Tag: Maryland

  • Marlyland Schools Get $2 Million From Juul Labs

    Marlyland Schools Get $2 Million From Juul Labs

    Credit: Andriano CZ

    Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) in Maryland will receive $2 million to purchase vape detection devices after the Montgomery County Council voted unanimously Tuesday to transmit settlement money from the Juul e-cigarette company to the school system.

    The funding comes from a state grant created after the Juul vape company was ordered to pay $7.5 million to the state for marketing its products to minors, media reports.  

    The settlement included more than 5,000 lawsuits from schools, states, and counties. In 2019, the county joined a state lawsuit against Juul for marketing its products to youth.

    According to MCPS officials, the school system plans to use the funds to install vape detectors in high school bathrooms. The school board voted at its Aug. 20 meeting to move forward with the plan, provided the council approved the funding.

  • Baltimore Settles Suit With Juul Labs for $7.5 Million

    Baltimore Settles Suit With Juul Labs for $7.5 Million

    Credit: Andriano CZ

    Baltimore, Maryland, Mayor Brandon Scott has announced a lawsuit settlement with Juul Labs. According to the City of Baltimore, the e-cigarette company must pay $7.5 million by the end of 2024 or make three separate payments of $8 million by October 2026.

    The lawsuit was initially filed in 2020 for “deceptive marketing campaigns” aimed towards minors, as well as endangering the health of city residents and costing the city for having to push back against the e-cigarette marketing schemes, as stated by the City of Baltimore, according to media reports.

    “Since taking office, my administration has done everything in our power to invest in Baltimore’s young people to ensure they can reach their full potential. Achieving that aim means focusing on every aspect of their lives – including their health,” said Scott.

    According to the City of Baltimore, the settlement was reached after they declined to participate in a global resolution that would have only recovered $1.9 million for the city.

    “We have and will continue to refuse settlement offers that do not fairly compensate Baltimore City for the harms that the misconduct of these companies brings on us,” said City Solicitor Ebony Thompson.

  • Maryland Indoor Vaping Ban Goes Into Effect

    Maryland Indoor Vaping Ban Goes Into Effect

    Credit: Glynnis Jones

    A new amendment to Maryland’s Clean Indoor Air Act takes effect today, officially banning vaping in nearly all indoor public spaces and workplaces.

    First passed in 2007, the Clean Indoor Air Act originally prohibited smoking in public indoor spaces to “preserve and improve the health, comfort, and environment of the people of Maryland by limiting exposure to environmental smoke.”

    Beginning July 1st, 2024, that law now includes vaping after an amendment was passed in Maryland during the 2024 legislative session, according to WBOC.

    According to Maryland’s Department of Health, smoking and vaping of tobacco, cannabis, or hemp-derived products is banned in indoor areas open to the public, specifically public meeting places, public vehicles and indoor places of employment.

  • Hemp Farmers Sue Maryland for License ‘Monopoly’

    Hemp Farmers Sue Maryland for License ‘Monopoly’

    Credit: H Ko

    As Maryland’s recreational cannabis industry grows, a group of hemp entrepreneurs are challenging the state and its marijuana regulators in court.

    The Maryland Hemp Coalition joined forces with several other hemp growers and retailers to sue Governor Wes Moore, the Maryland Cannabis Administration, and the Maryland Alcohol, Tobacco, and Cannabis Commission, according to media reports.

    Nevin Youngan, an attorney representing the hemp industry in the suit, stated that his clients “had been lawfully selling these products for years” and were now being told that they could not do so without first procuring a license—despite there being “nearly insurmountable obstacles” in their way.

    During the latest legislative session, lawmakers put into place regulations governing recreational marijuana in Maryland, including limits on the allowable THC concentration in hemp-derived products Products such as Delta-8 could only be sold without a recreational marijuana license as well as details about how to obtain said licenses.

    Attempts during the legislative session were made to create a carveout for the hemp industry to allow businesses to continue selling their products. Another amendment floated during session including creating new testing and regulation for hemp products; both plans failed to be included in the final law passed by lawmakers.

    Without a recreational marijuana license, hemp-business owners were forced to close their doors on July 1.

  • Maryland Starts Sales of Recreational Marijuana

    Maryland Starts Sales of Recreational Marijuana

    Credit: Federico Magonio

    Maryland began sales of recreational marijuana on Saturday, only eight months after the state’s voters approved a ballot measure to legalize cannabis for adults.

    The first day of adult-use cannabis sales brought out lines of customers eager to shop at the state’s medical marijuana dispensaries, which were given the first crack at the newly legal market for recreational weed in Maryland by a bill to regulate adult-use cannabis passed in the spring.

    In November, Maryland voters legalized recreational marijuana with the passage of Question 4, a state referendum that was approved with nearly two-thirds of the vote, reports Forbes.

    In April, lawmakers passed legislation to regulate adult-use cannabis production and sales beginning on July 1, followed by the signing of the bill by Governor Wes Moore in early May.

    Under the measure, all adults in Maryland age 21 and up with proper identification will be allowed to purchase regulated marijuana products including cannabis flower, vapes, gummies and others, with sales beginning at the state’s existing medical marijuana retailers.

    The legislation also changed the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission, which regulated the production and sale of medical marijuana, to the Maryland Cannabis Administration.

    Will Tilburg, the acting director of the new agency, said that regulated sales of cannabis in Maryland are expected to triple over the next year with the launch of recreational marijuana sales.

  • Maryland, Missouri Approve Recreational Marijuana

    Maryland, Missouri Approve Recreational Marijuana

    Several states had recreational marijuana on the ballot. Maryland and Missouri became the 20th and 21st states to legalize marijuana for adult recreational use on Tuesday, but cannabis reform efforts met defeat in Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota.

    Maryland voters approve a constitutional amendment that legalizes recreational marijuana for people 21 and older. It will go into effect on July 1, 2023, and allow possession of 1.5 ounces or two plants. Possession of small amounts of marijuana was already decriminalized in Maryland. Under the amendment, those previously convicted of cannabis possession and intent to distribute will be able to apply for record expungement, according to media reports.

    Missouri voters ended prohibitions on marijuana in the state and allow personal use for those over the age of 21. It will allow for personal possession up to three ounces and allow individuals with marijuana-related non-violent offenses to petition for release from prison or parole and probation and have their records expunged.

    North Dakota voters rejected a citizen-initiated ballot measure that aimed at allowing the use of marijuana in “various forms” for those who are at least 21 years-old. It would have allowed marijuana possession of up to an ounce and all marijuana to be tested in a facility “for the potency of products and the presence of pesticides” and subject to random inspection.

    South Dakotans rejected legalizing cannabis in the state, too. Legalization for recreational marijuana use had passed in South Dakota in 2020, but the results were nullified by state courts. According to the proposed 2022 ballot measure, marijuana possession of up to an ounce would have been legal. It also would have legalized possession of marijuana paraphernalia, use and distribution.

    Additionally, Arkansas voters rejected a constitutional amendment that would have allowed cannabis possession and recreational consumption by adults as well as the sale by licensed facilities. Had it passed, cannabis possession of up to an ounce would have been legal and some tax revenue from marijuana sales would have contributed to funding law enforcement.

  • Several States set to Vote on Recreational Marijuana

    Several States set to Vote on Recreational Marijuana

    Credit: Fresh Ideas

    Recreational marijuana legalization is on the ballot in Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota next week.

    If approved, the states would join the 19 (along with Washington, DC) where recreational use is currently legal. Thirty-seven states, three territories and the District of Columbia allow the medical use of marijuana products, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

    Medical marijuana is currently legal in each of the five states that will vote on recreational use on Tuesday.

    Marijuana is illegal under federal law, even as individual states have moved toward legal use for recreational and medical purposes.

    But in October, the Biden administration announced that President Joe Biden pardoned all people convicted of federal marijuana possession through executive action.

    Leaders in the U.S. Senate introduced sweeping legislation earlier this year that would end federal prohibitions on marijuana more than 50 years after Congress made the drug illegal.

  • More States Set Sights on Synthetic Nicotine Sales

    More States Set Sights on Synthetic Nicotine Sales

    Georgia, Maryland and Mississippi legislators recently introduced bills in their respective states that would only allow the sale of vapor products that are authorized by or pending authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, according to a Filter article.

    Credit: Billion Photos

    The pieces of legislation would also establish directories to inventory authorized vapor products, which would eventually be made public. On the surface, these bills look like they are reiterating what the FDA is already doing through its premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) process, through which the FDA has denied millions of products. However, many have noted that the bills serve as a roundabout way to ban synthetic nicotine.

    Many manufacturers have turned to synthetic nicotine as a way to continue selling their products since synthetic nicotine is not currently regulated.  

    “The elected officials sponsoring these bills may be under the mistaken impression that their proposals are only targeted at illicit and counterfeit dealers,” Greg Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, told Filter. “The reality is that these bills would shut down licensed small businesses that are operating in full compliance with federal, state and local laws.”

    The Republican lawmakers who introduced the bills—Maryland State Senator JB Jennings, Georgia State Senator Jeff Mullis and Mississippi Representative Nick Bain—have all received campaign funds ranging from $500 to $4,800 from Juul Labs, according to Filter. Some feel that Juul and other large companies want to see synthetic nicotine (and competition) diminished.

    “To preserve the harm reduction opportunity for adult smokers, Juul Labs supports a fully regulated, science-based marketplace,” a Juul spokesperson said. “Illegally marketed and illicit products and products designed to evade federal and state oversight undermine harm reduction and a responsible e-vapor category.”

  • Maryland Governor Vetoes Vapor Tax

    Maryland Governor Vetoes Vapor Tax

    Photo: Getulio Moraes

    The US state of Maryland’s Governor vetoed vapor tax legislation in House Bill 732. The vapor industry initially faced an 86 percent wholesale tax on all vapor products, which included devices and liquids.

    The Maryland General Assembly spent a majority of the legislative session in search of new revenues to fill budget gaps and eventually turned its attention to vapor products, according to Tony Abboud, executive director for the Vapor Technology Association (VTA).

    The VTA and the Maryland Vapor Alliance (MVA) engaged key committee members, participated in hearings, and worked behind the scenes to offer alternatives to the 86 percent tax, according to a press note. “After much debate, the General Assembly decided to move forward with a 12 percent point of sale tax on devices and liquids with an exception on containers under 5 milliliters, which would have a 60 percent wholesale tax,” the note states. “After the tax passed, VTA and MVA worked to educate the Governor’s Office on the adverse impact such a tax would have on Maryland small businesses.”

    Governor Larry Hogan then vetoed the legislation. “These misguided bills would raise taxes and fees on Marylanders at a time when many are already out of work and financially struggling. With our state in the midst of a global pandemic and economic crash, and just beginning on our road to recovery, it would be unconscionable to raise taxes and fees now,” Hogan said.  
     
    In Maryland, a three-fifths vote of the elected members of both chambers is necessary to override the Governor’s veto. Because there were several tax increases vetoed, there could be efforts in the General Assembly to override the veto, according to the VTA.