Two Rhode Island legislative committees on Wednesday advanced the Rhode Island Cannabis Act, setting the bill up for votes in both the House and Senate next week, WJAR reports. The measure passed the Senate Judiciary Committee 9-1 and the House Finance Committee 12-2.
Democratic Gov. Dan McKee told WJAR that he is “willing to sign the piece of legislation” the way he understands “it’s going to be delivered.” The proposal approved by the committees was amended to include automatic expungement for any prior civil violation, misdemeanor, or felony conviction for possession of cannabis decriminalized under the bill.
State Sen. Joshua Miller (D), the sponsor of the legislation and chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee, said in a press release that he was proud that advocates, businesses, patients, legislative leaders, and the governor’s office “worked very cooperatively to smooth out the bumps and create a proposal that works for all the stakeholders.”
“We all wanted to do this in a way that is safe, keeps revenue in Rhode Island, and is as fair and equitable as we can possibly make it. The amended bill is a collaborative effort to address concerns about protecting medical use, ensuring fair governance and recognizing that we cannot make this transition without taking action to make whole the communities and individuals who have been punished for decades under prohibition.” – Miller in a statement
The legislation would allow Rhode Island adults aged 21-and-older to sell and possess up to one ounce of cannabis, keep up to 10 ounces in their home, and cultivate up to six cannabis plants at home (including three mature and three immature plants).
Under the measure, the state would license 33 retailers across six zones and impose a 10% excise tax, along with the state’s 7% sales tax, and a 3% tax which would go to municipalities. Licensing would begin on August 1 with sales commencing on December 1.
The sustainability problem in cannabis is no secret, and packaging is one of the industry’s biggest waste contributors. O’Neil Rudolph is Founder and CEO of cannachange, a sustainability-focused app that helps users work with dispensaries to address the cannabis industry’s packaging waste problem. “I’ve always had an interest in how tech and innovation can help push sustainability initiatives,” Rudolph recently told Ganjapreneur.
Rudolph grew up in Colorado where she was able to access medicinal cannabis when she was 18. Soon after dialing in her medical consumption the 19-year-old entrepreneur had noted the waste that her medicinal use was creating: “That regular accumulation of the waste building up made me feel like I needed to take action. I was just really surprised to find out that there wasn’t some type of program to be able to return that packaging or something more direct to do with it rather than put it in your typical recycle bin that usually goes to the landfill anyway.” Rudolph could not find a cannabis packaging return program in the states, so she set out to build an app to connect sustainability-conscious consumers with participating dispensaries.
For consumers and dispensaries, cannachange is an easy-to-use app — but for Rudolph, it’s a hands-on project. After consumers return their waste to dispensaries, cannachange tracks it through the back end hauler to ensure it doesn’t end up in landfills. Then the waste is broken down into recyclable material. Users can also track the amount of total waste they have saved from landfills with an in-app counter.
Tracking the final destination of cannabis packaging waste is made complicated by multiple factors throughout the U.S., including sometimes limited access to waste management services and varying local and state policies. The process is made especially complicated given “how strict the regulations are around shipping anything that’s ever contained cannabis, even if its fully sanitized,” Rudolph explained.
“I’ve had to build very personal relationships with different waste haulers and figure out exactly where they haul and process the waste, and if they’re separating different types of waste, so it’s very different from state to state,” she said. “I’ve had to do a lot of research with all the options so I can then present them to each dispensary.”
Finding the back-end haulers can be complicated as well, as each state manages waste differently: some states don’t even offer glass recycling, for example, and some statewide recycling policies are far less progressive than others. Additionally, some dispensaries are already in communication with a compliant recycling company. In those cases, cannachange will coordinate with them directly but most of the time, cannachange will provide any necessary waste management details to dispensaries as soon as the business verifies its profile.
Consumers and dispensaries alike can each download the app and create profiles, further facilitating the connection between consumers and participating dispensaries. Once signed up and confirmed, dispensaries receive their bin for the recyclable materials. Signing up creates a unique QR code for consumers that the dispensary scans whenever the packaging waste is returned. Each scan results in points for the user account — from there, customers can track points to go toward their next in-store purchase. Users can also purchase the cannachange reusable bag, made from 40% recycled nylon, and receive a discount at participating dispensaries when using it as their exit bag.
Rudolph hired a small team of developers who worked over the last year to build out the project. Women make up a majority of the coding team, which is important to Rudolph who would like to see more women of color in the tech space.
cannachange is currently operating in Louisiana and the company is looking to build more dispensary relationships in other states as well as Canada. Initial growth will take time and effort because the model isn’t universally applicable, especially in the U.S.
During these first months of operation, Rudolph has also been working on opening up the program to sanitizing and trade-in programs — some dispensaries in Colorado and Oregon are interested in sanitizing and re-using glass jars, for example, and a dispensary in Maine is working on proprietary compostable packaging.
Rudolph credits her older brother and role model for inspiring her to make her idea into a business:
“My biggest realization was that if I was having these ideas that I could validate and recognize they could make a big impact, my mind wanted to do something with them. Not just think about them and ponder on them, but actually execute them — and if I didn’t, I could never have known what could have happened and how much of an impact it could have.
“Really, considering that and understanding that most of the time, executing your ideas is worth the risk of them potentially just not working out. It doesn’t hurt to try, and you never know where it could go until you try and do something with them.”
To learn more about cannachange check out cannachange.co or download the app on IOS or Android.
Cannabis-related content on TikTok is mostly positive, according to research published earlier this year in the Drug and Alcohol Reviewjournal. The study coded videos related to cannabis on the platform with more than 100 million views by seven themes, using relevant hashtags, and the study used a final sample of 881 videos.
The researchers found humor/entertainment videos comprised most of the cannabis content on TikTok (71.7%) followed by experiences (42.9%), lifestyle acceptability (24.6%), informative/how-to (7.5%), creativity (5.4%), and warning (2.7%). The authors found “over half of videos portrayed cannabis use positively,” noting that “none were age restricted.”
The most viewed videos, with 417 million total views, portrayed cannabis positively and videos depicting cannabis neutrally were viewed less frequently – 331 million views – while videos with negative depictions of cannabis were viewed 28 million times. Most of the subjects in the videos were male, Caucasian, and between the age of 25 and 50 with just 50 of the 881 videos including subjects smoking, vaping, or consuming cannabis edibles, according to a PsyPost review.
Study author Brienna Rutherford, a PhD candidate at the University of Queensland, told PsyPost that “the next step is obviously to assess whether viewing this content has any impact on viewers’ attitudes, behaviors or risk / norms perceptions around substance use.”
The authors say the study builds on previous research that demonstrates “exposure to cannabis-related content can influence adolescents’ attitudes and problematic cannabis use” and suggests that “more effective age restrictions and regulations [should be] introduced to social media platforms” for accessing cannabis-related content.
Delaware Gov. John Carney (D) has expressed support for the broad cannabis decriminalization bill passed last week by the Legislature but stopped short of saying whether he would sign the reforms, WMDT reports. The measure is a pared down version of a full tax-and-regulate system, instead allowing possession of up to an ounce by adults 21-and-older.
“I don’t think it should be a criminal offense but this bill that passed just decriminalizes it, it doesn’t have a regulatory piece that goes with it. So, we’re looking at the same concerns that I’ve been articulating for some time with respect to public safety and its effect on our young people and we’ll continue to keep those in mind.” – Carney to WMDT
Carney has said he opposes broad cannabis legalization. In 2018, Vermont lawmakers passed a similar bill only to approve legislation to allow retail sales two years later.
Under current Delaware law, possession of an ounce or less of cannabis by anyone 21-and-older carries a $100 civil penalty. Under the bill being considered by the governor, possession of non-medical cannabis by anyone under 21 would still result in a civil penalty, while possession of more than one ounce and public consumption would remain misdemeanors. The bill also allows adults to “transfer,” but not sell for payment or other consideration, an ounce or less to another adult.
A bill to regulate cultivation and commercial sales passed the House Appropriations Committee last Tuesday but requires a three-fifths majority to pass each chamber.
The liberalization of cannabis laws in Washington state has not led to increases in the use of alcohol, cigarettes, and abuse of pharmaceutical pain drugs among adults 18- to 25-years-old, according to research published this month in the Journal of Adolescent Health. Researchers with the University of Washington looked at trends in alcohol, nicotine, and non-prescribed pain reliever use among more than 12,500 young adults in the state following adult-use cannabis legalization.
“Contrary to concerns about spillover effects, implementation of legalized nonmedical cannabis coincided with decreases in alcohol and cigarette use and pain reliever misuse. The weakening association of cannabis use with the use of other substances among individuals ages 21–25 requires further research but may suggest increased importance of cannabis-specific prevention and treatment efforts.” – “Trends in Alcohol, Cigarette, E-Cigarette, and Nonprescribed Pain Reliever Use Among Young Adults in Washington State After Legalization of Nonmedical Cannabis,” Journal of Adolescent Health, May 9, 2022
The researchers note that the “findings add to evidence that the legalization of non-medical cannabis has not led to dramatic increases in the use of alcohol, cigarettes, and non-prescribed opioids.”
“The findings indicate that the most critical public health concerns surrounding cannabis legalization and the evolution of legalized cannabis markets may be specific to cannabis use and related consequences,” the authors wrote.
In a statement, NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said the study “disputes longstanding claims that cannabis is some sort of ‘gateway’ substance.”
“In fact, in many instances, cannabis regulation is associated with the decreased use of other substances,” he said, “including many prescription medications.”
Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana (NMM) on Monday filed a lawsuit in federal court contesting Nebraska’s rules for putting initiatives on the ballot, the Associated Press reports. The lawsuit takes aim at the state’s so called “5 percent rule” for ballot initiatives.
Under Nebraska’s constitution, groups seeking to put an initiative on the ballot must collect 5% of the total of registered voters in 38 of the states’ 93 counties, a rule that forces groups to gather signatures in more sparsely populated areas and not just in densely populated cities. NMM has until July 7 to collect around 87,000 signatures to put a medical cannabis question on the 2022 ballot, a task made more difficult after they recently lost one of their largest donors, the report says.
NMM argues that the rule gives disproportionate power to rural voters. In the complaint, they say that one voter in “desolate” Arthur County has as much voting power as 1,216 voters in Douglas County, home to Omaha — Nebraska’s largest city. A spokesperson for Secretary of State Bob Evnen, who was named in the lawsuit as the state’s top election official, said Evnan has turned the lawsuit over to the Nebraska Attorney General to defend.
The advocates gathered enough signatures in 2020 to put a medical cannabis question on ballots but the state Supreme Court blocked the effort on technical difficulties, the AP says.
In addition to the blocked initiative, Nebraska has struggled on the legislative front to reform cannabis policy. Last year, Republican Gov. Pete Rickets said that cannabis “is not medicine” and later that year claimed that legalizing cannabis “will kill your kids.”
Nebraska medical cannabis activists argue that a bill introduced by Republican state Sen. Mike Groene includes a “poison pill” meant to reduce the likelihood that broader medical cannabis reforms would pass were the question to make November ballots.
The Cannabis Technology Brand is Raising Funds to Grow and Expand Product Offerings, Market Share and Brand Awareness
HOPEDALE, MA (MAY 16, 2022) – Today, Green Goddess Supply announced the launch of their SEC-approved Regulation Crowdfunding raise (aka “Reg CF”) on the StartEngine.com platform. The Massachusetts-based business empowers anyone to grow their own legal herbs at home themselves, quickly, easily, discreetly, and inexpensively.
Unlike typical start-ups, the company has been around a few years. Initially funded by management and “friends and family,” Green Goddess Supply has built an impressive catalog of cannabis-centric accessory products including storage boxes, rolling trays, grinders, pipes and more. The crown jewel in its product line is the critically acclaimed, award-winning personal home grow system sold and marketed as “The Armoire.” Now, with U.S. patent in-hand and rave reviews, the company believes The Armoire is ready for prime time.
“We are incredibly excited to launch this initiative,” said Founder and CEO, Eric Robichaud. He continued, “What’s impressive to me is management’s ability to build, ship and deliver almost 600 systems during the global pandemic that has been riddled with supply chain obstacles and seemingly never ending “red tape” including, but not limited to, price gouging for Ocean Freight, new hidden costs such as “port congestion,” scarce and expensive domestic LTL shipping, supply chain and materials delays, and more.” The company has overcome these obstacles and is expanding The Armoire product line with new, higher-margin models ready for the 2022 holiday selling season. This capital raise will enable the company to continue to expand the product line, and scale sales and marketing.
Robichaud points out that The Armoire isn’t “just some idea” – it’s gone through R&D, prototyping, pre-production and into production. The company has built-out shipping and warehousing capabilities, internal and external systems and processes, and more. “It’s amazing to see the results of these Armoire units successfully deployed in homes across the country, which have been able to really help to change and improve lives! We’re now ready to scale up and bring it to the masses,” he said.
With this offering, the company will gain access to over 750,000 investors via the StartEngine Regulation CF platform, to showcase their unique, patented cannabis home grow system.
“We are part of a larger, DISRUPTIVE revolution: investing in private companies in red-hot sectors before they go public or are sold,” said Vincent Bitetti, inventor of The Armoire and Chief Cannabis Officer at Green Goddess Supply. “Under Reg CF, companies apply via a highly-regulated system, akin to going public. It all takes place through an SEC-registered intermediary, either a broker-dealer or a funding portal such as StartEngine.com.” These rules are relatively new—the SEC approved Reg CF in 2017. For the first time ever, this enables eligible companies to offer and sell securities through crowdfunding. And similarly, it allows individual investors to access pre-IPO businesses that were previously only accessible to accredited investors – typically via private placements as companies prepare to go public.
The Regulation Crowdfunding campaign is being hosted on the StartEngine.com platform. Interested parties can search “Green Goddess Supply” on StartEngine.com or follow this link directly to the campaign page: https://www.startengine.com/green-goddess. There are special incentives, such as free bonus shares, for investors who commit early in the campaign.
ABOUT GREEN GODDESS SUPPLY
Green Goddess Supply is a “cultivation to consumption” cannabis technology lifestyle brand offering a line of high-quality products to grow, store, prep and consume hemp flower and cannabis products. The company sells direct to consumers at MSRP through its website, and also offers wholesale and distributor accounts to brick and mortar storefronts and industry distributors. Green Goddess Supply strives to exceed expectations and delight customers with quality products and amazing customer service. The Armoire is a trademark of Green Goddess Supply. Green Goddess Supply is a privately held company headquartered in Hopedale, MA with additional warehousing and distribution partners in Los Angeles, CA; Long Island City, NY and Pooler, GA. For more information about the Green Goddess Supply offering, visit the StartEngine website at https://www.StartEngine.com/green-goddess
INVESTOR RELATIONS
617 765-2334 x100
IR@GreenGoddessSupply.com @greengoddesssupply on Instagram and Facebook
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) proposed a tax cut on Friday for the state’s heavily taxed cannabis industry but business owners say the relief wouldn’t go far enough, the Associated Press reports.
In the Newsom administration’s proposal for the budget year starting in July, the governor called for removing the cannabis cultivation tax of $161 per pound of flower. Under the plan, the missing tax dollars would be made up by increasing the state’s cannabis excise tax from 15% to 19% after three years.
Despite being the largest cannabis marketplace in the U.S., the California cannabis industry has struggled since its 2018 launch with steep tax rates that can reach as high as 50% in some jurisdictions. The taxes, coupled with steep licensing costs and other expectations, has helped to prop up the unregulated marketplace as an attractive alternative for consumers. Additionally, recent harvests by large, corporate cannabis growers have started to push down the price of wholesale flower, which has made business even more difficult for licensed growers, according to the report.
According to Nicole Elliott, director of the California Department of Cannabis Control, removing the cultivation tax would “greatly simplify tax compliance, reduce the overall tax burden for our licensees and help stabilize the legal market,” the AP reported.
But industry business leaders had hoped the tax relief would include a reduction to the state’s high excise taxes, not an increase. According to Jerrod Kiloh of the Los Angeles-based United Cannabis Business Association, “All they are really doing is shifting some taxes around, and it’s not ever going to get to the customer.” Kiloh even warned the plan could result in higher consumer prices, according to the report.
A recent report by the Reason Foundation found that
In a report titled “The Impact of California Cannabis Taxes on Participation within the Legal Market” published earlier this month, the Reason Foundation suggested that California could double its cannabis-derived taxes by eliminating the cultivation tax altogether.
In a 3-2 vote, Miami officials have voted to license the city’s first medical cannabis dispensary, NBC 6 reports.
The commissioners’ approval of the medical dispensary comes six years after Florida voters passed the reforms. The license was granted to MRC-44, a dispensary that had sued the city over its failure to license any dispensaries until a judge ruled that since Miami had not specifically banned dispensaries, they had to allow such businesses, according to the report.
“This is a really big move for the patients that need to get their medicine and it’s a big move for the cannabis industry,” Jason Erkes, of Sunnyside dispensaries, said in an interview with NBC 6. “It’s been debated for a long time, but I think at the end of the day they’re going to see there’s no negative societal impact.”
Commissioner Manolo Reyes, who opposed the approval, said he wants “to establish the regulations before they are authorized to be selling this marijuana” and that he feels a “clear distinction between medical marijuana and recreational” cannabis is needed.
Commissioner Ken Russell, who voted in favor of the approval, said that he has a medical cannabis card following two surgeries on his wrist.
“…I was prescribed opioids and I recognize the symptoms of withdrawal that are created into addiction that allow people to get hooked on meth,” he said during the debate. “This is a really slippery slope that very normal people get caught up in and having alternative forms of pain medication is crucial.”
Although this is Miami’s first medical cannabis retailer, there are 425 licensed dispensaries throughout the state.
In a Zoom call with reporters on Monday, Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D) argued that federal cannabis policies are contributing to the supply chain crisis in the U.S. and to the recent string of violent crimes targeting dispensaries.
In a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Blumenauer urges him to modernize the agency’s policies for commercial class license holders. Blumenauer contends that outdated federal policies have disqualified “tens of thousands of commercial drivers due to past cannabis use” which has contributed to the “unprecedented” supply chain issues facing the nation.
“This crisis must be treated with urgency.” Blumenauer writes in the letter. “Your department should rapidly reform requirements for testing drivers and returning them to service, as well as develop an accurate test for impairment.”
The Transportation Department’s current zero-tolerance policy “sweeps up drivers who were unimpaired, drivers who have not used cannabis for weeks or even months, and drivers who have used federally-legal CBD oils,” Blumenauer contends in the letter.
The Medical Marijuana Research Act, which Blumenauer authored and which passed the House last month, would be an asset to the federal government and researchers seeking to develop tests for cannabis impairment, he said.
“We need to put resources behind coming up with alternative methods of determining impairment. … The federal government, until recently, has interfered with research. We’ve outsourced cannabis research to Canada or to the U.K. or to Israel. We need to get in the game and develop it. … Without federal interference I’m quite confident we could develop technologies to measure impairment quickly – right now we haven’t been able to do it because the federal government has stood in the way, has interfered, and I think that’s criminal.” – Blumenauer during a May 16 press conference
During the Zoom call, Blumenauer described the SAFE Banking Act as “literal life and death,” citing the recent crime targeting dispensaries in some states. He said that the measure’s inclusion as an amendment to a bipartisan Senate bill is an “opportune moment” for cannabis legislation to, finally, pass in the upper chamber.
The measure has passed the House as a standalone measure six times and in the Senate is tacked on to the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, a measure aimed at easing manufacturing and supply chain issues.
The bill, which would overhaul federal banking policies for state-legal cannabis businesses, is a “critically important” tool for ending the rash of recent crimes targeting cannabis businesses, which lack traditional financial services and operate mostly in cash, he explained. Further, he said the legislation would help many smaller operators who can’t absorb the extra costs associated with enhanced security.
Blumenauer described the crimes against dispensaries as a “national epidemic” that the House-approved legislation could help remedy and that violence is “a direct assault against low-income people, people of color, the emerging markets.”
“They are handicapped with the extra costs and security, and I want to solve that problem,” he said. “It’s passed the House six times and now is an opportunity.”
Last week, 24 Senators from both parties sent a letter to Senate Leaders Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) urging them to retain the text of the SAFE Banking Act in the Senate legislation.
Cannabis legalization advocates in Ohio have reached a settlement in their lawsuit against state lawmakers that will put an adult-use legalization question on November 2023 ballots if the Legislature doesn’t act on the measure by April 2023, Cleveland.com reports.
The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol had sued lawmakers claiming House Republicans had refused to take up the legalization as proposed under the state’s initiated statute mechanism and lawmakers contended that the group had submitted the signatures too late to be considered during this year’s session.
State officials claimed the group fell short by 13,062 signatures of the required 132,887 in its initial batch submitted in December after 87,000 signatures collected by the group were ruled invalid. The coalition gathered the additional signatures during a 10-day “cure” but had still missed the deadline.
Under the terms of the settlement, officials will accept the more than 140,000 signatures already collected instead of forcing them to start over, and lawmakers won’t have to consider the reforms until next year.
Tom Haren, a spokesman for the advocacy group, said the settlement “guarantees the validity of the signatures we’ve already gathered” and gives the group “a much clearer path” to 2023 ballots if lawmakers refuse to pass the proposal.
The settlement allows the group to resubmit its petitions on January 3, which should give them enough time to gather more signatures to put the issue before voters in November 2023.
Fines for those who intentionally or improperly divert medical cannabis are doubled on first and second offenses under the new law, and a third strike could lead to the revocation of a patient’s medical cannabis card. Fines for sales or transfers of medical cannabis products to unauthorized persons have also been increased to $5,000 for the first violation and $15,000 for subsequent violations.
State Sen. Lonnie Paxton (R) has previously stated that the measure is not meant to target “college friends who are sharing marijuana product with no money exchanged” but rather “the black-market medical marijuana industry and drug dealers.”
The bill making the Medical Marijuana Authority a standalone agency takes effect November 1 and the measure takes the agency from under the umbrella of the Health Department. OMMA will still oversee the issuance of medical cannabis patient and business licenses and carry out all functions related to the regulation and compliance enforcement of the Oklahoma medical cannabis industry, the agency said in a press release.
House Majority Floor Leader Jon Echols (R), the bill’s author in the lower chamber, said making OMMA a standalone agency “is necessary to deal with the complexity of regulation and compliance of the expanding medical marijuana industry.”
“This will help us cut down on the black market that threatens the wellbeing of Oklahomans,” he said in a statement, “and properly regulate the legitimate businesses approved by voters.”
After November 1, the governor will appoint OMMA’s executive director, and the state Senate will be responsible for the appointee’s confirmation.
Adult-use cannabis legislation is set for committee votes this week in Rhode Island, the Providence Journal reports. The bills have not yet been made public but previous versions would allow up to 33 retail licenses distributed through six zones, including the state’s current nine medical cannabis dispensaries.
While Democratic Gov. Dan McKee supports the reforms, his Executive Counsel Clair Richards has raised constitutional concerns over provisions in the previous proposal about how members of the three-member cannabis control commission would be appointed and removed. Under the state’s constitution, the governor has the sole power to appoint “all members of any commission” but the bill calls for the House Speaker and Senate President to provide nominees to the governor and requires Senate approval to remove them.
“Such pervasive control by the legislature impermissibly enlarges its constitutional role at the expense of the executive.” – Richards in a letter to lawmakers via the Journal
In a joint statement, a spokesman for the House and Senate defended those provisions, arguing the bill and its appointment processes “is consistent with Rhode Island’s separation-of-powers principles and the law flowing from the Rhode Island Supreme Court.” The statement pointed to the state’s Redevelopment District Commission and Judicial Nominating Commission as evidence of the process’s constitutionality.
McKee ascended to the governorship after Gina Raimondo joined the administration of President Joe Biden (D) as commerce secretary. Raimondo had been a proponent of legalization as governor and had included it in her 2020 Executive Budget, but was rebuffed by lawmakers. McKee supports a system of privately-run dispensaries, which contrasts with Raimondo who backed a plan for state-run cannabis shops.
Lawmakers are putting the finishing touches on the bills before they will be made public and head to committees.
Free guide offers helpful tips on how to enjoy cannabis in the wilderness while being courteous to others and minimizing risk of fire, damage to natural habitat
DENVER, May 16, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — As warmer weather arrives, more cannabis enthusiasts will be heading to the great outdoors to hike, camp, picnic with friends and attend live music festivals. Often, these activities will involve cannabis consumption, which means potential litter, fire hazards and other environmental concerns.
“Unfortunately, cannabis consumers are often stereotyped as being aloof and careless when it comes to consumption in the great outdoors,” says Ben Owens, Founder & Crew Leader of CannaVenture®, which has been organizing and hosting cannabis-friendly outdoor events like hikes and camping trips across the country since 2016. “By following a few simple courtesy rules that our events use, cannabis consumers can continue to prove that stereotype to be false, allowing us all to enjoy the natural beauty of the great outdoors and help preserve it for years to come.”
CannaVenture has teamed up with the Cannabis Creative Movement to create a guide that describes in detail how cannabis consumers can be responsible at outdoor events. The guide also helps to promote and support CannaVenture’s nonprofit partner Wilderness on Wheels, an organization that provides wheelchair-accessible hiking, fishing and camping facilities to make wilderness activities available to all. The Responsible Recreation Guide, which you can download for free here, includes a variety of tips and information for responsibly enjoying cannabis in the great outdoors.
It is important that all outdoor cannabis use be done safely, as damage from irresponsible cannabis use can include:
Disruption of wildlife/ecosystem
Litter left behind from product packaging, pre-rolls, etc.
Potentially damaging and deadly wildfires
Vulnerable ecosystems become susceptible to increased harm
“The cannabis community is already working to remove the stigma from cannabis consumption, and we have made great strides in this area over the years,” said John Shute, CEO and Founder of PufCreativ, a co-founder of the Cannabis Creative Movement. “So it is very important that we do not let irresponsible behavior destroy the progress we have made with regard to the acceptance of cannabis for medical and recreational uses. It is very easy to follow some very basic guidelines to ensure that we are not contributing to environmental damage or creating further negative perceptions about cannabis.”
The Responsible Recreation Guide is available here. To download other free guides from the Cannabis Creative Movement, please visit the website.
About the Cannabis Creative Movement
The Cannabis Creative Movement is a joint initiative of PufCreativ, an award-winning community-focused cannabis marketing agency, and The 9th Block, a branding + communications firm focused on the cannabis, healthcare and tech industries. The group welcomes participation from other cannabis creatives interested in generating awareness of critical issues facing the cannabis community. For more information, email the Cannabis Creative Movement at hello@pufcreativ.com.
About CannaVenture®
Founded in 2016, CannaVenture® is an event-planning service focused on low-cost, outdoor cannabis adventures that embrace the best aspects of the outdoors, the community, and cannabis. The crew hosts hikes, campouts, disc golf tournaments and more, embracing the philosophy that you have the right to hike high, camp high, and be high, and you can do so in a responsible, social environment. For more information, email CannaVenture at cannaventurecrew@gmail.com.
About Wilderness on Wheels
Wilderness on Wheels is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to providing access to nature for people with different abilities through the generous work of volunteers and donations from individuals, organizations and businesses. To date, more than 116,000 hours have been invested by more than 3,500 volunteers to provide hiking, camping and fishing opportunities for people of all ages and abilities. For more information, visit https://www.wildernessonwheels.org/.
For more information:
Jim Dissett
303-532-7392
jim@the9thblock.com
The Delaware Senate last week voted 13-6 in favor of a bill to legalize cannabis possession by adults, moving it to Gov. John Carney (D), WDEL reports. It marks the fifth time in state history and the second time this year Delaware lawmakers have considered a cannabis legalization bill.
The measure, which was pared down from a full tax-and-regulate proposal, removes all penalties for possession of up to an ounce of cannabis by adults 21-and-older.
State Sen. Trey Paradee (D), the bill’s lead sponsor in the Senate, called its passage “long overdue.”
“The majority of Delawareans want this, and it’s the right thing to do.” – Paradee to WDEL
Republican State Sen. Colin Bonini argued that the bill would create more criminals in the state, arguing that it should be renamed “the Encourage Illegal Behavior Act” because there would still be no legal way to purchase cannabis.
“And even if it’s just somebody you know, who happens to sell a little weed on the side, you know what that guy is? He’s a drug dealer,” Bonini said during the debate. “And until we get a regulatory environment that the state oversees, similar to medical marijuana, what are we doing? And I just – this is the cart before the horse.”
A bill to regulate cultivation and sales passed the House Appropriations Committee last Tuesday but requires a three-fifths majority to pass each chamber.
The bill passed by the Senate doesn’t affect private employers’ potential drug testing in adherence with zero-tolerance policies or change driving under the influence laws, the report says.
Following the vote, Carney’s spokeswoman Emily David told the Insurance Journal that the governor will “review the bill” but that his opposition to broad cannabis legalization “hasn’t changed.” Neither he nor members of his office have indicated whether he will sign the bill.
Under current Delaware law, possession of an ounce or less of cannabis by anyone 21-and-older carries a $100 civil penalty. Under the bill, possession of non-medical cannabis by anyone under 21 would still result in a civil penalty, while possession of more than one ounce and public consumption would remain misdemeanors. The bill also allows adults to “transfer,” but not sell for payment or other consideration, an ounce or less to another adult.
Actor and longtime cannabis advocate Woody Harrelson last week opened the doors to his West Hollywood, California cannabis business, The Woods, which includes a retail dispensary, delivery outlet, on-site consumption lounge, bar, and restaurant, WeHoVille reports. Comedian Bill Maher and interior designer Thomas Schoos are partners in the venture.
Harrelson, who is best known for his role in “Cheers” and films such as “Natural Born Killers” and “Zombieland,” planted four hemp seeds in Kentucky in 1996 and reported himself in order to get arrested and take the case to court. He was charged with misdemeanor cannabis possession but was acquitted four years later after a jury determined the state had not established a burden of proof.
The Woods features a jungle-like garden, koi pond, and walking trails.
“Hopefully we’ve added more beauty and more good times here. Hopefully, we can make the West Hollywood Citizens a little bit higher. It’s the greatest day that I’ve had in a long time.” – Harrelson to the Hollywood Reporter
According to Eater LA, there are expected to be 16 total cannabis consumption lounges in West Hollywood and other celebrities, including rapper Jay-Z, and actress Patricia Arquette, have invested in businesses in the city, which is expected to have one of the highest numbers of cannabis businesses per capita in the world, Scott Schmidt, executive director of Emerald Village, told Eater LA.
Harrelson said The Woods will spotlight outdoor cannabis.
“We won the war on drugs here in California for this plant. Let’s bring it outdoors where it belongs,” he told the Hollywood Reporter. “It really wants to be outside or at least in a greenhouse, but let it get real sun. Definitely, the quality is so much better.”
London, England Mayor Sadiq Khan has convened a group to explore whether to decriminalize cannabis in the United Kingdom, the BBC reports. The London Drugs Commission will feature former Justice Secretary Lord Charlie Falconer QC as its chair; however, Home Secretary Priti Patel said the group is wasting its time as Khan “has no powers to legalize drugs.”
In England and Wales, cannabis possession was the top drugs offense last year, according to a House of Commons report. In the U.K., cannabis is a Class B drug, and possession convictions can lead to a five-year jail term.
“We need to have an honest, open conversation about the evidence in relation to the history of cannabis and our laws in the UK, and our experience of the health consequences in relation to crime and the community. The best way to do that will be with the drugs commission we’ve now set up. You can hear from the experts, that’s one thing, but seeing it for yourself… hearing from those who cultivate and grow this plant, has been fascinating.” – Khan to the BBC
In a tweet, Patel pushed back on the plan, saying the mayor’s “time would be better spent focusing on knife and drug crime in London.”
Khan’s own Labour Party also distanced themselves from the plan, telling the BBC that “drugs policy is not devolved to mayors and under Labour would continue to be set by national government.”
Once the commission has completed its work, it will make recommendations to London officials, the federal government, police, criminal justice, and public health services. University College London will provide feedback and analysis on the impact of any possible policy changes.
In a lawsuit filed last month against California cannabis company Jungle Boys TLC, two employees claim they were fired for raising concerns about the company’s work conditions, gender discrimination, and unpaid wages, according to a Leafly report. Jungle Boys contends that the employees were fired for drinking on the job.
Plaintiffs Donna Rivadeneyra and Mario De La Cruz allege in the lawsuit that the company used “stacked entities” to utilize illegal labor and that they were fired for speaking out about the company’s shady practices. Rivadeneyra claims in the lawsuit that she faced gender discrimination and that when she was asked to move from a trimming job she was told “they were called ‘Jungle Boys’ for a reason: that no women were allowed to work in the growing operations,” according to court documents outlined by Leafly. She claims she was also warned that she would be terminated if she were to get pregnant. Additionally, Rivadeneyra accuses members of Jungle Boys’ human resources team of trapping her in an office in an attempt to try to force her to sign a release of her claims.
In response to the lawsuit, a Jungle Boys spokesperson denied the allegations and said “the action will be defended in court on its merits.”
In a statement to Leafly through their attorneys, Jungle Boys said that “an initial investigation into this action reveals that the allegations in the complaint are not accurate.”
“For example, the businesses named in the lawsuit employ workers of any gender identification in accordance with their experience and the position they seek. There are women employed in all aspects of these businesses from entry-level to upper-level management. The Chief Executive Officer of one of the businesses named in the lawsuit is a minority female.” – Jungle Boys via Leafly
The company defended its decision to not move Rivadeneyra from her trimming job due to her lack of experience, not her gender.
“Jungle Boys is known for its exceptional product and certain standards are expected from seed-to-sale,” the company said in its statement to Leafly. “Hiring is based on those expectations and the experience the employee brings to the team. Cultivation positions are usually sought by those with previous cannabis cultivation experience.”
The lawsuit, which was filed in California Superior Court, alleges 17 total complaints and seeks “unlimited damages.”
The Washington State Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that citizens can receive a driving under the influence charge for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of cannabis, The Chronicle reports. The plaintiff, Douglas Fraser, argued that his 2017 DUI conviction was based on an arbitrary and vague standard for THC levels in the blood.
The unanimous decision upholds the state’s decade-old DUI law related to cannabis.
Justice G. Helen Whitener, in the opinion, defended the state’s law writing that while the “limit may not be perfect in terms of identifying the degree of impairment for all individuals, it is reasonably and substantially related to recent consumption, which is related to impairment.”
“The laws aim to deter people who have consumed cannabis from driving when there is a possibility they could be impaired, thus promoting some public interest of highway safety.” – Whitener, in the opinion, via The Chronicle
Fraser was arrested in 2017 after a State Patrol trooper witnessed him speeding, driving alone in the HOV lane, and driving dangerously. Fraser, who was wearing an employee badge from a cannabis dispensary, said he had last consumed cannabis “half a day” prior but that he was no longer impaired. After performing several field sobriety tests, the trooper arrested Fraser on suspicion of DUI. Subsequent tests found Fraser had a THC blood concentration of 9.4 nanograms per milliliter, with a margin of error of 2.5; the state’s limit is 5 nanograms per milliliter.
In court, Fraser argued that those limits are arbitrary and not tied to any evidence as a measure of impairment and included testimony from a physician who said the effects of THC can vary from person to person. The court rejected the argument, claiming that the limit serves its purpose by discouraging driving while stoned.
The Arizona Department of Health Services announced the winners of the state’s 26 social equity licenses last month, the Associated Press reports. In a blog post, Interim Health Services Director Don Herrington said the drawing was live-streamed.
There were over 1,500 applications for the 26 highly lucrative licenses that were created following the 2020 approval by Arizona voters of the state’s adult-use cannabis legalization initiative. The social equity licenses enshrined in the initiative were an effort to give members of communities most affected by the drug war an opportunity to open a cannabis business.
Herrington said Arizona’s process should be a model for other states and that various legal challenges did not delay the licensing process, according to the report. Those legal challenges include a lawsuit by the Greater Phoenix Urban League and a corporation that said the licensing process lacked safeguards, prohibiting things like license transfers and requiring profits from cannabis sales to remain in the community where a business is located.
Those claims were thrown out by a Maricopa County judge in February, who said the licensing provisions satisfied the law, the report says.
In order to qualify for one of the 26 social equity licenses, principal officers or board members owning at least 51% of the business must have met three of four criteria: a household income of less than 400% of the poverty level in three out of four years between 2016 and 2020; a state or federal cannabis conviction expunged; a close relative with a cannabis conviction; or having lived in a community disproportionately affected by Arizona’s previous cannabis laws for three out of four years between 2016 and 2020.
Sarah Kim, the top deputy and attorney in the state Treasurer’s Office, has been named the new chair of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, the Boston Globe reports. Kim follows former chair Steve Hoffman who resigned late last month.
State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg appointed Kim on Monday as interim chair and the agency held its first meeting under her tenure on Thursday. Kim told the reporter she does not intend to seek the permanent position.
“[Goldberg] reached out to me knowing I had been part of the initial efforts way back when the ballot initiative was in process. She wanted to make sure [Hoffman’s resignation] didn’t cause any disruption.” – Kim to the Globe
In a statement, Goldberg said Kim was right for the job because of her “extensive leadership experience and knowledge about the standards, goals, and operations of the commission, as well as perspective on necessary steps as we progress in the implementation of good policies in Massachusetts.”
Under state law, the state treasurer is tasked with appointing a member of the commission who comes with corporate management, finance, or securities experience, and for designating its chair.
During the meeting, Kim abstained from voting on any substantive matters saying she did not have enough time to review the materials and that she is “still getting to know the agency and the issues it’s grappling with.”
This article was written by Gaspard Le Dem (@GLD_Live on Twitter) and originally published by Outlaw Report.
Around two-dozen activists rallied on Monday outside the headquarters of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Arlington, Virginia to protest the agency’s refusal to grant people with terminal illnesses access to experimental drugs like psilocybin and MDMA.
For several hours, the demonstrators blocked entrances to the federal building, shouting slogans like “DEA, get out of the way” as they set off colorful smoke bombs and unfurled yellow caution tape that read “THE DEA IS LAWLESS.”
Photo credit: Gaspard Le Dem
They showed up to denounce the agency’s ongoing decision to ignore the Right to Try Act, a 2018 federal law that authorized people diagnosed with life-threatening diseases to use certain “unapproved” drugs if they are unable to participate in supervised clinical trials. The bill was signed into law by then-President Donald Trump after receiving approval from Congressional lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle.
But activists say DEA officials have failed to comply with the law, instead engaging in delay tactics that have deprived people with little time left to live of access to drugs that research shows provide significant relief from mental illnesses like PTSD, depression, and anxiety. In some of the most promising evidence yet on psilocybin –– a psychedelic drug that naturally occurs in some mushrooms –– researchers at New York University found that a single dose could reduce mental anguish in advanced cancer patients for more than six months at a time.
“We shouldn’t be sending terminally-ill patients into back alleys to find their medicine,” said Adam Eidinger, a prominent local drug activist and the founder of DC Marijuana Justice.
Eidinger was flanked by Dr. Bronner’s CEO David Bronner, an activist, and philanthropist whose company helped fund D.C.’s campaign for Initiative 81, a ballot measure that decriminalized magic mushrooms in the District in 2021.
Photo credit: Gaspard Le Dem
Kathryn Tucker, an attorney with Emerge Law Group, told The Outlaw Report DEA’s choice to delay access to psilocybin has been harmful to many patients.
“The entire premise of Right to Try is a recognition that dying patients don’t have time to wait for the long process of new drug approval. So too, they don’t have the time to wait for DEA’s delay,” Tucker said. “Delay is justice forever denied for dying cancer patients,” she added.
Last year, she and other attorneys filed a lawsuit against DEA on behalf of patients and the Advanced Integrative Medical Science (AIMS) Institute, a Seattle clinic that provides drug-assisted therapy to people with serious and chronic illnesses. Since then, eight states plus the District of Columbia, along with two conservative think tanks and the American Civil Liberties Union have filed amicus briefs in support of the lawsuit in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
“DEA’s refusal to recognize accommodation for state [Right to Try] laws in the face of the clear intent of Congress poses a threat to state sovereignty,” said the brief from the states. A total of 41 states (and counting) have now passed laws allowing people with terminal illnesses to try experimental drugs in some form, according to RightToTry.org.
Photo credit: Gaspard Le Dem
On Monday, police initially ignored protesters, frustrating some who hoped making a scene would get them a meeting with DEA officials. It wasn’t until the activists started painting onto the building’s glass facade and pulling down a DEA flag that police stepped in to arrest people. In the end, agents with the Department of Homeland Security charged 17 protestors — including some terminally-ill patients — with trespassing and vandalism. The activists were put in handcuffs and driven down to the federal courthouse in a peaceful scene.
Erinn Baldeschwiler, who has been battling stage-four metastatic breast cancer for the last two years, was among those arrested on Monday afternoon. Baldeschwiler is one of the plaintiffs in the AIMS Institute lawsuit against DEA. After receiving her cancer diagnosis in 2020, she was invited AIMS Institute to receive psychotherapy assisted by ketamine, a medically legal drug used to treat pain and treatment-resistant depression.
She said taking Ketamine has significantly improved her quality of life as a cancer patient.
“It opened my mind and really validated that I’m on the right path,” Baldeschwiler said. “It takes your mind out of the equation.”
But Baldeschwiler, who is “not a big fan of prescription drugs,” hopes she’ll soon be able to get started on psilocybin treatment as well. “I believe in these natural medicines,” she said, adding that “healing is a very individual journey.”
Two Arkansas groups are seeking to put adult-use cannabis legalization on November ballots, National Public Radio-affiliate KUAR reports. Both groups are proposing constitutional amendments to enact the reforms and must collect 89,000 valid signatures from registered voters in the state.
Briana Boling, a spokesperson for the group True Grass Arkansas, said the group is about halfway to the signature goal. Their proposal would allow home cultivation and impose no limits on the number of licensed businesses. It sets Class A license fees at $250 per year and those licensees could grow and possess an unlimited amount of seeds and plants. Class B licenses would be $500 and allow the selling of anything consisting of cannabis.
Boling told KUAR that the organization has heard positive feedback from law enforcement on the reforms, saying that they’ve told her “they think it will put a curb on the opioid epidemic” and “will take off of their workload.”
The measure backed by Responsible Growth Arkansas would expand the number of cultivation licenses in the state to 20 and dispensary licenses to 40. The organization’s chairman, Eddie Armstrong, told KUAR that it would enable more craft products in the market.
“It will allow for an opportunity for us to see more nuances in the natural state for lower yield, higher quality, better products that will hopefully be in the market for customers to consume.” – Armstrong to KUAR
Under Responsible Growth Arkansas’ plan, cultivation and dispensary license hopefuls would need to go through an application process and then be selected through a lottery system. Armstrong told KUAR that the process was chosen to avoid similar problems and inequities seen during the medical cannabis licensing process. The proposal does not allow home grow, which Armstrong said would help quell concerns about children accessing cannabis.
Armstrong told KUAR that the group needs another 50,000 to 70,000 signatures.
The state’s first medical cannabis dispensary opened in May 2019 and as of last September sales had reached $400 million with more than 58,000 pounds sold, the report says. By that time, about 80,000 people had been issued medical cannabis cards.
Missouri medical cannabis sales in April were $6 million higher than in March with sales on 4/20 representing a single-day record for the state at $2.85 million, according to a press release from the Missouri Medical Cannabis Trade Association (MoCannTrade). Since the state’s first dispensary opened in October 2020, sales have totaled nearly $336 million.
Officials now estimate that annual revenue from cannabis sales will top $360 million this year, $60 million more than was projected last month, the report says. In all, there are 188 dispensaries, 48 cultivation facilities, and 69 infused product manufacturers approved by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services – 335 such facilities now serve more than 185,000 patients and caregivers in the state.
The agency has licensed and certified a total of 390 facilities to cultivate, manufacture, test, transport, and dispense medical cannabis, including 203 dispensaries – 11 more than the legal minimum of 192 such outlets – and 63 cultivation facilities, which is three more than the legal minimum, MoCannTrade said.
As of Monday, May 2, the state reported issuing 7,853 state agent ID cards to work in medical cannabis facilities with all but 200 of those jobs added in the past year. The medical cannabis industry accounted for nearly one in 10 new Missouri jobs statewide in 2021, the organization said.
Last week, cannabis advocacy group Legal Missouri submitted to the Secretary of State’s Office twice the number of signatures needed to add an adult-use legalization question to ballots this November.
The proposal, a constitutional amendment, would allow Missourians over the age of 21 to possess, consume, purchase, and cultivate cannabis and impose a 6% sales tax which would generate an estimated $40.8 million. Tax-derived funds would be used for expungement costs, veterans’ services, drug addiction treatment, and the public defender system. The amendment also includes automatic expungement provisions.
