Bipartisan Pennsylvania senators on Wednesday said they are introducing a bill to allow medical marijuana patients to cultivate their own plants for personal use. Sens. Dan Laughlin (R) and Sharif Street (D) made the announcement about a month after unveiling a separate adult-use legalization proposal. This more modest reform would simply promote access by giving medical patients a home cultivation option. “Since the passage of Act 16 in 2016, Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana (MMJ) program has offered lifesaving medicine to communities across the Commonwealth,” the senators wrote in a memo seeking additional cosponsors for the soon-to-be-introduced bill. “However, there are still inefficiencies around MMJ that are well known, especially as it relates to cost and access.” Letting patients grow their own medicine would “help ease the cost and accessibility burdens for this important medicine,” they said. “This legislation would go a long way towards helping everyday Pennsylvanians meet their health needs and ensuring everyone is treated equitably and fairly under Act 16.” Today, @SenSharifStreet and I introduced our Medical Marijuana Home Cultivation Bill. This will go a long way towards helping everyday Pennsylvanians meet their health needs and ensuring everyone is treated equitably and fairly under Act 16.

Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 11/18/2021 08:48:00

Open article: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/bipartisan-pennsylvania-senators-announce-medical-marijuana-home-grow-bill/

Some Indiana lawmakers are working to introduce legislation that would legalize marijuana. Earlier this week, the Indiana Democratic Party called for medical and recreational marijuana to be legalized in the Hoosier State. Jeff Staker and his organization Hoosier Veterans for Medical Cannabis have advocated for medicinal marijuana use for the past five years. “They don’t want to feel like criminals,” Staker said. Staker said he launched the organization after he began considering medical marijuana instead of oxycodone to manage his chronic back pain. He knows some fellow veterans who go across state lines to obtain medicinal cannabis, he added. “People are benefiting from it, and Indiana can do this in a safe and reliable way,” Staker said. Southern Michigan marijuana dispensaries say more than half of customers are Hoosiers So far, 36 states allow medicinal marijuana use and 18 states permit non-medical use, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. State Sen. J.D. Ford (D-Indianapolis) said he’s working on a medical marijuana bill modeled after a law passed in Alabama. “We can and have the opportunity to show Hoosiers that we’re moving forward and really fighting for issues that they want to see us take up,” State Sen. Ford said. Many Republican state lawmakers remain opposed to any form of marijuana legalization.

Mmp News Author, Medical Marijuana Program Connection, 11/17/2021 22:29:00

Open article: https://mmpconnect.com/some-indiana-lawmakers-plan-to-introduce-marijuana-legislation-this-session/

When it comes to cannabis, states like California, Colorado, and Oregon get most of the attention. But some of the nation’s largest marijuana companies are planting roots south of the Mason-Dixon Line. “The South is the biggest frontier in cannabis,” says Jim Cacioppo, the CEO of Jushi, a marijuana company that has 26 dispensaries across Virginia, Pennsylvania, California, Illinois, and Massachusetts. “It’s just a matter of time.” Jushi has two dispensaries in Virginia but will open a total of six stores by 2023. His company’s stores are just outside of Washington, D.C. in Alexandria, Arlington, and Fairfax. Cacioppo says that while California boasts the title of being the country’s largest marijuana market in terms of annual sales, he sees states like Virginia and Georgia as having the greatest growth potential. “We view Virginia as one of the best licenses in cannabis,” Cacioppo says, explaining that his company has the exclusive right to sell weed legally in the D.C. suburbs, which has 2.5 million residents. “It’s the keystone of Jushi.” Virginia is still a small medical market. But with a population of over 8.5 million people, it has the potential to be bigger than Colorado, which has 5.7 million residents and a $2.1 billion (annual sales) cannabis market.

Cannabis Business Executive – Cannabis and Marijuana industry news, 11/18/2021 09:12:00

Open article: https://www.cannabisbusinessexecutive.com/2021/11/why-the-legal-cannabis-industry-is-high-on-the-american-south/

Bipartisan Wisconsin lawmakers on Tuesday unveiled a bill to decriminalize marijuana possession, a notable development in a state where cannabis reform has consistently stalled in the GOP-controlled legislature despite support from the Democratic governor. Reps. Shae Sortwell (R) and Sylvia Ortiz-Velez (D) are sponsoring the legislation in the Assembly, with a companion bill being led in the Senate by Sens. Kathleen Bernier (R) and Lena Taylor (D). There are currently about a dozen cosponsors attached to the proposal across both chambers and parties. At a time when more and more local Wisconsin jurisdictions are independently enacting cannabis reforms, this bill seeks to standardize decriminalization at the state level. That said, some advocates have pointed out that, in doing so, it may undermine some city policy changes by mandating higher fines than are now currently in effect. The measure would make it so possession of up to 14 grams of marijuana would be punishable by a $100 civil fine without the threat of jail time under state law for a first offense. Importantly, the bill would also eliminate “counting” of offenses if they involve 28 grams of cannabis or less, meaning people would not be subject to enhanced penalties for repeat offenses. While it remains to be seen whether the legislature will have the appetite to advance the measure, the sponsors say they’re working to strike a balance between legalization—as the governor, advocates, and some legislators want—and the status quo of criminalization.

Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 11/16/2021 13:07:00

Open article: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/bipartisan-wisconsin-lawmakers-unveil-marijuana-decriminalization-bill/