WeedLife News Network

Thousands of people in the state of Colorado with minor marijuana convictions could be pardoned at once in 90 days after Governor Jared Polis signed into law a new bill on Monday.

Under a broader cannabis social equity bill that state lawmakers passed earlier this month, the governor was also granted the authority to unilaterally mass-pardon Coloradans with minor marijuana possession convictions instead of pardoning individuals on a case-by-case basis. 

“There are too many people that have a prior conviction for personal amounts of cannabis fully legal today that prevent them from getting loans, from getting leases, from raising capital, from getting licenses, from getting jobs, from getting mortgages, and that’s wrong,” Polis said at the signing ceremony, which unfolded at Simply Pure, a black-owned dispensary in Denver. 

Polis added that he hopes the measure will be a “first step” for the thousands of Coloradans who lived “with a cloud over their head” for possessing marijuana, which has been legal in the state since 2012. 

“This bill will give me the ability to offer those convicted of possession of up to two ounces of marijuana – it’s the same amount permitted to medical patients in Colorado today – a pardon that will begin in 90 days pursuant to the signature clause,” Polis said. 

Marijuana often demonstrates the ability to win over even the most conservative of individuals. That said, winning over the hearts and minds of America’s vast regions isn’t complete until cannabis endears itself to the nation’s most conservative citizens and lawmakers in the southeast. 

Recent activity indicates that it may just be happening.

Commonly known as the Deep South, the region is the Bible Belt’s shiny, conservative buckle. It’s where conservative viewpoints almost always win out. There, progressive agendas like cannabis reform often face an uphill battle that rivals that of Sisyphus. 

The states that make up the region—Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina—are home to some of the most self-identified conservatives in the nation. A 2014 Pew political poll found Alabama and Louisiana identifying as the most politically conservative in the country. All of the Deep South finds itself in the upper portion of self-identifying as religious states as well, according to Pew. This includes Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi identifying at 86%, 84% and 83% Christian respectively. 

Reform, State By State

Shifting sentiments are underway in areas. The region has made marijuana reform, but not without its hurdles. In Louisiana, its long-anticipated medical market opened in August 2019 after being signed into law in 2015. Despite being slow to open, the medical market could be the first significant legislative domino to fall across the Deep South. 

Customs officials seized nearly five tons of cannabis last week from a truck that was attempting to cross into the U.S. at the Peace Bridge Port of Entry on New York’s border with Canada, federal law enforcement officers announced on Monday. The seizure is the third large pot bust this month at the border crossing that has seen an uptick in smuggling via commercial vehicles since travel restrictions called in response to the COVID-19 pandemic were put in place this spring.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Misha A. Coulson said in a press release from the Department of Justice that the truck attempted to enter the United States not long before midnight on June 25. The commercial truck with Ontario license plates was carrying a load of 55 storage containers, according to an electronic manifest for the cargo.

When Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers conducted an x-ray scan of the truck, it revealed inconsistencies with the cargo in the trailer. The vehicle was then directed to a CBP warehouse loading dock for further examination of the shipment. During a physical inspection of the truck, officers “recovered multiple packages of vacuum sealed bags containing a green leafy substance, which field tested positive for the presence of marijuana.”

Truck Driver Faces Life In Prison

Customs officers recovered approximately 8,320 sealed bags from the shipping containers in the truck. A total of 9,472 pounds of marijuana, which officials valued at approximately $20 million, was confiscated by customs officers. The driver of the truck, a 26-year-old Indian national, has been charged with possessing 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana and importation of marijuana into the United States with the intent to distribute. The charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life behind bars. The defendant has been arraigned before a federal magistrate and is being held pending a detention hearing scheduled for Wednesday.

Port Director Jennifer De La O praised the seizure, characterizing it as “an excellent job by our officers from start to finish.”

In less than three months, New Zealanders will vote in the world’s first national referendum on a comprehensive proposal to legalise the recreational use of cannabis.

Unlike cannabis ballots in several US states in which the public only voted on the general proposition of whether cannabis should be legalised or not, New Zealanders have access to the detailed Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill. It outlines how the government proposes to establish a “controlled and tightly regulated” legal cannabis market.

The approach is not like the Brexit referendum, which had no detailed plan of action for a yes vote. Neither is it like New Zealand’s much maligned 2016 flag referendum, in which people knew exactly what they were voting for. In this case, New Zealanders are voting on a proposed law reform, but even following a yes vote, the cannabis regime will have to go through select committees and public consultation. And a legal cannabis market will require monitoring and enforcement.

The cannabis legislation bill sets out how the government would control and regulate a legal cannabis market, including the following measures:

licensing of cannabis industry operators

Dr Franjo Grotenhermen tells MCN about medical cannabis policy and practice in Germany.

Doctor, author and cannabis advocate Dr Franjo Grotenhermen is founder and Executive Director of the International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines (IACM) founder and co-chair of the German Association for Cannabis as Medicine (ACM); and chairman of the Medical Cannabis Declaration (MCD), a charity dedicated to promoting safe access to medical cannabis and evidence-based clinical practice. He tells MCN about the current cannabis landscape in Germany, taking a look at both policy and practice.

What sets Germany’s legislative approach to medical cannabis apart from other EU countries?

Since 2017, under German law every doctor is permitted to prescribe cannabis-based drugs, including cannabis flowers, extracts and individual cannabinoids. Under certain conditions, health insurance companies must cover the costs of therapy. According to the law, health insurance companies may only be allowed to refuse a request for reimbursement in exceptional cases.

What are the main challenges currently facing patients hoping to access cannabis in Germany?

Cannabis and cannabinoids are comparatively expensive in Germany: on average, cannabis flowers cost about €23 per gram. Since health insurance companies very often refuse to cover the costs, many patients cannot afford the appropriate therapy and are forced continue to receive care illicitly even though their doctor supports cannabis-based therapy in principle. The high price also makes cannabis-based treatment unattractive to doctors; as doctors have a limited drug budget which, if exceeded, can lead to a so-called recourse – a penalty payment. This leads to the fact that many patients cannot find a doctor who is willing to prescribe cannabis.

Could patients benefit from being granted the right to grow their own for medical purposes?

This would solve the problems mentioned above for many patients and doctors. We have been demanding it for a long time. We had hoped that the 2017 law would better solve the problems; however, after three years, it turns out that most patients do not benefit from the law.

The Swiss government wants to empower doctors to prescribe cannabis for medical purposes without authorisation. On Wednesday, the Federal Council submitted a revised version of the narcotics law to parliament for deliberation.

Cannabis, whether for recreational or medical purposes, has been banned in Switzerland since 1951. However, doctors may prescribe a medicine based on this substance if they get an exceptional green light from the Federal Office of Public Health.

But the government believes this process complicates access to treatment, delays the start of therapies and is no longer adequate in view of the growing number of requests.

Multiple treatments

In 2019, around 3,000 authorisations were issued for patients suffering from cancer, neurological diseases or multiple sclerosis. That figure excludes patients who procure cannabis directly on the black market.

The government wants to tweak the narcotics law so that the decision to prescribe cannabis-based drugs would be taken directly by doctor and patient. The ban on recreational cannabis would remain in place, and physicians would be required to share data on the use of cannabis for treatments.

The Department of Social Development says that it is in the process of developing new legislation around the possession and use of cannabis in South Africa.

In a ‘national drug master plan‘ published on Thursday (25 June), the department said that the new rules would be in line with the September 2018 Constitutional Court ruling on private use.

At the time, the relevant departments were given 24 months to respond and make changes in line with ruling, meaning the updated legislation should be tabled within the coming months.

“A steering committee has been established to deal with the amendments cited in the Constitutional Court judgement, with a specific program and plan with time frames to abide by the judgement,” the department said.

“Currently the relevant departments as outlined in the ruling are in the process of aligning specific section on the cited legislation to comply with the ruling, and to make sure that there is no ambiguity in the possession and private use of Cannabis.

A Department of Justice whistleblower has said that U.S. Attorney General William Barr directed the agency’s Antitrust Division to investigate proposed mergers of cannabis companies because of his “personal dislike of the industry.” In written testimony released on Tuesday before a planned congressional appearance, Justice Department attorney John Elias said the investigations were a waste of federal resources and were continued over the objections of career staff.

Elias, who testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, wrote that the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division had been instructed to look into a total of 10 cannabis industry mergers. In one case, the merger of MedMen and PharmaCann, employees were instructed by Barr in March 2019 to continue an investigation, despite the findings of a preliminary review that the cannabis industry appeared to be fragmented and that “the transaction was unlikely to raise any significant competitive concerns.”

“Rejecting the analysis of career staff, Attorney General Barr ordered the Antitrust Division to issue Second Request subpoenas,” Elias said, referring to the Justice Department’s most exhaustive type of merger probe. “The rationale for doing so centered not on an antitrust analysis, but because he did not like the nature of their underlying business.”

Including the MedMen merger with PharmaCann, “the Antitrust Division launched ten full-scale reviews of merger activity taking place in the marijuana, or cannabis, industry,” Elias wrote. “These mergers involve companies with low market shares in a fragmented industry; they do not meet established criteria for antitrust investigations.”

DOJ Leaders Aware Of Barr’s Bias

Elias also contends that several members of the division’s political leadership were aware of Barr’s disdain for the legal cannabis industry. During a staff meeting last September, Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim, the head of the Antitrust Division, “acknowledged that the investigations were motivated by the fact that the cannabis industry is unpopular “on the fifth floor,” a reference to Attorney General Barr’s offices in the DOJ headquarters building,” Elias wrote. “Personal dislike of the industry is not a proper basis upon which to ground an antitrust investigation.”

Marijuana history ties directly into larger conversations around police brutality and systemic racism than most Americans realize.

When Brookings Institution senior fellow John Hudak wrote Marijuana: A Short History in 2015, cannabis legalization was still regarded with a curious novelty by many Americans. Since then, cannabis has emerged in the national conversation through politics, culture, medicine, wellness, and more. And in light of recent discussions around policing and systemic racism in the United States, Hudak believed it was important to build upon that history and discuss how the roots of prohibition impact us today.

Hudak wrote a new edition to his book, which will be available June 30. To promote the book’s launch, Brookings hosted a webinar with Hudak, Buddings Solutions CEO/founder Shanita Penny, and Politico reporter Natalie Fertig to unpack how cannabis sits at the intersection of race, politics, and culture in America.

When many Americans think about marijuana history, Hudak explained, they focus on the 60s and 70s, when Richard Nixon introduced the Controlled Substances Act, which officially criminalized cannabis. But the foundation of cannabis laws as we recognize them today really started at the turn of the 20th century.

“Cannabis law and drug policy in general really had explicitly racist roots in the United States. Cannabis laws initially came about out of fear of Mexican immigration to the United states,” said Hudak. “The term ‘marijuana’ was rooted in that attempt white Americans and immigrants coming across the border of Mexico. That spiraled into a broader, racially divisive set of policies that, by the 1920s, begin to vilify black Americans, in addition to Latinos and immigrants.”

Four major U.S consumer groups are urging Congress to reject proposals to fast-track approval of cannabidiol (CBD) use in dietary supplements and food products.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently evaluating the safety of CBD – and taking their time doing it. Last year the Administration acknowledged the potential for cannabidiol, but said it needed to “CBD”: Collect Better Data. As recently as March, the agency said it still had many gaps in knowledge.

The time the FDA is taking is causing all sorts of issues for the nation’s hemp sector and creating confusion in consumers. The Administration has come under increasing pressure from some corners of Congress to provide official guidance on cannabidiol extracted from hemp.

However, the Consumer Federation of America, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Consumer Reports, and the Public Health Institute want the FDA to have all the time it needs.

Furthermore, a letter co-signed by the four groups urges Congress to give FDA the resources and authority it needs to ensure all dietary supplements and food additives are safe, and to defer to FDA’s expertise in conducting safety reviews.

“What we’re hearing from 7-Eleven is they consider this a criminal activity and money laundering,” said one dispensary owner.

By all accounts, the Oklahoma cannabis industry is a runaway success. Medical marijuana sales routinely break expectations and smash records, even amid the pandemic. Oklahoma permits a free-market system for medical cannabis, or as close to one as possible. That means no licensing caps, no municipality zoning restrictions, and doctors can recommend cannabis for any ailment they see fit.

This has allowed Oklahoma to avoid the typical headwinds thwarting growth potential in other markets. But for some dispensary owners, a new obstacle has emerged from an unlikely opponent — 7-Eleven.

Back in January, 7-Eleven Inc. bought out property leased to multiple cannabis dispensaries in Oklahoma. Dispensary owners were told not to worry. “On day one, nothing changes,” an email sent to owners read. “There is no need for lease assignments.”

Now, amid a global pandemic, multiple dispensary owners have been informed those leases won’t be renewed. Owners like Starla Norwood, a registered nurse who operates The Nurses Station with her husband, didn’t receive a written notice or explanation for why they’d been kicked out. Instead, the property managers delivered the news over the phone. The message was direct and clear: Marijuana businesses had 14-days notice to vacate by the end of June.

Like many EU countries, Croatia has been slowly changing its laws to allow for greater legal (or at least decriminalized) cannabis use. However, earlier this year, some in Croatia’s government got a bit impatient, attempting to jump steps in order to legalize recreational cannabis.

Two of the legal acts that govern drug law in Croatia are the Criminal Code and The Law on Combating Drugs Abuse. The manufacturing, trade, and possession of drugs are regulated by The Law on Combating Drugs Abuse which passed in 2001, and which has undergone updates since that time. It outlines preventative measures for curbing drug use and dealing with drug users, and specifically forbids growing, possessing or supplying drugs. The Criminal Code is used for the prosecution of more serious crimes.

In mid-December, 2012, the Croatian parliament voted in a bill to decriminalize personal use amounts of illicit substances, making possession of these amounts no longer a criminal offence (but rather a misdemeanor). Croatia does not establish what a personal use amount is, and leaves the designation to the courts in each particular case.

To be clear, whereas some personal use laws in other countries come with very few repercussions so long as the amount is within the legal requirement, Croatia’s decriminalization laws still leave an offender to pay a fine of possibly more than €2,000, ordered into a rehabilitation program, or required to do community service. Before the change in law, simple possession charges could result in up to three years in jail. The Criminal Code encourages courts to use alternatives to prison whenever possible, especially when the prison sentence would otherwise be six months or less.

The law, which went into effect on January 1st, 2013, did nothing to decriminalize personal cultivation of any drug for any reason. Cultivation, processing, and production of drugs, even without intent to sell, can result in 6 months – 5 years in prison. With intent to sell it can be anywhere from 1-12 years. It can go up to 15 years if the crimes involve children, and up to 20 years with the involvement of organized crime.

Medical cannabis in Croatia

In October, 2015, Croatia legalized the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes. Under the law, doctors can prescribe medications in different forms containing THC with regulations putting a cap at .75 grams of THC per month for a patient. One of the driving forces behind the change in legislation came about because of a case involving a multiple sclerosis sufferer who was caught growing and using cannabis personally to treat his symptoms. The man in question was caught with 44 pounds of cannabis with which he was using to make oil.

Having been in the alcohol and tobacco permitting industries for decades, we’re often asked when cannabis will be federally legalized. Until now, it’s been hard to say, but things could finally be coming to a head. 

Cannabis is now legal in 33 states. In the last few years, federal legalization has become a political issue and the conversation around taxation and decriminalization has gotten more specific. With a number of bills working in Congress, and one which has passed committee, it appears that federal law may change soon to tax and regulate cannabis. 

Why Now?

After so much time, why could we finally be close to federal legalization? It’s a culmination of three “R’s”: regulation, revenue, and reform.  

Regulation

We’ve needed to bring cannabis out of the back alleys for years, standardizing production, labeling, permitting, and distribution. We believe that the cannabis industry needs to be legalized, regulated, and taxed for the safety of the general public and as an economic driver of the communities that cannabis businesses serve. The experiences of states which have legalized the product provide examples of how this may happen. 

Revenue

The impacts of COVID-19 have made state budgets a hot item. States need money and, if the federal government is going to bail them out, cannabis legalization would provide an excellent funding source. New Frontier Data estimates that the U.S. legal cannabis industry could be worth $29.7 billion by 2025. The industry saw a 32% growth in 2019 just over the previous year. The need for revenue will be a defining factor in legalization, driving the government’s decisions over the next few years.

According to a new study, Colorado users question the dangers of driving while high and desire more research about legal limit and self-assessment guidelines.

Cannabis consumers labeled Colorado policies about driving while under the influence of marijuana “out of touch,” although not in a way you might expect. A two-year study from the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) found Colorado marijuana users considered driving while high was, more often than not, not that dangerous.

They were also skeptical about many laws and regulations involving cannabis use and getting behind the wheel. Many heavy users relied on a “gut check” to determine whether they could drive safely or not after using.

“The more often people consumed cannabis, the less dangerous they considered driving under the influence of cannabis to be,” the study’s authors wrote. “Respondents who use cannabis typically believed individual differences in consumption or tolerance were mitigating factors in someone’s ability to safely drive under the influence.

“Most users are critical of laws, policies, and enforcement surrounding driving under the influence of cannabis,” researchers continued. “Cannabis supporters saw government policies as out-of-touch.”

A group of Montana cannabis activists said on Friday that it had collected enough signatures for two proposed ballot measures that would legalize the recreational use of marijuana in the state to qualify for the November election. The group, New Approach Montana, submitted petitions for the two initiative proposals to government officials, who will begin the verification process.

The group submitted more than 80,000 signatures for Constitutional Initiative 118, an amendment that would set the legal age for purchasing cannabis in Montana at 21. Another 52,000 signatures accompanied a petition for Initiative 190, a separate statutory ballot measure that would permit recreational marijuana commerce in the state while setting a 20% tax on retail sales.

For the constitutional amendment initiative to qualify for the ballot, supporters must submit at least 50,936 valid signatures from registered voters and must meet a minimum threshold of signatures in at least 40 of the 100 Montana state House of Representatives legislative districts. For the statutory initiative to be certified for the November election, 25,468 verified signatures including a minimum from at least 34 districts must be turned in to government officials.

Broad Support For Legalization

Pepper Petersen, a spokesman for New Approach Montana, said that the campaign had taken precautions to help slow the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus while collecting signatures. Those gathering signatures wore masks and supporters were given wrapped, single-use pens to sign the petitions. Despite the extra measures and the limited time to canvass following a mandated stay-at-home order, the campaign was able to gather signatures from every one of the state’s House districts.

“We think it represents what’s going to happen in November,” Petersen said. “There’s going to be an overwhelming support for this in every corner of the state. There’s not a legislative district that’s not represented in the signatures. We feel like the support out there is deep and wide, and it’s really exciting.”

Marijuana legalization in South Dakota could see daylight in 2020. The state passed measures to legalize both recreational and medical marijuana. Luckily, both of the measures collected the required signatures before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The only issue was if the pandemic didn’t retreat by November, it would be hard for people to vote on the measures. Now that lockdown restrictions have been easing, voting should be possible. So, the fate of legalization in South Dakota lies in voters’ hands.

South Dakota voters will decide on marijuana legalization

The state’s marijuana legalization group “South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws” initiated two proposals. The good news amid the pandemic is that both of the measures gathered enough signatures. As a result, they qualified for the ballot. The voters will decide on both proposals in the upcoming November elections.

The support for marijuana legalization is huge in the state. Many members of the campaign group think that cannabis being illegal at the federal level prevents productive people from getting jobs. People have to deal with drug conviction charges related to marijuana even though it’s legal in most states. As reported by KELOLAND News, the group held a zoom conference recently. The group presented a case stating how “legalizing and regulating marijuana would free up prisons and jails” and additionally bring in “$30 million of tax revenue by 2024.”

However, some local law enforcement questioned approving the measure. The group said that there would be restrictions as well. Marijuana legalization will be in voters’ hands. They will decide whether or not to legalize recreational and medical marijuana in the state this year.

Legalization would boost cannabis companies

The soaring demand for cannabis amid the pandemic shows that it’s important in the US. More states have been focusing on legalization efforts despite the pandemic. They think that legalization could help states recover financial losses amid COVID-19. Notably, the states include Texas and New Mexico. The U.S. Virgin Islands’ governor also stressed that marijuana legalization could lead to economic recovery. To learn more, read U.S. Virgin Islands’ Governor Supports Marijuana Legalization.

Three hundred to one. Those were the odds against the U.S. legalizing marijuana at the federal level that I calculated 10 months ago. I didn't just pull those numbers out of thin air. They were based on a reasoned analysis of all the dynamics in play last summer.

But a lot has changed since August 2019. The chances of a change in U.S. marijuana laws are much greater than they were just a few months ago. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that U.S. marijuana legalization is now likely on the way as soon as 2021. 

Why federal changes haven't already happened

Before we get to why my view has flipped 180 degrees, let's look at why federal anti-marijuana laws haven't already changed. After all, public support for marijuana legalization is at all-time highs (no pun intended). Thirty-three states have legalized medical cannabis. Eleven states have legalized recreational pot. More states will probably be added to both lists after the November elections.

The lack of federal marijuana legalization hasn't been due to a lack of trying. In November, the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee even passed a bill that would, among other things, remove marijuana from the list of federally controlled substances and allow states to establish their own marijuana policies. 

A bill to legalize cannabis use was approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation on Sunday, passing its first hurdle on the way to becoming law.

The legislation will decriminalize the possession of up to 50 grams of marijuana while fully legalizing the possession and consumption of up to 15 grams by individuals above the age of 21.

If the bill becomes law, selling and purchasing marijuana for personal use will be legal for those above 21 and authorized shops will be allowed to sell cannabis product, through growing marijuana at home will still be illegal. The legislation also outlined medical cannabis reform.

“For the first in the State of Israel’s history, my legislative move is officially beginning to regulate the cannabis market in Israel,” Likud MK Sharren Haskel, who co-sponsored the legislation with Blue and White MK Ram Shefa, wrote in a Facebook post. “I’m proud to bring good news to over one million cannabis users and tens of thousands of sick people.”

Housing Minister Yaakov Litzman of the ultra-Orthodox United Judaism Party and Jerusalem Affairs Minister Rafi Peretz of the national-religious Jewish Home both voted against the bill.

Budding weed entrepreneurs will have to wait at least another month to learn if they’ve won one of 75 coveted dispensary licenses from the state.

The licenses were supposed to be awarded May 1, but Gov. JB Pritzker signed an executive order at the end of April indefinitely suspending the decision, citing difficulties related to the coronavirus pandemic and glitches in processing the applications.

Originally, all 75 licenses were to be awarded at the same time, but now some applicants could be awarded a license next month while others will have to wait until at least early August.

Former state Sen. Toi Hutchinson, who oversees the state cannabis program, told the Cook County Cannabis Commission the delay is necessary to make sure licenses are issued correctly and to avoid lawsuits that may arise from applicants that lose out. Hutchinson acknowledged the delay hurts those waiting on the decision.

“My biggest worry is that any delay … makes it very hard for the people, who are the entire intent of this, to weather,” Hutchinson said.