With three convenient New Jersey locations, The Apothecarium is your headquarters for the most epic 420 yet. Find deals & shop top products.
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Fully Charged Atomic GMO infused pre-rolls from Spinach are here to help you make this the loudest 420 yet.
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With free gummy sample packs and BOGO offers galore, Melee Dose is here to make this the most brilliant 420 yet.
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Nature's Medicines is the spot for cannabis enthusiasts in Massachusetts to kickoff a great 420. Find deals & top products near you.
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Sunnyside in Arizona is your 420 hub. Snag 50% off Cresco LLR from April 10-19 and 50% High Supply concentrates and Cresco LLR on 4/20.
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Robert Bergman has provided us with insight on a few of ILGM’s all-time best sellers, so you can learn what all the fuss is about.
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The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) voted on Wednesday, March 29, approving an emergency rule proposal to extend the application window for social equity in cannabis (SEIC) retail licenses. The application window has been extended from March 30, 2023, to 5:00 p.m. April 27, 2023. The rule will have the effect of amending the “30-day” application window language contained in WAC 314-55-570(3)(a), (b), and (c).
The WSLCB said in its release announcing the vote last week, that the Secretary of State’s office is backlogged processing business entity applications. The backlogs have limited the state’s ability to timely process new business entity applications of SEIC applicants.
This is sure to be a relief for many who have made timely efforts to apply for the SEIC license, and who would not have been able to apply with the prerequisite business entity information but for the state’s backlog issues. Hopefully, the extended window affords enough time for all deserving candidates to apply.
To read more about Washington’s SEIC program, check out the following posts:
The post Washington’s Social Equity in Cannabis License Application Window Extended appeared first on Harris Bricken Sliwoski LLP.
The Missouri House of Representatives this week gave initial approval to a bill directing the state to conduct research on the therapeutic potential of psilocybin, the primary psychoactive component found in magic mushrooms. The measure, House Bill 1154 from Republican state Representative Dan Houx, received overwhelming support in the House on Wednesday after gaining the approval of two House committees since the proposal was introduced last month. The legislation faces one more vote in the House before it can be sent to the Missouri state Senate for consideration.
While speaking in support of the bill during debate in the House on Wednesday, state Representative Aaron McMullen, a veteran who served in a combat unit in Afghanistan, noted that the suicide rate among veterans is nearly twice as high as the state rate, making it among the highest in the nation.
“Substance abuse and suicide are escalating in the veterans community,” McCullen said, reading from a letter from the Grunt Style Foundation, a nonprofit organization that serves military veterans. “While psilocybin is not a panacea for every issue, it represents a first true scientifically-validated hope that we have to address this crisis.”
If passed by the full legislature and signed into law, the bill would require the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) to provide up to $2 million in grants, subject to appropriation by the legislature, to conduct research into psilocybin during end-of-life care and as a treatment for depression, substance misuse disorders and other serious mental health conditions. The state agency would collaborate on the research, which would be conducted by a Missouri university or by a medical center operated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in the state.
The research would focus on the medical use of psilocybin to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and substance misuse disorders, or as a treatment for patients in end-of-life care. Earlier versions of the bill also included the psychedelics MDMA, also known as ecstasy, and ketamine, but those drugs were eliminated from the measure in committee.
The legislation received the unanimous support of the House Veterans Committee at a hearing held earlier this month. Representative Dave Griffith, the chair of the panel, told his colleagues that while the bill is out of his “comfort zone,” according to a report from the Missouri Independent, it nonetheless has his support.
“If you would have told me five years ago that I’d be chairing a committee and hearing a bill where we’re going to be talking about psychedelics for veterans, I would have told you, ‘You’re crazy,’” Griffith said during the committee hearing.
Before Wednesday’s vote in the House, Griffith encouraged skeptics of psychedelics policy reform to review the “extensive” research into the therapeutic potential of the drugs coming from the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research.
“I’ve done hours and hours of research from Johns Hopkins,” he said. “The data that comes out of these studies that they’ve done is remarkable.”
Studies conducted by Johns Hopkins and other researchers have shown that psilocybin has the potential to be an effective treatment for several serious mental health conditions, including PTSD, major depressive disorder, anxiety and substance misuse disorders. A study published in 2020 in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Psychiatry found that psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy was a quick-acting and effective treatment for a group of 24 participants with major depressive disorder. And separate research published in 2016 determined that psilocybin treatment produced substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer.
Federal agencies including the Food and Drug Administration are currently reviewing the potential for psychedelics to treat serious mental health conditions. In June, the head of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration wrote to U.S. Representative Madeleine Dean, a Pennsylvania Democrat, that FDA approval of psilocybin to treat depression was likely within the next two years.
As the nation faces rising rates of substance use and mental health issues “we must explore the potential of psychedelic-assisted therapies to address this crisis,” Miriam E. Delphin-Rittmon, assistant secretary for mental health and substance use, wrote to Dean.
A separate bill introduced by Republican state Representative Tony Lovasco in January would legalize the therapeutic use of psilocybin for people with serious mental health conditions. Under the bill, patients would be able to use psilocybin to treat severe depression, PTSD or the mental health effects of a diagnosis of a terminal illness. Psilocybin-assisted therapy would also be available to patients with other conditions for which traditional therapies have not been effective, with the approval of regulators.
Although the bill does not legalize psilocybin, it provides an affirmative defense against criminal prosecution for patients who possess up to four grams of the drug for therapeutic use. The measure also provides similar protection for mental health professionals who are administering psilocybin for therapeutic purposes.
More than 1,000 people die by suicide every year in Missouri, a rate 25% higher than the national average. And nationwide, suicide rates among veterans are also elevated.
“The folks that are coming back from war, that are in desperate need of care, a lot of them aren’t going to be around in three years,” Lovasco told the Missouri Independent earlier this year. “We’ve got, what 20-something veterans per day committing suicide? That’s a tremendous amount of loss while we wait for the government to do some paperwork.”
The post Missouri House Approves Psilocybin Research Bill appeared first on High Times.
Do you want more buds in less time? Discover 6 high-yielding autoflowering strains from Homegrown & never sacrifice harvest size for speed.
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On November 10, 2022, Judge Gary L. Sharpe of the New York Federal District Court in Syracuse entered an order enjoining New York’s retail cannabis dispensary application process in five regions of the state (Brooklyn, Central New York, Finger Lakes, Mid-Hudson and Western New York) for the Conditional Adult Use Retail Dispensary (“CAURD”) licenses (the “November Decision”). The November Decision follows similar decisions from other states’ federal courts: cannabis licensing rules that favor in-state residents over out-of-state residents violate the “dormant commerce clause” of the U.S. Constitution.
As we previously discussed here, all applicants for the CAURD license were required to demonstrate a significant presence in New York, either individually or by having a principal corporate location in New York. For entities, the New York “presence” requirement can be met by a majority ownership interest in the entity being held by individuals who are physically present in New York for at least 180 calendar days in the current year, or 540 calendar days over the past three years.
During the Plaintiff Variscite’s application process, Variscite selected Brooklyn, Central New York, the Finger Lakes, the Mid-Hudson area and Western New York as its regions for possible licensure. As such, the judge ruled that New York could not issue CAURD Licenses to operate dispensaries in those five (5) regions while the case is pending.
In late-January, Judge Sharpe denied motions to drop the injunction, writing that the state didn’t meet standards to reverse or mitigate any part of his November Decision.
The State of New York appealed the November Decision and on March 28, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a decision that narrowed the effects of the November Decision. This decision lifted the injunction that prevented the Office of Cannabis Management (“OCM”) from issuing the CAURD Licenses. The decision will enable the OCM to issue licenses for businesses in Central New York, Western New York, Mid-Hudson and Brooklyn as the court continues to hear the appeal. However, the injunction on CAURD licenses in the Finger Lakes Region remains in full force and effect.
We suspect that the OCM will begin reaching out to applicants in the four (4) regions that were previously affected by the injunction and commence issuing licenses accordingly.
The post New York CAURD License Injunction Partially Lifted appeared first on Harris Bricken Sliwoski LLP.
One of the most influential marijuana breeders in the world has filed a lawsuit against a cannabis company, alleging that he lost his job there due to the fact that he suffers from Parkinson’s disease and required certain accommodations.
Christopher Lynch filed the suit against Node Labs Inc. in a San Francisco court on Monday.
The complaint details Lynch’s diagnosis of Parkinson’s in 2014, and his dealings with Node Labs.
In 2017, Lynch “began work on the genetic development and breeding of Cannabis plants including, but not limited to ‘C. Sativa’ varieties,” according to the lawsuit. He ultimately formed Compound IP LLC, and trademarked the name, “Compound Genetics,” before entering into an agreement with Node Labs in 2019 to sell Compound IP LLC assets.
But by 2020, the relationship between Lynch and the company was deteriorating. According to the complaint, the defendants “were actively frustrating the purpose of the original Contract by refusing to provide [Lynch] with an accounting of the sales upon which [his] compensation was based.”
“Further, [Node Labs] had failed to pay [Lynch] his sales bonus. Defendants continued to actively frustrate the purpose and intent of the original Contract throughout the remainder of his employment and beyond,” the complaint says.
“Throughout Plaintiff’s employment Defendants used Plaintiff’s standing in the genetic industry to bolster the NODE and COMPOUND brand. Although Plaintiff was not required by his employment agreement to do so, Defendants demanded that Plaintiff make appearances, participate in interviews, and market the brand using his name and likeness,” the complaint continues.
In the lawsuit, Lynch alleges that, in May 2021, Node Labs CEO Lauren Avenius “attempted to minimize [Lynch’s] importance and future role with the company by telling a key investor that Plaintiff had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.”
After months of alleged disagreements between the two sides, the complaint says that Lynch was fired in December a week after filing “a complaint against [Node Labs] with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing.”
“At the time, [Lynch] was on medical leave and [Node Labs] had locked [him] out of the company email system,” according to the complaint.
Lynch, who has bred some of the most popular cannabis strains available and has teamed up with brands and celebrities, was profiled last week by Forbes.
“He’s the man behind some of the best-known strains on the market today including Pink Certz, Apples & Bananas, Khalifa Mints, Blueberry Banana, Fish Scale, Eye Candy, and more. Alchemizing new flavors using rare, hard-to-find genetics is his bread-and-buttter. Lynch’s strain Pink Certz won 2022 Strain of the Year from High Times. The year prior, High Times deemed Lynch one of the 100 most influential people in cannabis. Pink Certz also won First Place at the 2022 Transbay Challenge III.” Forbes said.
“His success has been hard-fought. Lynch was diagnosed with Early Onset Parkinson’s in 2014 after he had brain surgery to remove a cerebellum cyst located inside the back of his head.”
“Life is precious, be grateful for what you have,” Lynch told Forbes. “Your life can change overnight. Don’t wait to pursue your dreams and goals.”
The profile details how Lynch got into cannabis after he “dropped out of high school his sophomore year and moved to Amsterdam in 2004 and Rotterdam in 2005.”
“During his time in Holland, Lynch immersed himself in the cannabis culture and learned a tremendous amount. He brought that knowledge back to Portland, Oregon, where he began his career growing medical marijuana,” the story said.
The post Renowned Cannabis Breeder Sues Company Over Termination appeared first on High Times.
We blazed through the best and worst flower from all corners of the Big Apple’s bud scene for classics like Haze and Sour, plus new favs.
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Nobody likes stale weed. Here's how to shop fresh.
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On February 28th, I moderated our firm’s “Distressed Cannabis Businesses” webinar. In that webinar, Griffen, Ethan, Vince, and I discussed the current financial and economic pressure the entire cannabis industry is facing today. We covered reorganization, litigation, dissolution, M&A, receivership, secured interests, and liquidation. And we of course discussed how state-by-state cannabis regulations impacts all of the foregoing. If you missed distressed cannabis buinsses webinar, here are the highlights:
Because cannabis remains federally illegal, filing for bankruptcy in U.S. federal court isn’t really an option for a distressed or insolvent cannabis business. However, as Ethan explained in the webinar, the case is less clear when the debtor is just an ancillary cannabis business. This is a nuanced, fact-specific area of law, with courts coming to seemingly inconsistent conclusions across jurisdictions.
Bankruptcy is a distressed business tool for re-organization in order to survive. Without it, the cannabis industry is left with a few (often inadequate) alternatives to deal with financial fall out.
Court-appointed receivers are neutral, third-parties that will take over a distressed cannabis business’s operations. A receiver’s sole purpose is to preserve and protect the business during a problematic period – and, if you take care to ensure that your receiver is well-versed in the cannabis industry, he, she or it can typically handle everything from sales to personnel to accounting (their powers can be very broad).
Keep in mind that the point of the receiver is not to run the business for the benefit of creditors or even to re-structure–it’s to run the business until the underlying legal proceedings are concluded. The appointment of receivers and their treatment by cannabis regulators is also going to change from state to state (see here for Oregon, for example) with things like disclosures, changes to the license, and continued reporting.
An assignment for the benefit of creditors (“ABC”) is controlled by state statutes. An ABC is a contract by which an economically troubled entity (“Assignor”) transfers legal and equitable title, as well as custody and control, of its assets and property to an independent third party (“Assignee”) in trust, who is required to apply the proceeds of sale of the property to the assignor’s creditors in accord with priorities established by law. ABCs really only make sense if there are significant assets to liquidate.
ABCs are most successful when the Assignor, Assignee and creditors cooperate but can be imposed even if the creditors are not supportive. Further, like a receivership action, ABCs do not result in a reorganization of a company. While ABCs may technically be available to the cannabis industry, they don’t make a ton of practical sense. This is mainly because of all of the regulatory reporting and regulatory prohibitions around the sale of licenses, inventory, and/or cannabis cash. Still, they’re on the table for distressed cannabis businesses.
Many cannabis companies offered up security interests to lenders in order to score some cash. And now, in this financial climate, no loan is going out to a cannabis company without some kind of collateral. To have a valid security interest, you need to follow the UCC, and pay attention to any state variances under state UCC laws.
Article 9 of the UCC covers secured transactions. In a secured transaction, the parties are typically the debtor and the creditor. The creditor’s goal with a cannabis company security interest is to attach and then perfect its interest in the collateral so that the creditor can later take possession of that collateral in the event of a default (without having to go to court). The creditor then liquidates the collateral and takes from the proceeds the remainder of whatever it lent in order to make itself whole. The rest then goes to junior creditors, if any, and then back to the debtor (which seldom happens). For more on the structure of UCC-1s in cannabis, see here.
Lots of cannabis companies are looking to sell now before they lose everything they’ve put into the business. This presents a unique opportunity for certain buyers who may be looking at deeply discounted cannabis business purchases. For a distressed cannabis business, like any other business, buyers need to run serious M&A due diligence. Particularly though for distressed cannabis businesses, due diligence is crucial when it comes to things like litigation, contract breaches (non-performance, insolvency, and/or breaches of operating covenants), and encumbrances on various assets.
It’s not pretty out there right now in the cannabis economy, and we sincerely hope that this phase of distressed cannabis businesses can pass quickly without too much blood in the water.
The post Distressed Cannabis Business Takeaways appeared first on Harris Bricken Sliwoski LLP.
Called “Good Grades,” the dispensary will also be the first legal cannabis store in the New York City borough of Queens.
“With the opening of Good Grades in Queens, we’re continuing to build on our progress to create a safe, regulated cannabis industry in New York,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a press release on Monday. “New York is working to support entrepreneurs and ensure that consumers can purchase safe, legal products while supporting their communities.”
Hochul, the state’s first woman governor, has overseen the launch of the state’s regulated cannabis market. Her predecessor, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, signed the bill legalizing recreational marijuana in 2021.
The state formally launched the new marijuana market late last year with the opening of a dispensary in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan.
Good Grades will open this week as a “pop-up” store, according to the governor’s press release, and the business is supported by the New York State Social Equity Cannabis Investment Fund, which was a part of Hochul’s 2022-23 budget.
The fund “is a public-private limited partnership that will be formed to position social equity entrepreneurs to succeed in New York’s newly created adult use cannabis industry,” Hochul’s office says, and “will allow the state to invest in a private fund to finance the leasing and equipping of up to 150 conditional adult-use retail dispensaries in New York State to be operated by individuals who have been impacted by the inequitable enforcement of marijuana laws.”
The governor’s office said that, like other dispensaries backed by the fund, Good Grades opening as a pop-up presents “the opportunity to open on a short-term basis to fast-track sales, provide training opportunities for employees and start generating capital for their businesses.”
“After, they will close for final construction and then re-open on a long-term basis,” according to this week’s press release.
“I am thrilled to be opening the doors of Good Grades, the very first dispensary in Queens, New York,” said Good Grades owner Extasy James.
“We are incredibly passionate about providing greater access to cannabis and breaking down the barriers that prevent so many people, especially those from marginalized communities, from experiencing the benefits of this amazing plant. We understand firsthand the stigma that has been attached to cannabis for far too long, and we are eager to join the thriving cannabis community to help change that. Our dispensary is a welcoming and inclusive space where anyone can come to learn, explore, and find the products that are best suited to their unique needs.”
New York City opened its third legal dispensary last month––not to be confused with the illicit cannabis retailers that have blanketed all five boroughs in the last two years.
The first dispensary outside of NYC also opened to customers last month.
Earlier this month, the state announced that it would double the number of cannabis retailer licenses, and will now award 300 instead of the originally planned 150.
“With this expansion, more entrepreneurs will be able to participate in the first wave of this industry, allowing them to capitalize on the growing demand for cannabis products,” said Tremaine Wright, chair of the New York Cannabis Control Board. “As more businesses enter this market, the innovation and competition will increase, leading to better quality experiences for consumers. The expansion of New York’s cannabis market will benefit everyone involved in this exciting industry.”
The post New York’s First Woman-Owned Dispensary Opens Tomorrow appeared first on High Times.
A few weeks back we provided an update on the timing of New York’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) and Cannabis Control Board (CCB) opening the general adult-use cannabis licensing portal, with an anticipated start of application review in the fall of 2023. We based our estimate on the OCM and CCB’s review of the public comments that were submitted with respect to the proposed adult-use cannabis rules and regulations. Well, on March 22, 2023, Green Market Report (via John Schroyer) released a comprehensive and wide-ranging interview with OCM’s Chief and Staff and Senior Policy Director Axel Bernabe, in which Bernabe confirmed that the OCM anticipates opening the portal in the fall of 2023.
Here’s the relevant question and answer:
“What’s the timeframe for when New York industry regulations will be finalized and done?
The regulations that we filed for public comment, we’re really trying to get them done by our May 11 board meeting. If we get it done by then, we should be able to file final regs by the end of August. Then we can start opening the general application period within a couple months of that.
These are all tentative dates, but in the fall, after Labor Day, that’s when we can start to award more dispensaries.
But it’s not like we’re going be able to review a thousand (applicants) because we’re also having to review the growers and the distributors and all these other licenses (simultaneously). That’s the biggest obstacle, is just the time it takes to review everybody.
It allows for a phased rollout to a certain extent, so we don’t have a thousand people all looking for dispensaries at the same time. We have like 100, and then another 100, and then a couple months later, another 100. Then you don’t have 500 people descending on a county and all scrambling and fighting for space and bidding up the price.”
Schroyer and Bernabe cover a lot of important topics throughout the interview and we strongly encourage anyone interested in applying for an adult-use cannabis license in New York to read the whole thing. Even in this single answer, there’s a lot to unpack:
It is interesting to note that Schroyer’s interview of Bernabe was released just a week after the lawsuit demanding that the OCM and CCB immediately open the application portal. We’ll see if or how that litigation impacts the OCM and CCB’s plans, but at least we now have a likely outside date for New York’s adult-use cannabis license application portal to open. Stay tuned!
The post New York Cannabis: The Timing Update Update appeared first on Harris Bricken Sliwoski LLP.
Hawaii will have to wait at least another year before marijuana legalization comes to the islands, after a legislative proposal stalled in the state House of Representatives.
Earlier this month, the Hawaii state Senate voted overwhelmingly to pass the bill, which would legalize adult-use cannabis and establish the regulatory framework for a recreational marijuana market.
But that bill “was not scheduled for a state House hearing before a key legislative deadline,” according to MJBizDaily, which means that the proposal is likely dead for 2023.
It is a familiar outcome for marijuana advocates in Hawaii, where Democrats control both chambers of the legislature. The state’s governor, Josh Green, is also a Democrat.
MJBizDaily reported that senior leadership in the state House also “killed off three earlier legalization proposals introduced in that chamber in February when those bills were also not scheduled for hearings.”
Despite its smooth passage in the state Senate, the legalization bill was also bound to encounter obstacles in the state House.
One of the leaders in that chamber, House Speaker Scott Saiki, has “said that he thought it best for the state to wait on approving recreational marijuana use,” according to the outlet Civil Beat, and that he “would rather see a working group analyze the idea over the summer.”
The bill sailed out of a pair of state Senate committees earlier this month, with one of the legislative panels adding a host of amendments to the measure.
According to local news station KHON2, those amendments included: “1. Language was added to establish civil penalties for unlicensed cannabis growth and distribution activities; 2. Language was added that protects employers who seek to prohibit cannabis use amongst their employees; 3. Prohibition of advertising within 1,000 feet of any youth-centered area; 4. Proposed licensing of cultivation, manufacturing, testing and retail facilities that ensure a properly regulated industry while also preventing future consolidation and monopoly control of cannabis dispensaries.”
The bill was approved by the full state Senate by a vote of 22-3.
Green, who was elected as governor last year, has expressed his support for marijuana legalization.
“I think that people already have moved past that culturally as a concern,” Green said during a gubernatorial debate last year. “But here’s what I would do. First of all, if marijuana is legalized, it should be very carefully monitored, and only done like cigarettes, or I’ve been very careful to regulate tobacco over the years. We should take the $30 to $40 million of taxes we would get from that and invest in the development and recreation of our mental healthcare system for the good of all.”
As the bill made its way through the state Senate this month, an adviser for the governor made it clear that the measure would likely receive his signature.
“Governor Green supports legalized use of cannabis by adults, providing that any legislation that emerges protects public safety and consumers, and assures product safety with testing and tracking. The Governor also seeks to ensure the continued viability of our medical cannabis industry. Because these are complicated issues, he has encouraged his departments to state their concerns, and to make suggestions if there are ways to mitigate them. If a bill passes the legislature that accounts for his primary concerns, he has indicated he will likely sign it,” the adviser said at the time.
There is also public backing for legalization to couple with the political support. A poll released earlier this year found that 52% of Hawaiians are in favor of legalization adult-use marijuana, while only 31% are opposed.
The post Hawaii Cannabis Bill Fails, Ending Legalization Hopes for 2023 appeared first on High Times.
Read the first edition of Strain News Weekly. It’s like Politico Pro, but for cultivars.
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Thanks to Cough Shield, a game-changing, honey-based herbal supplement, relief for coughing-prone smokers, vapers, and dabbers is finally at hand. All-natural Cough Shield promises to virtually eliminate the urge to cough when smoking cannabis, making your sessions more enjoyable and saving your lungs and throat the aggravation in the process.
The post We try breathing easier with Cough Shield appeared first on Leafly.
In the past few weeks, I’ve published a few posts (here and here) about recent federal cannabis gun rights cases. In those cases, the courts disagreed on whether the federal government can prohibit cannabis users from owning guns. On the other end of the spectrum, there are state-level efforts to protect gun rights for cannabis users. They aren’t going to work, and I’ll explain why below.
To set the stage a bit, current provisions of the federal Gun Control Act of 1968 deems cannabis users to be “prohibited persons” who may not legally own or possess firearms. Cannabis users have no gun rights even if they live in states that allow medical and/or recreational marijuana. These gun control laws are what have been at stake in the federal cases I described above. They are likely to be litigated in yet other federal court cases and – unless Congress finally does its job and legalizes cannabis – has a strong chance of making its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In the meantime, states are going to start doing what they’ve done since the late 90s – taking matters into their own hands. A good example of this is Missouri, which in 2021 passed House Bill 85, which was referred to as the Second Amendment Preservation Act (SAPA). SAPA, interestingly, does not mention marijuana at all. The law takes a more circuitous aim at federal intervention via gun control laws. Specifically, section 1.420 says:
The following federal acts, laws, executive orders, administrative orders, rules, and regulations shall be considered infringements on the people’s right to keep and bear arms, as guaranteed by Amendment II of the Constitution of the United States and Article I, Section 23 of the Constitution of Missouri, within the borders of this state including, but not limited to:
(1) Any tax, levy, fee, or stamp imposed on firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition not common to all other goods and services and that might reasonably be expected to create a chilling effect on the purchase or ownership of those items by law-abiding citizens;
. . .
(4) Any act forbidding the possession, ownership, use, or transfer of a firearm, firearm accessory, or ammunition by law-abiding citizens; and
(5) Any act ordering the confiscation of firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition from law-abiding citizens.
Because qualifying individuals could use medical marijuana in accordance with Missouri law, SAPA declared federal gun control laws to be infringements of those persons’ rights. And section 1.430 of SAPA therefore held such infringing laws “invalid” and incapable of enforcement within the state.
Before getting into the controversy here, it’s worth pointing out there there are at least some plausible arguments in favor SAPA under the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. As Reason pointed out back in 2021: “The Controlled Substances Act even contains a 10th Amendment-like clause which says when in ‘positive conflict’ between state and federal law where both cannot stand, that state law should take precedence in areas that would ‘otherwise be within the authority of the state.'” The problem is that up until now, I’m not aware of any court accepting a Tenth Amendment claim for marijuana rights.
As you might expect, the federal government didn’t much care for SAPA. Indeed, it sued the state of Missouri, and in early March 2023 handily defeated the state – SAPA violated the Supremacy Clause, it was preempted by federal law, and so on. I won’t get into the weeds on this one, but suffice it to say, Missouri lost and lost hard.
Now let’s just assume for a second that Missouri had prevailed or a different state passed a similar law. At the end of the day, firearm sellers must still have federal firearms licenses (FFLs) and comply with federal laws. One of those laws is the gun control law that’s led to this mess in the first place. That law says in plain terms that:
It shall be unlawful for any person to sell or otherwise dispose of any firearm or ammunition to any person knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that such person, including as a juvenile—
. . .
(3) is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)) . . . .
Even if SAPA or a comparative law provided a shield against these federal laws, FFL holders would still risk their licenses if they violated the law. So in reality, the law seems more symbolic than anything else.
The bottom line is that if marijuana users are to ever have gun rights restored, they need to focus in on changing federal law. With a potential circuit split on marijuana gun rights emerging, that may happen in the near future. Stay tuned to the Canna Law Blog for more updates.
The post State Cannabis Gun Right Laws Won’t Work appeared first on Harris Bricken Sliwoski LLP.
In September 2022, Afroman’s home residence in Ohio was raided by local law enforcement. While Afroman wasn’t home, his private security camera system recorded them searching his property as they rifled through his clothes and other belongings looking for drugs or other illegal paraphernalia. Afroman posted videos of these law enforcement officers on his social media channels, with commentary making fun of them as they searched his house. He even made two music videos using the footage entitled “Lemon Pound Cake” and “Will You Help Me Repair My Door.”
Now, seven Adams County Sheriff’s Department officers are suing him because of his use of the footage without their consent. According to the lawsuit, exposing people’s faces without consent is a misdemeanor under the Ohio Revised Code. The officers are also suing because their faces were publicly visible, which caused “emotional distress, embarrassment, ridicule, loss of reputation and humiliation.”
The plaintiffs claim that they’re entitled to Afroman’s proceeds gained from the songs, as well as music videos and live event tickets, in addition to his brand, which offers beer, cannabis, T-shirts, among other things. In addition to this, they’re asking that Afroman remove all videos and photos that feature them online.
Afroman posted a response to the lawsuit on all of his social media channels. “Essentially a racist judge signed a fictitious false warrant, lying on the warrant, accusing me of kidnapping and drug trafficking,” Afroman wrote. “The warrant put the Adams county sheriff in a position to attempt to kill me. After the Adams County Sheriff. Burglarized vandalized and destroyed my property. They became thieves and stole my money. After they stole my money they became criminals. After they became criminals they lost their right of privacy.”
Afroman’s attorney, Anna Castellini, also issued a statement about their next move. “We are waiting for public records requests from Adam’s county we still have not received,” Castellini said. “We are planning to counter sue for the unlawful raid, money being stolen, and for the undeniable damage this had on my clients family, career and property.”
Law enforcement obtained a warrant to search Afroman’s home in August 2022 with probable cause that they would find drugs and drug paraphernalia. The only items that were allegedly seized were a vape pen, a few roaches, and thousands of dollars in cash. Ultimately they did not find any evidence of drugs or paraphernalia and no charges were filed.
The law enforcement officers claim they’ve become the subject of ridicule by Afroman fans, which has made it “more dangerous” for them to continue working, and have received death threats “by anonymous members of the public who have seen some of Defendant’s above-described postings.” The lawsuit claims that “Defendants’ actions were willful, wanton, malicious, and done with conscious or reckless disregard for the rights of the Plaintiffs.”
In Afroman’s most recent post on TikTok on March 24, he points out how Adams County is home to meth labs, but they chose to raid his home instead.
In December 2022, Afroman announced that he’s running for president in 2024. “My Fellow Americans, there comes a time in the course of human events when change must be affected,” Afroman wrote on Instagram. “That time is now. Americans are suffering, and the status quo is no longer acceptable. Inflation is out of control. The economy is in shambles. The housing market is staggering. Politicians are corrupt. Bad apples are allowed to remain in law enforcement, amongst our noble and brave officers.”
The self-described “Cannabis Commander in Chief” and “Pot Head of State” claims that he would tackle cannabis reform and criminal justice reform, among other top priority issues.
The post Ohio Law Enforcement Is Suing Afroman for Use of Security Footage Online appeared first on High Times.
Including Duck Sauce, Apple Butter, and Mitten Cake Batter.
The post Leafly Buzz: 13 top cannabis strains of March appeared first on Leafly.
Florida voters may have the opportunity to legalize adult-use cannabis during the next general elections. First, though, the Florida Supreme Court must okay the language on the ballot initiative, in the face of likely opposition from the other branches of the state government. As Floridians watch their elected officials argue against letting them vote on the issue of cannabis legalization, they will have a chance to ponder just how free Florida is.
Under the Florida Constitution, initiative sponsors must collect a certain number of signatures to get the initiative on the ballot. Prior to that, the initiative must be reviewed by the Florida Attorney General and the Financial Impact Estimating Conference (FIEC). For these reviews to take place, sponsors must have already collected 25 percent of the total number of signatures required. The sponsors of the current initiative have already reached that threshold.
By law, the Attorney General must request an advisory opinion from the Florida Supreme Court, “regarding the compliance of the text of the proposed amendment or revision with s. 3, Art. XI of the State Constitution, whether the proposed amendment is facially invalid under the United States Constitution, and the compliance of the proposed ballot title and substance with [Section] 101.161 [of the Florida Statutes].” The cited section of the Florida Constitution requires that proposed amendments “embrace but one subject and matter directly connected therewith.” This is sometimes referred to as the “single-subject requirement.” For its part, Section 101.161 stipulates that a summary of any proposed amendment be printed in “clear and unambiguous language” on the ballot.
The current push to get legalization on the ballot follows an earlier, failed effort in the leadup to the 2022 election. Back then, the Florida Supreme Court struck down the proposed ballot on the grounds that it failed to meet the requirements of Section 101.161. The court found that the use of the verb “permits” in the ballot summary would have misled voters “into believing that the recreational use of marijuana in Florida will be free of any repercussions, criminal or otherwise,” when in fact the underlying conduct would remain criminalized under federal law.
Opponents of the 2022 initiative (a group that included both chambers of the Florida Legislature and the Attorney General) argued that the proposed amendment was in fact facially invalid under the U.S. Constitution. The Florida Supreme Court, however, chose not to address the issue, instead basing its decision solely on its interpretation of Section 101.161. If the language of the current initiative is not open to attack on grounds that it violates the single-subject and/or ballot title and substance requirements, expect opponents to push the federal constitutional argument more vigorously.
The Florida Supreme Court’s decision on the 2022 ballot initiative suggests it might be amenable to such an argument. While ostensibly it rejected the proposed amendment due to a deficiency in the ballot language, the court’s application of the relevant statute was particularly strict. Dissenting from the court’s opinion, Justice Lawson noted that the court had “never required that a ballot summary inform voters as to the current state of federal law.” The court’s posture, Lawson argued, was “in direct violation of the deferential, nonpaternalistic rules and presumptions that have historically governed our decisions in this area.” Would the outcome have been different if the subject matter of the amendment had not been cannabis?
While Florida state officials have every right to oppose cannabis legalization, it is strange to see some of them do so by seeking to curtail Florida’s exercise of its own sovereignty and denying Floridians the opportunity to express their views at the ballot box. If anything, Florida officials should be pushing back against the federal government’s questionable use of its authority under the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause to regulate cannabis-related activities. After all, one would expect self-styled Free Florida to be at the forefront of the fight against federal overreach. And what better way to do this than by letting Floridians, not federal or state government officials, decide the kind of cannabis laws they want in the Sunshine State.
The post Florida Tries Again appeared first on Harris Bricken Sliwoski LLP.
Patients in Australia will soon have legal access to the psychedelic drugs psilocybin and MDMA under a plan announced by regulators last month. But with no approved source of the drug available to therapists, patients will likely face bills in the tens of thousands of dollars to obtain the promising treatment.
Last month, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), the Australian government’s medicine and therapeutic regulatory agency, announced that qualified psychiatrists will be able to prescribe the psychedelic drugs psilocybin and MDMA for the treatment of certain mental health conditions beginning later this year. But the agency has not approved any products containing the promising psychedelic drugs, leaving mental health professionals to source the drugs themselves. Without a government subsidy to help cover the cost of the medications, psychiatrists estimate that patients will have to pay as much as AU$25,000 (nearly $17,000) and more out of pocket for psychedelic-assisted therapy.
“For the actual patient, it might be $25,000, $30,000 for a treatment,” said Dr. Stephen Bright, a senior lecturer at Edith Cowan University and director of the charity Psychedelic Research In Science & Medicine.
“I honestly don’t think, for the next 12 to 18 months post July 1, that these treatments will be very widely available at all,” he added. “The tight controls of therapy mean there are very few psychologists who put their hand up. There will be a few clinics that open up, but I don’t think we’re going to see the floodgates open.”
Dr. Paul Liknaitzky, the head of the Clinical Psychedelic Lab at Monash University, revealed last month that he and other mental health professionals will be partnering with investors to open a psychedelic-assisted therapy clinic in Melbourne. But training requirements for therapists and detailed guidelines for such therapy have yet to be issued by government regulators.
“There is a lack of detailed clarity from the TGA to help us understand how it’s going to roll out. We are concerned but cautiously optimistic,” he said.
Liknaitzky said that he and his colleagues will help establish protocols that set high standards for ethical and effective psychedelic-assisted therapy. But he warned that the high cost of treatment might make the treatment inaccessible to most Australians.
“Sensible and safe treatment approaches, based on decades of best-practice development, will include considerable screening, psychotherapy and other support. A typical course of treatment, spanning a few months, may be in the order of $25,000, plus or minus $10,000,” he said. “If it turns out to be cost-effective, it will be in the government’s interest to fund it.”
Ongoing research has shown that psilocybin, the primary psychoactive compound in magic mushrooms, has the potential to be an effective treatment for several serious mental health conditions, including PTSD, major depressive disorder, anxiety and substance misuse disorders. A study published in 2020 in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Psychiatry found that psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy was a quick-acting and effective treatment for a group of 24 participants with major depressive disorder.
Separate research published in 2016 determined that psilocybin treatment produced substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer. And in 2021, a study published in the journal NatureMedicine determined that MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy, is a highly efficacious and safe treatment for individuals with severe PTSD.
But Professor Chris Langmead of the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences says that it is unlikely that public health agencies will cover the cost of such treatment until further research including a cost-benefit analysis has been completed.
“We’re trying to get a groundswell of research and funding so we can do the research, clinical studies and practice rollout [to ensure] that this is not purely a market-led solution where the most disadvantaged populations are missing out,” he said. “The TGA has put Australia at the forefront of the world and we really need to take the opportunity and make the most of it.”
University of Melbourne associate professor Gillinder Bedi said that a shortage of clinical staff trained in psychedelic-assisted therapy will also make the treatment difficult for patients to obtain.
“The infrastructure will get set up. There will be clinics. But the problem is we don’t have staff. People can’t even see psychiatrists under normal conditions,” she said. “If you put two clinical psychologists in a room for eight hours, at a [Medicare] billing rate of $120 an hour – which is not what people charge, they charge $200 to $300 – you have an enormously expensive treatment. I think it could get higher [than $25,000].
“No matter which way you look at it, it will take time away from other treatments and cost a whole bunch of money. It’s unclear who will foot the bill, some organizations are trying to set up philanthropic funding,” Bedi added. “But it’s going to be for people with money, in the initial stages at least.”
The post Psychedelic Therapy in Australia Likely To Cost Thousands appeared first on High Times.
House Bill 431 was introduced on Jan. 5, 2023, and has proceeded through numerous sessions and hearings before passing in the House on March 22. If passed, it would allow patients as well as caregivers to cultivate up to three mature plants, three immature plants, and 12 seedlings at home. Additionally, HB-341 would also increase the number of plants that medical cannabis dispensaries can grow, with 80 mature plants, 160 immature plants, and an endless number of seedlings.
The bill requires that patients report their cultivation to the Department of Health and Human Services, and as a qualifying patient or caregiver, would be protected from arrest by state or local law enforcement or penalty under state or municipal law.
During the hearings that have been conducted so far, two concerns have been discussed, according to Rep. Erica Layon of Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs. “This bill as amended provides a framework for therapeutic cannabis patients or their caregivers to grow cannabis with restrictions. This bill addresses two major problems for this community—access and price,” said Layon during a meeting on March 17. “The closest Alternative Treatment Center (ATC) may be far away and the cost of this product is high. Most therapeutic cannabis patients will continue to purchase their product from ATCs and those who choose to grow their own will be able to purchase seedlings from the ATC or grow from seeds according to their preference. This bill has broad support from stakeholders including patient representatives, ATCs and the department.”
Rep. Wendy Thomas, one of the sponsors of HB-341, tweeted about the bill’s progress so far. “Passed on a voice vote of the Consent Calendar—HB-431—Therapeutic home-grow now moves to the Senate One step closer. Thanks to all of the many advocates who have worked to make this happen. Let us not take our foot off the gas until we get this signed,” she posted on March 22. The bill now heads to the senate for further consideration.
On Twitter, Prime Alternative Treatment Centers Director of Public and Government Relations Matt Simon shared that he believes this is the 11th time that a medical cannabis cultivation bill has passed through the House since 2009. According to Simon, only four of those bills passed through the Senate.
As of January, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu’s office predicts that cannabis legalization will not reach his desk. “It’s failed in the Senate repeatedly, in both Republican-held years and Democrat-held years,” Sununu’s office said in a statement to New Hampshire Public Radio. “With teen drug use and overdoses on the rise, it is not anticipated that the legislature will see this as a time to ignore the data and move it forward.”
House Bill 360 also recently passed in the House on March 21, which would legalize adult-use cannabis by removing cannabis from the state’s list of banned substances and removing any criminal penalties for cannabis offenses. While cannabis would be legal to possess, cultivate, and purchase, it does not implement any tax or regulation program. It has also moved to the Senate for further consideration.
House Bill 639 has also been making its way through the House. If passed, it would legalize possession, cannabis sales, and gifting of up to four ounces, create a Liquor and Cannabis Commission to manage industry regulations statewide, implement taxes for cultivators, and much more. The latest hearing was held on March 20.
Rep. Anita Burroughs spoke during a floor debate for HB-639 on Feb. 22, and explained that it is “good legislation that is the result of the goodwill and diligent work of both political parties.” “We can now join other New England states that offer safe, regulated and a profitable cannabis industry to their citizens,” she continued.
Other representatives expressed their excitement when HB-639 passed on Feb. 22. “I cast my vote on cannabis legalization from seat 4-20!” Tweeted Rep. Amanda Bouldin. “We did the damn thing #blazeit” Rep. Jessica Grill shared.
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It's easy to burn through your bud just like your paycheck. Here's how to ensure you have enough green, of all kinds, to go around.
The post How to make a weed budget appeared first on Leafly.
As Minnesota approaches the legalization of marijuana, the Minnesota Supreme Court has just ruled on a case we covered in September 2021. The case involves the difference between hemp and marijuana and a state prosecutor’s burden to prove what side of the line a leafy or liquid cannabis substance falls. As we explained two years ago, the ruling impacted manufacturers, processors, sellers, distributors, and consumers of any liquid form of Hemp/CBD. Back then we predicted an appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court by the Minnesota Public Defender’s Office on behalf of the defendant. Notably, the Minnesota Industrial Hemp Association and the Minnesota Cannabis Association both filed amicus briefs the in light of the terrible practical effects of the Court of Appeals’ ruling on the hemp industry.
State troopers executed an arrest warrant at a home in Brainerd, Minnesota. The officers found the defendant at the home and observed cannabis smoking paraphernalia (a pipe, rolling papers, a grinder, and a torch lighter) and a plastic tote box. The officers then obtained a search warrant and found three pounds of a “leafy plant material” and 89 vaporizer cartridges containing an “amber-colored liquid.”
The defendant was tried and convicted of possession of a controlled substance. But his trial occurred after enactment of the 2018 Farm Bill, which defined hemp as “[t]he plant species Cannabis sativa L. and any part of that plant . . . with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.” It also imposed a controversial “total” THC testing requirement.” The Farm Bill also removed hemp from the definition of marijuana. Not long after, Minnesota adopted an industrial hemp program in 2019.
The state’s expert at trial testified the plant material was “marijuana” based on her visual inspection. And she testified that the liquid in the vape cartridges contained THC. But the expert did not provide any testimony regarding the THC concentration of either the liquid mixture in the vaporizer cartridges or the plant material in the plastic bags.
The defendant appealed arguing, among other things, that the state failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that either the plant material or the vape liquid was (illegal) marijuana instead of (legal) hemp because there was no evidence as total THC concentration.
The Minnesota Court of Appeals agreed with defendant as to the plant material and reversed the conviction. Oddly, however, it affirmed his conviction for the vape liquid, concluding that Minnesota’s criminal code applied to liquids (but not plant material) without regard for the THC concentration.
Nearly two years later, the Minnesota Supreme Court has reversed that portion of the Court of Appeals’ decision. The court held:
Because Minn. Stat. § 152.01, subd. 9, explicitly excludes “hemp” from the definition of “marijuana” and these substances are distinguished based on their delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration, the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of a substance exceeds 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis to obtain a conviction for a fifth-degree controlled substance crime under Minn. Stat. § 152.025, subds. 1(1) and 2(1) (2022).
So the Minnesota Supreme Court reversed the vape liquid conviction because the State offered insufficient evidence to establish “that the delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of the plant material and liquid mixture in vaporizer cartridges found in the defendant’s possession exceeded 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.”
Going forward, the decision may not mean much in Minnesota if enacts legislation permitting adult use marijuana. But this is certainly welcome news for this defendant and an important precedent for persons in other states where “hemp” is legal and “marijuana” is illegal. This case establishes that the government bears the burden of proving a substance is the latter, not the former. Feel free to email me if you’d like a copy of the decision, Minnesota v. Loveless, Case No. A20-1254 (Mar. 22, 2023).
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Prince Harry’s visa should be denied and he should be deported from the U.S., a conservative group is demanding.
When Prince Harry detailed his history with pot and other drugs in his autobiography, he made heads roll, especially in conservative circles on both sides of the Atlantic. The Heritage Foundation—a conservative think tank in operation for over 50 years—called for the deportation of Prince Harry over his admissions to past drug use including pot and cocaine.
The Duke of Sussex, 38, is currently living in Los Angeles with his wife Meghan Markle and son, Archie. But Harry is living on a visa, and has no plans of seeking permanent U.S. residency or U.S. citizenship, despite being eligible. The couple quit the Royal Family and moved to California in January 2020, where they continued to be a focal point for tabloids and aggressive paparazzi.
A representative from The Heritage Foundation said the organization is in arms with the U.S. State Department, as they are refusing to release any details about Prince Harry’s visa application, The Mercury News reports.
The power couple is often the target of conservative media, which often sides with the Royal Family instead of Prince Harry. The Heritage Foundation entered the arena by challenging his visa status.
“This request is in the public interest in light of the potential revocation of Prince Harry’s visa for illicit substance use and further questions regarding the Prince’s drug use and whether he was properly vetted before entering the United States,” Mike Howell, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project, told the Daily Mail.
In Prince Harry’s controversial autobiography Spare, which was published this past January, he revealed that he first snorted coke at age 17 and again on a few other occasions. He also toked up after his first date with Meghan Markle. “I started doing it recreationally and then started to realize how good it was for me,” Harry said. “I would say it is one of the fundamental parts of my life that changed me and helped me deal with the traumas and the pains of the past.”
Prince Harry also detailed his adventures with shrooms, talking to the toilet and having strange visions. High Times has been following reports of his pot use since at least 2017. (Tyler Dooley, Meghan’s nephew and the son of Meghan’s half-brother Thomas Markle Jr., got into the cannabis industry back in 2015 and released the Markle Sparkle strain.)
But according to law, visa records are considered confidential. “Visa records are confidential under Section 222(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA); therefore, we cannot discuss the details of individual visa cases,” a U.S. State Department spokesman said.
Legal experts aren’t sure if Harry’s past drug use actually could threaten his visa status, allowing him to stay in the United States to live and work. “An admission of drug use is usually grounds for inadmissibility,” former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Page Six. “That means Prince Harry’s visa should have been denied or revoked because he admitted to using cocaine, mushrooms and other drugs.”
New Jersey-based attorney James Leonard, disagreed with Rahmani and said that Prince Harry’s visa status is not at risk.
“Absent any criminal charge related to drugs or alcohol or any finding by a judicial authority that Prince Harry is a habitual drug user, which he clearly is not, I don’t see any issue with the disclosures in his memoir regarding recreational experimentation with drugs,” Leonard said.
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Robert Veverka is editor in chief and publisher of a Czech Republic publication called Legalizace, which has been publishing since 2010. According to Volteface, it often contained content relating to how to obtain cannabis illegally, how to grow the plant, and how to process and use it. It would also occasionally contain seed packets, as sale and possession of cannabis seeds is legal, as well as advertisements for fertilizer or seed banks.
It began five years ago when a local Czech grower was caught growing 38 cannabis plants using seeds contained in Legalizace. Although the grower intended to use cannabis to make a topical cream for himself, law enforcement began to look more closely at the Veverka and his magazine.
Veverka was taken to court starting in summer 2020. By November 2021, the District Court of Bruntál fined Veverka 50,000 Kč (or Czech Koruna, which equates to approximately $2,200 USD). According to presiding Judge Marek Stach, Veverka was guilty of producing more than 200 articles, published between 2010-2020, which could tempt readers to conduct illegal acts relating to cannabis. Stach added that “even one single article with the potential to incite readers is enough for the Legalizace magazine to constitute the crime of inciting and promoting toxicomania,” according to a press release from Legalizace and covered by the International Cannabis Business Conference.
Veverka chose to appeal that initial ruling, claiming that he was sentenced under a “rubber law.” “It is very flexible, [and] includes a paragraph that says that the promotion of illegal substances, with the exception of alcohol, can be considered a crime,” he said in an interview with CannaReporter about the law.
Most recently in March, Veverka was convicted in a regional court in Ostrava, the third largest city in the Czech Republic, for “inciting the abuse of addictive substances” and “spreading drug addiction through his magazine.” The next step would be for Veverka to appeal to the Supreme and Constitutional Court. “I will try to take this further to the highest courts to protect not only myself but any other media outlet that chooses to write about cannabis,” Veverka told Prague Morning.
In an interview with Cannabis Therapy on March 13, Veverka spoke about the most recent verdict. “I feel branded, damaged, and personally disgusted,” Veverka said. “Unfortunately, the verdict lends credence to the prosecution’s case, which reflects an ignorance of cannabis legislation and is based on a general repressive view that positive information about cannabis is unacceptable to the establishment. Moreover, according to my three-year prosecution and the court’s verdict, publishing is even an illegal activity.”
“The court’s judgement refers to a section in the law on the propagation of “toxicomania”—toxic addiction—a Bolshevik relic from the days of the totalitarian communist regime, which also prosecuted and punished people for inappropriate opinions,” he continued.
The current verdict leaves Veverka the choice to either pay CZK 250,000 (approximately $11,000 USD) or go to prison. “I definitely do not agree with the verdict: I consider the punishment for disseminating objective and comprehensive information—even on such a controversial topic as the regulation and use of cannabis—to be a systemic error of judgement and punitive bullying,” Veverka said.
However, he ended the interview by stating that this won’t stop him from advocating for cannabis and eventually publishing his magazine in the future. “I still have commitments to my readers, so I am not giving up on the idea of relaunching [Legalization] magazine,” he said. “Therefore, I sincerely hope that I will read in the reasoning of the judgement exactly what the facts are regarding where and with what I have committed said crime of ‘dissemination of intoxication,’ so that I can avoid any unlawful acts in the future. Otherwise, continuing to publish will be a very difficult thing, because one cannot do business within a cloud of legal uncertainty.”
Next, he plans to attend the 2023 Million Marijuana March demonstration that is being planned for the end of May.
Cannabis has been decriminalized in the Czech Republic since 2010, and medical cannabis became legal in 2013. Recreational cannabis use and possession is not legal, but the Czech government is drafting a bill to regulate the industry, which was originally expected to be presented in March 2023, according to Forbes. In October 2022, Czech Republic drug commissioner Jindřich Vobořil explained that the Czech Republic is coordinating with German officials to create a similar approach to adult-use cannabis legalization.
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Far more research needs to be done.
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As New York move steadily closer to a fully rolled out adult-use cannabis industry, two New York state legislators recently proposed legislation that would significantly simplify the tax structure for adult-use cannabis. Under the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA), New York would have charged a potency THC tax on all adult-use cannabis, plus an excise tax of 9%. The proposed legislation would change the tax structure to a flat 16% excise tax, with no potency tax.
The proposed legislation was announced by Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes and state Senator Jeremy Cooney. As a reminder, Assembly Majority Leader Peoples-Stokes was one of the sponsors and chief proponents of the MRTA and Senator Cooney has been integrally involved in legislating cannabis since the passage of the MRTA.
As part of announcing the proposed legislation, Assembly Majority Leader Peoples-Stokes stated:
“After careful consideration, it became clear that we need to simplify the tax structure of adult-use cannabis. As the state continues to build out licensed cannabis operations, a simpler tax structure will be better for businesses and consumers. It is imperative to establish the licensed cannabis marketplace as the best option for consumers and stamp out the illicit cannabis operations popping up all over the state. This new tax approach will ultimately lead to thriving cannabis businesses at all levels of the supply chain. We will see higher tax revenues, which will result in more funds being reinvested in communities and invested in education and other important programs.”
The bill’s justification similarly emphasizes that a flat tax “will better shift the costs away from businesses and consumers while facilitating a cannabis market in New York State that is flourishing and will provide real economic benefits for all.”
It is noteworthy that the justification also references the legislators’ review of “a large amount of data now available from other cannabis-legal states,” which highlights New York’s data-driven approach to forming the adult-use cannabis market. We’ll keep our eyes out for information on the proposed legislation as it moves towards passage. Stay tuned!
The post New York Cannabis: Potential Tax Changes appeared first on Harris Bricken Sliwoski LLP.
Advocates for the medical use of psilocybin mushrooms in Canada launched a petition to call upon the federal government to take action. Interest in psilocybin-assisted therapy continues to grow to combat end-of-life anxiety, depression, addition, and PTSD, among many other conditions.
Petition e-4334 was launched on March 16—an online “Petition to the Government of Canada,” which, according to law, will have to be presented in the House of Commons if it meets certain conditions, Microdose reports. Petitions must be certified by the Clerk of Petitions, for instance, in order to be presented to the House. They also must be signed by at least 500 residents of Canada, and a Member of Parliament must authorize them.
Advocates want to green-light therapeutic psilocybin in any form, and listed several specific conditions that can be improved.
“We, the undersigned, compassionate Canadians, call upon the Government of Canada to allow Canadians to have timely unrestricted access to therapeutic psilocybin in any form as needed to alleviate their suffering via Section 56 exemptions,” the petition reads.
The petition provides three reasons why psilocybin-assisted therapy should be legalized, including the mushroom’s low potential for harm:
In order to sign the petition, signers must be a Canadian citizen or a resident of Canada.
Meanwhile, one particular case is drawing attention to the issue of psilocybin-assisted therapy.
Saskatoon-based Thomas Hartle was the first person in Canada to undergo a legal psychedelic-assisted therapy session to treat his end-of-life anxiety. However a year later, his permission from Health Canada expired in October 2021 and he had to reapply.
Thomas waited for over 500 days for approval, but his exemption to continue to use psilocybin for medical purposes was denied by Minister Carolyn Bennett. Health Canada denied Hartle’s permission to continue psilocybin-assisted therapy, which attracted a lot of attention and criticism from the psychedelic community. Hartle believes Health Canada and the Ministers of Health are just waiting for him to die.
Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy is the only thing that has helped him deal with his end-of-life anxiety and he says that he needs safe, legal access to it.
It’s stories like Hartle’s that are fueling the effort to legalize psilocybin-assisted therapy in Canada.
Research about the potential of psilocybin’s benefits continues to unfold. North America’s first take-home psilocybin trial was approved in Canada. A pharmaceutical company called Apex Labs announced on Nov. 1, 2022 that it will be conducting the first North American take-home multi-dose psilocybin clinical trial. Apex Labs is a patient-driven pharmaceutical company that specializes in psilocybin treatments for military veterans.
Apex Labs will launch a trial that will explore the efficacy of APEX-52 (psilocybin) for veterans suffering from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Apex Labs received a “no objection letter” from Health Canada on Oct. 24, 2022.
Dispensaries providing psilocybin have sprung up in Canada. Two men were arrested, and mushrooms were seized following a raid at west Toronto psilocybin mushroom dispensary last November.
The push to legalize psilocybin-assisted therapy in Canada, and explore its benefits, continues its march.
The post Petition Launched To Legalize Shroom-Assisted Therapy in Canada appeared first on High Times.
