As we at Budding Trends reported last week, the DEA is set to finally accept the recommendation of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the...more
5/7/2024
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Cannabis Products ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
DEA ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Final Rules ,
Judicial Review ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
OMB ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Schedule I Drugs ,
State and Local Government
The novel cannabinoid industry took another hit recently as a bipartisan group of 21 attorneys general urged Congress to make clear that states may regulate, and even prohibit, intoxicating products derived from hemp....more
The Commonwealth cannot find common ground on cannabis. In the latest in another volley in the back and forth between the Virginia Legislature and governor’s office, Gov. Glenn Youngkin recently vetoed a bill that would have...more
Supporters of hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) who hoped the Food and Drug Administration would adopt a more progressive view of CBD were disappointed when FDA Chief Robert Califf recently testified that FDA does not consider...more
4/23/2024
/ Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Cannabis Products ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Dietary Supplements ,
Farm Bill ,
FDA Approval ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Health and Safety ,
Hemp ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements
It turns out that if you want to know the Department of Justice’s policy on marijuana enforcement, you just have to sue them. In a remarkably candid showing of the DOJ’s current policy concerning marijuana enforcement,...more
Having spent nearly every day of the last three years thinking about Alabama’s medical cannabis licensing, and the past year closely following the seemingly endless litigation that continues to this day, I took special note...more
It’s not a joke. On April 1, 2024, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that voters will decide in November whether Florida will become the 24th state to legalize adult-use marijuana. In the face of significant opposition that...more
4/11/2024
/ Ballot Measures ,
Cannabis Products ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Florida ,
General Elections ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Recreational Use ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures
There is a great line in the wonderful film Charlie Wilson’s War, where Charlie Wilson (played remarkably by the inimitable Tom Hanks) describes the successful, if relatively covert, involvement of the United States...more
During a hearing today on SB276, a proposal released only yesterday that would fundamentally change the landscape of Alabama’s nascent medical cannabis program, would have probably been less one-sided if the proposal called...more
Well, it’s here. Late yesterday afternoon Sens. Tim Melson and David Sessions introduced the long-awaited “legislative fix” to help get Alabama’s long-stalled Alabama medical cannabis licensing program off the ground. The...more
We here at Budding Trends strive not to be partisan, but that doesn’t mean we hide our gaze from political realities affecting the cannabis industry. Today we turn that focus on the American presidential election coming this...more
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission, on behalf of the Texas Department of State Health Services, recently announced that it was accepting public comments to the current rules governing consumer hemp products in the...more
Novel psychiatric cannabinoids legalized by the 2018 Farm Bill remain under attack by state regulators. Most recently, the Arizona attorney general opined that “Arizona law does not permit the sale of delta-8 and other...more
Following the lead of President Joe Biden’s pardon of simple marijuana possession, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healy recently announced plans to issue a series of pardons for those convicted of misdemeanor marijuana possession...more
Earlier this week, the Florida legislature passed a bill (SB 1698) that will limit the amount of THC in hemp-derived products and threatens to upend the novel cannabinoid industry in the state.
For the past few years,...more
3/12/2024
/ Agricultural Sector ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Florida ,
Governor DeSantis ,
Hemp ,
Hemp Related Businesses ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
New Legislation ,
State and Local Government
The Alabama Medical Cannabis licensing process has officially entered Groundhog Day territory. After previously directing that the AMCC participate in limited, expedited discovery (including the deposition of up to six...more
We told you it may be coming, though we were admittedly cynical about the ability to pass a bill funding psychedelic research given the current political landscape — a narrowly controlled Democratic Senate that is generally...more
Yesterday the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission(AMCC) awarded the five coveted licenses in the Integrated Facility category. The five licenses were awarded to:
1. Trulieve AL
2. Sustainable Alabama
3. Wagon Trail...more
12/13/2023
/ Alabama ,
Business Licenses ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Dispensaries ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Licenses ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures
I feel like Bill Murray’s character in Groundhog Day. I keep writing the same blog post in some way heralding the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission’s awarding of licenses to would-be operators. Well, on Friday it happened...more
12/4/2023
/ Alabama ,
Business Licenses ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Dispensaries ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Licenses ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures
Every election it seems like the country inches closer to cannabis being legal at the federal level. Until that day comes, however, the question of whether those in the cannabis industry can seek bankruptcy relief remains....more
11/27/2023
/ Bankruptcy Court ,
Banks ,
Business Litigation ,
Business Operations ,
California ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Controlled Substances ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Liquidation ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
State and Local Government
A few weeks ago, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Aggarwal v. U.S. DEA directed the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to reconsider its decision not to transfer psilocybin from Schedule I to Schedule II....more
On November 7, 2023, Ohio voters decisively passed Issue 2, putting the “high” in Ohio and becoming the 24th state to legalize adult-use marijuana. Issue 2, which goes into effect on December 7, 2023, allows adults to...more
For as long as there have been rules of evidence and courtrooms, there have been products that can impair litigants or witnesses—and products whose use carries the potential to trigger certain stigmas in the eyes of the...more
11/13/2023
/ Admissible Evidence ,
Agribusiness ,
Cannabis Products ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Crime-Fraud Exception ,
Farm Bill ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Legalization ,
Litigation Privilege ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Marijuana ,
Rules of Evidence
Once hailed by observers as the southern state most likely to legalize marijuana first, North Carolina has not kept pace with its northern neighbors in adopting laws to promote the growth of a vibrant medicinal and...more
11/9/2023
/ Cannabis Products ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Hemp ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
North Carolina ,
Popular ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures
In the coming, frenzied 90 days, the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission likely will save or ruin the future of medical cannabis in Alabama...
Last Thursday, the AMCC voted to adopt an emergency rule that, by its terms,...more
10/31/2023
/ Alabama ,
Business Licenses ,
Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Dispensaries ,
Emergency Rule ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State and Local Government