A g’day for Australian cannabis

G’DAY MATE
Australia holds first hearing on cannabis legalization

What happened: Australia’s parliament on Wednesday held its first hearing on cannabis legalization.

Lawmakers evaluated Greens Senator David Shoebridge’s bill, which would allow cannabis possession for personal use, and set up a national agency that would register cannabis strains and regulate who could grow the plant.

What they said: The discussion in Australia’s parliament hit on familiar issues to us here in North America. 

Many proponents said that low-level cannabis charges gum up Australia’s judicial system, and that by legalizing cannabis, they’d free up resources to go after bigger issues.

Opponents worried that legalizing cannabis would be akin to a tacit endorsement of use, and that more widespread use could lead to an uptick in mental illness and psychosis.

Bottom line: We’re likely a long way off from legalization down under. But the ball is rolling — and we’ll be watching.

🇩🇪 A key Bundestag committee approved Germany’s legalization bill ahead of a planned full floor vote. 

🧀 Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed off on new legislative maps, which remove much of the Republican Party’s advantage in the crucial swing state. As Wisconsin Republicans have been obstinate on the cannabis issue, this could now change. 

Silver Spike, initially formed as a cannabis-specific SPAC (remember those?), is broadening beyond the plant and will acquire the Chicago Atlantic Loan Portfolio, which amounts to about $130 million. Chicago Atlantic is also set to be the biggest backer of New York’s cannabis social equity fund.

New York cannabis company Naturae is launching a line of solvent-less products, including live-rosin gummies and vapes. 

Kiva is expanding its line of Camino edibles with hemp-derived Delta-9 THC products, that the company says it plans to sell in 16 new markets. 

What rescheduling pot would mean for criminal justice reform | Law360

Vape company Ispire Technologies reported a $4 million net loss on $41.7 million of revenue for the second-quarter.

Mushrooms first started developing psilocybin, the compound responsible for the ‘trip,’ about 67 million years ago, researchers found. That’s around the time a giant asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs. Trippy.