Virginia lawmakers plan to take up a host of cannabis-related legislation this year in a narrowly divided General Assembly, following the body’s historic vote to legalize the drug for recreational use last year — when both the House of Delegates and the Senate were under Democratic control. Last summer, then-Gov. Ralph Northam (D) signed into law a measure making it legal for people 21 or older to possess up to an ounce of marijuana and cultivate up to four marijuana plants in their household. But the complex legislation left it illegal to buy or sell cannabis, as retail sales were not slated to begin until 2024, giving the state time to build a regulated commercial market. Proposed legislation would allow some businesses to begin legally selling marijuana as soon as July 1. The law includes a provision that requires the General Assembly to reenact certain aspects of the legislation during this year’s session, opening the door to significant changes to the law. Lawmakers in both the House, which Republicans now control after winning the majority in last fall’s elections, and the Senate, which is still under the control of Democrats, will consider cannabis-related bills that address such issues as a timeline and who will get licensing preference.

Cannabis Business Executive – Cannabis and Marijuana industry news, 01/31/2022 09:07:00

Open article: https://www.cannabisbusinessexecutive.com/2022/01/with-marijuana-now-legal-in-virginia-lawmakers-debate-how-to-set-up-the-industry/

Marijuana business owners remain subject to criminal charges from the U.S. government despite a longstanding federal amendment that bars the Department of Justice from interfering with medical cannabis laws and operations, an appellate court ruled this week. According to Reuters, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week that two licensed cannabis growers in Maine can be held accountable under federal marijuana laws despite the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment (now known as the Joyce-Blumenauer Amendment) because they allegedly engaged in “blatantly illegitimate activity.” Judge William Kayatta wrote in an opinion for the court that the DOJ could prosecute the defendants in question – Brian Bilodeau and Tyler Poland – because they used Maine’s MMJ laws as a cover to operate illegally by selling marijuana into the underground market.

Cannabis Law Report, 01/28/2022 21:55:00

Open article: https://cannabislaw.report/maine-1st-u-s-circuit-court-of-appeals-ruled-this-week-that-two-licensed-cannabis-growers-in-maine-can-be-held-accountable-under-federal-marijuana-laws-despite-the-rohrabacher-farr-amendment/

Newly released data show that Poland is home to over 9,261 patients legally accessing medical cannabis, making it one of the largest such populations in Europe. Demand for medical cannabis from patients in Poland is growing fast, but the government is still failing to ensure adequate supply. New legislation that would bolster the national supply has been rejected by the Parliament. On 13 January 2022, the Polish Parliament held the first reading of three draft laws intended to overhaul the cannabis laws in Poland. Out of the three drafts under consideration, two were rejected, and the third one was accepted for further proceedings by the Health and Agriculture committees. Currently, legislative work is taking place with respect to six different drafts of amendments to the hemp law, two of which (including one citizen’s draft) relate to the legalization of recreational use. The first of the rejected drafts provided for the general admission of cannabis cultivation with high THC concentration for the needs of the pharmaceutical industry in Poland, allowed the reimbursement of cannabis-based medicines for certain indications and aimed to regulate the legal issue of driving after the use (2-5 ng Δ9 THC/ml) and in an intoxicated state (>5 ng Δ9 THC/ml) of THC. It, therefore, remains illegal to cultivate medical cannabis commercially in Poland and patients must rely on imports from Europe and North America.The second bill, also rejected, was a new law comprehensively regulating the cultivation of industrial hemp (with a low THC content), the cultivation of which is now legal in Poland, but regulated (like so-called ‘medical marijuana) by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act. The proposal assumed raising to 0.3% THC the limit, differentiating between fibrous (industrial) hemp and hemp with high THC content used for medical purposes.

Cannabis Law Report, 01/28/2022 23:06:00

Open article: https://cannabislaw.report/uks-prohibition-partners-provide-polish-cannabis-legislation-update/