As Europe's biggest economy, Germany has the potential to be Europe's recreational cannabis powerhouse. Germany is less progressive than some of its neighbors though, and as things stand it only has a limited medical cannabis program. With a new coalition of the SPD (social democrats), FDP (somewhat akin to libertarian), and Greens, the status quo
As of yesterday, June 9, 2022, the home cultivation of low tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) cannabis in Thailand is legal. The government is giving away free plants to boot! This constitutes a milestone for cannabis reform in the country and the region at large, but the Thai changes fall short of the "decriminalization" widely touted in the
Yesterday, March 31, 2022, the House of Representatives again voted to end federal prohibition of marijuana by removing it from the list of banned substances. The bill—the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act (the MORE Act)—passed by a vote of 220-204, largely along party lines. Next the bill goes to the Senate for approval, where
The 2022 Oregon legislative session was huge for Oregon cannabis. It adjourned sine die on Friday, March 4. We’ve been writing about it all the while, and you can find previous coverage in the links at the bottom of this blog post. Today I’ll cover the four marquee pieces of new legislation and talk about
The Oregon Senate passed HB 4016 yesterday afternoon, enacting a sweeping moratorium on new cannabis licenses in the state. The law will take effect on an “emergency” basis following Governor Brown’s signature, or 30 days from now if she doesn’t veto (and she won’t). Industry got what it wanted here; the walls are going up. HB 4016
Most people who aren't familiar with California cannabis regulation are surprised to learn that legal cannabis is actually pretty rare throughout the state. Most cities and counties prohibit or severely restrict cannabis licensing. This includes most cities in Los Angeles county, and until recently, the county itself. But that's all changing, because LA County will
Earlier this week, I canvassed the key cannabis bills enrolled at the outset of the Oregon legislative session. I mentioned that HB 4016 was sucking up all of the oxygen due to its Oregon cannabis license moratoria, including the retroactive moratorium on new producer applications effective January 1, 2022. That retroactivity concept came out of
The 2022 Oregon legislative session kicks off today. It’s a short session this year, with fewer cannabis bills than usual crowding the docket. In 2021, for example, we had 28 enrolled bills to start; eventually, 10 became law. This year we start with only five enrolled bills. Those five submissions overlap in some cases, but
The hopes for better and increased marijuana banking, which were tied up in the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act (a serious and common sense federal marijuana banking bill), are currently dashed since the SAFE Banking Act has been left out of the Senate's changes to the National Defense Authorization Act ("NDAA"). The impact?
Last week, the Supreme Court of South Dakota overturned a voter-approved, constitutional amendment to legalize adult use cannabis statewide. Governor Kristi Noem instigated the anti-democratic fight on social welfare grounds, although the court made its ruling on technical grounds, finding that Amendment A violated a “single-issue” initiative subject requirement. If that’s true, you’d have to
