States can’t wait. That’s the rallying cry for a new initiative that seeks to set up an interstate market for cannabis between states where recreational and medical cannabis are legal.

Called the Alliance for Sensible Markets, the non-profit coalition of business and advocacy leaders is committed to legalizing commerce between participating legal markets by 2021.

Two marijuana trade organizations filed a lawsuit today against the nation’s largest legal pot market over restrictions on stand-alone delivery services that have blocked them from obtaining licenses until 2025.

The lawsuit against Los Angeles and its Department of Cannabis Regulation seeks to overturn rules enacted earlier this year that postponed the availability of those licenses for certain businesses, even though broad legal sales began in the state in January 2018.

Under the changes, those licenses would only be available to so-called social-equity operators — people, many of color, who were arrested or convicted of a marijuana-related offense or lived in neighborhoods marked by high marijuana arrest rates.

Last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) signed a handful of cannabis-related bills into law. Among the biggest changes are updates to the state’s banking laws, and while overall positive, the potential of AB 1525 is severely limited.

As anyone in the industry already knows, cannabis professionals have long struggled to gain access to banking and other financial services for their businesses. AB (Assembly Bill) 1525, signed last Tuesday by Gov. Newsom, removes any penalties previously imposed on banks for working with legal cannabis companies.

The US Hemp Roundtable, the hemp industry’s leading national advocacy organization, is profoundly disappointed that the California Senate leadership refused to allow a vote on AB 2028 (Aguiar-Curry, Wicks and Wilk), which would have legalized the use of hemp CBD in all products, to advance before the end of the 2019-20 legislative session.

The record wildfires that have blanketed the West Coast in smoke and ash also have blocked out essential sunlight and set back the growth of outdoor marijuana plants by weeks, leaving growers with less-than-ideal options for when to harvest their plants.

Cannabis growers in California, Oregon and Washington state are contemplating two choices in the face of wildfires that have burned more than 5 million acres:

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a new bill last week that will help protect banks that do business with licensed cannabis companies.

Under Bill AB 1525, banks, credit unions, savings associations and other financial institutions wouldn’t be in violation of California state laws by providing their services to licensed cannabis businesses – similar to the SAFE Banking Act, the landmark cannabis banking bill that the House of Representatives passed last year.

The SAFE Banking Act was included in the latest Democrat-proposed coronavirus stimulus bill worth $2.2 trillion. 

The timeline of cannabis in America is certainly a tumultuous one. From being spiritually and ritualistically used by Native Americans, to being vilified and criminalized by early 1900’s government officials leading to a 75 year prohibition, to an explosive “war on drugs” that had a choke hold on American culture for over two decades, marijuana and its users have been on a seriously wild ride.