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California: Governor Signs Legislation Permitting Live Events at Cannabis Cafes, Other Measures

Sacramento, CA: Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed several pieces of marijuana-related legislation into law, including a California NORML-backed bill expanding services at on-site cannabis consumption lounges.

The newly signed law, which takes effect on January 1, 2025, permits on-site facilities to expand their operations to include the sale of non-cannabis-infused food and beverages and tickets to live performances.

California NORML’s Director Dale Gieringer praised Gov. Newsom’s decision to sign the bill, stating, “We thank Governor Newsom for this much-needed support of social use by California’s cannabis consumers, as well as supporting the state’s cannabis industry in this way.”

California is among a limited number of states that license and regulate on-site cannabis consumption lounges.

The Governor also signed separate legislation into law extending cannabis donation programs and amending the manner in which localities impose certain taxes upon cannabis retailers (SB 1059). He vetoed legislation (AB 1111) that would have permitted certain proprietors to sell cannabis at farmers’ markets.

Arkansas: Election Officials Find Marijuana Initiative Falls Short of Ballot Requirements, Advocates File Lawsuit

Little Rock, AR: State election officials have determined that proponents of the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment of 2024 failed to collect sufficient signatures to qualify the measure for the November ballot. Campaign proponents Arkansans for Patient Access have filed a lawsuit with the state Supreme Court contesting the Secretary of State’s decision.

In their lawsuit, proponents allege that election officials “arbitrarily” excluded an estimated 20,000 signatures from registered voters. They have asked the court to take expedited action on the matter.

Ballots for the 2024 election have already been printed.

The Amendment seeks to revise the state’s existing medical cannabis access law, which voters approved in 2016. (Voters rejected a separate adult-use legalization initiative in 2022.) It expands the pool of practitioners permitted to recommend medical cannabis and it would allow providers to recommend cannabis to any patient who they believe will benefit from it, among other modifications. Separate provisions in the amendment authorize adults to legally possess up to one ounce of cannabis if the federal government removes it from the Controlled Substances Act.

If proponents’ litigation is successful, Arkansas will join four other states -- Florida, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota -- where election officials have certified marijuana-related ballot measures for the ballot. (In Nebraska, the state’s decision to certify a pair of medical cannabis legalization initiatives is being challenged in court.)

Statewide survey data published last month finds that most likely voters support the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment.

Clinical Trial: CBD Mitigates Symptoms in Patients at Clinically High Risk for Psychosis

London, United Kingdom: The daily use of cannabidiol reduces symptom severity in patients at clinically high risk of suffering from psychosis, according to placebo-controlled clinical trial data published in the journal World Psychiatry.

Thirty-one patients completed the study. Subjects received 600 mg of CBD or a placebo daily for three weeks. None of the participants received any prescription medications during the trial. Patients were assessed at baseline, at seven days, and at 21 days.

Compared to the placebo group, those who received CBD had lower total CAARMS (Comprehensive Assessment of At‐Risk Mental States) scores following treatment. CBD dosing was associated with a “reduction in the severity of CHR [clinically high
risk] symptoms and the distress associated with psychotic experiences,” investigators reported.

The study’s authors concluded: “Short‐term treatment with CBD can ameliorate the symptoms of CHR state for psychosis and is well tolerated. These results highlight the potential of CBD as a novel treatment for psychosis, and the need for large‐scale efficacy studies to further evaluate its clinical utility.”

Separate studies have demonstrated that the use of CBD reduces psychotic symptoms and the use of antipsychotic medications in patients with schizophrenia.

Full text of the study, “Effects of cannabidiol on symptoms in people at clinical; high risk of psychosis,” appears in World Psychiatry.

Survey: Majority of Pain Physicians Favor Federal Legalization of Medical Cannabis

New Brunswick, NJ: Most physicians who specialize in treating patients with chronic pain favor the legalization of medical cannabis, according to survey data published in the journal JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) Network Open.

Researchers at Rutgers University surveyed pain specialists and chronic pain patients regarding their attitudes toward cannabis. Seventy-one percent of patients and 59 percent of physicians supported the “federal legalization of medical cannabis.” Most patients, but not most physicians, favored the federal legalization of marijuana for adults. Doctors who had no experience recommending medical cannabis were least likely to express support for legalization.

Data published by the same journal in 2023 reported that nearly one in three patients with chronic pain use cannabis as an analgesic agent, and many of those who do substitute in place of opioids. A 2017 report by the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine determined that “conclusive” evidence exists for cannabis’ efficacy in patients suffering from chronic pain, stating, “Patients who [are] treated with cannabis or cannabinoids are more likely to experience a clinically significant reduction in pain symptoms.”

Full text of the study, “Support for expanding access to cannabis among physicians and adults with chronic pain,” appears in JAMA Network Open.

Report: Allegations of Marijuana Use Frequently Trigger CPS Investigations

New York, NY: Tens of thousands of expectant parents nationwide face investigations from child protective services over allegations of marijuana use, according to a year-long investigation by Rolling Stone magazine.

Reporters identified nearly 100,000 marijuana-related investigations in six states (Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina, Louisiana, Ohio, and West Virginia) over the past five years. (Reporters were unable to obtain specific data from other jurisdictions.) Marijuana-related investigations far outnumbered those triggered by allegations of maternal tobacco or alcohol use. Those targeted were disproportionately people of color.

Studies have previously confirmed that those selected to undergo marijuana-specific drug screening during the labor and delivery process are significantly more likely to be Hispanic or African American. Black newborns are also more likely to undergo drug testing than other babies, according to data published last year in the journal JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) Network Open.

A separate report published by the advocacy group Pregnancy Justice identifies nearly 100 recent cases where expectant people have been criminally prosecuted for their use of cannabis.

In recent months, courts in two states -- Arizona and Oklahoma -- have explicitly ruled that the maternal use of medical cannabis does not constitute child neglect. Other states, like Maryland and New York, have recently enacted legislation shielding parents from neglect investigations based on cannabis alone.

Data assessing the relationship between in utero cannabis exposure and various neonatal outcomes, such as birth weight, is inconsistent and may be confounded by various socioeconomic factors. However, longitudinal data indicates that prenatal cannabis exposure alone is rarely linked with adverse neurodevelopmental consequences, finding, “Although there is a theoretical potential for cannabis to interfere with neurodevelopment, human data drawn from four prospective cohorts have not identified any long-term or long lasting meaningful differences between children exposed in utero to cannabis and those not.”

Full text of the investigation is available from Rolling Stone.