WeedLife News Network

State Assembly member Crystal Peoples-Stokes told 2 On Your Side, "There's no question we don't know how to determine if somebody is impaired by it or not..."

‘There exists a need for a fair forensic tool capable of detecting THC in the short window of impairment’

Researchers examined all areas where cannabis is legal and found a shocking number and amount of contaminants that, arguably, should not be present on anything that humans consume

Cannabis-related exchange-traded funds and stocks were lifted this week after President Biden’s pardon on Thursday of those convicted of simple marijuana possession.

The president also called for a review of how marijuana is categorized under federal law, with the moves boosting speculation that a loosening of cannabis restrictions is on the horizon.

Cannabis ETFs offering exposure to the industry in the U.S. have been beaten down badly over the past few years as the industry takes longer than anticipated to develop. Still, they had record gains Thursday after President Biden’s announcement.

The AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF (MSOS), the first and biggest ETF offering exposure to the U.S. market, gained 33% Thursday. The ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF (MJ) added 20% and the ETFMG U.S. Alternative Harvest ETF (MJUS) rose by 26%. The ETFs rose again earlier Friday before coming down from their highs.

Additionally, shares of cannabis companies such as Canopy Growth Co. and Tilray Brands Inc., which maintain the first- and fourth-largest holdings in MJ, also jumped by approximately 22% and 33%, respectively.

“President Biden’s announcement is obviously tremendously uplifting for the industry,” Jason Wilson, cannabis research and banking expert at ETF Managers Group, told ETF.com in an interview.

Cannabis-related exchange-traded funds and stocks were lifted this week after President Biden’s pardon on Thursday of those convicted of simple marijuana possession.

The president also called for a review of how marijuana is categorized under federal law, with the moves boosting speculation that a loosening of cannabis restrictions is on the horizon.

Cannabis ETFs offering exposure to the industry in the U.S. have been beaten down badly over the past few years as the industry takes longer than anticipated to develop. Still, they had record gains Thursday after President Biden’s announcement.

The AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF (MSOS), the first and biggest ETF offering exposure to the U.S. market, gained 33% Thursday. The ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF (MJ) added 20% and the ETFMG U.S. Alternative Harvest ETF (MJUS) rose by 26%. The ETFs rose again earlier Friday before coming down from their highs.

Additionally, shares of cannabis companies such as Canopy Growth Co. and Tilray Brands Inc., which maintain the first- and fourth-largest holdings in MJ, also jumped by approximately 22% and 33%, respectively.

“President Biden’s announcement is obviously tremendously uplifting for the industry,” Jason Wilson, cannabis research and banking expert at ETF Managers Group, told ETF.com in an interview.

Elegance Brands, Emerald Health Pharmaceutical, and High Times are the stocks included in the stock promotion scheme.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced on September 30 that it had charged eight in a stock promotion scheme that included promoting Emerald Health Pharmaceuticals and High Times Holdings stocks. The SEC says investors purchased $80 million of securities following the promotions. The individuals received payments based on the number of securities sold.

The SEC’s announcement attached the legal complaint that alleged recidivist securities law violator Jonathan William Mikula promoted the securities of four issuers Elegance Brands Inc. (now Sway Energy Corp.), Emerald Health Pharmaceuticals Inc., Hightimes Holding Corp., and Cloudastructure Inc. without disclosing that he received compensation for the promotions. Mikula is alleged to have promoted the securities through Palm Beach Venture, a newsletter for which he served as an author and chief analyst, and presented the recommendations as unbiased and not paid for, while he was secretly compensated in the form of cash and lavish expenses.

In addition to Mikula, the SEC’s complaint also charged Christian Fernandez and Amit Raj Beri, associates of Mikula’s, who allegedly acted as middlemen for the promotional scheme. The gentlemen earned millions of dollars off the promotions but hid the payments by submitting fake invoices for consulting services. Beri in particular acted as the middle man for the cannabis companies Emerald Health and HighTimes. High Times was not charged.

Elegance Brands

Beri also was listed as the CEO and CFO in various SEC filings of the company called Elegance Brands, which produced a product called Gorilla Hemp. Elegance was approved by the SEC for a Reg A offering but after nine months had raised less than a million dollars. When it was decided to promote Elegance through the Palm Beach Ventures newsletter, Beri made changes to the offering but did not prepare a new offering statement with the SEC. Thus any securities sold after that point were considered unregistered. The complaint stated, “At Mikula’s urging, and in order to “facilitate” the promotion, Elegance agreed to engage Individual 1, an associate of Mikula’s, and pay him 3% of investor funds raised through the promotion and provide him with 8.9 million shares of Elegance’s stock, which amounted to 10% of the company’s outstanding stock.”

The complaint said that the newsletter published an article stating that Gorilla Hemp was retailing for $3.95 a can; that Gorilla Hemp could yield Elegance a 2,630% price increase; that Elegance had distribution agreements in place for Gorilla Hemp with the largest adult beverage distributor in the United States; and that Elegance’s share price was projected to increase by 9,900% in five years.

Jaws were on the floor across the USA late last week after President Joe Biden made a surprise announcement in relation to marijuana.

While the majority of US states have medical marijuana programs in place, things are trickier at a federal level. The 2018 Farm Bill made cannabis with a delta-9 THC content of under .03% (hemp) legal – but for anything above that, it is considered marijuana and therefore illegal according to federal law.

Currently, marijuana is listed as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act, a classification reserved for what are considered the most problematic substances. That marijuana is in this category given its safety profile has always been a thorny point.

On Thursday, President Biden announced he was asking the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Attorney General to kick off an administrative process to review how marijuana is scheduled under federal law.

“Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana,” said the President. “It’s time that we right these wrongs.”

He also announced a pardon of all prior Federal offenses of simple possession of marijuana. The number of those affected – and the impacts of their records – is significant. President Biden said he was also urging all state Governors to do the same in relation to state offenses.

Grinder sellers are tired of getting dropped after being flagged by Amazon algorithms.

On one hand Amazon, the world’s largest retailer, openly supports specific pieces of cannabis legislation for reform and allows unregulated employees to consume cannabis on their own time. But on the other hand, harmless accessories like grinders are inconsistently flagged and banned from the platform, sending mixed messages, as Harris-Bricken’s Canna Law Blog pointed out.

Arnold Marcus, 68, who operated the vendor Golden Gate Grinders on Amazon, detailed to The Seattle Times how his cannabis grinder listings were suddenly flagged as a violation of company policy prohibiting the sale of drugs and drug paraphernalia, after he built his business up for nearly 10 years. Losing Amazon seller account privileges is like the kiss of death, given how much success depends upon e-sales nowadays.

Most of us are familiar with the legal games vendors play: Just as cannabis pipe sellers have to disguise their wares with the meaningless phrase “For Tobacco Use Only,” Amazon weed grinder sellers have to list them as “spice grinders” or as vague “herb grinders.”

For nine years, Marcus operated on Amazon without incident. It was his livelihood. Adding to Marcus’s success on Amazon, the platform even invited him to join the Amazon Accelerator program, which could lead to him becoming a supplier for Amazon’s private label.

“There was no indication in all those years that this is a prohibited product,” Marcus said. “One day, they were supporting me and then one day it ended.”

PHILADELPHIA - Older patients with lower back and leg pain due to chronic spinal stenosis experience statistically significant improvements following the use of hemp-derived CBD gel caps, according to data published in the journal Cureus. 

Researchers affiliated with Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia assessed the efficacy of the twice-daily administration of hemp-derived CBD gel caps (15mgs) in a cohort of 48 patients (mean age: 75) with spinal stenosis.

Investigators reported that patients averaged a nearly two-point decrease in their pain scores (on an 11-point scale) during the trial period. Authors also reported improvements in patients’ appetite, sleep quality, and overall quality of life. Trial participants did not acknowledge any adverse side effects from CBD therapy.

“This open-label, prospective, observational study found that treatment with hemp-derived CBD gel caps was associated with significant improvements in pain scores and several quality-of-life measures,” they concluded. “CBD gel caps were not associated with any adverse effects. Using CBD to help alleviate pain in spinal stenosis is supported by the evidence in this study.”

Previous studies have reported reduced analgesia and prescription opioid use in patients using either CBD-rich gel caps or topical creams.

As I often said during my campaign for President, no one should be in jail just for using or possessing marijuana.

Sending people to prison for possessing marijuana has upended too many lives and incarcerated people for conduct that many states no longer prohibit. Criminal records for marijuana possession have also imposed needless barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities.  And while white and Black and brown people use marijuana at similar rates, Black and brown people have been arrested, prosecuted, and convicted at disproportionate rates.

Today, I am announcing three steps that I am taking to end this failed approach.

First, I am announcing a pardon of all prior Federal offenses of simple possession of marijuana.  I have directed the Attorney General to develop an administrative process for the issuance of certificates of pardon to eligible individuals.  There are thousands of people who have prior Federal convictions for marijuana possession, who may be denied employment, housing, or educational opportunities as a result.  My action will help relieve the collateral consequences arising from these convictions.

Second, I am urging all Governors to do the same with regard to state offenses.  Just as no one should be in a Federal prison solely due to the possession of marijuana, no one should be in a local jail or state prison for that reason, either.

Third, I am asking the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Attorney General to initiate the administrative process to review expeditiously how marijuana is scheduled under federal law.  Federal law currently classifies marijuana in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, the classification meant for the most dangerous substances.  This is the same schedule as for heroin and LSD, and even higher than the classification of fentanyl and methamphetamine – the drugs that are driving our overdose epidemic. 

A close friend and political consultant’s felony indictment is among the controversies plaguing the incumbent Republican.

The Agriculture Commissioner has a broad range of responsibilities, including issues related to farming and ranching, rural health care and even public school cafeterias.

But in 2019, the commissioner took on an additional job: overseeing the licensing for the new industry of hemp.

Two-term Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller starred in a video his department made explaining the good, the bad and the ugly about growing hemp. He also issued a warning.

“Be on the lookout for fraud. As usual with any new emerging industries, there’s a risk of fraud. And unfortunately there’s always someone out there looking to take advantage of you,” he said.

With 2023 just a few months away, Congress is going through its every-five-year exercise of passing a new Farm Bill, the omnibus legislation that funds agriculture projects across the country and a wide variety of other initiatives, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). 

Unlike 99% of bills introduced on Capitol Hill, the Farm Bill is a must-pass piece of legislation. Without it, the health and security of the U.S. food supply could be put at risk.

Farm Bills have served as the crucial vehicle for development of hemp policy. In 2014, the one-year-delayed Farm Bill legalized hemp production for research and development through the establishment and legalization of state pilot programs. Then, in 2018, the Farm Bill permanently legalized hemp, including cannabinoids derived from hemp, as well as commercially legalizing hemp farming and manufacturing nationwide.

The 2023 Farm Bill is our next great opportunity. The U.S. Hemp Roundtable has an ambitious agenda. And at the top of our priority list is addressing the lack of a regulatory framework for hemp-derived cannabinoids such as cannabidiol (CBD). 

Since passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized hemp and hemp-derivatives containing no more than 0.3% delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), FDA has refused to develop a regulatory pathway for the use of CBD in dietary supplements and food. Despite CBD products making up the majority of the current hemp market, the agency has failed to take decisive action to ensure these products are appropriately regulated and comply with existing federal requirements.

Farm bills typically deal with agricultural and food-related issues, and just like many other farm commodities, there’s overlap regarding regulatory oversight of hemp between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and FDA. After the 2018 Farm Bill, USDA worked diligently to develop its final rule on hemp production, and although it’s not perfect, it established a sufficient framework for farmers and manufacturers to operate in relation to hemp farming. Unfortunately, federal regulatory uncertainty regarding hemp-derived CBD due to lack of FDA regulation has severely impacted the CBD-driven hemp market, with reduced manufacturing demand resulting in a more than 90% commodity price decline.

AVALON - A new report out of Florida argues medical marijuana can contribute mightily to ending the U.S. opioid crisis.

Researchers believe medicinal cannabis can serve as a viable pain management alternative to opioids. After surveying thousands of people, study authors report patients using medical marijuana were in less pain and functioned better both physically and socially.

Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, the study also notes the majority of those who took oxycodone, codeine, or another opioid for pain were able to stop or reduce their opioid use by switching to medical cannabis.

Overall, scientists from Emerald Coast Research, a contract research organization based out of Florida, and Florida State University College of Medicine say their findings indicate medical cannabis can potentially reduce opioid use in certain individuals under proper medical supervision. While more research is necessary, medical cannabis may be a powerful asset in the fight against the opioid epidemic.

The ongoing drug crisis has been a national problem for over a decade, but COVID-19 only made matters worse. In 2020, preventable opioid-related deaths increased by over 40 percent. Bigger picture, drug overdose deaths tied to opioids (including non-prescription drugs such as heroin) have increased more than eight-fold since 1999. Officials have connected over 550,000 U.S. deaths to opioids during that time (1999-2020).

Opioids are certainly good at suppressing pain, but that effect is highly addictive. While the U.S. may be the “epicenter” of the opioid crisis, it’s hardly exclusive to North America. Opioids are a worsening public health issue in numerous countries including Sweden, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

It’s time to respond to our next major drug epidemic.

For years, the opioid crisis has been the leading concern when it comes to substance use. There’s certainly good reason for this emphasis, but as a result, the harms associated with other drugs have successfully been able to avoid the spotlight.

In my view, cannabis use is now the biggest contributor to mental health and substance use problems that, up until quite recently, nobody was talking about. While it may not be the most toxic substance on earth, it is arguably the one where the largest chasm exists between its actual dangers (which are substantial) and its perceived dangers (which to a lot of people are zero).

Similar to the science of global warming, research demonstrating the risks of cannabis has been steadily growing over the years to the point of being overwhelming.

Perhaps the scariest risks have to do with psychosis and psychotic disorders, particularly with the ultra-potent products now dominating the market, but there is also plenty of evidence for other things such as suicide, anxiety, PTSD, harms to a developing fetus, and progression to so-called “harder” drugs such as opiates and methamphetamines.

In contrast to the stereotype of cannabis users as silly and docile, research shows links between its use and violence with cannabis being a significant part of the lives of a disturbing percentage of mass shooting perpetrators.

Sparked by a NY Cannabis Insider story from earlier this month, New York’s Legislative Commission on Rural Resources has asked the Office of Cannabis Management for clarification and updates on the state’s rollout of its legal marijuana industry.

The commission, chaired by NY State Senator Rachel May and directed by Mayor Hal McCabe of Homer, sent a letter to Cannabis Control Board Chairwoman Tremaine Wright on Sept. 13 requesting a briefing from OCM to “clear up confusion and enable us to provide accurate information to our constituents.”

“I am frustrated with the rollout,” McCabe told NY Cannabis Insider. “I think we have an amazing opportunity and that we might be in danger of squandering it.”

Asked about the letter, OCM spokesperson Aaron Ghitelman wrote in an email Wednesday that the agency is “actively reaching out to answer” the commission’s questions “and brief them on our efforts.”

“We are excited to work with the Rural Resources Commission to get their feedback, answer their questions, and make sure every corner of New York benefits from the adult-use cannabis industry we are in the process of creating,” Ghitelman said.

‘News to all of us’

Earlier this month, NY Cannabis Insider published a statement made by OCM Executive Director Chris Alexander at an event in Yonkers: When questioned by an audience member about the anticipated timeline for the marketplace, Alexander responded that applications for non-conditional licenses will open in “the middle of next year.”

BOSTON - The North End is full of shops and restaurants with a lot of history, and now an aspiring business owner is trying to bring a new industry to the neighborhood.

It's not cannolis...it's cannabis, and a vacant storefront at the corner of Hanover and Commercial Streets is sparking quite a bit of controversy. 

"It's a bad idea, it's a bad location," said restaurant owner Damien DiPaola.

The company Bay State Herbal Solutions has submitted their plan to the city in hopes of winning their approval for the store. 

"I think CBD, THC, whatever gets you through the day is a gift," said a North End resident named Betsy. "Why not? We drink wine, we drink booze."

A virtual community outreach meeting is set for Wednesday night. The problem is many residents and business owners feel like they've been kept in the dark. 

JACKSON - What a difference a few months have made. The Mockingbird facility, which we first toured in January, is up and running and developing medical marijuana.

3 On Your Side has an update on Mockingbird and the work to make sure those who need the product will have access to it.

This is what Mockingbird looked like in January and then in February. This is the facility today. Employees are on site and work is underway for medical marijuana.

Another study has found that giving people legal access to medical marijuana can help patients reduce their use of opioid painkillers, or cease use altogether, without compromising quality of life.

The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Substance Use and Misuse on September 27, surveyed registered medical cannabis patients in Florida, asking questions about their consumption habits and how marijuana has affected their use of traditional pharmaceuticals.

Researchers at the firm Emerald Coast Research and Florida State University College of Medicine asked 2,183 patients who were recruited at dispensaries across the Sunshine State to fill out 66-item cross-sectional surveys to learn more about the role of medical cannabis legalization amid the overdose crisis.

Nine in 10 patients (90.6 percent) said that they’ve found marijuana to be “very or extremely helpful in treating their medical condition,” and 88.7 percent said that cannabis was “very or extremely important to their quality of life.”

“The findings suggest that some medical cannabis patients decreased opioid use without harming quality of life or health functioning, soon after the legalization of medical cannabis.”

Respondents had a wide range of conditions that qualified them for medical marijuana under Florida’s law, including anxiety, pain, depression, sleep disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Most patients said that they’ve used cannabis daily to treat their symptoms.

CHICAGO - Advocates and state lawmakers are pushing for more fairness in the cannabis industry.

They gathered on Tuesday in the West Loop to call on state leaders and regulators to do more to help business owners to get what's called "social equity cannabis licenses."

"The cannabis industry for social equity was to hire Black and brown people in communities that were hardest hit and we have not realized that yet," said State Rep. LaShawn Ford (D-8th).

The activists said Gov. JB Pritzker and state lawmakers need to do more to cut red tape and lower barriers to entry. They want to see more loans and grants distributed and more leniency for people who need more time to open their businesses so these license holders can compete with big cannabis corporations.

They also want producers to be able to grow more cannabis.