Following important cannabis news articles every day can be a real burn-out, we know. That’s why the Emerald rolls up a chronicle of the headiest news hits, and passes them to you at the end of each week. We Bring You: The Dime.
Cannabis Legislation Moves Forward in U.S. House of Representatives
This Thursday, members of the U.S. House of Representatives formally approved the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act for a full floor vote. The MORE Act aims to decriminalize cannabis federally. Specifically, the act will remove cannabis from the list of federally controlled substances; expunge federal convictions; and place an excise tax on cannabis. The full floor vote is expected on Friday, April 1st, reports Marijuana Moment. If it passes, it will then head to the Senate, which has previously failed to act on it. In response to the news that the House would again vote on the bill, cannabis stocks are “hot,” reports CNBC.
Yet Another Poll Shows Support for Legalization is High Among Americans
Results from a poll conducted by the Coalition for Cannabis find that support for legalization is high among republicans, democrats and independents. As the report states, 70% of all voters oppose prohibition. More specifically, “58% of Republicans, 83% of Democrats, and 70% of independents” believe cannabis should be federally legal. Not only is support high across party lines, but across different demographics as well; as much as half of voters also say they’d vote for a candidate if they support cannabis reform. As NORML reports, “the survey data is consistent with dozens of other recent national [and statewide] polls showing that over 60 percent of Americans believe that the adult use of cannabis ought to be legal.”
Recent Study Finds Secondhand Bong Smoke Worse Than Cigarette Smoke
A first-of-its-kind study released in the JAMA Network Open journal this week found that secondhand smoke from cannabis is four times more toxic than secondhand cigarette or tobacco hookah smoke. To conduct the study, researchers at UC Berkeley measured fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) in a room where adults smoked cannabis. After a few hours of smoking, researchers found that PM 2.5 levels increased significantly, “at least 100-fold. Within the first 15 minutes of smoking, PM2.5 concentrations surpassed air quality levels deemed safe by the Environmental Protection Agency,” reports USA Today. While this is the first study of its type, scientists cautioned that more research is needed.
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