Cannabis Business Times

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' crusade of pulling in state agencies to use taxpayer dollars to fund TV ads related to cannabis has now extended to a Colorado mom warning Floridians of the "deadly dangers" of cannabis ahead of the state's legalization vote. https://lnkd.in/g4B2_Hp5

Kamala Harris includes "Legalize Recreational Marijuana" among 14 items on her presidential to-do list if elected in November. “Trump has an enemies list. I have a to-do list.” https://lnkd.in/g_G5_PxT

A coalition of Texas hemp business owners is suing the DEA and Allen Police for recent raids and for shackling a 70-year-old family business owner in a jail cell without bond for two days! "[The DEA] went to great lengths to do an end run around a federal judge’s order.” https://lnkd.in/gnUZnyDT

South Dakota voters plan to oppose a cannabis legalization measure, new poll suggests "The marijuana ballot initiative has the most support among voters under 30, at 68%, and most opposition among voters over 70, at 64%." https://lnkd.in/gCS4NFuX

California’s cannabis crackdown on the unregulated market leaves underlying problems unaddressed for licensed operators. "Enforcement under Governor Newsom is big on public optics but limited in actual impact." https://lnkd.in/gyVx_gdu

EXCLUSIVE: Cannabis rescheduling won’t solve industry banking problems and regulatory risks, a legal expert tells @CBTmag “I don’t know that moving [cannabis] from Schedule I to Schedule III is going to change the picture." https://lnkd.in/gt9ExNPX

There's a legal tug-of-war going on with hemp-derived cannabinoid regulations nationwide as states crack down on certain products. Challengers have seen mixed results in battling the new laws in court. Here’s a closer look at recent and pending cases. https://lnkd.in/gQtfj5rS

There's one common ingredient that plays into the likelihood of success for all four states that have cannabis legalization measures on the 2024 ballot 🗳️🗳️🗳️ Higher voter turnouts for presidential elections are generally viewed as favorable for passing cannabis-related ballot measures by legalization advocates. South Dakota is a prime example of this phenomenon. Voters in the Mount Rushmore State passed an adult-use legalization measure with a 54.2% majority in the 2020 presidential election before Gov. Kristi Noem paved a path for the Supreme Court to strike down that election result. Two years later, South Dakota voters rejected a similar adult-use legalization measure with only 47% in support during the 2022 midterm election. Nationwide, 66% of the voting-eligible population turned out for the 2020 presidential election, while just 46% did so for the 2020 midterm election, according to the Pew Research Center. The results for cannabis measures were reflective: All five states with cannabis legalization measures in 2020 had majority support on Election Day, while only two of five states had majority support for their respective legalization measures in 2022. So, what does the 2024 election have in store for cannabis? https://lnkd.in/gXX_ghjK

Delaware Gov. John Carney signed a bill that grants legal protections to financial institutions that provide services to cannabis-related businesses licensed or registered under state law. This comes as the SAFER Banking Act appears stalled in Washington, D.C., and as relief in the form of federal rescheduling does not extend to safe banking. "I think there’s still going to be a question in the air in terms of how far banks would be willing to go to provide banking services. I don’t know that moving from Schedule I to Schedule III is going to change the picture." https://lnkd.in/g3N_xhp6

FRESH: California regulators clear a path to save 100s of Mendocino County cannabis cultivators from forced market exits by certifying an environmental impact report ... but a time crunch persists 👀 https://lnkd.in/gUc3Hj6U