House Spending Bills Include MedMJ Protections, DC Psychedelic Initiative Hands in Signatures, More... (7/7/20)

Mexico once again looks set to move forward with medical marijuana, House funding bills include protections for medical marijuana -- but not recreational marijuana -- and more.

Decriminalize DC has handed in signatures for its natural psychedelic lowest priority initiative. (Creative Commons)

House Spending Bills Include Medical Marijuana Protections for States, Banking Systems, and Universities. The Democratically-controlled House unveiled its versions of funding bills this week, and they include provisions that would protect banking businesses and universities doing business with medical marijuana operations, as well as the states that oversee medical marijuana programs. The protections do not extend to state-legal recreational marijuana.

Psychedelics

DC Activists Submit Signatures for Natural Psychedelic Initiative. Decriminalize DC, the folks behind Initiative 81, which would makes natural psychedelics law enforcement's lowest priority, handed in some 35,000 raw signatures Monday, the deadline for submitting them. They need 24,712 valid voter signatures, and organizers say they have already independently verified they have 27,000 valid signatures. DC officials will make it official in 30 days.

International

Mexico to Implement Medical Marijuana Law as Marijuana Legalization Delayed. The Mexican Secretariat of Health has announced that it plans to finalize medical marijuana regulations within the next two months. Mexican law was amended to allow for medical marijuana in 2017, but the Health Secretariat has so far failed to issue them. Now it has until September 9 to issue them. The move comes as broader marijuana legalization has been delayed by political bickering and coronavirus pandemic shutdowns.