Mississippi House and Senate lawmakers have reached an agreement to send a bill to legalize medical marijuana to the governor’s desk this week. The proposal will go to a bicameral conference committee that will finalize details of the legislation on Tuesday, with votes in both chambers for final passage expected on Wednesday. Sen. Kevin Blackwell (R) and Rep. Lee Yancey (R) discussed the plan at a press conference on Tuesday. There was an opportunity for a concurrence vote in the Senate—where the bill originated and advanced to the House this month and was then amended—but following pushback from the Mississippi Municipal League (MML) over a House change related to zoning rules for cannabis businesses, the Senate is now expected to vote against concurrence and instead go to conference. This comes more than 14 months after voters in Mississippi passed an initiative to legalize medical cannabis—a law the state Supreme Court later overturned. And the bill that’s being tweaked again is the result of months of negotiations and last-minute changes to a nearly 450-page bill. “This has been a long journey, and it’s nice to be in a place where everyone is in agreement,” Yancey said on Tuesday.

Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 01/25/2022 13:45:00

Open article: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/mississippi-lawmakers-reach-deal-to-send-medical-marijuana-bill-to-governor-this-week/

Amazon, the second-largest private employer in the U.S., is backing a Republican-led bill to federally legalize, tax and regulate marijuana. The company’s public policy division said on Tuesday that it is “pleased to endorse” the legislation from Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who filed the States Reform Act in November as a middle-ground alternative to more scaled back GOP proposals and wide-ranging legalization bills that are being championed by Democrats. “Like so many in this country, we believe it’s time to reform the nation’s cannabis policy, and Amazon is committed to helping lead the effort,” the company, which previously expressed support for a separate, Democratic-led legalization bill, said. Amazon has worked to adapt to changing marijuana policies internally as it’s backed congressional reform, enacting an employment policy change last year to end drug testing for cannabis for most workers, for example. Months after making that change—and following the introduction of the States Reform Act—Mace met with Amazon and received the company’s endorsement, Forbes reported.“They don’t want to sell it,” the freshman congresswoman said, adding that Amazon is primarily interested in backing the reform for hiring purposes instead of as a way to eventually sell cannabis. “It opens up the hiring pool by about 10 percent.”

Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 01/25/2022 16:41:00

Open article: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/amazon-endorses-gop-led-bill-to-federally-legalize-marijuana/

New York’s top cannabis regulators held their first meeting of the new year on Tuesday and they’re doubling down on outreach, both in the legislature and with stakeholders across the state. The Office of Cannabis Management’s Cannabis Control Board’s meeting also focused on equity and on jurisdictions that have opted out of cannabis retail and consumption spaces. Tremaine Wright, head of the CCB, said during the meeting that the Board has met with members of the Legislature, including the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus, to share progress and to “seek their partnership in raising awareness for a series of community outreach and education events that we’re calling ‘cannabis conversations.’” Those Cannabis Conversations so far include 11 “regional discussions” on a wide spectrum of topics related to the upcoming launch of New York’s adult-use cannabis market. Wright said that she was “thrilled” that Gov. Kathy Hochul’s executive budget, which was released last week, includes the creation of the New York Social Equity Cannabis Investment Fund. The public-private partnership fund will “promote equity and economic justice in New York’s cannabis industry,” Hochul noted in her budget documents.

Alyson Martin, Cannabis Wire, 01/24/2022 19:00:00

Open article: https://cannabiswire.com/2022/01/25/new-york-regulators-continue-push-to-set-the-cannabis-equity-standard/