Law360 is providing free access to its coronavirus coverage to make sure all members of the legal community have accurate information in this time of uncertainty and change. Use the form below to sign up for any of our weekly newsletters. Signing up for any of our section newsletters will opt you in to the weekly Coronavirus briefing.
Sign up for our Public Policy newsletter
You must correct or enter the following before you can sign up:
Thank You!
Law360 (March 20, 2020, 5:45 PM EDT) -- Marijuana reform efforts largely came to a halt this week, with more than half the state legislatures in recess due to the coronavirus pandemic and governors in the most affected states taking emergency action to curb the spread of the virus. Here, Law360 takes stock of where the major reform efforts are at the moment.
Actions Taken, Or Not
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo made assurances earlier this year that marijuana legalization would be accomplished in 2020, but that was before the state became the hardest hit by COVID-19. The Albany lawmaker who led the charge for legalization of adult-use marijuana expressed doubt this week that reform would happen amid the crisis.
Reached for comment Friday, Sen. Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan, the sponsor of the bill to tax and regulate marijuana, said the Legislature and governor were focused on passing a budget that would address the COVID-19 crisis. She added that she would be happy to see a proposal to legalize marijuana in the governor's budget.
"While it is important that we end marijuana prohibition as soon as possible, it is also important that it be done the right way," Krueger said in a statement. "If that cannot be achieved in the midst of a public health crisis, then we will all be better off waiting. There is no reason we cannot negotiate and pass a nation-leading legalization model when the crisis is over."
Krueger's bill, S. 1527, is currently in the state Senate Finance Committee.
In Virginia, where lawmakers from the two chambers recently reconciled their versions of a bill to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, the final bill now awaits Gov. Ralph Northam's signature. The bills, H.B. 972 and S.B. 2, were enrolled by their respective chambers Wednesday.
Jenn Michelle Pedini, executive director of the Virginia chapter of legalization advocacy group NORML, noted that the statehouse session was over and the governor has not stopped signing bills, so COVID-19 had not stalled progress on the effort very much. Pedini said they were hopeful Northam would sign the bills into law before the end of the month.
"We were hoping for a ceremonial signing, but that might not happen now," they said.
Elsewhere, New Hampshire's state Senate canceled a judiciary committee hearing on a bill, H.B. 1641, to reduce criminal penalties for the transportation or possession of large amounts of marijuana, which had been scheduled for March 17.
And in Hawaii, a bill to regulate the state's CBD market was set to have a hearing in its second House committee March 16, but the hearing was cancelled. The bill had unanimously passed the Senate earlier this month.
S.B. 2050 was drafted with the explicit purpose of picking up the task from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which has not yet taken comprehensive action to govern the sale of the popular hemp-derived compound. The bill prohibits CBD manufacturers from making health-related claims and establishes a framework of mandatory labeling and third-party laboratory testing of CBD products.
Coming Up
There are no hearings scheduled this week for any of the marijuana reform bills Law360 is tracking.
--Editing by Kelly Duncan.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
