Cannabis Regulations Roundup on 4/20

Cannabis law and legal Recreational Weed. Judge gavel with cannabis leaf | Image credit: © Aliaksandra - stock.adobe.com

Cannabis Legislation Updates from Florida, Virginia, and Kansas

In April 2024, the Florida Supreme Court voted 5-2 to allow a cannabis initiative to appear on the ballot this November. If the initiative is approved by 60 percent of Florida voters, recreational cannabis would become legal in the state. In March 2024, Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin vetoed two bills that would have created state-regulated standards for recreational cannabis licenses and sales, and on the same day in Kansas, Senate Bill 555, which would have created a five-year pilot medical cannabis program in the state was shelved until the 2025 legislative session, after a committee hearing in the Senate.

Read the full article on cannabis legislation updates from Florida, Virginia, and Kansas here.

Influencing Our Future: A Webinar on Cannabis Rescheduling from the S3 Collective

In February, the S3 Collective, an organization connecting science-based cannabis research and data with state and federal regulations in order to improve product safety and policy, held a webinar for anyone with a stake in federal cannabis regulations to coordinate efforts for the rescheduling road ahead. The webinar covered several important discussion points: an explanation of the proposed scheduling, how and why to contribute to the federal framework of cannabis regulations, and the S3 Collective's anticipated approach, with the overall goal of creating a science-based submission to the DEA’s public comment period.

Read the full overview of the S3 Collective webinar here.

Rescheduling THC to Schedule III: The Potential Impact on the Cannabis Industry

In the first Stuck on Compliance blog of 2024, Kim Stuck, CEO and founder of Allay Consulting, provided a deep dive on what a federal rescheduling of cannabis could look like across the industry. Currently classified as a Schedule I controlled substance in the United States, tetrahydrocannabinol’s (THC) rescheduling to Schedule III could have profound effects on the cannabis industry. This blog analyzes the many potential implications of such a change, focusing on the medical, economic, and societal aspects of the cannabis market.

Read the full blog on cannabis rescheduling impacts here.

Advocacy for the Harmonization of Cannabis Industry Regulation: Role and Guidance from the American Council of Independent Laboratories (ACIL) in Cannabis Policy

In our Navigating the Labyrinth column from the January/February issue of Cannabis Science and Technology, Patricia Atkins discusses the involvement of ACIL with the cannabis industry and highlight the advocacy and guidance work the group is accomplishing on behalf of the cannabis community, especially regarding a newly published guidance document for cannabis laboratories and testing. ACIL, or the American Council of Independent Laboratories, founded in 1937, is a trade association representing independent, commercial scientific, and testing laboratories. Their mission is to provide education and advocacy to their member industries and laboratories to address environmental and product risks to the public. Their vision is realizing a healthy, safe environment for society through the application of unbiased, scientific testing.

Read the full column for more on the work of the ACIL.