Majority of Vermont Towns Approve Retail Cannabis Sales

3/02/2022

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The majority of Vermont municipalities that voted Tuesday on whether to allow retail cannabis operations within their borders approved such measures, VT Digger reports. In all, 25 of the more than 40 communities voted to allow retail cannabis sales, which were approved by lawmakers in October 2020. Adult cannabis use was first approved by Vermont lawmakers in 2018 but the reforms did not include sales.

Essex, the second-largest municipality in the state, approved retail sales by a 3,589-2,473 margin, while the 19 residents who voted in Norton’s town meeting voted against allowing retail cannabis sales.

James Pepper, chair of the Vermont Cannabis Control Board, called the votes “a very important moment” for the state. Last year, nearly two dozen Vermont communities voted to allow legal sales, including Burlington, the state’s largest city.

“We want Vermonters to be able to access this product close to their home as opposed to having these cannabis deserts around Vermont.” – Pepper to VT Digger

Pepper added that, with the new approvals, his agency has a lot of work to do.

“Towns don’t know where their authority is, where the board’s authority is,” he said in the report.

In all, nearly 50 Vermont communities have voted to opt-in to allowing retail sales within their borders. Once a town votes in favor, businesses can apply for retail licenses, which are considered by the state board.

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NCAA Raises THC Limits for Student-Athletes

3/01/2022

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The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which governs college athletics in the U.S., has changed its cannabinoid policies for student-athletes. In a press release last Friday, the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports (CSMAS) said they were raising the THC threshold from 35 to 150 nanograms per milliliter of blood.

The cannabinoid limits are now aligned with those of the World Anti-Doping Agency and the changes are immediate and backdated to cover tests administered in fall 2021 and later, the press release says.

“Reconsidering the NCAA approach to cannabis testing and management is consistent with feedback from membership on how to better support and educate student-athletes in a society with rapidly evolving public health and cultural views regarding cannabis use,” Dr. Brian Hainline, the NCAA’s chief medical officer, said in a statement.

Additionally, the committee changed the penalties associated with a positive THC test. Under the new rules, athletes would not be suspended from games until they fail a second drug screening. These updates will take longer as each NCAA division must change their bi-laws individually, the release notes.

“Marijuana is not considered a performance- enhancing substance, but it remains important for member schools to engage student-athletes regarding substance use prevention and provide management and support when appropriate.” – Dr. Brian Hainline in a statement

Dr. Stephanie Chu, CSMAS chair and Colorado’s team physician said the changes came after “extensive discussion” by the drug testing subcommittee, which has been meeting since last fall. She said the updates to the NCAA cannabinoid policy “create a clear pathway for student-athletes to participate in education and management programs specific to their needs at the campus level.”

More penalties info:

  • “First positive test: No loss of eligibility if the school provides a management plan and education for the student-athlete.
  • “Second positive test: No loss of eligibility if the school provides additional management and education and confirms the student-athlete was compliant with the original management and education plan. However, the student-athlete must be withheld from 25% of regular-season contests if they were not compliant with the original management and education plan.
  • “Third positive test: No loss of eligibility if the school provides additional management and education and confirms the student-athlete was compliant with the previous two treatment and education plans. However, the student-athlete must be withheld from 50% of regular-season contests if they were not compliant with the previous management and education plan.”

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42% of Tennessee Hemp Crops Test Over THC Threshold

3/01/2022

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According to the Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA), 42% of hemp crops in Tennessee are being found non-compliant with federal requirements limiting total THC levels in the crops to below 0.3%, forcing farmers to destroy their crops, according to a News Channel 5 report. Seth Fuller, co-owner of Nashland Farms, said that he has twice had his crops tested by the TDA and it twice “come back hot.”

“The last couple months have proven to be stressful and destructive for the hemp industry.” – Fuller to News Channel 5

Fuller said the crops tested slightly over the 0.3% limit for THC and since they couldn’t get the levels down, the crops were burned.

“It’s a very sad day at Nashland Farms,” Fuller said in the report. “There are a lot of people who helped maintain this crop to help get it to its potential and there are a lot of people waiting to get this crop to help with ailments and everybody is kind of losing in this case. So, we’re trying to create a win and educate the general public and try to destigmatize hemp as a whole.”

Denise Woods, Hemp Program Coordinator for TDA, said the agency was trying to help farmers, including allowing for some remediation, but the agency’s hands are tied by federal law.

“There’s a lot of variables that no one can control with any part of agriculture, but especially hemp that affects the levels of THC,” she told News Channel 5. “When the [U.S. Department of Agriculture] said in their final rule that it’s 0.3% THC, that’s what we have to go by.”

In the past three years, the state has lost about 3,000 hemp producers, which fell from 4,000 statewide to just over 1,000, the reports says. Woods indicated that many of the hemp growers who stopped did so because they weren’t committed to trying to keep their crop under the 0.3% THC threshold.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly the 0.3% federal threshold for hemp crops was for THCa, not THC.

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Maryland House Passes Bill for Voter Referendum on Cannabis Legalization 

3/01/2022

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The Maryland House of Delegates on Friday approved a bill that would allow voters to decide in November whether to legalize cannabis for adults, the Baltimore Sun reports. The proposal, which still requires Senate approval, leaves regulatory details up to the General Assembly were voters to approve the reforms. It would take effect July 2023.

A Goucher College poll conducted last March found two-thirds of Maryland voters support cannabis legalization, including 77% of Democrats (18% opposed), 50% of Republicans (47% opposed), and 60% of independents (34% opposed).

Democratic Del. Luke Clippinger, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, told the Sun that the bill amounts to “important first steps” to cannabis reforms in the state, including reversing cannabis-related convictions. Currently, possession of 10 grams or more of cannabis is a misdemeanor in Maryland, which can be met with six months imprisonment and a fine of up to $1,000. First-time offenders caught with less than 10 grams are subject to a $100 fine, the report says.

“Those thousands of incarcerations have not made us safer,” he said in the report.

According to a legislative analysis, in 2020, there were 1,072 arrests in Maryland for low-level possession, of which 59% of people were Black, 39% white, and 2% Asian. The report found that Black Marylanders are twice as likely to be arrested for cannabis possession compared with their share of the state’s population (29%).

A companion bill, which was also approved on Friday, would allow people charged only with cannabis possession to have their records expunged from the Maryland Judiciary Case Search website and the state’s criminal records database, while those currently incarcerated could apply to the court to have their sentence reduced to time served. The legislation would allow individuals over 21-years-old to possess up to 1.5 ounces of cannabis after July 1, 2023, while amounts from between 1.5 ounces to 2.5 ounces would be reduced to a civil offense instead of a misdemeanor, the report says.

Republican Gov. Larry Hogan has not taken a position on the reforms but has indicated he would prefer a voter referendum over a legislative decision. The bills move next to the Senate.

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Washington State Lawmakers Considering Bills to Regulate or Ban Synthetic THC

3/01/2022

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With about two weeks left in the state’s legislative session, Washington lawmakers are considering two bills to outlaw or regulate synthetic THC products, such as delta-8 THC, the Peninsula Daily News reports. Both bills have bipartisan support; one would ban the products entirely and the other would prohibit their sale outside of cannabis retailers but convene a scientific panel that may recommend ways to authorize their sale in the future.

Democratic state Sen. Karen Keiser, who is sponsoring the broad ban bill with Republican Mark Schoesler, told the Daily News that the unregulated synthetic cannabinoid products are “a public health danger and a threat, and it needs to be removed.”

Washington’s Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) last year barred all synthetically derived THC products from the state’s legal cannabis market over fears that competition from the cheap ingredients produced from hemp grown out of state would push many of the state’s licensed, regulated cannabis growers out of business, the report says, noting that at least 17 states have passed full bans in the past year.

LCB Chairman David Postman told the Daily News that the bills before the Legislature is the state’s “best, and perhaps only, chance this year to get the laws necessary to regulate the burgeoning world of the novel and minor cannabinoids.”

The move to implement a ban on the sale of synthetic cannabinoid products at non-cannabis retailers, such as gas stations and smoke shops, is backed by the Washington CannaBusiness Association. While there is some disagreement whether the products belong in the regulated cannabis market, the group is concerned whether the legislation would give the LCB authority over “impairing” cannabinoids without adequately defining what that means, which could create uncertainty for regulated businesses, the report says.

Neither bill has yet been considered by lawmakers.

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Cannabis Product Prices Drop Amid Rising Inflation

2/28/2022

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Despite rising inflation, the cost of cannabis products has declined over the past year, according to data from cannabis analytics firm Headset outlined by CNN. Flower prices fell 16.7% per gram, edible prices dropped 11.8% per milligram of THC, and the price of vape products fell 12.4% per milligram, according to the Headset analysis, which tracked sales in California, Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington State.

Andrew Livingston, director of economics and research at Vicente Sederberg LLP, told CNN that because cannabis is federally outlawed, individual states create their own rules and regulations for the market and, therefore, prices are more heavily dependent on in-state demand. Rather than attributing the drop to “no inflation,” he said, “there are other factors at work that would overwhelm the inflationary signals.”

Theresa Ekman, supply chain coordinator for Native Roots, said that the company is “ordering smarter,” noting that the company has had to increase its wages by 14% during the coronavirus pandemic.

“There’s been so many other unfortunate, negative influences with regards to this pandemic that we really did not want to be one of those. We wanted to be able to continue to… maintain the same prices to keep our customers happy.” — Ekman to CNN

Kika Keith, the owner of Gorilla RX, said that she does not plan to increase prices at her Los Angeles retail dispensary because of “how inflation affects the disproportionately impacted communities and the disenfranchised.”

Gorilla and other operators did launch a box with a variety of products from Black-owned brands, called the Black Box Project, for a discounted price. Keith said the project looked toward “cooperative economics” which she described as “the beauty that’s coming up — the rose that’s coming from the concrete.”

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Arizona Community Colleges Get $31M from Cannabis Taxes

2/28/2022

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Arizona’s 10 community college districts received more than $31 million from cannabis-derived taxes collected last year, the Associated Press reports. The state’s legalization law created a 16% excise tax on sales, of which about one-third is earmarked for Arizona community colleges.

Colleges can use the funds for workforce development, STEM, and certain other education programs.

The funding is about equal to the size of Republican Gov. Doug Ducey’s plan to use $30 million in federal funds toward six new workforce accelerators throughout the state’s community colleges.

The state’s largest community college system, Maricopa Community Colleges, received more than $17 million from the cannabis tax fund last year. It told the AP it plans to use the funds for workforce programs and potentially uses $5 million to help cover workforce-related expenses or STEM due to budget shortfalls.

Pima Community College, the second-largest system, received $3.9 million and plans to use the funds for capital projects to expand and remodel health professions spaces and science labs, spokesperson Libby Howell told the AP.

Cochise College, which received over $2 million last year, is using the funds to significantly expand its first responders’ academy offerings, it told the AP.

Mandy Heil, the spokesperson for Arizona Western College which received $1.7 million, told the AP that the college plans to use the funds toward the $35 million in revenue bonds it was issued to update facilities, including for programs in e-gaming, cybersecurity, and allied health.

Yavapai College received $1.4 million and spokesperson Tyler Rumsey said the college plans to expand services at the college’s Regional Economic Development Center, which helps foster economic development, workforce growth, and regional collaboration programs.

Central Arizona College CFO Chris Wodka said the school would use its $1.3 million toward public safety program initiatives, such as improving the driving track and shooting range, police equipment, ammunition, and other supplies and that the college will spend the rest on STEM and workforce development programs.

Mohave Community College received $1.1 million which it plans to help fund the construction of an advanced manufacturing training center at the Kingman Airport Industrial Park and may also use the money to expand career and technical education and STEM programs based on northwestern Arizona workforce needs, spokesperson James Jarman told the AP.

Eastern Arizona College said it plans to use its $1 million from the cannabis sales tax money to help build a skills center for multiple workforce development programs for in-demand, local, careers, spokesperson Kris McBride said in the report.

Other colleges received less than $1 million, including Coconino Community College ($930,000), Northland Pioneer College ($900,000), and the Gila and Santa Cruz county provisional community college districts ($228,000 and $112,000, respectively), which indicated they would use the funds for work development programs.

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Atlantic City, New Jersey Official Pushing for Consumption Lounges

2/28/2022

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An official in Atlantic City, New Jersey is asking the state’s cannabis regulators to consider large-scale consumption areas within the city, claiming the state’s biggest convention town “needs special provisions to capitalize” on the new marketplace, the Press of Atlantic City reports. Kashawn McKinley, director of constituent services for Atlantic City, made the request during a virtual meeting with the Cannabis Regulatory Commission last week, noting that Atlantic City is the convention capital of the East Coast and that the cannabis industry “will be driven by conventions.”

During the meeting, regulators discussed the possibility of consumption lounges, including calls from the public to remove restrictions on sites selling non-alcoholic beverages and snacks. Dr. Suzaynn Schick of the University of California’s Center for Tobacco Control, Research and Education, who was invited by the board, said that studies in California found that the number of particles in indoor cannabis consumption areas was “off the scale” even in spaces that had installed new ventilation systems. She said that low levels of exposure to smoke — including the smoke from cannabis — can be dangerous, even if it remains an open question whether cannabis smoke is less dangerous than tobacco smoke.

McKinley also argued that consumption lounges should be accessible because cannabis is not permitted for individuals who are in public housing and that its use could result in an eviction.

“If it is illegal to consume in public housing and in public, then cannabis is still illegal for an entire sector of our community,” he said during the meeting.

During the meeting, the commission did approve a uniform warning label for cannabis products – a stop sign next to a stylized cannabis leaf in a triangle and the words “not safe for kids.” The mark will be imprinted onto products to indicate they include cannabis.

While the state has missed its February 22 statutory deadline to allow adult-use sales, last week Gov. Phil Murphy (D) said last week that he hoped the market would launch in March.

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California Bill Would Eliminate Cannabis Cultivation Tax & Raise Retail Tax

2/25/2022

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A proposed bill in California would suspend the state’s cannabis cultivation tax while increasing the retail excise tax in order to maintain neutrality with state revenues. The measure, co-sponsored by Democrat Assemblymember Bill Quirk and Republican Assemblymember Tom Lackey, comes following an increase in the state’s cultivation tax, which took effect January 1.

“Previous efforts to initiate tax relief for the legal cannabis industry have, unfortunately, failed passage in the Legislature. The reality is that a viable approach will have to account for its impact on state revenue. This proposal to consolidate taxes on cannabis is crucial to fulfilling fiscal responsibilities of the state while successfully phasing out the cultivation tax, which is applied whether or not the product is actually sold.” – Quirk in a press release

The cultivation tax is imposed at the beginning of the supply chain and is included in the wholesale cost of goods as it passes through manufacturers and distributors. The tax compounds as other state and local taxes apply, which enlarges the original tax burden by as much as 50% by the time it reaches end consumers, Quirk’s office said. The state and local taxes imposed on cannabis is one of the many factors that make legal cannabis more expensive than cannabis from the illicit market.

Quirk’s office pointed to a 2019 report by the state Legislative Analyst’s Office, How High? Adjusting California’s Cannabis Taxes, which found that the current weight-based cultivation tax is ineffective towards reducing harmful cannabis use, stabilizing tax revenues, and easing industry compliance. The report ultimately recommended the elimination of the cultivation tax and estimated that a revenue-neutral approach would likely suffice to fund programs identified under the state’s legalization law.

The bill was introduced on February 17 but has not yet been sent to any committee; however, according to state data could be heard in a House committee on March 20. If approved. the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration would implement the change by July 1, 2023.

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New Jersey Govenor Says Adult-Use Cannabis Sales Could Begin ‘Within Weeks’

2/25/2022

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New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) said on Wednesday that adult-use cannabis sales in the state could start “within weeks,” NJ.com reports. Murphy’s comments come after the state missed the statutory February 22 deadline to launch the market.

“If I had to predict, we are within weeks – I would hope in March – you would see implicit movement on the medical dispensaries, some of them being able to sell recreational. They’ve got to prove they’ve got the supply for their medical customers. I hope shortly thereafter, the standalone recreational marijuana operators.” –  Murphy during his radio show on WBGO, via NJ.com

The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission is still reviewing industry applications. Jeff Brown, the commission’s executive director, said that officials are still facing challenges to get the program rolling, including a lack of municipal buy-in. The state’s cannabis law requires cannabis industry operators to get support from local officials in writing before they can begin their operations. During a January meeting, Brown indicated that “supply continues to be an issue.”

During his radio show, Murphy added that it’s “better to be right than fast” while discussing the launch of adult-use sales.

“And God willing, that’s what we’re gonna get,” he said.

The state rules do not allow personal cannabis cultivation and, as of August, as many as half of the state’s municipalities have opted out of allowing industry operations.

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New Mexico Supreme Court Says Medical Cannabis Cannot be Taxed

2/25/2022

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The New Mexico Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that medical cannabis purchases in the state are not subject to the state’s gross receipts tax, letting stand a decision by a lower court, the Associated Press reports. The court’s decision came just days before arguments were set to be presented in the case.

Medical cannabis producers in the state had requested tax refunds in 2014 and in 2018 but the state Taxation and Revenue Department had denied those claims. In 2020, New Mexico Court of Appeals Judge M. Monica Zamora ruled that medical cannabis should be treated like other prescriptions, which are not taxed, the report says. Ultra Health, one of the state’s largest medical cannabis producers, which had filed the original lawsuits, had not been charging patients taxes, and instead had been absorbing the taxes. The company said that it would receive a $7.4 million refund plus interest following the Supreme Court ruling.

“It is reasonably self-evident that the deduction from gross receipts for prescription drugs was similarly intended to make medical treatment more accessible, by lessening the expense to those who require it. These statutes should be read harmoniously, to give effect to their commonality of purpose.” – Zamora, in her 2020 opinion, via the AP

Others in the industry estimate that the state has collected between $25 million and $30 million in gross recipes from medical cannabis producers.

Charlie Moore, a spokesman for the Taxation and Revenue Department, said the agency was disappointed with the Supreme Court’s decision to not hear the case but would “respect the decision and will move forward to issue refunds to the affected taxpayers once the court’s decision is mandated to become final.”

New Mexico launched its medical cannabis program in 2007 and, as of January, the program had more than 130,340 enrolled patients, according to state Department of Health data.

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Medical Cannabis Sales in Arkansas Surpass $20M In January

2/25/2022

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Arkansas, one of a growing number of states in the South with full plant medical cannabis, started 2022 with bumper sales numbers, according to a KATV report. In January, patients spent $20.53 million at the state’s 37 dispensaries, which averages to $5,500 a pound for the 3,731 pounds sold in that month. The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration indicated that the medical cannabis tax increased state coffers by $2.84 million in the same period.

Since the start of medical cannabis sales, 82,696 registered patients have bought more than 76,000 pounds of cannabis and paid the state $60.19 million in taxes, the report says. Last year, it took nine months to produce $25 million in total sales, according to KATV.

The 6.5% sales tax and the 4% wholesale tax on cannabis sold from cultivators to dispensaries go mostly to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences National Cancer Designation Trust. The largest monthly amount collected from the sales tax was in May 2021, when patients paid $1.63 million to the state, KATV notes.

Fifty-three percent of Arkansas voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2016 to allow medical cannabis for people with at least one of 17 qualifying conditions and create a state Medical Marijuana Commission to oversee the effort.

Activists are hoping to put two adult-use constitutional amendment questions on 2022 ballots. Sponsored by True Grass Arkansas and known as the Arkansas Recreational Marijuana Amendment of 2022, one of the measures would legalize adult-use cannabis for adults aged 21 or older. NORML is working on a second push for a Constitutional Amendment with many of the same goals, but the Arkansas Adult Use and Expungement Marijuana Amendment includes a six-plant home cultivation provision.

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Cannabias: Understanding the Anti-Cannabis Bias Found in News Media

2/24/2022

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Editor’s note: Anyone who has been working in the cannabis industry is familiar with how “wrong” the mainstream media usually gets it when they write about cannabis policy or the industry. This article from our resident journalist TG Branfalt outlines the inspiration, purpose, and methodology of his new series “Cannabias” — an ongoing column where he analyzes the work of mainstream news outlets using an academic framework to prove the existence of anti-cannabis biases in their reporting. For a detailed explanation of the analytical framework and bias type definitions, click here.

During my graduate studies at the College of Saint Rose, I noticed a problem with journalism and reporting that became so bothersome that I decided to focus my master’s thesis on it – there was scant academic analyses of media bias.

Sure, there are websites and outfits that claim to “hold the media accountable” but the problem is that they are partisan. They have a dog in the fight and want news coverage to walk that dog and meet their preferred narrative. Those websites rely on political action committees and other political groups for funding. While they claim to call out bias on one hand, the other hand writes biased articles.

My master’s thesis was pretty simple, using bias measures created by Ole Holsti (Content Analysis for the Social Sciences and Humanities, 1969) I analyzed mainstream media coverage of Third Party – and outsider – presidential candidates, from John B. Anderson in 1980 to former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson in 2012. The results were what I expected: major party candidates got more and better coverage than their outsider counterparts.

For me, that research helped me be as unbiased as possible in my own reporting, whether at the newswire organization Reuters, the right-leaning PJ Media (who refused to rehire me for the 2016 election because I provided just-the-facts reporting), the Legislative Gazette in Albany, New York, or for the carwash magazine I served as managing editor for until their multinational parent company shut it down. And, sure – have I crossed into the world of opinion with my news reporting once or twice with Ganjapreneur? Probably, but only when I feel it helps context or it’s a narrative.

Shortly after I started teaching at an upstate New York college in 2018, my department chair at the time learned about my interest in media bias and how I had incorporated Holsti into my classes. He asked me if I wanted to revive a class that no one else had interest in teaching, Criticism of the News, and emphasize media bias with the curriculum. I, obviously, jumped at the opportunity.

In developing the course I realized fairly quickly that some of the same issues I dealt with for my master’s thesis persisted: there wasn’t a whole lot of academic research on the topic, and most websites claiming to do this type of commentary were deeply partisan. (Although, I would like to give credit to Pew and Poynter as beacons of light in this area of study.)

It took months of reviewing textbooks before I found the book I now require for the class – Evaluating Media Bias (Schiffer, Adam). The text, like Content Analysis, provides a pathway for objectively determining when something is actually biased, as opposed to a prejudiced opinion that it is biased due to one’s own disagreement with the content. Since 2019, I have been teaching my students how to use this academic approach to identify bias objectively.

Now, it’s hard to divorce myself from “media studies instructor” and “cannabis industry reporter,” and until New York legalized adult-use cannabis the latter wasn’t something I made very public, instead opting for “I cover a specialized and emerging industry.” But it’s not very hard to figure out what that is exactly with a simple Google search, and some students who did some digging became quite interested in what has been primarily my beat since 2012. Those students would, then, write many of their critiques on cannabis-related stories. Needless to say, those critiques fascinated me because I was always laser-focused on politics, media partisanship, and the decay of “just the facts” journalism.

Cannabis industry reporting by mainstream news is plagued by bias, primarily because most reporters aren’t familiar with the industry, just don’t care, or have preconceived ‘War on Drugs’ notions – inherent biases – that bleed into their reporting. They don’t know the history of why the term “marijuana” was pushed on white Americans in the 1930’s, and may not even be aware of the politically-motivated roots of the Nixon-era Drug War.

I want to get mainstream reporters to speak the same language as activists and stakeholders, rather than to deride them when their reporting falls short of fairness (like the partisan “media watchdogs” do.) My goal with Cannabias is more to offer solutions for how reporters and news outlets can better cover this industry. When I penned my first cannabis-related story for Reuters in 2014, I had no idea it would encompass the bulk of my reporting and writing work for the next seven-plus years. I’m sure many in the news industry are still finding their footing in this space – and that’s okay.

For the cannabis industry to thrive, the reporting around it needs to be truthful, unbiased, and to provide context. Journalists need to be held accountable, yes, but they also need a framework that illuminates where they went wrong and how they can improve. That’s where, I hope, Cannabias can be a tool for change and help reporters, activists, and industry stakeholders speak the same language when it comes to representations of the plant and the policies around it.        

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Analysis framework

Mission Statement: Cannabias intends to use a neutral lens of media bias to critique and analyze cannabis news coverage. We will rely on methodologies from social science to perform this task in an effort to make reporters, and their organizations, better at covering the industry in an unbiased manner.

“I.B.E.” or Ideal, Baseline, Evidence: This method is useful in determining the bias of a news story by defining your terms as someone who is analyzing content. Bias occurs when the news deviates from an ideal — an ‘ideal’ is how the coverage would look if it were truly neutral.

IDEAL: How should the story look if it were truly devoid of bias?
Wire services such as the Associated Press or Reuters are often the best example of neutrality; although not always.

BASELINE: A specific example of coverage that upholds the ideal
You may define a baseline if unable to find a representative sample; however, you must ensure your baseline is not driven by your own confirmation bias. 

EVIDENCE: What we use to prove that the coverage deviates from the ideal and baseline
Without evidence, you cannot prove bias.

Ole Holsti bias types

Ole Holsti was an American political scientist who wrote about the problem of bias in writing that is supposed to be factual, including a book on the subject, titled Content Analysis for the Social Sciences and Humanities. He identifies five specific types of bias that we will be citing in our analysis of cannabis news coverage:

  • ATTRIBUTION: (1) The traits emphasized by the media; (2) who the media attributes a quote to
  • ADJECTIVE and ADVERBIAL: The nature of descriptive language used (often used to prove other bias types)
  • CONTEXTUAL: The framing of the coverage (event, subject, person, etc.)
  • OUTRIGHT OPINION: Author construing opinion as fact in a hard news story
  • PHOTOGRAPHIC: Images/videos that accompany the reporting

Bias types in Evaluating Media Bias

Published in 2017, the book Evaluating Media Bias by Adam J. Schiffer identifies numerous forms of bias that can be detected in mainstream media, which we will also be referencing in the context of cannabis coverage:

  • PARTISAN: Organization or reporter showing bias toward one political party or the other without a pattern of such bias
  • STRUCTURAL: (1) News organization, by-and-large, supports one political party, issue, or ideology; (2) News organization has historically shown that it does not have the expertise to accurately report issue
  • OMISSION: Organization or reporter leaving out necessary information to help frame the issue (also an element of Holsti’s context bias) (2) fails to provide relevant context
  • GATEKEEPING: (1) One side’s issue received more coverage than the other side’s newsworthy issue; (2) Story only includes “official” or unnamed sources
  • COVERAGE: Outlet gives one issue more or less coverage than it deserves either in a story or as a part of its usual coverage or narrative
  • TONE: ‘Voice’ of the article (requires proof from other bias types)
  • QUALITY: Potential factual errors that favor one side
  • SIMPLICITY: Oversimplification unwittingly benefiting one side
  • NOVELTY: Topics or people that are covered because they are strange but may not be newsworthy. (When dog bites man, it isn’t news, but when man bites dog it is news)
  • FALSE or MANUFACTURED: In attempting to include both sides, the truth got lost

Also, remember confirmation bias: We tend to believe and remember information that adheres to our own beliefs. In presenting Cannabias analyses, we must be sure to look at these issues through the social science lens and prove our positions, rather than rely on how something makes us feel (feelings are not social science). Sure, we all believe that cannabis prohibition and the resulting mass incarceration of this policy is wrong, illegitimate, and unjust; however, it is the job of Cannabias to remain as neutral as possible in our critique and to focus on facts that provably demonstrate flaws and shortcomings in the coverage that we analyze.

To read about the articles we’ve analyzed so far, click here.

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Mississippi Minority Cannabis Association: Education & Training for a Diverse Cannabis Industry

2/24/2022

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The Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act was signed into law in early February 2022 after a long fight for safe access to medical cannabis. In response to impending legalization, the Mississippi Minority Cannabis Association (MMCA) is empowering their community with the tools to get involved in the industry on the ground floor. MMCA engages with minority communities in Mississippi in a double-sided approach to education. In one initiative they educate individual community members on the healing properties of medical cannabis. They take the time to teach people one-on-one about cannabis medicine. On the other side, they serve as a knowledge hub for Black and Brown entrepreneurs and farmers who want to break into the cannabis space. Each side of their approach is a step towards building prosperity in minority communities in Mississippi with cannabis business.

Ganjapreneur interviewed MMCA board members Beverly Magee Commodore, Ph.D., and Cedric Anderson, along with Executive Director Tywan Arrington to learn more. “We’re taking a cooperative approach. We’re networking with other growers and other farmers across the country as well as trying to help the local community, helping them become self-sustainable. We want to make sure that they pass down wealth, not debt, to their family members,” said Mr. Arrington.

Once it became clear that medical cannabis was coming to Mississippi, MMCA leaders traveled to adult-use states like California and Illinois to see what had worked and what hadn’t in their legalization efforts. They originally set out to learn about social equity initiatives and discovered that Black and Brown people make up a very small percentage of this industry. Their leadership team then realized the importance of an education component in their efforts. When they returned home, their focus turned to educating Black and Brown communities on medical cannabis and cannabis business.

“What we’ve found a lot of the times where there was a gap or a missing component, is that the problem was that people were not trained properly. Or they were not trained how to set their business up or how to be successful. So knowing that that has been an ongoing problem from one state to another, we want to be a part of the solution before it becomes a problem in the state of Mississippi. Training, education —those are our big flag poles when it comes to MMCA as an association,” said Dr. Commodore. MMCA can help minority-owned cannabis businesses avoid these roadblocks and tap into the potential capital from the very start of the industry.

Dr. Commodore gives a presentation at a recent event. Photo credit: MMCA

Association members receive invites to educational meetings where they learn the business from the ground up. MMCA seeks to provide top to bottom education on how to set up a cannabis business in Mississippi including a step-by-step process to getting an EIN, writing a business plan, down to marketing, labeling, and packaging. In terms of agriculture, they show how equipment that farmers may already have can work for cannabis and hemp cultivation. They called their first educational meeting after visiting adult-use states to prepare members for what lies ahead, predicting that cannabis would be an industry regulated far more than farming sweet potatoes or corn.

They have grown their presence organically with support from a larger farmers co-op. The co-op has also served as an example of preserving market share for small farmers. A co-op structure is not possible with the current law but MMCA is still building a cooperative group with their association members. In one case, a member submitted a question about the soil in Central Mississippi, and another member who farmed in Central MS answered them. Building this hub of people who can share knowledge makes the co-founders of MMCA proud of what they’re building. In the short time MMCA has been in operation, they have established a hub of minority cannabis entrepreneurs who will be prepared to enter the medical cannabis space once the regulatory framework is developed.

The association also stays in the conversation at the capitol as policy develops in the state. They want to ensure that policy written for this legislation does not exclude minorities or those formerly incarcerated for cannabis sales or possession. Social equity and expungement measures aren’t yet a part of the policy, and that is another area of focus: “We’ve made it known that we’re going to be a think tank group that is going to be in the midst of always pushing for the social equity piece. Because social equity equals economic equity from our viewpoint,” Mr. Anderson said.

The MMCA leadership team will continue advocating for their space in these conversations as they push for minority inclusion and social equity measures. Preserving market share for Black and Brown business ownership will filter more income into Black and Brown communities, building an equitable future for generations to come.

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Report: Cannabis Industry Employment Grew 33% In 2021

2/24/2022

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Leafly, in partnership with Whitney Economics, has published its sixth annual cannabis jobs report, the Seattle-based cannabis technology company shared in a press release.

The Leafly Jobs Report 2022, which looked at the 11 states with legal adult-use cannabis and the 27 states where medical cannabis is permitted, found that cannabis industry jobs increased 33% in 2021. Leafly says 2021 was the fifth year in a row the sector saw an annual growth rate greater than 27%. Additionally, the analysis found the cannabis industry currently employs 428,059 Americans and generated nearly $25 billion in sales last year, or about one-quarter of the country’s predicted total cannabis market. The report also predicts that the U.S. cannabis industry will someday employ about 1.5 to 1.75 million people — nearly four times many as today — and that the industry will be generating about $45 billion in annual sales by 2025.

“Since 2014, when the nation’s first adult-use cannabis stores opened, the industry has created hundreds of thousands of new American jobs – and there are still plenty more yet to be created. We know the potential cannabis has as both an economic driver and force for good, and it’s heartening to see employment numbers continue to reflect this strong growth. Leafly is proud to step up and fill the gap created by a lack of federal reporting, and to advocate for federal legalization that’s equitable and accessible to all communities.” — Leafly CEO Yoko Miyashita, in a press release

One of the main issues currently facing cannabis employers — like any other industry during what is being called the “Great Resignation” — is finding applicants to fill open positions. This issue could be exacerbated with states like New York, New Jersey, New Mexico and Connecticut opening their first stores in the near future, the press release says.

Other fun facts included in the report:

  • There are more people employed in the U.S. cannabis industry than there are hairstylists, barbers, and cosmetologists, combined.
  • There are three times as many cannabis workers in the U.S. as dentists.
  • The industry’s impressive hiring numbers pencil out to 280 jobs created per day and someone was hired for a cannabis-supported job every two minutes of the workday.

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Florida Officials Seek to Ban Physician Accused of Violating State’s Medical Cannabis Law

2/24/2022

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Health officials in Florida are asking an administrative law judge to permanently ban a physician from recommending medical cannabis for patients, suspend his medical license for five years, and fine him $10,000 following an investigation that found he violated state law by not performing physicals on undercover agents posing as patients seeking medical cannabis cards, WFSU Public Media reports.

The proposed penalties by the Health Department against Joseph Dorn — who has practiced in Florida for more than 30 years — date back to a 2019 complaint alleging that the physician violated state law by failing to conduct physical examinations of “Patient O.G.” and “Patient B.D.” The department also accuses him of employing a “trick or scheme” in the practice of medicine, the report says.

Ryan Andrews, Dorn’s attorney, said his client didn’t do anything wrong and that the Department of Health “intentionally” tricked Dorn “into ordering medical marijuana for B.D. and O.G. based on their presentation of unlawful falsehoods concerning their qualifying conditions (i.e., PTSD and anxiety, inter alia),” according to a proposed recommended order outlined by WFSU.

Health Department attorneys argue that Dorn failed to “appropriately vet his patients” and follow a 2017 law requiring doctors to use certain procedures before determining whether patients are eligible for medical cannabis.

“Instead of recognizing this responsibility, the respondent (Dorn) used his designation as a qualified physician to liberally qualify patients to receive medical marijuana by only performing perfunctory consultations and ignoring many of the requirements imposed by the Legislature,” said the agency’s lawyers in their proposed recommended order.

Andrews added in his recommended order that the Florida Health Department doesn’t include facts about any of Dorn’s many genuine patients. Instead, because the undercover agents lied about their conditions, “it was impossible for Dr. Dorn to have concluded that the benefits of medical marijuana outweighed the risks for O.G. and B.D., placing Dr. Dorn in a position of ‘heads I win tails you lose’ in favor of the health department.”

Administrative Law Judge W. David Watkins, who held a hearing in Dorn’s case in October, is considering the proposed recommended orders, which were submitted last Thursday.

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Oregon Lawmakers Consider Letting One County Raise Local Cannabis Taxes

2/24/2022

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Lawmakers in Oregon are considering a bill to allow some municipalities in the province to raise local taxes on adult-use cannabis from the 3% cap to no more than 10%, the Argus Observer reports. If the bill is passed, voters would have the final say in approving the measure during the General Election.

The bill would allow cities in counties with a population of 30,000 or more and border a state where cannabis remains outlawed to raise the tax rate, the report says. State Sen. Lynn Findley (R) said during a Monday work session on the legislation that there are three counties in Oregon which border Idaho, where cannabis is illegal, but only one – Malheur County – has a population that would meet the bill’s requirements; and in the county, only Ontario meets those requirements.

“It only affects one county and one city. It’s about as narrow as we can get and still be legal to legislative counsel,” Findley said during the session. He told the Observer that the leader of the state House, who killed the bill last year, said she would support the measure if it included the county and city limits.

“By narrowing it to Malheur County, it will make it more palatable to my colleagues.” — Findley to the Observer

The amended proposal now moves to the Senate floor where it could be taken up this week.

The state’s Finance and Revenue Committee also held a public hearing on a measure that aims to relieve counties and cities that lost state cannabis revenues due to the passage of a separate bill that diverted some of those funds for drug treatment programs. That bill would allow the formula for distribution for cannabis revenue to be adjusted annually for inflation.

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MedMen Withdraws Allegations that Ascend Influenced New York Politicians

2/24/2022

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Lawyers for Ascend Wellness Holdings said that its legal rival MedMen has moved to withdraw its allegations that Ascend executives put political pressure on Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D) administration to approve the transfer of MedMen’s medical cannabis license to Ascend, amNY reports. Ascend, a cannabis operator hoping to set up operations in New York which purchased MedMen’s New York operations for $73 million, filed a lawsuit in state court last month against MedMen, a multi-state cannabis company, that claimed the defendant had not fulfilled that contract.

MedMen had filed a counterclaim accusing Ascend of pressuring Hochul’s administration and claimed Ascend executives had met with state officials and donated money to the governor’s campaign in an effort to get the deal done; Ascend has denied those allegations and last week provided evidence supporting that position, the report says.

Mylan Denerstein, a lawyer representing Ascend, told amNY that counsel for MedMen has agreed to withdraw that allegation.

“Like any house of cards, MedMen’s claims collapsed when exposed to the slightest scrutiny. Ascend will continue to correct the record and looks forward to entering New York’s cannabis market once its rights are vindicated in court.” — Denerstein in a statement via amNY

Ascend submitted to the court logs and a hotel receipt that show Ascend’s president Andrew Brown providing legal counsel and staying at a hotel in Albany on the day that MedMen accused him of attending the Manhattan fundraiser for Hochul and submitted a receipt that showed CEO Abner Kurtin to be in Florida the day of an alleged meeting with the governor’s secretary.

MedMen did not comment on the withdrawal of the allegations.

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54K Acres of Industrial Hemp Planted in 2021, Worth $712M

2/23/2022

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In 2021, 54,200 acres of hemp were planted for industrial purposes in the U.S, valued at $712 million with 33,500 total acres harvested for industrial purposes, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Hemp Report. Hemp flower production last year was valued at $623 million with farmers cultivating 16,000 acres, with an average yield of 1,235 pounds per acre and a total of 19.7 million pounds grown for flower, the report says.

The production of hemp grown for fiber purposes was estimated by the USDA at 33.2 million pounds over 12,700 acres, with an average yield of 2,620 pounds per acre. The USDA estimates the fiber sector value at $41.4 million.

Production of hemp grown for seed in 2021 was estimated at 1.86 million pounds, with 3,515 acres being used for hemp seed. The USDA reports estimates an average yield of 530 pounds per acre, with a total value of $41.5 million.

The agency report indicates that Colorado led the U.S. in acres of planted hemp with 10,100 but Montana harvested the most hemp – 4,500 acres on 7,900 acres planted, the second-highest hemp acreage total planted in the U.S. in 2021. Hemp acreage planted in Texas and Oklahoma each reached 2,800 acres, with 1,070 acres of hemp harvested in Texas while in Oklahoma just 275 acres were harvested.

The report notes that last year, 27 states operated under federal guidelines provided by the 2018 Farm Bill instead of implementing state rules, while 22 states operated under state regulations allowed under the 2014 Farm Bill. All of the tribes that cultivated hemp last year operated under the 2018 regime. Only Idaho did not have a regulated hemp program last year but state officials began issuing licenses last month.

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Ayr Wellness Announces ‘Changing Legacies,’ A Series of Expungement Events

2/23/2022

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Company Teams Up with Community Partners in MA, NY, NJ, IL and NV to Assist Individuals in Obtaining a Fresh Start

MIAMI, February 22, 2022 – Ayr Wellness Inc. (CSE: AYR.A, OTCQX: AYRWF) (“Ayr” or the “Company”), a leading vertically integrated U.S. multi-state cannabis operator (“MSO”), today announced the launch of Changing Legacies, a series of record expungement clinics scheduled to take place on February 27, 2022.

As part of the series, Ayr has partnered with numerous not-for-profit and community organizations with expertise in social justice and legal and criminal justice reform. The Company and its partners specifically designed each clinic to assist individuals in expunging cannabis and other non-violent crimes from their records, allowing an opportunity for a fresh start.

“Despite the legalization of cannabis across 35+ states – two-thirds of the US population – the criminal justice system still grapples with a host of issues related to the War on Drugs, which continues to disproportionately impact Black and Brown Americans,” said Jonathan Sandelman, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Ayr. “We believe it is critical to be part of the solution to these issues, addressing the harms of the past and creating opportunity for the future. The main objective of our ‘Changing Legacies’ program is to create an ecosystem of support, partnership and hope for that better future. We thank our partnering organizations for making an event like this possible.”

Ayr will host these expungement events in conjunction with local community partners in multiple states across the country. These events will serve as models for similar events going forward, expressing Ayr’s ongoing commitment to righting harms of the past and creating opportunities for the future.

Community partners play an essential role in promoting equity and fairness in cannabis in America, and Ayr is actively seeking more partnership opportunities for similar events in the future. If you are interested in collaborating with Ayr, please reach out to socialimpact@ayrwellness.com.

Ayr is currently calling on community organizations across the country that may be interested in hosting similar events in the future, and encourages them to reach out to the Company via socialimpact@ayrwellness.com. More information regarding Ayr’s Changing Legacies events, along with Ayr’s latest social impact activations, can be found on the Ayr Wellness Social Impact Instagram Page, @ayrsocialimpact.

*In Nevada, Ayr will be collecting donations at Nevada retail locations (The Dispensary NV and Mynt) between February 18 and March 4, which will directly support Project Clean Slate.

About Ayr Wellness Inc.
Ayr is an expanding vertically integrated, U.S. multi-state cannabis operator, focused on delivering the highest quality cannabis products and customer experience throughout its footprint. Based on the belief that everything starts with the quality of the plant, the Company is focused on superior cultivation to grow superior branded cannabis products. Ayr strives to enrich consumers’ experience every day through the wellness and wonder of cannabis.
Ayr’s leadership team brings proven expertise in growing successful businesses through disciplined operational and financial management, and is committed to driving positive impact for customers, employees and the communities they touch. For more information, please visit www.ayrwellness.com.

Company/Media Contact:
Robert Vanisko
VP, Corporate Communications
Email: robert.vanisko@ayrwellness.com

Investor Relations Contact:
Sean Mansouri, CFA
Elevate IR
Email: ayr@elevate-ir.com
Email: IR@ayrwellness.com

 

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New York Gov. Signs Bill Allowing Conditional Cannabis Cultivation Licenses

2/23/2022

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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) on Tuesday signed the bill creating conditional adult-use cannabis licenses which will allow current hemp cultivators in the state to apply for a license to grow adult-use cannabis during the 2022 growing season.

The bill was approved by the Legislature last week. Under the law, conditionally licensed cannabis farmers must meet certain requirements, including safe, sustainable, and environmentally friendly cultivation practices, participation in a social equity mentorship program, and engagement in a labor peace agreement with a bona fide labor organization. The bill is an effort to prevent shortages of cannabis when adult-use sales begin, likely sometime in 2023.

“I am proud to sign this bill, which positions New York’s farmers to be the first to grow cannabis and jumpstart the safe, equitable and inclusive new industry we are building. New York State will continue to lead the way in delivering on our commitment to bring economic opportunity and growth to every New Yorker in every corner of our great state.” – Hochul in a statement

Cannabis Control Board Chair Tremaine Wright said the timing of the bill is “critical” to the agency’s efforts to roll out the adult-use program and noted that the mentorship provisions “put equity and inclusion at the forefront of the new cannabis industry” in the state.

Office of Cannabis Management Executive Director Chris Alexander said the bill provides regulators “with the tools to make up for lost time.”

“With this bill, we’re putting New York farmers, not big corporations, at the forefront of our industry while protecting public health by delivering safely grown products,” he said in a statement. “We are immediately getting to work implementing the bill so that our farmers can start planting this spring.”

With a conditional adult-use cannabis cultivation license, farmers can grow outdoors or in a greenhouse for up to two years from the issuance of the license. It also allows them to manufacture and distribute cannabis flower products without holding an adult-use processor or distributor license, until June 1, 2023. Cultivators are limited to one acre (43,560 square feet) of flowering canopy outdoors or 25,000 square feet in a greenhouse and can use up to 20 artificial lights. They can also split between outdoor and greenhouse grows with a maximum total canopy of 30,000 square feet as long as the greenhouse flowering canopy remains under 20,000 square feet.

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Veriheal Acquires MarijuanaDoctors.com for $3M

2/23/2022

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Health technology company Veriheal has acquired MarijuanaDoctors.com in a $3 million deal, giving the firm the largest network of physicians in the medical cannabis space and expanding its network of strategic dispensary partnerships.

The revamped site will include secure electronic medical record tools, online appointment scheduling, 24/7 support via live chat and phone, and a larger network of doctors, the company said.

Anthony Dutcher, CMO at Veriheal, said that “the need for medical cannabis has exploded” amid the coronavirus pandemic. A survey by the company last year found during the pandemic, 55% of patients who applied for medical cannabis cards said their main reason for using cannabis was “to feel happy.”

“It is through the legitimizing of medical cannabis at the federal level where we will see profound growth in the medical markets financially, but also for widespread healing.” – Dutcher in a statement

Veriheal noted that the company has experienced 6,000% growth over a 4-year period, adding that it has spent five years building strong, HIPAA-compliant data technology solutions to help medical cannabis patients book appointments with licensed doctors who can certify for medical cannabis cards and wellness visits throughout the U.S.

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Psilocybin Regulations Bill Advancing In Oregon Senate

2/23/2022

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An Oregon Senate committee has passed a proposal to ensure the state’s emerging psilocybin program grows in a socially equitable manner, Marijuana Moment reports. Sponsored by state Sen. Lawrence Spence (D) and Rep. Wlnsvey Campos (D), the bicameral measure passed the Senate Human Services, Mental Health and Recovery Committee unanimously, with two members excused, earlier this month.

The measure seeks to create a 15-person task force made up of lawmakers, psilocybin regulators, experienced psychedelics treatment practitioners, and representatives of the indigenous community. Only one committee, Ways and Means, remains between the bill and a floor vote in the Senate.

Voters in Oregon passed the ballot measure to legalize psilocybin for therapeutic purposes in 2020. The measure legalized the “manufacture, delivery and administration” of the psychedelic compounds and rules have begun to emerge from the advisory board in charge of creating the system to regulate the drug which shows the state is leaning toward allowing only one species of mushroom, Psilocybe cubensis, for psilocybin manufacturing.

Additionally, early reporting shows synthetic psilocybin would not be permitted in Oregon, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.

“It is kind of a landmark moment because Oregon is the very first state to have created such a system of regulation,” Mason Marks, a member of Oregon’s psilocybin advisory board and a senior fellow on the Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation at Harvard Law School said in the report. “These are the very first draft rules that we’re seeing, so it really is a kind of pivotal event.”

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Wells Fargo Analyst: Trucker Shortage Due to Cannabis Prohibition

2/22/2022

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A top Wells Fargo analyst suggested that federally mandated drug testing for cannabis is contributing to the worker shortage and rising prices in the trucking industry, according to a Marijuana Moment. Wells Fargo’s Chief Equity Strategist Chris Harvey’s comments came during a conference call last week when Harvey described the drug tests as creating “a very tight market even worse” as more states legalize cannabis for adult use and said that the mandates exclude “a significant portion of that trucker industry.”

The comments were first reported by CNBC’s Carl Quintanilla on Twitter.

“If you’ve listened to one conference call or a thousand conference calls, what have you heard? Logistics, transportation costs, trucker costs all going higher and that’s going to continue to occur. And the reason being is very simple. And some of you know this and some, this may be new — it’s really about drug testing. We’ve legalized marijuana in some states but, obviously, not all but some. And what you have as a trucker is you have a federal mandate for drug testing.” — Harvey via Twitter

A New York Post report from last year found 72,000 truckers were removed from their jobs due to a failed drug test for cannabis. More recently, Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D) said during a House Rules Committee hearing that the labor shortage at the U.S. Postal Service could be due in part to federal cannabis prohibition, Marijuana Moment reported.

Activists and opponents both agree that it is not safe to operate a large truck while intoxicated; however, THC remains detectable on drug tests for as long as 30 days.

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