A woman doubled over in pain her backyard.

New York Assembly Committee Approves Adding Severe Menstrual Pain to MMJ List

6/01/2017

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The New York Assembly’s Health Committee approved a bill last week that would add dysmenorrhea as a qualifying condition for medical cannabis access, Newsweek reports. Dysmenorrhea is the medical term for severe pain and discomfort associated with menstruation.

The measure is sponsored in the Assembly by Democratic state Sen. Linda Rosenthal who has championed other women’s issues in the state legislature, such as a bill passed last year that removed sales taxes on feminine hygiene products in the state.

“I met with a force of a woman named Whoopi Goldberg, and she’s been a longtime expert on medical marijuana. I met with her and spoke with her, and she’s been passionate about easing women’s suffering by using medical marijuana,” Rosenthal said in the report. “I thought this was a great opportunity to create an impact with a passionate supporter and help women access something new that can help relieve what cripples some of them during that time of the month.”

Last year Goldberg partnered with Maya Elisabeth to launch Whoopi & Maya brand cannabis products that are geared toward combating menstrual pain.

Rosenthal explained that while some women experience “mild discomfort” during their menstrual cycle, some “can’t leave their bed for a week.”

“People are starting to understand that medical marijuana is a useful tool to relieve suffering and women’s suffering from severe menstrual cramps,” she said.

After being moved from the Health Committee, the full House will consider the plan. If approved, it will move to the Senate.

End

Conservative Canadian Lawmakers Oppose Home Cannabis Cultivation

6/01/2017

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Members of Canada’s Conservative Party are opposing home-growing provisions in the Liberal plan to legalize cannabis, arguing that home cultivation will make access to cannabis easier for children, the Canadian Press reports. Under the plan, Canadians would be allowed to grow up to four plants, which Conservative MP Rob Nicholson says runs counter to the policy goal of keeping cannabis out of the hands of minors. He is urging Liberal leaders to remove the provision from the measure.

“I can’t understand how the Liberals can be making this point that somehow, ‘Yes, we’re protecting our children here, and guess what? You’re only going to get four plants,’” he said in the report. “Get rid of that whole thing. Get the plants out of people’s houses here. Nobody wants that.”

Nicholson has proposed a motion to stop the bill from a second reading until the home grow provisions are removed from the proposal; however the House has neither allowed nor denied the request.

Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu expressed concerns that children could become “drug mules” in schools if individuals are allowed to grow cannabis in their homes, and suggested that “kids eat plants all the time” and would mistakenly eat the cannabis plants.

Liberal MP Bill Blair, parliamentary secretary to the minister of justice, said the current system fails to protect youth and the reforms, which limits cannabis purchases to adults 18-and-older, would make it harder for children to buy cannabis.

“It’s a fact our kids are using cannabis at a higher rate than any other country in the world, and the cannabis that they’re using, they’re getting from organized crime…they’re getting from criminals,” he said.

Previously, Canadian lawmakers have expressed concerns over the cost of the registry and enforcement measures, and what the tax rate on legal sales would be.

End

The Rhode Island State Capitol Building in Providence, Rhode Island.

Rhode Island Assembly to Vote on Creating Cannabis Legalization Committee

6/01/2017

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Lawmakers in Rhode Island are expected to vote on a measure today that would create a 17-member panel to “conduct a comprehensive review and make recommendations regarding marijuana and the effects of its use” to the General Assembly, laying the foundation for an adult-use legalization vote next session, the Providence Journal reports. The commission would be required to report its findings by Mar. 1, 2018.

The measure is sponsored by state Rep. Dennis Canario, a Democrat and retired police officer, and has the support of Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin and Smart Approaches to Marijuana – a group that opposes cannabis legalization.

The commission would be comprised of three senators and three representatives, providing that no more than two from each chamber are from the same political party; a representative from SAM, or a similar organization; a member of a pro-legalization group; the president of the Substance Abuse Mental Health Council of RI; the executive director of the Rhode Island Medical Society; the director of the state Department of Health; the president of the Rhode Island Police Chiefs Association; a member of the local chamber of commerce; an educator; a mental health professional; a representative of medical cannabis patients; and the attorney general.

The majority of the commission appointments would be made by the Senate president, while the remaining seats would be appointed by the House speaker.

A 2009 legislative study on the prohibition of cannabis in Rhode Island led to statewide decriminalization in 2010.

If the Assembly passes the measure it would be sent to Senate for consideration.

End

The Welcome to Colorado sign in Montezuma, Colorado.

Study: Cannabis Legalization Has Little Impact on Border States

6/01/2017

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A working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that cannabis legalization has had little effect on neighboring states but that arrests for cannabis possession in border states have increased 30 percent. Those arrests, however, are almost entirely adults.

“[Legalization] has no impact on juvenile marijuana possession arrests,” the report says, adding that border county arrests cannot be tied directly to legalization by their neighbor. “Police officers might adopt new techniques or use more resources toward cracking down on what they perceive to be more illegal marijuana possession.”

Furthermore, the paper, titled The Cross-Border Spillover Effects of Recreational Marijuana Legalization, found that neighboring states are likely spending more tax dollars to prosecute low-level cannabis offenders.

Additionally, the authors concluded that drunk-driving arrests decreased in both Washington and Colorado border and non-border counties; and those counties employed more police officers. The authors suggest that prohibition could cause an increase in law enforcement and criminal justice spending in non-legal states.

“We do not find evidence that marijuana sale/manufacture arrests, DUI arrests, or opium/cocaine possession arrests in border counties are affected by [recreational marijuana legalization],” the authors state.

According to ArcView Group research published in January, the legal cannabis industry could reach $20 billion by 2020 and in legal states, taxes derived from the industry are often used for education, law enforcement, and substance abuse programs.

End

President Barack Obama speaks to a crowd in 2012 of about 500 at a fundraiser at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn.

Obama Drug Czar Office Wanted to Decriminalize Cannabis

5/31/2017

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Office of National Drug Control Policy officials under President Barack Obama wanted to decriminalize cannabis possession nationally but never made the case publicly, according to a Huffington Post report. Former ONDCP Deputy Director A. Thomas McLellan, who worked with the agency during Obama’s first term, said the office was “in favor of decriminalizing but not legalizing.”

Michael Botticelli, who served as director of the ONDCP from Mar. 2014 until the end of Obama’s term, said that officials were hamstrung by provisions in the 1988 law that created the office which stated that “the legalization of illegal drugs is an unconscionable surrender in the war on drugs.” Later, when the office was reauthorized, it was stipulated that the office could not use federal funds to study the legalization of any Schedule I drugs. Language was also included that directed the office to “oppose any attempt to legalize” cannabis.

“It forced the office to take a policy position that it may or may not agree to,” Botticelli said in the report.

Another unnamed former ONDCP employee said the statute undermined the authority of agency employees and “makes it look like the office’s primary purpose is to oppose marijuana.”

Botticelli called new directives by Attorney General Jeff Sessions – returning to Drug War-era mandatory minimum sentences – “very alarming,” saying it is an approach that, historically, “doesn’t seem to have made a significant difference.”

“It seems like we are moving backwards instead of forward,” he said. “And to a position that I think doesn’t have a lot of science and evidence.”

End

Nevada Gov. Vetoes Bill Allowing Health Professionals to Administer Hemp Topicals

5/31/2017

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Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval has vetoed a bill that would have allowed massage therapists and healthcare providers to administer hemp-based products, such as topicals, to patients or clients, the Nevada Independent reports. The measure would have also provided protections for professionals from licensing boards for using medical or recreational cannabis or expressing their opinions about cannabis.

In his veto message, Sandoval said the legislation “raises several questions regarding the use of medical and recreational marijuana” and that it would be “unwise” to limit the authority of licensing boards.

“It is also imprudent to expand possible uses of recreational marijuana by allowing topical application of products containing marijuana and hemp by massage therapists and others,” Sandoval wrote in the message. “These are subjects that warrant further study and review to consider the efficacy, health effects, and legality of these issues.”

The bill was introduced by Sen. Tick Seagerblom, passing the Senate in April and the Assembly in May across party lines in both chambers.

Nevada voters legalized adult cannabis use during November’s general election and the Nevada Tax Commission adopted “Early Start” plans on May 8. Under the plan the state would roll out the adult-use regime six months earlier than expected, allowing current medical dispensaries to apply to sell cannabis products to anyone 21-and-older.

However, last week Douglas County attorney Jim Hartman filed a complaint with the state attorney general’s office claiming the Tax Commission broke a state law because their May 8 agenda didn’t reference “marijuana, early start, or Question 2.”

If the agenda is found to have violated state law the commission would have to revisit the agenda on June 26.

End

Newark, Ohio City Council Mulling MMJ Moratorium

5/31/2017

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A medical cannabis moratorium is likely on the horizon in Ohio as Newark City Council’s economic development committee voted 3-2 to move a proposed 180-day ban to the full council, the Newark Advocate reports. The move comes after the council tabled a law that would have enacted an outright ban on medical cannabis businesses within the city.

Councilman Bill Cost, a Democrat, said while he isn’t opposed to medical cannabis he wants to make sure the city is being thorough with the rules.

“What I’m looking for in this moratorium is to again just shut down this process temporarily of the dispensaries and the locations until we have solid answers from the state,” he said in the report.

Ohio lawmakers approved medical cannabis legislation last September and the rules governing the program are still being written by officials across several state agencies. They are not expected to be implemented until September 2018.

Republican Councilman Mark Frazier, who voted against the moratorium, said he would rather see the city create zoning rules specifically for Newark. Under the state law, dispensaries are already prohibited 500 feet from schools, churches, libraries, playgrounds, and public parks. City officials could limit the number of dispensaries, stipulate that shops can’t be right next to each other, and require local licenses, Frazier said.

Newark Law Director Doug Sasson said the council could develop such zoning rules while the moratorium is in place.

End

Australia’s ‘Dr. Pot’ Arrested, Charged with Drug Crimes

5/31/2017

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An Australian physician who has experimented with the medical uses of cannabis since 1990 has been arrested and charged with drug possession, according to a Daily Telegraph report. Dr. Andrew Katelaris, 62, was arrested in his home where police seized cannabis and cash they claim is proceeds from crime.

Katelaris was deregistered as a physician in 2005 after he was found to have given medical cannabis to children suffering from seizure disorders. Following his arrest, he was jailed and refused bail. During his court appearance, he entered no plea, was granted bail, and scheduled to appear in court on June 28.

Last year, Katelaris was referred to police for injecting doses of cannabis oil into two ovarian cancer patients which, according to the report, caused “catastrophic” illness that included severe pain, delusions, and vomiting. In that case, Health Care Complaints Commission investigators found the doctor had obtained the cannabis on the illicit market and did not test it before injecting it into the women. According to an Echonetdaily report, Katelaris had also been treating a 4-year-old who suffers from spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy who was taken from his parents after a news broadcast featured Katelaris administering cannabis oil to the child.

Katelaris has been arrested in the past for giving patients cannabis oils and admits to supplying CBD-dominant cannabis to more than 50 children suffering from seizure disorders.

End

Looking down Michigan Avenue in the Corktown district of Detroit, Michigan.

Detroit, Michigan Officials Plan to Close Another 51 ‘Illegal’ Dispensaries

5/30/2017

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Another 51 dispensaries in Detroit, Michigan are set to be shuttered in the coming weeks as city officials continue cracking down on shops they say are operating illegally, the Detroit Free Press reports. City officials want to limit the number of dispensaries in the city to 50 and have, so far, shut down 167 since Mar. 1, 2016 – when the city’s medical cannabis ordinances took effect.

Only five dispensaries have been licensed and are allowed to legally operate under the city regime.

According to Detroit corporation counsel Melvin Butch Hollowell, the city has chosen to enforce the ordinances with administrative actions and court orders instead of using law enforcement resources and personnel.

“We take the report from the team and then we attach that to a complaint that’s filed in Wayne County Circuit Court,” Hollowell said in the report. “We ask the court for order of closure and padlocking. … We haven’t lost one of those cases yet.”

If officials are successful in their next round of closures, 218 total dispensaries will have been shut down by the city since the new rules took effect. The rules require businesses to obtain the proper licensing, prohibits them from operating within a 1,000-foot radius of places considered drug-free zones under city law, and requires them to close by 8 p.m.

End

A hand-operated herb grinder propped up on a few nugs of cannabis.

Lawsuit Claiming California City Conspired Against Popular 4/20 Party Moves Forward

5/30/2017

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The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a lawsuit against Arcata, California by cannabis advocate Gregory Allen alleging that officials conspired to shut down a 4/20 celebration at Redwood Park can move forward after a lower court dismissed the suit in 2015, according to a report from Vocativ.

The initial 2014 lawsuit was dismissed by U.S. District Judge James Donato in 2015 who said that the injuries alleged in the suit occurred in 2010 and, therefore, did not fall within the two-year statute of limitations. The 9th Circuit Court ruled that Allen should have been given the opportunity to amend the suit to include other years he claims city officials conspired against the celebration.

In the suit, Allen claims that after the party was featured in a 2009 A&E documentary city officials began coming up with excuses to thwart the event. One year, the complaint alleges, that the city scheduled a “tree-limbing operation,” and another year 2,000 pounds of “smelly fish-emulsion fertilizer” was spread throughout the park. This year, Allen accuses officials of simply locking the gates to the public park.

“If you can’t express yourself on the parks and streets of this country, you’re in a police state,” Allen’s attorney, Peter Martin, said in the report. “It’s a fundamental right that we’ve enjoyed since the founding of the republic.”

City Manager Karen Diemer believes “there are additional grounds” to dismiss the case entirely but did not elaborate.

End

Ohio MMJ Patients Seeking Relief in Michigan Ahead of Program Rollout

5/30/2017

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As Ohio officials craft rules to govern the state’s medical cannabis program, some physicians are already writing patient recommendations and some of those patients are crossing the border into Michigan to procure products despite it being federally illegal to cross state lines with cannabis, the Associated Press reports.

Ohio’s medical cannabis law approved last year requires that dispensaries must be operating by September; however, some Detroit-area dispensaries are accepting out-of-state recommendations. Doctors at Toledo’s Omni Medical Services are relying on “affirmative defense” provisions included in the state law that would allow patients to use letters in court if cited or arrested for cannabis possession ahead of the state’s dispensaries opening.

In Ohio, possession of fewer than 100 grams is a minor misdemeanor which carries a maximum $150 fine, but could also force the offender to lose their driver’s license for up to six months.

Louis Johnson, managing director of Omni, said the company has conferred with both the Ohio Medical Board and attorneys before their doctors started making recommendations.

“We know what we’re doing is legal,” Johnson said in the report. “We’re out in the open. We’re not hiding in the dark. We’re not here to serve people to get high.”

The medical board said they would investigate complaints against doctors recommending medical cannabis but did not indicate whether those following the provision’s requirements could face discipline.

A bill to amend Ohio’s medical cannabis law to ban reciprocity with other state programs is still being considered in the legislature.

End

A cannabis plant tilted sideways from the weight of its heavy cola, pictured inside of a licensed cultivation center in Washington.

Australia’s Revised MMJ Rules Not Improving Access

5/30/2017

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Despite a ruling by Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration to make medical cannabis more available for patients, some lawmakers are arguing that the scheme has actually made access more difficult, the Australian Broadcasting Company reports.

Under the original plan, first approved in 1992, a limited number of patients were allowed access to medical cannabis, under what was known as Category A. Under that scheme, physicians were allowed to prescribe cannabis to terminally ill patients without needing to seek prior authorization. However, under the new Category B scheme, prior approval is required. Green Party leader Richard Di Natale says means there is no longer fast access to two specific cannabis-based drugs.

“So it’s fair to say that it’s now harder to access medicinal cannabis or related products than it was prior to this legislation, through Category A,” he said in the report.

Professor John Skerritt, the Health Department deputy secretary in charge of drug regulation, said that while officials are working to improve access under the new regime, “there’s product sitting in warehouses in major capital cities of Australia, and the Commonwealth is taking two days in its approvals.”

“There are supplies of the cannabidiol-rich medicines sitting in Australia, sufficient to treat many hundreds if not thousands of children, so they basically have to go through the process,” he said.

Skerritt said that there are just 24 physicians authorized to prescribe medical cannabis in Australia and fewer than 150 people have ever been given approval.

End

View from under the canopy of a licensed indoor cannabis grow operation.

Nevada’s July 1 ‘Early Start’ Launch May Face Delays

5/29/2017

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A recent complaint filed by Douglas County attorney Jim Hartman may delay Nevada’s Early Start adult use cannabis regulations — adopted on May 8 by the Nevada Tax Commission — by up to two months from the July 1 target date.

According to a Las Vegas Review-Journal report, Hartman filed an official complaint last Wednesday with the Nevada attorney general’s office. In the complaint, which he had threatened to file during the May 8 meeting, Hartman argued that the May 8 meeting’s agenda broke state law because it “did not reference ‘marijuana,’ ‘early start’ or ‘Question 2.'”

Commissioners at the meeting chose to adopt regulations for the Early Start market anyway, saying at the time that they did not believe their agenda violated the law.

However, if the tax commission’s agenda is found to have violated state law, commissioners would have to revisit the agenda item on June 26 — which could mean a two-month delay for Nevada‘s adult use cannabis regime.

The Nevada Tax Commission began accepting applications earlier this month from existing medical cannabis companies to be the first participants in the state’s adult-use market.

Eight U.S. states (Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, Nevada, Maine, and Massachusetts) and Washington D.C. have legalized recreational cannabis.

End

France Will End Prison Sentences for Cannabis Consumers

5/29/2017

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French officials have announced a plan to discontinue prison sentences for cannabis consumers by the year’s end, according to a Euronews report.

The change was a campaign promise of France’s newly elected liberal centrist President Emmanuel Macron and is a meaningful step toward cannabis reform for the country. However, according to government spokesperson Christophe Castaner, the plan stops short of fully decriminalizing the plant.

According to Castaner, it takes a police officer an average of six hours to carry out a single drug arrest, which can then cost magistrates a similar amount of time in carrying out the state’s punishment.

“Is the system effective? No,” Castaner said. “What is important today is to be efficient and above all to free up time for our police so they can focus more on essential matters.”

Under current French law, individuals caught using cannabis can face up to a year in jail and fines of up to €3,750.

The new law promises to end prison sentences for cannabis use. Instead — according to statements Macron made on the campaign trail — cannabis users who are caught by police may be ticketed up to a maximum of €100.

“It is a good idea that takes into account reality,” said Patrice Ribeiro, member of France’s police officers’ union. “Most police officers who stop consumers tell them to throw the joint away and then let them go.”

France is one of only six countries in the European Union that still considers cannabis use to be a crime — the majority of EU member countries have either decriminalized possession or, at the very least, have decriminalized the use of cannabis (though possession remains a crime).

End

Commercial grade cannabis inside of a licensed grow operation.

New Mexico MMJ Company Wins Family Friendly Business Award

5/26/2017

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The Verdes Foundation, an Albuquerque-based medical cannabis company is the gold medal winner of the New Mexico Family-Friendly business award, Nonprofit Quarterly reports. The award is based on several factors including family leave policies, health and economic support and work schedules.

Rachael Speegle, Verdes’ director of operations, called the honor “the most proud acknowledgment and achievement” she’s earned as a business owner for the foundation.

“The entire point of our programs and our employment strategies is to try to have our business work for our community,” she said in the report.

In order to be considered for the gold medal, a company must have at least one policy in the four categories. Of Verdes’ 43 employees, 40 percent are salaried who earn $40,000 annually to start. The remaining 60 percent are non-exempt hourly employees who earn $15 per hour to start. Typically, they only have one available position per year but receive between 30 and 40 resumes per week for consideration.

Family Friendly New Mexico’s website suggests that “businesses with family-friendly practices” are more profitable and “enjoy higher employee retention, improved organizational citizenship behavior, and better work attitudes.”

Verdes wasNew Mexico‘s highest grossing medical cannabis organization in 2016.

End

Close-up view of a medical cannabis plant's cola and sugar leaves.

CBD Seizure Drug Considered Effective Following FDA-Recognized Trials

5/26/2017

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A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine confirms what many patients, parents, advocates, and physicians already know – CBD reduces seizures. According to a Forbes report outlining the study, researchers found that patients with Dravet syndrome receiving CBD treatment experienced half the median seizure rate of the baseline rates from 12.4 to 5.9. In the placebo group, 60 patients total, their rates remained almost unchanged from 14.9 to 14.1.

Forty-three percent of participants receiving the oral solution CBD treatments experienced 50 percent reduction in the frequency of convulsive seizures, while 27 percent of the patients in the placebo group experienced such a reduction. One in 20 patients in the CBD group were seizure-free over the 14-week trial but no patient in the placebo group was seizure-free.

Patients in the CBD group did experience side effects including fever, sleepiness, vomiting, and changes in liver enzymes and more in the group withdrew from the trial.

The trial was conducted by GW Pharmaceuticals who manufacturers Epidiolex – a seizure drug which has been fast-tracked by the FDA. However, the drug would only be available to patients when all other conventional treatments have failed. GW is publicly traded on Nasdaq under the GWPH symbol.

End

Canadian Firm Launches Cannabis Staffing Agency

5/26/2017

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Cannabis at Work, a Canadian firm founded in 2015 to advise companies on issues related to medical cannabis, has launched the nation’s first staffing agency to link cannabis employers with would-be employees, according to an Edmonton Sun report. Owner Alison McMahon said the firm is preparing for planned legalization in Canada in July 2018.

“We really saw an opportunity. We’re on a tipping point in the industry,” McMahon said in the report. “We’re going to need staff … The cannabis industry is quite literally growing in front of our eyes. I liken it to the dot-com boom.”

Positions include cultivators, sales, budtender, call centers, and accounting; many of which are transferable from other industries but “there’s still some education and experience” that ideal candidates might need, she said.

“Understanding how inventory is going to depreciate (due to moisture loss) in the context of talking about cannabis is going to be something a regular accountant probably hasn’t done,” McMahon said.

The company will charge cannabis companies a fee when it fills an opening and expects to see hundreds of vacancies over the next year. She estimated that 40 percent of the current industry workforce is in Ontario, which has 44 licensed producers.

End

Ceiling on the 22nd floor of Florida's State Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida.

Florida Department of Health Takes Over MMJ Regs

5/26/2017

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Florida’s Department of Health has officially taken over adopting regulations for the state’s voter-approved medical cannabis expansion after lawmakers failed to come to a compromise on legislation earlier this month. The Sun-Sentinel reports that the agency on Thursday issued a “Notice of Regulation Development Procedure” which establishes the process the agency intends to use to implement the program.

The amendment approved by voters in November requires that the rules are drafted by July 3 and put into effect no later than Oct. 3. The constitutional amendment would expand the program to an estimated 420,000 Floridians, adding several chronic conditions, and allowing physicians the power to recommend medical cannabis for “other debilitating medical conditions of the same kind or class as or comparable to those enumerated, and for which a physician believes that the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the potential health risks for a patient.”

The plan put forth by Health Department officials will leave 15 days’ notice before adopting a new rule with a public comment period of three days.

Sen. Rob Bradley, who championed the state’s limited 2014 medical cannabis law, applauded the “department’s desire to remove any legal cloud” over a patient’s head but said he didn’t see them “doing anything bold.” He said the legislature could still act before the end of the year despite the session closing on May 8.

“The Legislature is going to be in Tallahassee no later than around 100 days from now, and possibly earlier if the governor vetoes all or a portion of the budget,” Bradley said in the report. “There are opportunities for the Legislature to deal with medical marijuana.”

End

Gov. Phil Scott of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont.

Vermont Gov. Vetoes Legalization Bill Citing Public Safety Concerns

5/25/2017

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Vermont’s Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, vetoed the first cannabis legalization bill ever to be passed by a state Congress on Wednesday, according to an NPR report.

Scott chose to veto the bill over his other two options — either sign the bill or take no action and passively allow it to become law — and he has sent the bill back to legislators to make adjustments.

“We must get this right,” Scott said of his decision to veto while at a press conference. “I think we need to move a little bit slower.”

The governor’s concerns with the bill were detecting and penalizing people who drive under the influence of cannabis, keeping children from accessing the plant, and the lack of a clear vision for the state’s Marijuana Regulatory Commission. He plans to send recommendations to lawmakers for changing their proposal, saying that — if they address his concerns —”there is a path forward on this.”

The governor has previously claimed he is “not philosophically opposed” to cannabis legalization.

Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman offered criticism of the governor’s veto: “Prohibition has failed and causes approximately 100,000 Vermonters to be labeled lawbreakers,” Zuckerman said. “Vermont is now lagging behind other states in the region and is missing opportunities to capture revenue from an underground market that would allow us to address highway safety, drug education and treatment, and other needed state investments to reduce the temptation of drug use.”

If Gov. Scott had signed the bill, Vermont would have become the first state to legalize adult use cannabis without using a voter referendum.

The majority of voters in Vermont approve of legalizing cannabis.

End

South Carolina's state capitol building in Columbia, South Carolina.

Industrial Hemp Coming to South Carolina

5/25/2017

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Shortly after the close of South Carolina’s legislative session earlier this month, Gov. Henry McMaster signed a bill legalizing the cultivation and sale of industrial hemp, according to a report by The State.

Next, the South Carolina Department of Agriculture and the State Law Enforcement Division must issue the state’s 20 hemp licenses — these will allow farmers to grow the crop on 20-acre plots as part of the state’s pilot hemp program. After one year, the number of available licenses will increase to 50 for a maximum of 50 acres each.

Before receiving a license, interested farmers will be required to pass a State Law Enforcement Division background check, establish a partnership with an in-state research university, and line up a contracted buyer for the hemp products.

Republican State Sen. Danny Verdin, chairman of the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, said he hopes state officials will act quickly, noting that, in South Carolina’s warm climate, hemp farmers could expect to get three or even four crops per year.

“Any agricultural crop we can cultivate here and make a profit for our farmers, we should try,” said State Sen. Greg Hembree, a Republican from Horry.

Hembree also noted that agribusiness is South Carolina‘s strongest industry.

Cannabis remains illegal in South Carolina, even for medical purposes, though activists believe that medical cannabis legislation may be a possibility for 2018.

End

A Canadian flag (with a red cannabis leaf instead of the normal maple leaf) blowing in the wind.

Poll: Canadians Support Erasing Cannabis Possession Convictions

5/25/2017

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With Canada on the path to a nationwide adult-use cannabis regime, recent polling data suggest that a comfortable majority of Canadians support pardoning individuals with cannabis possession convictions on their permanent records.

34 percent of Canadians would support such a move and 28 percent would somewhat support it; 23 percent would oppose this move, 12 percent would somewhat oppose it, and four percent were uncertain, the pollsters report.

The data was collected in a joint effort between The Globe and Mail and Nanos Research between April 29 and May 5 via a hybrid telephone and online random survey of 1,000 Canadians who were 18 years old or older. According to the report, “the margin of error for a random survey of 1,000 Canadians is ±3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.”

Also of note, a 55% majority of Canadians oppose giving law enforcement the right to demand a breath sample without reasonable suspicion. Meanwhile, a strong majority (73 percent) of Canadians say they do not currently use cannabis and will not start after legalization takes effect. Only eight percent of respondents said that they do not currently use it but plan to when it becomes legal.

In April, Canada‘s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled the federal government’s plan to implement legalization by July 2018.

Trudeau has said that cannabis legalization should be addressed as a civil rights and public safety issue — this contrasts the legalization plans of many U.S. lawmakers, who often attempt to gauge the cannabis industry for tax dollars.

End

The Oregon state flag, a blue flag with the state's golden seal embroidered on it.

At Least 10K Oregonians Have Dropped from MMJ Patient Count Since Rec. Adoption

5/24/2017

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The number of registered patients in Oregon has declined significantly since voters in the state legalized cannabis use for adults in 2014, falling from 77,000 to 67,000, according to NPR-affiliate KUOW. Many patients registered as medical users are declining to renew their medical cards – which costs $200 – opting instead to purchase their medicine in the recreational market.

Of the state’s 300-plus dispensaries, more than 80 percent are licensed to sell recreational cannabis – which can carry sales taxes up to 20 percent depending on their home municipality.

Dr. Christian Le, who runs Green Earth Medicine in Portland, said that while he doesn’t believe the state is pushing out medical sales they are content to let them wither.

“The people who made cannabis legal, as it is today, are actually being thrown to the curb,” he said in the report. “Whether it’s people in the industry making profits off it or whether it’s the state making taxation out of it, that seems to be 99 percent of the focus.”

Mark Pettinger, spokesman for the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, declined to comment on whether tax revenues are driving the push behind recreational sales, but said that putting the same regulations on both the medical and recreational industries are an effort to “protect public safety.”

“That means preventing access by children. It means ensuring that marijuana isn’t diverted from legal intent into the illegal market,” he said. “It means trying to keep marijuana … out of the hands of the cartels and organized crime.”

Some municipalities have banned or enacted moratoriums on recreational dispensaries, which has allowed medical sales to remain strong in those regions, mostly in Eastern Oregon.

Rules permitting recreational sales by medical dispensaries expired on Jan. 1.

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A spindly cannabis leaf under the LED grow lights of a licensed grow operation.

Cannabis Breathalyzer Company Completes $8.1 Million Funding Round

5/24/2017

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Benchmark Capital, the Silicon Valley venture capital firm whose investments include Uber, Dropbox, Snap, and WeWork has infused capital into Oakland-based startup Hound Labs – makers of a breathalyzer for cannabis, according to a Business Insider report. The firm led the tech company’s recent $8.1 million funding round.

Breathalyzers for cannabis are tricky because THC can stay in a human body for days or weeks – and just because THC is found in a urine sample or cheek swab doesn’t necessarily mean an individual has recently consumed cannabis.

Hound Labs CEO Michael Lynn said he hopes the breathalyzer can take the guesswork out of roadside field tests. The product is currently undergoing clinical trials that began earlier this month at San Francisco General Hospital conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.

“With alcohol, it doesn’t matter what your car looks like or … whether you’re a man or a woman. At the end of the day, everybody pretty much knows if you’re above a .08 [blood-alcohol level] you’re going to be arrested,” Lynn, who is also an emergency room physician in Oakland, said in the report. “We want to do the same thing for THC and take the subjectivity out of it, make sure that everyone is treated fairly.”

The device is expected to retail for between $600 and $1,000 and cartridges used with the machine to collect samples will run about $15.

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Oregon Cannabis Startups See $60-$80M in Investments Over Last 6 months

5/24/2017

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According to figures from Oregon’s Marijuana Regulation Committee, cannabis startups in the state have had at least $60 million to $80 million invested in the last six months, Northwest Public Radio reports. Projects range from gene testing, to perfecting new delivery methods such as transdermal patches, to researching medical applications for cannabis.

In January, Oregon entrepreneurs launched the ‘Oregon Hub,’ a research farm in Clackamas, in an effort to perfect growing techniques and potential ways to reduce water and energy use.

Another company, Phylos Bioscience, will outline genetic profiling of cannabis strains for $300.

“Well, so there’s a lot of legend and laws. So in general it’s like, my friend Billy gave me this. And he told me that he got it from this guy,” said Mowgli Holmes, chief scientific officer at Phylos. “And…this is the original thing. This is the lost cut of Panama Red from so and so in 1978.”

Phylos, then, can determine whether that strain is, in fact, Panama Red.

Due to cannabis’ federal Schedule I designation, much of the current research being conducted on cannabis is being spearheaded by private companies; however, state epidemiologist Katrina Hedberg said start-up research isn’t peer-reviewed or double blind, which means it’s not going to lead to any medications approved by the FDA.

“Doing that kind of study is very difficult when it comes to a natural herb product,” Hedberg said in the report.

The FDA has only approved one drug – Marinol – which contains synthetic THC.

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