LOS ANGELES – Green Gorilla™, a manufacturer and brand of cannabidiol (CBD) products, launches its first whole plant-full spectrum CBD oil product to complement its line of pure CBD oils. The whole plant full-spectrum product will be sold under the company’s Hemp & Olive™ line. It will be packaged in 1-oz. bottles of whole plant 1200mg concentration and retails for $44.99.

As with all Green Gorilla™ products, the whole plant-full spectrum CBD oil is non-GMO, vegan, paleo, low-carb, gluten-free and sugar-free. The products are formulated with whole plant- full spectrum CBD along with GG BioEnhanced Complex™, Green Gorilla’s proprietary blend of certified organic botanicals, herbals and extracts to further optimize bioavailability, and then crafted with certified organic extra-virgin olive oil offering some of the highest polyphenol counts making it an optimal courier for CBD.

“We are offering a full spectrum product in addition to our lines of pure CBD products to provide consumers with a choice,” said Steven Saxton, CEO of Green Gorilla™. “All Green Gorilla products are manufactured according to the highest standards and with the finest, purest ingredients.”

Hemp & Olive™ products are available at more than 700 retail stores across the country and online at ILoveGreenGorilla.com.

Image courtesy of Green Gorilla

Congress voted Monday to pass a spending bill to fund the federal government through Feb. 8, ending a three-day government shutdown and keeping the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment, a key medical marijuana industry protection, intact for three more weeks.

 UPDATE: Rohrabacher-Blumenaeur Amendment Survives Another Government Shutdown And Short-Term Spending Bill

Lawmakers have passed three short-term spending deals since Oct. 1, and the U.S. Senate failed to pass a spending bill Jan. 19 to avert a government shutdown due to Congressional debates over children’s health care and immigration policies. Lawmakers now have until Feb. 8 to reach an agreement and pass a permanent spending bill for 2018 that may or may not include the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer protection.

The Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), was first approved in 2014 and prevents the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) from using federal funds to prosecute state-compliant medical marijuana operators in states that have legal cannabis programs. It has been included in every budget deal passed in Congress since its introduction.

In the wake of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ rescission of the federal policy outlined in the Cole Memo and DOJ and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen) memos that protected state-legal cannabis businesses and the banks that work with them, lawmakers have introduced several pieces of legislation to secure more permanent protections for the cannabis industry.

U.S. Rep. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and other members of Congress sponsored the Respect State Marijuana Laws Act to apply many of the same statutes found in the Cole Memo; U.S. Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Don Young (R-AK) introduced the REFER Act, a similar bill that would prohibit the federal government from spending money on the prosecution of state-legal marijuana businesses; U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) announced legislation that would let states decide how to enforce their own marijuana laws and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker’s (D-NJ) Marijuana Justice Act that would remove cannabis from the federal list of controlled substances was introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives.

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CHICAGO (WLS) -- Illinois lawmakers held their fourth public hearing Monday morning about legalizing marijuana, which provided some legislators with input to help them create a new bill that will be proposed in early February.

During the joint committee hearing in Chicago, testimony illuminated both the pros and cons of allowing anyone over the age of 21 to have an ounce of marijuana on them, as well as taxing and regulating the drug. Even lawmakers who support such a proposal have varying motivation.

RELATED: Illinois Lawmakers Push for Recreational Marijuana

"The goal is to reduce black market, keep teens away and bring in revenue to a safe and secure environment," said state Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said her support is not about revenue, but about ending racial disparities in the criminal justice system.

"Rarely do we see white college students or young professionals, suburban high school students or their prosperous parents arrested or detained for the use or possession of marijuana," she said.

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Medical marijuana is now legal in Pennsylvania under state law, says state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, even if U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions claims it’s illegal under federal law.

“It’s my job to uphold the law here in Pennsylvania; and on a bipartisan basis, the legislature passed and the governor signed a medicinal marijuana law that is very popular,” Shapiro told KDKA political editor Jon Delano on Monday.

RELATED: Differing Views: U.S. Attorneys Address Cole Memo Repeal

Sessions, however, has withdrawn an Obama administration ruling that protected parents and medical cannabis users from federal prosecution, leaving it up to the state’s three U.S. Attorneys to decide what to do in their areas.

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Top image: © Zack Frank | Adobe Stock