Hemp History
Utah: Make Your Voice Heard; Make Your Vote Count
Lawmakers are planning to convene a special session beginning on Monday, December 3 to debate replacing Proposition 2: The Utah Medical Cannabis Act. Yet, the reason a majority of Utah voters decided in favor of Prop. 2 was precisely because many of these same lawmakers, year after year, failed to adequately address this issue in … Continue reading
New Jersey Lawmakers Advance Adult Use Marijuana Legislation
Senate and Assembly lawmakers voted on Monday, November 26, in favor of legislation that seeks to regulate the adult use marijuana market. Members of a 26-member joint committee decided to move forward the legislation: Senate Bill 2703 and Assembly Bill 4497: The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory and Expungement Aid Modernization Act. Lawmakers will engage in further … Continue reading
Weekly Legislative Roundup 11/23/18
Welcome to the Thanksgiving edition of NORML’s Weekly Legislative Roundup! I hope everyone had a happy and festive Turkey Day! In the U.S. Senate this week, it was announced that Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Chair of the Judiciary Committee and long-time prohibitionist, is stepping down from his position. As Chairmain, he refused to hold any … Continue reading
Massachusetts Marijuana Sales Begin; Rep. Joe Kennedy Supports Legalization
Citizens of the Bay State have much to be thankful for this week. On November 20th, just two days before Thanksgiving, adults over the age of 21 were able to legally purchase marijuana in the state of Massachusetts for the first time in over a century. Massachusetts was the first state to enact marijuana prohibition … Continue reading
Happy Thanksgiving from the NORML family
We have much to be thankful for this year. Lawmakers in 22 states have passed legislation to advance cannabis reform, Vermont became the first state to end marijuana prohibition legislatively, the Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth became the first US territory to pass a regulated marijuana marketplace, and four states approved voter-initiated ballot measures that legalized … Continue reading
Weekly Legislative Roundup 11/16/18
Welcome to the latest edition of NORML’s Weekly Legislative Roundup! U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) issued a “guarantee” that hemp legalization will be in the finalized Farm Bill. “If there’s a Farm Bill, it’ll be in there, I guarantee that,” he told reporters. Congressman Seth Moulton (D-MA) has introduced a series of bills aimed … Continue reading
US Senate: Leading Marijuana Prohibitionist Out As Senate Judiciary Chair
One of the US Senate’s leading marijuana prohibitionists, Iowa Republican Charles Grassley, will no longer be heading the Senate Judiciary Committee in the 116th Congress. Representative Grassley announced today that he is stepping down as Chair of the Committee. As Chair, Grassley refused to hold any hearings or votes on marijuana-related legislation, including bipartisan legislative … Continue reading
Missouri’s Largest County Stops Prosecuting Marijuana Possession
Two years after suing to keep medical marijuana off the ballot, on Tuesday, Jean Peters Baker, the Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney, announced that her office will stop prosecuting most marijuana possession cases. In June of this year, the St. Louis City Prosecuting Attorney, Kim Gardner, took similar action on simple possession cases of up … Continue reading
New Legislation Aimed To Reduce Veterans Medical Marijuana Confusion
Just two days after Veteran’s Day, Congressman Seth Moulton has introduced a series of bills aimed at addressing the therapeutic use of marijuana among veterans. Post-traumatic stress, chronic pain, and other medical issues can be a matter of life or death. Moreover, failure of VA policy to allow physicians to openly talk about cannabis or … Continue reading
