New Health Office in Las Vegas Will Cut Down Wait Times for Medical Cannabis Approval

Officials in Nevada have opened a Division of Public and Behavioral Health office in Las Vegas in an effort to cut down on wait times for patients enrolled in the state’s medical marijuana program, according to an Associated Press report.

The new office is the result of a partnership between the state and Nevada Dispensary Association.

Patients will now be able to bring their applications directly to the office and could see their prescriptions filled the same day, removing weeks of waiting by patients who previously had to mail their doctor recommendations to an office in Carson City.

State Sen. Patricia Farley said the new office removes “barriers to simple, efficient access to medical marijuana patient cards.”

“I am impressed at the efforts the Nevada Dispensary Association and the Division have expended toward reaching the common goal of serving Nevada’s patients,” she said in the report.

When Nevada’s first dispensary opened in Starks last July there were 10,000 medical marijuana cards issued by the state. Today there are more than 18,000 people approved to use cannabis therapies in Nevada.

Joe Pollock, deputy administrator for the division, said the new office will streamline the process for obtaining medical cannabis in the state.

“We are pleased to expedite, improve and simplify this process to make the medical use of marijuana more readily accessible for patients,” he said.

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Will ‘Big Marijuana’ Ruin Everything? Major Brookings Report Says No

“Worry about bad marijuana — not Big Marijuana,” reads the headline of a Brookings Institution report released last week. The report was written by John Hudak and Jonathan Rauch, both senior fellows in governance at Brookings.

The possibility of corporate cannabis lobbying has proven to be of concern for lawmakers and activists alike, though Hudak and Rauch take a stand against such alarmism in their latest report. Their report argues that, rather than worrying about a potential corporate marijuana takeover, lawmakers would be better served addressing consumer safety in a freshly legalized cannabis market.

According to the authors, corporatization often leads to more responsible business practices among peers. “The best regulation is the one that doesn’t need to be imposed, because reputational accountability or market pressures solved the problem first,” Hudak and Rauch wrote.

Ultimately, Hudak and Rauch compare the likely future of legal cannabis to that of alcohol — a regulatory model far displaced from the “notorious heyday” of Big Tobacco.

From the authors’ conclusions:

“The marijuana industry will remain a diverse one even as large corporations emerge. The Big Marijuana rubric is more misleading than helpful as a guide to policy because it oversimplifies and stereotypes what is in reality a continuum of business scales and structures. … Policy should concern itself with harmful practices, not with industry structure, and it should begin with a presumption of neutrality on issues of corporate size and market structure.”

The looming ‘Big Marijuana’ threat has become one of the last defensible arguments that prohibitionists rely on in their fight against cannabis law reform — these findings, however, may prove to dismantle that argument.

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Jim McMahon Says NFL Players Should Have Access to MMJ

Jim McMahon, ex-NFL star quarterback who helped carry the Chicago Bears to victory in Superbowl XX, called for allowing NFL players to medicate using cannabis while speaking last week at The Cannabis World Congress & Business Exposition in Manhattan.

“There’s so many uses to this plant,” said McMahon. “Hundreds of thousands of people are dying from [painkillers] and there’s not one case of people dying from the hemp plant.”

McMahon is no stranger to cannabis advocacy, and has openly admitted to using the plant both during and after his illustrious football career — he’s even stated that he wishes he had used the plant more often as a safer and less-toxic painkiller option than the opiates that football players are typically prescribed by the fistful.

McMahon has said in the past that his marijuana use helped him kick an addiction that had the ex-football star taking up to 100 Percocets per month.

McMahon joins the Baltimore Raven’s ex-offensive tackle Eugene Monroe in his recent cannabis advocacy. In a widely-publicized move earlier this year, Monroe donated $80,000 to boost medical marijuana research. Monroe, who was the first active NFL player to advocate for medical cannabis, was cut from the Ravens last week and is now a free agent.

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‘Tea-Party’ Congressman to Propose Legislation to Help Marijuana Researchers Access Drug

U.S. Representative Andy Harris (R-MD) is leading a coalition of lawmakers who plan to introduce legislation this week aimed at making it easier for prospective marijuana researchers to get Department of Justice approval to study the therapeutic benefits of the drug, the Baltimore Sun reports.

Under the plan, federal regulators would have two months to approve or deny research applications.

Harris was a vocal opponent against the district creating a taxed-and-regulated marijuana market in 2014, but the Johns Hopkins-trained anesthesiologist now says his “frustration” with legalizing medical cannabis is due to the lack of scientific research “about what it’s good for and what it’s not good for.” Harris attached language to a 2014 spending bill that prevented D.C. from regulating marijuana distribution despite its newly-legal status.

“I personally think it is the drug of choice in very, very few situations,” Harris said in the report. “Can it be useful in some situations? Probably. We haven’t really defined those very clearly.”

He noted that there is not “good data supporting widespread use,” however, part of the reason for the lack of data is researchers have a difficult time procuring the drug thanks to strict federal regulations and pushback from the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Harris is being challenged for his seat in the upcoming election by libertarians, who are pro marijuana, and they say his anti-pot stance is partly the reason they are stepping up to challenge him. According to a report from the Washingtonian, a January poll found Harris had about half the support of challenger Michael Smigiel (R) – 23 percent to 58 percent, respectively.

The measure is being supported by members of both parties, including Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA), Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR). A same-as bill is being proposed in the Senate by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE).    

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Senate Committee Votes to Protect Banks Serving Legal Cannabis Companies

The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee voted Thursday in support of expanding bank access to the cannabis industry.

The amendment, approved in a 16-14 vote, forbids any federal expenditures on the pursuit and punishment of banks for serving law-abiding companies in the legal cannabis space. The amendment is attached to the 2017 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill, which now heads to the Senate floor.

In a debate preceding the vote, the amendment’s sponsor Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) argued that keeping cannabis companies from entering the national banking system is a threat to public safety.  “It makes no sense to have bags of cash, and it’s an invitation to organized crime, an invitation to theft, and invitation to tax evasion,” said Sen. Merkley.

“For the second year in a row, the Senate’s budget writers have voted to address the banking crisis facing our industry,” Aaron Smith, executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association, said in a statement addressing the news. “Access to basic banking services is one of the most critical challenges facing legal cannabis businesses and the state agencies tasked with regulating them.”

“While an appropriations amendment isn’t a permanent fix to the banking problem, it is a significant step to correct a dangerous and unfair burden on responsible small-business owners and regulators,” Smith said.

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Michigan Legalization Campaign Sues After Petition Signatures Ruled ‘Stale’

Marijuana advocates have sued the state of Michigan over a decision by the State Board of Canvassers to rule 137,000 signatures on their petition to get a legalization question on the November ballot invalid, according to a Detroit Free Press report.

The Board ruled the signatures were “stale,” meaning they were collected outside of the 180-day window available for petitioners to gather signatures.

The Board of Canvassers, Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, and State Elections Director Christopher Thomas are identified as defendants in the lawsuit.

Lansing attorney and MI Legalize Chairman Jeffrey Hank filed the lawsuit with Grosse Pointe Park lawyer Thomas LaVigne, claiming the group has “a litany of state and constitutional claims.”

“This isn’t just about marijuana,” Hank said in the report. “We’re trying to preserve the right of grassroots groups to get a question on the ballot.”

MI Legalize submitted more than 354,000 signatures to state officials, well over the 253,000 required for the initiative to appear on the ballot. With the Board voting 4-0 to invalidate 137,000 of those signatures, the group fell short – only about 217,000 signatures were considered valid.   

On June 8, just “minutes” after the board voted against the group, Republican Gov. Rick Snyder signed a law codifying the 180-day window.

“Establishing reasonable time limits on when signatures can be collected helps ensure the issues that make the ballot are the ones that matter most to Michiganders,” Snyder said in a release after signing the legislation.

The lawsuit, filed in Michigan’s Court of Claims, seeks “a minimum of at least four immediate rulings and one outcome – to place the MI Legalize proposal on the ballot of the next general election.”

The action also seeks monetary damages of $1.1 million plus punitive relief and other costs unless officials check the signatures against voter records, which MI Legalize asserts, will prove their validity.

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Oregon Recalls Two Plant Cleaner Products Popular Among Cannabis Growers

According to an advisory issued June 16 by the Oregon Department of Agriculture, two popular plant cleaner products — Green Planet Nutrients Mega Wash and NPK Industries Mighty Wash — are being recalled following the discovery of an active pesticide ingredient that is not disclosed on their labels.

The state issued the following warning on Thursday:

The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) has reason to believe the products Mighty Wash and Ultimate Wash, manufactured by NPK Industries, contain a pesticide active ingredient not listed on the label. ODA has tested both products and found it to contain the active ingredient pyrethrins. Use of Mighty Wash and Ultimate Wash could cause cannabis to fail Oregon Health Authority (OHA) pesticide testing requirements. Growers of all crops and retailers are advised to discontinue using or selling Mighty Wash and Ultimate Wash until further notice.

The Oregon Health Authority informed growers that although pyrethins pose low risk to humans unless exposed to very high concentrations, high levels of inhalation of the substance have caused respiratory irritation symptoms similar to asthma.

The Mega Wash formula is manufactured by Freq Water, Inc. of Central Point, OR for a Canadian company called H.I.T. Manufacturing, based out of Surrey, British Columbia. The Mighty Wash formula is manufactured by NPK Industries, located in Medford, OR.

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The Marijuana Policy Project Endorses Libertarian Gary Johnson for President

The Marijuana Policy Project has formally endorsed the Libertarian Party candidate and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson in his bid for the White House. Johnson served two terms as governor from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party.

In a statement announcing their endorsement, MPP Executive Director Rob Kampia said Johnson “clearly has the best position on marijuana policy” out of the three candidates that will appear on the ballots in all 50 states, noting that the organization fights for “a single-issue” – regulating marijuana like alcohol.

“Legalization has been Johnson’s number-one issue for 17 years,” Kampia said in the statement. “MPP’s endorsement of Johnson was an easy call; the more difficult question is whether MPP should support a candidate who’s good on medical marijuana but bad on legalization, when the candidate is facing an opponent who’s bad on everything.”

Johnson received an “A-plus” grade in the group’s presidential candidate report card. Democrat Hillary Clinton, the party’s presumptive nominee received a “B,” while the Republican nominee, Donald Trump, was given a “C-plus.”

In January, Johnson stepped down from his role as CEO of Cannabis Sativa, a legal cannabis company, in order to focus on his campaign. In a recent interview with USA Today, Johnson indicated that he hasn’t used marijuana for “about seven weeks” and said he would abstain if he were elected.

The Libertarian Party elected former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld as Johnson’s running mate.

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Microsoft Partners With Cannabis Tracking Software Company KIND Financial

Microsoft is the first major company to dabble in the flourishing cannabis industry following a partnership deal announced today with the Los Angeles-based seed-to-sale tracking software company KIND Financial, the New York Times reports.

Microsoft will be working with KIND’s “government solutions” division, which focuses on software for state and local governments in their pursuit of regulatory compliance. KIND’s Agrisoft Seed to Sale for Government software will be offered through Microsoft’s Azure Government, “the only cloud platform designed to meet government standards for the closely regulated cannabis compliance programs,” said Kimberly Nelson, Microsoft’s Executive Director of State and Local Government Solutions.

The tech giant’s willingness to cooperate with a company focused solely on legal cannabis could indicate that legitimate infrastructure is on its way for the nascent industry. “We do think there will be significant growth,” Nelson said. “As the industry is regulated, there will be more transactions, and we believe there will be more sophisticated requirements and tools down the road.”

David Dinenberg, Founder and CEO of KIND Financial, said in a company press release:

“No one can predict the future of cannabis legalization, however, it is clear that legalized cannabis will always be subject to strict oversight and regulations similar to alcohol and tobacco; and, KIND is proud to offer governments and regulatory agencies the tools and technology to monitor cannabis compliance. I am delighted that Microsoft supports KIND’s mission to build the backbone for cannabis compliance.”

The announcement follows another major development this week for Microsoft: the tech giant announced Monday that it was purchasing the social networking site LinkedIn in an historic $26.2 billion deal.

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NFL Medical Marijuana Advocate Released by Baltimore Ravens

Eugene Monroe, an offensive tackle with the Baltimore Ravens, has been released by the organization, just months after advocating for medical marijuana therapy for NFL players, the New York Times reports.

Last month, Monroe donated $80,000 to Johns Hopkins University and the University of Pennsylvania for medical cannabis research.

“I can’t say for sure whether or not my stance on medical cannabis was the reason the Ravens released me,” Monroe said in the report. “However, as I’ve said in the past, they have distanced themselves from me and made it clear that they do not support my advocacy.”

Monroe was the first active player to call on the league to remove marijuana from its banned substances list and to fund medical marijuana research, especially as its potential use as a chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) treatment.

“The NFL relies heavily on opioids to get players back on the field as soon as possible, but studies have shown medical marijuana to be a much better solution; it is safer, less addictive and can even reduce opioid dependence,” he wrote in an essay for the Players’ Tribune. “Some studies have also shown that cannabidiol (CBD) — one of the more than 100 cannabinoids found in marijuana — may function as a neuroprotectant, which means it can shield the cells in the brain from injury or degeneration. We need to learn more about this.”

In a statement released this morning, Monroe said, “Despite the current uncertainties, one thing is for sure: whatever happens in terms of my professional football career, I will never stop pushing for the League to accept medical cannabis as a viable option for pain management.”

According to the Times report, Monroe acknowledged he has had injury issues during his NFL tenure and ESPN indicated that the Ravens were in talks with the New York Giants to acquire the 29-year-old, but the deal never materialized.

Monroe was the eighth overall pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2009 following a college career for Virginia during which he was a Unanimous All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection. He is now a free agent.

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Major Medical Cannabis Brands Raided by California Police

Several prominent medical cannabis companies in California, including concentrate manufacturer Absolute Xtracts and CBD-rich products producer Care By Design, were raided by local law enforcement officers Wednesday morning — DEA agents were in attendance and supervising.

The raid targeted five company properties, all of which had been sharing a location under a cooperative agreement called the CBD Guild, formed together in 2014. According to Nick Caston, spokesman for Care By Design, the CBD Guild produces medicine “as determined by the voters in the 1990s, and we do it with the best practices of any company in the state.”

Law enforcement arrested Dennis Franklin Hunter, one of the organization’s founding members, under suspicion of using illegal and hazardous production methods in the chemical manufacturing of a controlled substance. Hunter — who spent four years evading police before he was caught in 2002 and handed a five year federal prison sentence for an illegal cannabis grow — had bail set at $5 million.

The CBD Guild laboratory is a 34,000-square-foot space in a Santa Rosa business park, on Circadian Way. The companies involved use highly pressurized carbon dioxide extraction devices to create artisan-quality cannabis concentrates. The guild’s focus is on CBD-rich products. According to Caston, together the companies serve dispensary locations in every major California city.

“This law enforcement action is unprecedented, unfortunate, and has the potential to deprive thousands of profoundly sick patients of much needed medicine,” Caston said. “We will cooperate fully with law enforcement in an effort to resolve this as quickly as possible, and hope to have our several dozen employees in Sonoma County back to work this week.”

Joe Rogoway, a Santa Rosa attorney representing the guild, said police had mischaracterized the cannabis companies. “They weren’t using butane, they use a process that includes CO2 which is a flame retardant; CO2 is what’s in fire extinguishers,” Rogoway said. “It’s not criminalized in California law.”

It’s possible, according to Rogoway, that the raids were a result of false claims made to law enforcement by a disgruntled former employee.

Care By Design is hosting a press conference and support rally today at 11:00 a.m. at the Sonoma County Superiour Courthouse in Santa Rosa to raise awareness about the overzealous enforcement act.

 

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Grandma Cat Jeter: The Rise and Demise of Medical Cannabis in Washington

Cat Jeter is the founder of Deep Green, an award-winning full plant extracts manufacturer in Washington State. She recently joined our host Shango Los for a conversation about the history of the Washington State medical marijuana market, which will soon be absorbed by the recreational market due to pending regulations. In the interview, she discusses the movement that led to the creation of the medical cannabis market in Washington, how it grew and changed over time, and how the passage of I-502–Washington’s recreational cannabis ballot measure–affected the market and those who had dedicated their lives to serving patients. Listen to the interview using the media player below, or scroll down for the full transcript!

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Listen to the podcast:


Read the transcript:

Shango Los: Hi there, and welcome to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast. I’m your host, Shango Los. The Ganjapreneur.com podcast gives us an opportunity to speak directly to entrepreneurs, cannabis growers, product developers, and cannabis medicine researchers, all focused on making the most of cannabis normalization. As your host, I do my best to bring original cannabis industry ideas that will ignite your own entrepreneurial spark, and give you actionable information. To improve your business strategy, and improve your health, and the health of cannabis patients everywhere.

Today my guest is Cat Jeter. Grandma Cat Jeter is the founder of Deep Green, a full plant cannabis extracts producer located in Washington state. Founded with pediatric outreach as a core principle, award winning Deep Green has been a market leader in product testing, direct patient outreach, and branding from its very inception. I’ve asked Cat to be a guest on the show today because of her 43 years of medical cannabis experience. You know, every tribe has a keeper of the stories. Cat is a prominent protector of that flame in Washington. She has participated in nearly every aspect of the cannabis industry, and advocacy, and because of that, she has an understanding of the arc of cannabis history that very few people can offer.

During today’s show, we’re going to discuss the early days of medical cannabis in Washington, how the industry matured, and its very controversial demise coming on July 1st of this year. Welcome to the show, Cat.

Cat Jeter: Thank you so much, Shango, for having me. It’s a pleasure to talk to you and your listeners.

Shango Los: Cat, let’s start off at the beginning. Let’s go all the way back to 1998. You know, Initiative 692 was passed, which allowed medical marijuana in the state, and also gave permission to doctors to talk to their patients about marijuana. What was it like then? Were people caught off guard, and was there instantly an industry? What was it like in those very early days?

Cat Jeter: Well, I think it’s important to recognize that Washington has historically had a very tolerant attitude towards cannabis. We were busy culturally creating what you might refer to as a dankster class of citizen long before we ever got to any discussion of medical cannabis.

It goes back to our historical advocates in the mid-’90s. Joanne McKee, Ron Parker, Ralph Seeley, all of who were involved in legal action and led to a failed populous to action, I-685 in 1997. Then in 1998, a more streamlined 692 was ratified.

These are the very, very early years. This was still somewhat of a very frightening place. I think it’s important to recognize that Washington was still very, very decentralized in the way we approached medical cannabis. You needed to know someone. Or you needed to be working with the black market, essentially, to take care of your own personal medical needs, or needs for a friend. There was, to the best of my knowledge, only one operating co-op, and that was Joanne McKee’s and Ron Parker’s. The Green Cross over on Bainbridge Island.

Nonetheless, the desire was there. Yet it took a couple of more steps in the process to make that access readily available. Among them were, in 2007, Senate Bill 632, stipulated possession limits. Up until then, you could have cannabis, but how much? What was that trooper on the side of the road going to judge was how much. We didn’t have arrest protection. We had only affirmative defenses. You can see how that was a very uneasy intersection.

Then what really turned everything on it’s head was in 2010, when Senate Bill 5798 enabled more medical professionals to recommend cannabis. Now you had limits, suddenly you had the availability of getting that recommendation, so access had to follow. This is when we really see that the collectives, the dispensary model, really starts growing in Washington state.

Shango Los: Wow, that’s really interesting. The idea of early medical marijuana existing, but there not yet being a dispensary system to get it. That seems so messy. Where you know as a patient you are allowed to possess, but you’re still going to the black market for it. There must have been a lot of scrambling by patients who saw the promise of what medical marijuana might be able to do for them. Yet, how on earth do they get it?

Cat Jeter: Well, and this is, I think, true of almost any cultural movement. That the early adopters are out there and they’re scrambling, it can be risky. From my own family experience, my own father died during this period. We wanted to help him with his death process. I sent my son up to Northgate Mall to meet a fellow named Muadeeb, is all we knew him as. You know, we smoked joints, and we made butter for my terminally ill father. We weren’t even terribly well-versed in cannascience, nor in the process or production of particular products.

This is the same era that Rick Simpson was very busy reacquainting us with an ancient herbal extraction technique making concentrates using some type of a solvent. Yes, dark days, indeed, and confusing for people.

Shango Los: You know, those of us who are associated with cannabis mostly just in the last, say, five to ten years, RSO has always been there for us. Different solvents have always been there for us. What you’re talking about, it was very much the days of early pot brownies. Even though those have become iconic, for a lot of people, getting the cannabis out of the flower and into an edible was itself an advanced extraction technique.

Cat Jeter: Well, you know, I like to say this proliferation of medical cannabis over these last six years has brought about a radical shift in the way that we think of the plant. Not only of its various pieces, but the plant as a whole. You know, we’ve just had a renaissance of new products and reimaginings of cannabis and how we use it. Not only to heal, but to recreate.

Shango Los: You know, somebody who was in your position in those early days, I imagine there’s a lot of similarities to nowadays, where people are asking basic healthcare questions. How cannabis could help them. Nowadays, we’ve got the internet, and we’ve got conventions, and we’re able to exchange information. We’ve got the beginnings of new studies that are coming out of Europe. It must have been really challenging for you to have patients approaching you and asking for information and guidance, when the access to information was really hard.

Cat Jeter: Well, and it was even hard for me. You know, we knew that smoking a joint certainly made anyone who was going through chemotherapy feel a whole lot better, and help them to keep their next meal down. We didn’t have any real sense, I don’t think, even as a culture in exactly how, what we refer to now as cannabinoid therapy, at various dosing levels from low to high, how that type of approach might help us. The shift has just been radical in the last ten years.

Shango Los: It must have been really strange, too, to be legitimized with the passing of the Initiative to allow medical cannabis, and yet still having to go the black market. That shifty vibe that you can, you know, sometimes feel when you’re involved in a prohibited activity. Yet, you’re doing it for the most right and allowable reasons. The mixture of the prohibition culture and medical marijuana culture must have felt very awkward.

Cat Jeter: Well you know, I think this is really one of the inhibiting factors on growth of medical cannabis right now. We refer to it as legal, yet there is a tremendous amount of oppression still associated with medical cannabis. Your job can be held hostage to this. Your family might be held hostage to this. Although we see much less of it in Washington nowadays. You know, there’s still a tremendous amount of judgement associated with outing yourself as someone who chooses a safe herb over a pharma solution.

We’re making progress, but we certainly haven’t pulled the veil back yet. The discomfort is not yet alleviated.

Shango Los: You know, you mentioned the explosion in medical marijuana once the dispensaries existed. Certainly after the dispensaries existed, there was a lot more access. There were more people being able to make money by providing medicine as well. Was anybody really making money ahead of the dispensaries coming into existence? It sounds to me like there were, it probably just infused a bunch of new customers into the black market that had affirmative defense. There probably wasn’t enough economic viability of that model to really have anybody making much money before the dispensaries.

Cat Jeter: I think that’s right. This is one of the ways in which our early medical states are really rather unique, when comparing them against the more commercial models that have come along recently. That is, we do come from a place of compassion. You know, you got to be compassionate when you’re risking yourself in a very, very limitedly defined legal world to help your brother, or your sister, or your mother, or your child.

Now, we are approaching it in a much more broad based approach, and a much more commercial approach. Which, of course, is going to lead to a more normalization of the commercial model. I really didn’t see a lot of money flowing through the system until we got to a point where there were a lot of collectives beginning to appear. Then there would be a few that were just killing it on the commercial level. Naturally they were doing very well financially. This is simple economics. With risk comes reward. It has been very risky throughout all of our medical phase here in Washington.

Shango Los: Well, we’re gonna talk a little bit more about the risks involved, and what enforcement looked like during medical marijuana in Washington after our break. We are going to take that first break right now. You are listening to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast.

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Welcome back. You are listening to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast. I’m your host, Shango Los. Our guest this week is cannabis patient advocate and entrepreneur, Cat Jeter.

Cat, before the break we were talking about how in the early days, patients had to go to the black market because this was ahead of the dispensary system. That kind of makes me think that it may have been common for patients to get busted by the police, because they’re going about what could seem like a black market transaction … But as a patient, they’re actually allowed to have the cannabis. How many people were getting busted back in the day?

Cat Jeter: Well, I think there were, you know, especially when that intersection between black market and what was medical was being defined, I think it was business as usual the way we had seen it. Now, we’ve mentioned that Washington was a tolerant state, but certainly if you were pulled over on the side of the road, and any reason given to crack your trunk and had a half a pound back there. Whether you were getting ready to bag it out, or you were getting ready to make full plant extract, I don’t think law enforcement particularly cared.

That transferred into a very focused effort as collectives began organizing and serving with the demand for access and product in Washington. It seemed to be, you know, there were a lot of variables. One was geographical. You certainly wanted to be in a friendly county, or a friendly city. A lot of it was the profile with which you carried yourself. You know, were you driving a new Ferrari, or you know, showing it off?

Again, we talked about with risk comes reward, but in an age of judgment, that might not have been your best stance for safety. What we saw were clusters of busts. Where Westnet Drug Task Force would sweep down on two or three organizations at once, and create a real climate of fear. You never saw a whole industry who could drop its umbrellas and be on the road any faster than the medical cannabis industry when there were busts happening.

It made it really very tenuous. Slowly, we figured out where the safe jurisdictions were. I think the best players in the industry figured out they needed to get a business license, communicate with their communities, and take a best practices approach. It still didn’t stop the fact that this is still federally illegal, and you operated by the forbearance of your local authorities.

Shango Los: You know, before the break we were talking about how in the early days, it was mostly all folks could do to extract cannabis out into a fat, like butter, and make it into an edible for patients who were prepared to be smoking, and yet still needed the cannabinoids inside them. It was interesting to me to consider that over your 43 years of experience, you’re probably answering a lot of the same questions that patients were asking then, now. I wonder to what degree your answers have changed. Obviously, we’ve learned so much more as a cannabis scene than we knew 43 years ago.

Cat Jeter: A lot of the questions are the same. Simply because there are so many people who are uneducated, under educated, or misunderstand. A lot of the questions are evolving, too. Certainly the questions where someone is terminally ill, and fighting for that last bit of quality of life that they may have, those questions have stayed the same. Our understanding of cannabis as a helpful healing agent at that point has not radically changed over the last 20 years. These were the examples that we used to legitimize medical cannabis, and get it legalized to begin with.

More recently, we’re seeing questions about how cannabis can help with addiction issues, or persistent pain, or depression. How you can access cannabis that doesn’t make you high, for instance. We hear more questions about accessing cannabis for on-going health, rather than end of life issues. I think all in all, it demonstrates a cultural competence and evolving awareness of the power of the plant.

Shango Los: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I would think that people’s questions are getting more sophisticated themselves. In the early days, they were just hearing a whisper over a dinner table, or something. Or you know, a recommendation from a friend. Whereas now, people will have heard that, they will have Googled a little bit, and then they’re coming for more of an expert opinion, built on top of that. I would think that the people who approach you are approaching with much more sophisticated questions, generally.

Cat Jeter: Without a doubt. Thank heavens for the information age. We have better access now to that growing body of science. We’re able to network better with each other. We understand conditions that are helped with cannabis. We understand how various components of the plant, from cannabinoids, to terpenes, to to flavanoids, to even the waxes and lipids. How they help the healing process, and help the plant to work in whole.

Certainly one of the biggest discussions lately has been the entourage effect, instead of just focusing on THC or CBD. We’re beginning to look at how the various constituents of the plant interact to make it an even more powerful healing agent. We’ve also seen that the discussion has shifted from cure exclusively to focusing on quality of life instead.

Shango Los: You know, as far as the quality of life goes, at the top of the show you were talking about how in 2010 the scene kind of got more protections, and a little bit more of a green light as more healthcare providers were allowed to write prescriptions. Also there were more protections because they started to give the carry amounts, and how much you can have on your person, and have at home.

From what I saw, this was turned up even more in February of 2014 when the Cole 2.0 Memo came out. They gave the necessary aspects for individual states to do medical marijuana. At the time, Washington seemed to be in a good position on all of those. It really caused the market in Washington to explode. The number of dispensaries went up. People really felt like they had protections at that point, that before that were simply not as significant. Were people looking for the Cole 2.0 Memo to happen? Or were they just really pleasantly surprised when it came out?

Cat Jeter: You know, I think the Cole 2.0 Memo is one of those situations where I ask myself was it really medical driving it along, or do we need to also acknowledge the fact the two states had just said we’re over your prohibition. We’re going to legalize for all 21 plus adults. I found that it had less to do with medical from my own point of view. A fair amount of it, for medical, felt like I see your lips moving, but what have you done for me lately.

Shango Los: Yeah.

Cat Jeter: You know, in Washington we were right in the middle of a very aggressive persecution of the Kettle Falls Five, out in the eastern side of the state. This at a time when the DOJ, Department of Justice, had been told quit spending funds on this. We were, I think, looking for more positivity, as opposed to another list of prohibitions. Nonetheless, there’s no doubt that it did cause the absolute explosion, it in addition to the 502 passage, in anticipation of what was going to be a legal market. It’s been a wildly successful little petri dish of … For 30 years I’d been siting back and wondering what if cannabis was legal? Well you know what, coming at a time when our own economics had been a downturn, it was Washington’s own economic stimulus plan. There were new firms. There were people with new jobs.

However, I have to comment, too. Our wild embrace of the cannabis lifestyle, including High Times events, and local cannabis competitions, absolutely may have been our downfall at a time when the rest of the community was not moving as fast in their understanding of safe recreation with cannabis, and safe healing.

Shango Los: Yeah, I think that you nailed that on the head, Cat. The scene as a whole exploded, and that meant you had more people doing compassionate care, and also more people seeing a financial opportunity, and also more people seeing an opportunity to party in the open a little bit more. All the different aspects of medical cannabis all got bigger at the same time. There were plenty of opportunities for people to point at minor parts of the community and say see, that’s what we think is bad, and that’s what medical is. Actually, whatever part of that was either being misinterpreted by the general public who don’t understand the medical cannabis scene as a whole, or simply it was a very insignificant part of the scene that they really wanted to shine their light on.

You know, similarly, you were talking about the economic development that came with it. Where I live out here on Vashon Island, after the Cole 2.0 Memo, businesses really got serious about supplying the dispensaries all through Washington state. We’ve been growing high quality indicas here on Vashon Island since the ’70s. You know, the fact that people grow was not a big deal here. The idea that suddenly those folks were able to come out of the closet, get business licenses, develop relationship with dispensaries, start delivering their product, getting it off the island. Actually, starting to help develop, you know, have real economic development. Families that were once fringe, being able to start to participate in true economics state-wide. That was a really beautiful thing. That created a wonderful opportunity.

At the same time, though, people were really aware that 502 had made the ballot, and had passed. We all felt a transition starting to happen. That transition was starting to scare many people. Oh, looks like it’s time for us to take another break. Let’s take a quick break, and we’ll come back and talk about medical marijuana after I-502 passed. You are listening to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast.

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Welcome back. You are listening to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast. I am your host, Shango Los. Our guest this week is cannabis patient advocate and entrepreneur, Cat Jeter.

Before the break, we were talking about the transition that everybody felt coming when I-502 recreational marijuana made the ballot, and passed with a real significant support in the state of Washington.

It created this split in the medical marijuana scene, as more people started moving their intentions toward getting commercial licenses, moving over to the recreational side with the eyes of expanding their businesses and hopefully making some money. Then other folks who maybe didn’t have as much access to capital, and maybe were more patient-centric. For whatever anybody’s personal reasons were, the scene absolutely started to split. Did you see that, too, from where you were sitting, Cat?

Cat Jeter: Oh, without a doubt. It was an extremely, and still is, contentious age. I’ve seen former allies break apart and become each other’s worst enemy over this issue. You know, really at issue is how resistant are you going to be to change?

You know, at the end of the day, if everyone who’s negotiating for change goes away a little bit unhappy, you know you’ve probably got a workable deal. Unfortunately, in creating rights for adult users, we had to step … Or didn’t maybe have to … But the rights of medical cannabis patients were disregarded. A number of other aspects were rather negative about the bill, too, in just indicating an understanding of cannabis. The per se DUI basically made every medical patient a de facto altered driver. Yet there’s no scientific evidence that supports that five nanograms of cannabinoids in your blood stream somehow impair your driving.

You know, the whole idea was sold after an initiative was run in the previous year, which we always felt like plowed the ground for legalization. It was run by and large by the Heritage Medical and Heritage providers. We felt like we’d reaped a corrupt harvest based on our plowing efforts in the year before.

Nonetheless, don’t we have to accept and celebrate the fact that my grandkids, who are quickly approaching 21, will no longer be looking at jail time for simple possession. Society moves back and forth. You’re always swinging to one side or the other of the middle. Truth lies in that negotiation of culture and activity, right.

Shango Los: Yeah.

Cat Jeter: You know, it has been difficult. Along the way, we should have known that it would never last. We’d been working from the compassionate model, and very few people taxing their products, or declaring taxes on their products. We find ourselves now in a model, even with the compressed tax column, that patients are going to be … Unless they give away their HIPAA medical rights with the registry … Paying sales tax on the only medicine in the state of Washington. They have a right to feel oppressed.

I think the folks who worked from the compassionate point of view have every right to feel that in an age of disinformation, leading up to the licensing, and what we now think, suspect, maybe even have some evidence, could have been some favoritism in the granting of licenses for what goes forth next.

I think we also have a right to feel that as pioneers, our intellectual and our financial capital has been squandered in this state. We’ve put the leaders on the outside looking in, and the newcomers on the inside laughing.

Shango Los: Yeah, that’s a really good point. You know, that’s not how the other states did it. You know, in Colorado, they took their existing medical marijuana structure, and blessed it, and then helped it transition to become what was then a combined recreational and medical. Whereas in Washington, they did their best to sideline and exclude everybody who was involved in medical, and then bring in all new people from other industries, and gave them the licenses to produce cannabis.

You know, I knew that this was going to get ugly back at that very first WSLCB meeting downtown, with that packed room. You know, sitting down in the chairs were patients, and a lot of new business faces that I had never seen before. Then in the back of the room were a bunch of really angry activists with signs. They were interrupting the folks who were speaking. For them, this was the end of patient access. They saw the mess that was coming down the line. So many of us were really hoping that they were overreacting.

Now, you know, two years later, we see that they nailed it. Their anger was justified. They were just prescient in understanding what was going to happen two years earlier than everybody else. That was such a clear manifestation of the schism that was coming with the passing of I-502, and then 5052 last year, which got rid of all the dispensaries.

Here we are today, right. It’s June 7th, and we’ve got 23 days until the July 1st deadline when all the dispensaries have to be closed and the, whatever, 19 years of medical marijuana as we know it comes to an end. What do you see as the landscape for medical marijuana going forward, Cat? I mean, is it even worth calling medical marijuana anymore? What do you see as the future?

Cat Jeter: Well, you know, I think there’s a case that can be made that all cannabis is medical, right. You know, if it’s true that it’s good for your he5alth, then even casually toking up a joint can be somewhat medical for you. You know, those people weren’t wrong. While I think maybe we could have espoused a little softer shoe approach, and in fighting for our rights, the worst has in fact come to happen.

Patients are in a panic. No doubt about it. At our office, we get many calls a day. Where am I going to be able to find Deep Green in the future? We tell them we’re scrambling like all the other historical medicals as fast as we can to get there for you. A current survey of the 502 shops shows no medical products in them right now. Or a very, very, very limited selection.

Now, is that … You know, it’s a chicken or egg situation currently. You can’t talk about medical in a 502 retail environment. Is it they can’t talk about it, so why would they have it. Or is it they simply don’t want it. What I hear from the 502 rec store owners, it’s all about the THC and the recreational aspect of it.

You know, many access points have closed already, further constricting access in these final months for our patients. A few are committed to serving the public right up until the end, including at least one that I know of. That’s going to have their doors open right up until midnight on June 30th. I understand at least two farmer’s markets are going to fight for their ground, and try to create a new private model. In which, as a member, you can still access the Heritage and Legacy farmers that have served the market so well up until now.

Many medical brands, my own included, we are busy scrambling in negotiations with companies that already have processing capacity. Looking either for space to process our own product, or branding situations. You know, a majority of the historical cottage brands are simply going to go by the wayside, or going to slide back to what could be called the black market again.

I reject that term, and I prefer to call it now that people’s market. The people have ratified their desire for cannabis. Not one, not two, but three different times now in the state of Washington. How many times do we have to ask, how times do we have to demonstrate to our legislators that this is what we want. You need to find a viable framework for it.

Shango Los: You know, the examples that you give of the people who are presently in the medical market transitioning, those were all more or less legal venues. I like what you say about the people’s market. Which some will call the casual market, or the informal market. It seems to me that we should expect to see a blossoming of the informal market because we’re in a different situation than we were ten years ago.

It’s not that there is a black market of loosely associated people. These are people who have been working together the last five to ten years. We’ve got solid networks. People know who each other are. People are giving each other their business cards. I find it very difficult to believe that the sate is going to be as successful as they hope in eradicating the unlicensed and untaxed medical artisan craftspeople from making the medicine that they not only use to pay their bills, but has become people’s passion and moral drive to help patients.

Cat Jeter: I could not agree any less with that. First off, let’s start with just the definition. We talk about these as black market, or the state casts us black market … But how black is it? When it’s your neighbor three doors down, you’ve known him for 15 years. You know, he just put his daughter through college with the few pounds of artisan cannabis that he creates in her old bedroom.

You know, these are new economic days, in which we are all feeling more and more economically disenfranchised at a country, or even state-wide level, and feeling more empowered to look within our closer communities to serve our own needs. We see this with local food. We see this with local artisan crafts. We’re seeing it with local artisan cannabis.

You know, the power has tried to eradicate us for 80 years now. I like to ask our legislators how are you doing so far? You know, I sense that we are winning this battle for health and for minds. You know, there are difficult times coming ahead. I don’t doubt that there are going to be a few significant enforcement actions designed to scare us again.

Again, I think we’re winning this debate. I think it is a debate. We’ve swung the pendulum over to the right again. Skills are not going to simply to be allowed to lie fallow. The market will demand them. It’s a shame that many of these business owners will be transformed into high level talent for extraction companies, perhaps, or as master growers. We’re better off when we have small business, but there’s little appetite on the part of the state right now for that decentralized small cottage industry.

Shango Los: Yeah, that’s very true. Cat, one more thing I want to ask you before we wrap up, since we’re coming to the end of the show. You know, we’ve got people who listen to our show, tens of thousands of people all across the country, and even internationally. Most of those locales are either just now adopting medical marijuana, or they have and they are moving towards recreational. Most everybody’s got some kind of medical marijuana in play, even if it’s being presented in front of the legislature and getting beaten right now.

With the scope of your 43 years of experience, what message can you send out to medical marijuana activists in their individual locales that can help buoy them that they’re on the right path?

Cat Jeter: I think I could say be calm. First off, not everything happens in a day. Not everyone will learn what you have learned in a day. You will take a beating one day, and come back victorious the next. Stay calm in what you ask for. Don’t expect everything, and don’t take everything as a defeat, when in fact you have a win on your hands. In terms of progressing the conversation forward.

Most of all, continue to love your community. Not everyone will stand in the exact same space that you do with respect to cannabis. If we start assassinating each other in a circular firing squad, who’s going to be there at the end? Our desire to free the plant will fail, and it will be a turnover to big pharma and corporate farming interest. That’s not what we want. We see this as a populous issue. If we can all just ratchet the level of anxiety, and remember that we come from different places, and that we agree on 97% of everything, just differ on 3%. Let’s not kill each other over that 3%. Let’s keep marching this forward.

Shango Los: Very well said. Cat, thank you so much. Not only just for being on this show, but for your decades of service to the scene, cannabis education, and sharing your passion and mentorship with the rest of us.

Cat Jeter: It is my pleasure. Thank you for having me on, Shango. Good luck to everyone who’s listening, and who is still fighting this fight right along with Washington.

Shango Los: Grandma Cat Jeter is founder of Deep Green. You can follow Cat Jeter and Deep Green extracts on their Facebook pages. You can also go to the DeepGreenExtracts.com website for more information on that specific company.

You can find more episodes of the Ganjapreneur podcast in the podcast section at Ganjapreneur.com, and in the Apple iTunes store. On the Ganjapreneur.com website, you will find the latest cannabis news, product reviews, and cannabis jobs updated daily, along with transcriptions of this podcast. You can also download the Ganjapreneur.com app in iTunes and Google Play. For info on me and where I will be speaking, you can go to ShangoLos.com.

Do you have a company that wants to reach our national audience of cannabis enthusiasts? Email grow@ganjapreneur.com to find out how.

Today’s show was produced by Michael Rowe. I am your host, Shango Los.

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Inaugural Imperious Expo Coming to Tacoma on July 20-21

The inaugural Imperious Expo, a marijuana business conference dedicated to spotlighting the medical and industrial cannabis industries, is coming to the Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall in Tacoma, Washington this July 20-21.

Boasting dozens of highly qualified speakers, the event’s topics will range from cannabis cultivation, diversity, insurance, legal issues, business licensing, to sustainability and more. Speakers at the conference have been drawn from industry experts everywhere, and will include a presentation by legendary cannabis activist Ed Rosenthal — Eric Brandstad of Forever Flowering Greenhouses will make the event’s keynote address.

Other speakers include David Muret of Viridian Staffing, Chris Beals of Weedmaps, Aaron Pelley of Pelley Law, Aaron Pitsicalis of Purple Haze Properties, and dozens more. Ganjapreneur‘s own podcast host and brand strategist Shango Los will also be speaking.

The Imperious Expo is a primarily business oriented conference, with an emphasis on business to business (B2B) strategies and networking opportunities for medical and industrial marijuana enterprises. According to event co-founder and managing partner Eric Norton, the Imperious Expo was designed from its start to be “a medical and industrial hemp model [trade show] that will fit into any state as it goes green.”

“It’s obvious that many other trade shows got into the industry for quick money,” Norton said in a phone interview. “That’s not the case with us: having a medical model in Washington — because it’s full-blown rec — has cost us money. We would be able to throw a bigger [recreational] show… but that’s not our focus. And that’s enabled us to draw in speakers from all over the country.”

The Imperious Expo will be an annual event, held in the Tacoma Dome itself in future years. Norton said there are plans to bring the show to Phoenix, Arizona and Portland, Oregon — though dates for future shows have not been announced.

Tickets are available online. General admission tickets for the entire event cost $149, one day passes are available for $99. Both passes grant full access to the exhibition hall and that day’s speaker lineup.

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Survey of New York Patients and Caregivers Finds Serious Flaws in Medical Marijuana Program

A recent survey by the Drug Policy Alliance found New York’s medical cannabis program is plagued by unaffordable medicine and “overall inaccessibility,” based on feedback from 255 patients and caregivers.

According to the report, more than half of those surveyed have, so far, been unsuccessful finding a doctor to certify them for the program and three out of five have been waiting three to four months to find a physician registered with the program. Of the respondents who have obtained medical cannabis through the program, 77 percent reported being unable to afford the necessary medicine, with 70 percent saying it would cost them $300 or more per month.

“New Yorkers deserve more transparency and information about how the state’s medical marijuana program is performing,” Julie Netherland, PhD, director of the Drug Policy Alliance’s Office of Academic Engagement said in a press release. “Our data confirms what we have heard from patients and caregivers for months – New York’s program is not easily accessible, and even for patients who manage access the program, most cannot afford the medication. We urge the legislature to act quickly and pass these bills to improve the program so patients in need can get relief.”

Following their report, the group is urging lawmakers to pass three bills that would help overhaul the system. The bills, sponsored in the state Assembly by Assemblyman Richard Gottfried (D), would authorize nurse practitioners and physician assistants to certify patients for the program (A.9510), add chronic pain as a qualifying condition (A.9514A), and add more producers and dispensaries in the state (A.9747A). Both carry same-as bills in the Republican-dominated state Senate. A.9510 (S.6998) passed the Assembly last month and now sits in the Senate Health Committee, where it is sponsored by Sen. Diane Savino (D). A.9514A and A.9747A have both stalled in the Assembly following their move out of their Health Committee.

The lack of dispensaries allowed under the law was a concern for advocates from the beginning – allowing for just 20 total dispensaries for a state of almost 20 million people and 54,000-square-miles. The Drug Policy Alliance survey found that 27 percent of registered patients and caregivers travelled one to five hours to access a dispensary.

During a press conference last week, Gottfried and advocates lobbied for lawmakers to pass the proposals. During his remarks, Gottfried was hopeful the bills would be voted on by lawmakers this session – which ends on June 16.

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Competing Medical Marijuana Proposals in Arkansas Could Split Votes

Two plans to legalize medical marijuana in Arkansas could appear on November ballots, causing some advocates to fear the competition would split votes, leading to the failure of both initiatives, according to an Associated Press report.

The measure proposed by Arkansans for Compassionate Care has already garnered more than 70,000 valid signatures, surpassing the 67,887 required to get the proposal on the ballot.

Another proposal headed by Little Rock lawyer David Couch seeks to add a constitutional amendment that legalizes medical cannabis. An amendment proposal requires 84,859 valid signatures; Couch says his proposal has more than 40,000 so far. The deadline to submit petitions is July 8.

“It will be enough to split the vote and both will fail,” Melissa Fults, campaign director for Arkansans for Compassionate Care said.

A third proposal, by Summit resident Mary Berry, would legalize recreational marijuana in the state. Broader legalization efforts were defeated by Arkansas voters in 2012 thanks in part to a campaign by prohibitionist group The Family Council. Another group, The Coalition for Safer Arkansas, has also formed to block cannabis reform efforts in the state.

Couch believes conservative groups are less likely to campaign against proposals that are strictly for medicinal purposes.

“I think that if the debate is about whether or not someone is sick and dying or has some sort of illness that marijuana can actually help with that and the doctor prescribes it, nobody has a problem with it,” he said in the report.

The marijuana initiatives are three of just six proposals vying for consideration by voters in November.

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Colorado Enacts Ban on THC-Infused Gummy Bears

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a bill last Friday that bans THC-infused gummy candies that may be appealing to children — specifically, gummies that are shaped like humans, animals, or fruit.

Prohibitionists have raised endless concerns over the accidental dosage of children with medicated edibles. The ban, meant to alleviate some of these concerns, does not address cannabis gummies in the shape of stars, hearts, pot leaves, or anything other shape.

The ban takes effect July 1. Later this year, further edibles regulations are coming into effect that will require all edible marijuana products to be stamped with an official symbol belying its THC contents.

Since Colorado voted to legalize cannabis in 2012, reports have increased of children being brought into the emergency room after being accidentally exposed to a THC-infused edible. Cannabis advocates, however, continue to argue that it’s the duty of parents and guardians to prevent their children from getting into their infused edibles stash.

Some advocates have begun wondering if the infused gummies fad is even worth defending as an industry, as lawmakers seem hellbent on their path of over-regulation and pandering to prohibitionist ideals.

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Vermont MMJ Program Expecting Dramatic Patient Increase

Vermont medical marijuana dispensaries are preparing for a dramatic rise in customers after recent additions to the state’s list of qualifying conditions for medical cannabis, Marijuana Business Daily reports.

Under a law signed by Gov. Peter Shumlin on June 6, glaucoma and chronic pain patients can now qualify for the state’s MMJ program, as well as hospice care patients.

Dispensaries are expecting their patient numbers to spike, but it remains unclear how dramatic of a change this will be. In other states where chronic pain is a qualifying condition for medical cannabis, medical marijuana programs can eventually grow to serve 1.5%-2% of the state’s population. For the Vermont system — where there are currently just over 2,700 patients registered — that could triple or even quadruple the current size of the market.

However, according to Jeffrey Wallin, director of the Vermont Crime Information Center, it’s impossible to predict precisely the increase in patient numbers. “It’s ultimately up to the doctors, because they’re the ones registering patients,” he said.

The new law also makes changes to other aspects of the program, such as lowering the required length of a doctor-patient relationship before medical marijuana can be recommended from six months to three. For hospice care patients, however, there is no length of time required for a doctor’s recommendation.

Furthermore, the changes include new rules for the detailed labeling of cannabis products, requires child-safe packaging, and allows the legal transfer of marijuana products to research labs.

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Canadian Feds Reject Proposed Decriminalization Plan

The Canadian government, despite Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s plan to implement nationwide legalization sometime next year, has rejected a notion to decriminalize cannabis in the meantime, according to a CablePulse 24 report.

Decriminalization would maintain marijuana as an illegal substance, but would at least protect citizens from the life-long criminal record that currently accompanies a simple possession charge — distribution would remain a criminal offense.

Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould confirmed on Monday that the feds have zero plans for decriminalization prior to legalization.

“It would mean that marijuana would remain an illegal substance and that it would continue to be grown and distributed by organized crime networks,” said Wilson-Raybould. “Canadians, both adults and youth, would continue to purchase a product of unknown potency and quality while fueling the profits of organized crime.

Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith was turned onto the subject recently when a constituent came to him asking for help with a 7-gram possession charge. “I told him that we weren’t going to be able to do anything at the federal level in the interim based upon my government’s position,” said Erskine-Smith. “… Decriminalization is a half-measure, but a half-measure is better than no measure.”

According to Statistics Canada, more than 57,000 Canadians were charged with marijuana possession in 2014.

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Colorado State University-Pueblo Awarded $270,000 to Study Marijuana Industry

Pueblo County Colorado officials have agreed to provide $270,000 in funding to Colorado State University-Pueblo to conduct research on marijuana, ABC 7 reports. The studies will be the first of their kind by a four-year, regional comprehensive university.

The research aims to determine the impact of marijuana on the community and viability of using medical cannabis therapies for treating various issues, such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Researchers could also take a look at the impact on energy and water consumption used when growing marijuana and the costs to the community in regulating the industry versus the money communities see from the legal cannabis industry.

“These studies not only have local interest but statewide and federal interest,” CSU-Pueblo Provost Rick Kreminski said in the report. “It’s an area that has been understudied, and I am appreciative of the taxpayers’ decision to use marijuana tax revenue for this purpose.”

In addition to the funds from the county, the university will also be awarded $900,000 from the state’s Marijuana Tax Cash Fund after Governor John Hickenlooper (D) signed Senate Bill 191 last week. The measure appropriates funds from the marijuana tax coffers for the university to use for marijuana research.

“In the cannabis industry, I think the lowest rung of economic opportunity lies in the store fronts and retail sales. On the next rung is cultivation because it’s a job creator and it’s generating money for the community through exports and taxes. The third rung is the intellectual property that could come out of these studies. I see this type of bio-medical research as the top rung of economic opportunities that have ever been a reality for Pueblo,” Pueblo County Commissioner Sal Pace said in a statement. “A patent could make this community and the state a lot of money.”  

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Cannabis Legalization is Elevating Home Real Estate Prices

Speakers at the 67th annual National Association of Real Estate Editors conference, held June 8-11 in New Orleans, noted during their talks that states with cannabis legalization in their books have enjoyed a marked appreciation of home real estate values over recent years.

Industrial real estate and legal cannabis have become well acquainted since Colorado and Washington first voted to end pot prohibition in 2012, evidenced by how common of a business strategy commercial warehouse grow operations have become. What many in the real estate sphere did not expect, however, is that home appreciation rates have also increased in states that decided to end cannabis prohibition.

According to conference speakers Ralph McLaughlin and Tom O’Grady, Denver and Portland are two of the highest appreciating cities in the nation right now as they enjoy higher prices on existing real estate inventory and most properties are spending less time on the market.

“Seattle, Phoenix, and Washington DC are [also] bracing themselves for record appreciation over the next 20 years,” writes Bud Monterey in a report for Marijuana.com.

Washington state, Colorado, Oregon, Alaska and Washington D.C. have passed voter initiatives to legalize cannabis. Several more states will vote on the legalization issue this November, including California and Maine.

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Medical Cannabis Sales Skyrocket in New Mexico

New Mexico’s medical marijuana industry has expanded rapidly over the last year and signs indicate more growth ahead.

According to an Associated Press report, the number of registered patients has nearly tripled in comparison to the first quarter of last year — there are now just over 55,000 patients registered. Medical marijuana sales from the first quarter have also increased, from $5.7 million last year to $10 million this year.

David C. Romero White, president of cannabis producer Organtica, said he expects the market will continue its rapid expansion this year.

Organtica is one of several not-for-profit groups that were licensed last year for new grow facilities and dispensaries, many of which have been opening new facilities around the state, generating jobs and boosting the economy.

“We’re all trying to get our production facilities up and running,” said Romero White. “It’s very tough – especially for the producers who are outside the Albuquerque market – and a little slow.”

There are currently 23 licensed cannabis producers and 37 marijuana dispensaries operating in the state.

New Mexico legalized medical marijuana in 2007 with the passage of the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act.

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Colorado Legal Marijuana Sales Set New Record in April

Dispensaries in Colorado sold almost $76.6 million worth of recreational marijuana in April, setting a new record for monthly sales, according to a report from The Cannabist. The previous record of $62.2 million was set in December 2015.

Paired with the near $41 million in medicinal cannabis sales, the April benchmark represents a new all-time high for total monthly cannabis sales in the state, totaling $117.4 million.

According to data from the state Department of Revenue, recreational sales are up more than 80 percent from April 2015, during which $42.4 million in recreational marijuana, oil, and edibles were sold in Colorado.

Through the first four months of 2016, Colorado’s recreational market has netted $246,778,661 while medicinal sales total $140,758,977. So far, the state has raised nearly $57 million in taxes and fees via the legal cannabis industry, which is taxed the standard 2.9 percent sales tax, another 10 percent special sales tax, and a 15 percent excise tax on wholesale transfers – the excise tax is reserved for school construction projects.

At this rate, the recreational market could easily top $700 million in 2016, eclipsing the near $588 million sales totals from 2015. Medicinal sales are also on pace to surpass 2015 totals – which were about $408 million – with an estimated $422 million.

In 2015, Colorado’s legal cannabis market raked $996,184,788 in total sales.

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Thirteen Nevada Lawmakers Publicly Back Legalization Initiative

Thirteen Nevada lawmakers have publicly endorsed the state’s voter initiative to legalize recreational cannabis, according to a press release published by the campaign on Thursday.

The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol is a Marijuana Policy Project-sponsored effort that would legalize the adult possession and use of cannabis, and would establish a regulatory system for the commercial distribution of cannabis products to adults. Nevada voters will decide whether or not to end prohibition by voting on Question 2 during this November’s election season.

The endorsements by elected officials closely follow a conflicting story this week, in which the Las Vegas Review-Journal backpedaled their pro-cannabis stance after being acquired by anti-marijuana casino mogul Sheldon Adelson late last year.

Ten of the endorsing lawmakers are current members of the Nevada Legislature, accompanied by one former member of the Legislature, a Clark County Commissioner, and a member of the North Las Vegas City Council.

“This is an exciting day for our campaign,” said Joe Brezny, campaign spokesman. “With so many current and former elected officials coming out in support of Question 2, we are confident the people of Nevada will take the opportunity to regulate marijuana like alcohol this November. The truth is that marijuana should never have been illegal in the first place. As a substance, marijuana is far less harmful than alcohol. It simply makes no sense to punish adults who choose to use the safer substance.”

The following public officials announced their support for legalization:

State Senate Minority Leader Aaron Ford, State Sen. Kelvin Atkinson, State Sen. David Parks, State Sen. Tick Segerblom, State Sen. Patricia Spearman, State Assemblyman Nelson Araujo State Assemblywoman Maggie Carlton, State Assemblyman Edgar Flores, State Assemblywoman Heidi Swank, State Assemblyman Tyrone Thompson, Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani, North Las Vegas City Councilman Isaac Barron, and Former State Assemblyman Jason Frierson.

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Tilray Strikes Deal to Export Medical Cannabis Products to Croatia

Tilray, a Canadian medical cannabis research and production company, has announced a deal with Croatia that will see their products dispensed at pharmacies to individuals with medical marijuana prescriptions. It will be the first legal export of medical cannabis products from a North American country to a European country.

The partnership with the Croatian Institute of Immunology will initially see two varieties of Tilray Liquid capsules available to patients – one containing an equal 5 milligrams of THC and CBD per capsule, and another containing 2.5 milligrams of THC and 2 milligrams of CBD per capsule.

Professor Ognjen Brborović PhD MD, Chairman of Croatia’s Committee for Medical Cannabis, said the deal marks the end of a 16-month process to get patients access to quality medicine.

“I am glad that Croatia is the first EU country that will be able to assure patients first-class cannabis extract oil is available in pharmacies.” Dr. Brborović said in a press release. “I hope that patients in other EU countries will soon have the same opportunity.”

Under the Croatian program, individuals with multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, chronic pain, nausea, and Dravet syndrome are eligible for cannabis therapy.

Brendan Kennedy, Tilray president, estimates that the global medical cannabis industry has “the potential” to be worth $100 billion and his company is anticipating other clinical research partnerships in other European Union countries and Australia.

“We are excited about the rapid development of the medical cannabis sector in Europe, and we are pleased to be the first company to legally import medical cannabis products into the European Union after meeting all regulatory requirements in Canada and Croatia,” Kennedy said in the release. “With demand at an all-time high, we look forward to working with the Institute of Immunology to help eligible patients in need access medical cannabis products in Croatia.”

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