At their annual summit in Chicago, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) approved a policy resolution calling for marijuana policy reform at the federal level. The NCSL has adopted a resolution advocating for the Controlled Substances Act to be amended in order to remove marijuana from Schedule I and to allow banking for marijuana businesses in states where they may legally operate.

Even in states in which marijuana is legally sold in a taxed and regulated market, businesses that sell either medical or retail marijuana face significant financial and regulatory burdens due to marijuana’s Schedule I status. Perhaps the most significant of those burdens is restriction from banking services of any kind, forcing such businesses to carry vast sums of cash and making them particularly vulnerable to theft.

As Mason Tvert of the Marijuana Policy Project told Marijuana.com,

The resolution adopted this year recognizes that outdated federal marijuana laws are presenting the states with some serious public safety issues. …There is an immediate need for access to banking and other financial services for state-legal marijuana businesses. Like most Americans, state lawmakers are tired of waiting for Congress to catch up on this issue.

This is the second year in a row that the NCSL adopted a policy position urging federal marijuana policy reform; last year, the conference passed a resolution supporting a state’s ability to reform its own marijuana laws without fear of federal interference. Both of these resolutions required 75% support from member states present; both passed on voice vote.

While the resolutions have no binding power over federal law, they reflect the nation’s widespread frustration with federal marijuana policy, especially its interference with state marijuana laws. State-legal businesses must be allowed to protect their own finances; state legislators recognize this, but we continue to wait for federal legislators to do the same.

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Federal prosecutors have agreed to dismiss charges against Oregon teen Devontre Thomas, sparing him a potential yearlong prison sentence after being caught with a single gram of marijuana.

Thomas made national headlines when federal prosecutors charged him with misdemeanor possession. This offense carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison, a revelation that sparked widespread outrage, especially in the state of Oregon, which had already voted to end marijuana prohibition.

The case caught the attention of Oregon state representatives and other elected officials who have called for marijuana to be taxed and regulated. U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer and Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley wrote to Oregon U.S. Attorney Billy Williams about the case.

Thomas’ attorney stated in a court filing that prosecutors have agreed to drop the case as long as the teen works or attends school and abides by all laws in the next two months.

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On Friday, August 5, Maryland’s medical marijuana commission voted to grant preliminary approval to 15 growers and 15 processors who applied earlier in the year. The decision regarding which applicants would be approved was based on a scoring system provided by the Towson University Regional Economic Studies Institute, which processed the applications.

When the names of the approved growers and processors are released on August 15, the applicants will have to proceed with financial and background checks before obtaining licenses. The commission was only permitted to give preliminary approval to 15 growers; there was no limit to the number of processors they could approve, but they opted to only approve 15 to maintain consistency.

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Pain patients in Minnesota can now find hope, as they are now able to access the state’s year-old medical marijuana program. Supporters of this move believe it will provide thousands of patients with a safer alternative to prescription opioids and allow them to prevent or overcome dependency on prescription-based painkillers.

Minnesota legalized medical marijuana in 2014, allowing smoke-free forms of the substance to be consumed by those with doctors’ recommendations. The medical marijuana program took effect in 2015, and starting July 2016, patients with incurable pain could register for the program, though they could not legally purchase the medicine until Monday, August 1.

The patient advocacy group Sensible Minnesota has praised this decision. The group’s leader, Maren Schroeder, has campaigned for state legislators to add post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of qualifying conditions next year.

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Illinois Gov. Rauner just signed SB 2228, which removes criminal penalties for the possession of up to 10 grams of marijuana everywhere in Land of Lincoln. The change in the law is effective immediately.

Illinoisans or visitors found in possession of marijuana are no longer subject to arrest or jail time. The change also removes the possibility of a harmful criminal record for cannabis possession, which can last a lifetime. Instead, those found in possession would face a simple fine of between $100 and $200.

Previously in Illinois, possession of up to 2.5 grams of marijuana was a class C misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail and/or a fine of up to $1,500; possession of 2.5-10 grams was a class B misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and/or a fine of up to $1,500. More than 100 Illinois communities had already removed local criminal penalties for simple marijuana possession.

This change comes from MPP’s multi-year effort to help bring fairness to the state’s possession law. Even though many cities and towns had already lowered penalties, but individuals could still be arrested and charged for possession under state law. This change moves the state away from its former patchwork system.

Illinois is now the 21st state in the nation, in addition to the District of Columbia, to remove the threat of jail time for simple marijuana possession.

We wish to thank bill sponsors Sen. Heather Steans and Rep. Kelly Cassidy for their strong advocacy for a better system. Their tireless effort on behalf of fairness made this law a reality.

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Sixto Igisomar, a senator serving in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CMNI), a territory of the United States, has pre-filed a measure that would allow residents in CMNI to vote to end marijuana prohibition on November 8. If the referendum is successful, it would establish a law similar to those in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington — implementing a taxed and regulated market for recreational marijuana consumers 21 and older and a medical marijuana program for patients with doctors’ recommendations. It would also allow people to grow up to six mature marijuana plants and 25 immature plants.

The revenue from marijuana industry and sales taxes would go to building schools, drug education, treatment programs, and CMNI’s pension program. Should the measure pass, CMNI’s government will be expected to accept license applications by April 2017.

In 2010, the CMNI House of Representatives approved a proposal to end marijuana prohibition, but it failed to pass the Senate. A 2015 medical marijuana bill stalled in the legislature.

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This week at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, the Democratic Party approved a platform that would dismantle marijuana prohibition. Calling for “a reasoned pathway for future legalization,” the Democrats’ platform endorses the removal of marijuana from the list of Schedule I drugs, a category reserved for substances with a high potential for abuse and without medical benefit. It also calls for states to decide their own marijuana laws and for medical marijuana states to provide safe access for patients without federal interference.

According to Mason Tvert, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, “It’s not particularly surprising that the platform calls for rolling back the failed policy of marijuana prohibition, seeing as the vast majority of Democrats – and a majority of Americans – support making marijuana legal for adults.”

Advocates for marijuana policy reform were present and active at the DNC and held a series of protests outside the convention on Monday to bring attention to the issue, while MPP representatives talked with policy leaders and lawmakers inside the convention throughout the week.

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A recent study conducted at Salk Institute for Biological Studies showed that medical marijuana might be a potentially effective treatment for patients with Alzheimer’s disease. According to the study, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) “stimulates the removal of toxic plaque in the brain, a common

feature of the disease” and treats inflammation, preventing neuron damage in the brain.

While Keith Fargo of the Alzheimer’s Association has expressed optimism about the study, referring to marijuana as a “legitimate avenue of research,” other researchers advise caution. Dr. Donovan Maust, who has studied marijuana’s effects on dementia, has said that there are still too many unknowns to start treating Alzheimer’s patients with medical marijuana.

These results correspond with earlier findings, such as a 2014 Dutch study showing that THC can treat symptoms of dementia, and a 2016 study that found “THC helped decrease symptoms of delusions, agitation or aggression, irritability, apathy and sleep in patients with Alzheimer's disease.”

While these fascinating discoveries hold a great deal of exciting potential, medical marijuana researchers continue to face enormous obstacles due to federal restrictions that come with marijuana’s Schedule I status.

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The first dispensary in Florida to offer low-THC medical marijuana products is expected to open in Tallahassee on Tuesday. Unfortunately, there are still huge flaws in Florida’s law. Dispensaries may be opening up, but for most patients, the doors are still shut.

First, only low-THC marijuana will be available, and only patients with cancer, seizures, or severe and persistent muscle spasms will qualify, leaving many patients behind. Although cannabis with more THC will eventually be available, it will only be for terminally ill patients.

Second, doctors are required to “order” a specific amount of cannabis, which is perilously close to prescribing it. This puts doctors at risk of violating federal law, and we expect that it will be very difficult for patients to find doctors willing to take this risk, which is why MPP does not classify Florida as a true medical marijuana state.

The best way to fix these problems is to support United for Care’s efforts to pass Amendment 2, which would create an effective medical program for Florida.

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The results of a recent study in the Netherlands confirmed the long-held claim by supporters of marijuana policy reform that marijuana is much safer than alcohol, specifically as it relates to violent behavior. According to the findings, alcohol users demonstrated more aggressive tendencies while intoxicated than while sober, while marijuana users became less aggressive while under the influence.

The Washington Post reports:

They found, first of all, that "alcohol intoxication increased subjective aggression in the alcohol group." The alcohol users, in other words, acted more aggressive when they were drunk than they did when they were sober. By contrast, the smokers became less aggressive when they were high.

These findings held through both the self-assessments — alcohol users rated themselves as more aggressive when drunk — and through the responses to the tests: The drinkers tried harder to undermine their computer opponents when they were drunk. But the smokers actually acted less aggressive toward their computer opponents when they were high.

"The results in the present study support the hypothesis that acute alcohol intoxication increases feelings of aggression and that acute cannabis intoxication reduces feelings of aggression," the researchers conclude.

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