Colorado may prohibit law enforcement officers from assisting in a potential federal marijuana crackdown.

The state House voted 56-7 Wednesday to bar public employees from assisting federal agents in “arresting a Colorado citizen for committing an act that is a Colorado constitutional right.”

The Colorado bill doesn’t specifically mention marijuana. But sponsors say it is inspired by threats that federal authorities may try cracking down on the marijuana industry. Federal authorities generally rely on local law enforcement to enforce federal drug law.

California lawmakers are considering a similar bill .

Source: Colorado may bar cops from helping with marijuana crackdown – Denver7 TheDenverChannel.com

According to the Associated Press,

Source: Marijuana Social Clubs Could Become Reality in Nevada | Nevada News | US News

Nevada has done a more than fair job regulating alcohol and gaming.

Lets hope Nevada is gearing up to allow for a safe place for consumers to use marijuana.

Voters may have approved recreational marijuana in the last election, but the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors has voted to prohibit all commercial marijuana growing operations.

Source: Commercial Marijuana Growing Operations Banned In Sacramento County – capradio.org

Several CBD / Cannabis companies show promise in the stock exchange. Check out the trending stocks from the Source: Revenues in Lucrative Legal Marijuana and CBD-Oil Markets Contin – Crossroads Today

Both S.B. 375, which advocates for tribes’ rights to establish marijuana facilities, and S.B. 344, which aims to protect children via marijuana packaging mandates, received a 21-0 vote of approval from the Senate floor on Tuesday. Both bills will now head to the Assembly floor.

S.B. 236, which would allow businesses to apply for a license for use of marijuana on that businesses property, did not receive the same bipartisan support, passing with a 12-9 vote.

Another bill, S.B. 374, which would allow medical providers to recommend medical marijuana to patients with opioid addictions, also passed in the Senate with a 12-9 vote.

Source: Nevada senators vote to OK smoking pot in businesses, among other bills

According to an abovethelaw.com, California Governor Jerry Brown recently proposed changes to the Budget Trailer Bill. The Bill addresses the Govenors vision for consolidating the regulatory framework for the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (“MCRSA”), approved by California voters in 2015 and the Control, Regulate, and Tax Adult Use of Cannabis Act (“AUMA”), in response to California voters in 2016. Above The Law lays out an outline of the Governor’s 79 page proposal reporting it would:

1. Change the name of the AUMA to the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act;

2. Mandate anyone seeking to operate an adult use cannabis business apply for “A-Licenses,” and those seeking to open a medical cannabis business will apply for “M-Licenses.” You can apply for both kinds of licenses and operate both kinds of businesses, but you cannot co-locate those businesses on the same premises;

3. Remove AUMA’s requirement of “continuous residency” in California from at least January 1, 2015;

4. Hybridize the process for local approval prior to licensure by allowing licensees to submit proof of local approval to the state, but leaving it up to local governments to ensure the license applicant is in compliance with local laws;

5. Keep AUMA’s near total vertical integration of licenses except for testing labs, which must be independent of other licensees;

6. Allow AUMA’s open distributor model for both medical and adult use cannabis businesses by allowing “a business to hold multiple licenses including a distribution license … [to] make it easier for businesses to enter the market, encourage innovation, and strengthen compliance with state law”;

7. Define “applicant” as “an owner applying for a state license,” and define “owner” as any person having at least 20 percent ownership, or any person who participates in the “direction, control, or management” of the business;

8. Require each cannabis business owner to pass a Department of Justice fingerprinting and criminal background check and each applicant to disclose “every person with a financial interest in the person applying for the license as required by the licensing authority”;

9. Support the AUMA’s more liberal allowance for cultivation licenses;

10. Add a new cultivation license — Type 1C, identified as “specialty cottage” — which will mean California will have 20 types of cannabis business licenses;

11. Require microbusinesses (licenses only available under the AUMA) secure regulatory approval from the Bureau of Cannabis Control and the Departments of Food and Agriculture and Public Health;

12. Mandate the AUMA and MCRSA have the same environmental protections and restrictions on licensees; and

13. Task California’s Department of Food and Agriculture, not its Bureau of Cannabis Control, to create California’s cannabis appellation standards by January 1, 2020.

Source: California Set To Harmonize Recreational And Medical Marijuana Laws | Above the Law

A tax on medical marijuana is now on it’s way to the governor’s desk after passing out of the House Tuesday morning.

The proposed tax on gross sales would start out at 4 percent in July and drop down to 2 percent a year later, funding state regulation over the industry.

Caferro says the new state regulations on the drug will include seed-to-sale tracking of all medical marijuana, meaning the state will be able to see who grows what plant and which patients buy it. The regulations also call for lab testing for the drug, and inspections of providers’ shops.

Source: Medical Marijuana Tax, Tracking Bill Awaits Governor’s Signature | MTPR

DES MOINES — Early Saturday morning, legislators announced an agreement to expand Iowa’s soon-to-expire law that merely decriminalized possession of cannabis oil for treatment of chronic epilepsy.

 …the proposal won approval in the House on an 83-11 vote. The Senate voted on the plan shortly after 7 a.m. and it passed on a 26-14. The bill would let Iowa doctors prescribe cannabis oil to Iowans who suffer from any of 15 debilitating conditions.

Source: Iowa legislature approves broader medical marijuana law | AM-1300 KGLO — Your Hometown News Station

Separate medical marijuana bills are currently moving through the Florida House and Senate after voters approved Amendment 2 in November

Lawmakers are far apart on agreeing what the law will allow, however.

For example, while the Senate bill bans smoking. The House bill bans smoking, vaping and edibles – and also allows fewer licenses.

As a result, Dr. Adelberg worries the needs of patients will ultimately be lost in the shuffle

“They’re trying to craft a set of laws that are going to appease certain moralities associated with marijuana, vs the scientific facts,” he says.

Read more from the Source: Frustrations for local doctors, lawmakers as medical marijuana rollout continues in Florida – wptv.com

According to local Ohio news on medical marijuana:

Prospective medical marijuana cultivators now know what Ohio rules for getting growers’ licenses looks like. They were finalized last Monday and application forms were released Friday.Ohio’s medical marijuana law allows people with 21 medical conditions, including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, HIV/AIDS and epilepsy, to purchase and use marijuana after getting a doctor’s recommendation. The law doesn’t allow smoking.

Ohio has set some of the highest licensing fees in the country. Larger growers must pay a $20,000 application fee and a $180,000 license fee. Smaller grow operations must pay $2,000 to apply and an $18,000 license fee.

Source: Ohio rules for medical pot growers bring access questions | fox8.com

Licenses for Ohio marijuana cultivators must be renewed annually. The Fox News outlet summarizes applicants concerns regarding both the number of licenses being issued and the size of the facilities to be approved:

Up to 24 licenses — 12 for large growers, 12 for small growers — will be made available, with some growers and patient advocates raising concerns that the total 336,000 square feet available won’t be enough to produce an adequate crop. Estimates of the Ohio patient population vary widely, from 185,000 to 325,000 people.

Like in other states, Ohio marijuana businesses must deal with banking issues. Rules will require cannabis testing by public universities, non of which have announced intent to participate. According to Fox,

The largest, Ohio State University, had not made a decision as of last week on whether it would conduct the testing. Others, including Kent State University and the University of Cincinnati, say they have no plans to become testers.

Read more about Ohio Regulations…