Teamsters general president pushes cannabis workers to join.
The union posted a video on Twitter this week in which Sean M. O’Brien delivers a “message for cannabis workers throughout the country.”
“Cannabis companies are making billions. Their success is because of you. You assist customers and patients in need, you make sure the product arrives on time, you make sure it’s cultivated the right way. You also deserve to reap the rewards of the booming industry. The Teamsters are here to make sure you do,” O’Brien said.
Gov. Andy Beshear signs executive order granting affirmative defense for patients.
The executive order signed this week is an “effort to reduce Kentuckians’ reliance on addictive opioids and to provide them relief from pain,” Beshear wrote.
It’s essentially an affirmative defense for Kentucky residents who have one of 21 conditions, including PTSD or a terminal diagnosis, to “possess and use small amounts of legally purchased medical cannabis to treat their medical conditions.meet specific requirements will be able to possess and use small amounts of legally purchased medical cannabis to treat their medical conditions.”
Medical cannabis is not legal in Kentucky. While Beshear supports it, key leaders in the legislature do not, so this an interim step. Beshear, as Cannabis Wire has reported, also formed a Medical Cannabis Advisory Committee. The summary of the listening tour were released in September.
Another executive order that Beshear signed is aimed at regulating delta-8 products, which are intoxicating but are processed from legal hemp. “Certain requirements that exist for the packaging and labeling of CBD products sold in Kentucky should also apply to Delta-8 products to ensure the public’s protection,” the executive order noted.
Gallup: Views on cannabis are “linked” to age, religion, and ideology.
Highlights from Gallup’s poll, released this week:
• 68% adults polled are in favor legalizing cannabis, which ties a previous record high.
• In stark contrast, just 32% of conservative seniors support legalization.
• No surprise: strongest support comes from “liberal, younger, less religious” voters.
Members of Congress push Biden on expanding pardons to include immigrants.
Following President Joe Biden’s pardon announcement in October, on which Cannabis Wire reported, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Chuy Garcia sent Biden a letter this week asking him to “pardon all simple marijuana possession offenses, regardless of immigration status and reopen the immigration cases of those who were deported for marijuana-related offenses.”