New York Governor Expects $1.25B in Cannabis Taxes Over First 5 Years

1/25/2022

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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration has projected the state will see $1.25 billion in revenues from legalized cannabis sales over a 5-year span starting next year, CNHI reports. In her state budget proposal, Hochul, a Democrat, officially proposed her planned $200 million public-private social equity fund to help people who were disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs open a cannabis business in the Empire State.

Under the state’s legalization law approved last year, the state’s equity fund will provide loans, grants, and incubator programs to help those who qualify for the assistance to become involved in the industry. Those eligible for the equity applications include disabled veterans, distressed farmers, and women- and minority-owned businesses. State Sen. Jeremy Cooney (D) has introduced bills to broaden the social equity program to include transgender, gay and lesbian, and non-binary people.

Cooney has also drafted a bill that would allow the issuing of conditional cultivation licenses that would help jumpstart the supply chain.

New York‘s adult-use sales are expected sometime next year but Freeman Klopott, spokesperson for the state Cannabis Management Office, said the agency has already made strides in implementing cannabis reforms.

“In just a few short months, we’ve already expanded access to the Medical Cannabis Program, officially launched the Cannabinoid Hemp Program, and have recruited and established a pipeline of top talent to join the rapidly growing Office of Cannabis Management team,” he said, noting that regulators are working “as fast as possible while also making sure we do it the right way and create equitable opportunity where other states have failed.”

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Thailand FDA Drafts Cannabis Legalization Bill

1/25/2022

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Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has drafted a bill to legalize home cultivation of cannabis for personal medical use and consumption, and adult-use in some locations, the Bangkok Post reports. The move comes after the nation’s Public Health Ministry issued a resolution to exclude cannabis from the narcotic’s list.

FDA Secretary-General Dr. Paisarn Dunkum said on Monday that the bill would allow people to grow cannabis for their own consumption on the condition that they report the cultivation to their respective provincial administrative organizations and that household consumption would be only for medical purposes.

Pairarn told the Post that adult-use could be allowed in some locations but the details are not outlined in the proposal. He told the Post that a committee of the Public Health Ministry, chaired by its permanent secretary, would work out the details for adult use.

“Of course, we won’t go to the stage of cannabis cafés, but there are different models for its recreational use in other countries. We’ll select the best one that suits our social context.” —  Pairarn to the Post

The bill includes penalties of three years and or a 30,000 baht (about $908) for those who break the new cannabis law. Under current Thai law, cannabis is a category-5 narcotic, and possession can lead to up to 15 years in jail.

In 2020, Thai officials approved allowing cannabis and hemp products in cosmetics and food and the following year started to allow hospitals to produce cannabis-based medicines. In 2019, the nation invalidated all cannabis patents following a public outcry after patent applications for GW Pharmaceuticals and Otsuka Pharmaceutical were not immediately rejected, raising concerns over industry monopolization in the Thailand marketplace.

Chaiwat Sowcharoensuk, an analyst at Krungsri Research, told Bloomberg earlier this month that “producers of soaps, beauty products, and cosmetics” who use cannabis in their products will likely benefit the most from the reforms.

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Idaho Bill Would Allow Cannabis-Derived Drug if FDA Approves

1/25/2022

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An Idaho bill would legalize cannabis-derived pain relief spray for individuals with multiple sclerosis and other neurological disorders, were it to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Lewiston Tribune reports. State Sen. Fred Martin, the Republican chairman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee said that while he doesn’t support legalizing cannabis, he does “support the appropriate use of ingredients found in marijuana that can be beneficial.”

The bill, specifically, carves out a code in Idaho law for nabiximols, which is developed by GW Pharmaceuticals, the same company that developed Epidiolex, which is the only cannabis-derived drug with FDA approval.

“Upon passage of this legislation, nabiximols will become available for prescription-only after approval by the FDA and scheduling as a controlled substance by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration,” the bill’s statement of purpose reads.

State Rep. Fred Wood (R), who chairs the House Health and Welfare Committee said GW expects to get the drug approved by the FDA this summer. He added that the drug would likely be Schedule II on the federal Controlled Substances List.

The legislation was introduced in the lower chamber’s Health and Welfare Committee on a voice vote and can return to the committee for a public hearing, the report says.

Idaho has not legalized cannabis in any form. A bill to legalize medical cannabis was introduced in the House Health and Welfare Committee last year but never advanced to a full hearing. Advocates are collecting signatures to put the issue on ballots during this year’s midterm elections.

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South Carolina Medical Cannabis Bill Set for Hearing This Week

1/24/2022

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A bill to legalize medical cannabis in South Carolina is scheduled for a hearing in the state Senate, according to the Associated Press. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Tom Davis (D), has been introduced for several years in a row but this is the first time it will receive a hearing. The proposal will be heard before almost any other bill in a special hearing, the report says, which Davis said could come on Tuesday or Wednesday.

“We cannot wait any longer for these people to have their suffering alleviated. It is immoral. They are howling in pain and we are deny them something that their doctor wants to give them because of some political reason back in 1971 that President Nixon wanted to stick it to a bunch of hippies.” — Davis, in a statement last year to the AP

Under the proposal, patients will only be allowed to purchase medical cannabis oil, not smokable flower products. Qualifying conditions would include cancer, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, sickle cell anemia, and autism. Medical cannabis authorization appointments would be in-person only, the report says.

Despite opposition from top law enforcement officials, the attorney general, and some Christian groups, Davis is optimistic the bill will pass to the House, but the chamber has not indicated whether they will hear the bill.

South Carolina has seen little movement when it comes to medical cannabis policy. Although Democrats in the state support the policy, the Republican majority has allowed little debate on the issue.

The state does have a USDA-approved industrial hemp program but recently ruled that Delta-8 THC was illegal under the hemp law.

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Oklahoma Bill Would Pause Further Medical Cannabis Licensing

1/24/2022

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A bill proposed in Oklahoma would put a pause on medical cannabis licensing and allow regulators to implement moratoriums as they deem necessary, the Tulsa World reports. State Rep. Rusty Cornwell (R), the bill sponsor, said the legislation is needed as the state “has seen a huge number of commercial medical marijuana grows and facilities flooding” into Oklahoma communities.

“In the initial rush to roll out a system for granting commercial licenses, we’ve failed to enforce their compliance with state law. House Bill 3208 would temporarily pause the issuance of commercial licenses so that we can confirm current operations are complying with the law.” — Cornwell to the World

Under the state’s medical cannabis law, the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) has no authority to inspect businesses before issuing a license. Last October, OMMA Director Adria Berry indicated that the agency would renew its focus on compliance checks and public safety. Less than 40% of Oklahoma’s 8,857 growers and 2,415 processors have been inspected since Oklahoma passed Question 788 in 2018.

Last summer, U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) requested $4 million in federal funds to combat illegal cannabis cultivation in the Sooner State as state officials warn that product allegedly grown for the state’s medical cannabis program is being diverted. Last April, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN) seized cannabis grown illegally by one of the company’s licensed under the state’s medical cannabis law. OBN Spokesman Mark Woodward said the company was “moving large quantities of marijuana on the black market under the guise” of legal operations.

State Rep. Josh West (R) told the World that 60% or more of cannabis grown with an Oklahoma license is sold illegally.

Currently, the state has no seed-to-sale tracking system due to a lawsuit by businesses that claim the system would allow a single, private-business monopoly.

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Cannabis Taxes Outpace Alcohol Taxes in Massachusetts

1/24/2022

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Excise taxes for adult-use cannabis in Massachusetts outpaced the state’s alcohol taxes for the first time through December, reaching $74.2 million compared to $51.3 million, according to Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) figures outlined by the Associated Press. It’s the first time cannabis tax revenues topped those of alcohol.

Massachusetts adult-use cannabis sales carry a 10.75% tax, along with a 6.25% state sales tax and local taxes of up to 3%. Last fiscal year, the state’s total cannabis tax revenues reached $208 million.

From 2018 through November 2021, Massachusetts retailers sold $2.3 billion worth of adult-use cannabis. CCC Chairman Steve Hoffman has described the sales figures as “pretty phenomenal.”

Since Massachusetts became the first New England state to allow adult-use cannabis operations, 179 stores have started operations, including 325 adult-use establishments which encompass indoor and outdoor cultivators, product manufacturers, microbusinesses, delivery businesses, and independent testing labs, according to the state data. The sector employs more than 17,000 people in the state.

In the first quarter of last year, cannabis tax revenues in Illinois surpassed those of alcohol, totaling $86 million compared to $72 million.

Adult-use cannabis remains popular among Bay Staters — a November University of Massachusetts-Amherst and WCVB poll found 61% of respondents had a favorable view of the reforms, with 13% holding somewhat or very negative views on the reforms.

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Texas Agriculture Commissioner’s Consultant Indicted for Hemp License Bribery

1/24/2022

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Todd Smith, a political consultant for Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, was indicted last week on felony charges of theft and commercial bribery related to hemp licenses, the Texas Tribune reports. Smith was arrested last May, accused of taking $55,000 in the scheme and soliciting at least $150,000 to guarantee a hemp license — which cost $100.

Miller has maintained his innocence in the scheme and in a statement, Smith’s attorneys defended their client, saying that he “intends to vigorously defend himself against the allegations.” Smith remains employed by the commissioner.

“It happens every election. They know they’re not going to get you on anything, but the process is the penalty. All they need is a headline: Sid Miller’s political consultant under investigation for selling hemp licenses. Well, they brought him in for questioning. They said ‘OK, this was 8 months ago, they said we’re not filing charges and we’re not indicting you,’ so end of the story, folks, move on. But they got the headlines, so they bring up that old crap.” — Miller to the Houston Chronicle

In one case, Smith is accused of using a middle man to retrieve $30,000 in cash from a prospective hemp farmer in exchange for a guaranteed hemp license, according to a Texas Tribune report following his May arrest. Once the would-be licensee found out he was not at all guaranteed a license, he contacted Smith who denied knowing anything about the $30,000 exchange but admitted to receiving a $5,000 gift from the middle man.

During an appearance on conservative radio host Chad Hasty’s show last week, Miller said he would review the indictment and suggested it was politically motivated.

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Cultiva Law: From Cannabis Activism to a Purpose-Driven Legal Practice

1/21/2022

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Because of prohibition, cannabis and the law have been forever intertwined. Prohibition ensured that any cannabis entrepreneur, whether they were operating before legalization or not, should have a lawyer on their side — and West coast-based Cultiva Law has been on the side of activists since its founding. One of the firm’s original attorneys, Aaron Pelley, spoke with Ganjapreneur about where it all started and how they’ve grown into a completely self-managed, people-first practice.

When Aaron started his private practice, he focused on helping medical cannabis patients. “I knew that if I was going to start my own firm that I just wanted to defend people that were committing the same kind of crimes that I could imagine committing myself,” he said. “Being a medical marijuana patient, I could get behind that.

“That ended up being the majority of my caseload for the better part of seven years — just defending medical marijuana patients or medical marijuana grows. I took a ton of pro-bono work on.” Aaron recalled noticing at one point while doing the books that 70% of their cases were pro-bono.

Many of his first cannabis cases were assigned through the Cannabis Defense Coalition. A few of those early cases gave him the final push into cannabis law. In one case, the police had taken a gram and metal pipe from an unhoused neighbor and medical patient, even after he provided proper documentation. Aaron demanded law enforcement return the property and got the cannabis returned to its rightful owner. He looks back on this case with pride because he helped someone who was often overlooked. He felt privileged to be both a criminal defense attorney and feel like “the good guy.”

“I woke up every morning thrilled to be doing what I was doing. Not many criminal defense lawyers get to wake up and feel like they’re wearing a white hat and they’re the good guy, and I really did. That was amazing for me, I feel very proud of that looking back on it,” said Aaron.

In a much more public case in 2009, Aaron argued for eleven pounds of police-confiscated medical cannabis to be released to its owners. The amount the patients carried was legal in California but not in Washington. Aaron proposed to the judge that the Sheriff’s department release the legal limit of cannabis to the patients each week until the property was returned in full — to his surprise, the judge agreed. In response, Kent, Washington’s police chief wrote an op-ed for The Seattle Times that essentially complained about having to comply with this order. The op-ed brought national coverage to Aaron’s practice and, with that momentum, he decided to jump fully into being a pot lawyer.

Before Washington’s adult-use laws, most of Cultiva’s clients were medical growers, patients, and dispensary owners. He still does a lot of work with cultivators and shop owners, defending and protecting licenses from revocation. He sees it as the same work he used to do: dealing with the government and agreeing on how to interpret the law. As his clients’ businesses grow, they need different services from his offices, and so Cultiva Law has naturally evolved.

Aaron began bringing lawyers onto the team with other areas of expertise in order to offer any law service that cannabis clients might need. “I couldn’t also be a complex civil litigator and a trademark attorney, and all the other things that companies needed,” Aaron said, “so I had to build that team around me who had those smarts. Because it’s cannabis, we are super lucky. People want to be a part of this.”

There are three main silos in each office. One silo focuses on the license defense work with the Attorney General, this is Aaron’s specialty. Another is the transactional group that assists in drawing up contracts, writing M&A agreements, and any other elements to buying, selling, or running a company. This group will sometimes also walk clients through the licensing process, guiding them through paperwork and approvals. Lastly, they have a team that steps in whenever clients need litigation. Court is expensive, so the litigation team works towards mediation or even arbitration, but clients do still take cases to court regularly.

The firm expands into new states the same way they grew their initial service offerings: organically. Cultiva’s clients eventually became interested in emerging markets in other states, so Aaron sought out talented lawyers there. Cultiva Law now operates in Washington, Oregon, California, and Nevada with attorneys who live in the communities they serve. Each state market has its own culture that seeps into how people do business, so each lawyer is not only an expert in their field but is also well versed in the culture of the community. This is a small view of how Cultiva Law puts people before profits, with their first interest in best serving their clients. And when it comes to how the firm is run, Aaron said he is most interested in each attorney having the ability to maintain their work/life balance.

At Cultiva, they’ve created an environment that they want to work in. The way they practice law is unique because they made it up as they grew: the firm simply wants everyone to do their best. They are diverse in gender, race, and age, and the focus is not on thenumber of hours billed. Instead, the team focuses on how well they serve their clients and the outcome of each case. Vacation days are never counted, and everyone takes two weeks off at the end of the year. Also, there is no partnership track — instead, Cultiva operates laterally. When working a case, they will often speak between offices and, because of this, they are all involved in the democratic hiring process. Each office will interview new attorneys before they join the team. They do the same with new clients in each office, the firm has built itself up enough to choose whether or not they will take on new clients.

It is clear after speaking with Aaron that he is proud of how Cultiva Law has developed: “How rewarding to be there right at the tip of the spear when everything was changing and making that fight, I think that was probably the coolest part of my career. It still is now! To be able to walk into a grow where there’s enough plants that it would have put somebody away for life back when I first started practicing law, and now I’m helping them build their brand and take it to California or whatever we’re doing. Being a part of the cannabis industry during this time has been amazing.”

Aaron’s goal was always to expand to the four states where the firm is currently practicing and he’s happy to continue that work. Right now, the team is looking for more attorneys in Nevada to flesh out their practice there. When I asked him about plans for Cultiva’s future, he said he never publicly states his plans anymore because the journey with Cultiva Law has surprised him every step of the way.

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Mississippi House Passes Revised Medical Cannabis Bill

1/21/2022

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The Mississippi House has approved a revised version of the medical cannabis bill that was passed by the Senate last week, the Jackson Free Press reports. The version passed by the lower chamber reduces the amount of medical cannabis patients can access, and while it technically increases the number of qualifying conditions, the measure does not include language that would allow physicians to recommend cannabis for any condition.

The bill decreases patient limits from four ounces per month to three ounces per month as Republican Gov. Tate Reeves has maintained his support for lower limits and has threatened to veto the measure over the daily limits.

“I’ve repeatedly told the members of the Legislature that I am willing to sign a bill that is truly medical marijuana. One that has reasonable restrictions to ensure that it doesn’t have an adverse effect on Mississippi’s economy. One that has reasonable restrictions to ensure that it doesn’t disrupt Mississippi families. A program that helps those Mississippians who truly need it for an illness,” he wrote in a December 29 Facebook post blasting the previous 3.5 gram per day limits. “But — as the dad of three daughters that I love dearly — I cannot put my name on a bill that puts that much marijuana on the streets of Mississippi.”

The House-approved bill also includes amendments to allow outdoor cultivation and removing program oversight from the Department of Agriculture and Commerce (MDAC) at the request of agency Commissioner Andy Gipson who has previously rejected that the MDAC could even facilitate the program due to federal law. The revised version tasks the state Department of Health with facilitating the program.

In a statement released Thursday, Gipson reiterated his opposition to putting the program under the purview of MDAC, saying the Health Department is the “best place for a truly medical program” and the change “reflects the will of the voters” who approved a medical cannabis program in 2020 that was struck down by the state Supreme Court.

“It is also good policy for the taxpayers of Mississippi because it achieves greater efficiency in the use of funds by reducing the number of agencies involved in the program,” he said in the statement. “The Department of Agriculture remains committed to assisting the Department of Health on any technical issues that may arise in this program, just as we are committed to all of the state government when we can be of help.”

The bill, which passed the House 104-14, moves back to the Senate for final legislative approval before heading to the governor.

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New Mexico Lawmakers to Consider Cannabis Legalization Changes

1/21/2022

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New Mexico lawmakers will consider changes to the state’s cannabis regulations during a special 30-day session, including production increases for cannabis microbusinesses, budtender education requirements, allowing liquor licensees to also obtain cannabis licenses, and allowing some industry sectors to employ 18-year-olds, according to the NM Political Report.

The state Cannabis Control Division had announced earlier this week that it planned to work with Gov. Lujan Grisham (D) and legislators on plant limit increases for microbusinesses as a safeguard for expected shortages once adult-use sales begin in April, the Report says. Lawmakers will consider a bill to increase those plant counts from 200 to 1,000 mature plants.

The proposal by Democratic state Sen. Linda Lopez would also allow businesses that previously sold only medical cannabis to employ workers under 21; the state’s adult-use law requires all cannabis industry employees to be 21 or older.

While the bill would allow current liquor license holders to also obtain a cannabis license, it would still prohibit both types of licenses at the same establishment.

New Mexico Cannabis Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Ben Lewinger told NM Political Report that the organization “supports the fixes in the bill.”

State cannabis regulators recently approved an emergency rule to double the number of plants licensed producers can grow, anticipating product shortages when sales to adults begin in April. The state released its industry regulations and first adult-use licenses last month.

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University of Mississippi Launches Center for Cannabis Research & Education

1/21/2022

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The University of Mississippi on Thursday launched the National Center for Cannabis Research and Education (NCCE) which will conduct scientific research, data analysis, education, and training on the health effects of cannabis. The program and its researchers, based in the university’s School of Pharmacy, will also aid in policymaking and outreach as state programs emerge throughout the U.S.

Famously, the University of Mississippi had the only federal license to cultivate cannabis for more than 50 years through the National Institute on Drug Abuse Drug Supply Program, and advocates had long complained that the products grown at the university were of low quality. Recently, two companies, Groff North America Hemplex and BRC, announced they had harvested cannabis for federal research purposes, ending the university’s monopoly on cultivating cannabis for the federal government program.

Larry Walker, interim director of the NCCRE, who served 16 years as director of the National Center for Natural Products Research, said the goal of the center “is that health professionals and patients have the products and information that will allow them to tap the hope for new treatments from cannabis, while understanding and minimizing harmful effects.”

“There is no doubt that cannabis can provide treatments for serious diseases, and there is a solid research foundation for further exploration. The potency of the plant, the sophistication of preparation and delivery, the ready availability of these products and the declining perceptions of risks mean that many seeking its health benefits could experience various adverse effects.” — Walker in a press release

The university said that of the 50 new cannabinoids discovered between 2005 to 2015, 43 could be attributed to the federally backed cannabis cultivation program. The program also conducts analyses of cannabis seized by the Drug Enforcement Agency and creates statistical information on potency and illegal distribution networks.

The center was approved by the board of trustees of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning.

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Montana Courts See Low Interest in Cannabis Record Expungement

1/21/2022

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Montana courts report low interest in cannabis record expungement following the legalization of adult-use cannabis, Montana Public Radio reports. Consequently, an additional court will not be created to handle the extra caseload that was expected when lawmakers allocated funds for more courts in last year’s cannabis legislation.

Court Administrator Beth McLaughlin believes the local courts “should be able to handle” the caseload, explaining to MPR that her office is developing a form to help with the expungement process.

In 2020, Montana became the first state in the High-Mountain West to legalize adult-use cannabis through a voter-approved initiative. Montana’s Legislature crafted a regulatory bill in 2021, leading to the launch of statewide sales on January 1, 2022. The state reported $1.5 million in sales on the first weekend of legal sales to adults.

Meanwhile, a report last February found that Montana had the highest state-wide disparity for cannabis arrests between Black people and white people, despite evidence showing that Black adults and white adults use cannabis at statistically similar rates. Using data from the Americans for Civil Liberties Union from 2010 to 2018, the report found that Black Montanans were 9.6 times more likely to be arrested for cannabis possession than their white counterparts — far above the national average disparity rate of 3.8.

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Dama Financial to Acquire GrowFlow

1/20/2022

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South San Francisco, CA, Jan. 20, 2022 – Dama Financial (“Dama”), the nation’s largest provider of access to banking and payment solutions for the cannabis industry, has entered into an agreement to acquire GrowFlow Corp. (“GrowFlow”), whose business management and compliance tools have processed more than $3.3 billion for cannabis retailers, cultivators, processors, and distributors.

Combining Dama’s fintech and payment solutions and GrowFlow’s industry-leading software platform will create the most sophisticated, comprehensive solution for cannabis companies, integrating product, operations, compliance, and financial data in a more usable and flexible solution than any current offering in the industry. The highly scalable platform will fulfill the business needs and regulatory obligations of any licensed cannabis business — dispensary or wholesale — everywhere cannabis is legal in the United States.

“With this acquisition we are creating the leading platform for cannabis operators, essentially a one-stop shop for the business tools they need to thrive.” said Anh Hatzopoulos, Dama’s co-founder and chief executive officer. “We created Dama to solve real problems for the industry through innovation, and integrating GrowFlow’s software into our fintech is a huge step forward in that mission. To be successful in the long term, cannabis operators need legal, compliant, forward-looking solutions like Dama’s that don’t skirt restrictions through workarounds, and this sets us up to keep innovating to champion our customers and propel a booming market.”

Cannabis is currently legal in 37 U.S. states and four U.S. territories. The U.S. market is expected to reach $43 billion by 2025, according to New Frontier Data. Dama is the only solution that is available in every state where cannabis is legalized.

“I could not be more excited about this merging of minds and technologies,” said Travis Steffen, chief executive officer of GrowFlow. “Our leadership teams have nearly identical views of the industry and how it is evolving. Bringing our solutions together will allow us to serve customers in many unique ways and compete on much more than price.”

The transaction is expected to close this quarter, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Greenhill & Co., LLC is acting as financial advisor and Goodwin Proctor LLP is acting as legal advisor to Dama. Cooley LLP is acting as legal advisor to GrowFlow.

About Dama Financial
Based in South San Francisco, Calif, Dama is the cannabis industry’s leading provider of access to banking and financial services, powering safe and secure depository solutions, as well as business tools such as cash management, payroll and electronic consumer payment solutions, for top licensed cannabis operators throughout the United States. The company was founded in 2017 by a team of world-class fintech and payments executives to provide high-risk industries with critical access to fundamental financial services. Dama has leveraged its experience in other unbanked categories to develop solutions, driven by its proprietary technology platform, capable of navigating a complex web of regulatory and compliance requirements. The company experienced more than 100% top-line growth in 2021. More information is available at damafinancial.com.

About GrowFlow
GrowFlow is a B2B SaaS platform dedicated to helping its customers grow their cannabis businesses. It provides compliance, inventory management, point of sale, analytics and sales tools for cannabis and hemp businesses at various points in the supply chain. Founded in late 2016, GrowFlow is run by experienced technology founders and executives with management experience from organizations such as Google, Microsoft, Expedia, TenCent, and others, and boasts over 1500 customers in seven states — including some of the largest operations in the world. More information is available at growflow.com.

All trademarks and brand names belong to their respective owners. ©2018 – 2022 Dama Financial. All rights reserved worldwide.

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Tennessee to Consider Cannabis Reform Bills 

1/20/2022

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A bill filed in Tennessee would implement a tax on anything made from cannabis, including Delta-8 THC and CBD products, and set the legal age to purchase Delta-8 products in the state at 21, WTVF reports. The measure, filed by Republican state Rep. Chris Hurt, sets the tax rate at 6.6% on top of the state’s 7% sales tax and includes licensing provisions.

“We think the industry is ready to start producing some revenue in order to have some oversight and bring legitimacy and credibility to [it].” — Hurt to WTVF

The bill is backed by the Tennessee Growers Coalition, whose president, Joe Kirkpatrick, said the state’s cannabis industry “want to be good citizens,” noting that hemp-derived products, including Delta-8, are “all over the place.”

“We want to make sure like we did with smokable hemp to make those 21 plus,” he told WTVF. “These do have psychoactive effects. People need to take caution when they take them, and children don’t need to have them.”

Other state lawmakers are considering broad cannabis legalization bills, while under a proposal from state Rep. Bruce Griffey (R), Tennesseans could vote on a non-binding referendum this year. That plan would require each county commissioner to include the following “yes” or “no” questions on midterm election ballots:

  • Should the State of Tennessee legalize medical marijuana?
  • Should the State of Tennessee decriminalize possession of less than one ounce (1 oz.) of marijuana?
  • Should the State of Tennessee legalize and regulate commercial sales of recreational-use marijuana?

Tennessee remains one of just five states that have not approved cannabis for any use, along with South Carolina, Kansas, Wyoming, and Idaho. Last year, the state House Health Committee approved a measure to allow adult cancer patients access to medical cannabis oil, but that bill has not been voted on by either full chamber of the General Assembly.

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Austin to Put Cannabis Decriminalization Question to Voters

1/20/2022

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Austin, Texas residents in May will vote on eliminating low-level cannabis crime enforcement in its city limits and banning the practice of no-knock warrants by police, following final approval by the city council on Tuesday, KVUE reports. If approved, Austin would be the first city in the Lonestar State to codify the reforms.

The final vote was 7-3.

Mike Siegel, political director at Ground Game Texas, which led the ballot initiative, said the proposals will give Austin residents “the ability to make lasting change to … antiquated and racist criminal justice laws.”

“With successful campaigns like these, Ground Game Texas will continue to empower and excite communities around progressive change – and deliver for the marginalized communities that too often get left behind.” — Siegal via KVUE

Although the Austin Police Department officially ended most arrests and ticketing for personal cannabis possession in July 2020, Siegal has said that the initiative would codify that “current informal policy.”

When the department announced the reforms, a memo from then-chief Brian Manley stated that the APD would no longer cite or arrest individuals with sufficient identification for Class A or Class B misdemeanor cannabis possess offenses, “unless there is an immediate threat to a person’s safety or doing so is part of the investigation of a high priority, felony-level narcotics case or the investigation of a violent felony,” according to KVUE.

Mano Amiga — an organization based in San Marcos, Texas — is currently gathering signatures for its own cannabis decriminalization petition.

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Home Grow ‘Not Happening Right Now,’ Says New Jersey Senate President

1/20/2022

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New Jersians will not immediately be able to grow their own cannabis, neither for medical nor personal use purposes, the Asbury Park Press reports. During a webinar with cannabis industry professionals, state Sen. Nick Scutari (D), the main proponent of cannabis legalization in the state Senate and the new chamber president, said he does “not see” home cultivation “happening right now.”

“I’m not against marijuana being grown at home for medical purposes and maybe even just recreational purposes. But we’ve got to let this industry … it’s not even off the ground yet.” — Scutari during his remarks via the Press

Currently, the price of medical cannabis in New Jersey runs about $412 to $420 per ounce, according to Curaleaf prices outlined by the Press.

Jo Anne Zito, a board member for the Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey, said allowing patients to grow their own medicine would be “a tremendous help.”

“It doesn’t seem like the sky has fallen in these other places,” she told the Press. “Yeah, some of it may get to the illicit market but I don’t think it’s anything that’s hurting revenue or setting back legal sales.”

Of the 19 states that have legalized cannabis, New Jersey is the only one that does not allow medical patients to grow their own, the report says. Cultivating even one cannabis plant in the state is still punishable by up to five years in prison and a $25,000 fine, despite the state’s legalization law.

Erik Altieri, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said home cultivation is not only “an issue of personal freedom but it serves as an important check on the commercial marijuana industry.”

“Allowing consumers the ability to grow their own marijuana helps to ensure the industry keeps its products of high quality and fairly priced,” he said in the report.

There are currently three home-grow proposals in the New Jersey Legislature — one limits personal-use grows to six plants while allowing patients to grow 10 plants; another caps grows at six plants regardless of whether the plants are grown for personal or medical use. A third would allow patients to cultivate up to eight plants.

All of those bills were first introduced last session, but none were voted on.

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Joseph Ori: Building a House of Cannabis Brands In Michigan

1/20/2022

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With nearly one million medical cannabis caregivers licensed in the state, Michigan is an often undersung hub of cannabis culture, cultivation, and industry expertise.

In an interview covering entrepreneurship and the Michigan marketplace, our podcast host TG Branfalt recently connected with Joseph Ori, a career lawyer and entrepreneur who co-founded Michigan’s Six Labs. In the following episode, Joseph discusses his pivot to the cannabis space, the company’s scientific approach to cannabis cultivation, and the advantages of working with a versatile team. The interview also covers Six Labs’ brand-building process, their prioritization of experience-focused cannabis products, and more.

Check out the full podcast episode below! You can also scroll further down to find a full transcript of the interview.

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Cara Wietstock: Hi, I’m Cara Wietstock, Culture Editor at Ganjapreneur and host of our YouTube show. Fresh Cut. The best way to understand cannabis business is to speak directly to those who work within it, and Fresh Cut was created to shine recognition on the people who fill these roles. In this interview series, we focus on those with their hands and the dirt, both literally and figuratively, from cultivators to budtenders, educators to advocates, activists to lobbyists.
We aim to illuminate the workers who keep this industry thriving. Enjoy one-on-one conversations with me and guests by watching along on the Ganjapreneur YouTube channel and follow our social channels to keep up with the latest episodes. Have a great day.

TG Branfalt: Hey there, I’m your host, TG Branfalt, and thank you for listening to the Ganjapreneur.com Podcast, where we try to bring you actionable information in normalized cannabis through the stories of ganjapreneurs, activists, and industry stakeholders. Today, I am joined by Joseph Ori. He’s the co-founder, General Counsel, and Government Relations for Six Labs, one of Michigan‘s largest craft cannabis cultivators with a complete focus on quality and precision and a passion for advanced research development and technology. How you doing this afternoon, Joseph? A pleasure to have you.

Joseph Ori: I’m doing great, TG. Thank you for having me. Really appreciate it.

TG Branfalt: As a lot of our listeners know, I actually spent a year in Detroit. I love the city. I was there when they legalized cannabis, but was not there when they actually started sales. I did go to a Cannabis Cup there, which is a story for another day that has been posted to the website, but before we discuss Six Labs and craft cannabis, which is really exciting, tell me about yourself, man. You obviously wear many hats for Six Labs, so tell me about what you do there and your background. How’d you end up in the cannabis space?

Joseph Ori: Well, the cannabis space sort of called out to me, I think, but I have a background. I played sports competitively my whole life, and most of it was spent playing football toward the latter part of my teens, and then I ended up playing college football and I actually ended up with two back surgeries while in college. Back in the ’90s, they were giving out Percocet and Oxycontin like it was candy and we, obviously, didn’t know any of effects of those substances and the addictive quality. I was one of the lucky ones because I didn’t react well to them and I was in an extreme amount of pain all of the time. I mean, I’m talking back since I was… I don’t want to date myself, but since I was 20.

I stumbled upon cannabis in college and, you know… Whereas, most people were using it just recreationally to have some fun. I started to notice that it was mediating my pain. Whereas, you drink alcohol and I’d feel like shit the next day. I mean, I was completely dehydrated. My back would kill me even more. I’d worry it was cannabis. It wasn’t, so I became sort of self-medicating myself over the years. Then, as this industry grew and they started to actually acknowledge that there were medicinal qualities and sort of at the same time the parabola was going downward for opioids and all of the negative exposure that they rightly received, I said, “I’m a believer in this.”

The opportunity presented itself to… You know, I’ve been an investor in cannabis separately before Six Labs, and so an opportunity presented itself that Six Labs, I’m sorry, that Michigan was opening up to a new set of rules and they were going to open up larger cultivators and go recreational legal, and my partners and I saw an opportunity. We bought some land out there and we got it approved locally. We raised tons of money and got this thing off the ground. We’re all in our… The challenge we had was… I tell people this a lot is that we’re all in our 40s, so we’re seasoned businessmen, and one of the things that comes with that is that you know what you’re doing, how to run a business, and by that point in time in your life you know some people who’ve got some wealth.

We were able to raise money and we were able to put together this company relatively easy in the sense that we all had a role. The challenge was that once it started to take off, we all had to leave our careers. My main bread-winning background was that I’m a trial attorney for 25 years and I’m also, again, a restaurateur. I’ve owned record labels, been a sports agent. I’ve done a lot of things in my life, but this was basically saying, “Okay, you have to sort of take a step back from what we’re doing every day.”

My law firm, I’ve had to put some people in place because I’m the founder and owner of that law firm, but I’ve had to put some people in place to sort of help me out and bring some younger attorneys up and make them partners and share the piece of the pie, so to speak, so it’s been a journey. I mean, it’s exciting and we’re really happy with where we’re sitting right now, but obviously, we say that in cannabis every year is like a dog year, I mean, every month is like a dog year, so we’ll see how it goes.

TG Branfalt: No, I mean, this is a really incredible journey. Going back a little bit, you said that you were an investor in cannabis companies before you launched your own. Tell me about the… maybe not the companies that you invested in per se, but what drew you to those companies in that early stages.

Joseph Ori: Well, so what happened was is that Illinois got in the game. I’m not going to say they were the first ones, but the medical aspect of cannabis in Illinois was pretty early on. I was approached by several entities that was a couple of which are massive companies now and trying to get me to invest in their company, which I did. Then, I got approached by some other groups that actually wanted to do what we did, which is actually take a role in the company and get it off the ground and get licensed in Illinois and sort of see where it took you.

I at that point in time was too ingrained in what I was doing professionally as a trial attorney and I had some very… I represent people who can’t represent themselves, so I do catastrophic injury and I represent a lot of people who would never be able to pay me if they had to. I work for free unless I win, representing infants that are injured at birth and things like that and construction workers who are severely injured on the job. And I was ingrained in a lot of big cases. I couldn’t walk away.

I kind of had that itch back then, and then sort of as I found myself five, six later with this opportunity in Michigan, it just made sense to do that at that time because I had surrounded by partners. My partners are guys I’ve known for many, many years and it was really odd because one of the things as an entrepreneur as I’ve learned is it’s one thing to have a great idea.

It’s one thing to have a great plan and to get funded, but to have yourself surrounded out of the gate with people who you know and you trust… Also, I mean, if I tell you this you probably wouldn’t believe it, but so what do you need to run a business? You need, well, we need an attorney. You’re going to build something, you need a builder. If you’re going to have finances, you need an accountant. If you need operations, you need a guy in those operations.

Well, all five of my partners, my other partners, had these. One of my partners is a certified accountant. He’d had a background in banking. I’ve got another partner who was a builder and left his career as a builder to [crosstalk] build our facility. We’ve got other guys who fell into place that were also key critical roles in the company, so we didn’t really have to go outside of us to sort of have at least the nuts and bolts of building a business.

Now, learning cannabis space, totally different animal, and we needed to bring in the right people to sort of roll the cannabis and know what the market was. Funny thing is we have most of our partners are in our 40s. I actually turned 50 recently, but we have a young guy who’s like 30 years old. He started with us when he was 27 and he’s our cannabis guy, you know, so [crosstalk] he’s our cannabis expert.

TG Branfalt: When you were searching for that cannabis guy, was the majority of the people younger?

Joseph Ori: Yeah, so one of the things that we learned right out of the gate, and this goes along with some of the things you and I were discussing before the podcast just separately, the image of this industry has changed. We started going out to find head of cultivation and head flower managers and veg managers. We first went and what we did was an immense amount of due diligence. Before we even stepped foot into this industry, we toured all over California, Colorado, Oregon. We went to… We knocked on doors. We went into all the facilities we could get into, the cultivation facilities, crossing facilities, dispensaries. We wanted to know what was working and what wasn’t working.

I’m not going to name any names, but we saw some pretty deplorable situations out there and we said, “Okay, so how are we going to separate ourselves from all of these people?” We took notes and said, “Okay, these are the things that seem to be working, and then let’s look at where the new frontier is going to be in this industry.” One of the things we were leaning toward was possibility, still exists, of the federal government legalizing it. We thought, “Well, if the federal government legalizes it and the FDA gets involved in as much as it addresses the medical side of this product,” I don’t even know if we call it a product, I guess we can call it a commodity, “Then, we’re going to have to meet certain standards.”

We basically said, “Let’s build a facility that’s forward-thinking and it may cost us more money than we want and most of these other facilities would cost us, but let’s build it with forward-thinking technology. Let’s build it. It could be retrofit with futuristic technology if need be.” That’s what we did. We did an extraordinary amount of homework and to be able to create and… I brag about this because we haven’t been told anything differently. I mean, we have people come through our facility from other states and guys who know cannabis way more than the five of us when we started out, we’ve been in the business for 10 years or so, they’ve never seen anything like our facility. We continually get these accolades from people.

It’s helped us because we’ve landed some big licensing deals just based off of our operations and the way our facility appears. We’re saying basically, to sum it up is, if the FDA gets involved and our cannabis doesn’t pass whatever those regulations may be, then no one else’s is, and we said, “So that’s what we wanted to do,” and then [crosstalk] you know, that’s what we’re trying.

TG Branfalt: To your point with the FDA, I mean, I’ve always sort of maintained that everyone’s, “Oh, we want federal legalization,” but I believe that they’re just going to make it more onerous and a much sort of harder for current operators in states because federal regulations are going to be far behind those of the states at that point.

Joseph Ori: Yeah. I think it’s really odd because I thought maybe with this new administration there was going to be a major push right away to do something and it’s a little bit lagging more than I thought it was going to be. What I thought it was going to be, you know, federal legalization, I think what they’re going to do is just they’re going to ultimately reschedule it and they’re going to leave it up states to do what they have to do, what they’re currently doing, which is allowing their inside operations, the companies that are in their state, to build their industry. Then, I think it will be somewhat like… The real question will be interstate commerce, you know?

TG Branfalt: Yeah.

Joseph Ori: If you have Illinois, which is weird because we’ve actually talked about this, so we have Illinois and Michigan, but we’re not contiguous except unless you cross Lake Michigan. You have to go through Indiana to get to Michigan-

TG Branfalt: Yeah.

Joseph Ori: … and Indiana’s not, you know, not going to go legal anytime soon. We’re like, “Okay, if we open up interstate commerce, are we’re going to be able to cross over into Illinois through Indiana? Or can we take boats across Lake Michigan and go to Illinois and sell product? I mean, those are legitimate questions that-

TG Branfalt: Yeah.

Joseph Ori: … we have no idea, you know, what what’s going to happen because barring true federal legalization where they just say, “Okay, we’re taking over control of this and here’s what’s going to happen,” you don’t really know how it’s going to play it’s self out.

I mean, alcohol sales have been largely kept outside of federal preemption. I’m not trying to get too legal with you, but federal preemption basically says federal laws preempt state laws. Now, there’s been exceptions to that. One of those has been alcohol. If you compare cannabis to alcohol, at least from a recreational standpoint, it would follow that they’re going to leave it up to the states. This state says it’s 18 years old, that state says it’s 21, this state has restrictions on… and local municipalities on what can be sold, what times it can be sold, who it can be sold to and when and where. It still looks like it’s always going to be maintained within the confines of each state, at least from my perspective.

TG Branfalt: No, and they’ve done the same thing with cigarettes now in New York. It’s 21, so to your point, I do want to sort of switch gears a little bit and talk to you about sort of craft cannabis. Tell me how Six Labs and yourself defines craft cannabis.

Joseph Ori: That’s a great question, so it’s not synonymous with top shelf cannabis. Craft cannabis, we feel, is defined by four qualities, which is smell, flavor, experience, and appearance. Top shelf, usually we say the top shelf cannabis has to have at least high, high rankings on three of those fours. Whereas, craft cannabis, we’ll have all four of them. The most important one, I think, is experience, and there’s other distinguishing features that will make craft cannabis separate itself from top shelf, which is the terpene profiles, the potency, the cannabinoid profiles, and tolerance. When you get into tolerance is where I really think the difference is, is craft cannabis we say is like a craft wine. It’s got different features.

Now, what we try to do is we say, “If you can create batches of cannabis that are consistent in smell, flavor, appearance, and most importantly experience, and also try to create profiles that will keep the user from growing a tolerance to it,” so meaning if you take it… if you are an edible fan, you’re taking a 10 milligram edible that’s from flower. It’s born of flower that it was craft flower. Or, you smoke a half gram pre-roll. Are you going to get the same effect and the same level of experience today as you will six months from now? Or, are you going to have to start smoking a whole gram? Or are you going to have to take two edibles?

We’re trying to… We’re basically saying the craft cannabis is always going to be, we believe, that it always will be special. It’ll always have its own place, so what we kind of set out to do is said, “You know, we’re going to try to spend and we have the ability with our facility to do that. We’re going to try to make craft cannabis at a larger scale. We’re going to try to compete with the guys who are making… who have a 3,000-square-foot grow or 5,000-square-foot grow, focus on a couple of strains and say, ‘This is the craft cannabis, the best quality that you can possibly have.”

We said, “We’re going to try to do that in a larger scale. We’re going to get that much attention. We’re going to give it that much time, energy, and create a climate and an environment where we can do that at a larger scale.” It’s very challenging. We’re trying to make it precise and as clean as possible, and precision is the main goal of our company.

TG Branfalt: You’re the first person that I’ve ever spoken to who put such an emphasis on experience. When you have these conversations with people, which you must do in order to be meeting these sort of goals, when you ask them, “What experience are you looking for?”, something like that, what’s the response that you get most often?

Joseph Ori: I guess to answer that question, it’s like if you’re at a dinner party and you’re with some friends and the subject of cannabis comes up, you’re likely not talking about strain names because it gets confusing. One of the things, and I can say this, I’ve been a customer for years and I was like, “Okay, what does this even mean?” It’s basically trying to say, “Okay, do we have the ability right now to say that you will have this specific experience from this strain?” No, and what we’ve learned, too, is that sativa, indica, and hybrid is really… There’s no true sativa [inaudible]. Everything is sort of a hybrid. There’s no true indica.

To say, “Okay, well, one’s going to kind of make you sleepy or tired and chilled out, the other one’s going to give you energy, will allow you to maybe focus better,” just based on strain is not really the truth. What they’re realizing is the entourage effect of certain levels of terpenes and ratios of cannabinoids. THC is not necessarily the main thing. It’s like it’s still I see that there’s… You can grow THC, high-potency THC product and you’ll get tons of money for it even at the wholesale level. Everybody wants 28%, 30%, and I don’t think that this industry’s moving toward that. I think it’s moving away from that. I think, you know-

TG Branfalt: Right.

Joseph Ori: … people don’t want to get blown out of their minds necessarily. They would prefer to have an experience, so while we can’t say that we have reached the point where I can tell you, “Hey, buy this and you’re going to feel this,” I think that what we are moving forward and we’re working on a product line that’s coming out.

We’re a house of brands, so we have five products and we’re working on a sixth. One of our products we’re saying is going to be geared toward allowing you to select it based on what you want to do and to heighten that experience. If you’re going to go… If you want to be creative, we’re going to say, “This is going to help you be more creative. If you want to just chill out and watch a movie and not think, then this, this a strain… this is a product, not a strain, but this is a product that will heighten that experience. If you want to explore, this is a product that will heighten that experience.”

Frankly, I think that there’s something to be said for the possibility that there would be heightened sexual experiences with certain products. What we’re trying to do is not tell because you can’t, I don’t think you can yet, like you tell the end user, “You are going to feel this way,” every single one of them. I do think that we’re at the point where we can say that, “If you’re going to do this occasion-based, occasion-based, this is the product. You will have a better time doing this with that.” That’s what we’re aiming for.

TG Branfalt: How do you R&D this, man?

Joseph Ori: Well [crosstalk] so you do… You know, you test it on your many employees. You sample a product. That’s what we do, and it’s not just simply that. We’re… Israel has got a lot of research that comes out of there. They’ve very, very passionate about it. More toward the medical, I’ll be honest, but-

TG Branfalt: Yeah.

Joseph Ori: … but you learn a lot from the medical that you can garner and sort of follow the process of if you have a particular strain that is more leaning towards sativa and you can combine the terpene profiles and the CBD ratios because those work against each other, and you can combine them together and consistently grow it with that ratio. You’re going to… Like I said, you may have eight out of 10 people who use it and say they had a bad experience, and to be fair, it’s like, okay, when I gave you my example with my opioid experience, I’m one of… They’ll give you a million things what the drug can do to you. Most people are just going to feel what it’s supposed to, and they didn’t tell you that a vast majority of people become addicted, but they also… Some people just don’t feel well and some people have nausea and vomiting.

I don’t think there’s a single substance out in the world that’s even been tested and approved by the FDA that can guarantee a specific feeling, but if you can do it to the extent where there’s a vast majority of expectation, that you’re likely to have this sensation when you utilize this particular product and you can rely on that and it works for you. I mean, let’s face facts. The one beauty is that I think I read something recently that there’s still not a single account of anyone dying from overdosing on cannabis.

TG Branfalt: Yeah. No, it’s basically impossible.

Joseph Ori: Basically impossible, so you may have to try it and you may have to go out and buy it and say, “Okay, well, hey, Six Labs is telling you they’ve got this line of cannabis out here and this is what this is for your occasion-based.” You say, “I’m going to try it.” We think your result will be satisfaction. I think that’s we’re aiming for,

TG Branfalt: Moving things on a little bit, when I said at the top I’ve been in Michigan and it was still medical and I went to a Cannabis Cup and I did get blown out of my mind by somebody with dabs. To your point, I do think that we are moving away of that sort of high-test stuff. I’m a guy who’s been smoking… using cannabis since I was 15, 16 years old, and now I much prefer five-milligram, 10-milligram edibles. Either I’m getting old or I don’t like to be as fucked up anymore.

Then, they legalized in 2016 the first Midwestern state to legalize recreationally. Obviously, they didn’t get up and running before Illinois because Illinois just… Pritzker was like, “We’re doing this, we’re going it now.” Tell me about Michigan’s industry seven years after voters have approved the reforms. Is it where people think that it should be as an operator? Is it a satisfactory business climate?

Joseph Ori: You know, that’s a tough question to answer and is broad of a term. Legal cannabis particularly in Michigan has in the initial stages struggled under the weight of pressure of scaling cultivation and led to quality issues on the larger cultivation level, which allowed caregivers to sell to dispensaries directly because they were the only ones who were making cannabis, creating cannabis that was available and that could be used.

It took a while to get the cultivators up and running, the larger cultivators, and the entire sector was slow to deliver the results that they expected. A lot of it… I think at one point in time not so long ago, about 70% of the larger cultivator cannabis wasn’t passing testing, so [crosstalk]-

TG Branfalt: 70%?

Joseph Ori: 70, yes-

TG Branfalt: That’s unreal.

Joseph Ori: … so while the challenges were most pronounced then, I think today there’s a difference. It’s different now. THere’s a lot of larger cultivators online. It’s robust competition, but Michigan is like… Nobody understands this, man. Michigan has a long history rooted in cannabis. I mean, you know, when you-

TG Branfalt: Ann Arbor itself, I mean-

Joseph Ori: Yeah. It’s unbelievable, man. It’s almost like California. It’s wild how deep-rooted cannabis use is in Michigan. The funny thing is like we’re being challenged by a black market. There’s the seizures at the border. I give it a little bit of fact. The seizures at the border in 2019 and 20, I’m sorry, in early 2020 to late 2020 increased like 1800%. They were seizing massive truckloads of commercial-grade cannabis at the border coming in from Canada because Canada can’t get their shit straight.

They have so many companies out there that have so much product because they have a huge black market problem that they’re shipping their high-quality packaged goods through the United States, the border of Michigan in Windsor. They’re getting seized and guess what the penalty was in 2020? I don’t think it’s any different, not, man, in 2019. It was $5,000 fine per ton.

TG Branfalt: Per ton?

Joseph Ori: Per ton, so I mean, I like my chances. All right, if I’m up in Canada, I’m like, “Well, you know what?” Nobody was arrested according to these accounts I’ve read and they were just sent back up to Canada and their passports were revoked to come to the United States, so I’ll take my chances all day. That’s what you’re competing with, but you still see the sales going through the roof. We kind of look at it and we’re like, “Man, if they could just,” so it’s like everybody says about 70% is still black market cannabis being sold in, you know, in the United States in general, and then pretty close to that ratio in Michigan.

You’re like, “Okay, if we could just chip away 10% of these people,” and the sales are still robust. Imagine what it would really be. We’re hoping that with education will come people saying, “Okay, we’re going to shift. We’re not going to buy it from this black market dealer down the street. We’re going to buy it from a licensed entity where it’s highly tested, highly regulated and, oh, by the way, this company Six Labs says, ‘Hey, we might have stuff that’s more sensation… more occasion-based for you and you can rely on it and you can always know the consistency and you can always know the cleanliness.'”

That’s what we’re hoping changes, but it’s going to be some time before that changes. We look at alcohol. We’re like, “Okay, after Prohibition, there were still people making whiskey, moonshine.” It took a long time and some government regulation and brands to really come out to do away with that type of mentality. I think we’re a ways away, but it’s growing in the sense that there’s… I mean, I think in Illinois we’re actually waiting for our grow license award, which has been over a year since we had it pending and COVID and a bunch of host-

TG Branfalt: Yeah.

Joseph Ori: … of other issues in Illinois have north allowed us to find out whether we want our grow license here. I mean, their taxes on cannabis, and granted their taxing the hell out of it here, which doesn’t help to fight the black market, either, but in 2020, the taxes of cannabis beat alcohol sales taxes [crosstalk] you know, it’s amazing.

TG Branfalt: Well, I understand your frustration as an operator about the illicit market, but part of the problem is taxes because I can go to my boy down the street, get an ounce for $200. If I go to Massachusetts, I’m dropping 450.

Joseph Ori: Correct.

TG Branfalt: That’s a hard pill to swallow.

Joseph Ori: Oh yeah, so we actually have some friends on the border of Indiana and Michigan, which is really… They only drive through Indiana for about 30 miles to get to Michigan, so from Illinois. You make that turn around the east part of the lake and you’re in Michigan. We had guys who were and still are going taking the drive to Michigan to buy commercial-grade tested cannabis rather than buying it in Illinois because Illinois’ tax is like 40% almost and Michigan’s isn’t that bad. Michigan I think… Actually one of the beautiful things that separates Michigan from a lot of other states is that the tax isn’t as great, so that helps us, but you’re still… If you’re budget conscious, no matter where you’re at, I think you’re doing exactly what you just said.

You’re going to go buy your cannabis to get a higher quantity rather than quality to save yourself some money, and especially if it’s something you’ve been doing for years. The funny thing is, TG, is that I kind of tell people this all of the time. It’s like all the years of consuming cannabis and you’re just like, “Okay, we didn’t know where the hell it came from half the time,” and it was all probably grown outdoors. Who knows what they were using and are still using on it to kill the infiltrates and to get rid of pests. I’m thinking to myself, “Because of what we’re doing indoors, we can control all of the climate. Every single aspect of everything is dialed in.”

It’s still challenging to do it the right way and keep it clean. It’s not like just pushing a button, man. It’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of attention to detail, and so I tell people, “I can’t imagine what was in the shit that we were smoking when we were younger.” I mean, and I went to school in New York City and there was… Who knows where it was coming from? It could have been coming from any one of 10 different places. I can’t imagine that they were caring too much, you know, that Rafael Cantana down in Mexico or somebody out in Humboldt County was caring too much about what they were using to kill the pests. I just… I don’t know.

TG Branfalt: I mean, growing up, for sure, I definitely smoked some mildew-y products.

Joseph Ori: Yeah.

TG Branfalt: When you’re 18, it doesn’t matter what you put in your body anyway, does it?

Joseph Ori: Yeah, yeah.

TG Branfalt: We talked briefly about sort of the history of cannabis in Michigan. We didn’t really get into it, but if I’m not mistaken, Ann Arbor was one of the first cities in the United States to legalize it medically and-

Joseph Ori: Yeah [crosstalk]-

TG Branfalt: … part of the history. Some people have began calling Michigan The Second Emerald Triangle, and so I’m wondering if you could sort of speak to why it’s gotten this moniker?

Joseph Ori: Well, I think, like I said, because of how deep-rooted cannabis has been in the state and there’s been a lot of private growing and there’s 30,000 caregivers who many of them who are very, very highly experienced growers and been doing it for… some, for generations, I think, prior to becoming legal. We have a robust set of strains that can compete with any state and, obviously, we don’t have our enfamed Humboldt County as California has for The Emerald Coast or whatever, but we do have every bit of the competition that California does. I mean, we have… That I would say is one of the greatest features of Michigan which separates it is that because there’s such competition, that the quality of the strains and what people are trying to do and the innovation that’s coming from that is I believe for Michigan at the forefront of the Midwest at a minimum.

I can’t necessarily say that we will overtake California, but I do think that we have a very strong hold on number two at this point based on those factors. I think that as… We’re only a little bit over a year and a half, two years into recreational, the strides that the state has made are amazing compared to other states. I don’t think it’s an unfair moniker to place on it.

TG Branfalt: Do you think eventually it’ll be they may change the name of Detroit from The Motor City to The Canna City or something?

Joseph Ori: I mean, if the car companies continue to do what they’ve been doing over the years, which is pulling out, coming back, pulling out-

TG Branfalt: Yeah.

Joseph Ori: … I think that that possibly could be the case. There’s… One of the things that Michigan has that’s a little strange is that there’s a lot of municipalities that haven’t opted in, so-

TG Branfalt: What’s the ratio there? I know in Maine it’s pretty out of control. It’s like 2:1.

Joseph Ori: Yeah. It’s pretty close to that. I haven’t checked the numbers, but I know that there have been… There’s I don’t want to say numbers because I haven’t checked in a while, but there were some 300 municipalities that still hadn’t-

TG Branfalt: Wow.

Joseph Ori: … opted in. Yeah, and only 200 or so that had. That’s the numbers that stick in my head, but like I said, I don’t want to…

TG Branfalt: Well, I’m sure that also affects the illicit sales. I mean, when you have all these communities that have no access, right?

Joseph Ori: Yeah, exactly.

TG Branfalt: You obviously are really passionate about this. You go from being a successful trial lawyer to being a successful cannabis entrepreneur. What advice would you have for entrepreneurs and especially people who had careers before they decided to enter the space?

Joseph Ori: I write on this a lot and I published some articles recently about different subjects. The first thing I would say is that you’re never too old to be an entrepreneur, and the only thing that the difference is between a younger entrepreneur versus an older one is that younger guys, in their minds they have less to lose. It’s sort of the youthful exuberance of blind, you know, understanding that. I started my law practice the day that I graduated law school and I read a book while I was studying for the bar exam called How to Start Your Own Law Firm and Not Miss a Meal. I read the book and I’m like, “Wow, I could do this. I could do this. I could this.”

Then, I get to the last chapter and the last chapter basically tells you, “Okay, so I’ve been practicing law for five to seven years now. Go out and do it.” I’m like, “Holy shit, wait a minute.” I was  because it was basically assuming that you knew a little bit about being a lawyer, that you were going to do that. I was like, “Oh, I was like, “Shit.” I said, “I can’t go do this,” but you know what I said? I said, “Listen, I can figure this out. I’ll out how to be a lawyer along the way.” I went and applied the same equation in how they told you how to go about getting to that point of opening your own law practice. I did exactly what it said, and so in the beginning, I had to co-op a lot with older lawyers who I met and said, “Okay, I’ve got this case. I’ll give you a cut of this if you help me with it.”

I made it work, but I could see how now that same guy is like… If I’m reading that today, I’m like, “Damn, that’s super risky. You know, I’ve got a good job.” I’m like, “Am I really going to be able to pull this off?” When in reality, you have a way better shot at pulling it off because you know about being a lawyer. You actually know how do the cases yourself. A lot of it depends on your risk tolerance, and I read an article the other day in Psychology Magazine about resilience.

Resilience is something that people think is you’re born of it. Sure. Are there some character traits that you might be born with that make you somewhat… give you the ability to be more resilient? Sure, but resilience is based a lot upon your social setting and your surroundings and who you are in bed with, sometimes literally and figuratively. Who is your support group? Who are you surrounded by? Who’s going to pick you you if you fall? Entrepreneurship is an incredibly cool concept and everybody wants to talk about it, but the reality is is that you have to be able to pivot, man.

That’s the one thing that I will tell you, anybody who’s doing it. If you have a plan, you say, “This is my plan. This is what I’m going to do. This is what the book said.” Shit doesn’t go that way, man, and if you don’t have the ability to say, “Okay, that didn’t go exactly how they book said it was going to go. I’m going to figure it out, though.” If you don’t have that ability, if you’re somebody who’s just linear, you’re going to have a tough time being an entrepreneur because very, very rarely, and I’ve yet to see anyone who says, “I read the book. I applied what it said, and it worked out exactly how it said it was.”

You have to be able to be resilient and you have to be able to pivot, and if you’ve got those qualities and you’re not afraid to lose and to pick up the pieces and try to keep it going, then you’re built for it. That’s what I would tell people.

TG Branfalt: I… That’s really, really great advice, man, and you can just sort of tell even before you read the book when you get injured playing football and that doesn’t really work out and you still end up going on to be successful. I mean, being an attorney and then a sports agent and all of these sort of things. I mean, it’s a really, really incredible story and I’d like to definitely get into those details with you at some point a little bit more, man.

I really thank you for sharing your story, and I know that we may not have gotten… talked too much about craft cannabis as it were, but it’s a really incredible story and I loved having you on the show and appreciate you coming on. Where can people find out more about you and more about Six Labs?

Joseph Ori: Just go to @sixlabscannabis and we have all of our updates. We have several brands that are out right now. We have Six Labs Flour we sell direct. We have Candela, which is a line of solvent lists concentrates that we recently just won the Michigan Cannabis Cup. We have MI6, which is your no frills quality brand available in larger quantities. Popcorn and shake. You can get strollers, which are mini, mini high-quality pre-rolls that are smaller than your average one, because that’s why they’re called stroller. Or, if you take a little walk on the beach or walk your dog. We definitely thought that’s the perfect one where you can actually smoke the entire thing and finish it-

TG Branfalt: Dog walkers.

Joseph Ori: … and yeah, yeah, dog walker. In fact, with… Then we have… We’re working still to bring out what we discussed earlier, which is ritual, which would be the occasions/sensation-based. We’re hoping to have that to the point where we can say, well, what discussed earlier that you can rely on this giving you this for this particular occasion.

That’s where we’re at and, you now, obviously, six-labs.com and, obviously, six-labs.com. I’m on Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn and all those places. I publish a lot of articles. I do a lot of these podcasts. So hopefully your listeners will start following us.

TG Branfalt: That’s Joe Ori, man, and really, I appreciate you coming on. I had planned to make it back to Detroit one day and we’ll definitely take it… Be on the lookout for the lockout for the dog walkers, especially-

Joseph Ori: Yeah, sure

TG Branfalt: … that dog likes to walk.

Joseph Ori: Well. Yeah, for sure, and if I make my way up skiing in the Lake Placid area, I’m going to definitely hit you up.

TG Branfalt: Oh, it’s a… Then, by the then, cannabis should be completely legal and what I grow in my backyard is no longer a crime. He is Joseph Ori, the co-founder. General Counsel and Government Relations for Six Labs, one of Michigan’s largest craft cannabis cultivators with a focus on quality and precision and an obvious passion for advanced research, development, and technology. Joseph, thanks again, man. We’ll talk soon.

Joseph Ori: All right, TG. Thank you, buddy. Thanks for having me. Bye, bye.

TG Branfalt: You can find more episodes of the Ganjapreneur.com Podcast in the podcast section of Ganjapreneur.com on Spotify, and in the Apple iTunes store. On the Ganjapreneur.com website, you’ll find the latest cannabis news and cannabis jobs updated daily, along with transcripts of this podcast. You can also download the Ganjapreneur.com app in iTunes and Google Play. This episode was engineered by Trim Media House. I’ve been your host, TG Branfalt.

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FlowerHire: Cannabis Staffing for a Diverse & Inclusive Industry

1/19/2022

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As new state-legal cannabis markets come online, companies need to find staff at every level. That is where recruiting firms like FlowerHire can help. David Belsky established FlowerHire in 2017 and since then has built the company to deliver hundreds of leadership hires for clients across North America for companies like Eaze, Terrascend, AYR , and Ascend Wellness.

Ganjapreneur spoke with Director of Business Development Karen Meshkov, or KMesh, about how FlowerHire is doing its part to build a better cannabis industry. “We are the connective tissue of the industry. We work in between founders, funders, and executives, and advocates,” said KMesh.

The company follows four core values: Community, Authenticity, Gratitude, and Execution. They want to be intentional and ethical about how they connect the industry, communicate directly and respectfully, and take action when it’s called for. With those goals in mind, they staff cannabis industry positions with people who will thrive in them. They are also working on diversity initiatives to teach cannabis companies how to build an antiracist workplace.

As of 2022, FlowerHire has placed over 600 people in the industry. The company receives more than 100 organic resumes per week, which serves as a useful pool of candidates when starting a search. Due to the number of emerging markets, the team still goes to tradeshows, networking events, and conducts Linkedin searches to find a wide array of candidates. Hiring specialists place people with jobs based on their industry, experience, and compensation – and they’re successful because they have a finger on the pulse of the space. KMesh will tell you the difference between a salary for a cultivator in Salinas versus Palm Springs, California, or a Director of Operations in Rochester versus Flint, Michigan. She built this skill by digging into what makes the cannabis industry work.

The specialists at FlowerHire take a three-pronged approach to staffing. The core executive search team places mid-level six-figure executives, while FlowerHire Senior Advisors (FHSA) specialize in C-Suite and Board members and FlowerHire X helps companies fill hourly roles. They split the workflow into these three categories because each employment tier requires a different set of skills. “We fill any role of strategic value to a cannabis company. If it’s a role where it’s make or break, whether it’s an extractor, grower, bookkeeper, human resources professional — as long as it’s critical and in a specific nature to cannabis, we’ll find the talent for it,” said KMesh.

FHSA is hands-on and led by Brian Fitzgerald, a skilled executive recruiter with experience in corporate recruiting for big businesses. This branch fills C-Suite and Board-level openings in a strategic, customized, time-intensive process. Placing someone at this level can take anywhere from 6-12 months. Finding candidates for these roles requires a keen understanding of how hypergrowth industries like cannabis differ from established industries. Not every person from retail or consumer packaged goods will thrive in a fast-paced, sometimes unconventional environment like cannabis.

When recruiting from outside of cannabis, FlowerHire looks to other disruptive industries to find someone who will thrive in this type of environment, rather than burn out. KMesh calls this ability the “Cannabis DNA.”

“It doesn’t matter where you came from,” she said. “What matters to us is: do you have this DNA? Do you know how to hustle and be scrappy, and do you respect the passion and the purpose behind this industry?”

While the former two prongs of the business are very hands-on and high-touch, placing hourly workers with FlowerHire X is a high-tech venture. Before this option, hiring managers would often receive hundreds of resumes through platforms like Craigslist, which is time-intensive for people who don’t have days or weeks to spend searching for the perfect candidate. After hearing this complaint from several clients, FlowerHire partnered with engin sciences inc to build a transparent platform. FlowerHire X can place hourly workers based on the experience on their resume, their personality, and other special skills.

Sloan Barbour, CEO of engin sciences inc, gave me a demo of the FlowerHire X platform. The tool uses artificial intelligence and intuitive programming to gamify the hourly job search process. People seeking work input their information and take quizzes to provide future employers with insight for how they might fit into the company. Employers take the same quizzes so that the platform can assess their company culture and present them with compatible candidates. The platform then provides an easy-to-read assessment of how the employer and the candidate will mesh so that the hiring manager can easily find workers who will flourish in their workplace.

Ben Kogelman, engin’s Head of Customer Success, said that companies who switch to the platform receive twice as many qualified candidates in the same amount of time as their previous methods. They have also cut their time-to-hire ratio in half. Building technological applications for this process may also lower the high turnover rate of many hourly cannabis positions like budtending and trimming. For workers who don’t have a resume, engin also offers a resume builder. The tool intentionally highlights educational training, special skills, and creative projects alongside work experience, because experience in cannabis is often more complicated than a list of former jobs. As prospective workers build out their resumes, they’ll get tips on how to include legacy cannabis work in their resumes in a beneficial way.

This resume builder is one way that FlowerHire works to make cannabis employment opportunities more accessible to everyone. They are also building towards diversity initiatives that will continue improving accessibility. KMesh has led the company’s diversity initiatives since she started in February 2020. FlowerHire is aware of the lack of diversity in cannabis and wants to be a bridge between today and a diverse future in the space. The company’s first step towards this future is its partnership with Cannabis Doing Good.

Cannabis is unique in its history. No other hypergrowth industry was born from a prohibition weaponized against communities of color — and there are still hundreds of thousands of people who are suffering from the repercussions of the drug war. Because of this, cannabis businesses must be educated in this history and the antiracist policies that can correct it. Cannabis Doing Good is training FlowerHire staff on antiracism and building antiracist organizations. This training is part of a larger diversity initiative that, according to KMesh, must eventually also include people who identify as women and LGBTQIA+ in order to build the broadest, most inclusive industry possible.

FlowerHire sees that many industry members want to find the solution, but many don’t know what to do. This creates a gap that the company hopes to fill as it continues its internal antiracist education; builds relationships with diversity, equity, and inclusion experts; and dreams up ways to work alongside other stakeholders who are invested in a diverse cannabis industry. “We’re not saying that we have the solution, we’re saying we want to be a part of the solution,” KMesh said. “We need a broad-based movement that brings recruiters into partnership with educational institutions and public workforce development programs. That’s how real change is going to happen.”

These initiatives will play a large role in the company’s future as they grow. FlowerHire offices are becoming divisional, operating both on the West and East Coast, which has allowed the company to match recruiters with each region’s individual cannabis culture. One day, they may even look internationally. For now, FlowerHire is celebrating its first year operating all three prongs – the core executive search team, FlowerHire Senior Advisors, and FlowerHire X – as well as its diversity initiatives. As for tips for getting hired, KMesh gave us her number one piece of advice: sign up on Linkedin and put the word “cannabis” on your profile. Start posting, comment, and get in the conversation.

This article was updated 1/19/2022.

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U.S. Senate Candidate Smokes Blunt in Campaign Ad

1/19/2022

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A Louisiana Democratic U.S. Senate candidate is seen smoking a blunt in a New Orleans field in his first campaign ad. In the 37-second ad, titled ” 37 Seconds-Legalize Marijuana,” progressive activist Gary Chambers Jr. says “every 37 seconds” someone is arrested for cannabis possession in the U.S.

“Since 2010, state and local police have arrested an estimated 7.3 million Americans for violating marijuana laws,” he says in the ad.

Chambers also highlights the disproportionate effect cannabis laws have on the Black community and the money spent on cannabis enforcement.

“Black people are four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana laws than white people. States waste $3.7 billion enforcing marijuana laws every year.” — Chambers, “37 Seconds”

The candidate notes that the majority of people who police arrest for cannabis “aren’t dealers,” but are arrested for possessing small, personal amounts of cannabis, “like me,” he said.

Chambers is an entrepreneur from Baton Rouge and co-founder of the media outlet, The Rouge Collection, according to his campaign website.

His home state of Louisiana has seen some cannabis laws relaxed in recent years. In 2021, the state decriminalized 14 grams of cannabis. On January 1, smokable cannabis became available in Louisiana medical cannabis dispensaries. The New Orleans city council went even further, expunging 10,000 cannabis possession crimes for those convicted after 2010.

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Hazel Park Cannabis Shop Opened During Pandemic Adds New Location

1/19/2022

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Battle Creek, MI January 18, 2022 – Oakland County’s first recreational cannabis store BREEZE Provisioning has just opened a second location in Battle Creek, MI. The new location continues BREEZE’s culture of exceptional customer service experience through knowledgeable and highly-trained staff, and an easy online ordering experience — something that BREEZE is known for.

From challenging starts to a thriving business

BREEZE Provisioning opened its first location in Hazel Park, MI in March 2020; right before the COVID-19 shutdowns. Faced with this new challenge, the cannabis shop was able to adapt by creating an online ordering menu and optimizing its quick pick-up and delivery systems. Aiming to elevate the customer experience even further, BREEZE also launched the Cannabis Care Center; a call center that provides reliable cannabis information. Anyone, whether they are a customer or not, can dial 1-833-9-BREEZE to speak with a cannabis specialist. BREEZE’s highly trained team members are there to educate customers so they can pick the best product for their needs, both in-person and over the phone.

A second location in Battle Creek, MI

BREEZE’s commitment to compassionate customer service has helped the business stand out. The booming cannabis shop has recently opened a second location in Battle Creek, MI. The new location is located at the corner of Columbia Ave. and James St. and is open for in-person shopping and curbside pickup. Battle Creek customers are also able to place orders and learn more about the different products by calling the Cannabis Care Center.

Focusing on the customer experience

The new Battle Creek location is already getting rave reviews from customers for its easy online ordering process and knowledgeable budtenders. One customer calls it “Best newcomer dispensary in town!”, while another one praises the easy purchasing experience “The most convenient experience! Easy online ordering with descriptions and pictures of product. When I arrived they brought it right to my car and I was in and out within minutes!” With great reviews like these, BREEZE’s new location is sure to be another success.

Visit BREEZE’s website to learn more about their products and to place an online order.

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Congressional Democrats Plan to Take Up Cannabis Reforms in Spring

1/19/2022

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Congressional Democrats are planning to take up cannabis-related issues in the spring, including proposals to allow the industry access to banking, expunging criminal records, and potentially decriminalization, The Hill reports.

“The growing bipartisan momentum for cannabis reform shows that Congress is primed for progress in 2022, and we are closer than ever to bringing our cannabis policies and laws in line with the American people.” — Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Barbara Lee (D-CA), in a memo to the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, via The Hill

Notably, the House of Representatives has voted five times since 2019 to approve the SAFE Banking Act, which would give cannabis companies access to traditional financial services, but the legislation has never been taken up by the Senate.

The MORE Act, which would remove cannabis from the federal schedule of controlled substances and expunge federal convictions, was also approved by the lower chamber but not considered by the Senate, which is now controlled 50-50 with Vice President Kamala Harris serving as the tiebreaking vote.

The memo outlined by The Hill expresses support for an “equitable” cannabis industry.

“In addition to investing in the communities most impacted by the war on drugs,” the memo states, “it’s crucial that states incentivize equal opportunity to participate in the cannabis industry, especially for people of color.”

In a November interview, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that the lawmakers behind his federal cannabis reform bill “don’t want the big boys to come in” to the industry once the reforms are approved.

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Young Cannabis and Alcohol Users Have Better Sexual Functions and Orgasms

1/19/2022

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People between the ages of 18 to 30 who use cannabis and alcohol may have better sexual functions and orgasms than those who abstain from the substances, according to research published last month in the journal Healthcare. The researchers suggest that “sexual function is improved in young people who are high-risk cannabis consumers with a moderate risk of alcohol use, resulting in increased desire, arousal, and orgasm.”

“This improvement is usually associated with a reduction in anxiety and shame, which facilitates sexual relationships. However, according to the literature, this increase in sexual function is generally accompanied by unsafe sexual behaviors, given that the use of drugs, notably alcohol and cannabis, in recreational nightlife settings is highly normalized and ingested in large quantities.” — “The Influence of Cannabis and Alcohol Use on Sexuality: An Observational Study in Young People (18–30 Years),” Dec. 31, 2021, Healthcare

The study included 274 participants, including 185 who identified as female and 89 who identified as male. The researchers note that 46% of the participants were not at risk for alcohol problems, while 41.6% were likely to have a moderate level of alcohol problems. And while 63.9% of the participants reported no problems with cannabis use, they found a probability that 23.7% of the participants could develop an addiction to cannabis. In terms of sexual function, only 4% of the participants indicated sexual dysfunction; the remaining 96% did not report any sexual dysfunction.

The authors suggest that this population of people aged 18-30 could rely less on cannabis and alcohol for sexual encounters if sexual education for younger people were to “incorporate strategies and education to lessen anxiety and shame during sexual encounters.”

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Kentucky Senate Leader Could Block Medical Cannabis Bill

1/19/2022

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Kentucky state Rep. Jason Nemes (R), who is sponsoring a bill to legalize medical cannabis, believes the proposal has the votes in the Senate; however, Nemes is unsure whether Senate President Robert Stivers (R) will allow the bill to be brought for a vote, WHAS11 reports.

“The whole ballgame obviously, again, is in the Senate. I think we have a strong majority in the Senate that would support it. I’m trying to convince the senators to actually call it for a vote.” — Nemes to WHAS 11

In an interview with WHAS11 earlier this month, Stivers said he was open to discussing the issue but voiced concerns about medical cannabis studies.

“This is not a drug that’s a panacea to cure everything,” he said during a January 3 interview with WHAS11, “but if there were more studies and the [Food and Drug Administration] or John Hopkins or somebody like that would come out and show how it should be used for medicinal and therapeutic values, then I think it would be an easier path forward.”

During an interview last week with Kentucky Tonight, Stivers was evasive when pressed on whether he would bring the bill up for a vote were the House to approve it but did indicate he did not support taxing medical cannabis if legalized.

“To that extent on medical marijuana I’ve been clear,” Stivers said. “I think there is statistically significant indicators — because I’ve read 20 studies and those are the key buzzwords — that it can help in nausea suppression, helping you eat, spasticity … but it is adverse to brain development if you’re under 25. … You’re more likely to a psychotic event if you have overexposure to THC. … If you smoke it, it has 50% more carcinogens than tobacco does.”

Nemes’ legislation would allow medical cannabis access for patients with any type or form of cancer regardless of stage; chronic, severe, intractable, or debilitating pain, epilepsy or any other intractable seizure disorder; multiple sclerosis, muscle spasms, or spasticity; or nausea or vomiting disorders.

The House passed a similar medical cannabis bill in 2020 but it was never considered in the Senate.

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Spotify Successfully Opposes Trademark for ‘POTIFY’ Software

1/18/2022

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The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USTPO) last week sustained two oppositions filed by Spotify AB against two trademark applications by U.S. Software Inc. for its cannabis software POTIFY, IP Watchdog reports. The USTPO found POTIFY’s trademarks would have diluted and blurred trademarks held by the popular music streaming service.

U.S. Software had filed the trademark applications in 2017 and 2018 which sought to register POTIFY for: “downloadable software for use in searching, creating and making compilations, rankings, ratings, reviews, referrals and recommendations relating to medical marijuana dispensaries and doctor’s offices and displaying and sharing a user’s location and finding, locating, and interacting with other users and place, in International Class 9,” according to the January 10 decision. The company had also sought the trademark for clothing, medical cannabis information, creating an online community for medical cannabis patients and schedule healthcare services.

Spotify opposed the mark, claiming common law rights to the SPOTIFY registration for their music and entertainment software and advertising and that the POTIFY mark would likely cause consumer confusion and dilution. The company also claimed that because “pot” is a colloquial term for cannabis, “consumers will associate the POTIFY mark with the promotion of marijuana use” and any “association of marijuana-related goods and services with the SPOTIFY mark is likely to tarnish the SPOTIFY mark.” The Trademark and Trial Appeal Board noted that Spotify already hosts content, such as music and podcasts, related to cannabis.

U.S. Software argued that its product is not for individual consumers, rather “sales systems, telemedicine systems, and enterprise resource planning systems,” and “is a back-end software platform designed for legal marijuana dispensaries to market and sell their products.” The company also argued that POTIFY existed in 2014 before Spotify became famous and was derived from the Shopify moniker, not the streaming platform.

Ultimately, the board found that “because the marks SPOTIFY and POTIFY are used for software products that perform analogous functions, and are so similar in appearance and sound, their commercial impressions are similar even if consumers take different meanings from SPOT and POT,” and it is “inevitable POTIFY will diminish SPOTIFY’s distinctiveness.”

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