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President Joe Biden’s health secretary is suggesting that federal drug enforcement officials are not necessarily on board with the administration’s plan to reschedule marijuana.

Asked about the status of the proposed move of cannabis to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act at a recent event in Sacramento, U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra said his agency “took action” based on available science and evidence, saying that the ball is now in the Department of Justice’s court.

He dodged a follow-up question, however, about rumored pushback against the reform by Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officials.

“We did our job,” Becerra said of the recommendation in an interview with KQED’s Scott Schafer at the CalMatters Ideas Festival on Thursday, adding that DEA “now has the final call to make that happen.”

“Is there resistance in DEA?” Schafer inquired.

“Talk to DEA,” answered Becerra, repeating: “We did our job.”

“I’m gonna take that as a yes,” Schafer replied.

“Our scientists reviewed the evidence,” Becerra responded. “FDA bases its action on the science and the evidence before us. We took action.”

During the interview, Schafer also asked Becerra whether he has “any concerns, as the father of three daughters—three children—you know, about the use of marijuana?”

“I have concerns when they get out and drive a car, or they go out at night and they’re over 21. I have lots of concerns,” Becerra said. “Thank God they’ve got great heads on their shoulders. And on something like cannabis, I think they would continue to have great heads on their shoulders.”

“Look, if my daughters could go out and buy a pint of whiskey or a menthol cigarette—we know what we’re up against,” he continued. “And let’s be real: You can’t incarcerate your way to a solution here. You can regulate it. And if you regulate it the right way, which we’re supposed to do for alcohol and cigarettes and all the rest, then we can manage it. But we have to make a decision.”

“More than half of the states have made a decision that they’d rather regulate this than criminalize it,” Becerra added of medical marijuana. “The U.S. FDA, the scientists, have spoken and said we should deschedule from Schedule I to Schedule III on cannabis.”

I sat down with @Scottshafer at @CalMatters Ideas Festival to share HHS priorities and successes on lowering drug costs, expanding access to care, and increasing health equity.

We're reaffirming our commitment to ensuring everyone has access to quality, affordable care. pic.twitter.com/X4zeXbmAL7

— Secretary Xavier Becerra (@SecBecerra) June 7, 2024

Becerra’s handling of the question about “resistance” at DEA comes amid ongoing speculation over the internal politics within the administration on marijuana rescheduling.

Indications that DEA might not be on board came alongside the rescheduling move itself, with the proposed rule in the Federal Register noting several times that the agency believes “additional information” needs to be collected via public comment or a possible administrative hearing could influence the final scheduling decision.

“DEA has not yet made a determination as to its views of the appropriate schedule for marijuana,” the document said.

Adding to questions about a possible disconnect between DOJ and DEA over the proposal is the fact that the attorney general, rather than the DEA administrator, signed the draft rule.

Even before the formal announcement, it had been reported that certain DEA officials had been “at odds” with the Biden administration over the rescheduling push.

A DEA official was also absent last week from a scheduled appearance to discuss marijuana policy and regulatory oversight issues for cannabinoid research.

The moderator of that panel said the DEA representative cancelled at the last moment. DEA did, however, issue a message to attendees that the agency’s “goal is to support researchers as they navigate this registration process” to study Schedule I drugs like cannabis, “and outreach is a key component of their model to provide that support,” according to the moderator.

The proposed rule to federally reschedule marijuana was officially posted last month, kicking off a public comment period that’s expected to elicit a major response from supporters and opponents of cannabis reform.

Marijuana reform advocates and stakeholders have made clear that they intend to leverage the opportunity, with some planning to support the reclassification and others intending to call for descheduling cannabis altogether. Prohibitionists are expected to oppose the incremental policy change and seek to keep marijuana in Schedule I, and there’s also a looming threat of litigation.

While DOJ will take all public comments submitted by July 22 into consideration as it weighs the reform, it said in the notice that one of the topics its especially interested in hearing about is the “unique economic impacts” of the rescheduling proposal given that state-level legalization has created a “multibillion dollar industry” that stands to benefit from possible federal tax relief under the reform.

On Capitol Hill, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and colleagues have reintroduced legislation to federally legalize cannabis and impose certain regulations. The bill’s prospects are dubious in the current divided Congress, however.

Meanwhile, the top Democrat in the U.S. House said that the Biden administration’s move to reschedule marijuana is a “step in the right direction,” but it should be followed up with congressional action such as passing the legalization bill Schumer filed.

In a recent interview with Fox News, former DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson said it “absolutely looks like” the agency will follow through with moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the CSA.

Biden has separately issued two rounds of mass pardons for people who’ve committed federal marijuana possession offenses. Again, a Schedule III reclassification would not legalize cannabis or free people still incarcerated over cannabis.

During his run for the presidency, Biden pledged to move cannabis to Schedule II—a stricter category compared to what’s been proposed by his administration.

Voters In Slovenia Approve Marijuana Ballot Measures

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Going public is a common goal for many company founders, and RAW‘s founder Josh Kesselman is no exception. He told Green Market Report at the CWCB Expo in New York, where RAW was a sponsor, that he’d “love to” find a way – but the path would have to fit his vision.

Attired in a sparkling blazer, diamond-encrusted watch, and $900 Balenciaga sneakers, the paper impresario waxed poetic about selling shares to his customer base to create a “community.”

IPO talk

Going public “is something we would love to do,” Kesselman told GMR. “It just has to be done in our way.

“It isn’t something we’re just going to go to market and do the usual path. It’s got to be done in some way that really truly creates the kind of thing that I’m envisioning, which is more of a legacy,” he added.

During a session at the CWCB Expo, Kesselman told Tim Seymour of CNBC, “My dream would be to bring the company public in a way that only our fans – like our consumers, our smokers – can invest with us. That way it’s more of … a RAW community.”

In this dream, shares would be available via a QR code inside packs of RAW paper. “For every one you scan, you’re allowed to buy a share,” Kesselman said. “That way I can keep certain sharks out.”

For now, the vision will remain a dream, however, as there is no way to control who buys stock in a public company.

“I don’t know how we’re going to pull it off, but I really want to pull it off in a way that, 10 years from now, we brought our base in with us,” he said. “There’s got to be a way, man. There’s got to be some way.”

Seymour also asked if a deal with a large consumer packaged goods company, such as Procter & Gamble, would be considered, but Kesselman said he isn’t interested in going corporate. Even a company that has vast experience with paper products isn’t the path he wants to go down.

“I want to bring my people in. Imagine if you ran a publicly traded company where all of your shareholders were your fans who consumed your product. Imagine what that would be like,” he said.

Pre-rolls

While rolling papers cater to the audience that wants to roll their own, pre-rolls are a fast-growing category that attracts those who don’t know how to roll a joint or aren’t any good at it.  Kesselman acknowledged this trend and said he is pursuing pre-roll brands to use RAW papers and put the company’s logo on the product packaging.

“My goal would be to license RAW to people who are making really good pre-rolls in a way that they have to make it in a certain way using the certain paper, certain machines, grinders, devices, so that it’s a perfect, or what I consider to be a perfect, joint for the end user,” he said. “I prefer to license it to smaller outfits than larger ones because that way it’s more like what we already do.”

Kesselman clearly loves his product and his company. He said he began a rolling paper collection in youth, and while he is currently rebuilding it after losing the collection, he is passionate about papers.

The post Could a RAW IPO roll up to the markets? appeared first on Green Market Report.

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Connecticut is on track to allow access to medical cannabis for the treatment of female orgasmic disorder (FOD) following a decision on Friday by the state Medical Marijuana Program Board of Physicians.

Doctors on the state panel unanimously agreed that cannabis is more likely than not to have a beneficial effect on FOD, which they acknowledged as a debilitating condition. Orgasms in people with FOD are delayed, infrequent or entirely absent.

The body also signed off on a separate proposal to add autism spectrum disorder as a qualifying condition for Connecticut’s medical cannabis program.

The push to add FOD as a condition for marijuana access stems from a petition submitted last year by Suzanne Mulvehill, a clinical sexologist who’s working to expand access to cannabis for people with FOD.

The executive director of the Female Orgasm Research Institute and the related Women’s Cannabis Project, Mulvehill has published research indicating that cannabis use increased orgasm ease and frequency in more than 70 percent of patients with FOD. Her study also found that marijuana improved sexual satisfaction in about two thirds (67 percent) of those with FOD.

Despite the promising results, Mulvehill told the panel, discussing women’s sexual satisfaction still carries stigma.

“We rarely talk about this topic, but I think it’s time,” she said, “because up to 41 percent of women suffer from it, and that statistic has not changed for more than 50 years.”

Referencing drugs for erectile dysfunction, such as Viagra, Mulvehill argued that “there is a solution for men, you know, but there really isn’t one for women.”

“This can be that solution,” she said of medical marijuana.

“When a woman can actually overcome a problem that is stigmatized and shamed, and no longer carry that around as a burden,” she added, “there’s a there’s a dimension of confidence.”

After a few questions from members of the board, the body approved adding FOD to Connecticut’s list of qualifying conditions.

One member asked about dosing, wondering whether effects were observed “only at psychoactive doses” or also when lower doses of marijuana were administered.

Mulvehill replied that women she’s talked to “knew exactly how much they needed to use.”

“Some women said, ‘I take one hit.’ Some women said, ‘I use a quarter of a brownie,'” she explained, noting that lower doses are typically recommended at first.

“If we were to approve this, then a doctor was going to say, ‘Listen, yes, how do we start?'” Mulvehill said. “We start with small doses, very small doses. And it’d be recommended that they would start on their own.”

Pressed on whether she was able to ascertain what dose was typical for patients in her study, Mulvehill replied: “Not specifically, other than saying what the research across the board has said: low doses.”

Another board member asked Mulvehill how patients with FOD would go about obtaining cannabis given that therapists aren’t authorized to recommend marijuana in Connecticut.

“Typically, a woman would go to a therapist first,” Mulvehill replied, explaining that marijuana would be “an adjunct to therapy.” They would then go to a doctor, ideally one with an understanding of therapeutic cannabis.

The board was clear that it was approving medical marijuana as a treatment for FOD specifically—not, as one member put it, “someone who just wants to use marijuana, you know, for pleasure or for intimacy.”

The vote to accept FOD as a qualifying condition doesn’t itself enact the change. The recommendation will be reviewed by the commissioner of the Department of Consumer Protection to make a final determination.

Mulvehill has been one of the leaders behind state-level efforts to recognize female orgasmic disorder as a qualifying condition for medical marijuana.

Connecticut was in the first group of states where she and others tried to add FOD as qualifying conditions. In March, officials in Illinois voted in favor of the addition, she told the panel on Friday.

Ohio officials, meanwhile, rejected the addition of FOD—along with autism spectrum disorder—at a meeting last month.

As for how marijuana might benefit people with FOD, a report in the journal Sexual Medicine by Mulvehill and Jordan Tishler—a doctor at the Association of Cannabinoid Specialists and the company inhaleMD—identified a few possible theories.

Among them is dishabitation theory, the idea that cannabis “lessens the routine of habits, such as cognitive distraction, a known FOD cause.”

Neuroplasticity theory, meanwhile, “proposes that some women learn to orgasm while using cannabis, as seen in comments in this study and anecdotally.”

“Cannabis and endocannabinoids, the cannabinoids created by the human body, are increasingly recognized for their roles in neural development processes, including brain cell growth and neuroplasticity,” the study says.

The research found that cannabis use did not help all women orgasm. “Among survey respondents,” it says, “4% reported never having an orgasm, even though they used cannabis before partnered sex.”

There’s growing evidence that marijuana can improve sexual function, regardless of sex or gender. A study last year in the Journal of Cannabis Research found that more than 70 percent of surveyed adults said cannabis before sex increased desire and improved orgasms, while 62.5 percent said cannabis enhanced pleasure while masturbating.

Because past findings indicated women who have sex with men are typically less likely to orgasm than their partners, authors of that study said cannabis “can potentially close the orgasm in equality gap.”

A 2020 study in the journal Sexual Medicine, meanwhile, found that women who used cannabis more often had better sex.

Numerous online surveys have also reported positive associations between marijuana and sex. One study even found a connection between the passage of marijuana laws and increased sexual activity.

Yet another study, however, cautions that more marijuana doesn’t necessarily mean better sex. A literature review published in 2019 found that cannabis’s impact on libido may depend on dosage, with lower amounts of THC correlating with the highest levels of arousal and satisfaction. Most studies showed that marijuana has a positive effect on women’s sexual function, the study found, but too much THC can actually backfire.

“Several studies have evaluated the effects of marijuana on libido, and it seems that changes in desire may be dose dependent,” the review’s authors wrote. “Studies support that lower doses improve desire but higher doses either lower desire or do not affect desire at all.”

Part of what cannabis appears to do to improve orgasms is interact with and disrupt the brain’s default mode network, Tishler, Mulvehill’s co-author, told Marijuana Moment in an interview earlier this year.

“For many of these women, who cannot or do not have an orgasm, there’s some complex interplay between the frontal lobe—which is kind of the ‘should have, would have, could have [part of the brain]’—and then the limbic system, which is the ’emotional, fear, bad memories, anger,’ those sorts of things,” he said. “That’s all moderated through the default mode network.”

Modulating the default mode network is also central to many psychedelic-assisted therapies. And some research has indicated that those substances, too, may improve sexual pleasure and function.

A paper earlier this year in the journal Nature Scientific Reports, which purported to be the first scientific study to formally explore the effects of psychedelics on sexual functioning, found that drugs such as psilocybin mushrooms and LSD could have beneficial effects on sexual functioning even months after use.

“On the surface, this type of research may seem ‘quirky,’” one of the authors of that study said, “but the psychological aspects of sexual function—including how we think about our own bodies, our attraction to our partners, and our ability to connect to people intimately—are all important to psychological wellbeing in sexually active adults.”

Most Consumers Use Marijuana To Treat Health Issues, But Very Few Call It ‘Medical,’ AMA Study Finds

Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.

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“Despite the positive steps taken by the city and DPD in recent years, marijuana-related arrests continue, and racial disparities persist.”

By Karen Brooks Harper, The Texas Tribune

Dallas voters could decide whether to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana if City Council members approve a plan to put the measure on the November ballot, several council members said Friday.

Council member Chad West will propose the Dallas Freedom Act at a June 26 meeting, he said in a news release. A petition supporting the change garnered more than 50,000 signatures, organizers said.

“Voters in our city and across the country want to decriminalize marijuana,” West said. “Our already burdened police should focus their attention on serious crime, not arresting people with small amounts of marijuana. Bringing this to voters through a City Council-proposed Charter amendment instead of a petition will save the city time and resources.”

The proposal would direct police to stop writing tickets or making arrests for less than four ounces of marijuana. Possessing two to four ounces is a class A misdemeanor that can carry a one-year jail term and holding under two ounes is a classor B misdemeanor that can come with a 180-day sentence.

Credit goes to @GroundGameTX for collecting 50K to ensure this ends up on the November ballot no matter what council does but I believe a stamp of approval from council will send a strong message and save the city secretary’s office time & money to count the signatures. https://t.co/3d3PoLS4nJ

— Chad West (@ChadWestDallas) June 7, 2024

Similar ordinances have passed in six other cities: Austin, Killeen, Harker Heights, Denton, Elgin and San Marcos. In some cases, city officials have resisted putting the voter-approved ordinances in place. And Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) has taken steps to block them from going into effect.

If voters approve, Dallas would become the largest city in a growing number of Texas municipalities to sidestep state laws that currently ban recreational pot. A similar effort in Lubbock failed last month.

Texas is one of 26 states that has not fully legalized marijuana. The 24 states that have include both liberal California and conservative Montana.

“For the past four years I have advocated for our council to implement this kind of initiative,” said Dallas council member Adam Bazaldua. “Our jails are overfilled with predominantly brown and black males serving sentences for a substance that is making others millions of dollars in more than 30 states across the country. It’s past time we take action against this injustice.”

Proud to support @GroundGameTX members for their hard work and my colleague, @ChadWestDallas who will introduce this charter amendment! https://t.co/6V5JdBIbv5

— Adam R. Bazaldua (@AdamBazaldua) June 7, 2024

In 2021, Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia ordered his officers to stop arrests for possession of less than two ounces of marijuana after the city’s public safety committee urged him to do so in light of data that showed unequal treatment of people of color under marijuana laws.

But this would be the first time voters there would get to decide on significant statutory relief from arrests on small amounts of weed.

“Despite the positive steps taken by the city and DPD in recent years, marijuana-related arrests continue, and racial disparities persist,” council member Jaime Resendez said. “Although marijuana use is comparable across racial lines, Black and Latino individuals are disproportionately arrested and punished. Decriminalization is the best way to address this disparity.”

City ordinances like the one the Dallas City Council will consider are key to any effort to decriminalize weed across the state, because there is no process in Texas for a voter-driven statewide referendum that would let voters from the Rio Grande Valley to the Panhandle decide what they want their marijuana laws to be.

Most Texans support some type of marijuana decriminalization, according to recent polls. But there is little hope for a law in favor of marijuana decriminalization or outright legalization while hard-right social conservatives are in charge of the state. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), who presides over the Senate, and his allies have blocked legislation that would relax marijuana laws in the past.

There’s even less hope for a constitutional amendment, which would be the only way to put the question to voters across the state. Only lawmakers can pose a statewide question and to do that, it would need two-thirds support from a Legislature that has historically been unenthusiastic about relaxing marijuana laws.

The Dallas amendment will “reform marijuana enforcement, redress historic discrimination, end marijuana criminalization, and save millions in much needed public funds,” Catina Voellinger, executive director of Ground Game Texas, said in a news release.

Ground Game Texas gathered the petition signatures.

The Texas House overwhelmingly supported legislation last year that would have expanded the state’s medical marijuana program.

But proponents have not been able to find enough support in the Texas Senate to get anything to the governor’s desk.

Texas does allow voters in municipal elections to collect signatures to force ballot measures that create or strike down city ordinances if city council members don’t propose them.

Historically, that right has been frequently exercised without pushback from legislative leaders, in cities large and small, on a host of issues ranging from texting-while-driving bans to paper bag restrictions.

However, state leaders have begun to push back.

The Legislature last year approved a law that effectively prohibits cities from putting in place certain policies that might go beyond state law, such as requiring employers to have paid sick leave. The law, while in effect, is being challenged in court.

State leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott (R), insist that cities may not enact statutes in direct opposition to state law. Paxton is suing five of the cities that have voted to decriminalize marijuana.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/07/dallas-marijuana-decriminalization-vote/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

Florida Marijuana Legalization Ballot Measure Has More Support Than DeSantis, Who Is Campaigning Against It, Poll Shows

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Ohio is one step closer to launching recreational marijuana sales under a legalization measure approved by voters last November, with applications now officially open for existing medical cannabis dispensaries to obtain dual licenses so they can serve patients and adult consumers alike.

The Division of Cannabis Control (DCC) is accepting the newly released applications as of Friday. This comes days after the department released informational materials to prepare prospective applicants, outlining regulatory requirements they must satisfy in order to be eligible for the hybrid license.

The sooner those applications are completed and requirements are met, the sooner adult-use marijuana sales can start—though DCC Superintendent James Canepa says the exact timeline is unclear.

That said, Canepa, who previously served as the state’s top alcohol regulator, had suggested before that businesses with dual licenses approved could begin selling to patients and recreational consumers as early as this month.

DCC Public Information Officer Jamie Crawford said officials “will review and process the applications roughly in the order that they have been received.”

“There will be no one singular day when sales begin,” he said. “We will start issuing licenses and it will be up to the retailer based on staffing, stock and other considerations as to which day they will begin sales. Given the foundation already laid through the Medical Marijuana Control Program, current medical permit holders positioned to apply for dual-use status who have already undergone many of the comprehensive checks are anticipated to have a much quicker turnaround for issuance of licenses over the summer.”

A FAQ posted by regulators notes that “applications from cultivators, processors, and testing laboratories will receive priority” in order to “help ensure an efficient supply chain.”

In general, dispensaries with dual licenses will also need to make sure they maintain an adequate supply of cannabis so that they don’t run into situations where medical patients aren’t able to access the products they need.

DCC says each dispensary “must determine what amount of supply meets that requirement for them.”

Applications for the dual licenses are opening about a month after the legislature’s Joint Committee On Agency Rule Review (JCARR) gave final approval to the proposed cannabis regulations for the adult-use market under the legalization law voters passed last November.

Gov. Mike DeWine (R) doesn’t personally support legalization, but he’s repeatedly criticized the delay in access to regulated products since voters made that choice and possession became legal in December.

Legislative leaders had separately discussed putting together a bill to make various changes to the law, including expediting sales, but the plans have largely fallen apart amid disagreement within the GOP-controlled legislature.

The Senate did pass an amendment package just prior to legalization taking effect, but the House has not taken it up, nor has it moved to advance a different proposal that originate in the House. Senators also recently filed a separate bill to change various marijuana rules.

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Meanwhile, as regulators have worked to finalize regulations for the adult-use market, it already implemented a change in February that allows medical marijuana patients and caregivers to obtain or renew their registrations for only one penny. That fee was then totally eliminated with the adoption of a new rule at last month’s JCARR meeting.

The fee elimination is part of an initial package of rules that DCC released in February to implement adult-use legalization.

Following voter approval of legalization at the ballot, the Department of Commerce was quick to publish an FAQ guide for residents to learn about the new law and timeline for implementation.

The governor, meanwhile, has previously pressed the legislature to enact changes to expedite recreational marijuana sales. But he’s indicated that his more immediate concern is regulating the sale of intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids such as delta-8 THC.

“This is time for the legislature to move,” the governor, who also raised the issue during his State of the State address last month, said. “We can’t do it ourselves.”

Senate Passes Resolution Condemning Russian Imprisonment Of American Who Used Medical Marijuana As Opioid Alternative

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