KS Pot Poll Shocker, WY Company Sues DEA, CA Cops Over Destroyed Hemp Field, More… (10/28/20)

Massachusetts' highest court rules worker's compensation doesn't cover medical marijuana costs, a Mississippi mayor has issued a last-minute legal challenge to the state's medical marijuana initaitive, and more.

Marijuana Policy

Kansas Poll Shocker: Two-Thirds Support Marijuana Legalization. An annual survey from the Docking Institute of Public Affairs at Fort Hays State University has a whopping 66.9% in support of legalizing marijuana. The poll also had Donald Trump leading Joe Biden by 14.4 points. He beat Hillary Clinton by 21 points in 2016.

Medical Marijuana

Massachusetts High Court Rules Workers' Compensation Doesn't Cover Medical Marijuana Costs. The state's Supreme Judicial Court ruled Monday that health insurance providers are not required to cover the costs of medical marijuana for people who receive worker's compensation benefits. The court held unanimously that the state's medical marijuana law was crafted to avoid exposing insurers to any potential federal prosecution. Marijuana remains illegal under federal law.

Mississippi Mayor Seeks to Block Medical Marijuana Initiative. Even as early voting is underway on the Initiative 65 medical marijuana measure, Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler filed papers with the state Supreme Court seeking to knock the measure off the ballot on the grounds that its signature-gathering did not comply with the state constitution. The campaign, however, said the lawsuit was bogus: "The Secretary of State properly qualified Initiative 65 under the same constitutional procedures used for every other successful voter initiative,” Jamie Grantham, spokeswoman for Mississippians for Compassionate Care, said in a statement. “The lawsuit from the City of Madison is meritless."

Hemp

Wyoming Company Sues DEA, California Cops for Destroying Its Hemp After Mistaking It for Marijuana. Agro Dynamics LLC, a Wyoming hemp company, has filed a federal lawsuit in San Diego against the DEA and California police for destroying more than $3 million worth of hemp they mistook for marijuana. State and DEA officers raided the company's southern California hemp field in September 2019 after an aerial inspection showed what they believed to be a marijuana field, but didn't bother checking to see if it was a registered hemp grow, the company argued. "Upon (police) arrival on the premises, a tenant in possession advised the officers that there was a legal registration issuance from the County of San Diego for the hemp growing on the premises. Law enforcement disregarded this information and continued to seize and destroy all plants that appeared to be marijuana," the lawsuit alleges. The company is seeking unspecified damages.

International

Colombia Claims It Is Near Target of Eradicated Coca Crops. The country is nearing its goal of eradicating 130,00 hectares (325,000 acres) of coca crops, Defense Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo said Monday. "With 98,056 hectares of coca eradicated as of October 24, the Public Forces progress towards the target of 130,000 hectares eradicated in 2020," Trujillo said, adding that 101,273 hectares were eradicated in 2019.