Political greenBrief
Wednesday, October 18, 2017“In 2017 we expect growth of 18 percent to $7.7 billion as new medical-use markets come online.”
Greenwave Advisors Analyst Matt Karnes On Cannabis Retail Sales
“The drug industry, the manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and chain drugstores, have an influence over Congress that has never been seen before.”
Joseph T. Rannazzisi, Who Ran The DEA’s Division Responsible For Regulating The Drug Industry
In California, Feinstein Challenger De León Seen As A Cannabis Progressive (CA – Cannabis Industry)
Leafly (October 17, 2017) Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the iron lady of California politics and perhaps the Golden State’s fiercest drug warrior, is facing a re-election challenge from a leading state lawmaker who has a 100 percent rating from cannabis advocates for his votes on marijuana reform issues.
https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/in-california-feinstein-challenger-de-leon-seen-as-a-cannabis-progressive
Crowdfunding Site Cancels Aid To California Wildfire Victims—Because Cannabis (CA – Cannabis Industry)
Leafly (October 17, 2017) With the most devastating wildfire in California history laying waste to its members’ homes and livelihoods, the California Growers Association responded in the way most crises are handled in 2017: crowdfunding. As of Tuesday morning, 41 people have perished in the fires, which have burned more than 101,000 acres and destroyed 6,700 homes and businesses at an estimated cost of more than $3 billion.
https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/crowdfunding-site-cancels-aid-to-california-wildfire-victims-because-cannabis
Legal Pot Farms, Many Uninsured, Burn In California Wildfires (CA – Cannabis Industry)
Fox 40 (October 16, 2017) The state’s marijuana history has taken a hit from the several wildfires burning across much of Northern California. Similar to wine grapes, marijuana plants thrive in Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino counties. Many growers have invested a lot of money in permits and harvesting. In many jurisdictions, a marijuana growing permit can cost thousands of dollars.
http://fox40.com/2017/10/16/legal-pot-farms-many-uninsured-burn-in-california-wildfires/
Raids On Marijuana Grow Houses Often Find Chinese ‘Farmers’ Inside (CA – Cannabis Raids)
The Sacramento Bee (October 17, 2017) It’s hardly unusual for police in the Sacramento region to find an illegal marijuana grow house in an otherwise quiet suburb. But in several recent police raids, the occupants of these grow houses have turned out to be Chinese nationals, raising questions about about who is recruiting them and financing their operations.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/california-weed/article179293106.html
Here Is What You Need For Medical Cannabis Cultivation In California (CA – Medical Cannabis)
Green Camp (October 17, 2017) Medical cannabis has been legal in California since 1996. when it was regulated with the Proposition 215. Subsequent further legalization has been undertaken with the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (Proposition 64) with which it was legalized on the recreational level in 2016. Many other U.S. states have followed California on its path to regulate medical marijuana laws of their own, and several have also legalized it for recreational use as well.
https://greencamp.com/medical-cannabis-california/
Manhattan And Redondo Beach Consider Banning Recreational Marijuana Sales (CA – Recreational Cannabis)
The Beach Reporter (October 17, 2017) Both Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach city councils plan to consider on Tuesday further strengthening their cities’ prohibitions on the commercial sale of marijuana by extending the ban to any pot sold for recreational purposes as well.
http://tbrnews.com/news/manhattan_beach/manhattan-and-redondo-beach-consider-banning-recreational-marijuana-sales/article_a2f11c6e-b2a4-11e7-8e48-e7880396c08f.html
Marijuana Market Projected To Hit $18,000,000,000 By 2021: Report (USA – Cannabis Market)
The Root (October 16, 2017) A new report suggests that even if Donald Trump actively challenges the recreational-marijuana industry, the marijuana industry will hit $18 billion by 2021. If he doesn’t, the industry could reach $30 billion if every state and the District of Columbia has either a medical-only-market or a fully legal market.
http://www.theroot.com/marijuana-market-projected-to-hit-18-000-000-000-by-20-1819597939
How Congress Helped Drug Company Lobbyists Derail The DEA’s War On Opioids (USA – Cannabis Industry)
The Cannabist (October 16, 2017) In April 2016, at the height of the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. history, Congress effectively stripped the Drug Enforcement Administration of its most potent weapon against large drug companies suspected of spilling prescription narcotics onto the nation’s streets. By then, the opioid war had claimed 200,000 lives, more than three times the number of U.S. military deaths in the Vietnam War. Overdose deaths continue to rise. There is no end in sight.
http://www.thecannabist.co/2017/10/16/congress-drug-lobbyists-dea-opioids/90120/
Jeff Sessions Still Pressuring Congress To Change Marijuana Law (DC – Cannabis Legalization)
The Fresh Toast (October 17, 2017) In 2014, 85 words in a budget bill made all the difference in the world to medical marijuana. They stopped the flow of arrests, virtually put a halt to California crackdowns and let activists breathe a little in the states that have legalized medical cannabis.
https://thefreshtoast.com/cannabis/jeff-sessions-still-pressuring-congress-change-marijuana-law/
MassRoots Board Of Directors Remove Founder As CEO, Install VP (CO – Cannabis Industry)
Ganjapreneur (October 17, 2017) According to a Forbes report, MassRoots’ board of directors has voted to remove founder and CEO Isaac Dietrich and install Vice President Scott Kveton in the role. The move comes after MassRoots’ August acquisition of CannaRegs for $12 million in stock, which Kveton believed was too steep a price, the report says.
https://www.ganjapreneur.com/massroots-board-of-directors-remove-founder-as-ceo-install-vp/
Arkansas Receives More Than 320 MMJ Industry Applications (AR – Cannabis Aplications)
Ganjapreneur (October 17, 2017) Regulators in Arkansas received 95 medical cannabis cultivation applications and 227 dispensary applications, according to state Department of Finance and Administration figures outlined by the Associated Press. Pulaski County, the state’s most populous, received 26 applications for dispensaries, the most in the state, while cultivators are most interested in setting up operations in Jefferson County – which was listed in 13 cultivation applications.
https://www.ganjapreneur.com/arkansas-receives-more-than-320-mmj-industry-applications/
