CCMA Greenbrief June 22: Smaller Cannabusinesses Getting Squeezed As Cannabis Industry Grows…What Cannabis Dispensaries Should Know About Prop. 65…Poll Shows More Support For Legalization Across All Parties…

CCMA Political greenBrief

Friday, June 22, 2018

www.cannabismanufacturers.org

New Poll Shows More Americans Showing Support For Cannabis Legalization

“We need to do everything in our power to assist and incentivize business to move from the black and gray market to the regulated market. And we need to do it this year — because people make their decisions early.”
Assemblymember Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) On Cannabis Businesses In California
“In an era of increasing partisanship, public support for ending cannabis criminalization is an issue that crosses party lines. More and more, elected officials – and those who wish to be elected – must acknowledge that advocating in favor of marijuana policy reform is a political opportunity, not a political liability.”
NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano On The Latest Poll To Come Out For Supporting Legalization
As Smaller Marijuana Businesses Get Squeezed, State Revenue Takes a Hit (CA – Cannabusiness)
PEW (June 21, 2018) Tyler Kearns, owner of the cannabis cultivation company Seven Leaves, stood in one of his half-dozen temperature-controlled grow rooms on a recent day, surveying a crop derived from the same mother plant. But winning public favor is only half the battle for operations such as Seven Leaves. The other challenge is trying to survive as a small business in the state’s increasingly crowded cannabis industry.
What Should California Cannabis Dispensaries Know About Prop. 65? (CA – Cannabusiness)
Cannabis Business Times (June 21, 2018) Sonoma Patient Group, the longest-running cannabis dispensary in Santa Rosa, Calif., agreed to pay a $40,000 legal settlement in May 2018. The lawsuit was just the latest iteration of a growing trend in California’s civil litigation landscape: Prop. 65 violations in the cannabis industry. The dispensary had failed to provide sufficient warnings to customers that certain products contained—or rather, produced—a substance that the state of California had listed as a carcinogen. 
Some Cannabis Is Discounted Before July 1 Regulation Deadline (CA – State Regulations)
CBS Sacramento (June 21, 2018) If you’re in the market for some cheap pot, you may be in luck, but you better hurry. Marijuana retailers across the state are seeing themselves forced to sell their cannabis products at a discount ahead of the July 1 deadline that will require products meet new state regulations. Packaging will have to include the product’s potency, where the product came from, and what other ingredients are found in it.
LA County Leaders Are Open To Marijuana Industry, But Slow And ‘Careful’ To Remove Ban (CA – Cannabusiness)
Los Angeles Daily News (June 20, 2018) The Board of Supervisors appears to be leaning toward allowing a wide range of marijuana businesses in unincorporated Los Angeles County. However, the board this week opted to leave a full ban on the cannabis industry in effect, with nothing expected to change for at least several months. A decision is needed because, while Proposition 64 made it legal in California for adults to use cannabis recreationally nearly two years ago, the law also gave cities and counties the authority to regulate or ban most other marijuana activities within their borders.
Humboldt Marijuana Growers Tighten Belts For Legalization (CA – Local Operations)
ABC 7 (June 20, 2018) We got a look inside what was once a crime ridden industry threatening California’s pristine North Coast that is now being transformed. We went inside the Emerald Triangle, three Northern California counties at the epicenter of the state’s cannabis growing operations for decades to find out what it is costing them to be legal.
Across Gender, Race, And Party, More Americans Than Ever Support Cannabis Legalization (USA – Federal Legalization)
Leafly (June 20, 2018) With legislation pending in Congress that would effectively end federal prohibition, a new national poll has found record support among registered voters for legalizing cannabis and taking steps to limit the impact of nonviolent criminal convictions. A majority of all partisan, gender, and racial groups now support cannabis legalization, the poll found. Across all respondents, 68% said they favor legalization, with 40% saying they’re “strongly” in favor.
Additional Adult-Use Applications Of Cannabis Are Pushing The Market Upward USA – Cannabis Market)
PR Newswire (June 21, 2018) According to a recent report published by Forbes, Brightfield Group projects that the global cannabis market was worth USD 7.7 Billion at the end of 2017, and is predicted to reach USD 31.4 Billion by 2021. The United States accounts for about 90% of the whole market, but its domination of the market is likely to decrease to approximately 57%, due to the legalization of cannabis products in other nations. Canada is considered as one of the largest markets for cannabis products and the country plans to legalize recreational cannabis later this year. Earlier this year, California voted in favor of recreational cannabis laws, which were officially implemented on January 1st, 2018.
Dispensary And Extract Companies Raise Money For LGBTQ Nonprofits (USA – Cannabis Charity)
Green Rush Daily (June 20, 2018) A California cannabis dispensary has teamed up with an extract producer to raise money to support LGBTQ communities. In celebration of Pride Month, these companies have grown a specific strain called Reckless Rainbow. Part of the proceeds will go towards a California advocacy group that provides HIV treatment as well as small business grants for LGBTQ community members.
Investigation: Hospitals Are Denying Organ Transplants To Marijuana Patients (USA – National Issue)
Herb (June 20, 2018) n April, the Vermont House of Representatives considered a bill to address a serious problem most medical cannabis patients didn’t know they had. The bill would have prevented hospitals from disqualifying medical cannabis patients from receiving an organ transplant—a common practice, even in legal cannabis states. Under anti-discrimination laws like the one Vermont was considering, hospitals are prevented from denying patients procedures or treatments, like organ transplants, solely on the basis that they use medical cannabis.
Cannabis Oil: What Is It And Does It Really Work As Medicine? (USA – Health Benefits)
New Scientist (June 22, 2018) Cannabis is in the headlines for its potential medical benefits after the recent confiscation of cannabis oil medication from the mother of a 12-year-old British boy with severe epilepsy. The furore that ensued is shining a light on campaigns for cannabis oils to be made legal for medical reasons, and the UK government has now announced a review into the use of medicinal cannabis. Here’s what you need to know.
The 6,000-Year History Of Medical Cannabis (USA – Medicinal Cannabis)
Visual Capitalist (June 20, 2018) Since the early 20th century, the use of cannabis for any purpose fell out of favor by both regulators and Western culture at large. In the United States, a wave of regulations made access to cannabis more difficult starting from the late 1900s, ultimately culminating in the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, which effectively made cannabis use a federal offense. Meanwhile, prohibition in Canada lasted for 85 years until being lifted by recent developments.
Cleveland School Of Cannabis Grads Take First Steps Toward Career In Marijuana (OH – Cannabis Education)
Cleveland 19 (June 21, 2018) Medical marijuana won’t be available to patients in Ohio until September, but work has been going on for years behind the scenes. Thursday evening, nearly 40 men and women made history by becoming the first class to graduate from the Cleveland School of Cannabis.
What Will Recreational Cannabis Look Like In Canada? (Canada – National Legalization)
420 Intel (June 22, 2018) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Wednesday that recreational cannabis will be legal nationwide by October 17. In the meantime, provinces, territories and their respective municipalities are scrambling to work out how things will be regulated and to ensure they’re prepared for legal sales.
Canada’s Legalization To Offer Marijuana By Mail, Better Banking (Canada – National Legalization)
The Cannifornian (June 22, 2018) With nationwide marijuana legalization in Canada on the horizon, the industry is shaping up differently there than the way it was established in nine U.S. states that have similarly broad legalization. Age limits, government involvement in distribution and sales, and access to banking are some big discrepancies. And, yes, Canadians will be able to order cannabis online and have it delivered through the mail — something that’s illegal in the United States.
Key Marijuana Drug Approval Looms As Cannabis Goes Mainstream (World – Medicinal Cannabis)
Reuters (June 21, 2018) Evidence that cannabis can ease epilepsy and other conditions is building as a British company counts down to what would be the first U.S. government approval for a prescription drug derived from the marijuana plant. GW Pharmaceuticals, which has spent 20 years developing medicines from cannabis, is hoping for a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) green light by June 27, after winning support from an advisory panel in April.