Bills before the Michigan Legislature are looking to change regulations for medical marijuana caregivers, limiting how much marijuana they could grow. Some customers are boycotting the major cannabis producers that back the legislation, which would lower the number of cannabis plants a caregiver may grow from 72 to 24. Casey Kornoelje, the founder of Grand Rapids-based cannabis provisioner Farmhouse Wellness, opposes the legislation. “For me, it would potentially cut the amount of cannabis that I could provide to my wife,” who has Crohn’s disease and for whom Kornoelje serves as a caregiver, he said. While he now sells medical and recreational marijuana at his store, he started as a caregiver, growing plants at home and providing them directly to patients for medical use. “You’re probably not harvesting 72 plants all in one shot. In order for these caregivers to provide a consistent flow of cannabis for their patients, most likely they’re breaking that down into different segments — some in the early seedling stage, some in the vegetive stage and then some in the flowering stage.

420 Intel – Marijuana Industry News, 11/16/2021 19:00:00

Open article: https://420intel.com/articles/2021/11/17/bills-would-cut-down-how-much-medical-marijuana-caregivers-could-grow

People applying to be first responders in Austin, Texas will no longer need to disclose their prior marijuana use following a push by advocates to get the policy change enacted. Austin-Travis County EMS (ATCEMS) revised the employment policy late last month after members of Texas NORML and the local EMS union called attention to the issue and sent nearly 3,000 letters to City Council members advocating for a change. “That question [about cannabis use within the past three years] and the associated disqualifier has been removed from both the application for employment and our EMSRecruiting.org website,” an ATCEMS spokesperson told Marijuana Moment on Monday. The local EMS union said that the reform was all the more appropriate given that the legislature passed a bill earlier this year that expanded the state’s limited medical cannabis program to include post-traumatic stress disorder in the list of qualifying conditions. “Due to COVID-19 and the nature of EMS work, many of our first responders have PTSD,” Austin EMS Association President Selena Xie said in a press release. Jax Finkel, executive director of Texas NORML, told Marijuana Moment that the organization “was proud to team up with Austin first responders to push back on hiring practices that discriminate against legal cannabis consumption.” “The NORML community in Austin raised their voices and got this done so we can focus on public safety,” she said.

Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 11/16/2021 10:36:00

Open article: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/first-responders-no-longer-disqualified-for-past-marijuana-use-in-austin/

President Joe Biden on Monday signed a massive infrastructure bill that includes provisions aimed at allowing researchers to study the actual marijuana that consumers are purchasing from state-legal dispensaries instead of having to use only government-grown cannabis.The legislation also encourages states that have enacted legalization laws to educate people about impaired driving. Biden signed the large-scale measure—a legislative accomplishment being touted by Democrats after weeks of contentious debate—without specifically mentioning the marijuana provisions. The development comes as Democratic lawmakers in Congress work to advance several pieces of cannabis legislation, including a federal legalization bill that cleared the House Judiciary Committee in September. A new Republican-led plan to end federal cannabis prohibition was introduced in the House on Monday. Separately, the full chamber approved a defense spending bill in September that includes protections for banks that work with state-legal cannabis businesses.

Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 11/15/2021 16:23:00

Open article: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/biden-signs-infrastructure-bill-promoting-marijuana-research-by-encouraging-access-to-dispensary-products/

A New York senator has filed a bill to make it so transgender and non-binary people can qualify as social equity applicants under the state’s marijuana law. Sen. Jeremy Cooney (D) introduced the legislation in an attempt to resolve an “unintended consequence” of the adult-use law, which would currently “force certain individuals from choosing between their gender identity and receiving priority for a license,” the bill’s justification section states. That’s because, as enacted, the marijuana law gives licensing priority to women-owned businesses, as well as other marginalized groups or communities most impacted by prohibition. The language around social equity for women creates inadvertent complications for the transgender and gender-nonbinary community. For example, a person who was born biologically female and transitioned, or identifies as nonbinary, might need to decide between filling out an application based on the gender assigned at birth or missing out on equity benefits. “This bill will include transgender and gender-nonbinary individuals in the social and economic equity plan giving them priority in licensing,” the legislation says. “Every New Yorker deserves the right to express and identify their gender as they choose.”

Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 11/15/2021 14:39:00

Open article: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/new-york-senator-files-bill-to-extend-marijuana-equity-benefits-to-transgender-and-non-binary-people/

Rep. Nancy Mace, a first-term Republican from South Carolina, introduced a bill Monday to decriminalize cannabis at the federal level, which she hopes will garner more GOP support for the legalization movement. “This legislation, I believe, has something good for everyone, whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican,” Mace told reporters outside the Capitol, where she introduced her States Reform Act. Even though it is legal in 18 states, with medical use permissible in 37 states, marijuana is illegal under federal law. Mace’s bill would strip cannabis of its classification as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act, which makes possession of marijuana a crime. Her office said the legislation aims to end criminalization “in a manner consistent with the rights of states to determine what level of cannabis reform or legalization each state wants to regulate, or not.” The measure also would allow for expungement of federal convictions in nonviolent cases and provide a framework for federal regulation and enforcement in states that allow the sale of marijuana. Sales would be prohibited to people under 21, Mace said, adding that the bill would establish cannabis regulations similar to restrictions on alcohol.

Cannabis Business Executive – Cannabis and Marijuana industry news, 11/16/2021 07:55:00

Open article: https://www.cannabisbusinessexecutive.com/2021/11/south-carolina-republican-introduces-bill-to-decriminalize-marijuana-at-federal-level/