Which states are trying to legalize pot

Only around 5, Iowans have medical cards, and patients are not permitted to use flower. All cannabis is illegal in Kansas, but in February Democratic Governor Laura Kell proposed legalizing it for medicinal use to help expand Medicaid. Weeks later, lawmakers introduced a bill to do just that. The problem is the state Senate, which is controlled by Republicans and declined to take up a similar medical cannabis bill passed by the House in Two-thirds of Louisiana voters are in favor of recreational cannabis in the state, but so far, legalization efforts are slow going.

The state enacted medical cannabis laws way back in , but it took until for a comprehensive program to be established. Even then, patients were only allowed tinctures for a limited number of conditions.

Gummies and some other extracts have since been allowed, though, and in June of Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards signed a bill legalizing smokeable cannabis for medicinal purposes. A week earlier, he signed a bill decriminalizing possession. Already, though, some in the state — which has had a medical program since , reliant mostly on small growers — worry that change is happening too fast. Big, multi-state cannabis companies are targeting the state brand names like Keef are already on dispensary shelves leaving some to worry that the mom-and-pop legacy will be lost.

Two bills, both focused on social equity, progressed through the state legislature this year, but after each getting a single committee hearing, neither advanced. Lawmakers have said they will try again next year.

Even now, rollout of retail shops has been slow, with only 77 licensed recreational dispensaries open as of October. As a result, the number of patients in the program grew to over , in , up from 67, the year before.

Michiganders voted overwhelmingly to legalize cannabis for recreational use in , with the first dispensaries opening up a little over a year later. Possession of up to 2.

Public consumption, however, is not permitted. Last October, Governor Gretchen Whitmer was able to sign legislation that allows residents with low-level cannabis convictions to have their records expunged. Minnesota, which has had medically legal weed since , is currently putting an adult-use legalization bill through the ringer. I thought we had done everything right. Lawmakers have since been exploring ways to implement a medicinal program like the one voters approved last fall, but for now cannabis is still fully illegal in the state.

The party does have at least one legalization advocate. Shamad Dogan said earlier this year in proposing a constitutional amendment to legalize cannabis. Montana was one of the five states that voted in favor of cannabis ballot initiatives last November. Adults 21 and over are allowed to possess up to one ounce of flower and eight grams of THC concentrate, and four plants per individual eight per household may be cultivated at home. Actually passing anything is going to be difficult in the Republican-controlled state, though, so Democrats are aiming to let the people decide.

Cannabis advocates in the state legislature want to get measures to legalize for recreational use and medicinal use on the ballot in It could happen. Last November, South Dakota, a state every bit as red as Nebraksa, voted in favor of dual ballot measures to legalize. Nevada legalized for recreational use through a ballot measure back in Adults over 21 are able to possess up to an ounce of flower and 3.

Last June, Governor Steve Sisolak pardoned over 15, people who had been convicted of cannabis-related offenses that are now legal. New Hampshire may be known as a libertarian bastion — Live Free or Die, after all — but the state has held firm on traditionally conservative notions of weed. Medical marijuana is legal, and as of late January, there were just over 11, patients in the state, though a limited number of dispensaries exist, and personal cultivation is prohibited.

In January, Democrats introduced legislation for recreational weed. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy promised legal weed on the campaign trail; earlier this year, he finally came through. Edwin J. Back in , Governor John Corzine signed medical marijuana into law, but when Republican Governor Chris Christie came into office the following year, he stymied the initiative, keeping the list of conditions short and the barrier for entry high.

That all changed in , when incoming Gov. Phil Murphy signed a huge expansion into law, allowing for a range of conditions, and making it easier for patients to get the plant. At the summit, Califf also noted that FDA has approved synthetic cannabis products like Marinol for the treatment of anorexia associated with AIDS and nausea related to chemotherapy treatment. But he does seem to defer to statutory processes within FDA that favor pharmaceutical approaches to these medicines that have so far kept marijuana in a tightly regulated drug category.

Separately, some vaping stakeholders have raised concerns about the prospective nominee, pointing to a op-ed he authored that advocated for a ban on flavored vape products as a way to mitigate the risks of the e-cigarette or vaping use-associated lung injury EVALI crisis. For example, industry stakeholders are eagerly awaiting action by the FDA to allow CBD to be marketed as a food item or dietary supplement.

The agency has said that it is exploring regulatory pathways to allow for such cannabidiol commerce, but bipartisan lawmakers have introduced legislation this session to force a change.

FDA was mandated under appropriations legislation enacted in to provide an update on its regulatory approach to CBD , and it did so in March of last year. The agency issued warnings to consumers about the potential risks of the cannabinoid in September.

With respect to broader marijuana policy, FDA would play a critical role in any moves to reschedule or deschedule cannabis. If a scheduling petition is accepted, the agency would need to assess the scientific, medical and public health implications before submitting that review to the Justice Department with its recommendations.

Photo courtesy of Brian Shamblen. Huffman also believes the measure will encourage the department to offer more licenses as the market grows and put pressure on license holders to bring product to market rapidly. Is it all inclusive? Not even close. Does it cover all the issues I want covered? Not yet. Meanwhile, the proposal is competing for attention with three recreational marijuana proposals— two in the Statehouse and the third at the ballot box.

Huffman and Yuko both draw a distinction between medical and recreational cannabis, insisting that their measure and the other ideas are completely different conversations. But as the universe of qualifying patients expands, the distinction between recreational and medicinal gets blurry. Both measures in the House make allowances for it.

Democratic Reps. Meanwhile Republican Reps. Jamie Callender of Concord and Ron Ferguson of Wintersville would allow six plants with up to two of them flowering. The ballot measure would allow home grown marijuana as well, capping the amount at six plants per person and no more than 12 per residence.

But Huffman is skeptical of home cultivation. He worries it might support illicit sales or become a magnet for theft. He also contends restricting production to regulated growers is a consumer safety consideration. This story was first published by Ohio Capital Journal. Photo courtesy of WeedPornDaily. After releasing its initial goals for the psychedelics to be produced for research purposes in the U. The agency took that feedback into consideration and assessed scientific demands before landing on the final quotas, which are even higher than the figures from two months ago.

FDA was mandated under appropriations legislation enacted in to provide an update on its regulatory approach to CBD , and it did so in March of last year.

The agency issued warnings to consumers about the potential risks of the cannabinoid in September. With respect to broader marijuana policy, FDA would play a critical role in any moves to reschedule or deschedule cannabis.

If a scheduling petition is accepted, the agency would need to assess the scientific, medical and public health implications before submitting that review to the Justice Department with its recommendations.

Photo courtesy of Brian Shamblen. Huffman also believes the measure will encourage the department to offer more licenses as the market grows and put pressure on license holders to bring product to market rapidly.

Is it all inclusive? Not even close. Does it cover all the issues I want covered? Not yet. Meanwhile, the proposal is competing for attention with three recreational marijuana proposals— two in the Statehouse and the third at the ballot box.

Huffman and Yuko both draw a distinction between medical and recreational cannabis, insisting that their measure and the other ideas are completely different conversations. But as the universe of qualifying patients expands, the distinction between recreational and medicinal gets blurry.

Both measures in the House make allowances for it. Democratic Reps. Meanwhile Republican Reps. Jamie Callender of Concord and Ron Ferguson of Wintersville would allow six plants with up to two of them flowering. The ballot measure would allow home grown marijuana as well, capping the amount at six plants per person and no more than 12 per residence. But Huffman is skeptical of home cultivation. He worries it might support illicit sales or become a magnet for theft. He also contends restricting production to regulated growers is a consumer safety consideration.

This story was first published by Ohio Capital Journal. Photo courtesy of WeedPornDaily. After releasing its initial goals for the psychedelics to be produced for research purposes in the U. The agency took that feedback into consideration and assessed scientific demands before landing on the final quotas, which are even higher than the figures from two months ago.

Separately, DEA also recently proposed increased quotas for the production of these substances for research purposes in For , the agency now says in a notice set to be published in the Federal Register on Monday that it wants 6, grams of psilocybin manufactured by the end of the year, which is quadruple the figure it last put forward.

The agency also wants to see 2 million grams of marijuana produced this year, or about 4, pounds. There were some comments DEA received that the agency said fell outside of the scope of its quota-setting process. All told, the final quotas represent welcome news for researchers and advocates. It shows a willingness from the leading federal drug enforcement agency to recognize an emerging scientific field and promote studies into the substances regardless of their Schedule I status.

And meeting the production goal for marijuana in particular could be simplified now that DEA has decided to end the current monopoly on federally authorized cannabis manufacturing that the University of Mississippi has had for half a century by approving additional growers for research.

She also said that studies demonstrating the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics could be leading more people to experiment with substances like psilocybin. But while the production developments are promising, advocates are still frustrated that these plants and fungi remain in the strictest drug category in the first place, especially considering the existing research that shows their medical value for certain conditions.

However, one judge did say in a concurring opinion that the agency may soon be forced to consider a policy change anyway based on a misinterpretation of the therapeutic value of marijuana. Top Mexican Senator Blames U. Email address:. Connect with us. Share Tweet. New Mexico New Mexico is another state where lawmakers have tried to no avail to enact legalization in past sessions, but top legislators—as well as the governor—are optimistic about their prospects in New York Advocates are strongly pushing New York to finally legalize marijuana for adult use.

One bill, proposed but not formally introduced in February , would set up a retail industry and allow for home cultivation, while a similar measure without the cultivation provisions was introduced in late September. Both bills include equity measures and, in a first for the state, have bipartisan sponsorship. Governor Tom Wolf said in February that he wanted to make cannabis legalization a priority for , joining other top officials like Attorney General Josh Shapiro and Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, who have long called for an end to prohibition.

Fetterman in particular has been an outspoken cannabis advocate for years, sometimes needling his Republican colleagues by flying a weed leaf flag and an LGBTQ pride banner from his office balcony. This time, the group leading the effort, Sensible Florida, is confident their ballot language will pass legal muster. The most recent language sidesteps those concerns by narrowing its scope dramatically; it would legalize cultivation and possession by adults, but not establish a retail system.

Aside from language, advocates will face new challenges this time around, after Florida lawmakers in April set tighter contribution limits for ballot initiative campaigns, part of a decades-long effort by Republicans in Florida to weaken the citizen initiative process.