Chronicle AM: House GOP Leaders Block MedMJ Vote, Roger Stone Out at Pot Expos, More... (9/7/17)

It's all marijuana news today, with Delaware and Illinois lawmakers pondering legalization, the Vermont governor setting out a two-year road map to legalization, the House leadership blocking a vote on an amendment protecting medical marijuana, and more.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) pleaded with the House leadership to allow a vote, to no avail. (house.gov)

Delaware Marijuana Legalization Task Force Meets. A legislative task force charged with studying how to implement legalization met for the first time Wednesday. Members hope to address issues including taxation, banking, and health and public safety concerns.

Illinois Marijuana Legalization Bills Get Hearing. A joint House-Senate appropriations committee heard starkly differing testimony from drug policy experts and law enforcement officials at a hearing on legalization bills Wednesday. Police and prosecutors worried about youth use, driving under the influence, and discredited gateway theories, while experts said legalization would allow a widely used substance to be regulated.

Vermont Governor Forms Marijuana Advisory Commission, Would Put Legalization Two Years Down the Road. Gov. Phil Scott (R) signed an executive order Thursday creating the Governor's Marijuana Advisory Commission to study issue around marijuana legalization. Earlier this year, Scott vetoed a legalization bill that reached his desk, citing public safety concerns. Although legislators amended the bill to win his signature, legislative Republicans blocked a vote on the amended bill during a special session. Scott envisions the advisory commission coming up with a final report by December 2018, setting the state for the legislature to act in 2019, but there are signs legislators may not want to wait.

Manhattan DA Lessens Pot Penalties in Bid to Avoid Immigrant Deportations. Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance has issued new plea guidelines for small-time pot possession cases that would help protect immigrants from being deported for criminal offenses, no matter how minor. The prosecutor's office has a deferred adjudication program in place that drops charges if the defendant is not arrested again within 12 months, but now Vance has reduced that period to three months for a first offense and six months for a second offense. Vance's office estimates this will end criminal prosecutions for nearly 20,000 people each year.

Trump Ally and Political Dirty Trickster Roger Stone Bumped from Pot Expo Speaker Slot. Bowing to pressure from marijuana industry members infuriated by the inclusion of a man they see as a racist, misogynist, Donald Trump enabler, the Cannabis World Congress and Business Expo (CWCBExpo) announced Wednesday that it has rescinded the invitation for Stone to be the keynote speaker at looming expos in Los Angeles and Boston. The expo had faced a boycott of speakers and exhibitors led by the Minority Cannabis Business Alliance. Now it faces a lawsuit from an angry Stone.

Medical Marijuana

House GOP Leadership Blocks Vote to Protect Medical Marijuana States. House GOP leaders won't allow a vote on an amendment to a spending bill that bars the Justice Department from spending money to go after state-compliant medical marijuana programs, several lawmakers said Thursday. The Farr-Rohrabacher amendment has protected those state programs for the past four years, but House leaders said "it splits the conference too much so we're not going to have a vote on it," The Hill reported. The move came despite pleas from Rep. Rohrabacher (R-CA) to allow the vote.

Texas Issues First CBD Medical Marijuana License. The state has issued a license to Cansortium Texas to grow, process, and sell CBD medical marijuana products to patients. Two other companies have applications in the pipeline. The move comes two years after the legislature approved a bill allowing for CBD use for epilepsy.