Washington, DC: Federal officials report a significant drop in the quantity of marijuana they are seizing at the US international border, according to data compiled by the US Department of Homeland Security. According to reporting provided by borderreport.com, “Department of Homeland Security agencies in FY2021 seized 160 tons of marijuana, an average of 874 pounds a day. With three months left in the …

East Lansing, MI: The adoption of statewide laws regulating the sale of marijuana products to adults is not associated with any increase in cannabis initiation among people under the age of 21, according to data published in the journal PLoS One. Researchers affiliated with Michigan State University assessed marijuana use trends in a nationally representative cohort of subjects in order to evaluate whether or …

New York, NY: By a margin of more than 2 to 1, Americans favor a federal mandate legalizing the adult use of marijuana nationwide, according to polling data compiled by The Economist and YouGov.com. Forty-five percent of respondents say that the federal government should legalize the adult use of marijuana nationally. That’s higher than the percentage of Americans who favor a national mandate permitting abortion …

Denver, CO: Those with prior in-state or out-of-state marijuana-related convictions will no longer be denied professional licensure in Colorado, under an executive order signed by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis. The new order (Executive Order 34: Protecting Colorado’s Workforce and Expanding Licensing Opportunities) states: “No one who lawfully consumes, possesses, cultivates or processes marijuana pursuant to Colorado law should be subject to professional sanctions or denied …

Tulsa, OK: Cannabis reform advocates in four states – Arkansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and North Dakota – have recently submitted signatures to election officials to place legalization proposals on the 2022 ballot. Last Wednesday, representatives with the group Oklahomans for Sensible Marijuana Laws announced that they had turned in over 164,000 signatures to the Secretary of State’s office in an effort to place a binding, statewide …

WASHINGTON, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Students for Sensible Drug Policy(SSDP) and the Student Marijuana Alliance for Research and Transparency (SMART) have selected their 11 Student Ambassadors for Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The chosen ambassadors will receive a stipend, professional development and support, access to industry experts and our job board, and 6 weeks of training to bring sensible …

Sacramento, CA: Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed budget legislation late last week that reduces various marijuana-specific taxes. Specifically, the legislation eliminates the cultivation tax on licensed growers and caps any further increase in the excise tax for three years, among other changes. According to an economic analysis published this spring by The Reason Foundation, regulatory costs, high taxes, and municipal bans on cannabis retailers have significantly inhibited the …

Washington, DC: Mayor Muriel Bowser has signed legislation legislation removing the requirement that adults seeking to purchase cannabis products from licensed DC medical cannabis dispensaries must obtain a recommendation from a licensed physician. Members of the DC City Council had previously voted unanimously in favor of legislation, known as the Medical Marijuana Self-Certification Emergency Amendment Act of 2022. The measure permits individuals age 21 or older to “self-certify … …