Kentucky Issues First Medical Cannabis Patient IDs

Kentucky officials have awarded the state’s first two medical cannabis cards and the governor announced about 2,200 more patient applications have also been approved, LEX 18 reports.

Gov. Andy Beshear (D) and Sam Flynn, the executive director of the Office of Medical Cannabis, awarded the first two medical cards during the governor’s Team Kentucky Update on Thursday to Ryan Grell, an anesthesiologist and the medical director and owner of Kentucky Medical Marijuana Center, and Merissa Khumalo, a former teacher at Rise STEM Academy for Girls.

The governor said the state had received nearly 4,000 medical cannabis applications. As of Thursday, “only 66 applications have been denied, 51 of which are due to technical issues, and they can reapply, 15 applications have been denied due to a disqualifying felony offense,” Beshear said.

The governor also called for state lawmakers to protect the Second Amendment rights of Kentucky medical cannabis patients:

“No law-abiding Kentuckian, or American for that matter, should have to choose between a constitutional right like the Second Amendment and getting the medication that they need,” he said. “That’s why I’m urging the congressional delegation to introduce legislation to address this issue and to protect the constitutional rights of Kentuckians

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Maine Bill Would Add Medical Cannabis Testing Rules

A new bill in Maine would require medical cannabis products to be tested similarly to adult-use products, according to a WGME report.

Under Maine’s adult-use cannabis regulations, all products sold by licensed retailers must be tested for potency and contaminants, but the state’s medical cannabis program has no such requirement. The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Marc Malon (D) and supported by Gov. Janet Mills (D), would require medical cannabis products to be tested for pesticides, heavy metals, and potency.

“At the end of the day, we need to make sure that products being sold to consumers are clean,” Malon said.

Meanwhile, the medical cannabis trade association Medical Marijuana Caregivers of Maine (MMCM) released an op-ed on Wednesday calling the proposal a “misguided approach that will harm small businesses while failing to address real concerns.”

The MMCM said rather than mandatory potency and heavy metal testing, the state should prioritize investigating and preventing illicit grows, setting consistent standards for testing labs, preventing dangerous pesticide use, and researching safety standards for the industry.

“Mandatory testing won’t stop the illicit market—it will kill small businesses and reduce patient access to safe, high-quality cannabis. Governor Mills needs to stop ignoring industry stakeholders and

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Hawaii Lawmakers Propose Legalizing Adult-Use Cannabis

Senior state lawmakers in Hawaii last week proposed legislation to legalize adult-use cannabis, regulate the plant’s production and distribution, and establish a new agency to oversee the state’s adult-use, medical cannabis, and hemp industries, Marijuana Moment reports.

House Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Chair David Tarnas (D) and Senate Health and Human Services Committee Chair Joy San Buenaventura (D) sponsored the legislation in the House and Senate, respectively. The proposal would allow adults aged 21+ to possess up to one ounce of cannabis flower and up to five grams of concentrate. The proposal would also legalize small-scale cannabis home grows, allowing adults to grow up to six plants for personal use with a maximum of 10 plants — and two pounds of homegrown cannabis — per household, the report said.

The proposal would also establish the Hawaii Cannabis and Hemp Office, which would be tasked with overseeing the state’s adult-use, medical cannabis, and hemp industries.

The Hawaii Senate successfully passed cannabis legalization reforms last year but the proposal failed to advance through the House of Representatives. Advocates believe the issue stands a better chance this year, however, partly because the new Speaker of the House, Rep. Nadine Nakamura (D), supports the reforms,

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New Mexico Regulators Push for Task Force to Counter Illicit Cannabis

Cannabis regulators in New Mexico are pressuring elected officials to pass legislation to create a task force dedicated to stamping out illicit cannabis operations in the state, KRQE reports.

Lawmakers first discussed giving “police power” to the New Mexico Cannabis Control Division (CCD) last November. Now, the agency is supporting House Bill 10, which would task six law enforcement officials with investigating and stopping individuals caught doing illegal cannabis business. The bill would also authorize CCD officials to seize and put administrative holds on cannabis products, the report said.

Currently, regulators who encounter illegal activity in the cannabis industry can only report what they discover to law enforcement — officials say the task force would help unburden police and expedite the investigations, which they say would benefit the industry.

“Currently, we only have administrative powers, so we can fine, suspend, revoke licenses. But if we stumble across products or illicit activity, we then are limited in that power…. [The task force] would allow us to continue down that path while following due process, going to courts, getting search warrants or injunctions, and then being able to act on those with the orders from those courts.” — Todd Stevens, CCD

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The Role of Terpenes in Blue Dream and Green Crack: What You Need to Know

For cultivators and consumers alike, understanding terpenes is essential to appreciating the true potential of cannabis. These compounds do more than just make cannabis smell good—they play a key role in shaping the overall experience, from how the strain tastes to the effects they deliver.

We’ll take a closer look at the terpene profiles of two iconic strains: Blue Dream and Green Crack. Blue Dream is celebrated for its smooth, calming effects, while Green Crack is known for its energizing and focus-enhancing qualities. Both strains owe much of their appeal to the terpenes they contain, making them standout choices for growers and consumers seeking distinct cannabis experiences.

Join us as we look at what makes Blue Dream and Green Crack truly unique. We’ll find out how terpenes contribute to their aroma, flavor, and effects, and why these strains should be on your radar.

What Are Terpenes?

Terpenes are the naturally occurring compounds found in many plants, including cannabis. These compounds are what give fruits, flowers, and herbs their distinct scents—think of the citrusy aroma of an orange peel or the piney fragrance of a forest. In cannabis, terpenes play an even bigger role, not only defining the plant’s aroma and

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Indiana House Votes Down Bill to Remove Cannabis as Schedule 1 Drug

Indiana House Republicans on Monday voted down a proposal to reclassify cannabis in the state 21 Alive News reports. The measure, introduced by state Rep. Kyle Miller (D) would have removed cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug under state law.

“Throughout the country, legislative bodies are having conversations about the economic and health benefits legalizing marijuana can have. I’m disappointed that Indiana Republicans are so willing to be left behind as other states reap the benefits while we won’t even kick off the conversation be striking it as a Schedule 1 drug.” — Miller to 21 Alive News

Miller added that the proposal “was an opportunity to start the conversation about the possibility of legalizing marijuana in our state. House Republicans have signaled they aren’t interested in bringing hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue to Indiana.”

“If they don’t want to have this discussion, I think they owe it to Hoosiers to explain why they don’t want to grow our economy, like 24 states have done using marijuana,” Miller told 21 Alive News. “They also own an explanation to chronically ill Hoosiers who could benefit from a medicinal marijuana program, which 38 states

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Lawsuit in Illinois Alleges Cannabis Companies Mislabeled Products to Get Around THC Limits

A class action lawsuit filed against several Illinois-based cannabis companies claims the firms labeled cannabis-infused products as concentrates in order to exceed state limits on THC, Forbes reports. The lawsuit was filed by Chad Alsip, a cannabis consumer, against Wellness Group Pharms and its affiliates, and several entities under Acreage Holdings.

In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs allege that the defendants mislabeled their vape oils as cannabis concentrates which are not subject to the same THC limits as cannabis infused products which allowed consumers to purchase more THC than allowed under state law.

For example, instead of being limited to 500 milligrams of THC in cannabis-infused products, a customer could buy a total of 5 grams of vape oils – 11 times the legal limit – and then be able to purchase another 500 milligrams of cannabis-infused products.

“In doing so, Defendants unlawfully promoted the unregulated overconsumption of cannabis by marketing, promoting, and selling improperly labeled and packaged cannabis products that fail to feature or conform to the safeguards against overconsumption imposed by the Illinois Cannabis Acts. Specifically, safety labels, serving size limits, serving size identification, and legal quantity limits.” — Excerpt from the lawsuit, via

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Iowa Bill Seeks to Allow ‘Vaporizable’ Cannabis to State-Approved Products List

A bill to allow vaporized cannabis methods under Iowa’s medical cannabis program advanced out of a House subcommittee on Monday, the Des Moines Register reports. If passed, “vaporizable dried raw cannabis” would be added to the products available to the state’s medical cannabis patients.

Following the subcommittee meeting, Rep. Hans Wilz (R), the bill sponsor, told the Register that he wants to keep the proposal “as narrow in scope as possible” noting that “alternative things” discussed by the subcommittee “sit in a different place in legislation.”

Iowa’s medical cannabis program is among the most limited in the country and currently only allows tablets, capsules, liquids, tinctures, topicals like gels, ointments, creams, lotions, patches, and nebulizable and inhaled or vaporizable products, and suppositories.

Lucas Nelson, president of MedPharm Iowa, which owns and operates Bud & Mary’s Cannabis in the state – one of just two state-licensed medical cannabis manufacturers in Iowa – said that if the bill passes the company would commit to lowering costs for patients up to an estimated 50%.

“This lowering of the costs obviously matters for people. There’s a patient who visits us from just outside of Ottumwa. She

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Sen. Warren Sends Letter to DOGE Chair Musk Calling for Federal Law Enforcement Reforms

In a letter to Elon Musk, in his role as chairman of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) called for an end to raids by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) on cannabis businesses.  

“These arrests and seizures unnecessarily drain federal resources. DOGE should recommend that (Department of Justice) and (Department of Homeland Security) conserve resources by deprioritizing costly arrests and other enforcement actions targeting marijuana activity, at least where the activity is legal in the jurisdiction where it occurred.” — Warren, in the letter, 1/23/25  

In the letter, Warren says the U.S. government could save “hundreds of millions of dollars each year by reducing wasteful spending on unnecessary federal enforcement actions and detention,” and notes that “almost half of states have legalized recreational marijuana, yet federal arrests for marijuana possession account for roughly a quarter of all drug possession arrests, even though federal sentences for marijuana possession are rare.”

Warren also calls for federal prison reforms in the letter, including “compassionate release for elderly and terminally ill individuals in federal prisons.”  

“These individuals pose minimal risk to public safety; for

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U.S. Court of Appeals Upholds Virginia Total THC Hemp Law

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit this month upheld a Virginia law that regulates the sale of hemp products based on their total THC concentration regardless of whether the THC is delta-9, delta-8, or any other form of THC. The law, which was passed in 2023, set the maximum THC concentrations for hemp products sold in the state at 0.3%. 

Plaintiffs in the case, Northern Virginia Hemp and Agriculture LLC (“NOVA Hemp”), Franny’s Operations, Inc. (“Franny’s Farmacy”), and Virginia resident Rose Lane, argued that portions of the law imposed a stricter standard on hemp products than the 2018 federal Farm Bill and that federal law preempted those portions of the Virginia statutes. The plaintiffs also claimed the law violated the Dormant Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.  

The court rejected the preemption claim on the grounds that federal law “says nothing about the ability of states to regulate the sale of hemp products within their borders” and that the Farm Bill carved out a role for state-by-state regulations. The court also rejected the commerce clause claim, finding that there was no discrimination between in and out-of-state economic interests and that it

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