A key Pennsylvania Senate committee on Monday held the second of three hearings it has scheduled on marijuana legalization, taking testimony meant to help inform a forthcoming reform bill that the panel’s chairman is actively drafting. The Senate Law and Justice Committee meeting focused on the experiences of other states that have enacted legalization, with industry stakeholders, advocates, and representatives of the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity testifying on the issue. Sen. Mike Regan (R), who chairs the panel, circulated a cosponsorship memo last year along with Rep. Amen Brown (D) to build support for the reform, and these meetings are designed to give lawmakers added context into the best approach to legalization for the state. At an initial hearing earlier this month, much of the discussion focused on whether creating a regulated market would be sufficient to eliminate illicit sales, how police would be affected, and the impact on impaired driving. This time around, committee members talked about varying tax structures and other regulatory approaches that have been created in states like Illinois and California.

Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 02/28/2022 14:39:00

Open article: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/pennsylvania-senate-committee-holds-second-marijuana-legalization-hearing-as-reform-bill-is-drafted/

A key Pennsylvania Senate committee on Monday held the second of three hearings it has scheduled on marijuana legalization, taking testimony meant to help inform a forthcoming reform bill that the panel’s chairman is actively drafting. The Senate Law and Justice Committee meeting focused on the experiences of other states that have enacted legalization, with industry stakeholders, advocates, and representatives of the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity testifying on the issue. Sen. Mike Regan (R), who chairs the panel, circulated a cosponsorship memo last year along with Rep. Amen Brown (D) to build support for the reform, and these meetings are designed to give lawmakers added context into the best approach to legalization for the state. At an initial hearing earlier this month, much of the discussion focused on whether creating a regulated market would be sufficient to eliminate illicit sales, how police would be affected, and the impact on impaired driving. This time around, committee members talked about varying tax structures and other regulatory approaches that have been created in states like Illinois and California.

Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 02/28/2022 14:39:00

Open article: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/pennsylvania-senate-committee-holds-second-marijuana-legalization-hearing-as-reform-bill-is-drafted/

On Friday, Maryland’s House of Delegates approved two bills designed to legalize recreational marijuana. Under the measures, Maryland voters will decide if marijuana should be legalized, leaving lawmakers to then draft the details for regulating a commercial cannabis industry. “We’re at the beginning of an important process where we begin to look again at how we have treated the substance—cannabis,” Democratic Delegate Luke Clippinger, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee and the sponsor of the legislation, told his colleagues in the House. He made note of the “thousands and thousands and thousands of people we have incarcerated because of it,” adding that “those thousands of incarcerations have not made us any safer.” The legislation approved by lawmakers last week includes House Bill 837, a measure that would legalize possession of up to 1.5 ounces of cannabis for adults and create an equitable path to cannabis legalization, according to Clippinger. The bill would also allow adults to cultivate up to two cannabis plants at home.

420 Intel – Marijuana Industry News, 02/28/2022 19:00:00

Open article: https://420intel.com/articles/2022/03/01/maryland-house-approves-legalization-bills-0