LEGAL WEED’S REGULATION MESS

In a WeedWeek exclusive, I wrote about the industry’s ongoing regulatory issues:

“From a regulatory perspective, cannabis remains uniquely slippery. The industry operates largely in cash, since many companies can’t obtain bank accounts and other basic financial services. Marijuana also remains federally illegal, and the country’s illicit market is far larger than the combined, regulated state markets.

“As the industry grows wealthier and the large multistate companies compete to increase their footprint, the, regulatory issues are only getting thornier. Further complicating matters, each legal state has its own laws for regulators to enforce and cannabis companies to interpret.”

Read the whole thing.

Update

  1. Last week’s newsletter discussed a lawsuit California filed against Lowell Herb Co. alleging the company engaged in commercial activity without a license at one facility over a four-month period. Lowell responds that it is working with authorities to resolve the matter. “We have never released a product to the market that has not been tested in a State-licensed testing facility,” the company added.

TRUMP ADMIN. DEFENDS STUDENT’S RIGHT TO DISCUSS LEGALIZATION

The U.S. Department of Justice defended a Mississippi student’s right to discuss legalization on campus.
Marijuana Moment

  • Mike Brown, sued Jones County Junior College after he was disciplined for holding up a sign asking students where they stood on legalization.
  • “The United States of America is not a police state,” Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband for the Civil Rights Division said in a press release. “Repressive speech codes are the indecent hallmark of despotic, totalitarian regimes.”

Quick Hit

  1. Record expungements for past pot convictions are gaining momentum, but some law enforcement groups disagree. “These are people who were convicted of making a decision to break the law,” said Bob Bushman, president of the National Narcotic Officers’ Assns.’ Coalition. “It was illegal when they did it and their convictions were the consequences for their illegal actions. They shouldn’t get a free pass like it never happened.”
    L.A. Times

CALIFORNIA CALLS THC A THREAT TO PREGNANT WOMEN

A little known California government committee voted to declare THC a risk to pregnant women and their fetuses. The decision by the Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee, which takes effect in a year, will require a warning label on marijuana products sold in the state. ????WW California has more.
KTLA

  • Surveys have shown a rise in pregnant women using cannabis to relieve morning sickness, even though it is not a proven treatment.
  • Industry officials said there is not enough evidence to support the claim and worried it would open them to lawsuits.

Quick Hit

  1. A study found cannabinoids may be useful in treating alcohol use disorders.
    Alcoholism:Clinical & Experimental Research

CANNABIS PATENT WARS

A four-part series in Leafly looks at the many issues surrounding cannabis patents and the “coming patent war.” The story, David Bienenstock writes, is “perhaps business as usual in the cutthroat world of corporate agriculture, but represents a massive paradigm shift for traditional cannabis growers.” 

  • “It’s not hard to imagine a Monsanto-fication of commercial cannabis farming,” he writes.

Quick Hits

  1. The National Cannabis Roundtable, a group figure headed by former Speaker of the House John Boehner (R), released a statement calling for social justice, social equity and diversity and inclusion, signed by several prominent CEOs.
  2. California tech company Wayv is launching what it calls the first digital, compliant payment system for cannabis.
    TechCrunch

N.Y., N.J. RENEW REC PUSH

After falling short in 2019, New York and New Jersey officials discussed their hopes to legalize REC in 2020.

Quick Hits

  1. Virginia officials discussed decriminalizing in the now Democratically controlled state.
    WAMU
  2. Florida agriculture commissioner Nikki Fried (D), a vocal supporter of MED access, is engaged to her boyfriend Jake Bergmann, a founder of MED company Surterra Wellness, now known as Parallel.
    Sun-Sentinel

CANOPY NAMES NEW CEO

Canada-based Canopy Growth, generally considered the world’s largest cannabis company, has named Constellation Brands CFO David Klein as its new CEO. Analysts read the move as increasing the odds that US liquor company Constellation will acquire Canopy, in which it is a major shareholder. ????WW Canada has more.
Bloomberg

Quick Hits

  1. Colorado-based Medicine Man Technologies named Justin Dye as its new CEO.
    Benzinga
  2. AdCann assembled six examples of reasonably attractive packaging which is compliant in Canada.

CALIFORNIA SUES LOWELL HERB CO. FOR UNLICENSED PROCESSING

The California Dept. of Food and Agriculture is suing California brand Lowell Herb Co. and associated entities for allegedly engaging in commercial cannabis activity without a license.

Lowell attracted attention this year for opening California’s first cannabis restaurant. Before the suit landed, it said it was dropping “Lowell” from the restaurant’s name.
L.A. Magazine

Quick Hits

  1. California dispensary Harborside will appeal the federal case it lost fighting industry-hated tax rule 280E. The company has been ordered to pay about $11M in back taxes from between 2007 and 2012. ????WW California has more.
    Bloomberg Ta    x
  2. With industry support, California launched a major crackdown on unlicensed LA shops.
    AP
  3. Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) discussed the state’s efforts to regulate cannabis.
    Nevada Independent