Advocates held a rally on Tuesday, following last week’s revelations by The City’s Rosalind Adams showing the plan to finance New York’s cannabis industry moved forward despite the major concerns of numerous people involved in the process of implementing the state’s recreational cannabis program.

The Juneteenth Eve rally included elected officials, social justice advocates, and people impacted personally by New York’s longtime war on cannabis. They hoped to protect the progressive aspects of New York’s legalization law, prevent corporate control and increase the weight of community voices moving forward.

Chief among those advocates’ concerns across the 500 emails obtained by The City got access to was the fact that the deal sucked. The things that immediately raised eyebrows included steep costs and unreasonable repayment timelines. Most importantly these concerns were raised with the Governor Kathy Hochul as her office pushed to make her previous promises on funding the cannabis program a reality. 

“The social equity component of the MRTA is absolutely essential for our communities in Brooklyn and Queens,” said Senator Julia Salazar. “MRTA implementation is a chance to address the harm that too many New Yorkers have experienced due to many years of criminalization. But the encroachment of big cannabis corporations in New York’s market poses a threat to the MRTA’s success, especially for small, legal cannabis businesses. For the good intent of the MRTA to become reality for more communities of color and justice-impacted New Yorkers, we need Governor Hochul to allow the Cannabis Control Board to function as an independent body, and for the Office of Cannabis Management to be empowered to continue to implement the MRTA equitably.”

Salazar hit the nail on the heart in terms of who should be taking the lead. The concerns from New York’s Office of Cannabis Management about the funding deal were ignored. Following the struggle for New York to provide true access statewide, the OCM was thrown under the bus for the state’s failure despite raising numerous red flags they found and raised about the Chicago Atlantic Group deal. The City noted an OCM financial analyst used all caps to note how BAD it was. 

The Drug Policy Alliance calls New York City home and has been at the forefront of the work to get New York legal over the years. Executive Director Kassandra Frederique offered a scathing critique as news first got out about Hochuls’s administration moving ahead with a predatory lender that exploited Black and Brown cannabis licencees while keeping lawmakers in the dark. 

Frederique called the Hochul administration’s mishandling of the legal marijuana rollout deeply concerning, and strikingly echoed the Governor’s congestion pricing reversal. 

“In both instances, she bypassed the Legislature’s will and rejected agency expertise to enact sweeping changes without a concrete plan,” Frederique said, “It’s now clear that her administration knew of DASNY’s failures to build retail space and ignored repeated warnings from the Office of Cannabis Management about predatory loans harming mostly Black and Brown licensees. Instead of addressing these issues, the Hochul administration agreed to unfavorable loan terms with a disreputable creditor and then scapegoated the former OCM leader for the rollout’s failures.

Frederique went on to note how devastating this was to the communities of color most decimated by disproportional enforcement of the state’s cannabis laws in their neighborhoods. 

“What Governor Hochul calls social equity has only made cannabis licensees more vulnerable to exploitation,” Frederique said, “Our communities deserve better—real equity, real opportunities, and an administration that follows the law’s intent. The Governor must present a clear plan for delivering the next phase of our justice-centered cannabis framework in accordance with the law.”

Shaleen Title has spent the last two decades pushing for an equitable cannabis industry. She is founder and director of the drug policy think tank Parabola Center, which creates model policies to protect people rather than corporate profits. She currently serves as Distinguished Cannabis Policy Practitioner in Residence at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law’s Drug Enforcement and Policy Center and as vice-chair of the Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition. It’s tough to find a voice that carries more weight on the regulatory side when it comes to discussing Social Equity in cannabis. 

We asked Title her thoughts on what was happening in New York. She said DPA offered a great statement on the subject already but offered some further reading.

“The governor’s narrative that the Office of Cannabis Management was “inexperienced” deserves further examination,” Title said, “The new evidence shows that the governor’s office ignored OCM’s warnings and moved ahead with a failed initiative and then used the OCM and its leadership as a scapegoat.”

Title closed pointing to the positive aspects of what is happening in New York despite the hiccups. 

“Any fair evaluation of New York’s rollout comparing its metrics against its own goals, and metrics in other states, demonstrates that New York leads the nation in terms of racial equity and cannabis — not surprising, given that its staff has been led by some of the country’s top experts on cannabis and equity, data, civil rights law, and antitrust law,” Title said, 

Ahead of the rally outside of Hochul’s office, DPA noted other positives from New York’s rollout being overshadowed in the controversy of the moment. Those include things like 95% of New York’s cannabis retail market is small businesses. But more importantly, New York has nearly tripled the number of Black-owned retail dispensaries nationwide in just 15 months.

“The Governor can change the players, but for NY activists who know that this is a marathon for equity and not a sprint, the game doesn’t change. We will continue to hold her accountable to the letter of the most equitable cannabis law in the country. This means that fifty percent of the market must be comprised of social equity outcomes including those from communities disproportionately impacted by cannabis prohibition. We will not stop advocating for the state budget and support that it will take for NY to get there, despite the machine, including MSOs, that we are up against,” said Annette Fernandez, Managing Partner, High Exposure Agency; Founder, La Casa Lola; and Provisional Retail License Applicant.

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The results of a recent study found that closer proximity to cannabis dispensaries in a community leads to a lower rate of opioid prescription. The study entitled “Recreational cannabis dispensary access effects on prescription opioid use and mortality,” was made available online in June but will be published in Regional Science and Urban Economics in its September 2024 issue.

Steven J. Dundas of Oregon State University and Jason W. Beasley of Western Michigan University (a former student of Dundas’) used Oregon as an example to examine opioid prescriptions and mortality rates and how they changed based on the number of cannabis dispensaries nearby. The data they used stemmed from the Oregon Health Authority’s Public Health Division from January 2014-December 2017, which researchers explained “captures nearly two years of data pre- and post-RCL [recreational cannabis legalization] in Oregon.”

“This paper addresses the question of whether access to recreational cannabis is a relevant factor impacting demand for prescription opioids within a community,” researchers explained. “We combine neighborhood-scale opioid prescription data and recreational cannabis dispensary locations in the U.S. state of Oregon (OR) to investigate the impact of changes to cannabis access on opioid prescriptions.”

Dundas and Beasley reviewed Oregon-based communities that are within one mile of a licensed cannabis dispensary and found that prescription opioid rates were lower compared to areas without dispensaries close by. “Using distance bins to identify the non-linear effect of recreational dispensary access, our empirical results suggest mean prescription opioids per capita fell by 1.0–3.9% after recreational legalization in communities near cannabis dispensaries,” the study stated. “Our results show that the further individuals must travel to a recreational dispensary, the higher the rates of prescription opioids per capita.”

In contrast, communities that had a dispensary located within one to four miles had higher prescription opioid rates. As the radius distance increased to a range of a dispensary being located four to 10 miles away from a community, or 10 to miles away, the prescription rates continued to increase.

This evidence suggests that if there are close alternatives to cannabis products from dispensaries that can be used to opioid prescriptions, residents are more likely to consider switching to cannabis for treatment. However, they also noted that while opioid-related mortality rates have quadrupled between 2005-2022, these results don’t have much of an effect on opioid-related mortality. “Despite the reduction, we find no evidence that reducing barriers to cannabis access and subsequent declines in prescription opioids are associated with meaningful changes in opioid mortality,” the researchers wrote.

Other studies have previously examined the opioid mortality rates associated with exposure to medical and/or recreational cannabis. A study published on June 5 in JAMA Network Open examined the case of 175,734 patients and why they consumed cannabis within the past three months. “While most patients (76.1%) reported using cannabis to manage a health symptom, very few patients identified as medical cannabis users.” Those consumers still used cannabis for common conditions such as pain, stress, and as a sleep aid. “Less than half the patients who used cannabis reported using it for medical reasons, even though the majority of patients reported cannabis use to manage a health-related symptom,” that report stated.

Another study published at the start of the year in BJM Open found evidence that cannabis has potential in acting as a substitute for opioids, specifically when helping patients manage pain. A total of 22,028 patient’s profiles were reviewed across 84 randomized controlled trials, which showed that cannabis offered similar relief that opioids provided without any negative side effects. “Our findings suggest that both opioids and cannabis for medical use may provide benefits for a minority of chronic pain patients,” researchers wrote. “Furthermore, cannabis does not cause respiratory depression which can result from opioids consumption and lead to non-fatal or fatal overdose.”

In February, another study published in the Harm Reduction Journal developed a clinical framework to help patients use cannabis to treat chronic pain if they are opioid-dependent. “Based on a comprehensive review of the literature and epidemiological evidence to date, cannabinoids stand to be one of the most interesting, safe, and accessible tools available to attenuate the devastation resulting from the misuse and abuse of opioid narcotics,” researchers explained. 

Research published earlier in May in the journal Pain also shared that injecting terpenes is more effective than injecting morphine-based chemo medications, and there are far fewer adverse effects. “What we found is that terpenes are really good at relieving a specific type of chronic pain with side effects that are low and manageable,” said researcher John Streicher. The study used five terpenes (alpha-humulene, beta-caryophyllene, beta-pinene, geraniol, and linalool) and tested on mice with a focus on neuropathic pain (a common condition that is developed by chemotherapy medications). All of the terpenes showed signs of pain reduction, especially when combined. “We looked at other aspects of the terpenes, such as does this cause reward? Is this going to be addictive? Is it going to make you feel awful?” Streicher said. “What we found was yes, terpenes do relieve pain, and they also have a pretty good side effect profile.”

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New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy recently visited Prolific Growhouse on May 30 to tour the facility, speak with founder David Nicolas about his journey as a business owner, and learn about the strain named after him.

During the tour, Nicolas showed Murphy various parts of the operation, including cultivation, processing, and packaging. Nicolas explained that he’s looking toward expanding his operation, since he doesn’t currently utilize all of the space he rents out. His plans include an increase in rooms for flowering plants and clones, an updated irrigation system, as well as packing rooms, “a vault,” and an employee break room, according to WHYY. “To finish this, we’ll need $700,000,” Nicolas said. “We were fortunate enough to get a NJEDA grant, which covered a small portion of it.”

Murphy signed the New Jersey Economic Act of 2020 into law in January 2021, which created a seven-year plan to provide $14 billion in “tax incentive, financing, and grant programs that will address the ongoing economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and build a stronger, fairer New Jersey economy.” The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) is the agency that manages such grants, with an overall mission to promote the state economy.

Nicolas is a first generation Haitian American and New Jersey native who sold cannabis to help his family. “I use cannabis to survive and pay bills,” Nicolas explained. “My mom, she had breast cancer [when] I was growing up. By the time I was 13, cannabis was the only way of putting food on the table.”

Later on, when attending Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey, he was using medical cannabis personally, but also sharing its benefits with other students in need. He said that athletes would seek him out to obtain cannabis to help manage stress during their finals.

Unfortunately, in 2019 he was being pulled over by police more often. “It wasn’t by normal police,” said Nicolas. “I wasn’t being asked for my ID when I was getting pulled over. It was basically stop and frisk, most of the time.”

This led to multiple arrests, which threatened to end his college career. One of his court appearances was on the day of one of his finals. “I had to explain to my professors who didn’t want me to skip this final on why I had to skip this final, because it was either between my degree or my freedom,” he added.

Nicolas founded PGH in 2021, and in February 2021 Murphy signed three cannabis-related bills into law. A1897 removed criminal penalties for cannabis possession for up to six ounces of flower or 170 grams of hash, decriminalized the transfer of one ounce of cannabis from one adult to another, and reduced distribution penalties for large amounts of product. A21/S2 set up regulations for cannabis production and sales and established a sales tax where 70% would be given back to low-income communities. A5342 implemented new rules for underage cannabis possession penalties that lead to community service rather than prison time, as well as prohibits police from using the smell of cannabis to search youth.

Today, PGH has 10 employees, which adds up to an average age of 25. “This group is probably the youngest in the nation, operating a legal cannabis business,” explained Nicolas. “But everyone here has hustle, and is definitely dedicated towards this company.”

“People who come from my background, especially from the inner city, [most] don’t have the amount of capital that it takes to start up one of these,” Nicolas said about PGH. “I think the state can do a little better; provide more grants, allow the grants that are open for businesses that are non-cannabis to be open for cannabis businesses.”

Murphy expressed his pride in seeing more diverse business owners and operators within the industry, but wants to see more. “I still want to see… more equity, more reward and redemption for the folks who were crushed by the war on drugs,” Murphy commented on Nicolas’ success so far. “You’re a role model for exactly what we want this industry to look like,” he said. “Somebody who has been crushed, sadly, on the one hand by the war on drugs and has reemerged as a bright star.”

The strain, dubbed “Murphy’s Sourz” was originally sold starting in January. “Our Murphy’s Sourz is a dynamic Sativa canna strain, born from the union of Sour OG and Tangie,” PGH wrote on Instagram. “This strain strikes a perfect balance between the uplifting euphoria and calming relaxation, making it suitable to combat stress, anxiety, and pain. The flavor is a delightful mix of sour lemon, sweet tangerine, with hints of diesel and pine.”

Nicolas explained the reason why they chose to name a strain after the state’s governor. “We were like, ‘Let’s try to get Governor Murphy’s attention with this one,’” Nicolas said, according to a WHYY news report. “I didn’t expect him to give me a surprise visit.”  When introduced to his namesake strain, Murphy said he was “honored.”

Following Murphy’s visit, he wrote a brief post on Facebook about his tour experience. “Toured Prolific Growhouse in Mount Holly today to see how our cannabis industry has matured since we passed legalization,” Murphy wrote. “Entrepreneurs like David Nicolas give me hope that we can build a strong and diverse industry that reverses some of the worst effects of the War on Drugs.”

According to the PGH website, Nicolas is committed to both the excellence for his business but also supporting change and promoting equity within the industry. “We not only produce top of the line cannabis products, but seek to invoke change in our communities as well,” said the company. “PGH is committed to making advances for social justice by providing opportunities for those affected by prior cannabis convictions. These opportunities will create progress towards diversity and inclusion within the recreational cannabis industry.”

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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul last week announced a significant overhaul of the state’s Office of Cannabis Management, including a leadership change at the top of the agency.

The governor’s office said in a press release on Friday that she had “directed an operational overhaul” of the agency, which “follows the release of a 30-day assessment conducted by a team of individuals under the leadership of the Commissioner of the Office of General Services Jeanette Moy, that identified significant structural limitations to the Office of Cannabis Management that have affected the agency’s ability to fulfill its mandate to efficiently establish New York State’s cannabis marketplace.”

Hochul detailed the changes at a press conference in Albany, where the New York Times reported that “Chris Alexander, the executive director of the Office of Cannabis Management, was notably absent.”

According to the Times, Alexander “will step down at the end of his three-year term in September.”

Hochul called for the assessment earlier this year, saying at the time that New York’s legal cannabis rollout had been a “disaster.” Moy was directed to assemble a team to conduct a 30-day review of the office of Cannabi Management. In a letter to Hochul sent last week, Moy said that it was “clear from speaking to operational staff that they are dedicated, mission-driven, and working very hard,” and that in “order to alleviate pressures on staff, the task force took immediate action to recruit for vacant license processing positions to increase the size of the licensing team by 40%, and to explore technology like softphones to improve the hybrid work experience.”

Moy said that the task force “outlined recommendations to enhance customer service and expedite the opening of Adult-Use Retail businesses in New York State’s legal cannabis market.”

“It was a priority of the task force to craft recommendations that would enable this agency to be more transparent, efficient, and responsive to all New Yorkers. In conjunction with your recently announced Enforcement Task Force to shut down illegal cannabis stores, the recommendations in this report will enable OCM to maintain and build upon our State’s commitment to social equity, while maturing into a world-class regulatory agency for a thriving New York State cannabis market,” Moy said.

In Friday’s press release, the governor’s office said that the “assessment makes comprehensive recommendations to end the bottleneck of license applicants and improve communication with applicants and licensees – transforming the Office’s capacity to expand safe, legal cannabis operations across the state.”

“Based on the assessment’s findings, Governor Hochul announced a series of immediate actions to reform the licensing processes and increase enforcement against illegal storefronts. The Governor also announced the establishment of a $5 million grant program to help CAURD licensees and previewed next week’s launch of the Cannabis Enforcement Task Force,” the announcement said.

New York’s legal cannabis market has had a sluggish rollout; according to the New York Times, there are only 122 legal recreational cannabis dispensaries in the state, while “the number of illicit shops in New York City alone has nearly doubled to 2,900.”

“At the end of April, more than 5.600 applications, mostly for retail and craft businesses that submitted them as far back as August 2022, were still waiting to be reviewed,” the Times reported.

The governor’s office said that the “assessment identified significant impediments to the Office’s effective processing and approval of applicant licensure.”

“Without best capability to fulfill the licensing role, the individuals this process is designed to help are exhausting substantial resources navigating it and risk being left behind. Delays in the legal marketplace have created a vacuum for illegal storefronts to proliferate and squeeze out CAURD licensees. The reforms announced today will create additional capacity for closing illegal storefronts and lifting up legal operators,” the press release said.

Hoy said in a statement on Friday that the “multi-agency task force created to assess the Office of Cannabis Management has identified several steps the agency can take to unclog the bottleneck of applications by improving communication with applicants and streamlining the application process.” 

“The proposals outlined in the task force’s report will improve transparency and open lines of communication in the application process while boosting the state’s efforts to meet Governor Hochul’s commitment to equity in New York’s cannabis market,” Moy said.

In a statement, Hochul thanked Moy and her team “for their hard work and thoughtful assessment,” saying she looks forward “to working with OCM to implement the report’s recommendations and transform New York’s cannabis industry.”

“We promised to build the strongest, most equitable legal cannabis market in the nation, and we’re announcing long-needed steps to make New York’s cannabis program work as promised,” Hochul said.

But the Times said that the report “immediately drew backlash from critics who said it painted an incomplete portrait,” with some arguing that “it omitted or glossed over the role of the governor, the Legislature and the many lawsuits against the agency in the challenges facing the cannabis program.”

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Looking back to early 2023, Thailand’s climate surrounding cannabis looked incredibly different than conversations surrounding the plant today. The country made major waves after becoming the first country in Southeast Asia to allow medical cannabis use in 2018, and it received global attention after decriminalizing recreational cannabis in 2022.

Though, the events that followed — including an influx of tourists openly using cannabis in public, the opening of plentiful cannabis cafes and reportedly thousands of pot shops over a handful of months with minimal quality control — quickly had leaders backtracking the historic move. 

Now, nearly two months after Thailand lawmakers made the historic move, the country’s current Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin announced that the country will move to re-list cannabis as a narcotic by the end of the year, Associated Press reports.

Thailand Presses on to Reverse Cannabis Reform Progress

The change in attitude surrounding cannabis is nothing new, as lawmakers recently approved legislation aimed to walk back cannabis reform and ban the use of recreational cannabis. The proposal clarifies that only the use of medical cannabis is allowed, while recreational cannabis is prohibited.

“Without the law to regulate cannabis it will be misused,” Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew said in March, referring to recreational use. At the time, he added that approximately 20,000 cannabis shops had legally registered with the government. The new law would force any unregistered shops, which became far more abundant following Thailand’s decriminalization move, to close. 

Rather, the new comments provide more insight on Srettha’s time table and future plans for recreational cannabis in Thailand.

Earlier this week, the prime minister clarified on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, “I want the health ministry to amend the rules and re-list cannabis as a narcotic,” adding that the ministry should “quickly issue” a rule to limit cannabis usage to medical only.

Thailand Prime Minister’s Broader Crackdown on Drug Use

The comments followed a meeting with the prime minister and agencies associated with narcotics suppression, prompting Srettha to take a hard stance on illicit drugs and order authorities to deliver results and “clear progress” in the next 90 days.

“Drugs is a problem that destroys the future of the country, many young people are addicted. We have to work fast, to confiscate assets (of drug dealers) and expand treatment,” he said.

Initially, the decriminalization move was only meant for medicinal use, though it led to an unregulated market that steadily prompted public backlash and concern over cannabis misuse and potential crime.

Additionally, Srettha asked authorities to be more specific about what constitutes drug possession under the law, from “small amount” to “one pill” in an effort to enforce tougher drug penalties.

While Srettha requested that cannabis be re-listed as a narcotic by the end of the year, it’s still not clear when this will happen and what the process will look like.

Questions Surrounding Cannabis Re-Criminalization

Throughout this U-turn of sorts, numerous advocates and entrepreneurs have opposed the rollback and said that it will ultimately damage Thailand’s economy. According to Reuters, Thailand’s cannabis industry is projected to be worth up to $1.2 billion by 2025 given the thousands of new shops and uptick in tourism throughout the country since 2022.

While it is largely accepted that the country potentially embraced too much too quickly when it comes to cannabis, other Thailand authorities aren’t as optimistic about the policy reversal. 

Prasitchai Nunual, secretary-general of Thailand’s Cannabis Future Network, argued that moving to recriminalize would hurt the economy, small businesses, and consumers. 

“Many people have been growing cannabis and opening cannabis shops. These will have to close down,” he told Reuters. “If scientific results show that cannabis is worse than alcohol and cigarettes then they can re-list it as a narcotic. If cannabis is less harmful, they should list cigarettes and alcohol as narcotics too.”

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The Minnesota state Senate last week approved a bill to accelerate the licensing of cannabis businesses, narrowly approving the measure by a vote of 34-32. If passed by the legislature and signed into law, the legislation would set the stage for cultivators to begin growing regulated weed by the end of the year.

Minnesota lawmakers passed legislation to legalize recreational marijuana in May 2023, with provisions allowing adults to possess up to two ounces of cannabis in a public place and up to two pounds of weed at home beginning on August 1 of last year. The measure also allows adults to grow up to eight cannabis plants at home, including four mature, flowering plants.

The bill also legalized the cultivation and sale of regulated cannabis by licensed businesses, with dispensary sales of recreational marijuana anticipated to start in January 2025. Under legislation passed by the Minnesota Senate on Friday, state regulators would be able to issue preliminary approval for cannabis cultivators beginning this summer. Supporters of the bill say the legislation will allow prospective regulated cultivators to line up funding for their operations, secure a business location and complete other tasks related to launching their business.

“This newly regulated, legalized and regulated industry is in its infancy, and we’re here to continue the work we started last year,” said Democratic Senator Lindsey Port, according to a report from the Albert Lea Tribune. “Like any new industry, it will not be fully grown on day one. This bill works to ensure a successful market launch and support the industry and Minnesotans involved in this industry as it grows and develops.”

The legislation also tasks the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management with regulating hemp-derived cannabinoids and medical marijuana, which are currently regulated by the state Department of Health. The office recommended many of the provisions of the bill to help facilitate the timely transition to regulated sales of recreational marijuana. Under the bill, companies given early approval to grow adult-use cannabis would temporarily be subject to the state’s existing rules for medical marijuana cultivation until the Office of Cannabis Management finalizes recreational marijuana regulations later this year.

Republican Lawmakers Oppose Legislation

The bill was opposed by many Republican lawmakers who expressed concerns that establishing temporary regulations that might vary from the forthcoming permanent rules could be problematic. They also balked at allowing businesses to begin growing recreational weed before they are licensed by the state.

“I understand that there are folks that want to have the cannabis industry open and running today,” said Republican Senator Jordan Rasmusson. “But I think for the health and safety of Minnesotans for public safety, for just regulatory integrity, and an open and transparent process that would allow Minnesotans to engage on rulemaking, it’s really important that we don’t do an end-around.”

Opponents of the bill are concerned that accelerating the pace to approve regulated cultivators could lead to unintended consequences. The also were concerned about cannabis being obtained by young people and proposed an amendment that would make possession of weed by minors a misdemeanor criminal offense.

“How can we say it’s wrong and a petty misdemeanor or maybe even a misdemeanor for repeat offenses for a child to be drinking a beer, but it’s okay for them to be walking down the street with a bag of marijuana or smoking a joint?” said Senator Eric Pratt. “Where’s the consistency in that?”

Democratic Governor Tim Walz said that he is monitoring developments in the legislation and noted that he is aware that some people are not comfortable with the prospect of allowing cultivation to begin by the end of the year, stressing that the regulations must include quality standards for cannabis cultivators.

“We certainly hear people on this. I think there’s some potential there,” Walz told reporters earlier this week. “We’re trying the best we can, but we’re not going to cut corners.”

The bill was approved with amendments by the Minnesota House of Representatives last month. The legislation will now head to a conference committee, where lawmakers from both chambers of the legislature will reconcile differences between the two versions of the amended bill.

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There’s yet another compelling reason to legalize weed. According to new research, states that have legalized cannabis also experience a “moderate relative decrease” in immigrant deportation rates compared to states where the drug is still illicit.

As a study featured in the American Journal of Community Psychology details, immigration raids and deportations create widespread fear and mistrust, which have cascading effects throughout entire communities. As the fear of being targeted grows, people are less likely to engage with local institutions such as churches, schools, health clinics, cultural events, and social services. 

And it also finds that kids who experience the sudden, forced deportation of a parent often suffer from a range of psychological issues including anxiety, anger, aggression, and withdrawal. They may also exhibit a heightened sense of fear, trouble eating and sleeping, PTSD, and depression. While these conditions can be treated with cannabis and therapy, the research on legalizing cannabis and deportation indicates that we could get in front of such troubles if we just legalize it, to begin with. 

Of course, it’s not just immigrants, although better immigration policy benefits everyone. The study, conducted by researchers from Columbia University, also notes a slight reduction in overall cannabis-related arrests.

The authors of the study stated that recreational cannabis laws (RCLs) could “help to mitigate some of the unintended immigration-related consequences of cannabis prohibition.” They observed that “Arrest trends in both legalization and non-legalization states were relatively similar and generally stable over the period.” They also found that the trends suggested that the overall prevalence of deportations went down between 2009 and 2020.

Here’s a bit more of what they had to say:

“Our results suggest that the RCLs were associated with a moderate relative decrease in deportation levels that was observed relatively consistently across multiple model specifications. Findings also suggested potential relative decreases in immigration arrest levels; however for almost all specifications, associated confidence intervals were wide and included the null. Together these findings support the overall possibility that RCLs may help to mitigate some of the unintended immigration-related consequences of cannabis prohibition.”

About ten percent of U.S. families with children have at least one family member who doesn’t have citizenship, and it’s estimated that nearly six million kids have at least one caregiver without authorization to live in the country, putting them at risk for the aforementioned trauma and related mental health conditions. 

The authors of the study didn’t draw definitive conclusions about the apparent link between state-level cannabis legalization and reduced deportations. However, it is noteworthy that all 11 sanctuary states for immigrants (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, D.C.), which generally discourage reporting immigrants to federal authorities, have also legalized cannabis for adult use.

The research leads to the conclusion that legalization generally results in fewer arrests for cannabis-related offenses, suggesting that fewer immigrants are likely to be implicated in marijuana criminalization from the get-go.

The researchers identified two “countervailing pathways” that they described as “relevant to anticipating the potential immigration implications of RCL adoption,” which are as follows: 

“First, RCLs could lead to potential decreases in the overall number of cannabis-related arrests or convictions, and therefore cannabis-related immigration enforcement. A second possibility, however, is that state adoption of RCLs might lead more people who are non-citizens to reasonably but falsely assume that federal immigration status is unaffected by cannabis use permissible under state law—potentially leading to increases in immigration enforcement.”

So basically, simply legalizing marijuana for everyone will naturally lower the number of people who are deported for daring to enjoy weed. However, there is also a chance that if recreational cannabis laws are passed, people who aren’t legal citizens might feel an unfortunately safe, false sense of security. 

The study explains that even though some states have legalized cannabis, don’t forget that it’s still illegal under federal law. This means that any cannabis-related offenses, even seemingly minor ones, can have serious repercussions for non-U.S. citizens such as permanent residents, DACA recipients, and those granted asylum. According to federal policy, simply being charged with or admitting to possessing a small amount of cannabis can lead to problems with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), including affecting immigration status or even leading to arrest, detention, or deportation. This is also true for those who work in the cannabis industry, further narrowing the scope of available labor to immigrants. 

So while yes, legal weed on a state level could lead to people feeling too comfortable and forgetting that there’s still the federal government to fear, overall, recreational laws seem to make life easier for everyone, as this new research into its implication on immigration shows. 

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The campaign to legalize cannabis in Florida is alive and well, as the state’s Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that voters will be able to decide the next chapter of cannabis reform on this year’s November ballot.

With an already bustling medical market, Florida’s potential move into the recreational cannabis space has been highly anticipated since the Sunshine State first moved to introduce medical reform in 2016. Cannabis businesses also have a hefty investment in the reform measure, with Trulieve contributing more than $40 million to the campaign, alongside an additional several million dollars from a handful of other medical cannabis treatment centers.

While the momentum ahead of Election Day feels significant, it’s possible that there may not be enough support to pass the measure under the state Constitution — at least when it comes to the results of a new poll.

The Latest Poll on Florida Adult-Use Cannabis Legalization

In Florida, measures must gain 60% support in order to pass. A new USA Today/Ipsos survey suggests that a majority of registered Florida voters, 56%, support the measure — along with 49% of Florida adults overall. Forty percent said that they would vote against it, and just 4% said that they were unsure.

Democrats and independents were most supportive of the measure (69% and 63%, respectively), while 39% of registered Republican voters  said they would vote in favor of the measure. The survey also found that support varied by region, with those in central Florida more likely to say they are in favor of recreational cannabis legalization than those in north or south Florida (54%, 49% and 38%, respectively).

While there are no differences in self-reported plans to vote for recreational cannabis legalization by gender or age, white Floridians were more likely than Hispanic Floridians to say they would vote in favor of recreational cannabis legalization later this year (55% vs. 32%, respectively).

The poll was conducted April 5-7 and included 369 Republicans, 264 Democrats and 316 independents.

Various Poll Results Point to Uncertain Outcomes

The poll is notable as the first to come out following the Florida Supreme Court’s decision to clear the measure for the ballot and reject the state attorney general’s constitutional challenge.

It’s also the most recent survey among a slew of similar recent efforts to gauge Floridian support of recreational cannabis, with varying results.

A November 2023 poll from the University of North Florida found that 67% of respondents said they would vote yes on a constitutional amendment to allow adults in Florida to purchase and possess small amounts of cannabis for personal use. It also notes that 70% of respondents supported recreational cannabis in Florida as of Spring 2023 along with 76% showing support in Spring 2022.

The most recent poll notably gave respondents the specifics of the proposed amendment, rather than simply asking if respondents supported or opposed legalization of recreational cannabis.

The measure, Amendment 3, would allow those over the age of 21 to possess up to three ounces of cannabis and five grams of cannabis concentrates. It would also allow existing medical cannabis dispensaries authorization to sell cannabis for adult use. The initiative is sponsored by Smart and Safe Florida.

The poll results represent some of the gaps Smart and Safe Florida must close to see legal recreational cannabis in Florida as the organization enters its next phase of outreach and education.

That said, Florida voters approved legal medical cannabis in 2016 with a vote of 71% to 29%. With more than six months until Election Day, it’s anyone’s guess how the cards will ultimately  fall.

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Around this time last month, Hawaii lawmakers and advocates were preparing for a possible shift to an adult-use cannabis market after the Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill that would legalize and regulate recreational cannabis. 

However, a key Hawaii House committee chair announced Tuesday that his panel would not hear the measure ahead of the legislative deadline next this week, effectively killing the bill for 2024.

Hawaii remains the oldest medical-only cannabis market in the U.S., as the state legalized medical cannabis back in 2000.

Another Year Without Adult-Use Reform for Hawaii

The Hawaiian Senate approved the bill, SB 3335, in a 19-6 vote on March 5 where it eventually hit the floor of a lower House chamber for consideration and narrowly advanced in a 25-23 vote last month. 

From there, the legislation headed to the Hawaii House Finance Committee for consideration where House Finance Committee Chair Rep. Kyle Yamashita (D) ultimately shared that his panel would decline to hold a hearing on the legislation.

He recognized that this was the furthest progression for adult-use cannabis legislation while calling the path to legalization a “deeply divisive issue” in a statement.

“Due to numerous concerns regarding the implementation of the bill, the House has decided against further deliberation in the House Finance Committee,” Yamashita said. “This decision is strengthened by the prevailing ‘no’ votes from committee members expressed on the House floor.”

Yamashita continues, citing the “abnormally fiscally challenging year” and that the committee needs to prioritize other expenses, like the recovery of local communities following last year’s wildfires in Lahaina and Upcountry Maui, as the full cost of implementing adult-use cannabis legalization “is unknown.”

“As lawmakers, it would be remiss of us not to allocate funding to safeguard critical government services, including education, infrastructure, roads, and other essential services for Hawaiʻi’s residents and kūpuna, especially during a period of fiscal uncertainty,” Yamashita’s statement concludes. “We recognize that now is not the opportune time for its implementation, as we navigate the challenges of managing the largest wildfire recovery efforts in Hawaiʻi’s history.”

A Tabled Legalization Plan Not Without Its Flaws

The bill was primarily based upon Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez’s legalization plan released in November 2023 and would have allowed adults over the age of 21 to possess up to an ounce of cannabis and five grams of concentrates while establishing a recreational cannabis sales framework.

The proposal would have enforced a 14% excise tax on recreational cannabis products and a 4% tax rate on the medical cannabis market. It also included home cultivation provisions and would have allowed residents to grow a maximum of six plants and possess up to 10 ounces of home-grown flower. 

Additionally, the original bill would have automatically expunged tens of thousands of arrest and conviction records for low-level cannabis convictions in the state, though that measure was later amended and limited to a single-county pilot program.

Advocates criticized the bill for its creation of additional law enforcement protocols. It included provisions to impose THC blood limits for drivers (despite the practical issues with THC metabolites remaining in the body days or even weeks after consumption) and would have created a cannabis enforcement unit within the Department of Law Enforcement, along with eight positions in a drug nuisance abatement unit in the AG’s office. 

The legislation also included a provision subjecting those found with loose cannabis, an open package for a cannabis product or a cannabis pipe in a car to up to 30 days in jail.

Hawaii’s Ample Support for Reform and Looking Ahead to Next Session

The issue of adult-use cannabis legalization has been divisive among lawmakers in the state House and Senate, but a majority of Hawaii residents appear to support the move according to a recent poll finding that 58% of adult residents in the state are in favor.

Even before the Hawaii House Finance Committee made its call, it was already evident that clearing the House was the main hurdle for the legislation. 

Gov. Josh Green has already indicated that he would likely sign an adult-use cannabis legalization bill should it hit his desk.

“I don’t think the sky would fall, honestly, if marijuana were legalized,” Green said recently in an appearance on Hawaii News Now. “I also have some thoughts that marijuana might blunt the effect, if you will, of people on these heavy drugs, these horrible drugs.”

It’s a bit of déjà vu for advocates, as the Senate also passed an adult-use cannabis legalization bill last year only for it to stall in the House.

House Speaker Scott K. Saiki (D) cited the “overwhelming testimony and serious concerns” from Hawaii’s law enforcement industry and that lawmakers need more time to consider the impact legalization will have on children, the economy and “overall well-being.”

However, the bill’s House sponsor, Rep. David Tarnas (D), is already looking ahead and plans to introduce a revised bill next session, according to Marijuana Moment.

“During the interim, I look forward to working with the Attorney General’s office to improve the language of the bill to address issues brought up during the House debate on this bill,” Tarnas told the publication in an email. 

He also cited his plans to collect factual information about those public safety and health concerns, including those suggesting that legalization could increase youth use and fatal car crashes (though even Tarnas cited the abundant research affirming that recreational cannabis legalization does not increase youth use or car crashes).

“We have lots of work to do on this important matter,” he said.

Advocacy group Marijuana Policy Project’s Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies, told Marijuana Moment that this move will “condemn hundreds of Hawai’i residents to traumatic police encounters” while missing the opportunity for millions in additional tax revenue.

“While this is a setback, this was also the furthest legalization has ever got in Hawai’i,” O’Keefe said. “Advocates are not giving up until we get legalization past the finish line.”

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Cannabis enthusiasts across Germany took to the streets at midnight early Monday morning to smoke joints and celebrate as the European nation’s legalization of cannabis took effect on April 1. German lawmakers gave final approval to a recreational weed legalization plan known as CanG late last month, making the country the largest in Europe to take the step.

In the German capital of Berlin, weed enthusiasts gathered at the iconic Brandenberg Gate to smoke weed and celebrate their new freedoms. Other events were held throughout Europe’s most populous country, including one in front of the Cologne cathedral and others in the cities of Hamburg, Regensburg and Dortmund.

“We can finally show ourselves, we don’t have to hide anymore,” Henry Plottke, a member of the German Hemp Association (DHV), told the news agency DPA at the celebration in Berlin.

The legalization of cannabis in Germany was supported by the three-party ruling coalition led by Social Democrat Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach extolled the virtues of the beginning of cannabis legalization in a social media post.

“Cannabis use already existed yesterday, but it’s increasing. Now it’s exiting the taboo zone,” he wrote on X on Monday, according to a translation from CNN. “This is better for real addiction help, prevention for children and young people and for combating the black market, for which there will soon be an alternative.”

Weed Is Legal for Adults 18 and Up

Under Germany’s CanG legalization plan, adults aged 18 and up are permitted to possess up to 25 grams of weed and public and up to 50 grams at home. The new law also allows adults to grow cannabis at home, with a cap of three plants. Public consumption of weed including smoking is also allowed, although there are restrictions on using cannabis near children and sports venues.

Beginning on July 1, adults will be allowed to join cannabis clubs, which will each provide access to weed for up to 500 members. For-profit commercial cannabis ventures are not permitted by the plan. Niklas Kouparanis, co-founder and CEO of Germany-based medical cannabis company Bloomwell Group, said that the cannabis club model could eventually lead to broader legalization of adult-use cannabis. 

“The provision allowing for cannabis clubs is an important step towards the de-stigmatization of cannabis use, as adult consumers will no longer be criminalized for simply smoking or ingesting the plant,” Kouparanis said in a statement to High Times. “Of course, our ultimate goal in Germany remains to legalize the entire value chain for a full-fledged adult-use market, going beyond the nonprofit, members-only cannabis clubs and creating a commercial market that can be accessed by all adult consumers.”

Opposition Vows To Repeal Legalization

Although legalizing cannabis was approved by both chambers of Germany’s bicameral parliament, the plan does not have universal support. After the plan was adopted, the conservative opposition vowed to repeal the CanG legislation if they can form a coalition government after next year’s national elections.

“In our view, drugs policy, particularly with respect to protecting young people, is an issue of such central significance that we will revoke the legalization of cannabis in the event we take power,” lawmaker Thorsten Frei told the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper, Yahoo News reported on Saturday.

“In any possible coalition talks, [the rolling back of the legislation] will be a firm standpoint for us,” added Frei, the parliamentary leader of the alliance of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU).

The legalization of weed in Germany is also opposed by groups representing police officers, who fear the new legislation will be difficult to enforce. The law includes public consumption exclusion zones and exemptions, which could result in disagreements about where people can freely use cannabis.

“From April 1, our colleagues will find themselves in situations of conflict with citizens, as uncertainty reigns on both sides,” said Alexander Poitz, vice president of the GdP police union, according to a report from the Daily Mail.

The CanG plan also includes provisions to review past cannabis convictions, a process that opponents say will overwhelm the courts. Justice Minister Marco Buschmann, however, said it would mean less work for the judiciary and police in the long run.

“The changeover will mean a one-off increase in workload, but in the long term the police and judiciary will be relieved,” Buschmann told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland media group on Monday. “They will then be able to focus on even more relevant crime.”

Neighboring Austria Not On Board

While German weed enthusiasts celebrated cannabis legalization, neighboring countries have taken notice. In Austria, officials said they have no plans to follow Germany’s lead on cannabis policy reform and would implement measures to deter trans-border trade.

“The police will conduct intensified checks, particularly in areas near the border, to take addictive substances and drivers under the influence of drugs out of circulation,” Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said in a statement. “This is about the protection of all road users.”

The Interior Ministry added that plainclothes police officers and specialists trained to recognize signs of impairment would be deployed to the border in an effort to thwart smuggling attempts.

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