Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana.

Once marijuana is legal in a state, the process for providing it is just beginning.  And that process can be fraught with difficulty, as the state of Ohio is finding out.

Ohio’s auditor said the state’s process for selecting medical marijuana grower applicants suffered from numerous errors and inconsistencies.

Meanwhile, the federal government is moving closer to approving more licenses to grow marijuana for research.  But there’s drama here too: a provision that those with prior drug convictions need not apply.

A powerful U.S. House panel that oversees federal drug enforcement efforts approved a bill on Thursday to require the Department of Justice and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to begin issuing more licenses to grow marijuana for research.

This greater interest in marijuana research will be of no help to Canadian cannabis workers, who are facing a lifetime ban at the border.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that he will not “impress upon the U.S. who they have to let in or not.”

And finally, we couldn’t help but include this story that combines Maine lobster and marijuana.

Lobsters in one Maine restaurant go out in a blaze of glory once they hit the pot. The owner of a lobster joint is sedating her crustaceans with marijuana smoke before cooking them — which she says gives them a blissfully humane death.

In a split decision last Thursday, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction of Morro Bay marijuana dispensary owner Charles Lynch and remanded the case to the district court for a factual determination as to whether Lynch’s activities were in strict compliance with California law. [Link to case here.] Continue Reading Appropriations Rider Gives Sliver of Hope For California Dispensary Owner Caught Between Conflicting State and Federal Laws

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana.

The latest entry in our “politicians now supporting marijuana” category is Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX).  And no, he’s no relation to Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

The move would be a full 180 for Sessions, who has personally blocked dozens of cannabis policy amendments and bills from consideration on the floor of the House via the Rules Committee, which he chairs.

Not all government officials are in favor of legalization, however.  The former attorney general of North Dakota is actively working against the ballot initiative.

As North Dakota voters look to decide whether to approve adult-use cannabis in the state’s November general election, opposition is mounting.

Apparently, it’s not just young people using cannabis.  Older Americans are lighting up as well.

Boomers are experimenting with marijuana more than ever before.

Finally, when Canada legalized marijuana, it was only a matter of time before the National Hockey League had to issue a statement.

Deputy commissioner Bill Daly says the NHL does not expect to change its rules on marijuana with the legalization of cannabis in Canada coming on Oct. 17.

On September 5, 2018, a federal district court in Connecticut granted summary judgment to a job applicant after an employer refused to hire her because she tested positive for marijuana in a pre-employment drug test. The decision, Noffsinger v. SSC Niantic Operating Co., LLC, d/b/a Bride Brook Nursing & Rehab. Ctr., should serve as a reminder to employers operating in states with medical marijuana laws to evaluate their policies and practices concerning employee use of marijuana outside the workplace. Continue Reading Federal Judge Rules that Employer Violated Connecticut Law by Refusing to Hire Medical Marijuana User

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana.

Following up on last week’s look at an expungement proposal in California, this week we note that Delaware has enacted such a statute.

Expungement is mandatory but not automatic; eligible individuals still need to apply and pay a fee.

When we wrote about North Dakota’s effort to legalize recreational cannabis, we thought that was pretty surprising.  We had no idea that Mississippi was looking to put medical marijuana on the 2020 ballot.

A group in Mississippi, one of the country’s most conservative states, is aiming to put what looks to be a business-friendly medical marijuana initiative on the ballot in 2020.

Not all the action is on the state level; new legislation on the federal level would allow veterans access to medical marijuana.

Veterans Affairs doctors are currently prohibited from prescribing the drug by federal law.

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana.

Most employers are wary of union organizing, but a marijuana retailer in Washington is supportive of the idea.

A cannabis retailer led efforts to have his employees join a union in an unusual labor organizing drive in Washington.

Once recreational marijuana in legal in a state,  what does the state do about criminal records?

A measure passed by the legislature would require a review of all marijuana-related crimes in the state between 1975 and 2016, when pot was legalized in California.

Not everyone is in favor of expanding access to medical marijuana; the Mormon Church is opposed to allowing MMJ in Utah.

The Mormon church ramped up its opposition this week to a proposal that would allow medical marijuana in Utah, even as faith leaders insisted they support patients using it under strict controls.

Finally, just because you’re seizing someone’s illegal cannabis plants doesn’t mean you can’t also have a sense of humor about it.

Police in Marlborough, New Hampshire confiscated 25 cannabis plants growing on private land and then did something unexpected —they joked about it, reports The Boston Globe.

Just two years ago, North Dakota voters passed medical marijuana legalization with 64 percent support. Now, North Dakota could join a number of sanctuary states legalizing recreational marijuana.

Through an effort called Legalize ND, proponents of recreational marijuana submitted more than the required 13,452 valid petition signatures to get a measure on the November 2018 general election ballot.

If passed, the measure would legalize the cultivation, possession, use, and distribution of marijuana and authorize the state, counties, and other municipalities to tax the sale of marijuana at no more than 20 percent. The measure would also remove penalties related to marijuana use from state law.

However, voters should expect an uphill battle. Opponents argue that legalization will create a lot of problems with regard to regulations and will increase crime. But if passed, one thing’s for sure, if you can smoke it there, you may well be able to smoke it anywhere.

So how will this affect employers? It’s a bit hazy. The measure does not have any specific provisions impacting an employer’s right to drug test or to make employment decisions based on a positive drug test.

However, based on North Dakota’s medical marijuana provisions which provide that the statute does not prohibit an employer from disciplining an employee for possessing or consuming usable marijuana in the workplace or for working while under the influence of marijuana, one can assume the same may apply if North Dakota legalizes recreational marijuana.

Stay tuned for all the growing developments in North Dakota.

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana.

As long time readers of this blog know, banking for cannabis companies is problematic to say the least.  California has decided not to pursue allowing state banks to handle the industry’s money.

California lawmakers deferred a plan that would have allowed private banks to handle the money being generated by the legal cannabis industry.

In other Golden State news, revenues from marijuana sales have been disappointing.

Why is California’s tax revenue from legal marijuana not meeting expectations?

Meanwhile, in Louisiana,  medical marijuana planting has begun.

Louisiana’s first legal crop of medical marijuana can be planted this week. Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain, whose agency regulates the burgeoning industry, loosened a regulatory logjam that created a months-long delay.

Finally, one of the more surprising additions to our list of politicians (or in this case, government entities) who have changed their mind on marijuana:

The anti-drug agency is moving to more than quintuple the amount of cannabis that can legally be grown in the U.S. for research purposes—from roughly 1,000 pounds in 2018 to more than 5,400 pounds next year.

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana.

At the risk of turning this into the “Week in Oklahoma Weed,” here’s the latest on what happening in the Sooner State.

A group that wants to legalize recreational marijuana in Oklahoma has submitted signatures to qualify the measure for a statewide vote after saying it may not have enough to qualify for the November ballot.

And for further proof it’s not just the coasts that are thinking of legalizing recreational cannabis, we have this news from the Upper Midwest.

North Dakota will vote on whether to legalize marijuana for recreational use after a measure was approved for the November ballot on Monday.

North Dakotans will vote this November on a ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana, state officials announced Monday.

You will doubtless recall that the FDA approved a CBD medication recently.  We now know what the price tag will be.

GW Pharmaceuticals has revealed the expected consumer price for Epidiolex, the first cannabidiol-based medication to be approved by the FDA, according to a Business Insider report.