First Proposal Made for Ohio Marijuana Tax Revenue

An Ohio lawmaker already has plans for an expected boost to state revenues following voter approval of recreational marijuana.

State Rep. Cindy Abrams, R-Harrison, plans a Tuesday news conference to outline her proposed legislation that would use $80 million of marijuana tax money over the next two years as a permanent funding source for training the state’s law enforcement officers.

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States with Weaker Marijuana Laws See More Impaired Driving, Report Finds

A new report found that states with less restrictive marijuana policies have higher incidents of residents driving while high.

The Drug Free America Foundation released a new report showing that states that have legalized or weakened restrictions around high-THC marijuana, either for medical or recreational use, saw 32% more marijuana-impaired driving than states that have not adopted the same policies.

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Virginia Lawmakers Approve Gov. Youngkin’s Amendments to Hemp Bills

Virginia lawmakers approved amendments proposed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin to a pair of bills establishing regulations on hemp-derived products in the commonwealth, which includes a provision allowing some products containing both THC and CBD that are used therapeutically to remain on store shelves. 

The politically-divided General Assembly flocked to Richmond Wednesday to reconvene for a one-day session to consider the governor’s proposed amendments to 78 bills and three vetoes. Some of the governor’s amendments proposed technical changes to measures, while others proposed entire substitute bills. 

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Wisconsin Governor Evers Seeks Recreational Marijuana Legalization

Tony Evers

Governor Tony Evers (D-WI) is preparing for a potential battle with the Republican-run Wisconsin Legislature over the legalization of recreational marijuana. 

Evers is gearing up to present his biennial budget requests to lawmakers in February and has said there is “no question” he will ask the legislature to permit adults to use cannabinoid substances for fun as he did in his most recent budget proposal earlier this year. 

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Florida’s Recreational Marijuana Ballot Initiative Lands 50,000 Signatures

Florida could see future changes to its marijuana laws if a petition that has already gathered almost 50,000 validated signatures is put on the ballot in 2024 to legalize the use of marijuana products for adults.

The Smart & Safe Florida political committee and the state’s leading marijuana company, Trulieve, are the driving forces behind the initiative, and thus far, the group has managed to total 49,692 valid signatures.

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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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Tennessee Historical Commission Finalizes Vote to Move Busts of Nathan Bedford Forrest, David Glasgow Farragut and Albert Gleaves

The Tennessee Historical Commission (THC) voted overwhelmingly in favor of removing the busts of Nathan Bedford Forrest, David Glasgow Farragut and Albert Gleaves. The only member to vote against the measure was Commissioner Joanne Cullom Moore. The commission convened on Tuesday for a final hearing on the three busts. The final hearing was scheduled to take place last month originally, but was delayed due to the winter storm. Judge Kim Summers presided over the hearing. The meeting convened around 10 a.m. CST. Public comment lasted around three hours.

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Steve Gill Analysis: If Legalized in Tennessee, Medical Marijuana Users May Sacrifice Right to Own Guns

On Friday, conservative political commentator and Tennessee Star contributor Steve Gill said on The Gill Report, broadcast live on WETR 92.3 FM in Knoxville, that if the bill to legalize medical marijuana currently under consideration in the Tennessee General Assembly becomes law, potential medical marijuana users in the Volunteer State may be faced with a decision: Legally purchase and use medical marijuana and lose your right to own a gun, or keep your right to own a gun and pass on using the newly legalized drug. “One of the bills that is moving through the legislature that keeps coming close. It looks like it may be advancing a little quicker this time – but with a few more weeks in the legislative session it may still fail. [The bill] is medical marijuana in Tennessee” Gill began. “Now, there are some problems with this bill, because it’s not just legalizing medical marijuana,” he noted, adding. “You’ve got some of the folks that are pushing recreational marijuana that we’ve seen embraced in states like Colorado recently. But the bill is supposedly limited to medical marijuana.” Gill continued: There are critics that say the same doctors that haven’t controlled opioids are unlikely to control…

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Rutherford County District Attorney Jennings Jones Drops All Charges in ‘Cannabidiol’ Arrests and Product Seizure

The District Attorney’s office announced in a statement Tuesday that all criminal charges filed in connection with allegations of selling products containing a substance closely related to the active ingredient in marijuana called ‘cannabidiol,’ commonly known a CBD, against store clerks and markets will be dropped and the records expunged . In addition to the criminal charges, all public nuisance actions taken against markets will be dismissed and all property seized under the court’s order will be returned. District Attorney General Jennings Jones said that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations chemists informed his office of the limitations of their ability to determine the origin and amount of controlled substances in the samples provided, which effectively removed the foundation of his case: Chemists from TBI have now informed my office they cannot determine whether the cannabidiol detected on these products came from a hemp plant or marijuana plant. I was also informed that the TBI lab cannot determine the level of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in any of the products they tested. It now appears that the TBI lab reports, if they had been accurately written, should have stated that their findings were ‘inconclusive’ as to whether cannabidiol is a controlled substance. The cannabidiol substance detected…

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