Colorado Bill Would Prevent Termination for Off-the-Clock Cannabis Use

2/09/2022

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A bill introduced in Colorado would prohibit employers from denying employment to or terminating workers because of their off-the-clock cannabis use, the Colorado Sun reports. The measure would protect both medical and non-medical cannabis users but includes exceptions for some safety-sensitive positions, including those requiring heavy machinery use and in dangerous fields.

State Rep. Brianna Titone (D) told the Sun that Coloradans “should be able to enjoy the legal things” allowed in the state “and not be penalized for it.”

“Marijuana is legal in Colorado. And what people do in their spare time that doesn’t impact their work shouldn’t really be a problem for them.” – Titone to the Sun

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, only Nevada and New Jersey – which both allow adult cannabis use – include employee protections for using cannabis off-the-clock.

In 2015, the Colorado Supreme Court sided with an employer, Dish Network, who fired an employee after he tested positive for THC in a random drug test. The employee had a medical cannabis card for back spasms caused by his quadriplegia – the condition is one of the seven for which medical cannabis can be recommended under Colorado law.

A similar bill was rejected in 2020, the report says, and the reforms are still opposed by the Colorado chapter of the National Federal of Independent Businesses. Tony Gagliardi, who heads the chapter, said the organization “has historically opposed any legislation that would (allow) the use of marijuana on the property of the employer or cause an employee to test positive for any prohibited drug or prohibit any authority of the employer to perform random drug tests.”

The bill co-prime sponsor Rep. Edie Hooton (D) told the Sun that the “whole idea” of the proposal “is to signal to the business community and to employers that because we have legalized cannabis we should be following the same laws and rules that apply to alcohol and prescription drugs.”

The Colorado Chamber of Commerce has not taken an official position but has previously opposed similar legislation.

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Mississippi to Begin Accepting Medical Cannabis Applications in June

2/09/2022

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The Mississippi Department of Health (DOH) announced shortly after becoming the 37th state to legalize medical cannabis that it would begin accepting applications for a variety of license types in June, the Associated Press reports. These will include permits for patients and licenses for growing facilities and dispensaries. However, officials say dispensaries are months away from opening due to the time needed to establish a new licensing system.

“The goal is to provide a safe and accessible program that meets the needs of patients and the public health and safety of all Mississippi residents.” – MDOH in a press release

Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signed medical cannabis into law earlier this month after a legalization proposal passed by voters in 2020 was overturned in a court challenge. The new law sets patient purchase limits at 3.5 ounces a day, far below the daily purchase limit of five ounces that was approved in the 2020 initiative. Cities and counties may opt out of allowing cannabis businesses, but residents may petition for an election to overturn a cannabis ban. Under the law, cannabis production is relegated to exclusively indoor.

In an interesting twist to the indoor-only cannabis cultivation policy adopted by Mississippi, the nearby Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) said it will not provide power to cultivate or distribute cannabis as it is federally illegal, according to an Oxford Eagle report.

“Given this important point, TVA will not direct any federal resources or funds to the cultivation and/or distribution of marijuana,” the TVA said in a statement.

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Pennsylvania Adult-Use Bill Gets Committee Hearing

2/09/2022

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The Pennsylvania Senate held the first hearing for an adult-use cannabis bill on Monday, according to a WGAL report. Heard in the Senate Law and Justice Committee, the bill is sponsored by Committee Chair Sen. Mike Regan (R), who said he is crafting the bill with Rep. Amen Brown (D).

Regan indicated he has concerns about the safety of cannabis on the illicit market and believes the state could “certainly produce a product that’s a lot safer than what’s out there now and the process of purchasing it a lot safer than it is right now.”

Brown has similar concerns around safety and says cannabis tax revenue could be used to help communities around the state.

“I’m focusing on fully funding after-school programs and summer camps and things of that nature,” he said.

Although Gov. Tom Wolf (D) is pro-legalization – he has previously called on legislators to legalize adult-use cannabis, saying revenue from the industry “might be one way” to close gaps in the Pennsylvania budget – Republican leadership in the legislature say the policy is not a priority. Law enforcement has also raised concerns around impaired driving and youth access at the hearing, the report says.

State Sen. Dan Laughlin (R), who has a separate bill to legalize adult-use that includes home grow provisions, described the Monday hearing a good first step.

“It’s good to get it out in the public and kind of vet it and start the conversation,” he said.

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Mobius Introduces ‘Plain English’ Guide to Good Manufacturing Practices in Cannabis Cultivation

2/08/2022

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Las Vegas, NV, February 07, 2022: Mobius — a leading manufacturer of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis trimming and automation equipment — released on Tuesday a landmark guide explaining Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) for cannabis processing.

The downloadable PDF seeks to simplify the complex yet important topic of GMP with “plain-English translations” backed by insight from industry experts.
“We released the Ultimate Guide to a GMP-Certified Cannabis Trimming Workflow to resolve our customers’ most critical concerns about certification and safety,” said Amanda James, Director of Strategy and Business Development at Mobius.

GMP compliance is crucial for protecting human health and is mandatory for most consumer goods. Yet GMP standards apply flexibly, causing confusion in the cannabis industry where many processes — such as cannabis and hemp trimming — are novel.

“We’ve worked with GMP consultants in the US, Canada, Europe, and South America,” said James. “And we’ve combined that knowledge into this guide, which hopefully makes GMP easier for cultivators.”

Experts foresee GMP mandates in all countries where cannabis is federally legalized. In the US, some state jurisdictions require GMP for cannabis processors now. And whether GMP is required or not, many business-to-business cannabis buyers demand GMP certification for safety assurance.

In Canada, where Mobius is located, all licensed producers must be GMP-certified. Those mandates have put the company — which manufactures high-end, pharmaceutical-grade cannabis trimmers — at the forefront of GMP implementation.

Mobius’s 41-page guide is an actionable resource that includes:

⦁ GMP checklists for sanitation, equipment, and personnel
⦁ Expert guidance on how to prepare for a GMP certification
⦁ Best practices for equipment maintenance, sanitation, and assessment
⦁ A sample audit form to begin the planning process

To download a copy of the Ultimate Guide to a GMP-Certified Cannabis Trimming Workflow, visit https://www.mobiustrimmer.com/gmp-certified-cannabis-trimming/

For a demonstration of Mobius trimmers, conveyors, or bucking equipment, contact a representative at info@mobiustrimmers.com

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Former NFL Player Estimates ‘80%’ of Players Use Cannabis

2/08/2022

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In an interview with an Atlanta, Georgia news station, Tavarres King, a former wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL), estimated that “around 80%” of players in the league use cannabis. King, who admitted to using cannabis himself during his playing days, had a three-season NFL career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2014, and New York Giants in 2016 and 2017.

“Playing with it, laser-sharp. I was laser-sharp, laser-focused,” King said in the interview with Channel 2 Sports Director Zach Klein.

“‘So, everyone knows you with the Giants, Lambeau Field, catching a touchdown pass from Eli Manning and you were high that game?’ Klein asked.

‘Yeah, yeah I was,’ replied King laughing.

‘You did your job,’ Klein said.

‘Yeah, I did my job,’ King said.” — An interview excerpt via Channel 2

Several NFL players have admitted to using cannabis during their careers, despite it being considered a banned substance by the league. The NFL did end the practice of suspending players for positive cannabis tests as part of last year’s collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Association. The league is also donating $1 million dollars to researchers studying the effects of cannabinoids on pain management in elite athletes, although none of its players will be involved in the study due to cannabis’ prohibited status.

Several former NFL players have entered the cannabis space following the end of their professional football careers, including Marshawn Lynch, Calvin Johnson, Rob Sims, Ricky Williams, Terrell Davis, Marvin Washington, Joe Montana, Eugene Monroe, and Carson Palmer.

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Study: Half of Regular Cannabis Users Have Diminished Driving Abilities While High

2/08/2022

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A study conducted by researchers at the University of California San Diego Center for Medical Cannabis Research (CMCR) suggests that at least half of participants who smoke cannabis had a significantly diminished ability to drive compared to subjects who smoked a placebo cigarette, the university newspaper, The Guardian, reports. The study included 191 regular cannabis consumers, which CMCR Co-director and Professor Thomas Marcotte said was different than previous studies, of  which “many” were conducted with “occasional users.”

“So one of the goals of our study was to really approximate real-world circumstances where someone who is a regular user will smoke to a desired highness and we wanted to see how being acutely high will affect their performance.” — Marcotte to The Guardian

The consumers recruited for the study were aged 21 to 55-years-old and were directed to smoke a cannabis cigarette after abstaining for 48 hours. The concentration percentage of the consumed cannabis varied in three amounts: 13.4%, 5.9%, and a placebo of 0.02% THC. After smoking, participants completed a simulation presented on a Driving Simulator System (Systems Technology, Inc) for about 25 minutes, which required subjects to maintain lane position and speed in a straight roadway while responding to a divided attention task on an iPad on the dashboard. The study participants would complete the simulation multiple times throughout the day, after different intervals of time.

Performances were measured by different variables, including measures of variation of lateral position and speed, and the number of correct divided-attention stimuli identified while driving. These were calculated to encompass the driving performance — the higher the score, the worse the performance.

The study found that 57 out of the 125 individuals who smoked THC would be classified as impaired at 30 minutes after inhalation. The researchers also found that while impairment was present for the regular consumers, not all of those who were high were significantly impaired. About half of the participants indicated that they felt too impaired to drive prior to beginning the simulation, Marcotte said, but added that 90 minutes after smoking, the impairment was waning among that cohort; however, their performance in the simulator was unchanged from the 30-minute to 90-minute mark, despite that they thought they were less impaired.

The researchers also found that the group with the highest cannabis usage in the previous six months had significantly higher THC blood concentrations after smoking but didn’t perform worse than those with lower THC blood concentrations, suggesting behavioral tolerance.

“People who are regular users believe that because they use all of the time, they don’t get as stoned with the same amount of THC as someone who’s an infrequent user, and we actually found that is true,” Marcotte said in the report. “But then they ingested more THC to get that level of highness. So in the end, they’re just as impaired as the other group even though they have developed this tolerance.”

The paper, “Driving Performance and Cannabis Users’ Perception of Safety,” which was published in JAMA Psychiatry online on January 26, indicates that there were several limitations with the study in that it didn’t include infrequent users, those who smoke medicinally, and nonusers. Subjects were told to get to a level of highness as they would casually at home, meaning that the study didn’t address controlled dosing or very elevated levels of highness. Additionally, effects on vision and cognition were not measured, and no measurements were taken between an hour and 30 minutes to three hours and 30 minutes after smoking when participants claimed they were no longer feeling the cannabis’ effects.

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New Zealand Hemp Firm Gets $1.3M Government Grant for R&D

2/08/2022

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A New Zealand company is set to receive a $1.34 million government grant to research and develop hemp fibers for products like flooring, food packaging, and activewear, according to a Stuff report. New Zealand Natural Fibres (NZNF) will use $2 million of its own funds in addition to the Ministry for Primary Industries’ (MPI) Sustainable Food and Fibres grant.

The company has previously received a $202,000 government grant to develop sustainable hemp technology and processes, the report says.

NZNF Chief Executive Colin McKenzie told Stuff that the funding would help the firm ramp up innovation and enhance its growing, processing, and marketing capabilities.

“We’re also developing and testing non-woven products, including a natural hemp fiber-based material that could replace single-use plastic food packaging, and a hemp fiber replacement for synthetic geotextiles used to stabilize soil in infrastructure works.” — McKenzie to Stuff

McKenzie added that hemp has “huge potential” to be part of the solution for some of the “most crucial” environmental challenges facing societies and the planet. The company plans to also investigate how hemp might be used to produce a natural replacement for carbon composites, packaging, building materials, and other industrial applications.

MPI Investment Programs Director Steve Penno said the project will focus on hemp plant genetics, including new variety sourcing and development, on-farm production, and agronomic development. He told Stuff that the project promises to add “considerable value” to New Zealand’s hemp fiber industry.

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NORML: Influencing Federal Reforms Through Local Advocacy

2/07/2022

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The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) was founded in 1970 by Keith Stroup. Stroup was working with Ralph Nader when the politician was focused on guaranteeing consumer protection. In this work, Stroup realized that he wasn’t protected by the government as a cannabis consumer — there was no entity ensuring cannabis was safe for consumption. He tracked this lack of oversight back to prohibition and in response, he founded the Marijuana Consumers Lobby, a grassroots organization that evolved into NORML. The national NORML branch is now led by Executive Director Erik Altieri, who spoke with us about how he got involved with cannabis policy, the structure of the organization, and what he’s looking forward to in cannabis policy this year.

Erik stepped into activism after moving to Washington D.C. to attend American University. He enjoyed cannabis socially and in his free time went to anti-Iraq war rallies. In the early 00s, he heard about a NORML rally in Philadelphia from an old friend and was interested in their goal of ending cannabis prohibition. As a young activist, Altieri opposed the unjust war on drugs, which has targeted primarily Black and Brown communities, so he reached out to NORML. The organization’s HQ was in DC and soon after that contact, he started an internship. Fifteen years later, Erik had served as a full-time staffer in communications and federal lobbying before stepping up to Executive Director. In this role, he continues his work on the Hill to end the unjust persecution of cannabis consumers through advocacy.

“We focus heavily on the core goal that we want to end prohibition so no marijuana consumer is treated as a criminal or a second class citizen in society,” Erik told Ganjapreneur. “They want access to a product that is safe, reliable, and convenient to purchase. And they want to see not only prohibition end, but us grapple with rectifying the negative impacts that prohibition has had on society, and also making sure that it’s not just once you legalize, it’s over. Still in legal states now, we have to deal with issues of employment and child protective services and things like that. That’s where we go as legalization spreads to more states and that I think makes NORML unique and NORML valuable.”

There are over 150 local chapters underneath the national branch. Headquarters educates chapter leaders about how to advocate for their own communities even if they don’t have experience in lobbying or policy work. They spend a lot of time with these volunteers to equip them with the science, studies, and polling data that is essential when advocating at a local level. The national branch hosts a weekly call with all chapters covering topics like how to organize a lobby day, run a non-profit, host fundraisers, and inspire people to get involved. “It was always primarily focused at advocating for a consumer and doing it through a grassroots movement that empowers everyday Americans to engage in the political process,” said Erik.

Policymakers at any level will respond to a mountain of calls from their constituents quicker than calls from a national non-profit organization. Erik asserted that the most effective advocate comes from the community they’re advocating for, and because of this, local chapters are essential to NORML’s success. The local push is one very important prong of their work — the other is lobbying for federal descheduling, safe banking, and the end of prohibition.

NORML’s national offices lobby for consumer-focused cannabis policy at the federal level. When Erik first started with NORML, only a few lawmakers would take their calls — the concept of cannabis legalization was sometimes even a joke in a political conversation. Since then, Erik has watched the conversation shift from “Should we legalize cannabis?” to “How do we legalize cannabis?” and he sees that as one small victory on the road to ending prohibition. And each step towards that goal is something that Erik always celebrates, but he wants to clear up how the industry, media, and consumers speak about federal legalization.

“It’s important to note that federal legalization is a bit of a misnomer, and it gets used constantly. Especially by the media. There’s never going to be such a thing as federal legalization in a way that Congress would pass a bill and now it’s legal in all 50 states. For good or for ill, that’s not how our federalist system works in this country. What the end of federal prohibition will look like is a lot like the end of alcohol prohibition, which was largely the government repealed their prohibition, they put some structures in place for oversight regulation, taxation, that kind of thing. But it didn’t force any state to legalize alcohol if they chose to maintain a prohibition. The same will happen when we deschedule marijuana. But it does remove a ton of the obstacles that you’re seeing in a lot of states where people are still hesitant to pass something that will violate federal law.”

The end of federal cannabis prohibition seems more possible than ever, but working with lawmakers on the Hill can be slow and frustrating. This work requires patience and a piecemeal plan leading toward long-term goals. Their multi-pronged approach to cannabis legalization has built a swell of political support, and this support is essential as NORML is one of the few consumer-driven cannabis lobbyist groups at a table of corporate lobbyists. Corporate lobbyists don’t have the same interest in causes like expungement and equity licensing that are important to polled cannabis consumers — NORML fills the gap left by corporations.

They have done a lot of work with Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), the lead sponsor of the MORE Act, and have also worked closely with Democratic Senators Booker and Schumer on their attempts to introduce prohibition-ending policy. More recently, they have been building Republican allies like South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace and Ohio Rep. Dave Joyce, who have made efforts toward descheduling. Descheduling would open up many opportunities for the plant, such as access to banking, the ability to research, taxes, and veteran access through the VA. But getting majority support won’t happen overnight.

That is why supporting small bills on the road to descheduling is essential to NORML’s mission. Right now, there is a lot of focus on the SAFE Banking Act. If passed, business operations would be safer and entrepreneurs would have access to traditional capital. Getting a vote through each branch would also provide an updated whip count of cannabis supporters, a beneficial toll for moving forward. Things are moving faster than ever for cannabis legalization advocates. “It’s a rate of progress that is unprecedented, not just for marijuana but for most political social issues,” Erik said.

NORML has come a long way from Erik’s early days when only a couple of lawmakers would work with the non-profit. He is proud of how they have been able to pivot from winning by ballot measure to legalizing legislatively in the last few years. Marijuana has notable momentum with the Senate Majority Leader introducing their own bill, 90% of the Democratic caucus sponsoring the MORE Act, and the numerous other legalization bills this year. What was once a fringe issue has gained support at every level of government, and a lot of these accomplishments are thanks to everyday Americans doing hard work at the local level.

Visit NORML.org and sign up for the email newsletter for calls to action and policy news, or check out one of the many local chapters.

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U.S. House Passes SAFE Banking Act

2/07/2022

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The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday passed the SAFE Banking Act — which would normalize banking and financial services for state-approved cannabis companies — for the sixth time, according to a Roll Call report. The legislation was included as an amendment to the China competition bill; it had previously approved the legislation as a stand-alone bill as recently as April, and as part of the 2022 defense spending bill, but it was omitted from the final version of the final law.

Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.), the bill’s primary sponsor, said in a statement that “Cannabis-related businesses — big and small — and their employees are in desperate need of access to the banking system and access to capital in order to operate in an efficient, safe manner and compete in the growing global cannabis marketplace.”

The amendment was also sponsored by Democratic Reps. Nydia M. Velázquez (NY) Barbara Lee (CA) and Earl Blumenauer (OR), and Republican Reps. Warren Davidson and David Joyce of Ohio. It was approved an amendment 262-168.

“The SAFE Banking Act is the best opportunity to enact some type of federal cannabis reform this year and will serve as the first of many steps to help ensure cannabis businesses are treated the same as any other legal, legitimate business.” — Perlmutter in a statement via Roll Call

The amendment’s approval was also praised by Credit Union National Association President Jim Nussle, who said in a statement to Roll Call that it “addresses an important public safety issue by providing legal businesses access to financial services.”

The proposal still needs to survive the conference process between the House and Senate. Some lawmakers in the upper chamber, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Democratic Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.), have said they might not support the amendment without an effort to pass broader reforms related to federal cannabis laws.

The bill carries 180 co-sponsors, including 26 Republicans, but Perlmutter and Joyce indicated they would keep pressing for the bill’s passage, especially as an amendment to other must-pass legislation.

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California Fish & Wildlife Agents Destroyed 2.6M lbs. of Illegal Cannabis Plants Last Year

2/07/2022

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The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) said it eradicated 2.6 million pounds of illegally cultivated cannabis plants and 487,270 pounds of flower during its 2021 enforcement operations. The agency indicated it also removed 404 illegal water diversions and removed 32,230 pounds of trash from public lands linked to illicit cannabis cultivation.

David Bess, CDFW deputy director and chief of the Law Enforcement Division, said in a statement that the illegal cannabis grows “are a threat to California’s fish and wildlife resources, and a detriment to those legally cultivating cannabis.” The agency also notes that illegal cannabis enforcement operations led to 1,125 warrants served and 794 firearms seized.

CDFW said that some of the most serious environmental issues involve unauthorized streambed alterations with water diversions, habitat destruction, illegal use of pesticides, and poaching and while the agency does not typically investigate water theft, it does assist county law enforcement in such investigations.

According to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP) program, illegal cannabis cultivation is moving move away from public land operations to private property. In 2018, illegal cannabis cultivation activity was approximately 80% on public lands and 20% on private property; in 2021 the DOJ CAMP program said that less than 30% of illegal cultivation activity occurred on public lands.

CDFW said that it now has 68 dedicated cannabis enforcement officers who work with the county, state, and federal partners to combat illegal cannabis cultivation activity.

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Cannabis Company Seeking Colombia’s Approval to Study COVID-19 Prevention Drug

2/07/2022

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Flora Growth Corp. is seeking approval from Colombian regulators to research a patent-pending, cannabinoid-based product through clinical trials to explore whether it can prevent COVID-19 infection. The application with INVIMA, the Colombian food and drug regulation agency, comes as recent studies have suggested that cannabis compounds display viral inhibition in laboratory studies.

This study will be conducted through Flora’s research division, Flora Pharma, with formulation taking place in its Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)-certified Colombian lab. The company said the research will look at all of the potential mechanisms of cannabinoids in preventing infection from the COVID-19 virus. Flora indicated that the application is on the heels of Colombia’s new legislation requiring insurance companies to cover cannabis prescriptions.

Dr. Annabelle Manalo-Morgan, scientist and head of Flora Pharma, said in a statement that the intent of the research “is to identify safe and efficacious cannabinoid products for use on [the COVID-19] virus” which would allow the firm “to pursue the fastest path to market via a preventative immunomodulating product and to explore the possibility of use as a therapeutic.”

Luis Merchan, president and CEO of Flora Growth, pointed to “several studies published in just the past few months on the application of cannabinoids in certain treatments” as the company’s driver behind the research and INVIMA application.

“We are excited for our Flora Pharma researchers to build upon this progress and generate new data for how cannabis could help consumers around the world, leveraging this natural, botanical alternative,” he said in a press release. “We are honored to receive the advice and guidelines from INVIMA as we begin this exciting research process. The Flora Pharma division seeks to obtain evidence to support this product’s use against SARS-CoV-2 and bring to market an effective, cannabinoid-based product.”

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Pepsi Launches Hemp Oil-Infused Rockstar Product

2/04/2022

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PepsiCo is launching a new Rockstar Energy product — Unplugged — infused with hemp seed oil, CNBC reports. The brand is similar to a test product, Rockstar Energy + Hemp, that was launched in Germany last April but contains twice the amount of caffeine as the U.S. formulation.

In addition to hemp seed oil, Unplugged products include spearmint, lemon balm, B vitamins, and only 80 milligrams of caffeine – other Rockstar iterations include 160 milligrams to 300 milligrams of caffeine.

Pepsi said it hopes to attract younger, female customers with the Unplugged product. According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, men between the ages of 18 to 34-years-old consume the most energy drinks.

Fabiola Torres, PepsiCo general manager and chief marketing officer of its energy business, described the line as “a combination of herbals that can help us to relax, but not to sleep.” In an interview with the New York Post, she indicated that 91% of consumers told Pepsi they “wanted a beverage that lifts their mood.”

″[Hemp seed] doesn’t have any functionality, it comes from an herb. Imagine you’re drinking an herbal tea, with caffeine. That’s it.” — Torres to CNBC

Torres added that using hemp seed is “new territory” for the company which is “trying to test and learn and really have fun with it.”

Rockstar Unplugged will be available in 12-ounce, slim cans in three flavors: blueberry, passion fruit, and raspberry cucumber. It will be available next week nationwide, starting at $1.99 per can.

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Ohio Cannabis Entrepreneurs to Host Expungement Workshops

2/04/2022

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A pair of Ohio cannabis entrepreneurs are holding four cannabis expungement workshops this month, the Columbus Dispatch reports.

The workshops — which will be held on February 16 in Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, and Cleveland — will be hosted by Ally Reaves, CEO of Cannabis Can! and the founder and president of Midwest Canna Women, and Nickole Ross, owner and COO of Noohra Labs.

Although cannabis possession is treated similarly in Ohio to a traffic ticket, a cannabis arrest can still have a negative impact on job prospects or housing. Furthermore, while decriminalization has spread across Ohio, many Ohioans are still arrested for cannabis crimes each year, the report says.

“It’s important for us to support our communities by helping them clean up their records. They have records that prevent them from participating in the cannabis industry and in life in general.” — Ross via the Dispatch

The clinics will have legal professionals in attendance to help participants navigate the expungement process. Applicants must submit a request for expungement and then a judge must approve the request in order for a cannabis crime to be expunged in the state. Additionally, cannabis business owners will be on hand to discuss getting a job in the cannabis industry, according to the report.

“We want to create opportunities for them,” Reeves said, adding that she’s held this type of clinic before and 40 people attended.

The clinics are free of charge but pre-registration is required to attend the events.

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Sublime Cannabis Line Expected This Summer

2/04/2022

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Punk-reggae band Sublime is partnering with The Healing Plant on a line of band-branded cannabis products, which are expected to launch in California this summer, Forbes reports. Troy denDekker, the widow of the band’s founding frontman Bradley Nowell, said the line would “consist of not only what is wanted but what is needed to help heal.”

Scott Seine of Surfdog/DKM management said the band “wanted to find a true creative collaboration with someone who really understood the deep musical and cultural significance of Sublime’s legacy.”

The Sublime cannabis brand will see a controlled launch at select dispensaries in the band’s southern California home turf, including Long Beach, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, and the Inland Empire, the report says.

“Sublime has its own weed now!” drummer Bud Gaugh said in a press release. “I mean, what more needs to be said other than light ‘em up!”

Although Gaugh and bassist Eric Wilson still tour with Rome Ramirez as Sublime with Rome, the Sublime name is owned by the two surviving members and denDekker. Nowell died in 1996 of a heroin overdose.

Robert Taft Jr., founder and CEO of the Healing Plant, said the company will manufacture and process all California products at the company’s Costa Mesa facility and will be the sole distributor for Southern California. For the second phase of the rollout, the company will partner with a licensed distributor in Northern California.

“This brand is going to bring you Sublime’s ‘Greatest Hits’ of recreational cannabis, as well as a full line of medicinal products that will benefit people fighting opioid and heroin addiction, a very important driven line, especially for the community of artists in memory of Bradley Nowell himself,” he said in a statement.

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Arkansas Judge Halts Last Two Dispensary Licenses Over Racial Bias Lawsuit

2/04/2022

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An Arkansas judge on Tuesday issued a temporary restraining order preventing the state Medical Marijuana Commission from issuing the last two dispensary licenses until a lawsuit alleging racial bias in the application process can be fully heard, the Arkansas Times reports. The lawsuit was filed by Absolute Essence, which claims that the application process was arbitrary, without any rational basis, and that its procedures were unlawful and inconsistent.

Additionally, the lawsuit alleges racial bias in the commission’s processes, alleging it did not “evenhandedly and uniformly apply its own rules as between black-owned and non-black-owned.” The lawsuit contends that the dispensary application completed by Absolute Essence, a 100% Black-owned company, was not scored properly and should have received a higher score.

The lawsuit argues that “demonstrably less qualified non-black owned businesses – including many that were patently unqualified to even apply for licenses and who should have been disqualified at the outset – have been awarded licenses,” according to court documents outlined by the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

Applicants for licenses were scored by PCG – a consulting company hired by the commission.

The panel ultimately selected two companies that were next in line in their respective geographic zones based on their scores from PCG to receive each of the two remaining licenses if the change is approved by the Arkansas Legislative Council. As part of the licensing process, the commission divided the state into eight zones, allowing for a maximum of five dispensaries in each zone, and just two zones do not have the maximum of five dispensaries. The lawsuit seeks to prevent the council from approving that change and to stop the commission from issuing any new licenses until it either reevaluates the applications or completes a review using an entirely new process.

The lawsuit names the commission, the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, the Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control Division, Green Remedies Group, and T&C Management – which is next in line to receive the disputed license.

The temporary restraining order expires on February 15 but could be extended.

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All Florida Cannabis Legalization Campaigns Fall Short

2/03/2022

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An adult-use cannabis initiative will not be appearing on the 2022 November ballot in Florida, according to WFLA.

To successfully put a proposal on the ballot in Florida, a campaign must gather 222,898 signatures to trigger a judicial and financial review. If an initiative passes judicial muster — the deadline for which was February 1, 2022 — it would then need an additional 891,589 signatures to receive a vote in November. But out of three adult-use initiatives making the rounds in the state, only one made it to the judicial review — the other two fell far short of the needed signatures — and the courts threw out the last proposal out on legal grounds, the report says.

Although three efforts have failed, along with a number of medical cannabis ballot campaigns, a door for adult-use cannabis remains open in the Florida legislature. There are four adult-use bills in the Florida Senate and House with each chamber hosting two of the bills.

But the proposals, which are dependent on each others’ passage, have no bipartisan support — in fact, because of the extremely polarized political climate of Florida‘s legislative body, it is unclear whether any of the bills have a realistic path to the governor’s desk. Additionally, any successfully passed measure would still need the signature of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), something that would not be guaranteed.

Florida passed medical cannabis in 2017 but the state has faced challenges developing an affordable and socially equitable market. Lastly, no adult-use cannabis initiatives have yet to make it to Florida ballots, despite numerous efforts.

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Mississippi Gov. Signs Medical Cannabis Legalization Bill

2/03/2022

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Mississippi became the 37th state to legalize medical cannabis after Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signed the state’s new marijuana bill into law yesterday, NPR reports. The new law takes effect immediately.

The signing comes after a months-long back-and-forth between lawmakers and the governor, who in December ultimately threatened to veto the bill if the program’s daily cannabis purchasing limits were not reduced.

“There is no doubt that there are individuals in our state who could do significantly better if they had access to medically prescribed doses of cannabis. There are also those who really want a recreational marijuana program that could lead to more people smoking and less people working, with all the societal and family ills that that brings.” — Gov. Reeves, in a statement posted on Twitter

Under the program, patients will be allowed to purchase up to 3.5 grams of cannabis per day, or about three ounces per month. Cannabis products will be taxed at both production and sale, and all products must be grown indoors.

“For all the people who are touched in some way by a loved one or someone they know who benefits from medical cannabis, this brings their quality of life back,” Ken Newburger, Executive Director of the Mississippi Medical Marijuana Association, said in the report.

Mississippi voters passed a medical cannabis legalization initiative during the November 2020 elections but that initiative was invalidated by the state Supreme Court in May, which ruled that the effort had been assembled under an outdated signature-gathering process. The delayed rollout has also stalled millions of dollars in cannabis industry investments for the state.

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Montana’s First-Month Cannabis Sales Total $22.6M

2/03/2022

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After launching its adult-use cannabis market on January 1, Montana closed out the month with $22.6 million in total cannabis sales, including nearly $12.9 million in recreational sales, according to Department of Revenue data outlined by KULR-8. Medical cannabis sales in the state totaled nearly $9.8 million during the same timeframe.

With a 20% tax rate for adult-use products and a 4% tax on medical products, cannabis sales throughout the month generated a combined $2.9 million in taxes for the state.

Montana voters approved an adult-use initiative in 2020 to legalize the possession of up to an ounce of cannabis flower and the home cultivation of up to four plants for adults aged 21 or older. That initiative took effect on January 1, 2021.

The state’s Republican-controlled Legislature later approved rules for the plant’s commercial distribution, which were signed into law by Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) last May, and the program launched on January 1, 2022. Under the rules, only medical cannabis companies can be licensed for adult-use operations for the first 18 months. Additionally, adult-use sales will not be available in counties where voters initially rejected the reforms — instead, localities will have to opt into the industry through local elections.

Montana’s cannabis legalization language also included a clause for people with cannabis-related criminal convictions to get them stripped from their record but the courts have reported relatively low interest in the expungement possibilities.

 

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NFL Donates $1M to Cannabinoids Pain Management Study 

2/02/2022

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The National Football League (NFL) is donating $1 million to University of California San Diego and University of Regina (Canada) researchers to investigate the effects of cannabinoids on pain management, and neuroprotection from concussion in elite football players, respectively. The awards are part of the NFL-NFL Player’s Association (NFLPA) Joint Pain Management Committee, which aims to facilitate research to better understand and improve potential alternative pain management treatments for NFL players.

Dr. Kevin Hill — the co-chair of the committee, director of Addiction Psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School — said the committee received over 100 research proposals from clinicians and researchers around the world as part of the program.

Dr. Mark Wallace, co-principal investigator and director of the Center for Pain Medicine at UC San Diego Health, said the researchers will “conduct a systematic, ‘real-world, real-time’ study with professional athletes … which should shed further light upon the many anecdotal reports that cannabis is helpful in reducing post-competition pain.”

“The primary aim of this clinical trial is to assess the therapeutic efficacy and adverse effects of [delta-9 THC], cannabidiol (CBD), and combined THC/CBD, compared to placebo, for relief of post-competition soft-tissue injury pain in elite athletes. Elite athletes will vaporize treatments following game-related injuries, with outcomes monitored via remote phone apps.” – UC San Diego research abstract via the NFL

Dr. Patrick Neary, an exercise physiologist and professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies at the University of Regina, said his team “believes that different cannabinoid formulations found in medical cannabis have the potential to benefit athletes suffering from the acute and long-term chronic effects of concussions.”

“The specific goal of this project is to determine whether cannabis/hemp-based cannabinoids, i.e., [CBD] and [THC], can be used safely and effectively for pain management and to reduce the use of prescription medications including opioids in post-concussion syndrome athletes,” the research proposal says. “An additional goal is to assess the neuroprotective properties of cannabinoids to reduce the incidence or severity of acute and chronic concussion in professional football players.”

Notably, NFL players will not participate in the study as cannabis use remains barred under the collective bargaining agreement. Instead, the studies will be conducted using “elite professional athletes outside of the NFL.”

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David C. Holland: Advocating for Cannabis Clemency & Anticipating the New York Market

2/02/2022

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Between steep compliance requirements and a misplaced stigma still lingering from the prohibition era, the cannabis industry is inherently intertwined with the law. In this interview, we ask New York City lawyer David C. Holland about his efforts to forward legalization and clemency efforts, the upcoming launch of New York’s adult-use cannabis market, the important role of cannabis advocacy and lobbyist groups, and more!

David serves as the Executive and Legal Director of Empire State NORML, is Co-Founder and President of NYC Cannabis Industry Association (NYCCIA), Co-Founder and Vice President of the Hudson Valley Cannabis Industry Association (HVCIA), and Legal Advisor for the Last Prisoner Project.

Read the full interview below:

Ganjapreneur: What inspired you to become a lawyer?

David C. Holland: As far back as I can remember, I have always been intrigued by the interplay between freedom of speech and the criminal justice system. Reading about the trial of Socrates for his teachings and the criminal consequences for questioning the beliefs and values of society fascinated me. We have seen that theme play out in religious contexts and even in the modern day, where media reporters in the United States can run articles that may lead to interactions with the criminal justice system.

My fascination started as a 7-year-old when my family was involved in a medical exchange program and moved to Moscow during the height of the “Cold War” with the Soviet Union in 1972-73. This exchange program was seen as a way to build cultural relations without diplomatic affiliation. At that time, we were the only westerners living behind the Iron Curtain with no diplomatic affiliation of any kind. All five of us kids were enrolled in Soviet schools and became part of the community.

The scientific world and hospital systems of the Soviet Union were decades behind the U.S., which in some part was due to censorship of prevailing research from reaching the Soviet scientific world. I remember overhearing my parents express fascination and exasperation about some of the impact of censorship on the scientific community. I later learned that they would often entertain whispered questions from the Soviet scientists about democracy in the United States and what freedom of thought was like in politics and science. These were dangerous questions for many Moscovites as KGB monitoring and surveillance of Soviet citizens was painfully real, and engaging in more than basic inquiries about western democracy that might challenge the rationalization of authoritarian rule could result in serious repercussions or even exile. That early experience of seeing a system where human inquiry/freedom of thought could be punished just for the potential to challenge the status quo never left me and shaped my future career as an attorney.

So, I was beyond excited at the opportunity to spend more than a decade working with High Times Magazine – the world’s Bible on cannabis cultivation and culture. Fascinating to me was the history of the magazine and the motto of the Founder, Tom Forcade, who, fearing federal efforts to eradicate the plant, said, “If you can’t overthrow the government then teach the people to overgrow it,” so that cannabis could not be eliminated from American culture. This interplay of radicalism and freedom of the press in teaching readers how to cultivate cannabis despite the prohibition under state and federal law was the elixir for me of a dream job. I got to explore and advance the legal issues of counter-culture in America and watch the role that the advocacy of many played in legalizing cannabis in the vast majority of the United States. It won’t be long now before national legalization takes place and the once counter-culture is the mainstream.

How do you assist clients in licensing, compliance, and communications with local and state municipalities?

I consult with existing operators (both from the legacy market and legalized market) and aspiring market entrants on how best to position their operation for the licensing application process. This includes doing corporate formation, business planning, branding, pitch decks for investors, equity and diversity planning, and providing comprehensive analyses of how the applying licensee’s business will uplift impacted communities and create meaningful jobs and generational wealth through the direct and ancillary ripple effect of that applicant receiving a license. My colleagues and I also engage with the municipal leaders to discuss their concerns about the implications of a licensed cannabis operator in their jurisdiction. Helping communities and their leaders overcome those concerns is an essential part of the license application process.

Why do you focus your energy on cannabis legalization and clemency?

Dostoevsky wrote, “The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.” This statement has factored largely in my professional life as I have had the fortunate opportunity to work within the criminal justice system from nearly every vantage point and have come to some conclusions about it.

For decades, American prisons served as mass incarceration warehouses of cannabis prisoners despite the fact that marijuana is now legal in some form in most of the United States. Millions have been arrested and convicted for cannabis, with a large number for simple possession. In some states, 87.5% of those arrests were people of color, which is abhorrent given that Caucasians and other demographics possess and consume at roughly the same rate for the same conduct. The draconian collateral consequences of those arrests and convictions, which at one time resulted in life imprisonment, were devastating not just to the accused but also to the family members and communities from whence they came. So Dostoevsky’s yardstick to measure our civilization ought to include the lives and opportunities destroyed by cannabis prosecutions and the collapse of communities as a direct result of that over the persecution of cannabis.

Those staggering realities resulting from the war on cannabis cannot be justified by the assertion of any credible scientific foundation or evidence. That is because the prohibition of marijuana was spawned from the insidious and rabid racist and xenophobic prohibition campaigns of the 1930s designed to criminalize and eradicate the plant. Those prohibition campaigns started by Harry Anslinger and others served the economic and political interests of an elite group of Americans who greatly benefitted from the plant’s eradication.

The true motivation of the war on cannabis was best summed up by John Ehrlichman, former domestic policy advisor to Richard Nixon. In a 1996 interview with Harpers, he made clear that weaponizing marijuana prosecutions in 1970 by classifying it as a Schedule I drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act served as a means of societal and thought control. As Ehrlichman made clear, Nixon had marijuana put in Schedule I, the most restricted drug classification, to punish the counter-culture by vilifying “Black people” and “hippies” night after night on the news, arresting their leaders, breaking up their meetings, and disabling their movements. Ehrlichman concluded the interview by stating, “Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course, we did.”

Correspondingly, over the ensuing decades, there was a rise in the prison-industrial complex where we have warehoused criminalized cannabis prisoners for reasons far removed from science or legitimate public health and safety reasons. If our prison system is the metric by which to measure our civilization, then we are in abject poverty of humanity. Despite 38 states legalizing cannabis in some form, we still have people serving excessive and life sentences for non-violent cannabis offenses. The continued imprisonment of those is not only unfathomable; it is indefensible.

I have had the great honor of assisting John Knock and five others who were each serving at least one federal life sentence without the opportunity of parole for non-violent cannabis offenses. Through the advocacy by myself and others, each received clemency from Presidents Obama and Trump and had their sentences commuted to time served.

Until the incarceration of legions of cannabis offenders ends, I will continue to assist in the battle against this injustice. One such means is the privilege to serve as a Legal Advisor to the Last Prisoner Project, which seeks clemency and relief for prisoners who are still languishing for conduct that is now legal in most of the United States. I will also be advocating for the creation of an amnesty program for legacy operators in order to prioritize them as first entrants into the legalized marketplace. Without that, there will be a two-market system that defeats the goals of justice and equity, which are at the heart of legalization programs in New York State and elsewhere.

Why did you co-found the NYC Cannabis Industry Association (NYCCIA) and Hudson Valley Cannabis Industry Association (HVCIA)?

Some of the major issues of a legalized cannabis industry are not uniform across the state and therefore not readily addressed on a macro level. With that in mind, I co-founded the NYCCIA (NYCCIA.org) and HVCIA (HVCIA.org) to take up regional approaches to those issues.

For instance, New York City is considered the world’s largest cannabis marketplace. However, being a densely packed metropolis, it is not well disposed to cultivate enough supply to meet that market demand. That role may be served better by other regions in the Empire State like the Hudson Valley, 20 miles to the north, which could play a significant role in facilitating that market demand. As you can see, the geographic, economic, and political issues around establishing that greater marketplace and supply chain become complex because not every region will be the same. That’s why we decided to start at a regional level before putting in an overarching state structure that we may form in the not-too-distant future.

What makes the NYCCIA and HVCIA unique is that they create the dialogue and develop policy recommendations and regulatory suggestions through member-driven discussions and committee analysis of pressing issues in both the illicit and the legalized cannabis spaces. Those committees are comprised of existing and aspiring industry participants to create a smooth, orderly, and predictable marketplace that is diverse and inclusionary. Our policies papers have gained significant traction in Albany as well as in the existing and emerging cannabis communities.

How does your role at Empire State NORML work towards your goals of cannabis legalization and clemency for cannabis prisoners?

I take great pride in being the Executive and Legal Director of Empire State NORML and its role in the longstanding 50 plus year campaign of national NORML to legalize cannabis across the United States. Empire State NORML and its local and regional affiliates are well known to thought leaders and legislators of New York.

While the passage of the MRTA came with the expungement of convictions and records for what was once deemed cannabis offenses, that is not enough. There are still inmates languishing in prison, having had draconian lengthy sentences imposed upon them for conduct that is now legal in most of the United States.

Empire State NORML has a significant recognizable advocacy voice across New York State and in Albany to call for legislative creation of mass clemency for those that were locked up and left behind.

Is New York City cooperative with cannabis events? What kind of licensing, permitting, and approvals are necessary before hosting an above-board cannabis event in NYC?

As the rules and regulations roll out in the coming weeks, New York City should be a very willing and cooperative partner in cannabis events. I hope to see a newly created class of “pop up” licenses that would allow for mobile retail sites, secure temporary facilities for events, concerts, boat cruises and the like. This is not a pipe dream; this is just replicating what the sale and service of alcohol have been permitted to do.

As the NYCCIA, we have been and are continuing to forge alliances and engage in dialogues with New York City municipal and community leaders to ensure that practical and low-cost entry points into the cannabis market are created, which will cause a fair, equitable, diverse, and sustainable industry to be built up through the provision of pop up and other temporary and mobile licenses.

Cannabis tourism hasn’t yet taken off in states like California or Nevada, is it possible that the beloved tourist destination NYC could be a spark point for cannabis tourism in the states?

Absolutely! The vast wonders of New York State and the cultural mecca that is New York City are tourist attractions in and of themselves. Cannabis may play a role in that attraction as well because the Big Apple is considered the world’s largest marketplace for it. I expect that we will see retail shops, social consumption sites, museums, and festivals that are canna-centric. In the vast agrarian regions of New York, canna-tourism may take root where enthusiasts can take in those natural wonders and sample high-quality cannabis along their travels like they do in the wine country of California.

Where do you think New York has excelled in establishing cannabis policy compared to other states?

New York has the most insightful and progressive cannabis legalization program in the country. Further, the MRTA, which legalized cannabis, has a demonstrable commitment to social equity and economic reinvestment into those communities which were adversely impacted by the War on Drugs.

In the coming weeks, the NYCCIA/HVCIA organizations will be holding public accessible membership meetings and events where our committees will be presenting on critical policy issues and recommendations directed to the Legislature with regard to the much-anticipated release of the Rules and Regulations for the legalized industry. We are scheduling a mid-February presentation to our members with a notable member of the Office of Cannabis Management, which oversees the entire program for New York State.

We expect that official to detail how the State Cannabis Fund will be implemented and, importantly, how equity candidates may receive more immediate funding and be prioritized as first and early market entrants rather than waiting for years for the Fund coffers to fill before they even get a chance to apply for a license.

Could the policy be implemented in any sector that would better serve the people over profits?

Speaking solely for myself, and not as the representative of any organization, I think the program could be implemented with greater long-range effectiveness if we found a comprehensive and meaningful vehicle to transition the existing legacy market operators to the legal market as the FIRST ENTRANTS rather than the last. In that regard, I have been developing a clemency model and proposal where legacy operators could be rapidly transitioned into the market ahead of others while simultaneously learning from their pedagogical information about how the world’s largest and most sophisticated marketplace has operated. The benefit of such information is that it will allow New York to continue to be the world’s leading market by implementing some of the business structures and drawing upon some of the expertise and logistical solutions that have allowed it to be so successful. To me, making legacy operators the first entrants and building upon their expertise will continue to keep New York as the world’s largest market without fear of competition from any illicit operators because they have been assimilated from the start.

To learn more about the Law Office of David Clifford Holland check out the firm’s website. For more information about upcoming meetings and presentations, please go to NYCCIA.org or HVCIA.org.

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MedMen Seeking to Subpoena New York Governor’s Office

2/02/2022

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Cannabis retailer MedMen is seeking to subpoena New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D) office in a lawsuit that alleges the administration used its influence to help Ascend Wellness purchase MedMen for $75 million as MedMen was set to end the deal, the New York Post reports.

In the state Supreme Court documents outlined by the Post, MedMen claims that Hochul and her office forced MedMen to sell its New York operations as a favor to political contributors. Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that Hochul and members of her administration pushed the Cannabis Control Board to approve the deal after failing to do so for nearly a year – just one day after Ascend executives allegedly attended a fundraiser for the governor’s reelection campaign. The fundraiser was hosted by Feuerstein Kulick, who is described in the lawsuit as “a major player in the field of cannabis law” who “advises companies on winning licenses from state governments,” the report says. A spokesman for Feuerstein Kulick denied to the Post that Ascend representatives were at that fundraiser.

MedMen had agreed to the deal a year ago but had sought not to move forward in the last few months as the state started the licensing process – with Hochul including $1.25 billion in cannabis-derived revenues over the next five years in her executive budget. MedMen likely wanted the deal to expire on the January 1 deadline as they now believed the $75 million was too low, the report says.

On October 28, Ascend made three donations to Friends of Kathy Hochul totaling $15,000, according to state Board of Elections data outlined by the Post. Two days after the fundraising event, Hochul’s secretary Karen Persichilli Keogh and two other aides met with Ascend CEO Abner Kurtin and other company representatives, the report says. State cannabis regulators ultimately approved the deal on December 28.

A spokesperson for the governor told the Post that the “allegations are full of falsehoods, including a meeting that never took place.”

“None of the governor’s senior team members names have ever met with these individuals,” the spokesperson said in the statement.

In a statement, Ascend said, “MedMen is essentially challenging the regulators’ authority and ignoring the regulations of the state’s medical program.”

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Study: Legal Cannabis Boosted Canadian GDP by $43.5B

2/02/2022

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A recent study by Deloitte Canada and provincial cannabis distributor, the Ontario Cannabis Store, suggests that cannabis has boosted Canada’s gross domestic product by $43.5 billion since it was legalized in October 2018, the Canadian Press reports. The report professes that for every dollar in revenue or capital expenditures, the industry adds about $1.09 to Canada’s GDP.

The study suggests that the legal cannabis industry has had more than a ten-fold greater impact on the GDP than the $3.96 billion estimated by Statistics Canada in their May report.

“In the span of three years, the Canadian cannabis sector has found its footing and emerged as a thriving new source of economic growth, creating and supporting tens of thousands of jobs in communities countrywide. As the sector grows and matures, realizing the return on its significant capital investments to date, we should expect it to make an increasingly strong and positive impact on national and provincial economies.” – Deloitte Canada, Ontario Cannabis Store, “Insights into the recreational marijuana market,” via the Press

The report found that the legal cannabis industry is responsible for 151,000 jobs and that for every million dollars in revenue or capital expenditure, the sector sustains about four jobs in Canada. The report also found that consumer purchases alone generated $2.9 billion in sales and excise taxes for government coffers.

The report does outline the staggering lack of diversity in the nation’s cannabis industry, finding that 72% of cannabis industry executives and directors in Canada were Caucasian men, 12% were Caucasian women, while 14 % were racialized men and just 2% were racialized women. Among that portion of cannabis industry leadership in Canada, 40% were of South Asian descent, 15% were Indigenous, 12% Arab, and 7% each for those identifying as Black and Hispanic.

“Before legalization in October 2018, nearly all the 45 federally licensed cannabis producers were run by Caucasian men, some of whom had prior experience in the cannabis ‘grey market,'” the report says. “The situation hasn’t changed much in the years since legalization.”

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Illinois Supreme Court Maintains Hold on Issuing New Cannabis Licenses

2/02/2022

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The Illinois Supreme Court has blocked an appeal by a prospective craft cannabis licensee asking the court to lift the state’s hold on issuing a batch of new licenses, the Chicago Tribune reports.

The Illinois cannabis licensing issues stem from the round of licenses awarded by the state via lottery in the summer of 2021 — after the state awarded 40 licenses, 13 applicants filed lawsuits contesting the results due to concerns about the state’s social equity requirements. In response to the lawsuits, the court ordered the state to stop issuing more licenses; however, the 40 licenses granted over the summer have gotten the go-ahead to move forward, the Tribune noted.

Filed by 1837 Craft Grow LLC, the appeal sought to allow another 47 licenses to move forward with 13 remaining on hold. Applicants testified at the appeal that the pause was costing them tens of thousands of dollars to keep employees, landlords, and investors happy. The court neither elaborated on why it blocked the request nor gave insight on how long the pause would be maintained, according to the report.

Ryan Holz, who filed the appeal and previously criticized the state for its secrecy around the licensing process, said the court action will harm dozens of licensees waiting to start their businesses.

“Unfortunately, this is the current reality for craft grow applicants in Illinois, No one with the ability to help them is willing to do so.” — Holz, via the Tribune

Illinois’ adult-use cannabis market is largely dominated by a handful of multi-state operators who made the leap from medical cannabis to the adult-use market. Recognizing the lack of diversity in the industry, Illinois created new social equity licenses and held the 2021 lottery to issue 60 more licenses. In addition to the licenses currently on hold, another 185 licenses have been pushed back while the case makes its way through the courts.

“From the very beginning of the cannabis legalization and licensing process, the administration has prioritized clarity and an ongoing commitment to establishing an industry that is accessible to Illinoisans of all backgrounds,” Charity Greene, a spokeswoman for Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s (D) administration, said in the report. “We will continue to work with applicants, stakeholders, and our partners in the judicial system to achieve that goal.”

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Social Equity is ‘The Hunger Games’ for BIPOC & Formerly Incarcerated Cannabis Founders

2/01/2022

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You know that old saying, “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired” — that is how I feel about the term social equity (SE) as it is used in the cannabis space. I am sick of social equity not being social equity.

According to the National Association of Cannabis Businesses, “The goal of social equity laws is to ensure that people from communities disproportionately harmed by marijuana prohibition and discriminatory law enforcement are included in the new legal marijuana industry.”

When social equity first started back in 2016 in Oakland, it was truly intended to make the upcoming California adult-use cannabis licenses accessible to the population most affected by the War on Drugs. This included those currently incarcerated (to be swiftly expunged upon legalization in each state), the formerly incarcerated, and the communities (mostly Black and LatinX) that were over-policed (terrorized) during that same time period. It was a beautiful dream that turned into a nightmare for many of the people it was intended to assist with the creation of jobs, ownership, and generational wealth.

Who does social equity work for?

Honestly, with a few exceptions, no one. Social equity has been an abject failure across all states where cannabis is currently regulated.

Who is profiting from social equity initiatives?

As far as I can tell, the lawyers and consulting firms that are writing the applications. Lobbyists, activists, advocates, and policy wonks who charge fees to governments and private companies to “consult” on their social equity initiatives, often with very little or no connection to the needs and wants of the SE operators they are supposed to be championing in the cannabis industry.

Who is not profiting from any state social equity initiatives or legislation?

The SE operators and prospective operators. For the most part, they bear the financial burden of the initiatives and legislation influenced and in some cases written by lobbyists, activists, advocates, and policy wonks. I want to believe that this is just about not knowing better but regardless of intent, harm is being done. For example:

  • Instead of advocating for access to capital, they advocated for business loans and high taxes.
  • Instead of advocating for entrepreneurship classes, they advocated for job training classes.
  • Instead of advocating for transition programs to assist legacy operators, they advocated for fee waivers.

None of these are inherently bad, but they are not helpful in creating an equitable cannabis industry. We can see their failures right now, in real-time. Too little too late, without meaningful impact.

Social equity failures

Saying you have a social equity program is not the same as actually having social equity.

California

  • Fresno gave out four SE dispensary licenses and none of those licenses went to BIPOC operators.
  • Oakland gave out loans, not grants, to SE operators who were never able to realize the full potential of their license due to not having access to capital, and in late 2021 sent those operators to collections.
  • San Francisco gave out grants but initially required the SE operators to come out of pocket for their startup expenses and then submit receipts to the city for reimbursement.
  • Los Angeles did a lottery in 2019 that was tied up in litigation for two years and has had very few of the 300 SE dispensary licenses actualized.

Illinois

  • Did not learn from LA’s failure and did a lottery.
  • Two years later and after multiple lawsuits, there are zero social equity dispensaries open in spite of the fact that they were the first state to include social equity language in their legalization legislation.
  • Illinois had a $1.2+ billion-dollar industry as of November 2021; none of that revenue was generated by a BIPOC or formerly incarcerated SE operator — that’s because as of this Op-Ed, no SE operators exist.

Colorado

  • In 2021 Colorado reserved the delivery licenses to be awarded to SE operators exclusively for three years. The catch? They can’t own inventory; they have to work with an existing dispensary. Dispensaries can wait and let the SE operators be the canaries in the coal mine, see if it works, and wait to potentially pick up distressed SE delivery licenses after 3 years.
  • December 2021 license demographic data shows 83.4% of owner licenses are held by Caucasians, compared to 2.8% by Black and 7.9% by Hispanic/Latino.

The list of social equity’s many failures to materialize at scale goes on and on.

Will New York be the new Illinois?

Now all eyes are on New York, the state and the city. So what are the potholes in their road ahead? And will they end up like Illinois who started with the best of intentions but is for all intents and purposes a failed cannabis state?

Microbusiness licenses appear to be the most cost-effective option for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous People of Color) and formerly incarcerated communities to participate in the industry, except there are limits on how much these license-holders can cultivate and what they can sell. Why are there limits on the very people who were harmed the most? Seriously, sit with that. Policymakers seem to be saying, “We harmed you and your communities, and now we will allow you to participate in the billion- and soon to be trillion-dollar industry, but only a little bit.”

But microbusinesses can only sell the product they make. Under New York’s current legislation, microbusinesses are not allowed to sell anyone else’s products. This means smaller operators can’t support each other and larger operators are not incentivized to work with microbusinesses.

Investors can’t invest in more than three companies in New York. Raise your hand if you think there is going to be a stampede to invest in BIPOC, legacy, and companies run by formerly incarcerated founders. I can tell you from experience there will not be.

New York has threatened heavy fines for those operating in the legacy market. What do you think will happen to those who can’t afford to cover those fines? Which racial/ethnic groups do you think will be most impacted? This is a repurposing of harm: a new, buttoned-up drug war.

New York, like many states before them, is set to enter into a Hunger Games-like competition and may the odds be ever in your favor.

How we fix it

First, we stop calling it social equity because the process, initiatives, and legislation have not been equitable for any of us. Social equity has been co-opted as a catchphrase, and we deserve more than that.

Second, we need to solve the problems facing SE operators. We are four years into the use of the term social equity — what we didn’t know then, we absolutely know now. It is not working to undo the harm, it is not adding SE operators to the industry, we have no wins, at scale, to celebrate. Not only do qualified SE operators need access to capital, but they also need to learn how to access capital. Access to capital includes how to build a data room, understanding what a capital stack is, knowing when to use debt financing, equity financing, or a combination of both.

We must advocate for amnesty for community members still in the legacy market so they can transition to the legal market without fear of repercussions. We need our federal, state, and municipal governments, who invested TRILLIONS into the War on Drugs, to reroute those funds to provide startup capital for founders who were harmed by the ongoing war. Policymakers must stop using taxes as an incentive to regulate. This might be my most controversial statement but hear me out: for decades, we paid taxes that were spent on the War on Drugs that harmed our communities. Now, we are told that we need to pay high taxes on our cannabis products to repair the harm done to our communities. We paid for the harm, and now we are expected to pay for the repair? That is absurd, and it doesn’t work, but that’s another op-ed.

Social equity isn’t working. We must acknowledge this and stop what we are doing, make it right, assess, fix, and do it again, marking our success with metrics that prove it is working as represented by the numbers and success of people who have paved the way for the entire industry. We need to be creative. We need to be brave. We must create a new system that is equitable with the operators’ needs in mind. The one-size-fits-all model does not work. We, as an industry, have the opportunity to create a truly equitable cannabis market if we learn from the mistakes of our past and aim for equity until we have reached it. Then we celebrate.

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