Hemp History
The Marijuana Justice Act Introduced In Senate
Senator Cory Booker Senator Corey Booker (D-NJ) has introduced comprehensive marijuana reform legislation, the Marijuana Justice Act of 2017. The bill would (1) remove marijuana from the US Controlled Substances Act, thereby ending the federal criminalization of cannabis; (2) incentivize states to mitigate existing and ongoing racial disparities in state-level marijuana arrests; (3) expunge federal convictions specific … Continue reading
Missouri: Marijuana Medicalization Effort Reaches Signature Milestone
Proponents of a Missouri voter initiative effort to legalize and regulate the therapeutic use and distribution of cannabis statewide have gathered over 50,000 signatures over the past several weeks. Advocates must collect a total of 160,000 signatures by May 6, 2018 in six of Missouri’s eight congressional districts in order to qualify the measure for … Continue reading
House Committee Blocks Veterans Equal Access Amendments
Two weeks ago, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 24-7 to include the Veterans Equal Access amendment, introduced by Senator Daines (R-MT) as part of the 2018 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, which would expand much needed medical marijuana access to our nation’s veterans. Yet House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-TX) … Continue reading
Vote Expected Tomorrow On Medical Marijuana
Tomorrow, the Senate Appropriations Committee will have to decide: Will they protect our nation’s 2 million lawful medical marijuana patients or subject them to the wrath of Attorney General Jeff Sessions? The amendment they will be debating, known as Rohrabacher-Blumenauer, simply prevents the United States Department of Justice from spending any of our tax dollars … Continue reading
NORML Chapters Hope to Bring Marijuana Discussion To Congressional Town Hall Meetings
NORML Chapters around the country are currently organizing efforts to engage their representatives on the issue of marijuana law reform during the upcoming congressional recess where members of the House and Senate will host town hall meetings in their districts. In addition to providing unique opportunities for face-to-face interactions with congressional representatives, town hall meetings … Continue reading
Pennsylavania Cities Continue to Embrace Decriminalization of Marijuana
With the recent passage of a marijuana decriminalization ordinance, the City of York joins Philadelphia, State College, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg in no longer criminalizing the simple possession of small amounts of marijuana. Following several meetings to discuss the proposal, members of city council heard from Chris Goldstein, executive director of Philadelphia NORML and Les Stark, … Continue reading
Senate Committee Passes Amendment To Protect Medical Marijuana
Senator Patrick Leahy Today, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) successfully offered and passed the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment in the Senate Appropriations Committee to protect lawful medical marijuana programs from the Department of Justice. Initially enacted by Congress in 2014, the amendment maintains that federal funds cannot be used to prevent states from “implementing their own state laws that … Continue reading
If At First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again!
As an attorney, I am always disappointed that the courts in this country – both at the state and federal level – have refused to get involved in the efforts to end marijuana prohibition and end the practice of treating responsible marijuana smokers as criminals. But that is the reality. While the courts in this … Continue reading
Analysis: Criminal Justice Referrals Driving Youth Marijuana Treatment Admissions
Over half of all young people entered into drug treatment for marijuana are placed there by the criminal justice system and this percentage is increasing, according to data published online in the journal Substance Use & Misuse. A team of researchers from Binghamton University in New York and the University of Iowa reviewed youth marijuana … Continue reading
Colorado: Tax Revenue From The Legal Cannabis Industry Surpasses Half-Billion Dollars
Revenues from Colorado’s legal cannabis industry have surpassed over a half-billion dollars since retail sales began on January 1, 2014. According to an analysis by VS Strategies, cannabis-related taxes and fees have yielded $ 506,143,635 in new state revenue over the past three and one-half years. (Local tax revenue was excluded from the analysis.) Much … Continue reading