State regulators have begun issuing the first of nearly 200 licenses to medical cannabis providers. Licensed dispensaries are expected to be operational in Missouri by this spring.
Tag: dispensaries
Researchers reported, “Compliance with laws restricting stores to selling recreational marijuana to individuals 21 or older presenting a valid ID was high. … Refusal rates exceeded those for alcohol.”
“Our results are consistent with theories that predict that marijuana legalization will displace illicit criminal organizations and decrease crime through changes in security behaviors or substitution toward more harmful substances.”
Legislation to significantly expand patients’ access to medical cannabis will become law later this fall following a decision today by Maine lawmakers to override the Governor’s veto.
The closure of medical marijuana dispensaries is associated with an increase in larceny, property crimes, and other criminal activities, according to data published in the Journal of Urban Economics. “[W]e find no evidence that closures decreased crime,” authors wrote. “Instead, we find a significant relative increase in crime around closed dispensaries.”
Update: Congress passed a one-week Continuing Resolution, to maintain the current spending levels and Rohrabacher-Farr, meaning state medical marijuana patients and businesses will remain protected from Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Department of Justice until May 5.
With little debate, House and Senate lawmakers voted today to significantly amend Massachusetts’ voter-initiated marijuana law. NORML Executive Director Erik Altieri called lawmakers’ decision a “slap in the face” to the nearly two million Massachusetts voters who decided in favor of Question 4 on Election Day.
[UPDATE: Gov. Baker signed the language into law on Friday, December 30.]
Budgetary provisions enacted by Congress in 2014 forbid the Justice Department from taking action against medical marijuana providers who are operating in compliance with state law, a federal judge for the northern district of California determined earlier this week.