MjLink Cannabis Business News and Press

Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk announced July 1 that, effective immediately, his office will no longer prosecute minor cannabis possession offenses that involve less than half an ounce of cannabis, according to the Tennessean.

“Marijuana charges do little to promote public health, and even less to promote public safety,” Funk’s office told the news outlet, adding that low-level cannabis charges disproportionately impact minorities.

While the policy change will not be retroactively applied to previous cases, Funk told the Tennessean that his office is willing to consider expunging eligible convictions that are brought by defense attorneys or defendants.

Even with a global pandemic shuttering municipal offices around the U.S., the team at Exclusive Brands found new ways to work with local officials to open an outdoor cultivation site in Arlington, Mich., in June.

Narmin Jarrous, executive vice president of business development and director of social equity at Exclusive Brands, says that the sudden whirlwind brought on by the coronavirus pandemic turned the prospects upside-down. But, like so many other twists in the cannabis industry, it helps to be nimble.

“You can plan and plan and plan and then you have things like COVID jump out at you, and you’re not really quite sure what to do,” Jarrous says. “We had to pivot our strategy.” The late June opening was only a few weeks off from the company’s original plans.

Most of the disconnect came from the springtime shuttering of municipal offices. Local inspections took longer to set up—and even then they happened virtually. The Exclusive team set up FaceTime calls to give inspectors a close look at the new outdoor site. That was a challenge for all the obvious reasons, but it also stuck a wrench in the company’s intent to form meaningful relationships with regulators off the bat.

“All of our employees know the state workers and the inspectors,” Jarrous says, “because we think the more transparent we are with them and the more familiar they are with us, the more comfortable they’ll be with the process.”

In Arlington, Exclusive has plans to make the most of six cultivation licenses (for a total of 9,000 plants across 30 acres). Jarrous points to flower sales remaining high throughout the strange 2020 sales year and also references rising edibles trends as more people stay at home. She says that adding an outdoor site like this one will help fortify an adult-use market that’s very much in the developing stages. Adult-use sales began in earnest in Michigan at the start of this year.

Editor’s Note: Cannabis Business Times follows Associated Press Style and now capitalizes the “b” in “Black” when referring to people in the context of race, culture or ethnicity.”

On June 26, Minorities 4 Medical Marijuana (M4MM) and the Minority Cannabis Business Association (MCBA) co-hosted a Facebook Live event titled More than a Moment: Dismantling Systemic Racism in the Cannabis Industry: A Call to Action at 8:46 p.m. Eastern Time, calling for 8 minutes and 46 seconds of silence for event participants. A clock ticked down between numerous clips: an image of the mural of George Floyd at Cup Foods in Minneapolis, right near where he lost his pulse; music, including Todrick Hall’s “Water Guns” and Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come;” and video of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech.

The moment of silence continued for roughly the length of time on May 25 that Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin held his knee on Floyd’s neck as three more officers stood by, murdering him in the second degree, according to prosecutors.

The organizers then showed the names and photos of people of color who died from police violence and at the hands of others, such as white men claiming to be protecting their neighborhoods. The victims include Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, Ahmaud Arbery, Sandra Bland, John Crawford III and Stephon Clark. “say their names!!!” someone commented, echoing the calls from protesters who are marching in streets across the U.S. and the world.

What followed was a diverse group of speakers expressing a range of emotions over systemic racism that continues to pervade American society, including in disproportionate marijuana arrests and sentencing. They shared stories about overcoming challenges in the cannabis market, supporting Black and brown communities and actively fighting racism. The roughly hour-and-a-half-long event used the hashtags #youcandomore and #wecandomore.

“We need true partners”

Ilera Holistic Healthcare, Louisiana’s second licensed medical cannabis cultivator, is preparing to sell products from its first harvest to the state’s medical cannabis pharmacies this week, according to DailyComet.com.

Ilera, which holds the contract to grow medical cannabis for Baton Rouge’s Southern University, has harvested 2,300 plants that have passed state testing through the Department of Forestry and Agriculture, the news outlet reported.

The company now plans to sell its tinctures and topicals to the state’s licensed pharmacies for sale to patients.

After some debate, the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission voted June 30 to expand the number of licensed cultivators and dispensaries in the state, according to a Talk Business & Politics report.

In a 3-2 vote, regulators released the two remaining cultivation licenses, the news outlet reported, expanding the number of cultivators in the state from six to eight, although only three growers are operational at this time.

The two new cultivators, River Valley Relief and New Day Cultivation, will be located in Sebastian and Garland Counties, respectively, according to Talk Business & Politics.

In a 4-1 vote, the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission also approved the release of four additional dispensary licenses, the news outlet reported.

Regulators approved Natural Root Wellness in Fayetteville, Green Gross Cannabis in Highland, MissCo Cannabis Dispensary in Osceola and Native Green Wellness in Little Rock.

In the latest in a series of cannabis licensing delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Illinois has delayed issuing craft grow, infuser and transporter licenses, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The Department of Agriculture planned to issue 40 craft grow licenses, 40 infuser licenses and an undetermined number of transporter licenses July 1, the news outlet reported, but Gov. J.B. Pritzker instead issued an executive order to delay the permits, without specifying when they would be issued.

The new grow licenses will be the first opportunity for those not already operating in the state’s medical cannabis market—as well as many social equity applicants—to participate in the adult-use industry, and the transporter and infuser licenses create new categories of businesses that have not yet existed in Illinois’ cannabis market, the Chicago Tribune reported.

A Department of Justice whistleblower has testified that U.S. Attorney General William Barr was motivated by his personal dislike of the cannabis industry when he launched multiple Antitrust Division merger investigations into nearly a dozen cannabis deals last year.

John Elias, a career employee at the DOJ, testified June 24 before the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, alleging that 10 Antitrust Division probes involving cannabis companies—which accounted for 29% of the Antitrust Division’s total merger investigations in 2019—were not bona fide antitrust investigations, as they did not meet the standard internal requirements for proceeding with a Second Request subpoena, which the DOJ must file to formally object to a merger.

Instead, Elias alleged that Barr ordered the investigations because of his personal animosity toward the cannabis industry.

For Matt Karnes, founder of cannabis-focused advisory firm GreenWave Advisors, cannabis’s federally illegal status, coupled with the fact that the industry is still in its infancy, should have prohibited the DOJ from launching these antitrust investigations in the first place.

“It’s very nascent, so it’s like beating up a toddler,” he said. “It doesn’t make any sense in any way, shape or form. If it’s illegal, don’t look at this from an antitrust perspective when they still say banking is not permitted, … [and] even if it was legal, it would be too early to scrutinize anything because it’s not even nationwide yet.”

After closing a deal with U.S.-based Front Range Biosciences and Tesoro Genetics to sell its Panakeia hemp variety in December, Spanish company Hemp Trading is partnering with Cannabis Orchards to bring the high-CBG, zero-THC genetic to the Canadian hemp market.

The partnership, officially announced on June 25, will make Ottawa-based Cannabis Orchards the first Canadian company to bring to the hemp market a genetic that is THC-free, has a high CBG content (testing reports from Hemp Trading show Panakeia testing at 18% CBG) and that also is feminized.

“Through partnership with Hemp Trading, we will be introducing the first THC-free and CBG variety onto the list of approved cultivars of Health Canada, expected in fall 2020,” said Cannabis Orchard’s CEO Jamie Ghossein in a statement.

With an advertised cannabinoid content of 18% CBG and 0.00% THC, “Panakeia will be groundbreaking for the majority of cannabis users seeking health benefits,” Ghosseing continued. “In fact, according to government data, we know most Canadians are using cannabis for medicinal purposes. Yet, the Canadian offering of medicinal cannabis varieties with high CBD or CBG content is very poor.”

Hemp Trading markets Panakeia as a variety that will “never fail a field compliance test.” If that claim holds true, it may well present a solution to a problem that has plagued the hemp industry. In an email to Cannabis Business Times and Hemp Grower, Hemp Trading explained that it “made different screenings with some hemp varieties from different parts of the world,” before identifying “an anomalous individual with chemotype which produced big amounts of CBG with no CBD and THC.”

Hemp Trading also gene-tested its variety and “the results confirm this plant [does not have] the genes of [neither] CBD synthase [or] THC synthase. And that’s why Panakeia doesn’t produce any of these cannabinoids and accumulates CBG.”

Washington, D.C., June 30, 2020 -PRESS RELEASE- Beginning July 1, Virginia’s cannabis decriminalization law will officially go into effect. In May, Gov. Ralph Northam (D) signed the decriminalization bill (SB 2/ HB 972) into law, making Virginia the 27th state to decriminalize simple possession. The law reclassifies possession of one ounce or less of cannabis to a civil penalty punishable by a fine of up to $25, the lowest fine of any decriminalization law in the country.

The bill also creates a work group to study legalization in Virginia which is to make recommendations by Nov. 30, 2020. Last week, the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus pledged to introduce legislation to legalize cannabis during a special session set for August, among other criminal justice and policing reforms. 

“Decriminalizing cannabis will save thousands of Virginians from the trauma of arrest and the stigma of a criminal conviction,” said Steve Hawkins, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP). “However, Virginia lawmakers should continue to work towards broader cannabis policy reform. As the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus has recognized, full legalization is needed. While decriminalization is long overdue, legalization is necessary to dramatically reduce police-civilian interactions and remove the pretext for countless police stops.” 

Virginia’s decriminalization law goes into effect as cannabis policy reform continues to gain momentum in the southern U.S. Mississippi and North Carolina have had decriminalization laws on the books since the 1970s. According to Civiq, a majority of voters in every state in the South support cannabis legalization.

Recently, the governor of Louisiana signed a bill (HB 819) to expand the state’s medical cannabis program, and lawmakers in Georgia included a cannabis decriminalization provision in the Georgia Justice Act — a broad measure that has been introduced to address police brutality and racism. In November, voters in Mississippi will decide on medical cannabis legalization. Arkansas, Louisiana, and Florida already have comprehensive medical cannabis laws on the books, and Virginia has a more limited medical cannabis law, which the legislature and governor expanded this year.

“Twenty-seven states have now decriminalized cannabis, and Virginia’s decriminalization law is the strongest among them. Once the law is in effect, it will prevent Virginians from being criminalized and having their lives derailed for simple cannabis possession,” Olivia Naugle, a legislative analyst for MPP, said.

By Michael O’Malley As the Founder/CEO of Curved Papers, I’ve traveled the world and, along the way, taught a lot of people how to roll joints. I’ve also met some of the joint rolling virtuosos of the universe. This summer on Sunday afternoons at 4:20pm EST, I’ll be going live on Zoom with some of Read the full article...

We’ve Turned Our Attention to Voting By Michael A. Stusser When we started Higher Ground in 2010, our mission was to Elevate the Dialogue on Cannabis Culture. While we supported the legalization and decriminalization of marijuana (no states at that time had legalized recreational weed), we were intentionally non-partisan when it came to politicians themselves: Read the full article...

Begins Process to Ban Additives in Inhalable Cannabis Products Commissioners Also Approve Marijuana Licensee Stipulated Settlements   OREGON:  At its regular monthly meeting on June 18, 2020, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission moved to extend the ability of licensed marijuana retailers to continue curbside delivery, and took the first step towards adopting rules that would Read the full article...

WASHINGTON: The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) is hosting two Listen and Learn forums about the current rules regarding marijuana producer licenses, specifically the consideration of revisions and new rule sections that would incrementally expand the plant canopy square footage allowed for licensed Tier 1 producers. This is the second of two planned Read the full article...

WASHINGTON: The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) is hosting two Listen and Learn forums about the current rules regarding marijuana producer licenses, specifically the consideration of revisions and new rule sections that would incrementally expand the plant canopy square footage allowed for licensed Tier 1 producers. This is the first of two planned Read the full article...

MJNews Network Exclusive Report By Lorelei Caudill Are we potentially growing our own cure for this global pandemic? Is the United States the most well-equipped country to potentially conduct one of the most extensive case studies in our world’s history? Let’s take a more in-depth look at why the answer may be a yes. In Read the full article...

OREGON: At its regular monthly meeting on May 28, 2020, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission approved four marijuana violation stipulated settlement agreements: MANA FARMS * will pay a fine of $2,640 OR serve a 16-day recreational marijuana producer license suspension for two violations. Licensee is: Mana Holdings, LLC; Gordon Massie, Member; WWM, LLC, Member; Morgan Read the full article...

Cramps can range from mildly uncomfortable to downright debilitating, making it impossible for people to complete their daily responsibilities.

If you’re among the countless women who are forced to endure the wrath of PMS, with its cramps, bloating, headaches, and mood swings each month, then cannabis just might be the solution you’ve been looking for.

There’s no definitive proof yet — largely due to the federal government’s failure to declassify marijuana as a Schedule I drug and therefore limit the research available — but early studies, as well as firsthand accounts suggest that medical marijuana can significantly abate a number of PMS symptoms.

Click here to read the complete article

Kent Gruetzmacher ~ TheFreshToast.com ~

Analysis of altar residue shows worshippers burned pot at a Judahite desert shrine – and may have done the same at the First Temple in Jerusalem.

The ancient Israelites used cannabis in their religious rituals, archaeologists were stunned to learn by analyzing charred residues on a 2,700-year-old altar unearthed in a desert shrine.

The weed traces were found on one of the altars that once stood in the temple at Tel Arad, in Israel’s Negev desert. 

Click here to read the complete article

Ariel David ~ Haaretz.com ~ 

There’s no denying that coffee and cannabis are both popular. What’s perhaps less clear is how coffee and cannabis consumption overlap, but with the rise of infused coffee products, it’s safe to say pairing coffee with cannabis is pretty common.

Personally, I’ve consumed coffee and cannabis almost daily for nearly a decade and they both enrich my life.

Still, mixing them harmoniously has been a journey for me.

Initially, I found the pairing unsettling: The taste of my pipe ruined the taste of my coffee, and I became unbearably jittery when I smoked weed with my morning java.

Click here to read the complete article

Lawmakers in Oregon have been at the forefront of national efforts to give legal producers a way to export out of state.

Oregon farmers grow a lot more cannabis than Oregonians consume, and what happens to the excess depends entirely on what kind of grower you happen to be.

In the legal market, licensed companies are currently sitting on a surplus of roughly one million pounds, enough to keep the state stoned at current levels for six years.

Click here to read the complete article

David Bienenstock ~ Leafly.com ~