Today, Delaware’s House Health and Human Development Committee voted 10-4 in favor of HB 305, a bill to legalize, tax, and regulate cannabis for adults 21 and older. It now moves to the House Appropriations Committee for consideration before heading to the House floor.

Things are heating up around cannabis legalization in the Ocean State! This Thursday at 4 p.m., the House Finance Committee in the Rhode Island General Assembly will hold a public hearing on several cannabis bills, including Article 11 of Gov. McKee’s budget proposal, which outlines a plan to legalize, regulate, and tax cannabis for adults.

Bill passes final committee — urge your representatives to vote in favor. Today, Vermont’s House Appropriations Committee approved S. 54 in a 6-5 vote. The bill to legalize, regulate, and tax cannabis sales appears likely to receive a vote in the full House later this week. Please contact your representatives now and ask for their support! The House has amended the bill, including by changing the tax rate to a flat 20% (in the Senate’s version, it’s 16% plus a 2% local option tax), but none of…

Passage of Vermont’s legalization bill, H. 511, was a huge step forward for the state — and the nation. Now that Gov. Scott has signed this bill allowing personal possession and cultivation, effective on July 1, it’s time for the legislature to begin moving forward with plans to regulate and tax marijuana production and sale for adults 21 and older. Some legislators who voted NO on H. 511 have already said that they support regulating and taxing marijuana. Others are reconsidering their positions…

Rep. Kelly Cassidy and Sen. Heather Steans introduced bills Wednesday that would finally end cannabis prohibition in Illinois. Identical bills, one introduced in the House and one in the Senate, would allow adults to use, possess, and cultivate limited amounts of cannabis with no penalty, and would set up a taxed and regulated market for cannabis production and sale. MPP issued the following statement in a press release: “People are fed up with laws that punish adults for using a substance that is…

Maryland’s comprehensive medical marijuana law took effect on June 1, 2014. Over 23 months later, no patients have been registered, no ID cards have been issued, and dispensary licensees are not expected to be announced until this fall. The Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission (MMCC), the state agency in charge of establishing Maryland’s medical marijuana program, announced another delay Tuesday in implementation of the medical marijuana law enacted over two years ago. While this delay is only a…

California Democrats approved adding a position in support of taxing and regulating marijuana to the party’s platform Sunday, despite opposition from Gov. Jerry Brown (D). This is a major shift in the Democratic Party stance on legal marijuana use in the Golden State, and was spearheaded by long-time activist Lanny Swerdlow and the Brownie Mary Democratic Club. California was the pioneering state for medical marijuana, which was made legal in 1996, but since then has stalled on creating a regulatory…

Pennsylvania recently joined the growing list of states considering taxing and regulating marijuana like alcohol this year, when Sen. Daylin Leach (D-17) introduced SB 528. The proposal was referred to the Senate Law and Justice Committee on April 3. [caption id="attachment_5806" align="alignright" width="220"] Sen. Leach and family[/caption] Sen. Leach’s bill, the Regulate Marijuana Act, would allow adults 21 and over to possess, grow, process, or transport up to six marijuana plants (three or fewer…

Last week, Alabama joined the growing list of states considering taxing and regulating marijuana like alcohol this year. Sponsored by Rep. Patricia Todd (D-Birmingham), HB 550 would remove all criminal penalties for possession of marijuana by adults. The proposal was referred to the House Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security, but has not yet been scheduled for a hearing. [caption id="attachment_6218" align="alignleft" width="240"] Rep. Patricia Todd[/caption] Rep. Todd’s bill, the Alabama…

[caption id="attachment_5911" align="alignleft" width="180"] Del. Curt Anderson[/caption] The Maryland House of Delegates will debate whether or not the state should permit the establishment of a legal market for businesses to sell marijuana to adults 21 and older. Delegate Curt Anderson (D-Baltimore City) introduced H.B. 1453 on Thursday. If passed, the bill would make marijuana legal for adults 21 and older and establish a system in which marijuana is regulated and taxed like alcohol. The proceeds…