Cannabis Legalization News

Nebraska officials will count votes for and against the state’s medical cannabis legalization bid this week and will publish the results despite an ongoing legal challenge disputing the campaign’s petition signature-gathering process.

The trial over Nebraska’s two medical cannabis ballot initiatives began Tuesday after state officials challenged the proposals’ signature-gathering process. The initiatives, which together seek to legalize medical cannabis, will remain on state ballots but, depending on the trial, could be invalidated even if approved by voters.

Voter support for South Dakota’s ballot initiative to legalize adult-use cannabis is trailing in the latest polls, with just 45% of voters saying they plan to vote yes for legalization.

A recent poll found that 66% of Florida voters are planning to vote yes on Amendment 3, which would make Florida the latest — and one of the largest — adult-use cannabis markets to launch in the U.S.

A recent poll conducted by Noble Predictive Insights found that about half of Utah voters support legalizing adult-use cannabis.

The candidates in Indiana’s gubernatorial election this year have each backed some form of cannabis legalization in the state but have different views on what the industry should look like.

After two years of legal adult-use sales, New York cannabis tax grants are finally available to fund reinvestment in the state’s communities most heavily affected by prior drug policies.

Officials with the Florida Chamber of Commerce have launched a website opposing Amendment 3, the state’s adult-use cannabis legalization amendment heading to voters this November.

In a recent campaign agenda update discussing plans “to deliver for Black men and their families,” Vice President Kamala Harris (D) pledged to federally legalize cannabis if she is elected to be the next U.S. president.

The Marijuana Policy Project released its 2024 cannabis policy reform voter guide covering the governors and U.S. Senate races taking place this November.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, said during a recent podcast appearance that she believes in the legalization of adult-use cannabis — “We need to legalize it and stop criminalizing this behavior,” she said.

Licensed cannabis dispensaries in Ohio have sold more than $76.2 million worth of cannabis products in under two months of operation.

A judge in Lancaster County, Nebraska is allowing parts of a lawsuit that challenges the state’s two petitions to legalize medical cannabis to move forward.

With a combined $105.08 million in support and opposition funds, the Florida constitutional amendment to legalize adult-use cannabis is the most expensive legalization campaign in the U.S. since 2010.

West Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Steve Williams said he would support a voter referendum to legalize adult-use cannabis in the state.

Voters in the presidential battleground states of Arizona and Nevada strongly favored the legalization of medical and adult-use cannabis in two recent polls. Respondents also supported giving banking access to the industry.

Lawmakers in Pennsylvania filed a bipartisan bill on Monday to legalize adult-use cannabis. The bill, which calls for regulating the adult-use industry and expunging past cannabis crimes, was filed on state lawmakers’ first day back from recess.

Having access to legal medical cannabis in all 50 U.S. states could save Americans up to $29 billion per year in reduced healthcare expenditures, according to a recent study.

A former Nebraska state senator has filed a lawsuit to invalidate two medical cannabis petitions — one to legalize medical cannabis and one to regulate the industry — that were approved for November ballots earlier this month.

A Senate committee in Pakistan unanimously advanced a proposal to regulate the cultivation and production of cannabis.

A recent study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports found that cannabis use in the U.S. increased from 7.59% to 11.54% from 2013 to 2020, but youth rates remained statistically constant.

Licensed cannabis dispensaries in Ohio sold more than $44 million worth of cannabis during the first month of adult-use sales, according to state data.

Cannabis advocates in Idaho are preparing for a 2026 cannabis legalization campaign after another petition to put a medical cannabis legalization question before voters failed to gather enough signatures