From Our Writers

The Illinois Supreme Court this week ruled that the smell of raw cannabis is grounds for police to conduct a vehicle search during a traffic stop. The ruling departs from a previous decision by the court that found the smell of burnt cannabis is not grounds for searching a vehicle.

Pennsylvania lawmakers are planning to introduce adult-use cannabis legalization legislation again in the upcoming legislative session after a bipartisan proposal failed during the last session.

A federal appeals court has upheld Mississippi’s ban on advertising medical cannabis products, concluding that the restriction does not violate the First Amendment.

Eighteen New York organizations including civil rights groups, small business organizations, cannabis social equity leaders, and drug research advocates expressed concern in a letter to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul about the administration’s perceived pivot away from the state’s cannabis social equity commitments.

California state officials said the state has collected over a quarter of a billion dollars in cannabis tax revenue during the third quarter of 2024.

The Nebraska Attorney General’s Office appears to be setting up to appeal the recent dismissal of a lawsuit brought against two successful medical cannabis initiatives that state voters overwhelmingly approved last month.

The Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management recently denied petitions to add cannabinoid-infused powders, infused flowers, or concentrated cannabis products as new delivery methods for the state’s medical cannabis program.

Officials with the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority are opening a testing lab that will perform its own testing of medical cannabis products, double-checking the results from the state’s commercial testers.

Hawaii’s medical cannabis caregivers program could become outlawed starting January 1 under “sunset” provisions written into the state’s medical cannabis law.

In a ruling last month, Brazil’s Supreme Court federally legalized the cultivation, manufacturing, and distribution of hemp-derived medicinal products.

The Yale Center for the Science of Cannabis and Cannabinoids is awarding over $600,000 in grants to Yale School of Medicine researchers investigating the impact of cannabis and cannabinoids on neurodevelopment and mental health.

A study published this month that followed more than 5,000 men over 44 years found that long-term cannabis use is not associated with IQ decline in older adults.

A Minnesota judge blocked the state’s cannabis social equity license lottery this week in light of several lawsuits filed by applicants whose applications were denied last week.

Two lawsuits filed against the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management aim to delay the state’s social equity licensing lottery after the agency denied about two-thirds of the social equity applicants.

In a letter last week, sixty-six members of Congress asked President Joe Biden (D) to use his clemency powers to “address longstanding injustices” in the U.S. legal system during the final months of his presidency.

Kentucky is set to open medical cannabis patient certifications on December 1 in preparation for launching the state’s medical cannabis program next year.

A Nebraska judge last week dropped all charges against a notary public caught up in an ongoing legal challenge against the medical cannabis ballot initiatives approved by voters earlier this month.

The state of Michigan has ended its industrial hemp program and turned oversight of its hemp farmers over to the feds with the USDA.

A new draft of the Farm Bill includes language aimed at closing intoxicating hemp loopholes, but stops short of setting per-serving or per-container limits for hemp-derived THC.

The FDA has approved a previously stalled clinical trial investigating whether smoking medical cannabis can help to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among combat veterans.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton this week filed a lawsuit against the city of Dallas over the city’s new, voter-backed cannabis decriminalization policy.