Uruguay’s three-year process of legalising recreational cannabis consumption reached its final stage on Thursday, when the government said it would authorise pharmacies to begin selling the substance as of July.
Source: Uruguay government legalises sale of recreational cannabis in pharmacies | The Independent
Massachusetts collects more than $7 million from marijuana in 2016
As of Jan. 31, 2017 nearly 40,000 patients had been certified for a medical marijuana card and paid a fee of $50, which needs to be renewed each year.
Fees for patients, doctors and medical facilities added up to more than $7 million in the 2016 fiscal year, and that number could nearly double to $13 million in fiscal year 2017.
Source: Massachusetts collects more than $7 million from marijuana in 2016 | FOX25
The 99-plant growing limit previously established in Colorado statute was far higher than any other marijuana state in the nation. Sponsored by House Majority Leader KC Becker, D-Boulder, supporters of House Bill 1220 believe that reducing the residential growing limit to 12 plants can help law enforcement agencies better deter black market growers, investigate massive, illegal operations and protect neighborhoods from potential public safety hazards and decreased property values.
The violent crime rates in Colorado have dropped since the state legalized marijuana. But some illegal operations have exploited the lenient growing limits, as discovered by recent law enforcement stings. These busts showed some illegal operators have conducted large growing operations in Colorado and then move the marijuana into the black market or across state lines where profit margins can be much higher.
Source: Colorado reduces marijuana growing limits on residential properties – The Colorado Statesman
A state commission decided Wednesday to study decriminalization of marijuana, an idea sparked by a discussion in Norfolk.
The study this year by the Virginia State Crime Commission, which makes recommendations to the General Assembly, could be a first step toward a bill in 2018 or later to change marijuana laws.
Currently, Virginia allows people with severe epilepsy to use marijuana oils, but cancer patients and people with other conditions cannot legally use marijuana to relieve pain or nausea.
Read more about the study from the Source: Virginia to study marijuana decriminalization this year, spurred by Norfolk council discussion | Virginia Politics | pilotonline.com
Or more about Virginia’s Medical Marijuana Laws here.
California joined a growing number of states in legalizing recreational marijuana use for adults in 2016.
The regulations and rules in the works, will be used to govern the emerging legal market will cover issues ranging from where and how plants can be grown to guidelines on tracking marijuana buds from the fields to retail stores.
New rules, proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown’s this week received push back from California Police Chiefs Association and the California Growers Association with concerns regarding how many licenses one business can hold.
The proposed legislation to allow single businesses to hold multiple licenses to grow, distribute, manufacture and sell retail marijuana would be an opening for criminals or BIG corporations to monopolize, or at least dominate, the industry.
Read more from: US NEWS: Source: Police Object to California Marijuana Regulation Revamp | California News | US News
When the General Assembly authorized the state’s medical marijuana program, it instructed the licensure commission to “actively seek to achieve racial, ethnic, and geographic diversity when licensing medical cannabis growers; and encourage applicants who qualify as a minority business enterprise.”
Rather than seeking such a study or adopting race-neutral language that could have had a similar effect, the commission moved forward with regulations that didn’t mention race, only geographic diversity. Prospective licensees were then ranked through a blind evaluation of their applications; those awarded preliminary grower licenses were overwhelmingly headed by white men, and though minority equity participation in some companies is significant, none qualify as African-American owned.
The Legislative Black Caucus objected…sought a complete re-do of the process with a new commission, but that would have been far more unfair to the companies that had made investments based on their preliminary licenses — and would have kept patients waiting even longer for access to the drug.
Read more from the Source: Md.’s marijuana mess – Baltimore Sun
The Legislature’s Joint Committee on Marijuana Policy, considered a number of issues related to the implementation of recreational marijuana in Mass. on Monday.
State Rep. Shaunna O’Connell, R-Taunton proposed
a bill, H.3194, that would add recreational marijuana to a list of items that welfare recipients are prohibited from using cash benefits to buy. That list already includes alcohol, tobacco, gambling, lottery tickets and jewelry. There would be an exemption for medical marijuana.
Source: Massachusetts state rep proposes prohibiting use of welfare benefits to buy marijuana | masslive.com
Both public officials and citizens addressed solutions for regulating driving under the influence, allowing cities and towns to regulate and restrict marijuana sales on a local level, as well as packaging and distribution concerns regarding the impact of edibles on adolescents.
A bill easing access for parents seeking medicine for their children was also discussed. One mother of an epptic child described finding a doctor who will prescribe marijuana to children in Mass is like finding “a needle in a haystack.”
Legal weed in North America is expected to reach $22.6 billion in revenue in 2021. But many won’t be spending their money on marijuana the way they do today.
Recreational cannabis spending is expected to outpace medical marijuana sales for the first time in 2019, according to a comprehensive new report from Arcview Market Research.
While recreational consumers will be spending more than medical patients, they will also be paying more in taxes. Currently, recreational shoppers in Colorado can expect to pay between 15% and 20% more than medical patients do. The state places a 2.9% sales tax (plus local taxes) on both varieties of marijuana, but it waives the 10% state marijuana tax for patients. Often, dispensaries also offer big discounts for medical patients.
When California rolls outs its recreational market in 2018, the state will impose a 15% tax on sales of the drug, but only non-medical users will have to pay it.
While many patients, will continue to seek the discounts or lower prices offered by a medical market, the ease of recreational purchases will become more appealing to many. Currently, the medical industry limits patient access to “qualified” conditions, requires patients to register and in some states, limit the amount or types of medication a patient can purchase.
Many wil likely pursue recreational purchases, although the momentum to maintain a medical market will be largely based on interest in research, development and the quality of product provided to patients vs recreational consumers.
Source: Adult-use marijuana spending will outpace medical sales in 2019 – Business Insider
NEW BEDFORD — Beacon Compassion received a provisional license for New Bedford from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health on Thursday, Stephen Angelo, the executive director of the company told The Standard-Times. Angelo described the license as “the first step” in a longer journey for the marijuana dispensary…
The next phases of the project include developing plans for the site of the building, receiving feedback from community meetings and requesting permits from the city.
From past meetings, Angelo said the most common concerns raised at the forums include security, loitering, impact on traffic and the effect the dispensary will have on property values.
Read More From The Source: Marijuana dispensary receives Provisional License – News – southcoasttoday.com – New Bedford, MA
On Wednesday, March 22, co-sponsors Sen. Heather Steans (D-Il.) and Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Il.) introduced legislation in Illinois that would legalize recreational marijuana. It should be noted that both Steans and Cassidy aren’t planning to bring their bill to vote immediately. Instead, using the move to gauge interest. They plan to hold feedback hearings later this year, with the expectation of putting a bill in front of the Illinois legislature in 2018.
