CCMA Greenbrief May 31: LA Begins Crackdown On Illegal Cannabis Activity…Cannabis Bills Facing Hurdles At State Capitol…Pesticides Becoming Major Issue With Illicit Market…

CCMA Political greenBrief

Thursday, May 31, 2018

www.cannabismanufacturers.org

Crackdown On Unlicensed Cannabis Retailers Begins In Los Angeles County

“Businesses that flout the City’s new cannabis law will be held accountable. I urge all property owners and marijuana businesses to follow the law and work with my office and the City’s Department of Cannabis Regulation to avoid facing serious criminal consequences.”
Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer On Unlicensed Cannabis Companies
“The reality of the situation is there is so much black market marijuana in California that we could use all of our resources going after just the black market and never get there. So for right now, our priorities are to focus on what have been historically our federal law enforcement priorities: interstate trafficking, organized crime and the federal public lands.”
McGregor Scott, U.S. Attorney For The Eastern District In CA, Discussing The Increased Use Of Banned Pesticides At Illegal Cannabis Farms
City Attorney Mike Feuer Launches Crackdown On Unlicensed Commercial Cannabis Activity; 37 Criminal Cases Filed Involving 33 Locations, Two Delivery Services And 149 Defendants (CA – Illegal Market)
LA City Attorney (May 30, 2018) City Attorney Mike Feuer today announced that his office, in coordination with the Los Angeles Police Department, has filed 37 criminal cases against 149 defendants associated with 33 commercial locations across the city, and two delivery services, for unlicensed commercial cannabis activity. Effective January 2018, all businesses conducting commercial cannabis activity in the City of Los Angeles are required to be licensed by both the State of California and the City of Los Angeles. The new regulations follow the passage in recent years of state laws allowing recreational cannabis use and cannabis sales in the State of California.
Key California Marijuana Bills Face June 1 Hurdle At State Capitol (CA – Cannabis Legislation)
Marijuana Business Daily (May 30, 2018) The California marijuana industry suffered a significant setback in the statehouse last week when a bill to reduce a statewide excise tax died in committee. Although that bill was considered the top legislative priority for the California Cannabis Industry Association, it’s far from the only measure the CCIA is tracking.
California Lawmakers Kill Cannabis Bills As Session Winds Down; 7 Remain (CA – Cannabis Legislation)
Ganjaprenuer (May 30, 2018) Several cannabis-related bills have failed in California just days before the deadline for them to pass the chamber in which they were introduced, East Bay Express reports. One would have cut the excise tax on retail cannabis sales and suspended the cultivation tax; another would have given medical cannabis patients the same rights as those prescribed opioids.
Feds Refresh California Marijuana Strategy (CA – Illegal Market)
Leafly (May 30, 2018)  An alarming increase in the use of a highly toxic and banned pesticide at illegal marijuana farms hidden on public land in California is leading U.S. and state officials to team up on an issue that recently divided them: pot. They announced Tuesday that they will use $2.5 million in federal money to target illegal grows even as they remain at odds over the drug and other issues.
California Closer To Allowing Cannabis At Special Events (CA – Recreational Use)
The Fresh Toast (May 31, 2018) California is the land of plenty — plenty of festivals celebrating its natural bounty of agricultural achievements. Not only does the state have more than its share of celebrations of hops (brewfests) and grapes (wine-tasting soirees), there are entire weekends devoted to artichokes, asparagus, almonds and avocados. And that’s just the first letter of the alphabet. Cannabis? Well, it’s complicated.
On Bans And Taxes: California Hits A Few Speed Bumps (CA – Cannabis Industry)
Freedom Leaf (May 30, 2018) Among the nine states that have legalized the adult use of cannabis, California has the largest population and agricultural base. Adding recreational-marijuana sales to the state’s long-legal medical-use industry is expected to generate $3.7 billion in sales by the end of 2018.
Illegal Pot Grows Spread Deadly Pesticides, Other Hazards, Despite Change In Law (CA – Pesticide Use) 
San Francisco Chronicle (May 29, 2018) The legalization of cannabis in California has done almost nothing to halt illegal marijuana growing by Mexican drug cartels, which are laying bare large swaths of national forest in California, poisoning wildlife, and siphoning precious water out of creeks and rivers, U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott said Tuesday.
Feds Attack Illicit Northern California Weed Grows with $2.5 Million Offensive (CA – Illegal Market)
Merry Jane (May 30, 2018) California is approaching the six month anniversary of enacting legal adult-use cannabis sales, and Golden State regulators are already raking in millions of dollars in local and state taxes. But tucked away in the dense public forests of California’s northern counties, thousands of black market marijuana cultivators are still shirking local laws and tax collectors, contaminating local waterways, and, now, drawing the intense scrutiny of one U.S. Attorney.
California, US Team Up On An Issue That Divides Them: Pot (CA – Illegal Market)
KPBS (May 29, 2018) An alarming increase in the use of a highly toxic and banned pesticide at illegal marijuana farms hidden on public land in California is leading U.S. and state officials to team up on an issue that recently divided them: pot. They announced Tuesday that they will use $2.5 million in federal money to target illegal grows even as they remain at odds over the drug and other issues. Federal law still bans pot, but U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott said he will prioritize illegal weed rather than going after the world’s largest legal recreational marijuana market, a decision U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has left to the discretion of top federal prosecutors.
Canadian Pharma Company Sets Up Medical-Marijuana Firm In Southern California (CA – Cannabis Industry)
The Cannifornian (May 29, 2018) Pivot Pharmaceuticals, a Vancouver-based biopharmaceutical company, has leased a manufacturing facility in Costa Mesa that will act as the U.S. headquarters for its medical marijuana subsidiary Pivot Naturals, according to a statement. Details on the address were not available as of Friday, May 25, but the company said the building falls in the city’s Measure X medical marijuana zone. The company, which is seeking a marijuana business permit from the city, will use the facility for wholesale medical marijuana distributing, manufacturing, processing and transporting as well as research and development and testing laboratories.
The Cannabis Market Is Projected To Rise Due To Medical Advancements (USA – Medical Cannabis)
PR Newswire (May 30, 2018) According to a research by Oristep Consulting, the global medical cannabis market in 2016 was USD 12.67 billion and will reach USD 33.41 billion by 2022 at a CAGR of 17.53% during the forecasted period. Numerous scientific studies of the cannabinoid chemical have led to development of FDA-approved medications in pill form. The two main variations of cannabinoids derived from the cannabis plant are THC and CBD, which are used for medical purposes as treatments for various conditions such as increasing appetite, reduce nausea, decreasing pain, muscle control problems and more.
In The New World Of Legal Recreational Marijuana, Don’t Flood Teens With Pot Ads (USA – Underage Use)
USA Today (May 30, 2018) On a major thoroughfare in Los Angeles congested not with cars but with billboards, advertising abounds for the latest legal controlled substance in town. No longer an outlaw, marijuana almost seems to be celebrating its new recreational status with jumbo-size ads touting “Blackout Brownies,” cannabis-infused pomegranate juice called “California Dreamin,” and a delivery service announcing “hello marijuana” and “goodbye stress.”
DEA Responds: ‘These Are Not the Marihuanas We Are Looking For’ (USA – Cannabis Products)
Lexology (May 29, 2018) Earlier this year, we outlined a potential argument concerning hemp-derived CBD oil and its status under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Our argument focused on the CSA’s definition of the term “marihuana,” which excludes mature stalks, oil or cake made from seeds from the list of controlled substances. The CSA exception extends to oils derived from marihuana but not to “resin” derived from marihuana. The DEA’s internal directive does not alter previous statements regarding their coding for marihuana extracts, but notes the drug code for marihuana extract “extends no further than the CSA does.”
Federal Alcohol Regulators: No CBD In Beer (USA – Cannabis Products)
Ganjapreneur (May 30, 2018) The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau has made it official: the agency will not approve any alcohol formulations containing CBD or THC. The announcement coincides with a report last week that the agency ordered a California brewery to cease production of its CBD infused brews. But isn’t CBD legal in all 50 states? No, it’s not.