Former President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he believes voters in his home state of Florida will approve a marijuana legalization initiative on the November ballot, arguing that “someone should not be a criminal in Florida, when this is legal in so many other States.”

Trump added that current policy ruins lives, wastes taxpayer dollars and puts people at risk of dying from cannabis tainted with fentanyl.

The former president wants lawmakers to follow up on legalization if voters approve it, however, by passing a law to ban public cannabis consumption.

“In Florida, like so many other States that have already given their approval, personal amounts of marijuana will be legalized for adults with Amendment 3,” Trump said in a post on his social media site Truth Social. “Whether people like it or not, this will happen through the approval of the Voters, so it should be done correctly.”

“We need the State Legislature to responsibly create laws that prohibit the use of it in public spaces, so we do not smell marijuana everywhere we go, like we do in many of the Democrat run Cities,” he added. “At the same time, someone should not be a criminal in

Read full article on Marijuana Moment

California hemp product retailers told a legislative committee on Monday that a governor-backed plan to restrict hemp-derived cannabinoids and hemp flower would shutter businesses across the state, lead to a loss of jobs and decrease revenue for state and local governments.

The pushback comes as various groups—including marijuana growers and medical patients who say they rely on hemp-derived CBD—raise concerns about the bill, AB 2223, and a package of amendments from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) office. Critics say the plan would fundamentally reshape the state’s cannabis industry and could cause chaos by attempting to fold hemp products into the state’s marijuana supply chain.

Monday’s hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee centered on the fiscal implications of the legislation, not whether or not it’s good policy—something Chairwoman Anna Caballero (D) reminded speakers of on a handful of occasions during the morning.

“I don’t need to hear the ‘good bill’ stuff, because we’re not here on policy,” she said at one point. “We’re here on the money.”

That comment came after representatives of the U.S. Hemp Roundtable and the hemp retailer Sunmed—who both testified in opposition—said that the underlying proposal to more tightly regulate hemp-derived cannabinoids is acceptable to them, but certain

Read full article on Marijuana Moment

Ahead of a legislative committee hearing set for Monday, stakeholders are expressing concerns over a California bill aimed at regulating commercial activity around hemp-derived cannabinoids. They say recently proposed amendments from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) office would fundamentally reshape the state’s cannabis industry and could cause chaos by attempting to fold hemp products into the state’s marijuana supply chain.

Critics—including licensed marijuana growers in California, the hemp industry and medical patients who use hemp-derived CBD—have an array of worries about how the measure would impact both the hemp and marijuana markets. Licensed marijuana cultivators, for example, say they’d all of a sudden have to compete against out-of-state hemp companies that would be permitted to sell hemp into California’s cannabis system without having to comply with costly state regulations.

Parents of children who use CBD for medical reasons, meanwhile, argue that regulating hemp-derived cannabinoids more like marijuana would block access to products they use to manage seizure disorders and other conditions.

The bill, AB 2223, from Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D), is set to be discussed Monday in the Senate Appropriations Committee. It would need to pass out of committee by August 16 in order to remain in play this session.

With

Read full article on Marijuana Moment