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Florida to Allow Medical Cannabis Smoking, Gov. Promises End to “Foot-Dragging”

1/15/2019

At a press conference on Monday, Florida Gov. Rick DeSantis (R) said his administration will be moving medical cannabis laws forward in 2019, in particular ending the previous governor’s ban on smoking cannabis, according to the Pensacola News Journal.

Florida’s medical cannabis program was created following a landslide ballot initiative in 2016 but has faced — in Gov. DeSantis’ own words — heavy “foot-dragging” by state officials. One particularly contentious piece of litigation, a ban on smoking cannabis products established in 2017, was not included in the voter-approved initiative and many patients felt like their votes were being overruled when officials enacted the ban. Voters were also upset by a limit set in 2017 on the number of cannabis licenses that would be issued.

A lawsuit brought against the smoking ban was upheld by a judge, who ruled that the smoking ban was against the state constitution. Previous Gov. Rick Scott appealed the decision but final judgment wasn’t passed by the time he left office. Now, Gov. DeSantis told reporters that the appeal will be dropped and that he intends to return to the original spirit of the law passed by voters in 2016.

“I think a lot of voters were frustrated that they don’t think that it has been. They think there’s been a lot of foot-dragging. So my job is, when the people speak, you have to listen. This was not an amendment that was really that close. It was like 72 percent.” — Gov. Rick DeSantis, via the Pensacola News Journal

Gov. DeSantis says he will be working together, instead of against, well-known proponents of medical cannabis in the state and hopes to finally launch a proper Florida cannabis program.

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Washington Bill Would Allow Medical Cannabis in Schools

1/15/2019

A new bill introduced to the Washington state legislature seeks to allow young patients to consume medical cannabis on school property, the Sequim Gazette reports.

Bill HB 1060 was introduced to the Washington legislature by Rep. Brian Blake (D-Aberdeen). Within the proposal, student patients must also meet the criteria of the state medical cannabis law and be authorized by a doctor to consume medical cannabis. The bill would also allow local schools to have the final say on the issue.

The bill would allow the parent or guardian of the student-patient to administer treatment at the school, no longer requiring the student to leave campus to receive the treatment. Both the minor and the parent or guardian must be registered with the medical cannabis database and have their medical card with them.

This simplifies the administration of medicine to students, meaning they will less miss time in school and their guardian will be able to go about their day that much more quickly.

HB 1060 will be considered during Washington‘s legislative session, which runs from January 14 to February 22.

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Cannabis Trade Federation Hires Lobbyists to Push Legalization in 2019

1/14/2019

The nonprofit Cannabis Trade Federation (CTF) has hired 15 lobbyists in an effort to pass the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States (STATES) Act in 2019, The Hill reports.

The bipartisan STATES Act was introduced by Sens. Cory Gardner (R-Colorado) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) in 2018. It was reported at the time that Trump had said he would support the bill if it made it to his desk. Little progress was made, however, as Republicans in control of many key committees and both houses of Congress blocked the reforms.

“So [the STATES Act is] the one piece of legislation from our intel that we think we have a legitimate chance to pass into law that would fundamentally address all of the major issues that the cannabis industry faces today.” — Neal Levine, CEO of the CTF, via The Hill.

The bill’s main purpose is to modify the Controlled Substances Act to allow for each state to pass its own legislation regarding cannabis. Any business operating legally under state law would be allowed access to services such as banking and insurance, which are currently unavailable due to federal prohibition.

The 15 lobbyists hired by the CTF are just the beginning, said CEO Neal Levine. The CTF is seeking an end to the excessive tax penalties for the cannabis industry, as well as fears of “the Department of Justice kicking in our doors.”

The organization wants to continue expanding to better represent cannabis business interests on the federal level.

“This is all part of the cannabis industry growing up, coming into the mainstream, acting like every other industry that’s out there,” said Levine. “This is just the natural part of our evolution.”

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Rhode Island Gov. Calls for Legalization

1/14/2019

With neighboring states beginning to opt out of cannabis prohibition, Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) said she will call for the legalization of adult-use cannabis this week, according to a Providence Journal report.

Gov. Raimondo will include her legalization proposal in her budget plan for the next fiscal year, starting July 1.

Cannabis reforms are making a huge splash in New England, with legalization already established in nearby Maine, Massachusetts, and Vermont; New York and New Jersey are also both positioned to legalize in 2019.

“I will say, I do this with reluctance. I have resisted this for the four years I’ve been governor. … Now, however, things have changed, mainly because all of our neighbors are moving forward [with legalization].” — Gov. Gina Raimondo (D), via The Providence Journal

Gov. Raimondo’s proposal would create one of the most restrictive adult-use markets in the U.S., with rules blocking both home grows and high-potency concentrates like dabs. Her proposal would also establish five-milligram dose limits for edibles infused with THC. The restrictions, according to the governor, are aimed at reducing health and safety issues reported in other legalized states.

If accepted by lawmakers, the governor’s proposal would see adult-use retailers opening in Rhode Island by January 2020.

“We’re not an island,” said Gov. Raimondo. “Like it or not, we’re going to be incurring public safety and public health expenses because it’s legal in Massachusetts.”

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Ontario Announces 25 Cannabis Retail License Winners

1/14/2019

Cannabis regulators in Ontario, Canada have announced the winners of the first 25 cannabis retail licenses in the province, according to the Financial Post.

Last week, the province opened a lottery for the first 25 licenses, though the limit is temporary. Now, regulators announced the lottery winners for operating a brick-and-mortar retail dispensary. In a surprising move, 64 percent of winners are not already established companies but rather Sole Proprietorships, or individuals.

Lottery winners now have until January 18 to submit a full Retail Operator License Application and pass a background check. Future licensees also must now pay $6,000 and obtain a letter of credit at a $50,000 minimum.

Should any of the winners fail to meet those requirements, Ontario regulators will begin pulling from the waitlist. Regulators have also included a built-in time pressure: if approved applicants do not have a store up and running by the end of April, they’ll be fined $25,000.

The winners are:

East Region
Daniel Telio
Brandon long
Patterson and Lavoie
PURE ALPHA HOLDINGS
Karan Someshwar

Greater Toronto Area Region
Guruveer Singh Sangha
David Nguyen
Tripsetter Inc.
Alexander Altman
CGS FOODS INC
Gary Hatt

Toronto Region
Heather Conlon
SEYEDARASH SEYEDAMERI
Colin Campbell
Dana Michele Kendal
Hunny Gawri

North Region
Anton Lucic
Saturninus Partners

West Region
Steven Fry
Lisa A Bigioni
Ranjit basra
2674253 Ontario Inc.
Santino J Coppolino
Christopher Comrie
The Niagara Herbalist

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Aphria’s CEO and Co-Founder Step Down

1/14/2019

Canadian cannabis producer Aphria, which was accused in December by a short seller and then targeted by a hostile takeover, is changing up its senior leadership, MarketWatch reports.

Aphria is still fending off a hostile takeover after facing accusations of fraudulent financial reporting from Gabriel Grego — a well-known short-seller with Quintessential Capital Management — surfaced in December, causing Aphria share prices to plummet. Grego said that company insiders were playing a shell game with certain acquisitions in order to enrich company insiders at shareholder expensive. Aphria said the accusations were baseless and launched an internal investigation to prove that to shareholders.

After the accusations, however, the board removed CEO Vic Neufeld from his position as Chairman of the Board.

Then hostile bid to acquire Aphria was made by Green Growth Brands Ltd. in January. Aphria’s leadership denied the bid, saying it undervalued the company.

Notably, investment firm Green Acre Capital, which Aphria gave more than C$30 million for the first fiscal quarter, is an investor in Green Growth, though company representatives say they have nothing to do with the hostile bid.

The original five-year commitment for CEO Vic Neufeld and Co-Founder Cole Cacciavillani expired at the start of the new fiscal year. Both leaders announced they will be leaving their positions at the company, though Cacciavillani and Neufeld will remain on the Board of Directors.

Aphria said it is looking for a “globally-minded executive leadership team for the long-term benefit of the company’s patients, shareholders, customers, and employees.”

Following the announcement of the change in leadership, Aphria shares rose 4 percent.

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House Considering Federal Cannabis Legalization Bill “H.R. 420”

1/11/2019

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) introduced bill H.R. 420 to the House of Representatives on Wednesday, which, if signed into law, would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act and charge the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms with regulating it, Willamette Week reports.

The bill proposes that the federal government treat cannabis like alcohol. It would decriminalize cannabis completely and allow more latitude for states that have already legalized cannabis, such as banking system access.

“While the bill number may be a bit tongue-in-cheek, the issue is very serious. Our federal marijuana laws are outdated, out of touch and have negatively impacted countless lives. Congress cannot continue to be out of touch with a movement that a growing majority of Americans support. It’s time to end this senseless prohibition.” — Rep. Earl Blumenauer, via Willamette Week

The bill would allow federal funding for cannabis research to flow more easily and allow funds currently used for enforcement to be allocated elsewhere.

The move would also open interstate commerce for cannabis, a potential huge boon for states with functioning cannabis systems. Notably, Rep. Blumenauer’s home state of Oregon has already started pushing for a regulatory structure that would allow the state to sell its surplus cannabis to other states.

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90% of New York City’s Cannabis Arrests Last Year Targeted Minorities

1/11/2019

While arrests in New York City for cannabis are down overall, the remaining arrests still show a huge racial disparity in enforcement, The Fresh Toast reports.

Numbers released by the office of Mayor Bill de Blasio show that while arrests are less than half of what they were in 2017 — thanks largely to a decision by New York City to not arrest for simple cannabis possession — 89 percent of those arrested in 2018 were Black or Hispanic. White people only comprised 7 percent of arrests.

“This administration has taken a dead aim at disparity by dramatically reducing marijuana arrests, and developing a plan for legalization that aims to right historic wrongs. But it’s naïve to think that an issue as old and complex as this can be unraveled and solved by the snap of anyone’s fingers. It’ll be a challenge that this administration, the next administration and those who follow will have to constantly focus on — and we will continue to do so.” — Olivia Lapeyrolerie, Spokesperson for the Office of the Mayor, via The Fresh Toast

Total cannabis arrests in 2018 totaled 7,348; that’s a huge reduction from the 17,121 cannabis arrests in 2017. It’s clear, however, that simply slowing down the rate of cannabis arrests does not eliminate racial disparity. While the Mayor’s office has committed to doing further work on the problem, some criticize the de Blasio administration’s lack of criminal justice reform as a whole.

“We are policing marijuana use in communities of color more aggressively than we are in white communities. That has not changed,” said City Councilman Rory Lancman.

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Outdoor CBD-rich cannabis plants on a farm in Oregon.

Tennessee Lawmakers Planning Medical Cannabis Push

1/11/2019

Republican lawmakers in the Tennessee legislature say they are planning to introduce medical cannabis legislation this session, according to a WMC Action News 5 report.

State Sen. Janice Bowling (R-District 16) and state Rep. Ron Travis (R-District 31) say they plan to introduce legislation in Tennessee that would legalize medical cannabis access. They say they have learned from the shortcomings of previous attempts to give patients medicinal access to the plant and they expect to find success in 2019.

The lawmakers’ proposal would establish state-licensed dispensaries that be open to patients with doctor recommendations for medical cannabis. First, however, patients would be required to get a cannabis ID card from the state.

“I have been in the fight against opioids and pill mills. Opioids have become a tragedy for Tennesseans. Our constituents can use a natural and effective option for pain relief that is not controlled or pushed by Big Pharma. When I see medical studies showing that states with medical cannabis programs had an average 23 percent drop in opioid prescription use and overdoses, I see a real option we can use.” — Tennessee State Sen. Janice Bowling, in a press release

“I’m glad more and more Republicans are doing it, it’s just you know waiting to see what type of bill it is,” cannabis advocate Lee Otts told WMC Action News 5.

Otts expressed some concern, however, that lawmakers may try to limit cannabis access to just a few specific conditions: “Why does the legislation have any right to say this medical condition is more important than this one?”

“It needs to be between the patient and the doctor,” he said.

Medical cannabis access for at least some conditions has been approved in 33 U.S. states, so far.

Tennessee is one of the few remaining states that has not approved any major cannabis reforms.

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Virginia Legalization Bills Introduced & Gov. Calls for Decriminalization

1/10/2019

A potential whirlwind of cannabis reforms is brewing in Virginia, where state lawmakers introduced two separate adult-use legalization bills this week while Gov. Ralph Northam (D) repeated his endorsement for decriminalizing the plant in his State of the Commonwealth speech on Wednesday night.

Pending legalization bills

Virginia’s legislative session officially convened on Wednesday, January 9 and there are already several bills aimed at major cannabis reforms.

House Bill 2371, introduced on Tuesday by Virginia Del. Steve Heretick (D), aims to fully legalize and regulate the consumption and distribution of cannabis for adults who are 21 or older. The bill would grant cannabis licensing rights to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

“The time has come for adults to have the freedom to decide for themselves whether or not to consume marijuana in the privacy of their homes,” Del. Heretick said in a press release on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Democratic Del. Lee Carter introduced House Bill 2373, which is similarly aimed at the legalization of adult-use cannabis.

And shoutout to @SteveHeretick for his own legalization bill that takes a slightly different approach to the same end result!

— Lee J. Carter (@carterforva) January 9, 2019

Governor calls for decriminalizing

During his election campaign, Gov. Northam repeatedly expressed support for decriminalizing cannabis. He reiterated his support for ending cannabis prohibition last night towards the end of his annual State of the Commonwealth address.

“We shouldn’t use valuable law enforcement time, or costly prison space, on laws that don’t enhance public safety,” Northam said. “So I’m proposing that we decriminalize simple possession of marijuana.”

“Current law imposes a maximum 30 days in jail for a first offense of marijuana possession. Making simple possession a civil penalty will ease overcrowding in our jails and prisons and free up our law enforcement and court resources for offenses that are a true threat to public safety.” — Gov. Ralph Northam

Currently, several decriminalization bills are pending in the state legislature. Similar bills were introduced last year but failed to come to any fruition.

The 2019 Virginia legislative session is scheduled to last 45 days, ending on February 23.

(H/t to Marijuana Moment’s Tom Angell and Kyle Jaeger)

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Kentucky Republicans Introduce Medical Cannabis Bill

1/10/2019

Medical cannabis may soon be legal in Kentucky, thanks to a small group of Republican lawmakers who introduced a bill that would create a regulated market and give doctors the ability to prescribe cannabis, The Lexington Herald-Leader reports.

Many leaders in the Kentucky legislature, however, remain skeptical. State Senate President Robert Stivers told The Lexington Herald-Leader, “Where is the study? Deliver me the study. An appropriate Tier 3 study with control groups that says it is medicinal or therapeutic.”

Research, of course, is unfortunately hard to come by, as most know, due to cannabis’ federal status as a Schedule I substance. Sponsors of the bill, however, seem to have a clearer picture of the real issue at hand.

“I’ve never taken an illegal drug in my life. But let me tell you, and I want to say it clearly, and I would say it in front of every camera in Kentucky. If my son or my wife or my parents or one of my brothers or sisters would benefit from medical marijuana, tell me where to get it. Even if it’s illegal. And I would submit that 99 percent of Kentuckians would do the same thing.” — State Rep. Jason Nemes (R-Louisville), bill co-sponsor

House Bill 136 — a 149-page piece of legislation — contains language that would create a regulated medical cannabis system overseen by the Kentucky Office of Alcoholic Beverage Control. The state would license dispensaries and track product via a state database and, in some limited cases, allow home grows.

House lawmakers are confident the bill will pass their half of the state Congress. Whether or not the bill would pass a vote in the state Senate, however, remains unclear.

Polling data from Kentucky shows that a majority of voters support medical cannabis.

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Ohio Considers Opioid Addiction as Cannabis Qualifying Condition

1/10/2019

Six new conditions — opioid addiction, autism, general anxiety, chronic anxiety, depression, and insomnia — were selected by the Ohio State Medical Board for studies into whether or not they should be added as qualifying conditions for the state medical cannabis program, The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Ohio’s medical cannabis laws allow for the annual review of qualifying conditions, at which time additional conditions may be added to the list. 110 different petitions were submitted to suggest a wide variety of conditions. Of those petitions, 54 did not meet basic requirements for consideration and a further 44 were dismissed for suggesting conditions already on the list. Three were sent back to petitioners for further details; petitioners will have 30 days to update and return them for final consideration.

The committee will now consult with medical experts who will make final recommendations on the conditions by June 30.

Ohio‘s medical cannabis program is on the cusp of finally launching after months of delays, having approved initial operations for the state’s first dispensary in December.

Some reports indicate that the first medical cannabis sales could take place starting next week.

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Morgan Fox: A Federal Cannabis Policy Update

1/09/2019

by TG Branfalt

Morgan Fox is the Media Relations Director for the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA), the largest cannabis trade organization in the U.S. Ganjapreneur is a Sponsoring Member of the NCIA and we encourage all businesses operating in the cannabis industry to join and support organizations that lobby for sensible cannabis policy.

Morgan recently joined our podcast host TG Branfalt for a wide-ranging interview covering recent cannabis reform progress in legislatures at both the state and U.S. federal level. In this interview, we hear about the work that the NCIA is doing to benefit cannabis entrepreneurs, what the NCIA’s top priorities are for 2019, what business owners and advocates can do to help support progress on these issues, and more!

Listen via the media player below, or scroll further down to read a full transcript of this podcast episode.

Listen to the interview:

Read the transcript:

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TG Branfalt: Hey there, I’m your host TG Branfalt and you are listening to the Ganjapreneur.com Podcast where we try to bring you actionable information and normalize cannabis through the stories of ganjapreneurs, activists, and industry stakeholders. Today I’m joined by Morgan Fox, who is the media relations director for the National Cannabis Industry Association. How are you doing this afternoon, Morgan?

Morgan Fox: I’m doing well, thanks for having me.

TG Branfalt: Super stoked. I’ve actually been trying to get you guys on line for a while, but you’re doing a lot of stuff, so I know you’re busy today. So let’s get right down to it man. What’s your background and how’d you get involved in the cannabis space?

Morgan Fox: Well I actually started as an intern at Marijuana Policy Project back in 2008 shortly after I got out of college and I’ve been doing it ever since. I just fell in love with the urgency and the complexity of this issue and as a cannabis consumer myself, I was sick of seeing people be criminalized for using something that’s safer than alcohol. So I just dove in headfirst and I’ve been doing it ever since.

TG Branfalt: What’d you get a degree in?

Morgan Fox: Political science.

TG Branfalt: Oh, cool, man. Then you end up doing media relations. So what does the NCIA do? Give me sort of the broad overview of what you guys do over there.

Morgan Fox: The National Cannabis Industry Association is the country’s largest cannabis industry trade organization. We concentrate primarily on federal lobbying for fair treatment of cannabis businesses and the end of cannabis prohibition so that states can determine their own policies and open up their own legal markets. We also develop resources for people working in the industry and put on events in order for people to showcase their innovations and help network with other business professionals.

TG Branfalt: And what were some of the NCIA goals that you guys had in 2018, and what did you accomplish?

Morgan Fox: Beyond just moving the needle quite a bit on a number of these issues, we were able to help get the medical marijuana protections included in the base bill of the appropriations legislation this year, which was the first time that it happened and I think really goes to show that protecting state medical cannabis programs from federal interference is a non-issue in Congress now.

Beyond that, we were able to help push banking protections and 280E and increased veterans acts as an increased research a little bit farther along despite opposition from some key committees in Congress and from some old school obstructionists that we unfortunately still have to deal with some of.

Obviously the initiatives that have passed in the midterms, that was a huge deal. NCIA helped out to varying degrees in all of those campaigns and we’re very happy that they were successful. Even North Dakota, which lost really helped really move the needle there as well and we’re hopeful that state can make another go at it in 2020.

When it comes to Congressional issues, the midterms were huge for us as well and for cannabis policy reform generally. 46 out of the 56 congressional candidates that NCIA PAC donated to won their elections, which is gonna help us pave the way for serious progress in 2019 and the flip in the control of the House with the Democrats means that certain key committees, particularly House rules that blocked all of the cannabis reform amendments and legislation from being heard by the full House is now under Democratic control so we think we’re gonna have a much easier time of getting hearings in the coming Congress. In fact, one small perk of it is now that Democrats are in control of the Washington, DC appropriations committee, DC might finally be able to regulate it’s legal cannabis market.

TG Branfalt: Throughout your time working with NCIA, what has the evolution been? Have you seen a softening? Have you seen a softening from Congress in general or have you flipped the minds of anybody that you’re aware of?

Morgan Fox: Well I’ve only been with NCIA for a year but in the 10 years that I’ve been in the movement it’s obviously been a total sea change. When I started in this issue, I think there were maybe 11 medical cannabis states and no legal states. So we’ve definitely come a long way in the last decade, but just in the last year, I think that we’ve definitely made a lot of progress and the midterm elections were an excellent example of that with cannabis becoming an issue that is not only no longer dangerous for politicians, but actually gonna help people on both sides of the aisle. No matter what party you’re in, supporting legalized cannabis will guarantee to bump your polling a couple of points and that I think is a really big evolution that not only has that been happening, but that politicians are finally starting to realize it, so they’re less afraid of tackling the issue.

TG Branfalt: So let’s talk about your goals and objectives for 2019. What’s the NCIA trying to do for this coming year and this coming legislative session?

Morgan Fox: Well at the very least we’d like to get a hearing on some sort of a comprehensive legalization bill. Whether that takes the form of federal decriminalization or an outright regulation bill, just something that will allow states to determine their own policies without federal interference. It is going to be the major overarching goal. It’s questionable about whether we’ll actually be able to get a vote, but at the very least, we’re confident that we’ll be able to get a hearing, which will be the first time that’s happened in quite a few years. We’re also very confident that we’ll be able to make some progress if not finally pass something along the lines of the Safe Banking Act to allow banks to do business with the cannabis industry and at least push the 280E issue more to the front, and we’re also hoping that we can develop a much larger Cannabis Caucus in the coming years and I think that we’re already getting interest from a lot of people on the hill about this issue, so we’re very hopeful that things are gonna look good for the next Congress.

TG Branfalt: So you mentioned the banking issue and trying to push something through Congress. Are there any potential fixes save for federal changes to address this banking issue, which is a giant problem for every legal cannabis industry operator?

Morgan Fox: Not really. Right now it’s actually legal for banks to do business with the cannabis industry as long as they do a huge list of criteria with regular reporting of every transaction as well as a whole other list of restrictions that make it very difficult for banks to be able to justify it from a business perspective, but also scare away a lot of people in the cannabis industry because they don’t want to have to do regular federal reporting because if there’s a change in the winds in the Department of Justice, they’ll be front and center as a criminal organization doing all this business and all of their information will be right out there for the DOJ just to snap up and go after them. Now that’s very, very unlikely to happen but I can see why cannabis businesses would be nervous about that. But it is possible, but what we really need is a substantive change in the law that provides safe harbor to banks working with businesses that are in compliance with state law.

TG Branfalt: So you mentioned that you don’t anticipate a crack down, federal policy has so far not interfered much with existing programs. Jeff Sessions, he’s out. I know everyone was really nervous while he was head of the DOJ. Congress included hemp legalization in the federal farm bill and I know that that’s not legalized cannabis, but how much of an impact could the hemp legalization have on cannabis policy throughout the US going forward?

Morgan Fox: Hemp was only made illegal because of the reefer madness directed at cannabis and the fact that now the prohibition against hemp has been greatly lessened and stripped out of law and was supported so overwhelmingly by both parties, I think is a sign that reefer madness is starting to dissipate. It’s also really good because it’s sort of a stepping stone for a lot of politicians that might be a little bit nervous about the issue. I think it’s obviously a good sign. It’s also going to be great for innovation in terms of production when the individual states start applying for hemp licenses from the federal government and are able to start setting up farms and setting up production quotas and all these other structures that are necessary under the new farm bill. It’s good practice for the states and good practice for the federal government in developing regulative cannabis systems.

TG Branfalt: And a lot of the sort of headlines after McConnell signs this piece of legislation with his hemp made pen, sort of screened CBD will be legal, there’s a lot of questions. There’s a lot of people claim to have answers, no firm answers. I have sort of my own understanding. What is your understanding about what this federal legalization of hemp will do for CBD?

Morgan Fox: Well the bottom line is that CBD remains a Schedule 1 substance under the controlled substances act and is currently banned by the FDA. The farm bill specifically says that nothing in the bill interferes with the FDA’s ability to regulate CBD. The only carve out that the farm bill provides is that CBD is exempted from the controlled substances act in states with approved programs and that is it.

I’m sorry, I should elaborate on that. So even though it is exempted from the controlled substances act in those states with approved programs, it’s still subject to FDA regulation and the federal government could become involved if there are any sort of sales going on of CBD products. But that’s sort of the problem with any sort of legal cannabis or medical CBD state. It’s still federally illegal and at the whim of the federal government whether or not they want to start processing or investigating those things. Will they? That remains to be seen. But they can, so anybody that’s involved in the industry should definitely consult a lawyer and be very careful about knowing exactly what risks they’re taking.

TG Branfalt: These first couple of years of the Trump Administration, when he was elected, the industry was sort of screaming. It was sort of on edge. Is it surprising to you guys at all that there hasn’t been any sort of major interference in the Trump era?

Morgan Fox: Not really. On the campaign trail, Trump said that he was definitely supportive of medical cannabis and that he thought adult use should be left up to the states. He reiterated that once in office and it’s really not an issue that’s at the forefront of his mind. Very recently he’s said that he would support the States Act, so these are all good signs. I just think that anybody that’s worried about a Trump direct crack down probably shouldn’t worry about that because he’s voiced support, and it’s not a major issue for him.

TG Branfalt: So I want to switch gears a little bit and talk to you about the recent successes the states that are going online, which of the new markets excites you most? Massachusetts just started sales, Maine is inching closer. They’ve had some process problems. Michigan just legalized. So which one’s exciting you guys most?

Morgan Fox: Maine has obviously had a huge problem with implementation and getting the regulations passed and they seem to be inching closer to opening sales, but it’s already been two years. But hopefully they’ll be able to get something going soon. Massachusetts shows signs of being a wonderfully regulated system and is still working on fleshing it out. Michigan obviously hasn’t started regulating yet, but I think that in terms of outlook, Michigan is probably the most exciting for a couple of reason.

One, it’s the first state in the mid west to legalize cannabis for adult use, which is going to be a game changer, and especially in terms of public opinion in somewhat more socially conservative states. It allows for an unlimited number of micro business licenses which will allow hobby farmers and small mom and pop stores and other small businesses to be able to create a niche in the market without having to deal with any of the onerous regulatory licensing fees or having to compete with major businesses for a limited number of licenses. Also it’s just simple population. Michigan is the second most populous legal state behind California, and that’s just huge.

TG Branfalt: And sort of looking ahead to 2019, I know that you guys are more focused on federal policy. There’s been a lot of talk that Rhode Island is on the verge of passing a legislature approved legalization measure. In New Jersey, the legislature recently voted on legalizing cannabis in not a binding vote, but it was pretty overwhelming, and I live in New York and I can tell you that if New Jersey falls, New York is not far behind and lawmakers here along with Governor Cuomo are looking at their own legalization measures.

Have you guys sort of been internally discussing which is gonna be the next domino to fall?

Morgan Fox: A lot of states in the northeast seem to be on the verge. You mentioned New Jersey which has been having serious discussions about the issue. Connecticut and Delaware are also doing so and have been actually considering legislation for the last couple of years now and seem to be right on the cusp. I’ve been hearing a lot of things from Governor Cuomo in New York and a lot of New York legislators who are also very supportive and want to see this get done quickly. I think that New York might take a little bit while longer, but I think really the one to watch is Illinois.

Following the midterm elections and the election of J.B. Pritzker to governor, he is very supportive of legalization and has actually said he wants Illinois to beat Michigan to opening retail stores and has already put together a task force featuring members of the industry including the head of Cresco Labs, Chris Lindsey from the Marijuana Policy Project is on that task force. Things are definitely moving in the right direction. There’s a lot of supportive state legislators in that state as well and I think that with that kind of momentum and that kind of top down motivation to get this done, it might actually beat some of the states in the northeast.

But it’s anybody’s guess as to whether the states like New Jersey, Delaware, or Connecticut are going to go first, or maybe it’ll be something like Vermont actually deciding to regulate their market. Or New Hampshire deciding to take the advice of it’s educational task force and actually move forward with legalization as well. It’s really difficult to tell who’s going to be first, but the fact that all of these states are considering doing so at relatively the same time is indicative of how far this movement has come and how quickly this is becoming the new reality.

TG Branfalt: So we haven’t hit a critical mass by any means yet, and I just want to touch back on this banking issue because it is so important, how much more important is this banking issue becoming as states are going online?

Morgan Fox: It’s obviously an issue that affects every business that directly touches the plant, and as more and more of those businesses come online, it becomes a much bigger problem. It’s not just a problem for those businesses, it’s a problem for everybody involved in their finances and that includes the federal government and the IRS. So we’re already seeing increased interest from banking associations to address this issue. We’re seeing increased interest in Congress to address this issue and because it’s not directly related to cannabis policy in terms of what people are doing with the actual plans and with cannabis products, it’s just basically an economic issue, I think it’s a lot more palatable to a lot of members of Congress.

TG Branfalt: So save for full federal legalization, would you say that the banking issue is probably the sort of the potential game changer on a federal level at this point in the legalization process?

Morgan Fox: It’s definitely up there. It’s one of the two most important non-comprehensive issues that we deal with and would certainly allow banks to profit. It would allow businesses to profit and be able to use financial services much more cheaply than they do when they can do them at all. Just in terms of optics, it would normalize this industry in a way that I think that it hasn’t been up to this point at a federal level.

TG Branfalt: So you mentioned that’s one of your top two issues. What’s your second top issue?

Morgan Fox: Well we’re also working on 280E, which as you know prevents businesses from being able to deduct business expenses when they’re filing federal taxes and that can be incredibly expensive to the point where it makes many businesses nonviable.

TG Branfalt: How hard is that for people to comprehend when they’re entering the space? How many sort of new operators do you try to advise solely on this issue or talk to solely about this issue?

Morgan Fox: There’s so many cannabis focused accountant groups now that the services are there to make sure that people are very aware and one of the things that we do at NCIA is make sure that members are connected with people that provide such services and at least know of their existence so that if they choose, they can decide to, or go after their advice and take advantage of the expertise of people who have been working with cannabis businesses for years now.

I think that it’s pretty common knowledge that this is a problem and that the cannabis industry has been taxed unfairly, but we definitely would like to make sure that people know about the problems that this creates for businesses. Generally when people are becoming NCIA members, they are already involved in the industry, so they already probably know, but we just like to make sure that they know that there are resources out there to make sure that they are in compliance with those and then don’t get some huge bill from the IRS a couple years down the road and potentially have to go to prison over it.

TG Branfalt: You work very closely with a variety of operators in the space. What sort of trends have you seen in terms of during the last year, what business types do you see popping up in the space more so than others?

Morgan Fox: We’re seeing a lot of, just in terms of the actual cannabis market, we’re seeing a lot more people getting involved in extraction and making concentrates, edibles, and the professionalism that’s involved in that has just been exploding as well as the innovation, but the ancillary industries that are deciding to focus on cannabis are really what have been blowing up. I think that only about 40% of our membership actually touch the plant, are involved in the cultivation, extraction, processing and retail. The rest of them are all ancillary businesses that have for one reason or another decided to focus on the cannabis industry and that’s, as I mentioned, accountants, software programmers, security, transportation, everything from general contractors, real estate, even plumbers. People that produce lighting equipment, people that produce nutrients. All of these businesses are taking advantage of the rising tide of the cannabis industry.

TG Branfalt: So you mentioned such trades as plumbers. Are you seeing people who have been plumbing or doing a trade for a long time come into this space or are you seeing sort of younger folks who are just sort of learning or just learned that trade or just getting involved in that trade enter the space?

Morgan Fox: Just anecdotally, earlier this year I was talking to a guy who had a small plumbing business that he was in danger of going under three or four years ago and when the state that he lived in decided to legalize cannabis, he saw his business overnight just basically recover and then double and then triple in revenue to the point where he’s actually hiring people and creating jobs now. We’re hearing those sort of stories all over the place in a number of different ancillary industries.

TG Branfalt: So for someone like a plumber, this is fascinating to me, is it because more straight laced plumbers don’t want to go into these places or are they learning and working on treatment systems? I’m very curious as to what role.

Morgan Fox: We’re seeing traditional straight laced professionals and tradesmen come into this industry and realize what a boom it is. Sometimes it’s a majority of their clientele, sometimes it’s only a portion of their business, but the people that are willing to actively pursue working with cannabis businesses are seeing a real benefit.

TG Branfalt: That’s really, really fascinating stuff to me. I want to talk to you, again, you work with so many different businesses that sort of span the industry, what consumer trends are your members talking about that they’ve noticed in say the last year or so and do they expect those trends to continue into 2019 or what might shift?

Morgan Fox: From what I’ve been able to tell, it seems as if, and this has been happening for the last couple of years, but concentrates are increasingly becoming more popular. Flower is still king, but it’s market share is starting to lessen and I think that might be largely because of both the convenience and discretion and lack of smoke involved with a lot of vaporizable and edible products.

TG Branfalt: And is this something you think you’re gonna continue to see going forward or might it shift to where edibles gets more of a market share?

Morgan Fox: I think it’s really difficult to say, and it also depends a whole lot on consumer education. I think for many years people probably were very interested in edibles because, especially for new consumers, they weren’t comfortable with or weren’t familiar with smoking or they still had some sort of a hangup about it and they were maybe a little bit scared of vaporizers, but eating a brownie or a cookie seemed familiar to them. But then you have the opposite problem where people didn’t have enough education about dosing and things like that, so then they might have had a bad experience, it really does come down to people becoming more familiar with this product as well as by producers making sure that they are following the very strict guidelines laid out in terms of dosage and labeling.

TG Branfalt: So I just want to take another step back to this idea of traditional sort of trades people getting involved and I wonder about staffing. Are your members having any trouble finding qualified employees to work in this space?

Morgan Fox: I have heard that from some areas, but along with all these ancillary industries growing up, we’re also seeing tremendous growth in cannabis industry staffing companies like THC Staffing and Vangst. These are companies that are making sure that people know that just because you don’t necessarily have any experience with cannabis or in the cannabis industry that it is a growth industry and that you can take applicable skills from other areas and apply them in this industry and that’s becoming more and more popular.

TG Branfalt: So just to sort of sum up here, we’ve talked about a lot of different things. We’ve talked about banking, we’ve talked about 280E, are these the most pressing issues for the cannabis industry as a whole heading into 2019?

Morgan Fox: Well I think the most pressing issue is ending cannabis prohibition because that will make it much easier for states to open up new markets, but most importantly it will stop people from getting arrested for using this product. But aside from that I think that banking and 280E are probably the most important issues for the industry at this point.

TG Branfalt: And briefly, you mentioned the criminal justice aspects of it. The federal government, as you probably know, is working on a criminal justice reform bill that while it’s not going to release cannabis prisoners per se, on a federal level, it will make some changes, it will reduce some sentences, let some people out because the federal jails are overcrowded. Is this, to you guys, sort of a step in the right direction towards maybe a federal wipe of cannabis crimes? Is this possible?

Morgan Fox: Well because most cannabis arrests occur at the state level, I don’t think that it’s possible for the federal government to vacate or expunge those state criminal records. However I think that there could be a possibility for doing so at the federal level, which are mostly distribution charges and things like that. But it is a sign that people are actually starting to think about the issues of expungement and trying to undo some of the harms caused by prohibition.

Back when Colorado first was trying to legalize cannabis, the idea of retroactive amnesty or expungement was wildly unpopular, so people didn’t even consider putting it into the law and now as people have gotten more comfortable with legalization, the idea of not only undoing the harms of prohibition, but making sure that people who have been caught up in prohibition and it’s notoriously unfair enforcement still have the ability to work in the cannabis industry and expungement is a really big part of that.

So I think that the federal bill coming close to getting passed will be a big sign that states should start doing the same and we’re already seeing that in legal states such as California and Massachusetts where there is active efforts to expunge past criminal marijuana conviction. So it’s definitely good. Speaking of criminal justice bill, it’s very interesting that you said that it would affect cannabis because it actually might. Senator Cory Gardner is trying to insert language into that bill that would in effect allow states to determine their own cannabis policies and if he’s successful, then that will be a game changer.

TG Branfalt: I didn’t know that he was trying to do that, and Gardner, for people who might not know, was blocking judicial nominees basically asking for the Administration to promise that they wouldn’t enforce federal law. So he’s been sort of an ally. Just to sort of wrap up here, what advice would you have for individuals interested in entering the cannabis space?

Morgan Fox: Education, education, education. Look to the established national groups such as NCIA and learn what’s going on in your state. Do as much networking as possible and make sure that you know the difficulties associated with navigating this really complex regulatory environment. Another is to make sure that you have capital lined up because unfortunately there are still very high barriers of entry and it can be very difficult to get into the industry without access to them. That’s not to say that it’s impossible, but that’s one of the biggest challenges facing cannabis business, or prospective cannabis entrepreneurs right now. But really, yeah, it’s just making sure that you know the ins and outs and there are a number of services that are available to help out with those problems.

TG Branfalt: Well, Morgan, I really appreciate you coming on the show. This has been a great wide ranging conversation. I really appreciate the work that you guys do over there at the NCIA and I hope that we get to touch base again in 2019.

Morgan Fox: Absolutely. Thank you very much for having me.

TG Branfalt: You can find more episodes of the Ganjapreneur.com Podcast in the podcast section of ganjapreneur.com and the Apple iTunes store. On the Ganjapreneur.com website, you will 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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Burnt Cannabis Odor Not Grounds For Search, Vermont Supreme Court Rules

1/09/2019

Vermont’s Supreme Court ruled last week that the smell of burned or burning cannabis is not legal grounds for police to initiate a search, according to a Leafly news report.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed suit against the state for the actions of a Vermont state trooper in 2014.

The trooper pulled over Greg Zullo of Rutland, Vermont in March of that year, claiming that snow had been covering Zullo’s registration sticker. After the trooper smelled cannabis, he asked to search the car. Zullo refused the search; however, he did allow the trooper to search his person. The trooper then had the car towed.

After a legal search, a grinder and pipe with cannabis residue was found. Cannabis, however, has been decriminalized in Vermont since 2013. This prompted the ACLU to step in on Zullo’s behalf. Lawyers and judges tried the case through a complicated web of “reasonable suspicion,” “probable cause,” and a variety of state statutes.

After the ruling — passed down by Associate Justice Harold E. Eaton, Jr. — a binding legal precedent has been set across the state. The smell of cannabis smoke is no longer legal grounds for a police search in Vermont.

Zullo is now allowed to seek restitution from the state for damages. The full decision, including details of the case, is available online.

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Vancouver Warns Unlicensed Dispensaries: Enforcement is Coming

1/09/2019

The city of Vancouver, British Columbia has issued a warning to unlicensed cannabis businesses that enforcement will be stepping up if the shops don’t close, according to the CBC.

The British Columbia Supreme Court ordered the shops to close in December after the city filed formal injunctions against 53 different cannabis businesses in December.

Additionally, Vancouver officials have approved the city’s first three cannabis dispensary licenses. The gloves are expected to come off as the city ceases its easy-going approach now that there are legal avenues for acquiring store-bought cannabis.

“Our goal is always voluntary compliance with any bylaw enforcement,” said Kathryn Holm, Chief Licensing Inspector for Vancouver. “With respect to enforcement, we’ve continued to escalate.”

Some unlicensed business operators claim that enforcement hasn’t been equal across the board. The owners being ordered to shutter are frustrated.

“You know it’s like being a brother and sister, and the brother’s following all the rules and sister gets away with everything and what could you do? Mommy’s not looking.” — Mike Babins, owner of Evergreen Cannabis Society

It’s unclear exactly when all cannabis retailers are expected to be either licensed or shuttered. Holm, however, said that those who have received an injunction ordering them to close will face legal proceedings, fines, and perhaps even jail time if they don’t comply.

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Quebec Landlords Have Until Jan. 15 to Ban Cannabis in Rentals

1/09/2019

Landlords in Quebec, Canada have until January 15 to notify tenants if they intend to ban cannabis smoking, The Montreal Gazette reports.

Quebec and Quebec’s largest city, Montreal, have some of the strictest cannabis laws in Canada. Not only has the province considered raising the legal consumption age to 21 — which would be the highest age in the nation — but officials have also been eyeing a ban on outdoor smoking and have allocated additional funds for enforcement.

The situation with landlords and tenants is particularly complicated because a large percentage of Quebec‘s population are renters. In fact, more than 60 percent of Montreal citizens pay rent. If a ban on public consumption is implemented, there would be very few places left for adults to legally consume cannabis.

Landlords have been able to establish bans on indoor cannabis smoking inside their properties since adult-use cannabis became legal on October 17, 2018.

Tenants are allowed to challenge a ban if they are consuming cannabis for medical reasons. They have 30 days from the date they receive the landlord’s notification to submit a refusal. The landlord should then contact the Quebec Rent Control Board if they do not want to accept the tenant’s refusal.

Otherwise, the ban on smoking goes into effect 30 days following the notice.

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Ontario Opens Lottery for First 25 Retail Cannabis Licenses

1/08/2019

Ontario, Canada opened its application process on Monday for businesses seeking one of the province’s 25 initial retail cannabis licenses, The Canadian Press reports.

Ontario has limited the initial number of licenses due to potential supply issues.

“We know that putting out 25 stores, which is the amount of cannabis that we can guarantee receiving, is the right way to go. This is only temporary. Once the federal government can guarantee a better supply then we know we’ll begin to issue more licenses as we go along.” — Vic Fedeli, via The Canadian Press

Currently, Ontario is one of the few provinces in Canada that, so far, has only allowed cannabis sales via a government website. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) will adjudicate the awarding of licenses for future retail shops.

The AGCO has significant power over licensees. They can, for instance, levy a $25,000 fine if businesses fail to launch cannabis sales on time, which — alongside other potential fines for failing to meet certain criteria — is expected to scare off any less-than-completely-serious applicants.

Licenses are being issued geographically: five in eastern Ontario (which includes the city of Ottawa), seven in western Ontario, two for the northern section of the province, then five for the outskirts of Toronto, and five in Toronto proper.

A $75 fee and an “expression of interest” application to the AGCO is required by Friday. Winners of the lottery will then be announced within 24 hours. The potential licensees will then have five days to submit a full application, a $6,000 licensing fee, and proof of credit to a minimum of $50,000.

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Michigan Dispensary Licensing Deadline Now Being Enforced

1/08/2019

A December 31 deadline for the shutdown of unlicensed Michigan medical cannabis dispensaries is now expected to be enforced following the dismissal of a final lawsuit, according to The Detroit Free Press.

Several previous deadlines from earlier in 2018 were ruled by a state judge to be unenforceable due to pending lawsuits. On Friday, however, Court of Claims Judge Stephen Borrello dismissed the final case against the state over the licensing requirements.

Unlicensed medical cannabis dispensaries are no longer protected and, if they continue to operate, will jeopardize their future possibility of receiving a license.

“It is very important for temporarily operating applicants to understand that any operation after Monday may be considered an impediment to licensure.” — David Harns, Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs spokesperson, via Detroit Free Press

The number of unlicensed businesses operating in the cannabis space in Michigan has fallen from about 215 in September to 72 as of the judge’s ruling — by now, most businesses have received a license, were officially denied, or have ceased operations. Many of the remaining 72 are either awaiting a regulatory decision or are missing parts of their application.

No matter the reason, however, the remaining businesses are now expected to shut down until they receive a license or jeopardize any chance at receiving a license in the future.

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Missouri Now Accepting Cannabis License Pre-Applications

1/08/2019

Missouri’s Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) began accepting pre-filed applications for its medical cannabis program, according to a News Tribune report.

Missouri voters mandated medical cannabis in the November midterms, tasking the DHSS with running the regulated system. According to the new medical cannabis state constitutional amendment, three types of medical cannabis licenses will exist: cultivators, dispensaries, and infused product manufacturers.

Pre-filing a cultivator application costs $10,000. Pre-filing for dispensaries and infused product facilities costs $6,000. Pre-applications must include the applicant’s name, social security number, mailing address, and their choice of license. They can be hand-delivered to state offices, mailed in, or sent via the Internet. Application fees are non-refundable.

Pre-filing — and the large fee that accompanies it — does not guarantee any sort of priority in the future final licensing process, which is required by the DHSS to begin no later than June 4. The DHSS is expected to also begin accepting patient applications on June 4 as well.

Once a business receives a license, they will have to renew every three years at the price of $5,000 for cultivators and $3,000 for other licenses. That renewal fee is on top of a annual fee of $25,000 for cultivators and $10,000 for the other licenses.

Local health departments are not expected to have any say in the matter. According to Jefferson City Counselor Ryan Moehlman, the voter initiative prohibits local municipalities from banning cannabis operations.

There remains much uncertainty in Missouri, however, as the DHSS has yet to issue many of the regulations necessary for the medical cannabis program. The initiative gives regulators until June 4 to finalize application requirements.

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Washington Gov. to Issue Cannabis Pardons

1/07/2019

by Lukas Barfield

At the Washington Cannabis Summit on Friday, January 4, Gov. Jay Inslee (D) announced he would exercise his constitutional clemency authority to pardon state misdemeanor cannabis convictions.

Known as the Marijuana Justice Initiative, applicants must have been over 21 at the time of their arrest. Also, only arrests that occurred between January 1, 1998 and December 5, 2012 will qualify.

Estimated to affect some 3,500 individuals statewide, the pardons will only be available for those with a clean record with just one misdemeanor cannabis conviction. In his presentation, however, Gov. Inslee said people with more than one misdemeanor cannabis conviction could still go through the regular clemency process to have those convictions pardoned.

Qualified individuals need only fill out an online form to begin the process of receiving the governor’s pardon. The initiative does not affect local or federal cannabis crimes.

“For decades, people have faced criminal prosecution for behavior that is no longer considered a crime in Washington. Inslee believes that forgiving these convictions will allow people to move on with their lives without these convictions causing additional burdens on people, their families, their employers and their communities. This is a small step, but one that moves us in the direction of correcting injustices that disproportionately affected communities of color.” Excerpt from the Marijuana Justice Initiative

Washington voted to legalize adult-use cannabis in 2012 but the state’s initiative did not address the expungement of any previous cannabis convictions.

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Report: National Cannabis Use Up, Opiate Use Down

1/07/2019

Positive drug test results are at their highest level in a decade, according to a report by Quest Diagnostics.

The report also shows that cannabis use has increased to record levels. Year over year, positive cannabis testing has climbed to 2.6 percent of the general workforce. In the “safety-sensitive” workforce, which includes pilots, commercial vehicle drivers, and workers in nuclear power plants, 0.84% of workers tested positive in 2017.

Also striking was the percentage of positive cannabis tests in the latest states to legalize cannabis. Nevada‘s positive drug testing rate climbed to 43%, Massachusetts was at 14% and California‘s was 11% in 2017. Those rates are significantly higher than before the states passed legalization in 2016.

“These increases are similar to the increases we observed after recreational marijuana use statues were passed in Washington and Colorado,” said Dr. Barry Sample of Quest Diagnostics.

Alongside the workforce’s cannabis use increase was a 17 percent decrease in the rates of positive urine tests for opiates.

“The depth of our large-scale analysis supports the possibility that efforts by policymakers, employers, and the medical community to decrease the availability of opioid prescriptions and curtail the opioid crisis is working to reduce their use, at least among the working public.” — Kim Samano, Scientific director, Quest Diagnostics, via the report

The results of the study can be seen in an interactive map on dtidrugmap.com.

While the increase in positive cannabis tests is concerning to some — especially the increased rates among safety-sensitive workforces — ultimately, more research needs to be done on the effects of cannabis on coordination and perception before a true judgement can be made.

Until then, it’s hard not to see cannabis as a potential tool for lowering the rate of deadly opiate use in the U.S.

End

The purple glow of LED lights inside of a licensed Washington cannabis cultivation site.

New Jersey Towns Already Banning Adult-Use Industry

1/07/2019

by Graham Abbott

More than 45 towns in New Jersey have already moved to ban cannabis dispensaries as state lawmakers position to legalize adult-use cannabis later this year, according to a WNYC report.

The movement is led by a coalition of mayors, city councils, and law enforcement officials who argue that cannabis legalization will lead to an uptick in stoned driving and that cannabis dispensaries will attract unwanted visitors to their towns.

Meanwhile, state lawmakers in New Jersey are preparing to pass major cannabis reforms in the 2019 legislative session. Expansions to the state’s limited medical cannabis program and the full legalization of adult-use cannabis are both expected. A recent spat between Gov. Phil Murphy and state Sen. Steve Sweeney, however, has highlighted major differences between top members of the state’s Democratic party, which currently controls the government.

The anti-cannabis coalition is supported by prohibitionist group New Jersey Responsible Approaches to Marijuana Policy, a group that cites questionable data from post-legalization Colorado and other states — mainly traffic incidents — as reasons to continue the disastrous policies of cannabis prohibition.

Voter support remains in favor of adult-use legalization, with 60 percent of New Jersey adults expressing support for ending the plant’s prohibition in a recent poll.

Currently, 10 U.S. states plus Washington D.C. have legalized adult-use cannabis, with several more states — particularly in New England — poised to legalize in 2019.

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South Carolina May Legalize Medical Cannabis In 2019

1/07/2019

A new poll from Benchmark Research shows a strong majority of South Carolinians support legalizing medical cannabis, The Herald reports.

The new results show 72 percent of polled South Carolinians support medical cannabis legalization. This follows two other high-profile polls since 2016 that showed similar results.

Medical cannabis advocate Bill Nettles, previously the state’s U.S. Attorney under President Obama, was happy with the results. “Government officials need to get out of the way of the will of the people,” said Nettles.

Janel Ralph, executive director of Compassionate South Carolina patient advocacy group, said, “This is the third poll that shows that the people of South Carolina are in favor of medical marijuana. Legislators are going to have to start looking at it seriously now.”

In the state legislature, two separate “compassionate care” medical cannabis legalization bills have been approved. They were not, however, considered for reconciliation before the end of last year’s session.

While Democrats in South Carolina are strongly behind cannabis reforms, some law enforcement interests are still against legalization and claim it would lead immediately to full adult-use legalization.

Ralph, at least, is confident that the upcoming legislative session will result in a medical cannabis law in South Carolina. “It’s just time,” she said.

End

Pending legalization bills

Governor calls for decriminalizing

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