Bipartisan congressional lawmakers are urging House appropriators to ensure that a large-scale spending bill maintains language to allow U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) doctors to issue medical marijuana recommendations to veterans living in legal states. In a letter sent to to House Appropriations Committee leadership on Friday that... Read more
A federal appellate panel has denied a motion by lawyers for a Washington State doctor trying to reschedule psilocybin under the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA). In an order this week, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected the doctor’s request for... Read more
Nationwide marijuana legalization in all states would grow annual cannabis tax revenue to $8.5 billion, according to a new report from a nonprofit think tank that includes a “blueprint” for taxing sales. The Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation is proposing a state and federal marijuana tax model that keeps costs... Read more
The governor of Pennsylvania has signed a bill to allow all licensed medical marijuana grower-processors in the state to serve as retailers and sell their cannabis products directly to patients. Just two days after the Senate gave final approval to the legislation—which was amended to further grant grower permits... Read more
Fentanyl caused a majority of fatal overdoses in Los Angeles County for the first time last year, with nearly 60% of the area’s overdose deaths attributed to the increasingly popular opioid. Fentanyl replaced methamphetamine as the county’s most common drug cited as the cause of accidental drug or alcohol... Read more
Over-the-counter hemp products in Mississippi are not what they appear to be, according to a Steep Hill Mississippi analysis. Clarion Ledger reports that Steep Hill Mississippi President and co-founder Cliff Osbon said so-called hemp-derived products that were recently tested contain significant amounts of delta-9 THC and unsafe pesticides. He... Read more
The GOP Kansas Senate leader says he’s “open” to medical marijuana—but only in restricted form for seriously ill or terminal patients. And he might want to do a pilot program first before potentially expanding the limited reform. During an interview with KCUR that aired on Thursday, Senate President Ty... Read more
A Pennsylvania House committee held a second informational hearing on marijuana legalization this week as momentum builds in the state to enact the reform. After Ohio voters’ decision last month to legalize recreational cannabis, both Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) and U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) have said it’s... Read more
