The Justice Department rescinding the Cole Memo, the Omnibus bill including Leahy Amendment protections, a host of potential bills for federal cannabis policy change: a lot has been happening in Washington D.C. recently with respect to cannabis business. With the National Cannabis Industry Association’s (NCIA) Cannabis Business Summit in San […]
Vermont Becomes First State to Legalize Cannabis Through Legislature
On Monday, January 22nd, Vermont made history becoming the first state to legalize adult use cannabis via the legislature. Governor Phil Scott signed the bill, H. 511, into law, which legalizes adult possession and cultivation of cannabis, eliminating penalties for possessing one ounce or less and up to two mature […]
What’s Happening on Capitol Hill? Part 4: Banking & Tax Reform
What’s Happening on Capitol Hill? Part 3: The Medical Bills
This article continues the bill-by-bill review begun in the August 1st article of cannabis reform legislation proposed in the 115th Congress. In the next article and final piece in this series, we will examine the banking and tax reform bills related to cannabis. Medical Cannabis Reform Bills 1008 – Therapeutic […]
The Future of California’s Regulations: Q&A with Josh Drayton
Josh Drayton, deputy director of the California Cannabis Industry Association, has an extensive career in local and state-level politics, with his origins in Humboldt County as a political organizer. As a coffee shop owner about ten years ago in Humboldt, he let city council candidates use his space for community […]
What’s Happening on Capitol Hill? Part 2: A Bill-By-Bill Review
Massachusetts Lawmakers Reach Compromise on Cannabis Bill
On Election Day last year, voters in Massachusetts approved a measure to legalize recreational cannabis. With recreational sales beginning in July of 2018, lawmakers have tried to get a bill through the state legislature to settle on, among other things, a tax rate and regulatory framework. On Wednesday, multiple news […]
What’s Happening on Capitol Hill? Cannabis Reform Proposals and the 115th Congress
As CIJ readers are probably aware, last month Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017—the annual budget, in other words. Lying within this 1,665-page document is Section 537, which for one year restricts the Department of Justice from using any funds to prevent states from implementing their medical cannabis […]
Congress Passes Budget With Protections for Medical Cannabis
On May 1st, Congress reached a bipartisan deal to keep the government open and funded through September 30th, 2017. Congress approved the appropriations bill that sets the government’s spending with an important section in it relating to cannabis. Section 537 on page 230 states that the Department of Justice cannot […]