A concerning bill in Connecticut, HB 07204, recently passed unanimously out of the Public Safety and Security Committee. This bill would reinstate cannabis odor as a legal justification for police stops and vehicle searches, eliminating previous protections.
 
HB 07204, sponsored by Rep. Hector Arzeno (D), covers multiple topics related to policing. Alarmingly, it would remove a crucial part of Connecticut’s cannabis legalization law — protections that prevent law enforcement from using the odor of cannabis or possession of a legalized amount of cannabis as probable cause for a stop or search. This bill would once again allow police officers to stop, detain, or search a vehicle solely based on the smell of raw or burnt cannabis. While many provisions of the bill are not cause for concern, this aspect of it threatens the rights of legal cannabis consumers and should be opposed. 
 
If you live in Connecticut, write your lawmakers today, and let them know you are against odor-based stops and searches!
 
The odor of cannabis is now the smell of a legal product, not the evidence of a crime. Individuals who work in the legal cannabis industry often smell like cannabis after work. And the smell of cannabis can linger in consumers’ clothes and hair long after impairment wears off. Reinstating odor-based stops and seizures is outdated, harmful, and in direct opposition to Connecticut’s commitment to criminal justice reform. 
 
Furthermore, studies show that Black and Brown drivers are disproportionately targeted by traffic searches on the basis of the real or feigned odor of cannabis. Allowing this practice perpetuates racial profiling and mistrust in our communities. 
 
This isn’t the only bill attempting to undo protections. Other proposed bills, including HB 05692, HB 05736, HB 06358, and HB 06375, also seek to restore odor-based stops and seizures in Connecticut. 

Two bills, S.98 and H.159, have been proposed in the Massachusetts Legislature to prohibit employment discrimination against legal cannabis consumers. These bills would ensure that workers are not penalized for off-duty cannabis use, while still allowing employers to maintain a safe and compliant workplace.

If you live in Massachusetts, let your lawmakers know that you support workers' rights and fair cannabis policy!

S.98, introduced by Sen. Jake Oliveira (D), and H. 159, introduced by Rep. Mike Kushmerek (D), would prevent employers from refusing to hire, firing, or discriminating against most employees solely due to the presence of THC or cannabis metabolites in their system. The protections apply unless there is reasonable suspicion of on-the-job impairment.

These measures recognize that cannabis and its metabolites can remain in the body for days or even weeks after use, making drug tests unreliable indicators of impairment. Employees should not lose their jobs for engaging in a legal activity during their personal time.

It's important to note that these protections do not apply to "safety-sensitive positions" or situations where compliance with federal law, regulations, contracts, or funding agreements is required. Employers would also take action if cannabis use prevents an employee from maintaining necessary licenses or credentials.

Additionally, H.2019 would provide for expungement and possible re-sentencing for past marijuana possession and cultivation offenses that are no longer illegal. No one should continue to face consequences for actions that have been legal since 2016.

After letting advocates down on cannabis legalization and decriminalization earlier this year, the Hawai'i Legislature has the opportunity to advance cannabis justice and liberty in the context of medical cannabis.

Two Senate committees approved a House-passed bill to allow medical cannabis certifications via telehealth (HB 302). The committees first amended the bill, including to allow doctors and advanced practice registered nurses to certify patients for medical cannabis for any condition they deem appropriate.

The bill has one more Senate committee to clear and two Senate floor votes. If it makes it past the Senate, it would then head back to the House of Representatives — where it began — for concurrence or a conference committee.

If you live in Hawai'i, ask your senator to support the medical cannabis improvement bill.

Healthcare providers can and do prescribe medications "off label" — for symptoms and conditions other than those they were FDA-approved to treat. Doctors, patients, and nurse practitioners should be given the same discretion for medical cannabis, which has a much better safety profile than many medications. Hawai'i currently has a limited list of qualifying conditions that omits conditions found in other states, such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's disease, anxiety, and autism.

Last year after legalization fell short, Gov. Josh Green spoke out for allowing medical cannabis for any condition. At least 10 other states have similar language.

Great news! Two cannabis bills are currently moving through Maryland's legislature.

The Maryland House of Delegates passed HB 413, which would allow the manufacturing of cannabis products for personal use. It also reduces sentences for some cannabis-related charges. Meanwhile, the Senate approved SB 1023, which was written to protect first responders from off-duty medical marijuana use.

HB 413 now heads to the Senate, while SB 1023 heads to the House.

Keep the momentum going! If you live in Maryland, write your state senator now and urge them to support HB 413, and write your state delegate(s) to urge their support of SB 1023!

HB 413, introduced by Delegate Moon (D), would:

• Allow adults 21 and older to create cannabis products for personal use at home as long as the process does not include volatile solvents. (Marylanders can already cultivate two plants, but state law does not allow them to make products such as brownies or extracts at home.)
• Modify the penalty for high-volume cannabis-related offenses from a mandatory five-year sentence to a misdemeanor with no mandatory minimum.
• Allow courts to reduce or modify sentences of defendants who were convicted of being high-volume cannabis dealers, from the original mandatory minimum five-year felony sentence to a misdemeanor. The courts would consider mitigating circumstances and evidence of rehabilitation.

Cannabis is legal in Maryland. It shouldn't be a crime to produce tinctures, edibles, and other products for personal use at home. This is not only cost-effective, but also cuts down on traveling to far away dispensaries for rural Marylanders. Meanwhile, a five-year mandatory sentence is grossly excessive for a cannabis offense.

We're also thrilled with the progress of Senator Carl Jackson's SB 1023. First responders put their lives on the line for us, and many develop chronic pain or PTSD from their public service. They should not lose their jobs for alleviating their symptoms and choosing a safer alternative to opiates or alcohol consumption. SB 1023's companion bill HB 1408 was referred to the House's Economic Matters Committee, which failed to act on it before the cross-over deadline. But Committee Chair C.T. Wilson has another chance to do the right thing for public servants by scheduling and passing SB 1023.

We are pleased Maryland legislators are advancing these positive cannabis bills to roll back the unfair and unjust treatment of cannabis users! 

Illinois lawmakers are considering a bill, HB 2585, that would protect lawful cannabis consumers and workers from unnecessary police stops and searches.

HB 2585, introduced by Rep. Curtis Tarver (D), explicitly prohibits law enforcement from stopping, detaining, or searching a vehicle solely due to the smell of raw or burnt cannabis. HB 2585 would also eliminate the requirement that cannabis be stored in an odor-proof container while in a vehicle.

If you live in Illinois, write your lawmakers today, and let them know you strongly support ending stops and searches based on the odor of cannabis!

The odor of cannabis is now the smell of a legal product, not the evidence of a crime. Individuals who work in the legal cannabis industry often smell like cannabis after work. And the smell of cannabis can linger in consumers' clothes and hair long after impairment wears off.

Studies show that Black and Brown drivers are disproportionately targeted by traffic searches on the basis of the real or feigned odor of cannabis. Allowing this practice perpetuates racial profiling and mistrust in our communities. By updating the Vehicle Code, HB 2585 aligns Illinois law with the reality of legal cannabis and helps reduce unlawful discrimination.

Two bills, HB 230 and SB 269, are advancing through the New Mexico legislature to clarify employment protections for medical cannabis patients. These bills would ensure that qualified patients cannot be fired or denied employment solely for testing positive for cannabis or its metabolites, while still allowing employers to enforce workplace safety policies.

If you live in New Mexico, let your lawmakers know: Medical cannabis patients should not have to choose between their health and their jobs.

It is already illegal under New Mexico law for employers to take adverse actions against employees for state-legal medical cannabis activities (with an exception if it is mandated by the feds). HB 230, introduced by Representative Reena Szczepanski, and Senator Linda López's SB 269 would ban random drug testing of registered patients for cannabis and clarify that a positive test result alone cannot be used to prove impairment. Instead, testing would only be allowed when there is reasonable suspicion of impairment at work, after a workplace accident involving another person, or following an incident that causes property damage.

Additionally, the Department of Health and Workforce Solutions would be required to develop guidelines for determining cannabis impairment based on physical symptoms, psychomotor performance, and cognitive function.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's proposal to ban hemp-derived THC products (S3) passed unanimously out of the Senate State Affairs Committee and now heads to the full Senate. 

If you live in Texas, you can use this link to tell your legislators that regulation is more effective than prohibition!

MPP has traditionally focused on expanding the Compassionate Use Program, decriminalization, and legalization of traditional cannabis in Texas. However, at this time we feel the need to facilitate our readers communicating with their legislators on this issue. We know many of you use these products or work in the industry.

We know prohibition does not work. Banning these products will disrupt a multi-billion dollar industry that employs over 50,000 Texans. If anything, the way this industry grew so fast should show legislators that Texans wants access to cannabinoid products.

If the Texas legislature had passed legislation to allow Texans to have access to regulated, laboratory-tested cannabis products, we would not be having this conversation today. Unfortunately, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick blocked reforms, including decriminalization and a more workable medical cannabis program. Texans want cannabis products. Forcing otherwise law-abiding citizens to turn to the illicit market or an under-regulated hemp market is more dangerous than a regulated market.

A California Assembly bill introduced this session (AB564) would stop the cannabis sales tax increase that is set to bump the current 15% excise tax up to 19%. This tax hike would likely crush many already struggling cannabis businesses financially. If passed, the bill would be effective immediately, ensuring the tax jump to 19% will not take place.

If you live in California, act now and ask legislators to repeal the biennial cannabis tax rate increase!

A bill enacted in 2022 eliminated a cultivation excise tax and required the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration to adjust the excise rate every two years to account for the added revenue that would have been generated by the cultivation tax. AB564 would stop both this year’s tax increase and planned biennial hikes in the future.

Excessive tax rates would damage the legal, regulated cannabis market, which is struggling to compete with the unregulated, untaxed cannabis market and intoxicating hemp. In 2023, a little over 15% of cannabis business operators defaulted on their taxes.

An outrageous bill (HJR004) that removes the ballot initiative process for cannabis (and other drugs) legalization has unfortunately passed the Idaho House of Representatives and Senate in lopsided votes. As a result, in 2026, Idaho voters will vote on a state constitutional amendment providing:

"Shall Section 26, Article III of the Constitution of the State of Idaho 26 be amended to provide that only the Idaho Legislature shall have power and authority to legalize the growing, producing, manufacturing, transporting, selling, delivering, dispensing, administering, prescribing, distributing, possessing, or using of marijuana, narcotics, or other psychoactive substances?"

If approved by a majority of voters, no citizen's initiative would ever be allowed to create a compassionate medical cannabis program or adult-use legalization law. Idaho arguably has the worst cannabis laws in the nation – and the most anti-cannabis state lawmakers. The state has no medical cannabis program, no adult-use legalization law, and no decriminalization law.

Last month, Idaho Governor Brad Little (R) signed a draconian bill into law (H0007) that created a mandatory minimum fine for cannabis possession. Starting on January 1, the new law will impose a mandatory minimum $300 fine on simple possession of cannabis — less than or equal to 3 ounces  — in addition to possible jail time.

Twenty-three Idaho lawmakers also proposed a bill (HJR003) to require a ⅔ supermajority vote of the legislature to for any bill to legalize cannabis. It was re-referred to its original committee and appears to have stalled. These repeated attempts and overreach hurts Idahoans financially, and also seek to eliminate the path of a medical or adult-use program in the coming years — or even decades.

Idahoans deserve to make their own decisions — both about cannabis and cannabis policy. They do not need government authorities to control every freedom and decision. If you live in Idaho, be prepared to vote "no" next year on the proposed constitutional amendment to take away your rights regarding cannabis.

West Virginia lawmakers have the choice to support bills this session that would allow edibles and home grown cannabis as new options under the medical cannabis program. Patients deserve the flexibility of deciding what form of medication best suits their needs, and to grow their own cannabis – which is a more affordable option for many.

If you live in West Virginia, urge your lawmakers to support these bills for patients!

HB 3201 would add edibles to West Virginia's medical program. Edibles can provide longer-lasting relief for many patients, and is a crucial option for many. This law would allow the edibles to be in lozenge or gelatin form, limited to geometric shapes only with a limit of 10 milligrams of THC per serving.

HB 3230 allows patients and caregivers to cultivate up to 10 plants, five of which can be mature at the same time. Home cultivation is not only affordable but also a great option for patients who live far from a dispensary. It also expands the program to allow dry leaf/plant cannabis and allows for homemade edibles.

Most medical marijuana programs in the nation allow edibles with proper labeling and dosage limits. Meanwhile, over half of the programs allow home cultivation.