 A study by scientists at Colorado State University’s Department of Soil and Crop Sciences found that hemp could play an important role in saving the rapidly dwindling world bee population.
In 2006, beekeepers first began reporting the sudden disappearance of entire colonies of bees, which have continued to vanish each year. Last year alone commercial beekeepers in the U.S. lost nearly 40% of all of their honeybee colonies. The loss of pollinators like honey bees could mean a tremendous loss of food crops around the world. The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization’s Director General, José Graziano da Silva, said, "The absence of bees and other pollinators would wipe out coffee, apples, almonds, tomatoes and cocoa to name just a few of the crops that rely on pollination.” The loss of bee colonies is credited to a combination of factors, including intensive agriculture, pesticides use, biodiversity loss, pollution, and climate change. The Colorado State University scientists, who published their findings in the Biomass and Bioenergy Journal, found that hemp could not only help prevent the dying off of bee colonies, but hemp could also help maintain species diversity. Despite the fact that hemp does not contain nectar, it is very rich in pollen. It’s also a very hardy plant which flourishes with little to no pesticides. Because of these reasons, the researchers found that hemp made an ideal home for bees, and they were able to verify 23 different types of bees found on wind pollinated hemp plants. The study concluded that adding hemp to existing crops would enable farmers to see a significant improvement in their own crops from more and healthier bees. It would also help end the world wide honey bee crisis.  During the official commencement of his first 100 days in office, the President of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves, announced a plan to legalize recreational cannabis.
President Chaves announced that the initiative will soon be sent to Congress for their review. Getting approval will not be easy, as many political parties have opposed cannabis legalization in the past. However, other parties are willing to decriminalize marijuana consumption and hope there will be an open and transparent dialogue. Costa Rican residents are divided, as well, with some believing that legalization is the best choice, and others think it’s not the best option for the country. Medical legalization has already been approved by the previous Congress, and so President Chaves and his new administration are currently working on those regulations and will have that published shortly.  Unfortunately for the citizens of Nebraska, there will be no cannabis legalization measures on this November’s ballot.
The Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen said in a news release that the two cannabis proposals, called the Medical Cannabis Patient Protections Initiative and the Medical Cannabis Regulation Initiative, have failed to meet signature requirements to get either proposal on the ballot. The measure’s organizers were not surprised, as they knew back in July that they would likely not meet the numbers they needed. They stated this was because one of the campaigns top donors passed away, and therefore the organizers were forced to rely primarily on volunteers, which wasn’t enough to get the signatures in time. While there is citizen support for legalization in Nebraska, the Governor Pete Ricketts and other high ranking state Republican leaders have actively fought legalizing medical marijuana. However, Democratic State Senator Jen Day has promised to soon introduce a new bill to legalize medical marijuana in the state.  A Missouri resident, with help from the national anti-drug organization, “Protect Our Kids,” filed a lawsuit last week attempting to black the November ballot proposal for legalizing adult use recreational cannabis use in Missouri.
The lawsuit suit alleges that there were not enough valid signatures collected to add the measure to the November vote. They also allege that the proposed measure deals with too many policies in violation of the state constitution. Protect Our Kids CEO Luke Niforatos said in a statement, “Not only does the [measure’s] language deceive voters about the harms of legalization, it is in violation of state law and the Missouri Constitution.” The cannabis legalization measure’s campaign manager John Payne said, “This lawsuit lacks merit and in less than three months Missouri will be the 20th state to regulate, tax and legalize cannabis.” At this time it’s unclear where the measure stands, if it will be on the ballot or if the lawsuit will block it. The Associated Press requested comment from Missouri’s secretary of state, but no statements on the subject have yet been made.  The Cannabis Conference 2022 was held in Las Vegas on August 23rd to 25th. The event was presented by Cannabis Business Times, Cannabis Dispensary and Hemp Growe. We were there, and we totally enjoyed the experience! We also spoke with many exhibitors, as well as attendees to get their feedback on the event, and we found a highly positive response from those we spoke to. The event bills itself as the leader in cultivation and dispensary education. It also claims to be the only industry conference dedicated exclusively to plant-touching cannabis and hemp businesses. They say their goal is to provide cultivation, dispensary and extraction professionals with the highest level of education from the brightest minds in the industry, covering the latest technologies, services, and solutions to the cannabis industry.  The three day event hosted 40 hours of educational events with more than 90 speakers. There were close to 200 exhibitors across an 85,000 square foot exhibition hall. There were also plenty of networking opportunities as well. The event was held in several exhibition halls at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel, and couldn’t have been more centrally located on the strip! The ballrooms themselves were easy to access, being just a quick walk from the main casino floor and the hotel’s restaurants.  Inside the conference area, the ballrooms where the speakers and the exhibitions were at were huge, gorgeous, clean, and felt very high end. It didn’t look like your typical hotel ballroom, but instead, the Paris Las Vegas hotel decor gave the event a really high end, luxury feel. The check in area for the event was organized and easy, with plenty of helpful staff on hand to assist. Friendly faces everywhere made us feel welcome and comfortable, and we were able to breeze right through the check in process within a few minutes.  Walking into the main conference hall, we were greeted by a huge expo floor filled end to end with vendors of all kinds. There were tons of attendees walking around and milling about chatting with other attendees. The event feeling vibrant and full but not overly crowded. The billing was geared towards cultivators and dispensaries, or any plant touching businesses. We found that this years vendors seemed like it had more to offer cultivators than dispensaries, but there was plenty for both, as well as other types of industry businesses. For cultivation companies, there were vendors for lighting, water systems, nutrients, humidity, planting materials, construction, greenhouses, pest management, drying systems, extraction equipment, packaging. For dispensaries and ancillary businesses, we saw vendors focused on payment systems, management, software, transportation, staffing, training, human resources, accounting, taxes, legal help, marketing, banking, and funding. There were also dispensary franchise opportunities, seeds for sale, edibles support services, and more. Of the vendors we spoke with, most felt that the event was very worthwhile attending, and that they had made some great contacts. One nutrient company said they had been busy all day making great sales contacts. On the other hand, we did speak to at least one company whose services targeted only dispensary owners, and they felt that they had not spoke to as many dispensary owners as they had hoped would be attending. Overall, though, the vast majority felt that exhibiting there had been worth while, and they said they would do it again. Attendees, as well, all seemed to agree that the event had been worth the time and money to attend.  For those interested in the swag, the food, and other goodies, there was plenty available. Walking in, we were given a bag for holding information and swag. Some vendors had samples of their products, or marketing items like pens, notebooks, water bottles, candy, and more. The conference also provided food and drinks for the patrons which was incredibly delicious! We had a buffet style layout provided with amazing Mediterranean vegetable salads, loads of sandwiches, chips, and a huge array of amazing looking desserts to try. There were also tons of water, sodas, coffee and tea available throughout the event, as well as comfy sofa seating as well as tables to sit at. This all helped to keep attendees inside the event, and able to continue networking with others. The many different speakers and presentations provided a vast array of subjects in the industry, and education on current practices and systems. We spoke to many attendees who found the sessions they attended to be very informative, and provide helpful new information to them. One attendee said, “I’ve learned a lot so far! I’m getting up to speed with the industry’s latest and I’ve met so many good contacts.”  Photo by Las Vegas Event Photography The State of the Industry presentation was given by Noelle Skodzinski, the editorial director of Cannabis Business Times. She provided information on the exciting future of the industry, with statistics showing current and projected growth. She discussed the many challenges facing the industry, too. Overall, though, it was a positive assessment of the current situation, and that of the industry to come, including sales expected to double by 2025. One fun fact she pointed out was that when just four more states legalize adult use, which hopefully could be this November, at that point half of the country will officially have legalized cannabis!  One more huge highlight of the event was the presentation of the inaugural Cannabis Conference Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented to advocate, entrepreneur, and one half of the enormously popular cannabis comedy duo, “Cheech & Chong”: Tommy Chong.
The 84 year old Chong spoke to the crowd as he received the award and said, “It’s a dream for me to be here.” He then spent time chatting, signing autographs, and posing for pictures with the many delighted fans who were excited to see marijuana icon. ********************** So in conclusion, if you work in the industry, in particular, in a plant touching business, this event is not to be missed. Even if you aren’t directly in cultivation, there is plenty for you to see and learn here, as well. The informational sessions with the various speakers covered so many helpful topics, and the exhibitors covered enough areas to provide plenty of great opportunities to learn and network. The many people we spoke with, both attendees we met on sight, and off site, as well as the exhibitors and speakers we spoke with, all agreed that they would happily attend again. Cannabis Now reported that the conference organizers reserved the Paris Resort for next year’s expo, but say increased demand for more exhibition space could eventually force them to move the annual expo to the much larger Las Vegas Convention Center.  Multi-state operator, MedMen, has sold all of it’s assets and left the the Florida medical cannabis market.
MedMen first announced the sale of it’s business license and all assets in Florida back in February, for $83 million dollars. The final sale income ended up $16 million lower than they hoped, closing out at $67 million instead of $83 million. MedMen sold the business license, their seven dispensaries, their cultivation operations, all existing inventory, and licensing of MedMen trademarks in the state to Green Sentry Holdings. MedMen CEO Ed Record said, “The sale of MedMen’s Florida assets marks an important step in the company’s restructuring efforts designed to provide greater financial flexibility and a stronger, leaner operating structure – and ultimately put us on a path to being [overall financially] EBITDA positive.” MedMen’s multi-state operations are still in to Arizona, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada, and New York. Recently MedMen had been in negotiations of selling it’s New York assets to Ascend Wellness Holdings. The two had been working on a deal for 17 months, when earlier in August Ascend Wellness announced they would be walking away from the deal, due to what they said was MedMen’s assets having “deteriorated materially.” MedMen CEO Ed Record said, “New York’s adult-use market will be game-changing for the entire industry, and we are considering all options to ensure strong shareholder return, “ and ““We are focused on maximizing our existing footprint, including our operations in New York.” Second Quarter earnings have been reported by some of the biggest cannabis companies. Most are showing an increase in their numbers, but a few reported sales being down.
Some of those with increases in profit numbers included the following:
********** Total cannabis sales during the first seven months of the year were mostly positive across the country, but a few states saw declines. Most of the growth occurred in the new and emerging state markets. For medical cannabis sales growth:
For recreational sales growth:
Some of the states which saw declines in their cannabis sales included well established markets where states are dealing with problems of overtaxation, over regulation, and too much supply. Those states, with at least a 20% decline in sales, include:
 Photo by Kindel Media, c/o Pexels.com The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had spent the last couple years focusing on pandemic related issues, but recently it has been putting more focus on CBD products.
There has been an increase in the number of warning letters being sent to companies and that’s expected to increase. The FDA’s official stance is that because CBD has been been approved for use in a pharmaceuticals, it cannot legally be sold in any ingestible form and therefore cannot be marketed or sold as a dietary supplement or food. Additionally, if a CBD company makes health or wellness claims, such as helping with pain, or helping with stress management or relaxation, then the FDA considers that to be an unauthorized drug. Prior to the pandemic, the FDA enforced this by issuing Warning Letters. Those letters decreased during the pandemic, but it now appears those letters are going out once again. After warning letters, the FDA has the authority to assess fines, or even refer cases to the Justice Department. Because of this latest increase in Warning Letters, CBD companies should avoid any direct or indirect claim that CBD has any health or wellness benefits.  The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced this week that it will be sending refunds to customers for CBD products that were “deceptively marketed,” and allegedly “made false or unsubstantiated claims.”
$21,000 in total will be refunded to for the products sold by Arizona based company Kushly Industries LLC. This will be divided between 576 customers, which refunds each person about $36. The Federal Trade Commission said, “Consumers will receive either a PayPal payment or a check in the mail … The deadline for consumers to cash their checks is November 22, 2022. PayPal payments must be claimed by September 23, 2022.” Marijuana Moment reported that this action appears to stem from a 2021 complaint that the Federal Trade Commission filed against Kushly Industries, alleging that the company was making unsanctioned claims that its products could treat everything from acne to cancer and cited scientific studies in an attempt to substantiate those claims. The Federal Trade Commission, in conjunction with the US Food and Drug Administration, has previously warned or sued other companies about claims related to CBD products, and are currently trying to ramp up oversight of the industry.  Earlier this month investigators with the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) discovered that more than 18,000 THC vape cartridges contained an unapproved non-cannabis additive that may cause respiratory health issues.
Oregon has issued a recall of those 18,000 vape carts which were made by YHN and sold at two stores in the eastern Oregon town of Ontario, Weedology and The Bud Household. The vapes in question were sold between November 2021 and July 2022. Any consumers who’ve purchased the unapproved products are encouraged to return them to an state licensed retailer or to destroy the product. The recall stems from soybean oil found in the randomly tested products. YHN did not break down the ingredients in their vapes’ artificial flavors to reveal the existence of soybean oil, as OLCC requires. Soybean oil is safe when consumed, based on oral ingestion. However, soybean is not considered safe as an inhalant. When soybean oil is heated into a vapor and inhaled, the triglycerides within soybean oil may cause a variety of short-term health issues, such as bronchiolitis obliterans, and long-term health issues, including lipoid pneumonia, a rare form of lung disease that leads to lung inflammation and breathing issues. So far, the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission has not received any reports of consumers with negative health impacts as a result of using these YHN products. But, those with any health-related concerns regarding the recalled vaping products should contact their medical provider. YHN may face a $4,950 fine or the cancellation of the company’s cannabis license. The penalty may depend on if the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission finds that use of the prohibited additive was an intentional violation or an unintentional oversight.  The Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission has suspended and fined cannabis multi-state operator and industry giant, Curaleaf Holdings.
Oregon regulators say Curaleaf mixed up THC and CBD in infused products, and mislabled 1,500 drop packages under it’s “Select” brand. The Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission has therefore fined Curaleaf Holdings a total of $130,000, as well as suspended it’s business license for 23 days. 11 customers filed federal lawsuits, with claims that they required medical attention after taking CBD drops that actually contained high doses of THC. Ten of those lawsuits have so far been settled with the company. The Oregonian reported that the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission first proposed a $200,000 fine and a 70-day license suspension. However, Curaleaf successfully fought the punishment, and subsequently received the smaller fine of $130,000 and the shorter suspension of just 23 days. Curaleaf can further reduce the suspension to only 12 days if it pays an additional $2,750. Oregon’s cannabis regulators told The Oregonian that Curaleaf was cooperative and demonstrated its violations weren’t on purpose.  New York state cannabis regulators have set a limit cap of 150 retail cannabis permits, with social equity applicants getting first priority.
The state’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) began accepting applications yesterday for the first set of retail licenses. Restrictions have been placed on regions based on their population. The first 90 retail licenses are expected to go to New York City, distributed throughout the boroughs. And the remainder of the 150 will be granted throughout the rest of the state. Adult-use sales are expected to begin in New York before the end of the year or in early 2023.  Researchers from the Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse released results of a recent study focused on how patients with advanced cancer responded to medical cannabis treatment.
The researchers found that advanced cancer patients who used medical cannabis had positive effects. The report said, “For patients who took at least one dose of medical marijuana, 48.14% experienced an improvement in pain, 44.95% used fewer opioids, and 85.11% had an improvement in at least one symptom. Adverse effects were low at 3.72%.” In another recent study out of Israel, researchers found that cannabis was associated with reduction in cancer symptoms, reduction of prescription drug consumption, and better quality of life. Almost half of the cancer patients who finished the trials no longer needed painkillers. The study also found that the cannabis was well tolerated and safe. In addition to treating symptoms of cancer itself, cannabis also helps with treating the side effects of cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation. These harsh treatments can cause nausea, poor appetite, pain, and difficulty sleeping, among other things. Cannabis has been shown to greatly improve these side effects. In one laboratory study, cancer researcher Dr. Matt Dun worked together with Australian Natural Therapeutics Group and they found that a cannabis variety with under 1% THC but also having a very high CBD percentage was effective for killing cancer cells. Dr. Dun said this variety, “potentially makes it an ideal complementary therapy to combine with other anti-cancer compounds.” The American Cancer Society acknowledges that “scientists reported that THC and other cannabinoids such as CBD slow growth and/or cause death in certain types of cancer cells growing in lab dishes. Some animal studies also suggest certain cannabinoids may slow growth and reduce spread of some forms of cancer. There have been some early clinical trials of cannabinoids in treating cancer in humans and more studies are planned. While the studies so far have shown that cannabinoids can be safe in treating cancer, they do not show that they help control or cure the disease.”  We already knew that the majority of Texans were in favor of legalizing cannabis despite the fact that the governor is not a fan.
But a new poll conducted by The Dallas Morning News and The University of Texas at Tyler shows that even more Texans than previously thought are fans of weed! Their poll showed that 72% of people stated they either “support” or “strongly support” medical cannabis legalization for the state. The poll also found that 55% of people said they “support” or “strongly support” legalizing recreational adult use cannabis. Right now, Texas does already have a medical cannabis program, but it has incredibly low THC levels. Products are actually limited to 1% THC, which really isn’t doing much. Products are also restricted to only tinctures, edibles and topicals. Current Governor Greg Abbott, who is running again for Governor, has stated repeatedly that he is in favor of reducing marijuana possession to a Class C misdemeanor but he does not support cannabis legalization in Texas, according to NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth. A contender for his job as Governor, Beto O’Rourke, has been strongly and consistently in favor of legalization. He tweeted just a few days ago in response to this recent poll showing statewide support of cannabis, and said, “We are going to legalize marijuana in Texas while generating nearly $1 billion a year in new revenue and savings.” We’ll see how Texans vote this fall, if they continue with the cannabis opposed Governor Abbott, or if they vote for change, and hopefully, eventual legalization.  In the on-going effort to expediate record expungement state by state, New York has taken a step to facilitate the process.
Recently we reported on Nevada and Missouri’s efforts to expunge records quickly for residents. New York has chosen to take a different approach. Officials in Erie County, New York, announced last week that a series of clinics will be held in Buffalo, with the goal of helping individuals clear their past cannabis convictions. Currently, New Yorkers seeking expungement must go through a process of forms and filing motions. Those are then reviewed by court, including prosecutors and a judge. Applicants will then be notified if their request for expungement was granted or not. Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said in a statement on Thursday, “I hope to give a fresh start to our citizens who have been living with these criminal convictions by offering legal support to expedite the expungement or reduction process.” With that in mind, Erie County will be hosting the free clinics for state residents, in an effort to help them navigate the expungement process and get their records cleared. The first clinic will be held this week, on August 25th, and another will be held next month. More information for those interested in attending can be found on the Erie County District Attorney’s website.  Rachel Abela of Herb magazine reported that Toronto, Canada’s, Pearson International Airport is considering bringing gambling and cannabis shops to their airport terminals.
The organization behind the airport, the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, wrote in a statement that they believe adding retail cannabis stores and gambling to the airport would help to “diversify its revenue sources and provide a world-class passenger experience.” To see if this idea is viable, the airport authority has hired a lobbyist, Claire Michaels, to work with government officials in discussing the possibility. Ms. Michaels hopes to cover three main points about potential new cannabis and gambling additions to the Pearson International Airport. First, she wants to speak with the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) about expanding alcoholic beverage services on site. Second, the plans to discuss with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario about bringing gambling and gaming opportunities to the airport. And Third, she plans to talk to those at the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) about bringing retail cannabis stores to the airport, as well. The Cannabis Council of Canada’s President, George Smitherman, said the idea is a good one. He said he thinks it would be a great way to showcase Canadian cannabis products and introduce international arrivals to their legal and safe cannabis landscape. At this point, the concept is only in the initial stages of discussing potential for such expansions in the future.  https://www.cannabisconference.com/ No podcast for today as we are attending the Cannabis Conference in Las Vegas!
We will give you the scoop on who we see there, what's happening, and benefits from attending the event. The three day event is being held at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino, August 23-25, 2022, and it is presented by Cannabis Business Times, Cannabis Dispensary and Hemp Growe. The conference bills itself as the only industry conference dedicated exclusively to plant-touching cannabis and hemp businesses. There will be over 40 hours of educational events with more than 90 speakers. There are close to 200 exhibitors across an 85,000 square foot exhibition hall, showcasing the latest industry-leading technologies, solutions and services. There will also be plenty of opportunities for networking with industry peers both during and after the conference. We’ll let you know what it’s like to attend! Click here for more information: https://cannabisconference.com Looking forward to seeing everyone there!  One of the largest cannabis multi-state-operators, Ascend Wellness, has backed off a long-anticipated aquisition of MedMen New York.
The two companies had spent 17 months working out an acquisition agreement at a price of $88 million dollars, and endedup in a bitter court battle with Ascend Wellness suing MedMen over failure to close the deal. In May, the two settled their case and signed a term sheet agreeing to settle their lawsuit, with Ascend paying $4 million as a deposit to that. However, despite the time and money already invested in the deal, Ascend’s founder and CEO, Abner Kurtin, told investors that the deal is now off the table. Kurtin spoke at a second quarter 2022 earnings meeting, and told investors that due to concerns over MedMen New York’s assets, “which have deteriorated materially,” Ascend is no longer moving forward with the transaction. Kurtin said, “We have been engaged in negotiations with MedMen for 17 months and because of the state of MedMen’s assets, it is time for all of us to move on.” Kurtin told shareholders that the cancelled deal leaves the company with $70 milion dollars of unencumbered cash with which they can put towards other business initiatives. This would have been Ascend’s intro to the New York state adult use cannabis market, and now without MedMen they are left out of the state. While it seems their business decision was basedon MedMen’s assets, as Kurtin had said, he also disparaged the New York market, perhaps as a way to bolster support for their decision. Kurtin had been positive towards the New York market just a few months ago, but now after this deal went sour, Kurtin said the New York recreational adult use market is “highly uncertain, given the unknown timing of the commencement of adult-use sales, unclear licensing process, and the lack of policing of the illicit market … As a result, the New York market is not a priority for [Ascend Wellness], but we will continue to monitor it closely.” MedMen’s CEO, Ed Record, said in a statement to MJBizDaily that in light of New York state’s upcoming adult use market opening, the company’s “New York-based assets and trademark have never been more valuable.” Record said, “We are considering all options to ensure strong shareholder return; this includes the potential sale of assets and/or licensing of the MedMen trademark.” New York’s adult use market has been in a holding pattern while the state works out their regulations for legal sales. It had been hoped that sales would be able to begin later this year, but as of now, there is no new information on timing for that.  New Jersey’s state Cannabis Regulatory Commission announced in a statement last week that customers have spent nearly $80 million dollars on recreational cannabis in the first two and a half months since the state began legal sales, from April 21st to June 30th.
Of those sales, the state has received more than $4.6 in tax revenue. The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission’s Executive Director, Jeff Brown, said, “The market is improving. It is performing as we expect with the current number of dispensaries, the spread of locations, and the high prices … As more cannabis businesses come online, consumers won’t have to travel as far to make purchases, and prices will fall with increased competition. The market will do even better.” The state opened with just twelve retail locations for adult use sales, and now there are a total of 18 available, which also serve the state’s medical marijuana patients, as well. The Cannabis Regulatory Commission has hundreds of other license applicants who are awaiting approval, but the agency has been overwhelmed by the number of applicants, and so they are currently backlogged and attempting to approve them as soon as possible.  When a state legalizes cannabis, it can take a long time for the sales to actually begin in a state. There are a lot of regulations that have to be figured out before that can happen.
One aspect of that which requires a great deal of thought and effort is what to do about those who are currently serving time or who have a criminal record for soemthing that is being decriminalized with legalizing retail cannabis sales. Some states, such as Nevada, which we reported on last week, have passed legislation for past crime records to be sealed or expunged. But in many states, like Nevada, that process isn’t an easy one. An individual has to navigate a very confusing and long paper trail through the courts to get their record cleared, and so most people don’t or can’t do it. Nevada is currently working to rectify that situation, but other states who are just now approaching legalization are looking at state’s like Nevada and seeing how they can avoid those same mistakes. One of those states is Missouri. Missouri residents will be voting this fall on legalizing recreational adult use cannabis, and part of that new potential legislation would include the automatic expungment of past cannabis crimes. If passed, this would be the first time that a state is instituting an automatic expungement. At least seven other states included expunging records as part of legalization, but the expungement requires at least some effort by the individuals to get that accomplished. This new Missouri proposal would put that responsibility back onto the state to get people’s past records cleared. The proposal will clear past cannabis-related convictions for nonviolent offenders and those whose convictions did not involve selling to minors or driving while high. John Payne is the campaign manager for the push to legalize recreational marijuana in the state. He said, “This is going to allow those people to live more full and complete lives… That also helps society at large, because they’re essentially being somewhat locked out of the economy and productive lives by that burden. We’re going to remove that for them.” The amendment gives courts six months to expunge past misdemeanors and a year for eligible felonies. One exception to the automatic policy would be for those currently incarcerated, who would need to take action and petition courts for early release.  https://www.cannabisconference.com/ This week in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Cannabis Conference is taking place.
We will be attending and keeping you posted on what its all about, who’s there, what’s to see, things we learn, and benefits gained by going. The three day event is being held at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino, August 23-25, 2022, and it is presented by Cannabis Business Times, Cannabis Dispensary and Hemp Growe. The conference bills itself as the only industry conference dedicated exclusively to plant-touching cannabis and hemp businesses. There will be over 40 hours of educational events with more than 90 speakers. There are close to 200 exhibitors across an 85,000 square foot exhibition hall, showcasing the latest industry-leading technologies, solutions and services. There will also be plenty of opportunities for networking with industry peers both during and after the conference. We’ll let you know what it’s like to attend, and give you all the information you need to know. Click here for more information: Cannabis Conference - Cultivation & Dispensary Education  There are currently twenty-one states that have laws protecting employment rights for medical cannabis users. And five of those also protect employees rights for recreational cannabis use off work hours. There are also several cities which protect recreational use off of work hours as well, inclding New York City, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Baltimore, Kansas City MO, Rochester NY and Richmond VA.
Cal NORML Deputy Director Ellen Komp points out, “California, a global leader in progressive causes, still has no protections for its workers who consume cannabis. It’s high time to change that and protect California’s workers.” Hopefully that is about to change. Current state law protects employees from workplace discrimination. California measure AB 2188 would amend this law to also make it against the law for an employer to discriminate against a person in hiring, firing, or any type of discipline or penalty, based upon their use of cannabis off the job and away from the workplace. There would be some exceptions, including some jobs in building and construction or transportation. The bill also specifies that it does not preempt state or federal laws which require testing as a condition of receiving federal funding, benefits, or entering into a federal contract. The propsed bill would make employers unable to base employment decisions on urine or hair tests that detect only the inactive metabolites of THC. The bill would still allow the use of oral saliva swabbing or computer-based performance tests that are a better indicator of recent use, or impairment. The bill has previously passed through the California Assembly, the Senate Judiciary, and the Labor committee. This week it also passed the Senate Appropriations committee. A third reading of the bill took place yesterday, August 18th, and it is now headed to the Senate floor for a full vote. All legislation must be voted on before August 31st. If passed, it will then head to the Governor’s desk, where he will have until September 30th to either sign it into law, veto it, or let it pass into law without inferferrence. If it passes into legislation, that would take effect starting January 1, 2024, which will allow time for the availability of saliva tests to catch up to the expected demand. An interesting history of urine testing for cannabis was told by Dale Gieringer, the Director for the California branch of NORML. He told High Times, “This whole [urine]-testing regime is really the result of government fraud in the first place. … There was never any good evidence that [urine] testing, in particular looking for metabolites, had anything to do with public safety. …There’s never been an FDA study to show that that’s true.” Gieringer pointed out that normally it’s required to have a doubleblind controlled clinical studies to prove efficacy, and added, “That was never, ever done for urine testing. It was basically a scam by former Reagan drug officials who—after leaving the government—went into the urine-testing business, and were well-connected, in general, with the government, who sort of decided that it would be profitable to require these tests a long time ago—the late ‘80s. And so we’re just putting an end to that fraud.” We’ll keep watch on AB 2188 thru the end of the month and see what happens.  In February, a top Wells Fargo analyst said that the main reason for rising costs and worker shortages in the transportation sector is the continued federal prohibition on cannabis and it’s subsequent drug testing mandates.
Kyle Jaeger of Marijuana Moment has reported on an update from the US Department of Transportation regarding federal guidelines for commercial drivers over cannabis consumption. With federal law still classifying cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug, drivers are subject to testing every two years. Under current laws, they absolutely cannot use cannabis with THC in it for any reason, even if it is state legal, or if they have a medical prescription, or they have a religious use. However, hemp-derived CBD is federally legal. It was legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill. With that in mind, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) this week published a proposed update to their handbook for medical examiners who are responsible for issuing U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) certifications. The draft of the new section on cannabis was published in the Federal Register on Tuesday. The new handbook draft says that while drivers are not prohibited from using federally legal CBD products that contain up to 0.3 percent THC per dry weight, it cautions examiners that the use of it could still jeopardize physical exam certifications. They state that commercial drivers who use CBD products are doing so “at their own risk.” The reason for the warning in the draft states, “There is no Federal oversight to ensure that the labels on CBD products that claim to contain less than 0.3 percent by dry weight of THC are accurate … Therefore, drivers who use these products are doing so at their own risk.” The draft handbook is now open for public comment until September 30th. A link to the proposal and a link to comment on the changes can be found here: Federal Register :: Qualifications of Drivers: Medical Examiner's Handbook and Medical Advisory Criteria Proposed Regulatory Guidance Additionally the Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration did recently propose a revised drug testing policy, which would allow saliva-based tests as alternate option to urine based testing that’s currently used. They also proposed a “4 nanogram per milliliter screening test cutoff for THC,” which “would detect use of marijuana while eliminating possibilities of positive tests resulting from passive exposure.” That proposal is currently under internal review. Original source article by Kyle Jaeger on Marijuana Moment: Transportation Department Proposes New CBD Guidance For Medical Examiners Certifying Commercial Drivers - Marijuana Moment  In 2020, the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota overwhelmingly voted to legalize recreational and medical cannabis on their sovereign land.
On the other hand, the Tribe has had a ban on alcohol which has been in place for the last 100 years, and they have no plans to change that. People living on the reservation say that they see cannabis as a safe and natural alternative to alcohol. They also see it as a positive tool for managing things like mental health issues and chronic illnesses. Ann Marie Beane, who works at a local dispensary called No Worries told the Press Herald, “Cannabis is a natural plant that comes from the Earth—and our people lived off the land, and they got their medicine from the land.… Our Indigenous people, they suffer a lot from diabetes and cancer and various other illnesses, but the cannabis really helps them.” Stephanie Bolman, a breast cancer patient who used to work in health care, and also a city council member for the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, said, “Unfortunately, the health care services provided by the Indian Health Service have failed so many in countless ways… It has left many to fend for themselves and endure so much pain and suffering that medical marijuana has proven to be lifesaving.” It’s estimated that the reservation is home to nearly 40,000 residents.  Alabama became one of 37 states to legalize medical cannabis after the state legislature approved the measure and its governor signed it into law in 2021.
The State plans to begin accepting licensing applications for businesses on September 1, 2022. Florida-based company, Metrc, has just announced a new contract with the State of Alabama to support their state’s medical cannabis market regulation. Metrc’s traceability service uses a radio frequency identification (RFID) system to tag cannabis plants and products within the program from seed to sale. Metrc’s CEO, Michael Johnson, said, “As Alabama works to solidify its medical cannabis program, we are thrilled to have the opportunity to spearhead the state’s first-ever track-and-trace program.” Metrc now holds 23 exclusive government contracts in every region of the U.S, including Washington, D.C., and serves more than 300,000 users, including growers, testing facilities, dispensaries, state regulators, and law enforcement officials. |
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