A grandmother from Hilton Head Island pleaded with legislators Wednesday to let her ease her suffering legally. But bipartisan efforts to allow South Carolinians to use marijuana as medicine continue to be blocked by opposition from law enforcement. Margaret Richardson said she lives in fear of the excruciating jolts of pain that come […]
marijuana legalization
Connecticut lawmakers will make new push for marijuana legalization this year
After coming close in 2019, Connecticut lawmakers will make another push in 2020 to regulate and tax marijuana for recreational use. The leaders of three key legislative committees met last week to discuss the effort, said Rep. Jason Rojas, chairman of the finance, revenue and bonding committee. “There’s still some uncertainty about how much support […]
Marijuana legalization may hit 40 states. Now what?
More than 40 U.S. states could allow some form of legal marijuana by the end of 2020, including deep red Mississippi and South Dakota — and they’re doing it with the help of some conservatives. State lawmakers are teeing up their bills as legislative sessions kick off around the country, and advocates pushing ballot measures […]
Weed shortages are common after legalization but may continue in Illinois for a year or more
Legal marijuana shortages in Illinois are expected to last six months to a year or more, industry members warn, due to a lack of production capacity in the state. The long lines, product shortages and store closures seen since the state authorized legal sales starting on New Year’s Day are not unusual for newly legal markets. But […]
Opposition Is Minimal (So Far) in the Recreational Cannabis Effort for 2020 in Arizona
Arizona’s recreational cannabis ballot initiative already has surpassed 150,000 signatures, according to the Smart and Safe Arizona campaign. The number, confirmed by Stacy Pearson at Strategies 360, the PR firm running the campaign, shouldn’t surprise anyone. With over $1.6 million in funding, the political action committee formed to push the ballot initiative is the best-funded PAC […]
New Mexico Gov. begins push for legal marijuana
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham began her push to try to win over skeptics on the issue of legalizing recreational marijuana use on Thursday, telling Albuquerque business leaders the policy shift would immediately create 11,000 jobs and generate tax dollars that could be used on public safety programs. With a 30-day legislative session scheduled to start […]
Recreational pot ballot proposal fizzles, but new pot bills filed in Tallahassee
Voters will not vote to legalize recreational marijuana in Florida this year. After a brief but expensive campaign, the Make it Legal Florida political committee ended its effort Monday to get recreational marijuana on the 2020 ballot. The campaign, which raised over $8.7 million in primarily marijuana industry money since it launched in August, has […]
Pot politics: Some Northeast states regroup on legalization
NEW YORK — A year ago, marijuana legalization looked like it was on a roll in the Northeast — it had already passed in three of the region’s states and was a priority for governors in three more, including the populous New York. Now, after legislative efforts stalled and a vaping sickness stirred new concerns, […]
Legalize marijuana amendment should be kept off the ballot, Florida GOP leaders tell Supreme Court
Attorney General Ashley Moody and the state House and Senate want the Florida Supreme Court to reject a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow recreational marijuana use, arguing the measure wouldn’t fully inform voters that pot remains illegal under federal law. Lawyers for Moody, the House and the Senate filed briefs late Monday contending that […]
South Dakotans to vote on legalizing recreational marijuana on November ballot
South Dakotans will decide whether to legalize recreational marijuana at the ballot box in November. The South Dakota Secretary of State’s Office announced on Monday that it has validated the initiated constitutional amendment, which will appear on the 2020 ballot as Constitutional Amendment A. The office deemed more than 36,000 petition signatures valid based on a random […]
Ohio Governor Opposes Recreational Marijuana
Governor Mike DeWine recently revealed he is opposed to legalizing recreational marijuana in Ohio. DeWine’s opposition comes despite a growing national trend toward legalization, including in neighboring states like Illinois and Michigan. In an interview with the Ohio Public Radio Statehouse News Bureau, DeWine said marijuana is more potent now than it has ever been […]
R.I. Senate won’t support legalizing marijuana in 2020
Marijuana legalization in Rhode Island appears dead in the state Senate for another year. Senate President Dominick Ruggerio said Tuesday he doesn’t think the state’s medical marijuana program has been well-regulated and expanding legal access to the drug any further is a bad idea. “No,” Ruggerio said in a State House interview Tuesday, when asked […]
Even as neighboring states legalize marijuana, Indiana is resisting the trend
Indiana’s Republican Statehouse leaders are firmly against taking any steps toward following neighboring states in legalizing marijuana use during the upcoming legislative session. They might not be able to avoid talking about it during the 2020 election campaign. Indiana lawmakers have not seriously debated proposals such as allowing medical marijuana or removing the threat of […]
Virginia moves closer to more relaxed pot laws with Democratic majority
Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring and the General Assembly’s new “Cannabis Caucus” are exploring ways to loosen state marijuana laws, and will meet Wednesday to discuss decriminalizing possession of the drug and legalizing it for recreational use. Under the Democrats’ new majority in Richmond, lawmakers expect to pass legislation that has languished in previous years andseeks […]
Federal Marijuana Legalization Is A Lock – But How, When?
If you listen carefully, you will hear the sound of a crooked foundation known as marijuana prohibition starting to crumble in the United States. It has been more than eight decades since the federal government outlawed the cannabis plant nationwide, and yet, here we are finally standing on its lawn with torches in hand waiting […]
Senate panel votes against New Hampshire marijuana legalization
One of New Hampshire’s top champions of marijuana legalization in the Senate changed his tune Tuesday, announcing it was not the right time to pass a sweeping legalization bill. “I don’t think the state is ready for legalization at this time,’ said Sen. Harold French, in brief remarks before the Senate Judiciary Committee, arguing the bill […]
A Chicago suburb wants to give reparations to black residents. Its funding source? A tax on marijuana.
In Evanston, Ill., city officials are hashing out a plan for racial equity — with emphasis on the hash. As Illinois prepares to legalize recreational marijuana, the Chicago suburb has voted to tax the sale of cannabis — expected to generate hundreds of thousands of dollars each year — to fund race-based reparations for its […]
One month to go until recreational weed becomes legal in Illinois. Here’s what you need to know.
When the most popular medical marijuana dispensary in Chicago begins selling recreational pot on New Year’s Day, it will operate like a busy restaurant. Dispensary 33 plans to take names from those in line and page customers by phone when they can get in. The North Side cannabis shop will take that unusual step due […]
