Colorado Springs residents could have the chance to vote on the sale of recreational marijuana in the city in this year’s election. Your Choice Colorado Springs, the group working to get the sale of recreational marijuana on the ballot, filed a petition initiative in January. The City Title Board approved the proposed initiative language that would legalize recreational marijuana sales in Colorado Springs last week. This means that supporters can begin collecting signatures, and if they collect enough signatures, the initiative will appear on this year’s ballot. “The citizens of Colorado’s second-largest city finally have it within their power to direct taxes from recreational cannabis sales back to their hometown, rather than to cities like Denver and Manitou Springs,” Anthony Carlson, the group’s campaign manager, said in a statement last week. Your Choice Colorado Springs estimates that there has been $150 million in revenue lost over the past decade because of the ban on selling recreational marijuana inside Colorado Springs, according to the group’s website. While recreational marijuana has been legal in Colorado since 2012, it is against the law for dispensaries in Colorado Springs to sell recreational marijuana. It is legal for licensed medical dispensaries to sell medical marijuana to registered medical marijuana patients in Colorado Springs.

Marijuana Moment, Marijuana Moment, 03/23/2022 15:47:00

Open article: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/colorado-marijuana-activists-cleared-to-collect-signatures-to-legalize-sales-in-states-second-largest-city/

A Maryland Senate committee on Wednesday took up a pair of House-passed bills to put marijuana legalization on the state’s November ballot and set initial rules if voters approve the reform, with some lawmakers raising concerns about the limited scope of the implementation proposal and questioning why the ballot question doesn’t contain more specific language around issues like licensing and equity. The Senate Finance Committee held the hearing on HB 1 and HB 837, both sponsored by Del. Luke Clippinger (D), about a month after they cleared the opposite chamber. The meeting also took place days after a key Maryland House committee advanced a Senate-approved budget bill, adding new amendments that would allocate tens of millions of dollars in funding to implement marijuana legalization with the expectation that the reform will ultimately be enacted this year. Clippinger is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which reported the bills out favorably last month before sending them to the floor. He also led a marijuana workgroup that House Speaker Adrienne Jones (D) formed last summer to study the issue.

Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 03/23/2022 14:56:00

Open article: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/maryland-senators-raise-questions-about-house-passed-bills-marijuana-legalization-bills-in-committee-hearing/

In the United States, less than 20 percent of legal cannabis business owners and founders are minorities. This reality, combined with the negative consequences of cannabis prohibition on minority communities, has led many advocates to call on elected officials to address this disparity. With legal cannabis projected to meet over 40 percent of our country’s annual demand by 2025, the policies state lawmakers choose to implement over the next few years will likely play a significant role in the makeup of this quickly expanding and highly profitable industry. While there is no one solution to promoting a diverse and healthy cannabis market, some states with legal cannabis have enacted various social equity policies with varying success. Though different in each state, most of these policies seek to address criticisms that the legal cannabis industry is profiting from the same substance that put many Americans from historically underserved communities behind bars. For example, in Illinois, where cannabis became legal in 2020, lawmakers passed a provision prioritizing dispensary and grow licenses for applicants who meet specific social equity criteria.

Lewis Koski, Forbes, 03/21/2022 20:00:00

Open article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/lewiskoski/2022/03/22/social-equity-policies-could-shape-diversity-in-the-legal-cannabis-industry

Last month, the French government issued a decree that allowed the growing of medical marijuana and the development of the industry. The enactment took effect on March 1, 2022; however, it awaits implementation by regulators. The act features conditions and procedures for the growth and production of medical cannabis. It has also amended some clauses in the Code of Public Health to permit for cultivation, production, processing, transport, possession, import, and export of cannabis and its components under the medical mandate. The development of the medicinal cannabis supply chain will be overseen by the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM). The agency has also created a committee of 11 members who will canvas several aspects of the supply chain. This includes identification of cannabis strains available for medical use, THC and CBD levels, track and trace systems, and consumption method of cannabis medicines as well as the pharmaceutical quality criteria. The decree comes after a medical marijuana pilot project was launched last year targeting almost 3,000 patients with severe conditions such as chronic pain and epilepsy.

CannabisNewsWire, 03/23/2022 16:20:00

Open article: https://www.cannabisnewswire.com/420-with-cnw-french-government-announces-decree-allowing-growing-of-medical-marijuana/