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TORONTO, Dec. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PRESS RELEASE -- Unifor, Canada's largest private-sector union, and Aleafia Health Inc., have entered a long term partnership that through collective bargaining will seek to provide access for its members to medical cannabis coverage as part of their benefit and insurance coverage.
"This is a landmark agreement, with a union and a medical cannabis company coming together to provide dedicated support through medical marijuana clinics across the country while challenging the stigmas associated with cannabis," said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. "Partnering with Aleafia Health allows us to fight against Canada's opiate crisis, and improve the lives of patients suffering from chronic pain."
Unifor will work with its local unions to recommend and propose insurance coverage in collective bargaining agreements for the reimbursement of medical cannabis. In turn, Aleafia Health and its affiliates will provide Unifor members with access to its health and wellness ecosystem, including education and training, physician-led consultations, scripting, treatment and, where appropriate, medical cannabis products.
"This is a significant moment for the cannabis industry, and an important breakthrough for medical cannabis accessibility in Canada. Every day, our team of medical professionals see the benefits of cannabis in the lives of our patients," said Aleafia Health CEO Geoffrey Benic. "Due to the progressive leadership of Unifor, and Aleafia Health's well-earned reputation for providing excellence in cannabinoid therapy, we will be able to expand these benefits to union members across Canada."
Increased access to medical cannabis coverage may also provide further cost savings and health benefits to both members and employers, including a reduction in reliance on traditional pharmaceutical prescriptions.
NEW YORK, Dec. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PRESS RELEASE -- Acreage Holdings, Inc. has announced that Peter Caldini has been appointed as the company’s chief executive officer. He officially joins Acreage on Monday, Dec. 21.
Caldini brings an ideal mix of capabilities and experience to Acreage, having served in several senior leadership positions at major healthcare and consumer packaged goods companies in the U.S. and globally. Earning a reputation as a strong and seasoned leader, Caldini has a proven track record of improving operational efficiencies, strengthening brand equity and creating shareholder value.
Caldini served as President Pfizer North America Consumer Healthcare as well as Regional President Consumer Healthcare of EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) during his time with the company. Prior to Pfizer, Caldini held similar senior leadership positions in other global markets, including China and Europe, while at Bayer Consumer Health and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. Caldini started his career in brand management at Unilever, where he held various roles with increasing responsibility.
Caldini also brings extensive cannabis capital markets expertise to Acreage, having served for the past 18 months as the chief executive officer of Bespoke Capital Acquisition Corp., a Special Purpose Acquisition Corporation. As the CEO of Bespoke, he helped raise $360 million on the Toronto Stock Exchange with the focus to acquire high growth cannabis companies in the US and around the globe. Additionally, Caldini has served for the past year as a Senior Advisor to Tuatara Capital, L.P., a cannabis-focused private equity fund.
“Acreage is a leader in perhaps the most exciting emerging market opportunity of our lifetime, and I am beyond excited to join the company and help position it for long-term growth and profitability,” said Caldini. “I look forward to guiding Acreage to a clear leadership position in the largest cannabis market in the world, utilizing the company’s proven award-winning brands combined with Canopy Growth’s brands and intellectual property.”
Ken Newburger has become very familiar with the issue of medical cannabis in Mississippi over the years.
He worked alongside Mississippians for Compassionate Care, the group behind the Medical Marijuana 2020 campaign, to place one of the state’s two medical cannabis measures, Initiative 65, on Mississippi’s ballot, where voters ultimately approved it on Election Day.
RELATED: Two Competing Measures to Appear on Ballot in Mississippi
“As the campaign was coming to an end, it became clear that the next step was going to be, how do we best serve the patients of Mississippi, now that they’re going to have access to medical marijuana?” Newburger told Cannabis Business Times and Cannabis Dispensary. “I’m really excited to see this industry come to fruition after almost three years’ worth of work that people put in to pass medical marijuana here in Mississippi.”
Throughout November and into December, Newburger rounded up a group of people who were interested in launching a medical cannabis association in the state, and the Mississippi Medical Marijuana Association was born.
When Cannabis 2.0 launched in Canada with the sale of cannabis edibles, beverages and vape products, Marshall Posner, chief marketing officer for vertically integrated licensed producer Delta 9, said the company wanted to do more to ensure cannabis packaging and waste was being dealt with responsibly.
While packaging for dried flower and other cannabis products can generally be recycled as part of Canada’s Blue Box recycling program, many vape products are designated as special waste and cannot be recycled in the same way, meaning that they often end up in landfills.
“As we’ve seen these products become more prevalent in our stores, we felt we needed to do something in a responsible fashion to help address … where this packaging and cannabis waste is ending up,” Posner told Cannabis Business Times and Cannabis Dispensary.
This led Delta 9 to partner with Canadian recycling company Emterra Environmental to create a sustainable recycling program for cannabis packaging and disposable vape pens, as well as a landfill diversion program for vape cartridges, to help the Canadian cannabis industry transition to a circular economy.
Emterra Environmental was founded 44 years ago as a Vancouver-based recycling company.
Mark Toigo, a cannabis investor from Pennsylvania, has filed a federal lawsuit to strike down Missouri’s requirement that medical cannabis business licenses are owned by residents, according to St. Louis Public Radio.
The voter-approved constitutional amendment that legalized medical cannabis in 2018 requires licenses to be majority owned by residents who have lived in Missouri for at least one year prior to filing the application, the news outlet reported.
Toigo, a minority owner in Organic Remedies MO Inc., which holds three dispensary licenses, one cultivation license and one manufacturer license in the state, argued in his lawsuit, which was filed Dec. 11 against the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and its director, Randall Williams, that the state is discriminating against non-residents and violating the dormant clause of the U.S. Constitution by enforcing the residency requirement, St. Louis Public Radio reported.
Toigo alleged that the residency requirement prohibits him from investing any additional funding into a Missouri company if it increases his ownership stakes above 49%, which limits his “economic opportunities in Missouri’s nascent marijuana industry,” according to St. Louis Public Radio.
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott is calling for applicants for the new, three-member Cannabis Control Board that will establish and regulate an adult-use cannabis industry in the state, according to a WRGB report.
The board will be comprised of one chair and two members, which will be appointed by the governor after being vetted by the Cannabis Control Board Nominating Committee, the news outlet reported.
Vermont legalized the commercial production and sale of adult-use cannabis in October, after decriminalizing the possession and cultivation of small quantities of cannabis in 2018.
Trenton, NJ -- PRESS RELEASE -- Members of the New Jersey state Assembly and Senate have given final approval to legislation permitting the possession of marijuana by adults and regulating its commercial production and retail sales. Each of the measures now awaits the signature of Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy.
“I commend lawmakers for working quickly to implement the will of the voters, who made their mandate clear at the ballot box." said NORML State Policies Coordinator Carly Wolf. "While this legislation is not perfect and our work is far from finished, it is a crucial step forward toward repairing the decades of damage done to New Jersey’s most vulnerable communities as a result of the enforcement of marijuana prohibition. Historically, law enforcement in New Jersey has arrested more people per capita for marijuana law violations than almost any other state in the nation. Most notably, going forward, tens of thousands of otherwise law-abiding New Jerseyans will no longer be subject to arrest, incarceration and a criminal record for their personal use of marijuana, and that is a reason to celebrate.”
Senate Bill 21 and Assembly Bill 21 establish regulatory guidelines for the marijuana market. Under the bills, adults may legally purchase and possess up to one ounce of cannabis. The measures cap the number of commercial cultivators permitted under the law at 37 for the first two years. The measures direct 70% of the revenue derived from sales taxes on retail marijuana purchases toward reinvestment in designated communities that have been most adversely impacted by prohibition.
The Assembly approved A21 by a 49 to 24 vote with six abstentions, and the Senate later approved S21 by a 23 to 17 vote.
Legislative leaders reached an agreement on the final details of the legalization implementation plan last week, which was then approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday and the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Tuesday.
2020 was a big year for the cannabis industry as four states—Arizona, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota—legalized adult-use in the general election, potentially setting the stage for more states to legalize in 2021. Voters also ushered in medical cannabis in South Dakota, marking the first-time both adult-use and medical legalization were approved in the same election, and medical cannabis in Mississippi also passed.
And, there is evidence that this momentum will influence more states to come online in 2021. Here, we look at the states most likely to legalize as we head into the New Year.
Connecticut
Gov. Ned Lamont renewed his legalization push at the beginning of 2020, with the introduction of a bill that would have legalized adult-use for Connecticuters 21 and older, tested for impaired drivers, and supported racial and ethnic minorities in their participation in the market.
While that legislation, S.B. 16, ultimately stalled in committee, Lamont has said he will try again in 2021, according to a Patch.com report, especially since nearby New Jersey has legalized.
State House Democrats have vowed to vote on legalization in 2021, according to NBC Connecticut, in part because of the growing number of nearby states with regulated adult-use markets, as well as a projected state budget deficit heading into next year.
2020 was full of surprises, to say the least, from a global pandemic that saw cannabis businesses designated as essential during coronavirus-related shutdowns, to the industry’s big win on Election Day, when five states—Arizona, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota—passed legalization measures.
As we head into 2021, we reflect on Cannabis Business Times’ top 10 most popular articles of 2020, which cover everything from state and federal policy reform efforts to the international landscape.
10. Platinum Confronts Counterfeit Products in Michigan, California
When George Sadler, president of Platinum, a California-based cannabis product manufacturer that distributes products in both California and Michigan, started receiving messages on social media from its Michigan customers about vape cartridges not meeting their expectations, he suspected that counterfeits of the company’s products were being sold at unauthorized retailers. He immediately started looking for ways to stay one step ahead of the illicit producers. At the beginning of the year, Platinum set to work alongside law enforcement to get illicit products removed from store shelves and launched a QR code solution to help customers verify the authenticity of its products. Read more
9. 5 Cannabis Trends to Watch in 2020
In January, Amy Steinfeld and Jack Ucciferri of law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck outlined what cannabis cultivators could look forward to in 2020. From expanded legalization to the concept of big cannabis and craft cannabis, here are the trends they said the industry should pay attention to during this tumultuous year—before everything changed. Read more
8. New CBD Regulations Take Effect in Florida
On Jan. 1, 2020, new CBD regulations issued by Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried took effect in Florida to address pesticide use, product labeling and the inspection of products produced or sold in the state. The Florida Legislature approved legislation that paved the way for a regulated hemp industry in the state in 2019, and lawmakers charged Fried’s office with establishing a regulatory framework for hemp and CBD products. Read more
PRESS RELEASE - Following a vote in a key Senate committee, a “yes” vote on A21, a bill to implement the constitutional amendment to legalize cannabis in New Jersey advanced in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, bringing New Jersey a full floor vote away from heading to Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk for final approval.
RELATED: New Jersey Senate Committee Advances Cannabis Legalization Legislation
The new version of A21/S21 includes significant community reinvestment provisions through two income streams dedicated to social and racial justice: 100% of the cultivator excise tax and 70% of the sales tax to fund reinvestment into communities hit hardest by the drug war, which has disproportionately targeted Black and brown communities.
The bill also reinstates a severe cap on the number of licenses, awarding only 37 cultivator licenses for the first 24 months after the bill is enacted. The bill did not include several important justice measures, such as: restoring dedicated funding for expungement, limiting random workplace drug testing, and, crucially, closing a loophole that allows well-resourced businesses to claim and benefit from impact zone applicant status rather than residents.
ACLU-NJ Executive Director Amol Sinha said, “The Assembly Committee’s vote sends cannabis legalization to a full floor vote that can make history for its strides forward in community investment, with 70% of sales tax revenue and 100% of the excise tax going toward those communities hit hardest by the racially inequitable drug war. The current bill leaves advocates’ work unfinished, and we will continue our push for a legalization scheme that addresses the injustices of cannabis prohibition and builds an inclusive industry at every level.
The Chamber of Deputies, Mexico’s lower house of Congress, has received an extension on a Supreme Court-imposed Dec. 15 deadline to approve a cannabis legalization bill, again delaying the country’s much-anticipated legalization vote, according to Border Report.
Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said during a news conference that lawmakers asked for an extension because they needed more time to make revisions to the bill, the news outlet reported. Lopez Obrador now expects approval on the legislation in early 2021.
The Mexico Senate approved the legalization bill last month, sending it to the Chamber of Deputies for consideration. The legislation would legalize the possession of up to 28 grams of cannabis, allow adults to grow up to six plants at home and allow licensed businesses to sell cannabis products under the oversight of a newly created Mexican Institute for Regulation and Cannabis Control.
The Mexico Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that an absolute ban on adult-use cannabis was unconstitutional, which prompted lawmakers to pass legislation to regulate cannabis at the federal level.
The Senate initially considered a bill last year to legalize and regulate cannabis, but missed a Supreme Court-imposed deadline to pass the legislation by the end of October 2019, and the deadline was extended to April 30, 2020.
Leamington, Ontario and Nanaimo, British Columbia – December 16, 2020 – PRESS RELEASE – Aphria Inc., a global cannabis company, and Tilray, Inc., a cannabis research, cultivation, production and distribution company, today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement to combine their businesses and create the world’s largest global cannabis company based on pro forma revenue. The deal is pursuant to a plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act, and the implied pro forma equity value of the combined company is approximately C$5.0 billion, based on the share price of Aphria and Tilray at the close of market on Dec. 15, 2020. Following the completion of the arrangement, the combined company will have principal offices in the United States (New York and Seattle), Canada (Toronto, Leamington and Vancouver Island), Portugal and Germany, and it will operate under the Tilray corporate name with shares trading on NASDAQ under ticker symbol “TLRY.”
The combined company, supported by low-cost, state-of-the-art cultivation, processing and manufacturing facilities, will have a complete portfolio of branded Cannabis 2.0 products in Canada. Internationally, the combined company will be well-positioned to pursue growth opportunities with Aphria’s medical cannabis and distribution footprint in Germany, and Tilray’s European Union Good Manufacturing Practices (EU-GMP) low-cost cannabis production facility in Portugal, which has export capabilities and tariff-free access to the European Union (EU) to meet increasing global demand for medical cannabis. In the United States, the combined company will have a strong consumer packaged goods presence and infrastructure with two strategic pillars, including SweetWater Brewing Company, a cannabis lifestyle branded craft brewer, and Manitoba Harvest, a leading hemp food manufacturer and a pioneer in branded CBD and wellness products. The combined company is expected to have a strong, flexible balance sheet, cash balance and access to capital giving it the ability to accelerate growth and deliver attractive returns for stockholders.
Under the terms of the arrangement, the shareholders of Aphria will receive 0.8381 shares of Tilray for each Aphria common share, while holders of Tilray shares will continue to hold their Tilray shares with no adjustment to their holdings. Upon the completion of the arrangement, Aphria Shareholders will own approximately 62% of the outstanding Tilray Shares on a fully diluted basis, resulting in a reverse acquisition of Tilray, representing a premium of 23% based on the share price at market close on Dec. 15, 2020 to Tilray shareholders. On a pro forma basis for the last twelve months reported by each company, the combined company would have had revenue of C$874 million (US$685 million).
Proven Leadership Team
The combined company will be led by a best-in-class management team and board of directors, with strong track records in consumer-packaged goods and cannabis experience internationally. Upon completion of the arrangement, Aphria’s current Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Irwin D. Simon will lead the combined company as chairman and chief executive officer. The board of directors will consist of nine members, seven of which, including Simon, are current Aphria directors and two of which will be from Tilray, including Brendan Kennedy, and one of which is to be designated. Aphria and Tilray are confident that the leadership team and proposed board of directors of the combined company provides a strong foundation for the combined company to accelerate growth. Additional senior leadership positions at the combined company will be named at a later date.
Solventless extraction is capturing the attention of many cannabis processors who are looking to produce premium concentrates, but Ben Britton, co-founder and CEO of solventless extraction technology manufacturer PurePressure, advises clients to consider several factors to maximize profitability and success.
1. How much space do you need?
Solventless extraction often involves fresh frozen material that needs to be stored and handled properly throughout the extraction process. This means processors need to think about where to put this raw material, and Britton says he often sees clients with too much or too little square footage to address this concern.
“Sometimes, people will get gung-ho and they’ll sign on to a facility contract, and then they’ll contact us and realize they don’t need 10,000 square feet—they might only need 1,500,” he says. “Or vice versa, they’re renting a closet-sized space and have 250 square feet, and [they] want to put out tens of thousands of grams a year, but their product output expectations are ambitious. So, it’s just really finding a balance for space and coming up with a true business plan.”
Processors should consider what kind of products they want to produce before leasing or building out a facility, Britton says. “Let’s talk about what you want to make, and then we can figure out how to get you there.”
2. Which products are popular in your market?
It should be no surprise to cannabis business operators that they should evaluate the market before establishing a business plan, and the same is true when it comes to products—extractors should know which SKUs are popular and use that information to drive decisions about which products to produce.
Solventless extraction can be a profitable and attractive option for cannabis processors, especially when they avoid common pitfalls.
For someone looking to launch a new extraction facility, the equipment, setup and buildout are significantly less expensive for solventless than other extraction methods, according to Ben Britton, founder and CEO of PurePressure, a solventless extraction equipment manufacturer. While solvent-based extraction equipment requires special ventilation considerations, for example, this isn’t the case with solventless, so the upfront cost of the facility buildout and equipment is generally lower.
In addition, solventless products typically sell for a premium and are popular with connoisseurs at dispensaries, Britton says.
“It also opens you up to the ability to make quality product, something that is unadulterated and hasn’t been modified by chemicals,” he says.
Here, Britton outlines his top advice for launching a profitable solventless extraction business, from acquiring high-quality raw material to establishing efficient processes.
Rounding out the 2020 M&A season, Columbia Care closed its acquisition of Project Cannabis—a vertically integrated business based in California. The transaction comprises $52.5 million in Columbia Care stock and another $16.5 million that’s expected to come from the sale of Project Cannabis’s real estate assets.
Jonathan Storper, an attorney who represented Project Cannabis in the deal, says that the California side of this transaction is indicative of not only the strength of that state’s cannabis market but the sway it holds for larger operators. While Columbia Care listed a San Diego dispensary and a manufacturing facility among its U.S. portfolio, the Project Cannabis close is a significant step into the California landscape.
READ MORE: 10 Notable M&A Deals That Happened (and Didn’t) in 2020
“National organizations are looking to expand and roll up throughout the United States and get efficiencies of scale,” he says. “And I think to the extent that folks don't already have a foothold in California, they realize it's really necessary.”
Project Cannabis, as a business, includes four dispensaries and a 36,000-sq.-ft. cultivation facility. Plus, the company’s wholesale distribution network is plugged into more than 100 dispensaries across the state. From the jump, Project Cannabis will integrate Columbia Care’s medically-focused and new adult use product lines into its offerings in California.
It’s an example of a smaller company positioning itself in a way that’s attractive to larger multi-state operators like Columbia Care. There’s a footprint on the ground already—and room to expand.
CHICAGO – December 15, 2020 – PRESS RELEASE – Verano Holdings, LLC , a multi-state cannabis operator, has announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to consummate a go-public transaction in Canada. The transaction will be effected by Verano participating in a reverse takeover (RTO) of Majesta Minerals Inc., a reporting issuer in Alberta, Canada, with the resulting Canadian reporting company being named “Verano Holdings Corp." The consummation of the transaction is subject to the approval of Majesta’s shareholders, antitrust and other regulatory approvals, court approval and other customary closing conditions. It is a condition of closing that the subordinate voting shares of the resulting issuer will be listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE).
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021 and will include the previously announced merger with Alternative Medical Enterprises, LLC, Plants of Ruskin, LLC, RVC 360, LLC and affiliated companies (collectively, AltMed), fully-integrated medical marijuana companies operating in Arizona and Florida. The transaction is projected to be highly-accretive and establish the combined Verano and AltMed companies as one of the three largest multi-state operators (MSOs) in the U.S., and a clear leader in the U.S. cannabis market, which is estimated to be between $15.5 billion and $18.9 billion for 20202. The five-member resulting issuer’s Board of Directors is expected to consist of members nominated by Verano and AltMed, including three independent directors.
RTO
The RTO will be structured as a plan of arrangement pursuant to the laws of British Columbia. The plan of arrangement contemplates that Majesta’s existing shares will be consolidated and exchanged for subordinate voting shares of the resulting issuer with an expected aggregate value of US$1 million. Securityholders of Verano and AltMed will receive subordinate voting shares and proportionate voting shares of the resulting issuer which, in the aggregate and on an as-converted basis, will initially constitute approximately 77% and 23%, respectively, of the resulting issuer’s outstanding shares. These percentages are subject to dilution from expected share issuances arising from a concurrent offering, the closing of Verano’s pipeline transactions and certain contractual adjustments to the amount of the Merger consideration issuable to AltMed security holders. In addition to the share consideration issuable under the RTO, the resulting issuer will pay certain AltMed security holders a total of US$35 million in cash installments.
In connection with the RTO, a concurrent subscription receipt offering is being conducted which is expected to raise between US$50 million and US$100 million. The subscription receipts are anticipated to be priced at US$10 per subscription receipt and are based on a US$2.8 billion pre-money valuation of the resulting issuer. Upon completion of the transaction, the subscription receipts will be exchanged for subordinate voting shares of the resulting issuer. Canaccord Genuity Corp and Beacon Securities Limited have been engaged as co-lead agents and co-bookrunners in the financing.
President Donald Trump announced the resignation of Attorney General William Barr Dec. 14, while simultaneously announcing that Barr’s current deputy attorney general, Jeffrey Rosen, will become acting attorney general when Barr officially steps down next week.
“Just had a very nice meeting with Attorney General Bill Barr at the White House. Our relationship has been a very good one, he has done an outstanding job! As per letter, Bill will be leaving just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family,” Trump tweeted Monday night. “Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen, an outstanding person, will become Acting Attorney General. Highly respected Richard Donoghue will be taking over the duties of Deputy Attorney General. Thank you to all!”
Although Trump’s message implied that Barr left amicably, CNN reported that the president has been considering firing the attorney general, although aides have discouraged Trump from doing so over the past several months.
A White House official told the news outlet that Barr was neither forced out nor fired.
Barr’s impact on the cannabis industry during his time as attorney general is largely reflected in his antitrust investigations into cannabis mergers.
The New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee approved a package of bills Dec. 14 to reform the state’s cannabis laws, with full floor votes on the legislation expected later this week in both the Senate and Assembly, according to an NJ.com report.
The three bills voted out of committee include S. 21, which would launch an adult-use cannabis industry in the state following the passage of a voter-approved legalization initiative on Election Day; S. 3256, which would lessen penalties for the possession of psilocybin, or psychedelic mushrooms; and S. 2875, which would allow investors to fund cannabis licenses for minorities, women and disabled veterans.
The legislation now heads to the full Senate for a vote, which is expected later this week, according to NJ.com.
New Jersey Sen. Nicholas Scutari introduced S. 21 Nov. 6, just days after voters approved an adult-use cannabis legalization initiative on Election Day, but lawmakers made several major changes to the bill after receiving criticism from social justice advocates, who argued that the legislation did not go far enough to support communities most impacted by the war on drugs.
RELATED: Advocates, Lawmakers Battle for New Jersey Cannabis Equity
Trimming is a crucial step in the post-harvest process and one that can directly impact the value of a grower’s products. An over-trimmed bud might have bag appeal, but the loss of valuable biomass to trim can hurt a grower’s potential revenue. Meanwhile, an under-trimmed bud can look sloppy and unappealing to consumers.
Given the balancing act cannabis cultivators must perform, it’s no wonder that 74% of participants in Cannabis Business Times’ Cannabis Post-Harvest Report mentioned hand-trimming as their greatest post-harvest challenge, with trimming efficiency (29%), consistency (22%) and quality (12%) being among the top issues.
So, what exactly makes a good trim?
To answer that, Cannabis Business Times and Hemp Grower interviewed Sara Morse, lead trimmer for LOWD Cannabis in Portland, Ore., who shares her trimming philosophy, how LOWD trims its high-end line of Smoke Like a Grower (SLAG) bud using stick trimming, how she keeps her 7-person trim team motivated to repeatedly produce high-quality work, and more in this interview.
Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length, style and clarity.
Brian MacIver: What's your personal philosophy when it comes to trimming? Or, in other words, what effect should a good trim have on the product?
Earlier this month, the U.S. House of Representatives made history with the passing of the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act. The bill removes cannabis from the DEA’s Controlled Substances Act schedule, effectively decriminalizing it nationally and allowing individual states to regulate their own markets. It also calls for the reinvestment of tax money from cannabis into community grants for job training, youth recreation and other programs in areas hit hardest by prohibition.
And while the passing of the bill was lauded by many cannabis advocates and executives, others feel it doesn’t go far enough in creating a fair industry for everyone. Cannabis Business Times and Cannabis Dispensary spoke to leadership figures in the cannabis equity movement to learn about the specific issues with the MORE Act.
Breaking Down the MORE Act’s Shortcomings
Although the bill represents a significant step in federal cannabis legislation, experts identified four specific points where its provisions fall short of establishing an industry accessible to everyone:
Felony exclusions
A late-added provision in the bill would prevent anyone with even a pending felony charge from getting a license in the cannabis industry. Cannabis equity advocates in Congress, such as Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Barbara Lee (D-CA), expressed displeasure at the last-minute addition, but stopped short of pulling the bill from a full floor vote.
Amber Littlejohn, executive director of the Minority Cannabis Business Association (MCBA), said the organization was able to ensure this add-on would not be present in the final version of the bill that is passed by both chambers of Congress.
“At the last moment, MCBA was able to work with House leadership to get their commitment to ensuring the exclusion would not stand and impacted communities would remain at the forefront of any future legislation,” Littlejohn wrote in an email to Cannabis Business Times and Cannabis Dispensary.
