Secret Service Relaxes Cannabis Policy to Boost Hiring

6/04/2017

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In an effort to swell the ranks of Secret Service officers, the agency is relaxing its rules about cannabis use because too many potential recruits were being disqualified by the agency’s strict drug policy, according to a CNN report.

The announcement came from the agency’s new director Randolph Alles on Thursday, 38 days after Alles was appointed to the position.

Following the rule change, the Secret Service will no longer automatically disqualify somebody for having used cannabis a certain number of times in their life; instead, candidates who admit to marijuana use will be judged based on how much time passed between their last consumption and the time at which they apply for the agency.

The change should allow for a younger generation of applicants, recognizing that cannabis has become much more prevalent and mainstream in modern society.

“We need more people. The mission has changed,” Alles said while announcing his plan to swell the agency’s ranks by more than 3,000 in the coming years. “It’s more dynamic and way more dangerous than it has been in years past,” Alles said.

The shift also puts the Secret Service — who is charged with protecting the nation’s heads of state and all of their family members — more in line with other federal law enforcement agencies. In 2014, the FBI relaxed its hiring policies related to cannabis use because all of the top cybersecurity specialists of our time were being disqualified.

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High Times Sold to Los Angeles Investment Firm

6/02/2017

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High Times magazine, a counterculture staple for 43 years, has been sold to Los Angeles-based investment firm Oreva Capital in a $70 million deal, according to a Forbes report. Oreva Capital is comprised of 20 investors, including Damian Marley, son of the late Bob Marley, and founded by Adam Levin.

Levin said the magazine’s value, “is in the brand and its identity.”

High Times-hosted events, such as the Cannabis Cup, represent 75 percent of the magazine’s revenue; Levin indicated that the new owners plan on hosting “even more events…like business summits.”

Longtime High Times employee Danny Danko said the deal will allow the publication to “go big and expand” on what the magazine has already been doing.

“I think we’ve always had big ideas at the company, but not everything could be accomplished. We were fairly small without a lot of resources,” Danko said in the report, adding that the new owners know it’s important to make sure that the core audience remains intact. “We’ve always had this underground mentality and grassroots organization, now we have the funding to go out and do bigger things.”

The new company will be called the High Times Holding Company, and Levin will become the chief executive.

“I think most would agree it was not executing business at max potential under the legacy framework established by the founders,” Levin said in a New York Times report. “We are going to build on the strong base they created to bring High Times from the authority in the counterculture movement to a modern media enterprise.”

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A macro photo of a blooming cannabis flower.

Michigan Rec. Campaign Chairman Sees ‘Strong’ Chance for 2018 Success

6/02/2017

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Advocates in Michigan have renewed their bid to legalize cannabis for adult use after being shut out by politicians and courts in 2016 – and, according to MI Legalize Chairman Jeffery Hank, their proposal for 2018 is a “forward-thinking” initiative that draws on the “best practices” of other states.

MI Legalize has formed a coalition with MI NORML, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Marijuana Policy Project, and the Drug Policy Alliance for the 2018 campaign.

“It’s a pretty wide-open entry to the market,” Hank explained in an interview with Ganjapreneur, describing tenants of the plan allowing for four types of commercial cultivation licenses.

Under the proposal, four tiers of cultivation licenses allowing product sales are available to individuals 21-and-older: a single microbusiness license for 150-plant grows; and commercial licenses for 100, 500, and 2,000-plant grows, which businesses and individuals could hold up to five. The latter licenses would only be available to current licensed medical cannabis operators for the first two years, after which any other organization could apply.

The measure permits adults to possess up to 2.5 ounces of flower and 15 grams of concentrate in public, and 10 ounces of purchased flower within a home. Individuals would be permitted to grow up to 12 plants and possess the yield. The growing provision allows for outdoor cultivation out of public view and adults would be allowed to farm hemp without a state license.

The state’s medical cannabis regime would remain intact; however, consumer taxes would be dropped from medical sales. Recreational sales would carry a 10 percent excise tax, which, paired with Michigan’s 6 percent sales tax, brings the total taxes to 16 percent.

“We have provisions in the law to make sure that licenses are fairly distributed, particularly in communities that may have been disadvantaged in the past…think of the Detroit area,” Hank said. “We make sure those communities are included in the marketplace.”

Hank, an East Lansing-based attorney, said that the authors explored criminal justice reforms, such as expungement of old low-level possession charges, but after conferring with counsel determined that including such language could disqualify the petition as a whole because it would add a “second issue,” which is not allowed under Michigan’s ballot laws.

“We really wanted it in there – we really wanted it in there last year, too,” Hank said, adding that it “hurt” the petitioners to leave expungement out of the proposal. “We’re really sensitive this time to possible challenges because we had the state, basically, screw us last year with judicial chicanery.”

Last September, Michigan lawmakers passed sweeping legislation to reform the state’s “gray-market” medical cannabis industry – actually making the drafters’ job with the new adult-use proposal easier because state officials had already established some framework for cultivators, processors, transporters, dispensaries, testing laboratories, and transporters; including seed-to-sale tracking requirements. However, Hank said that ballot initiative also seeks to “correct” some of, what the coalition sees, as issues with the legislature’s reforms.

“We had to adapt to what the legislature did,” Hank said. “Also, last time the petition was drafted solely by MI Legalize…this time around we formed the coalition with those other groups so there was a bit of compromise, and give-and-take with the language, but we think we have put together the ‘new gold standard’ if you will.”

In order for the measure to qualify for the 2018 midterm election, petitioners need to gather 252,523 valid signatures – which for the campaign equates to “about 375,000 to 400,000” total signatures – within 180 days or by “October or November.” The 180-day rule was how the 2016 bid was pushed from the ballot. Right before the organizers handed in their petitions the legislature changed the law to add the 180-day signature collecting window. MI Legalize challenged the new rules but “didn’t get anywhere.”

“On June 7 – six days after we handed in our petition – the governor signed the law,” Hank said. “It was a crazy political battle – the state saw us succeeding getting marijuana on the ballot. They not only suppressed our petition but they actually changed the law to make it harder to petition. They removed the time we had to petition to make it more restrictive.”

In 2016, MI Legalize and their team of volunteers alone collected 379,000 signatures. Their newly-formed alliances have them confident that they will easily collect enough signatures within the 6-month window to succeed.

“We think we’re the first big state in the Midwest and if we go well then hopefully Ohio goes after that,” Hank said. “Hopefully these dominoes will finally fall.”

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A stone fence on a grey day in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Massachusetts Municipalities Passing Rec. Business Bans Despite Local Support

6/02/2017

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At least 81 Massachusetts communities have considered or already established restrictions on the nascent recreational cannabis industry, using moratoriums, zoning regulations, or outright bans to stem industry operations, WCVB-5 reports. According to the report, 33 towns in which voters favored legalizing cannabis for adult use in last year’s General Election have taken steps to bar cannabis business operations.

In total, 25 municipalities have enacted outright bans, and six of those voted in favor of legalization. Another 46 have enacted moratoriums; and voters in 27 of those communities approved legalization plans. Five other communities have imposed zoning regulations on cannabis businesses, and four of those towns voted in favor of legalization. Three other cities are considering actions to restrict recreational cannabis operations.

In December, one month after voters in the state approved the adult-use ballot question by a narrow 3.6 percent margin, state lawmakers moved to delay the opening of retail dispensaries from January to July 2018. A House and Senate Committee on Marijuana Policy was convened in February that could re-write portions of the law over concerns about public safety, tax structure, and the number of plants allowed in home grows.

In March, the legislature approved $300,000 for the implementation of the regime. The state Department of Revenue has estimated that the legal cannabis market could generate as much as $64 million in tax revenues during its first year.

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The flag of New Zealand flapping in the wind.

New Zealand Approves Plan to Allow CBD Prescriptions

6/02/2017

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Ministry of Health officials in New Zealand have announced that CBD products will no longer require individual approval from the agency for use, allowing it to be prescribed by physicians much like any other prescription drug, according to a Stuff report. Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne indicated the changes would take effect in about two months.

“Cabinet has now accepted my recommendation to make this change,” he said in the report. “Therefore, I am now taking steps to remove restrictions accordingly.”

During the announcement, Dunne noted that the move is unlikely going to lead to a deluge of patients getting CBD prescriptions right away as the CBD supplies are hampered by import and quality control issues.

Ross Bell, executive director of the Drug Foundation, called the move a “very good decision” but said that skeptical doctors, the lack of supplies, and the cost of the products would remain an issue as the products wouldn’t be subsidized by the Pharmaceutical Management Agency, or Pharmac, which decides which medicines are subsidized for use in public and community hospitals.

“For doctors to prescribe them they’re still going to need to source the product from overseas and have that imported into the country,” Bell said. “There remains skepticism within the medical profession around cannabis-based medicine, so a patient is still going to have to convince a doctor to do a prescription … they may not be willing to write that prescription.”

New Zealand has recently made it easier for patients to procure medical cannabis by allowing the Ministry of Health to sign off on applications instead of the Minister of Health personally. At least one company, Canada’s Tilray, has been given government approval to import cannabis oils that contain both CBD and THC to New Zealand.

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The North Dakota Capitol building.

North Dakota Advocates Launch Rec. Petition Bid

6/02/2017

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Advocates in North Dakota are finalizing their draft of a ballot proposal to legalize recreational cannabis use for adults 21-and-older hoping to gather enough signatures to bring the issue to voters during the 2018 midterm elections, the Bismarck Tribune reports.

The drive is spearheaded by Dave Owen, a college student from Grand Forks, who said the group is working with lawyers to ensure the plan doesn’t run into the same problems as medical cannabis, wherein lawmakers this session moved to clean up language they found unworkable.

“North Dakota’s ready for recreational marijuana,” Owen said in the report. “We have to make sure we have an ironclad petition.”

Last year, a separate group made a similar push but did not gather enough signatures for the issue to appear on General Election ballots. In addition to creating a recreational cannabis industry, the new proposal will also include language to expunge low-level, non-violent cannabis charges from criminal records.

“We’re wanting to ensure non-violent offenders with pot charges don’t have … records and can’t get jobs,” Owen said.

Petitioners will have one year from the day the petition is approved to gather a qualifying number of signatures. Owens indicated he plans on submitting the proposal to the Secretary of State’s office in the fall.

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Getting Compliant: Quick Guide to Regulations for California Cannabis Entrepreneurs

6/01/2017

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Complex laws and regulations governing the cannabis industry present a host of challenges for entrepreneurs looking to operate in this space. Cannabis businesses in California have a short window of time — specifically, by Jan 1, 2018 — before they will have to be fully compliant with these regulations.

For many, the potential rewards of this emerging industry justify the effort and outlay required to establish a compliant cannabis operation. Given the federally illicit nature of the plant, however, an uncertainty always looms around cannabis, especially due to the multi-tiered nature of state and local laws and the overtly political nature of this industry. As a result, the ability for operators to produce, manufacture, distribute, or sell cannabis related products can only be done in strict adherence to local, municipal and state regulatory code — and in a manner that is nothing short of 100% compliance.

Cured branches of cannabis flowers that now await trimming. Photo Credit: Sarah Climaco

For starters, here is a list of various agencies that a California business owner could potentially contend with. To reach federal compliance, entrepreneurs must consider the following government bodies:

  • IRS
  • Occupational Safety and Health Administration
  • Department of Agriculture
  • Department of Labor
  • Environmental Protection Agency
  • Consumer Protection Act

To reach state-level compliance, the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MCRSA) and the Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulations (BMCR) require the consideration of an additional six regulatory agencies:

  • California Department of Food and Agriculture
  • California Department of Pesticide Regulation
  • California State Department of Public Health
  • Department of Fish and Wildlife
  • State Water Resources Control Board
  • California Medical Board

Under the MCRSA, medical cannabis businesses in California will have to deal with regulations spanning lab testing, quality assurance testing, seed to sale tracking, packaging and labeling requirements, plant limitations, environmental restrictions, ownership restrictions and more. The initial rules released are not final and are undergoing a 45-day public comment period.

The same level of regulatory scrutiny should be expected for the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA, aka Prop 64), which was passed in 2016. MCRSA and AUMA differ in many places, including timelines, residency requirements, vertical integration restrictions and more. As touched upon briefly in a previous article, Governor Jerry Brown’s Budget Trailer Bill seeks to merge the MCRSA and AUMA to maximize public and consumer safety, favoring the AUMA’s liberal standards more.

For California specifically, medical and recreational licenses are set to be issued starting January 1st, 2018, although we won’t know much about the Adult Use of Marijuana Act until Governor Brown’s technical fix bill passes this summer.

Licensing will be controlled at the state level but enforced primarily at a local level, allowing local agencies to ban and/or restrict licensing as they see fit. To ensure compliance, businesses will need to take city and county ordinances, rules, and requirements into consideration — in addition to federal and state regulations. Whilst some of you may have licenses already, new operators will need to be thorough in preparing for the coming changes.

So what can businesses do to prepare?

If starting a new business

Start researching what regulatory and financial compliance will entail for your business license type. You will also want to understand the limits and restrictions on vertical integration with most cannabis business license types.

Next, identify municipalities that will issue cannabis permits as well as correctly zoned properties. For zoning, you have both state level and local issues to deal with. On a state level, you have an overarching regulatory body that makes the rules but doesn’t necessarily enforce them, relying instead on local lawmakers, police and fire departments to do so. You will want to establish relations with these people, which we will discuss later on this piece.

Once you have identified a location that’s zoned appropriately and meets state regulations, work on securing it but keep in mind that zoning laws can change. Also keep in mind specific zoning restrictions, such as the fact that if certain land is zoned as agriculture it does not mean it is necessarily zoned for cannabis. You will need a written approval from your local zoning authority to be included with your application. This approval is known as a ‘variance,’ which is basically like a zoning ordinance stating a land-use exception. 

Additionally, some applicants will be required to demonstrate compliance with California’s environmental laws — this can be done through either a local permitting entity or via an Environmental Impact Report (EIR).

A cannabis worker pours a fresh batch of concentrate onto a sheet of wax paper for cooling. Photo Credit: Sarah Climaco

When securing a license, it is highly advisable to create a business plan that properly reflects local laws and regulations, to ensure you have the right to operate on the property, and to know who your neighbors are and if they approve of a cannabis business operating in their neighborhood — specifically related to odor, water use and the type of people it may attract if it is retail. Your attorney is your best guide for filling out an application, but understand that up to 25 percent of applications are thrown out before even being read if there are red certain red flags such as an improperly filled out application or a business plan that doesn’t reflect the rules.

Under the initially released MCRSA regulations, you will need to submit information about owners and business formation documents. If any owners have any serious convictions, they will need to be disclosed, so it’s recommended that you double check everyone whom you work with.

If you are working with investors, can you prove where their assets are coming from? Take a look at their legal history. Any felonies on their records will be will be a red flag and result in your application being disqualified as these state auditors are looking at hundreds of applications for reasons to toss them out. There are other nuances around investors, such as their ability to show that they can move liquid assets within 30 days — but we won’t dive too much into that here.

Priority licensing is available for those who have been in operation and in good standing with the local jurisdiction since Jan 1, 2016. This can be interpreted to mean that the commercial cannabis activity commenced in conjunction with the license type for which the applicant is applying. Being in ‘operation’ could mean that the client began engaging in transportation, distribution, testing and sale of the cannabis goods as authorized by the local jurisdiction. You will need to provide plenty of information to the authorities as aforementioned including proof of ownership or permission to operate on the premises in which you currently operate. If you think you can qualify, you may want to begin gathering all your documentations as soon as possible.

Establish good relations with local regulators

As part of your ongoing research, figure out who your local and state legislators, inspectors and regulators are. Connect with them and welcome them into your facility(s), letting your staff know ahead of time to be extra welcoming. Establishing a relationship with these parties is the best way to get leeway if the need ever arises.

The idea here is to have an attitude and culture of not breaking the rules and keeping compliance a priority. Get buy-in across your entire staff and adopt processes and software that keep you compliant. Once California’s seed-to-sale system is announced, you will want to make sure to submit all the information it will require, or use software that will automate the submission of your business information to these regulatory agencies on a continual basis.

Bagged cannabis flower is stored inside of a locked cage while it awaits either packaging for consumers or transportation to an edibles manufacturer. Photo Credit: Sarah Climaco

Learn who the lawmakers are, from the governor down to the people in charge of zoning. You will want to establish rapport with these law-makers and establish proper communication with them, instead of being frustrated when the tides turn. Familiarize yourself with lobbyists in the industry such as NCIA to NORML and MPP, and participate in these committees. Attend local events held by these groups so you can connect with players who know how the regulatory climate will evolve, and support measures that help the cannabis industry as a whole progress.

Stay up-to-date on regulations

As we keep mentioning, rules are constantly prone to change — sometimes even within days. You will have to take initiative to stay compliant instead of hoping that compliance updates find you. Stay up to date on any press release or change in FAQ on the state website and join any email lists you can as well.

Remain flexible and fluid as these laws evolve, treat compliance as an asset and start with a compliance-centric, SOP driven business model, which entails developing processes that keep your business structured and evolving them alongside regulations. Depending on your business model (retailer or producer) there may be an appropriate business software platform to help you run your operations while staying current with changing regulations.

Below you can see some compliance scores by state assembled by Adherence Compliance, who offers software that helps you self-assess your cannabis business and receive a compliance score.

Cannabis company compliance averages on a state-by-state basis, assembled and presented by Adherence Compliance 

Don’t discount the importance of banking

Although California remains a cash-heavy state, you may want to start your search for local banking as soon as you can because it may impact your ability to secure a license. Credit unions are a good way to circumnavigate some of the big banks’ regulations, especially because they are local and community focused. The U.S. Treasury and Justice Dept. have stated in the Cole Memo that they aren’t going after financial institutions on a state level, so figuring out how to deal with money is very much part of compliance. If you are out of compliance with banking, it could open you up to a host of issues.

But is banking really an option for California cannabis entrepreneurs yet?

If you’ve been following the news, you’ll have noticed that President Trump and AG Sessions probably won’t do anything positive for the banking issue anytime soon. Banking rules for cannabis have not evolved much since 2014, which was when the DOJ and FinCEN at the Treasury Department issued a memorandum to create a civil structure allowing banks and credit unions to work with cannabis clients, but they had to adhere to regulatory obligations.

The larger banks simply don’t find the risk/reward to be worth it, but the smaller guys who suffered as a result of the financial crisis often do. As part of the FinCEN guidance, banks and credit unions must verify the compliance of their cannabis clients with state regulations. But since, in California at least, there haven’t been any laws set in stone, cities and counties have come up with their own hodgepodge of ordinances allowing for local banking leeway — but these have largely fallen short in helping financial institutions feel secure against FinCEN. In addition, FDIC would not renew an insurance policy if it seemed that an institution was working with cannabis businesses.

As compliance approaches, however, local financial institutions will be better able to defend their positions in complying with FinCEN and DOJ, and will be the early adopters to do so. These banks will need to develop cannabis specific operating procedures that ensures that they pay specific attention to cannabis businesses and can meet FinCEN guidelines.

Audit your financials

As mentioned earlier, organizations like NORML and NCIA can help you connect with reputable professionals who understand the tax code and federal law, specifically Section 280E, so that you can select a firm that has cannabis knowledge, such as the folks over at LIV Consulting.

Once you’ve shortlisted a few CPAs and maybe even selected one, work with them to identify risks of fraud and noncompliance that may not be obviously evident. Check to see that you are in alignment with local ordinances as far as tax is concerned — and continue to do so periodically as the requirements can change. If you have received a violation that you feel you should not have received, contest it sooner rather than later so you don’t pass the expiration of the statute of limitations for an appeal. Properly contesting penalties in good faith could help you reduce the fines you pay, which is another reason to keep you and your staff trained on the latest compliance requirements.

Moreover, be sure to file your taxes, even if uncertainty about the legality of your business is looming. Tax agencies are more than likely to audit you and hold you responsible for past-due taxes, even putting you at risk of non-compliance. Once 2018 arrives, cannabis businesses will have to pay mandatory taxes, including a 15 percent excise tax on retail sales, as a result of MCRSA giving counties the authority to tax all types of cannabis businesses. Meanwhile, however, the IRS still expects taxes to be paid — and you have until 2018 to get your taxes in order.

If you are behind on taxes, there are options available to help you. It’s recommended that you carry out a surprise audit where you play out a process and see how your staff responds. Take notes during this process and review it with a team. Without a plan, you risk becoming noncompliant, as even a 99% compliance level still isn’t fully compliant. It’s all or nothing — and that can spell the difference between a profitable business or one that gets shut down.

Maturing cannabis plants inside an indoor licensed grow op. Photo Credit: Sarah Climaco

Go the extra mile

From issues around transportation to extraction equipment setup to local permits, remember your footprint as a business. Get buy-in from regulators and the community so you can get support if things go awry. Find someone involved with legalization efforts such as NORML who has a list of lawyers in every state and talk to these people, as well as zoning people, regularly so you can see what they are looking for and get insight into staying on top of the latest rules.

Maintain a professional demeanor and shake the stigma around stoner-culture. Remember: you are representing the cannabis community at large, so prepare for changes and be amiable to them. Compliance is your number one priority and will be a certain percentage of your overhead, so embrace it with the utmost concern and keep your staff and standard operating procedures up to date.

It’s unclear how things will play out in California, but as 2018 nears, having strong industry relations, standard operating procedures, trained staff, audit-readiness, valid permits, compliant infrastructure and business software will help you navigate the gauntlet that lies ahead. We can always look to see how other states have carried out legalization and have a sense of what to expect in California. The more you stay involved, the better your chances are of coming out on top.

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Spark the Conversation: Joey Shepp, Humboldt’s Finest

6/01/2017

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Joey Shepp is the CEO of Humboldt’s Finest, a company of generational cannabis farmers based out of California’s Humboldt County that provides ecologically friendly sungrown cannabis products.

In this episode of Spark the Conversation, Joey joins podcast host and cannabis advocate Bianca Green for a conversation about the company’s approach to branding and their efforts to maintain a socially and ecologically responsible presence in an increasingly corporate cannabis industry. The two also discuss the future of California (and specifically Humboldt County) now that legalization is a reality in The Golden State, the recent launch of Humboldt’s Finest products onto the California marketplace, and much, much more!

Listen to the podcast:

Read the transcript:

Bianca Green: Welcome to the Spark the Conversation podcast in partnership with Ganjapreneur.com. Today, as a part of our Emerald Cup series, we’re speaking with Joey Shepp, the CEO of Humboldt’s Finest. This is a really exciting interview for me because I’ve gotten to work with Joey for the last nine months helping be the creative director of the Humboldt’s Finest brand and bringing it to light for their launch. I know that they’re really excited because this is the first time that consumers are being able to see their product in packaging finally.

It’s a group of three farmers that have decided to come out of the cannabis closet and build a brand together as a collective. It’s been a really wonderful journey. We used really great people to help create the brand vision, did a series of videos, twelve video that are online at Humboldtsfinestfarms.com. This was just a really great journey to be able to go up to Humboldt, for myself included, and be able to spend time up there and help the Humboldt name come to life.

As we all know, Humboldt is kind of a globally recognized place that grows some of the finest sungrown cannabis. To be able to be a part of that and work with Joey over the last nine months has been a really great gift. I’m really excited to see where the brand goes and also speak to him today about some of the vision of the brand.

Hi, this is Bianca Green. I’m live at the Emerald Cup with the CEO of Humboldt’s Finest Farms. You guys are here launching, officially, the product at the Emerald Cup for the first time. Thank you so much for coming and being with us today with Sparking the Conversation with our awesome media partners, Ganjapreneur.com.

Have you been having a good time at the Emerald Cup so far? What’s the tone been a little bit for you and the company?

Joey Shepp: It’s just huge. Everything’s exploding right now. I think we’re just on the cusp of something really big. Legalization is happening. People are showing up. Got a really diverse crowd. Just all walks of life are here. You’ve got a lot of entrepreneurs, a lot of segments of the business represented, and I feel like the culture’s kind of elevated compared to what it’s been in the past. Really happy to see everybody here.

Bianca Green: Yeah. A little bit to tell the audience our backstory is that I helped creative direct the brand and had the opportunity to kind of help you guys articulate your brand message. You were one of the first Humboldt brands that really took that step to come out with the whole brand message and identify yourselves as farmers. Tell me about what that process was like coming out of the closet as a Humboldt farmer and coming into the new light as we see 64 happening and legalization not on the rise anymore, like actually here.

Joey Shepp: Yeah, sure. It’s been challenging in some ways because you’ve got this long history of prohibition where farmers have been really in hiding for the most part, and you don’t talk about these things, certainly not publicly and put yourself out there. It’s been a trust-building exercise for the farmers to really come forward. I think the ability for us to get permits at the county level, for legalization happening at the state level, all these are really reassuring.

You got a lot of pent-up energy with the farmers that have been wanting to share their works, what they’ve been growing, what they’ve been working on, all their expertise and stuff. I think there’s a lot of excitement with the farmers but sort of carefully taking it step-by-step. I think all the farmers know that they’ve seen the way the beer industry has moved and other ones where corporates have come in. That’s been the talk for a long time; as soon as it goes legal, corporates are coming in. The common story is we need to get brands. We need to all have brands so that we represent, so that we don’t get lost. It seemed like a natural fit.

Growing up in Humboldt County, I always knew that Humboldt was a brand. I’d go anywhere, I’d go over to Europe and, “Where you from?” I’d say, “Oh, California.” “Where specifically?” “Humboldt County.” And then they’d giggle. Yeah. Yeah. They’d know what’s up. You didn’t even have to say it. There’s this worldwide brand reputation that I knew that if we didn’t really capture that that it would get taken away from us by some corporate interest. There’s really just a big need right now to represent the Humboldt brand authentically. Themes of sustainability, environmental protection, multi-generational farmers; these were all things that we really wanted to infuse with the brands so that as Humboldt spread to the world, people are getting the right message of what it’s really about.

Bianca Green: Yeah. It’s so important to … Some of the messaging that you created is commercials, which is really a historical move. Not only are you taking on a brand in Humboldt but you’re putting your face to it as a brand, and you’re also creating this historical opportunity for people to become destigmatized to what they think farmers in Humboldt County are like. What do you think that the drawbacks and the benefits of coming out and telling the story as a farmer can be?

Joey Shepp: Yeah. Well, I think you mentioned one of the big ones is destigmatizing it, really just showing that these farmers have families, they’re dedicated to their craft, they love it, they’ve been doing it for multiple generations and it’s really a big part of their lives, and they aren’t as fringe as you think. These people are doing a lot of the things that the rest of the world does; have families, fulfilling work, relationships, meaningful life. Yeah. I think that’s really what it’s been about for the farmers.

Bianca Green: When you look at some of the other competitors that are using the Humboldt name out there, what solidifies you as being different than some of the others? There’s a brand that is actually run by people in Chicago called Humboldt. There’s a few different other companies. How do you see yourself as being different and not better but in a different position than some of these other potential competitors?

Joey Shepp: Yeah. That’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot at this event. I look around and there’s quite a few vendors using the Humboldt name at all different levels of consciousness. You got even people walking around with signs that say “Humboldt Wholesale” right on their backpacks. It’s like, “Whoa, that’s the bottom of the rung.” I think the big difference for me is that we’re really looking beyond just the customer base that’s here at this event. This is our family, our friends. We love this community and everything, but honestly our customer is really a much larger audience than this. It’s really the people who maybe smoked a joint in college, then because it’s been illegal they stayed away from it, and now that recreational’s coming back they’re going to give it another try. That’s a statewide, that’s a nationwide, and potentially someday even a globalwide audience.

We’re really looking to not just appeal to the Northern California culture, which is amazing and we love it, but actually appeal to a much broader culture, one that not just cares about the potency of the ganja but also the story behind it. They’re used to buying brands at Whole Foods and things like this that have rich background stories. The modern consumer, especially the one willing to pay a premium, it isn’t just about the THC content in the product. It goes much beyond that. I think they could get high THC in a ton of different ways, so they’re going to pick one that has a story, something that’s a bit more elevated, a package that they can trust for consistency, for purity, for safety, all of those factors. We’re really trying to deliver that next-generation product that will be appealing to this huge influx of people into this market.

Bianca Green: That’s a super important thing right now for the new consumer to understand is that there is differences in the product. It’s very similar to a Costco brand or an organic Whole Foods brand. The one thing that I really appreciate about Humboldt’s Finest is you don’t outprice yourself. You don’t overprice yourself but you offer such a high quality product. How do you keep consistency in that product? From a sustainable sungrown perspective, what are some of the accoutrement that make you guys the craft cannabis artisan product?

Joey Shepp: Sure. Sure. Right now, the industry is still fairly unregulated. There’s not many certifications or standards that you can actually meet, let alone that you have to. We’re really taking a voluntary approach to go above and beyond and incorporate standards into our business. One is that we’re PFC certified, Patient Focused Certification.

Bianca Green: Through Americans for Safe Access, which is an amazing certification program. Any patient out there will know that they have very high standards in the product if it’s certified. Rigorous.

Joey Shepp: Their standards include safety, quality, potency, worker environment; all those kinds of factors are integrated in a really holistic certification. Three of our farms have already met that standard, and we have a whole line of farms who are working to also meet that standard. That’s one of the standards. Sungrown, which doesn’t have an official definition or certification per say, but we define it as growing with the sun the way nature intended. We’re really strongly behind the sungrown movement, and we really want to show that you can have premium cannabis with sungrown also.

Bianca Green: Also, I actually prefer sungrown cannabis. A lot of people really don’t even know that there is a difference. I appreciate the organic consistency, in a sense, of the sungrown plant. What are some of the biggest differences between indoor and outdoor growing just because I don’t think our … A lot of people know but certain people in our audience have no idea.

Joey Shepp: Absolutely. Well, I think some historical context is important here because why indoor growing really started was because prohibition. People needed to hide it. That became the state of the art because that was the only way you could grow it for the most part. As prohibition started to roll back and lift, people started to come back out and grow it outdoors, which was obviously the way that it was done for many, many years before that. Now, you’re seeing a resurgence and a new artistry around the sungrown. Yeah.

Many benefits. Environmental benefits. It doesn’t require fossil fuels, obviously. Over 8% of California’s energy right now is used by indoor grow operations. If this movement is going to scale to supply product to all the millions of people coming into it, sungrown is the only way be scalable. Just from a shear economic perspective, you look at other commodity crops and everything; corn, soy, nothing’s grown with lights, just not feasible. That’s just the bottom line that sungrown will become the norm because it’s just much more feasible to grow to scale.

Some more interesting things are, there’s a study that was done in Washington with over 2,000 samples of cannabis showing that outdoor has a fuller bouquet of terpene profile. This means that better flavors perhaps, more medicinal benefits, the entourage effect of all the terpenes working together. I think we’re really at the start of really seeing sungrown become an artisan element. I think indoor has been perfected, and there’s obviously some amazing product coming out of there, even some organic indoor that I think is still great. Sungrown is really starting to hit its momentum right now. I think the farmers who have been doing it for the past ten years since they’re able to come out of the darkness and into the light; they’re starting to really get their craft down. I think that with a little education, the consumer will see that sungrown, grown the way nature intended, is really an amazing product and can deliver flavor, potency, and environmental benefits.

Bianca Green: What is it about Humboldt’s region that makes it … I don’t want to say, again, better but unique, I would say?

Joey Shepp: Absolutely. Well, I think that at its root, Humboldt has a perfect climate for growing cannabis, basically hot days, cool nights. That just happens to be perfect for ripening the flowers and all these other benefits. Another benefit that people might not see right away is the multi-generational knowledge of how to grow. When my parents moved up to the land, it was some of the first movement of farmers coming into what was logged land. It was brand new, started there, how do we do this, and it became a craft after a while. Now we have multi-generational farmers who have all that knowledge.

You also just have a huge community that can share knowledge with one another. You also have a supply chain that’s built around Humboldt; soil companies, nutrients, trading of clones and nurseries, and all these things really created a mecca for growers. As it becomes legal, we’re going to see lots of other areas become good at growing cannabis too. I think Humboldt will always have the reputation, definitely has a head start with the culture, and I think the climate will always be good there. I think that there’s always room for craft cannabis and Humboldt will be one of the main suppliers of that.

Bianca Green: One of the things that I love about Humboldt’s Finest, the founders, yourself, and Kristen; you guys have had, through Kristen Nevedal who started the Emerald Grower’s Association … Sorry. It started as Humboldt Grower’s Association, which turned into Emerald Grower’s Association, which is now California Grower’s Association was essentially founded by Kristen who is one of the wives of the founders. You’ve had advocacy in your business model for a long time. You guys came in and sponsored the Spark the Conversation bus tour about personal freedom and that was a huge thing. Tell me about some of the advocacy things that you have built into the business model for the vision of the future of Humboldt’s Finest.

Joey Shepp: Sure. Absolutely. At the beginning, sustainability is one of our core elements. Not only do we want to communicate to the consumer that we’re sustainable so they can feel good, we also want to help other farmers be more sustainable. That’s sungrown, new term that we’re putting out there is raingrown so actually capturing rainwater rather than diverting creeks, better for the salmon, better for the rivers. Sustainability’s a really core element.

One of the campaigns that we’re looking at, because we really want to help Humboldt County in specific and we want our products to connect to that, so we’re working with a nonprofit right now to actually have a portion of our product sales go into preserving land in Humboldt. Basically, every eighth that you would buy, every pre-rolled joint would preserve a certain amount of square footage of acreage in Humboldt County so that it won’t be logged in the future.

We want a real connection with our customers where they buy one of our products and they feel connected to Humboldt County. Maybe they’ve come to Humboldt County as a tourist and seen the beautiful Redwood trees, the Lost Coast, things like that and they want to help preserve that or maybe they want to connect to it. Maybe they feel like they’re a back-to-lander, even if they live in the city, in their own way they want to support that culture and that movement and things like that. Those are some of the activist elements that I think we’re really big about; sustainability and the environment and protecting Humboldt County.

Bianca Green: It’s such a huge element. You know how passionate I am about advocacy and being socially responsible to some degree, and it’s so good to see businesses participating in helping to be a part of not only their local community but also a global conversation. We built out assets for your brand vision, and I personally still have yet to see people creating commercials, cannabis commercials. We did this awesome series that is at Humboldtsfinestfarms.com right now that you can see that articulates Humboldt, a bit of the brand vision, and some of the sungrown conversation. What made you guys want to actually create commercials? Is it that you wanted the opportunity to be the first or be a really large voice for Humboldt County? Obviously, I think it was a very smart business move because it’s a historic opportunity. We are in the land in the moment and the Zeitgeist right now is that we are making history. Tell me a little bit about that process and for you guys and the founders what it was like to put your faces out there.

Joey Shepp: Absolutely. Video’s just a major paradigm as far as the way people communicate and digest content, so video’s just really got to be an important marketing strategy for anybody. For us, video it’s very intimate and we wanted to break down those barriers and show people this is who your farmers are, this is what the culture is, we can be a little funny, we can be dramatic, we can have all these different angles that bring in the customer into an experience where they might not be able to go to Humboldt but they can experience it through video. That ability to connect with the farmer, connect with the land of Humboldt, connect with the culture, have a few laughs along the way I think it’s just a really great way to connect to a lot of people virtually and bring them into the brand. I think video is just a great asset for that.

Bianca Green: Some of the videos I loved. The farm to table, obviously, is so awesome because a lot of people, including my family in Indiana, were able to take a look at that and say, “Those are the farmers that you’re working with?” It really destigmatizes what people think the Humboldt cannabis farmer is. You got a good-looking group. You got a good-looking group of farmers.

Joey Shepp: These are all healthy, functional people, many with families, and it’s a way of living for people. It maybe started as counterculture but it’s really quickly moving out of the counterculture into the mainstream. Our farmers want to connect with that just like you’d buy your organic kale and you’d want to know how far away was it grown and what was the farm, maybe might do a farm tour someday, those kinds of things. We see a lot of parallels with the natural food movement and the way that people want to connect with their source. We’re trying to deliver that same experience of origin, source, and especially in Humboldt County.

Bianca Green: Well, tell me a little bit about what is in store for Humboldt’s Finest for 2017. I know that you’re launching here, and it was a bit of a soft launch. You guys have been coming to market through advocacy through your video series. What’s next in 2017? What do we have to look forward to?

Joey Shepp: Absolutely. We just launched our new product line, which includes a compostable boxed eighth, a six pack of joints, and a single one gram pre-roll. We’ve got all the flower represented. Really want to start there with the authentic flower, see what sungrown can do. The next wave, as a lot of people right now, is moving into extraction. We’re working hard right now on setting up an extraction facility that can be used by Humboldt farmers. We’re going to be releasing more of the videos that we’ve been working on all this year, so we have a roll out of those. We’ve got a few new products that are a little bit secret right now. We’ll be able to talk about them soon. Really product innovation, packaging innovation, bringing more farmers on board through certification, that’s really where we’re at right now. We’ve started making our mark, but I think really 2017 is really going to be our big launch year.

Bianca Green: Great. When do you guys hit stores?

Joey Shepp: January, February. Our first batch is going out later this month. We’re going to test it in a few stores, and then you should find it in over 200 dispensaries within a couple of months.

Bianca Green: Great. Is there anywhere that people can know to go to get it or should they go to Humboldt’s Finest Farm …

 

Joey Shepp: Yeah, come to our website. We have a where to buy page at Humboldtsfinestfarms.com. That’ll have an ongoing real time list of the dispensaries that have our products.

Bianca Green: Great. Is there anything you want to tell our audience of entrepreneurs about getting into the cannabis industry and what some of the challenges and or the victories might have been in this last year with this brand and coming to market?

Joey Shepp: Well, like any new industry, there’s just tons of opportunity for innovation. Big areas like chemistry and genetics, so the whole sciences. If you have a background in chemistry or biology or anything like that, there’s a huge need for lab testing, verification, all that kind of stuff. In the technology and hardware space; vaporizers, new extraction methods, all of those are going to take a lot of engineering, a lot of technology. If you have an engineering background or product design, technology there’s huge realms there. If you’re into software, there’s going to be a huge amount of software needed to run all this regulatory stuff, be able to … Everything from tracking your farm to tracking your sales, all the way along there. I think software’s a big growth area. Marketing and branding. If you have a marketing and branding agency, being able to really focus in on cannabis in specific and know the nuance elements. Legal, just huge realm for law to come forward. All these little farms need help with that. Even the farms themselves need help, so people who want to go and work on farms can come up to Humboldt and connect with a farmer. Really there’s just a ton of areas that anybody with some innovation willing to get in on the ground floor of a new industry could make a really good life for themselves.

Bianca Green: Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Joey Shepp, CEO of Humboldt’s Finest Farms. Tell our audience again where they can find you.

Joey Shepp: Absolutely. At Humboldtsfinestfarms.com.

Bianca Green: And social media is Humboldt’s Finest on Instagram.

Joey Shepp: Yep, on Instagram.

Bianca Green: That’s the pinnacle. It leads everybody everywhere anyway.

Joey Shepp: Yeah. It’s the visual. People want to see it.

Bianca Green: Yeah. Well, thanks, Joey for coming and making the time at the Emerald Cup here for the Spark the Conversation podcast sponsored by our awesome partners at Ganjapreneur.com.

Joey Shepp: Thanks, Bianca.

Bianca Green: Spark the Conversation is really excited to do this partnership with Ganjapreneur.com creating these podcasts. It’s a resource for cannabis professionals, advocates, patients, business owners, anyone really who’s in favor of responsible growth. Visit Ganjapreneur.com for daily cannabis news, career openings, company profiles, and of course more episodes of this podcast. We’re thankful to them and the partnership that we have with them and we appreciate the fact that they spark the conversation and help ganjapreneurs grow.

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A woman doubled over in pain her backyard.

New York Assembly Committee Approves Adding Severe Menstrual Pain to MMJ List

6/01/2017

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The New York Assembly’s Health Committee approved a bill last week that would add dysmenorrhea as a qualifying condition for medical cannabis access, Newsweek reports. Dysmenorrhea is the medical term for severe pain and discomfort associated with menstruation.

The measure is sponsored in the Assembly by Democratic state Sen. Linda Rosenthal who has championed other women’s issues in the state legislature, such as a bill passed last year that removed sales taxes on feminine hygiene products in the state.

“I met with a force of a woman named Whoopi Goldberg, and she’s been a longtime expert on medical marijuana. I met with her and spoke with her, and she’s been passionate about easing women’s suffering by using medical marijuana,” Rosenthal said in the report. “I thought this was a great opportunity to create an impact with a passionate supporter and help women access something new that can help relieve what cripples some of them during that time of the month.”

Last year Goldberg partnered with Maya Elisabeth to launch Whoopi & Maya brand cannabis products that are geared toward combating menstrual pain.

Rosenthal explained that while some women experience “mild discomfort” during their menstrual cycle, some “can’t leave their bed for a week.”

“People are starting to understand that medical marijuana is a useful tool to relieve suffering and women’s suffering from severe menstrual cramps,” she said.

After being moved from the Health Committee, the full House will consider the plan. If approved, it will move to the Senate.

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Conservative Canadian Lawmakers Oppose Home Cannabis Cultivation

6/01/2017

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Members of Canada’s Conservative Party are opposing home-growing provisions in the Liberal plan to legalize cannabis, arguing that home cultivation will make access to cannabis easier for children, the Canadian Press reports. Under the plan, Canadians would be allowed to grow up to four plants, which Conservative MP Rob Nicholson says runs counter to the policy goal of keeping cannabis out of the hands of minors. He is urging Liberal leaders to remove the provision from the measure.

“I can’t understand how the Liberals can be making this point that somehow, ‘Yes, we’re protecting our children here, and guess what? You’re only going to get four plants,’” he said in the report. “Get rid of that whole thing. Get the plants out of people’s houses here. Nobody wants that.”

Nicholson has proposed a motion to stop the bill from a second reading until the home grow provisions are removed from the proposal; however the House has neither allowed nor denied the request.

Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu expressed concerns that children could become “drug mules” in schools if individuals are allowed to grow cannabis in their homes, and suggested that “kids eat plants all the time” and would mistakenly eat the cannabis plants.

Liberal MP Bill Blair, parliamentary secretary to the minister of justice, said the current system fails to protect youth and the reforms, which limits cannabis purchases to adults 18-and-older, would make it harder for children to buy cannabis.

“It’s a fact our kids are using cannabis at a higher rate than any other country in the world, and the cannabis that they’re using, they’re getting from organized crime…they’re getting from criminals,” he said.

Previously, Canadian lawmakers have expressed concerns over the cost of the registry and enforcement measures, and what the tax rate on legal sales would be.

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The Rhode Island State Capitol Building in Providence, Rhode Island.

Rhode Island Assembly to Vote on Creating Cannabis Legalization Committee

6/01/2017

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Lawmakers in Rhode Island are expected to vote on a measure today that would create a 17-member panel to “conduct a comprehensive review and make recommendations regarding marijuana and the effects of its use” to the General Assembly, laying the foundation for an adult-use legalization vote next session, the Providence Journal reports. The commission would be required to report its findings by Mar. 1, 2018.

The measure is sponsored by state Rep. Dennis Canario, a Democrat and retired police officer, and has the support of Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin and Smart Approaches to Marijuana – a group that opposes cannabis legalization.

The commission would be comprised of three senators and three representatives, providing that no more than two from each chamber are from the same political party; a representative from SAM, or a similar organization; a member of a pro-legalization group; the president of the Substance Abuse Mental Health Council of RI; the executive director of the Rhode Island Medical Society; the director of the state Department of Health; the president of the Rhode Island Police Chiefs Association; a member of the local chamber of commerce; an educator; a mental health professional; a representative of medical cannabis patients; and the attorney general.

The majority of the commission appointments would be made by the Senate president, while the remaining seats would be appointed by the House speaker.

A 2009 legislative study on the prohibition of cannabis in Rhode Island led to statewide decriminalization in 2010.

If the Assembly passes the measure it would be sent to Senate for consideration.

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The Welcome to Colorado sign in Montezuma, Colorado.

Study: Cannabis Legalization Has Little Impact on Border States

6/01/2017

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A working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that cannabis legalization has had little effect on neighboring states but that arrests for cannabis possession in border states have increased 30 percent. Those arrests, however, are almost entirely adults.

“[Legalization] has no impact on juvenile marijuana possession arrests,” the report says, adding that border county arrests cannot be tied directly to legalization by their neighbor. “Police officers might adopt new techniques or use more resources toward cracking down on what they perceive to be more illegal marijuana possession.”

Furthermore, the paper, titled The Cross-Border Spillover Effects of Recreational Marijuana Legalization, found that neighboring states are likely spending more tax dollars to prosecute low-level cannabis offenders.

Additionally, the authors concluded that drunk-driving arrests decreased in both Washington and Colorado border and non-border counties; and those counties employed more police officers. The authors suggest that prohibition could cause an increase in law enforcement and criminal justice spending in non-legal states.

“We do not find evidence that marijuana sale/manufacture arrests, DUI arrests, or opium/cocaine possession arrests in border counties are affected by [recreational marijuana legalization],” the authors state.

According to ArcView Group research published in January, the legal cannabis industry could reach $20 billion by 2020 and in legal states, taxes derived from the industry are often used for education, law enforcement, and substance abuse programs.

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President Barack Obama speaks to a crowd in 2012 of about 500 at a fundraiser at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn.

Obama Drug Czar Office Wanted to Decriminalize Cannabis

5/31/2017

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Office of National Drug Control Policy officials under President Barack Obama wanted to decriminalize cannabis possession nationally but never made the case publicly, according to a Huffington Post report. Former ONDCP Deputy Director A. Thomas McLellan, who worked with the agency during Obama’s first term, said the office was “in favor of decriminalizing but not legalizing.”

Michael Botticelli, who served as director of the ONDCP from Mar. 2014 until the end of Obama’s term, said that officials were hamstrung by provisions in the 1988 law that created the office which stated that “the legalization of illegal drugs is an unconscionable surrender in the war on drugs.” Later, when the office was reauthorized, it was stipulated that the office could not use federal funds to study the legalization of any Schedule I drugs. Language was also included that directed the office to “oppose any attempt to legalize” cannabis.

“It forced the office to take a policy position that it may or may not agree to,” Botticelli said in the report.

Another unnamed former ONDCP employee said the statute undermined the authority of agency employees and “makes it look like the office’s primary purpose is to oppose marijuana.”

Botticelli called new directives by Attorney General Jeff Sessions – returning to Drug War-era mandatory minimum sentences – “very alarming,” saying it is an approach that, historically, “doesn’t seem to have made a significant difference.”

“It seems like we are moving backwards instead of forward,” he said. “And to a position that I think doesn’t have a lot of science and evidence.”

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Nevada Gov. Vetoes Bill Allowing Health Professionals to Administer Hemp Topicals

5/31/2017

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Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval has vetoed a bill that would have allowed massage therapists and healthcare providers to administer hemp-based products, such as topicals, to patients or clients, the Nevada Independent reports. The measure would have also provided protections for professionals from licensing boards for using medical or recreational cannabis or expressing their opinions about cannabis.

In his veto message, Sandoval said the legislation “raises several questions regarding the use of medical and recreational marijuana” and that it would be “unwise” to limit the authority of licensing boards.

“It is also imprudent to expand possible uses of recreational marijuana by allowing topical application of products containing marijuana and hemp by massage therapists and others,” Sandoval wrote in the message. “These are subjects that warrant further study and review to consider the efficacy, health effects, and legality of these issues.”

The bill was introduced by Sen. Tick Seagerblom, passing the Senate in April and the Assembly in May across party lines in both chambers.

Nevada voters legalized adult cannabis use during November’s general election and the Nevada Tax Commission adopted “Early Start” plans on May 8. Under the plan the state would roll out the adult-use regime six months earlier than expected, allowing current medical dispensaries to apply to sell cannabis products to anyone 21-and-older.

However, last week Douglas County attorney Jim Hartman filed a complaint with the state attorney general’s office claiming the Tax Commission broke a state law because their May 8 agenda didn’t reference “marijuana, early start, or Question 2.”

If the agenda is found to have violated state law the commission would have to revisit the agenda on June 26.

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Newark, Ohio City Council Mulling MMJ Moratorium

5/31/2017

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A medical cannabis moratorium is likely on the horizon in Ohio as Newark City Council’s economic development committee voted 3-2 to move a proposed 180-day ban to the full council, the Newark Advocate reports. The move comes after the council tabled a law that would have enacted an outright ban on medical cannabis businesses within the city.

Councilman Bill Cost, a Democrat, said while he isn’t opposed to medical cannabis he wants to make sure the city is being thorough with the rules.

“What I’m looking for in this moratorium is to again just shut down this process temporarily of the dispensaries and the locations until we have solid answers from the state,” he said in the report.

Ohio lawmakers approved medical cannabis legislation last September and the rules governing the program are still being written by officials across several state agencies. They are not expected to be implemented until September 2018.

Republican Councilman Mark Frazier, who voted against the moratorium, said he would rather see the city create zoning rules specifically for Newark. Under the state law, dispensaries are already prohibited 500 feet from schools, churches, libraries, playgrounds, and public parks. City officials could limit the number of dispensaries, stipulate that shops can’t be right next to each other, and require local licenses, Frazier said.

Newark Law Director Doug Sasson said the council could develop such zoning rules while the moratorium is in place.

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Australia’s ‘Dr. Pot’ Arrested, Charged with Drug Crimes

5/31/2017

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An Australian physician who has experimented with the medical uses of cannabis since 1990 has been arrested and charged with drug possession, according to a Daily Telegraph report. Dr. Andrew Katelaris, 62, was arrested in his home where police seized cannabis and cash they claim is proceeds from crime.

Katelaris was deregistered as a physician in 2005 after he was found to have given medical cannabis to children suffering from seizure disorders. Following his arrest, he was jailed and refused bail. During his court appearance, he entered no plea, was granted bail, and scheduled to appear in court on June 28.

Last year, Katelaris was referred to police for injecting doses of cannabis oil into two ovarian cancer patients which, according to the report, caused “catastrophic” illness that included severe pain, delusions, and vomiting. In that case, Health Care Complaints Commission investigators found the doctor had obtained the cannabis on the illicit market and did not test it before injecting it into the women. According to an Echonetdaily report, Katelaris had also been treating a 4-year-old who suffers from spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy who was taken from his parents after a news broadcast featured Katelaris administering cannabis oil to the child.

Katelaris has been arrested in the past for giving patients cannabis oils and admits to supplying CBD-dominant cannabis to more than 50 children suffering from seizure disorders.

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Looking down Michigan Avenue in the Corktown district of Detroit, Michigan.

Detroit, Michigan Officials Plan to Close Another 51 ‘Illegal’ Dispensaries

5/30/2017

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Another 51 dispensaries in Detroit, Michigan are set to be shuttered in the coming weeks as city officials continue cracking down on shops they say are operating illegally, the Detroit Free Press reports. City officials want to limit the number of dispensaries in the city to 50 and have, so far, shut down 167 since Mar. 1, 2016 – when the city’s medical cannabis ordinances took effect.

Only five dispensaries have been licensed and are allowed to legally operate under the city regime.

According to Detroit corporation counsel Melvin Butch Hollowell, the city has chosen to enforce the ordinances with administrative actions and court orders instead of using law enforcement resources and personnel.

“We take the report from the team and then we attach that to a complaint that’s filed in Wayne County Circuit Court,” Hollowell said in the report. “We ask the court for order of closure and padlocking. … We haven’t lost one of those cases yet.”

If officials are successful in their next round of closures, 218 total dispensaries will have been shut down by the city since the new rules took effect. The rules require businesses to obtain the proper licensing, prohibits them from operating within a 1,000-foot radius of places considered drug-free zones under city law, and requires them to close by 8 p.m.

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A hand-operated herb grinder propped up on a few nugs of cannabis.

Lawsuit Claiming California City Conspired Against Popular 4/20 Party Moves Forward

5/30/2017

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The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a lawsuit against Arcata, California by cannabis advocate Gregory Allen alleging that officials conspired to shut down a 4/20 celebration at Redwood Park can move forward after a lower court dismissed the suit in 2015, according to a report from Vocativ.

The initial 2014 lawsuit was dismissed by U.S. District Judge James Donato in 2015 who said that the injuries alleged in the suit occurred in 2010 and, therefore, did not fall within the two-year statute of limitations. The 9th Circuit Court ruled that Allen should have been given the opportunity to amend the suit to include other years he claims city officials conspired against the celebration.

In the suit, Allen claims that after the party was featured in a 2009 A&E documentary city officials began coming up with excuses to thwart the event. One year, the complaint alleges, that the city scheduled a “tree-limbing operation,” and another year 2,000 pounds of “smelly fish-emulsion fertilizer” was spread throughout the park. This year, Allen accuses officials of simply locking the gates to the public park.

“If you can’t express yourself on the parks and streets of this country, you’re in a police state,” Allen’s attorney, Peter Martin, said in the report. “It’s a fundamental right that we’ve enjoyed since the founding of the republic.”

City Manager Karen Diemer believes “there are additional grounds” to dismiss the case entirely but did not elaborate.

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Ohio MMJ Patients Seeking Relief in Michigan Ahead of Program Rollout

5/30/2017

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As Ohio officials craft rules to govern the state’s medical cannabis program, some physicians are already writing patient recommendations and some of those patients are crossing the border into Michigan to procure products despite it being federally illegal to cross state lines with cannabis, the Associated Press reports.

Ohio’s medical cannabis law approved last year requires that dispensaries must be operating by September; however, some Detroit-area dispensaries are accepting out-of-state recommendations. Doctors at Toledo’s Omni Medical Services are relying on “affirmative defense” provisions included in the state law that would allow patients to use letters in court if cited or arrested for cannabis possession ahead of the state’s dispensaries opening.

In Ohio, possession of fewer than 100 grams is a minor misdemeanor which carries a maximum $150 fine, but could also force the offender to lose their driver’s license for up to six months.

Louis Johnson, managing director of Omni, said the company has conferred with both the Ohio Medical Board and attorneys before their doctors started making recommendations.

“We know what we’re doing is legal,” Johnson said in the report. “We’re out in the open. We’re not hiding in the dark. We’re not here to serve people to get high.”

The medical board said they would investigate complaints against doctors recommending medical cannabis but did not indicate whether those following the provision’s requirements could face discipline.

A bill to amend Ohio’s medical cannabis law to ban reciprocity with other state programs is still being considered in the legislature.

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A cannabis plant tilted sideways from the weight of its heavy cola, pictured inside of a licensed cultivation center in Washington.

Australia’s Revised MMJ Rules Not Improving Access

5/30/2017

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Despite a ruling by Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration to make medical cannabis more available for patients, some lawmakers are arguing that the scheme has actually made access more difficult, the Australian Broadcasting Company reports.

Under the original plan, first approved in 1992, a limited number of patients were allowed access to medical cannabis, under what was known as Category A. Under that scheme, physicians were allowed to prescribe cannabis to terminally ill patients without needing to seek prior authorization. However, under the new Category B scheme, prior approval is required. Green Party leader Richard Di Natale says means there is no longer fast access to two specific cannabis-based drugs.

“So it’s fair to say that it’s now harder to access medicinal cannabis or related products than it was prior to this legislation, through Category A,” he said in the report.

Professor John Skerritt, the Health Department deputy secretary in charge of drug regulation, said that while officials are working to improve access under the new regime, “there’s product sitting in warehouses in major capital cities of Australia, and the Commonwealth is taking two days in its approvals.”

“There are supplies of the cannabidiol-rich medicines sitting in Australia, sufficient to treat many hundreds if not thousands of children, so they basically have to go through the process,” he said.

Skerritt said that there are just 24 physicians authorized to prescribe medical cannabis in Australia and fewer than 150 people have ever been given approval.

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View from under the canopy of a licensed indoor cannabis grow operation.

Nevada’s July 1 ‘Early Start’ Launch May Face Delays

5/29/2017

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A recent complaint filed by Douglas County attorney Jim Hartman may delay Nevada’s Early Start adult use cannabis regulations — adopted on May 8 by the Nevada Tax Commission — by up to two months from the July 1 target date.

According to a Las Vegas Review-Journal report, Hartman filed an official complaint last Wednesday with the Nevada attorney general’s office. In the complaint, which he had threatened to file during the May 8 meeting, Hartman argued that the May 8 meeting’s agenda broke state law because it “did not reference ‘marijuana,’ ‘early start’ or ‘Question 2.'”

Commissioners at the meeting chose to adopt regulations for the Early Start market anyway, saying at the time that they did not believe their agenda violated the law.

However, if the tax commission’s agenda is found to have violated state law, commissioners would have to revisit the agenda item on June 26 — which could mean a two-month delay for Nevada‘s adult use cannabis regime.

The Nevada Tax Commission began accepting applications earlier this month from existing medical cannabis companies to be the first participants in the state’s adult-use market.

Eight U.S. states (Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, Nevada, Maine, and Massachusetts) and Washington D.C. have legalized recreational cannabis.

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France Will End Prison Sentences for Cannabis Consumers

5/29/2017

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French officials have announced a plan to discontinue prison sentences for cannabis consumers by the year’s end, according to a Euronews report.

The change was a campaign promise of France’s newly elected liberal centrist President Emmanuel Macron and is a meaningful step toward cannabis reform for the country. However, according to government spokesperson Christophe Castaner, the plan stops short of fully decriminalizing the plant.

According to Castaner, it takes a police officer an average of six hours to carry out a single drug arrest, which can then cost magistrates a similar amount of time in carrying out the state’s punishment.

“Is the system effective? No,” Castaner said. “What is important today is to be efficient and above all to free up time for our police so they can focus more on essential matters.”

Under current French law, individuals caught using cannabis can face up to a year in jail and fines of up to €3,750.

The new law promises to end prison sentences for cannabis use. Instead — according to statements Macron made on the campaign trail — cannabis users who are caught by police may be ticketed up to a maximum of €100.

“It is a good idea that takes into account reality,” said Patrice Ribeiro, member of France’s police officers’ union. “Most police officers who stop consumers tell them to throw the joint away and then let them go.”

France is one of only six countries in the European Union that still considers cannabis use to be a crime — the majority of EU member countries have either decriminalized possession or, at the very least, have decriminalized the use of cannabis (though possession remains a crime).

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Commercial grade cannabis inside of a licensed grow operation.

New Mexico MMJ Company Wins Family Friendly Business Award

5/26/2017

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The Verdes Foundation, an Albuquerque-based medical cannabis company is the gold medal winner of the New Mexico Family-Friendly business award, Nonprofit Quarterly reports. The award is based on several factors including family leave policies, health and economic support and work schedules.

Rachael Speegle, Verdes’ director of operations, called the honor “the most proud acknowledgment and achievement” she’s earned as a business owner for the foundation.

“The entire point of our programs and our employment strategies is to try to have our business work for our community,” she said in the report.

In order to be considered for the gold medal, a company must have at least one policy in the four categories. Of Verdes’ 43 employees, 40 percent are salaried who earn $40,000 annually to start. The remaining 60 percent are non-exempt hourly employees who earn $15 per hour to start. Typically, they only have one available position per year but receive between 30 and 40 resumes per week for consideration.

Family Friendly New Mexico’s website suggests that “businesses with family-friendly practices” are more profitable and “enjoy higher employee retention, improved organizational citizenship behavior, and better work attitudes.”

Verdes wasNew Mexico‘s highest grossing medical cannabis organization in 2016.

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Close-up view of a medical cannabis plant's cola and sugar leaves.

CBD Seizure Drug Considered Effective Following FDA-Recognized Trials

5/26/2017

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A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine confirms what many patients, parents, advocates, and physicians already know – CBD reduces seizures. According to a Forbes report outlining the study, researchers found that patients with Dravet syndrome receiving CBD treatment experienced half the median seizure rate of the baseline rates from 12.4 to 5.9. In the placebo group, 60 patients total, their rates remained almost unchanged from 14.9 to 14.1.

Forty-three percent of participants receiving the oral solution CBD treatments experienced 50 percent reduction in the frequency of convulsive seizures, while 27 percent of the patients in the placebo group experienced such a reduction. One in 20 patients in the CBD group were seizure-free over the 14-week trial but no patient in the placebo group was seizure-free.

Patients in the CBD group did experience side effects including fever, sleepiness, vomiting, and changes in liver enzymes and more in the group withdrew from the trial.

The trial was conducted by GW Pharmaceuticals who manufacturers Epidiolex – a seizure drug which has been fast-tracked by the FDA. However, the drug would only be available to patients when all other conventional treatments have failed. GW is publicly traded on Nasdaq under the GWPH symbol.

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