The legalization of recreational marijuana may end up on the November ballot after the petition format was approved late last month. Now, the sponsoring group is gathering signatures. For years, North Dakotans have considered the issue of legalizing recreational marijuana. Residents have opinions across the board. “I think, you know with regulation, people should be able to choose what they want to do. And if they are practicing whatever they want to do safely, that’s fine by me,” said Bismarck resident Romeo Norris. “I don’t have no opinion on it,” said Bismarck resident Mike Roll. Others said off-camera that they’re against it. Now, sponsoring committee New Approach North Dakota is working to put marijuana on the November 2022 ballot by collecting 15,582 voter signatures by July 11. “It’s going good. We have internal metrics and quotas we manage, and we are at or above all of our metrics,” said New Approach North Dakota campaign manager David Owen.

Cannabis Business Executive – Cannabis and Marijuana industry news, 05/23/2022 10:51:00

Open article: https://www.cannabisbusinessexecutive.com/2022/05/north-dakota-group-gathers-signatures-in-attempt-to-get-recreational-marijuana-on-2022-ballot/

The pursuit to create a recreational marijuana industry in Delaware hit a bump on Thursday, as a bill seeking to regulate the growing and selling of weed failed in the House by one vote. Rep. Larry Mitchell, House majority whip, was ill and could not vote, said House spokesman Drew Volturo. Mitchell is a co-sponsor of HB 372, the bill that failed, and has voted for marijuana legalization and regulation bills in the past. Just after the House vote failed, the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Ed Osienski, changed his vote to “no,” which allows for the opportunity of another roll call vote. “Coming into today, I thought it was going to be a good day,” Osienski said. “This whole thing has been up and down, up and down. This was a down.” Osienski said he believes another attempt for a vote will be made in early June, when the General Assembly returns from its two-week recess. Rep. Bill Bush was the only Democrat to vote against the legislation. This time, the bill gained the support of Rep. Stephanie T. Bolden and House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf.

Cannabis Business Executive – Cannabis and Marijuana industry news, 05/22/2022 12:34:00

Open article: https://www.cannabisbusinessexecutive.com/2022/05/lawmakers-sick-day-causes-recreational-marijuana-bill-to-fail-by-1-vote-in-delaware-house/

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has rejected a veteran’s application for recognition of his hemp products company, writing in a denial letter this week that the business’s involvement in “products derived from the same genus of plant (cannabis) as marijuana” would amount to “a federal agency endorsing a Schedule I controlled substance.” The rejection appears to be yet another example of confusion around the federal status of hemp, which is legal under U.S. law and defined as cannabis or its derivatives containing less than 0.3 percent THC. Cannabis products with higher concentrations of THC remain illegal under the Controlled Substances Act. The business in question is Florida–based Holistic Serendipity LLC, which does business as Native Ceuticals Tampa. It operates under a licensing agreement with Native Ceuticals, headquartered in North Carolina. The Florida affiliate company, owned by Marine veteran Zack Zindler, is seeking certification as a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB), a designation that enables a company to compete for certain federal contracts. While many federal agencies allow businesses to self-certify as SDVOSBs, VA requires verification through its Center for Verification and Evaluation (CVE).

Ben Adlin, Marijuana Moment, 05/20/2022 08:21:00

Open article: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/va-rejects-veterans-hemp-business-certification-saying-it-could-create-appearance-of-endorsing-marijuana/

Speaking to a congressional panel on Thursday, the head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acknowledged that his agency has taken little regulatory action on CBD products in recent years despite the federal legalization of hemp and its derivatives. “It looks pretty much the same in terms of where we are now,” FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert M. Califf told a House Appropriations subcommittee during a hearing that touched on CBD regulation, the nationwide shortage of baby formula, and the therapeutic use of the plant kratom. “We just know more because we’ve done more research.” The bulk of FDA funds spent on cannabidiol so far “has been spent on research to figure out what the risks, if any, are of various uses of this material in its different forms,” Califf said, adding that “the amazing plethora derivatives of the cannabis plant [are] surely quite profound and astounding and already in widespread use for a variety of means.” But while Califf insisted he wants FDA to continue moving forward on rules for CBD products, he said the agency likely needs broader regulatory powers from Congress to get it done.

Ben Adlin, Marijuana Moment, 05/19/2022 15:47:00

Open article: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/fda-head-admits-agency-has-been-slow-to-regulate-cbd-but-suggests-congress-needs-to-do-more/

The Delaware House of Representatives on Thursday rejected a bill to legalize and regulate marijuana sales, even though it got a majority of votes in support. The move comes one week after lawmakers sent the governor separate legislation to simply legalize cannabis possession. The broader measure providing for a commercial marijuana market got 23 votes in support and 15 against but fell short of the three-fifths supermajority needed for passage. Rep. Ed Osienski (D) is sponsoring both the simple legalization bill, HB 371, and the complementary measure to establish sales regulations, HB 372. He made the calculated decision to break them up after his earlier proposal that included both components was rejected in the House because it also failed to get a required three-fifths majority. Because HB 371 on its own does not deal with raising revenue, it only needed a simple majority to pass. Osinski’s thinking has been that first moving non-commercial legalization through the legislature would put pressure on colleagues to approve the regulations bill with the higher vote threshold, rather than leave the market open—but that plan fell just short of success on Thursday.

Tom Angell, Marijuana Moment, 05/19/2022 18:45:00

Open article: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/delaware-house-rejects-marijuana-sales-legalization-bill-as-separate-possession-measure-awaits-governors-action/