MjLink Cannabis Business News and Press

OREGON:  The OLCC has produced a “living” FAQ document to address questions about the temporary rules allowing “curbside delivery” and other operational concerns and questions that licensees have been asking about. You can find the FAQ it on the OLCC COVID-19 Business Continuity Page. It will be updated as we receive additional questions.

Maine’s Office of Marijuana Policy (OMP) released a memo March 24 indicating that while medical cannabis dispensaries are considered essential businesses under the state’s coronavirus policies, the launch of Maine’s adult-use cannabis market, which was slated for June, will likely be delayed due to the pandemic.

The announcement is the latest in a series of delays for the adult-use market, which voters legalized in 2016.

The OMP sent its memo to the state’s licensed medical cannabis businesses, as well as applicants seeking adult-use licenses, according to a Portland Press Herald report. The memo urges existing medical cannabis businesses to review their operating procedures and find areas to improve upon, including increased sanitary protocols and managing patient lines and interactions in compliance with social distancing guidelines.

The memo also indicates that the OMP has heard concerns from dispensaries and caregivers about staff shortages as employees self-quarantine, and the agency said it will work with the industry to process caregiver assistant and dispensary employee applications.

The fate of the state’s adult-use market launch is less clear.

Recent coronavirus response measures in Denver and Colorado have been keeping attorney Alyson Jaen’s attention lately as the industry works to maintain compliance.

At 5 p.m. MDT on March 24, Denver’s stay-at-home order went into effect in response to the coronavirus. The previous day, Mayor Michael Hancock said adult-use businesses and liquor stores are nonessential, but reversed course a few hours later after an “outcry” and let the businesses remain open, according to The New York Times.

Facing orders to stay in their homes and the possibility of not being able to purchase product when they do leave their homes, demand among adult-use customers increased 140% on March 23 before the mayor said adult-use businesses are essential, said Jaen, who is head of Denver-based Fortis Law Partners’ cannabis practice.

“It was in a matter of hours [that] we had a huge pivot—'Yes, you're open,' 'No, you're not.’” she said. “That creates confusion and this idea of panic-buying.”

Previously, on March 20, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis issued executive orders that allowed dispensaries to temporarily offer curbside pickup through mid-April and for doctors to be able to remotely issue medical cards, according to Westword.

“You can now call in your order or do it online and then come to the curbside to pick it up, to try and help with social distancing because there's been such a spike in the demand,” Jaen said. “You were hearing stories about overcrowded dispensaries—there was definitely not six feet between people. So, they're adapting to figure out what to do in the interest of public safety and health and wellness.”

Cannabis businesses have long struggled with Internal Revenue Code Section 280E, which addresses the tax consequences of cannabis’s federally illegal status and severely limits which expenses cannabis operators can deduct when filing their federal tax returns.

While companies cultivating, manufacturing and selling marijuana-based products can only deduct the cost of goods sold under 280E, hemp operators don’t have the same limitations since the 2018 Farm Bill federally legalized industrial hemp. In fact, according to Sanjay Agarwal, an international and corporate tax partner of MGO | ELLO’s National Cannabis Practice, everything, generally speaking, is deductible for a company operating in the legal CBD/hemp industry.

“You also have the ability to sell CBD/hemp across state lines, which is beneficial,” Agarwal tells Hemp Grower. “Rather than just looking at your state where you’re headquartered, you’re able to sell your product into all the other 49 states, and you’re also able to sell internationally, too, for the most part, which is beneficial.”

Here, Agarwal outlines three guiding principles for hemp operators this tax season, from the structuring of the business to incentives to sell products to a broader global market.

1. Separate your hemp business from any marijuana operations.

Many marijuana companies are expanding their operations into the newly legal industrial hemp and CBD markets, and Agarwal says it is critical for these businesses to separate those operations into two entities.

While COVID-19’s full effects on the cannabis industry remain uncertain, there are common challenges that most businesses are currently facing and there are steps companies can take to protect themselves in these uncertain times.

“We have weekly calls with our law firm leadership and a theme is uncertainty, as I’m sure it is with other businesses,” Joseph Bedwick, co-chair of Cozen O’Connor’s Cannabis Industry Team, tells Cannabis Business Times. “Everybody is doing what they can to weather the storm, and cannabis businesses are no different. They’re a regulated industry, but they are, at their heart, a business that just needs to weather the storm like any other business.”

Here, Bedwick outlines some of the broader trends he’s seeing in the market, the frequently asked questions from his clients and what the industry might look like at the end of this global pandemic.

Cannabis Business Times: What are some of the broader market trends that are unfolding in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak?

Joseph Bedwick: As a general comment—and this is not unlike any other client in every other industry—there’s just a lot of uncertainty. I’m an M&A attorney by trade, and deals have slowed, naturally. People are not able to meet in person. They’re not able to carry on their business as easily and as frequently as they’ve done, and frankly, people aren’t as willing to invest money at this time. I had one deal where things were just put on hold because the buyer wanted to tread a little lighter. I think you see that, and that’s part of a national trend, at least in the M&A landscape.

CBT: What are the main challenges that your cannabis clients are facing right now? What are some frequently asked questions you’re getting from the industry?

JB: On the cannabis-specific side, one of the things that all dispensary clients that have come to us have been concerned about is just, is a medial marijuana dispensary going to be considered an essential business? Generally, states are delineating between essential functions and non-essential functions, which is why our law firm is closed. My children are doing distance learning from school. Bars are closed. Grocery stores, pharmacies and gas stations are allowed to remain open and restaurants are allowed to remain open for drive-thru and takeout. What we’ve seen by and large is medical marijuana dispensaries are falling under the essential category. That has relieved a lot of my clients, especially in California, where they have the shelter in place [order] in San Francisco in the Bay Area. In Southern California, the localities have deemed marijuana dispensaries to be essential and they can remain open. That’s been one concern by our clients and questions that we’ve talked through.

Federal prosecutions for marijuana trafficking declined again in 2019, and drug possession cases overall saw an even more dramatic decline, according to a new report published by the U.S. Sentencing Commission on Monday.

While drug cases still represent the second most common category of crimes in the federal criminal justice system, the data indicates that the bulk of those instances are related to methamphetamine trafficking, which has steadily increased over the past decade.

But for marijuana, a different kind of trend has emerged.

Click here to read the complete article

Kyle Jaeger ~ MarijuanaMoment.net ~ 

Cannabis sales are touching new highs as customers across the United States and Canada stockpile weed to prepare for long spells of isolation because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Between March 16 and March 22, sales of recreational cannabis across California, Colorado, Oregon and Arkansas - some of the key U.S. markets - were up 50% and medical marijuana sales rose 41% from the same period last year, figures obtained from cannabis point of sale and data platform Flowhub show. 

Click here to read the complete article

Shariq Khan ~ Reuters.com ~ 

History shows that cannabis helps people cope with anxiety.

Older adults - the population most vulnerable to the novel coronavirus – have plenty to be anxious about.

Particularly for those residing in long-term care facilities, this stress can only be compounded. 

Click here to read the complete article

Abbie Rosner ~ Forbes.com ~ 

As the virus took hold, the outlets were closed. But when street dealers quickly moved in, the government began to rethink the situation.

On Monday evening, March 16, Ben Van Essen brought a roll of white tape to work.

With a mask and gloves on, he used the tape to mark several dividing lines, every six feet, on the floor of the cannabis “coffee shop” Metamorphose in Groningen, Holland, where he works as a manager.

Click here to read the complete article

Amel Brahmi ~ CannabisWire.com ~ 

What does it take to become a farmer? Those who are successful often exhibit grit, hard work and perseverance in the face of adversity.

For Anthony Sullivan, a television pitchman, becoming a farmer has also included a huge investment, a full TV production crew and an inspiration worth fighting for.

All weekend and all day Monday, the team at Mana Supply Co.’s Edgewater, Md., location was moving patients and their vehicles through the new drive-thru lanes—keeping the traffic flow even and safe off State Rt. 2 and keeping new social distancing measures in mind every step of the way. The drive-thru opened on Friday, just in the nick of time.

Co-owner Christopher Jensen says business has increased about 30% in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak and the vigorous spike in demand for cannabis products. The sudden move into crisis mode across the globe has put businesses like Mana Supply Co. on the lookout for new efficiencies, new ways of engaging their patient base and ensuring everyone has access to products they need. 

Last week, the state of Maryland issued its “social distancing” measures, which greenlit curbside pickups for medical cannabis dispensaries. It was an immediate help, but Jensen and Volz still had reservations about sending employees to cars for cash exchanges. The drive-thru cuts down on some of that up-close interaction. And it is part of a plan that’s been in the works at Many Supply Co. for a lot longer than just the past few days and weeks. Jensen credits the state’s diligent response to the many nuanced business concerns for getting the drive-thru lanes open in a time of great uncertainty.

“This has been changing almost on an hour-by-hour basis,” Jensen says. Monday morning, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan issued an order on further business closings. The Mana Supply Co. team worked with the state’s Office of Legal Counsel to ensure that medical cannabis businesses would remain “essential” and able to keep the doors open during this crisis—and they are.

Co-owner Matt Volz was in the parking lot this morning, directing traffic and helping answer patients’ questions. The company’s drive-thru service is working on a pre-order basis now, mimicking the CVS prescription pick-up window next door.

Near-Term Operational Impact

Like all other businesses, the cannabis industry is having to quickly adjust. The good news is that no states, so far, have shut down cannabis operators, as they have been deemed as essential service providers, like drug stores.

We recently interviewed Kim Rivers, CEO of Trulieve, the dominant medical cannabis company in Florida with 45 dispensaries. She detailed the steps that the company has taken to keep customers and employees safe, including scanning temperatures of employees when they arrive and immediately sending workers home if they aren’t feeling well. The company has also offered free delivery to patients who are 65 or older and is piloting a mobile drive-up program for all patients.

A few public companies have commented on their operations, including Cresco Labs, which issued a press release describing its response, including heightened sanitation measures and an effort to drive traffic to online ordering. Green Thumb Industries, which, like Cresco, is headquartered in Illinois, issued a statement that it will prioritize medical cannabis patient access. Curaleaf informed its customers that it would devote the first hour of each day to customers 60 and older, and it also began offering a new service called WaitlistMe so that customers could wait in their car rather than in dispensaries or in line outside.

Planet 13 Holdings, which operates a superstore in Las Vegas that caters primarily to tourists, had said on Thursday that it would provide online ordering and delivery in addition to core dispensary services while closing its restaurant and secondary activities. On Friday, however, Nevada ordered all cannabis stores to close, while permitting delivery.

From the demand side, cannabis purchases have surged. Cannabis software company Akerna reported that legal cannabis sales rose 19.2% across its point-of-sale (POS) customers on March 18 compared to a week earlier, as patients stock up ahead of potential disruptions in their ability to buy.

The Colombian government issued a new regulation that establishes the regulatory framework to commercialize master cannabis preparations for Colombian medicinal cannabis, a market estimated to comprise some 5 million patients.

On March 2, the Ministry of Health issued Resolution 315, which not only opens up the Colombian market for medicinal cannabis but also allows the transformation of dry cannabis flower into derivative products for companies that set up industries at free trade zones.

“The resolution benefits the sector because it provides clarity on narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors that are subjected to be controlled, and differentiates them from those that do not require oversight,” Rodrigo Arcilla, director of the Colombian cannabis association Asocolcanna told Cannabis Business Times.

Master cannabis preparations with 0.2% of THC or higher, including oils, non-psychoactive and psychoactive cannabis, must be registered to the country’s National Narcotics Fund, according to the resolution.

For the magistral formulations derived from cannabis with less than 0.2% of THC, the derivative products will not be audited by the National Narcotics Fund.

The resolution states that all magistral formulations based on cannabis must be sold only with a medical prescription at pharmacies in this South American nation with a population of 50 million residents.

Across the country, state legislature and gubernatorial offices are taking a hard look at their state workforces, productivity measures, and the rapidly climbing statistics associated with the COVID-19 outbreak. Naturally, each respective state has different needs and protocols depending on its population distribution, prevalence of travel/interaction, and its infrastructure. However, certain tenets remain constant; critical infrastructure sectors must be preserved to permit citizens to retain a semblance of normal life during periods of quarantine.

This begs the question, does the cannabis industry qualify as a critical component of a permissive state’s infrastructure? Here, we take a look at an East vs. West approach to maintaining the established Cannabis ecosystems in coastal states California and New York.

California Progression

On March 4, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed a State of Emergency in California as a result of the threat of COVID-19. As of March 19, 2020 the Executive department of the State of California issued Executive Order N-33-20 (hereafter, “CEO”) based on the rapid spread of COVID-19 throughout California. Under Government Code Section 8567, 8627, and 8665, it was Ordered:

…all individuals living in the State of California [are] to stay home or at their place of residence except as needed to maintain continuity of operations of the federal critical infrastructure sectors… In addition, and in consultation with the Director of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, I may designate additional sectors as critical in order to protect the health and well-being of all Californians.

A simultaneous memo was issued by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (“CISA”) to define 16 separate categories that were considered critical infrastructure sectors essential to maintain continuity of society:

(1) Chemical;

The Iditarod is an annual sled-dog race held in Alaska that spans an approximately 1,000-mile stretch. Racers and their teams of 14 dogs depart with their team in Anchorage, in the state’s southeast, heading to Nome, to the northwest. It is a challenging and dangerous trek that puts to the test each racer and attracts hundreds of spectators to the Anchorage start. 

Cannabis aficionados might notice something a bit different at this year’s edition: Greatland Ganja’s logo is plastered on one of the racers, as the Kasilof-based cannabis cultivation operation is sponsoring Monica Zappa, another Kasilof resident and cannabis advocate.

Most racers participate because they love the sport, relying on sponsors to cover the cost of supplies and registration. Leif Abel, co-owner of Greatland Ganja, saw this year’s event as an opportunity to get some added visibility for his company while supporting a sport in which his family participated, once upon a time.

“We grew up dog mushing, it's one of the most Alaskan sports in existence, one of the biggest things that binds Alaskans and Alaska together,” Leif says.

Zappa participated in her seventh Iditarod this year (although she’s done the trail eight times, having completed it last year without the race’s support). The significance of this moment is not lost on her, especially given the race’s history. The Iditarod, Zappa explains, is “meant to commemorate the Serum Run back in 1925 that was to stop this diptheria outbreak in Nome, where children were dying.”

Zappa sees a historical connection between the race’s origins and her decision to seek out Greatland Ganja’s sponsorship. In the same way that mushers brought medicine to save the children of Nome, Zappa sees herself as bringing a positive message about the cannabis plant and the local industry to villages.

Portland, OR --  PRESS RELEASE -- The Oregon Liquor Control Commission has approved a temporary rule that supports social distancing to promote prevention of the spread of the COVID-19 virus, by allowing licensed marijuana retailers to conduct limited transactions outside their licensed premises. The action will permit retail licensees to take orders and deliver product from the retail store to a person who is outside of the store and within 150 feet of the retailer’s licensed premises.

At an emergency meeting to consider temporary rules impacting the business activity of OLCC licensees in the alcohol and marijuana industry, the Commission took its action to promote social distancing in the wake of the COVID-19 virus. The Commission’s action aligns with the Governor’s Executive Order that prohibits public gatherings of 25 people or more, and encourages people to distance themselves by at least 3 feet while in public.

The temporary rule also increases the amount of flower that OMMP cardholders and caregivers can purchase to 24 ounces per day and no more than 32 ounces per month. This change temporarily increases the daily purchase limit for OMMP cardholders to match their personal possession limit. This rule does not change the total monthly amount a cardholder or caregiver is currently permitted to purchase from an OLCC-licensed retailer.

The temporary action that the Commission has taken is designed to balance the protection of public health while at the same time helping struggling businesses. Marijuana industry guidance can be found here.

“Every single decision that this agency is making, both for the liquor and the marijuana industries, are there for the consideration of helping people make a living and continue to make a living,” said Paul Rosenbaum, OLCC Commission Chair.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend its regulations to comply with the requirements of the Controlled Substances Act in an effort to approve pending cannabis cultivation applications and allow entities to move forward with cultivation for research purposes.

Public comment must be submitted electronically or postmarked on or before May 22, according to the notice.

The notice signals that the DEA is starting a formal investigation—called a 303 investigation—to vet the 35 entities that have applied for a cultivation license to grow cannabis for research, according to a Forbes report.

Last summer, a federal court ordered the DEA to explain why it had not responded to the pending applications after Dr. Sue Sisley and the Scottsdale Research Institute (SRI) filed a lawsuit against the Justice Department and the DEA in June 2019. Phoenix-based SRI had applied for a DEA manufacturing license in 2016 to grow its own cannabis for an ongoing study on medical cannabis as a treatment for veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

In August 2019, the DEA entered a filing in the Federal Register indicating that it intended to establish regulations to evaluate the applications and the federal court dismissed Sisley’s lawsuit.

For home cooks and aspiring bakers alike, a week or two stuck inside presents a perfect opportunity to try your hand at cooking with cannabis.

In the last couple weeks, concerns over coronavirus have meant social distancing and increasing isolation for more and more individuals around the world.

For individuals who can manage it, staying home is the best tool we currently have against the spread of COVID-19. 

Click here to read the complete article

Ian Chant ~ Leafly.com ~

Never has it been more clear than during the current COVID-19 pandemic that marijuana has arrived at the forefront of mainstream American society.

In state after state, governors and public health officials are deeming cannabis businesses “essential” operations that can stay open amid coronavirus-related forced closures and stay-at-home mandates.

People might not be able to go bowling or see a movie in theaters, but they can still stock up on marijuana.

Click here to read the complete article

Tom Angell ~ Forbes.com ~ 

The Pennsylvania Department of Health is taking steps to maintain patients’ access to medical cannabis during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The state’s medical cannabis growers/processors and dispensaries have been deemed life-sustaining businesses that are allowed to remain open under Gov. Tom Wolf’s order for non-life-sustaining businesses to close, according to a local Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 report.

The state has also announced the suspension of certain statutory and regulatory provisions as of March 20 in order to implement a series of changes to allow patients enrolled in the state’s medical cannabis program to continue receiving medication, the news outlet reported.

The changes allow dispensary employees to provide medical cannabis to patients in their vehicles, as long as they are on the facility’s property, according to Action News 4. The state has also removed a cap that limited how many patients one caregiver could have, and has eliminated background checks for the renewal of caregiver applications to expedite the renewal process, the news outlet reported.

The state will also waive in-person consultations for the renewal of patients’ medical cannabis cards to allow for remote consultations between certified practitioners and medical cannabis patients for certification renewal, according to Action News 4. Practitioners may also request that patients receive a 90-day supply of medical cannabis from a dispensary, as the state has temporarily waived its 30-day limit.