A top federal drug agency is promoting its efforts to support studies into psychedelics, cannabis and harm reduction programs that it says helps to justify funding levels proposed under the president’s new budget plan. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)—which would be renamed the National Institute on Drugs... Read more
Though a bill to legalize and regulate retail cannabis sales in Virginia has been passed by the legislature and is now awaiting action by Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), supportive lawmakers now say they believe it is unlikely the proposal will become law this session. Reached for comment on Wednesday,... Read more
Utah lawmakers have unanimously approved a Republican-led bill to authorize a pilot program for hospitals to administer psilocybin and MDMA as an alternative treatment option, sending it to the governor. Both chambers of the legislature passed the measure, sponsored by Senate Majority Whip Kirk Cullimore (R) and House Speaker... Read more
A bill on the desk of Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee (D) would exempt registered medical marijuana patients from the state’s 37 percent cannabis excise tax, which is currently one of the highest in the country. The exemption would only apply, however, to products that have been certified to... Read more
“This is Attorney General Mayes giving the marijuana industry something that the legislature would not.” By Jim Small, Arizona Mirror Arizona law bars the sale of “diet weed” products like delta-8 THC in smoke shops and convenience stores, Attorney General Kris Mayes said. But proponents of the hemp industry... Read more
A Hawaii Senate panel has significantly scaled back a measure that—as passed by the House last week—would have directed the state to automatically expunge tens of thousands of arrest and conviction records for low-level marijuana possession, amending the proposal to instead limit the relief to a one-county pilot program.... Read more
Delaware officials have released a third package of informal draft rules for the state’s adult-use marijuana market that’s set to launch next year. The Office of the Marijuana Commissioner (OMC) published the proposed regulations on Monday, with new sections related to issues such as cannabis testing, sampling, disposal, variances... Read more
Lawmakers in Hawaii’s House of Representatives are set to take up a Senate-passed bill to legalize and regulate adult-use marijuana this week. The chair of one committee slated to consider the measure is optimistic about its chances of being enacted into law, but others—including the House speaker—say the legislature... Read more
Just days after promoting marijuana reform actions during his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden has released a budget plan that proposes to maintain a controversial provision prohibiting Washington, D.C. from using its local tax dollars to legalize cannabis sales. The Fiscal Year 2025 budget request, sent... Read more
The medical cannabis expansion legislation comes as lawmakers are also considering broader recreational marijuana legalization. By Ethan DeWitt, New Hampshire Bulletin The New Hampshire House approved a group of bills expanding the state’s therapeutic cannabis program Thursday—as lawmakers continue to grapple with whether to legalize marijuana for everyone. The... Read more