Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what's happening in the world of legalized marijuana.
First, we have an entry for the "Better Luck Next Time" files. New York failed to pass a legalization deal. Perhaps cannabis proponents will have better luck in 2020.
Their neighbors to the south are making some progress on medical marijuana expansion. But the jury's still out on whether New Jersey governor Phil Murphy will sign the legislation.
Directing our gaze further south, Mississippi's Medical Marijuana 2020 has two-thirds the number of signatures they need to put medical marijuana on the ballot. The deadline to turn in petitions is September.
State attorneys general have been quite vocal about cannabis lately. Now Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring is calling for the state to decriminalize marijuana.
But what about hemp, marijuana's straight arrow cousin? Texas has legalized it, and the Postal Service will ship it, but banking is still a problem.
Speaking of banking, the House Appropriations Committee has passed the 2020 Financial Services and General Government bill, which includes protections for banks serving marijuana companies in states where cannabis is legal. These protections last only one year.
Other House activities surrounding cannabis this week included a hearing before the Small Business Committee on the difficulties the industry has dealing with the Small Business Administration.
Higher education has taken notice of marijuana. The University of Connecticut is now offering an online cannabis horticulture class. The Cleveland School of Cannabis (please tell me their cheer is Go Joints!) is expanding into Columbus. Heading in the opposite direction are the community colleges of West Virginia. In order to qualify for free tuition, students must pass a drug test, and THC is one of the banned substances.
Finally, we have news of a new campaign from the Edmonton Police Service. "Put your Skunk in the Trunk" is the name of their effort to get people to keep their marijuana stowed away legally. Note: you really want to click on the link to see the poster they're using.
See you next week!
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
