The largest marijuana company in New Mexico is pressing insurers to cover medical cannabis costs for certain patients, a move it says is required by new state law. Ultra Health sent a letter to insurance companies and state agencies on Friday, arguing that the new law eliminating cost-sharing and out-of-pocket costs for behavioral health services and “all medications” associated with the treatment of mental illnesses, substance abuse disorders, and trauma spectrum disorders should be interpreted to include medical cannabis for the nearly 73,000 New Mexicans who are registered patients for related qualifying conditions. Under the enacted law, the definition of behavioral health services was expanded to include “professional and ancillary services for the treatment, habilitation, prevention and identification of mental illnesses, substance abuse disorders and trauma spectrum disorders, including inpatient, detoxification, residential treatment, and partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient therapy, outpatient and all medications, including brand-name pharmacy drugs when generics are unavailable.” The operative phrase there is “all medications,” Ultra Health pointed out.

Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 02/22/2022 09:18:00

Open article: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/new-mexico-marijuana-company-pushes-insurers-to-cover-medical-cannabis-under-state-law/

federal cannabis reform has been a roller coaster ride over the past several years, with the introduction of several bills raising hopes for legislative support, especially with a change in the White House seeming to create a more cannabis-friendly atmosphere. But 2021 didn’t bring the much-anticipated change, and many companies operating in the space, including American Cannabis Partners (“ACP”), are looking for this year to be different.  “Hope soared with the possibility of federal cannabis reform in 2021,” reported a Feb. 11 “National Law Review” (“NLR”) article (https://cnw.fm/EtHJh). “But, as 2021 continued on, optimism dwindled as any advancement in federal cannabis reform was hobbled by the inability of Congress to agree on the appropriate level of reform and the proper mechanics for passage.   “Specifically, tension rose amongst the elected Democrats on whether to support incremental reform (like access to banks or removal of cannabis from the list of Schedule 1 drugs) or comprehensive legalization with provisions to address social inequities stemming from the legacy of the War on Drugs,” the article continued. “And so 2021 came to an end, and the cannabis industry saw yet another year of failed meaningful change on the federal level.”

CannabisNewsWire, 02/22/2022 09:45:00

Open article: https://www.cannabisnewswire.com/american-cannabis-partners-eyeing-federal-landscape-as-2022-looms-large-for-cannabis-legislation/

With the 2022 election season already in full swing, candidates and political parties are busy creating their campaign strategies and communicating their views on key issues to voters. With many expecting this year’s midterm elections to be in large part a referendum on the Biden administration, candidates setting themselves apart from the pack could create a path to success. And for two Democratic candidates for the US Senate, cannabis reform has become a primary campaign issue of choice. In Louisiana, Democratic candidate for US Senate Gary Chambers made headlines last month when he smoked a blunt in a campaign video. As a social justice advocate from Baton Rouge, Chambers used the video of him smoking marijuana in a New Orleans park to bring attention to the impact of cannabis prohibition, particularly on communities of color. “Every 37 seconds, someone is arrested for possession of marijuana,” Chambers says in the video as the sound of a clock ticks down the seconds. “Since 2010, police have arrested an estimated 7.3 million Americans for violating marijuana laws. Black people are four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana laws than white people.”

Cannabis Now, Cannabis Now, 02/23/2022 09:00:00

Open article: https://cannabisnow.com/cannabis-reform-us-senate-candidates-embrace-weed-in-campaign-strategy/

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is renewing its push to promote federally funded research into marijuana as more states enact reform—specifically expressing interest in studies on differing cannabis regulatory models that are in place across the country. In a notice of interest published on Friday, the agency outlined the types of study proposals it hopes to fund and gave instructions to researchers on how to apply. NIDA said the guidance is informed by recommendations from a workgroup it set up to explore the issue in 2018. The study solicitation is nearly identical to one NIDA put out in 2019, but that earlier notice expired last month. Evidently, the agency is committed to seeing these research objectives through and has renewed them with the new filling. NIDA’s notice is meant to “encourage grant applications on the effects of changing cannabis laws and policies in the US and globally on public health,” it said. “Policies around of cannabis products (including whole-plant cannabis and cannabis constituent compounds) in the United States (and globally) continue to evolve, and far outpace the knowledge needed to determine the public health impacts of these changes,” the notice says.

Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 02/21/2022 13:11:00

Open article: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/top-federal-drug-agency-funds-research-on-differing-legal-marijuana-regulatory-models/