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A new settlement between the federal government and an Arizona-based nonprofit will permit the group to import and use ayahuasca as a religious sacrament—an agreement leaders are calling a historic milestone for spiritual freedom.

Under the settlement announced by the Church of the the Eagle and the Condor (CEC), the group will be permitted “to import, receive, manufacture, distribute, transport, securely store, and dispose of ayahuasca solely for CEC’s religious purposes.”

Specifically, the agreement says the church will import ayahuasca, which contains the psychedelic substance DMT, “in concentrated paste or in liquid form” and then “combine the ayahuasca paste with water to manufacture ayahuasca tea for sacramental uses” at a location in Phoenix.

CEC says it’s “the first non-Christian church to receive protection for its spiritual practices regarding Ayahusca,” adding that the development under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Action marks “the first time in history a church’s right to import and share its sacrament has been secured without going to trial.”

On the other side of the dispute was the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

CEC sued in 2022 over DHS’s seizures of shipments of ayahuasca intended for ceremonial use as well as the government’s threats that the group and its members could face federal prosecution.

The settlement document shared by CEC on Monday establishes that the group can now import, process and use ayahuasca, though DEA reserves the right to take spot samples of the imports “for the purpose of confirming that the consignment is in fact ayahuasca which contains no controlled substance other than DMT.”

Joseph Tafur, a doctor and ayahuasquero for CEC, said in a statement that the “Ayahuasca ceremony is an essential sacrament for our church.”

“Our ceremony is rooted in the Shipibo Amazonian tradition which has been passed down by countless generations. Now, in fulfillment of the ancient Prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor, this tradition has come to North America,” Tafur said. “Our ancestral practice will continue to support the community and nourish our holistic well-being.”

The group’s general counsel called the agreement “a watershed moment in the United States.”

“The resolution of this case represents the government’s recognition of this community’s right to exercise their religious beliefs without interference,” Martha Hartney said in a CEC release about the settlement. “Indigenous ways are returning to a place of honor, respect, and care in American culture–a culture made more beautiful because of Indigenous ritual, art, and cosmology in which all of creation is family.”

While some U.S. jurisdictions have recently loosened psychedelics laws, none has included provisions around importing psychedelic substances internationally.

Separately, DEA argued late last week in a U.S. appeals court case that the federal Right to Try Act—intended give patients with terminal conditions the opportunity to try investigational medications that have not been approved for general use—“does not provide anyone with a right to dispense or receive controlled substances.” The agency’s claim came in a new brief in a lawsuit filed by a Washington State doctor seeking to legally use psilocybin to treat cancer patients in end-of-life care.

Meanwhile, earlier this year DEA called for the production of even more DMT—along with psilocybin and THC—for research purposes than it had initially proposed for 2024, raising quotas for those drugs while maintaining already high production goals for marijuana and psychedelics.

DEA has touted its Schedule I drug production quotas as evidence that is supports rigorous research into the substances, but it’s faced criticism from advocates and scientists over actions that are viewed as antithetical to promoting studies.

For example, DEA in December announced that it would take another shot at banning two psychedelics after abandoning its original scheduling proposal in 2022, teeing up a fight with researchers and advocates who say the compounds hold therapeutic potential and who more recently argued that the agency’s administrative approach to the proposed scheduling is unconstitutional.

The agency separately backed down from a proposal to ban five different tryptamine psychedelics in 2022 amid pushback from researchers and advocates.

Read the full settlement agreement below:

Study Finds Natural Psychedelic Mushrooms Produce ‘Enhanced Effects’ Compared To Synthesized Psilocybin, Suggesting Entourage Effect

Photo courtesy of Apollo/Flickr.

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Dozens of marijuana companies and advocacy groups are pushing back against Sen. Mitt Romney’s (R-UT) recent claims that the U.S. would be in violation of international drug treaty agreements if it reschedules cannabis to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

In a letter sent to Romney this month, more than 50 organizations said the senator made “inaccurate claims that neither reflect the current state of medical and scientific knowledge about marijuana nor an accurate application of relevant treaties to proposed reforms.”

Signatories—including major marijuana businesses, industry groups, law firms, ancillary businesses and and cannabis advocacy organizations—said in the April 9 letter that they wanted to “correct the record.”

Late last month, Romney and Sens. James Risch (R-ID) and Pete Ricketts (R-NE) sent a letter to Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Anne Milgram arguing that rescheduling marijuana—as recommended by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—would put the U.S. out of compliance with international treaty obligations and make it harder to ensure that other countries continue to enforce drug laws, “including for deadly narcotics like fentanyl.”

The new industry and advocacy group response contends that Romney’s understanding of the law is out of date.

“Your letter cites a 1977 decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit describing obligations under the Single Convention that would not be met if marijuana were reclassified under schedule III,” it says. “However, in the many years since the court weighed in, the U.N. Commission on Narcotic Drugs voted to reclassify cannabis in recognition of its medical uses. Moving marijuana to schedule III, as recommended by HHS, simply acknowledges this accepted reality.”

“The U.S. is not required under any applicable Treaty to keep marijuana in schedule I or II under the CSA. So long as certain requirements are met, the drug Treaties provide the U.S. with the flexibility to classify relevant substances based on scientific and medical evidence and in accordance with domestic laws such as the CSA. The U.S. Department of State addressed this in the fall of 2023 during an intersessional meeting of the UN’s Commission on Narcotic Drugs, stating that the Single Convention is primarily focused on drug trafficking and has an international, rather than domestic, focus.”

Ever since news leaked in August that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had sent a recommendation to DEA that marijuana be rescheduled as a Schedule III drug, some have warned that the move could still hit legal snags. One of the open questions is whether U.S. interpretations of international drug law would block the proposal.

Officials and advocates have interpreted the country’s duties under those treaties in competing ways.

Among those who’ve raised concerns is Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), who raised the issue in a letter to DEA Administrator Milgram in January, claiming that any reclassification that puts marijuana outside of Schedule I or Schedule II “would constitute a violation of the Single Convention,” referring to the 1961 United Nations (UN) Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.

In 2016, DEA itself said in a denial of a cannabis rescheduling petition that “in view of United States obligations under international drug control treaties, marijuana cannot be placed in a schedule less restrictive than schedule II.”

But as a coalition of 12 senators pointed out in a separate letter to Milgram a week before Harris’s was sent, the UN has since revised global cannabis scheduling policies and allowed other member states, such as Canada, to legalize and regulate marijuana without penalty. Those lawmakers urged DEA to legalize marijuana completely.

Earlier this month, meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government’s concern about possible United Nations (UN) penalties for legalizing marijuana never materialized, disclosing that no officials have so much as discussed the issue with Canada since the reform was enacted in 2018.

The prime minister was a chief proponent of legalization, and the government has defended its decision to advance the reform—including at a meeting of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs in 2020.

In February, a group of lawyers specializing in cannabis issued argued in a legal opinion that international drug treaties ought not stand in the way of moving marijuana to Schedule III. In fact, it said, a move to Schedule III would better uphold the country’s broader obligations under international law to regulate cannabis in a way that protects public health and safety.

The new letter to Romney echoes many of that opinion’s arguments.

“The current placement of marijuana under schedule I prevents the U.S. from ensuring the substance’s availability for medical and scientific research as required by the Single Convention,” it says. “Reclassification under schedule III would, therefore, bring the U.S. closer to compliance with Treaty requirements.”

Meanwhile, HHS has reportedly requested a legal opinion on the implications of possible marijuana rescheduling from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), and some suspect it concerns the potential international treaty consequences. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) has requested clarification on the request from HHS.

A Democratic congresswoman has separately implored DEA to “reject any argument” that rescheduling marijuana under federal law would constitute a violation of international treaty obligations. She also asked the agency to reveal a list of any “outside partners” it has met with to discuss the global implications of a potential cannabis reclassification.

The UN’s International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) did recently reiterate that it considers legalizing marijuana for non-medical or non-scientific purposes a violation of international treaties.

Here’s a full list of the groups that signed the recent letter to Romney, as well as a copy of the letter itself:

• Acreage Holdings
• Ascend Wellness Holdings
• Asian Americans for Cannabis Education
• American Trade Association of Cannabis and Hemp AYR Wellness
• Bada Bloom
• Balanced Veterans Network
• Cannabist Company
• ConBud
• Cresco Labs
• Dutchie
• Good Day Farm
• Green Thumb Industries
• Hemp for Victory
• Hero Grown
• Holistic Solutions
• Holistic Industries
• Housing Works
• IAVA
• Jushi Holdings
• Justus Foundation
• Kush Culture Industries
• Law Enforcement Action Partnership
• Lume Cannabis Co.
• Major Bloom
• Majority Minority Group Marcu Enterprises Marijuana Policy Project MoodiDay
• National Cannabis Roundtable
• National Hispanic Cannabis Council (NHCC) Native Roots Dispensary
• New York CAURD Coalition
• New York for Social and Economic Equity Perkins Coie LLP
• PharmaCann Inc.
• Phylos Bio
• Physicians Research Center, LLC
• Porter Wright
• PPP Dispensary
• Quality Roots
• Queen City Remedies
• Realm of Caring
• Santa Cruz Veterans Alliance
• Scotts Miracle-Gro
• Simply Pure Trenton
• Tetragram Inc.
• The Bronx Community Foundation
• The Travel Agency: A Cannabis Store
• The Weldon Project
• Trulieve
• Tuatara Capital
• United States Cannabis Council
• Valley Wellness
• Verano Holdings
• Vicente LLP
• Wana Brands
• Wyld
• Veterans Cannabis Project

Marijuana Rescheduling Could ‘Ease Researcher Access’ For Studies, Federal Agency Says In Overdue Report To Congress

 

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A Nebraska bill containing a provision to set a 25 percent tax rate on hemp and CBD products—down from an initially proposed rate of 100 percent—fell apart this week, with its sponsor acknowledging on the final day of the state’s legislative session that it did not have the votes to overcome a filibuster.

Sen. Lou Ann Linehan (R) asked the measure be pulled from the agenda on Thursday.

“I’m willing to come back this summer, this fall, whenever,” Linehan said during floor debate. “But I hope we have a lot of conversations between now and then about all your perfect answers to this problem. Because it’s easy to say, ‘No, no, no.’ That’s real easy. So everybody who’s saying we can do better, I hope you have those ideas to the Revenue Committee by the end of June.”

The measure, LB 388, is part of a broader debate on how lawmakers want to balance sources of state revenue. Residents, many lawmakers have argued, regularly complain property taxes are too high, and proponents of the bill have said raising sales taxes would prevent further state reliance on property taxes to fund schools. Opponents, however, criticized the bill’s overall increase in taxes, with some Democrats noting that sales taxes in particular would hit poorer Nebraskans hardest.

The failure of the bill and its included hemp and CBD provisions, among a host of other changes, means the legislature is likely headed to a special session to deal with tax issues this summer.

As for the proposed hemp and CBD sales tax hike, Linehan’s initial proposal contained a 100 percent tax rate on CBD and consumable hemp products. An amendment approved last week, however, reduced that rate to 25 percent, which lawmakers said was the result of negotiations with industry representatives,

“The 100% tax was unworkable for CBD companies in our state. They were concerned it would drive them out of business,” Sen. Anna Wishart (D), who’s backed past efforts to end marijuana prohibition in the state, told Marijuana Moment in an email at the time. “In talking with representatives from a group of CBD companies in the state, I worked with them and other senators to negotiate the tax down to 25%.”

Linehan’s office did not respond to Marijuana Moment’s request for comment about the updated tax rate last week, although in March she had told local media that the 100 percent hemp tax proposal was intended as a starting point for negotiations.

“Are we going to keep it 100 percent? No, we’re not,” Linehan said.

Some lawmakers had said in an earlier debate on the proposal that the tax was out of step with rates set on CBD and hemp products in other states and that, if the goal of the bill was to raise revenue, Nebraska should consider legalizing and regulating marijuana.

“I looked around. I saw some statistics on other states—neighboring states—and it’s a lot lower. Definitely not 100 percent,” Sen. Terrell McKinney (D) said. “So we’re not going to be comparable to our neighboring states if we tax it at 100 percent.”

“Honestly speaking, what we really need to have a conversation about in our state, in the state of Nebraska, is our refusal to open ourselves up to other revenue streams,” he continued. “One revenue stream that we should open ourselves up to is the legalization of marijuana.”

Neither medical nor adult-use cannabis are legal in Nebraska, though activists are working to change that this year.

“We have a brain-drain issue,” said Sen. Jen Day (D), “and we refused to recognize that and address it from the other policy perspectives that caused the issues with brain drain—one of those being the fact that we have chosen year after year after year not to legalize even medical cannabis in the state.”

“Through the end of 2022, states have reported a combined total of more than $15 billion in tax revenue from legal adult-use cannabis sales,” she noted.

Adam Morfeld, a former Nebraska state senator who now co-chairs the advocacy group Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, posted to social media ahead of last week’s amendment that the situation showed that the state’s “policies dealing with hemp, CBD and marijuana are so backwards.”

Some lawmakers have lamented that the complex measure’s many provisions seemed to come out of nowhere, although sponsor Linehan and others said on the floor last month that the details were taken from other bills that lawmakers had introduced and debated. The hemp and CBD tax, for instance, ostensibly came out of LB 1341, introduced in January by Sen. Justin Wayne (D) and apparently never acted on by lawmakers.

That bill as introduced indeed would have increased taxes on consumable hemp, but only to 7.5 percent.

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Marijuana Moment is tracking more than 1,400 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.

Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.
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The proposal comes as the state, like many others across the country, witnesses an explosion of hemp-derived products, including intoxicating cannabinoids such as delta-8 THC. Late last year, the state’s attorney general, Mike Hilgers (R), filed suit against retailers in the state over their sale of delta-8 products.

Meanwhile, activists are hoping to qualify two medical cannabis initiatives for November’s ballot.

A recent poll by the campaign found 70 percent support in the state for legalizing medical marijuana.

Organizers at Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana (NMM) have been petitioning for the change since July, about two months after turning in a pair of complementary ballot proposals to the secretary of state’s office.

The governor has already voiced opposition to the reform effort, saying in September that legalization “poses demonstrated harms to our children,” and that medical cannabis should only be accessible if its approved by FDA.

Late last year, NMM told Marijuana Moment that the governor’s argument was a “cop out,” and she says the campaign will let voters decide for themselves.

One of NMM’s earlier campaigns gathered enough signatures for ballot placement in 2020, but the measure was invalidated by the state Supreme Court following a single-subject challenge. Supporters then came up short on signatures for revised petitions in 2022 due in large part to the loss of funding after one of their key donors died in a plane crash.

Nebraska lawmakers, including campaign co-chair Sen. Anna Wishart (D), have also attempted to enact the reform legislatively, but cannabis bills have consistently stalled out in the conservative legislature.

Wishart’s medical cannabis bill received a hearing in the unicameral Judiciary Committee in February, but it did not advance. She attributed the inaction to changes in committee membership. An earlier version of the measure ultimately stalled out in the GOP-controlled legislature amid a filibuster that supporters could not overcome.

GOP Congressman Claims Top Federal Drug Official ‘Adamantly Opposes’ Marijuana Rescheduling, But Agency Endorsed FDA Recommendation

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A new survey of Americans’ habits, opinions and expectations around cannabis finds that nearly 6 in 10 adults are “surprised marijuana hasn’t been legalized across the United States yet.”

The new Harris Poll report, released on Thursday, further found that 4 in 10 U.S. adults are current cannabis consumers, with about a quarter of those using the substance at least weekly. Meanwhile nearly two thirds (64 percent) said that “marijuana no longer carries the stigma it used to have.”

“The numbers speak volumes,” Libby Rodney, chief strategy officer and resident futurist at The Harris Poll, a market research and consulting company, said in a statement about the group’s findings. “With 4 in 10 Americans using marijuana, it’s not a trend—it’s a cultural shift. What was once taboo is now mainstream, reflecting changing attitudes and norms.”

“It’s not just about usage; it’s about acceptance,” Rodney said, “signaling a new era in how we perceive and interact with this once controversial substance.”

Fifty-nine percent of those surveyed said they were “surprised marijuana hasn’t been legalized across the United States yet.”

The results come on the heels of a separate Gallup poll this week indicating that rates of marijuana use are nearly the same in states that have legalized marijuana versus those that still prohibit it, which Gallup said suggests “criminalization does little to curtail its use.” That survey found that 1 in 10 adults reported using marijuana 10 or more times in the past month, while 1 in 5 used cannabis at least once in the past month.

The Harris Poll findings are from a March 22–24 online survey of 2,043 U.S. adults.

Among the poll’s other findings, the survey showed that more than seven in 10 people who use marijuana reported preferring it over both cigarettes and alcohol.

People were also asked about what they would give up to make or keep marijuana legal for adult use. Among millennials, nearly half (45 percent) said they’d give up alcohol, for example, while 34 percent said they’d give up coffee and 32 percent said they’d give up social media. Younger Gen Z respondents, by comparison, were less likely to give up any of those indulgences in favor of marijuana (alcohol: 38 percent; coffee: 25 percent; social media: 21 percent).

More than a quarter of respondents (27 percent) reported living in a jurisdiction where cannabis is legal for medical and adult use, while 13 percent said marijuana was completely illegal and 13 percent said only medical was legal (although another 9 percent said medical was legal and adult use was decriminalized).

Twenty-four percent of respondents said they weren’t sure of the legal status of marijuana in their location.

Pollsters also said their findings show that zero-tolerance workplace marijuana policies “are losing their grip on the workplace,” with 38 percent of respondents reporting that their workplace has a zero-tolerance policy.

By contrast, 15 percent said use for medical reasons was permitted outside work hours, while 23 percent said either medical or adult use were allowed.

Nearly a quarter (24 percent) said they were unsure of their workplace’s policies.

Employees, meanwhile, “are looking for jobs that follow suit,” The Harris Poll said, with 1 in 5 saying they’ve left an employer due to their marijuana use policy.

Two thirds (66 percent) of Americans reported thinking marijuana products are overpriced—a number that jumped to 79 percent among marijuana users and 82 percent among heavy users.

Despite the poll itself showing that perceptions are changing, Americans are still hesitant to share their marijuana habits. Nearly two thirds (64 percent) of marijuana users said they’re selective about revealing use, with more than half (56 percent) saying they “wouldn’t disclose my marijuana usage on the first few dates.”

Looking forward, most Americans think cannabis reform will continue in the country, with 64 percent saying that it “won’t be long before marijuana is fully legalized.” The same proportion said 2024 would be “a good year for the marijuana industry,” while 56 percent said the industry “will fuel the American economy.”

As for whether to structure legalization in a way that benefits those most harmed by the drug war, a majority (56 percent) said that “social equity programs should be implemented to address historical injustices related to marijuana criminalization.”

That includes 68 percent of Democrats surveyed and 46 percent of Republicans.

While a minority of Americans report regularly using marijuana, polls have consistently found that there’s increasingly bipartisan majority support for legalizing cannabis.

For example, nine in 10 Americans say marijuana should be legal for recreational or medical purposes, a Pew Research Center poll that was released last month found. And most agree that legalization bolsters local economies and makes the criminal justice system more fair.

An earlier Gallup poll from last year, meanwhile, found that support for marijuana legalization reached a new record high nationally, with seven in 10 Americans—including a sizable majority of Republicans, Democrats and independents—backing an end to prohibition.

Another survey released last month found that a strong majority of voters in three states—including more than 60 percent of Republicans—support congressional legislation to protect states’ rights to set their own marijuana laws.

Pew also released a separate report in February that found eight in 10 Americans now live in a county with at least one marijuana dispensary. The analysis also shows that high concentrations of retailers often “cluster” near borders abutting other states that have “less permissive cannabis laws”—indicating that there’s a large market of people who live in still-criminalized jurisdictions who cross state lines to purchase regulated products.

This Will Be The ‘Last 4/20 Celebration’ With Marijuana Still In Schedule I, Congressman Says, While Predicting House Action On Cannabis Banking Bill

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While uncertainty remains around how New Hampshire’s Senate will receive a House-passed measure to legalize adult-use cannabis, lawmakers separately took up a batch of bills this week that would make changes to the state’s existing medical marijuana system.

Among them are proposals to allow patients to grow marijuana at home, expand qualifying conditions for the state’s therapeutic cannabis program and permit any doctor who can prescribe other drugs to humans to also recommend marijuana.

None of the six bills heard this week were acted upon in committee, with House and Senate panels instead taking testimony and leaving action for a later date. Each measure has already been approved by its full originating chamber and is now being considered by the opposite body.

On Thursday, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee heard comments on four cannabis related bills:

HB 1278

Sponsored by Rep. Wendy Thomas (D), who is also a cancer survivor and medical marijuana patient, HB 1278 would allow doctors to recommend marijuana for any condition they believe would be improved through cannabis use. Specifically, it would add to the state’s qualifying conditions for medical marijuana “any debilitating or terminal medical condition or symptom for which the potential benefits of using therapeutic cannabis would, in the provider’s clinical opinion, likely outweigh the potential health risks for the patient.”

Thomas told the panel that during her time as a medical marijuana patient, she’s used cannabis to manage chronic pain, insomnia, eating issues, gastrointestinal issues, PTSD and anxiety. “I found relief from all of these symptoms,” she said, “some of which are not covered in the program.”

The bill would not do away with the enumerated list of qualifying conditions, which Thomas said was a useful way for clinicians who are less familiar with cannabis to navigate the system.

“The point of this is that they would be allowed to…refer a patient to the program for any condition that they think would fit and benefit the patient,” she said.

In support of the bill, Thomas noted that a recent federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) report recommending that marijuana be moved to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act “identifies additional uses that cannabis has been found helpful for. These conditions include ALS, autism, muscle wasting, cancer, chronic pain, Crohn’s disease, epilepsy or conditions causing seizures, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, [multiple sclerosis], Parkinson’s disease, persistant severe muscle spasm, persistent severe nausea, PTSD and spasticity.”

Another lawmaker who is a registered medical cannabis patient, Rep. Heath Howard (D), told members that “we as a legislature have designated it acceptable for being a member of therapeutic cannabis program, but in terms of having changes being made to that list, we have to come back here every single time we want to make a change.”

“This legislation would help eliminate that by giving doctors a say,” he said.

HB 1231

A medical marijuana homegrow bill, HB 1231 would allow registered therapeutic marijuana patients and their caregivers to grow up to three mature cannabis plants, three immature plants and 12 seedlings. They could also keep up to eight ounces of usable marijuana.

The proposal is also sponsored by Thomas, who said Thursday that the bill would reduce costs for patients, provide easier access to medicine for those who can’t easily access one of the state’s seven dispensaries—known in New Hampshire as alternative treatment centers (ATCs)—and ensure patients can obtain products that best treat their conditions.

“Why do we need this bill?” Thomas said. “One reason is the cost cannabis is not covered by insurance. If you are a patient who uses a lot to keep your symptoms under control, it can be expensive. And remember, this is a vulnerable population.”

“Secure home cultivation is not causing any problems” in states where it’s allowed, she added. “Fourteen of the 18 states that have legalized adult use cannabis, and about half of the medical cannabis states, allow for personal cultivation. In the states that have reasonable safeguards, home cultivation has not been a problem. No state has repealed home cultivation.”

The proposal has the support of the state’s Therapeutic Cannabis Medical Oversight Board as well as some existing ATCs.

“We think it will help with affordability, accessibility and availability of specific strains,” said the board’s chair, Jerry Knirk, a former surgeon and Democratic state lawmaker.

Matt Simon, director of public and government relations at the ATC GraniteLeaf, told the panel the company supports the reform on philosophical grounds, not because it expects to make money from the change.

“We would very much like to be able to help patients with this and assist them,” he told the committee. “Our cultivation staff would love to teach classes if this becomes legal. Our dispensary staff would love to connect patients with seedlings. We’d love to be able to provide that service.”

“I’ve been advocating for homegrow for 15 years, and I’ll keep doing it,” added Simon, who helped pass the state’s existing medical marijuana law. “I didn’t have any gray hairs when we started. Now I have a lot of them. I really hope this will be the year.”

(Disclosure: Simon supports Marijuana Moment’s work with a monthly Patreon pledge.)

HB 1349

Sponsored by Rep. Howard, HB 1349 would add generalized anxiety disorder to the state’s list of qualifying conditions for therapeutic cannabis. It has bipartisan co-sponsors and is supported by the state’s Therapeutic Cannabis Medical Oversight Board.

Howard spoke in favor of his bill Thursday, saying that it builds on the “tremendous amount of success in especially veterans and their treatment of PTSD with medical cannabis” and adding that marijuana may also provide a less risky alternative to benzodiazepines, “which are pills like Xanax, and they can be highly addictive.”

HB 1581

Under current law, ATCs in New Hampshire are required to grow marijuana in secure, indoor locations. The use of semi-outdoor structures, like greenhouses, is prohibited. HB 1581, sponsored by Rep. Suzanne Vail (D)—another medical marijuana patient—would change that, expanding where cannabis can be grown and explicitly allowing cultivation in greenhouses.

“Using greenhouses for cultivation will reduce the electricity costs and decrease the cost to the alternative treatment centers when they are cultivating the raw product that they’re going to use to make the products that they have in the dispensaries,” Vail said. “So this is another way to reduce costs for the patient.”

Simon, at GraniteLeaf, said the goal isn’t necessarily to grow more cannabis but for ATCs to use different, more efficient cultivation methods.

“What we want is to grow differently,” he told the panel. “We want to have at least some of our cultivation take place outside so that it can be much more energy efficient and so that we can make lower-cost cannabis available to patients.”

“To grow cannabis indoors, you basically have to simulate an entire outdoor growing season inside under high intensity lights,” he added. “It costs a lot.”

Legislative panels also considered some cannabis bills on Wednesday:

SB 357

The House Health and Human Services Committee took testimony on SB 357, a measure that would allow any provider who is licensed to prescribe drugs to humans to also recommend medical marijuana. The bipartisan bill, led by Sen. Rebecca Whitley (D), would put into law that “any New Hampshire resident who is licensed to prescribe drugs to humans and who possesses an active registration from the United States Drug Enforcement Administration [DEA] to prescribe controlled substances.”

The bill also requires that two providers, including one pediatric care provider, submit written certification for issuance of a medical marijuana card to a minor.

SB 426

The House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, meanwhile, heard comments on SB 426, which would impose a $150 fine and suspend a person’s driver’s license if they’re found with marijuana in a vehicle that’s not in its “original container and with the seal unbroken” or not stored in a trunk or similarly inaccessible area. The goal is to treat accessible marijuana in a vehicle more like an open container of alcohol under state law.

—
Marijuana Moment is tracking more than 1,400 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.

Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.
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Meanwhile in New Hampshire, the House recently passed a marijuana legalization bill from Rep. Erica Layon (R), who’s spent months trying to hammer out a proposal that can win broad support in the legislature and a signature from Gov. Chris Sununu (R), a legalization skeptic. But Sununu and some in the Senate have said Layon’s proposal is a nonstarter because it doesn’t give the state day-to-day control over retail operations like the governor’s preferred state-run or state-franchise models.

Layon has said that day-to-day control could expose the state to legal risk, and she’s argued the state shouldn’t be in the business of setting prices on marijuana products.

Following the House of that bill, however, Sununu signaled that he’s against the legislation in its current form—but could still ultimately get on board if changes are made in the Senate.

“Governor Sununu has been crystal clear about the framework needed for a legalization bill to earn his support, focusing on harm reduction and keeping it out of kids’ hands,” his office said in a statement on the day of the vote. “The legislation passed today doesn’t get us there but the Governor looks forward to working with the Senate to see if we can get it done.”

Layon, the bill’s sponsor, said she’s repeatedly reached out to the Sununu’s office in recent months to discuss provisions of the proposal. But so far she’s been snubbed by the governor, even as his office communicates with other lawmakers about the bill.

“The bill that passed the House reflects the Governor’s guidelines as I understood them, until his last minute embrace of a franchise model,” she told Marijuana Moment last week. “I made dozens of attempts to meet with the Governor and his staff to get into the policy details, but the best meeting I achieved was a walk-and-talk with him through the halls of the Capitol.”

The situation has pitted Republicans against Republicans, with Layon and supporters at odds with Sununu and his allies in the Senate. Failure to reach agreement could threaten the legalization bill entirely despite what appears to be majority support for the policy change.

Last year Sununu said he supported a system of state-run retail stores, but lawmakers on a state study commission instead pivoted to the idea of a franchise system, which the governor has said he’s willing to entertain. But the study commission ultimately failed to arrive at a consensus or propose final legislation, as it was initially charged to do.

Officials at the Liquor Commission have said it would be far less costly for private franchisees to build out a system of retail stores than to ask the Liquor Commission to take on that task itself.

Lawmakers worked extensively on marijuana reform issues last session and attempted to reach a compromise to enact legalization through a multi-tiered system that would include state-controlled shops, dual licensing for existing medical cannabis dispensaries and businesses privately licensed to individuals by state agencies. The legislature ultimately hit an impasse on the complex legislation, however.

The Senate defeated a more conventional House-passed legalization bill last year, HB 639, despite its bipartisan support.

Last May, the House removed marijuana legalization language that was included in a Medicaid expansion bill. The Senate also moved to table another piece of legislation that month that would have allowed patients and designated caregivers to cultivate up to three mature plants, three immature plants and 12 seedlings for personal therapeutic use.

After the Senate rejected the reform bills in 2022, the House included legalization language as an amendment to separate criminal justice-related legislation—but that was also struck down in the opposite chamber.

Americans Use Marijuana At Nearly The Same Rate In Legal And Non-Legal States, Suggesting Criminalization Doesn’t ‘Curtail’ Consumption, Gallup Poll Finds

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In a new letter to the White House, a group of 20 justice and drug reform advocacy organizations are calling on President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to publicly support the removal of marijuana from the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) rather than merely a move to Schedule III, as the government is currently considering.

Biden has said repeatedly during his campaign and term in office that “no one should be in jail merely for the use or possession of marijuana,” but advocates in the letter said that “only the descheduling of marijuana will truly decriminalize it at the federal level.”

To fulfill his campaign pledge to decriminalize, the letter from the Marijuana Justice Coalition (MJC)—which includes drug reformers, justice organizations, immigrant rights groups and others—tells the president, “you must begin to explicitly support the descheduling of marijuana from the CSA.”

“It is incumbent upon you to call on Congress to pass descheduling legislation, such as the Senate-led Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA) and the House-led Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act,” it says. “Not only do these bills decriminalize marijuana through descheduling, they include your other campaign pledge on marijuana policy reform—automatic expungements—and establish programming for reinvestment in communities disproportionately targeted by marijuana criminalization.”

By contrast, a move to Schedule III “would maintain the federal criminalization of marijuana and most criminal penalties would remain unchanged.” Mandatory minimums would still apply, noncitizens would continue to face deportation over low-level cannabis crimes and patients, such as veterans, would continue to have to break the law to access state-legal medical marijuana, MJC said.

“Your administration has the opportunity to finally have federal marijuana policy catch up to public opinion and the state legal landscape that is increasingly rejecting marijuana criminalization,” the coalition wrote. “Pardons for simple possession cases are a good first step but as Vice President Harris recently said at the March 15, 2024 Roundtable Conversation about Marijuana Reform, ‘there is still much more to do.'”

Harris also said at the time that “we need to legalize marijuana”—but those remarks were made behind closed doors after the press had already been asked to leave the room.

Biden, meanwhile, both as a presidential candidate and while in office, has vocally supported limited cannabis reforms and taken concrete steps to review marijuana laws and forgive Americans with past convictions for minor cannabis crimes. But he’s also consistently overstated the impact of his actions, for example falsely claiming in this year’s State of the Union Address that his administration’s recent pardons around cannabis expunged “thousands of convictions.”

During the speech last month, a social media post from Biden’s office repeating that “no one should be jailed just for using or possessing marijuana” was by far his most popular of the night.

Biden has continued to tout the marijuana scheduling directive and cannabis pardons he’s issued, including in a presidential proclamation declaring April “Second Chance Month.”

As for the ongoing review process that could eventually move marijuana into Schedule III, the White House said this month it’s now up to the Justice Department to make a final decision on scheduling, adding that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommendation to reclassify cannabis was “guided by the evidence.”

The full list of signatories on the MJC letter include Better Opportunity to Win Legalization (BOWL), Center for American Progress, Clergy for a New Drug Policy, Doctors for Drug Policy Reform, Drug Policy Alliance, Immigrant Defense Project, Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC), JustLeadershipUSA, Minorities for Medical Marijuana, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, National Association of Social Workers, National Immigration Project, National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Southern Poverty Law Center, Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), Sunita Jain Anti-Trafficking Initiative, Supernova Women, The Hood Incubator, Vera Institute of Justice and Veterans Cannabis Coalition.

While the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has not given a clear sense of timing for when it will complete and submit its cannabis review, there are heightened expectations that it will come before November’s national elections—both because of past precedent in scheduling matters and because the Biden administration has become increasingly vocal about its role in facilitating the review.

The head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under HHS told congressional lawmakers last week that there’s “no reason” for DEA to “delay” making a marijuana scheduling decision.

A DEA official noted recently that it sometimes takes up to six months for DEA to complete its analysis of health officials’ scheduling recommendations—which is about how long it’s now been since the agency began its current cannabis assessment.

Meanwhile, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra last month defended his agency’s rescheduling recommendation during a Senate committee hearing and also told cannabis lobbyist Don Murphy that he should pay DEA a visit and “knock on their door” for answers about the timing of their decision.

Certain DEA officials are reportedly resisting the Biden administration’s rescheduling push, disputing the HHS findings on marijuana’s safety profile and medical potential, according to unnamed sources who spoke with The Wall Street Journal.

Read the full MJC letter to the Biden administration urging marijuana’s removal from the CSA:

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Democratic senators in support of legal marijuana sales in Virginia said at a recent event that in light of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s (R) veto of a retail cannabis bill last month, it will likely be 2027 or later before adult-use shops can legally open their doors.

“I’m very direct, and sometimes folks don’t like to hear the harsh truth, but it’s the harsh truth,” said Sen. Aaron Rouse (D), who sponsored the retail sales bill in the Senate. “There’s a really big mountain to climb with this governor and his administration. I think he will veto setting up an adult cannabis market regardless of what we send him.”

“By 2027, there will be a new governor in Virginia,” added Sen. Adam Ebbin (D), who sponsored marijuana sales legislation this session and in years past. “It’s possible that after the 2025 gubernatorial election, that someone will take office in January of 2026 who would sign an adult-use marketplace bill.”

“That means that, whether it was in 2027 or thereabouts,” Ebbin continued, “we could expect to see more a regulated market for non-medical use or adult use in Virginia.”

Use, possession and limited cultivation of cannabis by adults is already legal in the commonwealth, the result of a Democrat-led proposal sponsored by Ebbin that was approved by lawmakers in 2021. But Republicans, after winning control of the House and governor’s office later that year, subsequently blocked the required reenactment of a regulatory framework for retail sales.

This year, with Democrats in control of both legislative chambers, lawmakers passed a new legal sales bill, sending it to Youngkin for his consideration in late February. A month later, the governor vetoed the bill, writing in a veto message that “the proposed legalization of retail marijuana in the Commonwealth endangers Virginians’ health and safety.”

“Addressing the inconsistencies in enforcement and regulation in Virginia’s current laws does not justify expanding access to cannabis,” the governor said.

Rouse and Ebbin spoke about Youngkin’s veto and the outlook for the future of retail cannabis sales at a webinar hosted by the Arlington Committee of 100 last week.

“I’m not going to try to rationalize the governor’s statement,” Ebbin said at the event, noting that Youngkin “has been antagonistic to this now-legal-to-possess plant in Virginia throughout his remarks on cannabis.”

Still, he acknowledged that supporters likely don’t have the votes to override Youngkin’s veto during this week’s veto session in the legislature “because the bill passed by a fairly slim margin.”

“We’d need to actually attract support from the governor’s party, and we don’t anticipate that happening,” the senator said. “So we have to get in a mode where we start over in a future year.”

Added Rouse: “This is a great starting point for us… But ultimately, I think we will just have to wait our time until we get a more friendlier person into the governor’s mansion.”

In the House, Del. Paul Krizek (D), who led this year’s cannabis retail bill in that chamber, has already said he’s intending to support a legal sales bill next session.

“We really did craft a wonderful piece of bicameral legislation that even garnered bipartisan support, albeit not as many members as I would have expected, but that was probably due to Governor’s antipathy toward it,” he told Marijuana Moment after Youngkin’s veto. “So, we have a bill we can introduce next session that will only need some minor adjustments (I did see some small improvements we can make) and gives us a head start.”

Ebbin made a similar pledge during the recent webinar.

“As I have for several years, I’ll keep fighting for a regulated and safe recreational adult-use cannabis marketplace and continue to welcome folks joining me legislatively,” he said. “It’s well past time for the governor and his Republican colleagues to take this seriously.”

Rouse and Ebbin were initially at odds over how to structure retail cannabis sales when this legislative session began. A bill from Ebbin, SB 423, prioritized opening the legal market quickly, by allowing the state’s existing medical marijuana operators to sell recreational products almost immediately. Rouse’s measure, by contrast, would take longer to implement legal sales but ensure that no single group of operators got a head start.

Ebbin said late last year that he was “confident” a legal sales proposal could reach the governor’s desk.

But when asked about concerns from some advocates earlier this year that Youngkin would veto whatever measure lawmakers sent to his desk, Ebbin replied: “I’m working to pass a bill. You want me to talk about hypotheticals, about what could happen if it was vetoed, when it hasn’t even passed yet?”

Ebbin championed Virginia’s 2021 marijuana legalization law and, last legislative session, was the sponsor of another legal sales bill that was blocked by the then-Republican-controlled House.

Ahead of the veto, Youngkin had hinted at his intentions to veto the bill, telling a local reporter: “Anybody who thinks I’m going to sign that legislation must be smoking something.”

At one point earlier this session, however, it appeared the retail cannabis bill could become part of a grand deal between Youngkin and legislative Democrats. In December, Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas (D) alluded to a compromise involving a sports stadium project the governor supported. But that deal never materialized, and Democrats left the governor’s proposed arena plan out of budget legislation.

The legislation sent to Youngkin would have begun licensing marijuana businesses later this year, with sales slated to kick off on May 1, 2025. Sales to adults 21 and older of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana flower would be allowed, with purchases taxed at 11.625 percent. Local governments could ban marijuana establishments, but only with the support of local voters.

Here’s what Virginia’s lawmaker-passed retail sales legislation would have done:

• Retail sales could begin as of May 1, 2025.
• Adults would be able to purchase up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana in a single transaction, or up to an equivalent amount of other cannabis products as determined by regulators.
• A state tax of 11.625 percent would apply to the retail sale of any cannabis product. Of that, 8 percent would go to the state, local governments would get 2.5 percent and 1.125 percent would fund schools.
• The Virginia Cannabis Control Authority would oversee licensing and regulation of the new industry. Its board of directors would have the authority to control possession, sale, transportation, distribution, delivery and testing of marijuana.
• Local governments could ban marijuana establishments, but only if voters first approve an opt-out referendum.
• Locations of retail outlets could not be within 1,000 feet of another marijuana retailer.
• Cultivators would be regulated by space devoted to marijuana cultivation, known as canopy size. Both indoor and outdoor marijuana cultivation would be allowed, though only growers in lower tiers—with lower limits on canopy size—could grow plants outside. Larger growers would need to cultivate plants indoors. Secure greenhouses would qualify as indoor cultivation.
• Only direct, face-to-face transactions would be permitted. The legislation would prohibit the use of other avenues, such as vending machines, drive-through windows, internet-based sales platforms and delivery services.
• Existing medical marijuana providers that enter the adult-use market could apply to open up to five additional retail establishments, which would need to be colocated at their existing licensed facilities.
• Serving sizes would be capped at 10 milligrams THC, with no more than 100 mg THC per package.
• No person could be granted or hold an interest in more than five total licenses, not including transporter licenses.
• People with convictions for felonies or crimes involving moral turpitude within the past seven years would be ineligible to apply for licensing, as would employees of police or sheriff’s departments if they’re responsible for enforcement of the penal, traffic or motor vehicle laws of the commonwealth.
• An equity-focused microbusiness program would grant licenses to entities at least two-thirds owned and directly controlled by eligible applicants, which include people with past cannabis misdemeanors, family members of people with past convictions, military veterans, individuals who’ve lived at least three of the past five years in a “historically economically disadvantaged community,” people who’ve attended schools in those areas and individuals who received a federal Pell grant or attended a college or university where at least 30 percent of students are eligible for Pell grants.
• “Historically economically disadvantaged community” is an area that has recorded marijuana possession offenses at or above 150 percent of the statewide average between 2009 and 2019.
• Tax revenue from the program would first cover the costs of administering and enforcing the state’s cannabis system. After that, 60 percent of remaining funds would go toward supporting the state’s Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund, 25 percent would fund substance use disorder treatment and prevention, 10 percent would go to pre-K programs for at-risk children and 5 percent would fund a public health and awareness campaign.
• Adults could also share up to 2.5 ounces with other adults without financial remuneration, though gray-market “gifting” of marijuana as part of another transaction would be punishable as a Class 2 misdemeanor and a Class 1 misdemeanor on second and subsequent offenses.
• A number of other new criminal penalties would be created. Knowingly selling or giving marijuana or marijuana paraphernalia to someone under 21, for example, would be a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a maximum $2,500 fine, as would knowingly selling cannabis to someone reasonably believed to be intoxicated. It would also be a Class 1 misdemeanor to advertise the sale of marijuana paraphernalia to people under 21.
• Knowingly obtaining marijuana on behalf of someone under 21 would be a Class 1 misdemeanor.
• People under 21 who possess or use marijuana, or attempt to obtain it, would be subject to a civil penalty of no more than $25 and ordered to enter a substance use disorder treatment and/or education program.
• Illegal cultivation or manufacture of marijuana, not including legal homegrow, would be a Class 6 felony, punishable by up to five years imprisonment and a $2,500 fine.
• People could process homegrown marijuana into products such as edibles, but butane extraction or the use of other volatile solvents would be punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor.

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The governor this session also greeted less controversial marijuana reforms coldly. In March, he vetoed a separate House proposal that would have prevented the state from using marijuana alone as evidence of child abuse or neglect despite the measure winning unanimous or near-unanimous approval in votes on the Senate floor. Last month he blocked the Senate version that measure.

One cannabis reform that did win Youngkin’s signature this session was legislation to allow public sector workers like firefighters and teachers to use legal medical marijuana without fear of losing their jobs. The governor signed that bill earlier this month.

In addition to vetoing the legal sales bill, Youngkin also blocked a separate bill last month to provide resentencing relief for people incarcerated for cannabis.

It’s not yet clear whether lawmakers might attempt to override any of the governor’s other vetoes. The legislature is set to begin its veto session on Wednesday.

Bipartisan Lawmakers Discuss Marijuana Banking Bill Prospects, With GOP Senator Worrying Reform Will Promote Fentanyl Trafficking

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The campaign behind a Florida ballot measure to legalize marijuana is reaching out to veterans in an effort to build voter support for the the reform, which will appear on the state’s ballot this November.

In an email to supporters Friday, the campaign, Smart and Safe Florida, said it’s hoping to “grow one of the many coalitions we are building in Florida: Veterans.”

“Our goal is to raise awareness among voters about the importance of cannabis as a safer alternative to synthetic opioids for treating PTSD and related conditions among veterans,” wrote the campaign, explaining that organizers are “looking to engage with veterans across the state of Florida to support our cause.”

The email includes a link to sign up for the campaign’s veterans’ coalition and volunteer to share opinions “publicly, either via newspaper and/or online publications” or “on camera to be shared with voters through our campaign platforms.”

“Nobody has done more in laying it on the line to protect our individual liberties and freedoms than our veterans,” the campaign’s email says. “As most of you know, many veterans and veteran groups have publicly spoken out about their support for adult access to cannabis.”

Floridians would need to pass the medical marijuana industry-backed initiative with at least 60 percent of the vote for it to become law. New polling released by USA Today/Ipsos this week suggests that might be a tall order, however: The survey found that 56 percent of Florida registered voters and 49 percent of Florida adults overall back the cannabis measure.

If approved, the measure would change the state Constitution to allow existing medical cannabis companies in the state, such as Trulieve, the campaign’s main financial contributor, to begin selling marijuana to all adults over 21. It contains a provision that would allow—but not require—lawmakers to take steps toward the approval of additional businesses. Home cultivation by consumers would not be allowed under the proposal as drafted.

Adults would be able to purchase and possess up to one ounce of cannabis, only five grams of which could be marijuana concentrate products. The three-page measure also omits equity provisions favored by advocates, such as expungements or other relief for people with prior cannabis convictions.

Economic analysts from the Florida legislature and the office of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who has called the proposal “radical,” estimate that the marijuana legalization initiative would generate between $195.6 million and $431.3 million in new sales tax revenue annually if voters enact it. Those figures could increase considerably if lawmakers opted to impose an additional excise tax on cannabis transactions that’s similar to the ones in place in other legalized states.

Nearly all of the campaign’s financial backing has come from existing medical marijuana businesses, predominantly multi-state operators. Last week, the Florida Division of Elections (DOE) released the campaign finance activity report from the first quarter of the year, showing nearly $15 million in new contributions.

Trulieve, the main financial backer of the initiative, led the pack again with $9.225 million in donations during the first quarter. That follows the company previously contributing about $40 million as advocates worked to collect more than one million signatures to qualify for ballot placement.

DeSantis, for his part, has predicted voters will reject the marijuana initiative in November. He’s argued it will “reduce the quality of life” in the state.

Meanwhile Trulieve’s CEO said earlier this week that the reform could actually “improve quality of life” for residents.

Here’s what the Smart & Safe Florida marijuana legalization initiative would accomplish:

• Adults 21 and older could purchase and possess up to three ounces of cannabis for personal use. The cap for marijuana concentrates would be five grams.
• Medical cannabis dispensaries could “acquire, cultivate, process, manufacture, sell, and distribute marijuana products and marijuana accessories to adults for personal use.”
• The legislature would be authorized—but not required—to approve additional entities that are not currently licensed cannabis dispensaries.
• The initiative specifies that nothing in the proposal prevents the legislature from “enacting laws that are consistent with this amendment.”
• The amendment further clarifies that nothing about the proposal “changes federal law,” which seems to be an effort to avoid past legal challenges about misleading ballot language.
• There are no provisions for home cultivation, expungement of prior records or social equity.
• The measure would take effect six months following approval by voters.

Here’s the full text of the ballot title and summary:

The Florida Chamber of Commerce released a poll in January showing that a marijuana legalization initiative that may appear on the November ballot enjoys majority support from likely voters—but not quite enough to meet the state’s steep 60 percent threshold for passage.

Other previous polls have found that voters are well-positioned to pass the legalization initiative with more than enough support. For example, the University of North Florida put out a survey in December that showed 67 percent of voters back the proposal.

Meanwhile, there’s significant interest in how former President Donald Trump, a Florida resident, will vote on the cannabis initiative, and whether he will publicly support or oppose it.

Also, a Florida bill that sought to cap THC potency if voters approved the legalization initiative at the ballot died this session, much to the relief of cannabis advocates and stakeholders.

Legislation to restrict consumable hemp products and ban delta-8 THC was approved by lawmakers and awaits DeSantis’s action.

Separately, a House subcommittee recently advanced a medical marijuana bill that would waive patient registration and renewal fees for service-disabled military veterans.

Despite his opposition to the initiative, DeSantis, the former GOP presidential candidate who dropped out of the race in January, previously accurately predicted that the state’s highest court would ultimately allow the measure on November’s ballot.

Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) successfully petitioned justices to prevent an earlier 2022 legalization initiative from receiving voter consideration.

DeSantis also weighed in on another relevant cannabis policy issue earlier this year when, while still a presidential candidate, he said that he doesn’t believe the federal gun ban for state-legal marijuana consumers is constitutional. Florida’s former agriculture commission, Nikki Fried, brought a lawsuit against the Biden administration over the rule, though the governor did not get involved.

Prior to dropping out, DeSantis also said that if elected president, he would “respect the decisions that states make” on marijuana legalization despite his personal view that the reform has a “negative impact.”

While DeSantis doubts the cannabis initiative will receive the requisite 60 percent of the vote at the upcoming election, the Smart & Safe Florida campaign behind the measure is optimistic. And they announced last week that they’ve raised an additional $15 million from a variety of major cannabis companies as it gears up for an effort to raise awareness about the measure among voters.

Justice Department Is Investigating Marijuana-Related Businesses Over COVID Relief Loans, Industry Sources Say

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