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With at least five competing cannabis legalization bills in play this session in Maryland, the state’s Senate president weighed in on Friday about how he’d like to see lawmakers proceed during the remaining weeks of the legislative session. The House of Delegates passed legislation last week that would ask voters whether to legalize cannabis for adults in the state, as well as a separate bill that lays out related criminal justice reforms. On the Senate side, two competing proposals have been introduced and are pending in committee: One that would legalize cannabis directly later this year as well as another…

STAMFORD – Some Connecticut towns flatly oppose marijuana shops within their borders and banned them from the get-go. Other towns struggle with the decision left to them by last year’s law legalizing marijuana for recreational use. Around the state, zoning officials are reworking regulations to figure out how to keep marijuana shops from attracting traffic, crime, adolescents and others susceptible to drug abuse, even as administrators weigh the revenue prospects of a 3 percent tax on sales. But the strong stances and rule rewrites may be moot. That’s because the law comes with a twist – though towns can block…

Now that the House of Delegates has approved legalizing marijuana in Maryland, the focus shifts to the Senate, where a committee scheduled a hearing Thursday on a more expansive bill. The House has voted to send a state Constitutional amendment to voters asking whether they approve of legalizing recreational marijuana. They also passed a bill that laid out requirements for studies and penalties for public use. The Senate bill is a Constitutional amendment as well. It goes beyond the House amendment by including criminal justice provisions similar to those the House passed and goes on to lay out how the…

Rhode Island lawmakers introduced a pair of drug decriminalization bills last week—including one focused on psilocybin and buprenorphine that would authorize doctors to prescribe the psychedelic mushroom. The new legislation comes as momentum to pass marijuana legalization legislation this year increases in the House and Senate. The first of the bills, sponsored by Rep. Brandon Potter (D), would expand on the state’s existing decriminalization policy for marijuana by adding both psilocybin and buprenorphine to list controlled substances that do no carry criminal penalties. Buprenorphine is an opioid often used as a harm reduction tool to help people transition away from…