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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. 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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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Josh Turek, the Democratic nominee in a U.S. Senate race in Iowa this year, says it’s time to federally legalize, regulate and tax marijuana. The candidate, currently a state representative, told voters at an Iowa State University football tailgate that he thinks cannabis’s longtime restrictive Schedule I status is “ridiculous.” Turek told one man that he liked a cannabis leaf hat he was wearing. That prompted a woman to tell the Senate candidate that he should “fix” federal marijuana laws, adding that she has “so much pain” and “would like to be able to take gummies at night.” 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.” He suggested that marijuana isn’t harmful enough to be prohibited “in the grand scheme of things, when you’re looking at the health implications from tobacco or from alcohol.” “Or opioids,” the woman voter chimed in. “I do not want to take opioids.” “Absolutely,” Turek replied. Policymakers will “always reach out for Big Pharma,” he said, but not for “anything natural.” “I would love to be able to address that federal level,” the candidate said. “I think it should be legalized and regulated, and let’s tax it. You’ve seen it with other states.” In 2023, Turek cosponsored a bill in the Iowa House of Representatives to legalize adult-use marijuana and expand the state’s current medical cannabis program by allowing doctors to recommend it for any medical condition they see fit. Turek’s opponent for the Senate seat, U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson (R), voted against a bill to federally legalize marijuana on the House floor in 2022. She did, however, support separate legislation in 2021 to ease the cannabis industry’s access to banking services. Meanwhile in Iowa, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand recently explained why he thinks marijuana should be legalized and treated like alcohol, even if he thinks it’s “dangerous.” “Marijuana is a dangerous drug,” he said. “You shouldn’t abuse it, but we also shouldn’t throw people in prison just for using it. We should treat it the way we treat alcohol. Alcohol is a dangerous drug. You shouldn’t abuse it, but we don’t throw you in prison just for having a beer when you get home.” Separately, Iowa regulators are circulating proposed rules changes to remove the residency requirement for patients in the state’s medical cannabis program while also ensuring that military veterans qualify for reduced registration fees. The residency-focused part of the regulatory change from the state Department of Health and Human Services is meant to comply with provisions of a bill that Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signed into law in June. In addition to allowing out-of-state residents to register in the medical cannabis program if they have a certification from an Iowa healthcare provider legislation, that legislation also doubles the number of medical cannabis dispensaries that are allowed to operate in the state. Also this session, Iowa lawmakers considered a bill to create a state-regulated therapeutic psilocybin program for patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Last year, the governor vetoed earlier legislation that would have allowed doctors in the state to immediately prescribe a synthetic form of psilocybin in the event of federal approval of the psychedelic substance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), arguing that it “surrenders state authority to make an informed determination about classification to federal officials.” The post Marijuana Should Be Federally Legalized And Taxed, U.S. Senate Candidate Josh Turek Says appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

Advocates for convenience stores are celebrating a recently enacted delay in the effective date of a federal ban on hemp THC products, saying the move provides an opportunity to create regulations as an alternative to prohibition. Convenience stores, they say, are an ideal place to continue to sell hemp products under any new rules that are enacted “The convenience retail channel, with its well-established age verification procedures, is suited to selling hemp products to adults legally and responsibly,” Jon Taets, director of government relations for NACS, formerly the National Association of Convenience Stores, said. “We look forward to working with Congress on a solution that not only protects children in our communities but also supports small businesses,” he said. The group has “actively encouraged Congress to delay the hemp ban,” NACS said. “Doing so provides more time to develop a regulatory framework that allows for legal, safe sales of products containing hemp-derived THC to adults.” “These products are an important category for convenience stores, which have experienced significant demand for THC beverages and other products from adult customers,” the organization said. “For c-store operators, the hemp-derived THC category could offer significant sales and growth opportunities, particularly in states that have passed legislation to regulate these products.” Hemp derivatives with less than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC on a dry-weight basis were federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill that Trump signed during his first term in office. But late last year, the president signed new legislation containing provisions that redefined hemp to make it so only products with 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container would remain legal after November 12. Now, however, under provisions included in a funding bill Trump signed last week, the effective date of the ban for most products is being pushed back to December 11 to give lawmakers more time to craft regulations for hemp derivatives. There is a carve-out, however, to allow the recriminalization on November 12 of synthetic cannabinoids “that are not capable of being naturally produced by a Cannabis sativa L. plant.” Melissa VonderHaar, the vide president of commercial strategy for iSee Store Innovations and chair of the C-Store Cannabis Board for CSP, said that the delay in the ban is “very important” but is “only step 1.” “Retailers, now is the time to make some noise. Convenience sees more customers per day than any other channel,” she said in a social media post. “Get the signage up, leverage your loyalty apps to make sure your shoppers know: the ban is still coming and their voices matter. The write-in campaigns depend on VOLUME and our channel is uniquely equipped to deliver.” VonderHaar told CSP that “this extension demonstrates what can be accomplished when the right partners work together toward a common goal.” “Now, we need to build on that momentum and unify behind a regulatory framework we can get across the finish line by December,” she said. Now that Trump has signed the delay of the ban into law, members of Congress are debating how—and whether—the crop’s derivatives should be regulated as an alternative to prohibition. Several Republican lawmakers spoke to Marijuana Moment last week about the kinds of rules they would like to see enacted to keep hemp THC products legal. A number of lawmakers from both chambers and both parties have filed or are circulating a growing number of bills to prevent the scheduled federal recriminalization of hemp THC drinks and other products. Until now, none of those proposals have gained traction with congressional leaders. For example, Reps. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) and Greg Landsman (D-OH) filed a bill to keep hemp THC drinks legal while taxing and regulating them like alcohol. Rep. James Comer (R-KY), who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is circulating legislation that would delay a planned federal ban on hemp THC products and institute some regulations—including packaging requirements, testing rules and age limits. Separately, Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY), filed a lengthier proposal to prevent the federal recriminalization of hemp THC products and put in place a number of regulations for manufacturing, labeling, sales and taxation of hemp-derived products, including an age limit of 21. Trump and White House officials repeatedly pressed Congress to delay, alter or reverse the ban in recent months. In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) in June, for example, White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought said the Trump administration wants lawmakers to “ensure the fair treatment of hemp products”—specifically citing Barr’s earlier amendment to keep many hemp products legal while adding regulations and taxes. The administration “welcomes the opportunity to work with the Congress to, at a minimum, update the statutory definition of final hemp-derived cannabinoid products to allow Americans to benefit from access to appropriate full-spectrum CBD products,” OMB separately said in June, “while preserving the Congress’s intent to restrict the sale of products that pose serious health risks.” Also in April, the president himself urged congressional lawmakers to again redefine hemp to avoid recriminalization of full-spectrum CBD products. “I am calling on Congress to update the Law to ensure that Americans can continue to access the full-spectrum CBD products they have come to rely on, and that help them, while preserving Congress’s intent to restrict the sale of products that pose Health risks,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “We must get this done RIGHT and FAST, especially for those who saw that CBD helps them,” he said. “Plus, I am told it will also help our GREAT FARMERS, who we love, and will always be there for.” Industry advocates say that the law as enacted last year not only threatens to prohibit intoxicating and synthetic cannabinoid products but also stands to remove popular full-spectrum CBD products that many Americans use therapeutically from the market. “ONE in FIVE adults used it in the past year, and many say it improved their chronic pain enormously,” the president said in his social media post, adding that hemp-derived CBD “has made a HUGE difference for so many people.” He also referenced a new initiative the administration launched in April to cover up to $500 worth of hemp-derived products each year for eligible Medicare patients. The program being implemented by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) focuses largely on CBD but also allows products to have up to 3 milligrams of total THC per serving. A federal judge granted the government’s motion to dismiss marijuana legalization opponents’ lawsuit challenging the initiative, but that is being appealed. “In December, I signed a very important Executive Order calling for Research and Innovation for Hemp-derived CBD,” Trump said. “Our wonderful Dr. Mehmet Oz moved fast to follow the directive in the Executive Order, and launched a model for some Seniors earlier this month. But more must be done!” “Please get it done, and SOON,” the president said in reference to a congressional fix for the broad recriminalization set to take effect in November. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Some members of the alcohol industry have also urged Congress to regulate, rather than ban, hemp products. The National Restaurant Association recently sent a letter urging congressional leaders to delay the federal recriminalization of hemp THC beverages and replace it with a regulatory framework that “ensures consumer safety while meeting growing market demand” for the products as an alternative to alcohol. Major retailer Target, meanwhile, recently moved to expand its sales of hemp THC drinks into more states. The post Convenience Store Industry Says Congress Should Regulate Hemp THC Products Instead Of Banning Them appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

A new report from congressional researchers 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. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, published on Thursday, examines the Dormant Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to bar protectionist state laws that unduly restrict interstate commerce even in areas where Congress has not directly weighed in. As more states have legalized marijuana, some have enacted policies that favor business run by in-state residents over those led by people based in other states. Some of those polices have been challenged with federal lawsuits, and appeals courts have reached different conclusions about the issue. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the for the Second Circuit, for example, ruled that a New York policy that prioritizes licensing for cannabis businesses run by people who have been convicted of marijuana-related charges under that state’s laws, or have a relative with such a conviction, likely violates the Dormant Commerce Clause. “The Commerce Clause prohibits the enforcement of state laws driven by economic protectionism—that is, regulatory measures designed to benefit in-state economic interests by burdening out-of-state competitors,” the court ruled. CRS noted in its analysis that the court acknowledged “the irony behind applying this objective to federally illegal marijuana markets” but said that the Supreme Court previously determined in a medical cannabis case, Gonzales v. Raich, that the illegal nature of marijuana activities “is of no constitutional import” for purposes of the Commerce Clause. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, for its part, held that a Maine law requiring all officers and directors of a marijuana business to be residents of the state violates the Dormant Commerce Clause. State officials in the case didn’t dispute that the state law would violate the Dormant Commerce Clause if marijuana were federally legal, but instead argued that the state statute is permissible “because federal law makes participation in the market to which the residency requirement applies illegal.” They argued that the Dormant Commerce Clause only bars states from “unjustifiably…discriminat[ing] against or burden[ing] the interstate flow of articles of commerce,” whereas there can’t be an interstate commercial market federally illegal cannabis. The court disagreed, reasoning that the Supreme Court’s Raich ruling determined that marijuana is “a fungible commodity for which there is an established, albeit illegal, interstate market.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, on the other hand, declined to apply the Dormant Commerce Clause to challenges to marijuana business ownership residency requirements in Washington State and Sacramento, California. The court cited Supreme Court guidance to “tread cautiously when considering whether to invalidate state laws under the court inferred dormant Commerce Clause,” ultimately reasoning that there is no “implied constitutional right to engage in illegal interstate commerce.” “Nothing in dormant Commerce Clause precedent requires us to indulge the obvious ‘irony’ of applying a doctrine implied from an affirmative grant of power to Congress to preserve a national market that Congress does not want to exist,” the Ninth Circuit opinion said. CRS said that although the Supreme Court has not yet agreed to take up the application of the Dormant Commerce Clause to such marijuana business licensing disputes, the split in views on the issue among circuit courts “likely increases the odds that the Court will review this issue at some point.” “The fact that all the cases discussed above were decided when all relevant state marijuana activities remained illegal under federal law, however, might make the Court less likely to grant certiorari,” the report said. The justices may instead “wait to see how future lower court Dormant Commerce Clause analysis in this space evolves” in light of the Trump administration’s move to federally reschedule marijuana, CRS reasoned. 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 any case, CRS said, lawmakers don’t need to wait for courts to weigh in. — 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. — “Congress has the power to address the issue itself,” the report said. “As the Supreme Court has explained, ‘Congress has undoubted power to…either permit the states to regulate the commerce in a manner which would otherwise not be permissible or exclude state regulation.'” “Congress could thus pass legislation providing states and localities an ‘unmistakably clear’ authorization to implement protectionist marijuana policies,” CRS said. It could also “do the opposite and expressly bar states and localities from implementing marijuana-related laws that favor in-state residents over nonresidents,” the report noted. “Similarly, Congress could establish a federal regulatory system applicable to marijuana activities that fits more closely within the Supreme Court’s existing Dormant Commerce Clause jurisprudence, as opposed to the current status where the Court has never weighed in on how the Clause applies to activities that are illegal under federal law,” CRS concluded. The Marijuana Policy Project, a pro-legalization advocacy group, recently said that it believes there could soon be a “successful” federal lawsuit concerning the Dormant Commerce Clause’s applicability to interstate cannabis commerce in light of rescheduling. “DCC protection would bar states with legal markets from discriminating against legal products from other states,” MPP said. “The federal decisions finding no DCC protection have leaned on cannabis’s federal illegality.” The move to reschedule cannabis “almost certainly changes that for licensed medical operators,” the group said. “We expect stakeholders to sue states in multiple federal circuits (hoping to consolidate those into one suit), seeking to force open state markets on constitutional grounds,” MPP said.” Interstate commerce in Schedule III drugs between DEA-approved entities is clearly covered by the DCC. A federal case will take time, but assuming rescheduling stands, we expect federal litigation to be ultimately successful.” The post Supreme Court Could Resolve Marijuana Business Licensing Disputes, Congressional Report Says appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

Using marijuana appears to have a “positive outcome” on people struggling with some eating disorders, according to a new study. “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,” the paper, published in the Journal of Eating Disorders, found. Researchers at the University of Sydney in Australia surveyed more than 7,500 people with a diagnosed or self-reported eating disorder (ED), with more than 3,o00 of whom that used cannabis within the past year. Respondents represented 76 countries, with most residing in Australia (29.7 percent), the United Kingdom (21.7 percent) and the United States (17.6 percent). “Cannabis received the highest mean ratings of any drug for improving ED symptoms” among people avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, anorexia nervosa and other specified feeding and eating disorder, the study found. People with unspecified feeding or eating disorder “also reported a favorable rating.” For people with anorexia nervosa specifically, “cannabis use drove reductions in food-related anxiety and guilt, which, together with appetite stimulation, helped normalise their eating,” the study found. “The gastroprotective and antinausea properties of cannabis appear to provide additional therapeutic benefits over and above those provided by appetite stimulation and anxiety reduction.” For people with avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), which involves a lack of desire to eat and aversions to food based on sensory factors such as texture, taste and smell, there is a “transformational effect of cannabis” related to “increased appetite and enhanced ability to recognise hunger cues,” the researchers wrote. “The higher frequency of daily cannabis use amongst those with ARFID may well reflect self-medication for these therapeutic benefits,” they said. “Indeed, daily use of cannabis flower was generally associated with higher ED symptom improvement scores relative to intermittent use, suggesting that symptom improvement may drive frequency of use.” In contrast, people with binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa, “provided lower ratings” for marijuana’s efficacy—perhaps because “the appetite-stimulating properties of THC may exacerbate binge/purge symptomatology,” the paper said. When participants were prompted with open-ended questions, “general mental health was self-reported as improved by cannabis in most respondents regardless of diagnosis,” the researchers wrote. Participants also said cannabis helps with improved ability to eat, improved awareness of hunger cues, reduced guilt related to their eating disorder, less nausea and diminished food-related anxiety. “Our findings suggest that cannabis is widely used by individuals with an ED or disordered eating and that naturalistic use of cannabis is self-reported as having a positive outcome on ED symptoms.” That said, “a substantial number described mixed experiences of both improvement and exacerbation of ED symptoms,” the study found. The research is a follow-up to an earlier paper that some of the same authors published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that found that marijuana and psychedelics were “the highest rated” drugs in effectively addressing eating disorder symptoms. “Our top-level analysis indicated that cannabis was commonly used among respondents and was one of the few drugs rated positively for ED symptom improvement. In [anorexia nervosa], [avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder,], and [other specified deeding and eating disorder], this positive rating was superior to all prescription drugs.” While daily use of marijuana flower specifically was more associated with improved eating disorder scores than intermittent use in the new study, symptom improvement didn’t vary overall based on cannabis product type or cannabinoid composition. The researchers noted that the self-report and naturalistic nature of the study means that no strong causal conclusions can be drawn, saying that “future clinical trials of cannabis products are warranted in eating disorders.” They also flagged concerns about cannabis dependence and “other adverse effects” of frequent use that some participants reported. The post Marijuana Improves Symptoms For People With Anorexia And Other Eating Disorders, Study Finds appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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GOP lawmakers talk hemp regulations; NH legalization push; TX Dem campaigns on marijuana; NE medical cannabis laws upheld Subscribe to receive Marijuana Moment’s newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning. It’s the best way to make sure you know which cannabis stories are shaping the day. Get our daily newsletter. Email address: Leave this field empty if you're human: Your support makes Marijuana Moment possible… Your good deed for the day: donate to an independent publisher like Marijuana Moment and ensure that as many voters as possible have access to the most in-depth cannabis reporting out there. Support our work at https://www.patreon.com/marijuanamoment / TOP THINGS TO KNOW President Donald Trump commuted the sentences of more people with marijuana convictions as his administration continues to consider federal cannabis rescheduling. Several Republican members of Congress spoke to Marijuana Moment about their views on how—and whether—hemp THC products should be regulated now that President Donald Trump signed a bill to delay a scheduled ban for one month. New Hampshire Democratic gubernatorial candidate Cinde Warmington said the state should legalize marijuana and stop sending tax revenue to its neighbors that have already enacted the reform. Texas Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Vikki Goodwin is campaigning on her support for cannabis reform—hosting a “Legalize It” rally, endorsing a local Houston ballot initiative to deprioritize marijuana arrests and bashing Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) for championing a hemp THC product ban. The Nebraska Supreme Court unanimously upheld voter-approved medical cannabis legalization ballot initiatives, rejecting litigation from Republican elected officials who sought to invalidate them. North Carolina’s state health director said he is “not in any way convinced that we are definitely moving to be a marijuana-legal state” but that “it could happen.” Mike Simpson of Lovewell Farms argues in a new op-ed that Rhode Island attorney general candidates should explain whether they intend to defend the state’s decision to regulate hemp in the face of federal uncertainty. / FEDERAL The Food and Drug Administration issued a request for information on opportunities to advance the development of botanical drug products. Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) discussed his support for recriminalizing hemp THC products. Nebraska independent Senate candidate Dan Osborn tweeted, “Nebraskans voted for medical marijuana, yet Pete Ricketts has done everything he can to OBSTRUCT it. Today, the Nebraska Supreme Court said NO. This is bigger than medical marijuana, it’s about the power of our vote. Politicians work for us. And today, our Supreme Court reinforced that truth and upheld the power of the people.” / STATES North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong (R) signed a bill to ban synthetic kratom products and limit sales of kratom to adults over the age of 21. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) tweeted, “Legal cannabis sales have generated nearly $8.4 BILLION in tax revenue for California communities, funding programs like: → Childcare and early childhood development → Youth substance abuse prevention → Medical research → Environmental recovery” Rhode Island Democratic attorney general candidates clashed over the record of one contender as chair of the state Cannabis Control Commission. Montana regulators adopted changes to rules marijuana business security requirements and correspondence standards. Florida regulators are proposing stricter marketing rules for medical cannabis. The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission will meet on Wednesday. The New York Cannabis Advisory Board will meet on Thursday. — Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments. Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access. — / LOCAL Houston, Texas misdemeanor marijuana arrests have increased by nearly 1,300 percent under the current mayor. Los Angeles, California regulators sent a newsletter with various cannabis updates. / INTERNATIONAL The UK Food Standards Agency is preparing to recommend approval of CBD oils, sweets, drinks and supplements. New Zealand officials gave approval to two psychiatrists to prescribe MDMA to people with PTSD. / SCIENCE & HEALTH A review concluded that “cannabinoids exhibit biologically plausible antitumour activity across multiple cancer hallmarks and may present promising candidates for combination therapeutic strategies.” A review concluded that ayahuasca “is a promising therapeutic intervention in neuropsychiatric disorders.” / ADVOCACY, OPINION & ANALYSIS The chair of the Florida Democratic Party tweeted, “72% of Floridians voted for access to medical cannabis and almost 1 million Floridians (including my dying father and saved my mother’s life) are patients, but Desantis has been hellbent on destroying the program. Thank god only 123 more days of this a**hole.” The Miami Herald editorial board said voters deserve a “do-over” on a marijuana legalization ballot measure that narrowly failed after state officials used Medicaid funds to campaign against it. Americans for Safe Access published a guide about medical cannabis patients’ rights under federal rescheduling. / BUSINESS The University of Maryland sent a cease and desist letter to Terps USA over alleged trademark infringement. / CULTURE Tennis player Aryna Sabalenka halted a U.S. Open match over the smell of marijuana. 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 Trump releases federal cannabis prisoners (Newsletter: September 7, 2026) appeared first on Marijuana Moment. View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net

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