What was supposed to be a banner year for marijuana legalization is becoming a bust.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that legalizing recreational marijuana likely won't be included in the state's budget, dealing a blow to the cannabis industry companies that have invested a significant amount of time, money, and resources preparing for the rush of the state's millions of adult consumers into the legalized market.
Marijuana sales are rising in the US amid the coronavirus pandemic. Many states announced that marijuana is an “essential item.” As a result, many medical dispensaries can stay open along with pharmacies. The pandemic, which is eating away at the global economy, gives the marijuana sector an advantage.
As Illinoisans are ordered to hunker down to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, calls to allow legal marijuana deliveries have increased.
State Rep. Sonya Harper (D-Chicago) introduced legislation last month that would allow cannabis dispensaries to deliver marijuana to both medical pot patients and recreational customers. Now, she’s calling on Gov. J.B. Pritzker to take immediate action amid the rising public health crisis.
Marijuana is illegal in South Dakota. However, the state decided to make both recreational and medical marijuana legal this year. South Dakota started its marijuana campaigns to put legalization proposals on the November 2020 ballot. Campaigns have to collect signatures to qualify for the ballot. However, the coronavirus pandemic will probably make it difficult. Now, South Dakota will plan on how to make sure marijuana legalization initiatives pass through in case the pandemic gets worse or isn’t resolved by November.
As the coronavirus crisis continues to rage in New York, state lawmakers have returned to Abany intent on passing a budget, which is due April 1. Given the pandemic, many lawmakers are hoping to reach a deal sooner rather than later. But despite calls from numerous sources that the state pass a bare-bones budget – devoid of the usual big-ticket legislative items that find their way into the spending bill – Gov.
Between city and state taxes, customers at cannabis retailers aren’t always the happiest when they see the final price at the counter. But Jay Handal of Erba Markets, a cannabis retailer in Los Angeles, says there’s not much he can do.
“I do have to deflect a lot of anger because it’s really geared at us. People thinking we’re price-gouging them when, in fact, we’re just charging the taxes that the government level tells us we have to charge,” Handal said.
A marijuana legalization initiative in Ohio is moving forward. However, the state might still face hurdles because of the coronavirus outbreak. In US states, marijuana legalization initiatives have been increasing despite the vaping crisis and the FDA’s hesitation on CBD products. In Ohio, marijuana reform advocates even put a marijuana legalization measure on the November 2020 ballot.
A bill addressing hemp farming has turned into a round of end-of-session horse trading, where the legislative chambers have gone back and forth about whose version of a bill should come out on top.
In this fight, it all has to do with seeds.
Following the passage of the 2014 federal farm bill, hemp growing became allowed under certain circumstances by research institutions and state departments of agriculture..
Marijuana legalization initiatives are still taking place in US states despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The coronavirus outbreak has taken a toll on the global markets and the economy. Countries and the World Health Organization are trying to contain the virus. Meanwhile, legalization efforts continue in US states. Mississippi has been trying to put a legalization initiative on the November ballot. However, lawmakers have a new strategy to make marijuana legalization difficult in the state.
