The Auburn, Washington City Council passed an ordinance restricting the number of retail dispensaries, processors and producers in the city, according to a report by the Auburn Reporter. The measure limits the number of such businesses operating in the city to two.
The move comes following a lawsuit by Green Solutions Place against the city. The dispensary was given a license by the state to open in Auburn despite a local moratorium already in place limiting the number of dispensaries to two. That moratorium was not recognized by the state Liquor and Cannabis Board, who told cities it would raise the number of allowable dispensaries in jurisdictions last year.
The ordinance reestablishes the two dispensary limit, grandfathering in any existing dispensaries over that limit; restricts producing and processing facilities to a minimum of 4,000 square feet and a maximum of 90,000 total square feet; requires officials to create an action plan for the City Council and Planning Commission to review the potential and ongoing issues related to the recreational cannabis industry; and includes references to the regulatory and statutory provisions dealing with the use of organic solvents.
The ordinance will be the law of the land until the City can write zoning regulations to regulate the sector.
“The real solution to this is going to be found in zoning, which we’re working on right now,” City Councilman John Holman said in the report.
The rules were adopted unanimously by the City Council.
Canada’s largest producer of medical cannabis announced yesterday that the latest addition to their team is not a master grower, business consultant, or sales associate. Rather, the latest team member to join Tweed Inc. is actually Montreal-based documentary filmmaker and photographer Ezra Soiferman, who will be the first participant in the company’s new Artist in Residence program, according to a press release issued yesterday.
According to the release, it is believed that Soiferman is the first artist ever to hold such a position in the cannabis industry.
“As an emerging brand in an emerging industry, we want to be able to tell our story in creative ways to make memorable and unique first impressions,” Tweed’s Chief Creative Officer Martin Strazovec said in the report. “Ezra is a gifted storyteller who will help us expand our reach through his art.”
Soiferman, who co-founded and is the director of the Montreal Film Group, told Ganjapreneur that he first began investigating cannabis as a cultural icon more than 20 years ago. Since then, he’s followed the hemp and cannabis industries “religiously,” and has dedicated several projects to the cause throughout his career — including a project called Hemp for the Homeless and, more recently, a documentary called Grass Fed that follows comedian Mike Paterson through a journey of medical cannabis discovery.
Ezra Soiferman, Tweed Inc.’s new Artist-in-Residence, is a Montreal-based documentary filmmaker and photographer.
“What interests me most about the cannabis plant is its sheer diversity,” said Soiferman. “Frankly, there’s nothing I’ve encountered on the planet that can do as many things, and I swear I’ve searched high and low. … As a documentarian, this fascinates me, and as an artist, it inspires me.”
According to the press release, Soiferman’s projects throughout his year-long residency at Tweed will cover themes pertaining to cannabis and hemp, as well as projects that “speak to the Canadian cities and towns where [Tweed] operates.” Soiferman’s first project under the new partnership is a photo-based music video called “The Walls of Montreal,” which highlights the beautiful murals and street art of Quebec’s largest city.
When asked about how he landed the gig, Soiferman said that he approached Tweed with the idea first. He thought the company, with its “open-minded, sunny and ‘we love firsts’ attitude,” would be a perfect fit for the partnership that ultimately seeks to “bring cannabis to art and art to cannabis.”
According to a University of California, Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll, 63.8 percent of respondents supported legalizing cannabis for recreational use, with 36.2 percent opposed. The results are good news for advocates, as California voters will decide whether or not to legalize in November.
Democrats and independents supported the measure 73.8 percent and 62.2 percent, respectively. Republicans opposed legalization 53 percent to 47 percent, but were more supportive than they indicated in an IGS poll last year when 38.4 percent backed legalization, compared to 61.6 percent opposed.
The question did not poll support for Proposition 64, rather the broader question of legalization for adult use under a regulatory scheme similar to alcohol.
Support was highest among young people, aged 18 to 24 (74.5 percent to 25.5 percent) and lowest among people aged 65 and older (57.8 percent to 42.2 percent).
A Probolsky Research poll from February found 59.9 percent of Californians would vote yes on the ballot measure if the election were held at that time. In that poll, 36.7 percent were opposed.
Prop 64, if approved, would create a formal cannabis market, adding a 15 percent sales tax along with a cultivation tax of $9.25 per ounce of flower and $2.75 per ounce of leaves. The measure also includes language banning corporate or large-scale entities from entering California’s cannabis market for five years.
The Justice Department has announced that it plans to end its use of private prisons. In a memo released Thursday by Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, which was obtained by The Washington Post, Justice Department officials were instructed not to renew contracts with private correctional facility operators, or to “substantially reduce” the scope of their contracts.
Yates wrote, “[Private facilities] simply do not provide the same level of correctional services, programs, and resources; they do not save substantially on costs; and as noted in a recent report by the Department’s Office of Inspector General, they do not maintain the same level of safety and security.”
This announcement comes on the heels of recent negative attention toward private prisons in the press. The report that Yates referred to, released by the Inspector General last week, found that private prison facilities had more safety and security incidents than facilities run by the Bureau of Prisons, and that sub-par conditions for inmates were a major factor. Earlier this year, an undercover reporter for Mother Jones released a lengthy, scathing report of his experience working as a prison guard in a private facility, in which he detailed disturbing training practices, use of excessive force, and a general disregard for safety among private prison staff. In a different report that came out this year, The Nation wrote about deaths at private prisons that occurred under suspicious circumstances. On top of that, a major talking point for Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has been to dismantle and abolish for-profit prisons throughout his campaign.
While there are over 1.6 million prisoners in the United States and only about 30,000 of them are housed in private prisons operating under contracts with the Justice Department, this shift in policy could be an indicator that private prisons are on the way out across the board. There are still many prisons that have contracts at the state level, but as the general public rejects the idea that jailing people for profit is OK, these contracts will come under increased scrutiny and government bureaucracies will come under increased pressure to cancel them.
Although this news does not specifically address inmates in prison for charges related to cannabis, it can be viewed as another indicator of a gradual change in government mentality regarding the efficacy of the Drug War and its destructive policies. The change needs to happen faster, and there are still thousands of people unjustly imprisoned for owning or growing a plant, but this blow to the private prison lobby is good news for the legalization movement nonetheless.
One of the two consultants charged for their role in a Native American tribe plan to open a marijuana resort pleaded guilty this week to one count of conspiracy to possess cannabis, the Associated Pressreports.
Jonathan Hunt, vice-president and cultivation expert for Monarch America, entered the plea as part of a deal with law enforcement. The class 6 felony is punishable by up to two years in prison and a $4,000 fine.
Eric Hagen, CEO of the Colorado-based firm, pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to possess, possession, and attempt to possess 10 pounds of cannabis or more.
“I am yet unaware of any evidence that my client possessed even a gram of marijuana,” Mike Butler, Hagen’s attorney, said in the report. “The marijuana belonged to the Santee Sioux Tribe. They paid for it. They had legal ownership of it at all times.”
The charges stem from the duo’s role as consultants to the tribe, who planned “an adult playground” on tribal land in South Dakota. The tribe abandoned the plan eight months ago after South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley warned that changes to tribal law permits regarding cannabis would not apply to non-tribe members.
Hunt is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 19, but the date could be changed depending on Hagen’s case.
Cannabis companies in east Boulder, Colorado are worried that a plan by the city to annex 15 properties will force them out of business because they would be forced into the jurisdiction of the city’s stricter laws, according to a Daily Camerareport.
The properties include seven cannabis-related businesses, which hold a total of 26 licenses to manufacture and sell marijuana products. The businesses are currently under the authority of Boulder County, and a move into the city dominion would mean that the businesses would need to apply for city-issued marijuana licenses.
Kathy Haddock, the assistant city attorney, has assured the business owners that they would be able to maintain their current county licenses while they apply for city permits; however the owners are concerned that they won’t be eligible for city permits due to their proximity to other cannabis manufacturers, or the on-site weight restrictions levied by the city.
Dan Anglin, founder of Americanna, says he typically has 3,500 pounds of candy being processed at his Arapahoe facility – far exceeding the 150-pound limit allowed within the city limits.
“If they include the weight of the candy, I’m out of business,” he said in the report.
Anglin is also concerned with Boulder’s 8-foot grow room limit. His grow rooms are twice that size, and to comply with the city code would require hundreds of thousands of dollars in construction to the site.
“Most of the businesses are already compliant with Boulder’s laws,” Haddock said, “and the city fully intends to work with those who aren’t…There’s no intent to shut anyone down.”
The City Council approved the measure 5-3 on a first reading. It will be considered by the Planning Board before it heads to the council for a second reading and public hearing.
The Ohio Supreme Court has directed its staff to write a draft amendment to the Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct that would permit attorneys to help establish medical marijuana businesses in the state, Cleveland.comreports.
Last week, the court’s Board of Professional Conduct issued a non-binding opinion effectively barring attorneys from working with marijuana businesses, and from participating as patients in the program. The opinion suggests that the “personal use of medical marijuana…may adversely reflect on a lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness, and overall fitness to practice law.”
“Although non-binding, the court is aware that the advisory opinion has led some lawyers to question whether they can assist clients in complying with the new law,” Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor said the report. “The court hopes to act expeditiously in addressing their concerns and, if necessary, amend ethics rules to clarify the role of attorneys in light of the new law.”
The amendment proposal will be subject to public comment before being adopted.
“Again, the Court intends to act as swiftly as possible,” Chief Justice O’Connor said in a statement. “However, we do not want to rush the process to the point of creating additional problems.”
Ethics panels in 24 others states with medical cannabis programs have ultimately allowed attorney involvement in the industry, with many having to update their professional rules.
Maryland has awarded preliminary medical marijuana licenses to more than 20 companies to cultivate and process cannabis in the state, the Baltimore Sunreports. At least three of the companies have political ties.
Del. Dan K. Morhain will serve as the clinical director for Doctor’s Orders Maryland, who was approved grow and processing licenses. Morhain, a physician and a Baltimore County Democrat, has been the chief advocate in the legislature for medical marijuana. He currently represents Baltimore County in the House of Delegates.
Holistic Industries of Prince George County was buoyed by a letter of recommendation from Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller – who called the note “nothing spectacular.” Miller wrote letters for other companies with only Holistic Industries netting a license. Former State Health Secretary Nelson Sabatini serves as a Holistic Industries partner; while Gerry Evans, an Annapolis lobbyist, represents the company.
Frank Boston, another Annapolis lobbyist, serves as a minority partner in Green Leaf Medical, who was granted a growing license.
Green Leaf Medical president and CEO Philip Goldberg believes the selection process was fair but was “sure there are people who didn’t win who don’t feel that way.”
The Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission received 146 total grow applications and 124 license and process applications. They had 15 licenses available for both categories and some applicants won licenses for both.
“I’m excited that we have a great number of outstanding companies willing to help sick people in Maryland,” Dr. Paul W. Davies, chairman of the commission, said in a statement.
Next, the companies will be subject to a second stage review which includes financial reviews and more thorough background checks.
The commission has not yet announced the recipients for the 94 dispensary licenses available in the state – for which, they received more than 800 applications.
A long-time Massachusetts medical marijuana doctor announced she will no longer recommend cannabis therapy, citing the medical license suspension of two colleagues due to “over-recommending” practices, according to a Valley Advocatereport.
In a letter to her patients and the Advocate, Dr. Jill Griffin said the step was necessary because of “hostility toward cannabinopathic medicine from government regulators and the medical establishment.”
“Several colleagues now face disciplinary action arising out of their practice in this field,” Griffin wrote. “Although I know, as a matter of my experience and training, that I have done nothing wrong in caring for you, the risk of losing my medical license is a peril I can no longer endure.”
Griffin is one of just 13 doctors in western Massachusetts who provides certifications for the program. She wrote more than half – 3,284 – of the 6,270 recommendations in the region.
According to the report, her office voicemail message indicates that she might reconsider the decision following the outcome of the recreational-use ballot measure vote in November.
Dr. Bruce I. Goderez, a psychiatrist certified to recommend cannabis in the state, said the lack of physicians participating in the program is a “big problem.”
According to the Department of Health, just 155 doctors are certified with the program.
As some Ohio municipalities are banning medical marijuana dispensaries, one central Ohio village is keeping an open mind.
The Johnstown Village Council voted 6-1 to approve a resolution not prohibiting medical dispensaries from operating in the town, WBNS-10TVreports. Village Manager Jim Lenner said the industry could benefit the small town’s local economy. He pointed to a vacant 150-acre space in the city limits that could serve as a cannabis campus – used for cultivation, production, testing, and research and development. The site neighbors an Apeks Supercritical facility.
“It kind of tells them we’re open to the idea. We’re not going to shut you down,” Lenner said in the report. “All we’re simply saying is ‘let’s keep it open.’ Let’s keep the door open and see if we can help our community with increased tax revenue, jobs.”
The cities of Lakewood, Troy, Brooklyn, and Tipp City have each enacted 180-day bans on medical cannabis businesses. Beaver Creek, Lima, Brecksville and North Royalton are working on comparable moratoriums. Rocky River has enacted a full-on ban, and Upper Arlington is considering the same.
The medical cannabis law takes effect on Sept. 8; however, officials do not plan for the program to be rolled out until Sept. 2018.
A federal appeals court has ruled that the U.S. Department of Justice cannot spend money to prosecute federal medical marijuana cases if the defendants are in compliance with the laws set forth in their state, according to a report from Reuters.
The ruling affirms the so-called “Rohrabacher-Farr” amendment passed by Congress in 2014, which defunded federal “interference” in state medical cannabis systems.
Robert Raich, an Oakland, California-based attorney specializing in cannabis litigation, said the ruling clarifies the issue for courts and federal law enforcement.
“Finally, the Ninth Circuit is providing clarity and overruling a number of district court judges that were ignoring the will of Congress,” he said in a Cannabis Nowreport. “This decision indicates that the federal government should stop its attack on state-legal cannabis providers and allow the states to create and implement frameworks that serve the medical needs of their citizens.”
Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain, one of the three 9th Circuit judges who issued the unanimous ruling, wrote that their decision does not mean that medical marijuana providers are immune from federal law.
“Congress could restore funding tomorrow, a year from now, or four years from now,” he wrote, “and the government could then prosecute individuals who committed offenses while the government lacked funding.”
Following the decision, defendants in 10 cases in Washington and California argued for dismissal of federal charges levied against them. Those charges will likely be dropped by prosecutors so long as the defendants have “strictly complied” with regulations in their respective states.
The Oregon Cannabis Growers’ Fair last weekend attracted people from every corner of the state — and from beyond Oregon’s borders — to Salem, the state’s capital, for a two-day event of cannabis networking and celebrating the art of cannabis cultivation.
The fair took place in an exhibition hall on the Oregon State Fairgrounds.
The weekend’s festivities took place in an exposition center on the Oregon State Fairgrounds.
The exhibition hall was packed with more than 80 exhibitors, but that wasn’t the event’s main draw: the fair’s large trade show presence was actually overshadowed by several rows of live cannabis plants that had been transported from around the state and lined along one entire wing of the exhibition hall. These plants were submitted by Oregon growers to be judged by a panel of cultivation experts headed by Ed Rosenthal, author of several popular cannabis growing guides. As per the fair’s rules, the submitted plants were not allowed to have any buds.
Rosenthal wore a shirt printed with a cannabis leaf floral pattern for the occasion. He and other judges spent several hours on Saturday perusing the dozens of cannabis plants entered in the competition. The competition’s nine winners were announced on Saturday by Rosenthal as the event’s first day came to a close. Plants had been broken up into categories based on whether they were a sativa, indica, or hybrid — there were first, second, and third place prizes for each of the three categories.
‘Ganja Guru’ Ed Rosenthal speaks with members of the press about his role in the Oregon Cannabis Growers’ Fair judging process.
“The first thing is health and to make sure they don’t have infections and then to make sure they … don’t have nutrient deficiencies. Then, we look at the structure of the plant: Has it been getting as much sun as it should be getting? Is it sunburned?” Rosenthal told ABC News.
The nine winning plants will be featured this year in the Oregon State Fair, which runs from August 26 to September 5 at the Oregon State Fairgrounds.
The nine winning plants of the weekend, separated by category, are:
The winning cannabis plants will be kept separate from the rest of the Oregon State Fair in a greenhouse, and fair workers will be checking IDs to make sure all who enter that greenhouse are 21 or older. It will be the first time in the U.S. that cannabis plants will be featured in a state fair.
Event organizer Mary Lou Burton addresses the crowd before the nine winning cannabis plants are announced.
The Oregon Cannabis Growers’ Fair also offered presentations and Q&A sessions featuring representatives from the Oregon Department of Agriculture and the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. These discussions informed audience members — most of whom were professionally involved in Oregon’s cannabis space, or were eyeing the industry for potential business opportunities — about how to stay regulatory compliant despite the industry’s rapidly changing landscape.
“This event was so big for this industry,” fair organizer Mary Lou Burton wrote in an email to Ganjapreneur. “The growers, retail stores, and exhibitors were amazed at the coverage we received… We had press from all over the world at the event and calling us on the phone.”
According to Burton, three-quarters of this year’s exhibitors have already signed up for next year’s event, marking the inaugural Oregon Cannabis Growers’ Fair as a major success.
Continue scrolling to see more pictures from our weekend at the event.
The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol in Nevada has reserved more than $800,000 for commercials in Las Vegas, with plans to run ads from October through Election Day, the Associated Pressreports. The media buy will be in support of Question 2 — the ballot measure to legalize cannabis for recreational use.
According to coalition spokesman Joe Brezny, the content of the ads has yet to be finalized, but he is confident about the initiative’s chances of being approved by voters in November.
“Marijuana prohibition has been a failure and people see that there is a better way to go about this,” he said in the report.
As of mid-June, the coalition has raised $285,000 in funding, most of it coming from Nevada dispensaries including The Grove Wellness Center, Silver State Relief, The Source, and the Nevada Dispensary Association.
Assemblyman Pat Hickney (R), co-chairman of Nevadans for Responsible Drug Policy, said groups opposing the measure will likely also air ads. Those ads will likely be funded by business sectors opposed to legalized cannabis, such as the gambling industry, along with the Coalition Against Legalizing Marijuana. The contradictory coalition has not reported raising any funds so far this year, but will likely report any fundraising when required in mid-October.
Medical marijuana providers in Montana are closing for business ahead of new rules being implemented in the state that prevent dispensaries from serving more than three patients, the Missoulianreports.
The new rules, which also include an automatic review of doctors who recommend cannabis to more than 25 patients, take effect on Aug. 31 – 10 weeks before voters will decide whether or not to revert back to the old system.
The new rules were passed by the Montana legislature in 2011 over concerns that people with minor ailments were accessing the drug for mostly recreational use. The law underwent five years of legal challenges which prevented its implementation. More than 30,000 Montana residents have registered in the program.
Nick Frentsos, owner of Bloom Montana, said it is “a financial decision” to close his shop, which opened a year ago, and serves more than 100 patients.
“…that financial decision is affected by the legal limits of the new law,” he said in the report. “If we could provide for maybe 12 people, then it might be reasonable to stay open. But that’s not the case.”
At the program’s peak in June 2011, 4,650 dispensaries operated in the state. As of last month, that number had dropped 89 percent to 487.
The ballot initiative, I-182, would remove the provisions of the 2011 law, add post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of qualified conditions, and require product testing.
According to a Marijuana Business Daily preliminary analysis, Ohio medical marijuana sales could reach $400 million two or three years after its implementation, Cleveland.comreports. The analysis estimates the low-end figure at $200 million.
The state would see about $23 million in sales tax revenues if the market reaches the high-end figure.
“Ohio would definitely be a powerhouse in the industry and a lot of that is because of the state’s population and the inclusion of pain on the medical conditions list,” Chris Walsh, editorial director of the trade publication, said in the report.
The figures are based on the qualifying conditions included in the program, and sales in other states with similar legislation. In states which include chronic pain as a qualifying condition, between 1 and 2 percent of the population register for the program. In Ohio, that could mean between 116,000 and 232,000 people. In Colorado, which has about half the population of Ohio, medical marijuana sales totaled $408 million in 2015. About 2 percent of Colorado’s residents are enrolled in the medical marijuana program.
Under the Ohio law, about 20 conditions qualify for medical cannabis use. While the law takes effect Sept. 8, it is not expected to rollout until Sept. 2018.
New Mexico’s State Bar Association is cautioning attorneys to represent medical marijuana dispensaries and growers at their own risk, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports.
In a formal opinion, the State Bar’s Ethics Advisory Committee said that while a lawyer could comply with the Rules of Professional Conduct in representing cannabis-related businesses, they “may not counsel or ‘assist’ a client to commit a crime.”
“As producing and distributing any type of cannabis, including medical cannabis permitted under state laws, is illegal under federal law, a lawyer may not provide prohibited counseling or assistance,” the summary said.
The opinion is non-binding, and New Mexico Bar Association Executive Director Joe Conte called it “a gray area.” There have not been any public disciplinary actions against lawyers in New Mexico due to their work with those in the medical marijuana business.
Jason Marks, a former member of the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission, said the opinion could be seen to limit the rights of individuals operating in the sector, noting that the state Supreme Court could change the rules of professional conduct for attorneys allowing them to work with cannabis-related businesses.
“They’re depriving these businesses of a right to counsel,” he said in the report. “That’s an inconvenience and a detriment.”
Similar decisions have been made in Ohio and Hawaii, while other states, such as Connecticut and Colorado, have changed their rules to explicitly allow attorneys to counsel cannabis companies.
The Medipen, a cannabidiol vaporizer, is being tested by the U.K.’s National Health Service, marking the first time a cannabis product will be tested by the body, the Independentreports. The study seeks to confirm purity and cannabinoid profile of the product, and the NHS will release a public report outlining the testing process and methodology.
MediPen Managing Director Jordan Owen said his company has been working with NHS production and regulatory support pharmacists, who have been “meticulously” analyzing their proprietary formulation for safety and cannabinoid concentrations.
“As the first consumer cannabis product to be tested by the NHS, we are confident that this will go a long way towards creating a properly regulated cannabis market in the UK and are extremely excited to see what the future holds,” Owen said in the report.
The MediPen is legal in the UK because it does not contain any THC. However, Parliament has so far refused to debate any cannabis legalization, medical or otherwise, despite an online petition that garnered more than 200,000 signatures.
MediPen is confident that after the product review by the NHS the perception of cannabis by lawmakers and members of the public will be changed. NHS did not offer a timeframe for the study’s completion.
Supporters in Oklahoma collecting signatures for a medical marijuana ballot initiative say they are “real close” to securing a spot for the measure on the November ballot, according to a Tulsa Worldreport.
The group needs 65,987 signatures for the initiative to appear on the ballot.
“I am willing to do whatever it takes to help people with epilepsy, chronic illness and pain,” A.J. Birk, who worked on the campaign, said in the report. “It is time to stop losing reefer refugees.”
This is the second attempt for Oklahomans for Health, whose first bid failed, as did a previous attempt by Green the Vote.
Chip Paul, a spokesman for Oklahomans for Health, said the group is within 5,000 signatures either way. He not only expects to know the fate of the proposal next week, but also expects the proposal to be challenged in court if the petition campaign is successful.
Former Oklahoma House member and Oklahomans for Health board member Joe Dorman, said if this bid fails they will continue their attempts to get a measure on a ballot in subsequent elections. He believes that many more people support the measure, but have been intimidated and are afraid to sign the petition.
A recent NZ Drug Foundation poll has found that 64 percent of New Zealanders are in favor of legalizing or decriminalizing cannabis, according to a Stuffreport. More than 80 percent indicated they favor access to medical marijuana for terminal pain relief.
In the poll, 33 percent of respondents said cannabis should be legal for personal use, with 31 percent indicating they approve decriminalization. However, 34 percent said the drug should remain illegal.
“This tells us voters are ready for change even if law makers aren’t,” Ross Bell, NZ Drug Foundation executive director, said in the report.
The only party supporting a cannabis legalization referendum in the nation is NZ First. Members of the Labour Party say that decriminalization isn’t a priority, and the Green Party prefers a bill to legalize cannabis rather than putting it to the public for a vote.
Prime Minister John Key, member of the New Zealand National Party, said he “was not a massive fan” of legalizing or decriminalizing cannabis.
“As a Parliament, if we were to decriminalize then one of the messages we’d be sending is that ‘you’d increase drug use, drug use is ok,’” he said in an interview with RNZ.
He admitted that the current laws “do not work perfectly” but noted that police don’t often prosecute individuals for possessing small amounts of cannabis.
According to Washington’s Liquor and Cannabis Board, legal sales in the state are over $4.2 million each day, up more than $400,000 a day from a month ago. The sales are worth $750,000 a day in tax revenues.
So far in 2016, nearly $973 million in cannabis has been sold, amounting to $185.8 million in tax revenues for the state.
The uptick in sales might be attributed to the LCB shutting down unlicensed dispensaries on July 1, as SB 5052 – which legalized cannabis for recreational use – took effect. July 1 also marked the beginning of the state’s fiscal year; more than $155 million in legal cannabis has already been sold at the start of the new year.
The LCB numbers show that flower is the most popular form purchased by consumers, with 791,226 units sold. More than 457,600 units of solid edibles were sold, along with more than 113,600 units of liquid edibles.
In Fiscal Year 2016, almost 28,000 pounds of flower was harvested in the state, and just more than 944,200 grams of extracts were produced. During the year, the LCB conducted nearly 2,000 compliance checks, of which just 57 failed the checks and 287 total violations were issued.
Preparing for the future of the legal cannabis market, smart cannabis investors and entrepreneurs are shifting their attention to the Northeast states for an idea of what legalization will eventually look like along the whole East Coast. Industry and medical marijuana leaders will converge in Washington D.C. for the Business Understanding Development Summit on August 20.
The BUD Summit is reinventing what you’ve come to expect from a cannabis expo. With keynote speakers Keith Stroup and Rick Simpson, as well as breakout groups for investors and entrepreneurs, BUDS is the place to facilitate innovation and education for the East Coast cannabis industry.
Legal market sales are projected to surpass $22 billion by the year 2020, making the cannabis industry one of the fastest-growing in America, according to an industry analysis from ArcView and New Frontier.
To compliment the ‘green rush’ of ganjapreneurs innovating and developing the new cannabis frontier, the BUD Summit has come up with a unique feature that’s sure to grab attention. It’s named “The Hot Box” and participants need to contact the Hot Box “igniter” Shanita Penny, of Budding Solutions, to get a chance at the $10 million available for investment. Named after an air-tight room where cannabis smoke is exhaled, trapped, and inhaled again, “The Hot Box” is the BUD Summit’s business-first take on the consumption method. Set in its own room at the Hyatt Regency, where the event is taking place, it’s specifically reserved for ganjapreneurs to pitch their cannabis ideas and businesses to a panel of industry experts and investors. The idea is that these pitches will spark ideas and partnerships.
The panel has premier accredited investors and business accelerators with cannabis venture investments totaling over $10 million. Successful start-ups have the potential to gain funding, strategic partnerships, and business acceleration resources.
“We want cannabis businesses to come together on their own, to regulate and make the cannabis market emerge in a safe and healthy way and to avoid falling in-line with Big Tobacco,” said BUD Summit co-founder Brandon L. Wyatt. Wyatt is a U.S. veteran, business and civil rights attorney in D.C. and national policy coordinator for the Weed for Warriors project.
“It’s not just about making profit,” Wyatt said. “We are lobbying for clinical testing and social responsibility to be a part of every aspect of adult-use and medical cannabis.”
The BUD Summit will be held on August 20, at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill. Tickets are available online, and for more information on speakers, like myself, who will be speaking about digital journalism and the future of cannabis you can visit the BUD Summit website.
North Dakota’s ballot initiative to legalize medical marijuana was approved by the Secretary of State and will be put to voters in November, according to an Associated Pressreport.
Supporters of the North Dakota Compassionate Care Act turned in more than 17,200 qualified signatures to Secretary of State Al Jaeger yesterday — thousands more than 13,500 needed for the measure to secure a spot on the ballot. Supporters said they spent between 4,000 and 5,000 hours collecting signatures across the state.
“We thought we had a lot of work gathering the signatures from Christmas ’til now and it was. But now we have to win hearts and minds,” Anita Morgan, a member of the Compassionate Care Act Committee said in a WDay 6report.
The law, if approved by voters, would allow for state-licensed dispensaries, patients to grow a limited supply, and make it legal for program participants to possess up to 3 ounces of marijuana for medical use.
According to a 2014 poll conducted by the University of North Dakota College of Business and Public Administration commissioned by Forum Communications Co., 47 percent of respondents supported a medical marijuana program, compared to 41 percent opposed, and 9 percent neutral.
Voters in Florida, Montana, and Arkansas will also vote on legalizing medical cannabis in the general election.
Under new policies set forth by Health Canada, medical marijuana patients will soon be allowed to grow their own cannabis and have any product tested at a federally certified laboratory, the Globe and Mailreports.
In an email to the Globe, Health Canada spokesman Eric Morrissette said the shift is due to the “recognition of the health and safety value of testing.”
“This would enable individuals to have more information about the potency of the strains they are producing (i.e. THC and CBD levels), as well as information about any contaminants (e.g. heavy metals, microbial) or residues in their product,” he wrote.
The changes come less than a month after a Globe investigation uncovered that the federal government was discouraging labs from independently testing products that did not come from government-authorized producers. At that time, the Globe reportfound three of nine flower samples from unlicensed dispensaries did not meet Health Canada’s safety standards.
In February, a Canadian Federal Court ruled that grow-your-own bans violated a patient’s right to life, liberty, and security. In his decision, Judge Michael L. Phelan gave the government six months to come up with regulations for home growing.
The new regime allows those with a prescription to grow two indoor plants or five outdoor plants — due to differences in yields — with licensed producers allowed to sell the seeds.
The Ohio Supreme Court’s Board of Professional Conduct has barred attorneys from helping individuals seeking to establish legal medical marijuana businesses in the state and from participating as patients in the medical marijuana program, theAssociated Pressreports.
The board made the decisions because using, cultivating, and selling cannabis is still a federal crime.
Democratic State Rep. Dan Ramos, who worked on the House committee that reviewed the law, said that legislators specifically included language in the bill that allowed attorneys to practice in the sector. He called the ruling “deeply troublesome from a constitutional standpoint.”
State Rep. Stephen Huffman, a Republican who sponsored the measure, said the ruling will “hamper the ability for the law to be implemented in the spirit of what the General Assembly was trying to accomplish.”
Hawaii is the only other state with a medical marijuana program that does not allow attorneys to help establish cannabis-related businesses. Last year, the Hawaii Supreme Court Disciplinary Board ruled that lawyers can provide legal advice regarding the law, but cannot help establish such businesses for the same reasons provided in the Ohio ruling.
Ohio passed the medical marijuana legislation in May. The program is expected to be rolled out in Sept. 2018.
