Political greenBrief
Thursday, October 12, 2017
“The federal government can’t investigate everything and shouldn’t, and I don’t want them pursuing medical marijuana patients who are following state law, we have more important things for the Department of Justice to do than tracking down doctors or epileptics using medical marijuana legally in their state.”
Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy (D)
“We are in the process of stockpiling cannabis in order to fulfill the market needs, we believe there will be a huge rush. We go through two to four pounds [per day] on average, and we anticipate going through three to four times as much when we open the doors for recreational.”
Zach Lazarus, COO Of The Green Alternative
California Confirms Recreational Sales Should Begin January 1st (CA – Recreational Cannabis)
The Marijuana Times (October 11, 2017) Almost a year ago, four more states made the bold decision to vote in favor of cannabis legalization – and California is preparing for legal sales of recreational marijuana to begin at the start of the new year. While Nevada followed Oregon’s model, allowing medical marijuana dispensaries to sell to adults 21 and older while they prepare licensing and regulating new cannabis businesses, California, Maine and Massachusetts all decided to hold off until 2018 to begin sales to recreational customers.
https://www.marijuanatimes.org/california-confirms-recreational-sales-should-begin-january-1st/
Coronado City Council Votes To Strictly Control Marijuana In City (CA – Cannabis Regulations)
Coronado Eagle & Journal (October 11, 2017) During their meeting of Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017, the Coronado City Council voted unanimously to control all aspects of commercial marijuana in the city. Specifically, the action strengthened and extended a local ordinance designed to, “Expressly prohibit the establishment and operation of all commercial marijuana activities, including marijuana cultivation, processing, delivery, and dispensary activities, in the city of Coronado.”
http://www.coronadonewsca.com/news/coronado_city_news/coronado-city-council-votes-to-strictly-control-marijuana-in-city/article_219a4e04-aeaa-11e7-b067-f37cc22181f7.html
489,000-Square-Foot Medical Cannabis Cultivation Facility Set To Break Ground In Cathedral City This Year (CA – Medical Cannabis)
Palm Desert Patch (October 10, 2017) A cannabis cultivation facility is expected to break ground in Cathedral City before the end of the year, city officials said Tuesday. The Sunniva Campus, a proposed 489,000-square-feet medical cannabis cultivation and production facility, was unanimously approved for a Conditional Use Permit by the city’s Planning Commission.
https://patch.com/california/palmdesert/489-000-square-foot-medical-cannabis-cultivation-facility-set-break-ground
Santa Monica Gives Medical Marijuana Dispensaries A Green Light (CA – Medical Cannabis)
Santa Monica Daily Press (October 11, 2017) More than two decades after California voters passed the Compassionate Use Act, allowing the state to become the first in the U.S. to allow medical marijuana use by patients, Santa Monica will allow the first two dispensaries to open in the city.
http://smdp.com/santa-monica-gives-medical-marijuana-dispensaries-a-green-light/162866
The Golden State Goes Green (CA – Cannabis Industry)
The Portland Mercury (October 11, 2017) If you ask someone in Oregon what they think about people from California, and they’ll probably say, “I want them to stop moving here, driving up real estate prices, and clogging my commute.” Actually, it’s more likely the person will mumble something about how much it rains here, which means that the person is from California.
http://www.portlandmercury.com/cannabuzz/2017/10/11/19381558/the-golden-state-goes-green
Massive NorCal Wildfires Threaten State’s $2 Billion Marijuana Crop (CA – Cannabis Industry)
San Francisco Business Times (October 11, 2017) The 21 major wildfires burning throughout Northern California have burned or are threatening to incinerate thousands of medical cannabis farms, a legal industry that produced $2 billion in sales last year. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the current fires in Sonoma County alone could damage or destroy between 3,000 and 9,000 legal marijuana grows. Fully one-third of members of the California Growers Association (CGA) have either helped neighbors flee the fire ravaged areas or evacuated themselves.
https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2017/10/11/massive-norcal-wildfires-threaten-marijuana-crops.html
Medical Marijuana, Inc. Portfolio Of Companies Announces Expansion Of Offices And Warehouse Operations In California (CA – Medical Cannabis)
Markets Insider (October 11, 2017) Medical Marijuana, Inc.(OTC: MJNA), the first-ever publicly traded cannabis company in the United States, announced today that it has expanded the size of its operations warehouse, more than tripling the size of the previous site. This expansion is a direct result of the rapid sales growth within the portfolio of companies, and with this growth over the coming months will come approximately 20 new employment opportunities at the operations facility.
http://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/Medical-Marijuana-Inc-Portfolio-of-Companies-Announces-Expansion-of-Offices-and-Warehouse-Operations-in-California-1003824247
Wildfires Are Endangering Parts Of California’s $2 Billion Marijuana Industry (CA – Cannabis Industry)
Business Insider (October 10, 2017) More than a dozen wildfires are raging across Northern California, collectively burning through over 100,000 acres and destroying 1,500 homes, businesses, and other structures. The situation is already one of the worst firestorms in California history. The fires not only threaten the state’s famous wine grapes in Napa and Sonoma – but also its marijuana crops.
http://www.businessinsider.sg/santa-rosa-fire-how-fire-is-affecting-the-marijuana-industry-2017-10/
Who’s In Charge Of Federal Weed Policy Right Now? (USA – Cannabis Industry)
The Portland Mercury (October 11, 2017) People will tell you different things, but in my opinion the three most important executive chairs governing weed law and policy, aside from President Trump, are 1) the attorney general of the Department of Justice (DOJ), 2) the administrator of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and 3) the secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). Number 1 is, of course, Jeff Sessions, but as of last week, numbers 2 and 3 on that list are goners, which makes the federal landscape for weed stranger than ever.
http://www.portlandmercury.com/ask-a-pot-lawyer/2017/10/11/19381564/whos-in-charge-of-federal-weed-policy-right-now
With Plans To Sell CBD Nationwide, Lucky’s Market Charts Legal Gray Area (USA – Cannabis Industry)
Leafly (October 11, 2017) With cannabis legalization spreading across the country, it sometimes feels like any day now you could walk into a grocery store and see some sort of pot product on the shelves. Now, at more than two dozen Lucky’s Market locations across the country, that’s true—at least in terms of items containing CBD, the non-psychoactive cannabinoid believed to have numerous medical benefits.
https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/with-plans-to-sell-cbd-nationwide-luckys-market-charts-legal-gray-area
MMJ Industry Operation Reforms Approved For Detroit, Michigan Mayoral Ballots (USA – Cannabis Industry)
Ganjapreneur (October 11, 2017) Voters in Detroit, Michigan will consider two cannabis industry-related proposals during its Nov. 7 mayoral election, Detroit Metro News reports. The proposals, championed by Citizens for Sensible Cannabis Reform, are aimed at changing the legislature-approved rules for exactly where cannabis industry operators can set up shop.
https://www.ganjapreneur.com/mmj-industry-operation-reforms-approved-for-detroit-michigan-mayoral-ballots/
Sessions Seeks To End Protection For Medical Marijuana (DC – Medical Cannabis)
Pain News Network (October 11, 2017) If you’re one of the millions of Americans who uses medical marijuana, you need to be aware of something going on in Congress that could affect your legal right to use cannabis. A few months ago, Attorney General Jeff Sessions wrote a letter to congressional leaders urging them to ditch an amendment that effectively prevents the Department of Justice from investigating or prosecuting cannabis users or sellers in states where medical marijuana is legal.
https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2017/10/11/sessions-may-derail-protection-for-medical-marijuana
Former AG Holder: Sessions’ ‘Obsession’ With Cannabis Puts DOJ In ‘Strange Place’ (DC – Cannabis Legalization)
Ganjapreneur (October 11, 2017) During remarks at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, former Attorney General Eric Holder called the 2013 Cole Memo, which directed the Department of Justice to take a hands-off approach on legal cannabis programs, “a really good policy” but seemed to not understand Congressional action on the issues, the Washington Examiner reports.
https://www.ganjapreneur.com/former-ag-holder-sessions-obsession-with-cannabis-puts-doj-in-strange-place/
Texas’ First MMJ Dispensary Set To Open In December (TX – Cannabis Dispensaries)
Ganjapreneur (October 11, 2017) Texas’ first medical cannabis dispensary is slated to open in December and according to a Houston Public Media report, there are already around 150,000 patients in the state registered to access the program. Despite the high patient count, the program is of the limited variety, offering low-THC, high-CBD oils for patients with intractable epilepsy.
https://www.ganjapreneur.com/texas-first-mmj-dispensary-set-to-open-in-december/
