The Washington state agency charged with overseeing the legal recreational cannabis market will allow licensed retailers to give free marijuana to those who receive a coronavirus vaccine at in-store vaccination clinics.
In a statement Monday, the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board said it would temporarily waive rules to allow legal pot retailers to trade a jab for one pre-rolled joint to anyone receiving a first or second dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
Ten states that have legalized the use of marijuana for recreational purposes collected almost $2.7 billion in taxes on pot products last year as sales surged and more regulatory structures came online.
A new report from the Marijuana Policy Project, a pro-legalization group, estimates that states have collected a total of $7.9 billion in tax revenue since the first states — Washington and Colorado — began allowing recreational pot sales in 2014.
Duane Dunn says he got lucky when he obtained his cannabis business license in 2014.
Before he opened Emerald Leaves in Tacoma, one of a few Black-owned cannabis retailers in Washington, Dunn supplied medical dispensaries from the crop he grew in his garage, which he said existed in a legal gray area. Though he avoided any issues with the law, a marijuana charge on his record could have prevented him from ever getting a license.
Nine years ago, voters in Colorado and Washington became the first to approve recreational marijuana, over the objections of top Democrats in those states.
This week, legislators in Democratic-led New York and New Mexico struck deals that will make them the 16th and 17th states to legalize pot. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) even went so far as to call New Mexico’s legislature back into special session to pass the measures this year before she faces voters in her 2022 bid for a second term.
Marijuana opponents, frustrated by the growing number of legalization victories across the U.S., are increasingly trying to rein in the industry by proposing state-level caps on THC potency.
The push involves at least six bills introduced in four state legislatures: Florida, Massachusetts, Montana and Washington.
A bill was derailed in Colorado before it could be introduced because it triggered a backlash.
Last month, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed three bills making it official: marijuana will soon be growing legally in the gardens of the Garden State for anyone over 21 to enjoy. The bills follow through on a marijuana legalization ballot initiative that New Jerseyans approved overwhelmingly last year. New Jersey is now one of a dozen states, plus the District of Columbia, which have let loose the magic dragon — and more states, like Virginia, may be on the way.
A renewed effort in Washington State to allow adults to grow marijuana at home had its first hearing in Olympia last week, with a House committee considering a bill that would permit individuals to cultivate up to six cannabis plants for personal use.
A committee vote on the proposal could come as soon as this Friday.
As of September 2020, 17 states and Washington, D.C. had passed some form of home growing laws, be they for medical or adult use.
Comparatively, most states have so far failed to pass social equity laws, with just a handful being considered adequate parameters.
Groups like the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) say laws with "reasonable safeguards" have not been challenged by any states so far. The MPP suggests secure grow sites away from the public and cultivation caps as adequate parameters.
Q: What brings you out for the New Jersey legalization campaign?
A: Well, I was the co-sponsor, funder and leading spokesperson of I-502, which legalized and taxed and regulated marijuana in Washington State back in the breakout year of 2012, when Washington and Colorado were the first states to do this.
New Jersey
Last week, Politico reported Democratic Senate President Steve Sweeney moved to ban the sale of all vaping products, including marijuana vape products.
That followed New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announcing a task force on vaping that is due to file recommendations in the next three weeks.
“The only safe alternative to smoking is not smoking. Period. Full stop,” Murphy said..