Tag Archives: marijuana

Connecticut Legal Weed Bill Approaches Final Approval

The Hartford Courant reports: Following more than seven hours of debate, the Connecticut House of Representatives avoided a threatened gubernatorial veto and approved a revised bill that would legalize marijuana in the state. The measure cleared the House by a largely party-line vote of 76 to 62. Twelve Democrats joined all but one Republican–Rep. Rick Hayes of Putnam–in voting no. …

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GOP Alabama Gov Signs Medical Weed Bill Into Law

The Birmingham News reports: Gov. Kay Ivey has signed into law a bill that will allow Alabamians to use medical marijuana products for more than a dozen conditions and symptoms. The bill, Senate Bill 46, sets up a system to regulate medical marijuana from the cultivation of the plants, to processing and testing the products, to selling them in dispensaries. …

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Mississippi Supreme Court Tosses Entire Ballot Initiative System Because State Lost House Seat In 2020 Census

The Mississippi Free Press reports: The Mississippi Supreme Court today killed the medical-marijuana program that 68% of Mississippi voters approved in 2020, and with it, the state’s entire ballot-initiative process. The ruling means that voter-driven efforts to adopt early voting and expand Medicaid in the state are also now dead. The language of the law says that citizens collecting signatures …

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Florida Supreme Court Axes Legal Weed Initiative

The Miami Herald reports: A high-profile effort to legalize marijuana was all but killed by the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday. In a 5-2 decision, justices ruled a constitutional ballot initiative by Make it Legal Florida to be “misleading.” The ruling came after Attorney General Ashley Moody asked for the Court to advise whether the potential constitutional initiative would be …

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Idaho Gov Signs Bill Meant To Block Weed Initiative

The Associated Press reports: Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Saturday signed legislation making it more difficult to get initiatives or referendums on ballots in what is widely seen as an attempt to stop a medical marijuana initiative and other left-leaning causes in the conservative state. The Republican governor signed into law the measure backers said is needed because the current …

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Pew Poll: Only 8% Say Weed Should Be Totally Illegal

Pew Research reports: As more states, including Virginia and New York, continue to legalize marijuana, an overwhelming share of U.S. adults (91%) say either that marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational use (60%) or that it should be legal for medical use only (31%). Fewer than one-in-ten (8%) say marijuana should not be legal for use by adults. …

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Chuck Schumer: Senate Will See Action On Legalizing Weed Nationwide With Or Without Support Of Biden

Politico reports: President Joe Biden has been a conspicuous outlier among Democrats when it comes to supporting marijuana legalization. But Schumer said Biden’s reticence won’t deter the Senate from taking aggressive action to loosen federal restrictions. “I want to make my arguments to him, as many other advocates will,” Schumer said in an interview with POLITICO this week. “But at …

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NYPD Memo: Ignore People Smoking Weed In Public

The Hill reports: A recent memorandum from the New York Police Department (NYPD) advises officers not to stop residents who are smoking marijuana in public. The memo shared with The Hill on Friday outlines how officers are to approach the drug after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed recreational weed into law. It says that smoking marijuana in places …

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NYPD Chief Concerned About Weed Smoking In Public

The New York Daily News reports: “I hope I’m missing something but it appears (the bill) is legalizing the smoking of marijuana outside,” NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said. “That’s not something that most other states did. They legalized marijuana but it was still illegal to smoke outside and in public.” The NYPD fields “10s of 10s of 10s of thousands” …

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Cuomo Gets Legal Weed Bill Over GOP Objections

The New York Daily News reports: New York state lawmakers approved legislation legalizing adult use marijuana Tuesday after debating in blunt terms the benefits and pitfalls of pot. The bill, passed by both the Democratic-led Senate and Assembly, removes cannabis from the list of controlled substances and will eventually legalize, tax and regulate recreational pot for adults over 21. Many …

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NY Lawmakers Finalize Details On Legal Weed Bill: Convictions To Be Expunged, 13% Tax On Retail Sales

The New York Daily News reports: The sale of recreational marijuana would be legal for adults 21 and older in the Empire State, under a bill top lawmakers agreed to late Saturday. It’s expected to pass both chambers of the legislature as soon as next week. Coming after years of harsh penalties for marijuana possession — with many New Yorkers …

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NY Lawmakers Reach Deal With Cuomo On Legal Weed

Bloomberg News reports: New York is ready to legalize recreational marijuana. The state would impose special pot taxes and prepare to license dispensaries under an agreement reached by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders. The deal that legislative leaders brokered with Cuomo (D) calls for a 13% sales tax, 9% of which would go to the state and 4% to …

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WH: Only Five Have Been Fired Over Past Weed Usage

Politico reports: The White House on Friday sought to downplay the number of staffers whose jobs have been derailed by their prior cannabis use. A Daily Beast article published Thursday reported that “dozens of young White House staffers have been suspended, asked to resign, or placed in a remote work program” because of admissions of prior marijuana use. Several staffers …

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REPORT: Biden Admin Sidelines Staffers Over Pot Use

The Daily Beast reports: Dozens of young White House staffers have been suspended, asked to resign or placed in a remote work program due to past marijuana use, frustrating staffers who were pleased by initial indications from the Biden administration that recreational use of cannabis would not be immediately disqualifying for would-be personnel, according to three people familiar with the …

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Nebraska Gov: Legal Weed Will “Kill Your Kids” [VIDEO]

Omaha’s NBC News affiliate reports: Gov. Pete Ricketts and others opposed to legalizing medical marijuana in Nebraska held a news conference in the Capitol rotunda just ahead of a Unicameral hearing on the matter. The issue is in front of Nebraska lawmakers for a fifth consecutive year months after losing ballot approval in the 11th hour last fall following a …

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Mexico Is On The Verge Of Fully Legalizing Marijuana

The New York Times reports: Lawmakers in Mexico approved a bill Wednesday night to legalize recreational marijuana, a milestone for the country, which is in the throes of a drug war and could become the world’s largest cannabis market, leaving the United States between two pot-selling neighbors. The 316-to-129 vote in Mexico’s lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, came more …

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VA Lawmakers Approve Legal Weed Starting In 2024

The Virginia Mercury reports: Lawmakers in the Virginia House and Senate voted Saturday to legalize recreational marijuana beginning in 2024, but opted to delay key decisions about how the new marketplace will operate until next year. The bill, which Gov. Ralph Northam made a priority of his final year in office, is poised to make Virginia the first state in …

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New Jersey Governor Signs Legal Weed Bill Into Law

The New Jersey Advance reports: More than three years after he took office with hopes of legalizing marijuana in 100 days, Gov. Phil Murphy signed three bills that together legalize marijuana in New Jersey and put an end to thousands of arrests. But it took more than a marijuana-friendly governor to make reform a reality. There were years of failed …

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Cuomo Proposal Allows Home Delivery Of Legal Weed

The New York Daily News reports: New Yorkers could soon get legal weed delivered to their door. The Empire State is one step closer to approving adult use marijuana after Gov. Cuomo released an amended version of his pot proposal Tuesday that outlines how some of the tax revenue would be spent and allows for the delivery of cannabis products. …

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Court Strikes Down Legal Weed In South Dakota

Newsweek reports: A South Dakota judge overturned a voter-approved constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana on Monday. Amendment A would have legalized marijuana for recreational use and was approved by over 54 percent of South Dakota voters last November. Republican Governor Kristi Noem, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, opposed the legalization effort and moved to reject the amendment …

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