CCMA Political greenBrief
Tuesday, September 4, 2018
www.cannabismanufacturers.org
Billionaire Lee Cooper & Other Big-Name Investors Are Beginning To Experiment With Cannabis Stocks
“Small cultivators and manufacturers are struggling enough with California’s excessive regulation and constantly changing legal framework. If we add foreign-grown, low-cost marijuana to the equation, it would be a death sentence for many American marijuana businesses and the tens of thousands of well-paying jobs this industry provides.”Lex Corwin, Founder Of LA-Based Stone Road Farms, On Adding Cannabis Trades To NAFTA
“Cannabis businesses should have insurance coverage available to them just like any other California business. As insurance commissioner, my mission is insurance protection for all Californians, which includes insurance for California’s legalized cannabis businesses and its workers.”California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones On Cannabis Insurers Diving Into The Cannabis Industry
CBD Industry Grows In California Even As Confusion Swirls Over Local, State Laws (CA – Cannabis Industry)
Press-Telegram (August 31, 2018) Kim Sisson and her brother were walking along the Venice Beach Boardwalk, helping their 78-year-old father get some sun, when they spotted a store called Topikal Everything Hemp. Their dad lives in an assisted living facility in Porter Ranch, suffering from dementia that causes, among other things, anxiety. His doctor at UCLA recommended against using marijuana, which Sisson said her dad, as a younger man, occasionally smoked. But the doctor did give the go-ahead to use CBD, a compound found in the cannabis plant that’s believed to have a number of medical benefits without making people high.
California Police Fight Statewide Marijuana Deliveries (CA – Cannabis Market)
Star Tribune (August 31, 2018) A growing dispute over where legal marijuana can be delivered in California is unsettling the nation’s largest pot market. Police chiefs on Friday lined up against a proposed state rule that critics say would allow unchecked home marijuana deliveries anywhere in California — even in communities that have banned cannabis sales. The California Police Chiefs Association, League of California Cities and United Food and Commercial Workers Western States Council have set up a website that depicts wide-eyed children gesturing toward a pot delivery van outside a school. They are asking opponents to sign an online petition.
http://www.startribune.com/cal
California Political Groups Launch Website To Shoot Down Statewide Marijuana Delivery (CA – Cannabis Market)
Marijuana Business Daily (August 31, 2018) Three heavy-hitting political organizations in Sacramento, California, announced a new website Friday in a push to convince state regulators to abandon plans to allow marijuana delivery statewide. The cannabis industry largely supports the statewide delivery policy, arguing it’s necessary to guarantee access for homebound medical marijuana patients. It also would boost sales by reaching municipalities that prohibit cannabis businesses. The vast majority of California’s 482 municipalities and 58 counties have banned MJ sales.
https://mjbizdaily.com/califor
Regulator Calls For More Insurers To Enter Marijuana Market (CA – Cannabis Regulations)
Business Insurance (August 31, 2018) California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones on Thursday called on more insurers to enter the marijuana market to help fill gaps in coverage for those whose roles are essential in the cultivation and distribution of the drug that is now legal at the state level but remains illegal at the federal. The announcement came in conjunction with the launch of a workers compensation insurance program created by Atlas General Insurance Services LLC — the latest marijuana insurance product in the state marketplace.
California OKs Bill To Let Veterinarians Discuss Cannabis (CA – Medicinal Cannabis)
VIN News (August 31, 2018) California is poised to become the first state to explicitly bring veterinarians into the arena of medical marijuana, following the passage of a bill that protects licensees from disciplinary action solely for discussing the therapeutic use of marijuana in animals. The state Senate on Wednesday approved AB 2215 on a vote of 37 to 1. The Assembly passed an earlier version of the bill, 60-10, in May. The bill was back in the Assembly Thursday for concurrence on amendments. Gov. Jerry Brown has not indicated whether he will sign the legislation.
http://news.vin.com/VINNews.as
Marijuana Weekly Review: DOJ Seizes California Cannabis, Hemp-Derived CBD Overtakes The Market (CA – Illicit Market)
Pot Network (September 4, 2018) Rampant use of toxic pesticides by illegal growers is causing major ecological damage in each of California’s 18 federal forests. A Justice Department-led group of local and state law enforcement officials reported seizing 638,370 cannabis plants in 95 sites covering more than 7900 acres over a one year period. Despite legalization, the state is growing nearly eight times more product than can be legally consumed “irrespective of what California is doing — there is no shortage of supply.”
City Council To Decide American Canyon Cannabis Ordinance This Week (CA – Local Ordinances)
Napa Valley Register (September 4, 2018) American Canyon leaders on Tuesday will consider a new ordinance allowing cannabis businesses to operate within the city’s industrial area. The new law, if adopted, would permit companies to set up in the Green Island Industrial District for the purposes of conducting indoor commercial cultivation, manufacturing, testing and delivery of cannabis products. The City Council decided earlier this year to not allow retail cannabis stores to open in American Canyon, or allow outdoor cultivation in neighborhoods.
Senators Press Trump Cabinet Members To Expand Marijuana Research (USA – Cannabis Research)
Marijuana Moment (August 31, 2018) Two separate bipartisan groups of U.S. senators sent letters to members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet about expanding research on the medical benefits of marijuana on Thursday. One letter, sent to Robert Wilkie, the head of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), encouraged the department to begin large-scale, clinical trials on the potential medical benefits of cannabis for veterans suffering from conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or chronic pain. The other, sent to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, called for an increase in the number of federally approved manufacturers producing marijuana for research purposes.
https://www.marijuanamoment.ne
Adding Cannabis To NAFTA ‘Would Be A Death Sentence For Many American Marijuana Businesses’ (USA – Cannabis Trade)
Civilized (September 1, 2018) Former Mexican President Vicente Fox recently pitched the idea of including cannabis in the new NAFTA deal, but many members of the marijuana market say that move would be disastrous for America’s interests in the burgeoning industry. “I think it should be part of NAFTA and that’s what I’m pursuing,” Fox said yesterday. But that proposal isn’t likely to go anywhere. Cannabis is still federally prohibited in the US after all. And he probably already knows that, according to Leslie Bocskor. The president of the medical marijuana advisory service Electrum Partners says Fox’s move is more about getting the ball rolling for future trade talks involving cannabis.
Big-Name Investors Experiment With Marijuana Stocks (USA – Cannabis Investments)
New York Post (September 3, 2018) Pot stocks aren’t just for suckers anymore. Five years ago, when California and a few other US states started legalizing marijuana, the internet lit up with weed-driven penny-stock scams. Now, shares of marijuana companies are beginning to attract a few big-name investors. Billionaire Leon Cooperman piped up on a recent earnings call for Green Thumb Industries, a Chicago-based grower and seller of medicinal cannabis that recently went public in Canada. The 75-year-old hedge fund tycoon asked a few questions about pot legislation in Illinois, acquisitions in the space and the outlook in California — and revealed after the call last week that he has invested in the company.
https://nypost.com/2018/09/03/
How Many Americans Can Hold A Joint Of Marijuana Without Fear Of Going To Jail? (USA – Cannabis Convictions)
Marijuana Moment (September 4, 2018) A new Marijuana Moment analysis finds that a majority of Americans now live in places where first-time, low-level possession of cannabis will generally not result in jail time. Fifty-five percent of the population—nearly 179 million people—reside in a decriminalized area where adults mostly don’t have to worry about being put behind bars for being apprehended a first time with a small amount of marijuana, even if they don’t have a doctors’ recommendation for medical use. Many statistics have been thrown around about how many Americans live in a state where some form of marijuana is legal. How these states are tallied is up for debate, largely because of differing language and laws for medical cannabis.
Why A Saturated Marijuana Market Is Leading Some Oregon Growers To Pivot To Hemp (OR – Cannabis Cultivation)
Marijuana Business Daily (September 4, 2018) It’s no secret that Oregon is growing far more marijuana than the market can absorb, so some cultivators are turning to MJ’s cousin: hemp. As Oregon cannabis prices continue to sink to new lows amid a product glut, outdoor growers are applying what they know about marijuana and cultivating hemp for both smokable CBD flower and biomass that can be extracted into CBD oil. The hemp pivot allows growers to diversify their revenue stream and capitalize on a crop that could soon become legal at the federal level – thanks to the 2018 Farm Bill pending before Congress.
