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Cannabis Regulatory Update: Nebraska, Washington D.C., Ohio, Missouri, Wisconsin – Benzinga

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Cannabis Regulatory Update: Nebraska, Washington D.C., Ohio, Missouri, Wisconsin – Benzinga


Nebraska Medical Hashish Marketing campaign Wants Extra Cash As Deadline To Submit Petition Approaches

A marketing campaign to get a medical hashish proposal on the Nebraska poll later this 12 months is determined for funding, as a summer time deadline to submit a petition to the state is approaching, reported Excessive Instances.

Crista Eggers, the organizer behind the petition drive for Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, mentioned this week that the marketing campaign lacks cash.

“I’d say devastating is an understatement,” Eggers advised native tv station WOWT. “We’re pleading with you to assist.”

Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana first revealed its intentions to flow into a petition to get a pair of medical hashish proposals on the poll final September.

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The primary one would require lawmakers to move legal guidelines defending physicians who advocate medical hashish therapy and sufferers who use it. The opposite would impose legislature to arrange guidelines for the medical hashish program.

The Nebraska group wants to gather a minimal of 87,000 legitimate circumstances by July 7 for every initiative to qualify for the poll.

Democratic state Sen. Anna Wishart, a co-sponsor of the Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, mentioned the final month that she was assured that the group may obtain the purpose of garnering $500,000 by Might 1.

D.C. Invoice To Present Office Protections For Marijuana Shoppers Will get Its First Inexperienced Mild

These working in Washington, D.C., are nearer to keep away from being fired or punished for marijuana use by their employer.

The native lawmakers advanced a invoice on Tuesday that will ban most workplaces from taking such steps towards staff who use hashish. The measure was beforehand green-lighted by the Labor & Workforce Growth Committee, reported Marijuana Second.

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Sponsored by Councilmember Trayon White (D), the Hashish Employment Protections Modification Act was barely amended earlier than being unanimously accepted by the Committee of the Entire, which incorporates all 13 members of the total Council.

The invoice builds on earlier laws the D.C. Council handed to assist native authorities staff who face office discrimination resulting from their use of medical marijuana.

Within the meantime, Police, safety-sensitive development staff, and other people with jobs that require a business driver’s license or work with childcare and sufferers and positions “with the potential to considerably influence the well being or security of staff or members of the general public” may nonetheless be fired or punished for hashish use, nonetheless.

Ohio Lawmakers File Invoice To Legalize Marijuana, $375M In Marijuana Tax Income Publish Legalization

A invoice to legalize marijuana in Ohio that’s just about similar to a citizen initiative from the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol (CTRMLA) was filed on Wednesday.

Reps. Casey Weinstein (D) and Terrence Upchurch (D), who sponsored the laws, introduced a plan for the unofficial hashish vacation 4/20, Marijuana Second writes.

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Activists lately submitted greater than sufficient legitimate signatures (about 133,000) for Ohio lawmakers to contemplate its proposal, which might enable Ohioans age 21 and older to purchase and possess as much as 2.5 ounces of hashish, 15 grams of concentrates, and develop as much as six crops individually and not more than 12 per family. Lawmakers got 4 months to behave on the proposal.

If lawmakers don’t take the chance to move the reform by Might 28, CTRMLA might want to garner an extra 132,887 legitimate signatures to qualify for the poll.

Within the meantime, new analysis from Ohio State College revealed that leisure marijuana in Ohio may generate as much as $375 million in annual tax income for the state. The research used tax estimates from an initiated statute effort to legalize marijuana within the state through the November 2022 poll.

The researchers estimated the Buckeye State would earn someplace between $276 million to $375 million by the fifth 12 months of operation.

GOP-Led Invoice To Legalize Marijuana In Missouri Advances To Home

A GOP-led invoice to legalize marijuana superior to the ground after clearing a second Home committee on Tuesday reported Marijuana Second.

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Hashish Freedom Act – sponsored by Rep. Ron Hicks (R), superior out of the Guidelines – Legislative Oversight Committee in a 6-4 vote.

With the legislative session set to finish in Might, the proposal faces a decent deadline, identical as a separate activist- and industry-led marketing campaign to place legalization on the poll.

It “actually comes down as to if we now have the desire to deal with it,” Hicks mentioned.

The invoice is poised to legalize the possession of hashish, and supply alternatives for expungements, authorize social consumption amenities and allow hashish companies to say tax deductions with the state.

Wisconsin Takes One other Step To Legalize Hashish

On April 20, an annual day of celebration for hashish activists, the Wisconsin Senate Committee on Insurance coverage, Licensing and Forestry held a public listening to on the laws (SB 1034), which is poised to legalize medical hashish.

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Throughout 5 hours of testimony, dominated a name to finish all hashish prohibition within the Badger State, Marijuana Second writes.

The 2022 medical hashish invoice was first launched 4 years in the past by now-Sen. Mary Felzkowski (R-Irma) – then a member of the Meeting, gives the muse for a limited-use medical marijuana market.

Below the invoice – which excludes the usage of flower – hashish might be beneficial by physicians, doctor assistants, and superior observe nurses who should be registered in Wisconsin and licensed to advocate hashish.

“We’re open to amendments to this invoice,” mentioned Felzkowski. “As lots of you realize, having been within the legislature for fairly a while, the invoice proposed is normally not the invoice handed. So it is a beginning framework.”

Senator Melissa Agard (D-Madison) lately responded to the listening to discover, saying that the Wisconsin residents are prepared for hashish reform.

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“It’s supported by the vast majority of the residents of our state, together with a majority of Republicans,” Agard mentioned. “Whereas I’m inspired folks can have the power to come back testify at a public listening to, it’s disappointing that we had 15 months of session by which we may have rolled up our sleeves and labored in a bipartisan method on this vital and sophisticated coverage. Sadly, Republicans are all discuss and no motion with regards to legalization efforts in Wisconsin.”

Photograph: Courtesy of Tim Foster on Unsplash



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‘This agency is not in crisis': DC 911 director cites improvements

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‘This agency is not in crisis': DC 911 director cites improvements


Numerous computer dispatch outages, major staffing shortages and a criminal probe are hanging over D.C.’s 911 call center.

The agency has come under fire for at least the past year for several responses, including to the deadly flooding at District Dogs. More recently, questions have been raised after a 5-month-old baby died during a system outage.

The director of D.C.’s Office of Unified Communications told News4 on Friday the agency is making improvements to address and prevent failures.

The call center set a record for call volume last year, handling 1.8 million calls, up roughly a half-million from typical years. In that period, the 911 system has had 18 disruptions since December.

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Local leaders and D.C. Council members have raised questions about whether the office is up to the challenge. Council member Brooke Pinto introduced legislation aimed at holding the agency more accountable, while Council member Charles Allen said the center was in crisis.

“This agency is not in crisis. This agency has been outpaced and is overtaxed, and we are trying to find ways to make improvements to keep up with that change, to make improvements to make the caller experience better. And it’s a holistic change. It’s about addressing staffing. It’s about addressing technology. It’s about addressing training,” Director Heather McGaffin said.

McGaffin told News4 when she took over the agency last year, they had 57 vacancies for call takers. That number is now down to 10.

“My goal is by January 2025 to have all of our positions filled, understanding that things happen and that might not be the case, but that remains my goal, especially for the call-taking side,” she said.

McGaffin pointed to another problem: Too many people are calling 911 when it’s not an emergency. She said hundreds of thousands of calls last year could have been handled by calling 311 or going online.

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News4 asked what people should consider before dialing 911. McGaffin said to ask: “Is this life or death? Is this something that I need a police officer, a firefighter or a paramedic right in this moment for?”

Last month, the agency began giving call takers and dispatchers $800 bonuses if they show up for all assigned shifts. So far, 94 employees have received the bonus.

Despite the bonus and increased hiring, OUC’s data shows it’s still understaffed. According to data obtained by the News4 I-Team, 49% of shifts in early September had less than ideal staffing.

The News4 I-Team confirmed a D.C. family says they called 911 Friday after discovering their 5-month-old wouldn’t wake up from a nap but told police they could not get through to 911. Investigative Reporter Ted Oberg has the latest on Friday’s outage.

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Orchestra goes on strike in Washington DC – Slippedisc

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Orchestra goes on strike in Washington DC – Slippedisc


norman lebrecht

September 27, 2024

The National Symphony Orchestra has erased the start of its season.

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Statement from the Kennedy Center:
After months of largely collaborative and constructive labor negotiations, the Kennedy Center and the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) are disappointed to share that the NSO musicians, AFM Local 161-710, have decided to go on strike, effective today, Friday, September 27, thereby canceling the NSO 2024–2025 Season Opening Gala concert on Saturday, September 28.

That’s San Fran and DC on the picket line. Who’s next?



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Family seeking justice year after teen killed near Dunbar High

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Family seeking justice year after teen killed near Dunbar High


A year after a teenager was shot and killed near Dunbar High School, his family continues calling for justice as the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office says it can’t move forward with charges in the case.

Despite the U.S. attorney’s decision, Maurice Jackson’s family is still advocating for charges to be filed.

Video from Sept. 26, 2023, shows the 16-year-old boy walking on the sidewalk a few blocks down from Dunbar before encountered a group and a fight broke out. A gun was pulled, and Maurice was shot.

“He didn’t do anything to anybody,” said Maurice’s mother, Brittany Malloy. “He was standing there … He ran. Someone shot at him. He fell. The crossing guard let him fall to the ground.”

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D.C. police and the U.S. attorney worked the case before deciding not to move forward with charges.

“Hurt, disbelief, anger,” Malloy said. “It’s clear as day. There’s a video. You can clearly see that this was not self-defense.”

“We express our deepest condolences to Mr. Jackson’s family,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement. “When prosecuting a suspect for murder, in addition to proving the elements of the crime, we must also be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the suspect was not acting in self-defense or defense of another. This is a very high standard. We work with MPD’s homicide branch to determine whether enough evidence exists to meet this high standard. Based on our combined decades of experience with policing and prosecuting, we typically agree on when we have enough evidence to proceed and when we don’t.”



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