Despite Legalization, UK National Health Service Hasn’t Prescribed Cannabis

7/06/2020

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Almost two years ago, the United Kingdom lifted strict cannabis scheduling after two children in the commonwealth found refuge from debilitating seizures with cannabis-based medicines. Since medical legalization, however, there have been no new government-funded National Health Services (NHS) medical cannabis prescriptions, The Guardian reports.

Currently, cannabis is classified as a Schedule 2 drug in the United Kingdom; medical use is permitted for “exceptional clinical need.” Also, the medicine must be prescribed by a specialist consultant and not a general practitioner. Furthermore, NHS guidance does not allow cannabis prescriptions without clear published evidence of its benefit and proof that other treatments have been exhausted. That first requirement is an issue worldwide — without legal access to premium cannabis, research on the medicinal benefits of cannabis consumption or inhalation remains sparse.

The exceptionally bureaucratic hierarchy of the NHS trust is a major issue behind the lack of NHS prescriptions, according to cannabis medicine expert Dr. Dani Gordon.

Instead of relying on government-funded care, patients are paying up to £1400-4000 per month for prescriptions from private doctors. One mother sold her house to fund her severely epileptic daughter’s prescription cannabis, medicine which has helped the young woman walk again after years of sedated confinement to a wheelchair. This is creating a two-tier medical system in which care is only provided to those with economic freedoms.

However not all patients have the means to afford the prescriptions and this is just one of three very real barriers between qualifying patients and legal cannabis medicine, according to NHS England study ‘Barriers to accessing cannabis-based products for medicinal use on NHS prescription’ published in August 2019. The study reveals that on top of the cost of goods and supply chain problems, patients are set back due to a lack of guidance to support clinicians and a lack of clinical evidence.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said nine months ago that officials are “urgently working with the health system, industry and researchers to improve the evidence base to provide clinicians with further support and guidance on prescribing where clinically appropriate.”

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Bay Area Officials Warn Cannabis Industry to Brace for Robberies

7/03/2020

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The San Francisco Office of Cannabis delivered an email this week to dispensaries and other cannabis licensees in the city warning about a high potential for robberies and other criminal attacks during protests planned for the 4th of July weekend.

“Dear Cannabis Permit Holders: It has been brought to the attention of the SF Office of Cannabis that several protests are scheduled for the July 4th weekend. Please be aware that past protests had caused a strain on police resources which is why it is important to take necessary precautions.” — Excerpt of email delivered to cannabis licensees by San Francisco’s OOC

Marijuana Business Daily reported that similar warnings were issued to cannabis businesses in cities near San Francisco, including Oakland.

The warning hearkens back to the Black Lives Matter protests during the international uproar over the police killing of George Floyd in May; those protests were marred by a series of robberies against cannabis dispensaries in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Many dispensary owners at the time believed the robberies were carried out by opportunistic criminals who were taking advantage of a police force distracted by monitoring the protests, not by so-called “looters” or the protesters themselves.

In the email, officials suggested that cannabis licensees:

  • Move cash/cannabis products to a different location for the weekend
  • Reinforce the business premises, including boarding up windows and building entrances
  • Consider additional deterrence measures
  • Ensure proper video recording that is archived both on and offsite
  • Preserve evidence from a potential crime for police
  • Avoid confrontation with potential intruders, calling 911 if necessary

 

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CannaCon Announces Three-Day Virtual Event

7/03/2020

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Renowned cannabis event company CannaCon is officially going online with a Virtual CannaCon on July 28-30. Experience educational seminars with industry experts and exciting product showcases on the virtual exhibitor floor.

CannaCon holds cannabis business expos all over the United States and with the current state of public health the team has decided to continue guiding industry thought leaders with this remote event. Virtual CannaCon will mirror the live conventions with an expo floor featuring live representatives, Q&A sessions after each speech and panel, and networking rooms for attendees to connect. Attendees can register online for the three-day cannabis business convention.

As the world slowed down with shutdowns and isolation orders, the cannabis industry ramped up, adjusting to new CDC recommendations while operating as essential businesses. The cannabis industry has continued to grow and change as surges in sales are reported across the United States. Virtual CannaCon will address the industry as it is today through education, networking, and exhibitors with vast product knowledge; and for the first time in CannaCon history, anyone with wifi can attend.

“The team at CannaCon are excited to have found an online virtual platform that allows us to continue to grow the industry via interactive Zoom networking rooms, seminars with some of the best minds in the cannabis industry, and an interactive expo hall where you can meet with and shop from our amazing vendors,” said Vice President of Marketing Angela Grelle.

CannaCon is dedicated to creating and strengthening lifelong partnerships within the emerging cannabis industry. It is our mission to provide a global B2B venue for cannabis businesses, marijuana entrepreneurs, investors and community partners to showcase industry products, people, innovations and technology. We are committed to cultivating business values within the cannabis industry through education and responsible community involvement.

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Contact:
Angelle Grelle
angela@cannacon.org

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Survey: 84% of CBD Consumers Believe CBD Can Replace Opioids

7/03/2020

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About 84% of CBD consumers believe the cannabinoid is an effective alternative to opioids, according to a recent study from AmericanMarijuana.org.

The study surveyed 1,453 consumers who reported using CBD as a pain relief treatment. While the majority of respondents were both regular CBD consumers and millennials, non-regular users represented about one-third of respondents, while Baby Boomers represented about 8% of respondents, Gen Z represented about 12%, and Gen X about 19%.

A whopping 97% of respondents reported using fewer opioids after starting CBD — about 57% said they were using fewer opioids while some 40% said they had stopped their opioid use altogether. 53% of respondents said that CBD had become their only source of pain relief.

“This study suggests that what we now need is controlled research to understand CBD’s pain-relieving effects (there is surprisingly very little research published in this area on humans). Without controlled studies, it is difficult to know whether some people experience benefits from CBD due to expectancy effects.” — Tory R. Spindle, Ph.D, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, via the report

Despite consumer anecdotes that CBD is an effective opioids alternative, the topic remains controversial in the eyes of federal regulators who in April issued warning letters to two CBD companies over claims that the cannabinoid could treat opioid addiction or serve as alternatives to pharmaceutical drugs.

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This County Raised $2.3M in Student Scholarships with Cannabis Taxes

7/02/2020

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Pueblo County, Colorado is awarding $2.3 million in scholarships to local students using cannabis-derived taxes, the Pueblo Chieftain reports. The total is the largest scholarship disbursement in county history and officials said that all 729 program applicants were likely to receive scholarship awards.

Janelle Quick, director of the Pueblo Hispanic Education Foundation, told the Chieftain that the scholarships range from $1,200 to $2,000 depending on the student’s grade point average, essay scores, community service, and their contribution through the federal student loan program commonly known as FAFSA. Students can use the scholarships for any accredited institute of higher education. The Pueblo Hispanic Education Foundation will receive $676,800 for scholarships that it will disburse instead of the county.

In 2015, Pueblo County voters passed an initiative that requires the first half of cannabis excise tax dollars to go toward scholarships, while the remaining can be used for capital infrastructure projects.

Dru Spinuzzi, vice-president of the Pueblo Hispanic Education Foundation, said that the first year of the program students only received $250 in scholarship funds from the program.

In April, Denver-based cannabis-tech company Veriheal said it would offer $10,000 in scholarships to students interested in the cannabis industry. The company said 10 students would receive $1,000 each.

Pueblo is one of two counties in the state that allocates cannabis excise taxes for local purposes. The scholarships will be used for the upcoming fall and spring semesters.

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L.A. Tightens Social Equity Rules in Cannabis Licensing Reforms

7/02/2020

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The Los Angeles, California city council on Wednesday unanimously approved changes to the city’s cannabis licensing regime, including tightening up social equity program rules, implementing a lottery system for new licenses, and adding new rules for dispensaries in neighborhoods that have already reached their limits, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The revamped social equity rules narrow the ZIP codes eligible for social equity licensing relief. Previously, some wealthier, affluent, white, neighborhoods were included among the list of ZIP codes eligible for the program. Department of Cannabis Regulation head Cat Packer said the city would only use police reporting districts for social equity licensing which, she said, would better target the communities most affected by the drug war. Additionally, in the next round of licensing, social equity applicants must not only have lived in one of those areas for at least 10 years or be low-income, but they must have a previous cannabis-related arrest or conviction to be eligible.

The city is moving toward a lottery system after the first-come, first-serve scheme used during the previous licensing round drew the ire of industry operators; however, the California Minority Alliance argued that the new system wouldn’t gauge the likelihood of whether a business would succeed.

The new rules to determine when a dispensary can open in a neighborhood that has reached its limit dictate that the applicant must get written input from their neighborhood council and others in the area. The move is meant to quiet critics who say that the City Council has too much power in business approvals and that operators can use their political clout to get a license.

Under the previous rules, if the council failed to promptly act on a request to open a dispensary in a saturated area, the request was automatically approved. Under the new rules, a request is denied if the council fails to act on it within roughly three months.

One law firm that represents cannabis firms, Margolin & Lawrence, said in a letter to the council that the new rules “could still be too vague and leave room for corruption or other improper criteria being used to approve or deny” licenses, such as race. The letter argues that a better process would include public hearings.

The law firm said in the letter that “now is a great time to open as many new businesses as possible … for the sake of the social equity applicants, and our society at large.”

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Arizona Cannabis Legalization Campaign Submits 420,000 Signatures

7/02/2020

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Advocates in Arizona have submitted 420,000 petition signatures to state officials for the cannabis legalization ballot initiative, the Arizona Republic reports. The Smart and Safe Arizona campaign needs 237,645 valid signatures to put the issue to voters in November, but the signatures still need to be validated.

The proposal would create a taxed and regulated recreational cannabis industry in the state, individuals 21-and-older would be allowed to make legal purchases and possess up to 1 ounce. A 16 percent excise tax would be implemented, along with regular sales taxes, and industry-derived taxes would be mostly directed toward public safety and community colleges. Edibles would be permitted under the plan; however, THC would be capped at 10 milligrams.

It also includes expungement provisions for cannabis possession crimes up to 2.5 ounces.

In 2016, Arizona voters rejected the reforms by a 52-48 percent margin. That measure was opposed by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, who is also opposing this year’s campaign. Garrick Taylor, senior vice president of government relations and communications for the chamber, told the Republic that legalization would do “more harm than good,” claiming that legalizing cannabis would lead to “an uptick in workplace accidents and lower overall workplace productivity” jeopardizing workplace development efforts and raise costs for drug treatment and rehabilitation.” He also pointed to the coronavirus – of which Arizona is experiencing a spike – saying the pandemic is already putting stress on the state’s public health system and cannabis legalization would add to those stressors.

Arizona Dispensary Association President Steve White, who is CEO of Harvest Health and Recreation, said the state is “ready to legalize” and called the proposal “right” for Arizona. He added that, with the unemployment fallout from the pandemic, “new jobs and revenue are even more critical” than during the previous campaign.

If approved, current medical dispensaries – there are 130 in the state – would get the first crack at retail licenses. The measure also includes first-round licensing for 26 social equity applicants.

If the bid is successful, Arizona would become the 12th state to legalize cannabis.

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Dr. Thomas Macsay: The Intersection of Naturopathy and CBD

7/01/2020

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We recently connected with Dr. Macsay for this written interview covering the intersection of CBD and other naturopathic medicines, Neurogan‘s specific approach to the CBD industry, the need for more cannabinoid education among consumers, and more!

Ganjapreneur: What is your personal relationship with CBD & cannabis?

Dr. Thomas Macsay: I have been using Cannabis intermittently since I was 15 years old, but I was always intrigued by it and its relationship to countercultures from a young age, so I have quite a long relationship with it. It was definitely the first plant, as it is for many, that really grabbed my curiosity due to its powerful neurological effects. My initial experiences with cannabis opened up my mind to a whole new world of plant possibilities and powers that I was previously aware of but never really had the visceral knowledge of what that meant.

My intermittent relationship has been quite interesting. When I was younger I only smoked with friends during school breaks and holidays, but as I started making my way through college it became a tool that helped me deal with boredom and stress related to school. During the end of my second year of college, I was living in my family’s house with a group of friends who would regularly have many other friends over to smoke cannabis. To make a long story short, I ended up getting arrested after the cops were called one night as I chose to take the blame for all the cannabis and paraphernalia in the house.

I sadly hadn’t even been smoking that night as I was studying for an exam the next day and was waiting to get dinner with my girlfriend at the time. As I sat in the cell I regretted taking the blame as I truly believed I had surely ruined my chances of becoming a doctor or being able to have a successful career that would allow me to live a life of comfort and contentment. Furthermore the fact that I was not a citizen of the country also led to a 7-year immigration case that prevented me from traveling to my home country to see any of my extended family.

For most of those 7 years, I had very little desire to smoke cannabis at all as it would trigger feelings and sensations of panic, paranoia, stress…. all the typical side effects of cannabis consumption. It wasn’t until I was back in medical school and feeling the stress and pressure of pursuing 2 doctorates while working with multiple non-profits and medical associations that I decided to start using cannabis again as a stress reliever. I will proudly say that cannabis helped me immensely when studying daunting and boring subjects, dealing with overwhelming stress while giving me the ability to let go of the thoughts constantly running through my mind.

We live in a hustle and bustle world that is hard not to get caught up in, I believe cannabis can alter the lens we view it through to help relieve some of the burden of the experience that many adults and young adults feel on a day to day basis. After years of consuming cannabis again, I have become more deeply interested in cannabis and its effects in combination with other plant medicines. It has truly been a joy to share and learn more about this powerful plant over this time span.

I can’t say that I have always enjoyed cannabis, but I have always, always deeply respected it as a powerful medicine and healing tool, something that anyone should be able to consume and use if they so choose.

How did you originally get involved in the CBD industry?

I got my start in the CBD industry a few years ago after a lifelong interest in herbal medicine and cannabis. I was approached with opportunities that would allow me to marry a formal medical education with various backgrounds in herbalism and natural therapies. I began work on formulating products for two companies concurrently with one being a cutting edge supplement brand while the other was a traditional herbalism based CBD brand. The former products were developed with the help of a team of pharmacists and doctors working together to produce one of a kind nanotech herbal extract capsules paired with CBD. The latter being a company that I co-founded and managed development, branding, marketing, production, logistics, and sales.

I was extremely motivated to jump into these opportunities headfirst when they were presented to me. Here was a true, so-called door or gateway, through CBD into people’s minds that had previously been closed off to plant-based medicine and alternative therapies. If masses of people were recognizing the powerful effects of a plant-based extract then surely they would understand that plants as a whole offer a plethora of healing qualities and medicinal constituents. This would be an even more likely possibility if CBD and hemp extracts were directly combined with other medicinal plants (we now see tons of companies with combination products)

The companies I worked with made it their mission and vision to offer educational platforms that not only provided safe and efficacious products but also medically relevant educational information about alternative therapies and plant-based medicine directly from a team of doctors passionate about cannabis and holistic medicine. Furthermore, we focused our abilities to provide clinical-grade products made to the highest standards so they could be used as tools by healthcare practitioners.

Throughout the process of helping build and launch these companies, I was able to spend time working and living on hemp farms, in hemp drying facilities, and extraction facilities as well. With a broad overview of the hemp industry, I have begun consulting with a few select companies who align with my mission as a cannabis professional and have also begun working with international clients to provide clinical training and oversight regarding CBD for physicians who are otherwise inexperienced or uneducated on its use as a powerful tool in clinical practice.

How is Neurogan’s product development process influenced by your extensive wellness background?

I have worked with Neurogan to make sure that the information that we put forward regarding our products and their articles/press is medically relevant and accurate. We have worked together to provide simple, yet powerful tools that customers and patients can use to find a safe and effective product while taking the right dose of that product. Together we hope to continue providing information, as well as honest, and transparent articles regarding CBD and other botanical-based medicine. Lastly, we will be working on products that combine herbal medicine and hemp together in unique yet powerful ways that provide an extremely enjoyable end-user experience.

Why does Neurogan choose to use Danish hemp in the production process? Does the team work with local farmers or have a farm in Denmark?

Being a Danish citizen myself, I know firsthand how fertile and lush nature is throughout Denmark. Pristine small family farms dot the countryside connecting small townships throughout much of the country outside of the city centers. Many families have direct ties to the land, and these farms provide much of the food that people in the country eat which keeps things local and fresh. Along with this comes closer ties to the earth and its bounty which means that many people still rely on old folk remedies or medicinal plants that grow in the wild.

The Vikings also have a long history of using hemp for creating rope, clothes, and more which Neurogan decided to continue by tapping into close family ties at these farms in the countryside. Today Neurogan grows the bulk of its hemp on their family farm in Denmark, with every aspect owned and operated by the owners of Neurogan, so that the standards of cultivation can remain high and in line with the quality Neurogan loves to deliver.

Why did the company decide to launch a high-potency CBD line? Can you describe the research and development process that goes into creating new Neurogan products?

Having a high potency line is essential for any company that wants to align with the medicinal and healing qualities of CBD and hemp as a whole, as opposed to companies who are making various products such as energy drinks, candy, and other enticing edibles that do not provide much of a dose or any dose at all for that reason.

Yes, CBD can have great benefits for the casual user, but the people who really need it are those with advanced and complex diseases that may not have any other safe or effective alternative therapies left. For individuals with diseases that require a higher dose of CBD, it is important that they have access to high-potency products at a fair price. Furthermore, many clinicians will require higher doses of CBD or cannabinoids in general as a part of a treatment plan giving Neurogan a place on every doctor’s shelf.

With so many products making false claims, how can a CBD consumer be more knowledgeable and make an educated decision when shopping?

It’s tough being a CBD consumer in today’s market. This is especially true when the highest quality and most renowned products are typically more expensive which will lead some to search for cheaper options.

First and foremost, companies that make explicit claims or offer their products as a potential treatment option for any medical condition shouldn’t be trusted as they are operating outside of their legal scope. Flashy claims are always made to entice the consumer to buy a product that may or may not work for them. These types of products are likely of lower quality and cost less than premium brands in the marketplace.

Education is absolutely essential for individuals who are shopping for CBD products. There are countless online resources that focus only on cannabis and hemp-related education. If the website does not sell any products and provides well-sourced articles, it’s likely a good source of information that is unbiased and free of marketing tactics. Most premium brands will also provide great educational material and transparency when it comes to their operations, processes, and products.

Real CBD companies are legally required to provide testing results on their products. This allows customers to see for themselves if the product they’re getting contains the stated CBD values and is free of impurities. Companies who refuse to share their testing results or do not provide them with a product purchase may have something to hide and should be considered carefully.

Finally, anyone considering CBD or cannabis-based products to treat health problems should consult a primary care physician and/or a cannabis health professional. Health professionals, especially those with a strong understanding of cannabis-based medicine, will be able to direct you towards a reputable product with a dose and form that is appropriate for your needs.

The company recently held a test of 12 CBD products, finding no CBD in any of them. Why did Neurogan use their resources to conduct this research, and what does it say about the ever-expanding CBD market?

Neurogan was hoping to shed light on the fact that there are still many shady and fraudulent companies/individuals who are trying to take advantage of the uninformed customer who is looking to find an affordable product or is maybe buying a hemp/cannabis-based product for the first time and is hoping to find something cheaper. This, unfortunately, is not something new, and there are many shady underground sources of “CBD” or “hemp oil” products on the market that may or may not have any cannabinoids in them. Even worse, these products will have other narcotics or agents added to them to increase the effects experienced by the consumer.

Individuals need to be educated on these facts as they can be harmed by fake products or they may just be throwing their money away. In either case, Neurogan wants to help protect consumers from these types of companies/individuals who sell fake products while also providing information on how to find a proper product and how one can read a chemical analysis to tell if the product actually contains the number of cannabinoids as stated on the label.

Unfortunately, this trend of fake products will likely continue into the future as laws are set in stone and proper oversight from the FDA and DEA shapes up. Until then information is the most powerful weapon that we can provide to individuals in order to prevent them from wasting their money or risking consumption of harmful agents.

How does Neurogan maintain transparency in their product line from seed to sale?

Neurogan seeks to maintain complete transparency through every step of the cultivation process, which is easy for us, because we have a hand in each step.

All of the crops are grown at founder Dan Hamp’s family farm in his home country of Denmark. We love growing outdoor hemp in Denmark because the country’s conditions are perfect from April to October to slow-grow full-spectrum, high-quality CBD in soil free of heavy-metals and harmful pesticides. Once the crops are in full bloom, they are picked and dried over a two-month period before the whole hemp plant is granulated into pellets and sent to the United States.

The team receives the hemp on-site in San Diego, CA and the hemp is incorporated into custom, handmade recipes in our GMP certified facility. All finished products are sent to a third party laboratory and tested for quality before being sold to customers.

As you can see, each step is integral to providing transparency and quality that customers can trust.

Neurogan products have higher doses and are broad-spectrum; how does this benefit the consumer compared to lower dose products? What is the difference between full-spectrum and broad-spectrum?

Full-spectrum products include the full range of cannabinoids; THC, CBD, and over 100 other cannabinoids. Studies have shown that plant extracts that are considered full-spectrum typically have increased benefits and lower dosage with decreased side effects. This happens as a result of the components in the extract interacting with each other and the body’s receptors.

Broad-spectrum extracts are almost identical to full-spectrum extracts except for the fact that they do not contain any THC. This means that a Neurogan’s broad spectrum product still provides much of the synergistic qualities seen with a full-spectrum extract but is just right for those who prefer to avoid THC ingestion at all costs.

By providing a wide and higher range of dosages, Neurogan offers products that will be effective at helping many customers alleviate complaints with targeted dosages at a fair price point. Lower dosed products can still be very expensive and may not have enough CBD to even help customers deal with some of their complaints. These products are typically also isolated or are made with lower quality extracts that can be unsafe or completely ineffective for the consumer.

What do you think is the biggest obstacle to educating consumers about the benefits of CBD?

The biggest obstacle to educating the consumer is probably the consumer. People always want a quick fix and they want it cheap, or they want it to be enjoyable to consume. Most of all people want to notice something right away.

Unfortunately, every single individual will react differently to the same dose of CBD consumed at the exact same time in the same setting. This is due to a myriad of reasons including genetics, diet, toxin load, medication use, mood, and so on. This means that some people will feel nothing when they take a high-quality hemp product, while some others may feel extremely “high” at the same dose.

People from both sides of the spectrum may give up on the product right away or may change their dose drastically where it either becomes ineffective or begins causing uncomfortable side effects. This is one of the reasons it is always stressed that individuals should consult their health care professional when beginning any supplements or alternative based treatment therapies.

At the end of the day, education, especially a drastic perspective shift from a typical western medicine mindset to one that takes the perspective of plant-based alternative therapies takes time. People aren’t always patient enough to take the time to educate themselves on a topic that is in itself a vast and still developing topic. This is especially true if said individual did not have a pleasant or noticeable experience their first time around with plant-based medicine.

On top of this, the western medicine mindset continues to push plants out of the picture even though many of the most common drugs are derived from plant constituents, and that the word drug itself was originally used to describe a medicinal plant. There are now thousands upon thousands of articles that prove herbal medicine can be an equal therapeutic agent, and sometimes more effective, compared to many common medications used in clinical practice today.

Without proper acknowledgment of human tendencies and biases, it makes it hard for people to look past these facts and truly begin tapping into plants as medicinal agents. Fortunately, many people do become intrigued by the beneficial effects experienced when taking a CBD product which tends to lead them down a path of education and insight into cannabis as a whole.

Does Neurogan get involved in the local community and economy? How does the company support other entrepreneurs in the space?

As a small family-owned company, Neurogan loves to support other underdogs, and we mean that in a very real sense. Nearly two years ago, we began showing our support for San Diego-based non-profit, The Animal Pad (TAP), who rescues dogs from the streets of San Diego and Mexico. We’ve provided donations, campaigns, and initiatives in support of TAP, alongside featuring their pups on the front of our Neurogan CBD pet treat bags and having nearly 5 employees from our office adopt TAP pooches to date. We’re thrilled by the thought that our premium pet CBD has the potential to help rescue pets feel more at home.

Additionally, with San Diego being such a health and wellness conscious community, we’ve been proud to provide donations and give support to local wellness practitioners and entrepreneurs; from nutritionists, to yoga teachers, to reiki masters, and more. As a brand, we’re focused on providing people with products that can bring them the gift of wellness and in partnering with individuals who are determined to do the same through their services, we know we’re in good company.

As a business, we offer private label products to those looking to start their own CBD businesses and have really enjoyed the business consultancy role this has placed us in, as CBD is a difficult space to get started in. When it comes to our direct customers, we put a lot of our efforts towards educating our community not only when it comes to CBD, but when it comes to the importance of supporting local. We model this by doing the same ourselves and fighting to prompt a shift in thought when it comes to thoughtful consumption on every level.

Thank you, Dr. Macsay, for answering our questions about Neurogan and the state of the CBD marketplace. Visit Neurogan.com to learn more about our guest.

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Colorado Gov. Signs Cannabis Social Equity Bill

7/01/2020

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Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) has signed cannabis industry social equity legislation which also includes provisions allowing the governor to pardon low-level cannabis possession cases up to two ounces that occurred prior to legalization in the state.

Under the law, a social equity applicant has resided for at least 15 years between 1980 to 2010 in an area disproportionately impacted by the drug war, or was arrested for a cannabis offense or had a parent, guardian, spouse, sibling, or child arrested for a cannabis offense, or had their assets seized related to a cannabis investigation, or meets household income thresholds.

The law allows groups of social equity licensees to collectively own a majority stake as long as the social equity licensee or group holds at least 51 percent ownership in the company. Social equity licensees may also be eligible for financial aid and other incentives from the state.

Previously, the state had made so-called “accelerator” licenses available but the new law changes that permit to a “social equity license” and alters the qualifications for applicants. Specifically, the license allows someone who may not qualify for a cannabusiness license to work with an established business willing to be a partner, advisor, and mentor. The bill also prohibits regulators from denying licenses to social equity applicants based solely on criminal provisions that might usually disqualify the applicant. Under Colorado law, individuals convicted of a felony in the three years prior to their application are usually disqualified; however, social equity applicants will not be rejected based entirely on that provision, according to the bill text.

The licenses will be available for retail locations, delivery businesses, and potentially social-use clubs, according to a Colorado Politics report.

State Rep. John Collins, a Democratic co-sponsor of the bill, called the measure “the first of many actions that must be taken to have racial equity in our state.”

“For decades now the Black community has been disproportionate criminalized, because of marijuana, while others have profited. We’ve needed to act on this injustice and disparity for decades, and there are people standing here who have been speaking, acting, advocating and pushing for this very moment for decades.” – Coleman during a press Monday press conference via Colorado Politics

A Denver Department of Excise and Licenses report released earlier this month found 75 percent of the city’s cannabis businesses are owned by white people, while 12.7 percent of owners identified as Latino, 5.5 percent as Black, and 2.8 percent as Middle Eastern. Women had 32 percent of “key” cannabis licenses and just 36 percent of all industry licenses, the report said.

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Dixie Elixirs Will Rebrand Due to Painful Historical Context

7/01/2020

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Dixie Brands announced this week it will change its name in solidarity with the anti-racist movement that has gripped the U.S. in recent weeks. The company announced the name change on its website and social media platforms.

“The Dixie Elixirs brand was founded over 10 years ago as a pioneer in the cannabis industry,” reads the company’s official statement.

“Recently, the national conversation about racism and injustice has focused our attention to the pain the Dixie name can cause due to the historical context of the word. We stand shoulder to shoulder with the Black community, and we stand firmly against racism and injustice. To stay true to these values, we have decided to change our name.” — Dixie Brands official statement

The word “Dixie” has been criticized by civil rights advocates for decades as a glorification of historical racism. The term is frequently used to describe the southern U.S. states, which in particular are marred by painful memories of the Civil War that was waged in part due to white enslavers’ unwillingness to give up slave labor.

Dixie Brands is not the first entity to ditch the word: popular country-pop band The Dixie Chicks announced last week it would drop the word “Dixie” from its name.

The company says it has not yet picked out a new name but suggestions and feedback are welcome and should be emailed to community@dixiebrands.com.

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High Times to Acquire California Cannabis Delivery Company

7/01/2020

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Hightimes Holding Corp. has agreed to acquire California-based delivery service Mountain High Recreation Inc., the latest move by the owners of the High Times brand as they move from decades of publishing into the retail market.

Hightimes Holding President Paul Henderson noted that the company is currently in the process of transferring ownership of five currently operating stores and seven new stores across California and “wouldn’t think of servicing that audience without a superb delivery solution in the equation.”

“Delivery has always been part of our plan for how you will shop our stores. Customers are agnostic about where they complete the transaction.” – Henderson in a statement

Earlier this month, the company announced plans to rebrand 18 Red, White, & Bloom dispensaries as High Times stores and develop products in Michigan, Illinois, and Florida. The High Times branded products will include vape, tincture, topical, and edible products within both owned and third-party outlets.

Last month, Hightimes Holding reached an agreement to acquire 13 planned and operational California dispensaries from Harvest Health & Recreation Inc.

In March, the company said it had signed a letter of intent to buy California-based Humboldt Heritage Inc. and its subsidiaries Humboldt Sun Growers Guild and Grateful Eight LLC., but that deal was terminated in May.

The flurry of activity into the retail cannabis space comes after the company said last December that it had “substantial doubt” about the magazine’s future. The following month, former Overstock.com president Stormy Simon would take the role as CEO of Hightimes Holding and announce that the company would pivot to the retail and distribution business. Simon would ultimately resign in May and Peter Horvath, former chief commercialization officer of American Eagle Outfitters and former chief operating officer at Victoria’s Secret, would take over as the third CEO for the company in just over a calendar year.

Simon is currently running for a seat in the Utah State House of Representatives and recently launched a podcast.

In February, Hightimes received a trading symbol from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and plans to list on public markets by next year. The financial terms of the Mountain High Recreation deal were not disclosed.

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Former NBA Star John Salley Launching Cannabis Insurance Plan

7/01/2020

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Former National Basketball Association player turned cannabis entrepreneur John Salley, along with insurance industry veteran Daron Philips, has launched The Cannabis Plan with National Insurance Partners – an insurance plan specifically designed for the cannabis industry, Bezinga reports.

The plan not only covers cultivators, laboratories, and both the THC and CBD industries but also individuals who self-medicate with THC who could be punished for their use by their current insurance brokers. Philips said cannabusinesses in the country with two or more employees can apply to receive insurance, depending on state requirements, and that the plan is 20 percent cheaper than other insurance solutions offered in the industry. California, though, has special regulations that would require businesses to have at least 25 employees to qualify for the insurance. The healthcare portion of the plan can cover up to 200,000 employees and is administered by third-party healthcare company Medova Healthcare.

The venture is still building out coverage of individuals who don’t work for a cannabis company.

“Individuals that are worried about their health insurance going up or not even covering them because they use THC, we’re going to eliminate that. … We just don’t want people to feel like they have to give up on their insurance because they choose to medicinally treat themselves.” – Phillips to Bezinga

Salley, a four-time NBA champion, first-round pick, and the first player to win championships with three different teams, owns cannabis brand Deuces22 and a stake in GreenSpace Labs. In an interview with Bezinga, Salley indicated he is interested in entering the South American and Jamaican industries

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Border Patrol Seizing Cash and Cannabis From Legal California Operators

6/30/2020

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Legal cannabis business owners in California are accusing Border Patrol of confiscating legal products and cash at border checkpoints throughout the state, the Voice of San Diego reports. The business owners often have to pass through the federally-controlled checkpoints when taking the products to testing facilities or distributing products from wholesalers to retailers.

Angel Fernandez, director of Movocan Inc., which operates a dispensary in Imperial County and has a distribution permit, told the Voice of San Diego that in November, border agents confiscated 10.36 pounds of flower worth about $35,000. Fernandez estimates that Border Patrol checkpoints have cost him between $3 million and $4 million and that he’s lost customers due to the seizures.

“It’s unfair to the development of this market. This is the only place in California where you cannot leave without having to go through a federal checkpoint.” – Fernandez to Voice of San Diego

Under U.S. law, Customs and Border Protection agents have the authority to operate within 100 miles of any U.S. “external boundary,” according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Imperial County, California straddles the U.S.-Mexico border. Max Mikalonis, a cannabis consultant and lobbyist at K Street Consulting, noted that “all of San Diego is technically under [CPB] watch” and that he often advises clients to reconsider setting up a cannabusiness in the county.

Josh Swider, CEO of InfiniteCAL, a testing lab in San Diego, said that Border Patrol agents confiscated 14 samples of hemp in late May – despite hemp’s legal status under federal law. Earlier this month, Swider sent a letter to the California Bureau of Cannabis Control about the issues with federal agents.

“[InfiniteCAL] has upheld California laws and regulations in order to operate in this nascent industry,” he writes in the letter. “However, the barrier the agents at the checkpoints have raised is impeding our state rights and prohibiting our lab from conducting the analyses required by the state agencies overseeing the cannabis industry.”

In their response, a BCC staff member said they understood the issue “creates challenges for those legally conducting commercial cannabis activity pursuant to state law” but it does “not have the authority to change the federal law or border patrol checkpoint operations to allow licensees to transport cannabis goods through these checkpoints.”

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Ousted Testing Lab CEO Accuses New Leadership of Fraud

6/30/2020

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Brian Lannon, co-founder and former CEO of California cannabis testing lab Cannalysis, has filed suit against the company he founded and its new leadership over allegations of breached fiduciary duties, wrongful termination, and fraud.

First reported by Beard Bros Pharms, the lawsuit names Bedford Acquisition Partners Ltd. — an investment firm dealing under the name CanLabs — and Cannalysis Labs as defendants, as well as numerous individuals employed by Cannalysis including Gary Hopkinson, Billy Hagstrom, Tyler Autera, Tom Autera, Eric Weinstein, and Chris Hetherington.

In their April 20 court filing, plaintiffs Brian Lannon and Peter Lannon — Brian’s father, who was an early investor in Cannalysis — allege that Lannon’s ouster as CEO last November was unlawful, having resulted from a secret meeting of company shareholders during which Lannon (who was not present) was removed from the company’s board of directors and then subsequently terminated from his role as CEO. The plaintiffs say the company has even refused to honor their requests for corporate records despite the Lannons’ continued role as company shareholders.

Other complaints in the 32-page suit — which ultimately demands a jury trial — include accusations of slander, claims that the company made purchases using Lannon’s personal credit card, and allegations that the newcomers in 2019 almost immediately started working to recoup their costs by falsifying company records in hopes of wooing additional investment dollars.

Cannalysis made headlines in 2019 for a $22.6 million fundraising round headed by CanLabs; Lannon was removed from his post about two months later.

Lannon declined to provide a comment for this article. A request for comment was also submitted to Cannalysis but there was no response at the time of this publishing; this article may be updated in the future if that request is answered.

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San Diego Creates Cannabis Permitting Bureau

6/30/2020

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San Diego, California is creating a Cannabis Permitting Bureau that will centralize the permitting processes while also enforcing the city’s industry regulations, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The agency is set to have a near-$1 million annual budget and nine full-time employees.

P.J. Fitzgerald, an assistant deputy director in the Development Services Department, said the bureau would be doing “proactive code enforcement when necessary” and would revoke permits for “bad actors” if necessary.

Currently, the city only takes enforcement measures when it receives a complaint, the report says. To fund the bureau, the city is considering raising industry-associated fees.

During the coronavirus pandemic, the number of dispensaries in San Diego reached 20 and five more have received city approvals. Of the 20, 13 of those dispensaries were approved in 2015 and are operating under conditional-use permits which expire the year, according to Fitzgerald, and seven of those have begun the renewal process. Production facilities – which include indoor cultivation and edible-making facilities – weren’t allowed in the city until 2017; currently there are 11 operational production facilities, five of which are brand new, he said. In all, city officials have approved 40 such businesses but 29 are in the approval process.

In March, the city Economic Development Committee heard proposals on social-use lounges but the full city council has not voted on whether to allow on-site cannabis consumption licenses.

Los Angles, San Francisco, and Sacramento also have city-specific agencies to regulate the cannabis industry.

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Curaleaf Expanding Select Brand Into 4 States

6/30/2020

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Curaleaf is expanding its recently acquired Select brand into four new state markets between now and August, the company announced on Monday. The expansion includes Maine, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Florida and, once complete, Select will be available in 13 states.

Curaleaf announced the acquisition plan of Select parent Cura Partners Inc. in May 2019 for nearly $1 billion in stock. However, by February 2020, the deal was finalized for less than $400 million after cannabis industry stocks experienced sharp declines and led to lower overall company valuations in the space. In 2018, Cura recorded $118 million in sales and was Oregon’s largest cannabusiness.

Joe Bayern, president of Curaleaf, said the brand has since “performed tremendously well” in its current markets.

Select Elite and Select Nano Gummies will launch in Curaleaf’s home state of Massachusetts on July 3 along with company-branded Nano Gummies which will be exclusive to the firm’s dispensaries. In late-July, the company’s Select Elite oil cartridges and Nano Gummies will be available in Maine medical dispensaries. Nano Gummies are also expected to be available to Florida and Ohio medical cannabis patients by mid-August.

Currently, Select products are available in Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Connecticut.

Curaleaf is also in the works of closing their deal to acquire Grassroots. Once complete the deal is expected to expand Curaleaf’s presence from 18 states to 23, with over 135 dispensary licenses, 88 operational dispensary locations, more than 30 processing facilities, and 22 cultivation sites with 1.6 million square feet of cultivation capacity.

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U.S. Hemp Acreage Declines Despite Increase In Licensing

6/29/2020

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Hemp cultivation acreage in the U.S. has fallen 9 percent since 2019 but the number of entities and individuals licensed in their state to grow the crop rose 27 percent, according to a Hemp Industry Daily report. As of June 18, there were 465,787 total licensed hemp acres for the 2020 season, compared to 511,442 last year.

According to the report, Colorado has licensed 62,208 acres of hemp for this year – the most of any state – followed by Tennessee (51,000), Arizona (34,035), Kentucky (32,106), and New York (29,985) rounding out the top five.

Last year, the 34 states that allowed hemp cultivation issued 16,877 licenses while this year, states have licensed 21,496 growers, according to Vote Hemp data outlined in the report. Compared to 2018, states issued 476 percent more licenses in 2019. Not all states require processor licenses, but 4,485 such licenses have been issued in states that require them.

Vote Hemp President Eric Steenstra warned, though, that while “licensing is a good indicator to show intent,” it doesn’t always equate to more cultivated plants or end-products.

“We know from previous years that significantly less hemp is planted than what is licensed due to a variety of factors, including access to seed and clones, a lack of financing as well as inexperience.” – Steenstra to Hemp Industry Daily

Most of the hemp grown in the U.S. is cultivated in a greenhouse, according to the report citing Greenhouse Grower figures estimating the largest 100 greenhouse hemp producers in the U.S. account for nearly 220 million square feet of hemp cultivation, compared to 93,666,091 square feet of outdoor cultivated hemp.

According to U.S. Department of Agriculture data, the agency has approved hemp plans for 17 states – as required under the 2018 federal hemp legalization law – and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Another 24 states are operating under their 2014 pilot program rules. The agency has also approved hemp production plans for 32 Native American tribes.

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Sonoma County, California Expunging 2,700 Cannabis Convictions

6/29/2020

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Sonoma County, California is clearing 2,735 low-level cannabis convictions for more than 2,000 people, county District Attorney Jill Ravitch announced on Friday. The convictions were identified by the county using the state-wide software application “Clear My Record.”

With the passage of Proposition 64 in California in 2016, some crimes that had previously been categorized as felonies was re-designated misdemeanors, while crimes that had previously been characterized as misdemeanors were re-designated as either punishable as an infraction or no longer illegal. The ballot initiative included provisions giving individuals with prior cannabis convictions the right to petition courts to re-classify their convictions or to have their convictions dismissed altogether if the underlying charge is no longer considered a crime.

In 2018, the California legislature passed a law requiring the state Department of Justice to review state criminal history and identify those charged with now-legal cannabis-related crimes after few filed petitions to clear the charges from their record.

Using the Clear My Record software, the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office identified 2,110 individuals eligible for relief. Of those, 427 had misdemeanor convictions eligible for complete dismissal, and 1,713 had felony convictions eligible for reduction to misdemeanors.

However, Ravitch said she is going to dismiss all of the cases, rather than reduce the felonies and dismiss the misdemeanors. She said her office “has been very committed to working with those individuals seeking relief from marijuana convictions” but that “the process has often been slow, and the reach has been narrow.”

“As a result, we have undertaken a thorough review of all cases identified by Code for America’s software program Clear My Record and determined that the only way to truly provide justice for these individuals is to go beyond the requirements of the statute and provide complete dismissal in each of the cases. We understand the burden that has been placed on individuals, families, and communities as a result of cannabis convictions. I do not believe this is consistent with the values of the overwhelming number of people of Sonoma County, and therefore, we are taking aggressive steps to assist those affected.” – Ravitch in a statement

San Francisco officials expunged 9,362 felony and misdemeanor cannabis convictions dating from as far back as 1975in 2019. Los Angeles, in February, expunged 62,000 felony convictions and 4,000 misdemeanor convictions dating back to 1961. Both cities used the Code for America software to identify the cases.

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Dr. Lester Grinspoon, Cannabis Advocate & Author, Dead at 92

6/29/2020

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Dr. Lester Grinspoon, a cannabis advocate, author, and Harvard Medical School psychiatrist, died on June 25. He was 92. Grinspoon authored 12 books during his lifetime, including Marihuana Reconsidered and Marihuana, The Forbidden Medicine. He also maintained the website Marijuana-Uses.com, which featured stories of individuals who have had positive, non-medical experiences with cannabis.

Grinspoon began his career believing that cannabis was a dangerous drug, but his position was challenged by famed astronomer Carl Sagan, who was a close friend of Grinspoon and a Harvard astronomer.

Grinspoon and his wife Betsy lost their son, Danny, to cancer when he was a teenager and during his final year of treatment, the family saw how cannabis was effective at helping Danny cope with the side effects of chemotherapy. The experience led Grinspoon to author The Forbidden Medicine in 1993.

In 1990 he received the Alfred R. Lindesmith Award for Achievement in the Field of Scholarship and Writing from the Drug Policy Foundation. In 1999, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) board of directors established the Lester Grinspoon Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Marijuana Law Reform, and Grinspoon was the first recipient. He was also a long-serving member of NORML’s Board of Directors, including many years as board chair, NORML said, and he served as a member of the NORML Advisory Board until his death.

NORML founder Keith Stroup told L.A. Weekly that Grinspoon “made it possible for us to have an informed public policy debate leading to the growing list of states legalizing the responsible use of marijuana.”

“While there have been other medical and public health experts who have taken an active role to advance full legalization of marijuana, it is Dr. Lester Grinspoon who first led the way to insist that our marijuana policies be based on legitimate science.” – Stroup to L.A. Weekly

Peter Grinspoon, his surviving son, said states legalizing cannabis was “gratifying” for his father but “would have been more gratifying if hundreds of thousands weren’t still getting arrested for minor marijuana crimes.”

He noted that when his father wrote Marihuana Reconsidered, support for cannabis legalization was in the teens. A Gallup poll last year found 66 percent support the reforms.

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Brent & Barry Walker: Growing a Multi-State Cannabis Business

6/26/2020

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The Walker brothers were recent guests on the Ganjapreneur podcast. Their conversation with host TG Branfalt covers Dub Bros‘ early entrance to the space, the business strategies that have driven their success so far, transitioning out of the gray market as regulations come online, their push into new and burgeoning state markets, and more!

Check out the interview in full via the media player below, or scroll further down to read a full transcript of this week’s Ganjapreneur.com podcast episode.

Listen to the podcast:

Read the transcript:

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TG Branfalt: Hey there, I’m your host TG Branfalt. Thank you for listening to the ganjapreneur.com podcast, where we try to bring you actionable information and normalize cannabis through the stories of entrepreneurs, activists, and industry stakeholders. Today I’m joined by Barry and Brent Walker. They’re the founders of California based at Dub Brothers, one of the state’s largest licensed holders, which also operates in Oklahoma. The company’s brands include Tradecraft Farms, Stick.E.Vapes, and Cali Roots dispensaries, and they also spearhead charitable efforts, including the Gobble Gobble Give, and Skid Row Xmas.
How are you guys doing this afternoon?

Brent Walker: Great.

Barry Walker: Good.

TG Branfalt: Stoked to have you guys on, we have a lot to talk about. Before we get into the history of Cali Roots and all the work that you guys do. Tell me about yourselves. How did you end up in the cannabis space?

Barry Walker: Brent?

Brent Walker: Go ahead Barry. Oh yeah, I can take it. I started about 11, 12 years ago actually growing in a shipping container in San Diego. I saw that the medical industry was starting to boom, so I tried to jump in a little early. From there I did a delivery service and then eventually partnered with Barry, my brother. We moved to LA together and started opening up a larger cultivation, we opened up dispensary’s. This was all back in the day. Then we’ve just, recently obtained licensing in the last year and a half.

TG Branfalt: How about you Barry? How’d you end up working with your brother?

Barry Walker: I’ll say, we’ve told this story a few times, but Brent… I had a lot of retail businesses through the Silver Lake area, the East Hollywood, back when it was booming. I was doing a lot of businesses when Brent approached me. One of my businesses is health and wellness. I was in spas, yoga, we had different lifestyle type businesses that they catered towards the health and wellness. I don’t know if I was a perfect fit or not. But Brent is very good at his craft. He had a very big vision and approached me to try help manage what we both realized would be much bigger down the road. I think it was a battle for him at first, because I was like, “No, no, no, I’m 20 years sober.” I was doing that inner struggle like, “Okay, what are we doing here? Is it real? Does it really help?”

Brent really guided me on the medicinal benefits of cannabis. I started doing a lot of my own research and after a while I was hooked and I jumped in 100%. But I think together we really round each other up. We’re we’re brothers. Having business partners, it’s tough, having business partners with your brother, we’re always looking at different sides of the coin and trying to figure things out, but we really compliment each other. It was a great move.

TG Branfalt: What was it like for you going from being successful in traditional businesses to moving to something as nascent and new as cannabis.

Barry Walker: Yeah, again, I think because I was in health and wellness, there was already a conversation about that for me. Brent coming in so strong and such an activist and already being a grower and seeing the vision and understanding where medical was going. It was an eyeopener for me. But it’s been interesting because it is a different business. I mean, when me and Brent started Dub Brothers, we literally had to look outside our door before we move product into a vehicle, it was a different time and it was legal, then it was illegal, then it was legal, but it wasn’t totally legal. But it was okay, then it wasn’t all that okay. There was this weird space. I would have to turn back to Brent all the time and he’d be like, “It’s okay, man, trust me, it’s okay.” I’d be like, “Oh, this isn’t like running a yoga studio.”

TG Branfalt: Brent, maybe this question is more up your alley. Tell me about the history of Cali Roots, because as I said, I haven’t spent much time in California and it’s a brand that I’m very familiar with.

Brent Walker: Yeah. Actually, our dad, one of his best friends, they grew up in Kansas, so just one state over and his friend, John, reached out to us and said, “Hey, it’s going legal and there’s no merit based system. You can just apply and get in.” So my first thought was like, well, I’m pretty confident in what we do, and I know we can do it well. So this is kind of a cool kind of test to see if we can compete on an open market. So, that was the thought of it. Then we just started going out there and finding locations. We actually got in really early, right in the very beginning. So it helped us lock down spaces for a lot cheaper, because landlords out here in California just rip you, it’s like $3 a square foot sometimes. Out there, they had no clue because it had never existed before, so we were able to get in at just like a low market rate for our cultivation and our retail. That helped a lot. Also, just being the first out there helped a lot.

We went out there and found a cultivation spot first, locked that down. We actually got it right next to the airport there in Oklahoma City. So it was kind of easy if I fly in and fly out. So we did that and then we started opening stores. This has been going on for about a year and a half I think. We just opened our fifth store about a month ago and Edmond. We have five locations, we have one in OKC. We have the one in Edmond that just opened. We have one in Stillwater that’s right next to the State College, which just crushes it. Then we have one by the university in Norman.

What else do we have Barry? We got one in… in the nicer part of town. I don’t know. But anyways, that’s kind of the approach that we took to it. We’ve seen that-

Barry Walker: Nichols Hills.

Brent Walker: Nichols Hills. Out of the gate, we did really well. Our whole concept is Cali. We’re bringing Cali strains to Oklahoma because we know everyone loves the Cali stuff. We do a lot of in-house breeding. We work closely with Seed Junky’s, which are like the breeders of wedding cake and Cushman’s, a lot of famous strains. We’ll be bringing all that out there to, soon. But yeah that’s kind of where we took off.

Then, I’d say last four months have been a little difficult because there were so many mom-and-pops that were opening up. There was thousands of them. So we think we hit that plateau a few months ago and a lot of them are falling off now. So you’re starting to see just some of the larger companies that are able to stick around through the storm. But I think we’re still in the end of that storm. I think, in the next three to four months, we’re going to look pretty good out there. Then when it goes recreational, we’re set up for it.

TG Branfalt: We’ll talk about the Oklahoma and that sort of thing. But I got to ask you, I had read that you guys describe yourselves as downtown Los Angeles, Skid Row farmer. What is downtown Los Angeles, Skid Row farmer?

Brent Walker: Go ahead, Barry.

Barry Walker: Well, okay. Yeah, this is a good one for me. We’ll get into philanthropy. Every year we host a large feed the homeless events through the holiday season. Thanksgiving to Christmas, we’re feeding homeless, we’ll do 35,000 meals a year. I started at 20 years ago in Silver Lake. But we’ve really with the strength and stability of the company, we’ve been able to really expand it. We’re in about 25 cities throughout the country now. We do a lot of work with Skid Row. That’s kind of what I’m coming back to, is we are not afraid of Skid Row, because we deal with it on a regular basis. Constantly, we do things, we’ll hand out food, clothing. Our Skid Row Christmas event is a big musical event with some top name acts and it’s a black and white affair and we hand out free… Santa Claus shows up, that the Los Angeles car club shows up so all the low riders and … come with their cars, we take presents down to Skid Row and drop them off.

People get sleeping bags, canned food, just all that stuff up. It’s rechargeable solar lighting, which is really a big get. So we’re not afraid of Skid Row. So we built our headquarters down, right smack down in the center of Skid Row.

TG Branfalt: Wow

Barry Walker: Whenever we invite people over, we have to have that little meeting with them and we go, “Okay, so here’s the deal, all right, it’s going to be a little scary at first, but once you get in behind the gates, it’s beautiful. But as you’re parking your car, you might get a little freaked out.” We have people come from all over the country sometimes from out of the country and honestly, they’ve never seen anything like it. I always wonder, when people are exposed to that for the first time, they leave there a little different. They understand that this is a pretty huge problem. Through our cannabis company, we do what we can, but it’s good for us to be able to leave our headquarters and to now know that it exists and they’re free to do what they want.

So we’re downtown, we’re local, downtown Los Angeles, Skid Row farmers. We have multiple facilities. Downtown LA, Brent has designed each one of those. We have quite a footprint downtown.

TG Branfalt: Does it have a different meaning for you Brent?

Brent Walker: No. I mean, the idea to move to LA from San Diego is, that when it was medical and kind of in that gray area, I couldn’t do it anywhere else. The epicenter was downtown LA. That’s where we were the safest. I mean, we’ve been through multiple raids over the years, but downtown LA was safer than North Hollywood, Orange County, San Diego. That’s the concept. We have so many locations now and the reason being is because we’ve always had seed to sell, we’ve always sold retail, is that when one location was raided, we would be able to have a backup. So that’s the reason why we had multiple, they’re not small, they’re like, 10, 20, 30,000 square foot facilities, about five or six of them between downtown LA. But that was kind of the concept for that.

You got other brands like Jungle Boys that were our neighbors coming up over the last 10 years. So there is that following of that urban grower, that downtown LA grower. A lot of the strains, a lot of the popular stuff is coming out of LA, which is really cool. But yeah, that’s kind of where we’re at.

TG Branfalt: Tell me about your brand’s, Tradecraft Farm, Sticky.E.Vapes, for you what are you thinking about when you’re trying to name a brand and design a product for that brand?

Brent Walker: Well, the name Tradecraft was a strong name, issues in government kind of, I don’t want to say… I don’t know. It’s what terrorists are good at their trade. So it’s called a trade craft. The government uses it. I heard it one time and I was like, that’s a cool name. It was strong. Our logo is a honey badger. So you got honey, honey oil, cannabis oil. Also, that the Badger is very resilient, it’s a strong animal. I just thought it was kind of cool. So we went with that as our mascot. That’s the concept behind Tradecraft Farms. Like I said, it’s all grown in downtown LA, so we really marketed around the in-LA growers. Then Sticky.E.Vape, was something that we started years ago and we only had in house. So like we came up with the name, we came up with the logo years ago and never really used it.

We had all the big brands like O.pen, back in the day and all these big vape brands that we were carrying in our stores. We kept our stuff in there like a white label cartridge just to see if we can compete with the big dogs. Eventually we launched it and we’ve done very well. So those are our two big brands. The Sticky.E.Vape is also like our SoCal Surfer. We’re kind of trying to go after kind of the Red Bull marketing idea. We sponsor snowboarders and pro-surfers and pro-skaters, graffiti artists. We work with RISk, RISK is a big graffiti artist here in LA. That’s kind of the SoCal beach life cannabis vape line that we have.

TG Branfalt: What’s it like for you Barry coming from a traditional background and now having to design, working in this aspect of cannabis, coming up with brands?

Barry Walker: Yeah. One thing we left out, we’re launching Better Days Bakery, which is a gluten free vegan bake line, which we’re really excited about. We were actually supposed to launch it at the hall of Flower Show about four days ago, but of course that was called off due to the coronavirus fears. We all have a really incredible incubator program where we’re launching a few brands that we’re really excited about and stay tuned for all of that stuff.

But again, there’s another story that I tell, it’s like when Brent asked me to partner up with him and join him on this crusade, as it was at the time, there was a bit of a learning, right?

Brent Walker: Yeah.

Barry Walker: He was teaching me how to grow and we were just in the very first part of what would become a very complex puzzle to become a seed to sale company. Now we cultivate, we manufacture, we distribute and we retail, all under multiple roofs, under the depths. But in all fairness, we started out as just pot farmers. Now, I just had a two hour meeting with our lobbyists and politicians. We’re working with them. We’ve reached so far out, we’re purchasing property all over the country. It’s really developed into quite a company. It’s exciting because in honesty, cannabis has delivered to me something that I would have expected a traditional company to deliver, but it’s delivered it at such a faster rate and such a faster pace. It’s literally been on steroids since day one. We’ve just been moving 180 miles an hour from the moment we wake up to the moment we pass out from exhaustion. It’s really exciting.

TG Branfalt: For both of you guys, is this where you expected this to go? I mean, most people would say, “Yeah, of course, I’m a brilliant businessman. This is exactly where I expected to be.” But I mean, it sounds like, just as you’re telling me the story, that you’re almost surprised.

Barry Walker: I’ll jump in. I think we both have different answers on that one, but I think I’ll let Brent answer. But, I think he had this vision long ago, about how big it could be. I think maybe me coming in from traditional, having so much experience in traditional business, I was maybe a bit more skeptical. I was like, “Wow, that’s a lot of hard work and boy, it takes a lot of time.” He was always like, “You’ll see, you’ll see.” Sure enough, I think it surprised me. But I’d love for Brent to answer too.

Brent Walker: Yeah. No, I mean, I kind of saw that this was going to happen and unfold the way it has. I don’t know why I say that, something in my gut told me that, I just knew that, that’s where I needed to be. 12 years ago, I could see the power it had medically, with the people coming through our stores with their hair wrapped up because they’re going through chemo. It was just very powerful. I knew this was going to be big. I mean, because you got alcohol, cannabis has been around forever.

TG Branfalt: Literally.

Brent Walker: Yeah. I knew at some point it could probably even be bigger than alcohol and we’re not even there yet. Because it’s on a broad level, it works for almost everybody. But there’s just so many people that haven’t tried it yet. People are being introduced to CBD and CBG and stuff like that. But yeah, I mean, I’m not surprised where we’re at, right now. I guess I’m a little more confused now than I was back then, of where it’s going, just because there’s so much going on right now. We’re all over the place, we do everything. We’re not just an extraction company or just a retail store, we do everything. Eventually, we’ll probably get bought out at some point, but I’m not going anywhere, this is what I love to do, this is my passion, so I’m going to be in the street for years. I’m not young, but I’m 41. So ideally we’re just at the tip of the iceberg right now.

TG Branfalt: I mean, speaking of tips of icebergs and talk about what’s happening with legalization, but I want to ask about Oklahoma. You guys were the first guests I’ve had on that have any experience in that state. So I’m wondering first, why did you decide to get into the Oklahoma market? Then second, what’s your take on the early success of Oklahoma’s industry? They have 220,000+ patients, that’s 5% of the state population. They expect $350 million in sales this year. So why Oklahoma and what’s driving these good numbers?

Brent Walker: I mean, like I said before, we do what we do very well. If you bring it all the way back to the plant where it starts, I feel like we can compete on that level. There could be 5,000 stores and I know we can still compete. It might not be as good as an area where they cap licensing like in California, but if you have stores in the right regions, you’re going to do very well. When I say it goes back to the plant, it goes back to the way I design our cultivation facility. We still use our traditional grill lights, which are a 1000 Watt HBS, but recently we’ve transitioned into a full spectrum LEDs in rack systems. We use rolling rack systems in Oklahoma. We have three levels high in our fleet. We have eight rooms, about 100 lights in each room.

So we can produce flower, that’s very beautiful at a very low cost. That’s kind of the concept behind the cultivation. Then we build the energy and the culture within our retail and people see it. Like I said before, people they want those Cali strains, because it’s not in all the stores out there. Every state is different. That’s the concept.

TG Branfalt: Do you have anything to add Barry about why you guys chose Oklahoma and what may be driving the early success of Oklahoma’s medical cannabis industry?

Barry Walker: Sure. Well, I mean, Oklahoma did it much differently, they made it more of a registration process, as opposed to an application process. So we were the first to rush out there. You’re seeing a lot of the bigger boys are coming out now and setting up shop. To answer the question, I mean, really it’s a timing thing. We’ll look at any city that’s friendly and we have for the last few years, like any city in California or outside of California. Any city that’s got an initiative or a majority voting block in the city council that says, “Hey, no, we get it, we understand it, we like it. We’d like to make some money from it.” We would like to be there. We love Oklahoma.

I mean, we’re Kansas boys. I was born in Wichita, Brent wasn’t, but our family is from Kansas. I got out of Kansas when I was young, but that’s our family roots out there. So we get the Midwest and the Midwest is a great place to set up a distribution hub for other States, once it starts to become a bit more federally legal, or you could start to cross State lines. So Oklahoma makes sense, But we’re in love with Missouri, of course. We’re in love with Michigan. We’re in love with Illinois and New Jersey. These are all States that are starting to move in that direction. Becoming that bigger company that I was talking about where we’re not just pot farmers anymore, we’re not just guys growing cannabis, we’re starting to put together action plans for nationwide, and multiple state operations. It’s tricky.

TG Branfalt: Yeah. Just recently Oklahoma advocates had been trying to get signatures. I’m wondering it was effectively shut down by the coronavirus rules, they had to stop, it was shut down by the Secretary of State. You said that, you obviously are watching what’s going on in Oklahoma. What was the trajectory of that legalization position? Was it positioned to be approved before it was shut down?

Barry Walker: Yes. Which one are you talking about? Are you talking about for recreational?

TG Branfalt: Yeah.

Barry Walker: I mean, Brent knows this too. He can answer this too. But the obvious next step, anytime there’s medical, the next step is recreational. Every single city council, every single city that has sort of hemmed and hawed and dragged their feet and been like, “Wow, we don’t know, we don’t know. Okay, we’ll allow it medical and see what happens.” Six months later, they’re like, “Hey, this is great. Let’s do recreational.” I mean, very quickly they’re… Oklahoma is a conservative neighborhood, but they’re also anti-big government, they’re more just like, “Let’s just run it.” It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out. Obviously coronavirus, it’s changed the game for everything, on a short term basis, hopefully not long term. But, I see Oklahoma going recreational with, or without any sort of initiatives.

TG Branfalt: What was your feeling on what was going on with regard to the petition, Brent?

Brent Walker: I didn’t really look into it, so I can’t really say on that. I just know there’s a lot of religion in Oklahoma, so there’s going to still be a lot of backlash regarding that. If it stays medical, I think we’re still going to do well.

TG Branfalt: Yeah. I mean, there’s the patient numbers, 5% of the population. I mean, that’s incredible.

Brent Walker: Yeah. We have a store in San Diego, we did an initiative years ago and we wrote it before it was even recreational in California and we got it passed recently and we had to open up as medical. Everywhere else is San Diego there’s been recreational for the year. So what we had to do is we actually eat the doctor script, we give them store credit for whatever they spend on their doctor script. The essence is kind of recreational, but then there’s a lot of people that are still a little concerned because they’re gun holders, they’re nurses, they’re afraid they’re going to be flagged online somewhere. So I mean, we still have that everywhere. But at some point, like Barry said, it is going to go and we’ll be ready for it.

TG Branfalt: You mentioned that you guys are eyeing Missouri. What is the medical cannabis industry potential there and what are the rec use prospects there? Because, that petition process too was also shut down by coronavirus rules.

Barry Walker: I’ll answer that, this is Barry. There’s a very large appeal process actually going on in Missouri right now. I think that’s the part that’s really shut everything down. But we have good relations in Missouri. We’ve actually been feeding the homeless out there for five years out in Kansas city, so we’re actually sort of ingrained in the neighborhoods and in the community already. But we feel that Missouri’s… I mean, I think anywhere you have senior citizens, anywhere you have military veterans, anywhere you have people that are susceptible to cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, or any of the other ailments that cannabis can help, it’s a good town, it’s a good city. We love Missouri, we love Kansas city, we love St. Louis. We’ve made some really great friends out there. We’ve got our fingers crossed.

But, I see it being just as strong as any other. When you get into the metropolitan, you get into the cities, just as strong as any other city in California. I mean, people might yell at me for saying that it’s not California, but it’s still a big city and there’s a lot of people and it’s densely populated and the majority of people approve of cannabis, even in more conservative towns.

Go ahead.

Brent Walker: Yes. We’re the white brothers coming from California that are trying to go into your state, so there is some issue with that. We know most of these States you have to partner with a local resident. But, it’s tough. Missouri was tough, because it’s mostly African-American, so we always try and find ways to like… What was that thing Barry, we were going to do with what’s her name? We were going to teach. She had these classes where people can come in, because you can get your medical card and grow six plants or something like that, like California used to be. But I would actually go in and consult with these people so that they can grow their own medicine and sell it to dispensary’s if they want, just set up a four lighter in their garage.

But my point was just, it’s difficult going in to other States because they’re trying to keep it all within the State, they don’t want outsiders coming in.

Barry Walker: I think what Brent was alluding to, is like there’s a big social equity component to how we approach out of town. We are those guys from California, we are coming into sometimes densely populated African-American communities. The idea is that we’re going to come in and try to make a bunch of money. We want to make sure that we deliver the message that, that’s not exact. We understand the gravity of what we’re trying to do, and we want to lift the people up around us.

In Oklahoma, we have a 92% local hiring rate, that’s pretty darn good. That’s pretty good. I can’t wait to do that in cities like St. Louis, in cities like Kansas City, in cities like Detroit, where we can go in. Because a lot of this social equity programs are designed to just basically grab a straw person, put him as your 50% partner and then give him a bunch of money. I don’t believe that’s the best way to approach it. We already do a lot of community outreach. We already work with the downtrodden, the sick, the poor. We do that every day of our lives through Gobble Gobble Give and through Skid Row Xmas, where we do it every day, literally being on Skid Row every single day. So we understand what it means to lend a helping hand.

Our approaches is, let us teach you to fish so that you can eat every day. Let us teach you what we know. Let the two white guys from California come out and surround themselves with local people and teach you everything that you got so that you can carry that strength and that pride and that knowledge with you moving forward. So we’re just excited about it. Whether it works or not, we’ll see, we don’t know, we’re giving it our best. But you know-

TG Branfalt: You guys are both super insightful. I’m really excited to hear your answers to this question. What advice do you have for other entrepreneurs?

Barry Walker: Brent, I’ll let you…

Brent Walker: Yeah. I mean, it’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of work. There’s a lot of new people getting involved and I’m hearing a lot of horror stories. But then again, if you partner with the right people or if you have the right consulting, you could do pretty well. But our Instagram Tradecraft Farms has done very well, and the reason why is because we’ve shared all of our techniques over the years. A lot of these commercial growers would not share their techniques. So we have a lot of mom-and-pops, a lot of these kids that are growing at home and we’re teaching them how to grow on Instagram, which is super cool. We get a lot of respect because of that. I’m even seeing a lot of go emojis lately, Barry. I’m like, “Okay, that’s cool.”

Barry Walker: That’s funny.

Brent Walker: But again, it’s not as easy as you think it is. It’s very, very tough, it’s very, very competitive. But if this wasn’t my passion, I don’t think I could be doing this, at this level. That’s why I always tell young people-

Barry Walker: Yeah, that’s good.

Brent Walker: … make sure you have people on your team that are passionate either about cultivating or retail or just the cannabis plant in general. Because that’s a big part of success right there.

TG Branfalt: What about you, Barry?

Barry Walker: Yeah, I’ll add to that. Back when I was young, like Brent, because I’m the old dog in the room now. I did all of my self help tapes and I listened to all my Tony Robbins and Zig Ziglar and they all say the exact same thing and it’s what Brent just said. If you’re getting into the cannabis business to be rich, find a different business, just find a different business, because you will never be great at anything if it’s not something that you love. Brent truly loves what he does and that’s why I respect him so much. He really does love it. By bringing me in, I’ve really gotten to just love what I do. I really do enjoy it. We are playing monopoly now. We’re playing monopoly on a big level. It’s exciting. It really is exciting.

But if you’re just getting into the business now, if you’ve got this business plan to sell weed, to make a lot of money and be rich, you should maybe rethink it because you have to start from a place of total respect and from total love. You have to love what you do. That’s the first rule of any business. Anyone that is successful will tell you that.

TG Branfalt: It’s really, really great to have this opportunity to get to know you both, like at the same time. You play off each other really well. I can only imagine what the day-to-day business operations are like up. Where can people find out more about you, your social media, that sort of stuff?

Brent Walker: Our IG Handle is-

Barry Walker: Go for it Brent, you know that.

Brent Walker: Yeah. Out IG Handle tradecraft_farms. You just search Instagram Sticky.E.Vape, and either one of those. You can Google search Tradecraft, Sticky.E.Vape.

Dub Brothers, I’m not sure. I don’t know if I’ve ever even Googled that. But-

TG Branfalt: Would you-

Barry Walker: Dubbros.com.

TG Branfalt: Great guys. That’s-

Barry Walker: Thank you.

TG Branfalt: … Barry and Brent Walker, the founders of California based Dub Brothers. Really again, thank you guys for coming on the show. This has been great. I hope that we can have you on again as your expansion continues. I just thank you so much for taking the time to join me today.

Brent Walker: For sure, man. I appreciate it.

Barry Walker: Thank you TG. Yeah, bye.

Brent Walker: All right. Stay safe out there.

TG Branfalt: I’m working on it.

Barry Walker: Okay.

TG Branfalt: You can find more episodes of the ganjapreneur.com podcast in the podcast section of ganjapreneur.com 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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From the N-Word to Blackface, the Cannabis Industry Grapples with Overt Racism

6/26/2020

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For anyone who still doesn’t know, the prohibition of cannabis was a racist policy enacted to control Black and Brown communities.

The “war on drugs” was set in full swing by the Nixon Administration in the 1970s, but its resulting trauma continues to be felt today. Nixon activated the American judicial system to systematically cite, arrest, and imprison people of color in the United States for the use of cannabis and other drugs. Many drug war victims were often in possession of only cannabis (frequently in small quantities), a product that is now being grown, manufactured, and sold legally in government-regulated markets across the country. This injustice disproportionately affects Black and Brown people, who have been and still are incarcerated at much higher rates for doing the same thing that now brings accolades and wealth to white executives in the legalized industry.

Some white cannabis business owners are sensitive to this quandary, and a few have been talking about it for years, but even more have remained silent in the wake of recent protests against police killings. In fact, some in the cannabis community have actively denied the existence of the problem, even when confronted with overt racist behavior within the industry’s ranks.

A white influencer who used the N-word

Dabbing Granny, real name Gail Olson, is a popular cannabis influencer who went live on Friday, May 22 to her 1.1 million Instagram followers — just days before the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. During her live stream, Olson, who is white, told a story about her daughter’s experience while she was incarcerated. Her daughter said something that got her thrown in solitary confinement, she disclosed, and, as she chatted, followers asked Olson what was said to prompt the harsh punishment. Olson responded with the phrase, which included the N-word. Olson easily repeated the slur with a hard R and didn’t skip a beat.

In the days after her live stream, Olson faced some backlash from the Instagram users who follow her. Many called on her to apologize. Olson, who genenerates income via her Instagram content, never had to respond to comments from people who sought an apology or explanation, however, because many of her white followers were quick to do it for her. Droves of Olson’s fans wrote long excuses in the comments thread as to why her usage of the racist slur was OK in the context (which it wasn’t — it’s never OK in any context from a non-Black person), some even venturing onto other peoples’ pages to do the same.

Since the original post, “Granny” supporters continue to attack anyone who speaks ill of her. Olson herself posted and subsequently deleted a few non-apologies to her page that denied wrongdoing on her part and often further exposed her daughter’s experience rather than speak to her own. She has yet to admit she was wrong or to take part in any visible anti-racism work.

Chef Anna — prolific Black cultivator, online personality, and the Michigan area’s favorite cannabis gift-giver — reached out to Olson to give her an opportunity to explain the behavior. Instead, her followers started to attack him, going so far as reporting his page for use of the N-word because he reposted Olson’s own video. This flagging technique is commonly used against Black and Brown influencers, cannabis companies, and sex workers on Instagram that result in activist accounts being suspended or censored, while the original comments being referenced are frequently deemed to be ‘Not in Violation of Community Guidelines.’

Throughout it all, Olson has actually grown her following to 1.4 million and has lost just a few of her many sponsors.

A dispensary owner who wore blackface on Halloween

Another example of overt racist behavior within the industry can be credited to Shy Sadis, who owns The Joint dispensaries in Washington State. Sadis recently issued an apology in response to the online circulation of photos depicting the white entrepreneur dressed up in blackface to impersonate Kanye West for a Halloween costume contest. When asked for comment the business owner said, “I did make a mistake 10 years ago on Halloween and I wish I could take it back, please accept my apology.”

Blackface originated in minstrel shows in the mid-19th century — historically, white performers would darken their faces with shoe polish or burnt cork, wear tattered clothing, and make themselves into characters built to perpetuate a false narrative that Black people were hyper-sexual, lazy, and ignorant. These performances and the laws that were eventually named after famous minstrel character “Jump Jim Crow” were used to reinforce negative stereotypes for the purpose of the continued oppression of Black people. These formerly popular (among white people) performances were instrumental in desensitizing whites to the horrific realities faced by enslaved Black people.

The photo shows Sadis in blackface standing next to his wife dressed as Kim Kardashian who had stuffed the back of her skirt. The photo is featured in a screen-captured text thread with an employee where Sadis stated that he wasn’t worried about the costume being offensive because he “won the costume contest;” he also stated that he has Black employees. This non-apology, his public statement, and rhetoric show that he does not understand why this behavior was harmful. 

the joint washington

Sadis is currently affiliated with seven cannabis dispensary locations in Washington. According to Pink Boots 420, three Bellevue employees have quit as a result of the owner’s behavior, but there has yet to be any greater public backlash within the industry. According to Sadis, this is false and the employees were actually fired.

Cannabis is a ‘progressive’ industry plagued by complacent whites

In an industry that is overcrowded with hippie-esque influencers, budtenders, and stoners who preach love and light, there is a deafening silence when it comes to accountability for racist behavior and investment in the ideals of social equity and social justice. As the Black Lives Matter movement inspires activism and racial equality endeavors worldwide, one has to wonder why so many cannabis industry operators have remained silent.

However disappointing, it may not be surprising due to the fact that the cannabis industry was built on the backs of victims of the war on drugs, often with little to no regard for their sacrifice.

Editor’s Note: Gail Olson, or Dabbing Granny, has not responded to our request for comment. This article may be updated if she does. This article was written by a white person, and Ganjapreneur is a white-owned entity. To learn about implementing social equity practices in cannabis, how to structure your business in a way that works against systemic racism, and how to deal with race-related HR issues, we recommend booking a consultation with Cannaclusive or another Black-owned consultancy that specializes in social justice issues.

Update: Shy Sadis reached out to Ganjapreneur for comment after publishing, this article was updated accordingly on 6/26/20 at 2:42 PM PST.

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Poll: 70% of Americans Believe Smoking Cannabis is ‘Morally Acceptable’

6/26/2020

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A recent Gallup poll found 70 percent of Americans believe smoking cannabis is “morally acceptable” compared to 28 percent who believe it is “morally wrong,” and just 2 percent who had no opinion or said it’s “not a moral issue.”

Among the topics polled by Gallup, smoking cannabis ranked lower than only gambling (71 percent), sex out of wedlock between a man and woman (72 percent), divorce (77 percent), drinking alcohol (86 percent) and birth control (90 percent).

Among the topics found more morally unacceptable than smoking cannabis were stem cell research using human embryos (66 percent), having a baby out of wedlock (66 percent), gay or lesbian relations (66 percent), medical testing on animals (56 percent), the death penalty (54 percent), buying and wearing clothes made from animal fur (54 percent), physician-assisted suicide (51 percent), abortion (44 percent), sex between teenagers (38 percent), pornography (36 percent), animal cloning (34 percent), polygamy (20 percent), suicide (18 percent), cloning humans (12 percent), and extramarital affairs between men and women (9 percent).

Smoking was considered morally responsible by a vast majority – 83 percent – of self-described liberals, but by a slim margin – 51 percent – of self-identified conservatives. For all of their differences, eight of the issues, in addition to cannabis consumption, were deemed acceptable by majorities of both liberals and conservatives, including: birth control, divorce, sex between an unmarried man and woman, drinking alcohol, having a baby outside of marriage, medical testing on animals, and gambling.

An October 2019 Gallup poll found 66 percent of Americans support legalization. When the pollster first asked the cannabis question in 1969, support for the reforms were just 12 percent.

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New Jersey Allows Medical Cannabis Delivery

6/26/2020

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Medical cannabis patients in New Jersey can now get home delivery after the Department of Health issued a waiver on Thursday. Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli linked the new rules to the coronavirus pandemic, noting that dispensaries will be allowed to deliver to patients across the state once they have submitted a plan to the agency and it is approved.

Delivery was included in the medical cannabis expansion law signed by Gov. Phil Murphy (D) last year but the service never launched.

Under the Health Department-approved rules, only dispensary employees are permitted to make the deliveries – meaning delivery companies will not be allowed to offer the service. The employee must undergo a background check and all delivery vehicles must be equipped with GPS tracking and a lockbox.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Health Department officials have made several tweaks to the medical cannabis program in order to ease patient barriers, including reducing caregiver fees to $20, allowing telephone consultations and curbside dispensing, and increasing options for discounts.

The agency also permitted the opening of two dispensaries during the pandemic, bringing the total to 11 statewide.

In December, the state legislature approved a measure to put broad cannabis legalization on general election ballots, putting the issue to voters rather than approving the reforms themselves. An April Monmouth University poll found 61 percent of New Jersey voters supported the reforms, suggesting cannabis will be legalized in the state in November.

There are currently 78,698 patients and 3,104 caregivers registered with the program.

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DOJ Official Defends Agency’s Cannabis Merger Investigations

6/26/2020

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In a June 11 memo, the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Professional Responsibility Director and Chief Counsel Jeffrey Ragsdale defended the agency’s cannabis investigations by the Antitrust Division (ATR), saying the industry “provided a unique challenge to federal and state regulators alike.”

The memo is in response to the agency finding out that a whistleblower would be testifying about alleged politicization of the Justice Department under Attorney General Bill Barr and that the cannabis cases opened by the department would be under scrutiny.

On Wednesday, John Elias, a veteran employee at ATR, testified to the House Judiciary Committee that the merger investigations by the agency into cannabis companies didn’t “even come close to meeting established criteria” for such an inquiry. Elias claims that the investigations were only opened due to Barr’s personal distaste for legalized cannabis.

In the memo, Ragsdale categorically denies the claims included in the December 19, 2019 whistleblower complaint but contends that, even if they are true, “there would be no violation of any laws, regulations, rules, policies, or guidelines.”

“These mergers provided unique challenges for ATR because ATR lacked experience with the cannabis industry, that industry was rapidly expanding and consolidating, many cannabis companies are unsophisticated, and ATR was limited in its ability to collect information from the merging companies and third parties because cannabis is illegal under federal law. In contrast to the allegation that the mergers provided no competitive concerns, ATR stated that these challenges made it impossible for ATR to reach that conclusion within the statutory thirty-day period in which it can issue Second Requests.” – Ragsdale in the June 11 memo

Antitrust prosecutors issue a “second request” for additional information and documents when there are concerns about the potential impact of a merger. These in-depth reviews can lengthen the merger process by months or years.

During his testimony, Elias said he was just seeing the memo for the first time and called the conclusion “concerning … because it seems so self-evident that if your sole motivation is animosity, that is impermissible. If there is no rule or regulation, there is one missing because that’s obviously wrong,” according to a Politico report.

Elias testified that at least 10 investigations into cannabis industry mergers were opened since Barr’s nomination as attorney general.

OPR closed its investigation into potential wrongdoing upon the issuance of the memo.

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