Thailand on Tuesday became the first country in Asia to approve the de facto decriminalization of marijuana, though authorities have left a grey area around its recreational use. Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced that the Narcotics Control Board had approved the dropping of cannabis from the ministry’s list of controlled drugs. The delisting by the ministry’s Food and Drug Administration will now need to be formally signed by the health minister and enters into effect 120 days after its publication in the government gazette. It follows the removal of cannabis — a plant species to which both marijuana and hemp belong — last month from the list of illegal drugs under Thailand’s Narcotics Law. Police and lawyers contacted by The Associated Press said it was unclear if possession of marijuana would no longer be an offense subject to arrest. A tangle of related laws means that production and possession of marijuana remain regulated for the time being, leaving the legal status of recreational marijuana use in a grey area.

420 Intel – Marijuana Industry News, 01/25/2022 19:00:00

Open article: https://420intel.com/articles/2022/01/26/thailand-becomes-first-country-asia-decriminalize-marijuana

Republicans in the Wisconsin Senate stopped an effort by Sen. Melissa Agard (D-Madison) to force a vote on legalizing the recreational use of cannabis. The Senate took up a bill Tuesday that would increase penalties for a person who uses a butane torch to extract resin from a cannabis plant. Agard introduced an amendment to the bill that, instead of making penalties harsher, would have completely legalized all uses of cannabis. Agard said she was introducing the amendment because if the goal of the bill is to increase public safety, then increased criminalization is not the direction to go — especially since most of Wisconsin’s neighboring states have legalized either medicinal or recreational use. Republicans in the Senate killed Agard’s effort by voting that the amendment was out of order and not “germane” to the initial bill. The original bill, without Agard’s amendment, passed on a 20-12 party-line vote.

420 Intel – Marijuana Industry News, 01/25/2022 19:00:00

Open article: https://420intel.com/articles/2022/01/26/wisconsin-senate-republicans-vote-against-recreational-cannabis

Flaws in proposed federal marijuana legislation threaten the legal cannabis market, especially failure to pause the Dormant Commerce Clause, say Shaleen Title, the distinguished cannabis policy practitioner in residence at the Ohio State University Drug Enforcement and Policy Center, and Andrew Kline, who co-leads the cannabis practice at Perkins Coie. They suggest some changes. Cannabis is gaining acceptance, with more than three dozen states and territories having legalized the plant in some form. Cannabis reform has widespread support nationally, with a recent Pew Research Center poll showing that 91% of Americans support legal recreational or medical marijuana use. And in response to popular demand, states are passing increasingly robust social justice policies providing equitable ownership opportunities, with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) recently announcing a new $200 million fund to promote diversity among licensees in her state’s emerging legal marijuana industry.

420 Intel – Marijuana Industry News, 01/24/2022 19:00:00

Open article: https://420intel.com/articles/2022/01/25/flaws-federal-cannabis-bills-threaten-legal-market