A group of Texas hemp businesses and a smoke shop operator have filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Allen, law enforcement agencies and officials, claiming they initiated an illegal raid on hemp stores and unlawful arrests.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday by the Hemp Industry Leaders of Texas (HILT) and Sabihe Kahn in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, alleges the municipality and police agencies violated the plaintiffs’ Fourth, Fifth, Eighth and 14th Amendment rights in raiding a legal hemp business.

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According to court documents, the plaintiffs claim legal hemp products were seized through an “overbroad search warrant” and that a testing lab failed to use updated testing methodologies that altered the concentrates of legal THCA into illegal delta-9, rendering

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An Arizona judge has declined to revoke and reassign an adult-use marijuana social equity permit that a lawsuit claimed was stolen from a qualifying applicant via predatory means, court records show.

Allegations have swirled for years in Arizona that out-of-state moneyed interests hijacked the licensing process for the 26 so-called social equity stores that state officials permitted in line with the adult-use legalization law voters approved in 2020.

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Proposed legislation that would have “reset” the contested process failed in the state Legislature earlier this year, so aggrieved social equity applicants have resorted to the courts.

Case in point

In one such case, Arizona resident Anavel Vasquez claimed she had been approached by investors to file an application for one of the social equity

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The Catholic Church opposes adult-use marijuana legalization in Florida, where spending by cannabis multistate operators in support has eclipsed $100 million.

According to the most recent polling released Monday, Amendment 3 is poised to pass, with 66% of respondents to a University of North Florida survey saying they plan to vote for the measure.

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That’s mostly consistent with a Tampa Bay Times analysis, which found the aggregate support for Amendment 3 across polls to be about 61% in favor.

The adult-use initiative needs 60% of voter support to pass.

If passed, Amendment 3 would legalize adult-use marijuana sales at existing medical marijuana treatment centers’ retail locations.

With another $10 million contributed earlier this month, Tallahassee-based MSO Trulieve Cannabis Corp. has spent $102.75 million

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