Cannabis Legalization News

New Hampshire lawmakers have dropped their efforts to legalize cannabis via a state-control model that was backed by Gov. Chris Sununu, who generally opposes legalization.

With multiple EU members looking to legalize cannabis at the national level, the influence of Europe’s cannabis social clubs as the region’s earliest legal retailers is more important than ever.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) signed the state’s adult-use legalization bill into law today, making cannabis possession and home cultivation legal starting on August 1 with retail licenses expected sometime next summer.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed a bill last week to implement medical psilocybin legalization and decriminalize the personal use and cultivation of other natural psychedelics; the proposal marks lawmakers’ response to last year’s successful psychedelics legalization voter initiative.

A pair of Ohio state representatives have introduced a bipartisan proposal to legalize the cultivation, purchasing, and possession of cannabis by Ohioans aged 21+. The bill also contains language for the expungement of prior cultivation and possession offenses.

For the first time since states started to pass cannabis legalization reforms, tax revenue from adult-use sales declined slightly in the U.S. from 2021 to 2022 (from $3.867 billion to $3.775 billion).

Minnesota is set to become the next U.S. state to legalize adult-use cannabis after the state Senate passed a House-approved legalization proposal on Saturday, sending the bill to the governor who intends to sign it into law.

Cannabis advocates in Nebraska have filed the paperwork for a petition drive seeking to put a medical cannabis legalization question on the state’s 2024 ballot.

The Minnesota House voted 73-57 this week to legalize adult-use cannabis; the proposal is a compromise between two respective legalization bills already passed by the House and Senate.

The New Hampshire Senate voted to create a commission to study implementing an adult-use cannabis legalization process that would put dispensaries under state control.

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody has submitted the legalization ballot proposal being circulated by advocates to the state Supreme Court, seemingly to signal she would argue the proposal doesn’t meet legal requirements to appear before voters.

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R), who opposes general cannabis legalization, said he would sign a legalization proposal into law if the bill included government control of sales, like how the state handles liquor sales.

The New Hampshire Senate voted 14-10 on Thursday to reject a House-approved cannabis legalization proposal.

Lawmakers in the New Hampshire Senate Judiciary Committee voted 3-2 to kill the state’s adult-use cannabis legalization bill. The proposal was already passed by the House.

Activists in Ohio are again collecting signatures to put a cannabis ballot initiative before voters in November after state lawmakers failed to pass a citizen-authored legalization initiative this year.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) signed a bill on Wednesday to implement the state’s adult-use cannabis legalization policy.

The campaign to put a cannabis legalization question before Florida voters in 2024 has collected 94% of the necessary signatures.

European cannabis advocates their eyes on the Czech Republic, where officials have expressed support for legalizing adult-use cannabis but also recently took measures to crack down on the sale of CBD products.

Lawmakers in the Minnesota Senate narrowly approved an adult-use cannabis legalization bill last week on a 34-33 party-line vote.

A recent survey found about one-third of New Jersey adults have used cannabis products since the state’s adult-use legalization reforms took effect about a year ago.

The Minnesota House voted this week to legalize adult-use cannabis; the Senate is expected to take up its own version of the legislation on Friday.

Lawmakers in Louisiana’s House Criminal Justice Committee this week voted 9-4 to reject a bill to legalize adult-use cannabis in the state.

Adult-use cannabis is now legal in Delaware after Gov. John Carney (D) allowed the state’s legalization proposals to become law without his signature on Sunday.

A recent South Dakota poll found that voters are open to legalizing cannabis despite having rejected adult-use reforms last year.