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Wikipedia Planning for Huge Cannabis Content Collaboration in April

1/25/2017

Wikipedia editors have announced a 420 collaboration from April 15 to April 30 and “especially on April 20, 2017.” The project is being organized by WikiProject Cannabis.

“The purpose of the collaboration…is to create and improve cannabis-related content at Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects in a variety of fields, including: culture, health, history, medicine, politics, and religion,” the announcement states.

The team is searching for a number of contributors, especially for so-called “red links” – or those pages that have not yet been created, of which there are over 100, ranging from cannabis history and laws in countries from Angola to Zimbabwe, to hemp cheese, to individual activists.

“Cannabis has long been used for hemp fiber, for hemp oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a recreational drug,” the editors wrote. “The plant has a history of medicinal use dating back thousands of years across many cultures, and touches on many different fields of study.”

The editors indicated they would invite WikiProjects organizers for the collaboration, including projects dealing with agriculture, chemicals, fictional characters, linguistics, tourism, and women. They are also seeking contributors for enhanced coverage of all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and U.S territories, such as Guam and Puerto Rico.

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Line of cannabis clones in a licensed Washington cultivation facility.

Calaveras County, California Supervisors Put Cultivation Question to Voters

1/25/2017

by TG Branfalt

California’s Calaveras County Board of Supervisors has unanimously voted to allow its constituents to decide whether to enact a ban on commercial cannabis cultivation in the region, according to a Calaveras Enterprise report. The mail-in election is scheduled for May 2.

Many activists and opponents expected the board to move forward with a planned ban on the industry in the county; however when the measure was proposed by Supervisor Dennis Mills it was not seconded – preventing the ban from being enacted on the spot. The move to put the issue to voters was proposed by Supervisor Jack Garamendi and seconded by board chairman, Supervisor Michael Oliveira. The board then passed the proposal unanimously.

According to the report, the meeting was tense on both sides of the issue as it was expected that the board would simply enact the ban – Calaveras Cannabis Alliance Executive Director Caslin Tomaszewski said as such during a break in the public comment period – but by the end of the meeting his fears did not come to fruition.

CBS 13 reports that the county, one of the poorest in the state, has already reaped some of the benefits of the regulated cannabis market – collecting nearly $4 million in application fees from prospective cannabis business operators.

Bill McManus, who led the efforts to ban commercial cultivation, called the decision “a huge victory for the people.”

End

Two indoor cannabis plants inside of a Colorado grow.

Israel Legislative Hearing Finds Support for National Cannabis Legalization

1/25/2017

by TG Branfalt

According to the head of Israel Police’s drug research unit, there were just two indictments filed related to cannabis in 2016 in the entire country, Haaretz reports. During a legislative Committee on Drug and Alcohol Abuse hearing, Keren Lerner, the head of the unit, indicated that between 2010 and 2015 there was a 30 percent decline in the number of personal-use cannabis cases – 54 percent of such cases levied against adults and 60 percent opened against minors were eventually dropped.

“Police policy is moving toward enforcement against growing [marijuana] and not personal use,” Lerner said during the hearing.

Haim Messing, former director of the Anti-Drug Authority, said that he has come to the conclusion “that the struggle against the individual user of cannabis is futile.”

“The United Nations has agreed that criminal pursuit has failed and that it must be addressed from a health aspect,” Messing said. “From a public perspective, we’re talking about a cultural perception by normative people and the best proof is what happens in the courts.”

Asa Kasher, an ethics professor, testified that decriminalization warranted and the nation must “move the fence.”

“We have to return to the principles of living in a democracy,” Kasher said. “The primary expression of human dignity is a person’s freedom to conduct his life as he pleases so long as it poses no threat to anyone else. The justified boundaries of freedom only come when expanding freedom creates a danger, so we have to ask what would happen if we expand freedom in the realm of cannabis?”

Two members of the Knesset committee indicated they would both support the decriminalization and eventual legalization of cannabis in Israel.

“It’s true that massive violation of a law is not a good enough reason [to change policy], but in this case we see a huge, normative and law-abiding public that consumes cannabis, and these people are not lawbreakers,” MK Shelly Yacimovich said. “We are at the point at which there is no real reason to enforce this law, but to change it.”

End

Donald Trump was elected to be the 45th president in November, 2016.

Trump Considering Cannabis Advocate for FDA Commissioner

1/24/2017

by Graham Abbott

President Donald Trump has been announcing his nominations for the various positions in his administration since securing the election in November. Many of his choices have sparked concern among members of the cannabis industry, but one potential individual could have the opposite effect.

Recently, the Trump team met with two potential candidates for FDA Commissioner, one of whom was Jim O’Neill, the Wall Street Journal reports. O’Neill is a Silicon Valley investor with a history of supporting legalization efforts and the legal cannabis industry as a whole.

O’Neill served as a founding member of the Coalition for Cannabis Policy Reform in 2012, and currently works as managing director for Mithril Capital Management, a venture capital firm that was co-founded by pro-legalization billionaire Peter Thiel. While O’Neill would surely be an unconventional choice for FDA Commissioner — he’s primarily an investor and businessman, not a scientist or medical expert — that hasn’t been a stopping factor for President Trump in any of his other nominations.

His consideration for the position was first hinted at in early December but it wasn’t until recently that talks between O’Neill and the Trump administration were confirmed.

Critics of O’Neill say he is a dangerous radical that would lower restrictions on drug and treatment testing, which could result in medications being prescribed to patients before they have been properly tested for efficacy. However, the FDA’s current restrictions have proven detrimental to medical cannabis research and product development, and loosening those rules is one of our best bets for getting MMJ products considered to be part of mainstream medicine.

Many predict that, if confirmed as FDA Commissioner, O’Neill would create an environment that would be friendlier to innovations in the medical field.

End

American flags waving in the wind during a Veterans Day celebration.

National Veteran Groups Support Indiana Veteran’s MMJ Push

1/24/2017

by TG Branfalt

The upswell of support for the Hoosier Veterans for Medical Cannabis from four major veterans groups could be enough to force lawmakers to bring one of the bills languishing in the legislature to a vote, WFLI reports.

Earlier this month, the Indiana American Legion sent a letter to the state legislature urging them to “remove restrictions from marijuana and reclassify it in a category that, at a minimum, will recognize cannabis as a drug with potential medical value.” National groups AMVETS, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Disabled American Veterans have offered their support for the Indiana activist calling for access.

Jeff Staker, a Marine veteran leading the efforts of Hoosier Veterans for Medical Cannabis, said that there are 11 bills in the legislature dealing with either medical cannabis, hemp, or cannabinoids so their work is “getting a notice.” He credits the recent support, in part, to a public service announcement aired by the group in December.

“Not only are 3 out of 4 Hoosiers supportive of it, over 80 percent of our veterans are supportive of it,” he said in the report.

According to the report, just last month State Rep. Sheila Klinker told the station that Indiana would be “the last state” to even look at legalizing medical cannabis, but now she thinks they could be “willing to look at [it.]”

Staker indicated he is working on meeting with Gov. Eric Holcomb about the issue soon.

“They say it’s not going to happen this year,” he said. “Maybe not, but in my eyes right now – the fight is on.”

End

Bricks of cocaine seized by law enforcement.

Statistics Canada: Organized Crime More Likely to Traffic Drugs Other Than Cannabis

1/24/2017

by TG Branfalt

Organized crime groups and gangs in Canada are more likely to produce and traffic drugs such as crystal methamphetamine and cocaine than they are cannabis, according to a Statistics Canada report outlined by the Globe and Mail.

The report examined all drug-related violations in Victoria, Vancouver, Regina, and Waterloo, Ontario in 2013 and 2014, and found that while organized crime groups were linked to 75 percent of all heroin-trafficking cases, 62 percent of all cocaine-trafficking cases, and 60 percent of all methamphetamine-trafficking cases; they were linked to 39 percent of all cannabis-trafficking cases, and to just 6 percent of all cannabis cultivation cases.

And while the report’s authors caution that the scope of the research is too limited to determine the extent of the role organized crime has in Canada’s illicit cannabis trade; Neil Boyd, drug prohibition scholar and professor at Simon Fraser University, says the report contradicts common Royal Canadian Mounted Police wisdom and that the researchers’ definition of “organized crime” – three or more people who commit a serious crime to profit – is misleading.

“To people who know how this industry has taken shape in many parts of British Columbia, this wouldn’t be news and, if anything, it would still amount to an over-emphasis on the extent of the organized criminal involvement,” Boyd said in the report.

Staff-Sergeant Lindsey Houghton, spokesman for British Columbia’s anti-gang task force, said that gangs are always seeking the products with the highest profit margin and few gangsters are charged with producing and trafficking cannabis.

“The profit margin for the same quantity of fentanyl versus marijuana is significantly greater,” he said. “Never mind the startup and labor intensity that goes into massive large-scale marijuana grow operations that we’ve all seen pictures of – you need warehouses for that.”

The Liberal-led federal government is expected to introduce a plan to nationally legalize adult-use cannabis in the spring.

End

Report: New Mexico MMJ Revenues Grew 64% in 2016

1/24/2017

by TG Branfalt

According to a report by New Mexico licensed medical cannabis operator UltraHealth, the state’s medical cannabis program revenues 64 percent from 2015 to 2016, increasing by $19 million and totaling more than $50.6 million in revenue. The most recent data from the state Department of Health shows patient counts increased from 18,628 in 2015 to 32,840 in 2016 – an increase of 76 percent.

By comparison, the researchers point out, New Mexico’s chile crop was valued at $41.8 million in 2015 and the state’s craft beer industry is expected to reach $30 million in 2016.

Last year, the average price-per-gram was $11.28, with a median per-gram price of $10.94. The analysts estimate that 10,205 pounds of cannabis – or 4,628,749 grams – was sold in the state. In 2013 the New Mexico Department of Health estimated the “supply would need to be approximately 5,110,726.4 grams per year,” for a roster of 9,760 patients. In order to serve the needs of 32,840 patients, the supply would need to be over 37,877 pounds per year or 17.2 million grams, the report says. As of December 31, 2016, the top five New Mexico producers had about 209 pounds on hand, which represents just a two-week supply.

Duke Rodriguez, CEO of UltraHealth, said that while “exceeding the $50 million mark is encouraging, it is disheartening we continue to lag behind patient needs.”

“New Mexico has an opportunity to create a true medical cannabis program for other states to emulate,” he said in a press release. “Unfortunately, the industry has its hands tied due to burdensome fees and regulations that deny patients from having the most cost-effective medication in quantity and potency to suit their needs.”

Of the original 23 licensed non-profit producers in the state that operated in 2015 and 2016, 11 producers saw revenue growth of 50 percent or more, the revenue of two remained flat, and just one reported losses. The medical cannabis industry paid over $15.7 million in salaries for an effective 600 full-time equivalent employees.

End

Indoor marijuana plants in a Washington licensed cultivation facility.

Israeli Government Approves 13 MMJ Studies for Federal Funding

1/24/2017

by TG Branfalt

Israel’s Agriculture and Health ministries will provide NIS 8 million, or about $2.1 million, in funding for 13 medical cannabis studies, according to a Globes report. The agreement is the first-of-its-kind between the Ministry of Agriculture’s chief scientist unit and the Ministry of Health’s medical cannabis unit.

The research will be aimed at biochemical and medical aspects of the plant in addition to improving crop yields. The program will allow researchers to conduct basic and applied research for five years. Among the medical and biomedical studies are identification of strains and specification of new ingredients; the effect of cannabis on vision and its treatment as a multiple sclerosis therapy; its involvement in colon cancer development; its potential to prevent rejection of transplanted organs; and the cannabis plant’s ability to delay bacteria development.

Other projects aim to develop new strains and ways to deal with pests and cannabis plant-specific diseases, researching technologies for irrigating and fertilizing crops, and methods for cloning cannabis plants. The government also plans to establish a genetic bank and national bank of medical cannabis plants.

In all, 30 studies were submitted for funding consideration. The approved studies will be carried out by hospitals, universities, pharmaceutical companies, and research institutes. The government hopes the studies will help develop the next generation of medicinal cannabis products.

End

A cannabis grower proudly displays his product during a Cannabis Cup event.

Looking Past Christie, Former NJ Lawmaker Launches Cannabis Industry Association

1/23/2017

by TG Branfalt

Despite the limited scope of the state’s medical cannabis law, and the strong opposition by its governor, the president of the newly-formed New Jersey Cannabusiness Association is optimistic about the industry’s future in the Garden State, but any major overhauls will most certainly wait until 2018.

“No one expects Gov. [Chris] Christie to sign an adult-use bill,” Scott Rudder, the association president and former state legislator, said in an interview with Ganjapreneur. “Gov. Christie’s term ends in January 2018 – so one year from now we’ll have a new governor. Our job is to work with the various candidates…to get their buy-in and support for both the expansion of the medical program as well as the migration into an adult-use program.”

Admittedly, it took a while for Rudder, 47, to get here – actively supporting an adult-use program in the state where the Republican served two terms in the legislature (he did not seek reelection in 2013). In 2009 he had an opportunity to vote on the medical cannabis bill and abstained. “I was not there yet,” he explained, describing his mindset eight years ago. “I was uncomfortable.”

But as time went on, Rudder did more research and spent time with the Wilson family – who moved from New Jersey to Colorado in 2014 in order to access medical cannabis for their then-3-year-old daughter Vivian, who suffers from Dravet syndrome. He called the experience “transformational” and realized that New Jersey’s medical cannabis program had failed the family.

“Who are we to say, as legislators, what a doctor should and should not prescribe to somebody in need,” Rudder said. “So that was sort of the awakening if you will.”

He was one of the members of the New Jersey delegation that went on a fact-finding mission to Colorado last October, where legislators and stakeholders met with state health officials, members of law enforcement, and industry leaders. He came away thinking, “The benefits dramatically outweigh any of the concerns.”

“After discussions with folks in the legislature and folks in the industry, I felt that there was a need for an industry-based trade association to help businesses that currently exist in New Jersey, that currently operate in New Jersey but also to help grow the industry as we are moving forward.”

From the organization’s website:

The New Jersey CannaBusiness Association’s mission is simple: “Promote jobs and growth in a sustainable and responsible cannabis industry. Starting with the pioneers in the medical marijuana market to the emerging players in the adult-use space, our focus is to make certain that decision makers and regulators understand and respect the needs of the CannaBusiness community and that our community remain responsible corporate citizens.”

In addition to the companies already operating under New Jersey’s medical cannabis program, Rudder explained that there are people living in the state that are engaged in other state markets, whether it’s ownership or investment, and many individuals and entities have already started preparing for eventual legalization in New Jersey after Christie’s term ends. The association is not only building a network between business owners and stakeholders but also hopes to educate the public and lawmakers through outreach, while advocating for a “welcoming and not limited” regulatory structure. Based on conversations with his former colleagues, Rudder said it’s clear that eliminating the informal market is a bipartisan issue.

“Everybody wants to make sure it’s not something kids are buying on street corners,” he said. “You see time and again where cannabis is legalized… crime goes down, teenage use goes down – and that’s something we are going to experience in New Jersey as well.”

The association is still debating which regulation model best suits the state but it’s important to the organization that the medical cannabis program not only remains intact but is expanded. Rudder applauded the recent move by Christie to add post-traumatic stress disorder to the qualifying condition list but would still like to see more comprehensive reforms, including the number of qualifying conditions and dispensaries operating in the state.

According to a New Jersey Policy Perspective and New Jersey United for Marijuana Reform report, a “fully implemented” adult-use market in the state “could generate at least $300 million in annual direct tax revenues.” Rudder predicts – based on Colorado’s sales numbers and studies on New Jersey’s informal cannabis market – that his state could “surpass Colorado in terms of jobs created [and] revenue generated.”

“This movement in New Jersey has been happening for quite some time,” he said, commenting on whether or not the push in the state is the result of the recent electoral success in fellow Eastern states Maine and Massachusetts. “It’s more of a groundswell at a local level here in Jersey than anything that is a direct result of what’s happened in other states. Though, it’s fantastic to see how other states are reacting to it.”

End

Cannabis concentrate created and sold by a licensed Washington producer.

Aurora Cannabis Approved to Sell Extracts Under Health Canada MMJ Program

1/23/2017

by TG Branfalt

Aurora Cannabis has been granted a license to distribute cannabis extracts by Health Canada nearly one year after securing its production license, the company announced in a press release. Since then, Aurora has “dedicated a portion of its production output towards the stockpiling of cannabis oils and concentrates” in anticipation of the distribution license.

The license will allow the company to expand their product line for patients and offer prescribing physicians “a high-quality alternative to inhaled products,” Aurora CEO Terry Booth said, adding that the company has made “key capital investments” that enable the firm to deploy their “differentiating extraction methods.”

“With the combined capacity from our existing production site, as well as from our planned 800,000 square foot Aurora Sky facility now under construction at Edmonton International Airport, we believe Aurora is well positioned to become one of the largest producers and distributors of cannabis oil products, which remains a key element of our developing business strategy,” he said in the release.

Aurora uses supercritical CO2 fluid solvent-free extraction techniques to create their extracts.

According to the release, the company has also recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Radient Technologies to evaluate an exclusive partnership for joint development and commercialization of cannabinoid extracts for the Canadian Market.

Last week, Aurora announced they had surpassed 12,000 active registered patients, less than one year after their first product sale.

End

Beach view in Uruguay, the first country to legalize recreational cannabis.

Delays in Uruguay’s Legalization Regime Allowing Trafficking to Remain Lucrative

1/23/2017

by TG Branfalt

Delays in the rollout of Uruguay’s cannabis legalization program has enabled the illegal cannabis trade to remain lucrative, with seven out of every 10 cannabis consumers purchasing products on the informal market, according to a report by Insight Crime. Legal sales were supposed to begin last July but were pushed back due, in part, to security concerns by some small business owners.

Under the regime, announced by then-President José Mujica in 2012, home-growing is allowed which is keeping some consumers away from the illegal trade. The law was designed to undercut drug trafficking profits and keep regular users from so-called “street selling points” where products are often tainted with harmful substances. It was set to be implemented in December 2013 but pharmacy owners who would sell the drug expressed concern that doing so would make them targets for the cartels.

“The law is okay; but have we done all this just to combat drug trafficking?” Alejandro Antalif, vice president of the Uruguayan Center for Pharmacies asked in the report. “If that’s the aim, I think that home growing and the membership clubs are useful, but [selling in pharmacies] is exposing a sector in which 90 percent of the workers are women.”

Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez, an oncologist, has expressed support for the law — which sets the cannabis price at $1.17 per gram — and insists he is not the reason for the delays.

Juan Baz, a member of the Foundation for the Study of Cannabis in Uruguay, said that despite the setbacks, the law is already working, explaining that illegal cannabis sales in the nation were already down in 2015.

“When the consumer shifts toward home cultivation and pharmacy sales, [trafficking] ceases to be a business,” he said.

End

Washington Bill Aims to Reduce, Eliminate I-502 Possession and Transfer Penalties

1/23/2017

by TG Branfalt

Democratic representatives in Washington State have introduced legislation that would reduce the person-to-person, or “delivery,” and possession without packaging penalties under the I-502 regime, which currently provide for a class C felony charge.

Under the current law, any exchange of cannabis – including those without remuneration – not completed through a state-sponsored establishment remains illegal, despite voters approving the adult-use initiative in 2012.

The bill, sponsored by Reps. Steve Kirby and Mia Gregerson, would reduce those penalties to class 2 civil infractions if the person is in possession of less than 7 grams of concentrates that is “not accompanied by packaging showing that the [concentrates] were not purchased from a marijuana retailer.” If a person possesses more than 7 grams but less than 14 grams without the appropriate packaging, the new charge would be a misdemeanor. The felony charge would remain for those possessing more than 14 grams of concentrates without the appropriate packaging.

Under the proposal, charges are also reduced to misdemeanor for “possession of marijuana, useable marijuana, marijuana-infused products, or marijuana concentrates in excess of the statutory limits, but not in excess of two times the statutory limits;” possessing more than 15 cannabis plants; and possessing cannabis under 21-years-old.

Additionally, the law would allow delivery of up to a half ounce of cannabis, 8 ounces of infused products in solid form, 36 ounces of infused products in liquid form, and 3.5 grams of purchased cannabis concentrates from person-to-person provided both are older than 21. Sales penalties for up to one-half ounce of cannabis, 8 ounces of solid-form infused products, 36 ounces of liquid-form products, and 3.5 grams of legally-purchased concentrates are reduced to misdemeanors under the proposal.

If passed the bill would take effect 90 days after the conclusion of the session during which it is passed. It will be sent to the House Committee on Commerce and Gaming.

End

Wide-angle view of Sydney, Australia from the water.

TW Holdings Takeover of AusCann Latest in Australian MMJ Industry Shakeups

1/23/2017

by TG Branfalt

Australia’s TW Holdings has completed its acquisition of AusCann Group Holdings, the latest shakeup in the nation’s legal medical cannabis industry, bolstering the Canopy Growth Corp. family of companies.

According to a Proactive Investors report, TW Holdings will be rebranded AusCann Group Holdings as part of the reverse takeover; their Australian Securities Exchange symbol will be changed to AC8 and shares are expected to be reinstated to trading next month.

The Canopy Group family now includes AusCann Group, Tweed, Bedrocan, Cann Science, DNA Genetics, and Chilean medical cannabis cultivator Fundación Daya. Canopy announced earlier this month that they reached a $320 million takeover agreement with Mettrum Health Corp. and special shareholder meetings for both Canopy Growth and Mettrum are scheduled for Friday to approve the deal, according to an announcement by Canopy Growth. Last month, TW Holdings completed its prospectus offering, raising $5 million through issuance of 25 million shares at .20 cents.

As part of the deal with Canopy, AusCann will issue shares equal to 15 percent to the company in exchange for access to their cultivation intellectual property, manufacturing, and medicinal cannabis supply.

Canopy is listed on Canada’s TSX Venture Exchange and has a reported market capitalization of nearly $200 million.

End

The Crowne Plaza hotel in Seattle, Washington.

Third Annual Washington Cannabis Summit Review

1/23/2017

by Mike Roe

Many of the top minds in cannabis recently met in Seattle on Friday, Jan. 6 for the third annual Washington Cannabis Summit.

The summit was hosted by the Cannabis Alliance, one of Washington’s top non-profits in the fight for cannabis normalization. With the new regulations and rule handed down by the Washington State Liquor Control Board (LCB), new states coming online with legalization and the preparation for a change in the oval office, there was much to discuss at this year’s summit.

Ray Carveth, a professional communications trainer was the moderator for the day, and he shared the stage with keynote speakers Betty Aldworth and Jeremy Plumb, as well as Cannabis Alliance president Danielle Rosellison. There were panels throughout the day with topics ranging from “Cannabis Therapy” to “The Future of Cannabis and Hemp as Recognized Agricultural Topics.”

There was a lot of excitement about the new research license available and the possibility of Washington becoming the epicenter of cannabis research. Maxwell Salinger, director of Solstice Grown Cannabis, expressed his thoughts on the new research license: “It’s phenomenal that someone like me can add plants to our canopy for research purposes, and still keep our plants for retail sales.”

Other topics, such as “Cannabis as Medicine” and “Policy and Politics,” generated very engaging discussions with the crowd.

Washington is in a great position to help the rest of the country move forward with legalization for adult recreational use as well as medical use. With organizations like the Cannabis Alliance paving the way for cannabis reform and research opportunities, 2017 should be a banner year for the cannabis industry in Washington state and beyond.

End

Colorado Wholesale Cannabis Price-Per-Pound Has Dropped 25 percent

1/20/2017

by TG Branfalt

The wholesale cost of Colorado’s legal cannabis per pound has dropped 25 percent over the last year, according to state Department of Revenue figures outlined by Inc. Geoff Doran, co-founder of Tradiv, an online cannabis wholesaler, said that the average price per pound in Colorado – currently $1,200 – is down from $1,900 in 2016, and from $2,600 in 2015.

Sally Vander Veer, co-founder of Medicine Man, a licensed Colorado cultivator and retailer, said that in 2010 the company would have been able to secure per pound rates of about $5,000. She indicated that flower margins have dropped by as much as 40 percent.

The decline doesn’t come as a surprise Vander Veer, who predicts that the drop off will force many cultivators out of business over the next 18 months if they fail to adapt to the changing market.

“It’s sad, but it’s Economics 101, we’re not immune to the forces of supply and demand. You need to ride the wave of over-supply,” she said in the report. “It’s pivot, or die.”

After researching data in Washington, Steve Davenport, a Pardee RAND graduate school researcher, and Jonathan Caulkins, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, predicted that the price of cannabis would drop 2 percent each month, representing an annual decrease of 24 percent.

“It’s just a plant,” Caulkins said in a May 2016 interview with the Washington Post. “There will always be the marijuana equivalent of organically grown specialty crops sold at premium prices to yuppies, but at the same time, no-frills generic forms could become cheap enough to give away as a loss leader – the way bars give patrons beer nuts and hotels leave chocolates on your pillow.”

End

Limited MMJ Bill Introduced in Nebraska Despite Electoral Defeat of Longtime Champion

1/20/2017

by TG Branfalt

Freshman Nebraska State Sen. Anna Wishart has introduced medical cannabis legislation, continuing the work of former Sen. Tommy Garrett who was not reelected, KMTV reports. The bill, which faces opposition in the state from law enforcement agencies and Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts, is of the limited variety – permitting oil and pill cannabis treatments for less than 25 serious or chronic conditions.

According to the bill text, the measure would allow one “registered manufacturer” and four dispensaries in each of the state’s congressional districts and provides for independent laboratory testing. It also includes language that allows attorneys to work with the industry – an issue that often must be taken up by state Bar Associations or courts after legislation is passed.

Obtaining and keeping state-approved cannabis licenses would be costly under the regime, which calls for an annual fee “not to exceed” $75,000 for manufacturers and $25,000 for compassionate care centers and dispensaries.

A Medical Cannabis Board would be created and tasked with regulating the industry and adding to the qualifying condition list. The seven-member board would consist of five legislature-approved governor-appointees from each congressional district. Under the requirements, at least one member would be licensed pharmacist, and at least one would be “licensed to practice medicine and surgery.”

If passed, the law would take effect on July 1, 2018.

End

New York MMJ Revenues Well Below Administration’s Expectations

1/20/2017

by TG Branfalt

New York’s medical cannabis tax revenues are far less than anticipated as officials are expecting just $1 million after budgeting for $4 million when the program was announced, Politico reports. The revenues, which officials do not expect to grow over the next three years, come from a 7 percent excise tax on medical cannabis sales.

The first full year of the state’s limited medical cannabis program has experienced growing pains. In August, three of the state’s five licensed producers indicated they were still not profitable; at that time PharmaCann representative estimated that it would be another 18 months before they moved into the black. Last week one of those five companies, New York City operator Bloomfield Industries, was purchased by California-based MedMen. According to a previous Politico report, Bloomfield was experiencing “financial constraints.”

However, the state Health Department did expand access to the program by adding chronic pain to the qualifying condition list, and allowing physician assistants and nurse practitioners to certify patients for medical cannabis use.

According to Department of Health data, there are currently 12,530 registered patients and 824 registered practitioners under the program, up from the 10,730 patients and 750 practitioners counted in the agency’s two-year report released in December.

End

Green Man Plans to Renovate Grow Facility ‘To the Studs’ Following Product Recall

1/20/2017

by TG Branfalt

Denver’s Green Man Cannabis has issued a voluntary recall of some of its cannabis flower and edible products over concerns that it contains residual levels of illegal, off-label pesticides, the Denver Department of Environmental Health said in a recall notice.

The department is urging customers who purchased the affected products from Green Man shops on Santa Fe Drive and Hampden Avenue locations to return them to the location they purchased them from or dispose of them.

In a press release, Christian Hageseth, Green Man CEO, said the company believes “the plants became compromised from pesticide residue in the building, not application” and they are “taking the most aggressive steps possible to correct this.”

“We are now convinced residues remained, unknown to us, in the building’s duct work, paint, and flooring, and circulating air tainted the plants,” he said. “…Our plan is to rip out everything in our grow facilities – take it down to the studs.”

Hageseth indicated that the retail shops would remain open and would sell products from other growers “until we are confident that no pesticide residue is present.”

According to the health department website, more than 30 cannabis recalls have been issued since July 2015, 14 of which occurred last year. There have been no reports of illness related to the Green Man recall.

End

Children raising their hands during a school assembly.

Bill Filed to Allow Students to Consume Cannabis at School in Washington State

1/19/2017

by Lukas Barfield

One of the major concerns around cannabis has always been youth access. However, like adults, some kids need cannabis products to help them live normal, healthy lives.

All but nine states have now softened their stance on either medical cannabis or high CBD cannabis products specifically to help children suffering from epilepsy. These advances in MMJ reform have brought up interesting questions around kids and cannabis — the least of which is how to safely administer cannabis to kids at school.

It is illegal to bring cannabis onto a school campus in Washington state. A new bill filed in the 2017 session seeks to change that and treat cannabis like other prescribed medicines. HB 1060, a.k.a. Maddie & Ducky’s Law, will allow parents, guardians, or caregivers to administer oral cannabis to students at school, on a school bus, or at school-sponsored events.

Meagan Holt, whose daughter Maddie uses cannabis to treat her Zellweger syndrome said, “Maddie & Ducky’s Law would allow medically complex children, like Maddie, to safely access an education. Schools already have policies around safe use of other controlled substances. All we are asking is that cannabis be included in those policies because, for kids like Madeline, cannabis is a life-saving medication that she can not go without.”

Holt said she’s been humbled by the support the 3-page bill has garnered in Olympia and is optimistic about it passing this session.

End

German Parliament Unanimously Approves National MMJ Legislation

1/19/2017

by TG Branfalt

Germany’s parliament has voted unanimously to legalize medicinal cannabis use, paving the way for patients with a doctor’s prescription to purchase the drug from pharmacies, Deutsche Welle reports. The measure was strongly supported by Marlene Mortler, a member of the conservative Christian Social Union and the nation’s drug commissioner.

“It’s a great addition for patients who have waited for this a long time,” she said in the DW report.

According to a report from The Local, the new law will expand the country’s current medical cannabis program, which allowed only people with serious medical conditions to use cannabis for self-therapy. Only about 1,000 people were permitted to use the drug under the current regime. Eventually, rules and regulations will be in place allowing cannabis to be grown under the supervision of the state. Private companies will also be considered for cultivation and processing approval, but the requirements will likely be strict.

Under the law, expected to be implemented in March, cannabis therapies will be covered by health insurers when necessary.

“Cannabis as a medicine is certainly not a miracle drug,” Mortler told The Local. “But everyone should have the right to have it paid for when it helps.”

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Legal and Illegal North American Cannabis Sales Outpace Starbucks, McDonald’s in 2016

1/19/2017

by TG Branfalt

Total combined sales for legal and illegal cannabis sales in North America reached $53.3 billion last year, more than Starbucks and McDonald’s combined, according to Arcview Market Research figures outlined by Business Insider. Illegal sales made up 87 percent of total cannabis sales in 2016, down from 90 percent the year prior. The legal market gained 30 percent from 2015, earning $6.7 billion in North America last year.

Troy Dayton, Arcview Market Research CEO, explained that unlike other consumer industries the cannabis market “doesn’t need to create demand” for new products “it just needs to move demand for an already widely-popular product into legal channels.”

“The enormous amount of existing, if illicit, consumer spending sets cannabis apart from most other major consumer-market investment opportunities throughout history,” Dayton said in the report.

Yet, despite not needing to create demand, the legal cannabis industry is full of product innovations – such as edibles, topicals, and sprays – which, in Colorado made up 45 percent of total legal sales in the third quarter of 2016. In the first quarter of 2014, those products represented 30 percent of the state’s legal sales. Dayton said that “variety” is “one of the major reasons” people move to legal markets in states where it’s permitted.

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California Community College Planning to Offer Legal Cannabis Course

1/19/2017

by TG Branfalt

California’s City College of San Francisco is partnering with the United Food and Commercial Workers union and Oakland-based Oaksterdam University to develop a new course aimed at the legal cannabis industry, according to a report from the San Francisco Examiner

The course for the two-year community college has yet to be developed but it will likely focus on production and distribution. School officials have not decided whether it would be available to all students or offered exclusively through an agreement between the college’s Pharmacology Technology department and the union. However, according to college spokesman Jeff Hamilton “at the moment” enrollees would need to be sponsored by the UFCW or another union with apprenticeship programs, such as the Laborers’ Local 261’s Gardener Apprenticeship Program.

“Obviously, with the potential growth of this industry being substantial, particularly in California, we want to offer access to this growing industry,” Hamilton said in the report, explaining that Oaksterdam faculty would be used due to their “expertise” in the industry.

Dale Sky Jones, executive chancellor for Oaksterdamn University, said that she would prefer that the training not be limited to union members, noting that “things still need to be sussed out.”

“I just want to make sure the training is available for as much people as possible,” she said.

The college, which recently had its accreditation affirmed for seven years after it was revoked three years ago, plans on rolling out the course in the spring 2018 semester.

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Obama Commutes Hundreds of Federal Drug Sentences

1/18/2017

by TG Branfalt

With his term ending in just two days, President Barack Obama has commuted hundreds more federal drug sentences for those convicted under the mandatory minimum sentences laws of the 1980s and 1990s, according to a Washington Post report. So far, commutations under the Democratic president have reached 1,176 – more than 400 of which were life sentences – but his office has not specified the number under the latest round.

Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates said that the personnel working on the case “killed themselves” to get the final recommendations to the president and that U.S. Pardon Attorney Robert A. Zauzmer has not taken a day off since he was brought on in February to help sift through the backlog.

“We were in overdrive,” Yates, who led the clemency initiative, said in the report. “We were determined to live up to our commitment. It was 24-7 over the Christmas break.”

Three years ago then-Attorney General Eric Holder adopted a policy that reserved the most severe penalties for high-level or violent drug offenders, rather than impose mandatory minimums on low-level and non-violent drug offenders.

However, just because an inmate is granted clemency does not mean they will be immediately released. In many cases inmates will see their sentences significantly reduced; in some cases the offender will remain in prison for years.

It’s unclear, but highly unlikely, whether President-elect Donald Trump will continue Obama’s clemency initiative. On the campaign trail, Trump criticized the program while praising private prisons. His attorney general-nominee, Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions, is a hardline prohibitionist and during a 2010 Senate Judiciary Hearing said he thinks “there is a role for private prisons in the American system.”

Trump will take office on Jan. 20.

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