Marijuana News Roundup: The Biggest Stories of 2016
Paul Ausick
When it comes to big news in the marijuana industry, none was bigger than the vote in California to legalize adult recreational pot use. Adding about 25 million new potential customers is a huge deal.
Voters in Massachusetts, Maine, and Nevada also voted to legalize recreational use of marijuana and four more states -- Florida, Arkansas, North Dakota, and Montana -- legalized medicinal marijuana or easier access to medicinal marijuana. Some 20% of all Americans now live in states where recreational use is legal and 60% live in states where medicinal marijuana is legal.
The second-most important story for the industry is the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States and his nomination of Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions to be the next Attorney General of the United States. Trump himself has said little about marijuana but is widely believed to be personally agnostic on the issue. Sessions, however, has been clear in his opposition to legalizing pot in any form. Our own take on this is that Trump will allow Sessions to do as he chooses unless the Attorney General's actions become an embarrassment to Trump personally.
Marijuana Business Daily has put these two stories at the top of its list of the 10 most notable developments in the marijuana industry in 2016. The website also lists eight more big stories from last year.
The Global Experiment of Marijuana Legalization In 2016, more countries legalized the use of marijuana for medicinal or recreational purposes.
Marijuana, or cannabis, is "the most widely cultivated, produced, trafficked and consumed drug worldwide," according to the World Drug Report, but its legality has long been a topic of debate worldwide.
In the US, Maine recently confirmed legalized recreational marijuana use, joining seven other states and the District of Columbia. Medical marijuana is now legal in more than half of US states.
This mirrors a global trend. This year, Canadian officials said they aim to introduce legislation in 2017 to legalize and regulate marijuana. Uruguay is the only other country to legalize cannabis. Ireland, Australia, Jamaica and Germany approved measures for its medicinal use this year. Australia granted permission for businesses to apply for licenses to manufacture or cultivate marijuana products for medicinal purposes and to conduct related research. Decisions are still pending in South Africa.
Teens' View on Marijuana Change After Legalization After marijuana was legalized for adults in the U.S. state of Washington, younger teens there perceived it to be less harmful and reported using it more, a new study found.
States should consider developing evidence-based prevention programs aimed at adolescents before they legalize the recreational use of marijuana, the researchers said today in JAMA Pediatrics.
"Across the country there has been a decreased perception of risk and an increase in marijuana use among adolescents," lead author Magdalena Cerda, of the University of California, Davis School of Medicine in Sacramento, told Reuters Health by email.
She noted that trying marijuana at a young age is tied to an increased risk of regular use later on. Chronic use of marijuana may be tied to negative outcomes, such as psychosis and poor financial status.
Since 1996, 28 states and Washington D.C. have legalized marijuana for medical purposes, and Colorado and Washington state legalized it for recreational purposes in 2012.
Read more at Scientific American.
Over at Alternet, Paul Armentano published a year-end review, "10 Scientific Studies from 2016 Showing Marijuana Is Safe and Effective" that includes a similar study with a diametrically opposed result.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker Signs Bill Delaying Marijuana Shop Openings Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signed a bill Friday aimed at delaying by up to six months the opening of marijuana shops in the state until mid-2018.
An aide to the Republican governor said Baker shares the desire of state lawmakers to thoroughly prepare for the launch of a new industry distributing a controlled substance.
Baker is "committed to adhering to the will of the voters by implementing the new law as effectively and responsibly as possible," the governor's communications director Lizzy Guyton said.
Baker's decision to sign the bill came as a small group of marijuana activists protested outside the Statehouse.
Members of the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition and the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws faulted lawmakers for passing the bill during end-of-year sessions and said the delay "flies in the face of the will of the voters" who approved the ballot question legalizing pot.
'These Towns Have Their Head in the Sand': Moratoriums Coming After Maine Voters Legalize Marijuana Towns and cities around the state are taking a cautious approach to the new Maine marijuana law that legalizes marijuana and are considering moratoriums on the sale of the drug within their limits.
Maine voters approved the referendum in November, and the secretary of state's office signed off on the results Wednesday. But it could be months before the state completes the rule-making process governing the legal cultivation and sale of marijuana.
Meanwhile, the Maine Municipal Association is advising towns and cities to adopt moratoriums to prevent "unwanted developments" with new marijuana businesses until the regulations, including local guidelines, are approved.
Officials in more than 30 municipalities are at least considering local moratoriums and other measures that would ban pot sales. And at least 11 communities, including some of the state's largest cities, such as Portland, South Portland and Bangor, have OK'd six-month moratoriums on marijuana-related businesses.
