Cannabis and cannabinoid in North America

Global business and regulatory news covering the cannabis industry

25th September 2024

Using after 50: US poll reveals cannabis consumption trends among older adults

16th September 2024

IHDCs are legal under US federal law, according to appeals court case ruling

9th September 2024

From US state to federal government, is Kamala Harris a cannabis friend or foe?

More News analysis

Daily regulatory updates of legal changes in the cannabis sector, including monthly compilations

14th October 2024: US - California: Governor Gavin Newsom has announced that a Los Angeles Superior Court judge rejected an attempt by industry stakeholders to block new California regulations banning ingestible hemp products with any detectable amount of THC. The decision upholds California’s restrictions, which prohibit selling any industrial hemp food, beverage, or dietary product intended for human consumption if there is any detectable THC or other intoxicating cannabinoids per serving. In the ruling, judge Stephen Goorvitch found that the plaintiffs had failed to show that the new rules “will cause widespread and catastrophic destruction of the hemp industry”, noting that manufacturers can still sell “THC through the legal cannabis system in California, i.e., with a license”.
11th October 2024: US - New Jersey: A New Jersey Federal District Court entered an order largely granting a request to invalidate New Jersey’s recent amendments to its hemp laws, which banned sales of the hemp products to minors and also put restrictions on how intoxicating hemp products were defined and could be sold throughout the state, including in liquor stores. While the court upheld the part of the law banning the sale of intoxicating hemp products to minors, it found that the other provisions violated federal laws. Specifically, the amendments criminalised intoxicating hemp products made outside New Jersey while allowing in-state products to be sold under new regulations controlled by the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission. The court found that the amendments violated both the “Dormant Commerce Clause” under the US Constitution and a provision of the Federal Farm Act that prohibits states from preventing the shipment of hemp products through any state.
8th October 2024: US - Tennessee: The Tennessee Department of Agriculture has published final rules on hemp products that will make one popular hemp product illegal at the end of the year. Most notably, the rules include a total THC calculation for hemp products that would also account for tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA), thereby banning THCA flower. The rules take effect on 26th December.
1st October 2024: US - Federal: Vice-president Kamala Harris reiterated her support for legalising marijuana (cannabis with more than 0.3% delta-9 THC) for the first time since becoming the Democratic Party’s nominee for president, press reports. When she was a senator, Harris sponsored the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act of 2019, which sought to legalise marijuana at the federal level, and has advocated for legalisation in recent years but had not addressed the subject as a candidate for president. “I just think we have come to a point where we have to understand that we need to legalise it and stop criminalising this behaviour,” Harris said. “I just feel strongly people should not be going to jail for smoking weed.”
1st October 2024: US - Arkansas: The Arkansas secretary of state has determined that a proposed ballot initiative to increase access to medical cannabis did not gain enough valid signatures to reach the ballot in November. Among other reforms, the proposal would have allowed for the home cultivation of medical cannabis by qualified patients, expanded definitions to allow more healthcare professions to certify patients, and significantly expanded the medical conditions for which medical cannabis can be given. Organisers of the ballot petition said they will pursue legal action against the decision, press reports.
1st October 2024: US - California: Governor Gavin Newsom has signed into law Assembly Bill (AB) 1775, which will allow localities to permit cannabis dispensaries to serve food and non-alcoholic drinks and hold live music events while allowing on-site consumption. The “cannabis café” bill was vetoed by Newsom last year over lack of protections from smoke for dispensary employees, but he found that this year’s revised bill provided enough safeguards for staff.
27th September 2024: US - Kentucky: The Kentucky Office of Medical Cannabis has issued its first medical cannabis licence, press reports. The licence was awarded to a testing laboratory in a milestone for establishing a medical cannabis programme in the state. Medical cannabis was legalised in 2023, but the enabling law does not take effect until the beginning of 2025. Cultivation and processing licences will be issued via lottery on 28th October, while dispensary licences will be issued shortly thereafter.
26th September 2024: US - Federal: The Cannabinoid Safety and Regulation Act (CSRA) has been introduced in the US Senate by senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley. The bill would set a federal age limit of 21 for buying hemp products, establish testing and labelling requirements for hemp products, and allow hemp-derived cannabinoid products of various formats if they are tested and registered with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The bill would also ban synthetic cannabinoid products but allow semi-synthetic cannabinoids like delta-8 THC if certain conditions are met. The CSRA has wide support from hemp industry stakeholders.
25th September 2024: US - California: A ban on ingestible hemp products with any detectable amount of THC was approved by the Office of Administrative Law on Monday (23rd September). The emergency regulation, issued by governor Gavin Newsom, specifically applies to food additives, beverages and dietary supplements with any detectable amount of total THC, which includes THC and any “comparable cannabinoid” that causes intoxication. It also prohibits the sale of hemp products intended for human consumption to anyone under the age of 21 and is effective immediately. Industry stakeholders have already filed a lawsuit challenging the emergency regulation.
19th September 2024: US - Missouri: The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) will not designate any more intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoid (IHDC) products as adulterated, as ordered by a recent decree by the governor to ban the products. Governor Mike Parson issued an executive order in August to ban products containing IHDCs like delta-8 THC, but the Missouri Hemp Trade Association filed a lawsuit to stop enforcement actions against those products, press reports. Therefore, the DHSS will not embargo any more IHDC products for being adulterated going forward, and those products already embargoed will be released by the state attorney general’s office within 30 days.
18th September 2024: US - Utah: The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food has proposed a rule that would prohibit “artificially derived cannabinoids”, which would specifically include HHC. It would define an “artificially derived cannabinoid” as “a chemical substance that is created by a chemical reaction that changes the molecular structure of any chemical substance derived from the cannabis plant” but would exclude cannabinoids extracted from the plant or those created via decarboxylation. The proposed rule is under public comment until 15th October.
17th September 2024: US - South Carolina: Solicitor general Robert Cook issued an opinion letter finding that non-alcoholic beverages containing up to 0.3% delta-9 THC that are derived from hemp are legal under federal and state law. The opinion came in response to a question presented by the speaker of the state House of Representatives asking for clarity, as hemp-derived THC beverages are proliferating across the US.

Full-length in-depth reports with detailed data and analysis for individual markets around the world

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Canada: medical cannabis snapshot, September 2024

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Developments and trends in the global cannabis industry, Q2 2024

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Intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids: the US market, July 2024

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25th September 2024

Canada: medical cannabis snapshot, September 2024

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US regulatory tracker: medical and recreational cannabis

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