A top North Carolina Senate Republican has introduced a bill to legalize medical cannabis, the Raleigh News & Observer reports.
Introduced by Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee Sen. Bill Rabon (R), SB 711, or the Compassionate Care Act, would legalize cannabis for certain medical uses. According to the legislation, which is co-sponsored by fellow Republican Sen. Michael Lee and Democratic Sen. Paul Lowe, “Modern medical research has found that cannabis and cannabinoid compounds are effective at alleviating pain, nausea, and other symptoms associated with several debilitating medical conditions.”
Additionally, Democrats have proposed their own decriminalization plan (SB 669) and adult-use legislation (SB 646), but Sen. Jay Chaudhuri (D) believes although those bills are possible “pipedreams” this session, he is optimistic SB 711 could receive a committee hearing and even a floor vote.
“I suspect there may be some willingness to give the medical marijuana bill a hearing, and maybe even pass it this session.” — Chaudhuri via Raleigh News & Observer
The report goes on to cite the ongoing opiate crisis and veterans’ mental health issues as motivation for passing medical cannabis legalization in North Carolina.
The medical cannabis proposal would set up a nine-member Medical Cannabis Production Commission, appointed by the governor or General Assembly, no later than 180 days after the bill is signed. The commission would be responsible for licensing producers, processors, and “medical cannabis centers” in order to provide “safe and affordable” cannabis for patients statewide.
Under the proposal, qualifying patients will have to register with the North Carolina Department of Health and be issued an identification card with the patient’s identification number and photo.
Cannabis streaming channel Cannected is set for an April 20 soft launch and will be available on a range of services, including Apple TV and Roku, MM+M reports. The channel’s launch will debut 420Media founder Kerri Accardi’s documentary showcasing cannabis as “the miracle she is” on May 1.
Accardi told MM+M that she wants the channel “to be known as the reliable source of information about cannabis education and entertainment.” She said her journey to create the channel started in 2013 after her Aunt Kathy died.
“I’m just a warrior who lost her best friend. When this information gets out there, so many people are going to heal and help themselves.” – Accardi to MM+M
Other programs on the channel will include “5th Quarter” which explores cannabis and sports; and “Nurse Talk,” hosted by Nurse Heather, which will discuss the uses of medical cannabis. Accardi indicated that future programming could include “business series, game shows, politics show, even a TMZ-like show on the gossip of the industry.”
Nurse Heather described herself as an endocannabinoid system “evangelical” and notes she didn’t learn about the system in nursing school.
“Education is really what needs to happen,” she told MM+M. “When you start to talk about cannabis, it creates all kind of different stigmas and thoughts and feelings… I want to help other healthcare providers understand the importance of it.”
The first media platform connecting brands with the growing cannabis & spirits audiences
New York, NY (April 9th, 2021) – Flavor Fix, the first media platform catering to cannabis and spirits, has launched. It’s built to educate people on cannabis, CBD and spirits, as well as let brands connect with this hard-to-reach audience. Kaya Herb House, the first legal dispensary in Jamaica, has partnered with Flavor Fix to be their launch sponsor.
“Flavor Fix is a great idea that is perfectly timed,” said Bali Vaswani, Founder of Kaya Herb House. “You’ve got cannabis legalization forging ahead in the states. The reality that it is extremely difficult to advertise brands and products in these categories online, and the fact that no site currently offers anything to people interested in both cannabis and spirits.”
Uniquely Connecting Brands with Customers
An AdAge.com paper called Why Cannabis Audiences Are the New Gateway to Growth for Big Brand mentions the value of the growing cannabis market and their affinity for alcohol.
“21 million buy top-quality beer, wine and spirits, especially whiskey.” — MRI-Simmons National Cannabis Study, 2020, AdAge paper
Enter Flavor Fix. There are well-established media platforms in cannabis and others in spirits, however, none that cover both multi-billion dollar industries and that collect data on the affluent audience that overlaps each category. This allows Flavor Fix to have twice the amount of site traffic and build a much bigger audience than WeedMaps, Leafly, Flaviar, Merry Jane, VinePair and others alike who focus on only one of the industries. Flavor Fix also has a cannabis and spirits influencer network that helps expand their audience/reach and gives brands a unique way of advertising. This is essential to helping brands be successful online, because advertising cannabis, CBD and spirits brands on Google and Facebook is a challenge.
“Human behavior shows that people like a little toke with their wine, beer or liquor of choice,” said JJ Smoak, Flavor Fix’s Head of Content. “We cater to this lifestyle by expanding our concept of content into premium handmade wooden products. Our high-quality products bring flavor to your dinner parties and personal at-home smoking experience.”
Build Brands with High-Quality Handcrafted Wooden Products
Flavor Fix makes handmade wooden products like Cutting Boards, Stash Boxes, Rolling Trays and Flight Paddles in small batches. This gives Flavor Fix a tangible presence in the home and makes them a valuable part of the party. This helps Flavor Fix build a stronger connection with their audience than other media companies who don’t have a tangible and intimate expression of their brand. Flavor Fix offers brands like Kaya the ability to do unique advertising campaigns on their platform that include custom branded, hand-crafted products.
Executional Experience
Flavor Fix’s founding team are ex-advertising agency executives with years of experience advertising alcohol brands with Rémy Martin, Diageo and others. They created Flavor Fix due to an influx of cannabis and CBD clients who found it difficult to advertise cannabis and CBD brands online. This team has helped spirits brands navigate the regulated world of alcohol advertising and are using Flavor Fix to do the same for CBD and cannabis brands. The audience overlap also makes Flavor Fix uniquely positioned to help grow the non-alcoholic CBD and cannabis beverage segment. A recent study by Grand View Research said that the global cannabis beverage market size is expected to reach USD 2.8 Billion by 2025 at a CAGR of 17.8%. Flavor Fix will be a platform that introduces alcohol connoisseurs to this delicious offering.
“The founding team has brand building, advertising, and deep SEO & Content experience,” said Mr. Chichester, Flavor Fix, Advisor and Investor, “ They have found SEO advantages over the leaders in the space and built a platform that will out rank their competitors organically on search engines like Google. Their creation of an Influencer network for this space shows their foresight. The fact that they consider their wooden products a type of content play is genius. Plus, the majority of the founders happen to be people of color, which is unique in both advertising and the cannabis industry. I think that’s pretty cool.”
About Flavor Fix Flavor Fix is the leading multi-media publishing and lifestyle company educating the public on cannabis, CBD and spirits. Flavor Fix helps brands connect with the affluent audiences that are rapidly growing in two multi-billion dollar industries.
Mexico’s landmark cannabis legalization proposal has encountered unexpected issues in the Senate after Majority Leader Ricardo Monreal said on Thursday he wants to seek yet another extension to the Supreme Court’s legalization deadline, Bloomberg reports.
Under specific scrutiny are certain revisions to the bill — which is currently back in the Senate after it was first approved there last November — made in the Chamber of Deputies, Mexico’s lower house. While the original bill was backed by Mexico’s ruling Morena party, headed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, top Morena lawmakers are now concerned about changes related to the cannabis regulatory body, new permit requirements for home growers, multi-license companies, hemp research opportunities, and the loss of licensing advantages for small-scale farmers.
“What’s best for everyone is for this to be a good law, not a law that is approved too swiftly and that will later be difficult to put into effect.” — Monreal, during a press conference on Thursday, via Bloomberg
Monreal called for pushing the deadline back further so lawmakers could tackle the issue further when the next legislative session starts in September.
“The law should meet two goals, reducing criminality and eliminating the prohibition that has led to thousands of people being imprisoned for having a few grams of marijuana,” Monreal said. “It should be an instrument for social justice.”
Mexico’s legalization push has been eagerly anticipated since the country’s Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that cannabis prohibition is unconstitutional. That decision came with a mandate for lawmakers to act on the legalization issue but the deadline has been repeatedly pushed back as they debate the best way to move forward.
When finally approved, Mexico is set to become only the third nation to pass cannabis legalization and the largest legal cannabis marketplace in the world.
A federal judge on Wednesday issued a temporary restraining order halting Detroit, Michigan’s adult-use cannabis licensing process over its legacy licensing plan that gives Motor City residents preferential status and fee discounts, MLive reports. The lawsuit by Crystal Lowe, who hopes to open a retail cannabis shop in the city, claims the rules run afoul of both the state and U.S. Constitution.
Kevin M. Blair, of Honigman law firm who is representing Lowe, claims in the motion the city’s rules amount to “pure economic protectionism.”
“Time and again, Michigan courts have struck down municipal licensing schemes for private businesses that discriminate based on residency.” – Blair, in the lawsuit, via MLive
Detroit’s retail cannabis licensing plan calls for 50% of up to 75 new retail businesses be owned by legacy residents and the 50% legacy minimum applies to most other industry license types. Legacy applicants also receive a 99% discount on fees this year, a 75% discount next year, and the opportunity to purchase city-owned land at a 25% discount.
Legacy applicants are defined by the city as individuals that have lived in Detroit for 15 of the last 30 years; 13 of the last 30 years and are low income; or for 10 of the last 30 years and have a cannabis conviction or a parent with a cannabis conviction.
U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman issued the temporary restraining which prohibits city officials from receiving any more industry applications until at least April 21 or April 22, when a hearing will be held to determine if a preliminary injunction will be issued. A preliminary injunction could mean no industry licenses are issued until the lawsuit is settled.
The city’s ordinance includes language that says no licenses will be issued or renewed if any part of the local law is deemed unconstitutional or otherwise struck down. The city had planned to begin issuing licenses on May 1.
Detroit Corporation Counsel Lawrence Garcia indicated that Detroit’s Civil Rights, Inclusion and Opportunity Office would “reach out to certified Legacy Detroiters to offer general advice and support while the litigation is pending.”
The Texas House Committee on Public Health on Wednesday passed a proposal to allow patients with any type of cancer and veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder to access the state’s medical cannabis program, along with patients with chronic pain that would otherwise be treated with opioids, the Dallas Morning News reports.
The measure also increases the THC levels in cannabis products allowed in the program from .5% to 5%.
Morris Denton, CEO of Texas Original Compassionate Cultivation, in an interview with the Morning News described the legislation as a “step forward” in the direction of a “true medical cannabis program” for Texans but “it doesn’t get … all the way there.”
“Because the legislative process is a process that is built on compromise, we have to look for things that we can achieve. There are no moral victories when you’re talking about a person’s health, so we need to get approved what we can and then look to come back in the 2023 session.” – Denton to the Morning News
David Bass, a military veteran who testified to the committee, said that while he would qualify for the program were the bill enacted – as a veteran with PTSD – his “PTSD is no different than a firefighter or a police officer who has PTSD, or a person who was abused or sexually assaulted.”
“Their symptoms and experiences are the same as mine,” he testified.
The measure was introduced by Republican Rep. Stephanie Klick, who also sponsored the 2019 bill that expanded the program to include multiple sclerosis, seizure disorders, and terminal cancer.
As of December, there were 3,811 registered patients in Texas, according to the report, which notes neighboring Oklahoma had more than 365,000 registered in the state’s medical cannabis program as of December.
The Alabama House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday approved a medical cannabis bill which was approved by the state Senate in February. The measure was sent to the chamber’s Health Committee.
The measure covers 16 qualifying conditions including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety or panic disorder, Crohn’s Disease, menopause or premenstrual syndrome, fibromyalgia, Tourette’s, spasticity associated with motor neuron diseases and multiple sclerosis or a spinal cord injury, sickle cell anemia, terminal illnesses, HIV and AIDS-related weight loss, epilepsy, cancer, persistent nausea, autism, and chronic pain for which other medications have already proven to be ineffective.
The bill prohibits smoking and edibles, calling instead for tablets and capsules, “non-sugarcoated gelatinous cube, gelatinous rectangular cuboid,” topicals, patches, suppositories, liquids or oils, and products for use with a nebulizer.
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Tim Melson (R), who is also a physician and medical researcher, told reporters following the committee vote that he thinks the proposal has “a good chance” to get through the Health Committee and move to the House floor for a full vote. It would mark the first time the whole chamber has considered medical cannabis legislation, which has been approved by the Senate three times.
The Judiciary Committee approved 10 amendments to the proposal, including excluding nonresidents from the program, reducing money allocated for cannabis research from 30% of industry-derived proceeds to 15%, with the remainder going to rural health programs, adding a State Health-appointed member to the state medical cannabis commission, and allowing doctors and pharmacists access to the seed-to-sale database.
The committee rejected amendments that would have removed anxiety, menopause, and persistent nausea from the conditions list, and another to add Parkinson’s Disease.
A federal investigation into Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz (R) for allegedly violating sex trafficking laws has extended to Dr. Jason Pirozzolo, a Florida-based hand surgeon, medical cannabis advocate, and founder of The American Medical Marijuana Physician Association, CBS News reports.
Specifically, investigators are said to be looking into a Bahamas trip that Gaetz and Pirozzolo took in late 2018 or early 2019, during which Pirozzolo allegedly covered the costs of travel, accommodations, and female escorts. Investigators are working to determine whether the escorts were illegally brought across state or international lines for the purposes of sex. Investigators are also wondering whether Gaetz was accepting paid escorts in exchange for political favors, according to the report.
Pirozzolo has not responded to requests for comment and reportedly offered no comment to CBS News when confronted outside of his office on Wednesday.
In a now widely-reported 2018 appearance on the Ganjapreneur podcast — where we regularly interview people involved in various aspects of the cannabis industry — Pirozzolo said that Rep. Gaetz was working on legislation to “help facilitate [medical cannabis] research on the nationwide level,” and that his group had booked the congressman for a keynote at an event covering medical cannabis and the NFL.
According to FEC records reported by CBS, Pirozzolo has made $1,000 donations to Gaetz’s campaign on two occasions — once in 2016 and again in 2017. Gaetz, meanwhile, introduced federal legislation to expand medical cannabis research possibilities in 2018 and 2019, though both times the bill failed to reach the House floor for a vote.
Rep. Gaetz — who has been the subject of a national firestorm since the allegations came about, which include claims that he solicited sex from a 17-year-old — has denied everything. His office put forward this statement last week:
“Matt Gaetz has never paid for sex. Matt Gaetz refutes all the disgusting allegations completely. Matt Gaetz has never ever been on any such websites whatsoever. Matt Gaetz cherishes the relationships in his past and looks forward to marrying the love of his life.”
If investigators ultimately do determine that Pirozzolo’s actions were seeking some form of quid-pro-quo in terms of favorable federal policy action, “That’s a federal crime,” former prosecutor Arlo Devlin-Brown told CBS News.
Virginia lawmakers yesterday approved the governor’s amendments to the state’s cannabis reform bill, setting the launch date for legalization on July 1, 2021. Under the version of the bill first approved by lawmakers last month, the legalization rules were only set to begin in 2024.
In late March, following criticisms that a multi-year delay didn’t go far enough in addressing the disproportionate arrests of Black Virginians and other people of color, Gov. Ralph Northam (D) proposed speeding up the launch date to July 1 of this year. Notably, the new date marks only the legalization of adult cannabis possession (up to one ounce), and home growing (up to four plants) — regulated sales are still not expected until July 2024.
Following the announcement, NORML Development Director and Virginia NORML Executive Director Jenn Michelle Pedini called the passage an “incredible victory.”
“Legalization will bring an end to the thousands of low-level marijuana infractions occurring annually in the Commonwealth — ending a discriminatory practice that far too often targets Virginians who are young, poor, and people of color.” — Pedini, in a press release
Virginia’s legalization proposal will include priority licensing for social equity applicants, though the rules for that system and other market regulations are up for review in the General Assembly next year.
Virginia is the first state in the South to legalize adult-use cannabis (although Washington, D.C. approved its legalization law in 2014). Polling data found that 68 percent of registered Virginia voters — including majorities of both Democrats and Republicans — are in favor of legalizing cannabis.
An Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study found that “California recreational marijuana outlets avoid selling marijuana to underage customers” after the firm sent “pseudo-underage patrons” – individuals of age but young-looking and without identification – into 47 shops, each of which denied the individuals’ entry into the building.
The researchers did note, though, that in one of the dispensaries visited, the store was observed giving away free samples of edibles to patrons – which runs afoul of state law – but ID requirements were enforced across the board.
The penalty in California for supplying cannabis to someone under 21 without a doctor’s recommendation for medical use is up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $500 for a first offense.
Angela Eichelberger, a research scientist with the Insurance Institute who authored the report with experts from the University of Chicago and University of Minnesota told the Orange County Register that the study shows “licensed marijuana retailers are clearly keen to follow the rules.”
“They’re aware that the industry hasn’t won everybody over yet, and they don’t want to get shut down,” she said in the report.
“In 15 outlets (32%), an electronic ID scanner was used. At stores without ID scanners, most personnel checking ID quickly glanced at the card, rather than carefully examining it. Thirty-four outlets (72%) did not have any signs outside or at the door stating that purchases or entry by those under age 21 is prohibited. Only 11 outlets (23%) had signs inside the outlet about the age restriction, and no outlets had a sign in the outlet stating there would be no sales to obviously intoxicated individuals. This signage is not required in California but is considered a good practice.” – An examination of the legal marijuana use age and its enforcement in California, a state where recreational marijuana is legal,” IIHS, March 2021
The study notes that security was present at 79% of the retailers (37 outlets) and in relatively small stores with few staff and no security, a retail staff member checked IDs.
Law enforcement officers surveyed for the study indicated their departments devote no more than 10% of their resources to enforcing cannabis laws, with most enforcement-related crimes downgraded to misdemeanors under the legalization law. Forty percent said they do occasional age-compliance checks at licensed cannabis retailers.
The California Senate Public Safety Committee on Tuesday advanced a measure to decriminalize psychedelics in the state – including psilocybin, LSD, ketamine, DMT, MDMA, ibogaine, and mescaline – for adults 21-and-older, Courthouse News reports.
The proposal would also expunge criminal records for crimes now legal under the law and include new criminal penalties for providing drugs to minors.
State Sen. Scott Wiener (D) said during the hearing that the reforms are “not inviting people to use” the substances, rather taking the state on a “health-minded approach” to their use, the report says.
The bill includes provisions to create a working group to study the safety and efficacy of the use of psychedelics.
In 2019, the Federal Drug Administration authorized psilocybin as a breakthrough therapy for Usona Institute’s psilocybin program for major depressive disorder. The FDA cited preliminary evidence that psilocybin could be a tool to treat severe depression.
During the November election, Oregon voters approved ballot initiatives to decriminalize all drugs and legalize medical psilocybin – becoming the first state in the nation to enact such broad reforms. That same night, Washington, D.C. voters approved a question to decriminalize all psychedelic plants.
The committee also approved plans to allow San Francisco and Los Angeles counties to run safe injection sites with the intent to prevent overdoses and public drug use.
The mayor of Newport, Arkansas, and a group of private entities have filed suit against a pair of state agencies and a medical cannabis provider over a disputed license sale, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports. The lawsuit, filed in Jackson County, accuses the Marijuana Control Commission, Alcoholic Beverage Control, and Natural State Wellness Enterprises (NSW) of fraud, conspiracy, and breach of contract. The allegations are related to the sale of NSW and the company’s subsequent location change.
According to the report, the lawsuit contends that after NSW was purchased, the new owners changed their name to Good Day Farms and were said to have taken over the license four days after submitting their application, but two days before they were incorporated. The lawsuit also contends that NSW, “represented itself as a legal entity … before the [commission] when it knew or should have known that it was not a legal entity.”
The plaintiffs’ attorney David Couch — who drafted Amendment 98, which ultimately led to the state’s 2016 medical cannabis legalization — told the Democrat-Gazette, “The corporation they gave the license to didn’t even exist on that day. They gave a license to Casper the Ghost.”
The plaintiffs, which include Newport Mayor David Stewart, the Northeast Arkansas Charitable Foundation, the Newport-Jackson County Industrial Development Bond Board, and Newport Economic Development Commission Director Jon Chadwell, contend the sale and relocation happened without input from the community. According to the report, Newport gave major incentives to convince Natural State Wellness to locate in Jackson County, including selling the land for only $20 rather than its market value of over $800,000. Additionally, the suit says NSW agreed to pay the Northeast Arkansas Charitable Foundation 10 percent of their profits. Therefore, the lawsuit insists Good Day Farms owes the charity $2 million as a result of the $20 million license sale. The suit goes on to ask Good Day Farms to donate 10 percent of their profits going forward if the move is finalized.
“The community has an investment in that facility, and before you go and move it somewhere else, the community that has the investment [should] have the opportunity to be heard.” — Couch, via the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
A spokesperson for Arkansas‘ Marijuana Control Commission said the agency revokes licenses in the case of “egregious” violations but that the agency’s legal counsel believes the case would be best handled in the courts.
Workers at Portsmouth, Rhode Island’s Greenleaf Compassionate Care Center on Monday voted to join the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 328. The company is the second cannabis business in the state to join the union, following workers at Ocean State Cultivation Center in Warwick who unanimously ratified their first union contract in October 2020 – but is the first dispensary.
The vote was 21-1.
In a joint statement, Greenleaf’s workers said they were “proud to become a part of the larger momentum being seen by workers to unionize that is taking place within the cannabis industry.”
“We hope that through demonstrating our continued commitment to one another in organizing as workers that we can create some form of lasting change within Greenleaf that allows for better job security and more space for us to actually be heard.” – Greenleaf workers in a statement
Seth Bock, the CEO of Greenleaf, told the Providence Journal that the company respects its employees’ right to unionize.
We at Greenleaf believe that the health and happiness of our employees is at the core of our success, and that fundamental premise has not changed,” Bock said in a statement to the Journal. “As always, we look forward to our continued partnership with all of our valued employees – a partnership that will surely lead to continued success for all.”
Sam Marvin, the union’s director of organizing, said he was unaware of any other union efforts at other dispensaries in Providence and Warwick but called the vote “really important” as state lawmakers are considering legislation to legalize cannabis for adult use in the state.
Gov. Daniel McKee (D), who took over last month following the confirmation of Gina Raimondo to lead the U.S. Department of Commerce, said in January that “it’s time” for the state to legalize cannabis.
An advocacy group consisting of cannabis proponents from both sides of the political spectrum – the Cannabis Freedom Alliance – launched on Tuesday. The organization includes the Koch brothers-founded Americans for Prosperity, libertarian think tank Reason Foundation, the Global Alliance for Cannabis Commerce, and the Weldon Project, a nonprofit that advocates for the release of cannabis prisoners.
“The Cannabis Freedom Alliance (CFA) seeks to end the prohibition and criminalization of cannabis in the United States in a manner consistent with helping all Americans achieve their full potential and limiting the number of barriers that inhibit innovation and entrepreneurship in a free and open market.” – Cannabis Freedom Alliance mission statement
The organization, which was reportedly devised during a Zoom call between Calvin Brodus (or Snoop Dogg), Charles Koch, and criminal justice reform advocate Weldon Angelos, last year. Angelos, who got a full pardon from former President Donald Trump last year after serving 13 of 55 years on cannabis trafficking charges, said he was surprised by Koch’s position on drug legalization.
“I had known that his position on drugs was very libertarian,” Angelos said in an interview with Politico. “I just didn’t know he supported the legalization of all drugs.”
Angelos added that advocates “need Republicans” in order to pass a federal legalization measure.
“We need 10 to 12 Republican senators,” Angelos said in the interview. “With Koch’s influence, I think that’s likely a possibility.”
Brent W. Gardner, chief government affairs officer for Americans for Prosperity, said in a statement that the organization is “excited to work alongside our partners to bring cannabis businesses into the light, replacing black and gray markets with a free and fair legal framework.”
“Cannabis commerce will become a way for Americans to lift themselves up, rather than a barrier holding them back,” Gardner said.
In addition to owing his own cannabis brand – Leafs by Snoop – Brodus is a general partner for cannabis investment firm Casa Verde Capital.
Last month, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said he and several colleagues soon plan to introduce federal cannabis decriminalization legislation which would grant states greater freedom to establish their own legalization policies.
The Connecticut Legislature’s Judiciary Committee on Tuesday approved the cannabis legalization bill proposed by Gov. Ned Lamont (D) and added a host of amendments including allowing medical cannabis patients to grow their own plants and the proposal’s strengthening social equity provisions, the CT Mirror reports.
The changes include permitting only existing medical cannabis dispensaries and social equity applicants to open adult-use cannabis facilities from July 2021 to January 2024; requiring all cannabis operators to have social equity plans; provides for apprenticeship and workforce programs to ensure those from communities most impacted by the war on drugs can get jobs in the industry; and directing 55% of cannabis-derived revenues be spent on social equity efforts. Fifteen percent of the remaining funds would be used for drug prevention and addiction services, with 30% allocated to the state’s general fund, the report says.
The amendments, which passed the committee 22-16 along party lines, would also allow medical cannabis patients to cultivate up to six plants starting next year.
Rep. Steven Stafstrom (D), co-chair of the Judiciary Committee, said during the hearing that he expected the legislation “will see additional revision as it moves through the legislative process and its next committee of assignment.”
“It is this committee’s cognizance as to whether this drug should be legal or not. And that is, I believe, the primary vote that we are taking as a Judiciary Committee here today, is whether to legalize cannabis or not. I would submit that that is long overdue in the state of Connecticut, for a whole host of reasons, not the least of which is this is a drug that is widely believed to be less addictive and less harmful to the body than many other drugs that we already have legalized and regulate here in the state of Connecticut, including tobacco and alcohol.” – Stafstrom via the Mirror
Last month the Labor and Public Employees Committee approved a measure that would require labor peace agreements for the state’s cannabis industry. That bill also includes a program to provide grants or low-interest loans to small cannabusinesses in the state and on tribal lands and prohibits employers from discriminating against employees – or prospective employees – who use cannabis outside of work.
Connecticut is bordered by Massachusetts, which legalized cannabis in 2016, and New York, which approved the reforms just last week.
Washington DC’s mayor and District Council have proposed a pair of competing measures to create regulations for an adult-use cannabis marketplace in the nation’s Capital, Marijuana Moment reports.
Until now, progress on the issue has been delayed by a Congressional budget rider blocking the District from creating a regulated cannabis marketplace. Known as the “Harris rider” — named for sponsor Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) — its language specifically prohibits DC from using tax dollars to implement adult-use cannabis sales, which voters approved in 2014. The Harris rider, however, appears to be in jeopardy after Harris failed to introduce the measure in 2020 (although the rider made it into that year’s Appropriations bill via the Senate, which was ultimately signed by former President Trump). Now, cannabis advocates are hopeful that with Democrats back in control of the White House and both branches of Congress, and in light of a recent decision to let DC begin planning for the arrival of an adult-use system, the District might soon be moving forward.
“I think we’re ready from our end. We have a tax-and-regulates scheme. We’ve prepared our alcohol and beverage office to be prepared to implement regulation. And we have to get the hurdle of Congress out of the way.” — Mayor Muriel Bowser, in an interview with WAMU’s Politics Hour
Two separate bills have been proposed by Mayor Muriel Bowser and Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, according to the report.
Although the bills have the same objectives, they take different approaches to taxation and social equity: the Mayor’s proposal would place a 17 percent tax on cannabis, while Mendelson’s plan carries a slightly lower rate of 13 percent. Both bills prioritize the licensing of people convicted of cannabis crimes or who live in disadvantaged neighborhoods, and both bills favor long-time DC residents. The Mayor’s proposal takes a more nuanced approach to expungement and includes an exemption for those convicted of crimes involving guns or other illegal drugs.
Hazel Park, Michigan-based Steadfast Labs is offering an annual $1,200 scholarship for Lake Superior University students studying cannabis chemistry through the university’s Cannabis Center of Excellence. The cannabis-focused chemistry program launched in 2019.
Applicants must be at least sophomore status and have a GPA of 3.0 or higher and preference will be given to students residing in Wayne and Oakland Counties – the service areas for Steadfast.
Dr. Steven Johnson, dean of the College of Science and the Environment at LSSU, said the scholarship “not only continues [LSSU’s] trendsetting ways” in the “vital new field” but helps make the university’s “already affordable tuition even more reasonable” for the students that receive the award.
“When our Cannabis Center of Excellence began operations, members from Steadfast Labs toured the facilities and conducted guest lectures for our students. By funding this scholarship, Steadfast Labs again demonstrates their commitment to supporting future chemists who will enter the workforce and provide public safety in the cannabis field.” – Johnson in a press release
Johnson told CNN that the cannabis chemistry program has been “growing exponentially.” Students who complete the program would be qualified for clinical chemist, food safety and quality assurance chemist, and formulation and process development scientist positions, according to the LSSU website.
Avram Zallen, founder and CEO of Steadfast Labs told CNN that the company believes that “education is the key to raising the level of safety and integrity in the industry.”
“Education of the consumer and education within the industry,” he said.
“It is our great pleasure to grant this unprecedented scholarship for a cutting-edge program in an innovative industry,” Zallen said in a statement. “This grant is another opportunity for Steadfast to help LSSU students pursue careers in this exciting and important industry.”
Seven years ago, while building an automated soft pretzel bake & vend machine, a team of 6 engineers realized that they enjoyed designing and building cool stuff together. After their break-out project in June 2013, they established Oat Foundry with a core focus of solving brands’ problems by designing, inventing, and building cool stuff. Now, they are applying their engineering and automation expertise to the cannabis industry.
“There’s always an element of each project where you go ‘Oh, that’s cool’, you know it when you feel it,” said CEO Mark Kuhn. “You could be building a better coffee extraction system or liquid nitrogen ice cream machine, but then you see it, you taste it and realize there’s an elegance in the solution that is really energizing. You look at your coworkers and smile and kind of shake your head and go ‘damn, that’s cool’.”
The in-house team at Oat Foundry consists of engineers who consider every aspect of creation, including design, specifications, requirements, problem-solving, and even the math and physics behind potential issues customers may face. “The core team here is excellent in multi-disciplinary system automation and turn-key machine design,” Kuhn said. “Ideation, planning, discovery, user experience mapping, and then moving into actual CAD modeling and putting the nuts and bolts together in a SolidWorks model, making the 3D tech, and even building out product landing pages for clients — storytelling is a huge part of any new venture, whether internally to the boss, or externally to the customers.”
In addition to mechanical engineering, the team’s work often includes electrical engineering to incorporate circuits and computer engineering for cloud integration and telemetry tracking. Their team is capable of sanitary welding, pressure vessel design, PLC ladder logic, and creating intuitive web apps, capabilities they have used in many machines and all of which have direct application in the cannabis industry.
While Oat Foundry’s original focus was on the foodservice and pharmaceuticals industries, their engineers have noticed that the desire to automate and scale is a core concept for cannabis as well. The technology for programmable logic controllers and industrial sensors is the same in cannabis as for any other industry — the only real challenge for cannabis is the industry’s burgeoning legal status. But while the legal challenges have changed how they work with their cannabis clients, it hasn’t hindered Oat Foundry’s abilities. “We love having everyone in the shop, but the pandemic moved everything to fully remote and zoom anyway. We haven’t even missed a beat,” said Kuhn.
Right now, Oat Foundry is building out an extraction machine for SC Botanicals, a South Carolina-based hemp company. The machine pulls THC from bulk plant extract and leaves the CBD, so as to meet stringent guidelines for hemp CBD products and nutraceuticals. For this THC remediation machine they’re shipping the machine designed in Philly to the SC Botanicals lab in South Carolina. This will open up the process to an entirely new set of scientists who will complete process testing while live streaming for the Oat Foundry team, providing real-time input and feedback. The final turn-key machine has increased output to 100L per run and dramatically cut processing time from over 48 hours in a completely automated and hands-off process. This is just their first step into the cannabis space, and the Oat Foundry team is looking forward to taking on more projects.
This sentiment brings us to their core values, the first of which is simply (and understandably): “Build Cool Stuff.” That is followed by Give a Damn – Oat Foundry signed up for food rescues and a zero-waste partnership in their home city of Philadelphia; they also track their plastic use and compost and focus on building products that can be tied back to reducing human carbon output. As they enter the cannabis space, and as part of this core value, Oat Foundry plans to donate funds to organizations set on decarcerating and expunging the records of cannabis prisoners. They live to Grow Purposefully by investing in their employee education with regular innovation missions, thought leadership book clubs, and their innovation podcast Goat Factory. (The podcast has already had some amazing industry guests such as Rosie Mattio of Mattio Communications and Nicole Brown of Open Book Extracts). After these three values, their last core value is to Have Fun, because, according to CEO Mark Kuhn, “We get one life — without the levity of fun, what’s the point?”
In addition to the “Turn Key Automation System” division, the product development team also designs and builds products in the “Kinetic Interactive Sign” division. Their current flagship product is their smart analog signage, a Split Flap display (typically referred to as a departures board, or affectionately as a clack clack clack flippy-flappy board) that adds mesmerizing sound and visual input to any space.
Their Split Flaps have maintained international popularity across a variety of industries — including installations from Azerbaijan, to Hong Kong, to San Diego, in the foodservice, hospitality, retail, office, and hotel industries. The signage is designed after old train station boards that were fed by punch cards, but the Oat Foundry Split Flap can be controlled by a smartphone or point of sale system, allowing it to update in real-time. Their Kinetic Interactive Sign division also created Picture Flap, which is built on the same platform as Split Flap but much larger and to display full-color images.
These signs can also be customized to the client’s desire, creating a uniquely brandable moment. In one case, a bar near the San Diego airport has tapped into the airport data stream to update patrons of flight arrivals and departures. Customers might see a plane fly overhead and know where it is coming from based on the display, or they can also use the tool to make sure they can make it to their gates on time. One of their MLB clients has a sign linked into MLB.com to display real-time sports scores for stadium goers and at a famous NYC noodle bar, the Split Flap design features their “going, going, gone” menu items.
As Oat Foundry enters the cannabis space, they’re confident that their signs can contribute to cannabis dispensaries in new and exciting ways. Modern dispensary design is expensive and intentional, and adding an LED screen menu can bring a lot of extra blue light into a space. Instead of fatiguing customers with the starkness of LEDs, a Split Flap or picture-flap display sign can bring whimsy, entertainment, curiosity, and even fascination to a retailer. Not to mention the sound of the changing letters or images mimics a soothing rain stick or waterfall. Their displays are new to cannabis retail design, so the Oat Foundry team is continually working to understand that which is most important to dispensary owners and operators. This curiosity is a driving force at their Philadelphia headquarters and is essential in their primary mission to build cool stuff and solve problems for their clients.
As Oat Foundry grows, they will continue providing best-in-class kinetic signage like split flap and picture flap, while substantially expanding their automation business. They pride themselves on strong customer relationships — they are the type of company where new and old clients alike can text the CEO and they have their sights set on growth in cannabis. “Let’s leverage our product design, engineering design, programming, automation, and innovation mentality for solving some interesting problems,” said Kuhn.
As spring emerges, Illinois continues to set new cannabis sales records, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
With $109 million in March sales — up from $80 million in February and shattering the $88 million record set in January — Illinois is poised to sell over a billion dollars worth of adult-use cannabis in 2021, recent figures from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulations reveal. The figures translate to $3.5 million in daily sales, a $600,000 increase from February’s daily sales numbers of $2.88 million.
Illinois was the first state in the country to establish its adult-use cannabis market via the legislative process. Since its roll-out in 2020, the state has repeatedly exceeded sales expectations. However, the sales records come as the state works to open its cannabis industry opportunities to include more people who were disproportionately affected by cannabis prohibition, all amidst accusations of pay-to-play schemes in the mostly white-dominated industry.
Rep. LaShawn Ford (D) is spearheading the state’s social equity effort with legislation that seeks to expand the program and hold two fresh license lotteries.
“The work continues until we can get people in the house to vote for it, people in the senate to vote for it and the governor to sign it and Black people and Brown people start making money.” — Rep. Ford, in an interview last month
Illinois joins states like Oregon and Colorado in repeatedly breaking sales records. According to a new report by BDSA, the COVID-19 crisis has actually helped to spur more cannabis sales than usual, bringing the national total for medical and adult-use cannabis sales in 2020 to $17 billion. The report puts Illinois at the top of the sales gains for 2020, with an average increase of $784 million (up 46% from 2019).
Kelly Nielsen, the Vice President of Insights & Analytics for cannabis sales platform BDSA, said in an interview with Forbes, “We expected more potential impact from an economic downturn, but the industry has proven to be resilient. It’s potentially recession-proof.”
The Alabama Senate Judiciary Committee last week approved a measure that includes an amendment to outlaw Delta-8-THC and Delta-10-THC, according to Alabama Political Reporter. Both cannabinoids can be derived from hemp.
The bill’s original intent was simply to add the synthetic opioid tianeptine to the state’s controlled substances list. The amendment was added to the bill by Republican Sen. Arthur Orr.
In a blog post, the Alabama Cannabis Industry Association rallied against the proposal.
“It’s premature to outlaw these potentially beneficial treatments for very serious conditions until research has been done. What we do know is that there have been no deaths attributed to delta-8-thc and cannabis is generally safer than even some over-the-counter medications. The Alabama Senate has the opportunity to regulate delta-8-thc and delta-10-thc in The Compassion Act so it is controlled but still accessible to people who will benefit from it in reducing suffering and improve quality of life.” – the ACIA in a blog post
ACIA President and Executive Director, Chey Garrigan, told the Political Reporter that the organization is “not opposed” to the original intent of the bill – to ban tianeptine – but stands opposed to “the criminalization of Delta 8 and Delta 10.”
In the blog post, the ACIA said that in addition to their public and individual health concerns brought by the amendment, the state would incur costs to enforce the ban.
“That’s tax money that could go to roads,” the organization said. “But, if it is included as a medical cannabis product and is legalized and controlled through The Compassion Act, the state will receive taxes from the sale of it.”
The bill, which passed the committee 6-3, could be considered by the Senate this week.
Hemp cultivation permits in Wisconsin are down significantly so far this year as the state Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP) has issued 340 licenses in the first three months of 2021, while there were 1,301 licenses issued in all of last year, Brownfield News reports.
In 2019, the state issued 1,325 hemp licenses.
Processor licenses are also down from 619 in 2020 to 248 so far this year. And while the state is still accepting industry applications, DATCP Secretary-designee Randy Romanski indicated the numbers are “down a little bit compared to previous years.”
“The goal with this being a pilot was that we would see some of these markets develop as time went on here, and I think the market is trying to find its way.” – Romanski to Brownfield News
Wisconsin still operates its hemp program under provisions of the 2014 Farm Bill despite federal hemp reforms in 2018. The DATCP last month said it was working on emergency rules to update the state’s hemp regime following a U.S. Department of Agriculture Final Rule in January that changed some federal requirements, including raising the THC limits for plant eradication from 0.3% to 1% and increasing the testing window for hemp crops.
In 2020, the state licensed about 14,100 acres for hemp cultivation, a decrease from the 16,000 acres licensed in the state in 2019.
The sponsor of South Carolina’s medical cannabis legislation believes the reforms will pass this session after the bill passed the Senate Medical Affairs Committee last week by a 9 to 5 margin, the Associated Press reports.
Sen. Tom Davis (R) said he plans to meet personally with every senator that remains opposed in order to build support for the reforms.
“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 to the AP
Davis said he has refined the proposal to appeal to conservative lawmakers, including requiring physicians to meet with patients in person before recommending them to the program, checking potential patients for a history of substance abuse, and having a written treatment plan. The bill includes just five qualifying conditions: cancer, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, sickle cell anemia, and autism. Davis also indicated he removed the smoking provisions included in the original version of the bill, which now only allows the use of oils.
Senate President Harvey Peeler said that while Davis “has been tugging at [his] heart” and “makes some very, very good points,” his “head tells [him] to vote against” the proposal.
Gov. Henry McMaster (R), a former prosecutor, said during a Post and Courier of Charleston podcast last week that Davis “makes a very convincing argument” on medical cannabis legalization.
“I try to keep an open mind. There may be a way to do it, I don’t know,” McMaster said in the interview. “But I’m open to hearing more about it because it’s clear that it alleviates a lot of suffering. The trick is how to keep that from turning loose marijuana production in the state that would cause damage.”
The bill is also opposed by the South Carolina Medical Association and the State Law Enforcement Division.
The Senate must approve the legislation by next week if it has any chance of getting through the House before the session ends.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul (R) has reintroduced the Hemp Economic Mobilization Plan (HEMP) Act which would raise the federal definition of hemp from 0.3% THC to 1 percent THC and require testing of the final product derived from the plant instead of the flower or plant itself.
“For years, I’ve led the fight in Washington to restore one of Kentucky’s most historically vital crops by legalizing industrial hemp. We achieved a hard-won victory, but there is still work to do to prevent the federal government from weighing down our farmers with unnecessary bureaucratic micromanaging. My legislation will help this growing industry reach its full economic potential, and I am proud the bill has strong support all the way from local Kentucky farmers and activists to national groups.” – Paul in a press release
Additionally, the bill would change the documentation for hemp transporters to one of two types “easily accessible types” of tracking documents, according to the senator’s office.
In January, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a final rule that raises THC levels that trigger eradication of crops to 1% but Paul’s legislation would codify the limits into law rather than relying on agency policy.
Patrick Atagi, chairman of the National Industrial Hemp Council, called the proposal “very timely with the state departments of agriculture’s passing policy that would re-define hemp at 1%.”
“We also are thankful for the Senator’s recognition of the importance of defining hemp in transit. We appreciate his willingness to engage with us and listen to our industry,” Atagi said in a statement. “We believe the HEMP Act is important for consumers and the consumer’s right to know and are proud to support Senator Paul’s efforts. If passed, the HEMP Act will help with the overall economy and providing jobs to Americans.”
The measure was referred to the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee.
In a memo to its departments, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) clarifies that police officers can no longer arrest individuals for consuming cannabis in public – as long as it’s in an area where tobacco smoking is allowed.
The memo also notes that officers can no longer use the smell of fresh or burnt cannabis as a reason to search a vehicle.
Both of the reforms were included in the cannabis legalization bill signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) last week. The memo says that vehicle searches related to cannabis can only be conducted if the officer believes the driver is impaired or if cannabis is being actively consumed in the vehicle by the driver.
Additionally, the NYPD memo says that the “hand to hand exchange of lawful amounts (3 oz or less” of cannabis “without compensation to a person 21 or over is not considered a sale” under the law and, therefore, not a crime – unless the officer sees money exchange hands.
The NYPD also points out that, under the terms of the law, “parolees are permitted” to use cannabis unless the terms of their parole specifically prohibits it.
In the memo, the NYPD describes the laws as creating “sweeping changes to the department’s enforcement of marijuana offenses.” An Innocence Project report from 2018 found that from January to March of that year 93% of people arrested by the NYPD for cannabis possession were Black. Of the 4,081 arrests for criminal possession of cannabis by the department, only 287 of those arrested were white people, compared to 2,006 Black, and 1,621 Latino people. The NYPD once used the controversial stop-and-frisk procedures, which allowed them to stop individuals and force them to empty their pockets. If the person pulled out an illicit substance – such as cannabis – it would be considered ‘in plain view’ and an arrestable offense. The NYPD disbanded a plainclothes unit last year described as the “last chapter” of the stop-and-frisk policy.
