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If cannabis reform is an incremental process, and it is, then this past year has shown the industry just how much can be accomplished in state-level legislation.

Following the watershed election in 2020, state legislators across the U.S. got down to business this year. As detailed in a new report from NORML, state legislatures have passed and enacted more than 50 cannabis reform laws since January. 

At the top of the list: Virginia, Connecticut and New Mexico, which passed adult-use legalization measures. New York and New Jersey also crossed that line by passing the laws that would enact voter-approved adult-use measures passed last November.

Beyond that, state legislators drafted, debated and passed laws to further expungement efforts, broaden the parameters of “diversity” in the cannabis industry and expand medical cannabis access.

If cannabis reform is an incremental process, and it is, then this past year has shown the industry just how much can be accomplished in state-level legislation. No doubt, there’s more to come.

“State lawmakers took unprecedented steps this year to repeal marijuana prohibition laws and to provide relief to those millions of Americans who have suffered as a result of them,” NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano said in a public statement.

Retail marijuana will not be coming to Greenport in the near future.

Village trustees voted 3-2 Monday night to opt out of allowing on-site marijuana consumption and retail dispensaries within village boundaries, ahead of the state’s Dec. 31 deadline. The village may choose to opt in later, reversing the decision, but it will never again have the opportunity to opt out. 

Mayor George Hubbard, Deputy Mayor and Trustee Jack Martilotta, and Trustee Mary Bess Phillips voted in favor of the opt out, emphasizing regulatory concerns. Trustees Julia Robins and Peter Clarke voted against.

“I’m not opposed to it either way, I just think that we’re really not prepared for this,” Mayor George Hubbard said. The village can choose to opt in six months from now with more research after seeing “what the state is going to do.”  

Trustee Mary Bess Phillips took a similar stance, emphasizing that whether residents smoke marijuana is not the issue.

When Lisa Capitani decided to start a small business to educate and guide medical marijuana patients, she knew she’d need some advice.

The South Dakota Supreme Court has sided with the state’s anti-pot governer, overturning a broad state cannabis initiative passed by voters last year, saying the amendment violates the state constitution. The court ruled 4-1 last week that the initiative, Amendment A, approved by ballot in November 2020, violates a narrow “single-subject” rule that applies to constitutional amendments.

The decision at least temporarily imperils adult-use marijuana in South Dakota but does not change laws in effect that allow medical marijuana and industrial hemp. As a whole, the amendment embraced those two sectors along with adult-use marijuana.

Republican Gov. Kristi Noem, who has said the amendment was “the wrong choice for South Dakota’s communities,” launched a legal challenge immediately after the state’s voters passed it by referendum in last year.

No effect on hemp

The court’s ruling, while a setback for adult-use marijuana, does not affect Measure 26, which separately authorizes medical marijuana and passed with the support of 70 percent of voters independently last November. It also has no effect on South Dakota’s hemp program, which was established and received U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) clearance last year.

The court agreed that most of Amendment A, including parts that address licensing, regulation and taxation of cannabis production and distribution, are confined exclusively to the legalization of recreational marijuana. But the judges ruled that provisions instructing the legislature to authorize medical marijuana and cultivation of industrial hemp addressed separate additional subjects, thereby violating the state constitution.

To understand how rapidly New York overhauled its marijuana laws, look no further than its impact on the criminal justice system.

Fewer and fewer people are being arrested on marijuana offenses in New York, underscoring the major effect of the drug’s decriminalization in 2019 and, ultimately, its legalization this past March.

From April through October of this year, just 116 people statewide were arrested on a top-level misdemeanor or felony charge related to marijuana possession or sale in New York, data compiled by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services shows.

The drop-off in marijuana arrests has been stark as state lawmakers and then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo reshaped the state’s laws related to the drug.

In 2020, after New York lawmakers took steps to decrease marijuana penalties but before they legalized certain amounts of the substance, there were 2,720 misdemeanor or felony marijuana arrests. Compare that to 2017, when there were 28,239 misdemeanor marijuana arrests alone, according to a study by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Pharmacy chains will be appealing the verdict that they created a public nuisance by contributing the Ohio’s opioid crisis.

A federal jury in Ohio on Tuesday found that pharmacy giants Walgreens, CVS and Walmart contributed to the opioid crisis in that state, a verdict that could serve as a bellwether for thousands of similar cases pending from coast to coast. The decision is the first verdict returned by a jury that holds a pharmacy retailer responsible for its role in the devastating epidemic of opioid overdoses that has plagued the United States for decades.

In the lawsuit, Lake and Trumbell Counties in northeastern Ohio maintained that the pharmacy retailers had recklessly distributed more than 100 million opioid pain pills in the counties, leading to addiction, death and a strain on public services. Between 2012 and 2016, more than 80 million prescriptions painkillers were dispensed in Trumbull County alone, or about 400 pills for every resident. During the same period, approximately 61 million opioid painkillers were dispensed in Lake County.

“For decades, pharmacy chains have watched as the pills flowing out of their doors cause harm and failed to take action as required by law,” a committee of attorneys representing local governments in federal opioid lawsuits said in a statement. “Instead, these companies responded by opening up more locations, flooding communities with pills, and facilitating the flow of opioids into an illegal, secondary market.”

Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued that the actions of the pharmacies amounted to a public nuisance that cost the counties about $1 billion each to address. Mark Lanier, an attorney representing the counties, said that the pharmacies failed to hire or train enough employees and implement systems to prevent suspicious orders from being filled.

“The law requires pharmacies to be diligent in dealing drugs,” Lanier said. “This case should be a wake-up call that failure will not be accepted.” 

Small-holder farmers meant to benefit from South Africa’s new cannabis dispensation to unlock a potentially huge economic sector may be left out in the cold because of stringent regulatory requirements. 

At the end of October, the Agriculture Land Reform and Rural Development Department announced the opening of applications for hemp cultivation permits, a move welcomed by 

organisations that have been waiting to kick-start this new economic sector. This followed the declaration of hemp as an agricultural crop under the Plant Improvement Act, which allows its importation, exportation, cultivation, sale and research.

Both hemp and marijuana are from the cannabis plant, but marijuana is associated with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which causes the “high”, and hemp with cannabidiol (CBD), which is associated with health benefits. 

People in many rural parts of South Africa have been cultivating cannabis for hundreds of years, but studies show that this was predominantly for recreational consumption by an adult marijuana market.

Now in Illinois the smell of marijuana does not give probable cause for officers to do a warrantless search during traffic stops.

On Friday Whiteside County court Judge Daniel P. Dalton made the ruling.

Local law enforcement officials say this could cause issues when officers try to stop people who have recently smoked the drug.

“In Illinois, you can transport legally cannabis as long as it's on odorless container well that right there on its face means that you shouldn’t be able to smell it,” said Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell.

He said this will only create more problems for law enforcement trying to stop those driving while impaired.

To understand how rapidly New York overhauled its marijuana laws, look no further than its impact on the criminal justice system.

Fewer and fewer people are being arrested on marijuana offenses in New York, underscoring the major effect of the drug’s decriminalization in 2019 and, ultimately, its legalization this past March. 

From April through October of this year, just 116 people statewide were arrested on a top-level misdemeanor or felony charge related to marijuana possession or sale in New York, data compiled by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services shows.

And as of early October, 11 people remained incarcerated in state prisons with a top crime of either criminal sale or possession of marijuana in the first-, second- or third-degree, according to the state Department of Correction and Community Supervision. 

A top charge is the most severe offense someone is arrested for.

U.K. officers standing in street below have no problem spotting earthbound cannabis before collecting it.

Make it rain took on a whole new meaning when a U.K. man reportedly tossed a large amount of illegal cannabis from the window of his flat while patient police officers and bemused onlookers watched the clumsy evasion attempt from below.

Fittingly, the window is located above a store called Swag Emporium, with a tag line that possibly starts with “High Fashion,” though the grainy video does not display the full sign.Later in the video, four officers are seen on the street as two cops scramble to collect the fallen bud.

The person apparently taking the video says of the apartment dweller: “He threw a box straight out of the window,” as the video shows two officers, gloved and one with a broom, putting the weed into a clear bag.

Taking, carrying, making, selling, dealing or sharing drugs, including cannabis, is illegal throughout the U.K., the government reports. For a Class B drug like cannabis, possessing it can result in as long as five years in prison while supplying or producing it can spur a maximum 14-year sentence. Unlimited fines, or both prison time and these penalties, are also options for U.K. courts.

Stores hit by groups of thieves in Walnut Creek, SF, San Jose, Hayward; ‘roving caravans’ target pot dispensaries, pharmacies in Oakland

Bay Area law enforcement authorities and retail officials expressed shock and concern Monday after a string of brash public robberies over the weekend saw groups of people — as many as 80 in one case — swarm stores, grab merchandise and flee while the holiday shopping season is in full swing.

In Oakland, roving caravans of armed robbers hit marijuana dispensaries and other retail shops and pharmacies across the city, often forcing their way in by gunfire, according to police Chief LeRonne Armstrong.

Thieves also struck the Nordstrom store in Walnut Creek, a jewelry store at a Hayward mall, retailers in San Francisco’s Union Square, and a high end clothing store and a sunglasses shop in San Jose. Authorities were looking for any possible links between the cases.

A San Jose police spokesman said the targeting Sunday of a Lululemon shop at Santana Row was “organized robbery.”

An executive board has adopted a report from a committee dispatched by the Legislature to study draft legislation on medical and adult-use cannabis.

A South Dakota legislative board has adopted a report from a committee dispatched by the Legislature to study draft legislation on medical and adult-use cannabis in the state.

The committee drafted nearly two dozen bills that would change South Dakota’s medical cannabis program, according to The Globe, as well as an adult-use legalization bill that committee chairman Bryan Breitling told the news outlet would be a “fail-safe” if the state’s Supreme Court upholds a lower court injunction against South Dakota’s voter-approved Amendment A.

The Legislature’s 15-member executive board voted to accept the committee’s report, although the vote does not represent endorsement of any of the draft bills, The Globe reported. The legislation will likely surface during the state’s upcoming legislative session, according to the news outlet.

South Dakota’s cannabis study committee broke into two separate panels, one on adult-use and one on medical cannabis, and received testimony from legal and health experts, cannabis advocates, and local leaders, The Globe reported.

South Dakota kicks off its 2022 legislative session Jan. 11.

If the group gathers 133,000 signatures, the Ohio Legislature would have four months to consider the group’s initiated statute.

The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol has collected nearly enough signatures to advance its adult-use cannabis legalization proposal in Ohio, according to the Ohio Capital Journal.

Thomas Haren, an Ohio-based attorney and a spokesperson for the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, told the news outlet that he expects the group to gather the 133,000 required signatures by the end of the month.

The proposal would allow adults 21 and older to possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis or 15 grams of cannabis extract. Adults would also be permitted to purchase cannabis at dispensaries or grow up to two plants at home for personal use.

If lawmakers fail to pass the statute, the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol can collect an additional 130,000 signatures to place its proposed law before voters on Ohio’s November 2022 ballot.

In the meantime, State Reps. Casey Weinstein and Terrance Upchurch introduced an adult-use cannabis legalization bill in the House over the summer, while Rep. Jamie Callendar introduced his own adult-use legislation last month.

Fresh off of news that California is set to raise the cannabis cultivation tax despite projections of a $31 billion surplus, one marijuana entrepreneur is calling for a potential tax revolt this summer. Michael “Mikey” Steinmetz, co-founder of the company that makes the Flow Kana cannabis brand, is threatening to withhold his taxes unless Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature adjust state marijuana regulations July 1, 2022. He is calling on other CEOs to join him in this effort. Steinmetz issued the declaration in an op-ed on Medium, published Monday.

He criticized the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration’s plans to increase the cultivation tax this January, writing “We simply reply: We’re not going to pay.”

Retail marijuana is taxed three times in California: an excise tax paid by buyers, sales tax paid by customers and the cultivation tax that growers pay. Growers wants changes to the cultivation tax because they pay it before they make a sale. California’s current cannabis cultivation tax is $9.65 per dry weight ounce for cannabis flower, $2.87 per dry weight ounce for leaves and $1.35 per dry weight ounce for cannabis plants. That will increase to $10.08 for flower, $3 for leaves and $1.41 for plants beginning Jan. 1. The increased rates “reflect as an adjustment for inflation as required by the Cannabis Tax Law,” according to the department.

The proposed increase has drawn condemnation from cannabis advocates, including California NORML, whose director Dale Gieringer said in a statement, “The legal industry is already so burdened by excessive taxes and regulation that it cannot compete with unlicensed marketers. California needs to be reducing, not increasing cannabis taxes to make the legal market more competitive.”

WHAT FLOW KANA WANTS

The Village of Greenport could vote to prohibit the sale of retail marijuana following a public hearing next week.

New York passed legislation earlier this year legalizing recreational marijuana use for adults 21 and over. Municipalities have until Dec. 31 to opt out of allowing on-site consumption and/or retail dispensaries from locating and operating within their boundaries. Although an opt-out can be repealed later, localities may not opt out of the legislation after that date.

Village trustees briefly discussed the vote at a work session on Thursday night, including the possibility of a permissive referendum if the board votes to opt-out. 

According to the New York Conference of Mayors, residents seeking a permissive referendum must file a valid petition signed by at least 20% of registered voters in the village with the office of the village clerk within 30 days of the law’s passage. If no petition is filed, then the local law or resolution goes into effect. 

“Because we have permissive referendum included, we would need to vote at this month’s meeting,” said village clerk Sylvia Pirillo. The village has prepared resolutions to opt-out.

Indian police said on Saturday they had charged senior executives of Amazon's local unit under narcotics laws in a case of alleged marijuana smuggling via the online retailer. Police in the central Madhya Pradesh state arrested two men with 20 kilograms of marijuana on November 14 and found they were using the Amazon India website to order and further smuggle the substance in the guise of stevia leaves, a natural sweetener, to other Indian states.

State police said in a statement that executive directors of Amazon India were being named as accused under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act due to differences in answers in documents provided by the company in response to police questions and facts unearthed by discussion.

Police did not disclose how many executives were charged.

The police, who had previously summoned and spoken to Amazon executives in the case, estimate that about 1,000 kg of marijuana, worth roughly $148,000, was sold via Amazon.

In a statement to Insider an Amazon spokesperson said: "Amazon, as a matter of company policy, extends full cooperation to law enforcement agencies in the event of any bad actor operating on the Amazon.in marketplace. We have shared, and will continue to share information that law enforcement needs in their investigation of this case."

Mace says she turned to cannabis for relief after a traumatic life event