Martin Condon is sparking a national conversation about legalization in Ireland, one seedling at a time.
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There's no more iconic duo than Zig-Zag rolling papers and chronic. Find out what's hot for wholesale from the legendary brand.
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Nadir Pearson’s SMART org works to remove stigmas that stall research, business development, and vibes at colleges nationwide When Nadir Pearson was deciding what to dub Brown University’s first cannabis advocacy group, he wanted the name to speak for itself. That’s why the Clifton, New Jersey native started with the full acronym SMART, before deciding […]
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Enter a long, strange trip into the mind of a genius. Elon Musk—who on September 27 became the world’s richest person, surpassing Jeff Bezos—said people should be “open to psychedelics” at a CodeCon event on Tuesday.
Ronan Levy, executive chairman of Field Trip Health hosted conversation with Musk during an interview at CodeCon 21, a celebrated tech development event, confronting him about whether or not he supports psychedelics for therapeutic purposes.
“I think generally people should be open to psychedelics,” said Musk. The session continued.
“You’ve spent a lot of time talking about outer space, and I want to ask you about inner space. What role do you think psychedelics may have in addressing some of the more destructive tendencies of humanity?” Levy asked Musk.
“A lot of people making laws are kind of from a different era,” Musk replied. “As the new generation gets into political power, I think we will see greater receptivity to the benefits of psychedelics.”
Field Trip Health provides psychedelic-assisted therapies. In an August 31 press release, Field Trip announced new programs, including one that gives eligible therapists the ability to provide ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) to their patients at Field Trip Health Centers. They will use Field Trip’s medical teams for screening, prescribing and administration of ketamine.
Field Trip’s programs will also provide both didactic and experiential training to therapists and medical professionals on KAP. Therapists who complete Field Trip’s training programs will automatically become eligible to join the KAP Co-op program.
It’s not the first time that the SpaceX founder and multibillionaire has spoken in favor of psychedelics.
On November 14, 2020, Musk tweeted three statements: “You can’t win; You can’t break even; and You can’t stop playing,” then tweeting in the thread, “Unless you’re on DMT.” Twitter couldn’t handle the statement, and commenters guessed whether it was an admission that the billionaire had tried ayahuasca or DMT.
Why is this important? Because so much weight is often put on Musk’s opinions—given his stratospheric wealth and influence. Musk’s powers are evident in the way his comments significantly influenced and tipped the value of Dogecoin and Bitcoin.
Cannabis—itself a mild psychedelic—is also a recurring theme in the billionaire’s life. In 2019, Musk smoked a blunt on The Joe Rogan Experience—and High Times’ asked if it was “the most expensive blunt of all time?”
Few people in the world are as scrutinized as deeply as Musk when it comes to personal habits like smoking pot. Smoking a blunt live set off a firestorm.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sanctioned Musk. There was an active petition to get Twitter to deplatform him—and pop stars even dragged him on Instagram. Even Musk’s SpaceX assets were not safe. NASA investigated Musk also, after his debacle on the podcast. According to three unnamed sources who spoke with the Washington Post, NASA launched a safety review of SpaceX shortly after his spot on The Joe Rogan Experience.
Given the level of investments that NASA pours into SpaceX, to them, smoking a blunt was a big deal. At the time, NASA spokesman Bob Jacobs did not comment on whether Musk smoking a blunt was what triggered the review. But he did mention the importance of SpaceX adhering the rules of a drug-free workplace.
On another episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Musk suggested that most CBD experiences are “fake” and mostly hype. Rogan immediately schooled him, scolding him for dismissing the compound as a benefit for people around the world.
The post Elon Musk Embraces Potential of Psychedelics at CodeCon appeared first on High Times.
Two Pennsylvania state lawmakers introduced legislation on Tuesday that would legalize recreational cannabis for adults and create a regulated market for adult-use marijuana. The legislation from Democratic state Reps. Jake Wheatley and Dan Frankel, House Bill 2050, also includes social equity provisions to encourage participation in the legal cannabis industry by members of communities disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs.
“I’m once again championing the effort to legalize adult-use recreational marijuana in Pennsylvania. We’ve heard from residents across the state, and the overwhelming majority agree it’s time to pass this initiative,” Wheatley said in a joint statement on Tuesday. “Not only would it create jobs and generate much-needed revenue, but it contains important social justice provisions that would eliminate the aggressive enforcement of simple marijuana possession laws in marginalized communities.”
House Bill 2050, which shares the designator of a 2020 cannabis legalization bill that failed to gain the support of the GOP-led legislature, would decriminalize, regulate and tax adult-use, recreational marijuana, making it legal for purchase for those 21 and older. The legislation would also establish multiple grant programs funded by cannabis tax revenue that would benefit small, minority and women-owned businesses in Pennsylvania. Frankel said such measures were necessary to address the harm caused by decades of cannabis prohibition.
“Failed cannabis policies of the past have resulted in the worst of all possible worlds: insufficient protection of the public health, aggressive enforcement that disproportionately harms communities of color and zero revenue for this commonwealth,” said Frankel, who serves as the Democratic chair of the House Health Committee. “With this legislation, Pennsylvania can begin to repair the historical harms and reap the benefits of a fact-based approach to regulating the cultivation, commerce and use of cannabis for adults over 21 years old.”
The legislation would also establish a regulatory process for cannabis growers, processors, and retailers and levy a 10 percent tax on wholesale transactions. License fees for cannabis businesses will be based on gross revenue, with larger companies paying higher fees. Consumers will pay a retail tax of six percent for the first two years, increasing to 12 percent and then 19 percent over the following two years.
House Bill 2050 is already gaining the support of Pennsylvania Democratic leaders including the state’s lieutenant governor and attorney general, who called for the records of those with past marijuana convictions to be cleared through “Cannabis Clean Slate” provisions of the bill.
“NY has legalized marijuana. NJ has legalized marijuana. It’s time for PA to join our neighbors, and legalize marijuana,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro tweeted on Tuesday morning. “But let me be clear: We must simultaneously expunge the records of those serving time for nonviolent marijuana convictions—and that is non-negotiable.”
In February, Pennsylvania Democratic state Senator Sharif Street of Philadelphia and Senator Dan Laughlin, a Republican from Erie, announced that they would be sponsoring bipartisan legislation to legalize adult-use cannabis in the state. However, they have yet to actually introduce a bill in the legislature.
Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, who for years has been a vocal supporter of cannabis reform and is now running to represent the Keystone State in the U.S. Senate, says that it is time for more Republican lawmakers to support cannabis legalization.
“Pennsylvania wants this; Pennsylvania needs this, for any number of reasons. I always tell people that the key takeaway is that prohibition is so much more work than just admitting that you’ve evolved on marijuana,” Fetterman said in a telephone interview with High Times. “And let’s just make this legal in a bipartisan way, because a majority of their constituents want this, too.”
“I love to see any time another bill comes up,” he added, referring to House Bill 2050. “Right now, we still have one Republican sponsor in the Senate, and it all comes down to when the Republicans acknowledge that the time for legal weed in Pennsylvania is right.”
The post Pennsylvania Lawmakers Unveil Adult-Use Cannabis Legalization Bill appeared first on High Times.
Cannabis dispensaries in Massachusetts will no longer be permitted to offer curbside pickup of recreational marijuana purchases to their customers after state regulators allowed an emergency rule permitting the practice to expire.
At a meeting of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission on September 17, regulators voted to extend some emergency regulations put in place at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, including a rule that allows medical marijuana patients to receive recommendations from their physician via a telemedicine appointment. The commission also voted to continue curbside cannabis purchase pickups for medical marijuana patients but declined to extend a similar authorization for adult-use cannabis customers.
Cannabis dispensaries in Massachusetts were barred from making sales of recreational marijuana for two months under an executive order issued in March 2020 by Governor Charlie Baker that directed nonessential businesses to close to help stem the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Medical marijuana dispensaries were deemed essential businesses, however, and allowed to remain open with special safety precautions including social distancing and curbside pickup put in place. Shops supplying both medical marijuana and recreational cannabis were directed to serve registered patients only. Sales of recreational marijuana resumed the following May with similar restrictions in place, including social distancing and curbside pickup for most transactions.
“The Cannabis Control Commission, with the cooperation of licensees, municipalities, and most importantly, registered qualifying patients, has demonstrated that we are effectively able to preserve public health and safety through curbside operations and other emergency protocols,” CCC executive director Shawn Collins said at the time. “I am confident that our adult-use licensees and their customers will adapt just the same when they reopen under similar protocols next week.”
Only a week after curbside pickup of adult-use cannabis began, however, the commission clarified that customers picking up recreational marijuana orders could not have children with them in the car. At a June 2020 CCC meeting, commissioner Britte McBride said that state law forbids people younger than 21 from being on the premises of cannabis retailers and argued that vehicles used for pickup transactions are included in the restriction.
“It states really explicitly in the statute what our obligation is,” McBride said. “For me, that’s the beginning and the end.”
Commissioner Jen Flanagan also opposed allowing children in vehicles making pickups at cannabis dispensaries and said that recreational marijuana is not an essential service.
“While I understand that parents may be having difficulty accessing this product, given the circumstances that we’re currently in… I don’t believe that anyone under 21 should be in the car,” Flanagan said. “I’m sorry, this is not something that is absolutely necessary. This is not food… we’re talking about a choice a parent is making.”
The emergency regulations for cannabis dispensaries were based on a state of emergency declared by Baker’s 2020 executive order. When the governor rescinded the state of emergency declaration in May of this year, the CCC voted to extend the authorizations for curbside pickups and telemedicine appointments until September 1, a deadline that passed without action from the commission until the meeting on September 17.
Members of the commission noted that as the COVID-19 pandemic continues with the Delta variant raging across the country, it may still be unsafe for some medical marijuana patients to pick up their purchases in person.
“Patients may not be comfortable just yet entering a dispensary,” Collins said at this month’s meeting.
Although he acknowledged that adult-use cannabis customers may also still be wary about making in-store purchases, Collins noted that lawmakers passed legislation authorizing home delivery of recreational marijuana late last year.
In June, the CCC began accepting applications for home delivery of recreational marijuana under a program that prioritizes social equity applicants who want to enter the regulated cannabis industry. While delivery is not yet available in all areas of Massachusetts, Collins said that new delivery operators are being approved every month.
The post Curbside Recreational Weed Pickups End in Massachusetts appeared first on High Times.
On September 22, 2021, Governor Kathy Hochul appointed the final two (2) board members to the Cannabis Control Board (CCB). As per the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA), Governor Hochul was responsible for appointing two (2) board members, neither of whom need to be approved by the legislature. We now officially have the completed CCM.
Below is what we know about the appointees, Reuben McDaniel III and Jessica Garcia, from Governor Hochul’s press release.
Mr. McDaniel was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY). Mr. McDaniel was responsible for the overall management of DASNY’s administration and operations. Mr. McDaniel joined DASNY in 2019 as an accomplished investment banker with more than 30 years of experience in financial services, including public finance, personal wealth management, corporate finance and private equity. During his career in public finance, he participated in more than $75 billion in tax-exempt bond issuances throughout the country.
Mr. McDaniel also founded an investment advisory firm, where he managed more than $50 million in investment portfolios and business assets for a variety of professionals. Prior to, Mr. McDaniel served as Chair of the Atlanta Board of Education for Public Schools, where he led a diverse group of constituents and served as a voice for the community of parents. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and mathematics from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin.
Ms. Garcia was Assistant to the President of the Retail, Wholesale Department Store Union, UFCW, a national labor union representing workers along the food supply chain, as well as workers in non-food retail and healthcare. She previously served as Deputy Political Director for the RWDSU, where she worked to advance the union’s legislative and political agendas. Prior, she served as Director of Programs and Organizing at New Immigrant Community Empowerment and spent her early career advocating for fair funding for public schools in New York City.
She currently serves as chair of board of the New York Committee for Safety and Health and the Advocacy Institute, vice-president of the Rural & Migrant Ministry board of directors, and member of the board of the Costa Rican-based organization, Vivir El Sueno. Originally from Honduras, Jessica is a graduate of the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College and Harvard University.
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The new CCB fits the compositional requirements set forth in the MRTA: geographically and demographically representative of the state and communities historically affected by the war on drugs. As friend of the blog Michael Dundas so eloquently put it, the new CCB is “well balanced in their experience and complimentary skill sets.
Now that we have the fully formed CCB, with Christopher Alexander in place as the Executive Director of the Office of Cannabis Management, we wait for the rules and regulations for New York’s cannabis industry. Stay tuned!
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Spend your money at Indigenous businesses to honour Canada's first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
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There's no evidence that cannabis companies negatively impact their communities. So why are they paying massive impact fees?
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The potent high promised from THC-O is generating excitement in the cannabis community. Find out how to identify safe products & set yourself up for success
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The excise tax, as it is now, is devastating small businesses. This craft cultivator is pushing for reform.
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The German national election is over, and the results are in. The Cliff’s Notes version of the same is that there has been an upset in the German electoral map in a way that is still reverberating in political circles as coalition talks about which parties will form the new government get underway.
There are a few issues that most of those parties, which saw the greatest gains this time around all agree on. And the good news for the industry, patients and those who want a recreational market is that this inevitably spells more cannabis reform.
It is for precisely this reason that the German cannabis question is currently all abuzz in the industry domestically because everyone knows that the status quo will not stand. The medical industry has been hamstrung by quality and production issues. Beyond this, there are numerous burdensome insurance requirements and the general refusal of doctors to engage with the same—just on a financial level—let alone matters of efficacy.
Then, of course, there is the famed German common sense that has begun to filter through the debate, starting with the fact that there have been a few too many high-profile flubs of late—including one of the largest German grocery chains (and one of the top grocery retailers in the world) being raided in August, by the police. All developments are signs that the status quo will not stand much longer.
There is already a lawsuit now pending, and from the business community, about the classification of CBD—and the need to remove it from the German Narcotics Act to bring this into line with the decision on a European level last year that this cannabinoid is not a narcotic.
However at this juncture, change beyond just CBD is also clearly on the cards.
According to Christian Lindner, the FDP’s power broker, known for his election slogan of wie est ist, darf es nicht bleiben (things cannot stay the way they are), the legalization of cannabis is the issue that will bring the new ruling coalition together.
While any speculation about who will make up the ruling coalition, much less specific policies likely to come of the same at this point is just that, there are a few trends, if not statements, that are likely to drive a coalition of several parties on broad issues.
Given this as well as suitably vague comments from those doing the brokering, it is also likely that the SPD, which won just under 26 percent of the vote, will partner in a coalition government with both the FDP (economic liberal party) which also gained significantly in the elections (11.5 percent) and the Greens (14.8 percent).
Regardless of what happens specifically, all parties with the exception of the extreme right wing Alternativ für Deutschland or AfD (which lost votes nationally this time) have a much more progressive outlook about cannabis than the CDU. This means, generally, it is also safe to assume at minimum that decriminalization is on the agenda for sure within the next several years, and potentially recreational cannabis trials too (see Switzerland if not Luxembourg not to mention developments in Portugal and Holland at minimum).
The second discussion is going to be a much harder fought battle at least politically, but it is also clear that it cannot be avoided completely anymore.
This election is, absolutely, one of the most momentous in Germany, if not Europe, since the end of WWII. That is how long the CDU has been the ruling party here—and its defeat, even if by a whisker, as well as patterns of defections of voters to other parties tells its own story to those with an interest in German if not European politics more generally.
When it comes to cannabis specifically, it is clear that Germans generally, are fed up with the ridiculous nature of the mish mash of cannabis regulations that currently cause problems for everyone. Even GMP distributors have been raided. For the burgeoning CBD specialty market, a visit from the fuzz is almost a rite of passage. On the patient side of the conversation, jail terms for patients is not a conversation that wins points with many in the political class.
Beyond this, it is also clear that Europe, if not the EU, is moving slowly to a more serious conversation about cannabis reform and of a kind that is a bit more momentous than just decrim.
The Swiss recreational trial is going to have an impact on the willingness of the German industry to push some kind of reform forward that might, depending on how active the advocacy and business community is, result in some kind of recreational trial in the nation’s largest cities.
Germany is also no longer in a cannabis vacuum in Europe (not that it ever really was). Just across another border, Holland is getting a national market going within Europe. And no matter what the news coming out of Luxembourg of late (namely that they may delay their recreational trial because of a potential influx of cannatourists from neighbouring countries including Germany), this is not going to be delayed forever.
While it is not likely that Luxembourg will delay their market until Germany moves on a recreational trial, what is entirely possible is that a softening of cannabis policy here will also allow other European countries to move forward with other kinds of change now clearly in the cards.
Beyond these developments as well as what is currently afoot in Switzerland, the news that the Czech Republic is reconsidering its discussion with cannabis (including allowing up to one percent THC in its hemp crops) has basically created a situation where the Germans are literally surrounded if not outnumbered by Europeans now agreeing to treat cannabis with low or no THC like any other plant, and cannabis with higher levels more like alcohol than a narcotic drug.
The conversation just within the DACH trade alliance (Switzerland, Austria, and Germany) is also likely to be an interesting one.
Regardless, given the current untenable market conditions for most, the huge costs of a solely pharmaceutically inclined cultivation, production and distribution market, pent-up forces which have continued to push for reform, will be able to move the needle forward more than incrementally over the next few years.
How far, exactly, however, this is likely to go and how quickly is another question altogether.
Regardless, change is clearly in the offing—and further as a political issue with little negative impact and a whole lot of upside—namely creating a big “issue” that the majority of parties now likely to drive the political agenda can agree on.
One thing is for certain. Further reform of a federal kind in the U.S. will absolutely impact the conversation. And in the meantime, the European states are lining up to begin experimenting with full reform in a way that is starting to look very familiar to Americans with experience in both markets.
The national change of power in Deutschland is only going to support such moves in this direction—both nationally and across the region.
The post How Will the German Elections Impact the Recreational Cannabis Market? appeared first on High Times.
A recent report from New Frontier Data explores the rapid growth of both medical and recreational cannabis sales in its “Global Cannabis Report: Growth & Trends Through 2025” report. The report is a comprehensive look at what to expect in the global cannabis industry over the next few years, while analyzing the current and future trends in the global markets of North America, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, Oceania, Asia and Africa.
New Frontier Data Founder, Publisher and Executive Chair Giadha A. DeCarcer, shared in her Letter from the Publisher at the beginning of the report that this industry will only continue to grow and expand.
“When we released our first Global Cannabis Industry Report in 2019, it was clear that cannabis legalization would prove to be one of the most consequential socioeconomic movements of our time,” she wrote. “In just two years’ time, the number of countries having legalized some form of cannabis has increased from 50 to 70, and there are now 10 countries legalizing adult use, almost a twofold increase from 2019. As legal markets across the globe continue to evolve, we have found that regulatory structures and societal norms vary greatly, and each country, region and market require a nuanced approach to quantifying, qualifying and understanding them.”
The report states that in 2020, regulated markets sold $23.7 billion in high-THC cannabis product (which is 10 times the sales numbers of any other regulated markets in the world), and the combined total of medical and recreational cannabis sales in the U.S. was $20.3 billion. In comparison, Canada saw approximately $2 billion in high-THC cannabis products sold in 2020. The constant rise of cannabis in both the U.S. and Canada could lead to sales increasing to $51 billion by 2025.
Outside of North America, though, sales of high-THC products were lower overall, but still on the rise. Germany is home to Europe’s largest medical cannabis program to date, and in 2020, the country collected $206 million. That includes a collective number of both medical cannabis patients who use their insurance for a reimbursement program, as well as those who sought out cannabis products in other ways.
Like the U.S., cannabis is not federally legal in Spain, but the individual provinces in the country do have various regulations on cannabis sales. In 2019, cannabis clubs in the country reached $431 million, which makes Spain a contender for becoming one of the largest industries in the world, behind the U.S. and Canada.
On September 23, a webinar entitled “Exploring the Global Cannabis Economy: Trends, Projections & Opportunities” was held, featuring a handful of prominent speakers discussing the global cannabis industry’s future.
New Frontier Data Chief Knowledge Officer John Kagia predicted that even though there is “$8 billion of capital is invested in the cannabis industry, that rate of investment is only expected to grow.”
Another speaker, Tim O’Neill, VP of international markets for SōRSE Technology, pointed out that adhering to a specific market’s regulations on cannabis is becoming more difficult, saying that “either you can sell there, or you cannot.” He also mentioned that for investors seeking profit, there is opportunity in Chinese and Indian markets.
According to Mikhail Sagal, founder and president of TSRgrow, the success of non-US cannabis industries will rely on quick establishment of a regulatory framework. Those countries “will all have to change and become more standardized and acceptable,” he said, and added that companies “will have to change and be able to adapt in changing systems.”
New Frontier Data describes the expectation of Managing Director of FTI Consulting, Lincoln Eckhardt, as hoping for the best but expecting the worst. He shared the history of the vaping crisis in 2020 and how addressing the issue directly was the best course of action.
“Would that have been the answer a year or 18 months ago?,” Eckhardt asked. “Look at separate medical markets—[while] Oklahoma has very few rules, when Alabama comes online, it will be incredibly restrictive,’ so stakeholders must ascertain its risk assessment and corporate investment in terms of what it decides to be worth offering.”
A recording of the two-hour webinar can be found here, which contains a variety of new cannabis industry data and topics regarding the global industry.
On a global scale, New Frontier Data states that the main force behind legalization efforts is thanks to medical cannabis initiatives. However, each country is approaching the concept differently. Many countries in Europe have embraced the pharmaceutical route, which allows patients to pick up their cannabis medicine through a pharmacy.
In Latin American countries with legal sales, success has been found in programs through private clinics and physicians who are available to prescribe cannabis. Medical cannabis patient numbers continue to rise around the world due to easier access to medicine. In 2020, an estimated 4.4 million people were registered as active medical cannabis patients throughout the world. Furthermore, an additional two million patients are expected to register for medical cannabis over the next five years, which could reach 6.5 million people by 2025.
Recreational cannabis sales are expected to double that of medical cannabis sales by 2025 as well. On the recreational front, only 10 countries have legalized recreational cannabis, with six approving the sale of high-THC products.
Many of these regions are only beginning to implement their programs. In the Netherlands and Spain, a model of “decriminalized club/social-use” model, whereas South Africa and Jamaica have approved limited access for religious groups. Uruguay on the other hand has fully legalized recreational cannabis, and as a result, has sold more than 1,700 kilograms of high-THC product.
The post New Frontier Data Predict Global Cannabis Sales to Hit $51 billion by 2025 appeared first on High Times.
Cannabis venture studio OpenNest Labs (ONL) announced two iconic drops: Afterdream—in collaboration with premium spirits brand AMASS Botanics—and fine quality cannabis brand Pine Park, in collaboration with esports entrepreneur and legend Hector Rodriguez aka @HECZ (or H3CZ).
Sip Afterdream on the rocks with a splash of tonic water or in a non-alcoholic cocktail. Afterdream contains 3.5 mg THC, 3.5mg CBD and 3.5mg Delta-8 per serving, blended using 14 botanicals and eight terpenes—the result being a “limb-loosening, mind-mellowing sip that mirrors the feeling that comes from drinking a strong cocktail.”
Given the announcement of Pine Park, could this be where esports and cannabis collide? There are 3.1 billion gamers worldwide, amounting to a global market of $162 billion with a CAGR of 10.5 percent by 2026. Pine Park spearheads this vacant gap in the industry by directly engaging with HECZ’s network of millions of devoted fans—quickly becoming one the most anticipated cannabis launches this year.
“HECZ is co-founder, CEO and a lead investor in Pine Park,” ONL CEO Tyler Wakstein told High Times. “HECZ is one of the world’s most notable leaders in the gaming space. Not only is he interested in learning about the therapeutic potentials of cannabis, but he’s excited to use his platform and serve as both a tour guide and educator for his fans who are learning alongside him. HECZ has also been a great partner in that he’s passionate about bridging a gap between esports and wellness solutions by sharing his accumulation of knowledge about cannabis in a thoughtful way.”
Wakstein went on to explain that the esports star is fundamentally involved with every aspect of the business—from sourcing the flower, choosing strains from our farm partners, to creating content. The team is excited to continue developing THC and hemp products under the Pine Park umbrella with him in the months to come.
HECZ is a Call of Duty player and investor, currently the co-CEO of NRG Esports and the CEO of OpTic Chicago. With his expertise, plus the background behind AMASS, Afterdream is poised to shake up the esports and cannabis worlds.
“Cannabis is, and always has been, an essential part of my life,” said HECZ. “Now that cannabis is legalizing, I wanted to responsibly introduce it to my community. OpenNest Labs understood my vision and helped me bring Pine Park to life. I’m thrilled to be working with their team, and together, we’ve landed on a brand and business strategy that’s become one of the proudest accomplishments of my career to date.”
ONL’s mission is to launch and incubate leading cannabis brands in innovation and expansion, but leading the development of creating an equitable global cannabis market—earning backing from investors such as M13, Babel Ventures, Coran Capshaw and more.
This will be AMASS’s first venture into the cannabis space after developing a portfolio of high-growth premium botanic beverages and self-care products.
“There are a lot of challenges that come with creating a beverage in the non-alc space—three of those things being education (addressed by Afterdream’s exclusive partnership with Sweet Flower in California), the drinking experience itself and liquid excellence,” Wakstein said.
“What’s awesome about working with AMASS and their master distiller Morgan McLachlan, is that she solves the liquid excellence problem; an area in canna-beverages that’s been completely disregarded. If any other cannabis beverage on the market took away the cannabis element, no one would enjoy sipping them. During the creation of Afterdream, we purposely took the opposite approach and started with a base formulation that goes through a rigorous distillation process, thoughtfully integrating botanics and terpenes that compliment each other, ultimately creating an incredible taste profile. The result is unlike anything else available on the market today.”
Wakstein went on to say that you can’t deny that more people are moving away from consuming alcohol and even joints on a regular basis—moving toward wellness solutions that are going to relieve stress, reduce anxiety or produce a euphoric high. “Cannabis is at the intersection of these desires,” Waksten said. “You can feel the excitement around the alternatives that are popping up on the market and it’s been inspiring to be able to guide the sober-curious toward a new possibility, the canna-curious.”
Afterdream is made in California and available exclusively at Sweet Flower both online and in all four southern California dispensary locations for $70.
With a genuine commitment to the equitable development of the industry, ONL and HECZ have conceived Pine Park from the ground up—bringing the world’s first esports cannabis brand to life.
Pine Park will be available for retail online and in-store in October 2021.
The post OpenNest Labs Unveils Afterdream and Pine Park with Esports Icon HECZ appeared first on High Times.
Last Friday and Saturday, members of the Oregon Bar gathered (online) for the third annual Cannabis Law Institute (CLI) put on by the Cannabis and Psychedelics Law Section of the Oregon State Bar. Topics included agricultural liens and receiverships, securities in the cannabis industry, federal and state hemp updates, Oregon’s Psilocybin Act, and the failures of legalization. An excellent ethics programs concluded the event.
As has become tradition, the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) also presented agency updates and a program review. This post discusses some of the information shared by the OLCC and discussed at the CLI.
Pursuant to HB 3000, the OLCC teamed up with the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) and law enforcement this summer to conduct inspections (or raids depending on your point of view) of hemp farms—primarily in Southern Oregon—to look for marijuana masquerading as hemp. (Our coverage of this and other aspects of HB 3000 may be found here and here). Known as Operation Table Rock, these “inspections” have led to at least one lawsuit and raised the ire of many hemp farmers in Southern Oregon. (See also this coverage by Hemp Industry Daily).
According to the OLCC, the ODA is leading this offensive against cannabis and approximately 60% of inspections found cannabis with high rates of delta-9 THC, i.e. over the 0.3% limit. When pressed the OLCC demurred to the ODA as to whether those crops were destroyed. Apparently the OLCC/ODA are using the LightLab Cannabis Analyzer to perform on-site field tests that give immediate results of the “presumptive” and “quantitative” delta-9 THC content based on the stage of the cannabis plant. The field results are considered a “certified test,” according to the OLCC, and so no further lab testing is required for the agencies to reach a conclusion. I expect challenges to this in the coming weeks.
For growers that have not been visited yet, you should know that when the OLCC/ODA is denied access, the OLCC is seeking administrative warrants. OLCC representatives stated that the agency has diverted substantial resources to Operation Table Rock in the past few months. When asked how farmers can challenge tests, the OLCC demurred to the ODA. I expect more clarity here as well as we approach harvest season.
Operation Table Rock is a significant change to how the ODA has managed hemp in Oregon. Where the ODA once approached hemp as just another crop, it is now taking an heavy-handed approach to enforcement. How long this continues is anyone’s guess at this point.
The OLCC reported on a number of leadership changes. Many involve familiar faces. Mark Smith is moving from heading up the metro marijuana compliance program to heading up the medical marijuana program. Smith is being replaced by Michelle Cate. Jason Hansen, who has been the Director of Licensing, is now the Director of Compliance. Hansen’s replacement is Andy Jurik, previously a regional manager. The OLCC is also working to fill numerous vacancies including hiring up to 8 marijuana licensing inspectors, filling 10 inspector positions on the compliance side, hiring 4 regional managers, and 2 additional case presenters. Once these positions are filled and the new hires get up to speed, licensees should expect more involvement from investigators.
The 2021 Legislative Session resulted in the enactment of several bills concerning recreational marijuana. These include SB 96, regulating the testing of hemp and vapor items. SB 408, which includes OLCC enforcement reform and other changes to license privileges. HB 2519 that provides for out-of-jurisdiction delivery and HB 3000.
The OLCC presently is in the rule-making process and has formed a number of Rule Advisory Committees (RACs). The OLCC intends to update its rules to take effect on January 1, 2022, the effective date of most of the majority of the bills.
In the coming weeks and months, licensees should pay close attention to their inboxes and be ready to provide comments at the public RAC sessions. If my experience serving on the last RAC was any indication, the OLCC takes seriously industry comments on proposed rules.
A few of the new rules that should take effect on January 1, 2022, include: Producer to producer transfers; Increasing the possession limits to two ounces and corresponding changes to sales limits; Opt-in period for counties and cities with respect to out-of-jurisdiction deliveries; and a host of changes to harmonize the rules with the 2021 Legislative Session.
The OLCC currently has an administrative moratorium on the processing of new applications for all types of licenses. But as most readers know, the moratorium on producer licenses occurred via statute (SB 218). See here, here and here for coverage of SB 218. The statutory moratorium expires on January 2, 2022. Questions abound about what will happen then. The OLCC indicated that once SB 218 sunsets, the OLCC cannot “not take” new applications for producer licenses. However, the OLCC indicated that its “administrative pause” would still apply. So it seems that persons who desire a new producer license ought to apply as soon as SB 218 sunsets, but applications won’t be processed, at least for now.
Will SB 218 be revived? One OLCC slide stated that the agency would recommend to the OLCC Commissioners, Legislature, and Governor to continue the moratorium for two more years. The slide cited drought conditions, plenty of legal supply, and illegal supply depressing the market as support for continuing the moratorium. But at least one OLCC representative stated that the agency had no “current recommendation” whether SB 218 should be revived. (This is yet another reason to lobby the OLCC at the RACs, depending on where you fall on this issue.)
If you are confused as to the OLCC’s position on the producer license moratorium, so are we. When pressed as to how the moratorium works to reduce the unlicensed market, the OLCC had no real answer, other than to say that it lacked data on that market and that it was not sure about recommending a further moratorium. At least one attorney has placed the rise of unlicensed grows in Southern Oregon squarely on the feet of the OLCC. Others have blamed the 2018 Farm Bill as creating a wild west environment because of the lack of ODA oversight on hemp production. We will have more to say on the relationship between the producer moratorium and the rise in unlicensed marijuana cultivation in the coming weeks.
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As an attorney practicing in cannabis, I would like to thank the OLCC for appearing at the CLI and for its openness and candor. Finally, a huge thanks to Cassie Peters, Chairperson of the Oregon Cannabis and Psychedelics Law Section, for her tremendous efforts to make this event happen! (With assistance from other members of the section’s executive committee of which I am glad to be a part.)
The post Oregon Cannabis: Key Updates from the OLCC at Third Annual Cannabis Law Institute appeared first on Harris Bricken.
Covid lockdowns and legalization laws led to the fewest weed arrests since the 1990s. But why arrest anyone at all?
The post Marijuana arrests dropped 36% in 2020, FBI data reveal appeared first on Leafly.
It’s a weird time in the world. Nothing feels easy. Everyone’s upset. Getting high helps with the stress of being alive. That’s why weed was declared essential during the pandemic. And Americans turned to cannabis in record numbers, with nationwide sales increasing by 71%. New consumers flocked to dispensaries, while established customers increased their weed […]
The post 6 ways to not be ‘that guy’ at the cannabis dispensary appeared first on Leafly.
It was recently announced that 60,000 cannabis convictions will be dismissed in Los Angeles, California. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón and The Social Impact Center, which is a nonprofit organization with ties to government, grassroots organizations and people in underserved communities, are behind the dismissals.
The decision follows the passing of Assembly Bill 1793, which dismissed around 66,000 cannabis convictions in 2020. The latest dismissals were announced during “Week of Action and Awareness (WOAA),” once known as National Expungement Week. Now, around 125,000 dismissals in total have been granted.
In 2016, Gascón co-authored Proposition 64, known as The Adult Use of Marijuana Act. It legalized the possession, transport, purchase, consumption and sharing of up to one ounce of marijuana and up to eight grams of marijuana concentrates for adults aged 21 and older.
“Dismissing these convictions means the possibility of a better future to thousands of disenfranchised people who are receiving this long-needed relief,” Gascón said. “It clears the path for them to find jobs, housing and other services that previously were denied to them because of unjust cannabis laws.”
Gascón made the announcement with Felicia Carbajal, who’s the executive director and community leader of The Social Impact Center. “I have made it my life mission to help and support people who have been impacted by the ‘war on drugs,’” Carbajal said. “Giving people with cannabis convictions a new lease on life by expunging the records is something I have worked on for years, and I am grateful that we can now make it happen.”
Cannabis prohibition largely affects the Black and Latino communities, notably in Los Angeles. It remained a problem after the passing of Proposition 64. Lynne Lyman, who’s the former director of the Drug Policy Alliance, believes past mistakes are now being corrected.
“This is the unfinished work of Proposition 64,” Lyman said. “We created the opportunity for old cannabis convictions to be cleared, but it was up to local district attorneys to actually make it happen. Proposition 64 was always about more than legal weed; it was an intentional effort to repair the past harms of the war on drugs and cannabis prohibition, which disproportionately targeted people of color.”
Assembly Bill 1739 led to prosecutors reviewing past convictions. Unfortunately, the review only focused on cases from state Department of Justice data. Once the Los Angeles County court records were read, three decades worth of misdemeanor cases were discovered. There were 58,000 felony and misdemeanor cases remaining after 2020. Prisoners were unaware they were eligible for dismissal or resentencing. Now, their records have been sealed, as well, in hopes it won’t affect their immigrant status, educational and job opportunities.
After the passing of Proposition 64, communities of color continued to face injustice over cannabis in California’s most populated county. In 2021 alone, Black and Latino people accounted for over 75 percent of cannabis arrests in Los Angeles. Marijuana prohibition didn’t stop in Los Angeles County after legalization, although it didn’t largely affect white people. In 2019, whites only accounted for 10 percent of cannabis arrests. From 2004 to 2008 in Los Angeles, black people were arrested for cannabis at a rate seven times greater than white people.
Roadblocks were still in place after Proposition 64 and Assembly Bill 1793, which Alternate Public Defender Erika Anzoategui believes are now being taken down.
“The dismissal of 60,000 marijuana-related cases by DA Gascón is a pivotal step in reforming our criminal justice system,” Anzoategui said. “This sends the right signal to the community that the nation was wrong in its ‘war on marijuana’ and that criminal convictions for marijuana offenses have a disproportionately negative impact on communities of color. We join DA Gascón in removing roadblocks to employment, housing and education through the dismissal and sealing of these convictions.”
The post Los Angeles County to Dismiss 60,000 Cannabis Convictions appeared first on High Times.
I was born in Rogers Park, Chicago. When I abandoned college (one of the times), I moved back to work in a Greek and Albanian restaurant and live with my grandparents. I used to enjoy sitting at the breakfast table with them and reading the Tribune, which often carried stories of city and downstate corruption. My grandfather told stories of local aldermen spending $1mm to win $70k jobs (still happening), and recounted the sagas of the state’s jailed governors (there were four in his time). This kind of stuff is endemic to Illinois, the most corrupt state in the nation by evidence and acclamation. It’s Chinatown.
Because these stories of graft and malfeasance are personally interesting to me, and because I’m a cannabis business lawyer, I thoroughly enjoyed this gem of a post last week by Thomas Howard, Esq., on LinkedIn:
Do I trust Mr. Howard’s research, and his math? I want to– he’s a lawyer and “licensing nerd” after all. Of course, nothing I wrote above about Illinois would be admissible as evidence of a lottery fix if we were in court; and neither would anything Mr. Howard wrote (although he is closer). You have to prove it. But the lottery has been rife with problems already, explained away as “clerical oversights” and leading to at least six filed lawsuits. If Mr. Howard’s data are correct, we should see more of them soon on theories spanning from civil rights to administrative process. In the meantime, here are a few takeaways.
Cannabis license lotteries invariably lead to litigation, as a quick Google search will show going back at least as far as 2014 in states like Washington and Massachusetts. Lotteries in general are a problematic tool to deal with scarce goods, as shown in categories from housing to visas. With cannabis, the government both creates and regulates the scarcity in real time, so it’s probably more analogous to visas than housing. Said another way: with cannabis, public policy doesn’t meld with market factors over a long period to create a limited class of goods. The government just says, “we are only going to issue X amount of cannabis licenses, and you all get to fight for them.”
When a jurisdiction decides to create a limited pool of cannabis licenses, one of three approaches to licensing is typically pursued. These include: 1) competitive licensing (which can also be controversial— we’ve filed these lawsuits); 2) “first to file an application” (always a disaster— e.g. L.A. in 2019; Oregon in 2014); or 3) the lottery. Of these three, competitive licensing and lotteries are attractive to policymakers in that the systems can be designed to favor certain classes of applicants— which is what Illinois was ostensibly trying to do with social equity applicants.
In my view, though, the best approach is NOT to cap license numbers artificially. There are better ways to help social equity applicants and marginalized communities, starting with priority application processing and extending through grants, reduced or waived fees, reinvestment of tax revenues in disproportionately affected areas, automatic expungement, etc. In all other respects, states should treat cannabis businesses like other state-licensed businesses, with zoning laws and local control factors allowed to shape the market. Could you end up like Oklahoma? Sure. But things will even out. The market and not the state should be picking winners here.
We have been writing recently about public records in the cannabis context, spurred by some frustrating experiences here in Oregon. Public records law is crucial in the context of cannabis licensing. Presumably, Mr. Howard extrapolated his data from a review of public records, a valuable tool for auditing government, gathering market information, or even defending cannabis businesses in administrative proceedings.
Some government records, including meetings, are published and available without much effort on the part of the public. Other records take some digging. You may even have to pay a nominal fee to the government body for their time and effort in fulfilling the request; but most information is up for grabs. With the Illinois cannabis lottery, it seems you can find information on the process and program here. But that is not the end of the story. You can bet the state is awash in public records requests related to its cannabis lottery and will be for a while.
A federal prosecutor named Jeff Cramer gave us that wonderful quip. Chicago — and Illinois — have always been famously corrupt. But was the lottery rigged? Maybe so! More likely, though, most of these licenses were granted legitimately, and some inappropriately. If that were the case, the scheme would still be consistent with a grand Illinois tradition going back generations— politicians using a state apparatus for personal benefit. Why should cannabis be any different?
Let us know in the comments if you have thoughts or intel on this one. I can’t wait to see what happens.
The post Was the Illinois Cannabis Dispensary Lottery Rigged? Sure Looks Like It! appeared first on Harris Bricken.
The site of a former state prison in New York’s Hudson Valley is being transformed into a $150 million “cannabis campus” by Green Thumb Industries, one of the nation’s largest producers of legal marijuana. The planned facility at the former penitentiary in Warwick, New York will produce tens of thousands of pounds of cannabis for the state’s upcoming, recreational marijuana economy, which was legalized by legislators earlier this year.
Until 10 years ago, the 38-acre plot of land purchased by Green Thumb Industries (GTI) was part of the Mid-Orange Correctional Facility, housing inmates sent to prison for marijuana offenses and other crimes. The institution dates back to 1914, when it was opened as a drug and alcohol treatment center known as the New York City Farm.
In the 1930s, the facility was converted to the New York State Training School for Boys to house wayward youth from the city. In the 1970s, the location was changed to a prison for adult inmates before being shut down by Andrew Cuomo in 2011, the governor of New York at the time.
At a groundbreaking ceremony for the new cannabis production facility held earlier this month, GTI president Ben Kovler noted the significance of the new use for the site.
“The irony of building a cannabis facility near the grounds of what used to be a federal prison is not lost on us,” Kovler said. “Change is really in the air; change is happening in the country; change is happening here. And we’re able to go from a place where people used to be locked up for marijuana [to one] where we’re going to employ people and enable opportunity, create wealth and create a positive economic environment.”
After the prison closed in 2011, local leaders began looking for ways to replace the 400 jobs the facility had provided the community. Warwick town supervisor Michael Sweeton set up a nonprofit development corporation and convinced the state to sell 150 acres of the property to the new entity for $4 million, which was paid with a loan from a local businessman.
In 2018, the development corporation began selling plots of land, including a $526,000 sale of about eight acres to Citiva, a subsidiary of New York-based cannabis company iAnthus. Since then, a cannabis testing laboratory and a CBD products manufacturer have also opened facilities on the property.
GTI has invested $2.8 million for its 38-acre plot of land in a deal that included millions of dollars in tax incentives for the company. GTI plans to develop the property in three stages, creating 100 union jobs in the construction process. The first stage of construction will feature a $60 million cultivation facility spanning 200,000 square feet. Cannabis products manufacturing operations are also planned for the site, resulting in a facility worth an estimated $150 million. When completed, GTI’s cannabis campus will employ about 150 people earning salaries ranging from $50,000 to $100,000.
“Our fertile soil, educated workforce and close proximity to New York City sets us up to be the Silicon Valley for the cannabis industry,” state Sen. Michael Martucci said at the September 9 groundbreaking ceremony.
Town supervisor Sweeton said that the deal with GTI, which included property and sales tax breaks, would be a boon for the local economy.
“I think it’s just a home run for us,” Sweeton said. “We are a farm community economy—we have a lot of farm tourism, a lot of active farms, but we don’t really have much of the corporate realm. This is a brave new world.”
The post New York Prison Being Transformed Into $150 Million Cannabis Campus appeared first on High Times.
Trulieve and Blue River are bringing better CBN capsules to Florida dispensaries. Find out how they might fit into your wellness regimen.
The post These solventless CBN capsules put THC in the back seat appeared first on Leafly.
Today's move comes more than a year after LA County dismissed 66,000 prior cannabis convictions.
The post Los Angeles County dismisses 60,000 more cannabis convictions appeared first on Leafly.
The Canadian cannabis industry has a long way to go before it can be considered inclusive of BIPOC folks, especially for those with a criminal record.
The post She has to wait 5 years to work in weed. Why, exactly? appeared first on Leafly.
The crew behind Garden Valley, California-based burger spot, Red Rooster Burgers & Brew, had enough with teens smoking pot in the bathroom, among other things, leading to a ban of all unsupervised customers under the age of 18.
“It is with GREAT sadness that we have made the decision to not permit underage kiddos in the restaurant without a parent or legal guardian for the following reasons…” Red Rooster Burgers & Brew posted on September 24. Red Rooster Burgers & Brew sells burgers, fries, shakes and ice cream sundaes, as well as alcoholic drinks such as beer or wine.
The post continued, adding a list of dozens of complaints—the first one on the list being “marijuana being smoked in the bathroom.” The list included littered condoms, skateboarding, the use and sale of e-cigarettes, as well as coins, fries and candy being thrown at employees.
With a brief review of California law, there is no possible way for people under the age of 18 to legally consume cannabis, unless it is for medical use and approved by a physician, under the supervision of a legal guardian.
“For the last two years we have spoken to kiddos and voiced our concerns numerous times!” the post continued. “Then, we implemented rules so they could still feel like they had a place to go, feel safe, and hang with their friends. It’s very clear to us that the bad behavior is not going to end. If you have a kiddo that needs a safe place to be after school please reach out to us. It is not our intent to exile the youth in our community but to protect our property. Some of their actions are unlawful and we won’t allow it.”
In California, only adults ages 21 and older can legally purchase pot for recreational purposes. There is no age limit on medical cannabis use, however minors under age 18 need permission from their legal guardians to use medical cannabis. So that means that young adults ages 18-20 are allowed to visit state-licensed medical dispensaries, but not adult-use dispensaries.
Unfortunately, pot smoking wasn’t the only problem at the burger restaurant, Red Rooster Burgers & Brew. “We also have issues with youth roaming the streets at night vandalizing the neighborhood,” the post continues. “Recently a neighbor’s Kalloween display was vandalized. We found pieces of it in our parking lot. It’s unfortunate but we will have to install security cameras to catch these vandals. We live in such a quaint beautiful town. I wish it didn’t have to be this way.”
Sandwich chain Cheba Hut, makers of “Toasted” subs, took the exact opposite approach, marketing to young adults through sandwiches like “Thai Sticks” or “Kali Mist.”
But most business owners don’t want a mess to clean up when teens take over. In August, Oregon-based Burgerville took an even more extreme measure and closed a franchise in Portland permanently, due to underage criminal activity.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) strongly recommends against allowing teens to smoke pot, given the developmental changes in the brain. “Unlike adults, the teen brain is actively developing and often will not be fully developed until the mid 20s,” the CDC warns. “Marijuana use during this period may harm the developing teen brain.”
Those considerations from the CDC are apparently falling on deaf ears, however. A comprehensive study published two years ago in the American Journal of Public Health. looked at 1991-2017 American federal health data on more than 200,000 high school students, and found that the number of students who said they’d smoked pot at least once over the past month rose 10-fold, rising from 0.6 percent in 1991 to 6.3 percent by 2017.
The post Fed Up With Pot Smoking, Burger Spot Bans All Unsupervised Patrons Under 18 appeared first on High Times.
A federal grant will help fund a study on the medical cannabis program in Arkansas.
Thanks to $1.3 million courtesy of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, researchers affiliated with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and Arkansas Center for Health Improvement will conduct what is being described as “a first-of-its-kind population health analysis of the medical marijuana program, combining eligible consumers’ cannabis purchase information with insurance claims records and other data sources to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the effects of cannabis on consumers’ medical care.”
The study, titled “Population-Based Analyses of Healthcare Utilization and Outcomes in Users of Medical Marijuana,” will “also examine the impact of COVID-19 on the Arkansas medical marijuana program, including changes in cardholder requests, product purchases, healthcare utilization and adverse events,” according to a press release from the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, which is “a nonpartisan, independent health policy center that serves as a catalyst for improving the health of all Arkansans through evidence-based research, public issue advocacy and collaborative program development.”
“This is an exciting and unique opportunity for not only our state, but also the country, to investigate the effectiveness of cannabis for therapeutic use,” said Dr. Joe Thompson, co-principal investigator on this study, and the president and CEO of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement. “While researchers have gathered scientific evidence on the use of cannabis for the alleviation of symptoms such as pain and anxiety, there is little evidence on how the amount, strain, potency and method of use affect a person’s health experience.”
Additionally, the study will also “incorporate six Arkansas-based data sources, including the Arkansas Healthcare Transparency Initiative’s Arkansas All-Payer Claims Database (APCD), Arkansas Department of Health medical marijuana patient registry data, medical marijuana dispensary purchase data, vital records, emergency department records and Arkansas State Police motor vehicle crash data,” with all the data being “de-identified with linkages utilizing the unique capabilities of the Transparency Initiative.”
The Arkansas Center for Health Improvement said that by “examining data for Arkansans who have qualified for medicinal use, this research will help inform the potential role of cannabis in medical therapy.”
Voters in Arkansas approved a ballot measure legalizing medical cannabis in 2016. The state’s first dispensaries opened in 2019.
In December, state officials reported that patients in Arkansas had purchased $200.7 million and 30,648 pounds of medical marijuana.
That milestone represented a massive spike since April of last year, when the state reported $63 million and 10,050 pounds worth of medical cannabis sales, in the program’s first 11 months of existence. A month before that, the program passed the $50 million mark.
Arkansas is now one of nearly 40 states to have legalized medical cannabis as a treatment. According to the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, as of this month, there are “more than 79,000 active Arkansas medical marijuana ID card holders who have one or more of the 18 approved medical conditions.”
The state also boasts a little more than 30 licensed dispensaries and a total of five cultivators.
According to the state’s Department of Health, patients with the following qualifying conditions are eligible for a medical cannabis prescription: cancer, glaucoma, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus/ acquired immune deficiency syndrome, hepatitis C, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Tourette’s syndrome, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, post-traumatic stress disorder, severe arthritis, fibromyalgia, Alzheimer’s disease, cachexia or wasting syndrome, peripheral neuropathy, intractable pain or pain that has not responded to ordinary medications, treatment or surgical measures for more than six months, severe nausea, seizures including without limitation those characteristic of epilepsy, severe and persistent muscle spasms including without limitation those characteristic of multiple sclerosis.
Any other medical condition or its treatment approved by the Department of Health is also eligible.
The post Federal Grant Approved to Study Medical Marijuana Impact in Arkansas appeared first on High Times.
Our experts test-drive the best new cannabis vape batteries. Also: We dive into the CDC's note on delta-8 THC.
The post The Roll-up #210: Vape batteries done better appeared first on Leafly.
Fresh pineapple, peach, or papaya terps? Yes, please.
The post 7 hype strains without cookies in them appeared first on Leafly.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul last week announced appointments to a board that will help implement and enforce the state’s regulated cannabis industry.
On Wednesday, Hochul said that Reuben R. McDaniel, III and Jessica Garcia had been appointed to the Office of Cannabis Management, which will “create and implement a comprehensive regulatory framework for New York’s cannabis industry, including the production, licensing, packaging, marketing and sale of cannabis products” in conjunction with the Cannabis Control Board.
The appointments are a part of a rollout of the state’s new marijuana law that has moved at a glacial pace. In her announcement on Wednesday, Hochul, who became the Empire State’s first female governor late last month following the resignation of Andrew Cuomo, expressed frustration with the delays in the process.
“New York’s cannabis industry has stalled for far too long—I am making important appointments to set the Office of Cannabis Management up for success so they can hit the ground running,” Hochul said. “I am confident Mr. McDaniel and Ms. Garcia will serve the board with professionalism and experience as we lead our state forward in this new industry.”
New York legalized pot use earlier this year, when Cuomo signed a bill into law in March after several previous attempts had failed to get off the ground.
The regulated weed market continues to be ironed out by New York policymakers, with the first dispensaries expected to open next year at the earliest. But the law did yield some immediate changes––namely, the ability to use marijuana freely, including in public wherever cigarette smoking is permitted.
But as regulators continue to work out the rules for the market, some dispensaries have already opened on tribal lands in New York.
On Thursday, the New York Times profiled some of those retail pot businesses, including dispensaries on the St. Regis Mohawk reservation that opened shortly after the state ended its prohibition on pot.
Although “New York City customers might prefer closer locales in Massachusetts (where recreational marijuana sales began in 2018),” the New York Times said, “the proprietors of the reservation’s new weed dispensaries say they are doing a steady business, capitalizing on delays from state leaders who have been slow to adopt regulations to govern the adult-use sale of the drug.”
“As such, the reservation’s dispensaries are seemingly getting a jump-start on what is projected to be a $4 billion industry in New York, as well as continuing a long tradition of using products like tobacco and gasoline—steady moneymakers for the tribe—to create jobs and income,” the report said.
Hochul’s appointments this week could be a shot in the arm for the sluggish rollout, with McDaniel and Garcia representing the final two appointments to the Office of Cannabis Management.
Earlier this month, Hochul announced that lawmakers had confirmed the appointment of Tremaine Wright as Chair of New York’s Cannabis Control Board (CCB) and Christopher Alexander as Executive Director of the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM).
The governor said at the time that one of her “top priorities is to finally get New York’s cannabis industry up and running—this has been long overdue, but we’re going to make up for lost time with the Senate confirmation of Tremaine Wright as Chair of the Cannabis Control Board and Christopher Alexander as Executive Director of the Office of Cannabis Management.”
“These two individuals bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to their new roles, and I know they will do a tremendous job of outlining and implementing regulations that are safe, fair and transparent and that recognize the need to remedy the impact that prohibition has had on communities of color. I look forward to working with them on building our state’s cannabis industry and affecting real change for New Yorkers,” Hochul said.
The post New York Completes Appointing the Office of Cannabis Management appeared first on High Times.
Last year, the Isle of Man’s parliament (Tynwald) amended the Misuse of Drugs Act 1976, in order to provide a legal framework for the development of a cannabis industry on the island. Specifically, the Act now allows the Gambling Supervision Commission (GSC) to except cannabinol, cannabinol derivatives, cannabis, or cannabis resin (other than a medical cannabis product) from the Act’s general prohibitions on the importation, exportation, production, supply or offer to supply, and possession of controlled drugs. Medical cannabis products may be excepted as well, provided the GSC obtains the consent of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
Although no exception is allowed for cultivation, earlier this year Tynwald approved the Misuse of Drugs (Cannabis) Regulations 2020. Under the Regulations, the GSC may issue licenses for cultivation, as well as other activities, as specified in Schedule 2 and 3 of the Regulations. For example, a class 3 license allows the cultivation of high-THC (more than 0.2%) cannabis in order to sell biomass, live plants, and packaged plant parts. Class 3 licensees must be Isle of Man companies, with the responsible person being a Manx resident. First-year fees are £45,000, going down to £35,000 the second year. Licenses for import and export must be obtained separately, though fees for these are considerably lower, plus license fees are capped at £62,500.
As to why the Gambling Supervision of Commission is in charge of cannabis licensing, “it was agreed that regulating and licensing the new sector should be transferred [from the DHSC] to a function of government better placed to consider the aspects of licensing, vetting and supervision. The GSC was identified through its historic success in regulating complex emerging industries,” such as online gambling.
It must be noted that none of the licenses permit the sale of cannabis on the island. The GSC has made clear that “the new Regulations provide for the cultivation of medical cannabis for export purposes only.” Changes in Manx legislation “do not allow any conduct in the Isle of Man that is not already permissible in the United Kingdom under their Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (as amended).” While the Isle of Man is not a part of the United Kingdom, the drug laws of both are largely aligned, with some UK drug regulations given effect on the Isle of Man by Tynwald. Without a proper license issued by the GSC, the possession, supply, and production of cannabis remain illegal on the island.
With an area of 220 square miles (about one-fifth that of Rhode Island), the Isle of Man may not become a major player in the cannabis industry. It is however interesting to see even such a small jurisdiction taking note of the opportunities presented by cannabis. Furthermore, the Isle of Man’s model highlights the bespoke nature of cannabis legalization. The Manx may not be interested in the sale of cannabis products in the streets of Douglas, the island’s capital, but that does not mean they have to entirely forego the benefits of the cannabis economy.
The post The Isle of Man Looks to Become a Medical Cannabis Hub appeared first on Harris Bricken.
