The Kentucky legislature approved an industrial hemp bill Wednesday in the final hour of the session, but only after last-minute negotiations brought it back from the dead. Whether Gov. Steve Beshear (D) will sign it remains to be seen.
After years of debate, the Maryland House of Delegates voted 108-28 on Monday for a measure that would put the state on a path toward developing a medical marijuana program in the next few years.
As SB 472 SD2, a bill to decriminalize marijuana, was unanimously approved by the Hawaii Senate, and two bills to improve Hawaii’s medical marijuana program are poised for passage in the House, Hawaii advocates have announced the launch of two statewide coalitions to reform local marijuana laws.
A bill that would legalize marijuana possession and create a state-regulated system of legal marijuana commerce was introduced in the Oregon legislature Monday. That makes Oregon the eighth state to either see such a bill this year or have one pending. The others are Hawaii (already dead), Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
Idaho, a state known more for growing potatoes than marijuana, is bracing for a battle to legalize medical marijuana, as a growing number of U.S. states permit pot for both health and recreational use.