The bill “cleared the first of what may be up to a dozen committee hurdles when the House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee approved” the measure “by a voice vote Wednesday and sent it to the House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee,” the Minnesota House of Representatives Public Information Services department reported.

The bill would legalize cannabis for adults 21 and older, and would establish the regulatory framework for legal marijuana sales that would begin within months of the measure’s passage. 

It was introduced by Democrats in the Minnesota House of Representatives last week.

“Cannabis should not be illegal in Minnesota,” Democratic state House Rep. Zack Stephenson, one of the bill’s authors, said at a press conference announcing the legislation at the state capitol last week. “Minnesotans deserve the freedom and respect to make responsible decisions about cannabis themselves. Our current laws are doing more harm than good. State and local governments are spending millions enforcing laws that aren’t helping anyone.”

Stephenson and his fellow Democrats in St. Paul have long been eager to bring cannabis legalization to the Land of 10,000 Lakes, but they have until now been stymied by Republican lawmakers.

But that changed after November’s elections, when Minnesota Democrats regained control of the state Senate and retained their majority in the state House of Representatives. 

The state’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz, also won re-election this past fall, and has been a vocal advocate for marijuana legalization in Minnesota.

“It’s time to legalize adult-use cannabis and expunge cannabis convictions in Minnesota. I’m ready to sign it into law,” Walz said in a tweet after Democrats introduced the legalization bill earlier this month.

At the committee meeting on Wednesday, Stephenson expressed confidence that the bill, buttressed by public support, would ultimately make it to Walz’s desk.

The news service recapped amendments that were considered at the committee meeting on Wednesday:

“The subject of local control — or lack thereof — was the subject of an amendment unsuccessfully offered by Rep. Kurt Daudt (R-Crown). It would have given cities or towns options to enact local ordinances regulating cannabis business licenses that could differ from those proposed statewide. Two other Republican amendments were adopted. One offered by Rep. Anne Neu Brindley (R-North Branch) would add a health warning for pregnant or breastfeeding women on cannabis products. And an amendment from Rep. Jeff Dotseth (R-Kettle River) would require the Office of Cannabis Management to study the health effects of secondhand cannabis smoke. Stephenson said the Dotseth amendment was a good idea, but noted his bill already would prohibit smoking cannabis in places where smoking is not allowed under the Clean Indoor Air Act.”

Polls have shown that Minnesota voters are ready to enter a post-prohibition era. 

The moves by state Democrats were foreshadowed by one of Minnesota’s best-known politicians, former Gov. Jesse Ventura, who said after the November elections that Walz had called him directly to say that legalization would get done.

“The sticking point for cannabis in Minnesota were Republicans in the (Senate),” Ventura said at the time. “Well, they lost it now, and the governor reassured me that one of the first items that will be passed — Minnesota, get ready — cannabis is going to have its prohibition lifted. That’s the news I got today.”

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The company, MAPS Public Benefit Corporation, said that it had completed “confirmatory phase three” of the multi-site study, which “met both the primary endpoint as measured by the change from baseline in Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (‘CAPS-5’) and the key secondary endpoint of improvement in functional impairment associated with PTSD as measured by the change from baseline in the Sheehan Disability Scale (‘SDS’).”

“The Phase 3 confirmatory results support the development of MDMA-assisted therapy as a potentially new breakthrough therapy to treat individuals with PTSD—a patient population that is often left to suffer for years,” said Amy Emerson, chief executive officer of MAPS Public Benefit Corporation. 

Last week’s announcement comes after the company said in November that it had completed “the second of two Phase 3 pivotal trials.” 

“Now with two positive Phase 3 trials complete, we can add this important data to the new drug application which we expect to submit in the third quarter of this year,” Emerson said last week. 

The study, known as “MAPP2,” was “a randomized, double-blind, multi-site Phase 3 study of the efficacy and safety of MDMA-assisted therapy for the treatment of PTSD,” the company said last week.

“The study enrolled 121 participants and of those enrolled 104 were randomized to either a group that received 80 to 120 mg MDMA hydrochloride followed by a supplemental half-dose of 40 or 60 mg during three extended sessions of therapy, or a group that received placebo plus extended sessions of therapy. The MAPP2 study enrolled participants with PTSD for the 12-week treatment period. The MAPP2 participants reflected the U.S. demographics of those living with PTSD with people of color representing more than half of those enrolled in the study,” the company said in a press release. 

Founded in 2014, MAPS Public Benefit Corporation says that its vision is to create a “world where all people have opportunities to heal and grow through psychedelic medicines and therapies.​”

The company’s mission statement reads: “Lead the research, development, and integration of psychedelic medicines and therapies into the healthcare system, prioritizing purpose over profits.​”

That mission has been buttressed by the the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which in 2017 “granted MDMA-assisted therapy Breakthrough Therapy designation, a process designed to expedite development and review of drugs intended to treat serious conditions and that demonstrate substantial improvement over available therapies,” the company said in last week’s press release.

“Reaching agreement with [the] FDA on the design of our Phase 3 program and having the ability to work closely with the agency has been a major priority for our team,” Emerson said in 2017. “Our Phase 2 data was extremely promising with a large effect size, and we are ready to move forward quickly. With breakthrough designation, we can now move even more efficiently through the development process in collaboration with the FDA to complete Phase 3.”

The company said last week that it “expects to submit the new drug application to the FDA in the third quarter of 2023.” 

“MAPS PBC plans to submit the full data set for publication in a peer-reviewed journal,” the press release said. “MDMA-assisted therapy has not been approved by any regulatory agency. The safety and efficacy of MDMA-assisted therapy have not been established for the treatment of PTSD.”

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The latest figures to be released by the Arizona Department of Revenue found that taxable medical cannabis sales totaled $31.3 million for October, representing the eighth consecutive month of decline.

Adult-use cannabis sales, on the other hand, amounted to $73.8 million in October, a new high for the state’s recreational pot program. 

Those totals mark the continuation of a trend for the Grand Canyon State’s dual cannabis markets. 

Voters in Arizona legalized medical cannabis in 2010, and sales began two years later. Arizona voters likewise approved a proposal legalizing recreational cannabis in 2020, with sales kicking off in January 2021. 

Medical cannabis sales outpaced recreational sales for the first 11 months of 2021.

In December of that year, adult-use marijuana sales totaled $70,317,105, compared with $57,971,859 in sales for medical marijuana that same month. 

Recreational pot sales have exceeded medical sales every month since. 

As the AZ Mirror noted this week, the “crumbling of the medical program follows a pattern other states have seen with medical markets outpaced by recreational sales in the wake of legalization.”

The outlet has more on the divergent sales trends: 

“The state collects 16% excise tax on recreational sales in addition to the standard sales tax; medical patients pay roughly 6% in state sales tax, levied as a Transaction Privilege Tax on cannabis outlets. Local jurisdictions charge an additional 2% or so for all marijuana sales. One-third of recreational taxes collected are dedicated to community college and provisional community college districts; 31% to public safety — police, fire departments, fire districts, first responders — 25% to the Arizona Highway User Revenue Fund, and 10% to the justice reinvestment fund, dedicated to providing public health services, counseling, job training and other social services for communities that have been adversely affected and disproportionately impacted by marijuana arrests and criminalization. The medical market has continued to bleed both sales and participants, following a trend in some states that have legalized adult-use cannabis years after establishing medical cannabis markets.”

Arizona was one of four states in 2020 where voters approved measures legalizing recreational marijuana sales (Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota were the other three).

The measure, Proposition 207, required the state to “promote the ownership and operation of marijuana establishments and marijuana testing facilities by individuals from communities disproportionately impacted by the enforcement of previous marijuana laws,” a mandate that, among other things, designated the first two dozen dispensary licenses to individuals hailing from communities that have been affected by the War on Drugs.

Arizona’s Department of Health Services required those applicants to participate in classes in order “to ensure that social equity applicants are prepared for the application process and the challenges of running a marijuana business.”

Those classes, per the department, were led by veterans of the cannabis industry, and included “two days of content and education focused on a number of aspects of operating an adult-use marijuana business, including legal requirements, business practices, regulatory compliance, and fundraising, as well as marketing and strategic growth.”

For some prospective marijuana dispensary owners in Arizona, class is now in session. Social equity class, that is. 

It is a provision included in the ballot measure that voters in the state last year legalized recreational pot use for adults. The measure, Proposition 207, called on the state to “promote the ownership and operation of marijuana establishments and marijuana testing facilities by individuals from communities disproportionately impacted by the enforcement of previous marijuana laws.”

What that means in practice: Arizona’s Department of Health Services will award 26 dispensary licenses to individuals from those communities particularly affected by long standing anti-pot laws. 

Per the department: “Social equity license holders will be required to comply with all statutes and rules that govern Adult-Use Marijuana Establishment licenses, including obtaining approval to operate before opening their retail location. Additionally, social equity license holders will be required to develop and implement policies to document how the Marijuana Establishment will provide a benefit to one or more communities disproportionately affected by the enforcement of Arizona’s previous marijuana laws.”

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Erisa Fero, who serves as the IT director of the country’s top intelligence agency, was arrested “on the 29th of December in a remote, mountainous section of Albania near the border with North Macedonia as she was allegedly transporting 58kg of cannabis.”

“Albanian police said Fero was using her official government ID as a security official to avoid police checkpoints and searches. During the arrest, Fero’s reported romantic partner, Leke Basha, 30, and a 17-year-old suspect, were also detained for drug trafficking offences. Two suspects on the North Macedonian side of the border, believed to have been receiving the drugs, escaped after a long manhunt, according to police,” VICE reported, while also citing local media in noting that “police suspect those arrested in the incident, including Fero, of having links with organised crime gangs.”

It is apparently not the first time that Fero, 28, has been ensnared in scandal. 

According to the Greek City Times, Fero was “reported for illegality to the Central Electoral Commission (CEC), along with 21 other commissioners” in December of 2021 when she was “a member of a vote counting committee in a constituency.”

“However, the results of the votes were falsified in the Commission in which she participated, with the competent committee filing a complaint with the prosecutor’s office in Tirana against 21 commissioners, including Fero,” the outlet reported. “The young woman has been accused of participating in the manipulation of the April 25, 2021 elections, as well as removing or adding votes in favour of candidates of different parties.”

Recreational and medical cannabis are both prohibited in Albania.

According to the legal firm CMS, in 2000, “Albania joined the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, which is an international treaty that prohibits the use, production and trade of listed narcotics, except for medical treatments and research,” although “this part of the treaty for the medical use of cannabis has not been enforced by Albania.”

“In 1994, the Albanian government established the ‘Law of Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances’, and cannabis was included in the list of controlled drugs. On 27 January 1995, the criminal code of the Republic of Albania was created, and the usage, production and trade of narcotics was prohibited. Cannabis is not specifically listed however the government made clear that it falls within the definition of narcotics,” CMS explains. “According to Article 283 of the criminal code, the sale, offer for sale, giving or receiving of any form, distribution, trading, transport, sending, delivering, and keeping of narcotic and psychotropic substances and seeds of narcotic plants, in conflict with the law (excluding cases when it is for personal use and in small doses) is sentenced to imprisonment of from five to ten years.”

The arrest of a senior government official––as well as someone with alleged links to organized crime––comes at a politically inauspicious time for Albania.

As VICE noted in its report, the arrest of Fero “came as NATO member Albania pushes for a deeper relationship with the EU, including potential future membership.”

“Albania and other countries including Bulgaria and Romania have made significant gains in battling local organised crime and corruption in cooperation with the EU and NATO,” a senior EU security official said. “But this incident shows the difficulty in battling corruption in a patronage environment like Albania.”

VICE reported that the official “said with access to internal IT and information systems, Fero’s alleged crime links could lead to a high risk of intelligence being passed onto criminal gangs or hostile intelligence services.”

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The app, called “DoNotPay,” is billed as “the world’s first robot lawyer.”

It uses “artificial intelligence to help consumers fight against large corporations and solve their problems like beating parking tickets, appealing bank fees, and suing robocallers,” according to the app’s website. 

Here’s how it works, via CBS News: The “AI-creation runs on a smartphone, listens to court arguments and formulates responses for the defendant,” and the “AI lawyer tells the defendant what to say in real-time, through headphones.”

According to CBS News, the app will “be the first of its kind to help a defendant fight a traffic ticket in court next month,” and the company behind the app says that it has already “used AI-generated form letters and chatbots to help people secure refunds for in-flight Wifi that didn’t work, as well as to lower bills and dispute parking tickets, among other issues.”

The “DoNotPay” app is yet another example of “generative artificial intelligence,” technology that can generate text and other forms of content in response to human commands. 

Generative AI has attracted considerable attention from investors since last month’s release of “ChatGPT,” a chatbot from the San Francisco-based lab OpenAI that created a sensation with its music and stories. 

The New York Times reported last week that more than a million people have used “ChatGPT,” and that OpenAI “is in talks to complete a deal that would value it at around $29 billion, more than twice its valuation in 2021.”

CBS News reported that DoNotPay “has raised $27.7 million from tech-focused venture capital firms, including Andreessen Horowitz and Crew Capital.”

“In the past year, AI tech has really developed and allowed us to go back and forth in real time with corporations and governments,” DoNotPay CEO Joshua Browder told CBS News. “We spoke live [with companies and customer service reps] to lower bills with companies; and what we’re doing next month is try to use the tech in a courtroom for the first time.”

The proliferation of artificial intelligence has set off plenty of alarm bells. As Politico noted in a story this week about DoNotPay, “the public release of increasingly advanced AI tools has raised questions about everything from high school plagiarism to the very essence of what it is to be human.” 

And while many have found chatbots to be fun, a robot lawyer might just be too creepy for some. 

It also happens to be illegal in many jurisdictions. 

“Some courts allow defendants to wear hearing aids, some versions of which are bluetooth-enabled. That’s how Browder determined that DoNotPay’s technology can legally be used in this case,” CBS News reported. “However, the tech isn’t legal in most courtrooms. Some states require that all parties consent to be recorded, which rules out the possibility of a robot lawyer entering many courtrooms. Of the 300 cases DoNotPay considered for a trial of its robot lawyer, only two were feasible.”

Browder told CBS that it’s “within the letter of the law, but I don’t think anyone could ever imagine this would happen.” 

“It’s not in the spirit of law, but we’re trying to push things forward and a lot of people can’t afford legal help. If these cases are successful, it will encourage more courts to change their rules,” Browder said. 

The post Robot Lawyer Aims To Make Legal Representation Affordable appeared first on High Times.

The local news outlet Masthead Maine, citing data that was released by the Maine Office of Cannabis Policy, reports that the “state’s licensed adult-use retailers reported nearly 2.5 million sale transactions, totaling $158.9 million [in 2022],” which was up from the $82 million of sales generated the year prior.

“(The growth) reflects the significant economic impact that legal cannabis continues to have in the communities that have opted into the system,” said John Hudak, the director of the state’s Office of Cannabis Policy, as quoted by Masthead Maine. “The system is creating jobs, helping revitalize communities, and having a positive economic impact on businesses that help the industry function.”

Maine voters approved a proposal legalizing recreational cannabis use for adults in 2016, but the law took years to finally materialize. 

That is because former Maine Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican, repeatedly stood in the way of the law’s implementation. 

But voters there elected a new governor in 2018, the Democrat Janet Mills, who immediately went to work in upholding the will of the people and getting the new marijuana law up and running.

In the summer of 2019, Mills signed a bill that made changes to and enacted the new cannabis law. 

“Over the course of the last several months, my Administration has worked quickly to implement the law regarding Maine’s adult-use recreational marijuana market as Maine voters asked the state to do two and a half years ago,” Mills said at the time. “The rule development demonstrates what can be accomplished when state government works with lawmakers, industry stakeholders, and the public to accomplish a shared goal. With this law, we are one step closer to honoring the will of Maine voters.”

The governor’s office said at the time that the legislation signed by Mills made “several changes to the [marijuana law] including an amendment to the Maine Food Law to no longer consider edibles produced with recreational marijuana as adulterated, allowing the entry of certain vendors into the limited access areas of licensees, and authorizing the department to impose an administrative hold on a licensee,” while additionally authorizing both the Office of Marijuana Policy and the state Department of Administrative and Financial Services “to complete final adoption of their adult use rulemaking.”

“OMP consulted with seven different state agencies consisting of the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry; Department of Health and Human Services; Department of Labor; Department of Public Safety; Department of Environmental Protection; Department of Professional and Financial Regulation; and DAFS’ Maine Revenue Services when completing their rulemaking work,” Mills’s office said at the time. “The office also coordinated closely with the Office of the Attorney General, Department of the Secretary of State and the Legislature’s Office of Policy and Legal Analysis.”

Legal adult-use cannabis sales officially kicked off in Maine in October of 2020, nearly four years after voters approved the legalization ballot measure. 

The months and years that have followed have seen the fledgling marijuana industry grow and prosper. In May 2021, the state reported more than $5 million in recreational pot sales, which at the time made it the highest grossing month.

That is a modest figure compared to the more recent monthly sales totals. Masthead Maine reports that the state “set a new record each month through August 2022, which brought in over $17 million.”

Last month brought in $15.2 million in recreational marijuana sales, according to the outlet, and the 2022 sales “also earned the state roughly $16 million in tax revenue.”

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The aptly named non-profit Utah Mushroom Therapy has launched a petition to “strongly encourage Utah legislators to pass a bipartisan bill that allows the legal use of psilocybin for clinical and academic purposes, and includes protection for individuals practicing under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.” 

Utah Mushroom Therapy says it intends to present the petition to members of the state Senate next month. The group’s efforts come almost a year after the state’s Republican governor, Spencer Cox, signed a bill that created a task force to study the use of psychedelics as a mental health treatment. 

According to the group, the creation of the task force means that “legalizing and decriminalizing Psilocybin in Utah is now very likely but still needs public support.”

Utah Mushroom Therapy outlines a number of reasons why it backs the legalization of mushrooms for therapy and research, arguing that it could improve mental health and support spiritual practice. 

“Numerous robust studies have shown that psilocybin therapy is beneficial in reducing treatment-resistant depression, anxiety, addiction, trauma, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and other mental health disorders. It is more effective than synthetic pharmaceuticals by a large margin. Psilocybin has also shown effectiveness in easing fear and anxiety in people with terminal cancer. For instance, a groundbreaking study performed by John Hopkins Medicine found that psilocybin reported better moods and greater mental health after participating in a single clinical dose,” the group says on its website. 

“The use of mushrooms has been documented in 15 indigenous groups in America and various religious communities in Utah. This petition supports those groups who wish to use psilocybin safely, sincerely, and as a necessary part of their religion. The use of psilocybin does not contradict other Utah cultures and is protected by the first amendment as well as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. This petition is to advocate Utah law to protect the religious rights of Utahns,” the group continued. 

In addition, the group says that legalization of shrooms would reduce criminality and would serve as a safe and effective treatment.

“Psilocybin is a natural, non-toxic substance. Despite this, it is currently a Schedule I substance. Scientists have demonstrated it has profound medicinal value and believe serotonergic hallucinogens assist cognitive processes and should be decriminalized. Psychedelics can change perception and mood, help people soften their perspective and outlook, and process events that may otherwise lead to substance abuse, trauma, and criminal behavior,” the group says on its website. 

“Psilocybin mushrooms are considered one of the least toxic medicines known to man. Recorded cases of death exclusively attributed to psilocybin mushrooms are extremely rare. To put this in perspective, Internationally, there were 30,811 deaths from antidepressants between 2015 and 2020,” the group added. 

In urging Utah voters to sign, the group stresses that the “petition is in no way an endorsement of illegal drug use.”

“By signing this petition, you are supporting the safe and legal use of Psilocybin, a naturally occurring compound,” the group says. 

Psilocybin and hallucinogenics represent the next frontier in the legalization movement, as state and local officials increasingly reconsider the once taboo substances.

On New Year’s Day, Oregon became the first state in the U.S. to legalize psilocybin use for adults after voters there approved a ballot measure in 2020. 

That proposal, Measure 109, “allowed local authorities to opt out of Measure 109 by forwarding to voters either two-year moratoriums or bans on psilocybin services,” the Oregon Capital Chronicle reported in November.

“Authorities in 27 Oregon counties and 114 cities and towns asked voters to consider two-year moratoriums or bans. Among the latter, only two – Phoenix in Jackson County and Wheeler in Tillamook County – authorized psilocybin services,” the outlet said. “Nevertheless, most of Oregon’s most populous counties and cities have cleared the way for psilocybin production by authorized facilities. Supporters of psilocybin services say that therapy with the hallucinogen will be locally available to nearly 3 million Oregon residents beginning in 2023. In all, 17 of Oregon’s 20 most populous cities are allowing psilocybin services along with 11 Oregon counties.”

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That is the finding of a new study from researchers at the University of Michigan that was published in JAMA Network Open last week. 

The researchers contacted 1,724 adults, 96% of whom (1,661) completed the full survey. 

Among them, “31.0%…of adults with chronic pain reported having ever used cannabis to manage their pain; 25.9%… reported using cannabis to manage their chronic pain in the past 12 months, and 23.2%… reported using cannabis in the past 30 days,” the researchers wrote. 

The researchers said that “more than half of adults who used cannabis to manage their chronic pain reported that use of cannabis led them to decrease use of prescription opioid, prescription nonopioid, and over-the-counter pain medications, and less than 1% reported that use of cannabis increased their use of these medications.” 

“Fewer than half of respondents reported that cannabis use changed their use of nonpharmacologic pain treatments,” they wrote in their findings. “Among adults with chronic pain in this study, 38.7% reported that their used of cannabis led to decreased use of physical therapy (5.9% reported it led to increased use), 19.1% reported it led to decreased use of meditation (23.7% reported it led to increased use), and 26.0% reported it led to decreased used of cognitive behavioral therapy (17.1% reported it led to increased use).” 

Thirty-seven states in the U.S. have medical cannabis programs on the books. Among adults living with chronic pain in those states, “3 in 10 persons reported using cannabis to manage their pain,” according to the new study.

“Most persons who used cannabis as a treatment for chronic pain reported substituting cannabis in place of other pain medications including prescription opioids. The high degree of substitution of cannabis with both opioid and nonopioid treatment emphasizes the importance of research to clarify the effectiveness and potential adverse consequences of cannabis for chronic pain,” the researchers wrote. “Our results suggest that state cannabis laws have enabled access to cannabis as an analgesic treatment despite knowledge gaps in use as a medical treatment for pain. Limitations include the possibility of sampling and self-reporting biases, although NORC AmeriSpeak uses best-practice probability-based recruitment, and changes in pain treatment from other factors (eg, forced opioid tapering).” 

The findings serve as another source of encouragement for advocates who hope patients continue to seek treatment from cannabis, rather than highly addictive prescription drugs. 

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “more than 564,000 people died from overdoses involving any opioid, including prescription and illicit opioids, from 1999-2020.”

The CDC says that the “rise in opioid overdose deaths can be outlined in three distinct waves.”

“The first wave began with increased prescribing of opioids in the 1990s, with overdose deaths involving prescription opioids (natural and semi-synthetic opioids and methadone) increasing since at least 1999,” according to the CDC. “The second wave began in 2010, with rapid increases in overdose deaths involving heroin. The third wave began in 2013, with significant increases in overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids, particularly those involving illicitly manufactured fentanyl. The market for illicitly manufactured fentanyl continues to change, and it can be found in combination with heroin, counterfeit pills, and cocaine.”

Mark Bicket, one of the authors of the new study who also serves as assistant professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and co-director of the Michigan Opioid Prescribing Engagement Network, said that the “fact that patients report substituting cannabis for pain medications so much underscores the need for research on the benefits and risk of using cannabis for chronic pain.”

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The legislation, spanning 243 pages, “would set up a regulatory framework and permit cannabis use for any reason for people 21 and older,” according to Minnesota Public Radio, which noted that legal “marijuana sales and use would begin within months of passage of [the bill].”

“Cannabis should not be illegal in Minnesota,” Democratic state House Rep. Zack Stephenson, one of the bill’s authors, said at a press conference on Thursday at the state capitol in St. Paul, as quoted by Minnesota Public Radio. “Minnesotans deserve the freedom and respect to make responsible decisions about cannabis themselves. Our current laws are doing more harm than good. State and local governments are spending millions enforcing laws that aren’t helping anyone.”

Local news station WCCO reports that the proposal would “legalize the purchase, sale and use of recreational cannabis for Minnesotans 21 or older,” and would also “expunge low-level cannabis convictions, which Democrats say is an equity issue because Black residents are disproportionately arrested for possession, according to data from the ACLU.”

“We designed this bill to address the wrongs of prohibition, to bring people out of the illicit market and into a regulated market, which means that we tried to not have a really high tax on cannabis so that it can compete,” said Democratic state House Rep. Aisha Gomez, as quoted by Minnesota Public Radio.

Democrats there are bullish that this will be the year Minnesota joins the dozens of other states to end the prohibition on pot. 

“I believe 2023 will be the year we legalize adult-use cannabis,” Stephenson said at the press conference on Thursday, as quoted by WCCO.

Stephenson is right to be confident about the bill’s prospects. Democrats won back control of the state Senate in November’s elections and retained their majority in the state House. The state’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz, also secured re-election last year, and has long championed cannabis legalization. 

“It’s time to legalize adult-use cannabis and expunge cannabis convictions in Minnesota. I’m ready to sign it into law,” Walz said in a tweet on Thursday. 

The move by state Democrats on Thursday was telegraphed by one of Walz’s predecessors. 

Following the November elections, former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura said that Walz pledged to him personally that Democrats would get legalization over the line in 2023. 

“The sticking point for cannabis in Minnesota were Republicans in the (Senate),” Ventura said, at the time. “Well, they lost it now, and the governor reassured me that one of the first items that will be passed — Minnesota, get ready — cannabis is going to have its prohibition lifted. That’s the news I got today.”

There is reason to believe that voters in the Land of 10,000 Lakes are ready for legalization, too.

A poll released in September found that 53% of voters in Minnesota support legalizing recreational pot use, while only 36% of voters there said they were opposed.

Minnesotans don’t have to wait for the bill’s passage to get a fix though. A law that took effect last summer authorized the sale of food and beverages containing a small amount of THC.

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The Montana Department of Revenue released figures detailing how much money was generated in both medical and recreational marijuana sales in 2022.

Last year marked the launch of the state’s recreational marijuana market. Voters there legalized medical cannabis in 2004. 

The Department of Revenue said that adult-use marijuana sales totaled $202,947,328 in 2022, while medical cannabis sales amounted to $93,616,551.

The two combined to generate a grand total of $303,563,879 in marijuana sales last year. 

Montana generated $41,989,466 in tax revenue off recreational pot sales, according to the Department of Revenue, and $3,744,662 in taxes from medical cannabis sales. Combined, the state pulled in $45,734,128 in tax revenue from marijuana sales in 2022. 

The state levies a 20% take on recreational pot sales, and a 4% tax on medical marijuana.

The Department of Revenue said all figures were estimates. 

Voters in Montana approved a ballot measure in 2020 to legalize recreational cannabis, one of four states that year where voters passed legalization proposals. The law took effect in 2021.

 “Since January, we’ve been focused on implementing the will of Montana voters in a safe, responsible, and appropriately regulated manner. House Bill 701 accomplishes this,” Gov. Greg Gianforte said in May of 2021, as quoted by local news station KTVH. “From the start, I’ve been clear that we need to bring more resources … to combat the drug epidemic that’s devastating our communities.”

Chief among Gianforte’s concerns with the new law was the creation of the HEART Fund, which subsidizes substance abuse treatment in Montana with revenue from recreational marijuana sales. 

“Funding a full continuum of substance abuse prevention and treatment programs for communities, the HEART Fund will offer new support to Montanans who want to get clean, sober, and healthy,” Gianforte said after signing the bill into law in 2021, as quoted by KTVH.

As in other states that have ended the prohibition on pot use for adults, Montana’s new law contains a component to redress harms that have resulted from the War on Drugs. 

The law “authorizes courts to either resentence or expunge marijuana offenses now considered legal or lesser offenses, but does not enact an automatic expungement process,” according to Montana Free Press, but the “the expungement policy has faced criticism as cumbersome and unclear.”

In March of last year, the state Supreme Court issued temporary rules intended to help clarify the expungement application procedure.

The law says that “anyone convicted of an offense that would now be legal in the state can petition to have their conviction removed from their record, get a lesser sentence for it or reclassify it to a lesser offense,” according to the Missoula Current.

The biggest clarification issued by the Montana Supreme Court, the Missoula Current noted, was to inform individuals that “they could submit their expungement request to the court where they were originally sentenced.”

After President Joe Biden issued pardons to everyone with a federal conviction for marijuana possession in October of last year, he encouraged all states to follow his lead. 

A spokesperson for Gianforte told the Montana Free Press at the time that the “governor will continue to evaluate clemencies submitted through the Board of Pardons and Parole on a case-by-case basis, in accordance with [state] statute.”

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