Posted in Week in Weed
Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what's happening in the world of legalized marijuana.
Let's start off with the big news: the SAFE Act passed in the House. For news coverage, see here, here and here. For our take on this legislation (spoiler alert: we're not so sanguine about its chances in the Senate), see here.
So, did anything else happen this week? Glad you asked! In addition to banking, research loomed large on the federal scene. Both the FDA and NIH are looking into cannabis products.
In other federal news, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that marijuana businesses must comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Just because your business is illegal on the federal level, doesn't mean you don't have to follow other federal laws. We blogged about this decision here.
Meanwhile, federal rules for hemp may be coming. As we reported last week, the USDA sent its proposed rules to OMB for approval. Now Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is pushing the FDA to issue its own rules.
On the state level, legalization is a hot topic. North Dakota has not one but two citizen initiatives that would allow recreational cannabis. In South Dakota (it's important not to mix up your Dakotas), they also have two ballot initiatives: one that would legalize medical marijuana and one that would legalize recreational marijuana.
Moving east to Wisconsin, legislators introduced a bipartisan measure to legalize medical cannabis last week. A lawmaker in Virginia plans to re-introduce a recreational marijuana bill next year; the measure got nowhere this year.
The governor of Pennsylvania has come out in support of adult-use cannabis in the state. In New York, Governor Cuomo backs a regional approach; he hopes to standardize laws in his state, Connecticut and New Jersey.
Finally, cannabis is on the menu at the Lowell Cafe in Los Angeles. No word on whether the sandwiches come with "the devil's lettuce."
See you next week!
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