Marijuana reform legislation continues to advance in several states. This week’s update highlights legislative developments in California, Delaware, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Texas, and Vermont.
LEGALIZATION
Minnesota
UPDATE: HF 100 passed the House 71 to 59. SF 73 is anticipated to receive a vote on the Senate floor on 4/28/23.
HF 100/SF73 allows adults 21 and older to purchase up to two ounces of cannabis and to home-cultivate up to eight plants (four of which may be mature). In addition to creating a system of licensed, private retail cannabis businesses, municipalities, and counties could own and operate government dispensaries. Those with prior marijuana convictions would have their records automatically expunged. The legislation also allows for on-site consumption lounges and cannabis delivery services. It also contains language banning the sale of unregulated synthetic cannabinoids, consistent with Board of Pharmacy rules put into place last year.
Send a message to support this effort.
Texas
UPDATE: HB 3652 is scheduled for a hearing in the House Committee on Licensing & Administrative Procedures on 4/26. Submit written testimony here.
House Bill 3652 legalizes, regulates, and taxes cannabis and cannabis products. Those 21 and older can possess up to 2.5 oz of cannabis flower or 15 g of cannabis concentrates. It would also allow for the home cultivation of up to 12 plants. A 10% tax will be implemented on cannabis sales.
Send a message to support this effort.
DECRIMINALIZATION
Texas
UPDATE: HB 218 passed the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee and is scheduled for a vote on the House floor on 4/26/23.
HB 218 reduces the penalties for possession of 1 oz or less of cannabis flower or cannabis concentrates while also instructing officers to no longer make arrests for the possession of related paraphernalia. Additionally, it facilitates a process for the expungement of past marijuana convictions.
Send a message to support this effort.
MEDICAL ACCESS
California
UPDATE: SB 302 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously. It is now scheduled for a hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee on 5/1/23.
SB 302 expands the current law requiring specific types of healthcare facilities to allow for a terminally ill patient’s use of medicinal cannabis within the healthcare facility. The legislation expands the law to provide access to those patients at least 65 years of age who struggle with a chronic disease.
Send a message to support this effort.
Vermont
UPDATE: HB 270 has been passed by the House of Representatives. It is now pending a vote in the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing, and General Affairs.
House Bill 270 increases the number of plants that patients can cultivate at home, allowing for six mature plants and 12 immature plants. The bill increases the maximum allowable THC content in a single edible cannabis product from 50 to 100 mg, expands the list of qualifying conditions for medical cannabis treatment, increases the number of patients a caregiver may provide services for at once, and removes annual registration fees for qualifying caregivers.
Send a message in support of this effort.
ADDITIONAL
Maine
Legislative Document 1646 establishes a system to provide for the expungement of convictions specific to marijuana possession. This bill also creates a fund to pay for expungement filing charges.
Legislative Document 1789 expunges all records relating to criminal convictions or civil violations for conduct involving marijuana.
Send a message to support this effort.
Legislative Document 1647 creates provisions prohibiting certain employers from discriminating against workers based solely upon a positive test for the presence of marijuana metabolites.
Send a message to support this effort.
UPDATE: LD 1680 is pending a vote in the House Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee.
Legislative Document 1680 allows for licensed businesses to engage in the delivery of marijuana to residential homes and businesses not located in a designated “safe zone.”. A nursery cultivation would be permitted to sell seedlings and immature plants to consumers as well as the supplies necessary to grow cannabis.
Send a message to support this effort.
Legislative Document 1311 amends state law so that those on parole, pretrial release, and supervised release are not discriminated against solely because of their cannabis use.
Send a message to support this effort.
Nevada
UPDATE: AB 411 passed the House 29 to 13. It now heads to the Senate.
Assembly Bill 411 allows doctors to administer non-smoked formulations of medical marijuana to patients in certain hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, or hospice care.
Send a message to support this effort.
North Carolina
Senate Bill 705 reclassifies the possession of less than 1.5 ounces of cannabis or hashish as an infraction instead of a misdemeanor, in addition to facilitating a process for the expungement of past convictions.
Send a message to support this effort.
ENACTED
Delaware
UPDATE: After passing both chambers, Democrat Gov. John Carney announced that he would allow bills – HB 1 and HB 2 – to become law absent his signature.
House Bill 1 removes all penalties for the possession of a personal use quantity of cannabis, except for those who are under 21 years of age. Possession of more than a personal use quantity of cannabis, as well as engaging in the public consumption of cannabis, will remain unclassified misdemeanors. A personal use quantity is one ounce or less of leaf cannabis, 12 grams or less of concentrated cannabis, or cannabis products containing 750 milligrams or less of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
House Bill 2, otherwise known as the Delaware Marijuana Control Act, regulates and taxes adult-use sales, promotes equity and inclusion in the legal industry from communities disproportionately impacted by cannabis prohibition, and reinvests a portion of tax revenue into disproportionately impacted communities.
