a “new and emerging issue,” Benson said Tuesday when Bridge asked her about the tax at a campaign stop. “There’s a lot of data yet to be determined on that particular tax… We need to know where the money is going and also the impact that it’s had on the industry,” she said. “At the same time, I want to make sure that any changes we are making to our tax code do not come at the expense of driving up costs for Michiganders.” Michigan’s marijuana industry was already struggling with growing pains before the new tax, and Robin Schneider, head of a top trade group, said many business owners have told her they simply aren’t paying it. “They’re operating on a wish and a prayer right now,” said Schneider, the executive director of the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association. She attended the fundraiser and her association donated $1,000 to James. Schneider told Bridge the James campaign approached her about the issue ahead of the fundraiser. “We didn’t do anything,” she told Bridge. “They made it clear that they support us.” Beck, who is a member of the industry association but has no business of his own, said he feels marijuana business owners are “pretty united” around James. Schneider said her association “repeatedly” reached out to Benson but has not heard back. The group previously supported Benson’s Democratic primary rival, Chris Swanson, who similarly pledged to repeal the tax. An industry in turmoil Michigan’s marijuana industry experienced meteoric growth after recreational sales began in 2020, but competition has been cutthroat, with rapid expansion and aggressive consolidation making it difficult for small businesses to survive, leaving all but the largest producers and dispensary chains standing. With the market seemingly saturated, industry margins remain razor-tight. In 2018, when 56 percent of Michigan voters voted to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes, James—then in his first of two campaigns for U.S. Senate—said he would vote against the proposal but would respect the will of voters if they approved it. Eight years later, James now says “state government has a responsibility to respect” the voter-approved law “while promoting workplace and community safety, keeping intoxicating products out of the hands of children, protecting consumers and enforcing the law against those who refuse to follow it.” Diversion to the black market is something that nearly every state that has legalized marijuana has struggled with. In Oregon, where marijuana is legal and regulated, some experts have estimated only about two-thirds of sales are through the legal market, and it’s unclear whether expensive state efforts to tamp down on illicit sales are making a dent. The industry has also sought other routes to reduce the financial pressure Michigan’s fiercely competitive market has brought on weed businesses. Schneider’s industry association has backed a proposal introduced by state Senate Democrats that would effectively cap production and distribution statewide, cutting off new entry into the market, much like the state-sanctioned oligopoly currently in place for alcohol wholesalers. That legislation, however, has remained stalled in committee. This article first appeared on Bridge Michigan and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. The post Michigan GOP Governor Candidate Raises Money From Marijuana Industry While Pledging To Cut New Wholesale Tax appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

“The law is very clear. You can vaporize flower and then of course vaporize the vape oil. So, the only thing that’s allowed in inhalables is vaporizing.” By Alander Rocha, Georgia Recorder Medical cannabis dispensaries are now selling the flower form of the drug in Georgia, but a new state law that took effect this summer has created some confusion over how it can be legally consumed. Lawmakers passed a measure earlier this year that overhauled the state’s medical cannabis program by dropping the confusing “low THC oil” branding, allowing dry-herb and oil vaporization, adding qualifying medical conditions and removing previous potency barriers. The changes quickly triggered significant growth in the number of patients enrolled in the program, with nearly 50,000 patients as of September 2, according to the Department of Public Health. But limits remain on how the raw cannabis flower can be used. Smoking it remains illegal under the new state law known as the Putting Patients First Act, which allows registered patients 21 and older to consume flower and oil at home strictly through vaporization. “The law is very clear. You can vaporize flower and then of course vaporize the vape oil. So, the only thing that’s allowed in inhalables is vaporizing. That’s it,” said Newnan Republican state Sen. Matt Brass, the bill’s sponsor, in a phone interview. Because flower is now being sold in Georgia’s dispensaries and independent pharmacies, retailers are finding themselves at the forefront of educating patients who incorrectly assume the availability of flower means the state legalized traditional smoking. Priya Raje, the owner of Lotus Farmacy in Suwanee, an independent pharmacy specializing in medical cannabis, said she is frequently asked about the difference between smoking and vaping and said that a part of her role is to educate patients on what’s legal in Georgia. She said that most people are familiar with smoking flower because it’s the way cannabis has been historically consumed, so she spends that extra time educating patients about what is allowed under the law. “I just tell them what the legality is and what the risks are if they choose to do anything else,” Raje said. Yolanda Bennett, who is a patient and co-head of the Georgia Medical Cannabis Society, which is an organization that advocates for medical cannabis access and educates patients, said smoking and vaporizing flower form of cannabis are entirely different methods. She said that smoking flower burns all the particles and plant matter and creates smoke from the combustion, whereas vaporization using a device only heats up the plant matter to a certain temperature without burning it, only creating an inhalable vapor. “When you take a flame and ignite the flower, that’s illegal,” Bennett said. The bill did not originally allow Georgians to vaporize the flower, but Brass said he didn’t push back after the House amended the bill to include it because he figured that vaping flower could be a healthier alternative to oil vapes. “You’ve got different additives that are put in that oil to have it hit a certain percent, and the flower is grown and there’s nothing added to it, and so that was why I agreed to it. I don’t know if that’s why [the House] added it, but to me, that makes sense,” Brass said. This story was first published by Georgia Recorder. The post Georgia Medical Cannabis Patients Can Now Vape—But Not Smoke—Marijuana appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

“Acknowledging these problems is not a concession to prohibition. Solving them is how we protect the future of cannabis access.” By Steph Sherer, Americans for Safe Access For much of the modern cannabis movement, raising concerns about safety has been politically complicated. Advocates have spent decades fighting exaggerated claims about cannabis harms, and opponents have been eager to turn every adverse event, regulatory failure or unanswered scientific question into an argument for prohibition. That history created an understandable reflex: When someone raises a cannabis safety concern, defend cannabis. It also helps explain why cannabis policy debates often center on two opposing narratives. One side presents cannabis as uniquely dangerous and promotes prohibition or restriction as the answer. The other minimizes legitimate concerns out of fear of giving opponents ammunition. Historically, medical cannabis policy has advanced by addressing public concerns. We have developed product-safety standards, improved patient and professional education, challenged government misinformation with evidence—including forcing the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to remove the “gateway drug” theory and other unsupported assertions from its materials—and fought to remove research barriers. Entrepreneurs have also built cannabis-specific infrastructure where traditional systems did not exist, from specialized laboratories and manufacturing equipment to services designed for the unique needs of the cannabis marketplace. The takeaway is that facts, standards, research and practical solutions have advanced medical cannabis despite fearmongering. That lesson matters now more than ever. The future of cannabis access depends on our ability to distinguish between rhetoric designed to undermine access and legitimate questions that deserve real solutions. Confusing labels, contaminants in products, inconsistent dosing, accidental ingestion, impaired driving, youth access, inadequate professional education, gaps in testing, misinformation and barriers that push patients outside regulated systems are all real issues. Acknowledging these problems is not a concession to prohibition. Solving them is how we protect the future of cannabis access. We need to be able to say: Here is a problem. Here is what the evidence tells us. Here is what we do not yet know. And here is what we are doing about it. Medical cannabis raises the stakes The future of medical cannabis will depend on more than whether state or federal law permits a patient to obtain it. Integration into healthcare requires an infrastructure of trust. Healthcare professionals need education. Patients need understandable information. Researchers need support to answer unresolved questions. Products need greater consistency and transparency. Regulators need standards that work in practice. Patients need ways to report problems and navigate discrimination. Businesses need incentives to exceed minimum requirements through a marketplace that rewards innovation. The people and organizations building those systems today are helping define what medical cannabis will look like tomorrow. Safety is a competitive advantage The next stage of cannabis market development will not be built primarily around potency, novelty, branding and price. Companies that invest in transparency, usability, testing, quality, safety and consumer education are helping build the standards and infrastructure that a mature cannabis marketplace and the integration of cannabis into healthcare will require. Addressing safety concerns should not be viewed simply as a compliance obligation. It can strengthen patient and consumer trust, distinguish responsible businesses, reduce preventable problems and show that the legal marketplace can respond to public concerns. Legitimacy requires accountability, professional standards, continuous improvement and a willingness to solve problems before regulators, journalists, consumers or class-action lawsuits force us to. Opponents of cannabis reform are increasingly using legitimate cannabis safety concerns to argue for broader restrictions. Cannabis safety should not be a political weapon, and it should not be an uncomfortable subject cannabis communities avoid. It should be an area of innovation, collaboration, investment and competition. The Backlash is Being Organized Communities across America have legitimate questions about cannabis safety and public health. In 2024, the National Academies published Cannabis Policy Impacts Public Health and Health Equity, which documented mounting concerns and called for cannabis policies that protect the public from potential harms, including accidental ingestion, impaired-driving crashes, secondhand smoke and environmental impacts, while also protecting people who use cannabis from harm and ensuring access to dependency treatment when needed. Public safety concerns are real and are no longer a fringe messaging problem. They are the foundation of an organized political backlash against cannabis access that is gaining steam. Opposition campaigns are using public anxiety to portray current cannabis policies as failures and build support for a return to prohibition or more restrictive approaches. Their arguments increasingly focus on impaired driving and roadway safety, contaminated products in legal markets, emergency visits and accidental exposures, workplace safety and other legitimate concerns that deserve thoughtful responses. Opponents are raising money around rescheduling and public fears, fueling support for aggressive enforcement proposals. Leadership in Congress is responding. They are organizing opposition to rescheduling and holding hearings linking cannabis safety concerns to criminal-enforcement and national-security narratives. At the state level, national organizations are backing ballot and referendum campaigns to overturn and restrict cannabis laws. They have money, infrastructure, trusted messengers and a clear policy agenda. Raising up problem-solvers Many people are stepping up to address legitimate concerns about cannabis safety, but their work does not always make its way into the public debate. Every day, researchers are expanding the evidence base, patient advocates are identifying failures in healthcare and public policy, elected officials are pursuing workable reforms and organizations are creating better public education and professional training. Companies and innovators are also tackling practical problems through safer storage, better dosing and measurement, improved product preservation, clearer testing and labeling information, whole-flower vaporization technology, sustainability efforts and tools for responding safely to uncomfortable THC overconsumption. What we choose to celebrate and highlight signals what we value as a community. Focusing primarily on revenue, expansion, potency and stock prices while overlooking innovations that address patient, consumer, professional and community concerns is a missed opportunity to shape what comes next. Recognition can help good ideas travel. It can bring attention to solutions that deserve investment, encourage companies to compete on safety as well as performance and show policymakers and the public that the cannabis community can confront difficult issues. Help identify the work worth scaling Our challenge is to identify solutions that are working and make them visible. That is why Americans for Safe Access created the first Cannabis Safety Awards. Across 18 categories, the awards are intended to shine a light on people, programs, products and innovations that identified a cannabis safety problem and decided to be part of the solution. Our goal is not simply to hand out awards. It is to demonstrate to the media, policymakers and the public that concerns about integrating cannabis into healthcare and society are being heard and that the cannabis community is already helping address them. Steph Sherer is the founder and executive director of Americans for Safe Access, which is organizing the 2026 Cannabis Safety Awards for which nominations are open through September 10. The post Addressing Cannabis Safety Issues Is A Strength, Not A Weakness, For The Legalization Movement (Op-Ed) appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

The U.S. State Department is warning U.S. citizens against traveling internationally while carrying marijuana or CBD products. “U.S. citizens are subject to local laws,” the department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs said in a social media post on Tuesday. “Just because a cannabis, THC, or CBD product is legal in your home state does not mean you can take it abroad. This includes prescribed medical marijuana.” The agency wants to make sure that Americans know that many countries impose “severe criminal penalties” for cannabis, pointing them to a federal website where they can review local laws and prohibited items where they are traveling. Even if cannabis is legal or decriminalized in a destination country, however, “bringing it or any cannabis-derived products across an international border can result in arrest or other criminal penalties,” the bureau said. “Do not travel internationally with cannabis or cannabis-derived products, including marijuana, THC, CBD, edibles, vape cartridges, oils, concentrates, or other cannabis products.” It is also reminding people to “always pack from a completely empty bag” in order to avoid accidentally bringing forgotten marijuana stuffed inside of a suitcase pocket. “Americans have been arrested after unintentionally bringing cannabis products into another country, including edibles, vape cartridges, oils, and concentrates,” the post said. “Check all suitcase compartments and pockets carefully before traveling.” Do not travel internationally with cannabis or cannabis-derived products, including marijuana, THC, CBD, edibles, vape cartridges, oils, concentrates, or other cannabis products. U.S. citizens are subject to local laws. Just because a cannabis, THC, or CBD product is legal in… pic.twitter.com/G3b1KxSXNW — TravelGov (@TravelGov) September 8, 2026 A number of high-profile cases have involved Americans being detained for possessing marijuana in other countries. Basketball player Brittney Griner, for example, was jailed in Russia for about 10 months after being caught at an airport with cannabis vapes that she said were used for medical purposes in accordance with Arizona law. She was freed as part of a prisoner swap orchestrated by the Biden administration. Similarly, U.S. citizen Marc Fogel was also jailed in Russia for possessing marijuana that he says he used legally under Pennsylvania law to treat back pain. He was freed in a prisoner swap negotiated by the Trump administration. While the State Department is warning Americans about the risks of traveling with cannabis overseas, recently released FBI data shows that police in the U.S. made more than 200,000 arrests for marijuana-related offenses here at home last year. When it comes to domestic travel, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) pushed back earlier this year against exaggerated headlines about a supposed change in the federal government’s policy on bringing marijuana into airports and on airplanes. “TSA’s policy on medical marijuana has not changed,” a TSA spokesperson told Marijuana Moment. “Per TSA’s website: If any illegal substance or evidence of criminal activity is discovered during security screening, TSA will refer the matter to a law enforcement officer.” Despite the growing number of states that have legalized marijuana for medical or adult use, cannabis largely remains illegal at the federal level—though the Trump administration is taking steps to reclassify it. 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 he signed, a hearing is considering more comprehensively moving marijuana to Schedule III. Image element courtesy of Steve Fitzgerald. The post State Department Warns Americans Against Traveling Internationally With Marijuana Or CBD Products appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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Massachusetts has reached a key marijuana milestone, with officials announcing that the state has surpassed $10 billion in adult-use cannabis purchases since the market launched in 2018. The new data from the state Cannabis Control Commission (CCC), shared with Marijuana Moment ahead of its official release on Wednesday, comes just weeks ahead of voters’ decision on a ballot measure that would roll back the state’s recreational marijuana legalization law. If approved, the initiative would repeal laws allowing the regulated commercial sales of recreational cannabis and home cultivation while maintaining legal possession and continuing the medical marijuana system. A poll released last month found that Massachusetts voters oppose the marijuana legalization repeal measure, 55 percent to 33 percent. CCC Chair Chris Harding told Marijuana Moment that he can’t comment directly on the initiative and that the commission does not take positions on pending ballot questions or legislation, but he said that, in general, “repeal of the adult-use industry could eliminate thousands of jobs, hundreds of businesses and billions in tax revenue.” “The commission has worked very hard since the first commissioners were appointed in September 2017 to make sure consumers can buy safe, tested products in a marketplace that prioritizes equity as a founding principle,” Harding said. If the legal market were to disappear, “cannabis could recede back into the shadows with no health and safety protections,” the chair said. The state officially crossed the $10 billion mark for recreational marijuana sales on September 5, CCC said. June alone saw $156 million in sales—the highest total in any single month since legalization. The state’s medical cannabis dispensaries have sold an additional $1.64 billion since sales began in 2015—including $96 million so far this year. “The Massachusetts adult-use cannabis industry has reached $10 billion in gross sales just under eight years after the first retail stores opened in 2018,” Harding told Marijuana Moment. “That’s a remarkable milestone for an industry that’s only as old as the last Red Sox World Series championship. It also shows how much trust our licensees have built over the last eight years, and we congratulate them for that.” “In practical terms, that revenue keeps 782 active cannabis businesses operating with some 20,000 registered agents performing jobs from bud tending to food science and delivery driving,” he said. “That’s a serious economic engine. And each transaction supports vital services in Massachusetts.” MA adult-use Marijuana Establishments exceeded $10 billion in all-time gross sales following several strong revenue months, including the highest monthly sales ever in June, according to sales data published to @MA_Cannabis’ Open Data Platform. Learn more: https://t.co/j3ajRzWwNZ pic.twitter.com/pMY7cnYstL — Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (@MA_Cannabis) September 9, 2026 Cannabis sales, local and excise taxes generated approximately $336 million in fiscal year 2026, according to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue. This fall, CCC is planning to launch a social media campaign to highlight how the industry has grown since voters approved a recreational marijuana legalization initiative on the 2016 ballot. That will include highlighting data such as: Almost 20,000 registered agents in the adult-use industry as of August, encompassing 15,000 individual employees 782 operating businesses, including more than 100 equity-owned/operated businesses and 91 medical cannabis dispensaries $2 billion in state and local taxes generated since 2016 supporting substance abuse recovery, police training, the Prevention and Wellness Trust Fund, restorative justice programs and more More than $43 million in local option taxes to cities and towns in fiscal year 2026 alone Nearly $60 million in financial assistance to equity licenses since 2024 funded by cannabis tax revenue through the Social Equity Trust Fund The Commission’s Social Equity Program has accepted nearly 1,300 participants, providing technical assistance training for entry into the industry for people disproportionately harmed by cannabis prohibition “As regulators, part of our job is to be accountable to our constituents: consumers, licensees, and residents of Massachusetts, and we want to continue that work,” Harding said. “The industry is still young, and we’re focused on strengthening it as it matures.” The new $10 billion threshold was crossed just about seven months after CCC reported that Massachusetts adult-use marijuana sales had cleared the $9 billion mark. In April, Gov. Maura Healey (D) signed a bill to double the legal marijuana possession limit for adults and revise the regulatory framework for the state’s adult-use cannabis market. In December, state regulators also finalized rules for marijuana social consumption lounges. Meanwhile, although the latest survey results on the legalization rollback measure provide some comfort to cannabis reform supporters, advocates are not resting. A coalition of Massachusetts marijuana business leaders, healthcare professionals and other advocates have launched a campaign to defeat the measure. The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) recently issued a warning that passage of the legalization rollback measure would have “disastrous political and economic consequences for legal cannabis markets everywhere.” “Even a too-close victory would spook markets and incentivize a rash of similar initiatives in states around the country, each costing millions to try and defeat,” the group said. After the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Office determined that organizers for the anti-cannabis proposal had turned in enough valid signatures to put the measure before voters, a marijuana reform advocate filed an objection with the State Ballot Law Commission claiming that various signatures were not genuine, obtained through fraudulent means or were not “signed substantially as registered.” The body rejected the challenge to the legal marijuana rollback measure, however, clearing it to go before voters to decide. In June, the campaign behind the anti-legalization ballot measure fired a signature gatherer it says was shown appearing to engage in “wholly unacceptable” conduct in a recent video. As Marijuana Moment reported, a man petitioning for the Massachusetts initiative as well as a similar anti-cannabis proposal in Maine was depicted in recent social media posts seeming to argue that voters who support legal marijuana access should sign the petitions in order to advance or protect reform. The campaign later said it has “zero tolerance for any circulation tactics that would mislead petition signers.” “The identified canvasser was immediately terminated, in coordination with our vendor, upon being made aware of the alleged conduct,” the group said. “The conduct apparent in the video would be wholly unacceptable and does not reflect how this campaign operates. We demand honesty, transparency and professionalism from everyone associated with our effort.” A video posted to Reddit of the signature gatherer shows the man collecting signatures outside a retail store in Massachusetts next to a sign that says “keep cannabis legal.” When confronted by a marijuana reform supporter who recorded the petitioner’s interactions with voters, he appeared to be trying to convince them that it is important to qualify the anti-cannabis measure for the ballot in order to then defeat it. “This is what we’re fighting against right here. That’s why we vote no,” he said. “If we can get this to the ballot right here, we vote no.” The person who captured the video pointed out that Massachusetts voters already approved marijuana legalization years ago, and that the only way it could be imminently repealed is if the new ballot measure qualified for the November election. If the initiative did not get enough signatures to go before voters, the state’s laws would remain the same. “It’s my job,” the petitioner insisted, however. “I know what I’m talking about.” “It’s a group of rich folks from out of state that want to basically take marijuana to when it was a medical marijuana card,” he said. “We don’t want that to happen.” The same man also appeared to also be gathering signatures for a separate measure in Maine that would similarly repeal laws allowing regulated adult-use marijuana sales and home cultivation rights for adults while keeping possession legal and adding new testing requirements for medical cannabis. A staffer for the prohibitionist organization Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), whose affiliated group SAM Action is largely funding the anti-cannabis ballot campaigns in both states, declined to comment about the petitioner’s conduct when reached by Marijuana Moment. The campaigns have previously been accused of misleading petitioning tactics. In Massachusetts, some voters reported that the campaign used fake cover letters for other ballot measures on unrelated issues like affordable housing and same-day voter registration during the first round of petitioning. Legal cannabis supporters filed an earlier formal complaint about the prohibitionist effort’s tactics, but the State Ballot Law Commission rejected the challenge. The measure also faced a legal challenge from cannabis industry operatives who argued it contains “impermissibly unrelated subjects,” and that the state attorney general’s official summary is “misleading and deficient.” The state Supreme Judicial Court heard oral arguments on the litigation challenging the anti-marijuana initiative but it ultimately ruled against the lawsuit. The post Massachusetts Hits $10 Billion In Recreational Marijuana Sales As Vote On Ballot Measure To Roll Back Legalization Approaches appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

You make so many great points here that I read your article a couple of times. Your views are in accordance with my own for the most part. This is great content for your readers. Pergolas Murcia

Top GOP congressman: Marijuana a “gateway drug”; States with high cannabis arrests; Hemp regulation 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… 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 A new federal marijuana banking report from the Government Accountability Office shows that “obtaining and maintaining financial services remain difficult” for many cannabis businesses—though there is “no indication” any bank has ever been penalized solely for working with the marijuana industry. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) told Marijuana Moment he thinks cannabis is a “gateway drug” that “causes other problems down the road”—largely sidestepping a question about his home state of Louisiana having among the highest number of marijuana arrests in the U.S. A new NORML analysis of FBI data shows that more than half of all drug arrests were for marijuana in several states across the U.S. last year. Upstate Elevator’s Dylan Raap—who operates separate companies in both the regulated marijuana and hemp industries—argues in a new Marijuana Moment op-ed that Congress should take the chance to regulate THC products. “Eliminating a competing channel is not the same as regulating it… Responsible operators on both sides should want rules that protect consumers and make it harder for bad actors to compete.” A Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division spokesperson defended the agency from criticism about delays in warning the public about cannabis products with reports of adverse effects, citing regulators’ limited powers to initiate recalls. / FEDERAL Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-MT) tweeted, “A blanket hemp ban would wipe out American farm families, small businesses, and countless jobs. We need commonsense guardrails, not prohibition.” / STATES A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging Hawaii hemp product restrictions. Illinois regulators published an interactive map of marijuana and hemp businesses. The California Cannabis Advisory Committee will meet on Tuesday. Colorado regulators will hold a psychedelics rulemaking stakeholder meeting on September 30. — 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. — / SCIENCE & HEALTH A study found that hemp seed oil leads to improvements in “crackers‘ nutritional, oxidative, and bioactive properties without compromising sensory taste.” A study of mice found that “psilocybin enhances sociability only in altered behavioural state and does not need an awake experience to be effective.” / ADVOCACY, OPINION & ANALYSIS The Houston Chronicle editorial board criticized local police for an increase in marijuana arrests. / BUSINESS AtaiBeckley Inc. shareholders reportedly approved the company’s acquisition by Eli Lilly and Company. Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. is pushing back on what it called “inaccurate and misleading statements” from Aurora Cannabis Inc. about its offer to acquire that company. 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 New federal cannabis banking report published (Newsletter: September 9, 2026) appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

It's really interesting to see these two seemingly disparate topics brought together for discussion. I appreciate the thoughtful approach to finding common ground, or at least common angles, in such complex issues. It reminds me a bit of trying to find the perfect path through a tough level in geometry dash lite – sometimes you have to look at things from a whole new perspective to succeed!

I once organized a city-wide scavenger hunt, needing numerous diverse checkpoints. It felt like playing Crossy Road with locations, constantly trying to find suitable spots that fit the criteria.

“When you take a really long time to get a bulletin out to tell people about these issues, a lot of time, people have already consumed the product.” By Christopher Osher and Evan Wyloge, The Denver Gazette This story was originally published by ProPublica. In March 2022, Colorado public health officials started getting startling reports of liver damage tied to a new marijuana-based sleep aid that had quickly become a top seller in the state. But it wasn’t until June 2023, nearly 15 months later, that the state’s Marijuana Enforcement Division would warn consumers that the danger had become so serious that the manufacturer had halted production of the sleep pills, called 1906 Midnight Drops, after more reports of “acute liver injury.” The delay highlights a slew of weaknesses in the system for protecting consumers from hazardous products in the nation’s first regulated recreational marijuana market. The health complaints had prompted the division to investigate, but the agency decided it didn’t have the power to pull the drops from the stores in this situation. If the agency had dug deeper, it might have found what the state attorney general’s office later discovered: The manufacturer, Sima Sciences, began receiving complaints of harm shortly after it launched 1906 Midnight Drops and two years before health officials ever did. Instead, the enforcement division took four months after the first report of liver damage to the state to post a notice on its website. But the agency didn’t call it a health and safety warning, which would have advised people not to consume the product. It released a more neutrally named “informational notification.” While there had been reports of “adverse health events,” the notice said, regulators didn’t find any violations. The manufacturer had reformulated the product, the notice added, and no additional issues had surfaced. Jenifer Chatting didn’t even see it. A surgical assistant at an oral surgeon’s office, Chatting wanted a safe, natural alternative to pharmaceuticals to treat her insomnia. So she was relieved when a local marijuana dispensary suggested a sugar-free option made of cannabis and herbal extracts that the manufacturer touted as the “the best sleep aid on the market.” She began taking the Midnight Drops nightly the same month that the state health department received its first complaint. Unaware of the enforcement division’s notification, she didn’t worry when she started having full-body cramps and became lactose intolerant in September 2022, about six months after she started taking the drops. She thought she just needed to drink more water. She continued taking the drops for nine more months until her dispensary stopped stocking them. Now, despite never having liver problems before, according to her medical records, she has liver damage at age 53; her doctor says she will ultimately need a transplant. Colorado’s failure to get Midnight Drops off the market or to warn consumers to stop taking it despite repeated reports of harm was not an anomaly, The Denver Gazette and ProPublica found. The division has limited authority to force companies to recall products. The agency instead relies on posting health and safety advisories on its website to warn the public, and on sending news releases to local media outlets. Yet, in the cases for which the news organizations were able to identify the date of a complaint or the start of an investigation, it took regulators an average of more than seven months to issue a warning. That’s an incomplete snapshot because the division refused to release data on when investigations began. Complaint dates were private, it said, because the probes were ongoing — even years after the warnings were issued and some companies had surrendered their licenses. Still, The Denver Gazette and ProPublica were able to identify initial complaint or investigative start dates for 23 of the 83 advisories the agency issued over the past five years by reviewing other licensing violation records. Seven months is a long time for products that are typically smoked or ingested within days of purchase, industry insiders and consumer safety experts said. In comparison, federal investigators have criticized the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for taking an average of two months after learning of a potential hazard to not just warn consumers but to get companies to recall contaminated food. Kimberly Anzarut, a former Denver marijuana regulator and now an industry consultant, said the delays mean Colorado consumers aren’t getting vital warnings while products are still on shelves. “When you take a really long time to get a bulletin out to tell people about these issues, a lot of time, people have already consumed the product,” she said. Lab directors said it generally takes only three days to return test results identifying contaminants, and if there’s an emergency, they can do so in a day. But MED spokesperson Heather Draper said in a statement that it’s more complicated than just getting test results and that it takes time to build a case that leads to a health and safety advisory. “This most often requires investigative resources to evaluate the scope of concerns, gather evidence of potential product safety concerns, and receive test results that indicate a contaminated product has been sold to consumers,” she said. Thuy Vu, Denver’s former head of marijuana inspections and enforcement, said regulators should act more quickly and that “time is of the essence,” because the safety problems reported to regulators are almost always a fraction of the harm a product is causing. “Seven months, eight months, that’s ridiculous,” she said. The delays mean contaminated marijuana products often remain on sale for a long time, with no public warning. In addition to complaint dates, The Denver Gazette and ProPublica were able to get sales start dates for nearly all the health and safety advisories and found that Colorado regulators also take, on average, more than seven months from the first sale of a contaminated marijuana product to warn the public. The news organizations found that warnings take a long time in part because Colorado lacks measures adopted in many other legalized marijuana markets to improve testing procedures and prevent contaminated marijuana from going to stores. And when the state does discover a problem in a product already on shelves, it gives manufacturers multiple chances to disprove the agency’s finding. Though the MED can require companies to stop distributing flagged products, industry lawyers and manufacturers said manufacturers often continue selling them while challenging the findings. Chatting’s husband, Luke, is now fearful of losing his wife and critical of what he calls insufficient warnings about Midnight Drops. The couple is suing the company, which has denied their claims. The lawsuit is pending. “Why weren’t there big banners in front of the dispensaries about these things?” he asked. “The state makes millions and millions and millions of dollars off of the taxes for the marijuana, but they don’t do any regulation at all.” “My Patients Were Swearing by These” The person behind Midnight Drops is Peter Barsoom, a wunderkind of Wall Street finance who left New York in 2014 to co-found a recreational marijuana company called Sima Sciences. Soon he was turning up in splashy magazine profiles. The 1906 product line was a nod to the year the U.S. government enacted the Pure Food and Drug Act, which he said led to the first federal regulation and eventual prohibition of cannabis. His initial focus was high-end marijuana-infused truffle chocolates. “Our competitors are chardonnay, Xanax and coffee, not other edibles,” he said during an interview in 2017. In 2019, he branched out into the sleep tablet line and also manufactured other “drops” meant to help with sex, anxiety, energy, focus and bliss. By 2023, his company, based in Henderson, Colorado, was manufacturing 81% of the pills sold in dispensaries in the state, according to the cannabis analytics firm BDSA. Vu, the former Denver regulator, worked for about a year as Barsoom’s head of regulatory compliance and said Barsoom wanted her to bend the rules on inventory reporting and product safety, though she stressed that she was unaware of the problems with the Midnight Drops, which were made after she left. They clashed, and he fired her in 2016, she said. Barsoom declined interview requests and did not respond to detailed questions. His company’s lawyers also did not respond to requests for comment. But in court filings in response to personal injury lawsuits, they stated that “injuries, damages and losses, if any, may have been caused by plaintiff’s own comparative negligence.” To promote the Midnight Drops, the 1906 website said the pills were infused with corydalis, an herbal extract, which, it said, “has been used for millennia.” It claimed the extract had sedative qualities and would help people stay asleep because it targeted body pain and tension. A relative of the poppy, corydalis also contains a compound that researchers have linked to severe and potentially fatal liver injury. Following reports about liver problems, the company reformulated Midnight Drops and added a warning label stating the product should be taken in consultation with a physician. But the new herbal supplement was also primarily composed of a compound with the same chemical makeup as the one in corydalis that had been tied to liver risks, regulators eventually concluded. One doctor reported to the enforcement division in December 2022 that he continued to “see an uptick in patients with elevated liver enzymes,” which he believed was caused by Midnight Drops. He warned the agency that he had seen four such patients in the past two months and knew of other doctors treating more, state records show. Dr. David Cristin, a gastroenterologist, said he was exasperated because patients kept using Midnight Drops despite his concerns. He said he registered a complaint through the company’s website, detailing the issues he had found, but was never contacted. “The thing that was frustrating was my patients were swearing by these,” he said. By May 2024, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment would receive 52 reports of harm involving Midnight Drops, at least 20 severe enough to require medical care. Of those reports, 25 occurred before the MED’s second notification. While the health department often does the initial review, records show it typically finished gathering information within days, which would trigger an automatic referral to the MED. Nearly a year after issuing its first “informational notification,” the MED and the health department issued the second one in June 2023, warning that Midnight Drops had continued generating reports of “acute liver injury.” At that time, Sima announced it was stopping production. But Barsoom and his companies continued marketing Midnight Drops for several more months and did not adequately warn dispensaries to stop selling them, according to a Colorado attorney general’s office investigation. Chatting didn’t see the second MED notification either. A couple of weeks after it was posted, she went into a dispensary but learned the drops were no longer in stock. She said a dispensary staffer told her they had been pulled because consumers had been abusing the product. She hadn’t been, so she didn’t worry. But that summer, bloodwork during a routine checkup revealed Chatting’s liver enzymes had soared to abnormal levels, indicating potential damage. The MED’s lawyers have refused to release any of the agency’s investigative files about Midnight Drops, making it difficult to assess why the agency didn’t act sooner. Draper, the spokesperson, said that when regulators were fielding complaints about Midnight Drops, their powers were limited: They could put a hold on products and require companies to issue recalls only for specific violations. She said because of a 2023 statute change, regulators can now place holds on products over safety concerns to prevent their sales, even without a violation. Still, even with that change, the time it takes to warn consumers after the first complaint as well as after the date when a product goes on sale have both gotten longer, according to the news organizations’ analysis. Draper said the agency “has improved its Health & Safety Advisory processes and this work continues.” She added that agency officials do not believe that the newsrooms’ analysis is “an accurate representation of our process and progress in these areas,” but she did not say why or provide any evidence disputing it. Loopholes in Safety Rules The continued time lag in public warnings from regulators is another blow to consumer safety for Colorado’s marijuana industry, which has loopholes in safety rules other states have closed to make it less likely that contaminated products end up in dispensaries. In one of the longest cases, it took regulators three years to warn consumers from the date of the first sales of marijuana products made by Pueblo County-based Boone Farms that were contaminated with yeast, mold and aspergillus, which can damage lungs and cause asthma, fungal infections and, in rare instances, death. Draper said she could neither confirm nor deny if there was any other investigation. The owner of the company declined to comment but previously said it was a small amount of product and that some of it sold before the state set standards for aspergillus. An MED investigator had similar suspicions about contamination in products made by Boulder-based Range Street, but “due to other priorities and bandwidth,” had to put the investigation on the “backburner,” according to the investigator’s synopsis obtained through a public records request. The MED eventually found yeast, mold and aspergillus. But it didn’t warn the public until 410 days after the first sales. Range Street, whose former owner declined to comment, has since surrendered its medical marijuana cultivation license. Unlike other states, Colorado operates largely on an honor code, with manufacturers free to choose the samples and the labs that conduct contaminant tests required before products can be sold. Colorado regulators in January said they were considering requiring lab personnel to collect samples, which would bring Colorado in line with 26 of the 42 state marijuana markets. But the agency backed away from the proposal after top manufacturers argued it would increase costs. Colorado also allows marijuana manufacturers to test their products far less frequently if they can show consistent compliance, something only one other state does. And the time frame for demonstrating that compliance can be as little as a few weeks. Colorado’s regulators acknowledged at a 2023 industry forum that the reduced testing program “potentially poses risks to public health and safety,” as problems with the program were “a common occurrence” in investigations. This January, the enforcement division noted in an industry bulletin that problems with that program persist, leading to recalls and advisories for unsafe levels of pesticides. The division told manufacturers in July that it is reviewing the reduced testing program as it considers a broader overhaul of testing rules. Colorado also has historically relied on complaints to identify tainted marijuana once it is actually in the marketplace, rather than randomly sampling products on shelves. The Cannabis Regulators Association recommends random sampling, and other states like Oklahoma have such programs. Colorado only this year launched a pilot program to randomly sample dispensary products, but the program has run into delays, and the state hasn’t identified a long-term funding source. Once a contaminated product gets to dispensaries, Colorado regulators face challenges in getting the product off the shelves. Colorado expects manufacturers to voluntarily recall products. Regulators in Colorado can only force products to be recalled in a public health emergency, but regulators can encounter hurdles to quickly establishing that one exists. Even when testing finds contaminants, manufacturers say marijuana that’s already in dispensaries often remains for sale. That’s because Colorado allows the manufacturer to retest the marijuana, and the rules don’t specify a time frame for when those tests have to be done. The rules state that the MED “may” require manufacturers to refrain from selling items during retesting. In contrast, Missouri immediately puts a hold on all marijuana products that fail mandatory contaminant testing. Manufacturers there can have the products reanalyzed, but dispensaries can’t sell those products until retesting shows the original analysis was incorrect. In an industry bulletin in January, Colorado regulators said the agency had seen “increased instances” of marijuana manufacturers taking advantage of the retesting rule to cover up the use of banned pesticides. “Health Isn’t Really Their Primary Concern” Tess Eidem, a research professor at the University of Colorado who has a federal grant to analyze the division’s health and safety bulletin process, said she worries the state prioritizes protecting the financial viability of the marijuana market over consumer safety. She pointed out that the MED isn’t part of the state’s health department but instead is in the state’s revenue department. “So health isn’t really their primary concern,” she said. Draper said that “consumer safety has been and remains a top priority for the Division.” In September 2024, a little over a year after Chatting stopped taking Midnight Drops, she and her husband went on a dream vacation to England, where they lived on a houseboat. The trip was such a success that they began planning to retire there, projecting that in about a decade they could downsize and spend their golden years traveling the canals through the English countryside where Luke was born. A month later, Jenifer got a call from a doctor. Because she’s a former smoker, she had gone in for a routine lung screening. Her lungs were fine, but the X-ray detected something suspicious with her liver. A follow-up ultrasound detected cirrhosis. Chatting’s gastroenterologist ruled out alcohol consumption, noting in her medical records that Chatting had always been a light drinker, and instead cited an herbal sleeping aid as a likely factor. After she stopped taking the drops, her liver enzymes came back into normal ranges, but the damage was already done, her medical records show. Two days before Thanksgiving, Luke couldn’t sleep and rose about 2 a.m. to Google information about cirrhosis. He said it was then that he finally discovered the MED’s notifications about Midnight Drops. He started slamming his fists on the armrests of his desk chair. One armrest broke, and his fist hit jagged plastic, fracturing his left hand. “Jen, they killed you,” he recalled shouting. She has few symptoms now, other than body cramps, but her gastroenterologist has warned that her condition will inevitably deteriorate and she will require a liver transplant in as little as five years. Struggling to come to terms with the diagnosis, Jenifer now stays mostly indoors, building elaborate Lego artwork and spending time with their rescue pug mixes. “It’s hard because you think you’re doing something good for yourself and healthy and all natural,” she said. “And then it ends up being, you know…” She stopped and gathered herself. “Just because something’s all natural doesn’t mean that it’s good for you.” Last September, Barsoom and his companies settled with the attorney general’s office to resolve the office’s investigation. Barsoom and his companies denied that they had violated consumer protection laws. But they agreed to pay $400,000 in fines, and the settlement bars them from selling cannabis products in Colorado until at least 2027. Barsoom also agreed to issue an apology. “We’ve always believed that great products should improve people’s lives,” his statement read. “When we learned that Midnight Drops wasn’t meeting that standard for everyone, we realized we had let our customers down. We are sorry that we didn’t act faster and communicate better with both our customers and regulators.” The Chattings said Barsoom’s apology doesn’t amount to much for them, and they wish Colorado regulators had acted faster and communicated better with consumers. “How are people supposed to know this?” Luke asked. “The only way I found this stuff was by digging and digging and digging on the internet.” This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with The Denver Gazette. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories in your inbox every week. The post Colorado Regulators Under Fire For Delays In Warning Public About Reports Of Cannabis Products With Adverse Effects appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

The so-called “war on drugs” is mostly a war on marijuana in several U.S. states, according to a new analysis of FBI data. Last year, over half of all drug arrests were for cannabis in Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska and Wisconsin, the review by the pro-legalization advocacy group NORML shows. “In many prohibition states, a significant portion of law enforcement and prosecutorial resources are still being directed toward arresting tens of thousands of cannabis consumers for activities that are now perfectly legal in nearly half of this country,” NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said. Louisiana had the highest percent of total drug arrests accounted for by cannabis possession, at 62 percent. The state’s governor recently signed legislation that threatens to send people to jail for up to one year if they smoke marijuana within 2,000 feet of a school property—including a college campus. In Idaho, 55 percent of drug arrests were for cannabis. The governor there signed legislation last year setting a $300 mandatory minimum fine for marijuana possession. Advocates attempted to get a measure to legalize medical cannabis on this November’s ballot, but they fell short. Voters will decide on a separate proposed constitutional amendment, however, to make it so that only lawmakers could legalize cannabis or other controlled substances in the future. In Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers (D) and Democratic lawmakers have pushed to legalize marijuana but those proposals have been blocked by the legislature’s Republican majority. A limited medical cannabis bill did clear one committee this session, but did not advance further. In four other states—Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi and Wyoming—as well as in Washington, D.C., just below half of all drug busts in 2025 were focused on marijuana. Marijuana possession and home cultivation is legal in D.C., but that didn’t stop police from making almost 1,600 cannabis busts last year. That’s more than twice as many as in 2024 and more than four times the number of marijuana arrests in the nation’s capital in 2023, NORML said. Most of the busts were for public use, which is still illegal. Armentano of NORML said that cannabis arrests are “a tremendous waste of time and money, and it is a unnecessarily destructive and disruptive policy for those directly impacted by it.” “Low-level marijuana offenders, many of them younger, poor, and people of color, should not be saddled with an arrest, a criminal record and with the lifelong penalties and stigma associated with it for engaging in behavior that most Americans nationwide no longer believe ought to be a crime,” he said. The overall FBI data shows that more than 200,000 people were arrested marijuana-related offenses in the U.S. last year. A separate recent analysis from NORML showed that more than half of those cannabis busts were made by police in just ten states. Texas, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Georgia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Indiana, Louisiana and Alabama police carried out more than 131,000 marijuana arrests in 2025, according to a new analysis of the federal data from NORML. That’s about 60 percent of the nationwide total. Texas alone saw more than 29,000 cannabis arrests last year—accounting for about 14 percent of the nation’s marijuana busts—with 98 percent of those being for possession alone. Police in North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Wisconsin each reported more than 12,000 marijuana arrests last year—all with 90 percent or more for possession only. The post In These Six States, More Than Half Of All Drug Arrests Were For Marijuana appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

“Eliminating a competing channel is not the same as regulating it… Responsible operators on both sides should want rules that protect consumers and make it harder for bad actors to compete.” By Dylan Raap, Upstate Elevator Supply Co. President Donald Trump signed a stopgap spending bill last week that keeps the federal government funded through December 11. Tucked inside it is a provision that could decide whether companies like mine are still operating next spring. A federal ban on most hemp products containing THC had been set to take effect November 12. It now takes effect December 11. That is a twenty-nine-day reprieve, and I’ll take it. The House voted 370 to 48 and the Senate 90 to 6, which should tell us something: there is still room for bipartisan agreement on hemp. But a month is not certainty. And one piece of the ban wasn’t delayed at all. Cannabinoids that the cannabis plant cannot produce on its own still become illegal on November 12. I have no quarrel with that part. I run Upstate Elevator, a hemp company in Vermont. We make full-spectrum CBD products, and hemp-derived beverages that contain THC. Through a second company that carries the same name, I also hold a license in Vermont’s regulated adult-use cannabis market. I have an obvious stake in how this ends, and I see it from both sides of a line most people in this debate stand on only one side of. Which is why I think my industry needs to be candid about how we got here. Congress is not wrong that hemp needs rules. The 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp by defining it as cannabis containing no more than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC by dry weight. That created a national market with interstate commerce and products on shelves across the country. It also created openings nobody anticipated. Alongside the wellness companies, a market for high-dose intoxicants sold with little oversight grew, sometimes without an age check and sometimes in packaging that would look at home in the candy aisle. I don’t defend those products, and the rest of the hemp industry shouldn’t either. If you make something intoxicating, you should expect it to be regulated. What Congress passed last November was a different thing entirely. The new federal definition allows finished hemp products to contain no more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container. The units are the whole story. Not per serving. Per container. And “total THC” captures trace amounts that occur naturally in the plant, including in varieties bred to produce almost none of it. Consider a one-ounce bottle of full-spectrum CBD tincture, the kind a 68-year-old buys for her knees. Thirty servings, and a few milligrams of THC across the entire bottle. Nobody is getting high on it. Under the new definition, that bottle is illegal—not because of anything it does to the person taking it, but because it fails a math test written for a different problem. That is collateral damage, not consumer protection. We already know how to write a better standard, because we wrote one for alcohol. Federal law lets a drink labeled non-alcoholic contain up to half a percent alcohol by volume, because that standard is built around what a product does to the person drinking it rather than what an instrument can detect in the bottle. The president saw the same distinction. In April, he called on Congress to update the law so Americans “can continue to access the full-spectrum CBD products they have come to rely on,” while preserving Congress’s intent to restrict products that pose real health risks. That should be common ground. The state-licensed cannabis industry has a stake in getting this right too. Upstate Elevator operates in both channels, and I understand why licensed cannabis businesses are frustrated. On the adult-use side, we pay for testing, tracking, packaging rules, inspections and a tax structure that hemp operators don’t face. But eliminating a competing channel is not the same as regulating it. A mislabeled product or a gummy marketed to a minor damages trust in the whole cannabinoid category. Responsible operators on both sides should want rules that protect consumers and make it harder for bad actors to compete. Meanwhile, the ban is arriving ahead of schedule as core service providers start to pull out. Square has told sellers to pull CBD and hemp items from their catalogs by October 15, nearly two months before the ban now takes effect. At least one national carrier is cancelling hemp policies with October effective dates. Banks and chain retailers are running the same calculation on the same kind of timeline. Twenty-nine extra days doesn’t give my own company much to work with either. We buy raw material six months ahead of the products it goes into. Co-packing runs are booked ninety days out or more. Packaging is printed by the tens of thousands. Farmers made planting decisions this spring for crops they are harvesting right now. And no retailer will write a purchase order for inventory whose legal status expires in a few weeks. A one-month reprieve is not long enough to make product, and it is not long enough to hold inventory either. That is the lesson of the past year. Hemp is not one thing anymore. It is fiber and grain, seed, CBD, full-spectrum extracts carrying trace amounts of THC and yes, gummies and beverages that can get you high. One number in the law, applied as though all of that carries the same risk, is how we ended up here. Regulate products by what they do to the person who uses them, and put hard rules on the intoxicating ones. But don’t outlaw a bottle of full-spectrum CBD because a lab can detect a trace of THC in it. Congress can still finish a durable framework by December 11, and it should. Proposals are already drafted, including one from Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) and Angie Craig (D-MN) to broadly regulate hemp products and another from Reps. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) and Greg Landsman (D-OH) that would treat hemp beverages roughly the way we treat beer and wine. If December 11 arrives without a finished bill, the fallback should be a real bridge, an extension long enough for the next Congress to finish the job, not another few weeks bolted onto the next government funding fight. Either way, my industry should meet Congress with a package rather than a plea, and much of that package is already written. Hemp beverages are adult beverages and should be labeled and sold that way: 21 and over, with potency limits that cap what a serving and a package can contain, labeling clear enough that a customer knows what they are buying, independent batch testing and packaging no one could mistake for a children’s product. Rules like those cost money to comply with, and good actors are already doing most of it voluntarily. They are still the better trade than a definition that makes a bottle of CBD tincture illegal by arithmetic. Congress bought itself a month. It should spend that month writing clear federal rules that protect consumers and the jobs that depend on getting this right, because prohibition does not reliably take products off the market. It takes out the companies that label them, test them and check ID, and it leaves behind the operators who never did any of that. That is the opposite of what the members who voted for this ban were trying to accomplish. Twenty-nine days isn’t much. It’s more than we had last week. Use it. Dylan Raap is the founder and CEO of Upstate Elevator Supply Co., a Vermont-grown, family-owned hemp company. The post Congress Should Regulate THC Products, Businessman In Both The Marijuana And Hemp Industries Says (Op-Ed) appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

Many banks are still reluctant to provide services to state-licensed marijuana businesses, according to a new federal report. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) conducted a series of focus groups and interviews with cannabis industry operators, financial services providers, advocacy groups and federal agencies to study the issue. The agency’s report, published on Tuesday, concludes that while there is “no indication” any bank has ever been penalized solely for working with the marijuana industry, an ongoing perception of regulatory risks means that “obtaining and maintaining financial services remain difficult” for cannabis-related businesses (CRBs). Data from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) shows that the number of financial institutions that filed reports indicating they work with marijuana businesses increased between 2015 and 2024, with about 1,000 banks and credit unions doing so in 2024—but that it “remained relatively small compared to the total nationwide.” While most cannabis industry participants that GAO spoke to did have bank accounts, they reported various “difficulties.” “For example, they said financial institutions closed their accounts, sometimes with little warning, or charged them high fees. Participants in seven of eight focus groups described paying monthly or annual account fees, with two focus group participants stating they paid $100,000 or more per year. Consistent with these reports, participants in all focus groups with institutions that serve CRBs said their institutions charge CRBs higher fees than other types of customers. CRB owners and managers also noted that the process of opening an account was lengthy, with some waiting weeks or months before the account was operational. A few focus group participants also discussed engaging with multiple financial institutions before successfully opening an account.” “Obtaining and maintaining financial services remain difficult for CRBs, according to CRB owners and managers,” the report says. “For example, CRBs may experience bank account closures, high fees for bank accounts, and high interest rates for business loans. Further, accepting customer payments is difficult largely because two major credit card companies prohibit cannabis purchases.” Beyond bank accounts, participants also told GAO about problems with access to loans, investments, payroll services, credit cards and electronic payments. The issue doesn’t just touch cannabis businesses themselves, the agency said, as many marijuana industry workers also experience difficulties accessing financial services. “Representatives from two cannabis industry associations similarly said that individuals working in the industry can face challenges maintaining bank accounts and obtaining car loans, mortgages, or life insurance,” the report says. “Treatment may vary by an individual’s role within the business. For example, participants in two of four focus groups with financial institutions that do not serve CRBs indicated they would provide personal banking services to CRB employees but not owners.” While financial services industry participants in GAO’s focus groups cited fears about “adverse supervisory actions from their federal banking regulator” for working with marijuana businesses, the agency could not identify any such punishment ever occurring. “We found no indication that financial institutions have been subject to civil or criminal penalties solely for providing services to CRBs. DOJ officials said their data systems do not allow them to easily identify cases involving financial institutions that serve CRBs, and therefore they could not provide information on whether any institutions had been investigated or prosecuted for serving CRBs. In our interviews, officials from federal banking regulators and financial industry associations did not identify any such instances. Nor did our focus groups and interviews with representatives of dozens of institutions that serve CRBs identify such instances. Furthermore, federal banking regulator officials said that they had not taken any enforcement actions against their supervised institutions solely for serving CRBs.” Aside from legal and regulatory risks, banks cited the “operational workload and compliance burden” associated with serving marijuana businesses, GAO said. Under FinCEN guidance issued in 2014, financial institutions must regularly file suspicious activity reports (SARs) on their cannabis industry customers, for example. GAO conducted its review after receiving a request to examine marijuana industry banking issues from Sens. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tina Smith (D-MN) and John Fetterman (D-PA). In June, bipartisan U.S. House and Senate members refiled legislation to protect banks from being punished for providing financial services to marijuana businesses. GAO found that if such a safe harbor law were enacted, some industry participants believe it would lead financial institutions to begin serving cannabis businesses, while others said that “some institutions would not change their policies without other reforms, such as federal legalization of cannabis or reductions in [Bank Secrecy Act] compliance requirements.” The post Many Banks Still Won’t Work With Marijuana Businesses, Federal Report Shows appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

One of the top Republicans in Congress says he is concerned that marijuana causes people to use other, more dangerous substances as the Trump administration is moving forward with a proposal to federally reschedule cannabis. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) told Marijuana Moment last week that he thinks “marijuana is a gateway drug, and it causes other problems down the road” for people who use it. Research has routinely debunked the so-called “gateway drug theory” that cannabis causes people to go on to other substances like cocaine and heroin. One study published last year, for example, noted that cannabis “is often labeled a ‘gateway drug,’” but found that “strong causal evidence for progression to other substances is limited.” Use of marijuana “typically follows alcohol and tobacco, and rarely leads to further drug use,” the study found. “These findings challenge the gateway hypothesis.” In any case, Scalise was responding to a question about recently released FBI data showing that his home state of Louisiana had among the highest number of marijuana arrests in the U.S. in 2025. The majority leader largely sidestepped the issue, however, saying that marijuana policy is largely carried out at the state level and not in Congress, where he serves. “Ultimately, states are the ones who really regulate this. Each state has their own laws,” he said. “You’ve seen it being fought out in a number of states on even medicinal, and there have been constitutional initiatives at state levels.” “You’ve seen the states primarily fighting this out,” Scalise said. In the recent FBI data, Louisiana had the highest percent of total drug arrests accounted for by cannabis possession, at 62 percent. The state’s governor recently signed legislation that threatens to send people to jail for up to one year if they smoke marijuana within 2,000 feet of a school property—including a college campus. Scalise’s comments about marijuana being a “gateway drug” highlight an ongoing divide within the Republican party as the Trump administration is taking steps to reschedule cannabis, 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 he signed, a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) hearing was held to consider more comprehensively moving marijuana to Schedule III. In 2024, Scalise criticized the Biden administration’s initial move to reschedule marijuana, saying the government should be focused on “reducing the number of people that use drugs and not increasing that number.” “We shouldn’t be making matters worse,” he said at the time. Scalise has voted against bills to federally legalize marijuana and to increase cannabis businesses’ access to banking services. He’s also opposed amendments to provide protections for any kind of state cannabis programs, let VA doctors issue medical cannabis recommendations, revise cannabis-related security clearance policy for federal workers and eliminate research barriers on Schedule I drugs. The LCB contributed reporting from Washington, D.C. Photo courtesy of Carlos Gracia. The post Marijuana Is A ‘Gateway Drug,’ GOP Congressional Majority Leader Says As Trump Moves To Ease Federal Restrictions appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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Senate candidate: Legalize marijuana; Convenience stores push for hemp regulations over prohibition; Study: Medical cannabis for eating disorders 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 A new Congressional Research Service report says that a split among circuit courts about whether state marijuana business licensing systems can discriminate against out-of-state residents “likely increases the odds” that the Supreme Court will take up and resolve the issue. Iowa Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Josh Turek said marijuana should be “legalized and regulated, and let’s tax it.” Turek, who was born with spina bifida and is in a wheelchair, said he has “dealt with so many individuals with disabilities” and that cannabis is “one of the few ways that they see relief from their spasms.” Members of the convenience store industry are celebrating the recently enacted delay in the federal recriminalization of hemp THC products and are calling on Congress to enact regulations so they can keep selling them. A new study found that “cannabis is widely used by people with eating disorders and is widely perceived as beneficial in restrictive and food-averse, but not binge, eating disorder subtypes.” “Cannabis received the highest mean ratings of any drug for improving ED symptoms.” / FEDERAL The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a study that found that “cannabis was detected in 21.0% of overdose deaths” and that “cannabis was listed as causing death in 0.8% of overdose deaths.” / STATES California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) tweeted, “Did you know California has taken action to protect the state’s legal cannabis market AND cracked down on illegal operators. —> $2.8 BILLION worth of illegal cannabis seized since 2019. —> Emergency rules adopted restricting intoxicating THC hemp products and strengthening protections for children. —> Legislation signed making protections against intoxicating hemp products permanent.” A Texas judge rejected a request to place a temporary restraining order on hemp product restrictions. Arkansas regulators are considering revisions to rules on medical cannabis business location changes. Oregon regulators published new psilocybin services data. Minnesota regulators will host a cannabis policy listening event on September 17. — 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 Local marijuana legalization trials in Switzerland appear to be encouraging a shift towards lower-risk forms of use, according to an analysis. / SCIENCE & HEALTH A review concluded that “CBD may offer therapeutic benefits in a range of conditions, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, anxiety disorders, and epilepsy.” A review concluded that “psychedelic-assisted therapies hold significant potential for [treatment-resistant depression], but their current evidence base is constrained by methodological and ethical limitations.” / ADVOCACY, OPINION & ANALYSIS The U.S. Cannabis Roundtable is lobbying Congress not to reverse a decision to ban hemp THC products. Elon Musk reacted to news about SpaceX and Tesla directors supporting research and a commercial venture seeking approval for psychedelic-assisted therapy, tweeting that “If MDMA could help someone with PTSD from war, rape or other horrific experiences, then it would be wrong to withhold such a drug from them.” 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 Supreme Court could address cannabis licensing disputes (Newsletter: September 8, 2026) appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

Can psilocybin help with menopause? A live audience of 300 at Town Hall Seattle asked Dr. Trish Singh and Kelly McGinty, C-FNP, co-authors of Mycelopause: Uncovering the Magic of Menopause with Psilocybin, the questions that don't come up in a doctor's office: whether psilocybin is safe after hormone-positive cancer, how it interacts with SSRIs, whether hormone therapy can start after 60, what's actually legal in Seattle in 2026, and where a sensitive beginner should start. This is the full audience Q&A from the Psychedelic Salon on psychedelics and menopause, with host April Pride adding current research, legal updates, and corrections throughout, including New Mexico's first-in-the-nation psilocybin treatment equity fund and King County's 2026 entheogen motion. The expanded written answers, with sources, are on Substack: aprilpride.substack.com The Psychedelic Salon returns to Town Hall Seattle October 8. Tickets and all resources mentioned are in the show notes at the Substack link. This episode is for listeners 21+ and is not medical advice. Questions about your own medications or medical history belong with your provider. What you'll learn:Why psilocybin's serotonin mechanism matters for women with hormone-positive cancer histories, and what hasn't been studiedWhat decriminalization actually permits in Seattle and King County in 2026, and where regulated legal access existsWhat current research says about combining psilocybin with SSRIs and how often high-dose sessions are spacedWhether hormone therapy can start after 60, and why psilocybin can't replace HRTWhy a quality dose sometimes does nothing, and where sensitive beginners should startAbout the guests: Kelly McGinty is a certified family nurse practitioner and Dr. Trish Singh is a licensed psilocybin facilitator in Colorado's regulated program. They guide therapeutic psilocybin experiences together and co-authored Mycelopause: Uncovering the Magic of Menopause with Psilocybin.Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction 2:00 Psilocybin after hormone-positive cancer 4:00 Legal access in Seattle at any age 6:30 Psilocybin, menopause, and the restructuring metaphor 9:00 Access, equity, and who research leaves out 13:00 SSRIs, dose frequency, and serotonin syndrome 16:30 Fear of a first psychedelic experience 18:45 HRT after 60 and whether psilocybin replaces it 21:00 When mushrooms don't seem to work 23:30 Developmental trauma in guided journeys 28:00 Beginner varieties for sensitive systemsResourcesMycelopause: Uncovering the Magic of Menopause with Psilocybin by Dr. Trish Singh and Kelly McGinty.The Next Chapter, September 13. A thirty-minute documentary following men and women over sixty through a psilocybin retreat in Mexico, with a panel afterward featuring Kelly McGinty and Dr. Trish Singh. RSVP here: https://kinema.com/events/The-Next-Chapter-jaazqeWomen in the Wild, April’s micro- and low-dose gatherings. Apply here:https://form.typeform.com/to/ZW4Pq1ikListen on Substack: https://aprilpride.substack.com Visit April Pride: https://aprilpride.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/aprilpridecreates Psychedelic Salon: https://www.aprilpride.com/psychedelic-events-for-women/psychedelic-salonSubscribe to April Pride on Substack for weekly conversations on women, midlife, psychedelics, nervous system health, and integration: https://aprilpride.substack.com Catch the full episode here

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