GOP Minnesota Legislators Call for Special Session to Address Gaps in Cannabis Bill

In a joint letter addressed to Gov. Tim Walz and other Democratic leaders, several GOP lawmakers expressed “deep concern” with a cannabis legalization bill that will take effect in just four days.

“Recent reporting has revealed serious concerns with the bill — including that it effectively legalized marijuana use for children — that these members believe need to be addressed promptly in order to protect our kids and communities,” a press release from the Minnesota House Republican Caucus explained.

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Pennsylvania Committee Passes Pro-Marijuana Resolution, Calls for New Federal Law

Pennsylvania’s House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday passed a resolution calling on the federal government to remove marijuana from the top section of its controlled-substances list. 

Called House Resolution 420 — an allusion to 4/20, a day of celebration for many pot smokers — the measure sponsored by state Representative Chris Rabb (D-Philadelphia) asks federal officials to move cannabinoid products off of Schedule I. The topmost of five illicit drug categories, Schedule I includes substances the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) characterizes as having “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” 

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Study: Teen Cannabis Use Increases, Mental Health Declines in States with Fewer Legal Restrictions

States that have legalized marijuana have seen increasingly strong THC products and a rise in mental health issues among teenagers, a newly released nationwide study reports.

The Drug Free America Foundation authored the study, given first to The Center Square, which reports on “an association between adolescent cannabis use, the use of high potency cannabis products, and increased risk of psychosis.”

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Del. Dawn Adams: Budget Legalizes Marijuana Retail ‘Straight Up’

Delegate Dawn Adams (D-Richmond) was among a bipartisan group of seven delegates who voted against the budget on Wednesday. Adams criticized the Youngkin administration’s policies for state employees, but focused on language in the budget proposal that fails to adequately regulate THC in retail marijuana.

“We are now legalizing retail marijuana straight up. That’s what we’re doing. It’s just we’re going to call it hemp. And you can call it hemp, but it’s marijuana, and specifically until you have regulations, that does of marijuana that is now legal in retail stores can be anything as long as they put it on the package,” Adams, a nurse practitioner, said in a speech to the House of Delegates.

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Cannabis Home Delivery Slated to Begin in Connecticut

Home delivery to Connecticut cannabis consumers is one step closer to reality as the lottery for delivery licenses closed last week.

“Delivery service is one of the license types now available in Connecticut as part of the new adult-use program,” Kaitlyn Krasselt, communications director at the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, told The Center Square. “Home delivery will also be available to patients in the medical marijuana program.”

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Dems Try Third-Party ‘MAGA’ Name Change to Trick GOP Voters: ‘We Don’t Give a S**t If It’s Unfair’

Minnesota Democrats apparently tried to launch a scheme to intentionally deceive Republican voters in the upcoming gubernatorial election.

Minnesota has long been host to a party called the Grassroots Legalize Cannabis Party. However, conniving activists want to change the party’s name in an attempt to split the GOP vote.

A slew of DFL operatives attended a recent meeting to plan the name change including DFL Rep. Aisha Gomez, House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler’s chief of staff Paul Cumings and Sen. Erin Murphy’s campaign manager Daniel Cox.

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Some Virginia Colleges Will Continue to Prohibit Marijuana on Campus to Protect Federal Funds

Virginia Commonwealth University

Some Virginia universities intend to prohibit marijuana on campus grounds after it becomes legal for recreational use for adults age 21 and older in the state.

Although the commonwealth will allow legal possession beginning in two weeks, the plant still is illegal at the federal level and a schedule I drug under the controlled substance act. If a university allows marijuana on campus, some universities worry it could threaten their federal funding.

A spokesperson from James Madison University told The Center Square the Office of Student Accountability and Restorative Practices will continue to address incidents of marijuana on campus because use and possession are illegal under federal law.

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Minnesota House Approves Legal Marijuana; Dead Upon Arrival in Senate

green cannabis plant

The Minnesota House voted 72-61 to legalize recreational marijuana for adults 21 and expunge minor marijuana convictions.

The Senate leader, however, designated the bill dead upon arrival.

“The war on drugs is a failed policy,” House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler said. “The harms caused by current cannabis laws cannot be allowed to continue. Minnesota’s illegal cannabis market creates bad outcomes for everyone. Responsible regulations and safeguards to prevent youth access are a better solution to address the harms our current laws fail to address.”

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Nikki Fried’s Ties to the Cannabis Industry

Commissioner Nikki Fried

  Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, who is a former marijuana lobbyist, has failed to address her financial ties to the marijuana industry as she advocates for legalization and uses her position to influence medical marijuana legislation. While legacy media looks the other way, other reporting has revealed connections that should raise questions by those interested in transparency and conflicts of interest. Fried Makes Decisions Related to Marijuana Industry Documents filed in 2020 shows that Fried had a financial interest in a marijuana company doing business in Florida in 2019, the same year she created the Cannabis Office and the Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee in the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs. Also, documents filed with the Florida Commission on Ethics indicate that Fried’s 2019 financial interest in Harvest Health & Recreation, Inc was not revealed until months after she created the marijuana related government organizations. Financial Disclosure Reveals Ownership in Marijuana Company For the past two years, Agriculture Commissioner Fried has gone to extremes to hide her ownership in a publicly-traded marijuana company. But the revelation of her controversial involvement raises new questions about how she secretly acquired the nearly $200,000 ownership stake in Harvest Health and Recreation,…

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Tennessee Star/Triton Poll: Nashville Voters Are Pro-Medical Marijuana, Strongly Disapprove More Tax Dollars Being Paid to Corporations Moving to Nashville

  A new Tennessee Star/Triton poll indicates that while the Tennessee the Legislature was not willing to move forward with legislation legalizing the sale and distribution of medical marijuana in the state, Nashville voters are very supportive of the idea. 550 Likely voters in Davidson County were asked: “Would you be more or less likely to vote for a candidate who supports legalizing the distribution and sale of marijuana in Tennessee if strictly limited to prescribed medical use only?” 60.2% were more likely to vote for a candidate who supported legalization of medical marijuana; 18.4% were less likely; 16.1% said it would not impact their vote and 5.3% were unsure. After law enforcement officers voiced disapproval of a bill legalizing medical marijuana that was sponsored by State Senator Steve Dickerson (R-Nashville) it was pulled from consideration this year.  Dickerson says he will bring it back next year. Another hot issue with Nashville voters is the tax dollars being paid to corporations to move their headquarters and operations to town. Many voters clearly feel that companies are relocating to Nashville and Middle Tennessee without needing the lure of taxpayer dollars. That view is clearly tied to the opinion that affordable housing…

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DFL Lawmakers Introduce House Bill 420 to Legalize Marijuana in Minnesota

DFL lawmakers took the first concrete steps to legalize recreational marijuana in Minnesota Monday by introducing companion bills in the Minnesota House and Senate. House File (HF) 420, sponsored by Rep. Mike Freiberg (D-Golden Valley), and Senate File (619), sponsored by Sen. Melissa Franzen (D-Edina), would make it legal in the state of Minnesota for a person “ 21 years of age or older” to “cultivate, possess, purchase, transfer, use, and consume cannabis, cannabis products, and cannabis accessories.” The House version of the bill already has 15 co-sponsors, while the Senate version has just two, though one is Republican Sen. Scott Jensen (R-Chaska). The bills would allow employers to adopt a policy that “prohibits the consumption of cannabis or cannabis products in the workplace” or working “while under the influence of cannabis.” They would not, however, allow an employer to “discipline or discriminate against an employee or prospective employee because the employee or prospective employee has metabolites of cannabis in the employee’s or prospective employee’s blood.” Additionally, with some exceptions, residential landlords would not be allowed to prohibit “the possession of cannabis or cannabis products or the consumption of cannabis or cannabis products by nonsmoking means by a tenant who…

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State Senator Steve Dickerson Withdraws Medical Marijuana Measure, For Now

State Senator Steve Dickerson (R-Nashville), who sponsored this year’s controversial medical-marijuana bill in Tennessee withdrew the measure Tuesday after telling fellow lawmakers the legislation has been so watered down that passing it would actually harm rather than help patients. Dickerson, a physician, told the Associated Press that he worried that passing and amended version of his bill would preempt the passage of a more comprehensive piece of legislation, and that he’s committed to the idea that the medicinal properties marijuana are beneficial to some patients with certain serious ailments. “I fear that if we passed the watered-down version of this bill it would essentially forestall any efforts to have a much more widespread, much more thoughtful legislative construct for several years,” he told the news agency. The AP reported that Dickerson “promised to be back next year with a more permissive bill that would allow for the growing, processing, dispensing, regulation, and taxation of cannabis.” Dickerson’s original bill allowed growing, dispensing, regulating and taxation of cannabis oil inside the state of Tennessee. However, it was amended to require patients to get a doctor’s order and go out of state to get the cannabis oil. It also removed criminal penalties for possessing cannabis that can’t be…

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Two Republicans, State Sen. Steven Dickerson and State Rep. Jeremy Faison, Introduce ‘Medical Cannabis Only Act of 2018’

Much to the delight of the pro-pot activist base, Tennessee State Sen. Steven Dickerson (R-Nashville) and State Rep. Jeremy Faison (R-Cosby) introduced a controversial measure Thursday that seeks to legalize a certain form of marijuana to be used for medical purposes, dubbed, “Medical Cannabis Only Act of 2018” (SB1710). The Nashville Business Journal reports that the Act requires several safeguards to closely monitor and restrict the manufacture, distribution, prescription, and dispensing of the drug: According to the bill, an electronic verification system would be established through which qualifying patients would receive a registration identification card. Using card readers, cannabis establishments and law enforcement would be able see, in real time, how much cannabis the patient was allowed to purchase, as well as when and where the purchase occurred. Once reaching their dosage per month, the patient would not be able to use the card for the remainder of the time. If a patient possessed more than the dosage amount, criminal drug possession laws would then apply. Furthermore, the Act empowers counties to opt-out from allowing dispensaries to operate in their jurisdictions, and for those counties that do, local governments may choose – through a local referendum – to allow (or not) dispensaries. The Journal reports the…

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