MjLink Cannabis Business News and Press
August 4, 2020 -PRESS RELEASE- The Portland Office of Community & Civic Life’s Social Equity & Educational Development (SEED) Grant Fund has announced its 2020 grant recipients. Six Portland, Ore. organizations will receive a total of $548,000 to provide economic opportunity and education to communities disproportionately impacted by cannabis prohibition. The grant is funded from a portion of Measure 26-180 which directs a 3% tax on Portland’s recreational cannabis.
"I'm really excited to be supporting the work of our grant recipients and the direct impact on the communities they serve," said Kimie Ueoka, SEED Grant Fund Coordinator. "The accountability to restorative justice built into this grant fund is a new space for government and a step in the right direction, especially now."
Collectively, the following six organizations are working to address disproportionate need-gaps for BIPOC communities across legal services, workforce development, re-entry housing, and criminal justice reform:
The 2020 grant funds will also continue to support two 2019 grantees, Constructing Hope and Green Hop.
“The SEED grant provides critical restorative justice funding to BIPOC Portlanders,” said Commissioner-in-Charge Chloe Eudaly. “I am committed to continuing significant City investments in communities that have been disproportionally harmed by our racist drug laws. Congratulations to the 2020 SEED Grant recipients! I look forward to seeing the results of your vital community-driven efforts.”
]]>ATLANTA and PITTSBURGH, Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -PRESS RELEASE- Today, the University of Pittsburgh and Parallel, a cannabis brand, announced a relationship to establish a clinical research program to study medical marijuana.
As part of a 10-year agreement, Parallel, through Goodblend, its retail brand, will provide the university an initial $3 million in unrestricted grants to be used for the exploration of the efficacy and safety of medical cannabis with an initial focus on treating sickle cell disease symptoms. Parallel will also dispense cutting-edge cannabis formulations to research study participants. Subsequent research will address other chronic conditions, most notably generalized anxiety disorders and chronic intractable pain.
The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine is one of eight Pennsylvania academic research universities approved to conduct clinical research in association with the commonwealth's medical marijuana program. With Pennsylvania's approval of this medical cannabis research partnership, Parallel was also granted a license to grow and process cannabis and open up to six retail locations across the state.
"The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine sees great value in the partnership with Parallel for the residents of the commonwealth and beyond," said Anantha Shekhar, senior vice chancellor for health sciences and the John and Gertrude Petersen Dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "Pennsylvania's medical marijuana law emphasizes the need for rigorous research related to the use of medical cannabis. Pitt is taking a leadership role in conducting that research and we look forward to advancing the safety and efficacy of cannabis therapies via scientific rigor. Parallel's focus on the innovation, quality, safety and consistency of its products makes them an ideal partner for Pitt's research program."
"Parallel is honored to be the medical cannabis partner of the University of Pittsburgh. Their position as one of the leading global medical research institutions will assist us in advancing our medical understanding of the benefits of cannabinoids in treating a wide spectrum of diseases and conditions," said William "Beau" Wrigley, Jr., Parallel chief executive officer. "Parallel is pioneering the development of cannabis therapies through strategic partnerships with leading institutions such as the University of Pittsburgh. We believe that research is essential to optimize the targeted benefits of cannabinoids as they hold great promise to replace pharmaceuticals for numerous conditions. We are honored to have been selected to provide the patients of Pennsylvania with our therapies to help improve their well-being."
Pitt will begin its medical marijuana research program with a clinical trial in patients who suffer from sickle cell disease (SCD). This program will be led Dr. Laura DeCastro MD, Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of Clinical Translational Research for the Sickle Cell Disease Research Center of Excellence. The trial will investigate what role cannabis can play in treating the symptoms of SCD, a red blood cell disorder characterized by anemia and pain due to the obstruction of blood vessels by rigid and adhesive red blood cells. Approximately 100,000 Americans suffer from SCD, which is associated with a median life expectancy of 45 years and which disproportionately affects African Americans. About 15% of sickle cell patients suffer chronic pain, which is typically treated with opioids. This class of drugs often fails to completely control pain and comes with serious side effects. Pain and other clinical complications are responsible for frequent hospitalizations of those with SCD and lifetime undiscounted health care costs amount to nearly $1 million per patient.
TORONTO, Aug. 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -PRESS RELEASE- WeedMD Inc., a Canadian cannabis producer and distributor, announced today it has entered into an exclusive licensing, manufacturing and distribution agreement with U.S.-based cannabis company MM Technology Holdings, LLC. MM is the owner of Mary’s Brands and the product line Mary’s Medicinals.
Under the terms of the agreement, as Mary’s sole Canadian partner WeedMD will manufacture a suite of Mary’s Medicinals’ products with its own biomass at its extraction hub CX Industries later this year. WeedMD will also market, sell and distribute Mary’s Medicinals’ products across Canada’s provincial adult-use and direct-to-consumer medical channels. Mary’s suite of cannabis products includes transdermal gels, patches and topicals.
“As we move into the next level of product development, it’s imperative that we strategically partner with established brands that share our core values and Mary's Brands offers a superior product line that is backed by a team truly dedicated to ensuring the quality, integrity and efficacy of its product offerings,” said Angelo Tsebelis, CEO of WeedMD. “We’re proud to be selected as Mary’s exclusive Canadian producer and distributor. With our cultivation platform and CX extraction operations fully ramped-up, there's the added pride of developing these renowned products in-house as we expand with new cannabis formats into a lucrative, yet underserved consumer segment.”
“We’re thrilled to be partnering with WeedMD and its CX extraction team as we execute on our long-term growth strategy to expand the Mary’s Medicinals brand into Canada,” said Jacques Panis, CEO of Mary’s Brands. “Our continued desire to innovate on additional product offerings makes this partnership fitting as we look to collaborate with a strong, experienced team that brings unparalleled expertise in cultivation and extraction along with a proven ability to capture unique, next-level distribution channels.”
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As several states see record-setting cannabis sales despite a global economic downturn, advocates and business owners are concerned that the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic is delaying the creation of an equitable cannabis industry.
While smaller equity applicants from marginalized communities are denied access to the market, police departments and major corporations are cashing in on ancillary cannabis contracts worth multiple millions of dollars.
In Massachusetts, only three out of 70 equity, economic empowered and disadvantaged business enterprises awarded cannabis licenses have been able to open as of July. Shaleen Title, one of the state’s four Cannabis Control Commissioners with a record of fighting for inclusivity, recently told Boston Public Radio she was “embarrassed” by the state’s equity efforts. In the spring, Massachusetts was one of the only states in the country not to declare recreational cannabis essential amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Massachusetts’ statewide budget for social equity training and technical assistance is $300,000. But that figure pales in comparison to the administrative fees and private security contracts paid to police and municipalities by cannabis companies. Since 2016, cannabis company New England Treatment Access (NETA) has paid police $1.1 million in extra salary in the city of Northampton and $1.58 million in overtime officer pay in the city of Brookline.
These law enforcement contracts are in addition to the $2.6 million “impact fee” NETA has paid to the city of Northampton since opening, a 3% tax created to offset the additional liabilities that come with dispensaries, such as increased foot traffic and security needs. In Brookline, public budget documents show $435,000 of NETA’s impact fee will go to the town’s police department.
Illinois licenses on hold
In April, Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker announced the indefinite postponement of the next round of 75 dispensary licenses – one that was meant to prioritize equity applicants. On June 30, the state Department of Agriculture (IDOA) similarly suspended the awarding of craft grower, infuser and transporter cannabis licenses.
COLORADO:The Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) is seeking member nominations for its Hemp Advisory Committee (HAC). The HAC advises the Department and confers on all matters regarding the regulation of hemp. Committee members assist the Commissioner of Agriculture and program staff in promulgating rules to carry out the Hemp Act, Title 35, Article 61, and Read the full article...
One Plant, a vertically integrated cannabis company based in Florida, opened its fourth location on June 26 in Port St. Lucie, north of Miami. One Plant’s goal is to have 10 dispensaries open by the end of 2020 and, beyond that, eventually 21 locations.
CEO Brady Cobb spoke with Cannabis Business Times about the state of the industry in Florida and opening a dispensary during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Owen MacMillan: Why is demand for cannabis increasing so quickly in Florida?
Brady Cobb: [This answer is] probably because I am a little bit partial, since I was born and raised here, but I have always had my eye on the potential of cannabis and what it could be in Florida. It is a solid state demographically when you look at who lives here, who is moving here. The veteran population is a big part of our business. Our only two discounts we provide are our new patient discount and our veteran discount, because any veteran I can help keep off opiates is a big win. So, we have a great veteran population, and we have a lot of people who move here that ultimately want to age here and spend a large chunk of their life here.
And, let’s be honest, these past six months have probably been some of the most stressful our society has ever seen, and people are looking at options aside from more traditional anxiety and stress relief, and cannabis is that.
OM: As the Florida market grows, how do you see One Plant fitting into it?
BC: We wanted to provide the best flower in Florida, and we wanted to provide flexibility. We are not your traditional kind of retail focus: Our big focus is on home delivery. Last July, while we were dialing in the grow, we launched [a] ... statewide home delivery network that’s all e-commerce-enabled. Customers [can] place an order online, and we are at their house the next day. Each one of our stores is a delivery hub. By the time we are finished building stores, we will have 21. That number is not picked out of thin air. Twenty-one is the number of hubs that FedEx has in the state of Florida. Our mindset is, “If they can do it, we can do it,” so our ultimate goal is to have same-day delivery statewide, and the geographic location of each store was chosen to facilitate that goal.
OM: Did that emphasis on a delivery business model help you adapt to store closures during the COVID-19 shutdowns?
BC: We actually closed our stores in March because of COVID to protect our team and patients, and we still enjoyed steady growth. We had the first curbside pickup model that launched in the state and we still have, in my opinion, the best—and [we] also just focused on home delivery. We opened the stores when the state opened back up, and about two and a half weeks ago, as cases started to increase, we closed the stores again. Having that delivery functionality was huge for us. As our competitors raced to set up delivery in the middle of a pandemic, we have had six months to dial it in.
Lexington, Ky. (May 20, 2020) -PRESS RELEASE- The U.S. Hemp Authority, a hemp industry initiative to promote standards and self-regulation for growers, processors and product manufacturers, announced the addition of Amber Littlejohn to its board of directors.
Littlejohn is a policy attorney and natural products industry veteran with two decades of experience in emerging industries. She has developed and implemented creative strategies and initiatives to expand and stabilize markets by engaging underrepresented business interests and communities.
Littlejohn is the senior policy advisor for the Minority Cannabis Business Association where she creates and drives policy for minority entrepreneurs and their communities. Amber currently serves as a member of the U.S. Hemp Roundtable Minority Economic Empowerment Committee. Prior to her work with MCBA, Amber was an advisor and advocate for the cannabis and natural products industries on issues including natural and herbal products regulation, agriculture and small business and rural economic development. She previously worked in regulatory and legislative policy for the American Herbal Products Association where she served as staff liaison to the sports nutrition and personal care industries.
“We are thrilled to strengthen our board of directors with the capable leadership and diverse experience modeled by Amber Littlejohn,” stated USHA president Marielle Weintraub. “Amber brings us critical expertise on substantive issues we must tackle. But just as important is Amber’s vision to promote justice and equity in the cannabis industry; her perspective will be warmly embraced as we try to develop a truly fair and inclusive program.”
“I am honored at the opportunity to work with the USHA. I look forward to working with the USHA to help build a responsible and equitable hemp industry,” Littlejohn said.
The USHA’s certification program is the hemp industry’s initiative to provide standards, best practices and self-regulation, giving consumers and retailers confidence in hemp and CBD products. Farmers, processors, manufacturers and brand owners who meet the program’s standards, as determined by an independent, third-party audit by Food Chain ID, the program’s new administrator, are awarded a seal of certification, signaling to consumers that their products are worthy of their trust.
The great-grandmother was wrongfully arrested for a drug felony at the “Most Magical Place on Earth” FLORIDA: Nationally renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump will announce a civil lawsuit against The Walt Disney Company on August 5 during a virtual press conference on behalf of Hester Burkhalter. Burkhalter, a then 69-year-old great-grandmother, Read the full article...
More than 600,000 vaping products quarantined in Massachusetts last year can now be retested and sold or reclaimed and repurposed into other products if they meet safety standards, according to a Aug. 3 press release from the Cannabis Control Commission.
After three phases of testing and a public comment period launched in July, the commission concluded that businesses may retest and sell products, which must include enhanced warning labels that state the product was previously quarantined and rested. If products do not meet safety standards after two attempts to remediate, licensees have to toss the product.
Illinois’ cannabis dispensaries set another sales record in July, selling $61 million worth of adult-use cannabis products, according to a CBS Chicago report.
July’s figures are a 28% increase over June, when sales reached $47.6 million.
Illinois’ monthly adult-use cannabis sales have been on a steady incline since February, which experienced a slight decrease in sales from January, when legal adult-use sales first launched, CBS Chicago reported.
Since the adult-use market opened in January, dispensaries have sold nearly 6.7 million cannabis products for sales totaling more than $300 million, according to the news outlet.
COLORADO: Helix Technologies announced today the divestiture of its security guarding business. The strategic decision to sell the guarding unit solidifies Helix’s transition into a pure play technology company focused on the cannabis industry. The divestiture of the guarding business is expected to increase gross margins and allow management to focus on growing the Company’s Read the full article...
Aphria now positioned within two of the largest cannabis markets outside of Canada Agreement with Israeli leader Canndoc provides access to Israel’s largest drugstore chain Finished product will be co-branded under Aphria and Canndoc brands CANADA: Aphria Inc., a leading global cannabis company, today announced it has entered into a Strategic Supply Agreement with Canndoc Ltd., a subsidiary of Read the full article...
Worcester, MA – July 7th – PRESS RELEASE – Glenn Gould, TC Controls' newly appointed Director of Business Development, brings years of experience within construction-based engineering sales and sales management. Gould holds a B.S. in Facilities Planning & Management from Wentworth Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from the University of St. Mary, Kansas. A Massachusetts native, Gould will assume the role of Director of Business Development, focusing on providing customers with building automation systems that are specialized for cannabis production and life science research.
In his role prior to joining TC Controls, Gould was a sales manager for one of New England’s largest mechanical contractors, where he led the sales team to the division’s greatest revenue year, 2019.
Christopher Culross, Vice President of TC Controls, said, “Glenn will be integral to our business growth, his extensive experience and contribution to the business is welcomed and I know he will lead our business development and sales teams to new heights."
A proposed settlement that would reshuffle some of Nevada’s adult-use dispensary licenses could end a legal battle between the state and businesses that were not granted licenses in 2018, according to The Nevada Independent.
The settlement was announced in court July 29 and involves 17 cannabis businesses and the Nevada Department of Taxation, which regulated the industry until this summer, when the newly established Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board took over regulatory oversight.
The settlement would reassign the following licenses, according to a Nevada Current report:
Lone Mountain to assign a City of Las Vegas conditional license to QualcanLone Mountain to assign a Washoe County – City of Reno conditional license, a Lincoln County conditional license, an Esmerelda conditional license and a Eureka County conditional license to ETW PlaintiffsHelping Hands to assign a Clark County conditional license to LivFree Nevada Organic Remedies (The Source) to assign a Clark County conditional license to MM Development (Planet 13) Nevada Organic Remedies (The Source) to assign a Carson City conditional license to Qualcan GreenMart to assign a Clark County conditional license to Nevada Wellness Center Thrive to assign a Clark County – City of Henderson conditional license to ETW Management or a related-entity designeeLone Mountain to assign a Douglas County conditional license to ThriveThe state also agreed in the proposed settlement to issue a Henderson license to LivFree, the Nevada Current reported.
Some of the plaintiffs challenged the proposal, alleging collusion, the news outlet reported. They asked Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez to temporarily bar the Nevada Tax Commission from approving the proposed settlement July 31, but Gonzalez rejected the motion.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has submitted statements in opposition to three of the four ballot measures expected to appear on the state’s 2020 ballot, including one that would legalize adult-use cannabis, according to a Tucson.com report.
Ducey called the ballot initiative, which was supported by Smart and Safe Arizona, “a bad idea based on false promises,” the news outlet reported. He said experiences from other states with legalized cannabis point to more highway deaths, increases in teen drug use and more newborns exposed to cannabis.
Ducey said the state’s medical cannabis program, which voters approved in 2010, “is serving the people who need it for health-related reasons,” according to Tucson.com.
The Secretary of State’s office has received additional arguments from opponents of the legalization measure, the news outlet reported, and all of those arguments, in addition to a handful of arguments in favor of the initiative, will be included in publicity pamphlets mailed to the homes of all registered voters.
Northern Mariana Islands’ Cannabis Commission has announced the launch of applications for both commercial cannabis licenses and the noncommercial Homegrown Marijuana Registry, according to a press release.
The commission officially adopted the proposed rules and regulations for the program during its June 23 meeting, and will begin accepting the commercial and noncommercial applications on Aug. 4, which marks the official launch of the Commonwealth’s cannabis industry.
Licensed cannabis businesses will be permitted to commercially cultivate, manufacture, store, distribute and sell cannabis to adults 21 and older, as well as allow for onsite consumption at their licensed establishments.
Adults 21 and older may register for a Homegrown Marijuana Registry Card to produce, possess or store cannabis at a household cultivation site for noncommercial purposes.
Applications for both license types are available here.
Sampling cannabis or hemp for testing is a crucial part of the system that confers confidence to consumers purchasing those products. But, like much in the cannabis and hemp worlds, how cannabis and hemp cultivators select samples relies on an inconsistent patchwork of state laws.
ASTM International’s Committee on Cannabis aims to bring consistency to how cannabis and hemp growers collect, retain and send samples to state testing labs with a new standard.
“State-by-state requirements for batch testing (cannabis/marijuana focused) and sampling protocols vary significantly, if they exist at all,” David Vaillencourt, an ASTM member volunteer, recording officer for ASTM’s Cannabis Laboratory Subcommittee, and CEO and founder of The GMP Collective, told CBT/HG.
“There is ongoing frustration between cultivators and labs alike, which we have all seen [finger-pointing at each other] as to why lab-to-lab variability from the same flower batch continues to be a problem,” he continued. “Spoiler alert: There are multiple factors at play here, but the most fundamental one is the lack of ensuring a 'representative sample' has been collected from a batch.”
READ ALSO: Canadian Cannabis Companies Sued Over Product Mislabeling
The U.S. House of Representatives is planning a floor vote on the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, legislation that would federally decriminalize cannabis by removing it from the Controlled Substances Act, and cannabis industry stakeholders are taking notice.
“It’s a fairly comprehensive piece of legislation, talking about descheduling cannabis federally,” Jonathan Havens, co-chair of Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr’s Cannabis Law Practice, tells Cannabis Business Times and Cannabis Dispensary. “It would completely change the treatment of the federal regulation of cannabis.”
The upcoming vote, first reported by Marijuana Moment, is planned for September and could lead to monumental progress for the industry, even if the legislation encounters roadblocks in the Senate, where its passage is less likely, according to Patrick Martin, a lobbyist with Cozen O’Connor.
“Passing a legalization bill on the House floor would be tremendous progress, and I think it would set a precedent moving forward that will ultimately help lead to legalization,” he says.
Aside from federal decriminalization, the MORE Act also strives to address the past harms of cannabis prohibition, particularly on communities of color and other marginalized groups.
This week, the U.S. House approved an amendment to protect state-legal cannabis businesses from federal intervention. Elsewhere, in Maine, the Office of Marijuana Policy said it expects adult-use sales to launch by the end of the year.
Here, we’ve rounded up the 10 headlines you need to know before this week is over.
Federal: Cookies, a cannabis and lifestyle brand, announced this week its launch of Run The Jewels products in collaboration with Lemonnade, a sativa-focused sister brand to Cookies, and acclaimed hip-hop group Run The Jewels. The project is also a partnership between Berner, the Bay Area rapper and entrepreneur who started Cookies, RTJ rapper Killer Mike and rapper-producer El-P. Read moreA new federal program developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) aims to help labs achieve accurate THC and CBD measurements. The goal of NIST’s Cannabis Quality Assurance (CannaQAP) program is to help labs produce consistent measurement results, which would both increase accuracy in product labeling and help forensic labs distinguish between hemp and marijuana. Read moreThe U.S. House of Representatives passed an amendment July 30 that protects state-legal cannabis businesses from federal intervention. The amendment, included in a Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations bill, bars the Department of Justice from using taxpayer funds to enforce federal anti-cannabis laws in U.S. states that have legalized medical and/or adult-use cannabis. Read moreMissouri: The Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) has issued five new medical cannabis manufacturing licenses. DHSS initially licensed 86 facilities in January to manufacture cannabis-infused products such as edibles, tinctures and concentrates, but has since determined that certain companies submitted duplicate applications and then received multiple licenses for one facility. Read moreMassachusetts: Boston City Councilors Lydia Edwards and Kim Janey have filed amendments to Boston’s cannabis equity ordinance in an effort to bring transparency to the municipal approval process for marijuana businesses by changing the process for executing host community agreements. The Boston Cannabis Board adopted its final rules and regulations on July 22 and under those rules and regulations, the host community agreements are negotiated after approval by the BCB and there is no set timeline for their execution. Read moreNew Jersey: In the first in a series of polls, Brach Eichler LLC’s cannabis law practice and DKC Analytics questioned 500 registered New Jersey voters from July 7 through July 12 and found that 68% of respondents said they would vote in favor of adult-use cannabis legalization in the November election. Twenty-six percent indicated they would oppose the measure and 6% said they were unsure. Read moreMichigan: Adult-use cannabis sales in Michigan have topped $200 million so far this year. Adult-use sales have generated nearly $35 million in excise and sales tax revenues since the market launched in December 2019. Read moreMaine: With Maine’s first adult-use cannabis cultivators, manufacturers and testing labs expected to open this fall, the Office of Marijuana Policy (OMP) anticipates that adult-use sales will launch by the end of the year. The OMP delayed its planned June launch due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but now the office’s director, Erik Gundersen, says that licensing the supply chain will give the state’s adult-use industry time to grow, manufacture and test products for Maine’s first recreational dispensaries. Read moreCanada: FSD Pharma has announced that it will surrender its Health Canada licenses for its subsidiary, FV Pharma, Inc., and suspend all activities by FV Pharma within 30 days. FSD Pharma has begun the process of liquidating all FV Pharma assets, including the sale of the company’s cannabis production facility in Cobourg, Ontario. Read moreInternational: The Netherlands has received 149 applications from growers hoping to participate in the country’s regulated cannabis cultivation experiment. Prospective cultivators could apply for the program from July 1 through July 28, and now the Ministries for Medical Care and of Justice and Security will evaluate the applications and license 10 growers by early 2021. Read moreRecently, 420MEDIA CEO Kerri Accardi sat down with Tracy Lamourie for MJ News to discuss the exciting launch of her groundbreaking new venture A New Cannabis Channel. Here’s a peek into that conversation: TRACY LAMOURIE: You have been doing some amazing things in the media and the cannabis space, and now you are combining the Read the full article...
