Buddhist Temple Left Empty After Monks Fail Drug Tests

A Buddhist temple in Thailand is even quieter than usual these days after several monks there failed a drug test. 

Agence France-Presse reports that a total of four monks “including an abbot at a temple in Phetchabun province’s Bung Sam Phan district tested positive for methamphetamine on Monday.” 

Boonlert Thintapthai, an official in the central Thailand district, told Agence France-Presse that the “temple is now empty of monks and nearby villagers are concerned they cannot do any merit-making” after the four monks were sent to a drug rehabilitation clinic. 

“Merit-making involves worshippers donating food to monks as a good deed. Boonlert said more monks will be sent to the temple to allow villagers to practise their religious obligations. Thailand is a major transit country for methamphetamine flooding in from Myanmar’s troubled Shan state via Laos, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. On the street, pills sell for less than 20 baht (around $0.50). Authorities across Southeast Asia have made record meth seizures in recent years,” Agence France-Presse reports.

The raid of the temple comes at a turbulent moment for the country and its enforcement of drug laws. 

In June, Thai lawmakers passed a measure that removed cannabis from its list of prohibited drugs, making it the first Asian country to decriminalize weed. 

But the new law has resulted in ambiguity, and frustration for government officials. 

The new law made it legal to cultivate both cannabis and hemp, but it also opened the door for restaurants to serve food and drinks that contain THC.

These cannabis cafes have sprouted up in recent months throughout the capital city of Bangkok, much to the chagrin of Thai officials.

“It’s a no,” Thai Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said in the summer when asked whether recreational pot use would be allowed. “We still have regulations under the law that control the consumption, smoking or use of cannabis products in non-productive ways.”

But the cannabis cafes have been a boon for the country’s tourism industry, with foreign travelers eager to catch a buzz in the southeast Asian state. 

That, too, has drawn pushback from the Thailand government.

“We don’t welcome those kinds of tourists,” Anutin said in August. 

After the new law was passed in June, Anutin said that the goal was never to open the door for recreational use.

“Thailand will promote cannabis policies for medical purposes,” Anutin said at the time. “If [tourists] come for medical treatment or come for health-related products then it’s not an issue but if you think that you want to come to Thailand just because you heard that cannabis or marijuana is legal … [or] come to Thailand to smoke joints freely, that’s wrong. Don’t come. We won’t welcome you if you just come to this country for that purpose.”

Physicians in the country have also objected to the new law. In July, more than 850 doctors in Thailand signed a petition calling on more stringent rules and restrictions. 

“Cannabis was removed from the Public Health Ministry’s Narcotic list on June 9, but no policies have been launched to control the use of cannabis for personal pleasure,” a spokesperson for the doctors said. “This lack of [legal] direction makes cannabis more accessible for children and teenagers.”

The group of doctors argued that “government and related departments should stop threatening people’s health as soon as possible.”

“The use of cannabis for medical purposes should be under control for the best benefits and safety as the government claimed from the first place,” the group said.

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Non-profit Organization Marches on Canadian Capital To Fight for Therapeutic Mushrooms

Over the course of the past two years, TheraPsil has assisted over 130 patients, but it calls the country’s current limitations a “cruel approach” on the part of Health Canada. The organization has attempted to set up a formal meeting with parliament members, but so far has been denied, so it’s taking the conversation straight to the capital to protest between Nov. 28-30.

According to TheraPsil CEO Spencer Hawkswell, there needs to be a proper channel for patients to be able to legally access psilocybin and psilocin. “There is ample evidence of both the safety and efficacy of psilocybin in the treatment of various mental health conditions,” said Hawkswell in a press release. “The previous Minister recognized this and started approving exemptions. Unfortunately, this Minister has stopped and refused to consider reasonable regulations to ensure vulnerable Canadians don’t have to go to Court to access treatment that can improve their quality of life and death.”

Currently, psilocybin and psilocin are listed as a Schedule III substance under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. However, some patients gain legal access with an improved exemption called the Special Access Program. 

TheraPsil uses the example of Thomas Hartle, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2016, to demonstrate the problems that patients are encountering. Hartle was one of the first to receive approval from former Health Minister Patty Hajdu to use psilocybin to treat “end-of-life anxiety” in 2020, which was valid for one year. His treatments were successful, and he reapplied for continued access in October 2021, but was denied by current Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos.

“We hope to meet with the Minister to find out why he and his officials are being so cruel to us,” said Hartle in a press statement. “Instead of a compassionate response, Health Canada is referring dying and vulnerable patients to a special access program that results in lots of red tape but no access for most. Many, like me have gone over a year without a response to their urgent requests.”

TheraPsil will be arranging media interviews over the next few days to raise awareness both for the medical benefits that psilocybin offers, as well as the need for improved access. “Mental health is a non-partisan issue,” said palliative care physician Dr. Valorie Masuda. “Reasonable treatment options should be available to Canadians who have the right to MAiD [Medical Assistance in Dying]. It is cruel to withhold medicine from vulnerable patients, especially when those medicines have worked for them.”

TheraPsil also sent a joint letter earlier this month signed by medical practitioners and social workers calling for the need for psilocybin regulations. “We believe that our patients have a right to Medical Psilocybin and this open letter is to demand this right on their behalf. We need a compassionate and immediate response and solution to the Section 56 applications for psilocybin access and seek your response to our proposed request for ‘Access to Psilocybin for Medical Purposes Regulations,’” the letter stated.

Meanwhile in Canada, Apex Labs received a “no objection” letter from Health Canada, which effectively greenlit the first North American study on psilocybin as a treatment for military veterans who suffer from conditions such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. “Veterans are already self-medicating with micro-doses of unregulated psilocybin products without knowing the potency and safety of the product they are consuming,” said Apex Labs CEO Tyler Powell. “Our goal is to expand access to pharmaceutical grade drug products through regulated systems, providing transparency and support for patients in need.”

A new study published in The New England Journal of Medicine on Nov. 3 also provided evidence of the benefits of psilocybin in a double-blind trial. “In this phase 2 trial involving participants with treatment-resistant depression, psilocybin at a single dose of 25 mg, but not 10 mg, reduced depression scores significantly more than a 1-mg dose over a period of 3 weeks but was associated with adverse effects,” the researchers wrote. Those adverse effects included headaches, nausea, dizziness, and suicidal ideation.

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Patenting Cannabis Genes: Three Ways To Protect New Cultivars

Many cannabis companies spend significant resources developing new cannabis cultivars or refining popular strain genetics. As they do so, more and more are looking for strategies to protect those investments. Plant patents for purportedly novel cannabis plants are increasingly common, but are plant patents really the best way to protect cannabis genes?

In addition to traditional security measures, there are 3 types of intellectual property available that may be used to protect new cannabis strains: (1) plant patents, (2) utility patents, and (3) the Plant Variety Protection Act. Each option has its own set of benefits and comes with its own particular registration requirements.

Plant patents for cannabis genes

Plant patents are one potential option to protect a newly invented cannabis cultivar. Plant patents can protect new plant varietals that are capable of asexual reproduction.

Cannabis is typically a sexually reproducing plant: both male and female versions can contribute genetic material to offspring (but only female plants produce the cannabinoid-rich flowers in which most people are interested).

Cannabis plants, however, are also relatively easy to reproduce asexually via cloning or cutting. Newly created cannabis strains, whether created accidentally or by intentional crossbreeding, may be therefore eligible for a plant patent once they have been reproduced asexually.

Drafting and prosecuting plant patent applications is relatively superficial compared to other patent types, making plant patents cheap and efficient to obtain. But the trade-off, and the reason why plant patents are not very popular for cannabis or other hybridized crops, is that the scope of protection that plant patents afford is extremely limited. Plant patents only cover genetically identical copies, reproduced asexually from the claimed plant.

“In the case of a plant patent, the grant shall include the right to exclude others from asexually reproducing the plant, and from using, offering for sale, or selling the plant so reproduced, or any of its parts….”  35 U.S.C. § 163.

That means to infringe a plant patent, one must directly clone the patented plant– a narrow base for an infringement claim. A plant patent does not prevent someone in possession of an authorized plant from crossbreeding or otherwise sexually reproducing it. Practically, absent direct evidence of theft or breach of a patent license, it is incredibly difficult to prove infringement of a plant patent.

Utility patents for cannabis genes

Utility patents are the most popular flavor of patent and they are the favorite tool of major agricultural genetic companies. They are more expensive to obtain than plant patents, but can provide a far broader scope of protection.

Utility patents are used to protect methods, devices, and chemical compounds. Because utility patents can protect novel chemical compounds, the inventor of a new cannabis strain can claim a plant, seed, or other plant part with a particular genetic sequence (i.e., chemical structure).

One major advantage of utility patents over plant patents is that they can prohibit cross breeding and sexual reproduction. This means that a utility patent owner can, if they wish, prevent a customer from replanting seeds harvested from a licensed plant.

Utility patents require that the inventor describe the claimed invention in sufficient detail to enable a person of ordinary skill in the art to make and use it as claimed (for after the patent expires). Thanks to gene editing technologies such as CRISPR, it may be possible to satisfy that enablement requirement for some genetically modified cannabis strains by describing the gene editing process and reproducing the gene sequence base pairs. In other cases where the gene sequences are more complex or unknown, as is typically the case with cannabis, the inventor must deposit samples with the Patent Office from which others could reproduce the invention.

Plant Variety Protection Act

The last vehicle that can protect the IP of a new cannabis strain is the Plant Variety Protection Act of 1970 (“PVPA”). The PVPA provides similar protections to a plant patent but was designed specifically to protect any new, distinct, uniform, and stable sexually reproducing plants, such as cannabis. The 2018 Farm Bill further extended this protection to asexually reproducing plants.

The PVPA, however, contains a strict requirement that at least 3,000 seeds of the claimed plant species be deposited with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The deposit requirement adds an additional wrinkle for cannabis breeders. All seed deposits must be made to the USDA depository in Fort Collins, CO. The USDA will not accept any deposits for plants that are classified as controlled substances, including cannabis.

However, in January 2022, the DEA issued an opinion stating that cannabis seeds that with less than 0.3 % delta-9-THC (i.e. pretty much all of them) are not controlled substances. This decision should open the PVPA protection to cannabis cultivar, but it is not yet clear wither the USDA will follow the DEA’s position and accept cannabis seed deposits.

Conclusion

Each type of genetic protection comes with its own set of benefits and challenges. In addition to physical security, trusted employees, and well-drafted contracts, the best strategy for protecting proprietary cannabis genes is a woven network of patent and pseudo-patent rights.

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Rhode Island’s weed stores open Dec. 1. Here’s how to find them

Five adult-use cannabis stores are scheduled to open on Thursday morning. Come join the celebration!

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Irish Lawmaker Files Cannabis Legalization Bill

An Irish lawmaker last week introduced a bill to legalize the possession of small amounts of cannabis for personal use. The legislation was introduced on Thursday by Gino Kenny, a lawmaker known as a Teachta Dála (TD) and a member of Ireland’s People Before Profit political party. If passed, the bill would legalize the possession of up to seven grams of cannabis and 2.5 grams of cannabis resin for personal use.

Kenny’s bill would amend Ireland’s Misuse of Drugs Act, which has been in force since the 1970s, and apply to adults aged 18 and older. Kenny said that he expects further debate on the proposed legislation to occur next year.

“The Bill is quite moderate. It amends existing legislation that dates back 42 years,” Kenny said during a recent debate in the Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish Parliament. “Forty-two years is a very long time. I believe the existing legislation is out of date and out of time. We need a different narrative around drug reform.”

“I hope the Government can support this legislation,” he continued. “It is timely. Different parts of the world are looking at different models which do not criminalize people and which take a harm-reduction approach. I look forward to the debate.”

Lawmaker Says Criminalization Doesn’t Work

In an op-ed explaining the legislation published on November 24, Kenny said that “the present laws on criminalization do not work” and noted that many countries in Europe and beyond have reformed their cannabis policy or are in the process of doing so. 

Although the text of the bill states that possession of up to seven grams of cannabis use by adults aged 18 and older “shall be lawful,” Kenny referred to the legislation as a decriminalization measure. The lawmaker said the legislation would amend Ireland’s unsuccessful policy of total cannabis prohibition.

“[E]ven though it is illegal in Ireland, we can see that the use of cannabis has increased. Ireland has one of the highest usage rates of cannabis in the EU,” Kenny wrote. “Almost 30% of adults between the age of 15-64 in Ireland have said that they have used cannabis at least one in their lifetime, whilst 17% of the adult population has used cannabis in the last 12 months – over double the European average of 7%.”

The lawmaker noted that under the proposal, the criminal penalties for low-level cannabis possession would be eliminated but the plant would remain illegal. Cultivation and sales of marijuana would continue to be prohibited, meaning the illicit market will continue to be the source of cannabis for most consumers.

Although Kenny’s bill will likely jumpstart the conversation surrounding cannabis reform in Ireland, whether or not it will succeed is another matter. In an interview with the Irish Independent, the head of the Irish government, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, warned against the prospect of the proposed legislation making cannabis more desirable.

“I think we have to be careful that we don’t glamorize cannabis either because there are real concerns within the health community and the medical community about what cannabis can do to young people,” he said, adding that he would support a more healthcare-based approach to addiction and warned about the potential harms posed by cannabis.

“I would prefer a system that decriminalizes in the sense that it were there to help people with challenges with harmful substances such as cannabis,” said Martin. “Cannabis can do real harm too, to young people, and many people in the medical world have said that to me. That’s just a concern I have. I’ve been a strong advocate for the facilitation of medical cannabis for people.”

Medical cannabis is legal in Ireland, although each patient must obtain authorization from the national health ministry. Kenny said that his proposal would end the prohibition of cannabis for all users, a position that is supported by his party.

“People Before Profit are totally opposed to the criminalization of cannabis users,” he wrote in his op-ed. “We believe that prohibition should come to an end, and that proper research should be undertaken by agencies that are independent of corporate influence into the benefits of regulation.”

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Police in India Say Rats Ate More Than 1,100 Pounds of Confiscated Weed

We have all heard of the dog who ate the homework, but rats who ate the weed? That’s a new one, but it is apparently the account that has been offered up by law enforcement officials in India, who are blaming the pesky rodents for getting their fangs on some seized marijuana. 

CNN has the weird (and disgusting) details, reporting on court documents that spell out the damage that rats have imposed on confiscated contraband in northern India.

The network quotes a court in the city of Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, which noted that “local police were unable to furnish almost 200 kilograms of confiscated cannabis that was supposed to be used as evidence in a recent case.”

“Rats are small animals, and they aren’t scared of the police,” the court said, as quoted by CNN.

“Court documents said the police had been asked to provide 386 kilograms of cannabis, but the prosecution flagged to the court that more than 700 kilograms of marijuana stored in various stations across Mathura could be impacted by the rat infestation,” CNN reported. “And this was – allegedly – not the first time the rats had struck. The judge hearing the case cited Mathura police as blaming the rodents for destroying a total of more than 500 kilograms [a little more than 1,100 pounds] of cannabis that had been seized in various cases and stored at the city’s Shergarh and Highway Police Station.”

It should be noted that not everyone accepts that version of events. Mathura City Police Superintendent Martand Prakash Singh told CNN that the weed had in fact been “destroyed by rains and flooding,” not rats.

“There was no reference to rats in the (report submitted to the court) … the police only mentioned that the seized cannabis was destroyed in the rains and flooding,” Singh said.

India’s laws on cannabis use and cultivation are spelled out in the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act of 1985. According to the website The Print, the law “prohibits the sale and use of cannabis resin and flowers, [but] it permits the use of its seeds, stems, and leaves.”

In 2019, with concerns surrounding vaping mounting around the world, India issued a ban on all electronic cigarettes. 

“Unfortunately, e-cigarettes got promoted initially as a way in which people can get out of the habit of smoking cigarettes. It was to be a weaning process from using cigarettes,” Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at the time, as quoted by CNN. “The Cabinet rightly thought it is time and we immediately took a decision so that the health of our citizens, of our young, is not thrown to a risk.”

According to CNN, “Sitharaman added that the ban would cover e-cigarette production, manufacturing, import, export, transport, sale, distribution, storage and advertisement,” and that it included “all forms of ENDS, heat-not-burn products and e-hookah devices.”

“People who violate the ban once could face up to one year in prison or a fine of 100,000 rupees ($1,400) or both. For subsequent offenses, the penalty would be five years imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 rupees ($7,000). Storing e-cigarettes would also be punishable with up to six months in prison and a 50,000-rupee ($700) fine,” CNN reported at the time.

The Indian government said at the time that those “novel products come with attractive appearances and multiple flavors and their use has increased exponentially and has acquired epidemic proportions in developed countries, especially among youth and children.” 

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CLE Event: To Be Blunt, Can I Be A Cannabis Lawyer In Utah?

Harris Bricken attorney Jonathan Bench will participate in the Utah Cannabis Law Section’s upcoming CLE over the lunch hour on December 5th. The CLE will be an in-person event held at the Utah Bar Association Offices. The title of the CLE is “To Be Blunt, Can I Be A Cannabis Lawyer In Utah? – the Legal Ethics of Cannabis Law.” Jonathan will be joined by Hannah Follender (Stoel Rives LLP), Cory Talbot (Holland & Hart LLP), and J.D. Lauritzen (WholesomeCo), on the panel.

The panel will answer questions vital to Utah’s cannabis landscape including:

• What is cannabis law?
• Can I practice cannabis law in Utah?
• What is the legal/illegal status of cannabis in Utah? In the US?
• What is the current ethics rule relevant to practice involving cannabis and what does this mean for Utah attorneys?
• How are Utah attorneys currently navigating this rule?
• What is the new rule change proposal and what will this do?

The panelists will take questions at the end of the event.

Event Details: 

• Date: Monday, December 5th, 2022
• Time: 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. MST
• Location: Utah Law & Justice Center or Online
• Credit: 1 Ethics Live or E-Verified Credit (pending approval)
• Cost: $10 for Section Members or $20 for Non-Section Members (includes lunch for all participants)

Please register online no later than December 4, 2022. Feel free to contact sectionsupport@utahbar.org with any questions. We hope to see you there!

Registration for Section Members

Registration for Non-Members

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