CCMA Political greenBrief
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
www.cannabismanufacturers.org
This Group From Mountain View Is Opposed To Opening Cannabis Dispensaries In Their Area
“It’s not a question of whether you’re banning delivery or not. It’s whether you’re banning legal delivery. The only way to combat unlicensed delivery is by giving consumers a legal choice.”Max Mikalonis, Sacramento Lobbyist For Licensed Delivery Services, On The Opponents Of Delivery Services In CA
“It’s surprising to see California of all states kill this much-needed bill. One of the biggest risks in the industry is the safety of the workforce with regard to all cash transactions. Without banking, dispensaries cannot access loans to expand their business and add new staff.”Kevin Murphy, CEO Of Acreage Holdings, On Banking For Cannabusinesses
A Cannabis Banking Bill Croaks In California: What Does It Mean For Marijuana Businesses? (CA – Cannabis Banking)
Benzinga (September 25, 2018) The marijuana initiatives that voters will decide on in November include questions on the legalization of medical marijuana in Missouri and Utah and, in Michigan and North Dakota, the legalization of recreational marijuana. Yet financial institutions continue to resist the still-federally illegal industry, despite polls showing that 61 percent (Pew Research Center) to 64 percent (Gallup) of the country supports legalization. In California, SB-930, a bill that would have created a state-chartered banking system to give cannabis merchants access to traditional financial services died Aug. 16 in the state Assembly Appropriations Committee.
California Cannabis Delivery Kerfuffle Explained (CA – State Regulations)
Leafly (September 25, 2018) Two years ago, California voters amended state law to legalize access to cannabis. And yet cities and counties throughout the state have banned its sale. Delivery services have stepped in to fill the void between retailer and consumer, but that may soon change. California’s cannabis regulator, the Bureau of Cannabis Control, may adopt permanent rules this fall allowing legal cannabis deliveries to continue to any municipality throughout the state. Opponents of those rules, though, are working hard to change them—and institute a regulatory scheme that would allow local towns and counties to stop legal cannabis delivery at their borders.
https://www.leafly.com/news/po
California Cannabis Laws In 2018-2019: What You Need To Know (CA – Cannabis Legislation)
Benzinga (September 24, 2018) California was the first state to legalize medical marijuana in 1996. At the beginning of 2018, the state legalized recreational use for the adult population. Nevertheless, the cannabis industry in California is still facing some challenges. Here’s a look at the legislative environment for pot in the Golden State. The California Cannabis Equity Act of 2018, also known as Senate Bill 1294, it was introduced by state Sen. Steven Bradford and co-authored by state assembly members Reggie Jones-Sawyer and Rob Bonta. The bill was introduced in February, passed in both the Assembly and Senate on Aug. 31, and enrolled Sept. 7.
In California Town, Residents Resist Marijuana Stores (CA – Cannabusiness)
The Epoch Times (September 24, 2018) After learning the city council will hold a public hearing Oct. 2 to decide the locations and total number of pot stores to be allowed in the city, local residents in Mountain View, California, held a press conference Sep. 21 to express their opposition to the marijuana shops. Participants held signs that read “No Pot Shop near School,” “Don’t legalize Drugs,” “No Marijuana in Mountain View,” “Spare Our Children from Drugs,” and so on. The residents pointed to a planned pot store for Grant Park Plaza as an example of their concerns.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/
California Marijuana Enforcement Continues: Humboldt Busts Illegal Grow (CA – Illicit Market)
Marijuana Business Daily (September 25, 2018) A California county’s drug enforcement unit raided an unlicensed cannabis cultivation operation this week, dealing another blow to the state’s thriving illicit market, which has been stealing market share from legal marijuana businesses. The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Drug Enforcement Unit – in partnership with multiple county and state agencies – served a warrant to investigate the property and discovered the growers “did not possess the required county permit and state license to cultivate cannabis commercially,” according to a news release first reported by Redheaded Blackbelt. Investigators destroyed roughly 5,000 cannabis plants and 596 pounds of cannabis shake in the raid.
New Details Revealed On Two County Marijuana Ballot Measures (CA – Local Ordinances)
Bakersfield.com (September 25, 2018) Voters will face a confusing ballot in November, especially when it comes to the three marijuana measures. To help make sense of the confusion, and to bring new details on the two marijuana measures that will impact the unincorporated county, Planning and Natural Resources Department Director Lorelei Oviatt presented a new report to the supervisors that delved into the details of each measure. Some of the details revealed how the county would be effected by the legalization of dispensaries in unincorporated county areas, which are currently banned, although possession and use have not been banned.
Weed On Wall Street: Is The Latest Cannabis Boom Just A Bubble? (USA – Cannabis Investing)
Merry Jane (September 24, 2018) A recent business deal between a Canadian canna-business and an American university has kicked off an explosion of investment in Canada’s soon-to-be-legal pot industry, but financial insiders are warning that this new marijuana investment boom may be a bubble waiting to burst. Last week, the University of California San Diego announced that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had granted them approval to import medical marijuana products for research purposes from Tilray, Inc., a major cannabis producer based in British Columbia. The company’s stock — which initially went public at $17 a share in July — spiked at $300 a share last Wednesday, but eventually settled to $123 a share by the end of the week.
https://merryjane.com/news/wee
OP-ED: Don’t Worry About Medical Marijuana: Adult-Use Legalization Gives Cannabis Users More Freedom (USA – Cannabis Legislation)
Merry Jane (September 25, 2018) Legalizing adult-use cannabis may turn out to be the best — if not the only — way to save medical marijuana (MMJ) as we know it. I don’t say that lightly; this is the harsh reality of our national health care and criminal justice systems. On the financial side of medical marijuana programs at the state level, we hear complaints about taxes and fees; for-profit retailers replacing non-profit medical cannabis collectives; and small growers’ profits dropping while prices remain high. In California, this was all happening before legalization. A year before Proposition 64 — the state’s ballot measure to legalize adult-use marijuana — was passed by voters, there was already a glut on the cannabis market, and the state legislature voted to end the “collective defense” for non-profit pot providers, add fees and taxes to the supply chain, and issue very restrictive business licenses.
Youth Marijuana Use Isn’t Increasing After States Legalize, Meta-Analysis Of 55 Studies Concludes (USA – Underage Use)
Marijuana Moment (September 26, 2018)
For good reason, there’s a lot of interest in tracking marijuana use trends in the era of legalization, especially as it concerns youth consumption. Thankfully, there’s been a great deal of research examining these trends—and a meta-analysis published this week in the journal Current Addiction Reports took a holistic look at the existing scientific literature to learn about the prevalence of cannabis use post-legalization. Fifty-five studies were included in the new analysis. Just as numerous prior studies have concluded, the researchers found that adolescent marijuana use does not increase after a state legalizes cannabis. Further, reports of higher rates of marijuana use among teenagers in legal states ignores the fact that those rates were generally higher before the passage of medical cannabis laws, the researchers explained.
Millennials Appear To Like Cannabis More Than Booze (USA – Cannabis Sales)
MarketWatch (September 26, 2018) Jena, a 27-year-old business operations employee based in Chicago, has consumed alcohol socially for nearly a decade. In recent months, however, she decided it was not worth the calories or hangovers. She switched to cannabis products, and now she smokes marijuana once or twice a week and eats gummy candies with cannabidiol, also known as CBD, a chemical component of marijuana that’s legal and doesn’t intoxicate users. The street price for marijuana in Chicago is $18 per gram and the average beer at a bar is $6. Jena said she used to spend $30 to $50 on alcohol in one night, several nights a week, and now spends less than $30 on marijuana a month.
https://www.marketwatch.com/st
A Canadian Cannabis Company Goes Public Amid Increasing Investor Interest (Canada – Cannabis Investments)
Forbes (September 26, 2018) Canadian cannabis producer The Flowr Corporation is going public on Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange amid increasing investor interest — and volatility — in the cannabis sector. The company will start trading under the ticker symbol FLWR. Flowr raised $27 million ahead of its listing and opted to go public through a reverse stock takeover – a favored method among marijuana businesses. Going public is an “important step toward our goal of becoming one of Canada’s top licensed producers,” said Flowr CEO Vinay Tolia in a statement announcing the news. “With the transaction behind us, we can increase our focus on executing our business plan.”
Exclusive: Largest Canadian Province To Unveil Retail Cannabis Rules This Week (Canada – Cannabis Industry)
MarketWatch (September 26, 2018) Canada’s largest province is set to unveil a new law this week that will shape the future of cannabis legalization in Ontario, sources told MarketWatch on Tuesday, addressing the open question about how the substance will be sold in retail shops in the country’s most populous province. Ontario has not yet created guidelines for how cannabis will be sold in brick-and-mortar retail shops, unlike the other Canadian provinces. The new law is set to define who can enter the market and where they will be allowed to sell cannabis in the country’s largest city, Toronto, and the rest of the region, according to people in Ontario who are familiar with the cannabis legislation.
Oklahoma Has OK’d More Than 1,000 Medical Marijuana Businesses (OK – Medicinal Cannabis)
Marijuana Business Daily (September 24, 2018) Oklahoma’s business-friendly medical cannabis law is seemingly coming to fruition: Regulators already have approved more than 1,100 business licenses with roughly 500 additional applications in the pipeline, according to a tweet by state officials Monday. That total comes less than a month since the state started taking applications Aug. 25. The ballot initiative approved by voters in June called for regulators to make decisions within two weeks of application if paperwork was in order. In total, the state said, it had received 1,619 business applications as of Monday morning.
https://mjbizdaily.com/oklahom
