Cannabis advocates, medical nonprofits and veterans groups are urging state governors to not shut off access to cannabis businesses.

Marijuana Policy Project, a cannabis legalization organization, drafted a pair of open letters to state governors urging them to declare cannabis operations as "essential" businesses; to adopt measures such as online ordering, telemedicine, and contactless delivery; and limit red tape on aspects such as hiring requirements and medical card renewals.

"One of the challenges is that a lot of these programs are built into statutes that were drafted at a time when this wasn't anticipated," said Karen O'Keefe, director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project. "For every aspect of this, it's so highly regulated that it really makes it challenging for businesses to keep functioning as they should."... READ MORE