Cannabis gifting parties are no longer allowed in Connecticut. Gov. Ned Lamont this week signed legislation that seeks to crack down on the unregulated cannabis bazaars that cropped up across Connecticut after the drug became fully legal here. At the events, attended by several thousand who usually paid a fee to get in, people would exchange items of value for cannabis-related products or include a cannabis product as part of a purchase of a $25 T-shirt, for example. Municipalities can now fine residents up to $1,000 for gifting a cannabis plant or other cannabis-related product to another individual in exchange for any kind of donation, including an admission fee, or as part of any giveaway such as a swag bag. The state can also separately issue $1,000 fines for failing to pay sales taxes. Supporters of the bill said it still allows people to gift cannabis to their friends and family provided no payment is exchanged.

Mmp News Author, Medical Marijuana Program Connection, 05/26/2022 20:57:00

Open article: https://mmpconnect.com/marijuana-gifting-parties-are-now-illegal-in-connecticut/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=marijuana-gifting-parties-are-now-illegal-in-connecticut

Research from Gallup released last year shows that record numbers of Americans support some form of cannabis legalization, as more states pass laws legalizing medical and recreational adult uses of cannabis. This has resulted in both parties represented in Congress taking federal cannabis policy more seriously. In the Republican Party, for example, a majority now support legalization (though, of course, there is a fair degree of variation in what voters think that should look like in practice), and these shifting attitudes are now reflected in the halls of Congress, where Republican lawmakers are spearheading a number of bills that have pulled back the curtain on federal prohibition and prompted new discussions of what a federal regulation of cannabis should look like.

Lewis Koski, Forbes, 05/24/2022 20:00:00

Open article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/lewiskoski/2022/05/25/shifting-conservative-attitudes-toward-cannabis-reflected-in-new-efforts-by-the-congressional-cannabis-caucus

California marijuana retailers do a very good job of preventing underage people from entering their shops and purchasing cannabis, a new study found. Researchers wanted to put the cannabis industry’s compliance with ID requirements to the test, so they sent people who seemingly looked underage to 50 randomly selected marijuana shops throughout the state to see if they could get in without presenting identification. Every single retailer required ID. “It was somewhat surprising that there was 100 percent compliance with the ID policy to keep underage patrons from purchasing marijuana directly from licensed outlets,” the authors of the study, published this month in the Journal of Safety Research, wrote. “However, that was consistent with what was observed in two other states, Washington and Colorado.”

Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 05/26/2022 09:01:00

Open article: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/california-marijuana-retailers-100-percent-compliant-in-checking-ids-to-prevent-youth-access-study-finds/