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 more