420 with CNW Archives - Page 273 of 297

WednesdayMar 20, 2019 4:20 pm

420 with CNW – Lawmakers in Connecticut Unveil Marijuana Legalization Plan

At the end of last week (March 14), lawmakers in Connecticut’s Assembly held a press conference at which they outlined a plan to legalize recreational marijuana in the state. Rep. Michael D’Agostino, the chair of the General Law Committee, led the proceedings by giving a brief outline of the legalization plan. He revealed that three major areas would be looked at when pushing the legalization plan forward. These are regulation, monetization and decriminalization. These three areas would be handled by different committees that are mandated to legislate in those areas. D’Agostino added that the different committees would formulate various bills…

WednesdayMar 20, 2019 4:20 am

420 with CNW – Illinois Legislators Move to Ease Banking for Cannabis Businesses

As Illinois gears up to legalize recreational weed, a couple of bills have been tabled to protect state-chartered banks that decide to accept cannabis businesses as clients. Under federal law, any money from cannabis businesses is regarded as drug money and banks that accept such money may be prosecuted by the federal authorities. Consequently, most banks have been reluctant to do business with marijuana companies even if the allure of the huge sums of money that can be made from the cannabis industry is strong. The past years have seen medical cannabis companies struggling to find a bank that is…

TuesdayMar 19, 2019 4:20 pm

420 with CNW – Bipartisan Bill Seeks to Protect Federal Workers Who Use Marijuana

A bipartisan bill introduced in Congress last week (March 12) seeks to shield federal employees from being fired once they test positive for marijuana. The bill, introduced by Reps. Don Young (R-AK) and Charlie Crist (D-FL), is intended to clarify that federal workers who consume cannabis in states where it is legal cannot be held liable under federal law for testing positive for the substance. Currently, federal employees can be summarily fired or denied a job if they test positive for THC. This blanket action happens regardless of state law. Crist explains that the existing policy and law disproportionately impacts…

TuesdayMar 19, 2019 4:20 am

420 with CNW – Complaints about the Minnesota Medical Cannabis Task Force Increase

When Minnesota legalized medical cannabis in 2014, a task force was established to evaluate the medical cannabis program and report back to the state. However, numerous complaints about the operation and effectiveness of this task force have arisen. Representatives of patients, law enforcement agencies, the medical community, lawmakers and other stakeholders make up this task force. The task force is mandated to scrutinize patient access to the medical marijuana program, the affordability of the products and any other issue connected to medical cannabis. However, the task force appears to have been doomed right from its very inception. For example, the…

MondayMar 18, 2019 4:20 pm

420 with CNW – Two New Jersey Committees Voted on Marijuana Legalization Today

Two committees in the New Jersey Senate and Assembly voted on a bill to legalize recreational marijuana today (March 18). If the bill passed in both committees, then the entire House could vote on the matter as soon as March 25. Stephen Sweeney, the Senate President, revealed that the members had received copies of the bill on Thursday last week and that the Democrats in the House have started talking to Republicans in order to get some of them to vote for the bill. The support of some Republicans was crucial, because a number of prominent Democrats in the House…

MondayMar 18, 2019 4:20 am

420 with CNW – First Specialist Medical Marijuana Clinic Opens in the UK

Last Saturday (March 9) saw history being made in the UK as the first specialist medical cannabis clinic opened in Manchester. The clinic is called The Beeches Consulting Center. The opening of this clinic has been widely welcomed by patients and clinicians in the UK. This cannabis clinic is owned by European Cannabis Holdings (ECH), a group of companies that plans to open many more such clinics across the UK. The clinic will be headed by two respected professionals in the medical field. These are an independent pain specialist, Dr. David McDowell, and the second is a consultant neurologist, Professor…

FridayMar 15, 2019 4:20 pm

420 with CNW – British Lawyers Head to Brussels Over CBD Ban

Last month, we reported that there was a run on CBD drinks and other CBD products in the UK after the EU declared that CBD and other cannabis or hemp extracts were novel foods that could only be allowed on the market after receiving regulatory approval. Cannabis industry players in the UK aren’t taking that ban lying down. Their association has instructed a team of lawyers to head to Brussels in order to try and overturn that ruling. While the EU law, (EU) 2015/2283, isn’t binding on the member states, many countries use the guidance provided by the EU to…

FridayMar 15, 2019 4:20 am

420 with CNW – Workers’ Compensation Being Modified to Incorporate Medical Cannabis in Canada

You would expect that with more than 17 years of existence in Canada, medical cannabis should have already led to policy changes in various aspects of life in the country. However, if the claims of injured workers are anything to go by, workers’ compensation guidelines have been slow in changing to accommodate this form of treatment. Now matters are beginning to shift as the discussion below shows. More Workers Winning in Tribunals Mellissa Ellsworth is just one of 10 patients who have won hearings in Nova Scotia’s workers’ comp tribunal set up to assess whether the Workers’ Compensation Board should…

ThursdayMar 14, 2019 4:20 pm

420 with CNW – Demand Soars for Missouri Medical Cannabis Licenses

The cannabis bullet train doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of slowing down in Missouri ever since voters overwhelmingly passed a ballot measure in the recent midterms to legalize medical marijuana in the state. Now more than 300 businesses are due to be licensed to participate in the medical cannabis industry once it is commercialized. This announcement was made by Lyndall Fraker, the Missouri Medical Marijuana Program Director, while speaking at a medical marijuana conference in St. Louis on Monday (March 11). He added that if those 300 licenses weren’t enough, then the state wouldn’t hesitate to grant more…

ThursdayMar 14, 2019 4:20 am

420 with CNW – Cerebral Palsy Added to Michigan Medical Cannabis Qualifying Conditions

Voters approved a ballot measure in 2008 to legalize medical cannabis in Michigan and since then, the list of the qualifying conditions has been expanding slowly. Cerebral palsy is the latest condition to be added onto that list which has just over two dozen health conditions. LARA (the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs) made the announcement after its sitting to consider the different conditions which had been proposed for inclusion on the list of medical marijuana qualifying conditions. LARA rejected requests to include Chronic Aggressive Behavior among the conditions that can be treated or managed using medical marijuana. Cerebral…