Marijuana advocates hit unexpected roadblocks

June 3, 2019
AggregatedNews
Policy & Legal
0 Comments

Advocates of legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes scored their most significant legislative victory of the year Friday when the Illinois state House gave final approval to a measure allowing residents over the age of 21 to purchase and use cannabis products.

But their win in Springfield comes at the end of a string of defeats in what was supposed to be a banner year for legalization. Even supporters of recreational use acknowledge their legislative agenda has run into more roadblocks than they expected.

Legislators in New Jersey, Connecticut and New Mexico hit the brakes on legalization bills this year, even though Democratic governors in all three states made clear their support. A New Hampshire bill stalled in the state Senate when it became apparent the legislature did not have the votes to override a likely veto from Gov. Chris Sununu (R).

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) effort to legalize recreational use through his state budget stalled, though the legislature is considering a separate bill.

“Some progress has happened slower than we would have liked, of course,” said Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies at the Marijuana Policy Project, a pro-legalization group.

This Post Has 0 Comments

Recent Stories

So You Want to Be a Cannabis Lawyer

By Vince Sliwoski, Attorney at Harris Bricken I like being a cannabis business lawyer. It took a while for me to get there. I certainly didn’t think I would be doing this while I was in law school, or at the start of my career. Like a lot of things in life, it just sort…

French Senators Petition Macron’s Government For Urgent Cannabis Reform

OVER 30 senators from the Socialist, Ecologist and Republican group have called for the launch of a consultation process to introduce new laws to legalize cannabis in France. The co-signed letter from 31 senators, published in the Le Monde newspaper explores several options for the legalization of cannabis – and rejects the notion of decriminalization, saying…

New Jersey Marijuana Prices Expected To Drop As Market Expands

In its first 70 days of being a legal market in New Jersey, recreational marijuana collected close to $80 million in total sales, according to the latest figures. Folks involved with ramping up the industry expect that number to grow as time goes on, and for consumers to experience more options and more affordable prices…

Cilicon Partners with Vape-Jet to Offer an Intelligent & Integrated Vaporizer Solution

PRESS RELEASE Cilicon, a global provider of cannabis vape hardware, and Vape-Jet a U.S. -based infrastructure platform for cannabis oil-filling, announced today that they have formed an official partnership to provide an intelligent one-stop product solution for cannabis brands around the world. Based on a mutual understanding of the value of technology orientation for business growth…