Latest news with #56
Biz Bahrain
7 days ago
- Business
- Biz Bahrain
Malaysia granted sovereignty over its subscriber data at Bahrain cloud computing centers
As part of the official visit by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, to Malaysia, an announcement was made that Malaysia will be granted full sovereignty over subscriber data hosted in Bahrain cloud computing centers. Mohammed Ali Al Qaed, Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA) Chief Executive, underscored the growing Bahraini-Malaysian relations, describing the cooperation between the two countries as a key milestone that fosters strategic collaboration in the digital economy, knowledge exchange, and digital infrastructure development. He emphasised Bahrain's commitment to strengthening international cooperation in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and advancing the digital ecosystem toward becoming a competitive, future-ready nation. He noted that this initiative reflects global confidence in Bahrain's legal, technical, and operational expertise in cloud computing, reinforcing its role as a trusted regional digital hub. Al Qaed added that this move highlights the strong partnership and mutual trust between the two nations, and affirms Bahrain's commitment to data sovereignty and transparency, aligning with the highest regulatory standards and its vision for digital transformation. Bahrain is committed to building a secure digital infrastructure that protects rights and ensures privacy in line with national legislation and global best practices. He said that this decision complies with Decree No. (56) of 2018 on the provision of cloud computing services to foreign entities, as well as all related ministerial regulations. He highlighted Bahrain's pioneering legal framework that enables foreign cloud service use while ensuring sovereign data ownership rights. BNA(R)
Zawya
23-04-2025
- Zawya
Cryptocurrency mining in Kuwait is illegal
KUWAIT CITY - The Ministry of Interior (MoI) issued a warning on Tuesday regarding unauthorized cryptocurrency mining activities within Kuwait, stating that these activities are unlicensed and a direct violation of the country's laws. In a press statement from the General Department of Security Relations and Media, the ministry clarified that cryptocurrency mining violates several key laws, including Law No. (56) of 1996 related to the Industry Law, Law No. (31) of 1970 amending certain provisions of the Penal Code No. (16) of 1960, Law No. (37) of 2014 establishing the Communications and Information Technology Regulatory Authority (CITRA), and Law No. (33) of 2016 concerning the Kuwait Municipality. The ministry stressed that cryptocurrency mining leads to significant depletion of electrical energy, increasing the load on the public power network. This can result in power outages, affecting residential, commercial, and service areas, which poses a threat to public safety and disrupts the regular delivery of essential services. This warning follows joint efforts between the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy, the Communications and Information Technology Authority, the Public Authority for Industry, and Kuwait Municipality. These efforts are part of a coordinated national initiative to address these illegal practices and reduce their adverse effects on the country's electrical infrastructure. The Ministry of Interior urged violators to promptly rectify their activities, emphasizing that failure to comply will result in necessary legal actions. Violators will be referred to the appropriate investigative authorities for further action in accordance with applicable laws. Arab Times | © Copyright 2024, All Rights Reserved Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. ( arabtimes
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Marijuana backers criticize Ohio bills attempting to change state law
Stock photo from Getty Images. Marijuana advocates called bills to change Ohio's weed laws 'a slap in the face' to voters. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws hosted a webinar last week about two bills that are trying to change Ohio's marijuana laws. 'Whether one believes that cannabis ought to be legal or not is almost a secondary issue,' said NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano. 'The primary issue ought to be that elections have consequences, and the results of elections should matter.' Ohioans voted to legalize recreational marijuana in 2023 by passing a citizen-initiated law, meaning Ohio lawmakers can change the law. Marijuana sales started in August 2024 and the state's total recreational marijuana sales were $376,482,070 as of Saturday, according to the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Cannabis Control. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'Ohio looks like it has been rolling along very smoothly, and implementation has been going well,' said NORML Political Director Morgan Fox. 'There have been no major complaints from Ohioans, and it's premature for the legislature to try to interfere with it.' There are bills in both chambers trying to rewrite Ohio's marijuana laws — Senate Bill 56 and House Bill 160. 'It's not as if this pushback is coming because there have been negative or adverse consequences of Issue Two being implemented,' Armentano said. 'The law is working just fine, and Ohioans are happy with it. Lawmakers are trying to meddle with it and act as if there are issues with the law, when in fact, we're seeing the laws playing out the way voters intended.' These bills would be dangerous for cannabis users in Ohio, said Cat Packer, director of drug markets and legal regulation at Drug Policy Alliance. 'There are so many ways that if you are a cannabis consumer in Ohio, with either of these bills passed, you should consider that the law will consider you a criminal,' she said. S.B. 56 would cut the number of Ohio's home grow plants in half from 12 plants down to six, reduce the THC levels in adult-use marijuana extracts from a maximum of 90% down to a maximum of 70%, and require marijuana can only be used in a private residence. THC potency caps are a solution in search of a problem, Armentano said. 'Voters, by and large, don't like potency caps for cannabis,' he said. 'If we simply remove these products from the market, we're not going to get rid of the demand, but what we're going to do is drive the production of these products to the unregulated market.' S.B. 56 does allow someone to apply to the sentencing court to have their record expunged, but they would have to pay a $50 filing fee. The bill would require marijuana to only be transported in the trunk of a car when traveling and would limit the number of active dispensaries to 350. The Ohio Senate passed S.B. 56 last month, which would ban Ohioans from using marijuana that is not either from a licensed Ohio dispensary or cultivated at a consumer's home — meaning it would be illegal for Ohioans to drive up to Michigan to buy marijuana and bring it back over state lines. The bill has yet to have a hearing in the House. 'If you were to pass a joint or share your home grown cannabis, or share your cannabis with your spouse or your roommate, you would be a criminal again,' said Karen O'Keefe, director of state policies at Marijuana Policy Project. House Bill 160 would keep home grow and tax levels the same, but reduce THC levels and redirect most of the tax revenue to the state's general fund. The current tax revenue is divided up in several ways — 36% to the cannabis social equity and jobs fund, 36% to the host community cannabis fund, 25% to the substance abuse and addiction fund and 3% to the Division of Cannabis Control and Tax Commissioner Fund. 'My concern is we wouldn't be dedicating those monies where voters decided that the money should go,' Packer said. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine's budget proposal would increase the tax on marijuana from 10% to 20%. The Ohio House is currently working on the budget, which is due July 1. Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Cannabis industry stakeholders say Ohio's marijuana bill defies voters' will
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — As Ohio legislators look to crack down on voter-approved recreational marijuana laws, cannabis industry leaders are asking them to reconsider. Senate Bill 56 would make dozens of changes to Ohio's recreational marijuana program, a citizen-led statute that passed in November 2023 with 57% of voters in favor. The bill passed in the Ohio Senate and now heads to the House as cannabis industry stakeholders speak out against the legislation. See previous coverage of the bill in the video player above. S.B. 56 is a 147-page bill that would repeal most of Ohio's current Cannabis Control Law, replacing it with new and more restrictive legislation. It is a sweeping bill with many aspects that would strengthen regulations against home growing, adult use, dispensary licensing, cannabis farmers, employment, taxation and product options. Vivek Ramaswamy's nonprofit is barely known but it makes big claims In the Senate committee, the legislation saw four testimonies in favor of S.B. 56 and 40 testimonies against it. The ACLU of Ohio was one of the 40, and said many Ohioans likely would have wanted to provide testimony opposing S.B. 56 but were unable to with the speed it moved through the Senate. Karen O'Keefe also shared opponent's testimony. O'Keefe is an attorney and director of state policies for the largest cannabis policy reform organization in the U.S., a nonprofit called Marijuana Policy Project. O'Keefe condemned the bill's restrictions, saying it would 'recriminalize' many aspects of cannabis use that voters approved. O'Keefe said many of the regulations unfairly limit adult use. She called portions of S.B. 56 that would enforce mandatory jail time for anyone who smokes or vapes cannabis on a boat 'outrageous.' O'Keefe also pointed to restrictions in the bill barring sharing cannabis among a household, including if the homeowners grew the plant themselves. 'Spouses would have to have 'his and her' cannabis,' she said. 'Imagine being prohibited from sharing a bottle of wine with friends and family. This prohibition is nonsensical.' Ohio transportation budget includes air travel, passenger rail Cannabis Safety First founder Tim Johnson said the bill's concerns about public safety are redundant at best. Johnson, a veteran and retired law enforcement officer, said the state should support cannabis as a sustainable new industry rather than adding new criminal penalties for cannabis use. If passed, Ohioans would only be permitted to grow six plants, halving the current 12-plant policy, which many opponents disagreed with. Larger marijuana cultivators also spoke out against the bill's restrictions toward growing cannabis. 'As a farmer, I'm asking you to remove the clause that prohibits hemp farmers from growing high THC cannabis outside,' Joey Ellwood with Appalachian Girls Cannabis Company said. 'I'm one of seven hemp farmers left in Ohio and our family has endured many challenges with this market.' Chad Thompson, founder and organizer of the outdoor cannabis festival Stargazer Fest, said he felt the cultivating changes were largely lawmakers overregulating. Ohio Intel plant construction delayed into next decade 'If you can grow six, why can't you grow 12? I mean, this is just an infringement on personal freedoms and rights that the Ohio citizens voted for,' Thompson said. The bill would also cap the number of total active dispensaries at 350. Currently, Ohio has issued 128 certificates of operation. Since recreational dispensaries first opened in the state last August, business has boomed for cannabis sales. Ohio currently averages between 200,000 and 300,000 individual cannabis sales each week, and non-medical sales have brought in more than $333 million in just seven months. Nicole Stark, CEO of Bloom dispensary, said they are carefully reviewing S.B. 56 and will continue to ensure safe and effective access for patients and customers. 'Ohio voters made their voices heard in the recent election, and we hope any legislative changes will continue to reflect the will of the people while supporting a responsible and well-regulated cannabis program,' Stark said. S.B. 56 passed the Senate on Feb. 26, and is expected to be referred to the House this week. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
If Ohio politicians restrict legal weed as passed by voters, what will it mean to consumers?
Ohio Senate President Rob McColley, R-Napoleon. (Photo by Graham Stokes for the Ohio Capital Journal. Republish photo only with original article.) Ohioans overwhelmingly voted to legalize recreational marijuana in 2023, but Republicans are on their way to restricting it. Last Wednesday, Ohio Senate Republicans passed Senate Bill 56 to overhaul the legal adult-use marijuana law as passed by voters, lowering THC limits, limiting home growth, criminalizing out-of-state purchases from being brought back into Ohio, and removing a social equity fund from receiving tax revenue. The measure now goes to the Ohio House for consideration. The Ohio Senate and Ohio House would have to both agree on and pass a final bill, and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine would have to sign it, in order for these changes to become law. Readers have reached out with a variety of questions, so in this article we will go over the current law, what is being proposed by Ohio Senate Republicans, and what it would mean to Ohio consumers. Right now, if you are 21 years old or older, you can smoke, vape and ingest marijuana. Individually, you can grow six plants, but you can grow up to 12 plants per household if you live with others. You can have up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana in all forms except for concentrates, which you can only have up to 15 grams. Senate Republicans passed S.B. 56, which places limits on advertising, and also prevents packages from appealing to kids. 'We need some common-sense safety protections for people in the state of Ohio, primarily for children,' Senate President Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, said. Most notably, though, it decreases the THC content in products and limits home growing to six plants. THC, the psychoactive cannabinoid, would be capped at 100 milligrams per package. It also primarily reduces the allowable THC levels in adult-use extracts from a max of 90% to 70%. Any other type of marijuana product (like edibles) would be limited to 10mg per serving and 100mg per package. No. 'It would not be because the medical marijuana program runs under a different statute,' Entin said. Currently, the law gives the 10% tax revenue from each marijuana sale to four different venues: 36% to the social equity fund, to help people disproportionately impacted by marijuana-related laws; 36% to host cities — ones that have dispensaries; 25% to the state's mental health and addiction services department; and 3% to the state's cannabis control department. But as Case Western Reserve University constitutional law professor Jonathan Entin explained, the social equity fund would be removed under S.B. 56. 'The main push is to use the tax revenue basically for law enforcement purposes,' he said. Yes, but not through S.B. 56. Gov. Mike DeWine proposed, and the House is debating now, how much the tax at the point of sale is. DeWine proposed raising it from 10% to 20%. No. No. 'Nothing in the state constitution limits the legislature's ability to tinker with or even completely repeal a popularly adopted statute,' Entin continued. For context, there are two main ways citizens can get something on the statewide ballot: an initiated statute and a constitutional amendment. The recreational marijuana proposal was an initiated statute, which means it goes into the Ohio Revised Code. An initiated statute, or a law, has an easier process of making it to the ballot than a constitutional amendment. Initiated statutes can be easily changed, while amendments cannot. GOP leaders have continued to say that the voters knew they wanted legal weed — but didn't know everything they were voting on. 'I'm not sure why people voted for the initiative — it could have been home grow, public smoking, increase in dispensaries; it could have been anything,' S.B. 56 bill sponsor Steve Huffman (R-Tipp City) said. 'We'll never know.' I questioned why this rhetoric persists. '[You and other lawmakers have said] voters knew that they were choosing marijuana, but they didn't know exactly what they were voting. Why do you think that?' I asked Senate President Rob McColley (R-Napoleon). 'Well, I wouldn't say they didn't know what they're voting on,' he said, contradicting what he and his colleagues have said for years. 'I think what the comment [that] was made today was that everybody may have had a different reason for getting to yes and, just like with any other large piece of legislation, that is voluminous and dealing with a variety of changes.' Since voters chose to vote on it as an initiated statute instead of a constitutional amendment, they should have known the risk that lawmakers would get involved, the president added. What voters 'really' voted for, was 'access to products,' McColley said in 2023. 'Their remedy is to vote the legislators out,' Entin said. … Eventually. S.B. 56 or some other bill changing cannabis policy will likely be implemented in the coming months, according to leaders in both chambers. But the next time House lawmakers will be up for election is 2026, while some senators face reelection in 2026 and others in 2028. Or, you could try reaching out to them, testifying at the Statehouse, or protesting. The bill still needs to get through the House, which is more weed-friendly than the Senate. Here's the problem that election law experts have warned about. 'Gerrymandering is basically the ability to draw maps to make a party more powerful than they are popular,' CWRU's Atiba Ellis said. 'The problem is we can draw maps to create more districts where it's easier for Republicans to win than it is for Democrats.' Ohio is clearly a red state now, but it isn't nearly as red as the legislative makeup, Ellis explained. 'They've been able to draw districts so that there are more districts that work for the advantage of Republican officeholders than there are roughly the number of people who vote for Republicans across the state,' he said. Prior to the 2024 election, President Donald Trump won Ohio by eight points each, garnering 51% of the vote in 2016 and 53% in 2020. In 2024, the Ohio Senate has 33 members: 26 Republicans and 7 Democrats. The Republicans made up nearly 80% of the chamber. The Ohio House had 99 members: 67 Republicans and 32 Democrats. The Republicans made up nearly 70% of the chamber. Even when Trump won in 2024, he garnered 55% of the vote — less than the 57% of Ohioans who chose legal weed the year prior. Currently, Ohio lawmakers draw the legislative and congressional maps — ones that directly impact them and their colleagues. Voters had a chance to change that and remove politicians from the map-making process in 2024 with Issue 1, but it failed. Republican leaders have now admitted that their messaging to prevent Issue 1 from passing was confusing to voters and that it was a 'good strategy' to win, according to reporting by the Fremont News-Messenger. So far, only the Senate has taken a vote. Each of the Republicans who were present voted yes, and all of the Democrats voted no. To put it simply: Republican Senators Rob McColley, Theresa Gavarone, Michele Reynolds, Steve Huffman, Steve Wilson, Louis (Bill) Blessing, Kyle Koehler, Susan Manchester, Nathan Manning, Terry Johnson, Shane Wilkin, Jerry Cirino, Andrew Brenner, Tim Schaffer, Mark Romanchuk, Tom Patton, Bill Reineke, Kristina Roegner, Jane Timken, Brian Chavez, Al Landis, Sandy O'Brien and Al Cutrona all voted to change what the voters chose. Republican Sen. George Lang wasn't at session, thus, he didn't vote. To find your district's legislators, click here. Contact me! Send an email to with the subject line 'Marijuana question.' Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on X and Facebook. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
