WA Liquor and Cannabis Board Puts Hold on Edibles Ban, Seeks Public Comment

Just a week after announcing a ban on certain marijuana-infused products, the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board says it’s placing a hold on the ban to give marijuana industry groups time to formulate and present alternative rules.

Marijuana gummy bears (photo: PotValet.com).

In addition, the board has opened up a 30 day public comment period seeking input on the proposed ban, which would effect products deemed to be enticing to children, such as marijuana gummy bears.

In announcing the ban, the board said it would require all edibles producers to resubmit their products for review and approval, and in an online presentation, the agency advised that “all production” of hard candies, tarts, fruit chews, jellies, colorful chocolates and gummy-type products should be stopped as they won’t meet the new criteria.

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Canada’s Marijuana Legalization Law Takes Effect on Wednesday

 Marijuana possession and use will officially become legal for those 18+ in Canada on Wednesday, with regulated adult sales set to begin in several provinces around the country.

Canada’s parliament approved Bill C-45, known as the Cannabis Act, in June. It creates an overarching national regulatory framework and enables each province to establish its own system of licensing and regulating marijuana businesses. Adults will be allowed to possess up to 30 grams of marijuana, and all products will be sold in plain packaging with clearly marked labels.

Canada is just the second country and the first G7 nation to legalize marijuana for adults at the national level. The first was Uruguay, where legislation was signed into law in December 2013 and a limited number of pharmacies began selling marijuana to adults in July 2017. Nine U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and one U.S. territory, the Northern Mariana Islands, have enacted laws making marijuana legal for adults 21 and older. Eight of those states and the Northern Marianas have also established systems for regulating commercial cultivation and sales.

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Congressman Says Trump Plans to Back State Marijuana Laws, Unveil Federal Reforms, Following Midterms

Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) says that the Trump Administration has made a “solid commitment” to fix federal marijuana laws in order to respect states’ rights after next month’s election.

In an interview with Fox Business on Thursday, Rohrabacher said that he had been talking with people inside the White House about ending marijuana prohibition, and says he’s been “reassured that the president intends on keeping his campaign promise” to protect state marijuana laws from federal interference.

“I would expect after the election we will sit down and we’ll start hammering out something that is specific and real,” he said. “It could be as early as spring of 2019, but definitely in the next legislative session”.

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New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy Says State May Legalize Marijuana by the End of the Month

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (D) says state lawmakers may vote on marijuana legalization on October 29.

Governor Phil Murphy“We’ve had good exchanges with both the legislative leadership sponsors and, most importantly, the teams in the trenches crafting this,” Murphy said during a recent live Facebook interview in which he was asked about legalizing marijuana . “I think it’s sooner than later.”

Murphy says that based on current discussions and support, having a vote on October 29 “feels about right.” The two things that may potentially delay a vote is a debate on marijuana taxes (Senate President Stephen Sweeney says he won’t support anything higher than 12%, while some have argued for as high as 25%), and disagreement about which regulatory body should oversee the legal marijuana industry.

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FDA Seeking Public Comment on the Potential Rescheduling of Marijuana

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently seeking public comment regarding the potential rescheduling of marijuana and 16 other substances.

“The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is requesting interested persons to submit comments concerning abuse potential, actual abuse, medical usefulness, trafficking, and impact of scheduling changes on availability for medical use of” cannabis and 16 other substances, says Leslie Kux, FDA’s Associate Commissioner for Policy, in a Federal Register posting.

“These comments will be considered in preparing a response from the United States to the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding the abuse liability and diversion of these drugs. WHO will use this information to consider whether to recommend that certain international restrictions be placed on these drugs.”

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Pennsylvania Committee Passes Marijuana Decriminalization Bill

Legislation that would decriminalize an individual’s first two instances of personal marijuana possession has been passed by a key House committee in Pennsylvania.

House Bill 928 would reduce the penalty for possessing marijuana for the first and second  time from a misdemeanor to a fine of $300 with no possibility of jail time (given the possession was for personal use). If someone is caught possessing marijuana for a third time, they could still face a misdemeanor charge.

The measure, filed by State Representative Barry Jozwiak (R) with 30 bipartisan cosponsors, was passed Tuesday by the House Judiciary Committee by a vote of 14 to 9. The legislation now moves towards a vote by the full House of Representatives, where passage would send it to the Senate.

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National Survey Finds 62% of Americans Support Legalizing Marijuana

Survey results released Monday by the Pew Research Center show a strong majority of American adults support legalizing marijuana.

The national survey of 1,754 U.S. adults found 62% think marijuana should be made legal, while only about one-third of Americans (34%) think it should remain illegal.

“A growing majority of Americans are ready to end the failed policy of marijuana prohibition and move on”,  says Steve Hawkins, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project. “They see states regulating marijuana for medical and adult use, and they recognize it is a much more effective approach. Laws that treat cannabis consumers like criminals and disproportionately impact communities of color are steadily losing popularity across the U.S.”

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Utah Governor to Call Special Session on Medical Marijuana After November Election

Next month voters in Utah will have the opportunity to legalize medical marijuana through a citizen’s initiative, but even if it fails the state’s governor says he plans to hold a special session on the issue.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Governor Gary Herbert has pledged to call a special legislative session to take up the issue of medical marijuana following the November general election. He says this is the case whether or not Proposition 2 is passed by voters . If voters reject the initiative, lawmakers will take up a proposal that would would allow qualifying patients to obtain medical marijuana from one of up to five “medical cannabis pharmacies”, or at their county health departments.

“The good news here is that whether [Prop 2] passes or fails, we’re going to arrive at the same point,” says Herbert.

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Study: CBD Reduces Cocaine Intake

According to a new study published by the journal Neuropharmacology, cannabidiol (CBD) reduces cocaine intake and has “pro-neurogenic effects” in cocaine consuming animals.

(Photo: Dmitry Tishchenko – Getty Images).

The study, titled Repeated Cannabidiol treatment reduces cocaine intake and modulates neural proliferation and CB1R expression in the mouse hippocampus, was epublished by the National Institute of Health.

“Cannabinoid derivatives have shown promising results for treating neuropsychiatric disorders, including drug addiction”, begins the study’s abstract. “To determine whether CBD can attenuate cocaine reinforcement, we assessed behavioural responses induced by cocaine in mice, using the behavioural sensitization, conditioned place preference and intravenous self-administration paradigms.”

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PTSD is the Most Common Condition Treated by Medical Cannabis in Illinois

In Illinois, the number of patients who use medical cannabis for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) surpasses that of any other condition, according to a new state report.

The report states that PTSD has become the most common medical ailment among patients who are participating in the state’s legal medical cannabis program. The report also found that the program has grown 83% this year to over 46,000 patients.

The number of patients with PTSD who are legal medical cannabis patients doubled in fiscal year 2018, to more than 4,000. This surpassed fibromyalgia (3,400 patients), and cancer (2,500 patients), which were #1 and #2 last year. Rounding out the top five are spinal cord disease and injuries and traumatic brain injuries.

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