WeedLife News Network

South Dakota has submitted its industrial hemp plan to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for approval. 

The plan lays out how the state will regulate industrial hemp, and South Dakota farmers will be able to begin growing industrial hemp once the USDA gives final approval. 

The South Dakota Department of Agriculture will continue to develop its program while it waits for that approval, and processors and growers will be able to find more information about applying for a hemp license in the near future, according to Derek Schiefelbein, industrial hemp program manager at the SDDA. 

"I am looking forward to working with industrial hemp producers and processors in South Dakota," Sheifelbein said.

The newly formed South Dakota Industrial Hemp Association applauded the SDDA's plan submission. Producers won't be able to grow hemp until the 2021 season, but the submission is an "important step," the association said in a statement.

Adults residing in states where retail marijuana sales are legally regulated tend to hold a positive impression of the marketplace, according to data published in the journal Addictive Behaviors.

Investigators affiliated with the University of Waterloo, School of Public Health in Canada surveyed 5,530 respondents residing in Alaska, California, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.

Authors reported: “The current findings suggest generally positive perceptions of the legal cannabis market. Most respondents, including frequent cannabis consumers, perceived legal cannabis to be of equal or greater quality and convenience, and as safer to buy and use than cannabis from illegal sources.”

Commenting on the study’s findings, NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano said: “This data once again affirms that most voters do not experience ‘buyer’s remorse’ following marijuana legalization. In the minds of most Americans, these laws are operating as voters intended and in a manner that is consistent with their expectations.”

Armentano further acknowledged that no state that has legalized the use of cannabis for either medical or adult-use purposes has ever repealed their law.

June marks the first month in Colorado history that recreational marijuana shops sold more than $150 million worth of products as cannabis consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic continues to set industry records.

Recreational marijuana consumers spent $158,102,628 at Colorado shops in June, according to data from the Department of Revenue’s Marijuana Enforcement Division. It’s a 6% increase of the previous single-month recreational sales record of $149,186,615 that was set in May, state data shows.

Last June, rec shops sold roughly $122.4 million in products. Before this year, monthly recreational sales had only eclipsed $140 million one time, in August 2019, state data shows. That month, dispensaries combined to sell $173,219,859 worth of products.

Medical marijuana sales took a step back in June. After setting a new record with $42,989,322 in sales in May, medical dispensaries sold $40,770,582 worth of products in the month, according to the MED’s monthly sales report.

Still, the industry comfortably set a new record for total business volume.

There’s no rule that says legal markets have to be bigger or smaller than black markets. In life, legal markets and black markets form counterparts that can change and vary in size and growth. In the case of cannabis, the black market wins out easily, and for very good reason.

Legal markets are your above-board markets. Products or services that are registered, that are taxed, that are counted in official inventories, and reported on to local and federal governments. If you want to buy a shirt and you go to Walmart, congratulations, you’ve helped support the legal clothing market. You’ve also helped support sweat shops and slave labor, but that’s beside the point.

The market itself, however unsavory, is legal. I point out the unsavoriness for a reason though. In all the talk about the negative aspects of black markets, it should always be remembered that legal markets can be just as dirty, dangerous, and detrimental to those involved.

Black markets (and I’ll include gray markets here) encompass the large blurry underbody. It’s like the big hulking iceberg underneath the tiny Titanic-tearing tip. It’s every sale that no government knows about. Every untaxed product and service. Every unregistered item that will never be counted in official inventories or reported to government bodies.

So if you’re buying knock off sunglasses from a guy on a street corner, or getting an 1/8 of really great skunk from your friendly neighborhood pot dealer, or giving in to the super cute kids on the street selling lemonade from a stand, you, my friend, have participated in a black market purchase. To be fair to those cute little kids, there aren’t many government bodies that are going to bust up their lemonade selling operation, but if the same kids continue that same operation into adulthood, they could be arrested for tax evasion.

The cannabis markets

The first things to know about the cannabis market is that it’s old, it’s huge, and it’s pretty stable. For as long as humanity has understood what the cannabis plant is, it’s been using it in different formulations ranging from medical applications to relaxing and feeling good.

A U.S. senator has asked the Department of Agriculture to delay issuing final hemp rules under the 2018 Farm Bill until 2022, to delay costs associated with the new U.S. Domestic Hemp Production Program.

New York Sen. Charles Schumer called for the delay in a letter to the USDA last week. If implementation of the new rules is postponed, hemp growers and producers could continue to operate under the 2014 Farm Bill‘s pilot program. That would let them avoid what USDA estimates as $17,000 (€14,500) in compliance costs associated with the new rules.

Effect on other states

While Schumer is advocating for CBD interests in his home state, a federal delay could also give some financial relief to stakeholders in other states that currently operate under the 2014 Farm Bill.

“These costs do not just impact businesses across the United States but also state budgets that must alter their pilot programs to meet the demands of the Interim Final Rules,” Schumer wrote. “With bandwidth completely consumed by COVID concerns, the state regulatory agencies cannot focus on implementation of the Interim Final Rules. At this point, only 19 states have approved plans in place and enforcement efforts will deal a significant economic blow to the industry.”

Two industry organizations, the National Industrial Hemp Council and the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture also have written to Congress asking for a delay in implementing the new hemp rules.

One clear outcome of the coronavirus pandemic is explosive growth in cannabis sales in every major market around the country. Even in places like Illinois, which just started legal adult-use sales about two months before the coronavirus hit the United States, sales continue to make records.

If 2020 is one of the worst years in recent history, people apparently are turning to cannabis for a degree of comfort and solace - even NBA players. 

The proof is in the sales figures. Florida and Arizona have established new records in medical marijuana sales. Colorado hit $192 million in recreational and medical marijuana sales in May, a record for the state that was the first to allow adult-use sales. Oregon sales reached $100 million for the first time since 2015.

Even the New York Times has taken note, writing about the increase in edibles sales as the coronavirus has spread across the country. The Times chalked it up to unease across the nation, writing: “Anxious times (say, a global pandemic) call for palliatives, like meditation, exercise or, in some cases, weed.”

But it may be more than anxiety fueling the cannabis boom.

While tied to the pandemic, experts expected an increase in 2020 cannabis sales before social distancing and mask-wearing became commonplace. But certainly, the pandemic drove sales higher, faster.

When hormone issues are caused by environmental factors like toxins, growth hormones or waste byproducts, it affects not only the body’s ability to reproduce, but the aging process as well.

Sometimes, emotions are like fireworks, suddenly exploding into colorful arrays, spilling down into every facet of life. Talk to any woman who has fluctuating hormone levels and she’ll tell you that feeling unbalanced or “out-of-whack” is something that she wishes never occurred. 

Scientists have been looking into the link between hormone imbalance, early menstruation, and quality-of-life for decades. While not always caused by environmental factors, (some are genetic or induced by thyroid problems or stress,) hormone imbalances can affect mood, weight gain, hair loss and pain levels. While both men and women are susceptible to hormone fluctuations, Between the Bridges Healing Center explains that, “Women experience hormonal imbalances at key transitions in their lives, for example, puberty, childbirth, perimenopause and menopause. “

Amanda Holmberg-Sasek, a therapist at Radiant Living Therapy  out of Plymouth, Minnesota, says she often sees clients who are experiencing the effects of hormone imbalance and its direct connection to a healthy sex life. “Working with the psychological effects of hormone imbalance can really help make big changes In and out of the bedroom,” she explained. Often a cause of dysfunction in relationships, she believes having a conversation is the first step to feeling and communicating more effectively with your partner.

When hormone issues are caused by environmental factors such as toxins, growth hormones or waste byproducts, it affects not only the body’s ability to reproduce, but the aging process as well. According to the Dr. Shel wellness center in Sugarland, Texas, an imbalance can overwhelm the liver, which helps “to filter out excessive hormones.” When the liver can’t keep up with the disruptors in the food we’re eating, the air we’re breathing and the water we’re drinking, we experience symptoms, like, “weight gain, brain fog, sleepless nights, headaches” and more. 

Some states have aligned themselves with the FDA’s position. Others have taken a more permissive approach. Many states have provided little to no guidance on the subject of Hemp CBD.

The 2018 Farm Bill removed hemp from the Controlled Substances Act did not affect or modify the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (“FDCA”) or the Food and Drug Administration’s (“FDA”) ability to promulgate regulations and guidelines that relate to hemp under. The FDA regulates a wide variety of medical and consumer products sold in the United States including food, drugs, dietary supplements, medical devices, cosmetics, and tobacco products.

The FDA has approved of the use of CBD in the prescription drug Epidiolex. As a result, the FDA has indicated in press releases, enforcement letters, and its website that Hemp CBD cannot be used in foods, beverages, or dietary supplements. This is because under the FDCA, any article that is investigated as a new drug cannot be used in food, beverages, or dietary supplements, unless the article was widely marketed in those products prior to the drug investigation.

In addition, the FDA has taken a hard line against Hemp CBD in unapproved drugs. The FDA determines whether something is a drug based on its intended use, and determines a product’s intended use, in turn, based on how it is marketed. If a manufacturer or distributor makes any type of health claim (“CBD cures cancer” or “CBD may treat inflammation”) or human structure claim (“CBD may increase levels of calcium in bones”) about a product that the FDA has not investigated and approved as a drug, the FDA will consider it a drug. Foods, ingredients in foods, drugs, and dietary supplements are all subject to premarket FDA approval.

The FDA also regulates tobacco and nicotine tightly but does not have clear regulatory authority of smokable hemp products, such as dried flower, e-liquid and vape pens. That’s because generally, these products don’t contain any tobacco or nicotine. To clarify, the FDA likely could have regulatory authority over these products, but it hasn’t established a clear jurisdictional hook.