Pennsylvania lawmakers attempting to exercise due diligence on crafting adult-use cannabis legislation have taken a one-sided approach, according to one legislator. The state’s Senate Law & Justice Committee held a series of three hearings, each extending beyond two hours, when body members heard from a mixture of testifiers, including law enforcement officials during a Feb. 7 hearing; and individuals who played active roles in legalization efforts in other states during a Feb. 28 hearing. In their concluding hearing held March 14, committee members heard from industry professionals and patient advocates with connections to Pennsylvania’s existing medical cannabis program. Sen. Mike Regan, the committee’s chair and a former law enforcement officer who plans to introduce an adult-use bill in the General Assembly, said during the final session that it was important to hear from the medical cannabis regulatory oversight personnel in the state Department of Health. “We’re fortunate to already have an established medical marijuana program in Pennsylvania, which has laid the basic groundwork for licensing, growing, manufacturing, and selling cannabis through a state-regulated system,” he said. “As we will hear today, our medical program is not without its faults. 

Cannabis Business Times, 03/15/2022 14:25:00

Open article: http://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/article/pa-cannabis-hearings-only-presented-one-side-omitted-sam

Georgia lawmakers who have been searching for a way to jumpstart the state’s stalled medical cannabis program made progress on March 14 when a House committee approved legislation that would allow regulators to redo the licensing process, according to Capitol Beat. House Bill 1425, sponsored by Rep. Bill Werkheiser (R-Glennville), would scrap the current program, as well as the licenses that the state tentatively issued last year, and authorize a new request for proposals (RFP) from companies looking to produce and sell low-THC oil to Georgia’s registered patient base. After years of regulatory limbo that allowed registered patients to legally possess—but not purchase—the oil, which can contain no more than 5% THC under state law, lawmakers approved legislation in 2019 to legalize the production and sale of the oil in the state. RELATED: How Are Georgia’s Medical Marijuana Patients Supposed to Access Cannabis Oil? A new regulatory body, the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission, then licensed six companies in July 2021 to produce and sell the oil to the state’s patients, but 16 unsuccessful applicants challenged the licensing process, which has delayed the rollout of the program.

Cannabis Business Times, 03/15/2022 10:19:00

Open article: http://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/article/georgia-lawmakers-consider-legislation-redo-medical-cannabis-licensing

Colorado has launched a pilot grant program to help social equity cannabis applicants develop and grow their businesses. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis last week announced the launch of a state grant program for cannabis social equity companies, offering licensed operators a new source of capital for their businesses. The governor’s office said in a statement that the new grant program is “a bold, forward-thinking initiative to save small businesses money, foster a more equitable cannabis industry, and make it easier for Coloradans to thrive in one of the state’s fastest-growing industries.” The new grants are an initiative of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) and its Cannabis Business Office. The program is designed to provide financial support to licensed cannabis social equity companies to accelerate the growth of their enterprises. “Colorado’s nation-leading innovations in the cannabis industry are strengthening our economy, advancing diversity, and inclusion, and saving small business owners money,” Polis said last week in a statement from the governor’s office.

420 Intel – Marijuana Industry News, 03/14/2022 20:00:00

Open article: https://420intel.com/articles/2022/03/15/colorado-launches-cannabis-social-equity-grant-program

More Louisiana residents will have access to medical marijuana under a significant expansion of the state’s therapeutic cannabis program that was signed into law by Gov. John Bel Edwards. The changes in the law, which take effect in August, allow doctors to recommend medical marijuana for any patient they believe it would help, and remove restrictions on which doctors can recommend cannabis. The state House and Senate agreed to the bill — sponsored by Republican Rep. Larry Bagley of Stonewall, the chairman of the House health committee —- in the regular session that ended June 1. The House voted 75-16 for the measure, while the Senate agreed in a 28-6 vote. Edwards, a Democrat, announced Monday evening that he had signed the bill into law. Under a 2015 law and additional changes passed since then, Louisiana allowed cannabis to treat a long list of diseases and disorders including cancer, seizure disorders, epilepsy, glaucoma, post-traumatic stress disorder and Parkinson’s disease. Bagley’s legislation expands that to include any condition that a doctor “considers debilitating to an individual patient.”

Melinda Deslatte, Home, 06/16/2020 14:18:00

Open article: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Louisiana-widening-access-to-medical-marijuana-15344160.php