White House holds summit on reducing overdose toll, Nevada psychedelic study bill goes to governor, and more. [image:1 align:right caption:true]Marijuana Policy New Coalition of Major Marijuana Groups Launches Push for Scheduling Reform. A new coalition of marijuana companies and advocacy groups calling itself the Coalition for Cannabis Scheduling Reform announced Tuesday that it is launching a campaign to reschedule marijuana even as it pushes for full-on legalization. The group will work with advocates, stakeholders, lawmakers and administration officials to promote education about the need ..read more

A Louisiana pot poll shows strong support for legalization, a California bill to allow pot shops to sell food and drink as well is moving in the Assembly, and more. [image:1 align:left caption:true]Marijuana Policy California Assembly Approves Bill to Allow Marijuana Cafes. The Assembly last week approved Assembly Bill 374, which would allow weed retailers to offer food and drinks if they receive local approval. Alcohol sales and tobacco smoking would continue to be prohibited. The bill from Assemblymember Matt Haney (D) passes overwhelmingly on a 59-9 vote and now heads to the Senate. "The l ..read more

A New Hampshire bill legalizing fentanyl and xylazine testing materials goes to the governor, Antigua and Barbuda decriminalizes marijuana and grants Rastafarians sacramental rights, and more. [image:1 align:left caption:true]Marijuana Policy Florida Marijuana Legalization Initiative Has Enough Signatures to Qualify for the Ballot. State officials have confirmed that Smart and Safe Florida's proposed marijuana legalization constitutional amendment has handed in enough valid voter signatures to qualify for the November ballot. The group needed 891, 523 valid signatures and has so far collected ..read more

Expungement moves are happening in Arizona and Louisiana, Mexico's president says he could get behind peace agreements with drug cartels, and more. [image:1 align:right: caption:true]Marijuana Policy Arizona Appeals Court Expands Scope of Marijuana Expungements. The state Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that expungement can be applied to sale-related marijuana offenses as well as possession offenses. State law reads that "possessing, consuming, or transporting" up to 2.5 ounces of weed or up to six plants are offenses eligible for expungement. In the case before the court, a Maricopa County Su ..read more

How to deal with substance abuse during pregnancy is a fraught issue, generating harsh sanctions against pregnant women who use drugs or who lose their fetuses before birth and are drug users. According to data compiled by Pregnancy Justice, the advocacy group formerly known as National Advocates for Pregnant Women, prosecutors filed more than 1,300 criminal cases against pregnant women between 2006 and 2020, a rate of more than a hundred a year. They are almost always poor women of color. [image:1 align:right]THardnosed prosecutors and child protection agencies enabled by state and federal l ..read more

Health experts are speaking out about the dangers of criminalizing drug use during pregnancy, a North Carolina medical marijuana bill gets a hearing, and more. [image:1 align:left caption:true]Marijuana Policy New Hampshire Lawmakers Defer Action on Proposal for State-Run Marijuana Legalization. An effort to move forward on marijuana legalization via an amendment that would create a system of state-run pot shops in eventual combination with existing medical marijuana dispensaires has run out of steam—for now. The House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee on Tuesday declined to act on that ..read more

The Louisiana House votes to radically quicken expungements for pot possession offenses, a Texas medical marijuana bill is dead in the water in the state Senate, and more. [image:1 align:left caption:true]Marijuana Policy Louisiana House Approves Bill Streamlining Marijuana Expungements. The House on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to approve House Bill 286, which would streamline the expungement process for people with first-offense marijuana possession convictions. Under the bill, people convicted of possessing less than 15 grams of marijuana can petition the courts to expunge their records af ..read more

A major civil and human rights group comes out against one federal fentanyl bill, bipartisan senators and representatives file another one, and more. [image:1 align:right caption:true]Marijuana Policy Minnesota Marijuana Legalization Bill Ready for Final Votes This Week. House and Senate conference committee negotiators have resolved the remaining differences between the House and Senate marijuana legalization bills and ready to send the final bill to floor votes in both chambers this week. The final sticking points were on the marijuana tax rate and appropriating revenue. Negotiators agreed ..read more

No more pot smoking on the streets of Amsterdam's red light district, a bipartisan marijuana legalization bill gets filed in Ohio, and more. [image:1 align:left caption:true]Marijuana Policy Ohio Bipartisan Marijuana Legalization Bill Filed. Even as signature-gatherers are out pounding the streets for a final round of signatures to put a legalization initiative on the November ballot, a bipartisan pair of lawmakers have reintroduced their own legalization bill, the Ohio Adult Use Act. The act would legalize the possession and cultivation of marijuana by people 21 and over and would set up a s ..read more

With final votes approving the House File 100 marijuana legalization bill in the House and Senate last week, Minnesota is only a governor's signature away from becoming the 23rd state to legalize marijuana and the second, after Delaware to do it this year. And in after the legislature sent him the bill, Gov. Tim Walz (D) has made it crystal clear that he will sign the bill into law—with a "big" ceremony after Memorial Day. [image:1 align:left caption:true]While licensed adult-use legal marijuana sales are months away, marijuana will be legal to possess and home cultivate beginning August 1, a ..read more