ResponsbileOhio Given 10 Days to Close Ballot Measure Signatures Gap

The pro-marijuana-legalization group ResponsibleOhio fell nearly 30,000 signatures short of the number it needs to qualify its legalization proposal for the November ballot. The group will have 10 days to collect the remaining signatures.

The group is required to collect 305,591 signatures, and although it reported last month that it had submitted 695,273 signatures, county boards of election verified only about 42 percent of them. The group plans to challenge the count.

“Every single voter who signed this petition has the right to be counted,” said ResponsibleOhio Executive Director Ian James. “We will be taking these shortfalls to the Ohio Supreme Court to ensure that those thousands of voices are heard.”

ResponsibleOhio’s proposal would create a legal marijuana industry. 10 commercial farms have already been promised to campaign investors, and up to 1,100 retail stores could open across the state.

The proposal has been criticized by both lawmakers and marijuana advocates as being monopolistic in nature, and a constitutional amendment to prohibit granting “a monopoly, oligopoly or cartel” will be on the November ballot. If approved, it would override ResposibleOhio’s proposal.

Source:

http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2015/07/responsibleohio_falls_short_on.html

Photo Credit: Garry Knight

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Jerry Whiting

Jerry Whiting: The CBD Cannabis Market

LeBlanc CNEShango Los discusses high CBD strains with Jerry Whiting of LeBlanc CNE. Jerry works in cooperation with ProjectCBD.org to develop and distribute specialty CBD strains to patients. We discuss the CBD market, specific CBD strains and how to think about CBD:THC ratios.

“Patients looking for CBD often want medibles, candy, or foods they can eat, or tinctures, or topical preparations. They don’t go home, fill the bong, grab the lighter and listen to Jefferson Starship.”

In the interview, Shango and Jerry talk about the unique nature of the CBD market, they discuss what the separation of Washington State’s medical and recreational markets has meant for patients seeking CBD medicines, and how the genes of individual strains determine their effectiveness at treating different conditions.

Listen to the podcast or read the full transcript below!

Subscribe to the Ganjapreneur podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud or Google Play.


Listen to the Podcast

Read the Transcript

Shango: Hi there and welcome to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast. I am 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 you 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 Jerry Whiting. Jerry was the founder of LeBlanc CNE, growers and brokers of medical cannabis and vintage heirloom cannabis strains. He also works closely with project CBD.org. Jerry has a background in acupuncture, massage, and natural healing. LeBlanc has an extensive collection of CBD-rich strains including a seed bank as well as live plants. LeBlanc has an extensive collection of CBD-rich strains including a seed bank as well as live plants. LeBlanc also sponsors a hemp breeding project, does research into the relationship between cannabis chemistry and genetics, and processes Moroccan style hash, whole plant tinctures and other cannabis preparations. Welcome, Jerry.

Jerry: Hi, Shango, how are you?

Shango: Doing great today, glad you could make it with us. Jerry, you and I talk about this all the time, but for our listeners who are still unfamiliar with CBD would you give a brief synopsis of how CBD works with terpenes to heal humans?

Jerry: Many people have focused on THC because for contemporary Americans getting high has been the goal. Indigenous cannabis has a number of compounds besides THC which is the most famous of the cannabinoids. Cannabidiol (CBD) is also quite useful for those looking for the healing properties of cannabis. When you hear about medical marijuana being used for kids with seizures it’s often CBD-rich preparations that are at the heart of that. It’s not just the cannabinoids, but the terpenes, those aromatic things that give it the smell and taste peculiar to a given strain are also part of the equation.

Shango: As more and more people learn about the health benefits of CBD alone and CBD when taken with THC as you’re describing, finding CBD plant materials is getting harder and harder to find. I know that you study the CBD market. Can you explain and describe some of the complex market dynamics that are at play right now between the medical scene that has been producing CBD historically and now the new state sponsored businesses that are starting to get into medical applications as well.

Jerry: I sometimes use corn as a counter example; popcorn, sweet corn, field corn. We all agree it’s the same plant, very different species used in very different contexts, the same with cannabis. Americans have grown marijuana to get high. Now that there’s a demand for medical patients looking for strains that are rich in CBD the market isn’t geared up to supply that part of the supply chain. Cannabis is beginning to look like any other product in the marketplace, so here you have Sanjay Gupta featuring Charlotte Figi in the use of cannabis for seizures, the VA about to give the green light for PTSD, and state after state legalizing medical marijuana.

Quite simply we’re finding just like in tennis growers are caught cross court. They have geared up and specialized in field corn and now everybody wants popcorn. You will see market forces just like any other commodity normalize the demand and the supply with prices to match. What do we see now? We see little CBD-rich cannabis in the market and that which is available is much more expensive compared to recreational pot and what I find most fascinating of all, not only is CBD-rich cannabis more expensive than THC stoner pot, but price for medical marijuana in the market is steady. There are no ups and downs, no peaks and troughs.

Shango: I know you do a lot of traveling and even though it’s probably impossible to get a snapshot of the whole cannabis market throughout the entire country, but just for our listeners what percentage of cannabis that’s produced in the country do you think is high CBD to begin with?

Jerry: I ask the question at the retail end whether it’s a dispensary geared towards medical marijuana or some of the retail stores that are popping up. I was just in Colorado last week and visited a couple. Granted the two that I visited in Denver were downtown near the stadiums and I’m sure were geared towards tourists. I saw a couple outside with their roller bags waiting for someone to make a purchase. There it’s a package store. You run in and you grab a six-pack, a bottle of wine.

It really is a recreant-oriented market, but what I’m finding is that there are dispensaries and I’m sure it will happen in the legal market as well. Those that are let’s say contrarian and gravitate towards specialized [inaudible 00:05:21] go out of their way to meet patients more than halfway. Not just have one or two things on the shelf, but to have a selection backed by a staff that knows what they’re selling and how it can best be used for individual consumers.

Shango: Up until recently where the states have started to give licenses to produce cannabis the CBD was all produced in either the medical markets or in the underground. What have you been seeing as the state starts licensing these folks and start either folding in medical producers or, as they’re doing in Washington, prohibiting the medical industry as it is right now? What are you seeing happening to the heritage CBD growers who have been growing for patients and are now being squeezed out by other folks?

Jerry: I’m not sure that medical marijuana is being squeezed out though living here in Washington state some of us feel besieged upon by Olympia. Here’s my standard message, this podcast is oriented towards people who are entrepreneurial in spirit. If many of the legal stores are grabbing the low hanging fruit and selling stoner pot, Blue Dream girl scout cookies, the usual suspects. The one person in town who decides to specialize and to do a medically-oriented retail experience has in store seminars or an email list or publishes PDFs or does talks to senior citizen homes and works with the AARP, whatever it takes, I believe that the smart money realizes that legalization won’t necessarily grow the THC recreational slice of the pie.

You’re going to find a whole new market of people who are using cannabis either again after all these years or for the very first time because there are a lot of people, baby boomers, baby boomers, baby boomers, who are getting on in age. Their bodies are telling them so and they have a pile of prescription bottles in their house they would love to get rid of, even getting rid of half of them, who looks at this as a lifestyle enhancement, not a recreational thing. Or it looks at the plant … I use the term whole plant as a double entendre way in that who says oh, yes, I could sell the highest THC for the lowest price and do coupons, et cetera, et cetera, or I could look at myself as an apothecary, a pharmacy, a compounded chemist, however you look at it.

I’m going to sell the best of breed of all the medical products available in I-502 retail in Washington or Amendment 64 out there in Colorado, but I think you’re going to see … Especially, here’s my prediction. The states that have legalized medical marijuana and have yet to legalize the full plant usage are priming the pump for CBD-rich strains when that market does go legal. The early adopters are going to be people with arthritis, fibromyalgia, Crohn’s, whatever, and they’re not looking to get high. In fact, they want cannabis medicine that will allow them to operate at full or near full functionality while relieving their symptoms.

Shango: Now that patients are starting to get the relief they’re going to be demanding it militantly, so that’s probably something that’s going to happen really swiftly. Jerry, we’re going to take a break here for a moment, but when we come back let’s talk about the different forms of CBD that it can take and how different kinds of CBD are working for different kinds of ailments, be right back.

Shango: Welcome back to the ganjapreneur.com podcast. I am your host, Shango Los and with me today is Jerry Whiting of LeBlanc CNE. Jerry, before the break we were talking about CBD plants and why they are so popular with patients and what the market for CBD is like right now because everybody is learning about the healing effects. Let’s talk a little bit about the different ways of delivery of CBD. For a lot of folks cannabis just means rolling up a joint and smoking it.

Jerry: I think it caught people in the existing cannabis markets by surprise when people began seeking out CBD-rich marijuana. I use the word marijuana deliberately because a lot of us thought and I’m guilty of this that patients were going to roll joints and sit on the back porch listening to The Dead. No, they’re patients, not recreants. There are a couple of reasons. If you’re an older AARP I want to try something for my arthritis medical marijuana patient, you’ve probably never smoked before.

There’s an image associated with stoners who lay around all day and don’t do anything productive, rolling big fat doobies or hitting a bong, and most importantly from a medical point of view patients want to take a consistent dose to relieve their symptoms, not too much, not too little. We call it titration or self-titration. It’s hard to set your dose of CBD or THC for that matter when you’re smoking, how many tokes, how big a toke, how long do you hold it, did I have a cold that day, et cetera, et cetera. Patients looking for CBD often want medibles, candy, or foods they can eat, or tinctures, or topical preparations. They don’t go home, fill the bong, grab the lighter and listen to Jefferson Starship.

Shango: I know a lot of patients, consistent dosing is important, but also they’re not in a position to be smoking anything anyway.

Jerry: Exactly, and you know as a whole, they say there’s a stigma and quite honestly there are times when patients have a compromised immune system or a breathing disorder that they present a constellation of symptoms which may discourage them from smoking. That said some practitioners now are using a mixed modality or a mixed delivery route system. Let’s say someone has a skin disorder. While you may try and get enough cannabinoids and terpenes, et cetera, et cetera onboard, by having them taking a tincture or a capsule, but being a skin disorder it makes perfect sense to rub something on it, a salve, an ointment, but some preparation that is applied to the skin.

In a similar manner those with irritable bowel syndrome or Crohn’s disease often take an oral preparation and also use a suppository. Cannabis by itself is a wonderful herb, but it also combines very well with other herbs using either a western methodology, a Chinese methodology, and an Ayurvedic methodology, but I see products in the market that I use myself occasionally that have cannabis and other botanicals in one product.

Shango: People are trying to get more of a buffet of cannabinoids by taking a little tincture, maybe a little salve. Maybe also to help with the anxiety they might actually roll a joint, too, thus taking advantage of all the different ways that cannabis can be used instead of just the traditional roll a joint and let’s get high.

Jerry: It’s the same as you catch the cold or the flu. If you’re like most people you’ve got four or five things in the medicine cabinet and depending upon whether it’s one of those drippy, runny nose things where you’ve got intestinal diarrhea stuff going on with your flu. You reach for one or more things that all came out of the same section in the drugstore or the food coop or wherever you buy that stuff. Let’s not think that there’s one answer or one tool. I think what’s interesting is that people are either revisiting recipes and preparations that have been done historically as well as bring science to bear to come up with new things all the time.

Yeah, I think you’re going to see an explosion of things and let’s hope that people in the biz, hint, hint, are going to establish brands and reputations and marketing messages and provide consistent products in the channel, so that if I get relief from a headache in March, when I go back in July the same thing is on the shelf. That’s where you differ in some sense from the recreational market. I can throw something out in the spring, when it runs out I have two more things on the market. You don’t really care when you go back to the store because hey, you’re still going to get stoned.

In the medical world when you find something that works you want more of the same and as a producer, as a marketing company, once you convert a lead into a sale and establish a reputation with your consumer you don’t want churn, you don’t want them going away. You don’t want them tempted by your competitors. I think one thing we’re going to see with normalization of marijuana, the step after legalization, if you know how to make medicine you better know how to scale it up because if you’ve been working in the medical world, and I speak from personal experience, you’re making small batches. When you have access to a whole state all of a sudden it’s not a kitchen do it yourself thing, you’re doing it on the scale of a microbrewery compared to a home brewer.

Shango: That’s well said. I really like your idea of the one size does not fit all because I listen to people on the news and they’re constantly talking about CBD as if it’s one thing and it is absolutely not one thing.

Jerry: No.

Shango: CBD is in all cannabis generally within high CBD, but within that category there are other kinds, so Jerry, why don’t you take a second and explain for folks the different applications for CBD as it’s in regular high THC cannabis versus CBD-rich which generally speaking comes in either two to one, meaning two parts CBD to one part cannabis or something more like a 15 or 18 to one because they all have different applications.

Jerry: Dr. Ethan Russo known to some of the listeners of this podcast is a medical doctor, a researcher, a brilliant mind in the world of cannabis who has investigated the difference between selective extractions, let’s say pinpointing THC alone or CBD only versus a whole plant approach, what he calls the entourage effect. That using a whole plant extract is 2.5 to three times more effective than just focusing on CBD or THC, why? Because there are 85 to 100 cannabinoids like CBD, THC, CBGs and there are up to 200 terpenes, these volatile aromatic things that give it its taste and its smell. They work together.

The analogy I use is whole wheat versus white flour. One factor in choosing the medicine that’s right for you is figuring out if you want a selective extraction or a whole plant extraction, but because the genetics dictates the chemistry, the genotype dictates the chemotype. If you’re looking for CBD you’re looking for a certain strain because of that particular strain or genotype … If the allele isn’t turned on to make CBD, I don’t care how much you fertilize it, how bright the lights, you’re not going to get it.

The first point that you need to focus on is what strain am I using. The second thing is many people hear about CBD and say that’s all I want, I don’t want to get high. CBD and THC work in tandem. Many of the components in cannabis work in harmony with each other. You raise the level of one and it has a dampening effect on something else, so it’s hard to focus on one element and one element alone and make a sophisticated and effective choice. Lastly, if you’re looking at CBD-rich preparations there are three schools of thought. The first school is I want all CBD, no THC. I want the biggest imbalance I can.

Acute conditions for people who have 200, 300 seizures a day, yes, this can be a good approach to find the greatest imbalance and the ratio of CBD to THC that you can get. You never want zero THC, why? Because 20 milligrams of CBD alone might give you ‘x’ amount of relief, but 20 milligrams of CBD with 3 or 4 milligrams of THC will give you much greater relief from your symptoms. Some people look for the imbalance. Another school of thought is one to one, a one part CBD to one part THC. Ball to the middle of the snake, it really is the safest bet for most people. There are breeders like the CBD crew whose whole catalogue is one to one.

Lastly, there’s a more nuanced approach and that is they’re different people, different symptoms, different body types. Even among the same population of folks with the same disorder they progress, they change. I have a one to two, a one to one, a two to one, a four to one, an eight to one, a 16 to one, what I call the musical note or the spectrum. Let’s start with one to one, a just up or down to figure out what ratio works for you and then the amount you can scale that up and down as well. Whether it’s all CBD, one to one, or this musical scale approach, we’re all individual and I hope the practitioners avoid being Anheuser-Busch and Coors and focus on being micros and bringing different things to market that we can sample and match to our own particular needs and our needs through time.

Shango: Great, well it’s time to take another short break. When we come back we’ll be talking about some of Jerry’s favorite CBD strains in order to prepare specific medicine. We’ll be right back.

Shango: Welcome back to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast. I am your host, Shango Los and with us today is Jerry Whiting, founder of LeBlanc CNE. We’ve been talking about CBD strains and how they can be used for different types of ailments and in what ratios to THC. Jerry, a lot of people have got their favorite CBD strains and just like THC strains, CBD strains come and go pretty quickly depending on how swiftly they’re picked up by patients and enthusiasts. What are some of your favorite present and legacy strains and what kind of strains do you see coming down the pipe?

Jerry: The venerable Harlequin came to us by way of Harborside out there in the Bay and it’s still one of my favorite strains and it’s been crossed with other things like Sour Tsunami and Cannatonic. Harlequin is still one of my favorite strains, easy to grow, great terpenes, five to two CBD to THC ratio. It’s hard to clone and it’s clone only, but if you can find it keep it alive. The other two are Sour Tsunami #3 and Cannatonic. These are the big three; Harlequin, Cannatonic, Sour Tsunami #3. They are all CBD positive, that is more CBD than THC. They have significant amounts of both, so they lend themselves well to medical use and they’ve been cross bred with other things.

Favorite strains historically. I live in Seattle. I, of course, have to root for the Puget Sound’s UW Purple Kush, a skunk works project out of the University of Washington in the mid-80s. It has been grown in Seattle ever since. Very low cannabinoid levels. As I recall 5 CBD, 3.5 THC. The terpenes are to die for. I keep the dry flower around to use at the very end as a brewer would use finishing hops. I use it just to strip the terpenes, lovely plant. Blue Dynamite is an odd one, it has a funny color, 2.5 to one CBD to THC. I underestimated until I smoked it. I now have great respect for it.

Here’s the deal, you don’t know what you have until it has been tested by a lab doing chromatography, gas or high-performance liquid chromatography to tell you what’s in it because that’s the only way you can really be sure. If it’s recreational it didn’t work, that’s okay. If it’s medical and doesn’t work you’re still in pain. I have found that with cannabis restrictions, strains don’t travel very far, so what you find locally may be different from what I see here in Washington State. Ask around, look for the lab work, and when you find it don’t forget to share it.

Shango: Jerry, what do you think about these states that are passing CBD only laws where they’re like, okay, you can’t grow or have cannabis that’s got THC or is THC-heavy if it’s just CBD with sub three percent THC that you can use this.

Jerry: Right, it’s an artificial line in the sand that’s been drawn by state legislatures who are, God bless them, doing their best to bring medicine to especially kids with epilepsy, and as a father of two kids with epilepsy I’m in the audience yelling and screaming as loud as I can in support of these efforts, but that’s the first step in the conversation. I look at high CBD, diagnoses like epilepsy as a foot in the door. We’ve gotten America’s attention, most Americans want the war on drugs to end, and more and more people who would have surprised even themselves five years ago are on the right side.

What we need to do is to continue to educate politicians and policy makers that it is a whole plant. There’s a number of things in there and as we move forward I think we will see laws and policies that are less restrictive, but it goes back to what Russo calls the entourage effect, what I call the cannabis cocktail. You need the whole plant. It’s like saying red wine is legal, but white wine and champagne are still against the law. Are you kidding me? Really, it’s the same thing.

Shango: During the half hour we’ve been chatting we’ve hit just barely the surface of CBD. If anything we’ve probably lit up people’s curiosity to know more. They’d like to hear us go for another hour. How about giving folks a place that they can go to get really accurate CBD information because we know the Internet is awash with bad information. As an expert on CBD where can you send people where they can get reliable information?

Jerry: The most reliable source is Project CBD. Project CBD is like the watering hole in the desert and it’s the inspiration and the well spring for so many of us. Martin Lee, an old, old friend of mine for years and years runs Project CBD and his website is a wealth of information and a wealth of links and resources to other places. The second place is O’Shaugnessy’s. Fred Gardner’s been doing cannabis as medicine in the Bay Area before any of us and Fred has a site that’s more science-oriented, a wealth of information.

I have a website, LeBlancCNE, L-e-B-l-a-n-cCNE.com. I try to give people how to’s. I teach a class called the hacking cannabis do it yourself kitchen chemistry. My idea is that healthcare is a right not a privilege and that patients can take control of not just the plant, but the preparations and their own dosage. I have instructions on how to decarboxylate pot, how to make infused butter or infused coconut oil or tinctures and it’s just a starting point because none of us have the whole picture, so if you started Project CBD and O’Shaughnessy’s and Hemp Truth as a foundation you won’t go far. One last thing I would recommend is Smoke Signals, Martin A. Lee, A Social History of Marijuana in America. I’ve read it a couple of times, you can’t go wrong.

Shango: Jerry, thanks for chatting with us. It was really helpful to take our conversation that you and I have offline all the time and to be able to open it up for other folks to be able to find out more about CBD. You can find the ganjapreneur.com podcast right here on Cannabis Radio. You can subscribe to the podcast in the Apple iTunes Store or you can listen and read the interview transcripts on our home website at Ganjapreneur.com. Thanks, Debrasco, for producing the show. I’m your host, Shango Los.

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White House Releases Report Acknowledging Racism Endemic to Marijuana Prohibition

As a part of President Obama’s effort to draw attention to and address problems with the criminal justice system, particularly racial inequalities, the White House released a report acknowledging that marijuana prohibition has contributed to racial inequality.

The report, which discusses obstacles to success for disadvantaged youth, notes that “A black individual is nearly four times as likely as a white individual to be arrested for marijuana possession, even though black and white individuals reported using marijuana at similar rates.” The statistics were drawn from an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) study.

Entitled “Economic Costs of Youth Disadvantage and High-Return Opportunities for Change,” the report was published Executive Office of the President.

Also detailed in the document is how a criminal record — even for a minor offense — can permanently alter someone’s economic future:

“Not only are over a million young boys and men of color missing from their communities, but when they return, the legacy of a criminal record follows them. Formerly-incarcerated and other justice-involved individuals face ongoing barriers to employment after release, including a lack of safe, drug-free housing; lack of job placement assistance; loss of aid eligibility; lack of other networks and forms of support; and legal barriers to holding certain jobs. Additionally, ex-offenders face additional scrutiny from employers. Only about 60 percent of employers in one survey said they might consider hiring an ex-offender.”

In addition to commuting the sentences of 46 prisoners incarcerated for nonviolent drug offenses on Monday and speaking at the Philadelphia NAACP on Tuesday, President Obama performed an interview with VICE News at the Federal Correctional Institution, El Reno in Oklahoma on Thursday. This makes him the first sitting president to visit a federal prison.

Source:

http://www.marijuana.com/blog/news/2015/07/white-house-admits-marijuana-prohibition-is-racist/

Photo Credit: Brad Clinesmith

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Colorado Pot Taxes for Schools Jump Significantly in 2015

The Colorado Department of Revenue has released marijuana tax numbers for May 2015, and the state’s education sector is celebrating.

The excise tax on pot brought in more money for school construction in the first five months of 2015 than it did for all of last year. So far this year, the tax has raised $13.6 million, beating out last year’s total of $13.3 million.

Senator Pat Steadman (D.-Denver) called the news “very encouraging”: “Voters wanted the school capital construction program to benefit, and despite some bumps in the road at the beginning, it looks like what was intended is coming to fruition.”

The increase in revenue is due in part to a greater number of marijuana stores, as well as the benefit of a one-time tax-exempt transfer conferred on stores.

Despite the long-term increase, the data shows that monthly pot sales have plateaued since March 2015, hovering between $42.4 and $42.7 million.

In light of the good news, some, such as Steadman, are trying to project what end-of-the-year tax totals with look like. “It sounds like they’re on track for more than $30 million for this calendar year… and that’s a good thing, because I’m promoting the passage of Proposition BB this year, and voters have twice seen on the ballot the $40 million figure for school construction, and Proposition BB would help make that happen.”

Prop BB will give voters the choice to allow the state to keep marijuana tax revenues from the previous fiscal year for school construction, law enforcement, youth services, and substance abuse and prevention programs. If voters say no to the proposition, the money will be refunded to businesses and citizens.

Source:

http://www.thecannabist.co/2015/07/13/may-colorado-pot-school-tax-marijuana/37839/

Photo Credit: reynermedia

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Wyoming MMJ Initiative One Step Closer to Ballot Box

A proposed initiative that would give Wyoming voters the opportunity to legalize medical marijuana is a step closer to getting on the ballot.

The Wyoming Secretary of State cleared the initiative’s application, putting the initiative closer than ever to becoming a reality. The Wyoming chapter of NORML, or the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, has been working for two years to get this initiative into voters’ hands.

In order for Wyoming NORML to get the initiative on the November 2016 ballot, they need to submit 25,673 signatures to the Secretary of State’s Office before the state legislature convenes on February 8th.

According to a University of Wyoming study conducted last year, 72 percent of state residents support the legalization of marijuana for medical use, though only 35 percent support legalizing the drug for recreational purposes.

Source:

http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/med-marijuana-proposal-closer-to-becoming-ballot-initiative-in-wyoming/article_6e28ccf3-82c6-5fe6-9f01-ff83b45f06ec.html

Photo Credit: Larry Jacobsen

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Obama Commutes Sentences of 46 Nonviolent Drug Offenders

President Obama took another step on Monday toward mitigating the effects of the Drug War by announcing he will commute the sentences of 46 nonviolent drug offenders.

Given that 6,600 prisoners that have applied to have their sentences commuted since the President’s clemency program began, however, the move is more symbolic than groundbreaking. Even President Obama’s lawyer, White House counsel Neil Eggleston, confirms that “clemency alone will not fix decades of overly punitive sentencing policies.”

The president announced the commutations the day before giving a speech to the N.A.A.C.P. in Philadelphia, in which he will discuss his proposals to remodel the criminal justice system.

In a video posted to his Facebook page, Obama noted that most of the prisoners had received sentences of at least 20 years, and some had even been given life sentences. “These men and women were not hardened criminals,” he said. “So their punishments didn’t fit the crime.”

The step brought the total number of sentences the President has commuted to 89, more than the last four presidents combined.

In personal letters addressed to each inmate, Obama stated that he had chosen these prisoners from among thousands of others because “you have demonstrated the potential to turn your life around.”

“I believe in your ability to prove the doubters wrong, and change your life for the better. So good luck, and godspeed.”

Source:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/14/us/obama-commutes-sentences-for-46-drug-offenders.html?emc=edit_na_20150713&nlid=58430919&ref=cta

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/07/13/obama-commutes-sentences-46-convicts/

Photo Credit: William Warby

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Proposed U.S. Senate Bill Would Grant Marijuana Businesses Bank Access

A bill that would grant banking access to legal marijuana businesses has been introduced in the U.S. Senate, paving the way for companies in marijuana-legal states to work with financial institutions.

The Marijuana Businesses Access to Banking Act of 2015, proposed by Colorado senators Michael Bennet (D) and Cory Gardner (R) would prevent criminal prosecution, asset forfeiture and liability for banks that choose to work with legitimate marijuana businesses that operate in states where the drug is legal. The bi-partisan bill carries six co-sponsors including senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Neither Paul nor Warren represent states where the drug is currently legal for recreational use.

The bill (S.1726) would prohibit federal banking regulators from penalizing or discouraging banks from providing services to legitimate state-sanctioned and regulated marijuana businesses, terminating or limiting the federal deposit insurance of banks that choose to work with legitimate marijuana businesses, recommending or providing incentives to stop banks from doing business with marijuana businesses; or taking punitive actions on loans to owners of marijuana businesses, according to the bill text.

The bill does give banks the right to refuse financial services to marijuana businesses if they choose.

“Ever since Colorado voters approved the legalization of recreational marijuana, conflicting federal and state marijuana laws have required banks to refuse basic financial services to marijuana-related businesses in Colorado. In turn, this has forced the industry to adopt an all-cash business model that fosters violent crime and puts all Coloradans at risk,” Gardner said in a statement. “This commonsense legislation solves a major public safety problem in my state by giving legitimate businesses acting in compliance with state laws access to the banking system.”

Last February the Justice and Treasury Departments released guidelines for banks that choose to do business with cannabusinesses but those guidelines did not properly protect banks from the penalties for dealing with the cannabis industry, which is still federally illegal. The guidelines also failed to provide a framework by which marijuana businesses can accept credit cards or write checks.

Dr. Mitch Earleywine, chair of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said in an email that allowing businesses access to financial institutions “will undoubtedly encourage other states to pass comparable [legalization] laws” by providing a framework in which the industry can operate legally and safely.

“Legitimate businesses simply want to function properly so they can pay their taxes, employees, and suppliers by having bank accounts. It’s absurd to expect any business to have to pay cash because banks are too frightened to give them an account,” he said. “Forcing these entrepreneurs to have so much cash on hand leaves them dangerously open to robbery, and paying taxes with a giant cash deposit is awkward and embarrassing.”

Earleywine noted that Colorado schools are receiving millions of dollars thanks to the state’s taxed and regulated marijuana market, and law enforcement officers can “devote their time to serious crimes instead of petty cannabis busts.”

In 2010 the Denver Police Department released an analysis of the rate at which pot shops were robbed, finding the 16.8 percent robbery rate was on par with that of pharmacies in the state. However, unlike pharmacies, dispensaries tend to keep a large amount of cash on hand due to their inability to access banking services.

“Since the legalization of both medical and recreational marijuana in Colorado, businesses across the state have lacked access to basic banking services,” Bennet said in a statement. “This has raised significant public safety concerns for both employees and customers of these businesses. It’s also created compliance and oversight challenges. This bill helps address those issues by allowing our banking system to serve these legal businesses like any others.”

The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs which is chaired by Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL). Shelby is firmly against marijuana legalization and in 1999 voted to increase the penalties for those convicted of drug-related crimes.

Photo Credit: Ron Cogswell

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New Mexico Appeals Court Rules Injured Employee’s MMJ Treatment Must Be Reimbursed

A New Mexico court of appeals has again upheld a workers compensation decision stating that an injured employee must be reimbursed for medical marijuana treatment by her employer.

In the third such ruling since May 2014, the court upheld a decision by a lower court to force American General Media to reimburse Sandra Lewis for the cost of her medical cannabis. Lewis sustained a back injury in December 1998 and suffers from chronic pain. She has been prescribed various medications since her injury, including oxycodone, Soma, Percocet, and was accepted into New Mexico’s medical marijuana program in 2010.

As other companies had done in the past, American General Media and its workers compensation administrator, Gallagher Bassett Services, tried to argue that paying for an employee’s marijuana would put them in violation of federal law.

In his written opinion for the case, Judge James Wechsler argued that “federal public policy was ambiguous in contrast with New Mexico’s clear public policy expressed in the [state] Compassionate Use Act.”

Weschler’s ruling is drawn from a 2013 U.S. Dept. of Justice memo stating that the federal government “would generally defer to state and local authorities” on issues of medical marijuana.

Source:

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/appeals-court-again-favors-medical-pot-patient-in-workers-comp/article_f4c453ad-4d91-5fdd-b7e7-4f5cead3336d.html

Photo Credit: Dank Depot

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Oregon Hemp Farming to Continue After Senate Blocks Moratorium Bill

The Oregon Senate put a stop to a bill Monday that would have suspended hemp growing operations in the state for two years.

The bill had passed the House by a vote of 53-6, and had strong support among marijuana producers, which worry that nearby hemp operations could result in cross-pollination. Hemp, which typically contains less than 0.3% THC, could bring down THC levels in marijuana plants, thereby making the resultant product less valuable.

Hemp advocates claimed that the bill would have spelled death for the industry. The bill would have required the revocation of all 13 hemp licenses currently in circulation, due to the state’s failure (in violation of Oregon Dept. of Agriculture rules) to get GPS-data on the location and size of proposed hemp farms. It would also have banned hemp farms within 1,000 feet of schools, which would have knocked out one hemp farm in the southern town of Murphy. The farm’s trade group, the Oregon Sungrown Growers Guild, lobbied for the legislation.

Cliff Thomason, who represents a group of investors in the Murphy farm, said the bill’s defeat “is a victory for hemp farmers.” He also noted that his investor’s group has vowed to grow male plants inside in order to keep pollen from getting onto nearby marijuana plants.

State Agriculture Director Katy Coba said that there remain “a lot of questions” about the state’s hemp program, and then new legislation is likely to come up in the 2016 session.

Sources:

http://www.oregonlive.com/mapes/index.ssf/2015/07/hemp_in_oregon_in_surprise_mov.html

http://mjbizdaily.com/hemp-cultivation-to-continue-in-oregon/

Photo Credit: Miran Rijavec

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Maryland Company Seeks Medical Cannabis Grow License Ahead of MMJ Program Schedule

Although Maryland has yet to put the final touches on its medical marijuana program, one local business has already bought some arable land to grow for the future program.

In the hopes of getting one of 15 licenses that will be awarded under the program, Vast Organic Farms bought 26 acres in Oldtown, on which it intends to combine indoor and outdoor growing operations, depending on the program’s final rules. A company spokesperson stated that VOF chose the site for its “size, security and privacy.”

Although applications for the licences won’t even be accepted until September, VOF isn’t the only company eager to get onboard with the state’s medical program. Several other companies have already contacted the Allegany County Commission with questions about the program.

Sources:

http://www.abc2news.com/news/state/medical-marijuana-grower-buys-land-in-maryland

http://mjbizdaily.com/hopeful-maryland-mmj-cultivator-purchases-26-acres-for-growing/

Photo Credit: Rupa panda

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Washington Marijuana Business Owners Defying Local Bans

In 2012, when Washington state voters legalized recreational cannabis, it was witnessed around the world as a landmark voter initiative. What followed was a long 19 months of rule making and lottery drawings to establish a regulated cannabis market. In July, 2014 the first legal marijuana sales began, but not every locality was open to the new law.

Between 2012-2014, one quarter of Washington towns and cities had adopted moratoriums on recreational marijuana businesses, according to the Huffington Post. The Washington Attorney General later issued an opinion stating the bans were permissible under state law, and more cities and counties have issued bans. The courts themselves have been inconsistent settling the legality of such bans. Despite these setbacks, some brave Washington business owners have decided to open their doors anyway.

The first of these ganjapreneurs to defy a local ban was Golden Dispensaries in Goldendale. The new shop opened shortly after receiving its license to operate from the Liquor and Cannabis Board on October 4, 2014. A defiant Richard Ellis alerted the city before he opened his doors. “Since we’ve opened we haven’t had any trouble except for a local church, and some of the city council.” The mayor has asked local police to leave the shop alone, Ellis says. After threatening a lawsuit, Golden Dispensaries was eventually issued a business license. They are still open today.

In Parkland — which falls under a moratorium in unincorporated Pierce County — the unique concept of an art gallery and a cannabis retail shop called The Gallery opened on March 1, 2015. Three days later the county quickly issued a notice for the shop to close. Owner Ted Weatherby refused, telling the Tacoma News Tribune he believes the notion is a “waste of taxpayer money and effort,” and that he hopes the county comes to their senses. The Gallery also remains open to this day.

The town of Clarkston issued its marijuana business ban in 2014. On Halloween that year, an attorney for Canna4Life — dressed as a Jedi — filed a lawsuit against the city and four city council members asking a judge to overturn the ban. The judge — potentially dressed as a Sith Lord — upheld the ban. Finding no relief from the courts, business owner Kelly Jackson opened the doors of Canna4Life on May 29, 2015. He was shut down a week later. Following the closure, a judge ruled in favor of the city, granting a temporary restraining order on the business. The city contends it is well within its rights to keep the shop closed. Their next hearing is on August 4th.

Dave’s Place opened on June 9th, 2015 in defiance of a ban in Sunnyside. Dave Rand’s shop was shut down the next day, due to the lack of a certificate of occupancy. The city manager Don Day told KIMA News, “There were some stipulations that needed to be met and those were never met so he doesn’t have any kind of a business license.” Dave has filed a lawsuit against the city to reopen his doors. He is currently upgrading the property in the hopes the city will grant him a business license when it is up to code.

On June 19, 2015 a cannabis retail shop opened in Yakima, ignoring a ban on recreational marijuana businesses within city limits. That same day a judge issued a show cause order, which prevented the city from closing the store. Jaime Campos told the Yakima Herald he is expressing his entrepreneurial spirit by opening his shop, Happy Time, where he previously ran a daycare with his wife. He wasn’t given long to express this spirit, however: on Monday, June 22, after “weighing their legal options,” the city took action and shut the shop down. Joe Caruso, the city Code Administration Manager, told the Yakima Herald that the order was not an injunction and that no legal barriers prevented the city from shutting down the shop. On June 26th, a judge sided with the city, and ordered the shop remain closed.

The latest recreational marijuana store to open despite a city ban is in Pasco, WA. The Lucky Leaf, owned by David Morgan, opened at the end of July. He was granted a license by the WA Liquor and Cannabis Board on July 9th, but first applied for a license in late 2013. Morgan tells the Tri-City Herald he is finally opening after the state passed a law which allows cities to share more in marijuana tax revenue. He cites this as the city’s reason for banning the shops in July 2014. He tells the Herald, “We’re hoping that they’ll change their zoning and grant us a license so we can help the city get their share of tax revenue.” It is reported the city plans to take action against the shop. However, to date the Lucky Leaf is still open with no news from the city about what action they will take.

Recent legislation aimed at reconciling issues with Washington’s marijuana marketplace could offer relief to these business owners. As part of the legislation, language was removed from the state’s marijuana laws to require that the question of marijuana bans be put to local voters, not local governments. For now, however, many recreational cannabis businesses are still unable to open across the state.

Photo Credit: Rachel Samanyi

Editor’s Note: This article was updated by the author on 8/6/2015.

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California Governor Signs MMJ Patient Organ Transplant Bill

California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law on Monday a bill that will protect medical marijuana patients from being denied organ transplants. The bill prohibits doctors and hospitals from denying such transplants because of a patient’s marijuana use, unless cannabis use is medically significant to the surgery.

AB 258, the Medical Cannabis Organ Transplant Act, was introduced by Assemblymember Marc Levine (D.-San Rafael) and sponsored by Americans for Safe Access (ASA).

The bill was written to address the routine denial of organ transplants to medical marijuana patients.

“AB 258’s passage is the result of ASA’s membership tirelessly work for over two years,” said Don Duncan, who heads ASA’s California branch. “Governor Brown deserves credit for protecting medical cannabis patients from this harmful discriminatory practice that has no bias in medical research.”

Sources:

http://fox40.com/2015/07/06/california-law-backs-organ-transplants-for-medical-marijuana-users/

http://www.thedailychronic.net/2015/44887/california-governor-signs-medical-cannabis-organ-transplant-bill/

Photo Credit: daveynin

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Denver Activists Campaigning to Allow Marijuana Consumption in Bars

Marijuana activists in Denver are gathering signatures for a ballot measure that would allow marijuana consumption in bars and other 21-and-over sites. Those working on the measure need to gather 5,000 signatures to get the measure on the November ballot.

The measure would allow bars and clubs to allow the consumption of marijuana in compliance with clean air standards–marijuana would have to be eaten in the form of an edible or smoked in designated smoking areas hidden from public view.

Current Colorado law does not specifically prohibit the consumption of marijuana in private over-21 clubs, though it is illegal in a public setting. The proposed measure would clarify the definition of such a club.

Supporters of the measure argue that current law makes it very difficult for tourists to legally consume marijuana purchased in the city.

Denver would not be the first city in Colorado to legalize the consumption of marijuana in bars: both Pueblo and Nederland have passed similar statutes.

Source:

http://www.wtrf.com/story/29481590/denver-campaign-would-allow-marijuana-use-in-bars

Photo Credit: w00kie

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Florida’s Largest County Partially Decriminalizes Marijuana Possession

Commissioners of Florida’s largest county voted on Tuesday to allow police officers to issue a civil fine instead of arresting someone caught with fewer than 20 grams of marijuana — the emphasis, unfortunately, is on the word allow.

The Miami-Dade County Commissioners voted 10-3 to allow officers to issue offenders a $100 fine instead of arresting them. Those unable to pay the fine will have the option of doing two days of community service.

Police would retain the option of arresting offenders. Supporters claim that such action would be reserved for those caught smoking in public or who appear to be selling the drug.

Commissioner Sally Heyman, who voted in favor of the ordinance, said that “We have better things to do with our police resources. For goodness’ sakes, we don’t have to destroy the lives of so many.”

Current Florida law makes possession of small amounts of marijuana punishable by a misdemeanor with up to a year in prison and fine of up to $1,000.

Source:

http://www.thedailychronic.net/2015/44768/florida-miami-dade-county-decriminalizes-marijuana-possession/

Photo Credit: Matthew Hurst

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Setting Up the Framework: Alaska’s New Marijuana Control Board

As of February 2015, recreational marijuana is legal in Alaska. Just over half of voters voted in favor of Ballot Measure 2, which made it legal to cultivate and possess small amounts of marijuana in Alaska. Adults age 21 and over may possess up to one ounce of marijuana and have up to six plants in their homes. But before aspiring retailers can set up shop and start selling in Alaska, the state needs to develop a regulatory framework for its sale and consumption.

Enter the Marijuana Control Board, the five-member board that will create this regulatory framework and manage its future development and enforcement.

Who’s on the Board?

Five volunteer members serve on the Board, each representing a different interest group.

Loren Jones represents public health interests in Alaska. As the former director for the Alaska Divisions of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, Jones will advise the Board in regard to mental health and substance abuse concerns.

Peter Mlynarik‘s area of expertise is public safety. As the current police chief for the city of Soldotna and a twenty year veteran Alaska State Trooper, Mlynarik understands the potential public safety issues that can arise with the new cannabis industry in Alaska.

Representing rural Alaska and its residents’ needs and concerns is Mark Springer, a member of Bethel City Coucil and the Alaska Municipal League.

The final two seats are taken by representatives of the cannabis industry. This is not set in stone – future iterations of the Marijuana Control Board may include a member of the general public in one of these seats. Currently, they are held by Bruce Schulte and Brandon Emmett, both of the Coalition for Responsible Cannabis Legislation. Emmett is the executive director for the Coalition for Responsible Cannabis Legislation and Schulte has contributed significant input to legislative decisions about marijuana-related bills in the past.

Together, these individuals will work to develop state-wide rules and regulations for Alaska’s burgeoning cannabis industry that meet citizens’ needs.

What Does the Board Do?

Like the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, under which it will operate and share staff and resources, the Marijuana Control Board is tasked with developing and enforcing the state’s laws for marijuana sales and use.

In its first meeting in early July, the members of the Board determined that Alaska’s current marijuana laws need both updates and clarification. For example, the Board decided that the law must be clearer about what constitutes a personal cultivation operation from an illegal one. It also determined that the language in Alaska’s marijuana law must be amended to give villages the right to opt out of commercial marijuana sales, a right that other types of municipalities currently have.

These issues need to be worked out before the Marijuana Control Board may begin issuing licenses for aspiring retailers to sell recreational marijuana. Under the current timeline, the Board plans to begin issuing these licenses in May 2016. Until then, selling or purchasing marijuana without a license remains a criminal offense.

Photo Credit: Mario Antonio Pena Zapatería

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Washington Collects $70 Million in Taxes During First Year of Legal Marijuana Sales

Since Washington launched its recreational marijuana market a year ago, some 160 pot shops have opened up across the state, sales have grown to more than $1.4 million a day, and the state has raked in more than $70 million in tax revenue, beating out its own forecasts.

Despite this, retailers, processors and growers have complained since the beginning of excessive federal and state tax burdens. James Lathrop, the owner of Seattle’s first pot shop, says that “I’m basically doing this for free. Nobody’s gone out of business, but I’m not driving a new truck either.”

Life might be about to get easier for those in the industry, though, as two new laws go into effect this month. One regulates and taxes medical marijuana, and another changes the current three-tier excise tax to one 37 percent tax.

The law states that the new tax is the responsibility of the customer, rather than the retailer, which means that stores won’t have to file such earnings as income on tax returns.

Of course, as Oregon’s own retail industry kicks off, retailers near Washington’s southern border may have to worry about losing customers to Portland stores. Rick Garza, director of Washington’s Liquor Control Board, says such concerns aren’t new: “This isn’t the first time people have gone to Oregon to buy something either because it’s cheaper or because they don’t apply sales tax,” he said. “We saw it for liquor, we see it for tobacco.”

Source:

http://www.syracuse.com/us-news/index.ssf/2015/07/after_a_year_legal_marijuana_earns_70_million_in_new_taxes_for_washington.html

Photo Credit: David Herrera

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Massachusetts Medical Marijuana Industry Attracts New Wave of Entrepreneurs

Massachusetts’ first medical cannabis dispensary opened last week in Salem, and now more than 50 dispensary license applications have been submitted to state regulators by companies eager to claim their own space in the nascent industry.

Massachusetts began its ill-fated licensing process two years ago, but a variety of complications — from political favoritism, to executives with controversial pasts, to the discovery of questionable financial practices of several involved companies — resulted in more than two dozen lawsuits. Ultimately, 15 dispensary licenses were issued, but the program’s roll-out was delayed until last week.

Now, the state is accepting more applications, and some cannabis entrepreneurs — many of whom lost thousands of dollars vying for one of the original licenses — are scrambling at the opportunity.

The licensing process has been revamped under Governor Charlie Baker. Now, instead of pitting applications against each other using an arbitrary scoring method to determine winners, each application is to be judged for its own merits. Applications will be considered in the order they are received.

Sources:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/06/30/more-than-applications-filed-for-new-batch-medical-marijuana-licenses/

Photo Credit: Werner Kunz

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New Recreational Marijuana Reform Bill Takes Effect in Washington

Washington state — often criticized for having the weakest of the legalized states’ recreational marijuana laws — is making major adjustments to the state’s retail cannabis industry.

Governor Jay Inslee signed House Bill 2136 this week, which eliminates the current three-tier tax structure from I-502 and replaces it with a flat 37 percent excise tax made at the point of sale.

Additionally, the new law places limitations on who gets access to the state’s marijuana tax revenue: specifically, localities that have chosen not to allow marijuana businesses will not be eligible for any tax dollars from the industry. The bill also relaxes certain zoning issues regarding where retail stores and grow operations are allowed to operate.

Washington voters legalized recreational cannabis in 2012 via Initiative 502, and the first cannabis retailers opened almost exactly one year ago.

Meanwhile, earlier this year, state lawmakers passed another sweeping reform bill that folded Washington’s widely unregulated medical marijuana industry into the I-502 recreational market.

Sources:

http://q13fox.com/2015/06/30/gov-inslee-signs-recreational-marijuana-reform-bill-into-law/

http://www.thecannabist.co/2015/07/01/washington-state-pot-law-overhaul-marijuana-tax-reset-at-37-percent/37238/

Photo Credit: Will

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Cannabis World Congress & Business Exposition in New York Succeeds on All Levels

Leading East Coast Trade Show for Legalized and Medical Marijuana Attracts Venture Capitalists, Entrepreneurs and Major Media to Event at the Javits Center

The Cannabis World Congress & Business Exposition (CWCBExpo) attracted more than 2,500 business professionals and garnered major media attention at its recently concluded 2nd Annual event June 17-19, 2015 at the Javits Center in New York.  The leading event for the legalized and medical marijuana industry, sponsored by the International Cannabis Association, was 3-days of non-stop business building, education, networking and serious media coverage that included CBS News, CNBC, Forbes,  NBC, New York Times, Getty Images, TheStreet.com, WNYC, The Sydney Morning Herald, and  200 media members in attendance.

“Exhibiting at the Cannabis World Congress in New York has been a solid investment in time and energy for us.  As a design-manufacturer of plant growth rooms for cannabis, we had been seeking an event like this on the East Coast to amplify our message about the value of turnkey controlled environments as an alternative to traditional methods of building a commercial facility.  We’ve had significant conversations and expect follow-up with several exciting companies,” said Michael Robbie, Director, Marketing, CONVIRON.

Attendees from CWCBExpo came from all over the country with international attendees from Canada, Puerto Rico, Europe, Israel and other parts of the world.   The majority of the attendees came from the tristate area and the Eastern seaboard–from Maine to Florida.  All business segments were represented including entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, agricultural experts, medical professionals, consultants and service providers including lawyers, realtors and accountants.

CWCBExpo in NY opened with a heavily attended workshop on “Cannabis Careers” and two six-hour pre-certification classes on “How to Open a Cannabis Business;” and a “Doctor & Health Care Providers Conference on Medical Marijuana.”

A rousing Keynote Address from Ethan Nadelmann, of the Drug Policy Alliance, inspired attendees about the need for drug reform and a safe and responsible marijuana industry.   The first ever cannabis investment conference was conducted by Viridian Capital Advisors, entitled:  “Investing in the Emerging Cannabis Industry While Managing Risks.”  The educational agenda also included 40 sessions on June 18-19, which received high marks from conference attendees.

The bustling exhibitor floor featured a diverse range of innovative products and services needed to succeed in the cannabis business including greenhouses from GrowCo, cannabis oil extraction hardware, machinery; marijuana vaporizer designers, bud-friendly fertilizers, money management kiosks, indoor growing equipment, air-tight jars, packaging, and vacuum sealers.  Cannabis-centric businesses were also showcased including inventory software, diagnostic tools, lab testing, and industry associations and publications.

“Savvy entrepreneurs, service providers, investors and the media, from across the country and around the world attended CWCBExpo in New York to find out how to succeed in the cannabis industry and they were not disappointed.  Attendees and exhibitors are already buzzing about Los Angeles and we are looking forward to another great event, September 16-18 at the LA Convention Center,“ said Dan Humiston, President, International Cannabis Association.

The 3rd Annual CWCBExpo in New York will return to the Javits Center, June 15-17, in 2016, with strong re-bookings for exhibit space.  For more information on sponsoring or exhibiting at CWCBExpo events in Los Angeles and New York visit www.cwcbexpo.com or contact Christine Ianuzzi, at email: cianuzzi@leexpos.com and phone: 201-881-1602.

 

About International Cannabis Association

The International Cannabis Association (ICA) provides the resources necessary for professionals to succeed in the cannabis industry. Whether considering starting a cannabis business, taking an existing cannabis business to the next level or expanding service to support the cannabis industry, the ICA is here to help.  By offering educational conferences and networking events, the International Cannabis Association brings together experts from across the cannabis industry as well as individuals simply interested in getting started.  As the cannabis industry’s business-to-business association, the ICA is the professional’s source for timely, entrepreneurial and high-quality information.  For more information visit www.internationalcannabisassociation.com

About Cannabis World Congress & Business Expositions (CWCBExpo)

The Cannabis World Congress & Business Expositions (CWCBExpo) are produced by Leading Edge Expositions in partnership with the International Cannabis Association (ICA).   The events are the leading professional forums for dispensary owners, growers, suppliers, investors, medical professionals, government regulators, legal counsel, and entrepreneurs looking to achieve business success and identify new areas of growth in this dynamic industry.  In 2015, CWCBExpo took place June 17-19, at the Javits Convention Center in New York, and the CWCBExpo Fall will be held September 16-18, at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, CA.  To learn more about the CWCBExpos go to www.cwcbexpo.com.  Connect on Twitter/CWCBExpo and Facebook/CWCBExpo.

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Free Weed Offered in Portland to Celebrate Legalization Day

There’s a new party standard in freshly-legalized Oregon: it’s not a real celebration unless there’s free weed involved.

Last night, Portland marijuana enthusiasts flocked to the Burnside Bridge, where a collection of revelers gathered to await the stroke of midnight, which marked the end of marijuana prohibition in Oregon.

As per Measure 91, the successful legalization initiative passed by Oregon voters in 2014, the growing and possession of marijuana is now legal in Oregon for adults who are at least 21 years old. The new law also allows individuals to gift small amounts of cannabis (as well as seeds and/or plants) to other appropriately-aged individuals — this technicality was the basis for last night’s event.

Dubbed the ‘Burnside Burn,’ the festivities were organized by journalist and marijuana activist Russ Belville and the Portland NORML chapter. The event was both a celebration of legalization and an outlet for enthusiasts to safely score some pot for Legalization Day — even though cannabis is now legal, there is not yet a legal method of purchasing it for recreational use.

Under the new law, adults may now possess up to an ounce of weed on their person (up to eight ounces at home), and may cultivate up to four cannabis plants per household. An interim marketplace will likely be established in October, which will allow medical dispensaries to serve the state’s demand for recreational cannabis until the fall of 2016, when state-licensed retail stores are expected to open.

Sources:

http://www.oregonlive.com/marijuana/index.ssf/2015/07/legal_marijuana_in_oregon.html#incart_maj-story-1

http://www.oregonlive.com/marijuana/index.ssf/2015/06/qa_everything_you_need_to_know.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/07/01/oregon-celebrates-with-free-weed-as-recreational-marijuana-becomes-legal/

Photo Credit: Cannabis Copywriting

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Michelle Sexton

Michelle Sexton: Understanding Cannabis Testing Inconsistencies

PhytalabWhen it is fully legalized, cannabis will be regulated just like any other consumable product. Scientific testing to determine potency and safety will be mandated, as it is in Washington and Colorado. However, producers in these states have frequently complained about inconsistent results when they have submitted samples from the same lot to different labs. This has caused many to question the validity of mandated testing, the individual laboratories, and the science of cannabis testing itself.

In our latest podcast, Shango Los speaks with Dr. Michelle Sexton of Phytalab, a prominent cannabis testing lab in Washington State, about how the Schedule 1 status of cannabis has hindered the necessary scientific research that goes into forming the foundational understanding that is established regarding other plants in the market. This has led to the adoption of different standards by different labs, which–along with many other factors–has contributed to the significant variance in testing results that cannabis producers in regulated markets have witnessed.

“…There’s a difference between certification and proficiency. That’s the bottom line.”

Dr. Sexton is a naturopathic doctor, an editor and advisor on the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia Cannabis Monograph, and was a consultant in the development of Washington State Initiative 502, which formed the legal recreational market in the state. In the interview, she also discusses her stance on cannabis use during pregnancy, a topic which she has written about for Ladybud Magazine.

Listen to the podcast or read the full transcript below!

Subscribe to the Ganjapreneur podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud or Google Play.


Listen to the Podcast:


Read the Transcript:

Shango: Welcome to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast. My name is Shango Los and I will be your host today. Dr. Michelle Sexton is a naturopathic doctor, herbalist, and formerly a midwife, currently in private practice in San Diego. She began her formal study of phytochemicals with a degree in horticulture and specialized in the phytochemical analysis of botanical medicines. She completed a three-year NIH funded, post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Washington where she conducted a clinical study examining the effects of cannabis in patients with multiple sclerosis. She owns and is chief science officer of Phytalab Cannabis Analytics in Washington State. She also served as editor and advisor on the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia Cannabis Monograph. She has been a consultant to the Washington State Liquor Control Board on the implementation of I-502. She is also a member of the International Cannabinoid Research Society, the International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines and the Society of Cannabis Clinicians. Dr. Sexton is executive medical research director at the Center for the Study of Cannabis and Social Policy. She’s also an avid surfer, rock climber, and loves to play with her grandchildren. Welcome back, Dr. Sexton.

Michelle: Thank you.

Shango: Thanks again for being with us. We enjoyed our print interview with you so much that we wanted to take another opportunity to talk and delve more deeply into cannabis testing in this podcast. Towards the end we will also discuss your recent article on cannabis and pregnancy, but let’s start with cannabis testing first. As the medical and recreational markets evolved in several states, producers are experiencing frustration with their lab testing results. They’ve had the experience of sending what they believe to be similar samples to different labs and they receive significantly different lab results. This is leaving many producers thinking that the science of cannabis testing is questionable. Would you speak to that topic and share what you have been seeing happening and what you find might be the cause for this disconnect?

Michelle: I think everyone has been observing and there’s been reports across states of variability in potency results, particularly on cannabis products whether it’s flower or another derived product. Since this is science, there seems to be a perception that it should be infallible, I think. When you’ve look at where this industry has evolved from, I think it’s pretty self-explanatory that the typical standards that are put in place for an industry happens at a level that’s way upstream from the consumer receiving a result. The Schedule 1 status of cannabis has prevented the normal channels who get involve in this type of proficiency work and standardization from doing so.

Shango: Meaning that the way that the individual states are making their law, they’re more based on ideals than what can actually happen in reality?

Michelle: Yes.

Shango: In what ways? Where do you see the disconnect to be then versus when you are involved with Washington State developing their certification and we got a lot of certified labs which leads those of us who are producers to think, “If they’re all certified, they should all give me the same results.” Why isn’t that happening?

Michelle: Because there’s a difference between certification and proficiency. That’s the bottom line. Certification means you’ve met a lot of general standard laboratory practice on paper, how business is conducted in the laboratory everyday is a lot of what the certification checklist was. As far as anyone checking up on the proficiency of the work that is done within the context of that lab, it’s a different topic all together. That proficiency, can’t occur like I said because all of these upstream things haven’t been addressed to start with.

Shango: You’re saying that the certification with the state is more a stop gap to make sure that the bureaucratic nature of the lab is accurate but not so much on the skill set of the scientist doing the work?

Michelle: Maybe in some cases the skill set of the scientist but not necessarily. I think many of the labs who started out with non-scientist have now brought scientist on board. It’s the body of knowledge that we as scientists typically look to that is not there.

Shango: Because the appropriate work hasn’t been done on cannabis yet?

Michelle: Right. For instance, when we published the cannabis monograph, the first part of it, which Washington State adopted, Roy Upton, the executive director, when he publishes a monograph, the section on the chemical analysis of the plan whatever method he publishes has gone through a process called, “Validation,” being validated in a laboratory setting. There’s about eight steps or so involved in validating a methodology. This is done by some professional organizations who do this on a large scale, but because of the schedule on status, they were unwilling to participate in the validation methodology, in doing the validation of the method for the monograph.

Shango: So in a lot of ways, the labs have not been given the tools they need to do their job correctly because on the federal level cannabis is still schedule one, so the needed scientific background to do the testing hasn’t even been completed yet?

Michelle: Correct. If he goes to prior to that, what we use to quantify for instance cannabinoids or any other phytochemical are called, “Reference Standards.” The reference standards that are available for doing this work are still in question as to the purity of them. While we may be told of this is 98% THC, there is a certifying body that would say, “Yes, this is 98% THC,” but they’ve been unwilling to get involved because it’s a schedule one substance.

Shango: This kinda gives credence to the producer’s concerns that the science behind it is in some way faulty, because it may not be the science itself but the base research that needs to take place so that cannabis testing as a whole can be done accurately that hasn’t been done yet. It makes sense that labs are having a difficult time getting consistent results.

Michelle: If you just took the reference standard, say five labs bought their reference standards from five different companies, but if I bought all five of those in random side by side, I might actually see a different quantity even though they should be the same quantity. If I measured X number of milligrams of THC, from each of those five vials from different companies, what I might actually see on my instrument could be really different.

Shango: Other industries that are more evolved than the cannabis industry, are there standards already consistent because they’ve done all that homework and so you wouldn’t have the inconsistency between different companies you bought from– so that’s unique for cannabis right now?

Michelle: Correct. First of all, you have to have a method that’s been validated and typically the way this is done, it’s very rigorous and it’s costly and takes a lot of time, because a method is developed and it gets sent out to 10 or 15 laboratories who all use that exact same method and may make sure that everybody using that method can get the same answer.
They’re also using the same reference set of standards that have been certified. If you were doing that, we should all get the same answer. Everybody’s using different methodologies. None of them have been validated by one of the large bodies who does this work professionally. Those are two upstream problems.

Shango: No wonder everyone is frustrated then, if it sounds like the testing is doomed from the beginning?

Michelle: I don’t think it’s doomed. I think it fits perfectly with all of the citizen science and the citizen medicine around cannabis. This is just the result in the culture of it having been black market. Black market practices have emerged all across this industry whether it’s helping or dosing or telling patients how to use it from a perspective of citizen medicine or if it’s people trying to figure out processes, how to do extractions, on and on, everybody’s had to do this on their own because there hasn’t been a lot of professional industry or research to guide it.

Shango: I know it’s hard to breakout a crystal ball and give me a future answer, but in your experience, you’ve been doing this a long time, how long do you think it might be before that background research takes place to create a standard so that all of the labs can be giving more consistent results, it doesn’t have to wait until cannabis is unscheduled so that that research can get done or is it just the free market forces are doing that homework now so they can bring those standards to market sometime soon?

Michelle: Everybody’s interested. I can tell you everybody’s interested. The United States Pharmacopoeia, they’re very interested. They publish methods. The AOCS, the American Organization of Analytical Chemists, AOAC. The American Oil Chemists Society, they’re all interested and they’re all looking into it and they want to hear about it and they’re asking people to tell them about it and they’re forming groups to talk about it. The fact remains that as long as it stays on schedule one, that many of them have their hands tied or they won’t get involved in doing their professional work on that topic.

Shango: I understand. For some of our non-scientist listeners, would you explain a little bit about what the monograph is and what it means?

Michelle: The term itself means a single topic. How herbal medicines and even now pharmaceutical medicines are well-defined it’s in a document called, “The monograph.” That monograph has one topic. For herbs, we for a long time in the pharmacopoeia, there’s been a general outline that you follow when you run a monograph. With herbs, it started as if you’re going to go collect them in the wild, how do you positively identify them growing in the wild? There’s often plans that can easily be confused and one may be poisonous and the other not. As a field herbalist, you could get that basic information and then you could go on and it describes all of the botany. If it came down to comparing to plants and getting the non-toxic or the toxic one, you could go to more specifics on how the flower looks or leaf, that type of thing. Then it goes on to describe how it’s been used historically, how people have figured out that these plants have medical value and what kinds of things is in the written record that it has been used for. Then in the modern monograph with the chemical revolution, now we’ve gone onto describe, if you want to look at particular active constituents, how do you do that and that’s the analytical portion. Then the monograph also covers things on cultivation, pests, managing pests, soil type, just real basic information about growing, gathering, and using the herb.

Shango: In a lot of ways that sounds like it would be the go-to document for anybody who cares about cannabis. So many people do internet research to find out what they need about cannabis and as we all know with internet research, your mileage may vary, right? It sounds like the monograph would have the best science available today, almost like a mini-encyclopedia on this one flower.

Michelle: Correct. In the writing of the document, Roy, he finds the experts in the world in the field on all those topics, so really it should be the most current up to date information that’s available, all compiled in one document.

Shango: When did the last one come out?

Michelle: We published it originally in 2012 and there was an update. That’s the one with the Washington State with the control board adopted to guide the quality control of the cannabis in adult market. Typically it all comes out in one big book and the second part of that book after the quality control is the therapeutic compendium, because we wanted to push the quality control and out to be used in Washington State, we separated them into two documents so the therapeutic compendium is on its last legs of review and hopefully about the first of the summer, there’s going to be the most up to date review of clinical literature, the use of the whole plants across many conditions.

Shango: If somebody wanted to find out more about this monograph, what would be the appropriate search term?

Michelle: I would just search, “American Herbal Pharmacopoeia: Cannabis.”

Shango: Going back to the ideas of producers and they’re trying to find a lab that’ll give them consistent results, one of the things that we’ve been finding is that producers are shopping around for a lab that tends to give them the results that they want more than necessarily what may be accurate results. What do you see as the downsides of shopping around for a lab that just gives you the results that you’re looking for, for example a high THC potency or something?

Michelle: Karma. That’s the easy answer. I think there may come a time that it may not be too far off where there will be auditors going into these labs. We’ve been needing in Washington State and in conversation with the look of control board about the problems that we’re seeing in the labs and that they’re aware of it. They know it’s a problem. What we’ve done is a starting place and there are many of us working to continue to professionalize and change that, that eventually if you’re using a lab that is using what I call maybe still black market science practices. They may close. I don’t think you’re doing your product a service if you’re just shopping for the answer you need or want to get paid or get your product to market. We really hope that over time, the hype over THC will subside and that the beautiful diversity of the plant, other cannabinoids, the terpenoid profile, you don’t go in a one store and say, “Okay, where is the one with the 13% alcohol?” Your IPA. It’s about all of it, all of the how much sweetness is there and how much bitterness is there or what other flavors you like or the smell you like of it. I think the hype will die down. I think that proficiency will come.

Shango: I can see how here in Washington the environment is evolving from people just relying on THC to now talking about terpene profiles and let the terpenes, the human powers and that themselves, it sounds like as the industry matures, we’ll get past our reliance on THC.

Michelle: I think it’s going to be hard. I have only been in one recreational store in Washington State and not been in a couple of dispensaries. The one recreational store that I went in, everything was on their glass. Somebody told me they were allowed to smell a product in that same store. I don’t know if you asked if you get to, but it was very different from the dispensary experience where you could open a jar and really waft that aroma because we have a survey that’s in process of being published on cannabis use. And smell is the number one way people say they select their cannabis. People are actually doing it also based on potency but smell is the number one thing that people said was the most common factor for choosing one.

Shango: Going back to your wine example, there’s some humor on that because if we are selecting our cannabis based on our reaction to the smells, which in a certain way we can think of as our body is choosing the cannabis medicine that we want, but on the flip side, when you are shopping for wine, you don’t usually get to sample or smell it and so maybe just choose based on label, right?

Michelle: Exactly. I’m guilty.

Shango: So, what advice would you give for producers if we started with this idea that a lot of the background science that the testing is based on hasn’t been done yet, and that there is inconsistency from lab to lab… you know, the frustrations of the producers are they’re trying to do research and development on a product and they’re getting different results which makes it very hard to develop a product. What kind of advice would you give them for finding a lab that will work for them when they don’t have a science background to necessarily interrogate them on their science standards? What advice would you give to a producer to help them until the proper science has been done?

Michelle: There’s the American Herbal Products Association has a document on selecting an analytical laboratory. I think it’s really applicable that you read through and you ask some appropriate questions that are some baseline proficiency work. For instance, I’ve had the experience of asking a laboratory, “How often do you run a standard curve,” and just was greeted with blank stares. They didn’t even know what a standard curve was. Finally somebody said, “I think that maybe one who was run three months ago.” To not know what that is if you’re working in the laboratory setting and to only run it once a year, that’s not adequate. You want a lab who can answer that question like that and they run them on a regular basis, maybe even everyday.

Shango: Even though probably most of the producers don’t have science backgrounds, if they armed themselves with that document, they’d at least have questions to be able to gauge the response. If you get a blank stare that’s probably not a great response, but if the lab gives a full response that sounds accurate, even without a science background, the producer would have a probably a better gut feeling about what the lab’s level of competence is.

Michelle: I think there’s plenty of information out there. Like I said, even just that document to get someone enough information to initiate a conversation on some very important points.

Shango: When preparing samples for a lab, I’ve heard lots of different producers have their strategies. Some like to take the cola to the lab so that they hopefully get the highest potency response. Some say that if you prepare in oil, you should do this and that. In a certain way, trying to game the system, but in the end, that’s not going to win for them because while that might give them a good result to sell their product, if they’re doing research and development in developing a product, they’re skewing their own results. I’ve heard you speak on this before. Can you break down very specifically how you recommend a producer prepare their sample for the lab so that the producer can get the most representative answer possible?

Michelle: This isn’t my knowledge, this is standard for herbal products, whether it’s in Europe or United States or China, there are plenty of sampling plants out there. You have to take an entire lot or I would say a harvest of all one plant variety that was in the same section of the greenhouse or room or field and you put that all together as a batch and it gets mixed and you quarter it several times until you’re down to a smaller size. Then you take a random scoop of it. That is a representative sample. Then you have to also consider what is the size of that batch and what’s the final sample size, how big does that need to be to be representative of that whole starting lot size. This was a real failure in the Washington system that they didn’t implement sampling plans.

Shango: The way that you’re describing it, we wouldn’t have a situation where a producer is looking at a lot of cannabis and I’ll take this bud and this bud and send that on in. What you’re saying is that’s not the way to do it at all. It’s laid all on the table and quartering, quarter it and take a random scoops. If I was a producer, I’m not actually choosing my sample at all. It’s randomness that’s choosing it.

Michelle: Right. Yeah, you have to look at the size for instance for the I-502 package, the state says up to 7 grams, we could ask for more. The monograph actually says 10 grams so the monograph wasn’t actually followed here, but for a 5-pound  lot size, 10 grams is barely adequate as a represented sample. For instance, some labs are now gaming the system by typing a smaller sample size, but if you do the math, a 2 gram sample size to represent an entire 5 pound lot would only give you a one in 25,000 chance that you might sample something that’s contaminated with a mold or bacteria for instance. Whereas if you just seem to go up to a 5 gram sample, you significantly increase the chance that you’re going to sample something contaminated.

Shango: So in real terms, even though producers continually want to give a smaller sample because obviously the cannabis is money, really it would be in their best interest to give you a larger sample if they really want to find out what is the true nature of the flower that they’re working with.

Michelle: Yes, I think it’s a matter of integrity because now you’re thinking beyond just getting how much money you can get off of this crop. You’re thinking to public health effects and your end-consumer and you’re thinking about standardization in the botanical industry and aligning with that industry.

Shango: You are involved in Washington when they developed their lab certifications and you’ve seen how they’ve played out for the good and the bad. What suggestions would you offer other states who are moving towards normalization and setting up certifications for their own labs? What did we learn from the implementation here that states that follow Washington can learn from our wins and our losses and do better than we did?

Michelle: Well I think there’s data analysis yet that needs to be done like looking at all of these microbiological test that we’re performing here in Washington State and doing the data analysis — did we have enough positives to recommend that this is a test that always needs to be done, or for instance the microbiological limits. The monograph even states that these are not intended to be pass or fail numbers. They’re general guidelines and we have to take into account certain atmospheric conditions or weather that could precipitate more pattern and mildew and so then we might want to consider adjusting those levels upward, testing for the toxins that fungus make instead of the actual amount of mold on the plant material. I think we need to take a hard look at that some of that microbiological data. For the potency, I think a real disservice that’s being done is everybody reporting results like for THC to two decimal points. I think even if you’re not a scientist, it implies a degree of accuracy to you.

Shango: Which isn’t actually there?

Michelle: No, it’s not there. When we get those sorts of numbers, when we do research-based science, we’ve run at least a triplicate sample and usually in triplicate at least three or four times before you result, and there’s an error bar involved. You show the standard deviation that either side of that mean. The bigger your standard deviation, the greater the variation.
— I’m probably like, people don’t know what I’m talking about because I’m using my hands over here — I think my point is and I said this to the local control board and I think it’s in the checklist that it should be reported in a range, unless people can prove that they really have that degree of accuracy, but there’s nobody out there enforcing that degree of accuracy. Like you said, we have a lot. We did a small survey of some plant here and showed a 4% difference from top from the crown to the bottom of the plant in THC content. We could report it in a range that that should be good enough. If it’s 10 to 12%, we know that this is relatively high potency and it doesn’t have to be 10.63, because that’s really not what you’re getting as the consumer.

Shango: It gives a false sense of accuracy?

Michelle: Yes.

Shango: Let’s move on. You recently wrote an article for Ladybud Magazine explaining the relationship between cannabis and pregnancy and it was hugely popular and went viral and a lot of people were talking about it. I want to just hit on that while we’ve got you here today. We’ve already talked about how it’s been a challenge to study cannabis while it’s still a schedule one drug. Would you review for us the state of the science and what you read it to mean around whether or not pregnant mothers should be using cannabis?

Michelle: Because it’s been considered a drug of abuse and because just doing any research, in pregnancy it’s very difficult because now you’re exposing a developing fetus to a drug as well. It’s generally been viewed through the lens of looking at women who are drug abusers. You have to right-off-the-bat think, “Most of the data out there is being viewed through that lens.” Many of these women who were involved in the surveys or the studies may have also been using other prescription drugs. There hasn’t really been enough good studies of just cannabis use in pregnancy. There is some longitudinal data showing birth weight’s fine, head circumference is fine, there’s not poor outcomes. We know it’s not a teratogen, it doesn’t cause birth defects. When you see a beautiful baby at birth and your child develops normally in the first years of life, the conclusion logically is, “I smoked all during pregnancy and my child is just fine.”

I think what’s now coming out in the emerging research is we know more about that developing brain and how the cannabinoid receptor CB1 which is were THC binds is really involved in the migration of neurons on their pathways out to make connections. That was my point is I think it’s awesome that it’s not a teratogen and I think it can be valuable for women suffering from severe hyperemesis or getting very sick with morning sickness because we don’t have good or safe drugs. There’s maybe one drug on the market and it’s not always effective. Again, no drug is the best drug in pregnancies. I think all doctors should have that viewpoint honestly, and I would hope all parents would. Just being really thoughtful about it and being open-minded too. The other is a small amount of literature that says the things that I just said you’ll have a normal birth, you’ll have a normal child, the child would develop normally at early years, and how about those migratory pathways and brain development into adulthood.

Shango: From reading the original article that you wrote, you spoke a bit about how the child may be born not looking like there are any challenges, that some of the surveys suggest that as the child grows up and reaches adolescence that there may possibly be some neurological impacts, but the problem is that there’s no really good studies on that yet. If a pregnant mother was trying to weigh out for herself whether or not to have cannabis, not recreationally because you’ve already said that the best drug is not having a drug when you’re pregnant, so I will follow that. Let’s say that she is having very significant nausea and she doesn’t want to take the pharmaceuticals that would normally be given for that because that is just another drug. How would you suggest that she think through weighing, trying to get through the pregnancy with this extreme nausea versus an unstudied risk of having cannabis?

Michelle: I think there’s a lot of other alternative options. There’s acupuncture, there’s ginger. I was horribly ill with morning sickness, peppermint worked really well for me. I think there’s other options to try before going to a really strong drug like cannabis. Even then, if you go through everything and I think this is one case where I think you should have everything else fail, and then go to cannabis and then go to a CBD dominant variety because cannabidiol or CBD doesn’t bind like THC does to the CB1 receptor and it’s also been shown to be effective for nausea. That would be an alternative and to just use the lowest necessary dose for the shortest time period.

Shango: It sounds like when choosing the particular strain one would take just because it’s sold as a CBD, that probably wouldn’t be enough. For example a Harlequin which is two to one, you’ll still end up having a lot of THC in it, you want something more like an ACDC or something that tests 20 to 1, so the amount of actual THC in it is exceptionally low.

Michelle: That would be my speculation and probably my recommendation without having done a therapeutic trial on anyone. I don’t know. That’s just my best guess.

Shango: Sure, and again, here is something else that we don’t have the real science yet because it’s been schedule one for so long and scientist haven’t not been free to study the medicine.

Michelle: I think too the return of the biodiversity with the cannabidiol rich plants, we have no data on that. All of the studies have been on THC rich. Anything you find on cannabis is typically THC rich varieties. People need to keep that in mind. When we say cannabis now, we’re not necessarily talking about what has been out there and available. It’s changing. It’s evolving.

Shango: In the Ladybud article, you speak a lot about this one fascinating survey that happened with Jamaican Rastafarian women and over the course of the article, you debunked that survey as being reliable for science, but culturally, it’s fascinating. Would you just talk a little bit about this study and about the women and about how they are taking the cannabis? I think it would be exceptionally interesting to the audience.

Michelle: I’ll say I think you should interview the author because I’m not an expert on her work. I’ve reviewed it for the monograph and to write this article, but yeah that was what I … The first paper what I found interesting, and what people overlook or you don’t hear, is that largely the women were not smoking at that time and their place in the culture, that was mostly the men. I’m sure there were women who smoked but the women that she was hanging out with in this anthropologic study were primarily drinking tea. If you go [inaudible 00:35:48] published a paper on conversion of THC acid to THC NT, and there’s not a huge conversion. There is some conversion that it’s nowhere near the amount of conversion that would happen with smoking. Again, we don’t know a ton about THC acid. There are speculation that maybe it doesn’t get to the brain as easily as the neutral form, dealt in on THC without the acid. Maybe it acts more peripherally. Nobody’s looked at whether it crosses the placenta, if you have a baby growing. I think it’s something to keep in mind that largely at that time they were not smoking. They probably weren’t getting huge doses of the neutral cannabinoid THC.

Shango: Thank you for joining us today on the Ganjapreneur podcast, Michelle. Dr. Michelle Sexton is the executive medical research director of the Center for the Study of Cannabis and Social Policy. I am your host, Shango Los of the Vashon Island Marijuana Entrepreneurs Alliance. Thank you for listening to Ganjapreneur.

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Minnesota Medical Cannabis Market Launches

Minnesota has become the latest U.S. state to allow the legal distribution of medical cannabis as of July 1, 2015.

Under the restrictive program, patients will be able to obtain laboratory-tested medicines (in pill or liquid form, only), but only as treatment for a specific set of ailments. Last year, Minnesota lawmakers selected the following conditions: seizure disorders, severe muscle spasms, glaucoma, Crohn’s disease, HIV/AIDS, Tourette syndrome, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), and certain terminal illnesses and cancers.

The program has faced criticism from some advocates because it does not allow for consumption or possession of cannabis flower. In fact, only two companies are licensed to grow the plant — LeafLine Labs and Minnesota Medical Solutions — and their grow facilities enjoy state-of-the-art security systems, which Minnesota police have declared more than satisfactory.

As of Friday, there were only 65 patients registered with the state’s medical cannabis program, though 139 had begun the process. Meanwhile, 203 health providers are registered and ready to certify patients who qualify for the program.

Sources:

http://www.startribune.com/for-the-sickest-minnesotans-medical-marijuana-will-be-legal-on-wednesday/310345271/

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_28388236/minnesotas-medical-marijuana-q

Photo Credit: Doug Kerr

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Vancouver Becomes First Canadian City to Regulate Cannabis Sales

Vancouver’s city council has passed a new set of rules to make it the first Canadian city to establish regulations and a licensing process for illegal marijuana businesses.

Despite a recent ruling from the Supreme Court of Canada that medical cannabis is legal in all forms, there remain strict federal laws banning the sale of marijuana from retail storefronts.

The Guardian reports:

“Under the new rules, dispensaries will be banned from operating within 300 metres of a school, community centre, or rival pot shop. They will also be obliged to pay a business license fee of $30,000, compared to a regular business license of just $250.”

The city council’s ruling in favor of allow marijuana businesses is not Vancouver’s first time at odds with federal drug laws: the Vancouver police have stated that a crackdown on the weed business is not a priority for the department. The council hosted public hearings on the subject before coming to a decision, during which more than 200 people spoke or sent in emails regarding the clash of local and federal drug laws.

Sources:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/24/vancouver-regulate-illegal-marijuana-stores-canada

Photo Credit: Maya-Anaïs Yataghène

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Photos and Adventures from the 2015 High Times NorCal Medical Cannabis Cup

The Bay area hosted this year’s NorCal High Times Medical Marijuana Cannabis Cup. Vendors with a wide range of vaporizers, buds, edibles, topicals and cannabis-themed artwork, as well as seminars and workshops from world-renowned experts gathered at the legendary Cow Palace for two-days of exuberant celebration of ganja.

I’d never been to a Cannabis Cup, but since I’ve been writing for Ganjapreneur, I figured it was a good chance to see what was happening at the heart of the culture.

There was a lot. Grapefruit, crème brulee, chocolate and mint-flavored vapes. Soil and seed sellers. Vape pen designers. Board games. And lots of happy people sampling the wares.

The High Times Cannabis Cup is a tradition that has been going strong for nearly 30 years now as a venue to celebrate all aspects of cannabis culture. The first Cannabis Cup was held in Amsterdam, and in 2013 High Times held the first Cannabis Cup in Denver. Now conventions are held regularly in states where recreational and/or medical marijuana has been legalized.

For a list of the 2015 NorCal High Times Medical Cannabis Cup Winners click here.

Photos:

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Today’s lessening stigma on marijuana use is due in large part to organizations that sponsor events like the Cannabis Cup and other forums for sharing and education.

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A lot has changed in recent years, and marijuana is being celebrated across the U.S. Part of its power comes from the ability to embrace cliches with a sense of humor.

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Gage Green Group celebrates ganja’s contribution to creativity and joy. This bud is from their recent harvest.

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Vaping was hot, but a lot of vendors were also focused on organics and the importance of growing healthy plants for the best quality product.

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The vendors at the NorCal Cannabis Cup were knowledgeable, friendly and generous with both samples and information.

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Dank Darts is an interactive game for pot smokers.

Photo Credit: docmonstereyes

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