The measure postpones for a month a federal ban on most hemp-derived THC products, including gummies and beverages. The provision was inserted into the continuing resolution, which funds the government through Dec. 11, at the behest of the White House, which has made...
The legalization of cannabis affects substance use, with the potential for both negative and positive impacts on public health, a new McGill-led review study found. The global review found an increase in cannabis use and cannabis-related emergency department visits,...
The Drug Enforcement Administration kicks off its hearing on a proposal to reclassify recreational cannabis under federal drug laws. Scheduled to run from June 29 through July 15, the hearing is designed to review the agency’s May 21 proposal to move cannabis from...
Five years after becoming the first Southern state to legalize possession of marijuana, Virginia has approved a legal way to sell it to recreational users. Full article
A guide to understanding the differences between the various delta THCs, and about the actual amounts of THC in the available products. There’s delta-8, delta-9, delta-10 and THCA. The amounts of THC in legally infused drinks and edibles also varies, with products...
On April 23, acting U.S. attorney general Todd Blanche signed an order changing the federal classification of medical marijuana. The move, which came at the behest of President Donald Trump and will make the substance a Schedule 3 drug, will bring enormous tax...
Earlier this month, the Texas Department of State Health Services released regulations on consumable hemp-derived THC products that will go into effect on March 31. These new regulations include child-resistant packaging, a significant increase in licensing fees, new...
Texas’ medical marijuana program is expanding, with new laws now in effect that increase access for patients across the state, including in North Texas. Original article
Michigan’s legal cannabis industry is entering 2026 at a moment of real vulnerability, as a newly enacted 24% wholesale tax takes effect in a market that has already slowed after years of rapid expansion. What began as one of the country’s strongest adult-use cannabis...
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday to fast-track the reclassification of cannabis, which would pave the way for the Food and Drug Administration to study its medicinal uses. Article link
As part of the spending deal to end the government shutdown, federal lawmakers approved a provision cracking down on hemp products containing THC, restoring a ban Texas Republicans sought to impose earlier this year.
Researchers from University of California San Diego have found that Delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-8 THC), a psychoactive compound often sold as a legal alternative to marijuana, is most commonly used in states where marijuana use remains illegal and delta-8 THC...
As legalization and commercialization of cannabis have spread across the United States, making marijuana edibles more readily available, the number of cannabis-related incidents reported to poison control centers has sharply increased: from about 930 cases in 2009 to...
During his final year in office, former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. moved to downgrade marijuana from the government’s most restrictive class of drugs. The change would not legalize recreational cannabis under federal law, but would remove it from a category that...
On Wednesday last week, the Texas State House voted to ban all consumable THC hemp products. If Senate Bill 3 is signed into law, the TCUP will become the only way for people in the state to access THC products. House Bill 46 is now being pushed forward by lawmakers,...
The sale and consumption of cannabis has been tolerated in the Netherlands since the 1970s, but the country is now taking a step towards a more regulated approach. Up to ten legal growers have been given a licence to legally produce hash and weed for participating...
A new study by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health found no changes in opioid outcomes among the general population with the states’ passage of medical and recreational marijuana laws. However, the findings also show decreases in opioid...
State lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say they’ll champion a bill next year to bring recreational marijuana to Pennsylvania. But advocates and legal reformers say they don’t want people imprisoned due to drug laws to miss out on the “green rush.” Tens of...
Law enforcement officials lack tools to detect cannabis-impaired driving as reliably as they can identify people who get behind the wheel drunk. Only a few states routinely test the blood of drivers involved in serious accidents for marijuana, and as a result, little...
This month, the F.D.A. surprised the researchers behind a proposed study to assess the safety and efficacy of using marijuana to treat military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, and other experts in the field, by authorizing the trial to proceed, according...
The first Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) hearing on the Biden administration’s cannabis rescheduling proposal took place on December 2, with proponents and opponents appearing for a largely procedural meeting to prepare for more substantive hearings in 2025....
On November 5, 2024, voters in Nebraska approved a ballot measure to legalize medical marijuana use, while voters in Florida, North Dakota, and South Dakota rejected measures to legalize recreational marijuana use. Voters in Massachusetts rejected a ballot measure to...
With more Americans using ever-stronger marijuana, a federal advisory panel is calling for a public health approach that’s a big departure from “Just Say No.” The report - released by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) and cosponsored...
As marijuana legalization has accelerated across the country, doctors are contending with the effects of an explosion in the use of the drug and its intensity. With more people consuming more potent cannabis more often, a growing number, mostly chronic users, are...
The Department of Health and Human Services has issued a long-awaited report on barriers to researching the medical use of marijuana. The report is required under the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act, which passed in 2022. Identified barriers...
The Justice Department formally moved to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug in a historic shift in generations of U.S. drug policy. A proposed rule sent to the federal register recognizes the medical uses of cannabis and acknowledges it has less potential...
The number of older adults hospitalized for cannabis poisoning tripled after Canada legalized the retail sale of marijuana, according to a study published Monday in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, as the drug’s rapid legalization in North America leads to more...
Many health experts have worried that relaxing the laws around cannabis will lead to more use of the drug among minors. But Rebekah Levine Coley, a developmental psychologist at Boston College, is less certain. In April, she and colleagues published a study in JAMA...
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will move to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, a historic shift to generations of American drug policy that could have wide ripple effects across the country. The proposal, which still must be reviewed by the White...
As the Biden administration moves to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, scientists say the change will lift some of the restrictions on studying the drug. But the change won't lift all restrictions, they say, neither will it decrease potential risks of the...
Lawmakers have established the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Research Program by way of SB 2888. The program will be managed out of the National Center for Cannabis Research and Education at the University of Mississippi and will compile data on the effects of medical...
Florida Senate lawmakers have approved legislation to cap the THC level on adult-use marijuana ahead of a ballot initiative legalization vote in November 2024.The measure stipulates that smokable products may contain a maximum of 30% of THC. If signed into law,...
Marijuana is neither as risky nor as prone to abuse as other tightly controlled substances and has potential medical benefits, and therefore should be removed from the nation’s most restrictive category of drugs, federal scientists have concluded. The recommendations...
A bill introduced in the Washington state legislature aims to limit high potency cannabis products amid concerns of increasing potency and risks posed to younger people using the products. The bipartisan bill would increase the age limit to buy high-potency cannabis...
Georgia, this year, became the first state to permit pharmacies to sell medical marijuana. But the federal Drug Enforcement Administration recently sent out a memo telling independent Georgia pharmacies dispensing medical cannabis violates federal law. Read the...
The University of Minnesota School of Public Health launched a new Cannabis Research Center on Thursday. The center will conduct research aimed at assessing the health impacts of the state’s recent legalization of recreational cannabis for adults, and help inform...
Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives refiled a bipartisan bill to legalize and regulate marijuana at the national level. The legislation, known as the States Reform Act, was reintroduced by South Carolina Republican Representative Nancy Mace. Read the...
In this article, the authors present a breakdown of cannabis and cannabis-derived applications received by the FDA over the past 50 years. The authors also provide a summary of their experience and challenges in reviewing applications for research of cannabis and...
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is “likely” to approve a recommendation from the Biden administration to reclassify marijuana under the nation’s drug laws, according to a report issued by congressional researchers. The report, which was released by the...
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has recommended easing restrictions on marijuana, a department spokesperson said on Wednesday, following a review request from the Biden Administration last year. Marijuana is currently classified as a schedule I...
Marijuana legalization will be on the ballot in Ohio in November, the secretary of state’s office confirmed Wednesday. Petitioners submitted 127,772 signatures from all over Ohio to qualify for November a referendum to legalize the growing and sale of marijuana to...
The FDA and FTC issued a cease and desist to companies selling Delta-8 “edibles” deceptively packaged as name brand snacks, and experts warn of the dangers—like psychosis, loss of consciousness and death—ingesting Delta-8 poses for children. The FDA and FTC gave the...
Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota signed a bill into law on Tuesday legalizing recreational marijuana use in the state. With Walz’s signature, Minnesota becomes the 23rd state to legalize adult-use cannabis and the third Midwestern state to do so. Under the...
The Governor of Arkansas has signed a bill to ban hemp-derived psychoactive cannabinoids, including delta-8 THC products. The bill prohibits the growth, processing, sale, transfer, or possession of hemp products containing certain hemp-derived psychoactive...
The Senate, in a rare move, considered - but ultimately opted against - whether to back cannabis research at the Veterans Affairs Department for generations of former troops who suffer from trauma, stress, chronic pain, and opioid addiction. Read the article here.
All patients undergoing procedures requiring anesthesia should be asked about cannabis use, according to guidelines released by the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA Pain Medicine). The first U.S. guidelines on cannabis use in relation to...
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says that both cannabinoids delta-8 and -9 THC-O, which have been growing in popularity in recent years, are to be considered illegal controlled substances. DEA's position on the legal status of delta-8 and -9 THC-O came...
Bipartisan bills were introduced this month in both the Senate and House to explore the use of medicinal cannabis for veterans suffering from chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder. The VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act, as both the Senate and House versions...
"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced final guidance that “outlines FDA’s current thinking on several topics relevant to clinical research related to the development of human drugs containing cannabis or cannabis-derived compounds.” Some of the most...
January 26, 2023 The Food and Drug Administration says there are too many unknowns about CBD products to regulate them as foods or supplements under the agency’s current structure and called on Congress to create new rules for the massive and growing market. Read the...
On December 2, President Joe Biden signed the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act (MMCREA) into law. The bipartisan legislation will roll back federal restrictions on medical marijuana research and the cultivation of research-grade marijuana, as...
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reportedly planning to announce a regulatory framework for products like CBD that are derived from legal cannabis in the coming months amid concerns about product quality and safety. A statement issued by FDA Principal Deputy...
It was a mixed outcome for cannabis advocates as measures to legalize adult-use recreational marijuana passed in Maryland and Missouri but were soundly rejected in reliably red Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota. Read the article here.
The Senate passed a bill that will expand research into the potential medical benefits of marijuana and CBD. The Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act was passed through unanimous consent by a voice vote and will now head to President Biden’s desk...
On October 21, the Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) released a bulletin to Utah medical cannabis patients regarding the detection of synthetic cannabinoids in state-sponsored medical cannabis sales. The DHHS now requires that if a medical cannabis...
President Biden on Thursday pardoned thousands of people convicted of marijuana possession under federal law and said his administration would review whether marijuana should still be in the same legal category as drugs like heroin and LSD. The pardons will clear...
Voters in November will decide whether recreational marijuana can be used legally in five states: Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota. As it stands, 19 states, two territories and D.C. have embraced marijuana legalization over the last decade,...
At least a dozen states have banned the hemp-derived drug, including Colorado, Montana, New York, and Oregon, which have legalized marijuana. But delta-8 manufacturers call the concerns unfounded and say they’re driven by marijuana businesses trying to protect their...
The FDA has appointed Norman Birenbaum to be the its senior public health advisor on cannabis research and regulatory actions, reported Inside Health Policy. This is the first time the FDA has hired a cannabis research and regulation advisor. Read the article here.
More people in the U.S. are now smoking marijuana than cigarettes, according to a Gallup poll. Cigarette use has been trending downward during the past decades, with only 11% of Americans saying they smoke them whereas 16% of Americans say they smoke marijuana. Read...
California employers could soon be barred in many cases from screening for marijuana use in hiring or firing people. State lawmakers on Tuesday sent Assembly Bill 2188 to Gov. Gavin Newsom. If he signs it into law, it would go into effect Jan. 1, 2024. AB 2188,...
A group of attorneys general, led by those in legal adult use cannabis states like California, New York, and Virginia, are urging Congress to address the risks that unregulated “copycat edibles” pose to children. The group is “gravely concerned about the dangers of...
Oregon is set to become the first state to ban synthetic cannabinoids sold at grocery stores and other retailers beginning next month. Oregon regulators say they’re restricting sale of the products over concerns about the chemicals used in production. But the move...
Doctors and lawmakers in California want cannabis producers to warn consumers of the increased risk of psychiatric disorders and other health risks on their packaging labels and in advertising, similar to requirements for cigarettes. They also want sellers to...
The city council in Washington, D.C. unanimously passed a bill Tuesday that, if approved by Mayor Muriel Bowser, would stop employers from firing employees who fail marijuana drug tests. The bill, named the Cannabis Employment Protections Amendment Act of 2022, would...
A California federal appeals court ruled last week that delta-8 THC and other cannabinoids derived from hemp are legal under the 2018 Farm Bill, even if the substances have psychoactive properties. In an opinion from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals quoted by cannabis...
Recreational marijuana is officially legal in Rhode Island, with adults over 21 now allowed to possess, use and grow cannabis. Gov. Dan McKee signed a bill into law Wednesday afternoon that legalizes the plant, expunges past convictions and sets up a new framework for...
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued warning letters to five companies for selling products labeled as containing delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-8 THC) in ways that violate the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act). This action is the...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- State marijuana regulators are changing the definition of THC -- the psychoactive substance in the drug that produces a “high” -- to include more cannabinoids, including those traditionally found in hemp. The new rule, which goes into effect May 2,...
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Gov. Andy Beshear cleared the way Tuesday for a cannabis research center to open as he reviews whether he has the executive authority to singlehandedly legalize medical marijuana in Kentucky. The governor revealed his action on a bill authorizing...
The House passed legislation on Friday to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level. The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act would remove marijuana from the federal government’s list of controlled substances, impose an 8 percent tax on...
The U.S. Congress is poised to eliminate some obstacles for researchers trying to study the health effects of cannabis. Two bills, passed unanimously in the Senate on 24 March and by an 82% vote in the House of Representatives on 4 April, would ease storage rules,...
The U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations has requested for the U.S. Federal Drug Administration (FDA) to allocate funds and resources toward the establishment of a regulatory framework for all cannabis derivatives, including cannabidiol (CBD). The “Cannabis and Cannabis Derivatives” section of the appropriations package states that
The Kentucky House endorsed legalizing medical marijuana, passing a bill Thursday to strictly regulate the use of cannabis for a list of eligible medical conditions. Under the bill, doctors could prescribe medical cannabis for a specified list of conditions that include
Ohioans with autism would be able to use medical marijuana under a bill passed by the Ohio House Wednesday. House Bill 60 would add autism spectrum disorder to the list of qualifying conditions under Ohio’s medical cannabis program.
The New Jersey State Policy Lab at Rutgers University has released a first-of-its-kind report examining health, education, and law enforcement factors related to marijuana usage. It’s intended to be used as a baseline to measure the impact of legalization and identify...
Mississippi is legalizing medical marijuana for people with debilitating conditions such as cancer, AIDS and sickle cell disease. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signed the legislation Wednesday and it became law immediately. It could be months before the first marijuana...
Cannabis is one of the fastest-growing industries in the U.S. even though the drug is banned under federal law. More Americans believe pot should be legal—68% according to the latest Gallup poll—and 18% of Americans now admit to using it, up from 10% in 2005. The...
More than a year after voters approved legalizing marijuana for recreational use in Montana, anyone older than 21 can now enter a dispensary and buy cannabis. For the approximately 55,000 Montanans who hold medical marijuana cards and use cannabis for cancer,...
The Texas Department of State Health Services has added a popular hemp derivative being sold in Texas to
The Colorado state legislature has approved a bill that significantly restricts access to medical marijuana. If enacted, House Bill 1317 would specify a THC dosage amount and require new medical and mental health reviews for patients seeking medical marijuana...
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