Pregnant Woman Jailed for Three Months Without Bail for Smoking Cannabis. (Newsletter: September 19, 2022)
Thank you for tuning into the latest updates! Here is this week’s cannabis news roundup:
Table of Contents
TOP UPDATES
- Alabama is NOT friendly to expecting mothers who consume cannabis.
- Legalization for cannabis will be appearing on Missouri’s November ballot.
- Iowa is backing legalized marijuana, access to abortions, and increased school funding.
- New York small-scale farmers are struggling in the hemp industry.
- Maryland will be deciding on adult-use cannabis legalization.
NATIONAL CANNABIS NEWS
Grand Haven’s 1st recreational marijuana shop set to open
““I think there was just a lot of education that needed to happen as well, to get us to this process,” Lyon said. “In our community around us, in Nunica and Muskegon and all these areas, they haven’t seen increases in police needs or, you know, drug issues or any of those stigmas that might come from that,” Lyon said.”
Elias Theodorou, former UFC fighter and cannabis advocate, dies of cancer at 34
“Theodorou was active in the Toronto marijuana community and was the “chief access officer” for the cannabis platform Leafythings, which helps Canadians find delivery services and dispensaries.”
Bipartisan Lawmakers Call Out FDA’s ‘Inadequate’ Response To Hemp And CBD Regulations
“Bipartisan House members sent a letter to the FDA commissioner to complain about the agency’s “completely insufficient response” to their bill, which called for hemp-derived CBD to be permitted and regulated as a food additive.”
Smuggler Who Spent 11 Years In Prison for Trafficking Launches Massachusetts Cannabis Brand
“The “Gentlemen Smugglers” were a group of East Coast drug smugglers who from 1971 to 1986 brought some 250 tons of cannabis to American shores. They were eventually caught during Operation Jackpot, the first multi-pronged federal law enforcement investigation which kickstarted then-President Reagan’s long and disastrous War on Drugs.”
Pregnant Woman Jailed for Three Months Without Bail for Smoking Cannabis
““A pregnant woman was held in an Alabama county jail for three months and denied bail in order to “protect” the fetus after she admitted to having used cannabis while pregnant, ALco reports. Police and courts are relying on a state law that prohibits pregnant women who are arrested for drug offenses to post bail.””
Iowa Democrats back abortion access, legalized marijuana, more school funding
“The legislative leaders of Iowa’s minority party unveiled their “people over politics” agenda at the Iowa State Capitol. The plan has four components: lowering costs of living, legalizing adult use of marijuana, protecting access to abortion and investing in public schools. While Democrats have rallied behind those policies for years, the four points come as the nation faces changing laws and rising inflation.”
We spoke to the author of that new study on prenatal cannabis exposure
““Cannabis, even though it’s a plant, is not benign. It’s not a zero-risk substance for the child,” he told Leafly in a Zoom interview this week. “We think that there’s a hint that cannabis may have some negative consequences for a person’s offspring. It isn’t an enormous effect, even if it were causal…At this point, we can’t say cannabis is definitely better or worse than anything else.””
MISSOURI CANNABIS NEWS
Missouri Marijuana Legalization Initiative Will Appear On November Ballot After State Supreme Court Rejects Prohibitionists’ Challenge
“A lawsuit filed last month sought to keep the Legal Missouri 2022 reform proposal off the ballot after it was certified by the secretary of state. But after two lower courts dismissed the challenge, the state Supreme Court on Tuesday delivered the final word that the legal battle is over.”
ILLINOIS CANNABIS NEWS
Jim McMahon Sets Sights on Illinois Cannabis Market For Revenant Brand
“He started using marijuana in the early ’70s. Still, He came to rely on it much later in life to help deal with chronic pain from the many injuries suffered during his playing career, which included a fractured neck that he wasn’t even aware of until years later. He says marijuana provided him an alternative to prescription painkillers more than a decade ago.”
R3 program brings marijuana tax revenue to Peoria nonprofits
“At a press conference Tuesday, State Rep. Jehan Gordon Booth, D-Peoria, introduced some of the organizations receiving funds as part of the R3, or Restore, Reinvest, and Renew, program. The program aims to direct resources generated by marijuana tax revenue to some of the communities most impacted by the enforcement of former laws.”
PENNSYLVANIA CANNABIS NEWS
Pa. law protects workers OK’d for medical marijuana until they use it
“While state law protects workers from being fired or denied a job just for having a doctor’s permission to use marijuana, those protections become opaque when people actually take the drug — regardless of whether they do it in their personal time.”
NEW YORK CANNABIS NEWS
Cars and cannabis: New group to host event in Auburn area
“”Legacy operators are not just the weed dealers of yesteryear,” he said. “We’re working with the state to pay taxes and follow the rules — to be the professionals we’ve longed to be for many years.””
New York’s small-scale cannabis farmers are in a risky business
“With a flooded market in New York, they had trouble finding any processor who could pay for their ample, pungent crop. Then, this past winter, Conlon was watching the news when he heard Gov. Kathy Hochul announce that current hemp farmers would get the state’s first conditional licenses to grow cannabis for recreational use.”
OKLAHOMA CANNABIS NEWS
Oklahoma Prosecutors Are Targeting Pregnant Women For Using Medical Marijuana
“She is one of at least 26 women charged with felony child neglect in Oklahoma since 2019 for using marijuana during their pregnancies, an investigation by The Frontier found. The crime can carry a term of up to life in prison in Oklahoma, though previous defendants pleaded guilty and received probation.”
Oklahoma Supreme Court Rejects Two Challenges To Marijuana Legalization Initiative, Signaling That Final Ballot Ruling Is Imminent
“The Oklahoma Supreme Court shot down two out of four legal challenges against a marijuana legalization initiative on Friday, giving activists a couple of wins as the justices consider the remaining complaints as well as a broader decision on whether the measure will be officially placed on the November ballot.”
MARYLAND CANNABIS NEWS
Question 4: Maryland Voters to Decide on Recreational Marijuana Legalization
“A new ad campaign led by retired Baltimore Ravens football player Eugene Monroe launched in support of the referendum, known as Question 4. It’s meant to convince voters to support legalizing recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older.”