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An influential U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday voted to advance funding legislation and attached report language that encourages the federal government to reconsider “arbitrary” THC restrictions on hemp and continue efforts to develop a regulatory pathway for CBD products. Those provisions, among others, were approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee as part of legislation to fund the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other federal agencies for Fiscal Year 2022. The legislation would also continue a rider that protects state hemp programs from federal interference and extend the terms of an earlier pilot program under which…

To print this article, all you need is to be registered or login on Mondaq.com. Co-Authored by Jessica TangResearcher/Summer Associate 2021 There is growing excitement among Connecticut’s business community about the prospects for a legal adult-use marijuana market. Entrepreneurs, growers, and investors are beginning to develop business plans and looking for more information on how to obtain a license. Though specific licensing criteria and application deadlines have not been established yet, the law provides some guidance to allow the business community to start planning now. LICENSE TYPES, REQUIREMENTS & FEES The law creates two groups of applicants, Social Equity Applicants…

Recreational cannabis isn’t yet sold in Connecticut retail locations, but medical cannabis providers are already reckoning with how to adjust now that adult use of marijuana is legal. Thames Valley Relief in Montville, which recently rebranded to The Botanist, and Curaleaf Groton, are two local purveyors — owned by larger companies — of medical cannabis trying to determine how to adjust to the new recreational market. Recreational cannabis dispensaries won’t open until at least May 2022. Existing medical cannabis businesses have to pay a fee of anywhere between $1 million and $3 million to enter the recreational market, depending on whether…

DANBURY — The way the law stands today, there’s nothing stopping an adult from smoking marijuana in public, so long as it’s not in a state park or a in spot where tobacco smoking is already banned. Danbury leaders say those days are numbered. But before leaders here can regulate personal cannabis use in public, the state’s new marijuana decriminalization law requires them to provide a designated public place where people can smoke pot in peace. If Danbury’s designated place is so far out of the way that one needs a car to get there, will people make the return…

An influential U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday voted to advance funding legislation and attached report language that encourages the federal government to reconsider “arbitrary” THC restrictions on hemp and continue efforts to develop a regulatory pathway for CBD products. Those provisions, among others, were approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee as part of legislation to fund the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other federal agencies for Fiscal Year 2022. The legislation would also continue a rider that protects state hemp programs from federal interference and extend the terms of an earlier pilot program under which…

Four New England states now allow medical and recreational use of marijuana, which means local companies must review their current drug testing and substance use policies to ensure they are compliant with state and federal laws. With Connecticut legalizing recreational marijuana in June — and Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont laws already in place — only New Hampshire and Rhode Island remain as holdouts for legalization. The provisions of the Connecticut law that affect employers will go into effect on July 1, 2022. Overall, employers walk a fine line when deciding on their internal policies. They need to comply with state…

The civil judgment, the second-highest ever awarded in Montana, highlights volatility and growing pains in the CBD market. By Amanda Eggert, Montana Free Press Hemp, a crop that largely flew under the radar in Montana when it was planted under a pilot program three years ago, is now central to one of the largest civil awards in the state’s history. A jury in Wolf Point last month awarded 25 eastern Montana farmers $65 million in compensatory and punitive damages, finding that a handful of Canadian and American businessmen had committed negligence, fraud and deceit in failing to fulfill contracts, leaving…