[author: Susan Ryan]

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana.

This week, we check in with Delaware, to see how their adult-use legislation is progressing. Then we move south to Maryland, where lawmakers are considering an adult-use market. As for the feds, the Biden administration released a budget that contains some cannabis-related provisions. And finally, we see Snoop Dogg is making some marijuana news.

DELAWARE

The First State brings us our first story this week. The state’s House of Representatives voted for two bills which would legalize possession for personal use and set up a retail market. Rep. Ed Osienski, (D-Newark) is the driving force behind the legislation, and he believes this year may be the year the bill becomes law.

“We have some new members, we have some new energy. I think a lot of them realized that I’m just not going to let this go.”

Rep. Ed Osienski, D-Newark

The bill now moves to the state’s Senate, where the Health & Social Services Committee cleared the bill earlier this week.

MARYLAND

Staying in the mid-Atlantic, we see that Maryland is making progress on legislation to set up a retail cannabis market. The state’s House passed an implementation bill late last week, which now heads to the Senate, which is working on its own bill. If common language can be agreed upon, sales could begin this summer.

BIDEN BUDGET

The Biden administration released its budget proposal last week, and there was both good news and bad news for cannabis advocates. The document retains the appropriations section that prevents the Department of Justice from interfering in state-legal medical marijuana programs. It also retains the provision that prevents the District of Columbia from setting up a cannabis market. Of course, this is just the opening salvo in the budget discussions, so that language could be altered or deleted over the course of the year. Further bulletins as events warrant.

AND FINALLY

Fake celebrity endorsements of cannabis products are a regular feature of this column; see our piece on Dolly Parton here. One celebrity is legitimately promoting marijuana, however; no surprise, it’s Snoop Dogg. He’s partnering with Atlas Global to sell cannabis products internationally.

Stay safe and be well everyone – we’ll see you next week!