Three years after it was formed, the Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency is getting a new name. The agency will be renamed the Cannabis Regulatory Agency and take up the task of overseeing hemp processing, distribution, and sales in addition to its current regulation of the marijuana industry. The change moves most hemp oversight from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to the Cannabis Regulatory Agency. The agriculture department will continue overseeing hemp cultivation. The change made under the executive order and set to take effect in 60 days “will allow for a more effective, efficient administration and enforcement of Michigan laws regulating cannabis in all its forms,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office said in a statement. “… To be blunt — safe, legal cannabis entrepreneurship, farming, and consumption help us put Michiganders first by directing the large windfall of tax revenue from this new industry to make bigger, bolder investments in local schools, roads, and first responders,” Whitmer said. The Marijuana Regulatory Agency was formed by executive order in spring 2019 to oversee the regulation of medical and recreational marijuana following the legalization of recreational marijuana via ballot initiative in 2018.

Cannabis Business Executive – Cannabis and Marijuana industry news, 02/14/2022 11:13:00

Open article: https://www.cannabisbusinessexecutive.com/2022/02/whitmer-rolls-out-new-name-for-michigan-pot-agency/

It is curious to see the recent dispensary complaints about restrictive regulation and unsustainable tax burdens. What is missing from this discussion is the fact that Hawaii’s eight dispensaries — as well as our 34,000 lawfully registered medical cannabis patients, for that matter — are all technically federal criminals because the mere possession of cannabis without formal authorization from the Drug Enforcement Administration is a violation of federal law and the federal regulation of marijuana. The problems that the dispensaries are describing are almost entirely due to the consequences of being continuing criminal enterprises and drug traffickers in the eyes of the federal government, which prohibits the dispensaries from utilizing regular banking services or deducting standard business expenses from their federal tax returns, resulting in an exorbitant federal tax burden of about 70% that must be paid in cash. This should make us all wonder why the dispensaries are not screaming bloody murder to do something about ending the 22-year-old conflict between the state-authorized medical use of cannabis and the federal regulation of marijuana.

420 Intel – Marijuana Industry News, 02/13/2022 19:00:00

Open article: https://420intel.com/articles/2022/02/14/medical-marijuana-hawaii-still-conflicts-federal-law

Colorado broke another marijuana sales record in 2021, with state officials reporting over $2.22 billion in cannabis purchases last year. The new figures released on Thursday by the Colorado Department of Revenue (DOR) also showed that the state took in $423,486,053 in tax revenue from medical and adult-use marijuana sales in 2021. The prior sales record occurred in 2020 when Colorado saw about $2.19 billion in marijuana purchases. Since the retail market launched in 2014, cannabis sales have exceeded $12 billion. As of January, tax revenue from those sales has reached $2,049,714,026. The Marijuana Tax Reports show state tax and fee revenue collected monthly as posted in the Colorado state accounting system,” DOR said. “Tax revenue comes from the state sales tax (2.9 percent) on marijuana sold in stores, the state retail marijuana sales tax (15 percent) on retail marijuana sold in stores, and the state retail marijuana excise tax (15 percent) on wholesale sales/transfers of retail marijuana. Fee revenue comes from marijuana license and application fees.” Nearly $500 million of cannabis tax revenue in Colorado has supported the state’s public school system. The state brought in a record $423 million in marijuana tax dollars last year alone. As more states legalize cannabis for adult or medical use—and those markets come online and mature—other states are seeing similar trends in increased sales and tax collection. For example, Massachusetts is officially collecting more tax revenue from marijuana than alcohol, state data released last month shows. As of December 2021, the state took in $51.3 million from alcohol taxes and $74.2 million from cannabis at the halfway point of the fiscal year.

Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 02/10/2022 14:41:00

Open article: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/colorado-set-a-marijuana-sales-record-in-2021-state-officials-report/

A bill to legalize medical marijuana in South Carolina officially passed the Senate on third reading on Thursday, sending the reform measure to the House of Representatives for consideration. While final passage in the Senate was expected after Wednesday’s initial bipartisan vote to advance the bill from Sen. Tom Davis (R) on second reading, Thursday’s voice vote means the legislation will now be formally transmitted to the other body of the bicameral legislature. The Compassionate Care Act was prefilled in late 2020 and passed out of the Senate Medical Affairs Committee last March, but a lone senator blocked it from reaching the chamber floor in 2021. Since then, Davis redoubled his efforts to get the bill across the finish line, arguing that South Carolina voters are ready for what he’s repeatedly called “the most conservative medical cannabis bill in the country.”. The senator said last month that House Speaker Jay Lucas (R) agreed to “allow the bill to go through the House process” if it advanced through the Senate, but a spokesperson for the speaker later told The Charleston Post and Courier that “Sen. Davis doesn’t speak for Speaker Lucas.” Gov. Henry McMaster (R) said earlier this week that it was too early to comment on the proposal, as changes were still being made by lawmakers. “This is one that’s going to depend on a lot of things,” he told a local FOX station, adding that he’ll wait to see the final version before deciding whether he would potentially sign or veto the bill if it were to arrive on his desk.

Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 02/10/2022 12:45:00

Open article: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/south-carolina-medical-marijuana-legalization-bill-officially-approved-in-senate-heads-for-house-consideration/

The activist-led push to legalize marijuana in Oklahoma has become seriously contentious, with one campaign waging a legal challenge against a separate group of advocates working to end prohibition. The latest result of the conflict is the filing on Wednesday of a newly revised initiative to put legalization on the ballot. The new measure comes from a campaign that’s being backed by the national New Approach PAC, which has been behind a number of successful state-level reform initiatives across the country. It filed its first 2022 Oklahoma legalization measure last month before facing the legal challenge from other activists over statutory concerns. The separate campaign, Oklahomans for Responsible Cannabis Action (ORCA), contested the prior New Approach measure with the state Supreme Court late last month, arguing that, among other things, the competing initiative violated a single-subject rule for ballot proposals. It argued that the measure covers too many policies beyond simple legalization, which they say should render the initiative invalid. But while ORCA chose to make that argument, its own initiative also covers the significant ground. As filed, for example, both would provide pathways for expungements of prior cannabis convictions. That’s changed now in the latest New Approach-backed measure, and if the legal challenge against the prior measure goes forward and is successful, the initial draft would be rendered ineligible for the ballot and New Approach would pursue their second version. Enter the new initiative from New Approach: This one makes technical changes to the gist and ballot title language to more closely align some of the provisions that were challenged. It also eliminates the expungements section to avoid a further legal contest based on the single-subject rule.

Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 02/10/2022 11:17:00

Open article: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/oklahoma-becomes-marijuana-legalization-battleground-between-advocates-with-legal-challenges-and-a-new-ballot-initiative/