From Our Writers

Alabama regulators last week approved two new cannabis cultivation licenses as the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission considers options for unblocking the lawsuit-laden industry.

Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that cannabis use among U.S. high schoolers has declined significantly over the last 10 years. The period encompasses the launch of each of the country’s state-based cannabis legalization experiments.

Former President Donald Trump suggested during a press conference at his Florida home that he has grown more supportive of the idea of cannabis reforms as the policies gain traction across the country.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris this week tabbed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. Having supported and signed into law his home state’s adult-use cannabis reforms, Walz has earned an A rating for cannabis policy from NORML.

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) recently signed into law two bills expanding medical cannabis access for patients in the state.

Voters in Lockhart, Texas will decide this November whether police will de-prioritize cannabis enforcement; Lockhart voters will be joining Bastrop and Dallas in considering the reforms.

The Association of American Feed Control Officials this week is considering allowing chicken feed producers to include hemp seed as an ingredient, so long as the hemp seed only constitutes a maximum of 20% of the product.

Oregon voters will decide this November whether cannabis industry workers should be allowed to unionize after lawmakers failed to adopt the reforms during the legislative session.

Florida billionaire Ken Griffin announced he donated $20 million to support candidates who oppose the state’s proposed adult-use cannabis constitutional amendment.

Advocates with the Arkansas campaign to expand the state’s medical cannabis program have been given more time to collect additional signatures.

Police in Norwalk, Connecticut arrested a 21-year-old for allegedly selling cannabis products without a license; officers said some of the products tested positive for fentanyl.

State and city cannabis enforcement task forces in New York say they have shuttered more than 1,000 unlicensed cannabis operations since April under legislation signed into law this year by Gov. Kathy Hochul (D).

Ohio regulators said they will issue dual-use licenses to many medical cannabis dispensaries on Tuesday this week, setting up the state’s first legal adult-use cannabis sales since voters approved the legalization reforms last year.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) has signed an executive order to ban the sale of intoxicating, hemp-derived products in the state starting September 1.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians adult-use cannabis store, the Great Smoky Cannabis Company in the Qualla Boundary, North Carolina, is opening its doors on September 7 to all adults aged 21+.

Another Florida poll found the state’s adult-use cannabis legalization amendment is on-track with 64% of likely voters saying they plan to vote for the reforms this November.

Voters in Bastrop, Texas are set to consider a cannabis decriminalization proposal this November after city officials certified the petition submitted earlier this year.

New Jersey cannabis regulators have issued a product recall for cannabis flower sold by Green Medicine NJ after samples were found to include insects and human hair.

Lawmakers in the Philippines House of Representatives this week voted 177-9 to legalize medical cannabis. The proposal, however, faces an uncertain future in the Senate.

Virginia last year fined hemp product retailers collectively nearly $10.8 million for the sale of restricted products.

About nine out of every ten comments submitted to the DEA on the proposal to federally reschedule cannabis either favored the reforms or called on the government to go further and remove cannabis entirely from the federal drug schedule.

A federal judge has denied an injunction brought by a group of hemp companies against the Iowa law regulating hemp products and imposing THC caps on the products.

Multistate medical cannabis company Trulieve has contributed another $5 million to the Smart & Safe Florida campaign seeking to legalize adult-use cannabis; Trulieve’s latest contribution brings the company’s total to $60.39 million.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded nearly $6.2 million in grants to help the Hemp Building Institute research, support, and build credibility for hempcrete and other biogenic materials as valid construction materials.