The governor of Maryland has launched a first-of-its-kind marijuana workforce development program, with a focus on supporting industry participation by people who’ve been criminalized over cannabis.

Less than two weeks after issuing a mass pardon for over 175,000 marijuana and paraphernalia convictions, Gov. Wes Moore (D) announced the Cannabis Workforce Development Program—a free service for eligible applicants that is being jointly run by the the Maryland Cannabis Administration (MCA) and the Maryland Department of Labor (DOL).

“This groundbreaking collaboration will support Marylanders interested in joining the state’s growing cannabis industry and prioritize individuals and communities directly impacted by the War on Drugs,” Moore said in a press release on Thursday. “For decades, cannabis policy has been used as a cudgel. Together, we prove how cannabis policy can be used as a valuable tool to leave no one behind.”

Through the program, participants will be able to take eight self-paced courses taught by industry experts, licensed marijuana business operators and college professors. After completing 100 hours of virtual instruction, they will also be able to enroll in a two-day, in-person course for occupational training.

The governor’s office says the initiative “will help reduce barriers to employment and create paths to sustainable

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Kentucky will start accepting license applications for prospective medical marijuana businesses beginning next week—six months ahead of schedule—the governor announced on Thursday.

Just over a year after signing a medical cannabis legalization bill into law, Gov. Andy Beshear (D) said regulators will start taking medical marijuana business license applications on Monday, July 1.

“This administration has been working hard to expedite the timeline for making medical cannabis available to Kentuckians with serious medical conditions,” Beshear said in a press release. “I am pleased to report that Team Kentucky will begin accepting applications from prospective medical cannabis businesses beginning next Monday, July 1–a full 6 months ahead of schedule.”

The governor also announced that the state Board of Medical Licensure and Board of Nursing will be simultaneously start issuing permits for doctors and nurses to issue medical cannabis recommendations to patients at the beginning of next month.

“We are excited that the program will be able to issue licenses in 2024 rather than 2025,” Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary Eric Friedlander said. “From its inception, the program has been focused on ensuring patients with serious medical conditions like cancer, PTSD, multiple sclerosis and other symptoms and conditions have safe

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is again railing against a marijuana legalization ballot initiative, arguing that it would protect the right to use cannabis more strongly than the First Amendment protects free speech or the Second Amendment protects gun rights—and again claiming that the reform has been a “failed experiment” in states such as Colorado.

At a press briefing on Tuesday, DeSantis was asked about the launch of his Florida Freedom Fund PAC, which is being used to oppose the cannabis legalization ballot measure, as well as a separate abortion rights initiative, in the lead-up to the November election.

The governor said the proposal would allow people to “do marijuana wherever you want—just smoke it, take it, and it would turn Florida into San Francisco or Chicago or some of these places.”

He then reprised one of his chief complaints about the potential impact of legalization: Smelling cannabis.

“We’ve got to keep our streets clean. We cannot have every town smelling like marijuana. We cannot have every hotel smelling—theme parks,” he said, adding that voters don’t really understand the specifics of the legalization proposal and that ballot initiatives are generally “so bogus.”

DeSantis acknowledged that the state Supreme Court has

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