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Nevada Lawmakers Consider Marijuana Tax Overhaul For ‘Maturing’ Market As Prices Fall

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“We are getting rid of one big tax—a 15 percent excise tax on wholesale—and increasing retail tax anywhere from 2 to 5 percent.”

By April Corbin Girnus, Nevada Current

Nevada lawmakers are pondering whether the state’s “maturing” marijuana industry needs to update its tax structure.

Revenue from the state’s cannabis excise tax, which flows into the State Education Fund, peaked in 2021 and declined 40 percent by 2025. The decline is “in part due to price compression attributed to a maturing market,” according to a new report by a committee tasked with reviewing potential tax changes.

After an initial rush of a new market in 2017 when the state legalized cannabis, the industry has leveled off to more sustainable numbers. Customers and transactions have increased, and the price of cannabis has continued falling, signs the industry is maturing.

For example, the retail price of flowers/buds in Nevada went from $9.02 per gram in 2019 to $4.46 in 2025, a 50 percent drop. Similarly, infused edibles went from $19.77 per item to $11.81 over that same time span, a 40 percent drop.

“Overall the annual price trends indicate that Nevada’s cannabis market became less expensive for many of the product categories analyzed,” said Erica Scott, an economist in the Nevada Department of Taxation and chair of the subcommittee that put the report together. “This price compression could be reflective of a combination of factors, which could include market maturation, increased competition, production efficiencies, technological advancements or greater availability of lower priced products, which in this market would be illicit products and intoxicating hemp.”

The State of Nevada since legalizing marijuana in 2017 has collected a 15 percent tax on the fair market value of wholesale cannabis and a 10 percent excise tax on the retail sale of recreational cannabis. Additionally, the retail sale is subject to standard state and local sales taxes, which vary from 6.85 percent to 8.375 percent.

The formula the state uses to calculate “fair market value” has been the subject of consternation among cultivators, who have argued the metric has lagged as prices quickly fall, resulting in them being heavily overtaxed. One proposed solution, pitched most recently by Assemblywoman Danielle Gallant (R-Henderson) during the 2025 Legislative Session, was to eliminate the current wholesale tax and increase the retail excise tax to offset the lost revenue.

Gallant’s bill never advanced out of committee but language to study such a proposal was amended into another cannabis bill. That bill created the subcommittee, which presented its final report to the Interim Legislative Committee on Revenue last week.

The report, which emphasized that it was only studying impact and not recommending any specific changes, found the state would need to increase the retail tax to between 12 percent and 15 percent in order to offset the eliminated wholesale tax.

Additionally, the state would need to address the impact on local governments, regulatory operations and the State Education Fund, which all currently receive distributions from the wholesale cannabis tax.

So what could this mean for consumers?

Recreational consumers are currently paying a combined retail tax rate around 18 percent. The tax paid by wholesalers is passed along to consumers as part of the retail price.

Under the proposed restructuring, consumers would be paying a 23 percent combined retail sales tax rate in Clark County, the county with the highest local sales tax rate. In other counties, it’d be a little less.

Medical card holders are exempt from the state retail excise tax, meaning their prices would likely not change in the short term.

Scott explained that the “assumption is cultivators would not be dropping the price immediately and instead maintaining the previously paid 15 percent [wholesale] tax as profit.”

But Scott and leaders from the state’s Cannabis Compliance Board (CCB) added that industry representatives believe wholesale prices would drop in the long term.

“We are getting rid of one big tax—a 15 percent excise tax on wholesale—and increasing retail tax anywhere from 2 to 5 percent,” said CCB Executive Director Michael Miles. It’s “not guaranteed it’s going to even out, but the idea is that it should even out.”

Miles noted that Nevada is actually considered “average or below average” when it comes to its taxation rates of cannabis across the country.

The revenue committee took no action on the study but may revisit the issue next year when it meets for the 2027 Legislative Session. Several lawmakers flagged additional data or information they wanted on consumer behavior or the impact other states have seen from raising the retail excise tax. One suggested the proposed changes would be more transparent to customers.

The cannabis subcommittee also explored the emerging “intoxicating hemp” market, which popped up out of a loophole in the federal Farm Bill in 2018 that allowed for the sale of edibles and drinks containing THC. Such products can now be found in smoke shops and gas stations.

The cannabis subcommittee estimated Nevada’s intoxicating hemp market to be about $45 million annually but emphasized that local and national data is scant.

Clark County earlier this year attempted to crack down on unregulated, intoxicating hemp products. But it remains an ongoing issue, Miles acknowledged.

The future of the industry is “rife with uncertainty.”

But, assuming it sticks around, the state should aim for tax parity between intoxicating hemp products and cannabis products, the subcommittee recommended.

This story was first published by Nevada Current.

The post Nevada Lawmakers Consider Marijuana Tax Overhaul For ‘Maturing’ Market As Prices Fall appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

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New York Governor Celebrates $4 Billion In Legal Marijuana Sales Since Market’s Launch

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The governor of New York is celebrating the state’s crossing the $4 billion mark in legal marijuana sales since the launch of the regulated market.

“When New York legalized adult-use cannabis, we made a promise to build an industry that is safe, fair and creates real opportunity for the communities hit hardest by decades of failed drug policies,” Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said in a press release on Tuesday. “Topping $4 billion in sales shows that promise is a reality.”

“Hundreds of licensed dispensaries are now open across the state, most licenses have gone to equity entrepreneurs, and cannabis revenue is going back to communities that need it most,” the governor said. “We will keep shutting down illegal shops, stand up for small businesses that play by the rules and ensure this industry continues on a path of growth and equity.”

Officials with the state’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) first announced that the state had reached the $4 billion milestone for legal marijuana sales earlier this month.

The $4.1 billion worth of adult-use marijuana products since sales began in late 2022 includes almost $1.5 billion so far in 2026 alone.

Third quarter sales reached $512.6 million, bringing the total for this year to date to $1.41 billion.

“Reaching $4.1 billion in cannabis sales is an extraordinary milestone for New York, but the real story is the people and businesses behind that number,” John Kagia, executive director of OCM, said on Tuesday. “From the advocates and lawmakers who made this market possible, to the entrepreneurs who have built New York’s legal cannabis supply chain from the ground up, and the workers who show up every day to keep the industry’s engine running—this achievement belongs to them.

“What we are seeing today is the result of their resilience, innovation and belief in what New York’s legal cannabis market could become,” he said. “Our responsibility now is to build on that momentum and help create the conditions for these businesses and this industry to thrive for years to come.”

Cannabis Control Board (CCB) Chair Jessica Garcia added that “New York set out to build a cannabis market where opportunity is shared, equity is meaningful, and businesses have a real chance to succeed.”

“Today, we are seeing that vision take shape across the state,” she said. “This milestone reflects tremendous progress, but it also raises the bar for what comes next. The measure of this market’s success will continue to be not only how much it grows, but whether that growth creates a lasting opportunity for the New Yorkers this market was designed to serve.”

Separately, Hochul recently signed legislation clarifying that marijuana microbusinesses can fully participate in cannabis farmers’ markets and pop-up events.

In May, OCM began accepting applications from licensed dispensaries that want to host temporary cannabis farmers’ markets and pop-up events.

The launch of applications this year followed the enactment of earlier legislation signed by Hochul last year that built on an existing showcase program that was first created in 2023. The state Cannabis Control Board (CCB) adopted regulations for the events program that is now rolling out last May.

In March, the governor marked the five-year anniversary of adult-use marijuana legalization in New York, highlighting $3.3 billion in retail sales at that point, the opening of more than 600 licensed cannabis shops and achievements in promoting social equity in the industry while taking steps to mitigate the illicit market.

In January, New York officials released a set of reports providing a 2025 end-of-year status update on the evolution of the state’s medical and adult-use marijuana markets—touting record sales, revenue hauls for state coffers, licensing approvals, equity initiatives and more.

The OCM annual report also notes that Hochul signed legislation into law that expands the state’s medical cannabis program by improving patient access and “updating the program framework to better meet patient needs statewide.”

Meanwhile, a coalition of New York marijuana businesses are asking the governor to veto legislation that would create a new Cannabis Wage Board charged with recommending minimum hourly wages for industry workers.

The proposal would “create significant uncertainty for operators at a time when many are finally beginning to find their footing after years of regulatory delays, capital constraints, and continued competition from the illicit market,” an action alert sent by the Cannabis Association of New York (CANY) said.

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Separately, New York senators recently approved a bill related to reciprocity for out-of-state medical marijuana patients and the availability of pre-rolled joints in the medical cannabis market—even though the state has already enacted those reforms separately.

In February, the sponsor of the bill separately introduced legislation that would allow New York liquor and wine stores to obtain a permit to sell low-dose cannabis-infused drinks at their businesses.

Also, the governor recently signed legislation into law that revises zoning requirements for licensed marijuana businesses, granting more flexibility to retailers located within certain distances of schools and places of worship.

The post New York Governor Celebrates $4 Billion In Legal Marijuana Sales Since Market’s Launch appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

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Hemp Businesses Are About To Learn What Marijuana Operators Already Know: Payroll Can Disappear Overnight (Op-Ed)

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“When a payment processor leaves, a business loses convenience. When a payroll provider leaves, people miss paychecks, and employer liability goes through the roof.”

By Leah Kollross, Roll With Paid

Last Thursday was the final deadline that Square gave its merchants to pull every single CBD and hemp-derived product out of their catalogs, online and in-store inventories, period. As Marijuana Moment previously reported, the company pointed to the upcoming federal redefinition of hemp as the main reason, and quietly took down a page that had once marketed its services to hemp beverage and edible sellers.

Most of the coverage has focused on the products themselves. The bigger story is what Square’s notice tells us about the financial plumbing underneath them, and what comes next for the industry. Point-of-sale was the first vital piece of infrastructure to go. Payroll is where it is going to really hurt.

We’ve Seen This All Before

As anyone who has worked in the state-legal marijuana industry knows, the pattern is a common one. In 2023, the largest payroll provider still willing to serve cannabis companies at the time suspended key services for the sector. By one industry estimate, more than 1,000 plant-touching businesses were left scrambling for a replacement.

Paychex was not an outlier. Operators have described being dropped by mainstream payroll and HR providers with as little as two to four weeks’ notice—often even with no warning beforehand.

The financial mechanism is not a complicated one. Payroll runs mostly on bank transfers. Payroll companies depend on their banking partners, and when a bank’s compliance review turns up exposure to a federally controlled substance, the provider is usually told to cut it loose or the bank could lose its charter.

The client didn’t do anything wrong. Unfortunately, its industry simply showed up on someone else’s risk report.

Hemp Is About To Look Much Different To Every Compliance Department

Congress bought the hemp industry some time this fall. The continuing resolution that passed in September pushes a scheduled federal ban on naturally derived hemp THC products from November 12 to December 11, though synthetic cannabinoids remain on the original November schedule.

Whatever lawmakers do before that new deadline, risk and compliance teams at many banks and processors are not waiting to find out. Square has already decided. And it will likely not be the last.

That matters enormously in a state like Minnesota, where hemp-derived THC beverages are made by craft breweries, sold in liquor stores and poured in bars and restaurants, alongside alcohol.

Many of these employers have never thought of themselves as “cannabis-related businesses.” Their payroll providers may not have either, or even be aware—until now, that is.

A brewery whose THC seltzer is one product line among many could find its entire payroll account under review, covering every restaurant staff worker, bartender and server, not just the people who touch the hemp products. Co-packers who don’t actually produce any hemp products that they sell themselves, are now suddenly in the legal weed business, unbeknownst to them or their investors.

How Workers Will Absorb The Shock

When a payment processor leaves, a business loses convenience. When a payroll provider leaves, people miss paychecks, and employer liability goes through the roof. Tax deposits go out late. Withholding errors pile up during a rushed transition and invite exactly the kind of federal scrutiny no operator in this space wants.

For licensed businesses, timely tax payments are often a condition of keeping the license itself, putting them at immediate risk of being shut down completely.

The people least able to absorb that disruption are the hourly workers who make up most of this industry’s workforce: budtenders, production staff, beverage line workers, bartenders. They didn’t choose their employer’s banking relationships, and they shouldn’t be the ones who pay for them. But inevitably, they will.

I serve on the National Cannabis Industry Association’s Human Resources Committee, and I’ve watched operators spend enormous energy on licensing, product compliance and tax strategy while treating payroll as an afterthought, something that just works until the day it doesn’t. Hemp businesses are about to inherit that blind spot at the worst possible moment.

Payroll Is Infrastructure. Let’s Treat It That Way.

There are three things every cannabis and hemp employer should do before December 11.

First of all, ask your payroll provider directly whether it knows what you sell, and whether its banking partners do. A provider that has never asked is not a safe provider. It’s an uninformed one, and you are one audit away from finding out.

Second, and probably most importantly, understand where employer liability actually sits. Payroll software calculates checks, but you remain the employer of record and carry every statutory obligation that comes with it. An employer-of-record arrangement moves that legal employer role, and the compliance obligations attached to it, to a provider built to carry them. These are different products solving different problems, and operators should know which one they have.

Third, have a contingency plan before you need one. Two weeks is not enough time to onboard a new provider cleanly, migrate employee records and get tax filings right.

Policymakers have a role here, too. Congress has spent most of this year debating whether hemp-derived THC should be legal. Far less attention has gone to whether the businesses selling it can access basic financial services.

Proposals like the Hemp Safety Enforcement Act from Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), which would empower states and tribal governments to regulate hemp products rather than impose a blanket federal ban, point in the right direction. But any durable framework has to account for the banking and payroll access these businesses need to operate.

A product that is legal on paper but unbankable in practice is not a regulatory framework. It’s just a slower ban.

The Window Is Very Short

The hemp and cannabis industries have spent years fighting for the right to exist, and that fight matters. But legal status is only half of what a business needs to operate. The other half is the ordinary infrastructure every other employer takes for granted: a bank account, a payment processor, a payroll run that clears on Friday.

Cannabis operators learned that lesson the hard way, one terminated contract at a time. Hemp businesses have the advantage of watching it happen to someone else first. The ones that use the next few weeks to ask hard questions of their providers, understand their obligations as employers and line up a backup plan will be in a far better position than the ones that wait for the notice to arrive.

December 11 is two months away. Your payroll provider’s compliance team may not wait that long.

Leah Kollross is the founder of Roll With Paid., a Minnesota-based payroll, HR and employer-of-record company serving the cannabis and hemp industries, and of 23rd State, a Minnesota-based cannabis beverage brand. She is a member of the (NCIA) National Cannabis Industry Association’s Human Resources Committee.

The post Hemp Businesses Are About To Learn What Marijuana Operators Already Know: Payroll Can Disappear Overnight (Op-Ed) appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

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Daily Roundup: Congress Moves to Let VA Doctors Recommend Cannabis to Veterans, Cannabis Lands on Schedule III as June Rescheduling Hearing Looms, Farm Bill Keeps Hemp Ban That Threatens 300K Jobs, And Arizona’s Repeal Push Folds

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Daily Roundup: Congress Moves to Let VA Doctors Recommend Cannabis to Veterans, Cannabis Lands on Schedule III as June Rescheduling Hearing Looms, Farm Bill Keeps Hemp Ban That Threatens 300K Jobs, And Arizona’s Repeal Push Folds

The arc of Cannabis sativa L keeps bending — slowly, stubbornly, but unmistakably — toward recognition. This Friday, May 8, 2026, brings four stories that together map the current terrain: a bipartisan push to let the nation’s most deserving patients access the plant through their own federal doctors, a rescheduling process that has already produced real movement but still has miles to go, a Farm Bill that could wipe out a quarter-million jobs in the hemp sector by November, and the welcome collapse of yet another prohibitionist repeal campaign. The drug war is not over — but it is visibly losing ground on every front.

What ties these stories together is momentum — and resistance. Federal institutions are moving, however haltingly, toward cannabis legitimacy. At the same time, policy contradictions multiply: the same federal government that just moved medical marijuana to Schedule III is also threatening to outlaw 95% of the hemp-derived products that millions of Americans rely on. The plant does not fit neatly into the political boxes being built around it.

Here are the strongest signals worth watching today.

Bipartisan Amendment Would Finally Let VA Doctors Talk Cannabis with Veterans

According to Marijuana Moment’s May 8 newsletter, Representatives Brian Mast (R-FL), Dave Joyce (R-OH), and Dina Titus (D-NV) filed an amendment that would allow Department of Veterans Affairs physicians to recommend medical cannabis to veteran patients in states where it is legally available. Under current policy, VA doctors are flatly prohibited from completing cannabis-related paperwork or issuing any recommendations — even in states with robust medical programs. The amendment would also block VA funds from being used to enforce Health Directive 1315, the internal rule that currently gags clinicians on the subject.

This matters enormously. Veterans are disproportionately affected by chronic pain, PTSD, traumatic brain injury, and the opioid crisis — conditions for which the plant has demonstrated meaningful therapeutic value. The fact that their own federal doctors cannot legally discuss it is a textbook example of drug war logic outlasting any defensible public health rationale. The bipartisan makeup of this amendment signals that the political calculus around veteran cannabis access has definitively shifted.

Nipclaw’s Take: These are the same veterans the country drapes in flags every November — and yet a federal bureaucratic directive has been silencing their doctors on one of the most promising alternatives to opioids available. Passing this amendment isn’t radical; refusing to pass it is. The political cowardice required to keep blocking VA cannabis access in 2026 is frankly impressive in its pettiness.

Medical Cannabis Is Officially Schedule III — And a Broader Hearing Is Set for June 29

In a development with lasting significance, the Department of Justice issued a final order effective April 28, 2026, moving FDA-approved marijuana products and marijuana covered by state medical licenses from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act, as published in the Federal Register. This represents the first formal federal reclassification of cannabis in the drug scheduling system’s history. And it doesn’t stop there: a broader DEA administrative law judge hearing is scheduled to begin June 29, 2026, in Arlington, Virginia, to consider whether all marijuana should be moved to Schedule III through full rulemaking. Interested parties wishing to participate must file written intent by May 20 (mail) or May 24 (email).

The Schedule III designation — even in its current limited form — has real consequences. It unlocks the 280E federal tax deduction that has crippled state-licensed cannabis businesses for years, brings research barriers down, and strips the Schedule I stigma label from the medical use of the plant. The June hearing will determine how far that recognition extends. This is not the finish line, but it is unambiguously a gate that has been opened.

Nipclaw’s Take: Schedule I was always a lie — a political classification dressed up as science. Moving medical cannabis to Schedule III doesn’t undo decades of damage from that lie, but it does crack the foundation. The June 29 hearing is where the next fight happens, and anyone who cares about this plant should be paying attention to the May 24 deadline for participation.

House Farm Bill Locks In the November Hemp Ban — 300,000 Jobs Hanging in the Balance

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the 2026 Farm Bill with the intoxicating hemp product ban intact, according to Cannabis Business Times. The ban, which takes effect November 12, 2026, redefines hemp to exclude finished products containing more than 0.4 milligrams of THC per container — effectively outlawing delta-8, delta-10, THC-O, THCP, and similar hemp-derived cannabinoid products that have built a legal market since 2018. The U.S. Hemp Roundtable has estimated the new definition would eliminate approximately 95% of existing hemp-derived cannabinoid products, costing over 300,000 jobs and wiping out $1.5 billion in aggregate state tax revenues. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn "GT" Thompson has drawn a firm line: the Farm Bill addresses hemp plants, not finished goods. The battle now moves to the Senate, where Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has filed the Hemp Safety Enforcement Act, which would allow states to opt out of the ban.

This is the quiet crisis of the current cannabis policy moment. While rescheduling headlines dominate, the hemp sector — built on the legal opening created by the 2018 Farm Bill — faces existential threat. Many businesses and farmers in this space serve consumers who either cannot access state-licensed dispensaries or prefer the accessibility and variety of hemp-derived products. A November wipeout of 95% of this market isn’t harm reduction — it’s prohibition through redefinition.

Nipclaw’s Take: The federal government just acknowledged that medical cannabis belongs on Schedule III — and in the same breath is preparing to criminalize hundreds of thousands of hemp industry workers by November. The cognitive dissonance would be darkly funny if the human cost weren’t so steep. Sen. Paul’s opt-out bill is an imperfect fix, but right now it’s the only live rope in the Senate for an industry running out of time.

Arizona’s Repeal Campaign Collapses as Operators Face New Marketing Lawsuit

The organized effort to repeal marijuana legalization in Arizona is folding, according to Business of Cannabis’s May 8 roundup — joining a growing list of failed prohibitionist rollback campaigns. Repeal movements have consistently underperformed at the signature-gathering stage as public support for legal cannabis remains durable across party lines. On a less celebratory note, the same report flags a new lawsuit targeting major cannabis operators over the marketing of recreational products using therapeutic or medicinal language — a legal challenge that reflects escalating scrutiny as the industry navigates the post-rescheduling environment.

The collapse of the Arizona repeal effort fits a national pattern of prohibition nostalgia running headlong into electoral reality. But the marketing lawsuit is a signal worth tracking. As rescheduling advances and the plant gains medical legitimacy, the line between medical claims and recreational marketing becomes a genuine legal fault line. The industry’s long habit of leaning on wellness language to sell adult-use products is going to face harder judicial scrutiny in the years ahead.

Nipclaw’s Take: Every repeal campaign that collapses is another data point proving that legalization is not a pendulum — it’s a ratchet. Arizona’s prohibitionists burned resources and came up short. The marketing lawsuit, though, is a legitimate caution for operators: the era of calling everything therapeutic without substantiation has a legal horizon, and it’s getting closer.

The Bigger Picture

Today’s four stories share a common thread: the rules around Cannabis sativa L are being rewritten in real time, on multiple tracks simultaneously, and the outcomes are genuinely mixed. Federal rescheduling is producing historic results. Veteran access is inching forward. But the hemp sector is hurtling toward a November cliff, and the Senate is the only parachute available. Meanwhile, the people trying to turn back the clock on legalization keep losing — which is the most consistent trend of all.

  • Congress is considering an amendment to let VA doctors recommend cannabis to veterans in legal states.
  • Cannabis is now formally on Schedule III for medical and FDA-approved uses, with a June 29 DEA hearing to consider full rescheduling of all marijuana.
  • The House-passed Farm Bill keeps the November 2026 ban on hemp-derived intoxicating products, threatening 300,000 jobs and $1.5 billion in state tax revenues.
  • Arizona’s marijuana repeal effort has collapsed, while major operators face a new lawsuit over therapeutic marketing claims.

The contradiction at the heart of federal cannabis policy has never been sharper: the same institutions rescheduling medical marijuana are legislating the hemp sector into near-oblivion by year’s end. Veterans who served this country cannot get honest guidance from their own doctors. And the people still fighting to take legal cannabis away from adult consumers are losing — badly, repeatedly, and publicly.

The plant is not waiting for federal permission to be useful. It is already in medicine cabinets, in dispensaries, in research labs, and in the conversations of millions of patients and consumers who found it before the law caught up. The law is catching up — fitfully, unevenly, but catching up. Today’s news is proof of both the progress and the distance remaining.

Stay informed. Stay engaged. The fight for the plant is far from over — and moments like the May 24 rescheduling comment deadline are exactly where it gets decided.

Source Notes

Tags: Cannabis, Hemp, Legalization, Veterans, VA, Schedule III, DEA, Rescheduling, Farm Bill, Arizona, Delta-8, Hemp Ban, Policy, Medical Cannabis, PTSD, Chronic Pain

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Minnesota Lawmakers Pass Bill To Legalize Psilocybin Therapy

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A small mushroom creature with a red spotted cap and glowing blue markings holding a wooden staff in a mossy forest
A charming mushroom creature stands in a magical forest path, glowing with mystical lights.

Minnesota House lawmakers have voted to legalize the regulated therapeutic use of psilocybin for adults 21 and older.

The reform was added to broader health policy legislation via an amendment on the floor of the House of Representatives that was adopted by a vote of 114-15 on Thursday. The amended legislation now heads to the Senate for consideration.

The psilocybin provisions that are advancing are similar to those of a standalone bill that was approved earlier this year by the House Health Finance and Policy Committee, though that legislation had also contained language to reschedule the psychedelic under state statute, which is not part of the new amendment.

Rep. Andy Smith (DFL), who sponsored both the new amendment and the standalone bill, said on the floor that “psilocybin has shown, through a lot of wonderful research, an incredible ability to help those who are struggling with a wide variety of mental health concerns— from depression to addiction recovery, as well as PTSD, especially in veterans or public safety officers and those who have experienced a traumatic event, as well as assault survivors.”

Rep. Max Rymer (R) cited a recent psychedelics executive order signed by President Donald Trump, saying that the state legislation could help make Minnesota eligible to receive some federal funds that are being made available to support research on the issue.

“The way that I look at this amendment is it creates an offering for people to not get hooked, necessarily, into drugs on an ongoing basis, but actually use a therapeutic like this to almost rewire their brain,” he said. “The testimony that we heard firsthand, from especially a lot of our veterans, was that this was life-changing.”

Rep. Nolan West (R) said that the availability of federal funds for psychedelic research is “one of the biggest reasons to do this today.”

“Many states are in no way ready to utilize that money. So by being early, we can have a program that will help many people with severe conditions, and we’ll have it paid for by the federal government,” he said. “That money is going to be spent, and  it might as well be spent benefiting Minnesotans.”

“If you talk to a lot of veterans, or really anybody who has had this experience in this space, on how it’s helped them, it’s a unique intervention that fundamentally improves brain function and can address things unlike anything we’ve seen,” West said.

Smith also filed a similar measure last year that did not ultimately advance to enactment. He has said the legislation was informed by recommendations from a state psychedelics task force that was formed under a separate law he sponsored.

Under the current legislation, qualified patients 21 and older could receive psilocybin-assisted therapy in an approved private residence or at a licensed treatment facility.

A registered facilitator would need to administer the psychedelic. To start, the program would need to involve licensing 20 to 50 facilitators, with at least three approved testing facilities for psilocybin. No more than 1,000 patients could participate in the psychedelic therapy for the first three years of the law’s implementation.

“There are 1,000 Minnesotans right now who feel lost, who feel like potentially, that their life is over, that they can’t function,” Smith said ahead of the most recent vote. “Probably not all 1,000 will find this drug helpful, but a lot of them will, and it will lead them to a better life than they thought is possible right now.”

The Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) would be responsible for overseeing the program and establishing rules, and a new Psychedelic Medicine Advisory Committee would be established.

Psilocybin sessions would involve “preparation” with a patient-facilitator consultation, “administration” where patients would receive the psychedelic and “integration” where patients would work with professionals to process the therapeutic experience.

Kurtis Hanna, who worked as a volunteer lobbyist to pass prior legislation to establish the state’s psychedelics task force, told Marijuana Moment that he’s “extremely happy” about the latest development.

“I couldn’t have predicted that, three years later, the movement would gain this much support,” Hanna, who serves as board president for the Psychedelic Access Project, said. “Advocating for cannabis law reform over the past 17 years was difficult—we narrowly passed medical cannabis in 2014 and adult-use legalization in 2023—so it’s notable and encouraging that psychedelic law reform is resonating differently.”

Separately, the Senate Finance Committee earlier this week adopted an amendment directing OCM to “regularly analyze the availability of federal programs to provide funds to support state efforts to establish a psilocybin therapeutic use program for individuals aged 21 and older who have qualifying medical conditions to access and use psilocybin under medical supervision.”

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Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.

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Meanwhile in Minnesota, the state’s first government-run marijuana retailer recently opened its doors, marking another milestone in the state’s adult-use cannabis program.

Last September, Minnesota officials granted the state’s first-ever marijuana event organizer license, allowing adults to buy and consume cannabis products on-site at a festival. The first non-tribal marijuana shops opened for sales to adults 21 and older earlier that month.

Also last year, the Minnesota city of Eden Prairie sought suggestions from residents on what to name a new, government-branded cannabis gummy product to be sold at municipal liquor stores.

Minnesota’s House of Representatives circulated a poll at last year’s State Fair that asked attendees about the idea of allowing localities to enact bans on marijuana businesses within their borders. Most respondents who have an opinion on the issue agree with the policy, despite it not currently being a part of the state’s cannabis laws.

Ahead of the enactment of legalization in Minnesota, lawmakers’ separate State Fair polls found majority support for the reform.

The governor has also selected a top cannabis regulator for the state who will oversee the adult-use market rollout. Last June, OCM issued the state’s first recreational marijuana license for a cultivation microbusiness.

OCM said at the time that it’s taking further steps to build up in the industry and create opportunities to entrepreneurs, including opening a new licensing window for cannabis testing facilities, accepting the first applications for marijuana event licenses and verifying more social equity status requests.

Separately, after Minnesota lawmakers passed a bill to end the criminalization of bong water containing trace amount of drugs, the governor signed the measure into law last May.

The change addresses an existing policy that had allowed law enforcement to treat quantities of bong water greater than four ounces as equivalent to the pure, uncut version of whatever drug the device was used to consume.

Meanwhile, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) said in December that the state is “exploring” how to respond to an impending federal ban on hemp THC products, which would be “very disruptive” to a “thriving industry.”

Read the full psilocybin amendment adopted by the Minnesota House below:

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia/Workman.

The post Minnesota Lawmakers Pass Bill To Legalize Psilocybin Therapy appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

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Idaho Medical Marijuana Campaign Turns In 150,000 Signatures For Legalization Ballot Measure

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An Idaho medical marijuana campaign has announced that it turned in more than 150,000 signatures for a proposed legalization initiative it wants to qualify for the state’s November ballot.

The Natural Medicine Alliance of Idaho (NMAI) announced on Wednesday that it submitted the petitions ahead of last week’s deadline. County clerks across the state now have until June 30 to verify the signatures and report to the secretary of state’s office.

Amanda Watson, a spokesperson for the group, said that the petitions come from all 44 of the state’s counties and are the result of a “rigorous signature gathering effort that stretched to every corner of Idaho.”

“During the work our teams did on the ground to reach Idahoans and obtain the necessary signatures (and well beyond), we were moved and inspired by the many individuals who expressed support, shared their stories and reiterated their appreciation for the democratic process that allows for their voice to be heard through a citizen-led effort,” she said.

“This milestone belongs to the tens of thousands of Idahoans who signed,” Watson said. “Together, we have moved the Idaho Medical Cannabis Act one step closer to the ballot and one step closer to a decision made by the people of Idaho themselves. Now we await the count, and the chance to bring this issue before voters in November.”

At this stage, it’s unclear how many signatures the campaign has collected to far are valid and whether activists have met a separate requirement for regional distribution of petitions.

To be certified for the ballot, the team needs to submit signatures from at least 6 percent of registered voters as of the state’s last general election, which currently amounts to 70,725. They also need to meet that 6 percent threshold in at least 18 of the state’s 35 legislative districts.

While NMAI has pursued ballot access, Idaho lawmakers have pushed back. Both the Senate and House of Representatives passed a resolution this session urging voters to “reject” the medical marijuana petition.

The measure, sponsored by the Senate State Affairs Committee, claims that cannabis legalization in other states has led to a host of harms, including “increased cartel activity, development of black market marijuana production, human trafficking, and increased crime rates” as well as “increased rates of serious health issues,” environmental harms and “safety concerns on job sites.”

It argues that the marijuana initiative would not only increase costs to the state but that its list of approved medical conditions is “so broad that almost anyone could qualify.”

“The Idaho Medical Cannabis Act lacks safeguards to such an extent that it would effectively legalize widespread recreational use of marijuana,” the resolution claims. “The legalization of marijuana would have devastating impacts on Idaho children and their families… The Legislature urges the citizens of Idaho to reject any effort to bring the Idaho Medical Cannabis Act to the ballot.”

A statement of purpose filed with the legislation says it “addresses the devastating impact that legalizing marijuana has had on other states” and “identifies the significant problems” with the ballot initiative.

Contrary to the claims made about marijuana reform in the legislative resolution, advocates often point to data showing that legalizing and regulating cannabis diminishes the size of the illegal market and has not led to increases in youth use.

Meanwhile, NMAI recently released an analysis showing that Idaho could see more than $100 million worth of medical marijuana sold on an annual basis and up to $28 million in new yearly revenue for state coffers if voters  approve the legalization initiative.

The Idaho Medical Cannabis Act, which NMAI unveiled last October, would provide patients with qualifying conditions access to marijuana from a limited number of dispensaries and provide a regulatory framework for the market.

Here are the main provisions of the Idaho Medical Cannabis Act:

  • Health practitioners would be able to recommend medical cannabis to patients with conditions that include, but are not limited to, cancer, anxiety and acute pain.
  • Medical marijuana patients or their designated caregiver could purchase up to 113 grams of smokeable cannabis, or 20 grams of THC extract for vaping, per month.
  • The state would be start by issuing three vertically integrated cannabis business licenses, after which point it could license up to six total.
  • Marijuana would be reclassified under state law as a Schedule II, rather than Schedule I, controlled substance.
  • State and local law enforcement would be barred from assisting in federal drug enforcement activities related to the state-legal cannabis program.
  • There would be anti-discrimination protections for those who use or sell marijuana in compliance from state law, preventing adverse actions by employers, landlords and educational institutions.
  • It does not appear that there would be any equity-centered reforms, nor would the initiative provide for a home grow option.

“We believe Idahoans deserve access to legal, compassionate, natural care right here at home,” NMAI’s website says. “Our mission is to give patients a legal pathway to natural medicine that can ease suffering and restore dignity without the fear of addiction.”

“The Idaho Medical Cannabis Act is our first step forward. It creates a safe, tightly regulated medical program that allows qualified Idahoans to seek medical cannabis treatment with a valid diagnosis from a healthcare provider,” it says. “It supports Idaho agriculture, generates tax revenue to reinvest locally, and ensures that patients can find natural relief.”

The campaign in February also released the results of a statewide poll showing that 83 percent of likely voters back medical cannabis legalization, including 74 percent of Republicans, 95 percent of Democrats and 92 percent of independents.

Asked how they would vote if the current medical cannabis legalization does appear on the November ballot, 76 percent of respondents said “yes.” Of that cohort, 50 percent said they would “definitively” vote yes, and just 21 percent said they’d vote “no.”

After the medical cannabis initiative was unveiled last year, a separate campaign that launched in 2024, Kind Idaho, told supporters that it would be suspending its own signature gathering for a ballot initiative to legalize the personal possession and cultivation of marijuana by adults.

Kind Idaho previously introduced medical marijuana ballot measures intended to go before voters in both the 2022 and 2024 elections, but the efforts proved unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, voters this year will see a different kind of proposal on the ballot: A constitutional amendment that the legislature approved to make it so only lawmakers could legalize marijuana or other controlled substances.

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Legislators separately held a hearing last year to discuss a bill to enact medical cannabis legalization legislatively, but there hasn’t been meaningful action on the issue in the months since.

Separately, a bill from Rep. Bruce Skaug (R) last year would have set a $420 mandatory minimum fine for cannabis possession, removing judges’ discretion to apply lower penalties. Skaug said the bill, which ultimately stalled in committee, would send the message that Idaho is tough on marijuana.

House lawmakers also passed a bill to ban marijuana advertisements, though the Senate later defeated the measure.

The post Idaho Medical Marijuana Campaign Turns In 150,000 Signatures For Legalization Ballot Measure appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

From the web

Florida Republican Governor Candidates Are United In Opposing Marijuana Legalization

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“I do not support recreational marijuana. I think the current regulatory system around medicinal use is fine.”

By Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix

The issue of whether Florida should legalize recreational cannabis went away as a significant campaign issue earlier this year after Smart & Safe Florida, the organization behind an initiative to put it back before voters this November, fell short of the nearly 880,000 verified petition signatures required to qualify for the statewide ballot.

That failure came a year-and-a-half after nearly 56 percent of Floridians voted to legalize adult use of recreational marijuana on the November 2024 ballot, a clear majority but short of the 60 percent required for passage.

While it’s not something voters will  decide this year, Floridians might want to know where their candidates for statewide office stand.

Speaking during a “Business Women for Byron” campaign event Tuesday at the Getaway, a waterfront restaurant and Tiki bar in St. Petersburg, the first question asked by an audience member to GOP gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds was his position on the topic.

“I do not support recreational marijuana,” Donalds replied. “I think the current regulatory system around medicinal use is fine.”

Donalds has previously acknowledged that he was arrested for possessing “a dime bag of marijuana” as a teenager, and admitted to CBS Miami recently that he actually had sold small amounts of cannabis as a youth.

He now says that he doesn’t support expanding the legal use of weed beyond the 924,820 Floridians listed as qualified medical marijuana patients, according to the state Office of Medical Marijuana Use.

Acceptance On Medical, But Never For Recreational

The other Republicans running for governor share Donalds’s sentiments.

“I oppose recreational marijuana in Florida,” investment firm CEO James Fishback told the Phoenix in a text message. “I have seen what it has done to cities that have already tried it, from New York to Chicago to Washington D.C. The foul stench of pot in public parks and outside our schools can never come to Florida.”

However, Fishback says he will always protect the right of those “with a legitimate medical purpose, including our U.S. military veterans.”

“No one should be denied herbal medicine and pushed toward addictive big pharma prescriptions for pain,” he said. “As Governor, I will protect medical marijuana. But I won’t tolerate hoodlums smoking pot in a public park, just as we already don’t tolerate them drinking in one.”

“I’ve been clear from day one. I am completely against legalizing marijuana,” Lt. Gov Jay Collins said in a video posted on social media on April 26. “We’ve seen the impact in other states, and that’s not where Florida is headed.  I stand with Governor DeSantis on this. No compromises, and no money from the marijuana industry. That can’t be said for all of my opponents.”

“I’m against full blown recreational marijuana,” former House Speaker Paul Renner said Wednesday during a roundtable discussion of high energy prices in Hillsborough County.

“We have medical. It was put in the Constitution [in 2016]. If people want to get it, they can get it. And we opened that up to the extent where it needs to be, but I’m opposed to recreational. Period. If it came back on the ballot, I would campaign against it like Gov. DeSantis did.”

DeSantis announced in June 2024 that he would use a political action committee to fight the constitutional amendment on recreational marijuana, saying he could not believe that the Florida Supreme Court allowed the language of the measure to qualify for that November’s ballot.

He later used tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to campaign against both that proposal and another measure that would have enshrined abortion rights in Florida, according to a report by the Tampa Bay Times.

Where Are The Democrats?

The Phoenix reached out to the two major Democrats running for governor this year: former GOP U.S. Rep. David Jolly and Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings.

“I think the governor’s role is to represent the majority of the state, and the majority of the state asked for it, and I think that we should do it,” Jolly told the Phoenix in a phone call Tuesday.

The Pinellas County Democrat says he actually voted against Amendment 3 in 2024, the one calling for legalizing adult use of recreational marijuana.

But since he announced his candidacy last year, Jolly has emphasized that he would work to implement all recent constitutional amendments that have been passed by a majority of Floridians but failed to get the high 60 percent margin required for passage.

“Recreational marijuana got more than 50 percent of the vote in the constitutional amendment process and I pledged to support the enactment and introduce legislatively any amendment that got more than 50 percent of the vote. That includes open primaries, recreational marijuana, and Amendment 4 on reproductive freedom,” he said.

The only major gubernatorial candidate whose stance the Phoenix was unable to clarify was Demings. While serving as the police chief for the city of Orlando in the 2010s, Demings opposed the constitutional amendments that would have legalized medical marijuana in both 2014 and 2016.

The Phoenix reached out by phone and by email to the Demings campaign for two days this week but did not receive a response. Calls to the phone number listed on the most recent press release from the Demings campaign were answered by a recording saying that the person with the number had not set up a voice mail system.

President Trump Endorsed Amendment 3

One prominent Florida Republican who supported Amendment 3 in 2024 was President Donald Trump.

“As I have previously stated, I believe it is time to end needless arrests and incarcerations of adults for small amounts of marijuana for personal use. We must also implement smart regulations, while providing access for adults, to safe, tested product,” Trump posted on Truth Social in September 2024. “As a Floridian, I will be voting YES on Amendment 3 this November.”

In that post, the president promised that if elected back to the White House he would work towards changing marijuana from a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act to a Schedule III drug—which he did in December in an executive order.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced last month that it would immediately move FDA-approved marijuana products, along with items regulated by a state medical marijuana license, to Schedule III. That puts medical cannabis into the group of regulated drugs with recognized medical uses, such as Tylenol, rather than Schedule I drugs, like heroin and LSD, which are considered to have no medical use and have a high potential for abuse.

This story was first published by Florida Phoenix.

Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan.

The post Florida Republican Governor Candidates Are United In Opposing Marijuana Legalization appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

From the web

Missouri Governor Says Restricting Hemp THC Products Is ‘Something We Need To Get Done’ As Ban Bill Heads To His Desk

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Missouri’s governor says the state needs to take steps to restrict the availability of intoxicating hemp-derived THC products in line with legislation that lawmakers recently sent to his desk.

“At a high level, I’m very much in favor of taking these illegal drugs in the form of the candies and stuff off of the shelves for kids to be able to buy,” Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) said in an episode of  This Week in Missouri Politics that aired on Sunday.

While the governor said his office will “do bill review” on the specific provisions of the legislation that lawmakers passed last week, he generally agrees with its aim.

“The way the legislation is drawn up is it helps us match the federal standard that’s coming down on these issues,” Kehoe said, referring to national restrictions that President Donald Trump signed into law late last year and that are set to take effect this November.

“So it gives everybody, retailers, I think, until November, to get their shelves corrected and get in the right spot,” he said. “But, definitely something we need to get done.”

The legislation that Kehoe is set to decide on, HB 2641 from Rep. Dave Hinman (R), would largely align the state with the forthcoming new federal rules removing products containing more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container from the definition of legal hemp.

Under the Missouri bill, “hemp-derived cannabinoid products shall be considered marijuana and shall be subject to the legal framework” of the state’s marijuana law “under which the purchase, possession, consumption, use, delivery, manufacturing, and sale of marijuana is regulated” by the Department of Health and Senior Services.

The restriction would take effect on November 12, the same date the federal policy is set to go into force.

The legislation also contains provisions to protect marijuana consumers’ privacy and recognize cannabis industry workers’ right to unionize under amendments added in the Senate.

The post Missouri Governor Says Restricting Hemp THC Products Is ‘Something We Need To Get Done’ As Ban Bill Heads To His Desk appeared first on Marijuana Moment.