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

The big news comes from Florida this week, as lawmakers have ended a ban on smoking medical cannabis. Florida legalized medical marijuana in 2016, but the ban on smoking led to lawsuits.  Those are presumably now moot.

Moving north to New Jersey, the legislature is expected to vote next week on legalizing recreational cannabis.  Needless to say, if New Jersey is the next state to legalize, that will be the first story in the next installment of Week in Weed.  One can only wonder what former Governor Christie will say…

In Connecticut, legalization is not as far advanced as in New Jersey, but some legislators are proposing bills to join their fellow New England states in allowing recreational cannabis.  The sponsors of the legislation note that this is the beginning of what will likely be a long process.

Moving west to Illinois, the topic is banking.  The state’s treasurer is urging banking reform, lest medical marijuana firms collapse.  If the state legalizes recreational cannabis, the need to avoid “theft, fraud and tax evasion” will only increase.

In other banking news, the SAFE Banking Act (which is concerned with banking on the federal level) is set for a full committee mark-up next Tuesday.  Next week is shaping up to be a big week…

Oklahoma’s governor has signed new medical marijuana rules into law.  And New Mexico’s legislature has sent several bills to the governor’s desk, but full legalization was not among them.

In overseas news, cannabis is now an issue in the upcoming Israeli elections.  Currently, only Uruguay and Canada have legalized marijuana on a national level; could Israel be next?

And finally, in the latest on “Where Do the Candidates Stand on Marijuana?” Beto O’Rourke has an interesting position on cannabis.  He wants to both legalize the drug and stigmatize its use.

See you next week!