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Former Michigan marijuana regulator pleads guilty to taking bribes

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A former Republican House speaker in Michigan officially pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to accepting bribes totaling more than $110,000 while head of the state’s medical marijuana licensing board.

Rick Johnson, who led the Michigan House from 2001 to 2004 before joining the MMJ board, admitted he took cash and flights from Detroit-area businessman John Dalaly, who was seeking lucrative cannabis businesses licenses, the Associated Press reported.

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Dalaly pleaded guilty last week.

Johnson, Dalaly and co-defendants Brian Pierce and Vincent Brown – who also were charged with conspiracy to commit bribery – had agreed to plea deals earlier this month.

Johnson led the state Medical Marihuana Licensing Board from its inception in 2017 until it was abolished by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2019.

At the time, Whitmer and other critics cited the board’s inefficiency and slow pace approving licenses as reasons for its elimination.

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Long shot adult-use legalization effort launches in anti-marijuana Idaho

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Advocates in Idaho, arguably the least-cannabis-friendly state in the United States, are laying ambitious plans to skip over medical marijuana and go straight to adult use.

At least, that’s the goal of the proposed 2026 ballot initiative that campaign organization Kind Idaho recently filed with Idaho’s secretary of state, according to The Inlander.

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Campaigners would have until April 2026 to collect roughly 70,000 valid signatures from registered voters.

It’s anybody’s guess who might be willing to support such an effort.

Campaigns in 2022 and 2024 failed to get medical marijuana on Idaho’s ballot.

And recent adult-use legalization efforts in red states such as North Dakota and South Dakota have repeatedly failed.

Those were funded by existing medical marijuana businesses, and Idaho has

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Marijuana firms Eaze, Green Dragon find new life after $10 million capital infusion

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Newly rebranded California-based marijuana operator Eaze raised $10 million to acquire select assets of Eaze Technologies, its predecessor company, to fund the reopening of 70 Eaze and Green Dragon locations across California, Colorado, Florida and Michigan.

The now-defunct Eaze Technologies, which purchased Denver-based Green Dragon about three years ago, announced in October that it would close its Colorado and Florida operations.

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Billionaire Jim Clark, founder of defunct tech company Netscape, provided the funding, which was announced Tuesday, and now has controlling ownership of the new entity, Eaze.

CEO Cory Azzalino said the company does not intend to reimagine its business model, which it shifted four years ago from a delivery platform to a plant-touching entity.

“The focus going forward will be continued expansion

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Oregon voters approve pro-labor change to state cannabis law

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Voters in Oregon appear to have approved an organized labor-friendly change to state cannabis law that’s had mixed results in other states.

With more than 80% of ballots counted, 55.7% of state voters cast yes ballots on Measure 119, which will require cannabis operators in the state to submit a “labor peace agreement” to regulators before receiving or renewing business permit, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.

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The voter initiative’s main sponsor was the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 555, which spent more than $2.8 million on the campaign after a failed attempt to impose a labor peace agreement (LPA) requirement through the state Legislature.

Several other states, most notably California, require cannabis businesses to have an LPA as part of licensing

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