CCMA Political greenBrief
Friday, August 10, 2018
“This CORE program is going to help those who were disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs. It will help us who suffered generational poverty to benefit from the region’s $4 billion industry in cannabis.”Malaki Seku-Amen Of The California Urban Partnership On Sacramento’s Move To Help Local Cannabis Businesses
“The Obama administration attempted to address this issue by expanding the number of federally authorized cultivation facilities, but Attorney General Sessions has continued to block the program and has not acted on any of the 26 applications received in the last few years.”
Shawn Hauser, Attorney For Vicente Sederberg, On The Ongoing Battle To Legalize CBD
Human Resources & Talent Management in Cannabis, August 14th (CA – Los Angeles Event)
Join the CCMA, the California Cannabis Industry Association, HR, employment and staffing professionals and operators who are implementing HR best practices in their respective organizations. August 14th from 6-9pm in Santa Monica. This is an opportunity for brands and manufacturers to learn organizational best practices, protect your business from future legal problems, and attract and retain talent. Event details below.
California’s Hopes For The Legal Marijuana Industry Aren’t Coming True (CA – Cannabis Industry)
Investors Business Daily (August 8, 2018) In the decades before U.S. states began to legalize recreational marijuana, perhaps you heard a few people argue that if the government just legalized marijuana, then taxed and regulated it, then the government would rake in a ton of money. Legal marijuana, in turn, would suffocate the illicit market, and people would buy the legal product anyway because weed sells itself. Well, it hasn’t totally panned out that way yet, at least in California, despite recreational legalization in the state this year. Many people are still buying weed on the illicit market, thanks in part to steep markups and high taxes in legal pot shops, along with local restrictions, according to survey data released Wednesday from marijuana delivery service Eaze.
https://www.investors.com/news
San Diego’s Cannabis Supply Chain Is Falling Into Place, With One Production Business Approved And 39 More On Tap (CA – Cannabusiness)
San Diego Union Tribune (August 10, 2018) San Diego is making swift progress on its plan to have a local supply chain for its marijuana dispensaries, with 15 indoor pot farms and cannabis edible factories slated for final city approvals in coming weeks. Those businesses will follow the city’s first approved marijuana production facility, a food products factory for Otay Mesa that cleared its final city hurdle last week. The accelerated progress comes just a few months after leaders of the local marijuana industry expressed concerns that rigorous city environmental approvals and other regulatory hurdles were slowing the process down.
http://www.sandiegouniontribun
Water Regulators Target Pirate Marijuana Farmers In Southern California (CA – Cannabis Cultivation)
The Orange County Register (August 8, 2018) After Riverside County deputies raided an unlicensed cannabis farm in the small, unincorporated community of Aguanga, they found nearly 3,000 plants growing scattered between the brush. The tip that led Sgt. Tyson Voss and his team to that illicit farm last month came from a source you might not expect: the Cannabis Enforcement Unit of the California State Water Resources Control Board. The state water agency created a cannabis team four years ago to investigate marijuana growers in Northern California who divert or pollute waterways.
Sacramento To Help Launch Minority Pot Businesses In Struggling Neighborhoods (CA – Cannabusiness)
The Sacramento Bee (August 9, 2018) The Sacramento City Council took a big step Thursday toward giving minority business owners and residents of disadvantaged neighborhoods better access to the billion-dollar cannabis industry. The Council unanimously approved the Cannabis Opportunity Reinvestment and Equity (CORE) program after months of fine-tuning. Council members said the program would allow those impacted most by the “War on Drugs” to open a cannabis business without paying thousands of dollars in permit fees. It also will provide support to entrepreneurs to help them navigate the permitting process.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/lo
Why Is CBD Illegal If It’s Non-Intoxicating? (USA – Medicinal Properties)
Leafly (August 8, 2018) Cannabidiol (CBD) has been getting a lot of press lately for being safe, non-intoxicating and helpful for treating a variety of medical issues. So why is it illegal and classified as a “Schedule 1” drug? Experts say the answer is simple: marijuana prohibition continues to create huge barriers to researching and producing this valuable cannabinoid. CBD is one of the most plentiful cannabinoids in marijuana, second only to THC — the main, active ingredient in cannabis.
https://www.leafly.com/news/ca
Non-Flower Products To Dominate 40% Of Cannabis Market By 2020 (USA – Cannabis Products)
Benzinga (August 10, 2018) New Frontier Data, the global authority in data analytics and business intelligence in the cannabis industry, releases 2018 Cannabis Industry Trends Report: Market Insights. This report examines trends in the burgeoning cannabis industry across the United States and explores market demand, federal and legislative action, compliant banking practices, and the opioid epidemic. In Arizona between March 2017 and March 2018, monthly sales of flower grew by 42 percent, while edibles grew by 51 percent and concentrates grew by a whopping 113 percent.
Your Favorite Cannabis Strains And Their Main Terpenes (USA – Cannabis Elements)
Leafly (August 8, 2018) Ahh, the terpene, that flavorful element of cannabis offering a rich display of flavors and physical benefits which are currently receiving a surge of popularity and scientific research. As our knowledge behind the science of cannabis expands, so too does our knowledge of terpenes. An ever-changing element that can unlock the healthy nuances of our favorite plant, terpenes provide fragrant oils which lend aromatic and beneficial dynamics to cannabis.
https://www.leafly.com/news/st
International Cannabis Trade Explodes, Canada Capitalizes (Worldwide – Cannabis Market)
Benzinga (August 10, 2018) Cannabis is slowly taking root in increasingly tolerant communities. The incremental decriminalization or legalization of cannabis across the world has fed an expanding international market trading the plant, its extracts and its end products. “2018 has seen a lot of trends in cannabis, but the beginning of an international market infrastructure is one of the most promising features of the industry for investor interest,” AxisWire CEO Cynthia Salarizadeh told Benzinga.
Massachusetts Wants People Harmed By The Drug War To Sell Legal Marijuana. How’s It Going So Far? (MA – Cannabusiness)
Forbes (August 10, 2018) Massachusetts is leading a groundbreaking effort to ensure that people from communities that have historically been disproportionately targeted for enforcement under the “war on drugs” are able to participate in the newly legal marijuana industry. The Bay State’s social equity program is available to cannabis business license applicants who meet certain criteria for having been harmed by drug enforcement, and is meant to ease entry into a competitive industry that in other states has mostly been available to relatively privileged people with access to large amounts of capital.
Medical Marijuana In Maine: A Mother-Daughter Adventure (ME – Medicinal Marijuana)
Leafly (August 9, 2018) It was the first piece of good news in a very long time. Not only was the oncologist willing to give my mother a medical marijuana card, it was delivered minutes after my mother had asked about the possibility of getting one. My older brother had been killed in a motorcycle accident in January, a mere six months earlier. Since then, my mom had developed an aggressive form of lymphoma that had gone from zero to stage 4 in record time, with its symptoms—fatigue and weakness—mistaken as side effects of grief.
https://www.leafly.com/news/li
