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On March 30, Representative Jared Polis reintroduced the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act, as colleagues introduced four other measures in the U.S. House of Representatives that would protect states with legal marijuana from threatened action by the Trump administration.

Under the Obama administration, the Department of Justice followed the 2013 Cole Memo, which essentially protected states with legalized medical or recreational marijuana from federal interference. When Polis originally introduced the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act in 2015, it did not pass — perhaps in part because states with legal marijuana did not feel threatened.

The nominee doesn’t seem to care much about the environment either.
Here’s your daily dose of pot news from the newsletter WeedWeek.

President Elect Donald Trump selected Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt (R) to run the Environmental Protection Agency. Pruitt has repeatedly sued the agency to block anti-pollution laws. While this might be seen as support for states’ rights — and by extension the marijuana industry — Mark Joseph Stern at Slate calls Pruitt “ one of the phoniest federalists in the GOP.

In particular, Pruitt joined Nebraska in suing Colorado over the state’s REC industry. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security, retired Marine General John F. Kelly, opposes legalization saying that it increases health care costs and crime, and that the state experiments with it open the U.S. to accusations of hypocrisy from Latin American nations. Kelly is open to the plant having medical benefits.

Meanwhile veterans’ group American Legion, pushed the administration  to loosen cannabis laws. ” I think they were a little caught off guard and didn’t expect such a progressive statement from such a traditional and conservative organization,” a senior Legion official told Marijuana.com.

It also emerged that Jim O’Neill, a Silicon Valley investor who Marijuana.com describes as a “ Marijuana legalization activist,” could be tapped to lead the Food and Drug Administration. O’Neill is neither a doctor or scientist, typical credentials for the position. For more see here.

Marijuana entrepreneurs want Trump to see them as “ job creators,” Forbes reports.

The New York Observer, which is owned by Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, called for rescheduling.

In an effort to protect marijuana laws under the Trump administration, Colorado is cracking down on home growers. The state is poised to surpass 3,000 licensed businesses next year.

What attorney general nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions (R) means for state-legal pot business remains the big green question. In an in-depth piece, Politico says Sessions could easily “ ignore the will of millions of pro-pot voters” and crack down. Time lists seven reasons Trump is unlikely to go after the industry.

The Sessions hearing has been scheduled for Jan. 10 and 11.

Pro-cannabis group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) is petitioning the Justice Department to correct what ASA says is incorrect or misleading information about cannabis on the DEA web site. ASA is represented pro-bono by the major San Francisco law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.

Though he’s promised to legalize next year, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he still wants police to prosecute dispensaries. His pro-pot supporters feel “cheated.”

Canadian producer Cronos Group will work with First Nations groups in Canada to help them join the cannabis economy.

An upcoming March ballot measure for regulating the industry in Los Angeles raises many questions.

A Democratic state Senator in Texas introduced a “longshot” MED bill. Virginia Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment Jr. (R), asked for a study of how the state’s cannabis laws might be changed.Tennessee could also be in play.

Oregon took emergency steps to lower the testing burden on growers, but the industry is skeptical.

REC opponents in Maine were accused of not providing enough volunteers for a recount of the recent vote. A judge ruled that following the recent vote, MED dispensaries in Montana can reopen immediately.

Maryland named 102 pre-approved dispensary license winners. In New York, licensees are worried about competition in the relatively small market.

Guam is implementing a MED program. Dusseldorf, Germany is on the path to legalization.

Despite bipartisan support.

Here’s your daily round-up of pot-news, excerpted from the newsletter WeedWeek. Download WeedWeek’s free 2016 election guide here.

An amendment that would have allowed VA doctors to recommend MED in legal states passed both houses of Congress but was stripped from the legislation before it reached President Obama’s desk. Supporters of the bill are blaming Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk (R), who said “I don’t think we have too few high veterans out there” earlier this year.

Everyone wants the agency to make up its mind already.
The following is excerpted from the newsletter WeedWeek. Get your free and confidential subscription at WeedWeek.net.

The DEA is reportedly in the “final stages” of deciding whether to reschedule marijuana. Cannabis Wire says the agency could reschedule CBD but not the whole plant.

The Guardian asks if Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump will capitalize on the marijuana vote. “It seems that there are more political costs to being opposed to marijuana instead of being in favor of it,” Michael Berry, a political science professor at the University of Denver says. “which is strange because if you go back 10 years ago, it was just the opposite.”

Hillary Clinton and Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson are more popular within the cannabis industry than in the country at large. Donald Trump is less popular.

The Islamic State magazine Dabiq writes: “The deviance carried on until the so-called “Brave New World” of America and Western Europe began legalizing marijuana, bestiality, transgenderism, sodomy, pornography, feminism, and other evils, allowing the Christian pagans of Europe, America, and Australia to break the crime record of every disbelieving nation to precede them in history.”

California REC supporters are suing opponents for using “ false and misleading language in official ballot materials.”

Anti-cannabis activist Kevin Sabet announced that his group SAM Action has raised $2M to fight this year’s crop of legalization initiatives. Marijuana.com says Sabet has consistently opposed the kinds of decriminalization measures he says he supports.

A poll suggests Florida’s MED initiative will pass, despite a reasonably well funded opposition. Before Ohio legislature legalized MED earlier this year, MPP had not raised enough money to support a statewide campaign for a more liberal ballot initiative.

The Boston Globe called for the end of an “ unfair ‘tax” on MED shops.

July was Washington state’s best ever sales month. It was also the first month after MED dispensaries closed in the state.

A promised crackdown wasn’t as bad as Detroit dispensary owners feared. (Check out photographer Dave Jordano’s shots of dispensaries in the city.)

A new program at Colorado State University-Pueblo will study legalization’s socio-economic impact.

High Times interviewed Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division chief Andrew Freedman. MJBizDaily interviewed Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D) who’s among the most weed friendly members of Congress. He predicts that in five years MED will be available in every state and REC will be available in most states.

Boston’s first dispensary opened. Delaware’s modest MED industry is growing.

theroc.us
Charlotte’s Web in flower.


Over the last year one marijuana strain has gained more attention than any other. Charlotte’s Web, a high-CBD strain bred out by, Realm of Caring, a group of dispensary owners in Colorado has quickly become a buzz-word among lawmakers across the U.S. The effect is that many people seem to think that Charlotte’s Web is the only high-CBD strain out there, and that children suffering from seizures must have access to Charlotte’s Web specifically.
While the strain has definitely been shown to help children, it isn’t the only one despite what the PR machine behind Realm of Caring would have everyone believe. Eleven states passed high-CBD laws this past session, and many of them use Charlotte’s Web specifically in their names. Included in that is a bill submitted this week dubbed the Charlotte’s Web Medical Hemp act of 2014 which would legalize the proprietary strain federally.

CBD-rich hash oil.


A bill that would legalize high-CBD strains of cannabis at the national level was submitted today, giving hope to thousands of sick patients around the country. If approved, the bill would remove CBD-oil and “therapeutic hemp” from the controlled substances act that currently bans all forms of marijuana — from hemp to buds.
Rep. Scott Perry, a Republican from Pennsylvania, says he was inspired to submit his bill, the “Charlotte’s Web Medical Hemp Act of 2014,” after meeting with the parents of a gravely sick child in his district.


On a vote of 13 to 3, the Philadelphia City Council yesterday approved decriminalizing up to 30 grams of herb within city limits, making the penalty a $25 fine.
Mayor Michael Nutter has been vocally opposed to loosening marijuana laws in the city, but a coalition of council members are now calling on him to approve the bill due to the overwhelming support. As it stands, the mayor can either veto or sign the bill, or he can do nothing and let the law go into effect without his endorsement. He could also apparently wait until September when council returns for the fall session to do anything.

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