“These common-sense changes will further facilitate patients’ and others’ access to medical cannabis products and will provide opportunities for greater inclusivity within Maine’s licensed marijuana industry.”
Category: LEGISLATION
The Governor has proposed an amendment in the nature of a substitute to SB 591 which would create two new misdemeanors for personal marijuana possession.
“These legislative improvements will bring great relief to the thousands of Virginians waiting to access the medical cannabis program,” said JM Pedini, NORML’s Development Director and the Executive Director of Virginia NORML.
Members of the US House of Representatives have announced that they will hold a floor vote next week on the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act. The MORE Act, or H.R. 3617, removes marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, facilitates expungement and resentencing for nonviolent federal marijuana convictions, promotes diverse participation in the regulated cannabis industry, and helps repair the racially and economically disparate harms caused by our nation’s disastrous prohibition policies.
Senate Bill 391 advances to the House of Delegates on a historic bipartisan 21-18 vote.
New state and local laws amending marijuana policies will take effect on the first day of the new year.
It is unfortunate that Congress chose to not affirm the legitimacy of state-level marijuana legalization and instead chose to deny this emerging legal industry access to basic financial tools and services.
State legislators in 2021 enacted over 50 laws liberalizing marijuana policies in more than 25 states.
Republican Representative Nancy Mace (R-SC) introduced the States Reform Act, a comprehensive bill that repeals the federal prohibition of marijuana, expunges federal non-violent marijuana crimes, promotes local ownership in the emerging regulated industry, and places certain restrictions on the advertising of regulated cannabis products, among other federal reforms.