Free Cloud 9 gummies make Valentine’s Day lovelier

Vena is celebrating Valentine's Day with free THC+CBD Cloud 9 gummies. Feel heavenly with these mood-boosting bites.

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Can the Republican House pass cannabis reform? Don Murphy thinks so, and he’s fighting to make it happen

Liberal arguments won't sway votes among House GOP members. But Don Murphy knows how cannabis reform and legalization makes sense to conservatives.

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Hong Kong Cannabis: Bad News for CBD

Hong Kong and the negative developments taking place there have been the subject of many posts in our sister China Law Blog. But now it is our turn to report on the Fragrant Harbor. Unfortunately the news is also bad on the cannabis front, just like on the political and economic ones.

From February 1 onward, CBD (cannabidiol) will be regarded as a “dangerous drug” in Hong Kong, subject the provisions of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (DDO). This means that any activities involving CBD will be unlawful.

According to the Hong Kong Government, “under the DDO, trafficking (including importing and exporting) and illicit manufacturing of CBD is liable to a maximum penalty of a fine of $5 million [USD 638,000] and life imprisonment.” Yes, you read that right. Bringing CBD products into Hong Kong could get you locked up at Shek Pik Prison for good.

To put this in perspective, Hong Kong does not have capital punishment (for now). This means that a CBD “trafficker” could potentially receive the same sentence as that of a heroin trafficker, and indeed that of someone like Henry Chau.

Meanwhile, “possession and consumption of CBD in contravention of the DDO will be subject to a maximum penalty of a fine of $1 million [USD 128,000] and imprisonment of seven years.”

Hong Kong’s CBD crackdown makes no sense. It would be one thing for the city to simply ban CBD products: After all, here in the United States many CBD products are unlawful at the federal level. However, those CBD products are unlawful because of food and drug safety laws, not because they are considered narcotics.

One reason presented by the Hong Kong authorities for lumping CBD with heroin and cocaine is that CBD can naturally decompose or be intentionally converted into THC. According to one study, CBD can turn into THC after ingestion. The study, however, notes that such degradation is unlikely to occur through transdermal delivery of CBD, raising the question of why CBD cosmetics should be considered “dangerous drugs”. In any case, the terms “life imprisonment” and “CBD” should not be used in the same sentence, even in the case of ingestibles.

It is beyond the remit of this blog to delve into Hong Kong politics, though the China Law Blog is certainly keeping track of what is happening. It does appear, however, that China’s tightening hold over Hong Kong is increasingly reflected in the city’s approaches to law enforcement. To be sure, the legalization of recreational or even medical cannabis is not something that we ever expected to occur anytime soon in Hong Kong or any other Chinese territory. Yet Hong Kong’s wholesale criminalization of CBD is without doubt one of the worst legal developments we have seen concerning CBD and cannabis generally in recent years. It is sad beyond words to see this happening in a city long characterized for its pragmatic approach to all manner of issues.

The post Hong Kong Cannabis: Bad News for CBD appeared first on Harris Bricken Sliwoski LLP.

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Mississippi Celebrates Launch of Medical Cannabis Sales

A few Mississippi dispensaries were ready to open to customers on Jan. 25. Mississippi Trade Association Executive Director Melvin C. Robinson stood outside one of the state’s licensed dispensaries, The Cannabis Company, to welcome customers. “It’s a very exciting day today. History has been made in Brookhaven,” Robinson said.

The first customer at Brookhaven-based The Cannabis Company was Debbie McDermott. “I do suffer from chronic pain and I have some other issues,” she said about why she became a medical cannabis cardholder. The dispensary experienced a setback due to issues with the METRC point-of-sale system, which caused a two-and-a-half-hour delay before McDermott could purchase her medicine.

The Cannabis Company co-owner Le Anne Penn told The Daily Leader that she changed her career to enter the cannabis industry. “It has been a fun journey. I have enjoyed it. The business will be different from what I was doing before,” Penn said. “I was a body technician for 40 years. I decided to pursue this because I saw the potential in the industry and the need in people. Hopefully this will help people who need it or can’t take opioids or other medicines.”

Other news outlets reported dispensaries selling on Jan. 25 as well, with more expecting to receive their shipments over the weekend.

According to Mississippi Medical Marijuana Association Executive Director Ken Newburger, the launch of this program has been a long time coming. “We have been working since 2018 to get medical marijuana in the hands of patients in Mississippi, and it’s surreal to see it finally come to fruition,” said Newburger. “This is only the beginning. More and more businesses will be harvesting, testing, and getting their products on the shelves in the coming months; therefore, more patients will have access to this medicine at certified businesses all across the state.”

Medical cannabis cardholders may purchase up to 3.5 grams per day, six days a week, or a total of 3 ounces every month. Currently, the state allows patients to use medical cannabis if they suffer from one of the approved qualifying conditions. This includes a total of 20 conditions,  such as cancer, Parkinson’s disease, glaucoma, Crohn’s disease, autism, and muscular dystrophy. In addition to that, six more conditions and symptoms qualify as well, including wasting syndrome, severe or intractable nausea, seizures, and severe and persistent muscle spasms, such as those experienced with multiple sclerosis.

Voters originally approved medical cannabis during the election in November 2020 with Initiative 65. In April 2021, the Mississippi Supreme Court allowed opponents of medical cannabis legalization to challenge the vote results, which led to the court striking down Initiative 65 in May, stating that it was constitutionally flawed. Legislators continued to discuss medical cannabis throughout the year, and by September they made a move to re-implement a plan to legalize medical cannabis.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves stalled the progress of a new medical cannabis bill in November 2021, but he finally agreed to the details of a new law in January 2022, and signed it in February. “There is no doubt that there are individuals in our state who could do significantly better if they had access to medically prescribed doses of cannabis,” Reeves said in a press statement. “There are also those who really want a recreational marijuana program that could lead to more people smoking and less people working, with all of the societal and family ills that that brings.”

In October 2022, the state has issued provisional licenses to 491 work permits, 138 dispensaries, 47 cultivators, eight processors, four transportation businesses, three “disposal companies,” and two testing facilities. 

As of December 2022, more than 2,311 applications were submitted, with 1,321 approved, and 990 still being processed. As of Jan. 23, more than 1,700 patients have been approved.

The post Mississippi Celebrates Launch of Medical Cannabis Sales appeared first on High Times.

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Did Twitch ban top streamer Kai Cenat for dozing off after weed edibles?

The Amazon-owned live streaming platform just banned one of its most popular broadcasters. His presumed crime: Vibing out on an edible.

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Weed is not a gateway drug, says new study

In a new study, researchers help dispel the idea of cannabis as a gateway drug, a win for the pro-legalization movement.

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Argentina Launches New Agency To Boost Cannabis Industry

Argentina officially launched a new government agency on Wednesday as part of an effort to bolster the country’s medical marijuana and hemp industry. 

Reuters reports that the agency, known as the Regulatory Agency for the Hemp and Medicinal Cannabis Industry, or ARICCAME, represents “the first working group of a new national agency to regularize and promote the country’s nascent cannabis industry, which ministers hope will create new jobs and exports generating fresh income for the South American nation.” 

“This opens the door for Argentina to start a new path in terms of industrial exports, on the basis of huge global demand,” said Argentina’s economy minister Sergio Massa at an event marking the launch of the new agency.

According to Reuters, “Massa said that the agency would from Thursday begin regularizing programs and coordinating with various provinces and [the] industrial sector, adding Argentina already counted on demand for projects linked to the agro-industrial sector.”

On the official website for ARICCAME, the agency outlines its mission and objectives.

“We are the Agency that regulates the import, export, cultivation, industrial production, manufacture, commercialization and acquisition, by any title, of seeds of the cannabis plant, cannabis and its derivative products for medicinal or industrial purposes,” the website reads, via an English translation. 

The website lists the following “general objectives” for the agency: “Establish through the respective regulations, the regulatory framework for the entire production chain and national marketing and/or export of the Cannabis Sativa L. plant, seeds and derivatives for use in favor of health and industrial hemp; Promote a new agro-industrial productive sector for the commercial manufacture of medicines, phytotherapeutics, food and cosmetics for human use, medicines and food for veterinary use, as well as the different products made possible by industrial hemp; Generate the framework for the adaptation to the regulatory regime, of the cultivation and production of cannabis derivatives for use in existing health, guaranteeing the traceability and quality of the products in order to safeguard the right to health of the users of medical cannabis; Reintroduce hemp in Argentina and all its derivatives: food, construction materials, textile fiber, cellulose and bioplastics with low environmental impact; [and] Promote scientific research and sectoral technological progress, promoting favorable conditions for these existing industries in our country.”

ARICCAME’s specific objectives include: “Establish clear rules that provide legal certainty to the sector and encourage federal participation; Articulate through agreements and conventions with other State entities with intervention in the matter: INASE, SENASA, INTA, INTI, AFIP, INAES, BCRA, UIF, National Universities, etc; Determine the system of licenses and administrative authorizations for the productive chain; Generate quality standards that safeguard the right to health of users and consumers of cannabis/hemp products; [and] Control non-compliance with the regulatory regime.”

Argentine policymakers legalized cannabis oil for medical use in 2017. Three years later, the country legalized home cannabis cultivation for medical marijuana patients. 

The launch of the new agency is part of a border effort by the Argentine government to continue to reform the medical cannabis program, something that the South American country identified as a priority last year. 

According to Reuters, the newly launched agency will be helmed by Francisco Echarren, who “said the industry could generate thousands of new jobs, as well as create technological developments and new products for export.”

“We have a huge challenge ahead of us,” Echarren said, as quoted by Reuters, “not only getting a new industry on its feet, but giving millions of Argentines access to products that improve quality of life.”

The post Argentina Launches New Agency To Boost Cannabis Industry appeared first on High Times.

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