A small study shows patients with autism taking customized cannabis treatments improved dramatically. A new study has determined that customized cannabis treatments can improve the quality of life for patients with autism spectrum disorder. The study of 20 patients with autism found that
With Lubbock city leaders set to consider a citizen-initiated proposed ordinance to decriminalize cannabis on Tuesday, a Texas advocacy group has released a report looking at the impacts of similar marijuana reform efforts passed by voters in five different jurisdictions during the 2022 election. It found that the measures will keep hundreds of people out of jail, even as they have led to blowback from law enforcement in some cities.
The report, from Ground Game Texas, looks at local decriminalization reforms adopted in Killeen, San Marcos, Denton, Harker Heights and Elgin. Julie Oliver, executive director for the group, said she hopes the report “inspires more grassroots organizing in communities across the state.”
“Ground Game has worked with local community organizations in these five cities to engage voters, adopt popular policies, advance meaningful criminal justice reform, and save millions of dollars in public resources,” she said in a statement released with the report on Wednesday. “Through the issue of marijuana reform, we’re helping Texans realize that their voice matters, that their vote matters, and that they can shape their own destiny through civic engagement.”
In Killeen, the Ground Game report found, marijuana arrests fell by 78 percent within the first six months of implementation. The group projects the change will likely keep 300 people out of the criminal legal system during the first full year.
2022 Marijuana Impact Report / Ground Game Texas
Meanwhile, “San Marcos arrests have ended almost entirely,” the report says, “protecting dozens of people (predominantly college students) from criminal prosecution.”
Simply by being on local ballots, the group added, the measures also brought more people to the polls. “Voter turnout efforts both facilitated electoral victories and substantially improved voter turnout among key constituencies, including Black voters and young voters (ages 18 to 29).”
The changes also helped push a broader policy agenda for reform at the state level and earned media coverage, which Ground Game says aided public education, both locally and across Texas.
In some cities, however, the group found that the reforms have made less of an impact than intended due to a refusal on the part of local officials to implement the voter-approved measures.
“Three cities (Denton, Harker Heights, and Elgin) have failed to respect the will of the voters and continue to make excessive marijuana arrests,” the report says. “Ground Game has maintained engagement with community organizations to build accountability through public education, community organization, litigation, and electoral campaigns.”
For example, the organization noted that it intervened in a legal matter between Bell County and the city of Killeen in defense of the city’s reduced cannabis enforcement. “In Harker Heights and Denton,” the group added, “we have successfully supported candidates who promised to enforce the ordinances adopted by voters.”
In Lubbock, where the Freedom Act Lubbock committee turned in more than 10,000 signatures to qualify a decriminalization measure, the City Council is scheduled to decide on Tuesday whether to adopt the proposal legislatively. If they decline, the measure would go to local voters to decide on the ballot.
At least one member has already said he plans to vote against the proposal.
“From my perspective, really what they’re asking the city to do and our police officers to do is not enforce the law,” Councilman Mark McBrayer told Everything Lubbock. Though he added, “I think it’s important that citizens do know they have they have a right to petition their city council or any form of government for whatever grievances or ordinances they want.”
Under the proposal, local police would be prohibited from making arrests or citations to adults in possession of up to four ounces of cannabis, unless there’s a binding state or federal court order against the policy. If that does happen, the initiative says the “City’s policy shall be to make enforcement of Class A and Class B misdemeanor marijuana possession its lowest enforcement priority.”
The text of the measure says that it’s meant to “promote the health, safety, and general welfare of the people of Lubbock.” Enacting the reform is in the interest of “carefully allocating scarce city resources, reducing the risk of discriminatory enforcement practices, and focusing city resources on the highest priority public safety concerns.”
A temporary outlet selling cannabis products has set up shop in downtown Jamestown until the end of December. Herbal IQ of Buffalo has opened at 320 North Main Street after its request to hold a cannabis growers showcase was approved by the State Office of Cannabis Management. Jamestown Mayor Eddie
One of the most complex areas of the law is the regulation of marijuana. As of this writing, medical marijuana is legal in 38 states and recreational marijuana is legal in 23 states. Yet it remains illegal under federal law — creating intersections of legality and illegality that can puzzle even the
Vermont is temporarily halting the issuance of new licenses for large-scale cannabis growers in a bid to protect smaller, local cultivators, officials said Tuesday.
The move, aimed at preventing a glut of cannabis in the state, comes as part of Vermont’s broader strategy to regulate its nascent legal market while supporting small farmers and equity-focused initiatives, according to James Pepper, chairman of the state’s Cannabis Control Board.
“Whatever we do on the supply side should really be targeted at those small cultivators – the small farmers and the social equity applicants – to allow them to kind of fill whatever the remaining capacity we have,” Pepper told Vermont Public Radio.
The state’s decision mirrors challenges faced by other states like Oregon and Oklahoma, where an oversupply of cannabis has largely driven down prices.
Additionally, Vermont’s outdoor cannabis growers have faced a tough year due to heavy rains in July and August, Pepper said, leading to a reduced harvest.
“It seems to me like we will be OK overall with the harvest, but early reports are that people are getting somewhere between 50% and 75% of what they grew last year,” he said.
Vermont is also set to open one of the nation’s first state-run cannabis testing labs. Slated to go online in January, the lab will be located in either Randolph or Colchester and will complement the testing services currently provided by two private labs in the state.
