Friday December 4 2020
In todays report
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House Approves Federal Marijuana Legalization Bill In Historic Vote
The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill to federally legalize marijuana in a historic vote on Friday.
It’s the day that cannabis reform advocates have been building toward for years—a full floor vote to end prohibition in a chamber of Congress.
Justin Stekal, political director of NORML, said this “is a historic day for marijuana policy in the United States.”
“This vote marks the first time in 50 years that a chamber of Congress has ever revisited the classification of cannabis as a federally controlled and prohibited substance, and it marks the first time in 24 years—when California became the first state defy the federal government on the issue of marijuana prohibition—that Congress has sought to close the widening chasm between state and federal marijuana policies,” he said. “By establishing this new trajectory for federal policy, we expect that more states will revisit and amend the archaic criminalization of cannabis, establish regulated consumer marketplaces, and direct law enforcement to cease the practice of arresting over half a million Americans annually for marijuana-related violations—arrests which disproportionately fall upon those on people of color and those on the lower end of the economic spectrum.”
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/house-approves-federal-marijuana-legalization-bill-in-historic-vote/
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NBA Players Won’t Be Tested For Marijuana Next Year As League Weighs Permanent Change
And insiders suspect that the relaxed cannabis rules will continue indefinitely.
Marijuana testing was first suspended earlier this year as players finished out their season in the so-called “bubble” arena in Orlando. But as first reported by freelance journalist Ben Dowsett on Thursday, the league and the players’ union have agreed to maintain that policy, at least for the next season.
If NBA does ultimately end marijuana testing, it would be another example of evolving drug policies within national sports leagues. Earlier this year, the MLB announced that players would not longer be tested for cannabis, though they’re barred from being sponsored by marijuana companies.
The NFL also made the decision to end suspensions for positive drug tests as well as limiting the testing window.
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Italian co-op says it can grow, build big with hemp locally
When eco-minded hemp building visionaries dream, they see local crops of hemp straw processed into hurd at a local factory, mixed with local lime for local construction projects raised by local workers.
In Puglia, the region that forms the heel of southern Italy’s “boot,” the dream is being brought to life. That’s where a consortium of hemp interests have combined to close the loop on a local “short supply chain” that is delivering hempcrete building materials to “Case nel verde” (“Houses in the Green”) a 24-unit condominium project now under construction.
The consortium is demonstrating “transversal production that deals with everything in construction – new building, renovation, rehabilitation, dehumidifying – through industrial development of the building material,” said Pantaleo Pedone of Pedone Working srl, one in a consortium of stakeholders who have combined forces to establish the working local hempcrete construction supply chain in Puglia.
The NBA is extending its policy of not randomly drug testing players for marijuana for the 2020-2021 season amid the coronavirus pandemic. And insiders suspect that the relaxed cannabis rules will continue indefinitely.
Marijuana testing was first suspended earlier this year as players finished out their season in the so-called “bubble” arena in Orlando. But as first reported by freelance journalist Ben Dowsett on Thursday, the league and the players’ union have agreed to maintain that policy, at least for the next season.
“Due to the unusual circumstances in conjunction with the pandemic, we have agreed with the NBPA to suspend random testing for marijuana for the 2020-21 season and focus our random testing program on performance-enhancing products and drugs of abuse,” an NBA spokesperson said.
But pressure has been mounting on the league to end testing for marijuana permanently.
Michele Roberts, the head of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) who also joined the board of the major cannabis company Cresco Labs this year, predicted in a recent interview that the formal change could come as early as “next season.”
“We’re not going to expose our players to unnecessary risks,” she told Dowsett in a piece for GQ. “And it is not necessary to know whether our players are positive for marijuana.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver hasn’t ruled out adopting new policies on marijuana testing, but he’s said that the league needs to proceed carefully so as not to send a wrong message to young people. He’s also voiced support for exploring the medical potential of cannabis.
“At the end of the day, I think we all agree that, whether or not marijuana is a legal substance, just like with alcohol, you still have to teach young people how to use a substance like that appropriately and responsibly and so it doesn’t overwhelm your life,” he said. “So, it’s a complicated issue.”
While NBA won’t be subjecting players to random drug testing for THC, they will continue to test “for cause” cases where players have histories of substance use, for example.
https://hemptoday.net/italian-co-op-says-it-can-grow-build-big-with-hemp-locally/