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Maryland House Committee Advances Bill To Regulate Marijuana Sales With Amendments

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A Maryland House of Delegates committee has advanced an amended bill containing proposed rules for legal marijuana sales and production in the state, a policy change approved by nearly two-thirds of voters through a ballot referendum last year.

The measure is intended to prepare Maryland to regulate cannabis commerce as the new state law, which will allow adults to possess up to 1.5 ounces of marijuana and two grow plants at home for personal use on July 1.

Before approving the bill at a hearing Thursday evening, the House Economic Matters Committee adopted dozens of changes in a lengthy reprint from the sponsor, Del. C.T. Wilson (D), who also chairs the panel. In addition to many minor, technical amendments, the bill as approved also contains revised provisions on delivery, incorporating medical marijuana businesses into the new adult-use system and how the industry’s regulatory body and social equity office would be structured.

Lawmakers voted 16–5 to advance the bill, HB 556, with three members excused.

The committee had previously heard the proposal and public testimony during a hearing last month, at which point Wilson gave opening remarks on the bill’s intent.

He told colleagues at the time that

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Federal Census Bureau Updates Marijuana Tax Revenue Map, Showing Which States Had Biggest Increases And Decreases Last Quarter

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Since the U.S. Census Bureau first launched a map detailing the proportion of state revenue made up by marijuana tax money last fall, the agency has continued tracking the data, allowing further comparisons to be made over time.

In the fourth quarter of 2023, for example, New York recorded about $14.8 million in excise tax on marijuana sales, making up a comparatively slim 0.02 percent of the state’s total tax revenue for the quarter. That’s an increase, however, of 49 percent compared to the preceding quarter—an indication of the potentially massive New York market still slowly getting off the ground after stores began opening there just over a year ago.

In Colorado, meanwhile—the first U.S. state to open retail cannabis stores to adults in 2014—marijuana tax revenue comprised 1.23 percent of all state tax revenue, at $61.0 million. That amounted to a 9.05 percent decrease from the previous quarter in the relatively mature marijuana market.

Recent standouts in terms of change include Connecticut, which saw more than a 150-percent increase in tax revenue between the most recent two quarters of available data, as well as Rhode Island and Washington, D.C. The latter two jurisdictions each saw excise tax receipts fall

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Illinois Senators Take Up Bill To Legalize Psilocybin And Create Service Centers In Committee Hearing

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An Illinois Senate committee held a hearing on Thursday to discuss a bill to legalize psilocybin and allow regulated access at service centers in the state where adults could use the psychedelic in a supervised setting—with plans to expand the program to include mescaline, ibogaine and DMT.

The legislation from Sen. Rachel Ventura (D)—titled the Compassionate Use and Research of Entheogens (CURE) Act—was taken up by the Senate Executive Committee, with the sponsor and advocates testifying in favor of the reform.

“Psilocybin has so much potential to help Illinoisans from any walk of life,” Ventura said in a press release. “My aspiration is for plant medicines to shed its stigma and be recognized for its safe and beneficial qualities. The CURE Act is dedicated to bringing relief to those suffering with mental illnesses, PTSD, substance abuse and more and offers a real life changing solution to the mental health epidemic our state is suffering from.”

The bill would remove psilocybin and psilocyn from the state’s controlled substances list and establish an Illinois Psilocybin Advisory Board under the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) to make recommendations on licensing for service centers and training programs for psilocybin facilitators.

The

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Massachusetts Marijuana Sales Pass $7 Billion Mark As Prices Hit Record Low

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Since Massachusetts first opened its adult-use cannabis market, licensed retailers have sold more than $7 billion in legal medical and recreational marijuana, according to numbers from the state’s Cannabis Control Commission (CCC). The price per gram of legal marijuana, meanwhile, continues to fall to record lows.

The sales milestone—roughly $7.05 billion—includes $5.81 billion in recreational purchases since adult-use sales began in late 2018 as well as $1.24 billion worth of medical marijuana receipts over the same time period.

CCC’s sales data for the medical market extends back only to December 2018, when the commission assumed oversight of the system.

In February of this year, meanwhile—the most recent full month for which data is available—adult-use retailers tallied $127 million in sales, marking a year-over-year monthly increase of about $6.4 million. Medical marijuana sales for this past February were $16.2 million—about $2.5 million less than a year earlier.

The price of marijuana in Massachusetts, meanwhile, continues to fall—from a high of nearly $15 per gram of flower when stores first open to almost $5 per gram this year.

Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission

In February, the average price to adult-use consumers was $5.32 per gram, a record low in the commonwealth, according

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