#marijuanaregulation

Happy new year, everyone! 2015 is already making headway towards major cannabis progress. Here are the latest updates from both near and far:

A legalization update! Thanks, again, to Leafly for providing such a succinct national and international legal update.

US UPDATES

Arizona

Last week in Arizona, a bill was filed that would authorize marijuana to be taxed and regulated like alcohol. This means marijuana would be legal to have and legal to consume and cancels the federal prohibition. http://blog.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2015/01/arizona-bill-would-legalize-marijuana-nullify-federal-prohibition/

Colorado

In Colorado, medical cannabis does not carry the same tax as recreational canabis. Since 2012, the number of medical marijuana patients has increased. And so it is born - legal competition between two marijuana dispensing industries. I kind of love it.

Washington, D.C.

As aforementioned in its own post, DC Mayor, Muriel Bowser, is dedicated to seeing legal marijuana in the district. So much so that she is considering suing Congress to get them out of their business. 

Idaho

A mother raises the issue of medical cannabis oil for medical treatments in the state. Her son has had intense bouts of seizures since the age of six; today the son is 10 years old. 

Illinois

Also mentioned in a previous article, this state missed its self-imposed deadline to issue licenses to approved cultivators and sellers.

Kentucky

Senator Perry Clark has filed a medical marijuana bill for 2015, something he has done for the past three years. Let’s see it passed.

Massachusetts

Good news! The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has at last issued the state’s first certificate of registration for a marijuana dispensary.

Montana

Montana’s restrictive medical cannabis law has been blocked by a Helena judge for many key provisions including:

A ban on advertising cannabis;

A ban against commercial cannabis for sale or for profit, which restricts medical marijuana providers;

And finally, a restriction on medical marijuana providers assisting more than three patients who are pre-licensed by the state to obtain cannabis - without being paid.

Texas

The Texas Sheriffs Association says it will fight to block efforts in the upcoming legislative session against the proposed bill to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of cannabis. A long fight may be ahead to win this one over.

Washington

Last month, a bill was pre-filed that would allow Washington residents who have previously existing marijuana-related misdemeanor offenses to apply to have their records vacated. That is progress!

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES

Austria

The Austrian Health Agency exported 142 kilos of medical-grade cannabis in 2014, grown in Hirchstetten, Vienna, to foreign pharmaceutical companies. It was sold to pharmaceutical companies to make cannabinoid painkillers, used in the treating of cancer and other medical concerns. But this kind of treatment is not legal in Austria. Green MP Eva Mückstein called the hypocrisy “outrageous” and is pushing for Austria to relax its medical cannabis policies so that Austrian patients can benefit from these products.

Ghana

An “open secret” in Ghana is that there are good number of kids who farm and smuggle marijuana to Burkina Faso and Mali to raise money for their education. 

Israel

There are at minimum of 10 Israeli farmers vying for government permits from the Israeli Health Ministry to grow cannabis for medicinal purposes. Thus far, there are eight approved medical cannabis growers in Israel providing cannabis for 18,000 Israelis currently permitted to use medical marijuana. By 2018, there are anticipated to be 40,000 permitted medical marijuana patients. Decisions on this are coming up in March.

United Kingdom

Sufferers of medical conditions in Merseyside are advocating for legal cannabis. The United Patients Alliance and the Merseyside Cannabis Supporters will be holding an event next month to raise awareness for their campaign.