CCMA Political greenBrief
Thursday, July 26, 2018
www.cannabismanufacturers.org
Australia Wants To Become The Largest Exporter Of Cannabis Plants For Medicinal Use
“If passed, the public bank could further enhance services to Los Angeles residents by providing low-interest construction loans for affordable housing and even make small-business loans available for entrepreneurs who are not able to secure startup capital.”Vanessa Rodriguez, Spokespersons For L.A. Council President Herb Wesson, On The Establishment Of A Cannabis Bank
“There’s pent-up demand all over the world, and all over in the U.S., and it’s all getting forced into Canada. Every large investor and every large company is salivating over this market now, but they’re held back because of the uncertainty.”Troy Dayton, Chief Executive Of The Arcview Group, On The Expansion Of U.S. Cannabis Companies
California Vape Cartridge Maker Issues Voluntary Marijuana Product Recall (CA – Cannabis Products)
Marijuana Business Daily (July 26, 2018) A vape cartridge manufacturer issued what may be the first commercial cannabis product recall in California’s new regulated marijuana market. The Bloom Brand announced on its website the company and its manufacturer-distributor, Greenfield Organix 4th St., voluntarily recalled four products sold between July 1 and July 19. The recall covers nearly 100 retailers across the Golden State. No other states were affected.
https://mjbizdaily.com/califor
Los Angeles Will Vote On A Cannabis Bank (CA – Cannabis Profit)
Leafly (July 25, 2018) Los Angeles voters might OK the creation of the country’s first public bank in 100 years this fall, unlocking an alternative to “too-big-to-fail,” profit-driven banks that critics say prey on Americans each day. And cannabis might be the key. On June 29, LA Mayor Eric Garcetti signed off on a ballot initiative to allow for the creation of a publicly owned bank. On the state’s Nov. 6 general election ballot, Angelenos registered to vote can decide whether or not to amend the city charter in order to “allow for the establishment of a municipal financial institution or bank without further voter approval.”
https://www.leafly.com/news/po
California Sheriff’s Deputy Hospitalized After Exposure to Marijuana Pesticide (CA – Pesticides)
Officer.com (July 24, 2018) A Mendocino County sheriff’s deputy is being treated for exposure to a harmful pesticide while searching an illegal marijuana farm in Branscomb. The deputy came into contact with the chemical July 13 while searching a property on the 13500 block of Kenny Creek Road, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said. The sheriff’s Marijuana Eradication Team and state Department of Fish and Wildlife executed a search warrant at the property, where authorities suspected water was being illegally diverted to grow marijuana plants.
San Mateo, Calif., Ag Committee To Welcome Cannabis Experts To Board (CA – Local Regulations)
Cannabis Business Times (July 26, 2018) It’s a new era for agriculture in San Mateo County. The Board of Supervisors appointed three new members to the Agricultural Advisory Committee—two of whom openly proclaim their expertise in cannabis issues. California voters decided to pass Proposition 64, and the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors subsequently adopted an ordinance to permit the cultivation of cannabis in unincorporated areas. The legalization of cannabis has brought new opportunities to engage in political conversations locally and statewide.
U.S. Marijuana Companies Go Public In Canada (USA – Cannabusiness)
PBS (July 25, 2018) Green Thumb Industries had a business plan, expertise and plenty of ambition to grow its marijuana business. What the Chicago-based company didn’t have was access to enough capital to make it all happen. So last month, the company with $20 million in revenue from pot shops in seven states turned its gaze north and went public in Canada, where marijuana soon will be broadly legalized nationwide. The Canadian Securities Exchange is quickly becoming the go-to place for U.S. cannabis companies orphaned by their own stock exchanges because the U.S. government still considers marijuana an illegal drug.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/n
Meet The Author Of The Most Important Memo In Cannabis (USA – Cannabis Legislation)
Leafly (July 25, 2018) Historically speaking, the US Department of Justice hasn’t exactly been a friend to cannabis. Since the 1970s, the agency has been in charge of enforcing the federal Controlled Substances Act, the centerpiece of the country’s war on drugs. But in the months following voters’ passage of legalization measures in Colorado and Washington, as legal observers wondered whether the DOJ would stand in the way of markets opening, the agency took a remarkable step that effectively greenlighted state-legal cannabis sales across the United States.
https://www.leafly.com/news/po
5 Things We Just Learned About Cannabis Stocks (USA – Cannabis Investing)
Civilized (July 24, 2018) It has been a roller coaster ride this year for cannabis investors. The industry may have gotten a boost from Canada legalizing cannabis, but was it enough to erase all of the losses from the start of the year? How is the cannabis market doing in California? Isn’t Gene Simmons doing something with cannabis? Unless you obsessively follow the daily activities of the cannabis industry, there are a lot of questions about the state of cannabis that needs to be answered; and in the Green Market Report’s Second Quarter Cannabis Company Index Report, we found a lot of answers.
https://www.civilized.life/art
Most Americans Think Marijuana Is Beneficial. But Science Can’t Back That Up Just Yet (USA – Cannabis Research)
NJ (July 26, 2018) As marijuana becomes more accepted across the country, a new study has found that Americans’ perception of marijuana outpaces the science on the subject. More than three out of four Americans, 81 percent, believe that marijuana has at least one benefit, while only 17 percent of U.S. adults think it has no benefit whatsoever, according to a study published earlier this week in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Most adults believe in the benefits of marijuana, despite what the study calls “insufficient” studies and data related to the specific and long-term health benefits of the substance.
https://www.nj.com/marijuana/2
AUDIO – Study: As More Seniors Use Marijuana, They Want More Resources And Informed Doctors (USA – Medicinal Marijuana)
Colorado Public Radio (July 25, 2018) Seniors are the fastest-growing demographic of marijuana users. But until recently, there was little to no data on the aging population. A new state-funded study on cannabis use among older people in Colorado is starting to fill in those gaps. University of Iowa professor Brian Kaskie, who was on the study’s team, talked to Colorado Matters about the finding. Kaskie’s research used focus groups and surveys to nail down elderly marijuana users’ motivations, patterns and needs. A predominant theme was that seniors felt there wasn’t enough information available to them. Most would prefer to talk to a doctor than a budtender at first, and would like to see more marijuana seminars at their community centers.
Australia Wants To Be The World’s Top Medical Marijuana Exporter, But Many Nationals Can’t Get A Prescription (AUS – Medicinal Cannabis)
Newsweek (July 24, 2018) Many Australians are struggling to get access to legal medical cannabis, despite government leaders suggesting the country could become the largest exporter of the plant for medicinal use in the future. Australia allows medical marijuana in certain cases, but the application procedure is long and tedious, according to national broadcaster ABC. Bastian Seidel, president of the Royal College of General Practitioners, told the TV channel that he is frustrated by the fact that so few patients are provided with the option to access medicinal pot.
https://www.newsweek.com/medic
Pot Of Gold? Inside Europe’s Evolving Cannabis Market (World – Cannabis Market)
PitchBook (July 25, 2018) Legalized cannabis is set to arrive in Canada later this year, following the country’s historic vote last month to become the first G7 nation to allow the drug’s recreational use. As a result, the Canadian marijuana industry is expected to grow into a multibillion-dollar sector, reaching C$6.5 billion by 2020, per the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Although the domestic Canadian market has been grabbing headlines, many of the country’s existing cannabis heavyweights have already begun shifting their focus towards Europe. Several companies have begun establishing bases on the continent, including Aurora Cannabis and Canopy Growth.
https://pitchbook.com/news/art
A Look Inside Amsterdam’s Cannabis Liberation Day 2018 (Amsterdam – Cannabis Celebration)
Leafly (July 25, 2018) The inquirer was Derrick Bergman, chair and founder of the Dutch Union for the Abolition of Cannabis Prohibition (or the VOC for short). His interviewers were The Bulldog coffeeshop impresario Henk de Vries, and Ben Dronkers, the visionary behind Sensi Seeds. Sharing a stage—and a joint—at Cannabis University, the men spoke for their allotted 25 minutes about the past 50 years, during which the Dutch government has turned a blind eye to cannabis use and vending yet punished its commercial cultivation.
https://www.leafly.com/news/li
At 70, Founding A Cannabis Startup Can Be Quite A Trip (Israel – Cannabusiness)
Forbes (July 26, 2018) While her fellow startup founders e-scoot to co-working spaces around Tel Aviv’s Rothschild Boulevard –Israel’s version of Silicon Valley’s Sand Hill Road– Professor Leah Boehm, 70, rides her motorcycle the 40KM (24 miles) to Kibbutz Revadim in southern Israel every morning. She doesn’t exactly fit the mold of the 20-something-out-of-Unit 8200-South America trip-computer science degree Israeli startup founder stereotype. In fact, she’s almost certainly a complete outlier.
