Weekly Cannabis Roundup January 8

Illinois has expunged almost half a million cannabis-related convictions. Have you noticed that more and more celebrities are jumping on the cannabis bandwagon and starting their own cannabis businesses? Will three times be a charm for New York as legislators discuss adult-use cannabis legalization for the third time? Learn more with Veriheal.

Video Transcript

More and more celebrities are cashing in on cannabis

And Illinois has expunged nearly 500,000 cannabis convictions

This is Lo with Veriheal keeping you up to date with the latest in cannabis news

The state of Illinois has erased nearly half a million low-level cannabis convictions

When legalization happened in 2019, 770,000 people became eligible for expungement. 

It was forecasted that it would take about 4 years to complete these expungements

But it’s been recently announced that about 500,000 of these crimes have officially been omitted at the beginning of 2021

Illinois State Gov. Pritzker was quoted saying, 

 “We will never be able to fully remedy the depth of the damage in communities of color, who have disproportionately shouldered this burden,” 

“But we can govern with the courage to admit the mistakes of our past — and the decency to set a better path forward.”

An increasing number of celebrities are joining forces with cannabis

From Nicole Kidman, Mike Tyson, Chelsea Handler, Method Man, and unshockingly, Snoop Dogg, plus many others,

Many have become ambassadors, partners, or even started their own businesses in cannabis

Why is this? Why all of a sudden?

Well, now that cannabis is mostly legal in the US, the industry has become quite lucrative and the stigma is slowly fading away.

Throw in a pandemic, and now many A-List stars are willing to utilize cannabis as a way to further monetize their brands.

While money is a great motivator, some have more profound reasons for doing so

Carlos Santana told Benzinga that “Cannabis is a window or a door to a different awareness of consciousness,” 

He created the cannabis brand Mirayo, which means “my ray” to help people find the light within.

Kristen Bell’s motive was helping the community so she collaborated on a CBD brand called Happy Dance

 that donates proceeds to helping women’s livelihood after prison. 

It’s wonderful to see others using their platforms to encourage others!

Hopefully, three times a charm for New York as lawmakers are sitting down to try and legalize recreational cannabis use for the third time.

Gov. Cuomo is expected to put legalization on the table when the budget is introduced in the next legislative session that begins this week

This comes as no surprise because Gov Cuomo has previously suggested that this next step in cannabis legalization could significantly help the state’s languishing economy.

Some senators are supportive but are still hesitant to get their hopes up as earning substantial revenue from the adult-use markets takes a long time. 

They don’t believe legalization is going to be the golden ticket to rectify the billions of dollars in deficit but, more importantly, will be extremely valuable for focusing on social equity.

So go ahead and like this video and give us a follow at Veriheal to stay up to date with the latest in cannabis news.

Thanks for watching!