Canadian medical cannabis producer Tilray has received the necessary approvals to export medical cannabis to New Zealand, and will supply Auckland’s Middlemore Hospital with cannabis oils containing both THC and CBD.
The approval by Canadian and New Zealand regulators expands Tilray’s international reach – last year they became the first company to legally export medicinal cannabis products from North America to the European Union and Australia. They were also the first North American medical cannabis producer to be certified under the European Medicines Agency’s Good Manufacturing Practice standards. This year, the company is eyeing export deals with additional European countries and in Latin America.
“We are proud to be able to offer patients in need access to high-quality, pharmaceutical-grade medical cannabis products,” Tilray President Brendan Kennedy said in a press release.
Last June, the company announced a deal to export medical cannabis products to Croatia. Their products are also being used in a New South Wales, Australia government-led study focused on using medical cannabis therapies to treat and prevent vomiting and nausea from chemotherapy; and another trial using Tilray products – focused on Dravet syndrome – conducted by Toronto’s Children’s Hospital is set to begin this year.
The first shipment of Tilray products to New Zealand is expected to arrive by the end of the month.
A measure to legalize CBD oil use for patients 18-years-old and younger has passed the Indiana Senate, which would allow some physicians, nurses, caregivers, and individuals to use the oil to treat intractable epilepsy, allowing pharmacies to dispense it. Under the proposal, the oil must be derived from industrial hemp, as it is required to meet the federal definition of hemp, which is set at .3 percent THC.
The bill (SB.15) would also establish a pilot study registry for physicians to study CBD as an epilepsy treatment. It does not include provisions allowing the cultivation of cannabis; however, Jeff Staker, head of Hoosier Veterans for Medical Cannabis, said the approval “could open the door” for other medical cannabis and hemp-related legislation in the state.
“Obviously we all see this as a huge step here in our state,” Staker said in an interview with Ganjapreneur. “It’s made from the cannabis plant and you got to get a prescription so it’s medical cannabis.”
According to the bill’s fiscal statement, the state Health Department could charge up to a $50 initial registration fee and up to $25 for a renewal. The authors estimate that the fees would top $158,000 during the first year, equating to a patient count of 3,160.
The measure, which passed the Senate 38-12, has been sent to the House.
Two bills have moved their way through separate houses of the New Mexico Legislature that would expand the state’s medical cannabis program, and exempt industrial hemp from New Mexico’s Controlled Substance Act.
The medical cannabis proposal, sponsored by Democratic Sen. Cisco McSorley, was approved by the Senate 29-11but only after an amendment was filed removing a provision which would have allowed all military veterans access to the program regardless of their medical conditions. Opponents argued that the language would have, in essence, legalized recreational cannabis use for veterans.
If approved by the House of Representatives and signed by Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, the measure would allow patients to possess up to 5 ounces of cannabis during a 30-day period, up from three, and allow licensed producers to possess up to 1,000 cannabis plants during a three-month period. The measure would also add “opiate use disorder” to the qualifying conditions list, allowing people undergoing addiction treatment to access the program.
McSorley, who sponsored the medical cannabis legislation enacted in the state in 2007, explained that while the initial bill “had numerous checks and balances” it has “become somewhat outdated” over the last decade.
“This is the first amendment we’ve done in 10 years to the medical cannabis program,” he said in a Santa Fe New Mexicanreport. “And there’s one thing this bill does. It helps the patients.”
The industrial hemp bill, sponsored by Republican Rep. Ricky Little, would allow farmers to cultivate industrial hemp in the state without a special license. Industrial hemp is defined under the 2014 federal Farm Bill as a plant from the cannabis genus that contains less than .3 percent THC. Under the Farm Bill, states are allowed to enact pilot programs, but it does not allow full-scale cultivation. According to the New Mexicanreport, Gov. Martinez vetoed legislation in 2015 that would have created a hemp pilot program in the state.
The medical cannabis expansion bill has been moved to the House but has not yet been moved to a committee. The industrial hemp bill has been sent to the Senate but not yet to a committee.
Arizona’s Senate Committee on Commerce and Public Safety voted 6-1 to approve industrial hemp production, processing, manufacturing, distribution, and commerce by licensed growers and processors in the state, according to a Capitol Media Servicesreport. The measure must be approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee before moving to the full Senate for a vote.
The proposal defines hemp according to the 2014 Farm Bill – as a plant from the cannabis genus that contains less than .3 percent THC. Under the measure, the state Department of Agriculture would issue licenses valid for two years, setting up an Industrial Hemp Trust Fun to fund the implementation and regulation of the program. According to a proposed amendment to the bill, execution of the program would require three new full-time positions in the Department of Agriculture to the tune of $250,000 in fiscal year 2017-2018. The department would also require another $422,000 to set up testing infrastructure.
During his testimony to the committee, Sen. Sonny Borrelli, a Republican and the bill sponsor, said that the state has been “missing out on a multi-billion-dollar industry” due to the prohibition of industrial hemp production.
According to the report, the only opposition came from Arizona attorney Bob Lynch, who represents irrigation districts that would supply the water to farmers.
In an interview with Capital Public Radio, Sacramento, California County Sheriff Scott Jones indicated that he has had conversations with Attorney General Jeff Sessions about cannabis policy which lead him to believe that Sessions will maintain the status quo in states with legal cannabis programs.
“Regarding the prioritization of federal resources to combat marijuana, he didn’t see the federal government getting involved in marijuana use or low-level state, what are traditionally state and local crimes, but, I don’t think he ruled out the possibility of the federal government getting involved in larger-scale operations,” he said.
Those “large-scale operations” would include trafficking by drug cartels, Jones said.
Jones’ take is the latest pointing toward the federal government continuing to take a hands-off approach to the legal cannabis industry despite the confirmation of Sessions – an admitted prohibitionist whose nomination culled unease for industry operators and stakeholders.
During his confirmation hearings, Sessions said he “won’t commit to never enforcing federal law,” explaining that he thought if prohibition was “not desired any longer…Congress should pass a law and change the rule.”
President Donald Trump has said he supports states’ rights and medical cannabis access.
The Drug Enforcement Agency has removed factually inaccurate information about cannabis from its website following public pressure and a legal request filed last year by Americans for Safe Access.
The legal request, filed with the Department of Justice, argued that the DEA website contained more than 25 false statements about cannabis – a violation of the Information Quality Act – 23 of which appeared in a publication titled “Dangers and Consequences of Marijuana.”
Steph Sherer, executive director of Americans for Safe Access, suggested that the removal of the “myths,” which included claims that cannabis was a gateway drug, contributed to lung cancer and psychosis, and caused an irreversible cognitive decline in adults, “could mean the end of the Washington gridlock” over cannabis policy.
“This is a victory for medical cannabis patients across the nation, who rely on cannabis to treat serious illnesses. The federal government now admits that cannabis is not a gateway drug, and doesn’t cause long-term brain damage, or psychosis,” Sherer said in a statement. “While the fight to end stigma around cannabis is far from over, this is a big first step.”
According to a press release, the federal government is already a week past the required deadline to respond to the legal petition over claims that the DEA is still actively spreading false information about cannabis.
Americans for Safe Access has also sent a letter to the DEA urging them to “correct its inaccurate statements” regarding cannabis in light of the confirmation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who they claim “has made several statements demonstrating his beliefs that cannabis is a gateway drug and that its psychological effects are permanent.”
“As the top law enforcement official in the nation, Mr. Sessions must have access to accurate information based on current scientific data in order to make informed decisions regarding the enforcement (or non-enforcement) of federal drug laws,” the letter states. “Allowing Mr. Sessions to make law enforcement decisions based on biased, out-of-date information does a tremendous disservice to ASA’s members and the American people at large.”
Legal cannabis customers in Oregon can now order deliveries from recreational dispensaries under a plan adopted by the state Liquor Control Commission, WwKYCreports. The agency has approved 117 retailer delivery permits across the state, including 13 in Portland.
The regulations allow licensed dispensaries to deliver only within the city they are licensed in, requiring the products to be transported in a locked box secured to the delivery vehicle, which can carry no more than $3,000 worth of product at one time. Cannabis can only be delivered between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. to residential homes, and not to places like dorms, hotels, or campgrounds. Customers must provide proof of age and sign for the delivery.
According to OLCC Spokesman Mark Pettinger the plan had to be postponed until this month so the agency could set up the appropriate infrastructure.
“We needed to make an adaptation to the cannabis tracking system to provide a document that would actually allow for the delivery of recreational marijuana to homes,” he said in the report.
Spencer Krutzler, manager of Portland’s La Cannaisseur, said that since launching the service the company has only had a few online orders so far.
“It’s super exciting,” he said. “I definitely expect to a smile on everyone’s face when we show up to that front door.”
Two patients suffering from chronic pain have been approved for medical cannabis use in Sweden, marking the first time the condition has been deemed eligible to access the nation’s program, according to a report from The Local. The individuals both suffer from severe back injuries and their doctors appealed to the Medical Products Agency on their behalf.
Dr. Fredrik von Kieseritzky, who advised the physicians involved with the patients on the case, called the MPA approval “pragmatic,” indicating that the patients were advised to use an edible delivery method rather than smoking.
“For me personally it is important to keep a watertight distinction between medicinal and recreational cannabis,” he said in the report.
The patients’ cannabis will be supplied by the government, who uses a Dutch company for its supply.
Karl Mikael Kälkner, a representative for the Swedish MPA, said that the decision was “not an approval of the use of cannabis in general” as registration in Sweden’s medical cannabis program is still determined on a case-by-case basis.
“There is clearly some potential for abuse. This is a drug that is illegal to possess and consume. But we have other medicines that are also classed as narcotics,” he said. “If the rules are correctly followed then there is no reason that [cannabis] should not be used as a preparation in a clinical setting.”
West Palm Beach, FL –The first business conference designed for east coast states that have recently adopted medical and recreational marijuana will be held on March 18th and 19th at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City. National and regional experts will advise on licensing, regulations, growing, medical recommendations, extracts, edibles, labs, delivery systems, taxes and banking.
Watch highlights from a Meet the Experts conference:
Event producers Rhory Gould and Robert Platshorn brought together a roster of outstanding cannabis professionals to speak, advise, meet and network for two full days. Key Note speakers include award-winning Denver Relief Consulting and Discovery Channel’s Master Grower, Mike Boutin. Attendance is limited to a maximum of 450. All ticket sales benefit The Silver Tour, a non-profit that teaches seniors the benefits of cannabis.
These conferences are common in Colorado and California, but east coast states are relatively new to the industry. According to producer Robert Platshorn, “States from Florida to Maine passed new cannabis laws in 2016. Most are just now writing their regulations or have just announced licensing opportunities. Confusion about who can do what or who can be licensed, is rife. Doctors need guidelines. Growers want information on legal growing. Labs, labeling and packaging are new to many aspiring entrepreneurs. Meet the Experts will focus on this information void.”
This is the fifth Meet the Experts conference. Prior conferences sold out and drew praise from attendees and industry leaders.
Crowd’s view during a presentation from the 2014 Meet the Experts.
“I have to say I’ve been to hundreds of conferences as a psychologist and that was the best, most rich in content, meaningful conference I’ve ever been to. Right up to all the details of the meals, the networking, and discounted accommodations,” said Kelly Sachs of ASA. “Really well done!”
Fun times at the Meet the Experts’ 2014 conference.
According to producer Rhory Gould, “Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City is the perfect venue for a Business to Business Spring Break. Easy to reach from most cities. Harrah’s has made a hundred rooms available to ticket holders at a deep discount.” Information and tickets are available at http://www.meetexperts.org/.
For photos and interviews contact Robert Platshorn at Meettheexperts@gmx.com, cell # 954-773-6967.
Nevada Department of Taxation officials have proposed a timeline for the implementation of the voter-backed adult-use cannabis industry, expecting it to launch as early as July 1, the Associated Pressreports. The target is well in advance of the Jan. 1, 2018 deadline required under the law.
Tax department Executive Director Deonne Contine said that medical cannabis operators in good standing would be eligible to apply for temporary licenses and should be able to start selling cannabis to adults 21 and older by this summer. The department started crafting the rules and regulations for the program in November and Contine said she expects to have a draft of those regulations by March and begin the licensing process by May.
Contine indicated that Nevada’s rules and regulations borrow heavily from Colorado’s adult-use scheme and from Nevada’s own medical cannabis regime. Retail sales will be taxed 15 percent in the state.
Joe Pollock, deputy administrator of the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health and an overseer of the medical cannabis program, said that the new system must ensure that medical cannabis prices are lower than recreational prices otherwise patients won’t have much incentive to use remain enrolled in the program; just 482 of the 25,000 registered patients in Nevada are under 21. Pollock was also concerned with how the commercial market would impact the informal market because, currently, “the rurals don’t have dispensaries.”
“If anything, I would be worried that the black market would move toward those rural counties because the recreational marijuana will not be available conveniently in those counties,” he said in the report.
Potential canna-business owners who are not currently operators in the state will likely have to wait until at least October 2018 to apply for a license.
A bill that would remove hemp from New Mexico’s controlled substance list has passed through the state’s House Labor and Economic Development Committee, moving it to the House for a full vote, according to a report from the Tenth Amendment Center. If approved, the measure, HB.166 sponsored by Republican Rep. Ricky Little, would allow full-scale commercial hemp farming.
Under than plan, hemp cultivation would not require any special license, treating the crop like any other agricultural product so long as it’s THC content is not more than .3 percent, as defined under the 2014 federal Farm Bill. The bill passed the committee 10 to 1 after passing through the Agriculture and Water Resources Committee 7 to 1 last month.
According to the fiscal impact report accompanying the bill, no government agency reported a positive or negative financial impact in the state, although Little wrote that “there could be some reduction in prosecutions for cultivation, possession or trafficking in this substance.”
If the measure is approved, New Mexico would join California, Massachusetts, Maine, Oregon, Colorado, and Vermont in allowing industrial hemp production within the state.
Little has also introduced HB.154 this session, which would establish an industrial hemp research and development program in the state, which would require licensing. That bill unanimously passed the House Agriculture and Water Resources Committee on Jan. 31.
Alaska’s Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office have seized thousands of dollars’ worth of imported CBD oil from the state’s licensed retail cannabis shops over confusion about their place in the state’s adult-use regulatory structure, the Alaska Journalreports.
Sara Chambers, acting director of the office, said that the agency is “managing this developing situation with the utmost care and concern.”
“Specific details cannot be released at this time because of the ongoing investigation,” she said in the report. “Further details will be released as they become available to ensure that licensees and the public are fully educated and informed as to what the law requires concerning sale of marijuana products.”
According to the report, much of Alaska’s CBD products come from the Alaska Cannabis Exchange and owner Aaron Ralph indicated that they receive their products from industrial hemp pilot program approved in the Lower 48 under the 2014 federal Farm Bill, which are classified as industrial hemp products.
Harriet Milks, legal counsel for the AMCO, said she was aware of potential issues with the products as retail shops started selling them in recent weeks.
“What is this product? We need to find out what it is,” she said. “If it’s a marijuana product under our law I think we have a problem because it doesn’t seem to be packaged or tested or tracked according to Alaska regulations…if it’s not marijuana under our law, that’s a different story.”
Ireland’s Health Products Regulatory Authority working group has released a report outlining its recommendations for medical cannabis access in the country, which include just three qualifying conditions – multiple sclerosis, chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting, and severe, treatment-resistant epilepsy.
Dr. Lorraine Nolan, HRPA chief executive, said the limited scope of the program is partly due to insufficient clinical data, and the agency’s desire to be able to authorize cannabis as a medicine as soon as it can “meet the same regulatory standards as that of every other medicine on the market.”
“As we are not yet at that point, permitting access to cannabis for medical use is ultimately a societal and policy decision which has to balance the lack of scientific evidence against patient-led demand,” Nolan said in a statement. “As things currently stand, if cannabis products are to be made available through an access program, it will be important that patients and healthcare professionals are aware of the limitations that will apply. The safety, quality and effectiveness of these products cannot be guaranteed or compared with the standards that apply for an authorized medicine.”
The recommendations from Minister for Health Simon Harris also suggest that any cannabis therapies be conducted under the close watch of a physician, and both doctors and pharmacists be facilitated in prescribing and dispensing.
Harris is expected to announce plans for “compassionate access program” in the coming weeks.
The cannabis extraction business is hot. More than 50% of today’s legal marijuana sales are concentrates and infused products, and extracts constitute the fastest growing segment of the marketplace.
With that kind of demand, you can bet that entrepreneurs, investors, and canna-businesses are flocking to get a part of the red-hot market niche. However, compared to many other cannabis-based businesses, starting an extraction operation is a complex proposition.
However, with the proper guidance, you can be producing extracts in record time. In this article, we will discuss the ins and outs of starting a commercial extracts lab in 10 easy to digest steps.
1. Understand your business concept.
A well thought out business concept is vital to developing a successful extraction operation.
What is your niche? What is your product? Who is your customer? What is your material source? How much material do you intend on processing per month? These, and many other inquiries, are all important considerations that should be addressed prior to moving forward with any planning.
According to Nick Tennant, co-founder of Precision Extraction Solutions, “These are often the first questions we ask of new customers. I would say that 8 out of 10 don’t know the exact answers and need guidance, we are happy to help with that.”
While many budding entrepreneurs loathe the thought of putting pen to paper and writing a business plan, it is crucial to providing the key building blocks of your extraction business. Your plan will dictate how large your extraction lab will be, what kind of equipment you choose, the size and layout of the lab, from primary extraction, to post processing and packaging rooms.
Once you have a thorough grasp of your business plan, it’s time to start looking for a legal state and municipality. Different states have different extraction laws, licensing processes, and regulations. Also, some municipalities are extraction friendly, others are not.
Pick a locale that has reasonable access to raw material to process and is geographically convenient for properly executing your business plan.
Photo Credit: Sarah Climaco
3. Prepare your license applications.
Once you identify your preferred locale, you’re ready to make your pitch to the local municipality for what may well be a very lucrative license. The process is usually pretty straight forward via an application process. The municipality may well to see that business plan we discussed before, so it’s good to have it prepared in advance. In any event it’s good to be precise and buttoned up with the application process.
At this stage of the process, you will have to be flexible with what your municipality is requesting. From an applicant’s standpoint, it is always better to have more information so you are well prepared for any questions that might come up. This can come in the form of code standards, engineering documents, and references. Some municipalities may not have a solid grasp of extraction regulations and it may well be up to you to educate them.
You may consider retaining an experienced local attorney to help facilitate the licensing process, not only for their experience and legal acumen, but for their contacts with the local municipality personnel and the credibility an attorney provides.
4. Find your real estate, cautiously.
The single biggest pitfall for aspiring extraction businesses is committing to real estate before thoroughly investigating local zoning and regulations. It is absolutely essential that your property be properly zoned and you have the blessing of your target municipality before financially committing to a property. Whether leasing or buying, consider making your lease or purchase agreement to be contingent upon obtaining licensing.
Photo Credit: Sarah Climaco
5. Build your team.
Now this is where everyone screws up. You will need to have a diverse team of experts to guide you in making your vision a reality. This includes a designer, an architect, multiple engineers, a certified extraction equipment manufacturer and a project manager.
This is not a light decision to make. The extraction industry is so new and specialized that most of these professionals, including architects and engineers, have no clue about the vital intricacies of building a lab that is not only compliant but also meets the unique needs of your business.
Choosing the wrong team, or a wrong team member, can be very costly in terms of both time and money. Even a two-month delay can mean millions in lost revenue and strategic advantage. A lab that has poor workflow or is missing key ingredients can be disastrous to your ongoing business.
Photo Credit: Sarah Climaco
6. Prepare for construction, hire a contractor.
By the time you are ready to build, you should have a full list of equipment and production processes laid out. It is your team’s job to make this vision into a final construction print. Once you have a set of stamped architectural drawings, you will be ready to hire a contractor, obtain final municipal approval and start construction.
With the solid guidance from your professional team, finding a contractor should be one of the easier parts of the process. Like for any commercial build, you should simply find a general contractor with a stellar reputation for quality and timely work.
Photo Credit: Sarah Climaco
7. Select and order your equipment.
With the assistance of your team, you should know beforehand all of the equipment you’ll need to purchase for your lab. You should start ordering your equipment during the lab’s construction.
While there are many viable vendors for the specific gear required by a startup extraction company, entrepreneurs should be careful to consider price, extraction technique, warranty, and a host of other factors when making your final choice. Work with your equipment manufacturer to target lead times, delivery, and installation times.
8. Installation, inspection and field verification.
Prior to final municipal inspections, your equipment will need to be installed. Upon installation, a state licensed engineer qualified to provide a field verification of your equipment and the installation will make a personal inspection. This is a usual municipal requirement and your equipment manufacturer can arrange for the field verification.
Photo Credit: Sarah Climaco
9. Final inspections.
Commonly referred to as Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ for short) and depending on your locality, the AHJ may be the local fire marshal or another city inspector. Your AHJ will use your engineer’s field verification of all extraction equipment installations to certify that your lab is safe and regulatory compliant. The AHJ relies on such field verification, as well as its own inspection, for the final sign off on your lab.
Photo Credit: Sarah Climaco
10. Training and workflow.
You’re now ready to go. Training of your extraction staff on basic and advanced extraction methods, workflow, efficiencies and how to produce the highest quality extract destined for your unique product is of tantamount importance. An inefficient, unknowledgeable or sloppy operator can cost you a lot of money. It’s best to get things correct, right out of the gate.
Extract and extract-infused products are anticipated to ultimately be 90% of all marijuana sales. If you’re ready to take the plunge, follow these steps and you’ll be on the way to a lucrative future in the cannabis extraction business.
Republican Jeff Sessions is a staunch prohibitionist who once remarked that he thought the Ku Klux Klan “was okay” until he “found out they smoked pot” and now he’s the nation’s new top cop, confirmed in a 52 to 47 vote mostly along party lines.
The confirmation was expected, and now the cannabis community can only hope that the former Alabama Senator will allow state programs to operate uninhibited from federal interference in accordance with the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, realizing that during the election, which saw President Donald Trump emerge victorious, a record number of states enacted legal cannabis initiatives.
Sessions was one of just 16 US Senators to receive a failing grade on NORML’s Congressional Scorecard due to his ‘Just Say No’ views, which the advocacy group’s Political Director Justin Strekal called “out of step with mainstream America.”
“Our elected officials, now more than ever, know that marijuana policy is at the forefront of the minds of American voters and that we are willing and able to mobilize for it,” Strekal said in a statement. “We will never stop fighting for further marijuana reforms at the state level and much needed federal policy changes. With Americans throughout the country organizing and taking action, the fight for cannabis freedom will continue with renewed energy.”
Others in the industry are cautiously optimistic. Aaron Smith, executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association, said that the cannabis industry plays a key role in the 28 states where it is legal for either medical or adult use generating “billions of dollars in economic activity and [supporting] tens of thousands of good-paying jobs.” He indicated that any rollback or crackdown on legal state programs would just force people back into the informal markets.
“We look forward to Attorney General Sessions maintaining the current federal policy of respect for legal, regulated cannabis programs in the states, and we will work with him to do that,” Smith said in a Forbesreport.
Marijuana Policy Project Director of Federal Policies Robert Capecchi said he believes that Sessions will maintain the current status quo as Trump is on the record as a supporter of states’ rights.
“When asked about his plans for marijuana enforcement, Attorney General Sessions said he ‘echo[es]’ the position taken by Loretta Lynch during her confirmation hearings,” he said. “He repeatedly acknowledged the scarcity of enforcement resources, and he said he would ensure they are used as effectively as possible to stop illicit drugs from being trafficked into the country.”
Adam Eidinger, co-founder of the Washington D.C. advocacy group DCMJ, hopes that President Trump’s support for states’ rights will be enough to keep Sessions in check.
“Sessions is a failed war on drugs zealot who has gone so far as to suggest that marijuana offenders deserve the death penalty,” Eidinger said. “To say he is out of touch with the legalization wave rolling through the United States would be an understatement.”
During his confirmation hearings, Sessions remarked that if cannabis prohibition was “not desired any longer” at the federal level Congress “should pass a law and change the rule.” In his written responses to Senators, Sessions called the enforcement of cannabis in legal states “an emerging issue” and seemed to make a clear distinction between medical and adult-use statutes – which could be catastrophic if he decides to enforce federal law on one sector and not the other. During his hearings and in his written responses, Sessions was evasive in his answers regarding the cannabis industry.
Georgia’s House Medical Cannabis Working Group has endorsed a measure by Republican state Rep. Allen Peake that would expand access to the state’s medical cannabis program by adding eight diagnoses to the qualified condition list, despite the fact that there is still no legal way to obtain the plant in the state, according to a report from The Telegraph.
Under HB.65, patients with intractable pain, HIV/AIDS, post-traumatic stress disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, Tourette’s syndrome, or those in hospice would be able to register with the state program. There are currently about 1,200 patients enrolled in the program, which currently only allows for the use of low-THC, high-CBD oil for diagnoses like seizure disorders; however, there is no infrastructure allowing the cultivation or processing of cannabis in the state.
The working group also recommended allowing people with valid medical cannabis cards from other states be able to possess cannabis liquids in Georgia.
Another measure in the state Senate seeking to expand the program would only add autism to the qualifying condition list, and lower the THC threshold – currently set at 5 percent – for medical cannabis products.
According to patient advocacy group Georgia Cannabis, Georgia’s registered patients are forced to break federal law to obtain their medicine by purchasing it from other states.
Two Minnesota Democrats have introduced legislation to legalize adult cannabis use in the state, according to a WCCOreport. Rep. Jon Applebaum, sponsor of one of the measures, said that to millennials legalizing cannabis is not controversial and the industry would help drive a “Made in Minnesota” economy.
Applebaum’s proposal would permit adults 21 and older to buy, use, and possess up to one ounce of cannabis; regulating cultivation, harvesting, and retail sales. It would take effect in 2019.
“Eventually this is going to happen. And it would be in Minnesota’s best interest if we start talking about it now,” he said in the report. “I envision an economy being created where cannabis products are grown by Minnesota farmers, transported by Minnesota carriers, and sold by Minnesota small businesses.”
The second bill, sponsored by Rep. Tina Liebling, would legalize the industry via a constitutional amendment.
Under current Minnesota law, patients suffering from several debilitating health conditions are allowed to use medical cannabis, however the program does not permit for full plant use. In December, the state Department of Health added post-traumatic stress disorder to the qualifying condition list.
However, due to the limited nature of the program, medical cannabis operators in the state lost more than $5 million in 2015, and the Office of Medical Cannabis has requested more than $500,000 in additional funding over the next two years to cover the costs of the patient database and manufacturer inspections.
New Mexico’s Senate Judiciary Committee has approved a measure that would increase the amount of medical cannabis registered patients could possess and licensed producers could grow. The measure would also remove the THC limits for medical cannabis in the state, but some lawmakers are concerned that a section of the bill would permit military veterans to enroll in the program without a qualifying condition diagnosis, the Santa Fe New Mexicanreports.
The measure, SB.8, was introduced by Democratic state Sen. Cisco McSorley and would raise the personal possession limit to 5 ounces during a 30-day period and allow licensed producers to possess up to 1,000 cannabis plants during any three-month period. The bill also includes a provision allowing people undergoing treatment for addiction to access the program, following recommendations last year to add “opiate use disorder” to the qualifying condition list.
Yet, the veteran’s access recommendations under the plan had some members of the committee concerned — even those that supported the measure. McSorley said the change was necessary because many veterans who suffer from PTSD don’t want to be stigmatized with the diagnoses and suggested that admitting any veteran into the program would help reduce the number of suicides in the state.
Senators Bill Payne and Greg Baca, two veterans who sit on the committee, said they found the provision offensive because it implies that all veterans have PTSD. Another committee member, Sen. Jacob Candelaria, indicated he might “vote differently on the floor” asking whether the measure essentially legalizes recreational cannabis for veterans.
The committee approval allows the bill to be sent to the Senate for a full vote.
CCC PDX is really amping things up this year at the Portland Metropolitan Exposition Center (Portland Expo Center). Historically, the two-day cannabis conference and networking event has brought out the largest crowds you can find in Oregon for B2B cannabis events.
George Zimmer, the founder and former CEO of Men’s Warehouse, is slated to give this year’s keynote address.
Beyond keynote speakers, there will be panel presentations featuring more than 80 different speakers, all experts in their respective cannabis business, cultivation, medicine, and/or cultural niches. Additionally, event organizers anticipate more than 130 different exhibitors — including leading brands from Oregon, the West coast, and around the country — to populate the trade show portion of the conference.
With Oregon’s adult-use and medical marijuana markets well into their youth, this year’s event puts a special focus on connecting the industry’s many entrepreneurs and investors.
“First and foremost, the CCC is a business-to-business conference geared to both cannabis entrepreneurs and investors,” said CCC producer Mary Lou Burton. “This year we’ve beefed up this aspect with an enhanced Investor Forum and an app that helps start-ups communicate with investors quickly and easily.”
This year’s Investor Summit, an add-on to compliment the conference’s robust speaker program, comes with two tracks for attendees to follow. One track is for investors hoping to find the next big idea or startup opportunity, and the other track is for entrepreneurs in search of funding and expert advice. According to Burton, the “Pitch Portal” for entrepreneurs is to be filled out online prior to the show, for the perusal of attending investors.
“We set up the ‘Pitch Portal’ for businesses to fill out a form with an elevator pitch overview of their business that will be sent to 15-20 investors who can make appointments to meet with the business in our ‘Match-making lounge’,” Burton said.
Registration for the conference is open and ongoing. Tickets cost $149 for a single day or $249 for both days. Tickets to the Investor Summit are sold separately and go for $89, while attending the event’s Career Readiness Workshop costs $50. All ticket purchases can be made through CCC-con.com.
Also, if you are planning to attend CCC 2017, keep an eye out for Ganjapreneur while you’re there — we are excited to be attending and providing event coverage, so give a wave or come say hello!
According to a Public Policy Polling survey, Rhode Islanders are slightly more in favor of legalizing adult-use cannabis today than they were in 2015; finding 59 percent of voters support a regulated cannabis industry compared to 57 percent two years ago. About one in three, 36 percent, said they were opposed in the poll taken between January 27 and January 29, WPRIreports.
The survey comes as Democratic lawmakers Rep. Scott Slater and Sen. Joshua Miller, chairman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, introduced legislation to enact an adult-use market. Their proposal would allow adults 21 and older to possess 1 ounce of flower, grow one mature cannabis plant, providing for retails sales taxed 23 percent in addition to the 7 percent state sales tax.
“Our job is to represent the people of this state, and their position on this issue is pretty clear,” Slater said in a Rhode Island Public Radiointerview.
The poll was commissioned by Regulate Rhode Island. A 2016 survey by Brown University found 55 percent of registered voters supported legalizing cannabis for adult use.
“The results of this poll confirm that our constituents want us to follow the same path as Massachusetts and Maine,” Miller said in the report.
Advocates in Mendocino County, California have filed a lawsuit against officials over the cannabis tax levied on the cannabis industry in a voter-approved initiative, the Press Democratreports. The plaintiffs claim that the measure – which enacted a 2.5 percent to 10 percent tax on growers and flat $2,500 rate a year on other operators – was not properly approved, and should have been proposed as a special tax which would have required two-thirds vote to pass. The measure passed by 64 percent last November.
The proposal, Measure AI, was joined on the ballot by a non-binding advisory measure that showed voters wanted the cannabis tax money used for cannabis industry code enforcement, road repair, and police, fire and emergency medical services. Lawrence Rosin, the plaintiffs’ attorney, and himself a grower, argues that while the description includes county services it’s too specific as a general tax.
The case mirrors another in Ukiah, where a voter-approved cannabis sales tax measure is being challenged in court by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. In that case, the association contends that these so-called double measures are commonly used to circumvent voting requirements for special taxes.
Mendocino County Supervisor John McCowen indicated that past challenges against double measures have failed and that the industry didn’t pay taxes for decades.
A University of California Davis study discovered bacteria and mold on medical cannabis samples from 20 Northern California dispensaries, according to a Sacramento Beereport. The study results were published in the journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infection.
Dr. George Thompson, UC Davis Department of Microbiology and Immunology, warned against patients with weakened immune systems from smoking, vaping or inhaling aerosolized cannabis, but indicated “for the vast majority of cannabis users, this is not of great concern.” He said that those with weakened immune systems are advised to avoid unwashed produce and cut flowers because they might contain potentially harmful mold, bacteria, and fungi and believes cannabis should be added to that list.
“…It’s a big oversight in our opinion,” Thompson said in the report. “It’s basically, dead vegetative material and always covered in fungi.”
The study was conducted after two UC Davis patients died from lung infections believed to be caused by tainted cannabis, however that cannot be confirmed without samples of the products they were using before they fell ill. Dr. Joseph Tuscano, a cancer specialist at UC Davis, called for the study after several leukemia and lymphoma cancer patients developed rare, severe lung infections.
The cannabis was tested by Steep Hill Laboratories in Berkeley and all of the samples reportedly tested positive for bacteria and fungi, some related to severe lung infections.
Thompson said that cannabis edibles might be an alternative to smoking or vaping cannabis for those at risk.
“I give that advice with a caveat: We don’t know it’s safer, we think it probably is,” he said.
Medical cannabis laws have been loosened in New Zealand as patients will no longer need to gain approval from the Minister of Health, according to a report from Stuff. Instead of patients having to bring their case all the way to the top, the Ministry of Health, as an agency, can sign-off on all applications.
Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne announced that the new rule takes effect immediately. The health ministry already had the power to approve a specialist’s application to provide Sativex, a cannabis-derived pharmaceutical drug. Last year, the Ministry of Health announced that it was no longer necessary for clinicians to file an application with the federal agency when prescribing Sativex to patients with multiple sclerosis and Dunne is considering allowing the same for six more conditions.
“As I stated in my delegation letter to the director-general, when applications first began to be received it was my view that the final decision appropriately lay at ministerial level, rather than exposing officials to risk, given the complicated and contentious nature of the issue – that is to say the buck stopped with me,” Dunne said in the report.
Julie Anne Genter, health spokesperson for the Green Party, who has led the push for medical cannabis access in New Zealand, said that while the decision removes “one hoop” patients have to jump through to access medical cannabis, “there are many more that need to go.”
“With the advice and support of their doctor, New Zealanders should be able to access medical cannabis as easily and as cheaply as they do any other prescription drug – the announcement today doesn’t allow that to happen,” she said.
The Ministry of Health has been reviewing potential changes to the nation’s medical cannabis laws for over a year.
It’s been nearly two months since mainstream media outlets and several cannabis publications published headlines claiming that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was rescheduling cannabidiol (CBD) into a Schedule 1 substance and that some serious, Drug War-era crackdowns were coming.
We reported then, and stand by our coverage, that this is not the case. The DEA did not target the hemp CBD industry but instead created a new tracking code for the agency to categorize cannabis concentrates separately from flower, plants, and other products. Confusing verbiage in the rule change, which took effect January 13, led to the widely-reported misunderstanding; however, the fact remains that CBD from cannabis has always been considered a Schedule 1 substance under the Controlled Substances Act.
It wasn’t until the 2014 Congressional Farm Bill that industrial hemp (which, under federal law, must contain less than 0.3 percent THC) was legalized. Lawmakers accomplished this not by removing hemp or CBD from the Controlled Substances Act, but by prohibiting the Department of Justice from spending funds on prosecuting state-legal hemp operations, which laid the groundwork for the CBD hemp market. Only Congress — not the DEA — has the power to undo that act.
Attorney Craig Brand, founder of the international firm Ganja Law, is a 26-year veteran of narcotics case law. A recent memo from Brand’s firm, published in an email to their followers by Folium Biosciences, a client of Ganja Law, echoed the sentiments of legal experts from around the country — that the threat of a DEA crackdown on hemp CBD had been blown wildly out of proportion.
In a recent interview with Ganjapreneur, Brand said that, instead of worrying about the DEA, hemp entrepreneurs should be more concerned about actions taken by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). “I don’t necessarily see the DEA as the villain of the [CBD] industry,” Brand said. “The bigger danger is, when it does become legal, what is the FDA going to do with it?”
The real dangers facing hemp-derived CBD
According to Brand, there are two major issues that the FDA will likely look to as they regulate hemp-derived CBD. These are the irresponsible “bad apples” who are currently participating in the industry, and the eventuality of a corporate takeover by everyone’s least-favorite agricultural monstrosity, Monsanto (or a similar corporate powerhouse).
Though hemp-based CBD is normally beyond the DEA’s scope of influence, rule-breaking individuals have gained the agency’s attention by producing, selling, and purchasing “hemp,” “hemp oils,” or extracts which contain an illegal amount of THC. Oftentimes, these are simply cases of bad luck or poor foresight; other times, however, there are troublemakers who are purposefully trying to circumvent federal drug laws.
Sadly, these instances support the unfortunate perception that CBD entrepreneurs are would-be cannabis pushers. This could ultimately worsen the industry’s image and lead to even harsher restrictions. “The industry has to regulate itself,” Brand said. “If you do things right, if you self-police, you shouldn’t have to look over your shoulder or require government intervention.”
Brand and the Ganja Law team have created legal policies, compliance protocols, and safeguards for the international cannabis and hemp law practice — however, concerns about a corporate takeover of the CBD marketplace don’t come with a solution as simple as just obeying the rules.
Instead, Brand expects regulators to, “let everybody who has fought so hard for legalization finish the fight, and then Monsanto — or companies like Monsanto — will create their own strains, which will be ushered through by the FDA.” Brand says that he and his team have been preparing for this fight for some time.
Big Pharma has undoubtedly been eyeing cannabinoid-based medicines throughout their recent, formative years, and Brand argues that both the hemp and cannabis industries should be extra wary of industry developments involving Big Pharma when federal prohibition finally crumbles. “If we don’t solidify the rules and players now, be careful what you wish for should cannabis and hemp gain federal approval and we haven’t sidelined those big businesses that have been quietly lurking in the wind.”
“Monsanto is already growing various strains of hemp,” he said. “You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out their next move and our forthcoming fight to remain on the playing field.”
