FDA & FTC Begin Crackdown Over CBD Marketing Claims

12/28/2020

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The Federal Trade Commission and Food and Drug Administration are cracking down on CBD companies making false or misleading health claims about their products in an action they are calling Operation CBDeceit.

The FTC announced the crackdown on December 17 saying the agency had reached a settlement with six companies selling CBD products. Under the terms of the agreements, the companies must stop making unsupported health claims about the products and some will pay monetary judgments to the FTC. On December 22, the FDA issued five warning letters to companies selling CBD products over the companies’ health claims regarding the cannabinoid.

The largest fine, $85,000, issued by the FTC under the crackdown was to California-based Reef Industries, Cannatera, and AndHemp over claims on the companies’ websites and Twitter accounts that CBD has been scientifically proven to prevent, cure, mitigate, or treat diseases and serious health conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, autoimmune disease, and irritable bowel syndrome.

The FTC fined Steve’s Distributing (aka Steve’s Goods) $75,000 for making health claims for both CBD and CBG, including that the cannabinoids have antibacterial properties, prevent, or reduce the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and other diseases.

Two Utah-based companies – Bionatrol Health and Isle Revive – were targeted by the FTC over claims that CBD “is safe for all users,” works better than opioid-based medications, treats age-related cognitive decline and pain, and that some customers who ordered one bottle were charged for and sent five bottles. The respondents were ordered to pay $20,000 to the agency and notify customers of the agency’s order, the FTC said.

Another Utah company, Epichouse which operated under several names including First Class Herbalist CBD, was targeted by the FTC for claiming CBD could prevent a wide range of serious conditions, including cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, among other assertions. Epichouse must pay $30,000 under the agreement.

The FTC also targeted California-based CBD Meds and G2 Hemp over health claims made in advertisements on both companies’ websites and in YouTube ad campaigns. The company was not issued a fine, but they must notify customers of the FTC order.

The FTC complaint against EasyButter, or HempmeCBD, alleges the firm claimed CBD could treat or cure ailments like cancer-related symptoms, substance abuse, and AIDS. The company was ordered to pay $36,254 and notify customers of the order.

The FDA’s letters – to Bee Delightful, G&L Wellness, New Leaf Pharmaceuticals, Next L3vel Services Group (d/b/a This Stuff is Good for You), and Wellness Biosciences – do not levy fines but rather direct the companies to address the violations outlined in the letter.

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Condo Association Trying to Force Dispensary’s Eviction in Aspen, Colorado

12/28/2020

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An Aspen, Colorado condominium association is asking the landlord of the complex to evict a cannabis dispensary from one of its commercial units, arguing that the retailer isn’t compatible with nearby residential units, the Aspen Times reports. The association also wants cleared a unit used by a restaurant to store inventory.

The association is not asking the landlord to evict another dispensary because it is located in the building’s basement but argues that the second-floor retailers have led to disruptions.

According to the report, the Aspenhof Condominium Association in August finalized a ban on dispensaries and inventory storage from the building’s upper floors. The association indicated it has notified the landlord, Douglas Tomkins, three times since the decision that the tenants were violating the new rule.

Tomkins is now suing Aspenhof, claiming that by evicting the tenants he is breaching their lease agreement; but by not kicking them out he is running afoul of the building’s rules. The dispensary this year exercised its three-year option to extend its lease through March 2023. It has been at the location since April 2017.

Peter Bornstein, who filed the lawsuit on Tomkins’ behalf, argues that Aspenhof “changed the rules while the leases were in place” and that what they are asking the landlord to do is illegal.

Aspenhof said they have “received repeated complaints from other owners concerning the activities of Mr. Tomkins’ second-floor tenants, making it clear that those uses, in those locations, are not compatible with the other uses in the building.”

“The Board has attempted to address these issues with Mr. Tomkins for months. The Board is disappointed that Mr. Tomkins chose to cease negotiations and commence litigation, but it does not undermine the Board’s resolve, nor change the fact that that the overwhelming majority of the unit owners in Aspenhof supported the covenant amendments at issue.” – Aspenhof in a statement via the Times

The building was zoned for retail cannabis operations when the dispensary received its license and, at that time, the Local Licensing Authority said if the association had issues with the businesses’ impact on the building, it was their responsibility to change their rules. The association ultimately banned dispensaries, social-use clubs, and cultivation businesses, adult entertainment, tattoo parlors, hair or beauty salons, barbershops, and storage of any inventory, equipment or supplies used outside of the business from the condo’s second, third, and fourth floors.

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Native Tribe Rents Land to Cannabis Grower in New York

12/28/2020

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The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, an upstate New York tribe near the Canadian border, has entered into a partnership with MMJ BioPharma Cultivation Inc. to grow cannabis that will be sold to researchers, NNY360 reports. Under the joint development agreement, the firm will lease and develop about 20 acres of tribal land.

MMJ BioPharma has applied for a permit from the Drug Enforcement Agency to import plants from Canada and Jamaica. The 5,000-square-foot indoor facility would be able to produce 40 tons of cannabis annually.

MMJ BioPharma CEO Duane Boise told NNY360 that the company already has an agreement in place with MMJ International Holdings to supply extracts for pharmaceutical manufacturing of its gel capsule for Food and Drug Administration clinical trials focused on multiple sclerosis and Huntington’s Disease.

The DEA must still inspect and approve the site, which members of the Tewáthahón:ni Corporation Board of Managers said “could take many months.”

“The project with MMJ falls in line with our Tribal priorities, specifically in regards to healthcare, the treatment of chronic disease and the diversification of our investment portfolio. … An extremely valuable side benefit will be jobs that are created and tribal companies that will be involved in the construction.” – Tewáthahón:ni Corporation Board of Managers to NNY360

The agreement – a 25-year term – requires no financial investment from the Tribe but it will receive lease payments and “a percentage of revenue generated from cultivation and pharmaceutical sales,” the Tribe said.

Tribal officials said the project is possible because of the DEA’s recently approved rule changes that expand the agency’s cannabis cultivation licensing program for research purposes. The rule, which was finalized earlier this month, specifically opens licensing for cannabis cultivation for research and medical purposes.

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Study: Long-Term Cannabis Use May Reduce PTSD Symptoms

12/23/2020

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A Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment-funded study found over the course of one year, post-traumatic stress disorder sufferers who used cannabis reported a greater decrease in symptom severity than a control group and were 2.57 times more likely to no longer meet the DSM-5 criteria for the condition.

The study, published ahead of print in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, concluded that cannabis “might hold promise as an alternative treatment for PTSD” but that “randomized placebo-controlled trials are needed to assess safety and determine how different preparations of cannabis impact PTSD and functioning.”

For the study, researchers followed two groups of PTSD patients throughout the year-long period and one group used legal medical cannabis, while the other group did not use cannabis at all, according to a Forbes report outlining the study. The 150 participants – with an average age of 50.67 and 73% male – met the DSM criteria for PTSD. At the beginning of the study, participants were assessed for the condition and their symptom severity, and again every three months thereafter. Cannabis use was confirmed by urine tests. Most of the 75 cannabis users used flower high in THC content, the report says.

The study – conducted by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, University of California, San Diego, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and University of Colorado – adds to the growing body of scientific literature to support cannabis’ role as a therapeutic for PTSD and its inclusion as a qualifying condition in medical cannabis programs throughout the U.S.

A study published in June by Washington State University researchers included data from more than 400 PTSD patients and found cannabis reduced the immediate symptoms of PTSD, including irritability by 67 percent, returning thoughts of a traumatic event by about 62 percent, anxiety by 57 percent, and flashbacks by 51 percent.

A study published in November 2019 using research from the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey on Mental Health concluded that “cannabis use may contribute to reducing the association between post-traumatic stress disorder and severe depressive and suicidal states.”

A Minnesota Department of Health study from 2019 found more than 70 percent of medical cannabis patients enrolled in the state program for PTSD reported a reduction in their symptoms.

In all, 23 states include PTSD as a qualifying condition for medical cannabis access.

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US Cannabis Sales Approach $18 Billion, Up 67% from 2019

12/23/2020

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Both medical and recreational cannabis sales in the U.S. increased 67 percent in 2020 compared to 2019, according to a Leafly analysis of state tax and revenue data. Total cannabis sales have reached $17.9 billion this year, $7.2 billion more than the previous year’s sales.

The “main driver” of the increase, Leafly says, was an increase in the average purchase size of established customers, who upped their monthly cannabis buys between 25% and 40% on average.

Nine states – Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maine, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania – doubled their cannabis sales from 2019, the report says. Maine, notably, finally launched adult-use sales after nearly four years of delays and medical cannabis sales subsequently surpassed potato, hay, wild blueberry, and milk sales to become the state’s most lucrative crop. Florida’s medical cannabis sales topped $1.2 billion this year, making it the fourth-largest cannabis market in the U.S. this year, trailing only the adult-use states of California, Colorado, and Washington, according to the report.

Leafly estimated the final weeks of cannabis sales by “assuming an average of the past three months of revenue figures,” but plans to publish a full account of the year’s sales figures in their annual Cannabis Jobs Report which the company plans to release in February.

Several states have reported increased sales amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has led to stay-at-home orders and economic shutdowns throughout the U.S., however, cannabis businesses by-and-large remained open as essential services. For example, from February to August, Pennsylvania dispensaries reported a 70% increase in weekly patient visits, while New Mexico cannabis sales increased 55% over the first six months of the year.

During the General Election – and amid the pandemic – voters in six states approved either adult-use or medical cannabis legalization measures.

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Kenny Wright: How Smoke Shops Adapt to Cannabis Reforms

12/23/2020

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For decades, public displays of appreciation for cannabis and cannabis culture were relegated mainly to smoke shops — the one-stop-shop for everything cannabis, except for the plant itself.

In this episode of the Ganjapreneur.com podcast, our host TG Branfalt catches up with Kenny Wright, who owns their local smoke shop in Saranac Lake, New York. Tune in to hear how the smoke shop industry has adapted to changing times, what cannabis business owners can do to maintain healthy relationships with local authorities, tips for building a helpful and friendly business environment, Kenny’s predictions for the smoke shop business model as cannabis prohibition continues to crumble, and more!

Listen to the full interview below or through your favorite podcast listening platform, or scroll down to read through a full transcript of this week’s Ganjapreneur.com podcast episode.

Listen to the podcast:

Read the transcript:

Commercial: At Ganjapreneur, we have heard from dozens of cannabis owners who have encountered the issue of canna-bias, which is when a mainstream business, whether a landlord, bank, or some other provider of vital business services, refuses to do business with them simply because of their association with cannabis. We have even heard stories of businesses being unable to provide health and life insurance for their employees because the insurance providers were too afraid to work with them. We believe that this fear is totally unreasonable and that cannabis business owners deserve access to the same services and resources that other businesses are afforded, that they should be able to hire to consultation to help them follow the letter of the law in their business endeavors, and that they should be able to provide employee benefits without needing to compromise on the quality of coverage they can offer.

This is why we created the Ganjapreneur.com business service directory, a resource for cannabis professionals to find and connect with service providers who are cannabis-friendly and who are actively seeking cannabis industry clients. If you are considering hiring a business consultant, lawyer, accountant, web designer, or any other ancillary service for your business, go to Ganjapreneur.com/businesses to browse hundreds of agencies, firms, and organizations who support cannabis legalization and who want to help you grow your business. With so many options to choose from in each service category, you’ll be able to browse company profiles and do research on multiple companies in advance, so you can find the provider who is the best fit for your particular need.

Our business service directory is intended to be a useful and well-maintained resource, which is why we individually vet each listing that is submitted. If you are a business service provider who wants to work with cannabis clients, you may be a good fit for our service director. Go to Ganjapreneur.com/businesses to create your profile and start connecting with cannabis entrepreneurs today.

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 and normalize cannabis through the stories of ganjapreneurs, activists, and industry stakeholders. Today, I’m joined by Kenny Wright. He’s the co-owner of High Peaks Glassworks, an independently owned smoke shop based in Saranac Lake, New York. Full disclosure, he is my local smoke shop, so I do have a previous relationship with him, obviously. I don’t just go in there and buy a couple of papers and leave. I really like his company. I want to introduce him to all of you. How are you doing this morning, Kenny?

Kenny Wright: I’m great. Thanks for having me, Tim.

TG Branfalt: Now, super, super excited to have someone local. We don’t have a whole lot of cannabis associated businesses up here. Before we talk about your business and that whole process and that experience, tell me about yourself, man. How did you end up in the cannabis space?

Kenny Wright: Well, I mean, I’ve always had more of an interest in cannabis and it’s just been the forbidden fruit throughout our lives, so I’ve always been more of an anti-authoritarian, which is ironic that I joined the military, but yeah.

TG Branfalt: How do you go from the military to starting a cannabis-based associated ancillary business? How does that process play out?

Kenny Wright: Well, I mean, society is changing. I’ve always wanted to be in the space, more on the grow aspect of things, and that’s why I moved to Colorado for snow because I’m a snow junkie. I love riding my snowboard, but Colorado was a progressive state when I moved there in 2009. I had gotten into that space. I had friends that were already doing it, so it was just a very easy transition for me. I had friends that were running grow stores, so I learned that aspect of the business. More ancillary, but still at that time I was able to legally grow cannabis, so I did so. It was very enjoyable and hopefully, at some point, New York can progress themselves into allowing us fine citizens to do something similar. Yeah. Then, all of my family is here, so I just… and I’ve always returned home in the summer because it’s gorgeous here. It was just a very easy thing for me to do and come home, so I came home.

TG Branfalt: Talk to me about opening up the shop. Was there any… we’re in a purple part, more red part of the state, but was there any pushback from local officials or individuals? Tell me about the culture at the time.

Kenny Wright: When we initially opened the store, I mean, I had reservations because it is a small town, and my family is all from here. Social perception wasn’t as it is today. Things have changed dramatically in the last five years, so there was, I don’t want to say pushback, but there wasn’t an open embrace. There was another gentleman who was running a store, which was another part of my reservation. I didn’t want to step on his toes, but after meeting him, he wasn’t providing the town a solid place. He was more of a predatory business.

TG Branfalt: There’s a lot of that in this… especially in the-

Kenny Wright: There is.

TG Branfalt: … smoke shop side of it.

Kenny Wright: Absolutely. Unfortunately, there’s unethical people everywhere, but yeah, in this business, it seems to collect them. He was down the street, so I had had some reservations and eventually I just decided to put those aside and we opened up. We originally had a partner who also was… we had a falling out and we went our separate ways last year actually. I mean, we’ve been doing this for five years, but yeah. We opened up, completely renovated our store. Initially, town was pretty receptive because we have a nice store, we present ourselves in more of a gallery aspect of things instead of having just product everywhere, which is, from a consumer aspect, from my point, very disorienting, so I like to focus on products and just highlight what I have and bring in whatever customers are asking me for. Yeah, I mean, the mayor said we had about a year. These types of business-

TG Branfalt: Really?

Kenny Wright: … typically fizzle out in about a year. That was fuel to the fire, which the other gentleman did fizzle out in about a year, but he was a predator and, yeah, town wasn’t very receptive of him over time because he ran people out of his store. He was kind of a cartoon character.

TG Branfalt: Since you opened your shop five years ago, how has your business grown? What products do you see moving more now than moved five years ago? Tell me about the evolution of apparatuses as the cultures change.

Kenny Wright: Well, I mean, the concentrate industry is definitely moving most of the industry, I feel. A lot of the technological aspect of things, various vaporizers, even dry herb vaporizers are coming along, are getting more affordable, and the New York medical program is definitely allowing people to become consumers on legal aspect and get medicine that they wouldn’t otherwise be privy to.

TG Branfalt: Did you notice post medical legalization an uptick in the population that you might perceive as medical cannabis users?

Kenny Wright: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think the notion, in all things, the medical aspect, the warm and fuzzy feeling that comes along with that brought a lot of people who were otherwise on the fence or demonized cannabis. The CBD movement as well has done a similar thing. It’s definitely brought people out and changed their minds and gotten them off of the pharmaceuticals which have a lot of other side effects that don’t come along with cannabis and CBD products. Obviously, there’s the THC aspect of cannabis, but there’s CBD, which doesn’t have that negative, “negative”, depends your take on it. Yeah, it’s definitely moving things forward nationally and locally statewide. It’s great.

TG Branfalt: Let me ask you about CBD. I mean, I personally get emails and press releases and sample offers from dozens of CBD businesses every single day, so how have you navigated those muddy waters of CBD to ensure that the products you’re getting are to your standards and not some snake oil?

Kenny Wright: Well, I mean, initially when CBD was first coming up and getting more popular, I was just relying on distributors and trying to discern from… and do my own research as much as I could, so I could provide a quality product and know what I was providing and not get tripped up by all of the buzz words that are out there on the industry. Since then, one of my good friends has started his own farm in the Asheville area, Asheville, North Carolina area, Otherside Hemp. They grow all of their plants organically. They harvest themselves. It’s a smaller batch thing, so I’ve pretty much just shifted to sourcing from him because I’ve known him for 20 years and if I have a question or if there’s any concerns at any point, I can get a hold of him at 10:00 at night. He’s very available and he’s very open and honest. It’s ethics. I’m a huge ethical individual in running my store and that’s how I feel the industry needs to be because that’s really the heart of the industry as I see it.

TG Branfalt: What are some of the challenges for you being an entrepreneur in a very, very small town, I mean, especially with the coronavirus, I mean, we shut down pretty quickly and pretty hard? Tell me about some of just the broad challenges and then we’ll get to the COVID stuff.

Kenny Wright: Well, yeah. I mean, obviously small town, less traffic. We live in a very tourist economy. It’s middle of the mountains, very beautiful, but there’s not a huge population. Pretty good spread from town to town. We have… yeah, so as far as that goes, it’s challenging, but people here are willing and very much do support local businesses, which we’re very grateful for and thankful for all of our locals. I mean, people travel for a long time, an hour away, hour and a half, because they like us. You know what I mean? They’ve been to other places and they just genuinely like us. We don’t-

TG Branfalt: You let people bring their dogs in, which is really important.

Kenny Wright: Yeah. We don’t want customers; we want friends. You know what I mean? We want people to feel welcome in our store, whether they’re purchasing things or not. Obviously, we’re there to sell stuff, but we aren’t the “FU, get out of our store, if you’re not buying a product.” We like conversation, as you know, we talk every time you come in for at length. We’re part of the community and that’s how we’ve… we’ve worked our way into that. Initially, the town was skeptical, and I guess understandably so, but we’ve had our local law enforcement tell us that they’re okay with us, we’ve been vetted. It’s just, it’s nice that-

TG Branfalt: What is your relationship like with them? I don’t think I’ve asked you that, you in person.

Kenny Wright: It’s a very positive relationship. I mean, we’re not doing anything criminal, illegal. We’re not selling anything that we feel is gray area or unethical and they very much appreciate that aspect because we’re not trying to contribute to a problem that already exists. We’re trying to just… we’re selling inanimate objects essentially and CBD products, which are legal. Yeah, it’s been a good thing.

TG Branfalt: How did COVID affect your business? Obviously, you were shut down for a little while and were you able to access or did you seek any federal or state funding? Tell me about that sort of experience as a one-shot business that relies on that day to day.

Kenny Wright: Yeah. We didn’t seek any federal or state aid. I mean, we closed for I believe two weeks or something like that. I mean, it wasn’t a very long time. Enough to digest the regulations and rules that were coming out at the time. Because we are an owner operated business and we… we’re essentially in a loophole for the state regulations, we did appointments only. We required masks and just tried to continue as best as we could helping people. Social media became very important. I forwarded all of our store calls to my cell phone, so my phone was ringing off the hook, setting up appointments every day, trying to be as available as possible, but not expose myself and have a life as well. You know?

TG Branfalt: Yeah, yeah.

Kenny Wright: As much of as one was happening at the time. Yeah, I mean, it’s-

TG Branfalt: How has this been since the lifting of the “lockdown”? I mean, I remember when you first opened non-appointment. I had to stand in a line in order to get in. Was that something that was temporary? Are you seeing more traffic?

Kenny Wright: I mean, initially, when the government was pumping out a lot of the $600 extra unemployment payments, people had money burning a hole in their pocket, so it was definitely a large uptick at that point, but at the same time, you have COVID, so there’s a lot of people that aren’t coming out. People were coming, getting what they needed. We were mitigating the amount of people we were allowing in the store at the time, and even still, it’s typically like a one or two people and people keep their distance anyways because people are generally respectful of others here. Yeah, it was definitely a huge shift, but I’m just really thankful that we are owner-operated and we were able to continue.

The Rotary Club gave us $1500 in-

TG Branfalt: Oh, wow.

Kenny Wright: … grant contributions, which they did for several other businesses, which was incredibly moving and really solidified our feeling of being a part of the community.

TG Branfalt: That’s fantastic.

Kenny Wright: Yeah. It brought a tear to my eye, literally, and it was just humbling and, honestly, I never would have expected it. It wasn’t … because we’re like the redhead stepchild, the black sheep.

TG Branfalt: I know. There’s that super nice clothing store across the street, or right across the street. It’s-

Kenny Wright: Yeah. I mean, it’s… well, I mean, being a tourist town, a lot of people will look in my window and clutch their pearls when they see some of the products that I carry. That’s fine, whatever, but at some point, they’re going to have to come to terms with reality and how society is changing. It gives me a chuckle every time.

TG Branfalt: I want to talk to you. You mentioned at the top that you had joined the Navy. Can you tell me about your military experience as it related to the culture of cannabis?

Kenny Wright: I mean, there is no cannabis culture really in the Navy. There’s zero tolerance, regular urinalysis.

TG Branfalt: Had you smoked prior to going into the Navy?

Kenny Wright: I had once.

TG Branfalt: Okay.

Kenny Wright: Which I had gotten a waiver for, so-

TG Branfalt: You had to get a waiver for smoking one marijuana.

Kenny Wright: Yep. I mean, the military is pretty strict with that. Yeah. That was it. You know what I mean? The typical teenager try it, whatever, and that was it because it was whatever. I continued on with my high school career, but yeah, I joined the Navy out of high school and sailed around the world and learned to work on radar and shoot five-inch guns and experience a lot of different cultures, which made me appreciate America a lot more for the ability to change.

TG Branfalt: When was it after your military experience that you started smoking more cannabis?

Kenny Wright: Oh, I mean, shortly thereafter. Yeah. I mean, I didn’t wait until… I mean, I was out of the Navy in 2007 and I have been a consumer… I mean, I don’t really smoke a ton, but yeah, it’s… yeah.

TG Branfalt: I’m just trying to figure out because I’ve had veterans on this show and many of them, a couple of them, are combat veterans who it was a direct correlation or experience in the military, PTSD, to cannabis. Is that the sort of correlation that you might make? Was it your military experience that led you to smoking more, becoming a consumer and really-

Kenny Wright: No. I mean, not… I am very thankful and grateful that my military experience didn’t result in any trauma or anything because I know there’s a lot of veterans that have trouble with that and cannabis is incredibly beneficial for them, but it was just a… I prefer that to alcohol. You know what I mean? I don’t… there’s no hangover, you don’t feel like trash the next day. Alcohol is just… and not to say that I don’t consume a beer here and there because I do like alcohol, but it’s definitely far, far less of an enjoyable thing. You know what I mean? There’s just… and you can’t function when you’re on alcohol like-

TG Branfalt: Correct.

Kenny Wright: … which is a huge detractor from it. You have two or three beers, your speech is off, your coordination’s off, like you know that-

TG Branfalt: Can’t drive.

Kenny Wright: Yeah, you can’t drive. You can’t do anything. Cannabis isn’t necessarily that way. CBD isn’t that way. CBD flower has become a huge aspect because you don’t have that THC, you don’t get that high, but you still have the relief. It’s like near beer, you know what I mean? Sure, you can drink 24 of them, you might get a little buzzed, but you’re going to be in the bathroom all night.

TG Branfalt: No, I get really excited for… most people who know me and listen to the show know that I’m not like pro-legalization in the sense that regulation and all these other things because it hasn’t harmed anybody in 200 years and even the black market or the illicit market. Right? I can’t wait for THC drinks. I only want legalization, so I can get a THC infused root beer.

Kenny Wright: Oh, they already have those, Tim.

TG Branfalt: No, I know. I know. I’ve had them in Michigan and stuff, but-

Kenny Wright: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

TG Branfalt: … we don’t have-

Kenny Wright: Widely available.

TG Branfalt: If we want something like that, we have to go to Massachusetts.

Kenny Wright: Right. No, yeah. See, I’m just all about the freedom aspect. You know what I mean? Freedom of choice. All of these regulations that are in our lives, in every aspect of our lives, just need to take a long walk off a short pier.

TG Branfalt: In your experience, what do the veterans that you know think about broad legalization?

Kenny Wright: I mean, we’re all for it. We’re a hundred percent for it. Again, it’s all about freedom. You know what I mean? Like, we can sign a contract to go die in a foreign country, but we can’t consume a product which is widely known to be less harmful than a bullet.

TG Branfalt: Well, I mean, to that end, the Navy’s banned hemp-derived personal care products.

Kenny Wright: Right, which is absolutely insane. That’s extreme zero tolerance. There’s so many hemp derived products, Dr. Bronner’s, for example. I use Dr. Bronner’s all the time, hemp derived soap. You know what I mean? All over that bottle is tattooed the benefits of help for the environment and everything. You know what I mean? We used to use hemp rope in the Navy. Hemp is such a historical product to me it blows my mind that the Richard Nixon administration managed to really clamp the jaws down on cannabis and just demonize the heck out of it. Even more so than prior administrations with the Stamp Act and all the Reefer Madness movie and all of those other things. It’s insane. Yeah, the Navy’s policy on anything hemp-related is just wild, dude, wild, but alcohol is pretty much all right. You can still pull into port and get absolutely shit-faced as long as you show up to the ship on time.

TG Branfalt: Relatively.

Kenny Wright: Relative… no, no, you need to be on time.

TG Branfalt: Yeah. Does it ever surprise you that there’s not more hemp activity out here? I mean, there’s farms everywhere, especially if you go up toward Malone, Massena, it’s all farmland. It looks like you’re in Ohio.

Kenny Wright: Yeah.

TG Branfalt: Does it ever surprise that we don’t see more hemp farms out here?

Kenny Wright: I mean, New York made it kind of hard to grow hemp. They have… I mean, at least initially. I’m not really up to speed on their most current-

TG Branfalt: Well, most recently, they actually said that they’re not going to put forward a plan for next season. Instead, they’re going to rely on FDA regulations and they basically said because the FDA regulations are too onerous for them to put forth the program, that they’re not going to put forth a program at all. Instead, you’re going to have to rely on the FDA, which seems really ass-backwards to me. The FDA regulations are too onerous, so you farmers deal with them.

Kenny Wright: Yeah. Yeah, that’s unfortunate that our state would be left holding the bag if we’re trying to grow hemp. Yeah, I mean, which New York went very typical there. Yeah, there-

TG Branfalt: I want to ask you another question. I’ve only been in Saranac Lake a couple of years. Your family is from here. When cannabis is legalized in New York, it’s an eventuality, it’s either next year, next session, or the session after that, do you think that Saranac Lake will allow industry operations? I mean, they were obviously sort of open-armed about your smoke shop, but that’s way different than selling cannabis or growing cannabis. What do you think about that?

Kenny Wright: Boy, I mean, I don’t honestly know, Tim. The Saranac Lake is a very progressive town socially and I would like to think that they would allow the economic stimulus that would come from that, and not just directly from cannabis sales, but all the ancillary businesses, HVAC, electric-

TG Branfalt: Laboratory.

Kenny Wright: Laboratory, all of these things that really surround the industry because science is definitely become an intricate part of the cannabis industry, thankfully. You know what I mean? It’s no longer like in the dark about what a lot of these cannabinoids are, what they’re doing. We’re finding more all the time, and that sort of thing needs to keep progressing. We have Trudeau Institute in Saranac Lake, there’s a couple other research facilities, so I mean, I feel like it would be a relatively natural thing to do.

TG Branfalt: Plus, the tourism.

Kenny Wright: Plus, the tourism… yeah, I mean, absolutely. I mean, the Bed and Breakfast aspect of things.

TG Branfalt: Oh, man.

Kenny Wright: That’s in Colorado, you know what I mean? To me and you, it’s really a no-brainer. You know what I mean? The economic boom that could happen really is unimaginable at a time when we need it.

TG Branfalt: I don’t imagine Lake Placid… I don’t imagine Lake Placid would actually allow-

Kenny Wright: No. I don’t… right. Lake Placid’s a different animal all together. They’re more pinkies in the air. They got the Olympics and holding onto that tight. They’re the super healthy town.

TG Branfalt: Well, there’s no zoning laws here in Bloomingdale so…

Kenny Wright: Right. Well, that’s it. I mean, there’s a lot of communities where there are none. You know what I mean? They’re not going to be able to keep it out regionally I don’t foresee, but at the same time, I don’t know why they would want to stem employment, why they would want to not allow an economic boom in our area. We have been struggling and relying on all of these state grants over the last several years to get our town out of its heyday from the… whatever that was. It’s a tuberculosis town, so that’s early 1900s, that’s a long time ago. All these grants are great and all that, but we need to be able to run on our own. We can only suck so many tax dollars. Our state’s already in the red pretty hard.

TG Branfalt: Corona didn’t help. I mean-

Kenny Wright: Corona didn’t help at all and it’s continuing to not help, so …

TG Branfalt: One of the beautiful things about living in this area during corona was the… say we rolled out the masks, but the fact that we were so struck by this idea, we need our businesses to stay open, so, therefore, we have to wear the masks. Regardless of what you thought about it, it at least enabled the small economic machine that we have here to keep running.

Kenny Wright: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah, I mean… yeah, we opened as soon as we could, as… well, I forget what phase it was, but as soon as we could stop doing appointments, we did because… and people were still taken aback by that. I still have calls now of people like, “Hey, are you open? Can I come into your store,” because, I mean, there’s places that you can’t do that.

TG Branfalt: Yeah.

Kenny Wright: It’s just such a weird time that none of us have ever experienced and we’re just trying to be fluid and go with it, but yeah. I mean, overall masks, people put them on. It’s a very… you’re shopping for five to 10 minutes-

TG Branfalt: Does it concern you as a business owner about the… maybe the security aspect of this because I was just talking to some people the other day. I walk into a store now and I’ll have a hood up, sunglasses on, and a mask on. You can’t tell who I am.

Kenny Wright: Nah. I mean, my… I’m not the safety, security aspect, I’m more worried about the age, identification aspect-

TG Branfalt: Interesting.

Kenny Wright: … I mean, because during the-

TG Branfalt: How are you dealing with that?

Kenny Wright: Well, I mean, I still ID people, you know what I mean, and thankfully, most of my people are continue repeat customers, so I know them. I recognize them. I don’t have to look at their ID every single time I see them. Some people I don’t see all the time, so I do look at their ID more often, but some people I see every day, some people I see every other day. It’s… yeah, it’s challenging, but I mean, it’s not too hard, and a lot of my demographic is obviously over 21. They’re in their 40s or 50s. I have a lot of older folks coming in, which is really, honestly awesome and I love that aspect that I have people that aren’t concerned about social perception of things. It really makes my heart sing.

TG Branfalt: Let me ask you briefly about that, that switch from 18 to 21 that happened. How did that affect your business?

Kenny Wright: I mean, that was definitely a big cut for sure. 18-year-olds obviously-

TG Branfalt: Have a little more disposable income.

Kenny Wright: … like to buy all kinds of stuff. Yeah, you know what I mean, and they’re also breaking stuff. You know what I mean?

TG Branfalt: Yeah.

Kenny Wright: They’re definitely good for business, don’t get me wrong. Back to freedom, Tim, like if I can join the military at 18, I feel like you should be able to buy cigarettes and you should also be able to buy alcohol at 18. You can vote at 18. Until we make all of these things equal and decide when you’re an actual “adult,” there’s going to be those discrepancies and I’m not going to agree with it because it’s freedom. At what point are you old enough to make your own choices? Marketing is marketing. They should teach marketing in grade school as far as I’m concerned with the amount of colors and everything that’s projected onto all of us, psychological warfare. It’s like-

TG Branfalt: My last question for you is what advice do you have for people interested in entering this space, specifically the smoke shop industry?

Kenny Wright: Well, do your research. Figure out what area you’re trying to open up in. Figure out the type of people that live in the area, like is your store even going to be successful in that area because otherwise, you’re just going to be wasting your time and your money and both are incredibly valuable, first off. Second, once you find that, you want to establish a place that you don’t really want to leave. You want to make sure it’s something that’s going to be a long-term thing because I would imagine that’s the type of business you want to set up unless you’re flying by night, in which case I don’t really have much advice because that’s not me.

Yeah, and then it’s all about establishing relationships with artists. There’s so many talented artists out there melting glass and doing really amazing work. Some are, just depending on where you are, location will really dictate the type of product that you can carry. If you’re in the city where there’s obviously a lot more money, you can carry pieces that are thousands of dollars and sell that. Where here, I put a $500 piece, and people are going and doing mental gymnastics to figure out why it cost so much money. I try to convey why, you know what I mean, but at the same time, some things are just hard for me to even grasp because it’s art. You know what I mean?

TG Branfalt: Yeah.

Kenny Wright: It’s art, so if it doesn’t speak to you, then you’re not going to see the value in it. That’s very much how a lot of this industry is. That, and really just customer service. You know what I mean? Providing quality products is going to allow you to not have to do as much problem mitigation with customers because you’re not selling poorer quality products. You know what I mean? Obviously, things are mass produced and in very… like batteries, cart batteries, those things are made thousands… who knows how many are coming off the line, so there’s going to be failures, but most people are very understanding, as long as you are, as long as you’re not the FU, get out of my store, type, people are people. You talk to them like people, they respond like people. It’s all about giving people respect and, yeah, and you’ll go far especially if you’re in a small town. If you’re in a city, you could probably get away with being a little bit of a D-bag, but that’s still your prerogative. It’s not a successful business move.

TG Branfalt: It’s funny how far we’ve come that five years ago you couldn’t walk into your store, and that’s about the time when I stopped running shops, you couldn’t say bong. It was actually… I stopped running shops probably eight years ago, 10 years ago at this point anyway, but you couldn’t say bong and now, that culture’s changes so much that you’re able to not have to be as much of a dick because no one cares if you say bong anymore.

Kenny Wright: Right, yeah. I want to say Ohio set precedent on that establishing “paraphernalia” as art and eliminating the bong term, but bong was an issue in 2006 when John Ashcroft launched Operation Pipe Dreams and everybody that said bong or sold bongs got arrested and jammed up on trumped charges.

TG Branfalt: Put Tommy Chong’s head on a platter they did.

Kenny Wright: Yep, yep. Unfortunately.

TG Branfalt: Thank you-

Kenny Wright: He’s doing great now.

TG Branfalt: Yeah. Thank you for coming on the show, man. We’ve had these similar conversations in the shop, which is why I really wanted to bring them a little bit more public because I ran shops for a very long time and your shop is one of those shops that it reminds me of the stuff that I used to do. With the strange art you’ve got on the walls and your eye for quality products and American-made glass was always the big appeal to me. Why don’t you tell people where they can find out more about your shop and what you guys do over there?

Kenny Wright: Well, I mean, we’re brick and mortar. We don’t do any online sales. Yeah, it’s a dicey market out there. Not trying to touch toes in that, but we’re on 82 Main Street in Saranac Lake, New York. Phone number’s 518-354-5469 and if you’re ever in town, stop by and check us out. We’d love to have you.

TG Branfalt: Cool, man. Again, man, Kenny Wright, he’s the owner of High Peaks Glassworks, an independently owned smoke shop based in Saranac Lake, New York. Dude, thanks so much for coming on the show and I’ll see you when I need papers here in a couple of days for sure.

Kenny Wright: Sounds good, Tim. Thanks for having me, man. Peace.

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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Michigan Gov. Commutes Sentence of Michael Thompson

12/23/2020

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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) on Tuesday commuted the sentence of Michael Thompson, who in 1996 was sentenced to 60 years in prison for firearms possession by a felon and drug sales after selling three pounds of cannabis to an undercover police officer, the Detroit Metro Times reports. Thompson had served 22 years of the sentence that would have kept him in prison until at least 2038.

Whitmer also commuted the sentence of Lawrence Cadroy, who was sentenced in 1999 to two life terms in prison for possessing more than 650 grams of cocaine and conspiracy to possess with intent to deliver, the Detroit Free Press reports, citing Michigan Department of Corrections records. Cadroy has served 21 years with an earliest release date of 2030.

Lorenzo Garrett’s 29- to 170-year sentence was also commuted by the governor. Garrett was convicted in 1999 of delivery and manufacture of cocaine, according to MDOC documents outlined by the Free Press. He has served 22 years in prison, and his earliest release date was 2027.

The governor also commuted the sentence of Larry McGhee Jr. who was condemned to 20 to 30 years in 2004 for delivery and manufacture of 650 grams or more of cocaine, according to MDOC records cited by the Free Press.

“These commutations offer a second chance to four individuals who have accepted responsibility and paid their debts to society and whose sentences span decades for non-violent offenses. We still have a lot of work to do, but today is a step in the right direction, and I’m confident that Michigan can continue to be a national leader in smart justice.” – Whitmer in a statement via the Metro Times

In October, Whitmer – a former prosecutor – signed a bill to expunge criminal records for convictions that would now be legal under the state’s 2016 cannabis legalization initiative. The reform package was supported by both Democrat and Republican lawmakers.

Thompson, 69, had a parole hearing in November and his release was supported by the state attorney general, local prosecutors, politicians, and more than 125,000 people who signed a petition calling for his release. He had been hospitalized with COVID-19 in August.

Chris Gautz, a spokesman for the MDOC, told the Free Press that he expected those individuals affected by the governor’s action would leave state custody “either in late January or early February.”

The commutations will not erase the convictions.

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Colombian Agency Proposes THC-Rich Cannabis Exports

12/23/2020

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Colombia may start laying the groundwork for THC-rich medical cannabis exports. In a letter to the Ministry of Health, the country’s Superintendency of Industry and Commerce (SIC) suggested that Columbia amend regulations to allow cannabis flower exports, Marijuana Business Daily reports.

Currently, only cannabis for “scientific purposes” can be exported from the South American nation. Yet, despite millions of dollars in foreign investment, Colombian cannabis exporters have struggled to gain a foothold in the global market. Experts believe this first-of-its-kind interjection by the SIC could push the Columbian government to allow medical cannabis exports.

A report by Colombia’s largest industry association Asocolcanna found that Colombia is exporting mostly high CBD extracts to the US, UK, and Australia for a total of $5 million.

“It’s critical that Colombia’s regulatory framework remains competitive and allows companies to access new markets, increase revenue and attract further investment.” — Rodrigo Arcila, Executive President of Asocolcanna, via MJBizDaily

The SIC “nudge” follows a similar letter from Asocolcanna earlier this year in which they urged the Columbian government to allow the export of high THC cannabis. Both letters come at a time when the Colombian government is expected to modify the countries cannabis laws.

Camilo de Guzman, general counsel for Columbian medical cannabis producer NatuEra, told MJBizDaily, “Allowing flower exports makes strategic sense.” De Gusman says Colombia is a ideal location to grow cannabis with its year round growing season and its ability to provide high quality consistent product to the world market.

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Poll: 64% of Respondents to Replace Alcohol with Cannabis During Holidays

12/22/2020

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A Glass House Group survey published last week found 64.2% of respondents planned to replace their alcohol consumption with cannabis this holiday season, with 19.3% “unsure.” A minority of those polled – 16.5% – said they would not be replacing alcohol with cannabis over the holidays.

Kyle Kazan, Glass House co-founder, chairman and CEO, said the poll results represent a “paradigm shift … that cannabis is becoming a mainstream choice for consumers.”

“With health and wellness top of mind during the ongoing pandemic, it’s also not shocking that more consumers plan to replace alcohol consumption with cannabis this year.” – Kazan in a press release

The majority of respondents (52.6%) indicated they planned on giving cannabis or cannabis-related products as gifts this holiday season, with flower as the most popular planned cannabis gift (65.8%), followed by edibles (61.3%), pre-rolls (54.7%), CBD products (32.4%), concentrates (20.1%), and tinctures (15%). Respondents said flower was also the top choice for the gift they would like to receive this year (69.3%), followed by edibles (56.4%), pre-rolls (51.3%), vapes (33.2%), and CBD products (25.4%).

The majority of those polled (71.2%) said they planned to give cannabis-related gifts to friends, with 65.2% planning to gift cannabis to family, and 40.8% who said they would gift cannabis to a significant other.

Most cannabis consumers polled said they would use cannabis during the holiday season to manage stress (53.4%), with 45.6% saying they would use cannabis to celebrate the season. Another 50.3% said they would use cannabis to relieve pain, and 43.3% for enhancing creativity.

Sixty-four percent of those polled said they would be using cannabis over the holidays to get a better night’s sleep, while 63.7% for general wellness, and 57.2% recreationally.

The survey included 637 respondents, 95.1% of which indicated they are regular cannabis consumers with 96.7% of those saying they planned to use cannabis or a cannabis-derived product during the holiday season.

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Study: Cannabis May Improve Opioid Addiction Treatment Outcomes

12/22/2020

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Cannabis might improve treatment outcomes for people in care for opioid addiction and reduce risk brought by accidental fentanyl exposure, according to research published in the Drug and Alcohol Dependence journal outlined by Medical Xpress.

The University of British Columbia and BC Centre on Substance Abuse (BCCSU) study included 819 participants with 53 percent either intentionally or accidentally using fentanyl despite being treated for opioid addiction with treatments like methadone or buprenorphine/naloxone. The researchers found that participants who had urine tests positive for THC were about 10% less likely to have fentanyl-positive urine which puts them at a lower risk for overdoing on the opioid.

Dr. Eugenia Socías, the study’s lead author and clinician-scientist at BCCSU, said the “findings suggest that cannabis could have a stabilizing impact for many patients on treatment, while also reducing the risk of overdose.”

Previous BCCSU research found that individuals on opioid agonist treatments, such as methadone, who reported using cannabis on a daily basis were 21% more likely to continue addiction treatment at six months than non-cannabis users, the report says.

BCCSU is set to work with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research on further evaluating the role of cannabis as a potential adjunct therapy to opioid agonist treatments.

Canadian researchers have found that without access to and rapid expansion of take-home naloxone, overdose prevention services, and opioid analog treatments, the number of overdose deaths in B.C. would be 2.5 times higher than current levels; but patient retention on these medications remains a challenge despite more individuals with opioid-use disorder being connected to treatments, the report says.

Several U.S. medical cannabis programs include opioid-use disorder as a qualifying condition for access as studies have suggested that cannabis could be used as an opioid replacement therapy or exit drug for addicts.

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Snoop Dogg’s Investment Firm Raises $94.7M in New Funding

12/22/2020

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Casa Verde Capital, the cannabis-focused investment firm co-founded by Calvin “Snoop Dogg” Broadus, has closed on $94.7 million during its second investment fund, according to a December 21 Securities and Exchange Commission filing by the firm.

The funding more than doubles the size of Casa Verde’s initial investment vehicle, which closed in 2018 with a $45 million fund, according to a TechCrunch report. The company’s portfolio is now worth at least $200 million and includes some of the industry’s most well-known brands, including Metrc, Leaflink, Eaze, and digital publication Merry Jane.

In July, Casa Verde Managing Director Karan Wadhera told TechCrunch that “four-plus months into COVID, cannabis has proved itself to be a non-cyclical industry.”

“Cannabis has been deemed an essential business everywhere across the U.S. We had record sales in March, April and May, and the trend has continued. And now that we are getting into an environment where governments are going to be looking for additional sources of tax revenue, the potential urgency around cannabis legalization is going to be there, which is going to be massively positive for the industry.” – Wadhara via TechCrunch

In July, amid the coronavirus pandemic, the firm invested $9.5 million into Proper – a company focused on “holistic” sleep solutions, including supplements and sleep coaching. A University of California, Davis study published in September found people across all age groups are suffering from “coronasomnia” – a decrease of sleep as the pandemic persists. Although Proper’s offerings do not include cannabis, anecdotal data and some preliminary research does show CBD may have therapeutic potential for insomnia treatment.

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Sen. Rand Paul Files Bill to Bolster US Hemp Industry

12/22/2020

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Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul (R) has introduced federal legislation to address issues in the US hemp industry. Named the Hemp Economic Mobilization Plan (HEMP) Act, the legislation has four objectives, according to a Forbes report.

The HEMP Act would raise hemp’s allowable THC levels from 0.3% to 1%; require hemp-derived products to be tested post-production, rather than testing flower or plant material; and create a seed certificate to verify with law enforcement the authenticity of hemp products to assure smooth transport across the country — a “margin of error” is defined in hemp testing.

Tom Lauerman, aka Farmer Tom — an Oregon hemp farmer and Washington state licensed cannabis producer — says the HEMP Act would help US farmers.

“This bill gives hope to many farmers whose lives have been turned upside down by short-sighted laws that have made it next to impossible for US hemp farmers to compete in the world hemp marketplace.” — Farmer Tom, in a statement to Ganjapreneur

Cannabis industry attorney Robert Hoban, however, believes that while the HEMP Act is a welcome nod in the Senate to the industry’s success, changing the 0.3% threshold could create more problems than it fixes.

“We’re making great strides with cannabis reform around the world and especially in the United States,” Hoban told Forbes. “There’s a lot of promise with the recent passage of the MORE Act in the House of Representatives and the momentum coming from that with the new administration taking office in January of 2021. Blurring the lines between marijuana and industrial hemp may exacerbate what’s already a major political divide in the U.S.”

Hoban said raising the hemp THC threshold to 1% could put US farmers at a competitive disadvantage with South American hemp farmers, who already operate under a 1 percent THC regime. “Nations that continue to enact laws above 0.3 percent for these plants, even if they’re not intoxicating or psychoactive, like CBD, would be deemed marijuana derivatives,” he said.

Additionally, Hoban points to the large amount of capital that has gone into producing the extraction equipment and hemp strains that already meet US hemp restrictions.

Farmer Tom, however, says the rewards outweigh the risks.

“If passed, Sen. Rand Paul’s hemp bill will legalize hemp that is currently being sold into the gray market,” he said. “All of the 2020 CBD crop is hot under the current regulations. The Paul hemp bill will take the shackles off and create a fair playing field for US hemp farms.”

 

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Study: Certain Cannabis Strains May Support Brain Cell Health

12/21/2020

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Neurotech International Ltd. has completed in-vitro studies using human brain cells to assess and validate the anti-inflammatory and neuro-modulatory properties of its proprietary DOLCE/NTI cannabis strains, FinFeed reports. The completion of the test tube or dish studies pave the way for phase 1 clinical trials for the Australian firm.

The DOLCE/NTI strains contain less than 0.3 percent THC, which classifies it as industrial hemp in Australia and the United States. In the United Kingdom, the THC threshold for industrial hemp is 0.2 percent THC.

The in-vitro studies, conducted at Monash University, University of Wollongong, and RMIT University, showed the strains significantly improved neuronal cell health, cell viability, and have the ability to reduce inflammation compared with CBD alone, which could be used to manage autism, epilepsy, attention-deficit hyper-activity disorder (ADHD), Alzheimer’s disease, and other neurological disorders.

Brian Leedman, Neurotech chairman, described the study results as “very encouraging.”

“…In particular, the powerful anti-inflammatory mode of action of our strains compared to CBD alone. These results demonstrate that the DOLCE/NTI leads may have a broader application in relation to the management and treatment of a number of neurological disorders.” – Leedman to FinFeed

Overall, the study found the strains reduced brain cell inflammation up to 60 percent, increased overall brain cell health and viability in the absence of toxic insult up to 80 percent, and increased mitochondrial viability and output up to 60 percent. Each are important processes and outcomes in understanding and maintaining brain function and cognitive health, Neurotech said.

The company expects to begin clinical trials in the March quarter of 2021. Neurotech is publicly traded on the Australian Securities Exchange under the “NTI” symbol.

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Jointly: The App That Helps Consumers Discover Purposeful Cannabis Consumption

12/21/2020

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Jointly is a new cannabis wellness app that launched in April 2020 with the mission of helping people discover purposeful cannabis consumption so they can achieve their wellness goals with cannabis and CBD.

Purposeful cannabis consumption starts with the question: why do you use cannabis? The next question is: are you achieving that goal? As the saying goes: if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.

With Jointly, you measure how well a cannabis product helps you achieve your wellness goals. As you record how each product affects you, Jointly helps you track the 15 factors that can impact your individual cannabis experience. By tracking the 15 factors, you learn how to turn the dials on your cannabis consumption so that you can minimize side effects and enjoy your ideal experience every time.

Here’s how Jointly works:

  1. Choose why you are using cannabis from our list of common wellness goals. These include relaxation, improved sleep, anxiety reduction, enhanced intimacy, and more.
  2. Track your consumption and learn how Jointly’s 15 factors impact your individual experience.
  3. Discover new products and better routines that will help you achieve your wellness goals.

What Is Purposeful Cannabis Consumption?

Purposeful cannabis consumption means using cannabis for specific wellness purposes, tracking the factors that can impact your experience, and optimizing how you consume cannabis so you can achieve your ideal state every time.

Jointly is perfect for both experienced cannabis connoisseurs and brand-new users. We made a special guide for new cannabis users to help them get started: How to Get Started With Cannabis Wellness in 9 Easy Steps?

If you’re a person who already enjoys cannabis, think of the difference between that perfect feeling – the one you’re always hoping for—and the one when it’s just not quite working. Maybe you’re experiencing unwanted side effects, or maybe the product you chose just isn’t giving you the feeling you wanted.

With Jointly, you can get that perfect feeling more often.

But everyone is unique. We have different biology, work schedules, life stresses, dietary habits and sleep hygiene. That means there is no quick fix or cheat sheet to understand how a cannabis product will affect you.

To get the benefit of Jointly, you create reports to track your experiences.

Our data indicates that Jointly users who create at least ten reports improve their results by 38%.

If you only fill out a few reports and then stop, you won’t have enough data to start to see trends and improve how you consume cannabis.

How Are Jointly Users Improving their Results?

According to experts in cannabis wellness, there are at least 15 factors that can impact your cannabis experience.

These 15 factors include things like the product you choose, your dose, how much sleep you got last night, how hydrated you are, whether you are alone or with friends, when you last consumed cannabis, what ingestion method you choose, and more.

All these factors can change the way cannabis affects you. Jointly allows you to track these factors to understand how they affect you individually.

As you learn to dial in these factors and optimize how you consume cannabis, your average ratings will go up. How much better will you feel?

For example, maybe you have a favorite indica tincture that helps you sleep. It works fairly well, but sometimes the tincture makes you anxious. When you are anxious, you don’t sleep as well. You rate the tincture 6/10: it works, but it’s hit or miss. Is it the dose? Or something else?

After you track ten sessions on Jointly, you realize that when take the tincture while you are dehydrated, you are more likely to experience anxiety.

As a result, you make sure to drink extra water on the nights you take the tincture, you sleep better and experience less anxiety, and you rate the tincture 9/10 for improving your sleep.

Discovering New Products with Jointly

When you rate a cannabis or CBD product on Jointly, you are actually rating how well a product helped you achieve your wellness goals.

Based on your ratings, Jointly will suggest new products that may be better suited to your wellness goals.

When you use Jointly’s Product Finder to function to discover new products, you get to see how other Jointly users rated a cannabis product—based on how well it helped them achieve their wellness goals.

The recently launched Jointly 2.0 has a new feature that allows you to filter products by flavor and product type.

For example, you could look up the top lemon-flavored cannabis tinctures for stimulating creativity. Or the top oil pens for improving sleep.

Purposeful Cannabis Consumers Make Better Patients and Customers

Jointly is all about using data to improve how you consume cannabis.

Jointly users who optimize their consumption are educated, active, and engaged cannabis consumers.

That means Jointly users are better medical marijuana patients because they learn how to get the most out of their medicine.

Jointly users also make for better customers at their local dispensary. Jointly users are on an ongoing wellness journey that encourages experimenting with different products, ingestion methods, and cannabinoid profiles.

Jointly Helps You Enjoy the Same Products More

There are tens of thousands of different cannabis products available on the market.

Many of these products are created for specific wellness purposes like managing pain, enhancing intimacy and boosting focus. Jointly users are better customers for wellness brands because they are using products with these specific wellness goals in mind.

Additionally, Jointly users learn to enjoy the same products 38% more than without Jointly.

Cannabis brands are taking notice and encouraging active Jointly use to get the most from the products they sell.

Jointly Is Here to Help on Your Cannabis Wellness Journey

Cannabis can improve people’s lives and help them achieve their wellness goals. But generations of prohibition have created a formidable stigma around cannabis.

As a cannabis wellness company, Jointly’s goal is to help end the stigma by changing the conversation about cannabis.

At Jointly, cannabis wellness is about more than getting high.

Cannabis wellness is about harnessing the power of cannabis and CBD to improve your health and well-being.

Jointly invites you to download the app and get started on your cannabis wellness journey!

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EU Nations Can’t Honor UK Cannabis Prescriptions After Brexit

12/21/2020

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Following the Brexit transition period on December 31 – when the United Kingdom will no longer be a part of the European Union – cannabis patients in England will be cut off from their cannabis supply in The Netherlands, the Independent reports.

In a December 15 letter from the UK Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), the agency advised importers to work with clinics, pharmacies, and prescribers to offer potential alternatives to medical cannabis patients because “dispensing finished cannabis oil (Bedrocan products) in The Netherlands against prescriptions from UK prescribers is no longer an option from 1 January 2021.”

According to the report, there are about 40 severely epileptic children in Britain that are prescribed medical cannabis and obtain it from the EU.

A spokesperson for UK-based medical cannabis advocacy organization End Our Pain called the termination of the medical cannabis supply from The Netherlands “a matter of life and death for these children.” The spokesperson added that it is “imperative that the government act now to help reach a solution and help these families.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson told the Independent that the agency sympathizes with patients, and said that “there is a range of alternative cannabis-based medicines available to UK patients.”

The UK has approved two cannabis-based medications for use on the National Health Service; however, according to End Our Pain, officials have issued just three prescriptions for the medication since the 2018 reforms. The medication sourced from The Netherlands costs about £2,000 a month, forcing some families to rely on charity to access the medicine.

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Report: Cannabis Legalization Could Generate $1.2B In Economic Activity for Virginia

12/21/2020

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Cannabis legalization in Virginia could generate up to $1.2 billion in economic activity for the state along with $274 million in revenues, but it could take up to five years to reach those levels, according to a report authored by state officials outlined by the Northern Virginia Daily.

The authors note in the report – which relied on recommendations from the Marijuana Legalization Work Group – that “while the potential economic opportunities and revenue impacts are promising, they are not guaranteed.”

Additionally, the report says that in 2018 about 29,000 Virginians were arrested for cannabis-related offenses, an increase of about 9,000 arrests compared to 2009. Black Virginians, the report says, are “approximately three times more likely to be arrested for marijuana-related charges than white Virginians.”

“Virginia should consider that undoing the harms of criminalization should include expungement or sealing of criminal records, creation and issuance of social equity licenses, assistance with access to capital and business planning, consideration of how the entire regulatory scheme could affect barriers to entry into the industry, and community reinvestment and monitoring with a disparity report.” – “Impact on the Commonwealth of Legalizing the Sale and Personal Use of Marijuana,” November 30, 2020

Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, who is also a physician, said last month – ahead of the report’s release – that he plans to introduce legalization legislation when the legislature convenes in January. He estimated it would take between 18 months to two years to implement a regulated marketplace.

The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, an independent watchdog organization, said that while the state would have to spend $8 million to $20 million to establish a commercial cannabis regime, it could generate $300 million per year for state and local governments and reduce arrests in the commonwealth by 84 percent, according to a WRIC report.

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Why Do Some Cannabis Dispensaries Fail While Others Succeed?

12/18/2020

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Are you opening a dispensary or cannabis retail store? Or reassessing your current store to make it more profitable? If so, now’s the time to take a step back for an objective self-assessment. It may seem like some retailers know the secret of success. But the truth is, there are only a few critical areas that make the difference between success and failure, and they’re not esoteric. When you have what it takes to perform well in those areas, your chances of success skyrocket. If not, the gravitational pull of “retail fail” may prove to be too strong.

At Cova, we’ve worked hand-in-hand with more than 800 retailers to develop our industry-leading POS. We’ve seen what works and — just as importantly — what doesn’t. This blog shares some of our accumulated wisdom and reveals the deadly shortcomings of those who fail and the qualities of those who succeed.

Get more real-world intel on the secrets of cannabis retail success! Check out our eBook, “Why Some Cannabis Retailers Fail…and the Secrets of Those Who Succeed.”

Good Retailers Aren’t Rebels

Marijuana’s days as a counterculture mainstay are long gone. Now, the cannabis stakeholders need to play nice with the law rather than “fighting the power” or “resisting The Man.” Compliance is the new name of the game.

Retailers must work with regulators to improve public safety — and ensure the safety of their business licenses. Cannabis retail isn’t like running a clothing store, a restaurant, or even a liquor store; it’s much more intense. Because cannabis was illegal until recently, the regulations are strict and the red tape is thick. Retailers cannot cut corners, and they certainly shouldn’t try to circumvent the law.

You’ll want systems in place to limit your exposure to compliance violations. In fact, you’ll probably want a designated staff member just for compliance. He or she will organize your standard operating procedures (SOPs) and make sure employees are acting accordingly at all your locations. When statutory changes occur — and they will, no doubt — a quick change to your SOPs lets you maintain compliance with confidence. Your cannabis-specific POS system can help too. Many compliance concerns are resolved within the software via advanced reporting features and regulatory integrations.

Bad Retailers Lack Empathy

Great brands know their customers inside and out. If you can’t “step into your customers’ shoes,” your customer experience will suffer. However, when you can empathize with your customer avatar, your brand experience becomes unforgettable.

Many retailers open a retail store to “sell top-quality cannabis,” or “provide expert care.” Those aspirations are excellent, but they’re vague, and they may overlook the fact that the customer experience is altogether lousy. Your product or price might be great, but myriad other factors can torpedo the shopping experience, such as:

  • Long lines
  • Impossible parking
  • Bad product availability (when the website says otherwise)
  • Terrible customer service
  • A feeling that a store or location is unsafe
  • Decor with no coherent personality

And it’s just as important to be consistent as it is to be excellent. Every touchpoint of your brand experience needs to have the same quality and character. If you’re offering an upscale shopping experience, you don’t want one touchpoint to be the weak link in the chain, like an exit area that’s filthy or unsafe. The reverse is true too: if you offer a customer experience focused on value pricing, you won’t want any touchpoint to be incongruently lavish, such as an uber-luxurious waiting area. It upsets the balance of the customer experience and calls your brand’s personality into question.

Good Retailers are Fiscally Responsible

Keep tight books. Running a cannabis retail store can be a lot of fun, but it’s still a serious business. The successful retailers we’ve worked with keep a constant eye on their P&L and their balance sheet. They steer the ship in anticipation of the economic and regulatory changes that are certain yet unforeseeable.

It’s hard to sustain a cannabis retail store on a shoestring budget. The COVID-19 pandemic proved that by inflicting costly changes to how dispensaries operate. The stores that could respond with infrastructure modifications and new technologies weathered the storm; their cash-strapped peers, however, struggled, and many will fold in the coming year.

Whenever possible, keep two years’ worth of operating expenses set aside — or at least access to two years of financing. This is especially important in emerging markets. Regulators often delay the opening day of cannabis sales, and that leaves retailers sitting on expensive real estate without revenue. Renovation costs can also bust your bank account because they so often run over budget at a stage of your business where you don’t have revenue.

Bad Retailers Lack Vision

The best retailers have a vision. They know who they are, where they’re going, and exactly what they want to provide to their customers. Without that self-awareness — and without clear goals — they’re lost without a map.

So, know exactly why you’re in business and what you want to provide to your customers. Many retailers have a strong profit motivation, of course, but some simply want to live the cannabis lifestyle. Others are laser-focused on the medicinal benefits of cannabis and providing the community with quality medicines. Whatever your goals, make sure they’re clearly stated.

Also, check to make sure that all your equity stakeholders are on the same page. Ownership partners often have divergent goals, sometimes without even realizing it. If some of your store’s stakeholders want to provide uncompromising medical care, their values may conflict with other team members who are 100% profit-driven.

Good Retailers Excel at HR and PR

Your employees are where the rubber meets the road: who you hire determines what you become. When your budtenders understand your brand and provide great customer service, you’ll prosper. When they’re subpar, you’re subpar.

Good retailers hire great employees. They also fire bad ones. Staffing needs to be an active process that spurs organizational excellence, not a one-and-done affair wherein you’re stuck with who you’ve got. Don’t be afraid to release employees who show up late, treat customers poorly, or steal. In turn, treat your good employees like family. Successful retailers provide employee appreciation events, discounts, and other perks. A few even use profit-sharing programs to fuel a sense of ownership.

Your stellar people skills should extend out into the community too. When you engage with cannabis skeptics, you become the “good guys.” Some retailers have greatly improved their standing in the community by visiting with law enforcement, clergy, medical professionals, and regulators. Easing cannabis-related fears goes a long way in gaining acceptance.

Bad Retailers Slide Into Operational Chaos

Ultimately, how you operate and execute determines your success. The best-laid plans and most innovative visions won’t matter unless you have the follow-through and organizational skills to bring your dream to life.

So it comes as no surprise that successful retailers are masters of business operations. They track their results. They analyze their sales reports. And they’re constantly refining what works. By shaving a ¼% off of their expenses here, or slightly boosting their revenue there, they slowly improve their profitability. Moreover, they use technology to track their efforts and put tedious, error-prone work on auto-pilot.

Manual work naturally creates human error and clumsy execution. Reconciling sales reports, checking IDs, managing inventory, and performing audits — all of these things can cost you money, or worse, a regulatory violation. Payroll will be one of your largest expenses as a retailer. If your staff is spending time on tasks that are better left to a machine, you’re wasting money. For example, if your manager is staying late every night to reconcile your sales reports, that extra hour of labor will cost you thousands of dollars over the course of a year — dollars better spent on technology

An advanced POS platform does more than process sales; it manages your inventory, syncs inventory with your website, and generates easy-to-use sales reports. Even better, it connects with other business operation services like QuickBooks, CRMs, and staffing software. And even better than that, a cannabis-specific POS handles much of your regulatory reporting and lets you jumpstart your online ordering and delivery programs. With third-party integrations, the Cova POS multiplies your sales channels all across the web to sites like Weedmaps and Dutchie. And it provides offline functionality that’s perfect for mobile deliveries.

Successful Retailers are Constantly Learning

The cannabis industry moves so fast that one year of “cannabis time” equates to about three years of time in a normal industry. Regulations change rapidly, and so do consumer trends. To stay on-point, savvy retailers are constantly reading and learning.

Make sure to know your current regulations inside and out. That clarity will help you maintain compliance now, but it’ll also prepare you to understand and respond to inevitable changes. Likewise, keep an eye on consumer trends through industry reports and benchmark data. Reports help successful retailers respond to shifting consumer tastes and stock a more attractive inventory. And they can also help compare results (e.g., sales volume, profit margins) to local and national competitors.

Are you ready to step up to a new level of operational excellence and profitability? Or ready to enter the market with a solid plan based on the hard-knocks experience of other retailers? If so, make sure to check out Cova’s eBook. It’s a wealth of hard-won information that we’ve collected from hundreds of retailers who either failed or succeeded over the last five years. Download your free copy now.

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New Jersey Lawmakers Approve Cannabis Legalization Bill

12/18/2020

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New Jersey lawmakers have passed the bill to legalize cannabis as required by the ballot question approved by voters during the General Election, NJ.com reports. The measure moves to Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, who is expected to sign it.

Both chambers also approved separate legislation to end arrests for possessing up to six ounces of cannabis and selling up to one ounce, along with a bill lower penalties for psilocybin possession.

Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D), a longtime champion for legalization in the Garden State, said prior to the vote that nothing in his legislative career “will have a greater impact” than the cannabis reforms. However, Sen. Nia Gill said Scutari “cannot take a bow on the stage” because the social justice provisions in the law are its “weakest part.”

As passed, the measure directs 70 percent of the cannabis-derived state sales taxes and an excise tax on cultivation to certain minority communities disproportionately impacted by the drug war. But some argue the language is not strong enough to guarantee the funds go to such community programs. Advocates also wanted the bill to outline a path for those with previous cannabis convictions to enter the legal industry.

The Senate passed another standalone measure to allow current medical cannabis operators and investors to fund new licenses for minorities, women, and disabled veterans. That bill still requires Assembly approval.

Amol Sinha, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, described the legalization bill as imperfect and a “creature of compromise.”

“We’re all recognizing the historic nature of this moment. For years now, the better part of a decade, we have been advocating for legislation that would legalize cannabis and help repair the harms of the war on drugs. We are finally at a place where we can see the finish line.” – Sinha to NJ.com

Once signed by Murphy, officials will need to name members to the Cannabis Regulatory Commission, which would establish rules and license businesses. It could take at least a year before the state’s first adult-use sales.

The state Assembly passed the measure 49-24 with six abstentions, with the Senate passing it 23-17.

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DEA Will Allow Researchers to Cultivate Cannabis

12/18/2020

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The Drug Enforcement Agency on Thursday published a final rule to make it easier for researchers to cultivate cannabis for research purposes. The plan includes provisions that allow the U.S. to comply with international drug treaties by requiring researchers to acquire cannabis from the DEA rather than from the National Institutes on Drug Abuse.

In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, the DEA said the “unprecedented action serves as a testament to the federal government’s support for scientific and medical research with marijuana and its chemical constituents” and could “ultimately result in the development of additional marijuana-derived medicines” for Food and Drug Administration Approval.

For decades, the federal government has only approved one cultivation site for research cannabis cultivation – the University of Mississippi – which has led to several lawsuits by would-be researchers and complaints about the low-quality end product. Most recently, the DEA, its Acting Administrator Timothy Shea, and outgoing Attorney General William Barr were sued by University of Massachusetts-Amherst researcher Dr. Lyle Craker over the government’s failure to process cannabis research applications.

Under the Obama Administration, the DEA began seeking applications for additional cultivators; but those applications were stalled under the Trump Administration by former Attorney General – and anti-cannabis zealot – Jeff Sessions.

The rule does not allow researchers to obtain cannabis from state-legal producers and dispensaries, citing treaty obligations and public safety concerns. A House bill passed last week to expand cannabis research would allow entities to obtain products from legal markets. This week, the Senate passed its own cannabis research measure which does not include such provisions.

Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, told Marijuana Moment that despite the rule change, “Congress needs to enact legislative reforms” because the DEA “has proven itself full of empty promises when it comes to the issue of facilitating clinical cannabis research in the United States.”

The change is expected to be published in the Federal Register today and the DEA says it could start processing applications starting 30 days from publication in the register. Democratic President-Elect Joe Biden is set to take office on January 20.

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Florida Ag Commissioner Leans Into Cannabis Legalization

12/18/2020

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In a fundraising email, Florida’s highest-ranking Democrat — Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried — requested donations to help her “push” for cannabis reform, Florida Politics report.

Titled “Making marijuana legal,” the email calls for donations so Fried can “continue to push for cannabis legalization to protect those targeted by prohibitive laws, to increase access to medical marijuana, and to grow a consumer-friendly hemp industry in our state.”

Commissioner Fried also praised the Marijuana Opportunity Expungement and Re-investment (MORE) Act, which was advanced by the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this month.

“This historic vote marks the monumental progress our country has made to address the racial injustices of prohibition. Lawmakers are recognizing the urgent need to end misguided federal cannabis laws, to begin to right the wrongs of the war on drugs and its damage to communities of color.” — Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, in the email

During a podcast interview for Orlando News 13’s “Beyond the Sound Bites,” Fried said she believes that legal cannabis would bring jobs and revenue to Florida, reduce health care costs, and reduce burdens on the courts. She told the hosts, “We have ABC liquor stores in our neighborhood and they don’t cause crime. We haven’t seen an increase in crime around the dispensaries anywhere across the country.”

Fried is not the only Floridian seeking legalization. “Make it Legal Florida” is mounting a campaign to bring an adult-use cannabis initiative to the state’s 2022 ballot. In addition, lawmakers have announced plans to introduce adult-use legalization bills during the 2021 session, setting Florida up to be one of the next state’s expected to legalize adult-use cannabis.

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Dispensary Suing Miami Beach for Right to Open

12/18/2020

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Medical cannabis company AltMed has filed an appellate court petition to overturn a city board decision in Miami Beach, Florida that denied them a dispensary building permit in the “South of 5th” neighborhood, The Real Deal reports. AltMed also filed suit against fellow cannabis firm MedMen, which was granted a permit to open a medical cannabis dispensary in the neighborhood but has not yet opened the location.

The complaints arise from a 2019 ordinance passed by the city commission that says dispensaries can not be located within 1,200 feet of each other. AltMed attorneys say the ordinance violates the Florida Constitutional Amendment legalizing medical cannabis passed by Floridians in 2016.

“It is based on an irrational fear of medical marijuana. At the end of the day, pharmacies distribute opioids, which is a million times worse and way more dangerous. We just want fairness.” — Juan Carlos Planas, attorney for AltMed, in the report

Concerning the appellate court petition to throw out the board’s denial of AltMed’s building permit, Miami Beach Deputy City Attorney Aleksandr Boksner told The Real Deal, “The Board of Adjustment diligently reviewed the merits of the variance request, and correctly determined (based upon competent and substantial evidence) that the plaintiff failed to establish the necessary legal criteria for granting the variance request. The city is anticipating the dismissal of this appeal by the Circuit Appellate Court, and is confident that the court will rule in the city’s favor.”

The AltMed lawsuit against Miami Beach alleges that after working with the city in 2018 and 2019 to plan their location — including submitting their building permit application, business, tax and security plans — the city passed the ordinance saying dispensaries must be 1,200 feet apart in Miami Beach. While their application was pending, the city later informed AltMed that MedMen’s location had already been approved and was within 1,200 feet of the AltMed location, thereby blocking AltMed’s dispensary from opening. However, due to financial issues, the MedMen location still has not opened.

“If MedMen was going to open, it would have already,” Planas said. “But the company grew too fast and ran out of money. It’s been documented all over the press.”

AltMed sued Med Men in July to void the application for their Miami Beach location. A judge threw out parts of the lawsuit but is allowing AltMed to re-file parts of the complaint.

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Missouri Sued Over Medical Cannabis Business Residency Requirements

12/18/2020

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A Pennsylvania cannabis investor is suing Missouri over its residency requirements for cannabis industry licensees, the Missouri Independent reports. Mark Toigo, a minority owner in Organic Remedies MO Inc., which holds three dispensary licenses, one cultivation license, and one manufacturer license, argues that the residency requirement discriminates against non-residents and violates the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution.

The constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2018 requires cannabusinesses to be “majority owned by natural persons who have been citizens of the state of Missouri for at least one year prior to the application.”

The lawsuit argues that the residency requirement “has been and will continue to be to stifle Missouri’s medical marijuana program by severely restricting the flow of investment into the state.”

“This will mean that Missouri’s medical marijuana businesses will not be able to access the capital necessary to build a vibrant, viable, and successful industry,” the lawsuit states, according to the Independent. Toigo argues he is prohibited from investing freely because further investments could drive his ownership stake over 49 percent.

The lawsuit names the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, as well as its director, Randall Williams, as defendants.

Similar lawsuits aimed at cannabis licensing residency requirements have been filed throughout the U.S. In June, Oklahoma medical cannabis firms filed a lawsuit against the state over its two-year residency requirements. That case has not yet been resolved.

As part of a legal agreement, Maine regulators in May said they would not enforce the state’s four-year residency requirement for the industry. The plaintiffs in that case argued that the requirement violated the commerce clause and the state Attorney General’s Office said it was unlikely to win the case as the state Supreme Court had struck down residency requirements in the past. That decision was subsequently challenged in court by the Maine Cannabis Coalition who argue it violates the state’s legalization law and is ongoing.

In the Missouri lawsuit, Toigo estimates that the state’s medical cannabis market could be worth $175 million to $275 million a year.

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U.S. Senate Passes Cannabis Research Bill 

12/17/2020

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The U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed the Cannabidiol and Marihuana Research Expansion Act, which would expedite the process required for researchers to get Drug Enforcement Administration approval to possess cannabis for research purposes, Law360 reports. The measure would also require the agency to approve drug manufacturers’ access to cannabis for potential new treatment development.

Last week the House passed a similar measure which would amend the Controlled Substances Act to create a structure for, and remove limitations on, cannabis research. The House bill directs The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Justice to create a licensing program for additional federal cannabis producers.

The Senate-approved measure also directs HHS to advise Congress on how researchers can best access cannabis available in legal states while the House bill specifically allows researchers to obtain cannabis from legal markets. The Cannabidiol and Marihuana Research Expansion Act also requires HHS to prepare a report for lawmakers on the effects of cannabis on developing brains and users’ cognitive abilities.

The measure was introduced as two separate measures in the chamber in 2016 by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii). In a statement, Grassley called the bill “critical to better understanding the marijuana plant and its potential benefits and side effects.”

“It will empower the [Food and Drug Administration] to analyze CBD and medical marijuana products in a safe and responsible way so that the American public can decide whether to utilize them in the future based on sound scientific data. Researching marijuana is widely supported by my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, and it’s a smart step forward in addressing this current Schedule I drug.” – Grassley in a statement

Feinstein said the measure “streamlines the research process and paves the way for marijuana-derived medications that are FDA-approved to treat serious medical conditions.”

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Aphria & Tilray Combine to Form World’s Largest Cannabis Firm

12/17/2020

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Canadian cannabis companies Aphria and Tilray on Wednesday announced they are combining businesses, creating the world’s largest cannabis company based on pro forma revenue. Combined, the company’s pro forma revenue is $685 million.

Once combined, it will operate under the Tilray corporate name with shares trading on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol “TLRY.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Aphria shareholders will receive 0.8381 shares of Tilray for each Aphria common share, while Tilray holders will continue to hold their shares with no adjustment to their holdings. Upon completion of the deal, Aphria shareholders will own approximately 62 percent of the outstanding Tilray shares on a fully diluted basis, resulting in a reverse acquisition of Tilray and representing a premium of 23 percent based on the share price at market close on December 15, 2020, the company said.

The combined company will employ about 2,500, according to Aphria’s current Chairman and CEO, Irwin D. Simon. Simon will serve as chairman and CEO of the combined company.

“We are bringing together two world-class companies that share a culture of innovation, brand development and cultivation to enhance our Canadian, U.S., and international scale as we pursue opportunities for accelerated growth with the strength and flexibility of our balance sheet and access to capital.” – Simon in statement

The board of directors will be comprised of nine members, seven of which are current Aphria directors and two will be from Tilray, including current company CEO Brendan Kennedy, and another which will be designated.

“By leveraging our combined strengths and capabilities, we expect to be able to meet the needs of consumers more effectively all over the world and advance patient care,” Kennedy said in a press release. “With a strong financial profile, low-cost production, leading brands, distribution network and unique partnerships, we believe the combined company will be well-positioned to deliver sustainable, attractive returns for stockholders.”

The companies have reported a combined $232 million in gross revenues over the last year. On a pro forma basis, from August to October 2020, the combined company would have held a 17.3 percent retail market share, which would have been the largest share held by any Canadian licensed producer and 700 basis points higher than the next closest competitor.

The deal still needs to be finalized by regulators.

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