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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 . . .

A Louisiana Senate committee has approved a House-passed bill that threatens to send people to jail for up to one year if they smoke marijuana within 2,000 feet of a school property-including a college campus. The legislation from Rep. Gabe Firment (R) cleared the Senate Judiciary B Committee in a 3-2 vote on Tuesday, weeks after being passed by the House of Representatives. HB 568, which could receive a Senate floor vote soon, applies to people who violate drug laws “while smoking, vaping, or otherwise abusing such controlled dangerous substance while on any property used for school purposes . . .

The race to add new features to the exploding vape sector has begun, triggering blowback in Sacramento this year. Incidents involving video game features on vapes and vapes that look like school supplies have lawmakers seeing red. A new bill would hit distributors with $50,000 fines for selling a vape with a video game on it. And the bill could affect the millions of Californians who increasingly prefer the devices to smoking cannabis flower. A “vape” means a miniature, battery-powered device that aerosolizes cannabis oil-or nicotine-for inhalation. Retailers have sold them for about 15 . . .

Major retailer Target is deepening its involvement in the hemp-derived THC beverage market by launching sales in three more states-significantly expanding beyond a pilot program it rolled out in Minnesota last year-even as a federal law is set to ban the products later this year. Last year, the company began a pilot program involving sales of cannabis drinks at 10 select stores in Minnesota. It later applied with state officials for licenses to sell THC beverages at all 72 of its stores in the state, where the company is headquartered. Now, according to BevNET, Target is expanding cannabis . . .

Researchers from the University of California San Francisco determined in a recent study that Americans are microdosing cannabis more than any other substance, and at nearly twice the rate of psychedelics like LSD or psilocybin. The study “suggests conversations about microdosing may be overlooking a large group of people who are using small amounts of cannabis in similar ways,” said first author Kevin Yang, MD, resident physician in the Department of Psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine. The study utilized survey results from 1,525 U.S. adults polled in 2023 about their microdosing . . .

New Hampshire added over 2,100 patients to its medical cannabis program last year, bringing the total number of patients registered to nearly 17,000, the Concord Monitor reports. The 14.5% spike in registrations for therapeutic cannabis was the largest year-over-year increase the state has seen since 2021. The increase was likely driven by two new policies set in 2024. The changes included increasing the number of medical professionals who can recommend patients to the program, and allowing patients to be referred for any condition that the recommending professional believes could benefit . . .

New Jersey’s adult-use marijuana legalization law explicitly precludes employers from taking any adverse actions against workers “simply for testing positive for cannabinoid metabolites, or for using cannabis, so long as it is not used during the workday and the employee is not intoxicated or impaired at work.” The post New Jersey: Court Rules Police Officers Can’t Be Fired for Off-Duty Cannabis Use appeared first on NORML.

Cannabis has long been judged at the point of cultivation. Genetics, lighting, nutrients, and environmental controls dominate the conversation. Yet the final character of the plant, its flavor, stability, and commercial value, is determined after it leaves the grow room. David Sandelman, CTO and co-founder of Cannatrol David Sandelman, CTO and co-founder of Cannatrol, has spent his career working in industries where that reality is taken for granted. Wine, cheese, and dry-aged meats are defined by post-harvest discipline. Cannabis, he argues, is still catching up. “A winery is basically all . . .

An Arizona campaign that had been seeking to place an initiative on the ballot to repeal of key provisions of the state’s voter-approved marijuana legalization law has given up the effort. Under the “Sensible Marijuana Policy Act for Arizona” which was being spearheaded by Sean Noble, president of the political strategy firm American Encore, commercial recreational cannabis sales would have been eliminated while possession and personal cultivation would have continued to be legal. Noble, however, is no longer pursuing the measure, telling local media that he has “adjusted my viewpoints on the . . .

Congressional researchers are laying out the scope and limitations of the Trump administration’s marijuana rescheduling action-explaining that while certified patients who possess medical cannabis from state-licensed dispensaries now have certain protections, the industry as a whole isn’t “immediately” considered to be in “full compliance” with federal law, particularly as it concerns recreational products. In a report published by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) last week, analysts described the parameters of the recent final order issued by the Justice Department that moved medical . . .

Akanda Corp (NASDAQ: AKAN) (FRA: Y232) shares slid hard after Fugazi Research released its critical short report on May 4. AKAN stock dropped more than 32 per cent in one trading session. Investors took notice of the report’s claims that the company suffers from extreme dilution risks, negligible operations and no fundamental value overall. Fugazi Research detailed a troubling picture in its writings. The firm noted that only about 534,000 shares are currently available to trade after a reverse split while more than 6.7 million additional shares are already registered and can be sold into the . . .

An affiliate of insurance company Travelers is suing to decline coverage for a fatal 2023 explosion which investigators found was likely related to butane “honey oil” extraction. Four died in the blast and ensuing fire. The insurer is asking for a ruling that it is not responsible for defending the defendants — operators and the landlord — in subsequent lawsuits. The insurance policy covering the facility explicitly excludes cannabis processing. The defendants, who appear not to have held cannabis licenses, could not be reached for comment. After the Baldwin Park (Los Angeles Co.) accident, . . .

New program from the veteran hemp marketing agency takes aim at the industry’s biggest blind spot – specialized business education built exclusively for hemp entrepreneurs. HempAware, a creative marketing agency and educational platform with more than two decades inside the hemp industry, today announced the upcoming launch of its Hemp Business School, one of the first comprehensive business training programs designed exclusively for hemp founders, operators, and brands. A waitlist is now open at HempAware.com. The Hemp Business School arrives at a defining moment for the sector. As the . . .

Opponents of marijuana reform have filed a lawsuit challenging the federal cannabis rescheduling action announced by President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice last month-using a law firm at which a former Trump administration attorney general is a partner. Prohibitionist organization Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and the National Drug and Alcohol Screening Association (NDASA) on Monday asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review and set aside the cannabis rescheduling action, alleging that they have been “aggrieved” by the reform. Under an action . . .

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Dwight Diotte was 14 when he built his first grow at the end of his bed, lining a cardboard box with tinfoil and screwing in a blue 150-watt bulb. He had noticed the seeds in his teenage stash and decided, with adolescent certainty, that he would grow his own. When asked when he knew cannabis would be his life’s work, his answer was swift. “Immediately, from the time I took the second drag.” That conviction carried him west in the early 1980s, first to British Columbia, then down through Oregon and California, tracing the supply lines of the era in search of better genetics. By 1989, he was . . .

Virginia NORML is also promoting a separate action alert encouraging voters to contact the Governor’s office. To date, nearly 2,000 communications have been sent by Virginia voters. The post Virginia: NORML Leads Coalition Urging Governor Not to Veto Adult-Use Marijuana Sales Bills appeared first on NORML.

The Republican senator who heads up the Banking Committee says the fact that marijuana remains illegal at the federal level while more states legalize it has created a “quandary” for cannabis businesses and banks that wish to serve them. “Congress is going to have to make it legal, because today even though the president has declassified it or reduced its impact, the truth is it is still illegal,” Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), who chairs the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, said on Tuesday, referring to the Trump administration’s recent move to federally reschedule marijuana. . . .

A Pennsylvania Senate committee has approved a bill to create a new Cannabis Control Board (CCB) to oversee the state’s medical marijuana program and intoxicating hemp products-for the third time, with new amendments. The body could also one day oversee recreational cannabis if it is legalized in the state. The Senate Law & Justice Committee voted 7-4 on Monday to advance the legislation back to the floor for consideration. The panel had previously done so in March and, before that, in October-but its sponsor Sen. Dan Laughlin (R), who is also the committee’s chair, has repeatedly brought the . . .

North Carolina senators have filed a new bill that, if enacted, would allow voters to decide whether to legalize marijuana for personal or medical use at the ballot box this November. The legislation, filed by Sens. Kandie Smith (D), Caleb Theodros (D), Paul Lowe Jr. (D) and Joyce Waddell (D), seeks to place two separate cannabis questions before voters. The first, if approved, would add this new section to the state Constitution: “Section 39. Right to possession of limited amounts of cannabis for personal use. The possession of limited amounts of cannabis for personal use shall not be a . . .

St. Louis, MO (May 4, 2026) ─ Today, CSQ, the first accredited cannabis/hemp safety and quality certification program published its new EU GMP Addendum, initiating the official public comment period for industry stakeholders to weigh in on the program and audit requirements. CSQ’s addendum is meant to help producers of cannabinoid materials and products across the globe verify that their product meets EudraLex Volume 4, Parts 1 & 2, and Annex 7 (EU-GMP) regulatory requirements for medicinal herbal products. The EU GMP Addendum is not a standalone regulatory certification. . . .

A Republican South Carolina state senator says that “medical marijuana is now legal” in the state following the Trump administration’s move to enact federal rescheduling-but a GOP congressman who is running to be the next governor says he has a “problem with marijuana,” calling it a “gateway drug.” State Sen. Tom Davis (R), who has sponsored bills to legalize medical cannabis over a number of sessions, said that under a little-known state law he believes was triggered by federal rescheduling, “we have just become the 41st state that has a legally authorized medical marijuana program.” . . .

A coalition of marijuana reform advocacy organizations and businesses are calling on Virginia’s governor not to veto legislation to legalize recreational cannabis sales even after lawmakers rejected her proposed changes to the measure. “Together, these bills address the real issues surrounding cannabis in the Commonwealth today: an already-existing, unregulated marijuana market operating openly across the state while consumers, communities, and law enforcement are left without the protections of a legal framework,” the groups wrote in a letter to Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) on Monday. “Let’s . . .

Most Americans support the federal government’s reclassification of medical cannabis, according to an analysis of more than 40,000 comments on the public record related to federal proposals by researchers at Johns Hopkins University and the University of California San Diego. In response to a 2024 proposal by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to reschedule cannabis, 42,913 comments were submitted to the docket, which is part of the federal e-rulemaking process and how the public can engage with proposed regulations. It marked the largest amount of public input to date on federal . . .

Indiana Gov. Mike Braun (R) has again expressed support for medical cannabis legalization in the state, the Indiana Capital Chronicle reports. Braun last week told reporters that he was “going to do what makes sense,” noting that recent federal changes – moving medical cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act – make it “more likely” that the state could legalize medical cannabis. “You’re going to need to ask the legislators and the leaders in those two chambers to see what they’re thinking, because I’m clear in terms of where I’m at. You’ve got to . . .