CCMA Greenbrief October 10: CA Scientists Begin Building “Weed Biofactories”…Trump Administration Taking Public Comments On Cannabis…Law Enforcement To Target “Wandering Weed” In CA…

CCMA Political greenBrief

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

www.cannabismanufacturers.org

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Governor Jerry Brown Signs Bill That Prohibits The Sale Of CBD Cocktails

“By any rational assessment, cannabis prohibition is a disproportionate public policy response to behavior that is, at worst, a public health concern. But it should not be a criminal justice matter and international laws should no longer classify it as such.”
Paul Armentano, Deputy Director Of NORML, On The World Health Organization’s Consideration For International Cannabis Control
“Rushing these (applications) through would be a mistake, as that could lead to real environmental damage. Letting permits expire as applicants run out of time would also be a mistake, as the entire goal includes bringing cultivators into taxing, permitting, and environmental compliance.”
Humboldt County Officials On Local Regulators Needing More Time For Licensing Companies

Contracts & Agreements in the Cannabis Supply Chain, October 16 (Los Angeles)

Join the CCMA and a group of lawyers and licensed operators along the cannabis supply chain to talk about contracts and agreements between cannabis operators – from cultivators to manufacturers, distributors, labs and retailers. We even have a lawyer focused on deal terms for companies raising $$ or getting acquired.

http://futurecannabisproject.org/2018/10/cannabis-contracts-legal-agreements-operators/

 

California Gov. Jerry Brown Signs Law That Prohibits The Sale Of CBD Cocktails And Beverages (CA – CBD Market)

Los Angeles Eater (October 9, 2018) Since 2015, Los Angeles restaurants and bars began adding cannabidiol, or CBD, to cocktail menus. For an extra fee or elevated price, bars offer the non-psychoactive cannabis extract as a supplement to any drink. This trend expanded greatly after January 1, 2018, when California legalized the recreational use of cannabis. But adding CBD to any cocktail at a public establishment is now illegal, thanks to Governor Jerry Brown signing Assembly Bill 2914 in late September. AB 2914’s official stance prohibits bars and liquor stores from selling alcohol drinks with cannabis. The bill’s language is specific to any LA bar making CBD cocktails:

https://la.eater.com/2018/10/9/17956460/jerry-brown-bill-2914-bars-restaurants-cannabis-cocktails

 

California’s 2nd ‘Cannabis Cup’ Postponed Until 2019 (CA – Cannabis Events)

ABC 10 (October 9, 2018) Just five months ago, High Times organizers pulled off the first California marijuana festival where recreational marijuana was legally purchased on-site. And it almost didn’t happen. Organizers needed a permit from the city and didn’t realize it until a few weeks leading up to the event. They got the permit just a few days before. “It was the first one in the state. I think like many thing related to cannabis, it’s been a learning experience on all sides, both on local and those being regulated,” said Joe Devlin, Sacramento’s Chief of Cannabis Policy & Enforcement.

https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento/californias-2nd-cannabis-cup-postponed-until-2019/602700662

 

Law Enforcement Will Target ‘Wandering Weed’ Across California (CA – Delivery Services)

Visalia Times Delta (October 9, 2018) Law enforcement agencies from across the state are pushing to stop the practice of “wandering weed.” The League of California Cities, the California Police Chiefs Association and United Food and the Commercial Workers Western States Council, have urged the Bureau of Cannabis Control to amend proposed regulations that allow marijuana to be delivered anywhere in California. The proposed regulations by the Bureau of Cannabis Control would permit delivery of recreational cannabis from jurisdictions that have banned such sales. Officials have argued local control played an integral role in the passage of Proposition 64.

https://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/story/news/2018/10/09/law-enforcement-target-wandering-weed-across-california/1492531002/

 

As The Cannabis Market Heats Up, Scientists Race To Build ‘Weed Biofactories’ (CA – Cannabis Research)

Daily Hampshire Gazette (October 10, 2018) Scientists are hustling on behalf of the weed industry to find new ways to produce the most valuable compounds in marijuana, ditching greenhouses in favor of big steel vats of yeast that can ‘brew’ cannabis like Budweiser brews beer. The science, once brought to market, would be a goldmine for those who perfect it, giving two separate industries – pharma and legal weed – stable, potent and cheap sources of the ingredients they need. Right now, the industry’s two most in-demand ingredients are THC, the compound in marijuana that gets you high, and CBD, another cannabis compound used for its medicinal effect. Today, we get those compounds by growing weed plants in large greenhouses, then extracting and isolating the active ingredients. It’s a big, dirty and expensive process.

https://www.gazettenet.com/As-cannabis-market-heats-up-scientists-race-to-build-weed-biofactories-20781015

 

California Needs More Time To Vet And License Marijuana Businesses (CA – Cannabis Licensing)

The Orange County Register (October 9, 2018) The state is in the process of creating a second stop-gap licensing program for the cannabis industry to avoid a potential disruption in the supply chain for California’s newly legal marijuana market. Since the state’s recreational marijuana market kicked in, on Jan. 1, the state has issued only temporary business permits to cannabis companies, pending the applicants providing key information and final approval from the communities where they operate. But with many of those temporary permits set to expire — and with many communities still wrestling with cannabis approval — state regulators hope a second provisional licensing system will buy time to implement a full annual licensing system.

https://www.ocregister.com/2018/10/09/california-needs-more-time-to-vet-and-license-marijuana-businesses/

 

The Quest To Make California’s Weed The Champagne Of Cannabis (CA – Cannabis Cultivation)

Wired (October 10, 2018) What’s in a name? For champagne, it’s the expectation of excellence and at the very least, bubbles. It’s even protected by law: To call a liquid champagne, you have to grow it in a certain part of France under certain rules of planting, pressing and even packaging. All the fuss means champagne makers can charge a premium for their product. The same may soon be true for Northern California’s legendary weed. Legalization of cannabis in the state has been great for consumers—it means more oversight and safety testing, and fewer people thrown in jail for possession. But it’s been hell for growers. These farmers are suddenly finding themselves swamped with mountains of regulations meant to protect the environment and the consumer, but which end up burdening the grower.

https://www.wired.com/story/the-quest-to-make-californias-weed-the-champagne-of-cannabis/

 

Special Delivery: Cannabis On Demand (CA – Delivery Services)

San Francisco Chronicle (October 9, 2018) First came pizza and Chinese food. Then came organic groceries and gourmet restaurant meals. Now cannabis is the latest indulgence you can order and receive quickly, conveniently and discreetly — and legally, to boot. New permanent regulations adopted by the Bureau of Cannabis Control in July allow deliveries to consumers anywhere in California. Even if individual cities and counties ban cannabis business activity within their borders, cannabis flowers, edibles, concentrates, tinctures, topicals and more may be legally delivered by services based outside those areas. The regulations are still open to legal challenge by cities and law enforcement but remain in place.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/style/article/Special-delivery-Cannabis-on-demand-13293343.php

 

Trump Administration Seeks Public Comments On Marijuana Reclassification (USA – Reclassification)

Forbes (October 10, 2018) The federal government wants your input on whether marijuana should be reclassified under global drug treaties to which the U.S. is a party. Specifically, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is asking for public comments about the “abuse potential, actual abuse, medical usefulness, trafficking, and impact of scheduling changes on availability for medical use” of cannabis and several other substances now under international review. Under current U.S. federal law as well as global drug policy agreements, marijuana is classified in the most restrictive category of Schedule I. At home, that means it is considered illegal and not available for prescription, while research on its potential benefits is heavily restricted.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomangell/2018/10/10/trump-administration-seeks-public-comments-on-marijuana-reclassification/#5b034f9749ad

 

Cannabis’ Wild Market Ride: It’s Not The New Bitcoin. Here’s Why (USA – Cannabis Investments)

Forbes (October 10, 2018) As most market observers have noted, Canadian cannabis producer, Tilray, is in the midst of a wild ride. After debuting at $17 in July, shares zipped past the $200 mark at one point in September, making the five-year-old company more valuable than CBS and American Airlines. Tilray has since retreated, but it’s still plagued by wild bouts of volatility, routinely experiencing double-digit, single-session swings. There are a few simple reasons for this. Because there are only a few publicly traded cannabis companies in the U.S., direct marijuana investments are limited. Making matters worse is that the company released a relatively small number of shares during its IPO. Also, with Canada set to legalize cannabis nationwide next week, it has set off a frenzy of interest among investors.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2018/10/10/cannabis-is-not-the-new-bitcoin-heres-why/#3092ffd73bf1

 

Corporate America Is Investing In Pot Because People Want To Eat And Drink It (USA – Cannabis Sales)

CNN Business (October 10, 2018) If marijuana were legal in the United States, most Americans say they would try it. That’s according to a survey of 1,000 US consumers (as well as 1,000 more in Canada) conducted by A.T. Kearney, a global strategy and management consulting firm. More than half of the survey’s respondents in both countries said they would likely try recreational cannabis if or when it becomes legal. Marijuana will become legal in Canada on October 17. It remains illegal in the United States, although a number of states allow for its use. The study comes at a time when many big brand name consumer companies are exploring a move into the legal cannabis business.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/10/investing/cannabis-survey-food-drinks-skincare/index.html

 

Survivors For Cannabis: Healing The Wounds Of PTSD With Community & Cannabis (USA – Medicinal Cannabis)

Leafly (October 9, 2018) Despite mountains of anecdotal evidence pointing to serious therapeutic benefits, there’s little hard data on cannabis as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). But after a decade-long battle between researchers and the DEA, the first-ever randomized controlled study of the efficacy of cannabis for military veterans with PTSD is currently underway, with cannabis supplied by the US government and an FDA-approved research protocol. PTSD among US combat veterans has been at epidemic levels since the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, with shockingly high rates of chemical dependence and suicide as a result. The promise of cannabis as a potential treatment has spurred even the typically conservative Veterans of Foreign Wars to lobby for research.

https://www.leafly.com/news/health/treating-sexual-trauma-ptsd-with-medical-marijuana

 

How Much Marijuana Can Canadians Fly With? (Canada – Cannabis Transportation)

The Fresh Toast (October 8, 2018) Transportation minister Marc Garneau announced on Tuesday that those flying from one part of Canada to another can pack up to 30 grams of cannabis come October 17, when Canada’s legalization status turns green for good. By the way, 30 grams is nothing to sneeze at. Clocking in at just over an ounce, it will take up about as much space as a thick book, depending on the density and dryness of the weed, but a lot lighter to huff around than Ulysses. Jett Hansel manages a chain of dispensaries called Weeds and she called the new limits “awesome,” expressing that she thought the rules would be a lot more strict. To demonstrate just how much 30 grams is, Hansel took half gram pre-rolled joints and tried stuffing them in her cupped hands, which ranneth over.

https://thefreshtoast.com/cannabis/how-much-marijuana-can-canadians-fly-with/

 

Legal Or Not, Cannabis Delivery Services Prepare For Launch (Canada – Delivery Services)

Infosurhoy (October 8, 2018) Several Canadian entrepreneurs are preparing to launch cannabis delivery companies in time for legalization on Oct. 17, despite the fact this service will be illegal for recreational marijuana in most provinces. These entrepreneurs believe clients will be willing to pay to get deliveries faster than they could from provincially run cannabis websites. If municipalities block legal cannabis stores from operating in certain areas, that could also boost opportunities for private delivery services. After working as an operations and strategy manager at Uber Canada for more than two years, Ryan Dempsey started developing plans for Eddy Delivery, a Toronto-based on-demand cannabis delivery service, in May.

http://infosurhoy.com/cocoon/saii/xhtml/en_GB/top-stories/legal-or-not-cannabis-delivery-services-prepare-for-launch/

 

With Virginia Medical Cannabis Dispensaries Opening Soon, Learn About CBD’s Potential Health Benefits (VA – Medicinal Cannabis)

WKTR (October 9, 2018) Medical marijuana is in the news a lot these days, with a compound called CBD, a component of cannabis, and products containing CBD exploding in stores and online. In September, Virginia’s Board of Pharmacy approved five companies that will open the commonwealth’s first medical cannabis dispensaries for non-psychoactive CBD and THC-A oils. But not much research has been done, so it`s hard to know whether CBD is effective. And laws vary from state to state, so it can also be difficult to know what`s legal.

https://wtkr.com/2018/10/09/with-virginia-medical-cannabis-dispensaries-opening-soon-learn-about-cbds-potential-health-benefits/