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Arizona Senators Approve Measures To Criminalize ‘Excessive’ Marijuana Smoke Or Odor

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5 months ago

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Arizona senators have passed a couple of measures make the act of creating an “excessive” amount of marijuana smoke or odor a criminal nuisance punishable by jail time.even if the person is using cannabis in their own home in compliance with state law.

Despite concerns about weakening the will of voters who voted to approve legalization and concerns about enforceability and ambiguity about what constitutes “excessive” marijuana smoke, members of the Senate Judiciary and Elections Committee on Friday approved the bill and a joint resolution to put the issue on the table by votes of 5-2 and 4-3, respectively.

The legislation by Sen. JD Mesnard (R) was amended during the hearing to provide a clearer definition of “excessive” smoking and remove the reference to making the offense a “felony.” However, some members still argued that the measures lack clarity and will continue to threaten criminalization, making the offense a Class 3 felony, punishable by up to 30 days in jail, a maximum fine of $500 and a year of probation.

The revised definition of excessive cannabis smoke or odor describes “what a person is able to detect on another person’s private property.”

The law states that excessive production of marijuana smoke or odor is “injurious to health, unreasonable, offensive to the senses, and interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property and is a public nuisance.”

Mesnard said he decided to push the issue “based on personal experience” with his neighbors, “as well as hearing from other people that people can do what they want on their private property, but on other people’s private property, their homes no less, that’s when it starts to become another problem.”

“I can say that it was regrettable for me that I didn’t have to have conversations with my four-year-old, maybe because of what’s going on in some houses down in my neighborhood, there was such a strong smell and smoke coming from the road,” he said. “If it’s important to you to play, there are a lot of ways to do it without affecting the neighbors around you, so it’s easy.”

Several citizens testified against the proposals, arguing that the state’s legalization law would unfairly restrict adults’ right to use cannabis and make it difficult to challenge in court allegations of excessive smoke or odor, for example.

The ACLU of Arizona also expressed opposition to the measure, saying a representative said it would “undermine the intent of the voters” and that the issue of smoking and public odor has already been addressed by the courts, stating that “the mere smell of marijuana no longer automatically establishes criminal activity.”

“SCR 1048 and the mirror bill (SB 1725) Relying on subjective assessments like excessive marijuana smell opens up enforcement to the kind of discretionary judgments that research on bias shows leads to disparities and outcomes,” they said. “This leads to equal protection violations and arbitrary enforcement.”

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On the back of this law, anti-cannabis activists are working to place an initiative on the state’s November ballot. significantly rolling back the voter-approved marijuana legalization law.

A GOP congressman recently said he would like his state to take such a measure, but he also admitted that. President Donald Trump’s recent federal scheduling order could complicate that prohibitionist push.

Under the proposal, possession would be legal if voters chose to enact the initiative — and Arizona’s medical marijuana program would remain in place — but it would shut down the commercial recreational cannabis market that has evolved since voters approved a measure to legalize adult use in 2020.

According to a section of the latest initiative’s findings, “the proliferation of marijuana establishments and recreational marijuana sales in this state has created unintended consequences and negative consequences for the public health, safety, and welfare of Arizonans, including increased marijuana use among children, environmental concerns, increased demand on water resources, public nuisance, illegal market activity, and market instability.”

“Sales of legal marijuana in Arizona have declined for two years in a row, resulting in less tax revenue for the state, and some patients relying on recreational marijuana use instead of taking advantage of the benefits of the state’s medical marijuana program,” he says.

The initiative would instruct the legislature to make appropriate changes, also by amending the existing statute as it pertains to the commercial industry, including tax and advertising regulations.

To vote, the campaign must collect 255,949 valid signatures by July 2nd. If the proposal goes to the voters and is approved, it would take effect in January 2028.

It remains to be seen whether there will be any desire for repeal among voters, as 60% of voters approved legalization on the ballot in 2020.

Even more last year’s poll found majority support for medical cannabis legalization (86 percent), adult-use legalization (69 percent), and banking reform (78 percent).

Max Jackson’s photo.

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Saxony-Anhalt state government backs hemp innovation center in Mücheln

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17 hours ago

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July 17, 2026

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The German state of Saxony-Anhalt is supporting the development of a hemp information and competence center in Müchelnen (Geiseltal). The joint project known as IKHE – “Information and Competence Center for Hemp with Experience Trails” – is being carried out by the city of Mücheln (Geiseltal), the University of Applied Sciences Merseburg and the German Hemp Academy (Deutsche Hanf-Akademie eV).

The project has been given approximately 3.8 million euros as part of the New European Bauhaus (NEB) initiative, fully financed by the European Union’s Just Transition Fund (JTF).

The funding announcement was presented in Mücheln (Geiseltal) on July 7, 2026 by Gert Zender, State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy, Tourism, Agriculture and Forestry of Saxony-Anhalt.

© New Bauhauslers

Hemp is a versatile plant and one of the oldest crops cultivated by humans. For centuries, it was used to produce textiles, paper, and building and construction materials, before being largely displaced by fossil-based raw materials. Today, the renewed use of hemp opens up new possibilities for the ecologically and economically efficient production of building materials and fiber products. Grown in rotation with other crops, hemp improves soil quality, requires no crop protection products and requires little water.

Hanffaser Geiseltal eG a hemp industry processing cooperative is already active in the region. While Hanffaser Geiseltal processes the raw material, the IKHE partners are working to establish the information and competence center as a center for knowledge transfer, education and testing. Together, these efforts are turning Mücheln (Geiseltal) into a location with experience covering the entire hemp value chain.

At the heart of IKHE is an experimental building workshop where new bio-based building materials made from hemp are developed, tested and demonstrated in experimental building projects. This is complemented by a self-help building workshop, where both professionals and the public can learn how to work with hemp-based building materials through combined theoretical and practical seminars, and receive hands-on guidance for their building projects. Experiential trails will also allow visitors to explore where and how hemp can be used, in a hands-on way, from construction and textiles to food and cosmetics.

© New Bauhauslers

A bottom-up participatory approach is central to the project. From the very beginning, local residents, associations, schools and regional initiatives have been actively involved in the development and implementation of the project through open workshops and practical activities. In this way, the project combines formal scientific and technical knowledge with the practical expertise of craftsmanship and regional traditions, reflecting the values ​​of the new European Bauhaus of being beautiful, sustainable and inclusive.

IKHE is an Applied NEB Project and will be in operation until 2028. It is supported by the NEB Network Office Saxony-Anhalt, acting on behalf of the State Chancellery and the Saxony-Anhalt Ministry of Culture.

Source: The new Bauhauslers

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Federal Marijuana Rescheduling Hearing Wraps Up, With DEA Judge Laying Out Next Steps

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17 hours ago

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July 17, 2026

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A Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) hearing The Trump administration’s cannabis rescheduling proposal concluded, and the agency judge overseeing the proceeding set a deadline for the parties involved to file post-hearing briefs before the next recommendation on reform.

The multi-day hearing, which began late last month, ended Wednesday after presentations from a handful of states opposing federal cannabis reform.

DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek Julius issued an order Thursday, saying that because “no closing time was granted” during the court days, participants in the process will be able to file post-trial documents, which are due Aug. 17.

Those documents can be up to 50 pages long and can include “closing arguments and arguments on any other matter raised by the court at the hearing.”

“This is a non-mandatory submission, so a named party will not be penalized for failing to file a post-hearing brief, and the absence of a submission means that there was no submission,” Julius wrote.

His order also states that participants can submit corrections to the daily transcripts of the proceedings by August 17.

“The amendments submitted by the designated parties are only proposed amendments. This panel will also examine the transcript for possible errors and indicate where amendments are needed,” wrote the judge. “The list created by the court will be compared with the list submitted by the Named Parties to create a list of final corrections. Thereafter, this court will issue an order approving the list of final corrections and include those corrections in the official copy of the transcript.”

“A fully redacted copy of the transcript of these proceedings will be made publicly available on the Agency’s website,” Julius said.

The judge said in his closing statement at the end of Wednesday’s hearing that he will work on writing his recommendation after receiving the next briefs on whether the government should move forward with broad marijuana rescheduling, but stressed that the final decision would rest with the DEA administrator.

Julius did not specify an anticipated timeline for the administrator’s recommendation of action.

At the hearing, DEA officials were tasked with defending the proposed cannabis reorganization featured testimony about the medical benefits of marijuana and its relative safety compared to other substances such as alcohol and opioids. It included appearances by a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scientist and a doctor from New Hampshire. Medical marijuana provides relief to pain patients and can serve as an alternative to opioids.

Meanwhile, attorneys and witnesses for the parties opposing marijuana redistricting who attended the hearing focused on the alleged harms of cannabis use, as well as criticism of the recently approved changes. an analysis used to determine whether or not drugs have approved medical value.

DEA Administrator Terrance Cole only organizations and individuals opposed to marijuana reform have been invited to the hearing as a designated participant – telling followers that they do not meet the definition of “interested person” to participate because they are not “affected or prejudiced by any rule or proposed rule that may be issued.”

Participating opposition parties include Smart Approaches to Marijuana, the National Drug & Alcohol Screening Association, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, DUID Victim Voices, Kenneth Finn, Phillip A. Drum, and the states of Idaho, Indiana, and Nebraska.

Before the hearing began last month, marijuana reform activists rallied They held a press conference outside DEA headquarters to highlight how they feel of the process – that supporters of the reform were not invited to participate and that the proceedings were not broadcast live, despite the officials’ vow of “transparency”.

Marihuana Moments sent petitions to DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek Julius and DEA Administrator Cole asking for them reverse the decision to ban the public from tuning into the cannabis hearing via live stream. A Congressmen and other journalists later joined that request.

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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in April He issued an order that immediately reclassified the state’s licensed medical cannabisas well as marijuana products approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under Schedule I through Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

A separate order was signed by the acting attorney general hearing marijuana III.

Preliminary hearing process on the marijuana redistricting process initiated by the Biden administration It was halted last year amid allegations of improper communications and witness selection.

the current The marijuana redistricting process is being challenged in several ways which have been upheld by a federal Court of Appeals. those pieces of State attorneys general have filed lawsuits against cannabis reform, Opponents of marijuana legalization and a a cannabis-based biopharmaceutical corporation.

Meanwhile, the reorganization of state-licensed medical cannabis is already having a major impact.

The Congressional Research Service published a report on the current rescheduling of cannabis Certified patients with medical marijuana from state licensed dispensaries are now eligible for Class III. “The order appears to allow end users to use marijuana medically without a CSA prescription,” he says.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has published a Draft update to a gun purchase form to recognize the legal status of medical marijuana in the reprogramming. The revised section of the question states that only the “recreational use or possession of marijuana” is federally prohibited, omitting the prior form’s mention of medical cannabis.

The US Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said they plan to issued new tax guidelines for the marijuana industry after reprogramming. The reform will benefit state-licensed marijuana businesses by allowing them to take federal tax deductions that are currently prohibited under IRS Code Section III, known as Section 280E.

Even the DEA, which has long opposed cannabis legalization and accused the Biden administration of stalling the initiative in the reorganization process, has done so. It launched a registration process for legal marijuana businesses in the state to take advantage of the federal benefits that come with the reform.

The Department of Transport, on the other hand, issued guidelines stating this use Legal medical cannabis in the state is still no excuse for truck drivers to test positive for drugspilots and other safety-sensitive personnel.

The The War Department released a memo making it clear that military service members were using marijuana and civilian employees of the department remain prohibited, even in the federal rescheduling of cannabis.

A congressional committee recently Federal officials voted to block further steps to reschedule cannabishowever lawmakers from both parties told Marihuana Moment they don’t think that provision will be enacted become law

Read the DEA’s post-trial hearing the order below:

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Photo Report: Cultivate 2026

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2 days ago

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July 16, 2026

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New varieties, commercial trends, packaging solutions, greenhouse developments, microbiological products, crop protection – there was a lot to see, learn, do and discover at Cultivate 2026, and we’ll be sure to share it all with you in the coming days. But first, it’s picture time (and nap time).

See the supplier photo report Cultivate 2026 here.

Find photo coverage of gardening companies on our sister site FloralDaily.

© Arlette Sijmonsma | MMJDaily.com

Pipp / GGS, the Berger team, the VidaWool team and Beneficial Insectary Cultivate are all at 2026.










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