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MORE Act will get a vote in December.
In a “Dear Colleague” note sent Monday by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, the MORE Act was put on the calendar for sometime in December.
The vote was initially scheduled for September, but, as Cannabis Wire reported, was ultimately delayed until sometime after the election.
Hoyer wrote: “In addition, the House will vote on the MORE Act to decriminalize cannabis and expunge convictions for non-violent cannabis offenses that have prevented many Americans from getting jobs, applying for credit and loans, and accessing opportunities that make it possible to get ahead in our economy.”
Gallup: support for cannabis legalization hits 68%.
A new poll, conducted before the election, found the highest support for cannabis legalization since Gallup first began to ask about the issue in 1969.
When Colorado and Washington voters first legalized cannabis in 2012, support had just hit 50%.
Cannabis bills introduced in Texas.
Amid several cannabis-related bills introduced this week in the Texas legislature, one is a House Joint Resolution to legalize cannabis for adult use.
This is just the beginning of what we expect to be a flurry of cannabis-related legislative activity in the coming months, both at the state and federal levels.
American Heart Association releases two preliminary cannabis and heart studies as part of annual event.
Two preliminary studies will be presented as part of the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2020, held virtually from November 13-17.
Broadly, cannabis smoking increases the risk of complications post cardiovascular procedures, one study found, while another suggested that cannabis users who had suffered a heart attack or another cardiac event were “more likely” to need to be readmitted to a hospital for another heart-related incident.
For one study, University of Michigan researchers analyzed data from a statewide registry of more than 113,000 patients in Michigan who underwent angioplasty sometime between January 2013 and October 2016. Of these patients, almost 4,000 (3.5%) of those in the study, said they smoked cannabis within a month of a heart-related procedure. Those who said they smoked cannabis were at a slightly higher risk of stroke, and roughly 50% more at risk of bleeding, though researchers cautioned that a patient having smoked cannabis should not be a deterrent for seeking cardio-related treatments. Rather, physicians and patients should have open dialog about cannabis use.
“As marijuana is becoming more accessible across the U.S., there is a need for rigorous research to better understand the effects of marijuana use on cardiovascular health,” Sang Gune Yoo, University of Michigan researcher and lead author of one of the studies, said in a statement.
