[author: Susan Ryan]
Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana.
Connecticut legalized adult-use cannabis. Rhode Island could soon follow. The Supreme Court declined to hear a case involving Section 280E. A federal marijuana research bill is making its way through Congress. And if you’d like a little cannabis in your seltzer, there’s a drink made just for you.
CONNECTICUT
As we reported last week, Connecticut has been wrestling with the idea of legalizing adult-use marijuana. After a last minute amendment, Governor Ned Lamont (D) signed the bill. The law goes into effect next week, and retail sales will likely begin in 2022.
RHODE ISLAND
So what’s happening across the border in Rhode Island? The Senate passed a legalization measure this week that now makes its way to the House. They have until June 30 to pass the bill and send it to the governor, a legalization proponent. That’s not a lot of time, so a special session is a possibility.
SUPREME COURT
Turning our attention to the federal government, the Supreme Court this week declined to hear a case involving Section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code. A lower court had ruled that the IRS can request information from state agencies in conducting tax audits of marijuana businesses. A group of those businesses had hoped the Supreme Court would overturn that decision on the grounds that the IRS cannot determine if an entity violated federal drug laws.
CANNABIS RESEARCH
One of the problems with cannabis research is that, by law, it must be conducted on government grown marijuana, which is a low-quality product. Garbage in, garbage out. A new measure would change that, allowing scientists to use cannabis from dispensaries instead. The language appears in transportation legislation in both the Senate and the House. Both bills have passed out of committee.
AND FINALLY
Hard seltzer commercials are ubiquitous these days – it’s what all the young people are drinking. But what about seltzer with THC? Cann Seltzer is hoping there’s a market for that.
Stay safe and be well everyone – we’ll see you next week!
