Law The Cannabis Chronicles - Misc Cannabis News

[Baron23]

Medical marijuana used pot's emotional connection to spread nationally

DENVER — Twenty years after California first legalized marijuana use for sick people, "medical marijuana" has become a billion-dollar business so cloaked in emotion that it would be virtually impossible to dismantle.

Without any real national discussion, most Americans now live where it's possible to get pot for pain, nausea or other ailments. Thirty states already permit some form of medical cannabis use, and several more are poised to approve it this fall — a sign this now-beloved industry has dramatically altered public opinion among both conservatives and liberals.

“I don’t care if you’re a Republican or a Democrat — I don’t care who you are,” said Kevin Murphy, the CEO of Acreage Holdings, a medical marijuana firm with operations in 11 states. “If you have a brother dying of cancer, and this is the only thing that brings him comfort … you are an advocate.”

Millions of Americans believe that marijuana helps them. They say it relieves pain, improves their appetite, eases the side effects of chemotherapy. Others swear by it for helping with PTSD or anxiety or seizures. Millions use it just to sleep better.

Glass jars of marijuana offered for sale at the Medicine Man cannabis dispensary in Denver. (Photo: Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY)

But while emotions have helped drive medical marijuana legalization, it's simultaneously become a big business. As many as 135,000 people are working in the medical pot business across the country, generating $1.8 billion in income taxes and at least $300 million in state sales taxes last year, according to industry expert Matt Karnes of GreenWave Advisors.

Among the most recent high-profile additions to the medical marijuana industry: Former House Speaker John Boehner, who is joining the Acreage board after decades of cannabis opposition.

Those workers are buying and renting property, spending their salaries, and, also, paying a significantly higher tax rate than traditional workers, thanks to an IRS ruling that treats marijuana businesses like drug traffickers.

All that has happened with a Congress that's only taken tentative steps to recognize the industry's popularity and power, and an executive branch that's refused to acknowledge that millions of Americans regularly consume marijuana in lieu of prescription medicines.

The Potcast, a USA TODAY Network podcast, tells the story of America’s shifting attitude toward legalizing pot:

Lawmakers in March barred the federal government from interfering with any state-regulated medical marijuana system but there's been no movement on plans in Congress to lower its classification as a Schedule 1 drug.

Jars of marijuana sit away customers at Harborside Health Center in Oakland, Calif. (Photo: Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY)

“As an industry, we have the opportunity to really get it right," said Jen Lujan of the California-based medical marijuana company Eaze. Lujan founded "Weed for Good," which connects low-income sick people with medical-grade cannabis.

"We have the opportunity to de-stigmatize it, especially on the social impact side."

Marijuana has long been present in the United States, and its use cuts across social and economic backgrounds. An estimated 24 million Americans ages 12 and older reported using cannabis in the past 30 days, according to a 2016 study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Of those, 90% said their primary use was recreational, 10% said it was only for medical reasons, and 36% said they were using it for both.

Critics say statistics like that prove medical marijuana systems have been exploited by young men who claim medical necessity to get legal pot.

Five states, including Utah, are considering whether to permit medical marijuana this fall. In announcing his opposition to granting broad access to medical marijuana in Utah, Gov. Gary Herbert said he worried allowing medical pot "would potentially open the door to recreational use."

It's an obvious concern for marijuana skeptics because every state that has legalized recreational pot started out permitting only medical cannabis, and then expanded once people got comfortable. It's a pattern repeated from Colorado to California and from Maine to Nevada.

And it's a strategy not lost on Kevin Sabet, who is perhaps the country's best-known legalization opponent. Sabet, who runs Smart Approaches to Marijuana, is a former senior advisor to the Office of National Drug Control Policy and a fierce critic of what he's dubbed "Big Marijuana."

“They effectively changed the face of marijuana from a loser in a basement to your sick grandmother,” Sabet said. “It was, frankly, a brilliant PR move.” 

Groups like Sabet's worry the nation has moved too quickly when it comes to permitting widespread marijuana use, especially when it's wrapped in the cloak of "medicine," which is routinely how medical marijuana advocates describe what they sell.

But those products haven't gone through the same federal testing as real prescription medicine or even over-the-counter drugs like Advil.

 In most cases, users need only a doctors’ note saying cannabis use would help them with the pain of cancer or nausea, leaving it up to the user and whomever is selling the cannabis to decide how much to consume.

Under federal law, doctors cannot directly prescribe marijuana, because it’s still illegal, although they can prescribe marinol, a synthetic version of THC that users say is far less effective and much more expensive than real cannabis.

A large reason for the lack of studies are the heavy restrictions that come with being considered a Schedule 1 drug. That list also includes heroin, but not oxycodone or other opiates, which medical marijuana advocates point out are far more dangerous to users.

And a small number of medically accepted studies have shown marijuana appears to be an effective treatment for chronic pain, nausea and symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

A worker at Harborside Health Center in Oakland, Calif., packages marijuana cigarettes -- joints -- for customers. Harborside's founder recruits his staff from the city, offering good-paying jobs and health insurance. (Photo: Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY)

However, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine also warned of dangers from marijuana use: an increased risk of car crashes, lower birth weight babies and problems with memory and attention. It found strong connections between heavy cannabis use and the development of schizophrenia and other psychoses.

That's enough to give Deni Carise pause. An addiction expert and chief scientific officer at Recovery Centers of America, Carise has no significant objection to medical marijuana use.

She does, however, object to the industry that's sprung up around pot, an industry filled with people who evangelize about the plant's benefits without any solid scientific backing.

“The reality is that whenever something becomes cheaper and more available, more people are going to use it," she said.

Carise said it's highly unlikely the FDA would ever approve smoked marijuana for personal use, given the country's experience with tobacco, which was once also recommended for a variety of ailments, including stutters and breathing difficulty.

Medical marijuana advocates, unsurprisingly, reject any comparisons to the tobacco industry. While smoking cannabis is the most obvious way to consume it, entrepreneurs unfettered by government regulation have figured out how to infuse it into foods and drinks, turn it into nanoparticles, or extract it into oils and tinctures.

With hundreds of years of use behind it, marijuana may not be well studied by scientists, but it's certainly been tried in almost every conceivable way.

But because there's no federal clarity, the states have been left to their own devices, forcing local officials to repeatedly reinvent the wheel to suit local sensibilities. At this point, it's still illegal to move medical marijuana between neighboring California and Nevada, even though both states permit it

“We’re regulated somewhere between alcohol and nuclear waste. In many ways, they don’t even regulate pharmaceuticals as much," said Michael Ray, the CEO of Oakland., Calif-based Bloom Farms, which sells medical marijuana.

 Like many of America's marijuana entrepreneurs, Ray is willing to risk federal prosecution because he believes so strongly in the benefits of marijuana — and in the business opportunities that accompany it.

 “Everything changes if the federal government decides to de-schedule," he said. "At the end of the day, I would love to see cannabis treated like any other industry. And that day will come. The big question mark is when.”

 

[Baron23]

This is a damn shame. The Cannabist was one of my more valuable sources for MJ legal, political, and social issues and it WAS NOT just a bot clipping service. They generated good content not found elsewhere and they sure approached the subject in a much more professional and mature manner than say High Times.



Groundbreaking Marijuana Media Site Loses All Its Editorial Staff

Ricardo Baca, right, alongside Mitch Dickman, left, and producer Britta Erickson, center. Baca is the founding editor of The Cannabist, which was featured in the 2015 documentary 'Rolling Papers.' (Photo by Cyrus McCrimmon/The Denver Post via Getty Images )

Colorado made history in 2012 when it became one of the first states in the nation to legalize recreational marijuana for adults. The Denver Post soon followed suit and became the first major American newspaper to have a marijuana editor. The paper tapped longtime music journalist Ricardo Baca to cover the cannabis beat for its new vertical: The Cannabist.

Having dedicated journalists on the marijuana beat heralded a new era of cannabis coverage. For decades, mainstream media outlets relied on law enforcement sources as drug “experts” who inevitably overstated of the dangers of weed. Lacking expertise, those that covered the occasional pot story would unwittingly advance drug-war propaganda. Then there were the niche, counter-cultural publications like High Times. In the past, no major newsroom found the subject serious or newsworthy enough to dedicate a reporter to the beat, much less an entire team. Now, The Cannabist’s entire editorial staff has been let go.

Building out a cannabis vertical paid off in terms of journalism. Eschewing industry cheerleading that is often found at marijuana publications, The Cannabist filled an important role in keeping the industry accountable. The site exposed the presence of banned pesticides in marijuana products, propelling an investigation from the state Department of Environmental Health. The story prompted deeper analysis of the challenges facing regulators in state marijuana programs. It also resulted in an executive order from the governor, instructing regulators to remove and destroy tainted marijuana.



“[The Cannabist] has cut all editorial staff and will replace them with bots. This is the story of stupid, stupid hedge funds,” tweeted Jake Browne on Friday. Browne was one of the first hires at the site and gained prominence as a strain reviewer, an enviable position for many a cannabis enthusiast.

The latest developments at The Cannabist reflect ongoing controversy with The Denver Post’s ownership, New York-based Alden Global Capital. A round of newsroom layoffs in March prompted the paper’s editorial board to take on its hedge-fund owners in a scathing editorial: “Since Alden took control, the decline of local news has been as obvious as it’s been precipitous,” it read. “The inevitable result is that the reduction in quality leads to a reduction of trust.”

A similar fate awaits The Cannabist. “Content will be aggregated based on what's tagged ‘marijuana.’ There will be no editorial team to give the site a voice, perspective, or blood. Readers will pick up on this, and it will wither on the vine,” tweeted Browne.

Not, however, if the site’s founding editor can help it. Baca resigned from the publication at the end of 2016 to start Grasslands, a content agency serving the cannabis space. Grasslands is now in early discussions with The Denver Post “about potentially purchasing The Cannabist should they decide to sell it,” according to a press release.

“It’s devastating to have helped create a news and culture site that changed the way so many people, journalists included, talked about marijuana—and to watch it fall apart, especially now that legal cannabis is increasingly becoming the law of the land,” Baca said in a statement.

Baca had built up the vertical to seven full-time staffers in less than two years and grew an audience that surpassed High Times by the time he left. Then, the cuts started coming and didn’t stop until all of the positions were eliminated.

“If The Post’s most recent staff reduction broke my heart, which it unquestionably did, this news about The Cannabist losing its dedicated staff is thoroughly drubbing the rest of my internal organs with a meat tenderizer,” he said.

But not all is lost. What The Denver Post started is continuing in other newsrooms around the country. Earlier this year, The Associated Press announced that it was creating a team of reporters to cover issues surrounding marijuana legalization.



“Now more than ever, we need serious journalists covering these state-legal marijuana markets,” said Baca.

 

[Baron23]

The strange patchwork of edibles regulations

Care for some cannabis-infused pumpkin pie? Then hopefully you don’t reside in Washington state, where the government prohibits the sale of marijuana pumpkin pie, custard pie or anything prepared with egg. This is just one of the many peculiar and specific state regulations on edibles that legislators and regulatory boards have put into place in the states where cannabis is legal for adult use.

Edibles have been a particular source of consternation for states attempting to anticipate any harm that might come from them, and regulate these problems away before they happen. The possibility of children finding and consuming cannabis products has led to any number of requirements around how edibles are stored and labeled. Childproof packaging is a universal requirement in states that allow adult use, and most require an opaque, childproof bag as a sort of unwieldy grocery bag for leaving a cannabis store.

Kids finding mom and dad’s secret stash of snacks isn’t the only worry states have. Many focus on how cannabis is presented or marketed, and all of them require labeling on just about anything that might be labeled. All have potency limits, both for individual servings and packages as a whole — meaning there can only be so many 5 mg THC gummy bears in the bag… if it’s a state that allows gummy bears.

Here’s how edible laws look in adult-use states, where edibles sales are allowed, across the nation:

Colorado

Colorado, the first state in which cannabis was offered for any and all adult use, has been through several rounds of regulation to anticipate or respond to various edible-related mishaps. Recently, Colorado restricted any edible from including the words “candy” or “candies” on the packaging, and all must clearly state “Contains marijuana. Keep out of reach of children.” The child-proof, re-sealable packaging must also include potency guidelines, and may not make claims about health benefits. These rules followed a previous change that required each edible (or each serving) to have the traffic sign-like THC symbol on it — a red diamond with “THC” in the middle and an exclamation point. This change forced some manufacturers to change the molds they use. Speaking of those molds, Colorado also disallows animal, person or cartoon-shaped edibles, which are considered too candy-like.

Washington

Washington state, which passed legalization on the same day as Colorado in November 2012, has similar restrictions on packaging and potency. Like Colorado, servings max out at 10 mg of THC and packs of edibles can only hold up to 100 mg of THC total. All packaging must first be approved by a regulatory board to ensure that it is not appealing directly to children. As with many other states, THC is required to be spread evenly throughout the edible, so if you split a cookie with a friend, you should get more or less the same amount of active ingredient.

Washington gets a little quirkier around what kinds of food can include THC. As mentioned, pumpkin and custard pie edibles are specifically disallowed in state law. So are fruit and vegetable juices and dairy products, dried or cured meats, or anything preserved through canning or acidification. Products can include canna-butter, but infused butter itself can’t be sold as a standalone product. Apparently, Washington is OK with you being baked, but would prefer you not do the baking yourself. Lollipops, cotton candy and other kid-friendly edibles are also off limits.

Oregon

Oregon seems free of quirks of the “no pumpkin pie” ilk, but they are more restrictive when it comes to dosage: 5 mg of THC per serving, 50 mg per package. Reporters have even found Oregonians who make the trip to neighboring Washington for more powerful snacks.

Nevada

Want an edible that looks like Batman? Well you can’t get one in Sin City, because Nevada prohibits anyone’s likeness — real or fictional — to appear on a cannabis product. They also disallow action figures, cartoon characters, toys and balloons as part of the branding (balloons are apparently the original gateway drug). Lollipops and ice cream are prohibited, and cookies or brownies have to be sealed in opaque packaging.

California

California’s regulations turned the state from the Wild West, where products could have 1,000 mg of THC for medical customers, to a more conventional one with the standard limits of 10 mg per serving, 100 mg per package, with familiar regulations around opaque bags and childproof packaging. In addition to prohibiting edibles that look like people, animals or fruit, California edibles also cannot resemble insects. Cannabis extracts may not be combined with nicotine, caffeine or alcohol. Also on the books: no dairy products other than butter, no low-acid canned foods and no cannabis-infused seafood, though what you do with your cannabis and sustainably-raised salmon in the privacy of your own home is up to you.

Alaska

Alaska follows Oregon’s low-end potency limits of 5 mg THC per serving, 50 per package. However, they do allow edibles to take any form — candy, marshmallows, even pumpkin pie. Hopefully, some enterprising researcher will compare Alaska to other states to discover what happens when edibles can look like anything at all.

Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont & Washington, D.C.

On the East Coast, Maine, Vermont and Washington, D.C. have legalized recreational weed, but have little in the way of regulations. Maine Governor Paul LePage currently stands in the way of the government setting up a regulatory framework through which people could buy and sell cannabis. Meanwhile, thanks to Congress’s interference, the nation’s capital has a peculiar situation in which marijuana can be grown, used, and given away, but not bought or sold. Only Massachusetts, which anticipates sales beginning later this year, has set up a regulatory framework. Edibles have the 10 mg of THC limit per serving, 100 mg per package limit, must be in opaque, childproof packaging and cannot resemble any other food products currently sold.

Legalization represents the start of a new era, and state regulators are doing what they can to keep the reins on cannabis. Fortunately, other than potency limits, the requirements are mostly cosmetic — a nuisance for manufacturers, but not one that infringes on the core freedoms voted into law. The only people left behind by these bylaws are the Californian who wants swordfish with a cannabis reduction, the Nevadan who wishes their cannabis edible looked like their favorite cartoon character, or the Washingtonian who just wants a cannabis-infused pumpkin pie.

 

[Baron23]

And the war goes on.


The Trump administration has found a new way to crack down on legal weed

• New rules from the SBA will make it hard for companies that do business with the marijuana industry to gain access to loans.
• Far from just weed companies, the new rule could extend to web designers, gardening suppliers and others who may derive just a small portion of their revenues from marijuana firms.

A small change in U.S. Small Business Administration rules could have a big impact on legal weed.

The agency has tightened its lending rules to prohibit banks from using SBA-backed loans to finance any business that has direct interaction with the marijuana industry.

The change was quietly published in a Policy Notice, which went into effect April 3, and is an interesting new approach to policing an industry that is now legal in the majority of U.S. states.

The use of medical marijuana is legal in 29 states while recreational use is legal in nine states. The cannabis industry is also becoming more economically significant — an Arcview Market Research report forecasts the legal marijuana industry will generate $24.5 billion in revenues by 2021.



The cannabis sativa plant isn't just for smoking. You can build your home with hemp 9:14 AM ET Fri, 20 April 2018 | 02:09

SBA rules already precluded lending to any business directly involved in the industry — "a business that grows, produces, processes, distributes, or sells marijuana or marijuana products, edibles, or derivatives, regardless of the amount of such activity.

This applies to personal use and medical use even if the business is legal under local or state law." Regulators have long recommended banks avoid providing any services to businesses directly involved in the trade, so this is nothing new.

"The stricter rules come as the Trump administration's Justice Department seeks to make life hard for the marijuana trade even as public support for it grows. "
The new SBA rule goes much further, however. SBA now also precludes lending to any firm that is even indirectly doing business with a marijuana-related operation, significantly expanding the number of businesses no longer eligible for SBA-backed loans.

The rule defines such a business as one that "derived any of its gross revenue for the previous year (or, if a start-up, projects to derive any of its gross revenue for the next year) from sales to Direct Marijuana Businesses of products or services that could reasonably be determined to support the use, growth, enhancement or other development of marijuana."

For most law-abiding citizens, that may seem like a very reasonable extension of the rule that prohibits offering SBA loans to a business involved in illegal trade, but it is significantly more difficult to follow in practice.

In a state like Colorado, where marijuana is a substantial part of the economy, many otherwise legal businesses may now be ineligible for SBA loans, because they derive some small part of their revenues from direct marijuana businesses.

It's not just bong manufacturers
It may be obvious that a bong manufacturing business that caters directly to the trade should also be ineligible for government financing, but consider a garden supply company that sells bagged dirt, hydroponic equipment, potting supplies, fertilizer, or grow lights primarily to garden and home centers, but received even one purchase order from a local marijuana business. Is it now ineligible since its products could be used to help grow the product?

Similarly, consider companies like contractors, architects, or engineers that help build a grow facility, or online marketing and website development services that help market a retail marijuana business.

These businesses are providing a service that can be viewed as helping the marijuana business grow, and if their products and services are publicly available in a market that has legalized marijuana, it is very likely that they have some revenues that come from direct marijuana businesses.

This notice comes at a time when some private equity and individual investors have made bets on the so-called "picks and shovels" trade. This play involves investing in the suppliers to the industry as a way of gaining the benefit of the growth of legal weed while avoiding the risks associated with the fact that marijuana is still illegal on a national basis.

The SBA notice also bans lending to any business growing, producing, processing, distributing or selling hemp products unless the business can demonstrate that its business and products are legal under federal and state law.

The stricter rules come as the Trump administration's Justice Department seeks to make life hard for the marijuana trade even as public support for it grows — a recent Gallup poll finds 64 percent of Americans favor federal legalization, including a majority of Republicans.

Banks offering SBA-backed loans will now have to require borrowers to attest that they are not engaging directly in the marijuana trade, and that they do not derive any revenue from the marijuana industry to be clearly eligible. But SBA recommends that banks also complete additional due diligence including website reviews to investigate how these firms market themselves and to review accounts receivable reports for red flags.

Architects, engineers and gardeners
With SBA-backed lending unavailable, businesses directly tied to the marijuana industry have always had to be inventive to get funds, relying on home equity lines of credit, personal credit cards, selling equity to friends and family, or by engaging with the few venture capital and investment funds that are working with the industry.

Under the new rules, even architects, engineers, and your local garden supply company may have to go to alternative sources to get their funding. Alternatively, they may have to turn away a ready source of revenues for providing an otherwise legal service or product to a willing buyer in order to comply and gain access to SBA financing.

It just got harder to comply with the new SBA regulations. Perhaps future guidance from SBA will soften the language to allow some de minimus amount of revenue to come from direct marijuana businesses without making an otherwise legal business ineligible. For now, business owners beware.

 

[Baron23]

While I firmly support such an initiative, I object to Schumer being given large credit for it. He has absolutely led from behind on MJ and IMO his recent moves should be seen as nothing more than Machiavellian political maneuvering and opportunism.


A Bill to Decriminalize Marijuana at the Federal Level Is on Its Way
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is shaking things up in Congress.

A Bill to Decriminalize Marijuana at the Federal Level Is on Its Way
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is shaking things up in Congress.

Sean Williams
(TMFUltraLong)
Apr 30, 2018 at 11:41AM

Put plainly, the cannabis industry is budding worldwide. Cannabis research firm ArcView Group has estimated that North American legal marijuana sales could explode from $9.7 billion in 2017 (which represented 33% sales growth from 2016) to more than $47 billion by 2027. Meanwhile, Cowen Group recently raised its global legal cannabis sales forecast from $50 billion by 2026 to $75 billion by 2030.

At the heart of these lofty sales estimates is a major shift in consumer opinion toward pot. What had once been considered a taboo topic is no more. Five national polls over the trailing one-year period -- CBS News, Gallup, Fox News, Pew Research Center, and the independent Quinnipiac University -- found support ranging from 59% to 64% for nationwide legalization. Furthermore, support for medical marijuana in the aforementioned Quinnipiac University poll from August hit an overwhelming 94%.

Image source: Getty Images.

Despite changing opinions on cannabis, the U.S. is stuck in the mud
Yet in the United States, the cannabis industry remains stuck in neutral. Despite the fact that 29 states have broad medical marijuana laws and nine states have OK'd the use of recreational weed, the federal government has entrenched its stance on cannabis being a Schedule I drug. This places weed on par with drugs like LSD and heroin, suggests it's highly prone to abuse, and means it has no recognized medical benefits.

In addition to being wholly illegal at the federal level, marijuana's Schedule I status can wreak havoc on businesses operating in the pot industry, as well as patients hoping to receive medical cannabis or cannabis-derived medicines.

For instance, marijuana companies often have little to no access to basic banking services, which constrains their ability to expand and hire. Also, the three-decade-old tax rule known as 280E disallows businesses that sell a federally illegal substance from taking normal corporate income-tax deductions. This means that profitable pot companies could pay an effective tax rate of as high as 90%! And, as noted, patients can suffer given the lengthy amount of red tape surrounding medical cannabis trials and research.

The industry is also challenged by Attorney General Jeff Sessions leading the Justice Department. Sessions is perhaps the most ardent opponent of cannabis in Washington, and he's tried on more than one occasion to upend state-level expansion. In May 2017, Sessions (unsuccessfully) requested that a few of his congressional colleagues repeal the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment, which is responsible for protecting medical marijuana businesses from federal prosecution.

Jeff Sessions addressing an audience. Image source: Jeff Sessions' Senate webpage.

However, Sessions was successful in rescinding the Cole memo in January. The Cole memo provided a loose set of guidelines that states would follow in order to keep the federal government at bay. These guidelines included keeping grown cannabis within legal states and ensuring that adolescents didn't have access to marijuana. Its rescinding opened the door for state-level prosecutors to use their discretion in bringing charges against individuals or businesses that violate the Controlled Substances Act.

This influential congressional leader is set to introduce a decriminalization bill
But big changes could be on the way. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced a little over a week ago his intention to introduce a bill to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level -- i.e., remove it from the controlled substances list.

In an interview with Vice News Tonight, Schumer had this to say:

The time has come to decriminalize marijuana. My thinking -- as well as the general population's views -- on the issue has evolved, and so I believe there's no better time than the present to get this done. It's simply the right thing to do.

If this sounds somewhat familiar, it's because former House Speaker John Boehner, who once described himself as "unalterably opposed" to the idea of decriminalizing marijuana, announced his change of heart just days before Schumer made his own announcement about proposing a decriminalization bill. Said Boehner in a statement to CNBC on why he was joining a cannabis company's board of advisors:

Like that of millions of other Americans, [my thinking on cannabis] has evolved as I've learned more about the issue. I decided to get involved because of the struggles of our country's veterans and the opioid epidemic, after learning how descheduling the drug can potentially help with both crises. Descheduling will reduce the conflict between federal policy and state programs.

Image source: Getty Images.

However, Schumer's proposal wouldn't completely wipe out the ability of the federal government to enforce certain controls. Federal regulators would still be able to penalize instances of drug trafficking between legalized states and states that have not chosen to OK the use of legal weed. In addition, the federal government would retain authority over marijuana advertising so as to ensure that children aren't targeted. Ultimately, though, states would have the final say on whether or not cannabis is legal and how it's regulated.


Is decriminalization a real possibility?
Of course, the $64,000 question is this: Does Schumer's decriminalization bill have a chance of passage in the Senate and/or House?

Based on the current make-up of Congress, I'd suggest it wouldn't pass. In Gallup's October 2017 survey, 51% of respondents who identified as Republican favored legalization, albeit this "majority" was still within the margin of error for the poll. Though this represented the first time in history a majority of the GOP was in support of legalization, Republicans still have a decidedly more negative view of weed relative to Democrats and Independents. With numerous big-ticket issues expected to be on the table in Congress this year, including healthcare reform and an infrastructure bill, the chance of a decriminalization bill gaining majority support seems unlikely.

But things could change after the midterm elections in November. If Republicans lose their majority in the House and/or Senate, it may be possible to garner enough support to reschedule or decriminalize marijuana at the federal level.

Image source: Getty Images.

Should the U.S. alter its stance on cannabis through decriminalization, it's probable that Canadian growers would rush in to stake their claims. For example, Aphria (NASDAQOTH:APHQF), which is expected to be a top-three grower by annual production in Canada (approximately 230,000 kilograms a year), announced its intention to sell off its passive U.S. assets in the wake of Sessions' repeal of the Cole memo. Aphria made good on this promise in February when it announced a divestiture of more than 26.7 million shares of medical cannabis company Liberty Health Sciences. If the U.S. reverses its anti-cannabis stance, Aphria would likely reenter the U.S. market, along with most of its peers.

More importantly, decriminalizing marijuana in what could arguably be described as the most lucrative weed market in the world would likely remove any concerns about a marijuana glut in Canada. With some estimates suggesting that supply in Canada could outweigh domestic demand by over 1 million kilograms of dried cannabis, the ability to export to legalized countries will be paramount to supporting the margins of Canadian growers.

Personally, I don't believe this is an issue that'll be resolved anytime soon. Chances are that we're going to need to wait until a few months after the midterm elections before we get any clarity on whether a decriminalization bill has any chance of passage in the U.S.

 

[momofthegoons]

SBA now also precludes lending to any firm that is even indirectly doing business with a marijuana-related operation, significantly expanding the number of businesses no longer eligible for SBA-backed loans.

Wow. This just flies in the face of sanity.... what are they thinking? So the cannabis industry has to continue on a cash basis? While we pay taxes for it? This is nuts.

Are we so desperate for legal cannabis that we will put up with anything they throw at us just to meet our goal?

 

[momofthegoons]

Hemp industry loses case against DEA, as federal appeals court says CBD a controlled substance

A federal appeals court sided with the Drug Enforcement Administration and upheld its decision that CBD is a Schedule 1 controlled substance – a major setback for the American hemp industry.

The decision, issued Monday by a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit in San Francisco, means that hemp producers can only sell cannabidiol where it is allowed under state law.

It also means that states that allow CBD – even if they don’t allow the sale of high-THC marijuana – are violating federal law, the same as states that allow recreational cannabis.

CBD producers who brought the case vowed to appeal.

“We will be appealing, and we will be funding that appeal,” said Michael Brubeck, CEO of Centuria Natural Foods and a plaintiff in the case.

Based in Las Vegas, Centuria grows hemp and produces CBD products for sale in all 50 states. Centuria was joined in its challenge by the Hemp Industries Association.


Case history

The case started in 2016, when the DEA issued a “clarifying rule” stating that CBD is an illegal drug, because it is extracted from marijuana flowers.

Hemp producers cried foul, arguing that CBD can also be extracted from legal hemp flowers, and there is no way to tell whether extracted CBD came from marijuana or from hemp.

Brubeck and the HIA argued that the DEA was attempting to add a new substance to the Controlled Substances Act, something it cannot do.

The DEA said the extract rule was simply a clarification of existing law and that it “makes no substantive change to the government’s control of any substance.”

The agency also scoffed at the suggestion that CBD is being made from anything but flowering parts of the cannabis plant because cannabinoids “are found in the parts of the cannabis plant that fall within the … definition of marijuana, such as the flowering tops, resin and leaves.”

The three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit agreed. Their decision means that the DEA was within its authority to clarify CBD as a “marijuana extract.”

Preparing for appeal

The hemp industry has 45 days to ask the 9th Circuit to take a second look at the case, the first step to an appeal. Assuming the 9th Circuit again sides with the DEA, the decision may be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Brubeck and a cannabis lawyer who worked on the case said the DEA decision isn’t a total setback. The court noted that the 2014 Farm Bill allows states to experiment with hemp policy, giving CBD producers some protection if they can prove their products were legally produced.

“We’re encouraged that the court found that the Farm Bill is in fact valid,” attorney Garrett Graff said.

CBD production and the DEA rule “can coexist for those growing and processing industrial hemp pursuant to the Farm Bill,” he said.

 

[momofthegoons]

This is beyond disgusting... You telling me they can't find some homes for these dogs? I'm hoping this isn't true.

Illinois Police Threaten to Euthanize Over 200 Drug-Sniffing Dogs If Weed Is Legalized

“At this point, they’re trained on five different odors. Once they’re programmed with that, you can’t just deprogram them.”

Lawmakers and residents alike have made significant steps over the past two years in an effort to turn Illinois into the Midwest's first legal weed state. But while experts have predicted that Illinois could welcome adult-use legalization before the end of 2018, local police officers are still trying their best to prevent cannabis reform, even going as far as to threaten the lives of over 200 drug-sniffing dogs.

According to a report from the Pantagraph, Illinois cops have said that if marijuana becomes legal they will have few other options than to euthanize K9 cops trained to detect the smell of ganja.

Since drug dogs are taught from a young age to detect cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and MDMA, as well as weed, cannabis legalization would complicate how they function on the force. For example, in Colorado, a court ruled last year that drug alerts from police dogs are not probable cause to search vehicles, as there's now reasonable doubt that the drug-sniffing pups could have detected marijuana and not one of the other, still illicit, narcotics.

"At this point, they're trained on five different odors. Once they're programmed with that, you can't just deprogram them," Normal, Illinois Police Department Assistant Chief Steve Petrilli, who was a K-9 handler for eight years, told the Pantagraph. "I think the implications of that would be huge."

Continuing in that line of thinking, Chad Larner, training director at the K-9 Training Academy in Macon County, Illinois, said that "a number of dogs would likely have to be euthanized." In total, Illinois is currently home to 275 drug-sniffing dogs.


However, while Illinois is certainly poised to be one of the first Midwestern states to welcome legal weed, the Prairie State is not the first to enact cannabis reform and subsequently deal with shifts in the job description of K9 cops.

In Colorado and Oregon, police departments have been retiring older drug-sniffing dogs as domestic pets for local officers, re-assigning police pooches to sniff out counterfeit money and explosives, and actively training dogs to reverse their cannabis training. As far as we can tell, no police department in a legal weed state has euthanized healthy dogs because they are trained to detect marijuana.

"That tells me people haven't been planning for the inevitable," said Captain Roger Ainsworth, who leads the K9 team at the Weld County, Colorado Sheriff Department. "For the past three or four years, we haven't even trained with marijuana with our dogs," he told the Greeley and Weld County Tribune about what he sees as no-brainer legalization preparations.

On the East Coast, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal has been taking notes from Colorado cops, and has already indicated that Garden State drug dogs will soon undergo training to avoid marijuana, even as Governor Phil Murphy moves slowly in his promise to bring legal weed to the state.

Even with high prices and training difficulties associated with teaching drug dogs to ignore weed, cannabis advocates have looked at options in other legalized states and met Illinois cops' claims with a heavy dose of skepticism, to say the least.

"The idea that legalizing for adults to have an ounce on them will equal ... all these dogs being euthanized, that seems kind of ridiculous and hyperbolic," Dan Linn, executive director of NORML Illinois, told the Pantagraph. He even described the death discussion as a "red herring."

That said, the assistant police chief in Normal, Illinois, and a Public Affairs Officer in Bloomington, Illinois both stated that local K-9 cops should be retired into domestic homes and not be killed if weed is legalized. For now, the euthanasia quote from the training director at Macon County's K-9 Training Academy appears to be the exception to the rule, or even a misguided and inaccurate claim. Let's hope so for our canna-K9 friends.

 

[Shredder]

It's just cops being cops. Dispickable bastards that they are.

If the cops can't adjust maybe its the cops that need to move on. Good time to interject some diversity into our policing. Get rid of the closed minded dinosaurs.

 

[nosmoking]

Why don't they just do what ever it is other states that have legalized have done? Seems like if this was really an issue it should have been brought up years ago when states started going rec. These cops are just looking for their 5 minutes of fame.

 

[Baron23]

Here's where you can legally get cannabis

With American support for legalizing cannabis at an all-time high, all sorts of people are keeping up with news about it. Which state will be the next one to fully legalize it? Who's the latest politician to introduce a legalization bill? It has gone from a political debate question to something both sides of the spectrum have found some common ground on.

It's definitely exciting news for a lot of people, but approach the topic with caution. After all, federally it's still an illegal drug, classified as a Schedule 1 drug by the DEA. States that have legalized it tend to have some slight (and some not so slight) differences in how the laws are enforced.

If you don't have the details down about your state's marijuana laws, you could end up in trouble.

For people who live in Idaho, Nebraska, Kansas, and South Dakota, you have a pretty easy explainer: it's illegal. In all forms. If you live in another state, though, certain forms of cannabis are legal, depending on the form they take and the reason for taking them.

States with Legalized Medical Cannabis

As support for medical marijuana increased, some states began to change their attitudes and test the waters of allowing for legal medical cannabis use. And as more people were treated with it, support grew even more. An April 2018 poll found that 93% of those asked supported legalizing medicinal marijuana. Things changed, and they changed fast.

That hasn't necessarily translated to country-wide medical cannabis, but the momentum has certainly been in its favor. In May of 2018, 29 states and Washington D.C. all have medical marijuana legalized: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia.

What differs from state-to-state are the details. The amount you can legally possess, the conditions that can lead to a prescription, whether you're allowed to cultivate it at home, etc. Arizona, for example, caps the limit at 2.5 ounces of marijuana.

New Jersey allows for 2 ounces, while Delaware lets you have up to 6. Some states, like Montana, allow for patients with medical marijuana prescriptions to grow and cultivate a limited amount in their home.

Looking for some more specifics about your state's medical cannabis laws? The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML, has state-by-state details available on their website.

States with Legalized Recreational Cannabis

Legal recreational weed is definitely much rarer than medical weed, but the surge in popularity has led to more states legalizing it entirely. Fifteen years ago, that would have been unthinkable.

In total, 9 states - as well as the Washington D.C. - have legalized recreational marijuana. The other states are Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.

The first states to do it were Colorado and Washington back in 2012. One of the most recent states to pass legal weed, Vermont, didn't even need a ballot - the initiative successfully passed through state legislature, the first to do so.

For the states that have legalized it, marijuana has been a real boon for statewide sales. California, with its massive population, leads the sales numbers for recreational marijuana across all states that legalized it with $2.75 billion. Colorado and Washington have also crossed the billion-dollar mark. Even Alaska, with a population under 1 million, has close to $40 million in sales.

States That Decriminalized Cannabis

There are several states that have yet to legalize it, but have still chosen to take at least one step forward by decriminalizing marijuana. This means that it is still illegal to possess cannabis, but small amounts won't lead to an arrest, prison time, or a criminal record. It's essentially a parking ticket.

There are 13 states that have decriminalized marijuana without fully legalizing it: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Rhode Island.

Details vary state by state. Nebraska doesn't have any legal marijuana of any sort, so even their decriminalization is strict: possessing 1 oz or less is just a fine, but any more is at least a misdemeanor.

States with Legalized CBD

Cannabidiol, more informally known as CBD, has either trace or no amounts of THC in it, depending on where it was extracted from. As a result, some states that haven't legalized medical marijuana have made some exceptions for medical CBD.

Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming all have some form of medical CBD legalized. Most of these states have only legalized it for epilepsy disorders that have proven difficult to treat, though Virginia expanded the law to other conditions in March of 2018.

The exceptions are Georgia and Iowa, which have a far more expanded CBD allowance. These states allow for conditions like Parkinson's disease, Crohn's disease, cancer, ALS, and AIDS to also be treated with cannabidiol.

What Other Countries Have Legalized Cannabis?

We know the United States is slowly coming around on marijuana, but what about the rest of the world? Are there countries out there with more lax laws on pot?

The answer is yes, a few, and that there will likely be more in the future. Canada, for example, has had legal medical marijuana available for nearly 20 years now, and could be very close to officially having legal recreational cannabis as well.

A bill for legal weed has passed through Canada's House of Commons and Senate, but has gone through some delays. Still, there remains optimism that Canadian citizens will have legal weed by the end of summer 2018.

Uruguay legalized recreational use in 2017, after legalizing cultivation in 2014. The citizens have the opportunity to purchase it from pharmacies, grow it at home, or participate in "cannabis clubs," private places where paying members can use the cannabis the club produces.

Spain has had a strong culture of cannabis clubs for some time now, due to cannabis being legal there in private areas but illegal (albeit decriminalized) in public areas.

In terms of medical cannabis, Argentina legalized it in 2017, as do a number of places in Australia. Despite the erosion of cannabis's reputation as a harmful drug, there's still quite a bit left to do before more widespread legalization worldwide.

What States Could Be Next?

9 states (and D.C.) isn't very many states with 100% legalization. But the cause has enough support now that there are local politicians running with legal recreational weed as a major platform - and sometimes, those politicians even win.

That's what Phil Murphy did in New Jersey. Murphy ran for governor in 2017 with a platform that included legalizing cannabis and won handily. Currently he's still pushing for legalization, though his Congress remains mixed on the issue. Should he successfully push legislation through, NJ could be the next state with legal weed.

Michigan also has a chance to be the next state for legal recreational weed. It's actually on the ballot in November just in time for midterm elections. Could the cause bring out new voters that may not have otherwise shown up?

Meanwhile, Oklahoma may catch up to 29 other states by putting medical marijuana on the ballot, and groups in Utah are putting efforts into getting it onto the ballot there as well. The United States could end up with several states having new cannabis laws by the end of 2018.

 

[Baron23]

Not surprising or earth shattering news.....but, I suppose every vote counts no matter the underlying political motivation.


Kamala Harris backs Booker bill to legalize marijuana

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), a potential 2020 White House contender, is joining Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who is also speculated to be a possible presidential candidate, in the fight to legalize marijuana under federal law.

Harris announced Thursday that she will be co-sponsoring the Marijuana Justice Act, which Booker introduced in August.

The legislation would eliminate marijuana's status as a Schedule 1 drug under the Controlled Substance Act. The move would also require federal courts to expunge the records of Americans who have prior marijuana convictions related to use or possession.

“It’s the right thing to do. And I know this as a former prosecutor. I know it as a senator,” Harris said in a video announcing her decision with NowThis. “I just look at what we want as a country and where we need to be instead of where we’ve been.

“African-Americans use marijuana at roughly the same rate as whites but are approximately four times more likely to be arrested for possession,” Harris said. “The fact is marijuana laws are not applied and enforced the same way for all people.”

Harris believes the move to decriminalize marijuana will prevent the Justice Department from enforcing laws that are “unjust and unfair.”

“The war on drugs was a war on communities,” Harris said, adding that police should be dealing with more serious drugs and crimes. “Not somebody smoking a joint.”

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) in February announced that she would co-sponsor the act with Booker. Gillibrand is also considered to be a potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, as is Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who backs the bill as well.

So far, nine states and Washington, D.C. have legalized the drug for recreational use for adults over the age of 21. Michigan will hold a vote to legalize recreational pot this year, potentially making it the 10th state and first in the Midwest to legalize.

 

[Baron23]

I don't know if the $.5M referred to below will be a sufficient game changer in this district's election, but I would love to see Pete Sessions removed from office. Because of his blocking of MJ laws from open debate and vote...well, yes. But even more so because I view his unilateral actions and arrogance as undemocratic and therefore un-American. IMO, him holding a representative position in such a democracy is a travesty and a threat to our way of government.

Now, I'm not really thrilled about a Democrat winning another seat, but I am generally a libertarian at heart and would love to see Pete Sessions put out of office even if that was the price.



Pete Sessions Faces Opposition from Cannabis Reform Super PAC

The chair of the House Rules Committee, Texas Republican Rep. Pete Sessions, may face an uphill re-election battle this November in his bid to retain his influential position, partly because of one cannabis reform activist and his new super PAC.

Rob Kampia, a co-founder and former executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, is spearheading an effort to unseat Sessions. As chair of the Rules Committee, Sessions has systematically blocked bipartisan legislation intended to provide safe harbor for medical cannabis states, their businesses, and patients who use cannabis medicinally.

“[Sessions] is in fact what I call a sphincter who is constipating the process,” Kampia told the Washington Examiner.

The super PAC, Texans Removing Outdated and Unresponsive Politicians, was initially started by Kampia after he left the Marijuana Policy Project in 2017. The new super PAC hopes to raise roughly a half-million dollars in support of candidates representing the Democratic and Libertarian parties.

(Left) Texas Association of Business Leader (right) Pete Sessions

“I am going to bundle a whole bunch of checks and send them to the Democrat without talking to the Democrat. You are going to see a bunch of $2,700 checks flowing from the same people who you’re going to see on our [super PAC]reports,” Kampia told reporters.

While recent polls have continually demonstrated that Americans and their elected officials support legalization, as chair of the Rules Committee, Rep. Sessions has repeatedly blocked all less-restrictive cannabis legislation from advancing for the past two years.

In support of a fellow libertarian, Kampia has backed the Texas Libertarian Party’s Treasurer, Melina Baker, for representative in Sessions’ 32nd District, covering the Dallas area.

Kampia “plans to target only a small part of the electorate, particularly students at the University of Texas at Dallas and libertarian-leaning Republicans,” according to the Washington Examiner.

After noting that Sessions had “an easy name to hate,” Kampia guesstimated that medical cannabis would already be legalized if not for Sessions. Pete Sessions is not related to US Attorney General Jeff Sessions, an ardent marijuana opponent, but his father was former FBI director William Sessions. Until James Comey last year, Sessions was the only FBI head to be fired by a president. William Sessions served under presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush from 1987 until 1993, when President Bill Clinton fired him in the wake of a report alleging that Sessions had improperly used government aircraft and spent government money for personal use, as reported in the Dallas Morning News.

Kampia and his new super PAC hope to elect a representative that will put aside his or her personal beliefs and cast their vote based on the will of their constituents and scientific evidence.

 

[Baron23]

This bill doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of passing. But, while I don't support many of its provisions, I applaud any group who works to legalize MJ at the Federal level, whether I agree with their motives or not.


Congressional Black Caucus Pushes Major Marijuana Reforms

Leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) introduced a 1,227-page bill on Thursday that calls for the removal of marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act—among many other far-reaching proposals—as part of an effort to foster racial justice and stimulate job growth in the United States.

Not only is the caucus, headed by Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA), seeking federal cannabis reform, the Jobs and Justice Act would also establish a “reinvestment fund” for communities adversely impacted by the war on drugs. That would include grants for job training, funds to clear past cannabis convictions, public libraries and community centers, according to the text of the bill.

The Jobs and Justice Act would also eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for federal drug offenses. It’s comprehensive in scope, including numerous provisions such as prohibiting racial profiling, abolishing the federal death penalty, raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour and making mid-term and presidential elections federal holidays.

“2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr,” a statement from the CBC reads. “While Dr. King is well known for his efforts to champion social justice issues, he and many other civil rights activists of the day fought for economic justice as well. In addition to voting rights and equal protections under the law, every man, woman, and child deserves equal access to economic opportunities.”

Marijuana descheduling in the Jobs and Justice Act

The new bill comes as the Marijuana Justice Act, which was introduced with a similar intent to end racially disproportionate enforcement of marijuana laws across the country, is gaining momentum. The legislation, filed by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ)—and co-sponsored by several other potential 2020 Democratic presidential contenders such as Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and most recently, Kamala Harris (D-CA)—would end the federal prohibition of cannabis and penalize states with disproportionate marijuana enforcement.

Though the Jobs and Justice Act appears unlikely advance in the current Congress, it serves as the latest signal that federal marijuana politics are shifting at a rapid pace—and Democrats certainly seem to be working to capitalize on the issue’s popularity among voters.

 

[Baron23]

State Marijuana Legalization Measures Headed For Passage, Polls Show

A number of states are expected to vote on far-reaching marijuana ballot measures this year, and recent polling shows that all of them are poised to pass by substantial margins.

Hemp. (Photo By BSIP/UIG via Getty Images)

A survey released on Thursday, for example, found that 61% of Michigan adults said they favor legalizing cannabis, while only 34% are opposed.

Michigan officials determined last month that activists collected enough signatures to place a marijuana legalization measure on the general election ballot. Unless state lawmakers decide to enact legalization themselves in the next few weeks, voters will see the cannabis question when they go to the polls in November. And the new survey data from Michigan State University indicates they are likely to approve it overwhelmingly.

Elsewhere, during next month's June 26 primary election, Oklahoma voters will consider a measure to allow medical cannabis. A January poll found that 62% of likely voters support the proposal, while only 31% are opposed.



In Utah, county officials determined last month that activists collected enough signatures to qualify a medical marijuana measure for the November ballot. A March survey showed that 77% of Utah adults support legalizing medical cannabis.

(Opponents led by the Utah Medical Association and a local task force of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration are currently trying to kick the measure off the ballot by convincing voters who signed petitions to remove their signatures.)

In Missouri, competing campaigns filed signatures in support of three separate medical cannabis ballot measures this month. State officials will now count the signatures to determine which, if any, will qualify to go before voters in November. In any case, while there haven't been recent public surveys on the issue, previous state polling shows that voters would be poised to approve a marijuana measure.

A July 2016 survey, for example, found that 62% of Missouri voters supported an earlier potential medical cannabis ballot question, with just 27% against. If the broader growth in public support for marijuana law reform in the U.S. is any indication, the state is likely even more poised to vote yes on medical marijuana this year.

Nationally, a growing majority of voters favors outright legalization. Quinnipiac University found last month, for example, that 63% are on board with ending marijuana prohibition. An even greater supermajority of 93% back medical cannabis.

 

[Baron23]

“Federal law enforcement agents should not arrest Californians who are adhering to California law,” said Feinstein, who is facing a challenge in the Democratic primary from state Sen. Kevin de León."

And there is it. Sen Feinstein shows that she can still read a poll, can still lead from behind, and that the only thing that really motivates her is perpetuation of her professional political career.

Yes, glad for another vote. No, not giving any credit to Feinstein for this....as with Boehner, Schumer, and a number of others.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein says she no longer opposes legal marijuana

en. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) no longer opposes the legal use of marijuana, she told McClatchy in an interview on Tuesday.

“Federal law enforcement agents should not arrest Californians who are adhering to California law,” said Feinstein, who is facing a challenge in the Democratic primary from state Sen. Kevin de León.

The senator, a longtime opponent of legalization who has been called “California’s last prohibitionist” by Leafly, a pro-cannabis website, changed her views after meetings with constituents, her office said.

California, which is one of nine states that allow recreational marijuana use, along with the District of Columbia, voted to legalize in 2016, via Proposition 64. Feinstein was strongly opposed at the time, although she supported medical marijuana use. Citing her time on the California parole board in the 1960s, Feinstein told an Associated Press reporter that marijuana is a gateway drug. She said Prop 64 did not do enough to protect young people and motorists.

On Tuesday, she told McClatchy, “My state has legalized marijuana for personal use, and as California continues to implement this law, we need to ensure we have strong safety rules to prevent impaired driving and youth access, similar to other public health issues like alcohol,” she said.

[John Boehner was a longtime opponent of marijuana reform. Here’s what changed his mind.]

Although states have made their own rules for recreational and medical marijuana, Attorney General Jeff Sessions in January wrote a memo that rolled back Obama-era guidance that federal laws not be enforced in the states that had legalized recreational use. Sen. Cory Gardner, a Republican from Colorado, which legalized pot in 2014, led efforts on a bill that would give decision-making power back to the states.

Feinstein told McClatchy she needed to review the bill before she could comment but was open to supporting it.

She would be a significant ally because of her position as the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee; she has worked closely with committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), on previous drug legislation.

 

[Baron23]

4 Must-Read Quotes on Marijuana From DEA Head Robert Patterson
Where might federal cannabis policy head next?


The marijuana industry is growing by leaps and bounds in North America. Cannabis research firm ArcView, in partnership with BDS Analytics, found that legal pot sales soared 33% in 2017 to $9.7 billion. A decade from now, ArcView sees North American sales topping an estimated $47 billion.

This impressive growth is due to a combination of state- and country-level expansion, as well as a general shift in the way people perceive cannabis.

Regarding the former, Mexico legalized medical marijuana in June 2017, 29 U.S. states have legalized cannabis in some capacity since 1996, and Canada appears to be on the verge of passing the Cannabis Act, which would make it the first developed country in the world to have legalized adult-use marijuana. As expansion continues, sales for growers and ancillary pot industry businesses are expected to soar.

Image source: Getty Images.

Meanwhile, national pollster Gallup found that nearly two-thirds of the American public favored the idea of legalizing marijuana in its October 2017 survey. That's up from just 25% in 1995, the year before California became the first state to legalize medical cannabis for compassionate-use patients.

Cannabis is stuck in the mud in the U.S.
But despite this growth and the apparent shift in the public's opinion, marijuana remains a Schedule I drug at the federal level in the United States. As a Schedule I substance, cannabis is wholly illegal, considered to be highly prone to abuse, and has no recognized medical benefits.

This classification also comes with some pretty serious disadvantages for marijuana businesses operating in one of the 29 states that have legalized the drug in some capacity. For instance, pot-based businesses usually have little or no access to basic banking services. This is because financial institutions fear the monetary or legal repercussions of aiding a business that sells a federally illegal substance.

Also, should marijuana companies be profitable, U.S. tax code 280E disallows them the ability to take normal corporate income-tax deductions. This can lead to an effective tax rate of as high as 90%!

Make no mistake about it, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) had its opportunity to reschedule or deschedule cannabis in the summer of 2016 after two petitions worked their way up the ranks, but the drug-regulatory agency chose to stand pat on its policy. The DEA wound up citing insufficient benefit data from clinical trials, and the fear of abuse, as reasons to keep marijuana listed next to heroin and LSD.

Image source: Getty Images.

Here's what the head of the DEA just said about marijuana
If marijuana is still be decriminalized at the federal level, change is going to have to come either from lawmakers or the DEA.

This past week, DEA Acting Administrator Robert Patterson answered a barrage of questions regarding the opioid epidemic in America from the House Judiciary Committee. For those unaware, opioids are claiming approximately 115 lives a day in the U.S. as a result of overdose-related deaths. In numerous instances, these questions were pivoted to discussions about marijuana, which is viewed by some folks as a solution to lessen the severity of the opioid crisis. Here are the four most notable things Patterson had to say about cannabis when questioned by lawmakers, courtesy of Marijuana Moment.


"The reason why it remains in Schedule I is the science."
This comment from Patterson, in response to a line of questioning from Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), reinforces the agency's stance that it took nearly two years ago in keeping cannabis wholly illegal. Though the DEA head did suggest that he and the agency are all for additional clinical trials and research being run with regard to medical marijuana, efforts to do so have been bogged down by the U.S. Justice Department.

Despite pledging to increase the number of federally approved grow facilities, the Justice Department, headed by staunch cannabis opponent Jeff Sessions, hasn't approved any of the more than two dozen proposals for new grow sites. Given that there's only one approved federal grow facility in the country -- the University of Mississippi -- it makes gaining access to cannabis to run clinical trials exceptionally challenging. And, without this clinical data, the DEA is unwilling to budge on its Schedule I classification.

Image source: Getty Images.

"At what point did we determine that revenue was more important than our kids?"
Also while speaking with Rep. Cohen, Patterson uttered the phrase above. Among skeptics and opponents of expansion, it's a somewhat common belief that dollar signs are driving progressivism in the industry. Considering that a number of states have budgets that are running in the red, and most cannabis tax revenue is being used to fund school and law enforcement budgets, these skeptics would seem to have a point.

Then again, a modest majority of the American public believes that legalizing marijuana in order to boost tax revenue would be a good idea, according to an April 2018 poll from the independent Quinnipiac University. When questioned, 54% of respondents suggested that legalizing marijuana with the purpose of increasing tax revenue in their state would be a good idea, compared to just 42% who disagreed.


Marijuana and opioids are "not comparable."
Interestingly enough, when questioned by Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Patterson made quite the important admission. Johnson, in an attempt to elicit a response from the DEA head on the number of deaths brought about annually by cannabis-related overdoses, was able to get Patterson to admit that marijuana and opioids aren't comparable drugs.

According to published data over the past couple of years, there hasn't been a recorded overdose-related death tied to cannabis. Meanwhile, as noted above, roughly 115 Americans are dying daily due to opioid-related overdose deaths. Though the DEA chief isn't exactly saying that cannabis should be used in place of opioids -- in fact, Patterson denied having read a number of recent reports suggesting that cannabis may be an opioid substitute -- he does recognize that the end result of abuse for opioids appears to be much worse relative to cannabis misuse.

Image source: Getty Images.

He wouldn't "say [marijuana is] a gateway [drug]."
Finally, for those of you who would prefer to see cannabis legalized nationally, when questioned by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Patterson did comment that he doesn't view marijuana as a gateway drug. This admission would appear to leave open the possibility for a rescheduling or descheduling at some point in the future.

Furthermore, when Quinnipiac's April 2018 poll asked respondents whether they felt marijuana was a gateway drug, 61% said no. This shows that the DEA head and the American public do actually align on one core cannabis topic.

Of course, the key takeaway remains that change at the federal level is probably a long ways off. The decision to keep cannabis as a Schedule I drug will likely stymie growth in the U.S. market and make U.S.-focused pot stocks dangerous investments.

 

[Baron23]

7 Jaw-Dropping Marijuana Statistics You Have to See to Believe
A newly released report projects robust growth for the cannabis industry over the next five years.


The marijuana industry is growing like a weed, and investors can't seem to get enough of pot stocks. Over the trailing-two-year period, the vast majority of marijuana stocks have risen by a triple- or quadruple-digit percentage.

But, truth be told, not a lot is definitively known about the weed industry, which still operates behind a cloud of uncertainty. After all, marijuana is still illegal in every country around the world, save for Uruguay. Within the U.S., despite 29 states having legalized cannabis in some capacity, the federal government maintains a Schedule I classification on the drug, meaning it's entirely illegal, prone to abuse, and has no recognized benefits.

Image source: Getty Images.

In an effort to provide industry insights to Wall Street, investors, and the general public, Marijuana Business Daily publishes its "Marijuana Business Factbook" each year. "Factbook," as the report is better known, provides a plethora of estimates on U.S. cannabis job and sales growth over the coming five-year period. This past week, the latest edition of Factbook was released, which spanned growth estimates between 2017 and 2022. Here are the seven most awe-inspiring statistics provided in that exclusive report.

1. U.S. legal weed sales could rise by nearly 50% in 2018
As is often the case with this annual report, the headline statistic is the expectation of legal weed sales growth in 2018. After generating between $5.8 billion and $6.6 billion in legal sales in 2017 -- Marijuana Business Factbook often lists sales and growth estimates in ranges as opposed to a single projection -- legal pot sales are expected to reach between $7.9 billion and $9.7 billion in 2018. At the midpoint of both estimates, we're looking at 42% year-on-year growth.

The bulk of this increase will come from recreational cannabis sales, and more specifically, from California opening its doors to legal adult-use consumers. Factbook assumes minimum recreational cannabis sales of $500 million in California this year. Additionally, the launch of recreational sales in Massachusetts by this summer, along with Nevada's burgeoning adult-use market -- recreational sales in Nevada kicked off in July 2017 -- should help lift sales.

Image source: Getty Images.

2. Legal sales could hit more than $22 billion by 2022
Over the longer run, legal marijuana sales in the U.S. are estimated to grow by more than 27% per year through 2022 (assuming peak sales estimates each year). After hitting a peak of $6.6 billion in legal sales in 2017, Factbook estimates that between $18 billion and $22.1 billion worth of cannabis could be sold to consumers through legal channels in 2022.

The push to potentially more than $22 billion in sales would be the result of new states legalizing pot in some capacity, as well as organic growth within already legal states. For instance, legal weed sales in Colorado have more than doubled from $699 million in 2014, the first year of recreational marijuana sales in the state, to $1.49 billion as of 2017, according to the Colorado Department of Revenue.


3. Recreational pot sales could double medical sales by 2022
Also of note is the breakdown of expected legal cannabis sales by 2022. According to Factbook, medical marijuana sales are expected to account for between $5.9 billion and $7.3 billion in sales in 2022. Meanwhile, recreational weed should tally between $12.1 billion and $14.8 billion in sales that year. Even though medical sales will have doubled since 2017, recreational marijuana sales will have quadrupled over the same time period. This suggests that recreational customers are a priority for growth-oriented cannabis companies.

Image source: Getty Images.

4. Total U.S. cannabis demand is $52.5 billion
Just how big is the U.S. cannabis market? According to Factbook, legal channel and black market demand combined work out to $52.5 billion. That's a massive number, which has played a big role in pushing marijuana stock valuations ever higher.

Then again, this figure also shows just how far the legal weed industry has to go to stomp out the underground cannabis market. Assuming a midpoint of $6.2 billion in sales last year, this suggests that more than $46 billion in sales were conducted outside the scope of legal channels. Some folks would view this as an opportunity for legal businesses, while others would say that the black market is simply too powerful to overcome. Personally, I believe both views could be right.


5. Marijuana jobs growth to average 21% a year through 2022
Expansion of the cannabis industry in the U.S. isn't just about sales -- it's also about the jobs that are directly and indirectly tied to marijuana. As of today, an estimated 125,000 to 160,000 people are employed within the cannabis industry. By 2022, Factbook predicts that figure could soar to roughly 340,000 jobs. Assuming the current peak estimate of 160,000, this works out to jobs growth of 21% per year through 2022. By comparison, the healthcare industry is only expected to see jobs growth of approximately 2% per year through 2022.

Image source: Getty Images.

6. A greater than $75 billion annual economic impact by 2022
According to Factbook, the cannabis industry could generate an economic impact of between $28 billion and $34 billion in 2018 and surpass an economic impact of $75 billion by 2022. The report notes that: "Estimates for the industry's economic impact are based on retail marijuana sales and incorporates a multiplier of 3.5. For every $1 consumers or patients spend at dispensaries or [recreational] stores, another $2.50 in economic benefit is created in cities, states, and nationwide." Once again, this is about more than just sales. The expansion of the legal cannabis industry could generate jobs and help prop up local economies.


7. Fully legalized cannabis could eventually top U.S. cigarette sales
Lastly, and perhaps most aggressively, Factbook offers up the idea that if marijuana were made legal in the U.S., we could see legal cannabis sales surpass cigarette sales. For context, The Wall Street Journal reported in April 2017 that cigarette industry sales in the U.S. hit an estimated $93.4 billion in 2016. This assumption likely assumes strong pricing power for cannabis products, as well as ongoing weakness in cigarette volumes as consumers quit tobacco products altogether or move away from tobacco in favor of cannabis.

However, the important thing to remember above else, at least for the time being, is that cannabis remains illegal in the United States. As long as ardent cannabis opponent Jeff Sessions heads the Justice Department, there appears to be little chance of altering the drug's scheduling. That's bad news for investors looking to take advantage of the green rush in the U.S., as well as a growth inhibitor for the industry itself.

 

[Baron23]

Marijuana by the Numbers
When we look at the available data, it becomes increasingly clear that marijuana policy needs a serious reform.

Examining cannabis through the available data gives us certainty. Numbers are precise. Statistics settle arguments and help place issues into context. So we’re taking a closer look at cannabis data in terms of arrests, use, cultivation, availability and consumption to find out what the numbers tell us about marijuana in the United States.

According to the annual National Drug Threat Assessment (NDTA), which is put together by federal law enforcement, “Marijuana is the most widely available and commonly used illicit drug in the United States.” This article looks more closely at just what that statement means.

The data in this article was all produced by the federal government. In that respect, it also reveals what information the government has about marijuana and marijuana users. The truth is that the government knows how many people use marijuana, that prohibition has not reduced or even controlled marijuana use, and that the goal of using prohibition to discourage marijuana use is a delusion. The government is also aware that under prohibition the United States has become the premier producer of marijuana in the world, setting the global standard for cannabis cultivation. Just about anyone in the United States who wants marijuana can find it easily, and what they find is generally of the highest quality. The government also knows that the spread of cannabis legalization is draining prohibition of any credible justification for its continued existence.

Arrests and Use

Roxanna Allen


In the United States, cannabis legalization began to be implemented in 2013. The criminal penalties ended by state legalization and decriminalization accounted for approximately 20 percent of annual marijuana arrests from 2001 to 2010.

In 2007, 872,720 total marijuana arrests were made nationwide. That’s the largest number of marijuana arrests ever made in a year. Taking those 872,720 arrests as a starting point, the elimination of 20 percent of these due to changes in state laws provides a baseline of 698,176 arrests. Thus the average number of arrests for 2015-16 of nearly 648,185 represents just a 7 percent reduction in marijuana arrests nationwide from 2007 and just a 5 percent reduction from 2010, the second-largest year for marijuana arrests (853,839).

The average number of annual marijuana arrests from 2001 to 2010 was 799,641. Reducing this by 20 percent to account for recent reform efforts that eliminate criminal penalties provides a baseline of 639,713 annual arrests. Compared to this baseline, the average number of arrests for 2015-16 represents an increase of 1.3 percent. Marijuana arrests today are essentially at the same level as they were a decade ago.

By 2016, over 118 million Americans had used marijuana at least once in their lifetime. There were 37.6 million annual marijuana users in 2016, of which 24 million had used marijuana in the past month (and are considered regular users of cannabis). In 2016, annual marijuana use was reported by 13.9 percent of Americans, up from 11.5 percent in 2011. Past-month use increased from 7 percent in 2011 to 8.9 percent in 2016.


As noted above, legalization has removed the threat of arrest for millions of marijuana users. Thus, while the number of arrests in non-legalization states has remained about the same as it was 10 years ago, the number of annual marijuana users has increased by about eight million, and the number of regular users has increased by about six million. So what does this say about the effectiveness of prohibition?

First, it is helpful to have some context here with respect to the extent that various crimes result in arrests. The technical designation is “offenses cleared by arrest,” which just means “arrested.” Second, such data should be looked at in terms of deterrence. There are two ways to look at this. Specific deterrence concerns the impact of arrest on the person arrested; the issue is the extent to which an arrest for a crime discourages or prevents an individual from committing that crime in the future. General deterrence concerns the impact of a potential arrest on other offenders; the prospect of arrest should discourage others from breaking the law. In 2016, about 45 percent of violent crimes reported to the police were cleared by arrest. The highest clearance percentage was for murder, with 59.4 percent of murders resulting in an arrest. Other clearance percentages for violent crime are as follows: rape (35.6 percent), robbery (29.6 percent) and aggravated assault (53.3 percent). For property crime, the clearance percentages are much lower, 18.3 percent overall, with 13.1 percent for burglary, 20.4 percent for larceny and 13.3 percent for motor-vehicle theft.

In 2011, there were 29.7 million annual users of marijuana. Of those cannabis users, 742,657 were arrested (only 2.5 percent). There can be no argument that this arrest level is effective in deterring people from using marijuana when this figure is compared with the clearance percentage of violent and property crimes.

Worse, in terms of the effectiveness of prohibition, the percentage of marijuana users arrested by police has been steadily decreasing over the last several years. This is no surprise, as several states have stopped arresting people for cannabis use. But in terms of national prohibition, the maintenance of arrest levels in non-legalization states is not sufficient to maintain the overall impact of this policy. The percentage of marijuana users arrested under prohibition laws has been decreasing from 2.5 percent in 2011 to 2.1 percent in 2012 and 2013, down to 2 percent in 2014 and now down to just 1.6 percent in 2015 and 2016.

Abuse

Roxanna Allen


In 2015, there were 213,001 admissions to treatment services for which marijuana was the primary substance of abuse, down from 352,396 in 2011 (a reduction of nearly 40 percent). According to the Treatment Episodes Data Set from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, marijuana accounted for 13.9 percent of treatment admissions in 2015, compared with 18.2 percent in 2011. However, 51.4 percent of marijuana-treatment admissions were a result of a referral from the criminal-justice system—most of these individuals had entered a drug-treatment program as a condition of probation, parole or other court directive. Furthermore, over half (54 percent) of marijuana admissions involved one or more other substances, frequently alcohol and/or cocaine as well as methamphetamine.

Just over 85 percent of treatment admissions were given some form of outpatient treatment. Only 45.2 percent of all marijuana-treatment admissions were diagnosed with cannabis dependency, according to professional clinical standards. Another 31.8 percent were diagnosed with cannabis-abuse problems. While this indicates that many marijuana-related treatment admissions had a clinical basis for treatment, 23 percent (about 49,000) of them did not. To summarize some key statistics here, out of 213,001 treatment admissions for marijuana, just over 109,000 people were referred to treatment by the courts, close to 76,000 had not used marijuana in the last month and 49,000 had no clinical basis indicating a problem with marijuana use.

Also of note, 41.1 percent of marijuana admissions for treatment were not covered by health insurance and another 39.4 percent were covered by Medicaid. In cases where an individual had no insurance, his or her treatment was usually paid for by some form of government payment. Consequently, most people in drug treatment for marijuana were there as an alternative to incarceration, with many agreeing to enter treatment even if they did not have clinical problem with abuse or dependency, and most of the cost of this practice was paid for by taxpayers.

Cultivation, Availability and Consumption

Roxanna Allen

In 2016, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized 5,348,922 marijuana plants in the United States. Of these, 4,942,797 were from outdoor grow sites while 406,125 were from indoor grow sites. Agents raided 5,528 outdoor grow sites and 1,865 indoor sites. The DEA’s Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program made 5,657 arrests and seized assets valued at close to $52 million. These figures were comparable to the past five years. While arrests were down in recent years, overall plant seizures increased in 2016 from the prior five-year average of 4.7 million. The number of indoor sites raided in 2016 was below the prior five-year average of 2,676, but the number of indoor plants seized was greater than the five-year average of 378,995.

Asset seizure increased substantially compared with the prior five-year average of $32 million.

Most of the DEA plant seizures in 2016 were in California (71 percent) and Kentucky (10 percent). Other states of interest, with over 100,00 plants seized, were Texas, Tennessee and West Virginia. California also had the most indoor grow sites seized (643), followed by Michigan (207), Indiana (164), Florida (152) and Kentucky (95).

The NDTA reports that 80 percent of responding agencies rated marijuana availability as high, and 16 percent rated availability as moderate. Availability increased over the past year in 34 percent of these jurisdictions, while 61 percent reported it was about the same. Demand also increased in 29 percent of the jurisdictions.

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health reports that in 2015, 56 percent of Americans found marijuana was fairly or very easy to obtain. This figure increased to 71 percent for those in the 18-to-25 age group. However, among annual marijuana users, 89.4 percent report that marijuana was fairly or very easy to get.

The 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) reports that only 17.1 percent of marijuana users bought marijuana from someone they just met or did not know well. Over three-fourths (77.6 percent) bought marijuana from a friend, and 5.4 percent bought marijuana from a relative or family member. Marijuana was most often bought inside a home, apartment or dorm (51.7 percent), while 17 percent bought marijuana outside in a public area or parking lot. However, a follow-up question with more detailed options provided more detail about pot purchases as 18 percent responded that they bought it in a medical marijuana dispensary or club. Most people were not able to buy marijuana near where they lived, with 42.7 percent reporting that they could do so and 57.2 percent reporting purchasing it somewhere else. Almost all respondents (95.3 percent) did not sell any marijuana from what they most recently purchased. On the other hand, 52.9 percent reported sharing or giving some of their last pot purchase to someone. Most marijuana consumers (66.2 percent) bought between one and less than five grams during their most recent purchase, with 26.4 percent reporting a purchase of five to less than 10 grams and 7.4 percent reporting a purchase of 10 grams or more.

Additionally, the 2015 NSDUH reported that 2,297,279 Americans 18 years and older sold illegal drugs along with 339,488 teenagers—bringing the total number of estimated US drug sellers to 2.6 million.

As of February 1, 2016, the NDTA was aware of 1,473 licensed medical-marijuana businesses in Colorado. It notes that, at the time, 25 states and Washington, DC, had approved medical marijuana. In 2016, federal law enforcement was also monitoring legalized marijuana in Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Washington, DC, as well as keeping track of state approval for cannabidiol (CBD) in 17 states and industrial hemp in 27 states.

Federal law enforcement, in looking for new issues of concern regarding marijuana cultivation, reports in the 2016 NDTA that “Electricity and water consumption are increasing in some localities due to increasing domestic cultivation from both state-approved and illicit grows. A 2012 study estimated the energy consumption for indoor cannabis production is around one percent of national electricity use, or $6 billion each year. This study also claims that one average kilogram of final marijuana product is associated with 4,600 kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. Open source reporting shows that more than 1,200 licensed growing facilities use roughly half of Colorado’s new power demands and, last year, those facilities combined to use about the same amount of energy as 35,000 households.”

Another concern of federal law enforcement has been the increasing potency of marijuana. In 2014, its testing of seized samples of marijuana indicated an average potency of 12 percent with the highest level reported to be 37 percent. In 1995, the average potency was just 3.95 percent. The average THC level of concentrates in 2014 was 55 percent, compared to 13 percent in 1995. Some concentrate seizures have tested above 82 percent THC.

According to the NDTA, the United States consumes between four and eight million kilograms of marijuana each year, with considerable commercial- and low-grade marijuana being imported from Mexico (though imported marijuana is now recognized as inferior to domestically produced marijuana). “In 2015, ArcView, a market research firm for investors in the state-approved marijuana industries, reported $5.4 billion dollars in state-approved marijuana sales in the United States, up from $4.6 billion dollars the previous year.”

The Future

Roxanna Allen

One area in which the federal government has it completely right concerns the future of marijuana in the United States. According to the NDTA, “Domestic use of marijuana will remain high and is likely to increase. Domestic production and trafficking of marijuana will likely increase as more states adopt relaxed marijuana laws.” The feds believe state legality will be exploited to produce marijuana for sale in other states; while they would be hard-pressed to admit it, this is just one more argument for nationwide legalization.

The NDTA also forecasts ongoing trafficking of Mexican marijuana, and that imported marijuana will increase in quality to compete better with domestically grown cannabis. “Fragmented and developing medical and personal use laws” create a lot of uncertainty for the public and for the marijuana industry, and this makes the issue much more complicated and complex for everyone involved, including the public, law enforcement, financial institutions and the medical community. But one thing is certain, and on this the marijuana community and federal law enforcement are in total agreement: “Marijuana will remain a part of domestic and international political discussions for the foreseeable future.”

 

[Baron23]

Don't get too excited...its just passed one committee. Long way from there to being the law of the land.

Federal lawmakers votes to protect state medical marijuana laws

The House appropriations committee for the first time heard and passed language, known as the Joyce amendment, to restrict funding for the Department of Justice to prosecute state-legal medical marijuana programs.

“Today [May 17th, 2018] marks a victory for medical marijuana programs and a loss for Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Passage of this amendment through regular order in the appropriations committee represents another big step in the normalization of state level marijuana reform in the Congress of the United States,” said NORML Political Director Justin Strekal

Previously, the amendment had not gone through the committee process and was inserted into the appropriations bill on the floor of the House, yet was blocked in 2017 by Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions, a militant marijuana prohibitionist. The amendment was offered by Representative David Joyce (R-OH).

“We thank Representative Joyce for his leadership to protect the 46 states that have reformed their marijuana policies and the over 2 million patients that they serve,” said Strekal.

Since 2014, members of Congress have passed annual spending bills that have included a provision protecting those who engage in the state-sanctioned use and dispensing of medical cannabis from undue prosecution by the Department of Justice. The amendment, previously known as the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer, maintains that federal funds cannot be used to prevent states from “implementing their own state laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession or cultivation of medical marijuana.”

Last year, Attorney General Jeff Sessions sent a letter to Congressional leadership to remove these restrictions, writing: “I believe it would be unwise for Congress to restrict the discretion of the Department to fund particular prosecutions, particularly in the midst of a historic drug epidemic and potentially long-term uptick in violent crime.”

According to recently released nationwide survey data, the majority of Americans are on our side. A whopping 93 percent support the medical use of marijuana. Perhaps most importantly, 71 percent of voters — including strong majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents — say that they “oppose the government enforcing federal laws against marijuana in states that have already legalized medical or recreational marijuana.”

To date, these statewide regulatory programs are operating largely as voters and politicians intended. The enactment of these policies have not negatively impacted workplace safety, crime rates, traffic safety, or youth use patterns. They have stimulated economic development and created hundreds of millions of dollars in new tax revenue. Specifically, a 2017 report estimates that 123,000 Americans are now working full-time in the cannabis industry.

Tax revenues from states like Colorado, Oregon, and Washington now exceed initial projections. Further, numerous studies have identified an association between cannabis access and lower rates of opioid use, abuse, hospitalizations, and mortality.