The capitol building of Tennessee.

MMJ Bill Introduced in Tennessee

12/16/2016

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Two Republican lawmakers in Tennessee have introduced medical cannabis legislation and are urging citizens who support its use to “educate” opponents, according to a report from the Tennessean. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Jeremy Faison and Sen. Steve Dickerson.

“At its heart, I really do think this is a very Republican, conservative bill,” Dickerson said in the report. “I know that’s a little counterintuitive, but it gets the government out of our lives.”

Dickerson sponsored similar legislation in 2015 with now House Republican Caucus chairman Rep. Ryan Williams. That bill never made it out of committee.

“What this bill is not is opening the door to recreational use; this is not a bill that will allow people to get high on the streets,” Dickerson, a physician, said. “This is, however, a bill that would bring a necessary medicine to some of the sickest and most critically ill Tennesseans.”

Under the bill, medical cannabis would be available for conditions such as Lou Gehrig’s disease, HIV/AIDS, cancer, seizures, Alzheimer’s, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The state Health Department and Higher Education Commission would be permitted to add conditions to the qualifying list. The state departments of Agriculture, Safety, and Health would help develop rules and licensing pricing. Patients would be required to pay a $35 fee for their card.

Under the measure, 50 cultivations sites would be allowed in the state, with the first 15 permitted in “distressed” regions.

Taxes from the program would be dispensed to law enforcement, the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, K-12 education and the executive branch.

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Arkansas MMJ Commission Expects to Begin Patient Registration in March

12/16/2016

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Arkansas’ five-member Medical Marijuana Commission has held its first meeting, now it has 120 days to create the rules that will govern the currently non-existent medical cannabis program, according to a report from KHTV. Commissioners expect the Health Department to start registering patients as soon as March.

Under the law, passed by voters during the General Election, the commission must begin accepting licenses for the four to eight cultivation sites, and between 20 and 40 dispensaries no later than June 1. The Alcoholic Beverage Control Division will also play a role in developing the program details.

Commissioner Travis Story said that the commission will look toward other states in an effort to help them develop the program rules quickly in order to determine what worked and what didn’t work.

“We have to be serious and get going because otherwise there’s not enough time to do a lot of different things and that’s our biggest challenge,” Story said in the report.

Commission Chairwoman Dr. Ronda Henry-Tillman said the commission, which was appointed by legislative leaders, was “prepared” for the daunting task at hand.

“Making a difference in patients’ lives and ensuring survival, not only survival but quality of life is very important,” she said.

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Medical cannabis plants of the Lemon Kush varietal, pictured in a Colorado home grow site.

Provisions of Mass. Legalization Initiative Take Effect Today

12/15/2016

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Massachusetts is officially the sixth state to eliminate criminal penalties for adult possession and personal use of cannabis, as some provisions of the Bay State’s voter-backed legalization initiative take effect today.

The law, passed on Election Day, allows adults who are not registered in the state’s medical cannabis program to legally grow and harvest up to six plants, possess up to 1 ounce of flower and 5 grams of concentrates in public, and possess up to 10 ounces of cannabis in their home.

“By legalizing the adult use of marijuana, Massachusetts will shrink the illicit black market, generate millions in tax revenue, end the arrest of otherwise law abiding citizens, and better enable society to keep marijuana out of the hands of children,” NORML Executive Director Erik Altieri said in a press release.

Altieri’s colleague, Deputy Director Paul Armentano, noted that in 1914 Massachusetts was the first state to outlaw and impose criminal penalties on cannabis.

“…It is time to bring prohibition to an end in Massachusetts,” he said.

The measure will license and regulate retail dispensaries, but those provisions don’t take effect until Jan. 1, 2018. The state joins Colorado, California, Alaska, Oregon and Washington as states which currently permit adult-use consumption and possession. The District of Columbia also allows adult possession and home cultivation.

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Hemp plants are federally legal so long as they contain less than 0.3 percent THC.

Did the DEA Just Outlaw Hemp-Derived CBD?

12/14/2016

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A new rule published by the DEA today led many in the cannabis industry to assume the worst – that the agency had decided to crack down on hemp-derived CBD.

Take a deep breath. This is likely not the case.

What the rule actually does is create a new Administration Controlled Substances Code Number for cannabis extracts – concentrates such as shatter, wax or rosin. This is an administrative measure, not an enforcement action; and while an initial reading of the publication might make it seem like an attack on hemp-derived CBD, the rule mentions neither “hemp” nor “CBD” in either the proposed or final rule.

Eric Steenstra, executive director of the Hemp Industries Association, indicated that although his legal team is reviewing the document, “this isn’t how [the DEA] goes about scheduling a substance.”

“If you look at it, it’s all about marijuana extracts and my take on it is that they probably have come across a lot more extracts over the last few years…and they keep track of this stuff,” he explained in an interview with Ganjapreneur. “This is a tracking thing.”

The DEA has codes for everything on the schedule list and, until this rule, the agency was classifying all cannabis products – flower, concentrates, edibles – under one code. The new rule provides a new code – 7350 – for the classification of cannabis extracts.

Steenstra says that a lot of the “hubbub” over this rule is due to the DEA’s response to a question about whether the code applies to CBD. That answer just repeats the opinion of the DEA that CBD derived from a plant containing more than 0.3 percent THC is a controlled substance. However, Steenstra says that most of the hemp grown in the U.S. is produced under Section 7606 of the Farm Bill, which explicitly draws a distinction between marijuana and hemp.

“I don’t think this is a huge change in the law or anything like that,” he said. “I’m not so sure it’s as big a deal as it’s been made out to be.”

Joy Beckerman, an activist and civil litigation paralegal, says that the DEA considers all CBD products, regardless of the THC content of its source, Schedule 1 substances and points to DEA Form 225 as evidence. On page three of that registration form cannabidiol is listed – a change made in April, 2012, long before the either the rule proposal or finalization.     

“The DEA has always – has never not – considered cannabidiol to be a Schedule One drug,” she explained. “This is not shocking, I knew this was coming. Now that the DEA has finalized this July 5, 2011 proposed rule, we have lost an available argument, whereas we’ve been able to say until December 7, 2016 that the rule had never been adopted or finalized.”   

According to the “Regulatory Flexibility Act” section of the publication, in which the DEA would have to explain the economic impacts of the new rule, the agency determines that “it will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.” If the rule were to, in some way, outlaw hemp-derived CBD production, the business entities impacted would need to be divulged in this section – and there would clearly be an economic impact in every state with medical cannabis laws, not to mention for every industrial hemp producer in the U.S.

Basically, CBD oil derived from plants that contain higher than 0.3 percent not grown under Section 7606 will be tracked and classified by the DEA using the same code as concentrates that are high in THC. Researchers who are studying, or planning to study, CBD will have to use this new code if their product is derived from a plant that contains more THC than allowed under the Farm Bill.       

According to Alli Cloyd, assistant director of the National Hemp Association, the organization is doing its diligence by looking over the publication with counsel, but said in an email that they aren’t “too worried…considering the federal definition of marijuana makes CBD legal.”

Cloyd said the NHA has been in contact with counsel from Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell’s office – a powerful ally to the hemp industry – who indicated that the Republican would “be calling the DEA this week to get their official opinion on its impact.”

In 2001, the DEA clarified its rules, explicitly permitting the use of hemp-derived products that do not cause THC to enter the body. The FDA considers CBD derived from industrial hemp to be a dietary supplement.

Beckerman says the CBD industry should consider suing the DEA over the rule “to really hold their feet to the fire,” saying that the only reason the DEA hasn’t come after CBD companies is because “it would cost them a bazillion dollars in legal arguments.”

“It’s defensible. Is it legal? Of course not,” she argues. “There are so many layers to the legal arguments that they don’t want to get involved in them.”

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Panorama view of Spokane, Washington.

Spokane County Lawmakers Pass Sneaky Moratorium on Outdoor Cannabis

12/14/2016

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Officials in Spokane County, Washington have passed a local ordinance banning outdoor cannabis growing — without adding it to the commissioners’ agenda preventing public comment, NWCN reports. The measure doesn’t prevent current licensed cultivators from operating, but it does prevent them from expanding and considerations for new farms will be put on hold.

“Passing an emergency ordinance to an industry that is employing hundreds of people in Spokane County is maybe a misstep on our county commissioners,” Crystal Oliver, owner of Washington’s Finest Cannabis said in the report. “Outdoor cannabis farming is more sustainable is requires less energy and waste.”

County Commissioner Al French said that lawmakers are still learning how to conduct the program and trying to adjust as new information is available. He said the emergency moratorium is necessary because of 200 citizen complaints on 44 cannabis growing facilities – mostly related to the odor. French said the county and the Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency have spent about $250,000 to deal with complaints and public health issues related to outdoor cannabis grows.

“Majority of voters were inside the cities where the outdoor grows don’t happen,” he said. “Out in an unincorporated area where the grows happen, they voted overwhelmingly not to support the measure so they are the ones that are having to deal with the impacts, unintended, with the industry.”

French insisted that the moratorium was only temporary and the commissioners are trying to protect both the industry and public.

“Our goal is to find a solution not to stop the economic development not to stop the industry, but to find a solution,” he said.

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Missouri County Prosecutor Files Injunction to Prevent Certification of Cannabis Ballot Initiatives

12/14/2016

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Cole County, Missouri Prosecuting Attorney Mark Richardson has filed an injunction seeking to prohibit Secretary of State Jason Kander from certifying voter initiatives that would legalize cannabis, the St. Louis Dispatch reports.

The petition cites 15 legalization proposals for 2018 already sent to the Secretary of State’s Office, which Richardson argues are unconstitutional because they contradict federal drug laws. The injunction would have a judge throw out the legalization initiative proposals as unconstitutional, claiming Kander’s actions accepting cannabis-related measures “pose an immediate threat to the constitutional and initiative petition process.”

Efforts to legalize medicinal cannabis in the state fell short during the last election when Kander’s office threw out more than 10,000 signatures collected in the state’s 2nd Congressional District, leaving the campaign, backed by New Approach Missouri, 2,242 signatures short of the 2,337 goal in the district. Advocates sued Kander, and in the lawsuit a Cole County Circuit Court judge ruled that 2,242 signatures were valid, but that still left the campaign 23 votes short.

Jack Cardetti, a spokesman for New Approach Missouri, called Richardson’s lawsuit “an incredible waste of public resources,” noting that state courts have long maintained that lawsuits brought this early in the petition process aren’t legitimate and have opted to decide legal questions after voters weigh in.

The 15 proposals already filed with Kander’s office are already open to public comment.

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Images from an indoor medical cannabis grow in Colorado.

Canadian Cannabis Legalization Task Force Issues Recommendations; Cannabis Stocks Jump

12/14/2016

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Canada’s Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation, appointed by the federal government to research legalization, has issued their report, which recommends 18 and older as the legal age to buy cannabis and a personal possession limit of 30 grams, the CBC reports. According to the Global News, most publicly traded cannabis companies’ stocks closed with gains on the heels of the task force’s report.

The legal age conflicts with a recommendation from the Canadian Medical Association and Ottawa’s Board of Health that would have 21 be the legal age to buy cannabis. The task force report said that setting an age higher than a drinking age would force younger consumers to purchase cannabis in the informal market — which the government is looking to curtail with legalization.

Anne McLellan, chair of the task force and former Liberal cabinet minister, said that the illicit market is responsible for the “societal problems” of the existing market.

“Now is the time to move away from a system that has, for decades, been focused on the prohibition of cannabis into a regulated legal market,” she said in the report.

The task force recommended that cannabis sales be banned in places that also sell tobacco and alcohol products, and limiting the concentration of retail locations in order to keep them from public parks, schools, and community centers. Their recommendation would subject products with high THC levels to higher taxes in an effort to discourage their use. Tax revenues would be used for research on potential health risks and public education campaigns. Personal cultivation for medical purposes would be permitted.

Bruce Linton, chairman of Canopy Growth Corporation, whose stock closed 8 percent higher yesterday, praised the report as a “strong policy framework for the government to consider” but expressed concerns that the task force is not recommending different tax schemes for the medical and adult-use markets which could “unduly burden” patients.

“Most importantly, we think it confirms that the current medical system for production is working and should form the backbone of ongoing production into the future. It recognizes the value of limited grow-at-home and diversity of producers and access methods, all things we support as a company,” he said in a press release. “It also recognizes that the existing mail order system has merit as an ongoing complementary distribution system reaching all Canadians conveniently and securely.”

Legislation to legalize cannabis use in Canada is expected to be introduced this spring.

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The flag of Mexico flying in the wind.

Mexican Senate Passes Medical Cannabis Bill

12/14/2016

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Mexico’s Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill legalizing medicinal cannabis use 98-7, according to a Deutsche Welle report. The legislation will move to the lower Chamber of Deputies and, if passed, would then move to President Enrique Peña Nieto for final approval.

Advocates say that wider legalization measures are needed in the country to help combat drug trafficking-related cartel violence, but that the proposal does address the need for alternative medical treatment. The measure directs the federal Health Department to “design public policies to regulate the medicinal use of this plant and its derivatives.” It would also allow the sale, import and export of products containing concentrations of 1 percent THC or less.

Senator Angélica De la Peña Gómez indicated that lawmakers needed to “do something different in drug policy” because of the “high level of violence” associated with prohibition in the country – which, she said, has led to “more than 100,000 deaths and the systemic violation of human rights.”

Last April, Peña Nieto backed legislation that would allow Mexicans to possess 1 ounce of cannabis for personal use. However, that bill has yet to make it to the floor for a vote. Under current Mexican law, possession of up to 5 grams of cannabis, 50 milligrams of cocaine, and 40 milligrams of methamphetamine is decriminalized.

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Baker Platform Offers Automatic ‘Strain Alerts’ for Dispensaries

12/14/2016

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The core foundation of any retailer’s success story almost always depends on a quality line of communication with their consumers — and one of the biggest bummers for any consumer is not being able to get what you want.

Particularly with dispensaries, patients are often drawn to a certain strain or product for its specific medical benefits. But when a sickly person makes a long trip into town or (in some instances) over to the next county, it can be extremely frustrating to learn upon arrival that their particular medication has sold out. One strategy is for the budtender to write down the patient’s contact information using a notepad or sticky note, with the specific product they were hoping for, and promise to call or email the customer when their product has been stocked again — but Baker Technologies has a better solution.

Baker is a software and sales analysis firm whose web-based app helps facilitate quality communication between cannabis dispensaries and their patients/consumers. The company’s new ‘Strain Alerts’ service is the latest addition to Baker’s online platform and allows dispensaries to issue automatic updates to customers who want to know when a specific strain of flower, brand of edibles, or other product becomes available.

According to Eli Sklarin, Marketing Director for Baker, “Specific products are very important to the dispensary shopping experience, and can make or break whether or not someone goes to your dispensary or stays loyal” — and the haphazard sticky note method described above is “extremely unscalable, takes dozens of hours, and is not great for the consumer.”

Using the Baker app, dispensaries can instead “have people sign up through our loyalty program and say, ‘I want to know when Blue Dream comes back in stock,’ and the dispensary — in one click — can let them know about the product,” said Sklarin.

The Baker app is an online platform dedicated to improving the dispensary shopping experience. Visitors to the Baker website can create accounts in order to receive live updates from registered dispensaries about current inventory, new products, prices, and product availability. Dispensaries who are currently enrolled with Baker have access to four core offerings, which include a platform for online ordering, loyalty program strategies, the opportunity for personalized messaging and direct interaction with patients and consumers, and unique analysis services that utilize Baker’s extensive and international database.

In the two years since its launch, the Colorado-based company has expanded dramatically and is currently serving 186 dispensaries in nine U.S. states — including Colorado, Washington, Oregon, California, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, Massachusetts, and Hawaii — and several Canadian provinces.

Visit www.TryBaker.com to learn more about Baker Technologies, or go to http://trybaker.com/shop/ for firsthand experience with the Baker app.

Baker’s dispensary clients average an ROI for the year within 2 months. Dispensaries who schedule a demo to learn more and sign up before the end of the year will receive a 15% discount on Baker’s services.

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An immature, backyard hemp plant.

CBD Market Could Hit $3 Billion by 2021

12/13/2016

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According to some cannabis industry experts, the U.S. CBD market could reach between $2.1 billion and $3 billion by 2021, according to a Forbes report. The Hemp Business Journal estimates that hemp-based sales would represent $450 million of that figure — a 700 percent increase from 2016.

In 2015, hemp-derived CBD products comprised $90 million worth of sales, while the market for marijuana-derived CBD products reached $112 million.

CBD isn’t explicitly defined under the federal Controlled Substances Act, and in 2003 the DEA lost a court case brought by The Hemp Association over their attempts to add CBD to the Schedule list. The Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2015 amended the Controlled Substances Act to exclude hemp, which includes hemp-based CBD.

Medical Marijuana Inc. indicated that the hemp-based CBD market has already begun transforming, explaining that four years ago, customers paid $1.25 per milligram but were buying less. Now, customers are buying more, but pay 2.5 cents per milligram.

Four years ago, Medical Marijuana Inc. was one of the few large-scale CBD sellers in the U.S. with $14.5 million in total sales. Medical Marijuana Inc. earned $3.4 million in CBD sales during 2013 and estimate they’ll make about $9 million from CBD sales in 2016.

General Hemp, the venture capital firm that has a majority interest in Medical Marijuana, Inc., made $34 million from 2014 to 2016 from CBD sales.

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Macro shot of cannabis trichomes, taken in an indoor Washington grow facility.

Nevada Cannabis Lab Earns International Regulatory Accreditation

12/13/2016

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As Nevada begins its transition to an adult-use market, 374 Labs, a licensed Sparks, Nevada-based cannabis testing laboratory, has become the first cannabis testing lab in the state to earn ISO 17025 accreditation from the International Organization for Standardization, Northern Nevada Business Weekly reports.

Dr. Jeff Angermann, assistant professor at the Reno School of Community Health Services, said the accreditation is “a requirement of top testing laboratories in all industries from biotech to forensics in most major countries.”

374 Labs helped develop the testing structure employed by the Nevada Division of Public Health and the state Department of Agriculture. The round-robin system takes samples and has each state-certified lab perform a full analysis in order to ensure a consistent and thorough testing process.

“In other states proficiency involves testing pre-prepared, purified samples and neglects the challenges of coaxing out delicate analytes from the complex array of compounds found in actual marijuana,” Laboratory Director Jason Strull said in the report. “I commend the DPBH and NDA for facilitating such an advanced quality program.”

The lab also participates in the Clean Green program, which applies the requirements of the USDA organic certification to the cannabis agency.

“Nevada allows certain levels of pesticides like Myclobutanil on its certified marijuana, so we wanted a way for patients and consumers to able to distinguish marijuana that is grown using organic methods,” Strull said.

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A picture taken at dusk of the dome on Maryland's Statehouse

Maryland MMJ Commission Makes Dispensary License Recommendations

12/13/2016

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Maryland’s Medical Cannabis Commission has recommended 102 companies to operate dispensaries in the state according to a Baltimore Business Journal report. The law permits no more than two dispensaries in each of the state’s 47 legislative districts.

Of the 102 preliminary licenses, 16 are in Montgomery County, 14 are in Baltimore County, with 10 approved in Baltimore City. The dispensaries will now move on to stage two, which includes a $4,000 application fee, and an $80,000 biannual licensing fee.

One of the companies approved for a preliminary dispensary license in Anne Arundel County, Alternative Medicine Maryland, LLC, is one of three companies embroiled in a lawsuit against the commission. In the suit, Alternative Medicine Maryland contends that the commission “ignored race and ethnicity throughout the licensing process in clear contravention of its authorizing statute.”

GTI Maryland, another company who has sued the commission claiming they were unfairly denied a preliminary cultivation license, was also approved for a preliminary dispensary license in Montgomery County.

The move marks a small step forward for the commission, who has hired a diversity consultant due to claims that it failed to adhere to diversity requirements in the law. The commission says that the slow rollout of the program is due to the overwhelming interest in the program rather than blowback from the Legislative Black Caucus over the lack of diversity in the licensing process or the lawsuits.

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Canadian dollar bills stacked on top of each other.

Canadian MMJ Producer Sued by Investment Firm

12/13/2016

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Jacob Securities, a defunct Toronto investment broker, is suing THC BioMed Intl. Ltd., a publicly traded Kelowna, British Columbia medical cannabis cultivator, claiming that the company breached a deal by giving them photocopied – and worthless – share certificates, according to a Vancouver Sun report.

The lawsuit stems from the settlement of a separate court case between the two companies in Sept. 2015, in which THC agreed to deliver 4,660,000 common shares to Jacob. According to the report, THC delivered photocopies of the shares which “cannot be traded and have no value.” Nine months later Jacob realized the certificates were photocopies, filing the claim against the firm in October.

In a November court filing, THC said that the original settlement deal was entered into due to Jacob’s “false pretenses, fundamental misrepresentations and omissions.” The biomedical firm has hired Jacob to secure equity financing and publish a research report.

Meanwhile, Jacob had come under fire by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, who suspended the firm in Dec. 2015 over their failure to acquire the proper registration approvals prior to announcing the launch of the Jacob Capital Management Cannabis Fund.

In their suspension decision, the IIRO indicated their decision was due to the resignation of the chief financial officer and that Jacob, “was locked out of its business premises due to its failure to pay rent of approximately $110,000.”

“…Apparently, unsupervised trading continued by (Jacob’s) registered representatives through their mobile phones and by meeting with clients in the lobby of the building,” the agency said in the decision.

“[If THC had] been aware of the true status of (Jacob) with its regulatory authority, they would not have entered into the settlement agreement,” THC said in the filing.

The new allegations have not yet been tested in court.

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Detroit City's skyline during a pink-skied sunset.

Michigan Sheriffs Using Some MMJ Fee Funds for Dispensary Raids

12/13/2016

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Fees raised via Michigan’s medical cannabis patients are being used to fund cannabis industry enforcement efforts in Detroit, according to a Detroit News report. Sheriff’s departments have spent more than $600,000 in state grant funding for vehicles, raid gear, and overtime pay for dispensary stakeouts.

The program, which allows county sheriffs to use medical cannabis funds for enforcement, education or communication, was enacted by the legislature two years ago. Critics of the program call it “worse than ironic” that the money gleaned from mandatory caregiver and patient fees is being used to stalk patients at dispensaries and conduct drug raids.

“You can’t give the guys who have been kicking in our doors and taking all of our property with unfettered power — and they still have it — this money,” Charmie Gholson, an activist and founder of Michigan Moms United, said in the report.

Oakland County Sheriffs spent $282,662 on a four-day “indoor marijuana school” for law enforcement agencies; vests; a 2016 Ram ProMaster cargo van and a 2016 GMC 2500 HD pickup for transporting seized plants; and overtime pay.

Wayne County Sheriffs spent $275,195 on eight Tazers, body cameras and enforcement personnel for “street level investigations” of medical cannabis, according to the report. Macomb County Sheriffs spent $60,329, also on investigations.

Cannabis registry fees generated $7.1 million in fiscal year 2015. The Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs spent $3.2 million on administering the program, and the fund has about $30 million. LARA was recently appropriated $8.5 million from the fund by the legislature to implement a new regulatory framework next year.

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Infused chocolate-covered popcorn, photographed in Washington D.C.

Lessons From a Cannabis Culinary Venture in Washington D.C.

12/12/2016

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Editor’s note: Every cannabis entrepreneur has a different story, and we love to hear about the different paths that have led different people to pursue opportunities in this industry. This article is a first-hand account by cannabis and culinary entrepreneur Victoria Harris of DC Taste Buds, detailing how she transitioned from her culinary career to crafting medical cannabis infused products in Washington D.C.

Have you heard chefs brainstorm about cannabis product ideas together? It’s incredible.

So rarely are we given an opportunity to dive into a brand new, underdeveloped, culinary venture. Globally, it’s arguable that the U.S. is behind our European cannabis aficionado counterparts, but we always make up for lost time. Just ask Charles Krug if he regretted making wine a “thing” in Napa Valley. France had a big head start, but look how that played out.

Culinary meets cannabis

I co-founded D.C. Taste Buds with culinary professionals Warren Brown and Anna Bran-Leis, knowing our business model did not exist yet — but we agreed that, in theory, it should work. We also thought that culinary professionals ought to play a larger role in the cannabis edibles industry, and we felt confident we had the experience to help open up the underdeveloped East Coast market — south of Massachusetts, D.C. remains the only city producing infused edibles and that, once the new regulations pass, will offer reciprocity.

But, as we had yet to learn, there remains a lot of uncertainty around current restrictions and the legality of certain business strategies.

annavictoria
Anna Bran-Leis (left) and Victoria Harris (right) in a behind-the-scenes discussion at DC Taste Buds.

When we started looking into who was making edibles outside our bubble, we reached out to people who could offer insight on developing trends. Amanya Maloba — who has been a budtender at some of the biggest recreational stores in Washington and is currently a cannabis consultant — said, “The smart companies are trying to collab with culinary professionals because people can tell the difference in quality. They taste better. The companies that are not recruiting culinary talent? They’re going to get left behind.”

The day after our first in-person meeting (where Anna and Warren actually met for the first time), Anna started our trademark process. A month later, we launched the brand at the The National Cannabis Festival and started determining how to enter D.C.’s medicinal marijuana industry.

Anna had tried two dozen edible companies in the District during our research and development. We all agreed on her assessment that, “we have to be focused on the food first because nobody is concerned about the taste, only the potency.”

We were excited: we already had the perfect product, infusion process, and plan for producing to scale.

Underestimated realities

That excitement didn’t last long. There was so much to learn about cannabis, and the legal regulations in D.C. are incredibly vague and difficult to navigate.

The reality was the learning curve would prevent us from entering the market with the best product possible, never mind if it was completely legal. Warren, who runs our recipe development, determined that “the regulatory structure surrounding how the product would get to market would completely change whatever process we initially decided on.”

It wasn’t until we started working with Dr. Chanda Macias, owner of National Holistic Healing Center, and Corey Barnette, who owns District Growers Cultivation Center and Metropolitan Wellness, that we realized we’d ignored a huge part of the equation. We hadn’t considered the limitations D.C. had placed on cultivation centers and dispensaries. We never considered which infusion method would be the most cost effective for the cultivation center, or how their inventory rotated.

We have only become confident in our new process because of the real collaborative effort to develop it.

The East Coast may be late to the party, but we’re en route.

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Arkansas MMJ Commission Names Members; First Meeting Today

12/12/2016

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Top lawmakers in Arkansas have appointed the five-member Medical Marijuana Commission ahead of their first meeting today, NPR station KUAR reports. The commission will facilitate the licensing and regulation of cultivation sites and dispensaries under the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment.

Dr. Ronda Henry-Tillman, a University of Arkansas Medical Sciences Department of Surgery professor and co-director of Cancer Control and Population Sciences for the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, was appointed to the commission by Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson. Republican House Speaker Jeremy Gillam tabbed Dr. Stephen J. Carroll and attorney Travis Story. Republican Senate President Jonathan Dismag appointed Dr. J Carlos Roman and James Miller, a former Senate chief of staff who currently serves as a lobbyist for the Arkansas Railroad Association.

According to the report, North Little Rock Republican Doug House has suggested paying each commissioner a salary of $30,000 per year, however at present, commissioners are set to be paid $85 per meeting of the board.

Members from the state Department of Health, the Department of Finance and Administration, and the Alcoholic Beverage Control Division will also have a role in developing the program details.

Under the law passed by voters during November’s general election, the state will license between four and eight cultivators and between 20 and 40 dispensaries. The law also provides a June deadline to meet the licensing requirements but lawmakers are already suggesting that target could be pushed to July.

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Humboldt County Growers’ Strain Named Emerald Cup’s Top Flower

12/12/2016

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Zkittles, a flower strain from Humboldt County growers The Dookie Brothers, took home the top prize at this year’s Emerald Cup, according to the Emerald Report. The strain was described as “Skittles from the vending machine at a high school football game,” with a sweet tropical flavor and smell.

The event was only the second for the Dookie Brothers, whose winning indica-dominant strain is bred by 3rd Gen Family and Terp Hogz.

“I’ve been doing this for 25 years, and I’m just so passionate,” Jason “Dookie” said in the report. “It’s all kind of surreal. It’s just unbelievable.”

Berry White by Todd Franciskovic of Resin Ranch won top honors for “Best Dry Sieve.” The win is “huge” for Franciskovic, who moved from Wisconsin to Northern California this year to develop concentrates.

According to Tim Blake, organizer of the Emerald Cup, there was a 50 percent increase in entries over last year — 1,200 total — and that with an estimated 30,000 festival-goers they might be outgrowing the Sonoma County Fairgrounds.

“I’ve seen more change in the last two years than I have in the last twenty or thirty years,” he said. “People just don’t understand the size and scope of all this.”

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Trimmed cannabis buds ready to for curing and consumption.

Health Canada: Registered MMJ Users Tripled Since 2015

12/12/2016

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The number of Canadians approved for medical cannabis use has tripled during the last year, according to Sept. 30 numbers from Health Canada showing that 98,460 individuals are approved for medical cannabis use, up from 30,537 in Sept. 2015.

According to an Ottawa Citizen report, the increase is likely due to changes in the nation’s medical cannabis system in 2014, which moved away from patients growing their own cannabis and introduced a new structure under which commercial cultivation centers are permitted to sell cannabis by mail.

Dr. Sana-Ara Ahmed, who started using cannabis at her practice last year, says it’s patients, rather than physicians, who are driving the program’s growth.

“There may be a few more doctors open to it. But I also believe it’s the same doctors, seeing more people,” Ahmed in the report. “The direction is coming from the public. The direction is not coming from the physicians.”

Patients are sharing their success stories, Ahmed said, which is compelling other patients to reconsider cannabis therapies and forcing physicians to consider learning more about the medical uses of the plant.

In an effort to educate physicians, Alan Ball, a professor at the University of Toronto and family physician, has conducted workshops for physicians about the use of medical cannabis, serving as chair of a continuing medical education program on the matter at the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

“A patient walks in, says, ‘I have this pain. I’ve been using street marijuana; it helps me,’ ” Bell said. “The average physician is going to be at a loss. And as physicians, we are very reluctant to authorize the use of any medications without adequate education. That’s a real barrier. But it’s an overcomeable barrier. We’re in early days.”

Health Canada estimates that there will be 450,000 authorized patients by 2024. The federal government is expected to unveil an adult-use cannabis scheme in the spring.

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Juan Manuel Santos, president of Colombia, during a 2008 conference.

Colombian President Denounces War on Drugs During Nobel Prize Speech

12/12/2016

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During his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said that zero-tolerance drug policies might be “even more harmful” than worldwide conflicts, calling on the world to “rethink” the war on drugs, according to a BBC report.

During his speech, Santos said that his nation had “paid the highest cost in deaths and sacrifices” in the war on drugs, noting that a conflict with FARC rebels in Colombia has led to the deaths of 260,000 people and the displacement of millions more. The president signed a peace deal with the rebels last month.

“I have served as a leader in times of war — to defend the freedom and the rights of the Colombian people — and I have served as a leader in times of making peace,” he said. “Allow me to tell you, from my own experience, that it is much harder to make peace than to wage war.”

Santos has pledged to donate the prize money — $8 million Swedish kroner ($925,000) — to the conflict’s victims.

“We have moral authority to state that, after decades of fighting against drug trafficking, the world has still been unable to control this scourge that fuels violence and corruption throughout our global community,” he said, adding, “it makes no sense to imprison a peasant who grows marijuana” when it’s legally allowed to be used in eight U.S. states.

“The manner in which this war against drugs is being waged is equally or perhaps even more harmful than all the wars the world is fighting today, combined,” he said.

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Judge Rules Montana Dispensaries are Back in Business Immediately

12/09/2016

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A Montana District Court Judge has ruled that a clerical error on November’s ballot initiative to reinstate the previous medical cannabis program rules should not prohibit the new regime from taking effect immediately, the Associated Press reports.

Judge James Reynolds said that the drafting error, which made the effective date of the initiative July 1, should not keep critically ill patients from accessing their much-needed medicine immediately. In 2011, Reynolds blocked the legislature-imposed three-patient limit twice.

“The folks that are maybe the most in need are the least able to provide, to grow their own,” Reynolds said in the ruling. “I think speed is more important than niceties.”

Kate Cholewa, the lobbyist for the measure’s advocates, said that despite the ruling it remains unclear how long it would take for providers who shuttered their operations to get back online. The shutdown earlier last year has led to supply shortages and many doctors need to be re-certified for the program.

“The people who work providing marijuana in Montana were, let’s face it, they were jerked around quite a bit,” Cholewa said in the report. “They are somewhat used to it and very good at coming back.”

The Health Department, who did not oppose the efforts to change the effective date, reported an increase in medical cannabis applications after the ruling, receiving 70 applications for cardholders and providers after the decision was handed down.

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Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin making an address at a community college.

Vermont Gov. Could Pardon Thousands Convicted of State Cannabis Possession Crimes

12/09/2016

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Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin will consider pardoning Vermont convictions of cannabis possession up to one ounce, which has been decriminalized in the state since 2013, according to an announcement on the governor’s office website.

Shumlin indicated the plan helps him “lead a more sane drug policy,” and his office indicates 10,000 to 17,000 Vermonters may be eligible for relief.

Pardon considerations will be made for low-level possession charges so long as the applicant does not have any felony or violent criminal convictions.

“A governor’s pardon is an extraordinary act. Applying for a pardon does not guarantee a pardon will be granted,” the post says. “All applications will be considered by the Governor and either granted or denied at his discretion.”

According to the post, a pardon does not necessarily erase a record of conviction or the conviction itself and might not change the consequences of such a conviction.

“It could have happened in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s. There are thousands of them,” Shumlin said in a WCAX report. “We’ve got folks who got charged for an ounce or less of marijuana in a different era when we were running a failed war on drugs. Let’s give those folks the opportunity to have a clean record.”

Individuals have until Christmas to apply for a pardon under the program.

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New York Makes More Changes to MMJ Program; Defines ‘Chronic Pain’

12/09/2016

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In efforts to expand the state’s medical cannabis program, New York’s Department of Health has announced they are allowing registered organizations to wholesale their products to other licensed businesses and are lifting the limit on the number of brands allowed to be sold by dispensaries.

The decision comes after an announcement last week that will see chronic pain added to the eligible condition list, and the approval of physician’s assistants and nurse practitioners to recommend the drug. Under the new rules, the department has defined chronic pain as:

“Any severe debilitating pain that the practitioner determines degrades health and functional capability; where the patient has contraindications, has experienced intolerable side effects, or has experienced failure of one or more previously tried therapeutic options; and where there is documented medical evidence of such pain having lasted three months or more beyond onset, or the practitioner reasonably anticipates such pain to last three months or more beyond onset.”

Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, who sponsored the Compassionate Care Act, said that by lifting the number of brands available, the Department is ensuring access “for patients with rare or complex conditions.”

“I applaud Commissioner of Health Howard Zucker and Governor Andrew Cuomo for taking further steps to expand access to medical marijuana,” Gottfried said in a press release. “Allowing the companies that manufacture and sell medical marijuana to wholesale their products to other registered organizations will expand the variety of products available across the state.”

According to the release, the Department has also proposed amendments that would allow hospitals to create policies and procedures allowing registered medical cannabis patients to self-administer cannabis in a hospital. The 45-day comment period for the rule change will begin on Dec. 21.

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A police truck with the DEA insignia.

DEA Threat Assessment Survey Blames Media for Difficulty Enforcing Cannabis Laws

12/09/2016

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In their latest Threat Assessment, an annual survey of U.S. law enforcement agencies, the DEA claims that the “abundance of media attention” has made it difficult to enforce and prosecute cannabis-related offences.

“Many states have passed laws allowing the cultivation, possession, and use of marijuana within their respective states. Due to these varying state laws, as well as an abundance of media attention surrounding claims of possible medical benefits, the general public has been introduced to contradictory and often inaccurate information regarding the legality and benefits of marijuana use. This has made enforcement and prosecution for marijuana-related offenses more difficult, especially in states that have approved marijuana legalization.”

Additionally, just 4.9 percent of survey respondents said that cannabis was the drug that concerned them the most, down from 6 percent last year. In the survey, the average strength of cannabis seized was up from 1995 levels, from 4 to 12 percent, as was the potency of “hash-oil” from 13 percent in 1995 to 55 percent.

The agency asserts that international drug traffickers have established themselves in states with legal cannabis markets in order to grow product for illegal sale. However, they fail to back up that claim with hard numbers of arrests.

“Since the legalization of personal-use marijuana, there has been an influx of not only individuals, but organized groups of individuals who have relocated to Colorado for the sole purpose of producing marijuana to transport and sell in other markets,” the report states.

The report indicates that the total weight of cannabis seized from drug trafficking operations along the Southwest Border of the U.S. has declined 23.6 percent from 2013 to 2014.

Nevertheless, the report shows that the number of cannabis overdose deaths remains zero, while heroin overdoses have outnumbered gun deaths for the first time in history.

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Waterway in western German city of Düsseldorf.

German City Takes Next Step in Cannabis Legalization Plans

12/08/2016

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The City Council of the western German city of Düsseldorf met with psychology, economics, and crime experts yesterday as part of their efforts to legalize cannabis for adults 18 and older, Deutsche Welle reports. Local lawmakers hope that the expert testimony will help convince federal regulators to allow them to move forward with the plan after they rejected a similar scheme from Berlin’s Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough council.

The meeting was attended by members of other regional councils, including Münster and Cologne, who are considering their own legal cannabis programs.

Last year, the Berlin council applied to the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices for a license that would allow cannabis to be sold in the region; it was rejected because it would have been in direct conflict with federal drug laws. And while members of the Düsseldorf council say a scientific study might help their cause, such a study is estimated to run $860,000 – which Greens member Angela Hebeler said was “not possible” for Düsseldorf, Cologne, or Münster.

The Düsseldorf council proposal was introduced by a coalition of Social Democrats, Greens, and Free Democrats. Hebeler explained that local governments interested in legalizing adult-use cannabis should work together, developing unique plans in order to determine best practices.

“It makes sense to work with all these cities and share out who does what,” she said in the report. “Maybe we should create different models, so that we find one that gets approval.”

Georg Wurth, German Cannabis Association chairman, said that these local initiatives put pressure on the federal government to make changes to its cannabis laws, noting that they are losing tax revenues while the informal market thrives.

“The ban has actually had many negative effects,” he said. “Consumers are criminalized, black-market dealers are encouraged, prevention is made more difficult and the cost of criminal prosecution is high, while at the same time tax revenue is lost. Sensible regulation of the existing market would remove, or at least reduce, these problems.”

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