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In 2021, new federal legislation affects all sellers with vape-related products that ship directly to the consumer. Initially, lawmakers created the law to keep nicotine products from minors. But they wrote the legislation so broadly that other industries with vape products, including cannabis and CBD, have been negatively impacted.

What is the PACT Act? 

An acronym for "Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking," the PACT Act has roots as far back as 1949. Originally called the Jenkins Act, the federal law states that any person who sells and ships cigarettes across state borders must report the sale to the buyer's state tobacco tax administrator.

Fast forward to 2009 when lawmakers amended the act to match new technology, broadening the language to include online sales. Digital sellers were now required to register with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) and the state they operated in and sold to. The 2009 amendment also prohibited the mail delivery of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco within the US. 

The main intention for these amendments was two-fold: 

New legislation in 2021

In December 2020, as part of a larger stimulus bill, the PACT Act was again amended. The new legislation went into effect on April 26, 2021, and the industry can already feel its effects. 

In the run-up to last Sunday’s elections, the Senate backed away from its commitment on cannabis reform, apparently preferring to shift any political blowback to the Supreme Court.

Two months ago we postedto celebrate the passage by Mexico’s Lower Chamber of the Cannabis Law bill sent to it by the Mexican Senate last November. In that post, I wrote, “The Law will now return to the Mexican Senate, where it is expected to be approved pretty much as written, at which point, it will go to the Executive Power for publication.”

Oops.

Just over a month ago the Senate ended its session not only without having approved the Law, but also having ignored the Supreme Court’s directive (dating from 2018) to do so. As a reminder, Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that the federal government’s prohibition on recreational marijuana use was unconstitutional and ordered Congress to pass a reform legalizing recreational use within 90 days. Since then, the Court has set multiple deadlines for Congressional action, with April 30, 2021 set to be the final one.

Photo by John Coletti/Getty Images

Nevada has legalized a new sort of food and beverage establishment: The cannabis consumption lounge.

The facilities will be permitted under strict regulations to sell THC-laced foods and beverages for consumption onsite. Other refreshments can also be offered. The law is mum on whether the selection of non-THC-spiked beverages could include alcoholic drinks. Entertainment is permitted.

The places require a state license. The licensing fee for a free-standing lounge—one that’s not attached to a retail dispensary—is $10,000.

Places that are unaffiliated with a legal dispensary can negotiate an agreement to be supplied by one of the outlets. The items provided cannot look like lollipops or be marketed as candy. Nor can they bear the images of mascots or child-friendly characters for marketing purposes.

The facilities cannot be located near schools, and airport branches are expressly prohibited. The lounges will be limited to adult patrons.

In 1987, Bob Marley’s former home in Kingston, Jamaica was converted into a museum by his wife, Rita Marley.

The museum displays Marley’s personal artifacts and treasures, and the property also features a theatre, photo gallery and record and gift shop.

It will also soon be home to the first Marley Natural dispensary.

Marley Natural, in collaboration with Docklight Brands, announced the flagship retail store earlier this week. The Marley family and Docklight Brands hold exclusive global rights to Bob Marley cannabinoid products.

“It is incredibly meaningful to have the first Marley Natural dispensary in the world at the Bob Marley Museum,” said Damian Marano, CEO of Docklight. “This unique cannabis experience will bring to life the ethos of Bob Marley,” Marano added.

In recent years, many people have woken up to the benefits of cannabis, and all of the different ways in which it can help people to deal with stress, and relax in their daily life. However, there is a balance to be struck.

People might find that certain sativa strains help them, while other people focus on indica strains. Usually, people will want to find a strain of marijuana that is high in CBD, but go too far in with THC and you will probably find that you are provoking more of a “fight or flight” response, and therefore find that cannabis is not the most effective way that you can manage and reduce stress.

In this guide, we’re exploring what the studies say regarding cannabis and stress management.

Microdosing Could Be Key

It helps to understand that the two main impacting compounds in cannabis are CBD and THC. They can be found in different amounts in different strains, depending on whether you opt for sativa or indica or other hybrid strains.

CBD tends to have a very positive effect on the body as it binds to the body’s serotonin receptors to help your mood in general, but too much can make you feel sleepy.

After a big year in 2020, interest in growing and processing hemp in Wisconsin has dropped off considerably.

In Wisconsin, hemp growers and processors must register annually.

In 2019, Wisconsin’s Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) received 1,491 grower and 738 processor applications. 4,513 acres were planted and 4,037 acres harvested during the 2019 season.

In 2020, 1,537 grower and 761 processor applications were received. 5,444 acres were planted and as for the 2020 season’s harvest, that figure isn’t available yet.

Speaking with Wisconsin Public Radio, DATCP Secretary Randy Romanski said the situation wasn’t unique to Wisconsin, with other states seeing a slide in interest.

It is no secret that Amazon is one of the largest companies on earth. In fact, it’s the third largest company worldwide according to available data.

Estimates put Amazon’s total online net sales in 2020 at roughly $386 billion dollars. That figure does not appear to include revenue from other products and services that Amazon sells.

Amazon has literally revolutionized the way that consumers buy things, much to the dismay of small and large brick and mortar retailers alike. That is true across the globe.

It is unclear if the upper house will approve the law or not. What is clear, however, is that the Bolsonaro administration adamantly opposes any kind of use of cannabis.

On Tuesday, June 8, the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies’ Special Commission very narrowly approved a bill authorizing cannabis cultivation for medicinal, veterinary, scientific, and industrial use.

Government supporters tried their best to prevent the legislation from heading to the upper house for final approval, but Deputy Luciano Ducci’s crucial vote ensured the bill survived.

While the new law would legalize cannabis cultivation, in practice it would impose a series of limitations, allowing only cultivation by companies, patient associations, and NGOs. Individual cultivation would still be illegal should the text be approved in its current form.

Three new qualifying medical marijuana conditions were approved Wednesday, bringing the list to 25.

The Ohio State Medical Board approved Huntington's disease, terminal illness and spasticity to the list. They join a list that includes HIV/AIDS, cancer and chronic pain.

Huntington's disease is a rare brain disease that is inherited. It causes the breakdown of nerve cells in the brain. Huntington's disease has a broad impact on a person's functional abilities and usually results in movement, thinking (cognitive) and psychiatric disorders. With spasticity or severe muscle spasms, a person's muscles stiffen or tighten and can't be stretched. This can affect movement and speech., or muscle spasms,

The board voted to reject petitions to add autism spectrum disorder, restless leg syndrome, panic disorder with agoraphobia and spasms.

Each year, the board accepts petitions from the public for new conditions. received 30 petitions to add new conditions. Submissions must include evidence cannabis can be used to treat or alleviate the disease or condition and letters of support from physicians. Before Wednesday, the board had added just one condition through the process so far, approving cachexia, or wasting syndrome, in 2020.

2 Marijuana Stocks That Are Slowly Starting To Recover In The Market

Currently in June marijuana stocks are still building more momentum. Which has been much needed after the last 12 weeks of trading. However, even as parts of the sector start to recover there is still time to find good marijuana stocks to buy. In the last 3 months starting from the second week of February cannabis stock drastically dropped in price.

CBD has been the motor powering the cannabis legalization movement. As the part of the plant deemed ‘non-psychoactive’, CBD has gotten a pass that the rest of the plant has not. And this is great! But it’s also led to some rather intense confusion, and longstanding misconceptions.

Are you a delta-8 user? You know, the alternate form of THC that leaves users energetic and clear-headed, without the anxiety produced by delta-9 THC, the standard THC associated with cannabis? Good choice, if you are. Not only are you experiencing THC in a different way, but you’re at the forefront of cannabis technology. We’re here to make sure you’ve got what you need, with a range of Delta-8 THC deals to keep your shelves stocked

Why are we talking about CBD?

CBD – cannabidiol – came into the spotlight around 2018, with the advent of the most recent US Farm Bill. The US Farm Bill is a range of legislation that governs the agricultural world, like what can be grown and how, crop insurance for farmers, farmer training, sustainable farming practices, and ways to get healthy food for low-income families. Basically, anything covered under farming and food, is governed by the Farm Bill, which is put out every five years (approximately).

The 2014 Farm Bill legalized ‘non-viable hemp material’ sales in states with participation in the Hemp Pilot Program. The 2018 Us Farm Bill removed hemp from the Controlled Substances list, making the production and sale of products possible on a large scale. Since cannabis is federally illegal, in order to do this, the definition for ‘hemp’ was set at the following, allowing for a break from the rest of the plant and the ability for a different set of regulatory laws:

“…the plant Cannabis Sativa L. and any part of that plant, including the seeds thereof and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts, and salts of isomers, whether growing or not, with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.”

Lawmakers in Connecticut on Tuesday approved a bill that could pave the way for marijuana legalization in the state—but time is running out.

The legislation barely passed out of the state Senate, with a narrow vote of 19-17 in favor sending it to the state House.

But as the CT Mirror put it, it remains “unclear if the House had the votes, time or inclination to attempt final passage before the constitutional deadline of midnight Wednesday, a task that grew more difficult Monday with concerns over attempted favoritism on licensing growers.”

The Mirror reported that the fate of the much anticipated bill hung in the balance deep into Monday.

“Only the vote cast by a retired police officer, Sen. Kevin Witkos, R-Canton, saved the Senate from needing Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz to break a tie. Six Democrats voted with the other 11 Republicans in opposition,” the Mirror reported.

I can guarantee Amazon figured out how many employee applications are failing the marijuana drug test nationally each month.

Why did Amazon come out in favor of legalizing marijuana, now?

With the big press release from Amazon about supporting marijuana legalization in America many in the cannabis industry jumped to the conclusion that Jeff Bezos and his board were getting ready for full on delivery and shipping of marijuana.

Washington state regulators are indicating a willingness to regulate Delta-8 THC products for sale in licensed cannabis dispensaries, although chemical experts say that the issue will require study before rules can be drafted. The Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board announced that it intended to regulate the sale of Delta-8 THC products sold in the state’s licensed marijuana dispensaries.

Last year, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) ruled that Delta-8 THC, a cannabinoid that occurs naturally and can also be processed from CBD, is a controlled substance not protected by the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized hemp agriculture and products derived from the crop. Since that time, at least a dozen states including New York have banned Delta-8 production and sales.

April’s policy statement from the Washington cannabis board said that the DEA’s interpretation of federal hemp regulations is unenforceable and that the agency would create regulations for Delta-8 sold in licensed cannabis dispensaries. At a meeting of chemists from the University of Washington, Washington State University and private labs organized by the board last week, researchers said that study into Delta-8 has been limited so far.

“Frankly, the field hasn’t done too much with Delta-8, because it does almost the same thing as Delta-9,” said Nephi Stella, a professor of pharmacology and psychiatry at the University of Washington and co-director of the school’s Center for Cannabis Research.

The cannabis board’s policy statement holds that it is not legal to sell Delta-8 produced from CBD or other cannabinoids in licensed dispensaries. But some groups, including the Washington Cannabusiness Association, believe that the Liquor and Cannabis Board could regulate the extraction of naturally occurring Delta-8 THC.

Throughout the country, cannabis regulations are changing every day. Some areas are experiencing more dramatic legislative upgrades than others, but every little step forward still counts. At the moment, there are 5 states that come to mind because, one, they are making big moves, or two, they are conservative states that most people were expecting would hold on to prohibition for much longer.

This week we’re focusing on the East Coast and Deep South, with updates from Connecticut, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama

Connecticut

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont (D), along with other state lawmakers, just reached a compromise on an adult-use cannabis bill that will likely be implemented in late spring of 2022. The bill would finally lay the groundwork for retail sales to launch in the state. According to estimates from MJBizDaily, the Connecticut recreational market could exceed $250 million in sales in just the first year, and reach a total of roughly $725 million by the fourth year.

Senate Bill 1118 has only just been drafted, however, and it still needs to a pass votes in both the House of Representatives and Senate. Opponents may still try to interfere, which could result in Gov. Lamont calling a special session on the issue this summer. It’s hard to say whether that will also delay the launch of recreational sales or not.

One of the major points in this agreement is offering priority licensing status to social equity applicants. According to the bill text, to qualify as a social equity applicant, the individual will need to have spent the last five out of ten years living in a “disproportionately impacted area, as defined by a jobless rate above 10% or a historically high drug conviction rate. Municipalities would be limited to one marijuana retailer and one micro-cultivator per 25,000 residents until July 1, 2024.”

Tennessee

Tennessee is a relatively conservative state, but the influx of new residents from blue states along the east and west coasts might be having an impact already. Last month, Republican Governor Bill Lee passed a limited medical cannabis bill that would lead to many changes in the way businesses operate within the state.

What we can gather from this report, and other consumer reports like this one, is that Americans are past ready for cannabis legalization, especially after the stress of 2020.

The cannabis industry’s proof was in 2020’s revenue, but a new report from consumer data firm Brightfield shows consumer behavior to match exactly what the cannabis industry already knew: people consumed more cannabis during the pandemic than they were before.

Gen Z makes up a large part of new consumers

A clear factor is stress and anxiety, and the Brightfield report confirms that. New recreational cannabis consumers made up 6% of all consumers in 2020, with 22% being Gen Z. If you thought Generation Z wasn’t old enough to consume cannabis, so did we (kidding), but many of them are now 21 which means legal access to cannabis if they live somewhere where it’s legal.

Photo by Eliott Reyna via Unsplash

Consumers seeking relaxation, sleep, and emotional relief from cannabis

New recreational customers saw the heaviest consumption, specifically in Q4 2020, with 22% of new consumers reporting they utilized cannabis multiple times a day. This declined a little bit in Q1 2021, but nonetheless, new cannabis consumers are entering the market at a faster rate than pre-pandemic. The top three desired cannabis product effects are relaxation, sleep, and emotional relief. Over half, 54%, of new recreational consumers reported utilizing cannabis for anxiety, while a whopping 74% of consumers sought cannabis for relaxation.

With an unexpectedly close 19-17 vote, the Senate passed legislation early Tuesday that would legalize recreational marijuana in Connecticut, sending the bill to a closely divided House of Representatives on the penultimate day of the legislature’s 2021 session.

It was unclear if the House had the votes, time or inclination to attempt final passage before the constitutional deadline of midnight Wednesday, a task that grew more difficult Monday with concerns over attempted favoritism on licensing growers.

“We’ll make the time,” said House Majority Leader Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford, who led the working group that produced the bill and watched the denouement of an oddly tense and protracted vote in the Senate.

Only the vote cast by a retired police officer, Sen. Kevin Witkos, R-Canton, saved the Senate from needing Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz to break a tie. Six Democrats voted with the other 11 Republicans in opposition.