Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what's happening in the world of legalized marijuana.
Although most people following AG Nominee William Barr's hearing before the Senate Judiciary committee may have been listening for his views on the Mueller investigation, those of us with an interest in marijuana were wondering how he feels about legalized cannabis. In an apparent break from his predecessor, Jeff Sessions, Barr said he would not go after cannabis companies.
In other federal news, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D. – Oregon) has introduced a new bill (H.R. 420, of course) that would legalize marijuana nationwide.
And in yet another sign that marijuana is becoming more mainstream, the Cannabis Trade Federation has hired 15 lobbyists to argue for major new cannabis legislation. Because you're not really a legit industry until you have lobbyists.
The governor of New York has a plan for marijuana legalization. No new legislation has yet been introduced. Rhode Island, meanwhile, perhaps feeling surrounded by its larger neighbors and their embrace of cannabis, is looking, albeit reluctantly, at legalization as well.
In Midwestern marijuana news, dispensaries have opened in Ohio, the new governor of Wisconsin has announced plans to begin legalizing medical cannabis, and a group in Minnesota is pushing for marijuana legalization there. The slogan "Fix pot holes with pot taxes" may resonate in an area with long winters.
Finally, a beer company in South Africa is looking to capitalize on the recent legalization of marijuana in that country. Poison City Brewing is pushing its latest Durban Poison cannabis beer into the market.
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