Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana. This week, we see yet another attempt to legalize adult-use cannabis in New Hampshire. A new federal funding bill would continue to deny a retail market for adult-use cannabis in DC. Another federal bill would delay the hemp ban. And finally, mushrooms are learning how to make psilocybin.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
It may only be January by the calendar, but in New Hampshire, it feels like Groundhog Day. The state’s House of Representatives passed bills that would legalize adult-use cannabis and allow medical dispensaries to convert to for-profit businesses. Before you add the Granite State to your list of places where cannabis is totally legal, remember that these measures have to pass the Senate, where previous bills have gone to die. And the state’s current governor, Kelly Ayotte (R) has indicated she has no more love for legalization than did her predecessor Chris Sununu (R).
D.C. RETAIL MARKET
In 2014, the District of Columbia’s voters said they wanted legal adult-use cannabis. A retail market has still not been established. It’s a long story, involving “gifting” shops, medical dispensaries, Congressional oversight – a little something for everyone. And it looks like this soap opera will be renewed for yet another season. The House of Representatives added a section to a big appropriations bill that would prohibit the District from allowing adult-use sales. This is a tale as old as time – cannabis gets caught up in “must pass” legislation.
HEMP BAN
In another example of this phenomenon, regular readers will recall that Congress included a ban on sales of intoxicating hemp as part of the bill to end the government shutdown. Now, some lawmakers are having second thoughts. A new bill, the Hemp Planting Predictability Act, would delay the ban for two years, which would presumably provide predictability to those seeking to plant hemp. Or kick the can down the road two years, so everyone winds up exactly where we are right now, except in 2028?
AND FINALLY
The news is full of stories about artificial intelligence. But here at The Week in Weed, we’re more interested in mushroom intelligence. Note: this link goes to an article that we did attempt to read. After about three sentences we gave it up as a bad job, but if publications from the German Chemical Society are your jam, enjoy! As far as we can tell, the study shows that mushrooms that are not “magic” can produce psilocybin.
Be well everyone – we’ll see you next week.