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Las Vegas-based U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden has sent a letter to the Moapa Paiute Tribe warning them that the High Times Cannabis Cup, planned for this weekend on their land, is a violation of federal law, according to a Reno Gazette-Journal report.

“I am informed that the tribal council is moving forward with the planned marijuana event referred to as the 2017 High Times Cannabis Cup because it is under the impression that the so-called ‘Cole Memorandum’ and subsequent memoranda from the Department of Justice permit marijuana use, possession and distribution on tribal lands when the state law also permits it,” Bogden wrote in the letter dated Feb. 16. “Unfortunately, this is an incorrect interpretation of the Department’s position on this issue.”

In the letter, Bogden argues that “nothing in the Guidance Memorandum or Cole Memorandum alters the authority or jurisdiction of the Unites States to enforce federal law in Indian Country or elsewhere.”

The Guidance Memo dictates that tribal governments and U.S. attorneys should seek government-to-government consulting as issues arise, while the Cole memo directs U.S. attorneys to consider local laws regarding cannabis enforcement.

Tribal Chairman Darren Daboda said he was working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nevada to resolve potential conflicts. He said the tribe is promoting the event as a “vendors’ crafts, food, and concert event” and they are not promoting the sale or distribution of cannabis.

“To us, we’re looking at it as utilizing our sovereignty,” Daboda said in the report. “As long as (cannabis) is not visible, we’re told it will be OK.”

Democratic state Sen. Tick Segerblom, said the event “could be a huge boost for the tourism industry,” noting that he plans on proposing a bill this session to address adult-use cannabis policies for Nevada’s tribes.

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More U.S. citizens are killed by opiate overdose each yeah than have ever died from the use of cannabis.

Study: Patients Using MMJ as Opioid Substitute

2/28/2017

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A new University of British Columbia and University of Victoria study suggests that patients in Canada are using medical cannabis as a substitute for prescription drugs, particularly opioids.

In the study, published in the International Journal of Drug Policy, 63 percent of patients self-reported that they were using cannabis as a substitute for prescription drugs, with 30 percent of those indicating they were using cannabis in lieu of opioid-based pharmaceuticals. Sixteen percent reported their cannabis use was a substitute for benzodiazepines – often prescribed to treat anxiety – and 12 percent reported using cannabis as a substitute for anti-depressants.

Additionally, some of the 250 patients enrolled in the study reported using cannabis as a substitute for alcohol (25 percent), tobacco (12 percent), and illicit drugs (3 percent).

Zach Walsh, a co-author of the study and UCB associate professor, said while the study might show cannabis may have a role in addressing opioid addiction, more research is required.

“Further research into how well cannabis works compared to the accepted front-line treatments is warranted,” Walsh said in a Global News report. “Additionally, long-term research into the potential impact of the cannabis substitution on the quality of patients’ lives is ongoing.”

The study was funded by Tilray, a Canadian licensed medical cannabis and research firm.

End

A purple-colored cannabis cola pictured under the glow of LED growlights.

Officials in Legalized States Vow to Fight Feds Over ‘Greater Enforcement’ of Cannabis Laws

2/27/2017

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Lawmakers and officials in states with adult-use cannabis laws are speaking out against the enforcement of federal drug laws following comments last week by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer hinting at “greater enforcement” of federal law in those states.

During an appearance on “Meet the Press,” Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper indicated he doesn’t think it’s a clear-cut case – it’s an issue of sovereignty – and that he has a responsibility to uphold the state’s constitution. He said that while he didn’t support the legalization initiative in the state he “is getting close” to supporting the legal regime, although he is “not quite there yet.”

“We have made a lot of progress. We didn’t see a spike in teenage use, if anything it’s come down in the last year and we’re getting anecdotal reports of less drug dealers,” he said in the interview. “If you get rid of that black market you’ve got tax revenues to deal with, addictions and some of the unintended consequences of legalized marijuana, maybe this system is better than what was, admittedly, a pretty bad system to begin with.”

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a Seattle Times interview he would “resist any efforts by the Trump administration to undermine the voters of Washington state.”

“When he talks about ‘greater enforcement,’ I take that seriously,” he said, noting that his lawyers are “quite prepared” to take on the federal government regarding the legal cannabis industry in the state.

Earlier this month Ferguson, along with Gov. Jay Inslee, sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions laying out the state’s program.

“Given the limited resources available for marijuana law enforcement, a return to ‘full’ prohibition’ is highly unlikely to end the illicit production, trafficking and consumption of marijuana,” Inslee and Ferguson wrote in the Feb. 15 letter, adding that the state is projecting to see $272 million in taxes derived from the industry this fiscal year.

California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom also sent a letter to President Donald Trump and Sessions urging them “not to strip the legal and publically supported industry of its business and hand it back to drug cartels and criminals.”

“Dealers don’t card kids. I urge you and your administration to work in partnership with California and the other eight states that have legalized recreational marijuana for adult use in a way that will let us enforce our state laws that protect the public and our children, while targeting the bad actors,” he wrote in the letter, outlined by the Los Angeles Times.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said he would fight the administration on any crackdown attempts.

“I took an oath to enforce the laws that California has passed,” Becerra said in a Daily Republic report. “If there is action from the federal government on this subject, I will respond in an appropriate way to protect the interests of California.”

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A hemp plant located on a pilot hemp plot.

Wisconsin Lawmakers Considering Bill to Legalize Hemp Farming

2/27/2017

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Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin are circulating a bill to legalize industrial hemp production in the state, according to an Associated Press report. During World War II, Wisconsin produced three-quarters of the nation’s hemp, and the lawmakers are hoping to bring the industry back.

The bill, sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Patrick Testin and by Rep. Jesse Kramer in the House, would allow farmers to obtain licenses to grow the crop from the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Individuals with drug convictions would not be eligible for the program, which requires testing to ensure the plants do not contain more than 1 percent THC. Farmers would be able to use seeds that have been certified as hemp, and procure them from out-of-state if necessary.

“It’s an opportunity to bring an industry back to the state of Wisconsin,” Testin said in the report.

At least 30 states have passed hemp legalization measures under provisions outlined in the 2014 federal Farm Bill. Irwin Goldman, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor and horticulturist, said that hemp crops are well-suited for Wisconsin’s climate due to its sturdy and low-maintenance qualities.

The measure has not yet been introduced in their body of the state legislature.

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Michigan MMJ Patient Has Charges Dismissed in Conservative County Court

2/27/2017

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A medical cannabis patient in Oakland County, Michigan has won his legal battle against the county after a judge ruled to dismiss the charges on the grounds that law enforcement officials failed to establish probable cause for raiding the patient’s home, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Police raided Donny Barnes, 41, of Orion Township, two years ago, charging him with possessing more than 100 pounds of cannabis and intent to distribute. The raid was conducted by OAKNET, the county’s Narcotics Enforcement Team, and the victory is one of very few that comes out of Oakland’s Circuit Court, the report says.

David Moffitt, Barnes’ attorney, said the ruling “sends a strong message that inappropriate procedures on the part of police and prosecutors will result in dismissal.”

“To have an Oakland County judge dismiss search warrants for faulty procedures is a game-changer in the state because everyone looks at Oakland County for their legal leadership on key issues,” Moffitt said in the report. “What this judge said was that you can’t just kick down doors and seize people’s property without having good reason to do so.”

Judge Denise Langford Morris also allowed Barnes to continue using medical cannabis while out on bond “for a very demonstrable medical need.”

Oakland County officials indicated they plan on appealing the ruling.

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Cannabis Industry Reacts to Spicer’s “Greater Enforcement” Comments

2/24/2017

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Yesterday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer seemed to put the legal cannabis industry on notice. Following a month of ‘will they, or won’t they,’ it appears the Trump Administration may plan on breaking from its states’ rights platform, with Spicer drawing a line between the medical and recreational markets; echoing Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who made the same distinction between the two markets during his confirmation process.

Spicer, though, would take the War on Drugs rhetoric even further – linking recreational cannabis to the “opioid addiction crisis”; which drew an “unproven” rating from the fact-checking website Snopes.

“While the concept of marijuana as a ‘gateway drug’ remains controversial, there is a near-universal agreement that the opioid crisis was caused by an influx of legal prescription painkillers and is thus unrelated to marijuana use,” the researchers concluded.

In an interview with Denver7, Isaac Dietrich, CEO of MassRoots, pointed to the decline in opioid deaths in Colorado as a sign that legalizing cannabis would be a tool to stem the epidemic – “it’s not a coincidence.”

“Cannabis is a healthy alternative to pain pills and heroin, not a gateway to it,” he said in the report.

Scott Rudder, president of the New Jersey Cannabusiness Association also took aim at Spicer linking cannabis to heroin and opioid addiction.

“I’m never sure if it’s ignorance or purposeful distraction when a person in the position of authority intermingles heroin and cannabis when talking about opioid addiction,” Rudder said in an emailed statement. “Cannabis is not an opioid. Period.”

Rudder also noted the recent report showing that the cannabis industry would create more jobs than government, manufacturing, and utilities sectors.

“When you couple together the facts on what cannabis is and is not, with the amount of jobs and revenue that is generated from a well-regulated industry, it would be foolish to turn back the clock on the progress being made,” he said.

In his response to Spicer’s comments, Erik Altieri, executive director of NORML, said any actions to crack down on the legal cannabis industry would “lead to swift backlash from the 71 percent of Americas who think marijuana policy should be dictated by the states and is a foolish and reckless decision to take our country.”

“If the Trump administration goes through with a crackdown on states that have legalized marijuana they will be taking billions of dollars away from state-sanctioned businesses and putting that money back into the hands of drug cartels,” he said in a statement.

Justin Strekal, NORML political director, said both President Donald Trump’s and Sessions’ views on cannabis are “out of step with mainstream America” and “in conflict” with the cannabis laws in “over half the states in this country.”

“The fact that President Trump would allow his Attorney General to pursue a path that is so politically unpopular and contrary to the will of numerous states is absurd,” he said.

In a press release, the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, comprised of bipartisan federal lawmakers from legal states, said Spicer’s comments “reaffirmed the need” for the elected advocates in Washington, D.C.

“As co-chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, we stand ready to educate this administration on the need for more sensible marijuana policies and share the many experiences states have had with the legalization of cannabis,” the statement said. “Together, we will continue to work in a bipartisan manner to reform our failed marijuana policies and provide a voice for Americans who have overwhelmingly voted for a more sensible drug policy.”

Oregon Representative Earl Blumenauer, a member of the caucus, said he was “deeply disappointed” by Spicer’s remarks.

“The national prohibition of cannabis has been a failure, and millions of voters across the country have demanded a more sensible approach,” he said in a press release. “I’m looking forward to working with the leadership of our newly formed cannabis caucus to ensure that Oregonian’s wishes are protected and that we end the failed prohibition on marijuana.”

Annie Skinner, director of communications for the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, indicated that Spicer’s comments “were so general in nature that it’s impossible to discern what action the Administration actually will take on legalized recreational marijuana.”

“Until the Department of Justice issues an official position, we won’t be able to chart a legal course of action for Colorado,” she said in a CBS Denver report.

The Executive Director of the Cannabis Business Alliance, Mark Malone, said that targeting the industry “would be a direct affront to the overwhelming numbers of Americans who have voted time after time to approve legal cannabis.”

“The legal cannabis industry takes power and money out of the hands of drug cartels and puts funds into state coffers and has the real potential to help offset the Federal Government’s budget shortfalls,” he said in a statement. “President Trump has said that this is a state issue so we expect him to be true to his word and continue to let states regulate cannabis.”

Earlier this week, the administration rejected Obama Administration protections for transgender students that allowed them to use bathrooms corresponding with their gender identity on the grounds that it violated states’ rights – begging the question, “which is it?” Either states have the right of self-determination or they don’t – it can’t be both.

Spicer has had to walk back statements before, and perhaps he will have to, eventually, do the same here. However, with Sessions lording over law enforcement policies, along with a recent slew of executive orders enhancing policing powers – including reversing an Obama-era order phasing out the use of private prisons – it’s entirely possible that crackdowns, and subsequent lawsuits from legal states, could be on the horizon.

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A marijuana enthusiast shows his support.

Poll: Majority of Americans Support Cannabis Reforms

2/24/2017

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According to a February 23 Quinnipiac poll, support for legalized cannabis is at an all-time high. An eye-popping 93 percent of respondents indicated support for medical cannabis programs, while 59 percent supported legalizing cannabis for adult use nationally, with another 71 percent opposed to the federal government enforcing federal law in states with either medicinal or recreational regimes.

In a blog post, NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano pointed out that the 59 percent total is consistent with a 2016 Gallup poll that found 60 percent support for cannabis legalization.

Respondents aged 18 to 34-years-old supported national legalization overwhelmingly, 76 percent to 24 percent; and those aged 35 to 49-years-old followed suit, with 71 percent indicating support compared to 25 percent opposed. Fifty to 64 year olds surveyed also supported legalization but by a much narrower margin – 53 percent to 40 percent; while those 65 and older were opposed, 51 percent to 42 percent.

Support for medical cannabis was strong among all age groups and political affiliations, reaching more than 90 percent support among all respondents except for Republicans, who still indicated tremendous support with 85 percent in favor and just 12 percent opposed.

Not a single demographic supported federal government interference in states where legal cannabis measures have been approved; however, support was highest among Republicans – 36 percent to 55 percent.

Armentano suggested that the “rising support” could provide a boost for HR.975 – federal legislation that would prevent the federal government from prosecuting individuals operating in state-sanctioned cannabis activities.

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A top-down view of a cannabis clone in a professional grow operation located in Washington state.

Pharmaceutical Lobbyists Pushing Bills That Would Create CBD Monopoly

2/24/2017

by Graham Abbott

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A Leafly News report last week uncovered some troubling developments related to CBD products: the British company GW Pharmaceuticals and its U.S.-based subsidiary Greenwich Biosciences have been quietly moving CBD-related bills through the legislatures of both South Dakota and Nebraska.

GW Pharmaceuticals has been developing a CBD-based drug called Epidiolex for years and, now that the drug is in Phase III trials, it’s predicted to receive FDA approval soon.

Presumably in anticipation of its approval, Greenwich Biosciences has worked to introduce bills in South Dakota and Nebraska that would essentially require all CBD products sold in the state to have been approved by the FDA. This would lead to an immediate GW monopoly on the CBD marketplace in those states, as Epidiolex will be the only such product with FDA approval.

Perhaps importantly, neither South Dakota or Nebraska have any infrastructure to legally access medical cannabis — though hemp-derived CBD products remain accessible anywhere in the U.S.

“SB 95 will block all current and readily-available CBD options for South Dakota’s children,” Melissa Mentele, chairperson for New Approach South Dakota, told Leafly’s Bruce Barcott. “It will make Epidiolex the only option. As we know, one medicine does not work for all patients. We can’t take away options for these catastrophically ill children and their families.”

However, not only has the pharmaceutical group sought monopolizing measures in South Dakota and Nebraska, but Greenwich Biosciences has also been hiring lobbyists in nearly two dozen other states — including non-medical states such as Wisconsin and Idaho, as well as already legalized states like Florida, Washington, Arizona, and others — presumably to lay groundwork for similar bills in other states.

In a response to Barcott’s investigation, GW/Greenwich Biosciences released statements this week saying that the company was not pursuing a monopoly but was laying groundwork for future CBD companies to bring their own FDA-approved products to market. “It is important to stress that none of GW’s work involves opposing ‘medical marijuana’ or ‘CBD access,'” the company wrote. “GW’s sole focus is on creating a pathway for our medicine, once approved by FDA.”

In a follow-up piece to the company’s reaction, Barcott writes that Epidiolex, if approved, is likely to be the only CBD-based product with FDA approval for some time. This would at least create a temporary monopoly for GW/Greenwich in any state where they are able to successfully pass legislation, meaning that patients in those areas would be limited to only one CBD product, which likely won’t be the most efficient or effective option for every patient.

Cannabis attorney Craig Brand believes these are early signs of a long-planned foray by pharmaceutical companies into cannabinoid medicine. Brand, the owner and founder of international cannabis firm Ganja Law, wrote:

“Upon the FDA’s approval of Epidiolex, the FDA could issue cease and desist orders to anyone selling products containing CBD for health, wellness, or medical purposes. This would include companies … that are selling products containing CBD in states where such sales are currently permissible. If the FDA is not enough, GW could take legal action against any company or person infringing on its patents or selling any product containing CBD.”

Brand said this is only the beginning of what is likely to become a drawn-out battle with pharmaceutical interests. Earlier this month, he warned that CBD companies and hemp CBD enthusiasts should be worried more about regulatory actions from the FDA than enforcement actions by the DEA.

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The West Virginia Capitol Building in Huntington, West Virginia.

Comprehensive MMJ Legislation Introduced in West Virginia

2/24/2017

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A bipartisan coalition of West Virginia lawmakers has introduced SB386: The West Virginia Medical Cannabis Act, which would develop a comprehensive medical cannabis program in the state, the Logan Banner reports. The measure would set forth “policies, procedures, guidelines and regulations to implement programs to make medical cannabis available to qualifying patients in a safe and effective manner,” according to the bill text.

The proposal is sponsored by Democratic state Senators Richard Ojeda, Douglas Facemire, Robert Beach, Ronald Miller, Mike Romano, Corey Palumbo, Mike Woelfel, and Ron Stollings, along with Republican state Senators Patricia Rucker, Chandler Swope, and Greg Boso.

The legislation would see the creation of a 16-member West Virginia Medical Cannabis Commissions that would oversee the program, comprised of officials from the state Department of Health and Human Resources, the Department of Agriculture, the Treasurer’s office, and 13 non-government members appointed by the governor. Commissionerships would not be paid.

Under the law, patients suffering from wasting syndrome, chronic pain, seizures, severe muscle spasms, severe nausea, or those in hospice would have access to medical cannabis in the state. The commission would have the power to approve applications “that include any other condition that is severe and for which other medical treatments have been ineffective if the symptoms reasonably can be expected to be relieved by the medical use of cannabis.”

If approved, the commission would be expected to begin issuing all licenses for patients and operators by June 1, 2019. The bill has been sent to the Health and Human Resources Committee, and if approved, will be moved to the Judiciary Committee.

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A satirical Canadian flag that uses a cannabis leaf instead of a maple leaf.

Health Canada Report: MMJ Prescriptions Up 32% Since September

2/24/2017

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According to Health Canada statistics outlined by the Waterloo Chronicle, the number of registered medical cannabis patients in the Great White North is up 32 percent since September, reaching 129,876 as of December 31. At the end of September, Health Canada counted 98,460 medical cannabis patients. The December figures represent a 1,544 percent increase from the 7,900 patients registered in mid-2014.

Dr. John Goodhew, a Toronto physician who prescribes medical cannabis, attributes the spike to the “Trudeau effect” – after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – which he says has led to diminishing concern over cannabis as the government is expected to announce national legalization plans in the spring.

“I think there are probably a minority that are strictly medical and there’s a minority that are strictly recreational and with most people it’s probably a combination,” Goodhew said in the report. “Because part of pain relief is if it relieves pain and it also makes you feel good, it’s kind of a mixed blessing that way.”

Dr. Jeff Blackmer, Canadian Medical Association vice-president of medical professionalism, indicated that the patient count increase could be due to doctors becoming more comfortable prescribing cannabis amid growing demand, noting that while some patients are gaining access to the system for recreational use, most have authentic conditions. He supported federal legalization because he and his colleagues are “tired of being the gatekeepers.”

“We would like to see just one system,” he said. “So if marijuana is legalized for recreational use, we feel very strongly that that makes the ‘question’ around use of medical marijuana essentially moot, because it would be something that’s available to everyone for any reason, and you wouldn’t need to go through physicians and you wouldn’t need to get special dispensation.”

Last February, a Canadian Federal Court ruled that medical cannabis home-grow bans violated a patient’s right to life, liberty, and security – prompting the government to allow patient home grows of up to two indoor and five outdoor plants.

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The earliest 'alternative facts' about cannabis were spread by Harry Anslinger, and have dictated U.S. drug policies ever since.

How Alternative Facts Fueled Cannabis Prohibition

2/24/2017

by Whitney Diedrich

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Harry Anslinger, the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, made it his mission to rid the U.S. of all drugs, including cannabis. He’s the man behind The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, which set America on the fast track to a complete ban on the plant. His influence is all over the restrictive marijuana laws that Americans live with today.

Harry Anslinger, the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. *Photo Credit: Public domain*

This guy

Anslinger first claimed that the drug could cause psychosis and eventually insanity. In a radio address, he stated that young people are “slaves to this narcotic, continuing addiction until they deteriorate mentally, become insane, turn to violent crime and murder.”

Big problem with that — he had virtually zero scientific evidence to support his claims. Reportedly, Anslinger contacted 30 scientists to ask them if cannabis was dangerous. 29 wrote back and said “No.” Based on the opinion of one scientist, and armed with made up stories concerning the link between marijuana and crime/debauchery, Anslinger began his anti-cannabis crusade. The press sensationalized the mostly untrue stories, panic gripped the nation and the law which outlawed possessing or selling cannabis went into effect on October 1, 1937.

The sentiment created by Anslinger’s smear campaign lingered, as evidenced by the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, which repealed the Marijuana Tax Act and designated marijuana as a Schedule I drug — the same classification as dangerous drugs like heroin and LSD. In 2015, the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration acknowledged that marijuana is safer than heroin. Yet, recent attempts to loosen federal restrictions failed. Marijuana remains illegal under federal law and on the list of Schedule I drugs — not because it is as dangerous as heroin and LSD, but because lawmakers mistakenly believe it has “high potential for abuse and no medical value.”

Commercially grown cannabis plants in Washington state. *Photo Credit: Rory Savatgy*

U.S. lawmakers continue to cite the following five alternative facts, which have persisted for close to a century.

Alternative Fact #1: Cannabis has no medical value

This is one of the reasons that cannabis is a Schedule I drug. But it’s simply not true.

Marijuana treats sufferers of muscle spasms caused by multiple sclerosis; nausea from cancer chemotherapy; poor appetite and weight loss caused by chronic illness, such as HIV; nerve pain, seizure disorders and Crohn’s disease. It may also be effective in treating acute and chronic pain. According to a study by The University of Michigan, patients using medical marijuana to control chronic pain have reported a 64 percent reduction in their use of opioids. The U.S. is currently in the midst of the worst drug crisis in history — overdoses from heroin and other opioids kill more than 27,000 people a year. Marijuana may soon prove to be an alternative to opioids for pain management.

According to Gary Murray, acting director of the Division of Metabolism and Health Effects at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, “There is no known medical use for consumed alcohol, but there are health benefits observed in moderate drinkers.”

A man preparing to light a loaded pipe. *Photo Credit: Amarett Jans*

Alternative Fact #2: Marijuana has a high potential for abuse

Another reason that marijuana is a Schedule I drug. Certainly, any drug, including alcohol, is subject to abuse. According to the NIH, “Approximately 17.6 million people, or one in every 12 adults, suffer from alcohol abuse or dependence. Alcoholics in withdrawal can suffer from anxiety and depression, headaches, insomnia, nausea, fever and even seizures.”

In 2013, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta declared, “There is clear evidence that in some people marijuana use can lead to withdrawal symptoms, including insomnia, anxiety and nausea. Even considering this, it is hard to make a case that it has a high potential for abuse. The physical symptoms of marijuana addiction are nothing like those of the other drugs I’ve mentioned [morphine, heroin cocaine]. I have seen the withdrawal from alcohol, and it can be life-threatening.”

A woman takes a hit from a glass pipe in the forest. *Photo Credit: Amarett Jans*

Alternative Fact #3: Criminalizing marijuana reduces access and use

The federal government and select state governments spend 17.5 billion to prohibit the use of marijuana. Americans who believe that their tax dollars are being used effectively may be surprised by the facts. A 2014 study found that 68% of high school students in the U.S. say it’s “fairly easy” or “very easy” to find marijuana and 20% have used it in the last 30 days, demonstrating that despite many efforts at prevention of drug use, high school students are still faced with frequent opportunities to use marijuana. 78% say alcohol is “fairly easy” or “very easy” to find and 20% report binge drinking in the last 20 days. There’s not a huge difference in those percentages, even though alcohol should be easier for kids to access because, unlike marijuana, it’s readily available in their homes. Laws designed to curb marijuana access and use are not working.

U.S. Marshalls prepare to conduct a drugs raid on someone’s home. *Photo Credit: Office of Public Affairs*

Alternative Fact #4: Marijuana use leads to crime

People who commit crimes are often under the influence of alcohol and/or any number of drugs. But, according to NCADD: “Alcohol, more than any illegal drug, was found to be closely associated with violent crimes, including murder, rape, assault, child and spousal abuse. About 3 million violent crimes occur each year in which victims perceive the offender to have been drinking and statistics related to alcohol use by violent offenders generally show that about half of all homicides and assaults are committed when the offender, victim, or both have been drinking. Among violent crimes, with the exception of robberies, the offender is far more likely to have been drinking than under the influence of other drugs.”

Lots of marijuana users get arrested, but, of the 8.2 million marijuana arrests between 2001 and 2010, 88% were arrested for simply having marijuana. In 2015, police made more arrests for simple marijuana possession than for all violent crimes combined.

So what’s really happening here is that while dangerous people are committing serious crimes — crimes that cause harm to other people — the police are often busy arresting people for simple possession of marijuana.

Alternative Fact #5: Americans want strict marijuana laws

No, we don’t. An October 2016 Gallup poll shows that 60 percent of American adults now say that marijuana should be legal — the highest level of support in nearly a half-century of polling on the question. It’s time for U.S. lawmakers to pay attention to scientific data, listen to the will of the American people and end the misguided, expensive and failed war on marijuana that Harry Anslinger started so long ago.

A cannabis cultivation worker shows off a handful of trimmed product. *Photo Credit: Sarah Climaco*

Conclusions

This is a good place for a reminder that marijuana is a Schedule I illegal drug because of its high potential for abuse and no medical value (which begs the questions, why is alcohol not on that list?).

Dr. Gupta, who until recently was against marijuana legalization, writes, “I mistakenly believed the Drug Enforcement Agency listed marijuana as a Schedule I substance because of sound scientific proof. Surely, they must have quality reasoning as to why marijuana is in the category of the most dangerous drugs that have ‘no accepted medicinal use and a high potential for abuse.’ They didn’t have the science to support that claim, and I now know that when it comes to marijuana neither of those things are true. It doesn’t have a high potential for abuse, and there are very legitimate medical applications.”

The U.S. government could take money spent on the unnecessary war against marijuana and invest it in programs to help Americans who abuse alcohol and drugs because they suffer from depression, anxiety, and other mental health disorders.

Note: This article was originally published by Greeley Gallery.

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A mature cannabis cola inside of a licensed Washington cultivation center.

Trump Press Secretary Hints at “Greater Enforcement” of Federal Cannabis Prohibition

2/23/2017

by Graham Abbott

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White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said during the daily White House press briefing on Thursday that the Trump administration is likely to increase the enforcement of marijuana laws in states that have legalized recreational cannabis.

“I do believe you will see greater enforcement,” Spicer said, in what has become the Trump administration’s first official statement on the cannabis industry since taking control. The statement was made in response to questions from two separate reporters.

News broke on Twitter almost immediately:

Spicer: DOJ will be “taking action” against states that have legalized recreational marijuana.

— Radley Balko (@radleybalko) February 23, 2017

Spicer just said there will be “greater enforcement” of federal prohibition of weed – that’s big news.
CC: Colo, Calif, Ore, Wash, Alaska…

— Matthew Nussbaum (@MatthewNussbaum) February 23, 2017

Notably, Spicer took care to differentiate between medical and recreational cannabis, indicating that enforcement actions would not target patients who are using the plant medicinally and legally under state laws. Spicer linked cannabis use to the abuse of dangerous opiates across the U.S., despite multiple reports that have shown medical cannabis laws can actually reduce the number of opioid overdose-linked deaths in a state.

When asked if federal enforcement would target companies who are currently working in the recreational cannabis space, Spicer said:

“I think that’s a question for the Department of Justice. I do believe that you’ll see greater enforcement of it, because again, there’s a big difference between the medical use, which Congress has, through an appropriations rider in 2014, made very clear what their intent was on how the Department of Justice would handle that issue. That’s very different from the recreational use, which is something the Department of Justice will be further looking into.”

The Department of Justice, however, is now run by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has historically condemned cannabis as a dangerous and addictive substance, despite endless evidence to the contrary, at one point even saying that he used to be “okay” with the KKK until he learned that some of their members smoked marijuana. Sessions did indicate during his confirmation hearings that, despite his personal beliefs, he would let President Trump take the lead in terms of any federal marijuana enforcement actions.

However, in an interview with Marijuana Business Daily, Massachusetts-based attorney Bob Carp displayed a more hopeful position. According to Carp, Spicer’s comments aren’t “that big of a deal.”

“This was a sound bite from him, from his playbook he’s been given,” Carp said. “[Spicer] doesn’t make decisions for the Department of Justice, he doesn’t make decisions for Donald Trump. All he does is report what he’s told to report, and this was essentially just a little snippet he was told to give when that question was posed.”

“I don’t think there’s any real platform that’s been adopted by the White House or the Justice Department yet with regard to enforcement of marijuana,” Carp told Marijuana Business Daily.

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A dispensary worker in Oregon puts a label on a 3.5 gram container of cannabis.

Report: Cannabis Industry Will Create 250K Jobs by 2020

2/23/2017

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Jobs in the legal cannabis industry are on track to outpace those in the manufacturing, utilities, and government sectors, according to a New Frontier report outlined by Forbes. By 2020, the cannabis market is expected to create more than 250,000 jobs; while the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects manufacturing jobs to decrease by 814,000, utility jobs to decrease by 47,000, and a 383,000 decline in government jobs by 2024.

The New Frontier data is based only on the 32 state markets that currently exist, and do not take into consideration markets that could come online by 2020. The projections are based on a Marijuana Policy Group analysis – the firm hired by Colorado for an economic study.

Giadha Aguirre De Carcer, founder and CEO of New Frontier Data, said that the numbers “confirm that cannabis is a major economic driver and job creation engine for the U.S. economy.”

“We expect the cannabis industry’s growth to be slowed down to some degree in the next three to five years, however with a projected total market sales to exceed $24 billion by 2025, and the possibility of almost 300,000 jobs by 2020, it remains a positive economic force in the U.S.,” he said in the report.

According to a Marijuana Business Daily report cited by Forbes, the industry already employs between 100,000 and 150,000 workers.

End

Texas Officials Could Start MMJ Application Process This Week

2/23/2017

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The Texas Department of Public Safety is expected to begin accepting cultivation and dispensary license applications under the state’s Compassionate Use Act this week, according to a CBSDFW report. The law permits low-THC cannabis oils to be used as a treatment only for intractable epilepsy.

One company, Aquiflow, has already purchased an old cotton gin in Gunter, hopeful that they will be awarded one of the state licenses. Gunter Mayor Pro Tem Larry Peters expressed support for the business, saying he hopes the tax revenue will help the town improve its infrastructure and net it a new fire truck.

“If it’s legal, I’m all for it,” Peters said in the report. “If this puts us on the map, so what? The biggest thing is it’s gonna help people.”

The law was passed in 2015, but officials delayed its rollout for two years in order to develop regulations and a registry for patients, doctors, and dispensaries.

According to a February 21 poll from the University of Texas/Texas Tribune, 83 percent of Texans support legalizing cannabis for “some use,” while 53 percent supported legalizing “for any use.”

Jim Henson, poll co-director at the UT-Austin Texas Policy Project, said the survey showed a slight shift among Republicans supporting looser cannabis laws, noting that the number of people who wanted to keep cannabis completely illegal dropped seven points.

“The other thing that may be going on here is the possible disappearance of the medium ground,” he said in a statement. “It reminds me of what happened with gay marriage, where people often chose the civil union option. A similar thing is happening with medical marijuana as a kind of way station.”

Officials previously indicated that the applications would be online today; however, they have not yet materialized.

End

Arkansas MMJ Commission Releases Cultivation and Dispensary Rules

2/23/2017

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Arkansas’ Medical Marijuana Commission has released its final draft rules for awarding dispensary and cultivation licenses in the state, according to a Baxter Bulletin report. Under the regime, five cultivation licenses and 32 dispensary licenses will be granted throughout Arkansas.

The cultivation licensees, which do not have any geographic restrictions, will be approved based on their application merits, which carry a $15,000 application fee – half of which will be refunded if the applicant is not selected. Those selected will pay a $100,000 annual licensing fee.

Dispensaries will be divided evenly across eight geographic regions and will be determined based on a combination merit/lottery system. Under that system, applicants will draw numbers which will determine the order in which commissioners will consider application presentations. Applicants will pay a $7,500 application fee, half of which will be refunded if the applicant is rejected. Dispensary owners will also have an option to grow up to 50 mature cannabis plants – but would have to pay a $25,000 yearly licensing fee opposed to the $2,500 annual fee for dispensaries that do not have grows.

Cultivation applicants would have to show assets of $1 million or a surety bond for that amount, and $500,000 in liquid assets with an initial $500,000 performance bond. Dispensary applicants must show assets or a surety bond of $200,000, and $100,000 in liquid assets with an initial $100,000 performance bond.

The state Health Department, Alcoholic Beverage Control, and Department of Finance and Administration are still developing their own program rules.

End

The Capitol Building of Iowa in Iowa City.

Iowa Inches Toward Comprehensive MMJ Regime

2/23/2017

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Lawmakers in Iowa are considering legislation that would expand the qualifying conditions under the program, prevent it from expiring in July, and permit medical cannabis to be grown and sold in the state, the Globe Gazette reports. Currently, only patients with intractable epilepsy are able to access the program, and they must obtain their medicine elsewhere – in violation of state and federal laws.

The additional medical conditions covered by the program would need to be recommended by the University of Iowa’s medical college and approved by state lawmakers, and the products grown in the state would be low-THC and high-CBD, according to the bill text. The measure would also allow medical cannabis card holders from other states to make purchases in Iowa.

Although all three members of the panel approved the measure, Chairman Rep. Jared Klein indicated changes would be possible.

“This is a working vehicle,” Klein, a Republican, said in an Iowa Public Radio report. “This is not a set in stone thing.”

The measure is set now to be introduced in the GOP-controlled Iowa House, which rejected a similar proposal last April, according to the IPR report. That bill had narrowly passed the Democrat-led Senate.

End

Cannabis plants in a professional growing environment.

Future Hazy for Sonoma County Cannabis Cultivators Following New Zoning Laws

2/22/2017

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A plan approved by Sonoma County California’s Board of Supervisors last December could force thousands of the region’s cannabis growers out of business, resulting in the loss of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenues, according to a Press Democrat report. The law bans large-scale commercial cannabis cultivation in areas outside the city limits.

Many of the growers affected are described as “mom and pop” businesses and have few options due to the rising cost of local land. Cultivators would be able to move their operations to the county’s agricultural, resources, and industrial zones.

Erin Carlstron, an attorney who represents about 50 of the cultivators, said the new order is causing “a lot of anxiety” for her clients.

“There’s no path forward for them,” she said in the report.

According to the report, county code enforcement steps began last month after about 15 to 20 complaints about growing in single-family homes. Tennis Wick, the county planning director, indicated that such grows are illegal throughout the county and that officials would start cracking down on outdoor operations after the planting season arrives.

Supervisor James Gore indicated that no other businesses are allowed to operate in residential areas and questioned why they would make an exception for any industry.

The county would need between $700,000 and $1.2 million to hire staff to enforce the new regulations, according to a county analysis outlined in the report.

In March, voters will decide whether to approve a 10 percent tax on the gross receipts of licensed cannabis operators, which is not supported by the Sonoma County Growers Alliance because the tax would “exceed profitability.”

End

City skyline view of Rotterdam in The Netherlands.

Bill to Legalize Cannabis Cultivation Passes Dutch Parliament Lower House

2/22/2017

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A bill that would legalize cannabis cultivation in the Netherlands has narrowly passed the lower house of Dutch Parliament and will next move to the First Chamber for consideration, according to a report from The Telegraph. It’s not clear whether the bill has enough support in the upper house, but if it does it would be a huge step in normalizing the coffee shop culture in The Netherlands. Although famous for its Amsterdam coffee shops, there is currently no way for those businesses to legally obtain their products.

If the votes in the First Chamber follow the same party lines as the lower house, the bill would not pass, the report says, citing Dutch broadcaster NOS. If that ends up the case, the issue could become a bargaining chip for lawmakers after March’s lower house election.

“It is good news for the coffee shop industry because it will finally — if it passes the First Chamber — put an end to a lot of stuff we can’t organize in a normal and transparent way,” Joachim Helms, chairman of the Coffee Shop Union, said in the report.

Alexander Pechtold, Parliamentary Leader of the Democrats 66 party, who drafted the legislation, called the lower house approval “a historic breakthrough.” He said the measure would implement taxes on the industry, and allow product inspections, while freeing up law enforcement resources currently utilized to stem the grows.

End

Many pounds of cured and trimmed cannabis bagged up inside of a large plastic bin.

Australian Firms React to Federal MMJ Importation Plan

2/22/2017

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Under new medical cannabis rules in Australia, approved companies can legally import, store, and sell cannabis to approved patients until domestic production can meet the nation’s needs, the West Australian reports. The announcement was met with overwhelming support by Australian medical cannabis companies.

Dr. Miri Halperin Wernli, Creso Pharma CEO and co-founder, called the move “great news for all Australians,” adding that the move could change hundreds of lives.

“By effectively establishing a legal marijuana trade, the government is showing that compassion for patients can extend beyond just family and friends and is an issue for society,” she said in a statement. “People with serious or terminal conditions should not be treated like criminals for trying to ease their pain.”

Auscann Managing Director Elaine Darby said the new rules will “drastically” improve the company’s timelines for supplying patients with medical cannabis products.

“Yesterday we welcomed the news from the Office of Drug Control that we can now import cannabis medicines from our Canadian partners Canopy by being able to demonstrate a potential process for a supply chain to patients through medical practitioners through the special access schemes,” said Darby in a statement.

Nativ Segev, CEO of MGC Pharmaceuticals, praised the plan by the federal government as a “great step forward.”

“The most important next step is to ensure that medical professionals are ready and willing to prescribe products to their patients,” he said in a press release. “This is an important hurdle to overcome and can be achieved through better education and working closely with leading research institutes in Australia, including working together on further clinical trials.”

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt indicated the program would allow for an “effective national inventory” while a national scheme is established.

End

Shaping Fire: Kristen Baldwin, Running a Professional Trimming Agency

2/21/2017

by Shango Los

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We are excited to bring this special episode of Shaping Fire, hosted by Shango Los, to the Ganjapreneur audience. Shango recently interviewed Kristen Baldwin, the director of operations for Green Mountain Harvest, a Colorado-based cannabis trimming agency that sends its employees to grow sites around the state to help commercial and residential growers complete the final steps of their harvest cycle. In this interview, they discuss the many demands and expectations of running a professional trimming agency, including workplace safety concerns, ideal trimming strategies and tools, and the general business plan that Green Mountain Harvest follows to find success in the industry.

Listen to the interview below, or scroll down for the full transcript. For more episodes of Shaping Fire, visit www.ShapingFire.com.

Listen to the podcast:

Read the transcript:

Shango Los: Welcome to the Ganjapreneur.com podcast, I’m your host and founder of the Ganjapreneur podcast, Shango Los. You’ve not heard my voice here in a while. Back in April 2016 I took a break from Ganjapreneur to focus on consulting for new cannabis startups, and traveled the country to get a better understanding about what was happening in cannabis states. I’ve now launched a new podcast called Shaping Fire. You can find it at ShapingFire.com, or wherever you download podcasts. During episodes of Shaping Fire, I interview the cannabis industry’s top professionals, and cannabis business, health, and public policy. Very much like I did for the first 54 episodes of the Ganjapreneur podcasts.

If you’ve not heard those first 54 episodes, be sure to check them out at Ganjapreneur.com in the podcast section. Today though, Ganjapreneur has invited me to share with you this week’s episode of Shaping Fire. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope you subscribe to Shaping Fire to listen to more episodes in the future. Thanks to Ganjapreneur for inviting me back to spend this time with you.

Trimming is a constant companion of the cannabis community. Since the earliest days of commercial cannabis, growers have been trimming their cannabis flowers to increase their bag appeal, and clean up the flavor profile from being overly green tasting. Trimming styles change depend on where you live, and what your final use of the flowers will be. One thing for sure though, trimming is very time intensive, and it’s hard on your hands, and usually your back and butt too. It is true though that it is a necessary step in producing fine cannabis, and both home growers and commercial growers need to get the job done one way or another.

You are listening to the Shaping Fire podcasts, and I am your host, Shango Los. My guest today is Kristen Baldwin, director of operations of Green Mountain Harvest. They are a mobile trimming company that sends out teams of between one and 15 or so people to trim home grows and large scale commercial grows too. Today we’ll talk about the different styles of trimming, their favorite scissors to use, and get a better understanding of their business plan and how they make money in this area that many in cannabis consider a difficult necessity. Welcome to the show, Kristen.

Kristen Baldwin: Hey Shango, good to be here.

Shango Los: So glad you could make the time to join us. The cannabis market is exploding of course as licensees, and patients, and even just everyday citizens are beginning to grow. What are the kinds of clients that you find calling you for trimming services?

Kristen Baldwin: It’s interesting, we see clients all the way from large-scale commercial growers who have several locations in which we trim with teams of 15 to 20 trimmers several days a week to personal growers in their homes who have just a few plants. Really, it’s a huge range.

Shango Los: It probably feels like two different departments because of the demands of your big commercial growers, the expediency, and the regularity, and how after once the contract is set up, it’s plug and play versus your personal trimming services where you might just be at somebody’s house for a day or two, and so you have to create that relationship anew with that person, way differently than the commercial clients.

Kristen Baldwin: For sure, and to that effect, we make sure that the people we send to, our personal grow clients, our supervisors, they’re are our best trimmers, they’re our fastest, and also they’re in a position to educate in the home as the client wants us to or doesn’t want us to. They may want to sit with the trimmer, they may not. It’s really up to them how involved in the process they are, and how closely they work with the team.

Shango Los: Yeah, I can imagine that. I can imagine that there’s a lot more customer service. Actually, it’s probably really weird too to be in some people’s homes. That’s awfully intimate, and if they’re growing, maybe sometimes they’re a little sketchy about having people in their homes. Then heck, if they’re patients, some patients, they’re living in some rough situations sometimes. I can imagine that’s a very colorful environment for your team.

Kristen Baldwin: Yeah. What we find is that it’s really just great people who generally are either caregivers for their own needs, or caregivers for a friend, or family, or group of patients, and they’re genuine kind individuals who just really need a service sometimes. Especially with the older folks, it’s just that they’re not able to manage it themselves. With some folks it’s that they’re new. It just depends on the situation. Some folks are just not able to physically take care of the plants themselves, so there’s sometimes that we go do harvesting, and gardening, we can move clones around. It’s really a fit to your need kind of service, especially in that circumstance. Really, even all the way up to the commercial grower. It multiplies out in the same way. We use the same formula regardless of where we are.

Shango Los: I can actually imagine. I’m a patient and all, but my hands still work fine, and I can do my own trimming, but I hate trimming. Right?

Kristen Baldwin: Right.

Shango Los: If you were in my state, I think I would just call, because my time is better spent recording a podcast, or calling an advertiser instead of spending my time trimming. I would expect that you have a lot of people who certainly can, but it’s just not how they prefer to spend their time.

Kristen Baldwin: That’s exactly it. Also, that’s even true in the commercial space is that it’s not that they couldn’t hire and manage that staff, it’s that they prefer not to. It’s that they have enough on their hands just managing growing the plants. It’s a completely different skill set. That’s the other thing. Just because you know how to grow doesn’t mean you know how to manicure. Interestingly, we find some of the best trimmers come from industries like cosmetology school graduates for example make excellent marijuana trimmers as you can imagine. They’re the fastest that we’ve seen, and the most deft with the smaller work, which some of it can be quite meticulous.

Shango Los: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Do you charge by weight or time?

Kristen Baldwin: We charge per person per hour. Based on the size of the team that we send you, and the number of supervisors versus trimmers, that calculates an hourly rate. We don’t charge any administrative fees or anything weird on top of that. On a daily basis, that gets observed by the grower, whether that’s a personal grower or a huge commercial grow, they see the same tablet that says, “This is how long we were here, this is who was here, this is how much it costs you.” We try and keep it as transparent and without much room for error. I find that doing it by weight, it just lends to a lot of variance and ways that things can go askew.

Shango Los: Yeah. Well, then you have to change the price for dry or wet, and how dry is it. Yeah, yeah, I could see that be a lot of malarkey. Well, I’m sure that I’m not the only one listening to you who’s curious about a ballpark figure for what this would cost. I also figured that you probably have got a wide range of pricing from your bulk commercial clients, to somebody who is a personal grower. Let’s say that somebody’s just got your simple, legal six-person grow, and they’ve got very moderately sized plant. Let’s say everything’s a medium. What would I expect it to cost to have one or two of your people come and trim out my six plants?

Kristen Baldwin: I think that it would really be just a few hundred dollars. It would be a day of work for one or two people. If it’s six really productive plants, like a big, big fat Indica, versus a Sativa that’s going to have a lot fewer, smaller buds that are further apart, that would make a difference in how many hours it would take. Generally, we wouldn’t book more than a day. All of our personal grow clients, I’ve never really seen it go over more than two days unless the objective is for us to come and cut the plants down on one day, and do the harvesting and defanning, and then let it dry and come back and do the trimming on another day. Which is quite often how it goes. It could be two days, but it might only be four to six hours of work on each day.

Shango Los: I get that, I get that. For me to think, “Okay, my six plants go from being cut and hung, which I would do, to being nice and in jars done for a few hundred bucks. I’d be in.

Kristen Baldwin: Right, most people would.

Shango Los: Yeah, totally. There is a lot of variety in trimming styles, like if you’re trimming for bag appeal, it’s going to be a lot tighter. Where I live out here on Vashon Island, people leave their flowers really shaggy, because they’re like, “Look at all those tricombs on there. I’d rather have those on my flower than in the trim, which you’d normally go somewhere else.” What sort of client intake do you perform to make sure that your team is providing trimming that matches the client’s expectations?

Kristen Baldwin: Right. Every time we get a new client, there’s an intake they go through that talks about, do you trim your stuff wet? Do you trim dry? Is this just us prepping a large amount of cannabis to go into a trim machine? Which is one job that we do for really, really big clients. Are you going to make some sort of extract out of this? Are you extracting in some way? Are you making hash? What are you doing? That’s the end game can dictate the trim in some cases. Then all the way down to I want a loose, leafy trim, maybe for something like a caviar role where you want to take all your excess keef and reroll those buds in it so the leaves are something for it to stick to. We have some clients who are absolutely, because their medical clients are on such a tight budget, they want to make sure that there’s not even any little tiny crow’s feet, or anything left on the buds that’s extra stem, because that’s a lot of time what the client is looking for. The end user.

As the intermediary, our big deal is we will do it exactly how you want. Why we have the supervisors there who can interface directly with the client, and get really specific information on what the team is supposed to do. Then also, over time, because a lot of places we go back over and over, they’ll develop a rapport, and then it becomes almost fluid as a new member of the team comes on to really get them up to speed on that particular style for that place fairly quickly.

Shango Los: Right on, that makes a lot of sense. Let’s dive into one aspect of that a little more specific. Let’s say that you’ve got three clients, one’s going to make everything into bag hash, one person is going to process it in a BHO tower or something, and the third person is going to just roll it up and smoke it. How would you trim differently for those three clients?

Kristen Baldwin: Okay, so for someone who is doing a BHO extract, they may be wanting a very heavy trim product, and that may be all they’re using to make their BHO. They may be then separating out the bud, or they may be doing what’s called a nug run, which would be that extraction using the buds as well. That would be the point of clarification there. Is your main product goal for the hash going to be the trim or the trim plus the bud? Which thing do you want? Then if they really want everything together, the Phoenix tears, then it would just be shucking. Essentially, getting it off the stem and ready for processing. That would probably happen wet.You wouldn’t do much more to it after that.

For somebody who’s going to smoke the buds themselves, then typically, we would do something more of a de-fan first in the harvest, flip, and then trim it down dry, because you can get a much finer trim on a dry product. It’s a more time-consuming manicure, but ultimately, you’re getting a lot more flavor that’s solely from the bud, and you’ll lose that hay taste or smell a lot more quickly if you trim it that way.

Shango Los: I remember the first time I was involved with a grow for a large CO2 run. It was the first time I have been shucking. Up to that point I had always just trimmed for personal smoke, but then, I was being mentored and learning how to do this, and I saw these folks just shuck it right off the branch, and it drops into the bin, and I’m like, “No F-ing way.” You’re somewhere in between, “Is that disrespectful to the flower?” To, “Oh my god, this is going to be the easiest trim ever, right?

Kristen Baldwin: Exactly, right. You’re never really sure which thing is true when you’re doing that process.

Shango Los: Well, especially if you’re working for somebody else, right?

Kristen Baldwin: Yeah, absolutely. It’s a big responsibility to take somebody’s hard work over several weeks and then take it from that state to a usable end product. That’s really the intermediary that the trimmer performs in a lot of cases, especially if it’s not going through an extraction process. If the trimmer mangles the buds, they mangled the buds. That’s it. If they’re squashed, they’re squashed.

Shango Los: It’s not like you can suddenly replace them, it’s like, “Oh, sorry.”

Kristen Baldwin: No, there is no little bike tire pump that you can stick back into it and, “Oops.” Once you’ve squished it, it’s over. I think that that’s why it’s such an intense process. Also, these guys are working under extreme scrutiny, and that’s another thing to keep in mind on the commercial level is that we’ll have a team of 10 people, they’ll have three or four cameras on them at all times, everything has to be meticulously weighed and accounted for because of the systems here that are extremely rigorous in managing this whole market, both on the medical and retail side. It’s a lot of responsibility, and we don’t take that lightly. Nor does anyone really in the whole chain of process that’s involved with this on a commercial level. You have to take it really seriously.

Shango Los: Right on. We’re going to take our first short break and be right back. You are listening to Shaping Fire, and my guest today is Kristen Baldwin of Green Mountain Harvest.

If you like podcasts like Shaping Fire, chances are that you will like audiobooks too. Pretty much, audiobooks are like podcasts except with less stuttering, better production quality, and more targeted topics. Yeah, I know, I make audiobooks sound better than a podcast, and maybe they are. I get you, I like podcasts too. I like to learn from people talking to me while I’m doing something else, like driving, or cleaning my house, or making dinner, or even being at work, whatever. Here’s the thing, Audible.com has an offer I want to tell you about.

Right now, they are offering a trial of their audiobook service for absolutely free. You can go to ShapingFire.com/Audible, and you will get a free audiobook straight up. You can listen to it on your mobile device, on your computer, or you can download it and listen to it pretty much anywhere. It’s really simple. Of course, they really want you to subscribe to their service forever and enjoy more and more audiobooks. As cannabis users, you also know how this goes, the first one is free. They’re going to hate I’ve said that. It’s pretty great. I listened recently to Smoke Signals by Martin Lee from ProjectCBD.org. Martin’s book is a classic of cannabis advocacy. He explains the history of cannabis in America, THC and CBD cannabis science, and white cannabis policy in America has gotten so jacked.

If you consider yourself a cannabis person, this book really is a must. Talking cannabis we all sound radical just because we’re talking about weed, but if you learn the history and science of cannabis, suddenly you become smart and trustworthy to people. The book was really incredible, and there’s no doubt that Martin Lee is the real deal. You can get the book for free just for doing the trial. If you don’t want to listen to a cannabis book, that’s cool too. There’s everything else. There is sci-fi, and history, biography. Hell, you can even listen to a book about card counting in blackjack. Whatever, it’s all pretty rad. Here’s the deal, your first book is free, it’s easy to sign up, it’s easy to quit. They do do a pretty good job making me want to stay every month. Just check it out. Go to ShapingFire.com/Audible to find out more.

Welcome back, you are listening to Shaping Fire, I’m your host Shango Los. Our guest this week is Kristen Baldwin, director of operations at Green Mountain Harvest. In the first set we talked a lot about the idea of the trimming business, and the kinds of people who hire you, and actually, how damn necessary it is in the new legal market. It’s funny because a lot of people have trimmed before, and so a lot of people have got their preferred method, and their preferred scissors. I’m totally curious.

In online grower farms, it seems like everybody has their own favorite scissors. I, myself, like small spring-loaded scissors with a curved tip, so I can get on in there in the flower. My growing mentor, he prefers tiny scissors without a spring, but with really big hand openings. Do you find that your team, like everybody likes their own style, or is there a particular style that seems to really come out as being universally best by professionals?

Kristen Baldwin: Sure, yeah, so we, I think in the early days of Green Mountain Harvest, so that was like six years ago, they did experiment with several different styles of shearers. What we’ve settled on, and really, we provide all of the tools through a supervisor kit that they carry in the field, we use the Hydro Farm curved blade shearer, and we chose that one because for a few reasons, one it’s super affordable, we think it’s a really good price point. The curved blade, kind of like you said, is really what we think creates the tightest trim, and also, it’s the easiest on your wrist we find because you’re not curving your hand as often. The blade is curved, so you can have a straighter arm. Allow the curve of the blade and then the twist of the plant, rather than arcing your wrist at a funny angle.

Shango Los: That makes me think about OSHA standards, and just general worker health. You’re in this odd position, because your company has the state level, but obviously, cannabis is still illegal federally. What kind of best practices have you put together for creating an environment that is ergonomically healthy for your trimmers, even though they spend their entire day using their hands and probably sitting down, which is probably two of the worst things that you could be doing?

Kristen Baldwin: Yeah, for sure. Actually, we really, really made a point of keeping safety as a main priority for our team. To that effect, when they are hired, they are given a set of exercises for their wrists and their backs. We also have a system in place where our trimmers can sit or stand, and they can go back and forth. Unless there’s some really heavy space constraints that would disallow somebody from being able to get up and choose to sit or stand, we encourage people to really take both of those options. Surprisingly, though OSHA is a federal organization, they have been great working with me directly over my years in this industry, regardless of the context, and really come and educated us, and had open dialogue with the industry. Yeah, we’re in a funny place.

There is no doubt about that. Our main goal is to create an environment for our trimmers that’s healthy, so that also involves not just an ergonomic situation, but some other things as well. To that effect, we have some other things. Masks if there’s any kind of mold or mildew present. We use a food grade brown butcher paper on the tables so that each environment is sterile. Our trimmers all use a new set of gloves after each break, so they are able to have left the building and come back in clean.

Shango Los: Do you have a daily team that’s pretty much full-time, or is it pretty much all part-timers who are on call?

Kristen Baldwin: All of our people are part-time, they are employees with us, which allows them to be covered under our Workmen’s Comp, which is a huge key in this industry. We’re really trying to put as many of those standards of normal working conditions in place for people, even though, again, we’re in that funny gray area. Generally, the trimmers work between 25 and 35 hours a week. December is certainly slower. We joke that we think that the trimmers get less work because the growers plan not to have to harvest right around Christmas, because why would they want to? That’s fine, we can plan for that. I’m looking at our January schedule, and it’s totally insane.

I think everyone who didn’t harvest in December is harvesting in January. Then we also lovingly call October Hemptober here in Colorado, because all the big outdoor farms, that’s a big, big time for them. That can be really fun and exciting little trips for the trimmers out to these really cool, outdoor, big, really, really nice farms.

Shango Los: That’s one of the funny things about outdoor, isn’t it? The idea of harvest? Obviously, there is lots of indoor in the country, and there’s certainly way more harvesting taking place as far as around the calendar, but in volume, harvest, suddenly you’re needed everywhere. Do you have a seasonal spike where you need to over hire just for harvest season, and then you get back down to a more basic crew for the rest of the year?

Kristen Baldwin: We actually don’t follow that kind of hiring practice. Once you’re an employee with us, you’re an employee, and we do our best to provide you hours consistently. For us, it really is a balance of demanding excellence from our team so that the people that do stay with us are the best ones, and then making sure that those people have work. It’s a delicate balance. I do handle a lot of the hiring, and firing, and all the stuff in between, and I do find that I do want to be able to provide work for people immediately when I hire them, but I do have to caution them that this is a business where there are lulls. We give our employees the opportunity to create their own schedules in the sense that they have some big flexibility there, which to that effect, if they need to have another part-time job to supplement this, we understand that that’s part of the deal.

Shango Los: On that note, is it a hard to find skilled trimmers to fill all the ranks? Because so many people say they’ve got experience, and then maybe they’re too slow, or distracted, or sloppy, or drunk, or whatever.

Kristen Baldwin: Yeah, so all those things have happened, and that’s part of why we have this supervisor in the field for each group of 12 trimmers. That allows us to, regardless of what your resume says, really watch what you do in that first 30 day probation period, and then if we can’t get you up to speed in that first 30 days, then typically, that’ll be it for people who just can’t cut the mustard. Sometimes, the other side of the equation is true, people find out that they really can’t or don’t enjoy the repetitive nature of the job. We do have people who will do it for a couple weeks and then say, “Yeah, I don’t want to do this.”

For people that want to put their headphones on and listen to an awesome podcast like this one, and trim some plants, and be with some great people, it’s a great job. The other cool thing is that we can hire people with some disabilities, so that’s pretty neat, because it’s like you have a walker, hey, man, if you can get into the facility, and we’ll make sure you can, then you can sit down and trim. That’s good for people who are retired, we have a lot of folks that just trim with us one or two days a week, and have their own grows, and just love it, and have been with us for years and years.

We have other people who are fast, young people, directly from the industry in the last few years who just are amazing, and so, so, so, so fast. That’s the other side of the workforce, is people who’ve just been trained commercially in the last few years. We don’t hire anyone directly who doesn’t have some sort of trimming experience. If you don’t have any charming experience, then we have a trimmer training school sort of program you can choose to go through.

Shango Los: I’ve met some folks who are on the autistic spectrum, and it’s amazing how appropriate trimming is for a lot of the folks who have got the hyperfocus ability, and they can work for long periods of time. You allow them to wear their headphones, and let them know you need done, and boom, and you’re like, “Damn, it was done fast, and efficiently, and in good cheer.” It’s really great. It’s amazing the kinds of people who are able to work in our industry who have not necessarily had the opportunity before. Can folks get high on the job?

Can folks get high on the job?

Kristen Baldwin: No, no. Yeah. There’s really strict regulations in place around use, anywhere within 500 feet of a commercial facility, whether it’s a grow, or a store, and extraction facility, you can’t use the product, or even bring personal product into that facility. Technically, when you go into a dispensary, you’re not supposed to even have any cannabis already on you. Technically, if they see that, they have to ask you to leave. If one of our trimmers is observed using cannabis within 500 feet of a facility, we have to fire them that day. Because they can lose their badge essentially to work in the industry. For just that.

Shango Los: I can imagine that for a lot of trimmers that’s a dealbreaker right there, like, “Listen, if I’m going to be trimming 30 hours a week, I want to be high for it, so no good, no good for me.”

Kristen Baldwin: Right. Well, what you do at home is your business, what time of day you do that is also your business, what you do when you leave the facility is your business, but what you do while you have to be at the facility, that’s the key. On a 15 minute break where you’re not allowed to leave, you can go outside and stretch, but it’s 15 minutes, you can’t leave the facility, you can’t smoke weed. I feel like there’s ways that people could probably get around that if their dosage requires a morning use, they could maybe supplement with an edible, or something else. No one is suggesting that, especially for a medical patient, they don’t do what they need to do. You can’t be using the product on the job. That’s the main thing, and that’s true just across the board. I think that that’s one of the big differences between what people think we do in this industry, and what we do. Is that there really isn’t a lot of use in the actual manifestation of the industry itself. That’s a completely separate thing at this point.

Shango Los: I think the more commercial and commodity-based it becomes, it’s going to continue in that direction. I remember when everybody was working in medical, and it was much less regulated and loose, everybody would get high at the beginning of just about every business meeting, because that’s how cannabis culture was. I found that frustrating a lot of time, because even though I got to try some amazing flowers and oils from that people would bring to the meetings, at the same time, so many of the folks would not remember the key points of the meeting, or what they committed to do, and then I would have to send follow up emails to remind them what they agreed to. Even though I enjoy the social aspects of it, I do see, as cannabis businesses are getting more serious, there are less people who are doing it cooked.

Kristen Baldwin: Yeah, it’s like I guess the three martini lunch would be the closest equation. Even if you’re in the beer industry, you’re not testing beers at 9 AM every day. You can’t do it, it’s just like in any industry where there is this quality to it where there’s some sort of state of alteration that’s going to occur. I think that in this industry, the reality is you’re trying to mitigate that weird, gray area. That weird, federal state, gray area. I think this is one of the ways that they’ve done that. Then the other side of it is exactly what you’re talking about. Professionally, at 10 AM, would it be appropriate to pop a bottle of wine? Maybe on a special day, but probably not. Probably not if you want to get a lot done.

What people need to do to take care of themselves medically, again, is another thing, but I would say recreational use in a meeting is really bad, especially because you could have 10 different people who respond to that particular strain super differently. That could be one that’s really makes you really focused, but it may not work that way for this whole group of people that now you have to make decisions with.

Shango Los: Yeah, that makes sense. We’re going to take another short break and be right back. You are listening to Shaping Fire, and my guest today is Kristen Baldwin of Green Mountain Harvest. Businesses everywhere are constantly striving to reach out to people through advertising. We all know though that trying to reach a cannabis audience with a quality message is pretty difficult. That’s why many people choose to advertise on the Shaping Fire podcasts. Advertising on this show allows us time to talk about your product, service, or brand in a way that really lets people know what sets your company apart from others. Bold people who own companies know that getting into a relationship with their customers is essential. That is what we offer.

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Welcome back, you are listening to Shaping Fire. I’m your host, Shango Los, and our guest this week is Kristen Baldwin, director of operations at Green Mountain Harvest. Before the break, we were talking about a lot of the specifics on not only running a business, but working the best possible customer service with either the commercial growers, or with personal growers. During the break, I was thinking about it, and it made me wonder about employee theft, because in a big commercial environment, maybe you can do something on the slide that the cameras don’t see, and if you’re in a real informal situation in somebody’s home, I can imagine being able to abscond with some there. What’s your experience with employee theft? Is that much of an issue?

Kristen Baldwin: Yeah, so we really, really, really just impale with every ounce of our strength into our employees how dumb it would be to try. We don’t typically have a lot of problem with that. That being said, people try all kinds of crazy things-

Shango Los: Like what?

Kristen Baldwin: Well like, there was an incident in one of the very first dispensaries that I worked in where the employee, he was in on their trim team, and what he would do would be to put several gloves over his glove, and then he would successively put a bud in each glove and stick it in his pocket as he was trimming. I don’t think that he really understood that his Adidas running pants were very much showing the outline of these, what looked like golf balls in his pockets. I noticed this, and I couldn’t figure out what was going on, because he definitely didn’t have golf balls in his pocket when he came to work. That was one of those situations where I think it seemed like a good plan at the outset, but in execution, particularly with the number of cameras that he was visible on, it just did not go well for him.

Shango Los: Yeah, I can imagine that. What I find, there’s so much cannabis just around in the industry, it’s a really dumb play to steal from work. Everybody’s got it in the industry, so why would you then go and risk your job to steal it?

Kristen Baldwin: Right, but here’s the funny thing, even at the beginning there was a whole point of contention around, well, what do you do with the little buds that fall on the floor? Like oh, it’s floor weed. In the early days, that was just going out the door. That was floor weed. Even that, in the long term, had to be accounted for, and there had to be standards of operation put in place to say, “No, you have to actually take that back, and weigh it, and say, “This is how much we wasted.” Account for it, and then destroy it. You can’t just sweep it up, and stick it in a jar, and take it home.

Shango Los: Let’s flip that dynamic around. Instead of the trimmer stealing, let’s talk about arbitrage. What if you get somebody who’s got a personal grow, and in lieu of paying you for some or all of it, they want to give you their trim for you to then resell to a BHO person or something? A, is that legal, B, is that something that you ever come across?

Kristen Baldwin: Right. No, that’s not legal. The only intermediary we would be in that process would be if we’re brought into trim, and then they’re separating those things out, and they send it with a licensed courier from their operation or another to take that to an operator. We can’t have the product at any point. That’s the nature of the difference in our licensing. Doesn’t allow us to have it, to move it, to grow it, to sell it. Nothing like that. Because that requires a much different license than what we have. We’re an ancillary vendor.

Shango Los: You can’t play middleman on the deals.

Kristen Baldwin: We can’t. Yeah. All that stuff is our FID tag, so essentially, we don’t own or move any RFID tagged product. Yeah.

Shango Los: Let’s talk about licenses in a different way. Up to this point we’ve been talking about either having a license to do a cannabis business, or an individual person having their badge, which allows them to work in the industry. I have not come across actually, you’re the only one actually, you’re the first trim company that I’ve come across, which is why I was so curious to have you on the show. I’ve been all over the country talking to people at this point, and so I think that the days of trimming businesses have now arrived. You’re going to be having a lot more competition soon. Are you looking to other states to license your intellectual property? Not a franchise, because we all understand that franchising is illegal, but are you looking to expand the Green Mountain Harvest name into other states?

Kristen Baldwin: We are, absolutely. Yeah, we have business opportunities now available in any state where it’s medical, or retail, or somewhere in between. We are available to create business opportunities for people who want to do this there. When the owner, Susan Chicovsky, started this six years ago, she really saw a need for this as an industry, and no one else was doing it. She had to go to the state and say, “This is what I want to do.” They said, “Wow, that’s a really good idea, we hadn’t even thought about that.” Hadn’t even crossed anybody’s mind that this was a really valuable and necessary piece of the puzzle to make all this work.

We have lots of different services available to that end. We sometimes just go and we’ll train teams of trimmers for people that already have an existing operation, and want to have an on-site team. We’ve sent people to other states, and we’ll send, again, some of our supervisors. Susan, the owner, will go, and they stay for a few days, or a week or two, and they get everybody up to speed. That’s one option. The other option is to actually become a partner, a Green Mountain harvest partner, and carry that name into another state. In that case, then you get a huge amount of our intellectual property, and our standard practices, and how we operate in that gray area successfully. Which is part of the key for sure.

Shango Los: Let’s circle back to you mentioning Susan going to the state to try to get the blessing for this kind of a business model. Because that is a really important entrepreneurial point. A lot of people are like, “Oh, now that cannabis is legal, I’m just going to start a business, and I don’t have to be an activist.” I think that all entrepreneurs in cannabis have to remain activists. Not only to make sure that your local government doesn’t pass some kind of moratorium that’s going to suddenly tie your hands, but what Susan did, Susan had to come up not only with the business idea, but then she had to lobby for it with regulators so that there was a license allowance for it. That’s extra credit to Susan for stepping up and following that, and I think that’s a good lesson for everybody that you might have a groundbreaking idea, and you’re going to have to sell it to your regulators.

Kristen Baldwin: Absolutely. Yeah. It’s all about being part of the movement overall. You may have a great idea, and you may be really scared about coming out of a gray market, or a black market with that idea, but unless you stand up, and unless you become part of the movement, and say, “This is what I’m doing, and this is why it’s important.” Then you don’t move us all forward as a whole. That’s really what she did was say, “Not only do I want to provide a safe way to handle the product for this particular point in its process, but also, what does a business model look like that really supports its employees as if this were any other industry?”

You have to have Workmen’s Comp. You have to make people employees, and not have them work as contract labor, which is so often what people are more apt to do, because it’s easier for the employer, but it provides the employee no protection. They’re not an employee. They have no protection. Susan really did say, “I want to do this, but I want to do this right, and what does this look like?” Got amazing certifications put in place for our company that say we are the most compliant, and this is how that looks. That’s why I was excited to come and work with her after years of doing other things in the industry for sure.

Shango Los: I think that it really helps the industry as a whole when people like Susan provide that leadership, because then the regulators can point and say, “Look, here’s a good actor who is doing it the right way, who is doing the things that cause us to feel more safe as regulators.” Then hopefully, eventually some of those regulations can be a little loosened so that they don’t cost as much for companies to comply. For now, we’ve got this strange dance between entrepreneurs and regulators of, what can the entrepreneurs get away with, versus the regulators wanting to regulate and/or ban everything, because they’re afraid of risk.

Kristen Baldwin: Absolutely. Absolutely, and that’s why people have to be really vocal, and they have to get out there. Even to the point of for children who are using cannabis patches in schools, that was a big, big hurdle that we had to overcome here in Colorado. Helping people understand that this is a medicine, and that these kids are using it. They’re not getting high at school. A kid in a wheelchair who can move their arms solely because they’ve started using these patches isn’t getting high. They’re having a better quality of life. Even something as simple as that takes a huge group of people, and a lot of effort, and a lot of people coming forward.

What I would say to anyone in those states where it’s still gray is don’t stay in the dark. Just get out there and be vocal, and get ready to be part of something special, because the amazing other side of this is that after you’ve been in this state where it’s gone recreational, and you’ve supported the medical market, and you’ve seen what’s happened here in Colorado, some of the outcomes with people getting out of jail, and all the cool stuff that happens on the side with the medical research, and the kids getting better, and the seizures going away, it’s worth coming out of the dark. Susan is going to Pennsylvania for example to speak at a conference that’s all just for doctors. Just getting the doctors on board is crucial. There’s work to be done in every state, and what I say is just be brave and go do it.

Shango Los: Thanks for being on the show today, Kristen.

Kristen Baldwin: Thank you, it’s my pleasure. How exciting. Thank you for doing such good work in getting this information out there.

Shango Los: Kristen Baldwin is director of operations of Green Mountain Harvest. You can find out more at GreenMountainHarvest.com. You can find more episodes of the Shaping Fire Podcast, and subscribe to the show at ShapingFire.com, and on Apple iTunes, Stitcher, YouTube, and Google Play. On the Shaping Fire website, you can also subscribe to the weekly newsletter for insights into the latest cannabis news and product reviews. On the Shaping Fire website, you will also find transcripts of today’s podcast as well. For information on me and where I’ll be speaking, you can check out ShangoLos.com.

Thanks a bunch to Ganjapreneur for having me back for a visit. Be sure to check out Ganjapreneur every day for the latest cannabis news. I’ve been your host, Shango Los.

End

Flower medical cannabis product at the National Holistic Center in Washington D.C.

Massachusetts Committee Likely to Re-Write Adult-Use Law

2/21/2017

a word from our sponsors:

Democratic lawmakers have been tabbed to re-write Massachusetts’ adult-use cannabis law, in what could be another setback for the initiative approved by voters last November. According to a WWLP report, the House and Senate Committee on Marijuana Policy aims to make significant changes to the law, due to concerns about public safety, the tax structure, and the number of plants allowed in home grows.

State Sen. Pat Jehlen, a supporter of legalized cannabis, will work with House vice-chairman Rep. David M. Rogers, Senate vice-chairman Sen. Jason M. Lewis, and Rep. Mark Cusack on re-writing the law. Cusack has not taken a public position on the issue but said in an interview with the Boston Globe that he would follow the will of the voters.

“I think the will of the voters is they wanted recreational marijuana, not that they sat there and read every word of the ballot measure before they voted for it,” he said in the interview. “It was really: Do you want it or do you not?”

Jehlen said the committee would seek out experts from other states with adult-use markets, and hold hearings throughout the state.

“I don’t think the voters were expressing deep engagement with every single sentence,” she said. “But I think the concept of allowing people to own and use and grow marijuana legally, that is what is our mandate, to protect that.”

The committee is expected to provide their recommendations to Republican Gov. Charlie Baker – who opposed the measure – by June.

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The state flag of Pennsylvania flying at the state capitol building.

Pennsylvania Health Department Accepting MMJ Industry Applications

2/21/2017

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Pennsylvania’s Department of Health is now accepting applications for medical cannabis dispensaries, cultivators, and processors, Fox43 reports. Under the state’s medical cannabis laws, the Department of Health is allowed to issue up to 25 grower/processor licenses and up to 50 dispensary permits.

Grower and processor applicants are required to pay a $10,000 non-refundable permit fee plus another refundable permit fee of $200,000. Grower/processor applicants must also be able to prove they have $2 million in capital, $500,000 of which must me on deposit with a financial institution. Dispensary applicants must pay a $5,000 non-refundable fee plus another $30,000 refundable permit fee and must be able to prove $150,000 in capital.

Pennsylvania’s medical cannabis rules do not allow for full-plant use, instead patients will have access to pills, oils, topicals, tinctures, liquids, and “a form medically appropriate for administration by vaporization or nebulization,” the draft rules for the program state.

According to the 33-page grower/processor application, applicants must include a diversity plan “that promotes and ensures the involvement of diverse participants and diverse groups in ownership, management, employment, and contracting opportunities.” The diversity plans will be scored by the department on a 100-point system.

Applications are open until March 20.

End

Stacks of $100 bills in rubber band rolls.

U.S.-Based Kalytera Therapeutics Acquires Israel-Based Talent Biotech

2/21/2017

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