The conference talk, by Jacksonville State University master’s student Aquriya Muller, drew from published studies into marijuana among athletes and for pain management.

Notably, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) last year removed marijuana from its list of substances banned for Division I athletes, emphasizing that cannabis is not a performance enhancing drug and that it should be treated the same way as alcohol.

“Evidence indicates that marijuana use among athletes can improve oxygenation of tissues, reduce muscle spasm, and enhance pain management,” the new research paper says. “For patients with fibromyalgia, marijuana use displayed benefits in alleviating symptoms such as pain and stiffness, while enhancing relaxation and sleep.”

It further found that “marijuana’s anti-inflammatory properties also contribute to recovery and post-exercise treatment.”

Her presentation pointed to the example of a Division I basketball player who used marijuana to treat muscle spasms and pain as well as improve sleep.

Muller’s report encourages trainers and care providers to stay up-to-date on relevant findings and work to incorporate alternative and conventional treatments.

In all, the report reviewed 94 total articles, though it excluded 90 of those for not meeting the study criteria.

And while Muller noted the positive apparent benefits of marijuana, she identified a need for further research. The bulk of the studies, she noted, had a “lower level of evidence” and were “less reliable” overall.

“Despite these findings, effectiveness varies among individual athletes,” her report says. “In addition, concerns about behavioral health and performance are limited.”

“Athletic trainers and healthcare providers should remain informed about evolving policies and evidence to provide tailored, evidence-based care to their athletes and patients,” it continues. “This knowledge supports developing treatment plans for athletes that incorporate alternative and traditional pain management methods.”

Last year’s NCAA vote to remove marijuana as a banned substance built on a 2022 change that increased the allowable THC threshold for college athletes, a change meant to align NCAA’s rules with those of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Historically, college athletes have been subject to testing during postseason play. Positive tests could mean an entire season of lost eligibility. Officials have said the changes are intended to focus more on problematic use than penalizing players for a single mistake.

“The NCAA drug testing program is intended to focus on integrity of competition, and cannabis products do not provide a competitive advantage,” Josh Whitman, chair of NCAA’s Division I council, said last year. “The council’s focus is on policies centered on student-athlete health and well-being rather than punishment for cannabis use.”

When an NCAA committee formally recommending the policy shift in September 2023, it said ending the cannabis ban “acknowledges the ineffectiveness of existing policy (banning, testing and penalizing),” affirms the body’s belief that cannabis is not a “performance-enhancing drug” and promotes the “importance of moving toward a harm-reduction strategy.”

“The timing of discussion and adoption of possible legislation is a decision that will be made by each of three NCAA divisional governance structures,” the panel said. “This recommendation is based on extensive study informed by industry and subject matter experts (including doctors, substance misuse experts and membership practitioners).”

Multiple sports organizations have moved to amend their marijuana testing policies for athletes amid the state legalization movement.

For example, the NFL and its players union agreed to end the practice of suspending players over marijuana or other drugs as part of a collective bargaining agreement in 2020.

Late last year, NFL also reached an agreement with its players union to further reform its marijuana policies, significantly reducing fines for positive tests while increasing the allowable THC threshold for players.

NFL has committed significant funding to research into whether CBD can serve as an effective opioid alternative, and it’s also explored the therapeutic potential of the non-intoxicating cannabinoid for pain management and neuroprotection from concussions.

The league announced early last year that it was partnering with Canadian researchers on a clinical trial to test the safety and efficacy of CBD for pain management and neuroprotection from concussions—key issues for many football players who experience injuries as part of the game.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced in late 2023 that it was formally removing marijuana from its newly modified banned substances list for athletes, also building on an earlier reform.

However, ahead of a UFC event last year, a California athletics commission said they could still face penalties under state rules for testing positive for THC over a certain limit, as the state body’s policy is based around WADA guidance. UFC subsequently notified participants that the reform didn’t apply under California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) rules.

Nevada sports regulators voted in 2023 to send a proposed regulatory amendment to the governor that would protect athletes from being penalized over using or possessing marijuana in compliance with state law. Last October, regulators officially adopted the rule change.

While advocates have welcomed these changes, there’s been criticism of WADA over its ongoing cannabis ban. Members of a panel within the agency said in a 2023 opinion piece that marijuana use by athletes violates the “spirit of sport,” making them unfit role models whose potential impairment could put others at risk.

Advocates strongly urged WADA to enact a reform after U.S. runner Sha’Carri Richardson was suspended from participating in Olympics events due to a positive THC test in 2021.

Following that suspension, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) said that the international rules on marijuana “must change,” the White House and then-President Joe Biden himself signaled that it was time for new policies and congressional lawmakers amplified that message.

Last June, meanwhile, an NFL player sued the league and his former team, the Denver Broncos, for alleged employment discrimination after he was fined more than half a million dollars for testing positive for THC that he says was caused by his prescribed use of a synthetic cannabinoid. NFL and the Denver Broncos in asked a federal court to reject the suit.

Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Nets and New York Liberty last year entered into partnerships with a CBD beverage company—the first teams in the NBA and WNBA, respectively, to forge deals with the cannabis industry.

The New York-based clubs partnered with Mynd Drinks, a hemp-based CBD sparkling beverage company that also made history in 2023 when it became an official partner of the Major League Baseball (MLB) team the Chicago Cubs.

As for marijuana and pain, a study earlier this year found that cannabis and its constituent cannabinoids could be useful treatments for various types of chronic pain, in some cases helping to reduce the use of other medications. The paper also said select mixtures of cannabinoids could help minimize undesirable effects of cannabis, such as the psychoactivity of THC.

That is among a flurry of research in recent years into the use of cannabis to treat chronic pain, which is one of the most common qualifying conditions among patients in many states with medical marijuana programs.

Research published earlier this year in the journal Pain, for example, found that marijuana was “comparatively more effective than prescription medications” for treating chronic pain after a three-month period, and that many patients reduced their use of opioid painkillers while using cannabis.

The analysis “was able to determine, using causal inference techniques, that use of medical marijuana for chronic pain under medical supervision is at least as effective and potentially more effective in relationship to patients with chronic pain treated by prescription medications (nonopioid or opioid),” said the report, by authors at the University of Pittsburgh, Harvard Medical School and the National Cancer Institute.

A separate federally funded study found that legalization of marijuana in U.S. states is associated with reduced prescriptions for opioid pain medications among commercially insured adults—indicating a possible substitution effect where patients are choosing to use cannabis instead of prescription drugs to treat pain.

“These results suggest that substitution of cannabis for traditional pain medications increases as the availability of recreational cannabis increases,” authors of that report wrote, noting that there “appears to be a small shift once recreational cannabis becomes legal, but we see stronger results once users can purchase cannabis at recreational dispensaries.”

“Reductions in opioid prescription fills stemming from recreational cannabis legalization may prevent exposure to opioids in patients with pain,” the paper, published in the journal Cannabis, continues, “and lead to decreases in the number of new opioid users, rates of opioid use disorder, and related harms.”

Other recent research also showed a decline in fatal opioid overdoses in jurisdictions where marijuana was legalized for adults. That study found a “consistent negative relationship” between legalization and fatal overdoses, with more significant effects in states that legalized cannabis earlier in the opioid crisis. Authors estimated that recreational marijuana legalization “is associated with a decrease of approximately 3.5 deaths per 100,000 individuals.”

“Our findings suggest that broadening recreational marijuana access could help address the opioid epidemic,” that report said. “Previous research largely indicates that marijuana (primarily for medical use) can reduce opioid prescriptions, and we find it may also successfully reduce overdose deaths.”

“Further, this effect increases with earlier implementation of [recreational marijuana legalization],” it added, “indicating this relationship is relatively consistent over time.”

Another recently published report into prescription opioid use in Utah following the state’s legalization of medical marijuana found that the availability of legal cannabis both reduced opioid use by patients with chronic pain and helped drive down prescription overdose deaths statewide. Overall, results of the study indicated that “cannabis has a substantial role to play in pain management and the reduction of opioid use,” it said.

Yet another study, published in 2023, linked medical marijuana use to lower pain levels and reduced dependence on opioids and other prescription medications. And another, published by the American Medical Association (AMA) last February, found that chronic pain patients who received medical marijuana for longer than a month saw significant reductions in prescribed opioids.

Separate research published found that more than half (57 percent) of patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain said cannabis was more effective than other analgesic medications, while 40 percent reported reducing their use of other painkillers since they began using marijuana.

In Minnesota, meanwhile, a state government report this year on chronic pain patients enrolled in the state’s medical marijuana program said recently that participants “are finding a noticeable change in pain relief” within a few months of starting cannabis treatment.

The large-scale study of nearly 10,000 patients also shows that nearly a quarter who were taking other pain relievers reduced the use of those drugs after using medical marijuana.

Another new study on the use of medical marijuana by older patients—age 50 and above—concluded that “cannabis seemed to be a safe and effective treatment” for pain and other conditions.

Oprah Highlights Cultural ‘Shift’ Around Psychedelics—But Worries About ‘Losing My Mind’ If She Experimented

Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.

The post Marijuana ‘Demonstrated Positive Findings’ For Managing Pain In NCAA Athletes, New Research Says appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) gave final approval to the bills from Sen. Michelle Hinchey (D) and Assemblymember Donna Lupardo (D) on Thursday.

New York initially authorized cannabis farmers market events in 2023, aiming to expedite consumers access as traditional retailers were being approved and help producers bring their products directly to market. Last December, Hochul separately signed legislation to revive the program after it sunsetted in January 2024.

The newly enacted measures will expand the law. For example, they amend statute by making it so licensed retailers would need to partner with a “minimum” of one cultivator and one processor for the showcase events, whereas previously the law indicated that they were limited to only one partnership for each of those licensing categories.

Showcase permittees will also now be mandated to sell products cultivated or processed by those partnering licensees at the events, though the bills make clear they could also sell other products.

Further, the legislation states that each retail licensee participating in a farmers market event must received a permit if there are multiple retailers operating at the same event. And each of those permittees would be required to meet the minimum partnership requirement with at least one cultivator and processor.

The bills take effect 120 days after enactment.

The farmers market events as originally authorized were largely responsive to the slow roll-out of New York’s adult-use marijuana program, which faced multiple delays in implementation amid litigation. But the state’s industry has gradually expanded, with officials in January touting $1 billion in total sales since the market launched.

Regulators have said that the significant uptick in licensing approvals has been coupled a successful crackdown on unlicensed shops, which proliferated in the early month of legalization being enacted.

—
Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.

Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.
—

Meanwhile, state officials recently launched a grant program that will award up to $30,000 apiece to retail marijuana businesses to help cover startup costs.

Also, earlier this year, a collective of businesses licensed under the CAURD program called on Hochul to forgive tens of millions of dollars in high-cost loans issued under a governor-created social equity loan fund.

Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes (D) said in December that there’s a need to extend financial aid to CAURD license holders, many of whom are struggling under the high-cost loans.

Critics—including the NAACP New York State Conference, Black Cannabis Industry Association, Minority Cannabis Business Association, Service Disabled Veterans in Cannabis Association, Drug Policy Alliance, NYC NORML and VOCAL-NY—wrote to the governor earlier that month to express dismay at what they described as marijuana regulators’ “efforts in service of big corporations at the expense of small business and equity outcomes.”

The advocates said at the time that since the departure of the state’s first chief cannabis regulator, Chris Alexander, last may May, state officials had demonstrated a “shift toward corporate interests at the expense of small business, justice-involved entrepreneurs, and Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) licensees who are directly impacted by prior marijuana arrest.”

Last month, regulators also launched a new resource meant to connect licensed marijuana businesses with banks that are willing to work with the industry, even as federal prohibition continues to pose barriers to financial services.

In 2023, the governor signed legislation that aims to make it slightly easier for financial institutions to work with state-licensed cannabis clients.

The law authorized OCM to provide financial institutions with information about marijuana business licensees or applicants, which is meant to ease compliance with reporting requirements. Licensees and applicants would first have to consent to information being shared.

A recent budget proposal from Hochul aims to empower police who claim to smell marijuana to force a driver to take a drug test—a plan that’s drawing pushback not just from reform advocates but also from the state’s Assembly majority leader and the governor-appointed head of OCM.

Meanwhile in New York, the state Senate earlier this month approved a bill to expand housing protections for registered medical marijuana patients, aiming to prevent evictions based solely on their lawful use of cannabis.

Senators this session have also introduced a bill for the 2025 session to broadly decriminalize drug possession.

Several psychedelics bills have also been filed in New York—including one calling for the legalization of certain entheogenic substances such as psilocybin and ibogaine for adults 21 and older.

The governor argued in June, meanwhile, that there’s a direct correlation between stepped-up enforcement and “dramatically” increased legal sales. A report by state officials last year found both “growing pains” and “successful efforts” in New York’s marijuana market launch.

Three In Four Marijuana Consumers Say They Trust That Products From Licensed Retailers Are Free Of Contaminants, Poll Finds

Photo courtesy of California State Fair.

The post New York Governor Signs Bills To Expand State’s Marijuana Farmers Market Program With ‘Pop-Up’ Events appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

After clearing the House in January, the Senate advanced the measure from Reps. Anthony Hartsook (R) and Kyle Brown (D), as well as Sen. Dafna Michaelson Jenet (D), in a 25-9 vote this month. It now heads to the governor’s desk.

Similar to legislation that Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed into law in 2022 regarding the medical dispensing and use of MDMA, the bipartisan bill would empower doctors to prescribe drugs containing crystalline polymorph psilocybin, pending federal reform.

Colorado already legalized psilocybin and several other psychedelics for adults 21 and older through a voter-approved ballot initiative, but the newly legislature-approved reform would make it so drugs containing an isolated crystalized version synthesized from psilocybin could become available under physician prescription.

The bill’s findings section states that treatment-resistant depression is a major public health crisis, and psilocybin has been shown in clinical trials to “reduce depression scores significantly for patients with treatment-resistant depression when compared to active placebos.”

“Therefore, the general assembly declares that it is in the best interests of the people of Colorado that behavioral health professionals in Colorado have the ability to provide crystalline polymorph psilocybin to treat patients with treatment-resistant depression if the federal [Food and Drug Administration, or FDA] ultimately approves it for prescription use,” it says.

Psilocybin would still be listed as a controlled substance under state statute—with the nuance that state law permits adults to cultivate and possess certain amounts of the raw mushroom. But this bill would create an additional carve out exempting crystalline polymorph psilocybin from the definition of the psychedelic.

—
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.
—

As of January, meanwhile, Colorado regulars have been authorized to approve licenses for psilocybin service centers where adults can access the psychedelic in controlled settings.

The governor signed a bill to create the regulatory framework for legal psychedelics in 2023.

But lawmakers evidently are interested in setting the state up to allow for a more conventional system of distribution for certain psychedelics. In 2022, Polis also signed a bill to align state statute to legalize MDMA prescriptions if and when the federal government ultimately permits such use.

Whether FDA moves forward with any such approvals in uncertain, and the agency faced criticism last year after rejecting an application to allow MDMA-assisted therapy for people with PTSD.

Meanwhile in Colorado, a bill that would have limited THC in marijuana and outlawed a variety of psilocybin products will no longer move forward this session following the lead sponsor’s move to withdraw the bill.

New York Governor Signs Bills To Expand State’s Marijuana Farmers Market Program With ‘Pop-Up’ Events

Photo courtesy of Dick Culbert.

The post Colorado Bill To Let Doctors Prescribe Psilocybin After Federal Approval Heads To The Governor appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

Most of them say they use cannabis to deal with pain, mobility and sleep issues, while substantial numbers of veterans also say it helps with PTSD, anxiety and stress. Nearly all participants (98 percent) said healthcare providers should discuss the use of natural products with their patients.

The report, published in the journal Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health, says the survey “revealed prevalent use of multiple NPs [natural products] concurrently, and in some cases, as substitutes for prescribed medications.”

Cannabis—including both CBD- and THC-dominant varieties—was the third most common natural product in the survey after vitamin D and multivitamins, the study found.

“Of the 21 (40%) reporting using cannabis products for all indications, most reported using products that had a mix of cannabidiol (CBD, without the psychoactive component) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, the psychoactive component in cannabis),” the report says. “Indications for cannabis among those reporting use were pain or mobility (81%), sleep (62%), PTSD or anxiety (43%), stress (43%), and depression (29%).”

The sample size for the new report was relatively small. Authors described the survey as “piloted among 52 veterans with chronic pain enrolled in Veterans Health Administration (VA) primary care.” It was supported in part from the Office of Dietary Supplements and the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, which are both parts of the National Institutes of Health.

Authors from the University of California, San Francisco, and Yale University noted that the percentage of respondents reporting cannabis use “may represent under-reporting related to the prohibition on cannabis prescribing in the VA as a federal health care system.”

Notably, only about half of respondents overall said they’d discussed natural product use with their healthcare providers. Authors noted, however, that “clinicians and pharmacists generally lack knowledge about NPs, which explains why they may avoid discussions about NPs with their patients.”

The research team also noted that although most natural products are “generally considered safe, some may be mislabeled, contain adulterants, have side-effects or drug/NP interactions, especially in patients (or veterans) with comorbidities prescribed multiple medications.”

The study, which was first noted by the advocacy group NORML, comes amid ongoing efforts by activists and stakeholders to protect veterans’ access to marijuana.

At a joint hearing earlier this month, for example, two veterans service organizations submitted testimony voicing support for expanded access to plant-based medicines, including marijuana and psychedelics.

“Currently,” said Allison Jaslow, CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), “veterans who live in states where cannabis has been legalized completely are unable to even be prescribed cannabis for medicinal purposes by their doctor” at the VA.

Jaslow said IAVA is “looking forward” to the reintroduction of a bipartisan bill—the Marijuana Safe Harbor Act—that would temporarily allow veterans to legally possess and use cannabis under federal law, as recommended by doctors in accordance with state law. VA physicians would also be allowed for the first time to issue such recommendations.

Aside from that legislation, there have been veterans-focused cannabis measures already filed in the 119th Congress. That includes a bill sponsored by Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, whose Veterans Equal Access Act would similarly allow VA doctors to recommend medical marijuana to their patients in states where it’s legal.

Other VSOs also addressed marijuana and psychedelics policy with the bicameral committees at previous hearings last month, urging lawmakers to continue to explore the alternative therapeutic options and expedite access if they’re proven to be efficacious.

Research published in 2023 found that more than 90 percent of U.S. military veterans who use medical marijuana reported that it improved their quality of life, with many using cannabis as an alternative to over-the-counter and prescription medications.

In July of last year, a Senate committee urged the VA to explore medical marijuana as an alternative to opioids for veterans, also asking the agency to consider allowing its doctors to formally recommend cannabis to their patients.

As for marijuana and chronic pain, a recently published scientific review concluded that cannabinoids may be useful treatments for various types of chronic pain, in some cases helping to reduce the use of other medications. The paper also said select mixtures of cannabinoids could help minimize undesirable effects of cannabis, such as the psychoactivity of THC.

Published last month in the journal Medical Cannabis and Cannabinoids and authored by researchers at Penn State College of Medicine, that paper reviewed “the most recent evidence supporting the use of cannabis in the treatment of chronic pain disorders including chronic neuropathic pain, cancer-induced neuropathic pain, chronic musculoskeletal pain, and chronic headaches and migraines.”

Research published earlier this year in the journal Pain also found that marijuana was “comparatively more effective than prescription medications” for treating chronic pain after a three-month period, and that many patients reduced their use of opioid painkillers while using cannabis.

The analysis “was able to determine, using causal inference techniques, that use of medical marijuana for chronic pain under medical supervision is at least as effective and potentially more effective in relationship to patients with chronic pain treated by prescription medications (nonopioid or opioid),” said the report, by authors at the University of Pittsburgh, Harvard Medical School and the National Cancer Institute.

A separate federally funded study found that legalization of marijuana in U.S. states is associated with reduced prescriptions for opioid pain medications among commercially insured adults—indicating a possible substitution effect where patients are choosing to use cannabis instead of prescription drugs to treat pain.

“These results suggest that substitution of cannabis for traditional pain medications increases as the availability of recreational cannabis increases,” authors of that report wrote, noting that there “appears to be a small shift once recreational cannabis becomes legal, but we see stronger results once users can purchase cannabis at recreational dispensaries.”

Other recent research also showed a decline in fatal opioid overdoses in jurisdictions where marijuana was legalized for adults. That study found a “consistent negative relationship” between legalization and fatal overdoses, with more significant effects in states that legalized cannabis earlier in the opioid crisis. Authors estimated that recreational marijuana legalization “is associated with a decrease of approximately 3.5 deaths per 100,000 individuals.”

Another recently published report into prescription opioid use in Utah following the state’s legalization of medical marijuana found that the availability of legal cannabis both reduced opioid use by patients with chronic pain and helped drive down prescription overdose deaths statewide. Overall, results of the study indicated that “cannabis has a substantial role to play in pain management and the reduction of opioid use,” it said.

Yet another study, published in 2023, linked medical marijuana use to lower pain levels and reduced dependence on opioids and other prescription medications. And another, published by the American Medical Association (AMA) last February, found that chronic pain patients who received medical marijuana for longer than a month saw significant reductions in prescribed opioids.

About one in three chronic pain patients reported using cannabis as a treatment option, according to a 2023 AMA-published report. Most of that group said they used cannabis as a substitute for other pain medications, including opioids.

Other research published that year found that letting people buy CBD legally significantly reduced opioid prescription rates, leading to 6.6 percent to 8.1 percent fewer opioid prescriptions.

A 2022 research paper that analyzed Medicaid data on prescription drugs, meanwhile, found that legalizing marijuana for adult use was associated with “significant reductions” in the use of prescription drugs for the treatment of multiple conditions.

A 2023 report linked state-level medical marijuana legalization to reduced opioid payouts to doctors—another datapoint suggesting that patients use cannabis as an alternative to prescription drugs when given legal access.

Researchers in another study, published last year, looked at opioid prescription and mortality rates in Oregon, finding that nearby access to retail marijuana moderately reduced opioid prescriptions, though they observed no corresponding drop in opioid-related deaths.

Other recent research also indicates that cannabis may be an effective substitute for opioids in terms of pain management.

A report published recently in the journal BMJ Open, for instance, compared medical marijuana and opioids for chronic non-cancer pain and found that cannabis “may be similarly effective and result in fewer discontinuations than opioids,” potentially offering comparable relief with a lower likelihood of adverse effects.

Separate research published found that more than half (57 percent) of patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain said cannabis was more effective than other analgesic medications, while 40 percent reported reducing their use of other painkillers since they began using marijuana.

In Minnesota, meanwhile, a state government report this year on chronic pain patients enrolled in the state’s medical marijuana program said recently that participants “are finding a noticeable change in pain relief” within a few months of starting cannabis treatment.

The large-scale study of nearly 10,000 patients also shows that nearly a quarter who were taking other pain relievers reduced the use of those drugs after using medical marijuana.

Another new study on the use of medical marijuana by older patients—age 50 and above—concluded that “cannabis seemed to be a safe and effective treatment” for pain and other conditions.

Medical Marijuana Is ‘A Cost-Effective Adjunctive Therapy’ For PTSD, New Study Shows

Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.

The post 4 In 10 Military Veterans With Chronic Pain Report Using Medical Marijuana To Manage Symptoms, New Study Shows appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

During an episode of the Verdict with Ted Cruz podcast that was posted on Monday, Musk mentioned that he was born 69 days after April 20, or 4/20, the unofficial cannabis holiday.

And while Cruz adamantly opposes marijuana legalization, he played along.

The senator said he asked one of the producers ahead of the interview, “Should I show up and pull out a joint” and ask if the two could beat out the views of a well-known episode of Joe Rogan’s podcast, where Musk puffed on a joint.

“But I was pretty sure it might cause a scandal if we smoked pot,” Cruz said.

It proved to be scandalous even before Musk—who owns Telsa, SpaceX and the social media company X—made his splash into federal politics. Because he owned a federally contracted aerospace corporation, NASA launched an investigation into SpaceX’s “workplace safety” and “adherence to a drug-free environment.”

Musk later claimed he never actually inhaled the joint.

In any case, the DOGE official might still be joking about cannabis culture with a prohibitionist, but he hasn’t seemed to lean into reform in his administrative capacity. In fact, he recently said it’s a “great idea” to mandate drug testing of federal employees as he pushes to make massive cuts to government agencies and spending.

Also this month, DOGE touted its cancellation of federal grant funding for a study examining cannabis use risks among LGBTQ+ individuals, non-binary people and heterosexual women.

Cruz’s involvement in the cannabis exchange on his podcast is also notable considering his congressional record on the issue.

Just last year, for example, the senator criticized the Biden administration’s move to reschedule marijuana, citing increases in vehicle injury and fatality rates that he attributed to the legalization of adult-use cannabis.

Cruz has been broadly critical of marijuana legalization, though he’s also said at some points that individual states should have the ability to decide how to regulate cannabis. “I think it ought to be up to the states,” he said during a 2018 debate. “I think Colorado can decide one way. I think Texas can decide another.”

At the same time, the senator has also been critical of recommended federal guidance on alcohol consumption.

During an interview with Newsmax in 2023, the senator drank a beer on camera and said federal health officials “can kiss my ass” if they decided to move forward with a plan to reduce the recommended maximum consumption of alcohol to two drinks per week.

Cruz also laid into a Biden judicial nominee during a 2022 Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, asserting that the judge had been a “partisan advocate for causes,” including “legalizing potent strains of marijuana.”

Company Behind Edible Arrangements Enters Cannabis Industry With New Hemp Delivery Service—And A Different Kind Of Edible

The post Elon Musk And Ted Cruz Joke About Smoking Marijuana To Boost Podcast Views appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

The case in question concerns a lawsuit filed by a company in Santa Barbara County that objected to the use of an easement, which is a right to use another person’s property, for the transportation of state-legal cannabis products. A state appellate court sided with the company, ruling in January that federal law preempted the state’s and that the easement could not be utilized for marijuana transport.

But the highest court in the state has now reversed that decision, rescinding the ruling.

“We are pleased the Court agreed to address that Court of Appeal decision at the Department of Cannabis Control’s (DCC) request, supporting California law and its legal cannabis industry,” DCC Director Nicole Elliott said in a press release on Thursday.

While the case—JCCrandall v. County of Santa Barbara—was specific to the company and county, DCC said that the appeals court’s original decision “suggested more broadly that California’s cannabis regulations were unlawful because cannabis is federally illegal.”

Without an intervening decision from the state Supreme Court to rescind the opinion, that could have opened the state up to litigation challenging other parts of its marijuana laws.

“Other California courts of appeal have long upheld California’s cannabis regulations, ruling that they do not conflict with federal law,” DCC said. “In addition, the California Legislature has provided that commercial cannabis activity conducted in compliance with California law and local standards is lawful, and not a basis for voiding rights secured by an easement.”

The state Supreme Court ruling also comes just weeks after California officials unveiled a report on the current status and future of the state’s marijuana market—with independent analysts hired by regulators concluding that the federal prohibition on cannabis that prevents interstate commerce is meaningfully bolstering the illicit market.

—
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.
—

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) did sign a bill in 2022 that would have empowered him to enter into interstate cannabis commerce agreements with other legal states, but that power was incumbent upon federal guidance or an assessment from the state attorney general that sanctioned such activity.

Following a review of the policy proposal, however, California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s (D) office ultimately determined in 2023 that the state could put itself and its employees at “significant legal risk” of federal enforcement action if it were to authorize interstate marijuana commerce.

Meanwhile, the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) announced this month that they’re awarding $18.4 million in marijuana tax-funded grants to cities and counties across the state to support equity programs and help remove barriers to entry in the cannabis industry.

Pennsylvania Governor Will Put Marijuana Legalization In His Budget, But Top GOP Senator Remains Skeptical

Photo elements courtesy of rawpixel and Philip Steffan.

The post California Supreme Court Rules Federal Prohibition Doesn’t Block Marijuana Businesses From Transporting Products appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

The survey from Noble Predictive Insights, which was commissioned by the nonprofit Keep Utah Medical, found that 52 percent of registered Utah voters would support a ballot initiative to end cannabis prohibition, while 38 percent would oppose it.

Support for legalization was highest among Democrats (76 percent), followed by independents (61 percent) and Republicans (41 percent).

“YES wins the left and the middle and divides the right. In a red state like Utah, that’s enough to get to a solid—though not overwhelming—margin of victory,” the polling firm said in a memo.

“Over the last decade, major political victories came from a populist-traditionalist coalition: The GOP’s wings would coalesce, form a majority together, and govern. If legalization were to win, the coalition would be built from left to right—a progressive minority joining with the center and Republican moderates. This is possible—but it requires careful execution.”

Alex Iorg, co-founder of Keep Utah Medical, told ABC4 that while the results of the poll indicate that an adult-use measure could also narrowly pass, the organization is not currently planning to lead such a proposal.

“I believe the majority now support recreational use because they see it as an easier option [than] Utah’s current medical program,” he said.

“We need to make the medical program easier to navigate. Rural, disabled, and other patients need telemedicine just like [they] can do for other medications,” he said. “Out-of-state recreational dispensaries have more advertising rights than Utah in-state medical pharmacies. We have to level the playfield.”

Here’s the text of the survey question posed to voters: 

“Currently, medical marijuana is legal in Utah, but some Utahns still obtain marijuana illegally for medical and recreational purposes. Would you support or oppose a ballot initiative that legalized marijuana for all purposes—including recreational use?”

The survey involved interviews with 609 registered Utah voters from March 11-13, with a +/- 3.97 percentage point margin of error.

Asked about the prospect of advancing adult-use legalization in Utah, House Speaker Mike Schultz (R) said he has a “huge problem with turning Utah into a recreational state.”

“It’s not going to happen,” he said.

—
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.
—

The latest survey signals that support for legalization has increased somewhat among Utahans.

A poll from late last year that was also conducted by Noble Predictive Insights found that 50 percent of respondents favor the reform. An additional 38 percent said they back only medical cannabis recommended by a doctor. Only 9 percent said marijuana should continue to be entirely illegal.

State lawmakers have taken steps to build upon the state’s medical marijuana law in recent years.

Despite being known for its political conservatism, Utah’s legislature separately passed legislation authorizing a pilot program for hospitals to administer psilocybin and MDMA as an alternative treatment option. The governor let that law take effect without his signature last year.

Pennsylvania Lawmaker Says Marijuana Legalization Is ‘Inevitable’ As State Is ‘Bleeding Out Revenue’ To Neighboring States

Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.

The post Majority Of Utah Voters Support Legalizing Marijuana, Poll Finds As GOP Leader Downplays Reform Prospects appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

This comes as a new poll shows overwhelming public support for keeping consumable hemp products legal, while strictly regulated.

With the backing of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R)—who held a press conference criticizing the hemp market on Wednesday after visiting stores that sell cannabinoid products—the hemp ban legislation from Sen. Charles Perry (R) passed the full chamber in a 24-7 vote.

Under the bill, only non-intoxicating CBD and CBG items could be sold, even though hemp with up to 0.3 percent THC by dry weight was legalized at the federal level in 2018. Supporters argue that re-criminalizing cannabis with any traces of THC is necessary to close a loophole in the state’s own hemp law that’s allowed for the proliferation of businesses selling intoxicating products.

“For those that argue that this should just be more regulation and tax, there’s not enough tax that we can collect that will deal with the behavioral health issues and the addictions that we currently face,” Perry said on the Senate floor. “It would be in the billions. It’s unenforceable because every day a new product hits the shelf that was at the whim of a chemist.”

“What they have created and what they’re doing is akin to K2 and Spice and bath salts of the past that we as a legislature voted out of existence as soon as possible,” he said. “The effect of what this drug is doing to the people that are involved in it—contrary to what you hear—is devastating lives. It’s generational. It is creating psychosis. It’s creating paranoia.”

Senators approved a series of amendments from the sponsor on the floor on Monday, including one that would require all consumable hemp products to be tested and federal Drug Enforcement Administration- (DEA) certified labs based in Texas.

Another Perry amendment that was adopted mandates that consumable hemp products be registered with the state Department of State Health Services (DSHS). Each product registration would carry a $500 fee, and they could not could not contain any non-cannabinoid mood-altering ingredients or additives. It would be a Class B misdemeanor to sell an unregistered product.

The body also passed an amendment to make it a felony offense for to operate a hemp manufacturing or retail business without a license or permit.

Senators rejected an amendment from a Democratic member that would have struck language making only CBD and CBG consumable products legal while maintaining the core regulatory provisions of the bill.

Also, as amended in a Senate committee, DSHS would also be tasked with updating its testing standards to ensure that any hemp being marketed contains no THC, including natural delta-9 THC and synthetic cannabinoids such as delta-8 THC.

Hemp businesses would also need to provide written consent authorizing Texas regulators and law enforcement to conduct compliance inspections.

The bill would additionally add nearly a dozen criminal offenses to state statute for non-compliant activities, including marketing hemp products in a way that’s appealing to youth, possessing with intent to distribute hemp that contains cannabinoids other than CBD and CBG and delivering intoxicating cannabis products.

“Let me make it clear: There are lots of issues that we discuss between the Senate and the House, and sometimes you have policy differences. You work those differences out. This is not one of those bills,” the lieutenant governor, who serves as presiding officer of the Senate, said ahead of the vote. “This is a bill that we have to ban THC and shut all of these stores down.”

Patrick made the comments after paying “surprise” visits to several hemp business, which he described as one of his latest “on-the-street investigative reports.”

One of those businesses, the Austin-based Happy Cactus, said in a press release on Wednesday that the official’s visit simply underscored that the Texas hemp industry is complying with regulations and proactively deterring youth access. Patrick was ID’d at the door, and he was also informed that were no products containing excess amounts of THC under state law.

“We are proud of our team here at Happy Cactus. They handled the visit according to the best practices of Texas hemp retailers and with professionalism and respect,” co-owner Todd Harris said. “We are proud to provide a legal product that helps many people in our community, including veterans and seniors.”

Last month, I paid a surprise visit to a lottery store operated by a courier service owned by the sports betting company DraftKings. Within a week, the Texas Lottery Commission suddenly banned all courier services, and the Texas Rangers launched a broad-scope investigation into… pic.twitter.com/llsCn4uhfQ

— Office of the Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick (@LtGovTX) March 19, 2025

Following Patrick’s press conference on Wednesday, the Texas Cannabis Policy Center put out a statement decrying the event as “filled with alarmist rhetoric and unfounded claims, ignored real solutions that would effectively regulate cannabis and ensure consumer safety.”

“Concerns about semi-synthetic THC can be directly addressed through regulatory enforcement and by legalizing natural cannabis,” Heather Fazio, director of the group, said. “It is Texas’s commitment to prohibition that has created this market for converted cannabinoids in the first place.”

“If lawmakers are serious about protecting consumers, the logical step is to legalize and properly regulate botanical cannabis with naturally occurring THC, rather than enacting broad bans that drive demand for illicit alternatives,” she said.

That’s evidently what a majority of Texans want to see, according to a survey that was jointly released by Bayou City Hemp Company, Hemp Beverage Alliance and the U.S. Hemp Roundtable.

The poll found that 68 percent of Texas voters back keeping the hemp market intact, while still ensuring that it’s tightly regulated. That includes 80 percent of Democrats, 72 percent of independents and 52 percent of Republicans.

“As the legislature considers Senate Bill 3, the Baselice & Associates poll confirms that voters across party lines support a well-regulated hemp market—not prohibition,” Jonathan Miller, general counsel at U.S. Hemp Roundtable, said. “The responsible path forward isn’t an outright ban, which would drive products underground and create unnecessary risks to public health.”

“Instead, the legislature should enact thoughtful regulations that prioritize consumer safety, ensure product transparency, and maintain Texas’ leadership in the fast-growing hemp industry,” he said.

While Perry’s hemp ban bill advanced through the Senate, its prospects are less certain in the House, where differing regulatory legislation is pending.

The lieutenant governor recently emphasized a survey result showing that more than half (55 percent) of Texans want the state to rein its largely unregulated market for hemp-derived THC. But he simultaneously ignored the survey’s other findings: that even more Texans want the state to legalize and regulate marijuana for both medical and adult use.

Meanwhile in Texas, a district judge last month ruled that a local marijuana decriminalization law approved by Dallas voters last year can continue to be implemented— denying a request from the Republican state attorney general that sought to temporarily block the reform as a lawsuit proceeds.

Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) had filed a lawsuit with the intent to invalidate the law just weeks after the November vote. It’s one of several examples of the state official attempting to leverage the court system to reverse local cannabis reform efforts.

Numerous Texas cities have enacted local decriminalization laws in recent years, and, last January, the attorney general similarly sought to block the reform in Austin, San Marcos, Killeen, Elgin and Denton.

State district judges dismissed two of the lawsuits—which argue that state law prohibiting marijuana preempts the local policies—in Austin and San Marcos. The city of Elgin reached a settlement, with the local government pointing out that decriminalization was never implemented there despite voter approval of the initiative.

Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has lashed out against the municipal cannabis reform efforts.

“Local communities such as towns, cities and counties, they don’t have the authority to override state law,” the governor said last May “If they want to see a different law passed, they need to work with their legislators. Let’s legislate to work to make sure that the state, as a state, will pass some of the law.”

He said it would lead to “chaos” and create an “unworkable system” for voters in individual cities to be “picking and choosing” the laws they want abide by under state statute.

Abbott has previously said that he doesn’t believe people should be in jail over marijuana possession—although he mistakenly suggested at the time that Texas had already enacted a decriminalization policy to that end.

That said, low-level marijuana possession would be decriminalized in Texas if a new bill filed last week by a key House leader is enacted.

Paxton had used more inflammatory rhetoric when his office announced that it was suing the five cities over their local laws decriminalizing marijuana, vowing to overrule the “anarchy” of “pro-crime extremists” who advocated for the reform.

Meanwhile, Rep. Joe Moody (D)’s marijuana decriminalization bill for the 2025 session is the latest of nearly two dozen cannabis-related proposals filed so far in Texas for the current legislative session. Various other measures would legalize adult-use marijuana, prohibit certain hemp-derived products, remove criminal penalties for cannabis possession and adjust the state’s existing medical marijuana laws, among others.

Moody sponsored a similar marijuana decriminalization bill last legislative session, in 2023. That measure, HB 218, passed the House on an 87–59 vote but later died in a Senate committee.

The House had already passed earlier cannabis decriminalization proposals during the two previous legislative sessions, in 2021 and 2019. But the efforts have consistently stalled in the Senate amid opposition from the lieutenant governor.

Majority Of Utah Voters Support Legalizing Marijuana, Poll Finds As GOP Leader Downplays Reform Prospects

Photo courtesy of Kimzy Nanney.

The post Texas Senate Passes Bill To Ban Hemp-Derived THC Products As New Poll Shows Voters Support Keeping Market Legal appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

Members of the House Housing, Agriculture and Tourism Subcommittee voted at a hearing Tuesday to advance a bill, HB 651, from sponsor Rep. Kaylee Tuck (R). The nearly 150-page measure would make a variety of adjustments to Florida’s agricultural laws, including around agricultural lands, utilities and wildlife management.

With respect to psychedelics mushrooms, it would make it illegal “to transport, import, sell, offer for sale, furnish, or give away spores or mycelium capable of producing mushrooms or other material which will contain a controlled substance, including psilocybin or psilocyn, during its lifecycle.”

Violating the proposed law would be a first-degree misdemeanor, carrying a maximum of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

A companion bill, SB 700, which contains the same mushroom provisions, has been introduced in the Senate by Sen. Keith Truenow (R). It was amended and approved unanimously last week by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment and General Government.

Prior to reporting the bill favorably on Tuesday, the House panel adopted a striking amendment that made a number of changes to the underlying bill, though the amendment did not substantively affect the provision dealing with spores and mycelium.

Psilocybin and psilocin are the two leading psychoactive compounds in psychedelic mushrooms. Although spores typically do not contain psilocybin or psilocin themselves, they eventually produce fruiting bodies—mushrooms—that do contain the psychedelic compounds.

Because the spores don’t contain any controlled substances, the federal government deems them legal.

“If the mushroom spores (or any other material) do not contain psilocybin or psilocin (or any other controlled substance or listed chemical), the material is considered not controlled,” Terrence Boos, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Drug and Chemical Evaluation Section chief, said in a memo last year. (Using a similar rationale, Boos has said that marijuana seeds are considered federally legal hemp because they themselves don’t contain THC.)

In Florida, a legislative report for HB 651 similarly notes that “spores do not contain any psilocybin properties themselves and therefore could be considered legal under current law.”

To prevent that, the proposal would clarify as illegal any spores or mycelium that could produce psilocybin or psilocin at any time in their development.

Members of the House panel did not mention the broad agriculture legislation’s psilocybin provisions during Tuesday’s hearing.

A legislative report for the Senate version of the bill notes that psychedelic mushrooms “became popular in the United States during the 1960s when American researchers first studied their healing properties and medical applications. Now, they are listed as a Schedule I controlled substance by the U.S. government, meaning they have no accepted medical use.”

It further says that “any material, compound, mixture, or preparation that contains the hallucinogenic substance known as Psilocybin has high potential for abuse and is not currently accepted as medical treatment in the United States.”

As for psilocybin and psylocin themselves, the substances are already illegal in Florida. Simple possession is a third-degree felony, carrying up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Separately this week, a Florida legislative panel began debate on a plan to regulate hemp-derived cannabinoid products, now a multibillion-dollar industry in the state.

A state judge earlier this month also dismissed a lawsuit from the cannabis company Trulieve against the state Republican Party over last year’s failed constitutional amendment that sought to legalize adult-use marijuana.

The company had argued that the GOP’s opposition campaign was “intentionally deceptive,” with “demonstrably false” claims that were “trying to fool Florida voters” into opposing the reform, but a the judge disagreed.

The campaign behind the failed legalization effort, Smart and Safe Florida is already gearing up for another ballot fight next year, having so far submitted just over 7,500 valid signatures of the 891,523 needed to make the 2026 ballot, according to the Florida Division of Elections.

The campaign’s 2026 iteration includes several changes that seem responsive to issues raised by critics about the 2024 version.

A recent survey from the University of North Florida found that, despite last year’s ballot proposal failing, there’s overwhelming, bipartisan voter support for the reform. It showed that 67 percent of Florida voters now back legalization, including 82 percent of Democrats, 66 percent of independents and 55 percent of Republicans.

The results conflict with another recent poll from the Florida Chamber of Commerce, a proactive opponent of legalization, that found majority support for the reform among likely voter (53 percent) but not enough to be enacted under the 60 percent requirement.

Meanwhile, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said in January that the latest version of the legalization initiative is in “big time trouble” with the state Supreme Court, predicting it will be blocked from going before voters next year.

Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy Is Effective In Treating Methamphetamine Addiction, New Study Says

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia/Mushroom Observer.

The post Florida Lawmakers Approve Bills To Outlaw Psychedelic Mushroom Spores appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

The grants are intended to reimburse eligible businesses licensed under the states’s Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) program. To qualify for that program, an applicant has to have been “justice involved”—in other words, impacted by a marijuana-related conviction—and have some experience running a profitable business.

Applications for the new CAURD Grant Program opened on Tuesday. The Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) says funds will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis until the $5 million allotted for the program runs out.

Expenses eligible under the program include commercial rent for the licensed business as well as improvements that fulfill state regulatory requirements, such as point-of-sale systems, inventory tracking, security hardware and installation, insurance and other related costs.

“The CAURD Grant Program is a crucial step in supporting New York’s legal cannabis entrepreneurs as they establish and expand their businesses,” Felicia A.B. Reid, OCM’s acting executive director, said in a statement about the program. “By providing financial assistance for essential startup costs, we are reinforcing our commitment to an equitable and thriving cannabis market.”

Applicants must submit at least $10,000 in eligible expenses to qualify for a grant, which can include costs starting from the date they received their final license notice from OCM.

To qualify, the office said, applicants also “must have a business bank account matching the name of their CAURD license, be incorporated to operate in New York State, and be in full compliance with all state and local cannabis regulations.”

To administer the grants, the office explained in a release, “Empire State Development has entered into a contract with FORWARD, an experienced third-party service to administer the CAURD Grant Program, to award eligible CAURD licensees with vital funding to support their business operations.”

After a slow rollout in marked by lawsuits and other delays, legal marijuana sales in New York have picked up significantly in the past several months. Regulators say that’s the result of more licensed businesses opening as well as what they describe as a successful crackdown on unlicensed shops.

Earlier this year, meanwhile, a collective of businesses licensed under the CAURD program called on Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) to forgive tens of millions of dollars in high-cost loans issued under a governor-created social equity loan fund.

The businesses claimed that the loan program has “perpetuated many of the economic inequities it was designed to combat.”

Crystal Peoples-Stokes, the Democratic majority leader of the state Assembly and the author of the state’s cannabis law, said in December that there’s a need to extend financial aid to CAURD license holders, many of whom are struggling under the high-cost loans.

Other critics—including the NAACP New York State Conference, Black Cannabis Industry Association, Minority Cannabis Business Association, Service Disabled Veterans in Cannabis Association, Drug Policy Alliance, NYC NORML and VOCAL-NY—wrote to Hochul earlier that month to express dismay at what they described as marijuana regulators’ “efforts in service of big corporations at the expense of small business and equity outcomes.”

The advocates said at the time that since the departure of the state’s first chief cannabis regulator, Chris Alexander, last may May, state officials had demonstrated a “shift toward corporate interests at the expense of small business, justice-involved entrepreneurs, and Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) licensees who are directly impacted by prior marijuana arrest.”

“We believe many of these knee-jerk changes in licensing review and failed commitments to equity,” they wrote in the letter, “stem from a lack of experience and exposure to cannabis market development and regulatory licensing regimes, as well as a poor demonstration of a commitment to lead the agency according to the goals set out” in New York’s adult-use cannabis law, known as the Marihuana Regulation and Tax Act (MRTA), which was signed into law in 2021.

Last month, regulators also launched a new resource meant to connect licensed marijuana businesses with banks that are willing to work with the industry, even as federal prohibition continues to pose barriers to financial services.

OCM’s Cannabis Banking Directory initially listed 10 financial institutions that say they’re servicing marijuana businesses and are open to new clients as New York’s market expands.

“This initiative is part of the Office’s strategic efforts to reduce regulatory barriers and improve financial stability for cannabis businesses,” OCM said. “The lack of accessible, compliant financial services has long been a challenge for licensed operators, complicating essential operations and transparency.”

In 2023, the governor signed legislation that aims to make it slightly easier for financial institutions to work with state-licensed cannabis clients.

The law authorized OCM to provide financial institutions with information about marijuana business licensees or applicants, which is meant to ease compliance with reporting requirements. Licensees and applicants would first have to consent to information being shared.

A recent budget proposal from Hochul aims to empower police who claim to smell marijuana to force a driver to take a drug test—a plan that’s drawing pushback not just from reform advocates but also from the state’s Assembly majority leader and the governor-appointed head of OCM.

Meanwhile in New York, the state Senate earlier this month approved a bill to expand housing protections for registered medical marijuana patients, aiming to prevent evictions based solely on their lawful use of cannabis.

Senators this session have also introduced a bill for the 2025 session to broadly decriminalize drug possession.

Several psychedelics bills have also been filed in New York—including one calling for the legalization of certain entheogenic substances such as psilocybin and ibogaine for adults 21 and older.

New York officials also recently announced that the state’s legal marijuana market has surpassed the $1 billion sales mark. The governor called the milestone “a testament to the hard work of those who helped build the strongest cannabis industry in the nation: one that prioritizes equity, ensures public safety, and empowers communities.”

The figure reflects total sales since the cannabis market’s launch more than two years ago, in late 2022.

In November, Hochul signed two new cannabis-related bills into law—one to revive the Cannabis Growers Showcase program, where producers sell products directly to consumers at farmers market-style events, and another clarifying that cannabis is categorized as an agricultural crop in the state.

The governor argued in June, meanwhile, that there’s a direct correlation between stepped-up enforcement and “dramatically” increased legal sales. A report by state officials last year found both “growing pains” and “successful efforts” in New York’s marijuana market launch.

Maryland Senate Passes Bill To Protect Firefighters And Rescue Workers From Being Punished For Medical Marijuana

The post New York Opens Applications For Grant Program To Help Marijuana Dispensaries Run By People Harmed By Criminalization appeared first on Marijuana Moment.