Chronicle AM: House Moves to Protect State-Legal Marijuana, Canada OKs Pot Expungements, More… (6/21/19)

The House has passed an historic amendment to protect legal marijuana states from federal interference, the polls numbers are looking good in Florida, Canada moves forward on expunging marijuana arrest records, and more.

Marijuana Policy

House Passes Bill to Block Federal Interference with State-Legal Marijuana. In a history-making vote Thursday, the House voted 267-165 to approve a bipartisan measure aimed at protecting state marijuana policies from federal interference. The vote came on an amendment to the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill that prohibits the Justice Department from using funds to prevent states, US territories, and the District of Columbia from implementing laws authorizing the use, distribution, possession, and cultivation of marijuana. A similar appropriations rider known as the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment has been in effect since 2014, but it only protected state medical marijuana programs, not states that have legalized marijuana for adults.

Florida Poll Has Strong Support for Legalization. A new Quinnipiac College poll has support for marijuana legalization in the Sunshine State at an "all-time high" of 65%, with only 30% opposed. The poll comes as the group Regulate Florida prepares a legalization initiative for 2020.

New York Legislature Approves Deeper Decriminalization, Expungement. After the marijuana legalization bill crashed and burned on Wednesday, the legislature hastily approved a bill that eliminate criminal penalties for public possession and use of marijuana. Possession had been decriminalized in 1978, but police would stop people in public, order them to remove the contents of their pockets, then charge them with public possession. Now they won't be able to do that. The bill also allows for the expungement of past possession convictions. The bill now goes to Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), who says he supports it.

Hemp

Massachusetts Regulators Ban Sales of Some Hemp Products. The state Department of Agricultural Resources has issued a policy statement that bans the sale of some hemp products, including foods infused with CBD and dietary supplements. It also prohibits CBD products that make therapeutic/medicinal claims, animal feed with hemp, and the sale of unprocessed or raw plant material to consumers. The state says it is following guidance from the Food & Drug Administration, which says introducing CBD into food products is unlawful.

Law Enforcement

Illinois Governor Signs Bill to Continue Data Collection on Police Pedestrian and Traffic Stops. Gov. JB Pritzker (D) has signed into law HB 1613, which blocks a current law requiring data collection on vehicular and pedestrian police stops from being sunsetted. Continuance of the practice maintains "an important tool for police officers and the public to identify and combat racial disparities in law enforcement," the bill says.

International

Canada Parliament Passes Bill to Pardon Pot Possession Offenders. Parliament on Wednesday approved a bill, C-93, that would allow people with marijuana possession records to be pardoned at no cost and quickly. The new bill is expected to speed the pardon process by eliminating the potential five- to 10-year wait time and waives an application fee of C$631 ($479). The bill only applies to those who have completed their sentences and have only a single possession conviction on their criminal record.