October 29, 2020
NJ legal marijuana advocates beats rivals in fundraising
New Jersey's ballot question on legalizing recreational marijuana has led to more than $2 million in campaign fundraising, mostly by groups in favor of cannabis, the state's Election Law Enforcement Commission said Thursday. The campaign already ranks in the top 10 costliest ballot questions in state history, according to the commission. By far, most of the fundraising is benefitting groups that support legalization. The two groups that have raised the most are NJ Can 2020 and Building Stronger Communities Action Fund. NJ Can 2020 is a social welfare group consisting of a coalition of organizations, including the ACLU of New Jersey, the Latino Action Network, Drug Police Action and the New Jersey CannaBusiness Association among others. The action fund's main donor is the Scotts Company, which makes Miracle-Gro. All but some $10,000 has been raised by groups that support legalization, according to the commission. New Jersey would become the 12th state, along with the District of Columbia, to legalize recreational marijuana, if the question succeeds. Supporters are optimistic, pointing to polls showing more than three-fifths of voters support legalization. Opponents are nonetheless holding out hope that they can persuade voters against adopting the change. Both sides have launched campaigns. Nearly 3 million ballots have already been received by county offices across the state ahead of Election Day because of the state's first-ever nearly all mail election. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy ordered the mail-in election because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
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New York regulators have proposed quality control standards and a licensing program for hemp-derived CBD products that have gained widespread popularity in products such as tinctures, salves and lotions, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday. The state Department of Health proposed the regulations in accordance with legislation passed earlier this year establishing a Cannabinoid Hemp Program. There are federal regulations for growing hemp but not for processing cannabinoid products. New York’s proposed regulations require laboratory testing and labeling to ensure consumers are getting what they pay for, without harmful contaminants. “These regulations are the next step toward regulating the growing hemp industry in New York in a way that protects consumers and helps ensure the industry’s long-term viability,” Cuomo said in a statement announcing the proposal. The regulations have been anxiously awaited by industrial hemp farmers and processors across the state, as well as hundreds of businesses that make consumer products from CBD, or cannabidiol, extracted from hemp. At media events around the state last month, industry leaders urged Cuomo to issue rules before the temporary state program they’ve been operating under expires at the end of October. An industrial hemp pilot program was launched in New York in 2015 in hopes of spurring economic development and providing farmers with a lucrative new crop. There are now about 700 hemp growers and 100 manufacturers of hemp products across the state. In addition to setting quality standards, the regulations create a system for allowing hemp-derived cannabinoids to be used in certain foods, beverages, topicals and dietary supplements. Processors are prohibited from making claims suggesting the products will treat or prevent disease. The regulations are subject to a 60-day public comment period.
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October 27, 2020
Does Illinois’ pot law pass the smell test? Scent of weed can still prompt cops to search vehicles
For many folks, the fragrance of weed is unmistakable. But the mere smell of pot can still prompt cops to search a vehicle in Illinois — despite the state fully legalizing the drug at the start of the year. In an article published Monday by the Illinois State Bar Association, a former prosecutor and a public defender raised questions about what exactly constitutes probable cause for a search when a cop or drug-sniffing dog smells marijuana. Earlier this month, lawmakers in Virginia passed two bills preventing officers from conducting similar warrantless searches that are currently awaiting approval from the state’s governor. While the law that legalized pot across Illinois prohibits the use of cannabis in a vehicle and requires that weed is transported in an “odor proof” container, one of the article’s authors warned that problems could potentially arise for folks who have gotten high elsewhere. “It’s just like a cigarette. That smoke smell lingers,” Emily Fitch, a public defender in Marion County, told the Sun-Times. “They could just be smoking it in their home and it just sticks to their clothing and they just reek like cannabis.” In fact many strains of today’s high-powered weed are commonly known as “loud” based on their overwhelming sensory effects. Fitch and her colleague, former Fayette County Assistant State’s Attorney Brenda Mathis, note in the article that there are different legal precedents for establishing probable cause in Illinois. If a drug-sniffing dog detects the smell of weed in as much time as it would take to write a ticket, that’s enough for officers to search a vehicle. But if a cop smells weed, there needs to be other factors that prompt a search. The precedent for police officers was established in a case decided by the Illinois Supreme Court earlier this year. The defendant in that case, Charles Hill, was found with a small rock of crack cocaine when a Decatur police officer searched his vehicle after smelling marijuana and spotting a small “bud” in the back seat. The court ultimately ruled that the search was acceptable based on the “totality of the circumstances” — and marijuana still being illegal in some situations, the attorneys wrote. But they claimed the ruling failed to “determine whether the odor of cannabis alone constitutes probable cause to search.” “The Hill case is a crucial case for prosecutors and defense attorneys alike as it will provide clear guidance in cases involving the smell of cannabis as a basis for a search and seizure,” Fitch and Mathis wrote. “Although this area of law is far from settled, this case provides insight as to what is coming in the future.” Ultimately, the attorneys wrote that “multiple issues” would be clarified through further case law and additional legislative action.
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October 27, 2020
Missouri’s medical marijuana program director believes voters could legalize marijuana as soon as 2022
It’s been almost two years since Missouri voters legalized medical marijuana and by the beginning of next week, there will be four total dispensaries open in the state. Voters in the Show Me State passed an amendment in 2018 legalization medical marijuana. Missouri was the 33rd state to legalize cannabis as medicine, but why, two years later, is there less than five dispensaries open? The director the state program said it’s due to the lack of product. “I think it’s 12 facilities that are ready to sell, they are just waiting on the product,” said Lyndall Fraker, director of the section of medical marijuana with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said. “By industry standards, we were the fifth-fastest state to get up and going out of 33.” Fraker said Missouri issued 358 business licenses out of the 2,200 applications. Some of the dispensaries are already open and he said they are selling CBD products or other things while they wait for medical marijuana. “And those minimums are 60 cultivation facilities, 86 manufacturing facilities, and 192 dispensaries,” Fraker said. “Those minimums were based on projections of what they thought the needs of Missourians would be.” He said COVID has played a role in some of the delay in facilities opening. “Three dispensaries that are selling produce: two in St. Louis and one in Kansas City,” Fraker said. “COVID has delayed some, now it really didn’t delay us on our end, but it certainly delayed facilities.” Next week, another dispensary is set to open in Springfield, but what’s the holdup? There are two cultivators that are producing and selling the product in the state,” Fraker said. “Nine that have been approved but they are growing, but only two are harvesting. The rest of them are growing so the product is not ready yet.” He said it takes between 90 and 120 days to grow the plant. “So once it’s harvested in a bud form, in a flowering form, then that product would be sent to a testing facility if it’s going to be sold directly to a dispensary as a flowering product,” Fraker said. “It has to be tested at the final stage before it goes to the dispensary.” Fraker said all medical marijuana sold in the state, is grown here in Missouri. “IF we would have issued a license for everyone that asked for one, there were 578 cultivation applications I believe, just cultivation, we issued 60,” Fraker said. “If we would have issued one to everybody, then they would have produced over 8 million pounds of marijuana a year. That would have served over half of our state population, about 3 million Missouri patients.” Patients in Missouri can receive up to four ounces of medical marijuana a month unless they receive a second opinion from a doctor and doctor request more.
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October 27, 2020
There’s Still A Reason To Be Hyped About Industrial Hemp
Politico recently noted that the hemp industry “hasn’t panned out” and that hemp hype has died down. This assertion is naive at best. The article noted that: (1) the USDA had only approved 29 out of 41 submitted state hemp plans; (2) the numbers of acres planted are down; (3) many states had not submitted plans to the USDA; (4) the lack of FDA movement on permanent CBD guidelines. This analysis is misplaced, misguided, and based on a fundamental failure to understand what it takes to develop a new agricultural market, while ignoring the real progress in the hemp industry. This seems to be a case of “you ain't gonna learn what you don’t want to know.” There is currently tremendous restraint imposed on the industry because relevant federal agencies (i.e., the FDA, the USDA, and to a lesser extent the DEA) have not issued permanent appropriate market-based guidance by way of regulatory enactment — let alone communicated amongst themselves to fully implement the 2018 Farm Bill regarding industrial hemp. Make no mistake about it: the 2018 Farm Bill was the most sweeping and groundbreaking cannabis reform ever enacted in the United States at the federal level. So we cannot expect that these will move swiftly and concertedly on such a landmark policy change. This is all new to the FDA and the DEA, but less so for the USDA, and great tension exists between the federal agencies and the states seeking to move forward with responsible hemp regulatory policy. It has been documented that there are six core elements of an agricultural transformation plan. The brand new agricultural sector of industrial hemp has yet to specifically identify market-driven opportunities for farmers based on crop productivity. Industrial hemp is a versatile crop that can service multiple verticals. The gauntlet that's been thrown in front of us is to move away from a single-purpose, cannabinoid-driven hemp industry. To do so, “change agents” must be “identified and mobilized,” which will occur with the right “enabling policies.” This requires a cogent, stable government regulatory and legislative framework, something lacking to date. As a result, much of the market restraint is because of the absence of government policy advancement. This isn’t a bad thing and doesn’t eliminate the hype surrounding hemp, but bolsters it.
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Cannabis reform may be stalled at the federal level, but the number of states that have legalized it in some capacity continues to grow. Heading into the 2020 election, 33 of them and the District of Columbia permit medicinal use. Eleven of these states, as well as D.C., have also legalized recreational use. On November 3rd, four more states — Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota — will vote on initiatives that would legalize recreational cannabis, while a fifth — Mississippi — will decide whether to allow doctors to recommend it to patients. Polling indicates the measures will pass in all five states. This shouldn’t be surprising. A Pew Research Center study conducted last September found that 67 percent of Americans feel cannabis should be legal, while 91 percent feel it should at least be legal for medicinal purposes. The issue is no longer just a liberal hobbyhorse, either. A majority of Republicans also believe cannabis should be legal, and as more conservative states continue to vote accordingly, it’s going be harder and harder for federal legislators to rationalize opposing reform at the federal level. “Most lawmakers are going to respond for their constituents,” Steven Hawkins, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, tells Rolling Stone. “That’s why the work [we do] around changing laws at the state level is really part and parcel of how we will win at the federal level. Every state that passes adult use means you’re going to gain members of Congress, you’re going to gain two U.S. senators. Even if they don’t become champions, they’re not going to vote no for something their constituents have come to embrace.” The House of Representatives was set to vote on a federal decriminalization bill, dubbed the MORE Act, in September, but the vote was delayed until after the election. Though the bill would probably not have made it through the Republican-controlled Senate, it’s beginning to feel like it’s only a matter of time before the MORE Act or a similar piece of legislation is going to garner broad bipartisan support. This year’s ballot initiatives should help move the needle, as it’s looking like come November 3rd a few more Republican senators are going to find themselves representing constituencies that support legalization. More are sure to follow.
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In an effort to win broader voter backing ahead of the November presidential election, supporters of legalizing marijuana are presenting their case to the American people through an economic lens. Advocates argue new legal sales and excise taxes would help states weather economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic -- a marked shift from previous messaging that focused on social and racial justice. Residents of five states are set to assess seven associated ballot measures, and proponents of legalization are touting cannabis as a new source of revenue for state governments, hoping to win over holdouts. Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., is a supporter of the popular Proposition 207 ballot measure -- or the Smart and Safe Arizona Act -- which would allow adults 21 and older to possess as much as an ounce of marijuana, approve sales at 130 medical marijuana dispensaries, and allow those previously convicted of crimes that would no longer be illegal under the act to have their records wiped clean. According to The Arizona Republic, Prop. 207 would also place a 16% excise tax on sales and provide 26 retail licenses to "those historically disadvantaged by marijuana laws." “From a criminal justice perspective, the revenue that we should be worried about is the fact that we’re not going to be destroying a lot of young men’s lives for carrying a small amount of marijuana,” Gallego told The Hill on Friday. "I do think our marijuana laws are used by police to target young males of color, particularly Black men.” Arizona began early voting on Oct. 7 and has seen record turnout.
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New York could legalize adult-use marijuana as a way to generate revenue and help with the state's coronavirus-fueled, multi-billion-dollar budget deficit, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo's comments on the future of recreational marijuana came during a virtual event held Oct. 15 to promote his new book, American Crisis, which details his efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Democratic governor was interviewed by Bravo television personality and producer Andy Cohen for viewers who paid $35 for a signed book and the right to watch the event. Cohen asked Cuomo: When is New York going to legalize marijuana? "Soon, because now we need the money," Cuomo said in response, according to a recording of the event obtained by the USA TODAY Network New York. "I’ve tried to get it done the last couple years," Cuomo continued. "There are a lot of reasons to get it done, but one of the benefits is it also brings in revenue, and all states — but especially this state — we need revenue and we’re going to be searching the cupboards for revenue. And I think that is going to put marijuana over the top.” Marijuana advocates and some Democratic lawmakers have been pushing the state for years to allow recreational use of the drug in New York, following the lead of 11 states that have already done so. Cuomo entered office in 2011 as an opponent of legalization both for medical and recreational purposes. In 2014, he reversed his position on medical marijuana and signed a bill into law legalizing it. By the end of 2018, Cuomo reversed his position on recreational marijuana, too, vowing to push for a new law legalizing and taxing the drug. Since then, Cuomo and the Democrat-led Senate and Assembly have struggled to reach consensus on a statewide system for regulating marijuana, with Cuomo and lawmakers disagreeing over how the revenue should be spent. Assembly Democrats have pushed to reserve much of the marijuana revenue for communities of color, who have been charged with drug crimes at a far higher rate than white communities. Cuomo has pushed a proposal that would give his administration more control over the revenue and how it's spent. The governor's budget office has projected a $60 billion budget shortfall through the 2024 fiscal year, though that figure is based on outdated, pre-coronavirus revenue projections from January. Legalizing marijuana would provide a relatively small revenue boost in New York, where the state budget exceeds $175 billion a year. Last year, Cuomo's office estimated a recreational-marijuana program would bring in $300 million a year in state revenue when it's fully phased in, which under the governor's prior proposal would take well over a year.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently released—and then promptly rescinded—a notice on providing federal loans for hemp processors. After the crop was federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill, USDA announced that regulations were being developed to offer direct and guaranteed loans to the industry. The federal agency unveiled those guidelines in April and then issued a new notice this month notifying applicants about the policy change ahead of the planned expiration of the earlier 2014 hemp pilot program. The next day, however, it posted an “obsoleting notice” invalidating the prior document. The new guidance “was developed with the understanding that operators would no longer be authorized to produce hemp under the 2014 Farm Bill Pilot Program,” USDA said. However, because Congress approved a continuing resolution that extends the program until September 30, 2021, the loan policies are not currently applicable. That pilot program extension came at the behest of numerous stakeholders, advocates and lawmakers who have been pushing USDA to make a series of changes to its proposed hemp regulations. As those rules are being reviewed and finalized, they said it was necessary to keep the 2014 program in place. The president signed the continuing resolution late last month, so it’s not clear why the notice on loan policy changes was released weeks later, which then necessitated a follow-up recision. But in any case, it’s another example of the fluidity and challenges of rulemaking for the non-intoxicating cannabis crop following its legalization. It stands to reason that the loan processes outlined in the now-invalid notice will likely be consistent with what’s ultimately released next year, assuming the pilot program does expire then. The primary rule change concerns licensing requirements for borrowers. After the 2014 regulations are no longer in effect, hemp loan applicants must be licensed under a USDA-approved state or tribal hemp program, or under the agency’s basic regulations if the jurisdiction the business operates in has not submitted its own rules.Borrowers who are not licensed to grow hemp will be considered in non-monetary default and any losses will not be covered. For direct and guaranteed loans, hemp businesses must have a contract with USDA’s Farm Service Agency laying out termination policies and their ability to repay the loans. As of this month, USDA has approved a total of 69 state and tribal hemp regulatory proposals—mostly recently for Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New Mexico, Oklahoma and South Dakota. Illinois and Oklahoma were among a group of states that USDA had asked to revise and resubmit their initial proposals in August.
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While ruby red South Dakota may not be a swing state in the presidential election -- it may be at the forefront of the green revolution as one of five states where recreational and medical marijuana legalization are up for a vote this election year. And it is the only state where both forms of legalization will be on the ballot. Matthew Schweich, the deputy director of the nonprofit group the Marijuana Policy Project, which has been running campaigns across the country to legalize, told ABC News this is the first time in U.S. history that a state has had two ballot measures to ask voters for approval for recreational and medical marijuana during an election year. While there is some opposition from Republican Gov. Kristi Noem and South Dakota business owners over the recreational ballot, Schweich noted that more than 50,000 residents signed on to that initiative and more than 30,000 signatures for the medical provision. "I think that COVID has absorbed a great deal of the public's attention from marijuana reform, but there is still interest in the issue," he told ABC News. "It's remarkable since South Dakota has always been seen as this strong conservative state." Schweich and other experts say that the ballot initiatives in South Dakota as well as Montana, Arizona, New Jersey and Mississippi, could have major outcomes for the rest of the country since it would put pressure on state and national leaders to address their antiquated drug laws. "If we're successful it will send a message to Congress that they need to address the discrepancy between the state and federal laws on marijuana," Schweich said.
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