cannabisnews.com: Three New States Legalize Marijuana
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Three New States Legalize Marijuana
Posted by CN Staff on July 01, 2021 at 17:19:23 PT
By Reid Wilson
Source: Hill
USA -- New laws legalizing marijuana for recreational or medical use take effect in three states on Thursday, significantly expanding the number of Americans who will have access to consumable cannabis products.The new laws may give new momentum to the push to legalize marijuana across the country as supporters begin circulating new ballot petitions and legislators drop their historical reluctance to marijuana reform.
Residents in Virginia and Connecticut will be allowed to legally possess and use marijuana for recreational purposes after lawmakers in those states approved new measures earlier this year. In South Dakota, a voter-passed ballot measure legalizing medical marijuana takes effect.The newly effective laws bring the number of states where recreational marijuana is legal to 18. Sixteen other states allow marijuana use for medical purposes, but not for recreational purposes.“It speaks to the momentum that is taking place in the states, that is sweeping the country, that hopefully will be a sign that federal reform is not far away,” said Steven Hawkins, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, a pro-legalization group.Regulators in both Virginia and Connecticut still have work to do before legal retail sales of marijuana products begin.Lawmakers in Virginia plan to debate the outlines of the retail market when they return to session in Virginia, including provisions that would promote minority ownership of marijuana-related businesses. Gov. Ralph Northam (D) has said he plans to name the first executive and the first board members of the newly created Virginia Cannabis Control Authority in the coming days.Legal sales are likely to begin by 2024, said Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies at the Marijuana Policy Project.In Connecticut, the first retail dispensaries are expected to open in 2022. Until then, sales remain illegal, though possession of anything under 1.5 ounces in public — or 5 ounces in a protected container — is now legal.Connecticut residents must wait another year before they are legally allowed to grow their own marijuana. Residents will be limited to six plants, including three that are mature and three that are immature.South Dakota voters approved ballot initiatives to legalize both medical and recreational marijuana, but only the medical regime will take effect Thursday after a state judge struck down the recreational measure on constitutional grounds.Residents of South Dakota will only be able to possess marijuana if they have a valid registration card. State regulators have until Nov. 18 to start issuing those cards. State-licensed dispensaries are expected to open by next year.Law enforcement officials in several of the state’s largest counties said they would no longer arrest residents for possessing small amounts of marijuana, in the run-up to the medical measure’s effective date.Supporters of legal marijuana say they now intend to turn their focus to the two remaining New England states where recreational pot is not yet legal, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. The Rhode Island legislature, controlled by Democrats, has made moves toward a recreational regime, while the New Hampshire legislature, run by Republicans, has been more reluctant. Backers are also eyeing North Carolina, where a state Senate committee voted for the first time to advance a measure legalizing medical marijuana.In Florida, supporters were blocked from circulating petitions to qualify a measure for the 2022 ballot after the state Supreme Court ruled the ballot language was misleading, though those supporters are likely to try again.Ballot measures are in various stages of circulating petitions for marijuana legalization measures in Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska and North Dakota.“I would not be surprised that by the end of 2022 we could be seeing half of the states in the country having adopted cannabis for full use,” Hawkins told The Hill.But opponents of legal marijuana expansion say supporters are reaching the limit of states where they can make progress, either through the ballot initiative process or through the legislature. Legal marijuana bills died this year in states like Delaware and Maryland, in spite of large Democratic majorities that run both legislatures.“I think the marijuana industry is running out of states to pass legalization in,” said Kevin Sabet, author of "Smokescreen: What the Marijuana Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know" and head of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, a group that opposes legalization. “The easy wins for the pot industry are beginning to dry up.”Sabet pointed to Colorado, the first state where recreational marijuana became legal. The legislature there set new limits last month on the sales of high-potency marijuana after concerns about negative impacts. Action at the federal level remains unlikely, too, in spite of a U.S. House vote last year to decriminalize marijuana. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) has reintroduced a measure to remove marijuana from the list of federally controlled substances. The 18 states where recreational marijuana is legal send a combined 191 members to the U.S. House of Representatives, along with Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) of the District of Columbia, and 36 members to the U.S. Senate. “This should be a clear call to Congress that the American people are ready for cannabis reform,” Hawkins said.But President Biden has said he does not support legalizing marijuana, and some staffers who were hired by his White House have been axed after acknowledging they had used marijuana in the past. “There is no real support for change at the federal level, no matter how hard the industry tries to spin things,” said Sabet, who held a position at the Office of National Drug Control Policy during Biden’s vice presidency. “We have a president firmly opposed to marijuana legalization.”Source: Hill, The (US DC)Author: Reid Wilson Published: July 1, 2021Copyright: 2021 The HillContact: editor thehill.comWebsite: http://www.hillnews.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/LLA3AbQQCannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on July 14, 2021 at 04:54:08 PT
Gloovins
I know he is far from pro Cannabis but he sure beats the other guy as far as trying to calm our country.
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Comment #6 posted by gloovins on July 13, 2021 at 12:43:01 PT
Biden
Pres Biden is a geriatric mess and useless when it comes to cannabis law reform. He is pathetic.
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on July 04, 2021 at 05:00:11 PT
The GCW
The rules need to be changed. Cannabis is not a performance enhancing drug. It is an herb like so many other herbs that we can buy. I just wish the Republicans would seriously get on board so we can get this done. Wishing everyone a nice 4th of July.
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Comment #4 posted by The GCW on July 03, 2021 at 18:32:56 PT
A little follow up, RE: Sha’Carri Richardson
Biden on Sha'Carri Richardson's suspension for positive drug test: 'The rules are the rules'https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/03/politics/shacarri-richardson-joe-biden-marijuana-test-olympics/index.htmlBiden is quoted, "The rules are the rules," he said Saturday at an event in Michigan. "Whether they should remain the rules is a different issue, but the rules are the rules."I take Biden's comment in a positive way.I believe the majority understands and in the future, at some point, this will be behind Us.& give credit to Sha'Carri Richardson, for claiming the HIGH ROAD.
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Comment #3 posted by The GCW on July 01, 2021 at 22:08:25 PT
Sport news
Cannabis makes You dumb. Lazy. Useless, unproductive and harms the human body: THAT'S WHAT THE IGNOIDS HAVE BEEN SAYING FOR DECADES.So if that's the case why do they care if an athlete uses the plant cannabis????!?-0-Sha’Carri Richardson reportedly out of Olympic 100m after positive cannabis testhttps://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/jul/01/shacarri-richardson-cannabis-positive-olympicsHippocrates attempting to hide their hypocrisy all out in the open for everyone to see.
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Comment #2 posted by The GCW on July 01, 2021 at 21:55:24 PT
The GCW says,
What the title says and what it equally does not say is vitalThree New States Legalize MarijuanaFurther, 3 new states will reduce caging responsible adults who choose to use the relatively safe God given plant.Yesterday, they caged You.Today they will not cage You.-0-They.They, are a scourge and should be controlled like the plague. -0-And this is positive news.However, keep in mind, 32 states still cage responsible humans for using what God indicates, He, CREATED & says is GOOD on literally the very 1st page of the Bible.
-and how many of them claim to be "christians"???? How many of them are part of a so called "Bible Belt?"Recall the old bumper sticker: The Moral Majority is Neither?-0-I Ask,Follow the life and teachings of The Christ Jesus.Do not follow so called christians and their churches / businesses / cults. At the fork in the road, follow Christ God Our Father.Christ Jesus would never condone caging anyone who uses cannabis responsibly. Cannabis is a litmus test issue directly exposing the spirit.The Green Collar Worker
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on July 01, 2021 at 17:26:27 PT
A Quote About Those Who Were Let Go
“In an effort to ensure that more people have an opportunity to serve the public, we worked in coordination with the security service to ensure that more people have the opportunity to serve than would not have in the past with the same level of recent drug use. While we will not get into individual cases, there were additional factors at play in many instances for the small number of individuals who were terminated,” Psaki said.
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