August 31, 2020
New Bill Would Give Hemp Businesses A Boost And Require Studies Into Alternative Uses For The Crop
A congressman introduced a bill on Friday that would create a variety of programs and grants to help people enter the hemp industry and build their businesses. It would also require a federal study into potential alternative uses for the crop as well as challenges faced by the market. Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA) filed the Hemp Opportunity Zone Act. As the title implies, the main component of the legislation clarifies that farmers who cultivate the crop can receive tax benefits if they operate in an area designated as an “opportunity zone” by the Treasury Department. Opportunity zones are census-designated low-income areas that are considered economically distressed. The governor of a state can make the designation, and Treasury then decides whether to certify it. The program is designed to promote investments in communities that might typically be overlooked by allowing investors to defer capital gains taxes if they put money into an opportunity zone business. “We are reviewing the legislation now, but if it indeed serves to open up investment in hard-hit farming and small business communities, it would be welcome relief for an industry that has been struggling through the COVID pandemic and federal burdens imposed by FDA, USDA and now the DEA,” Jonathan Miller, general counsel for the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, told Marijuana Moment. Treasury Sec. Steven Mnuchin earlier this year weighed in on eligibility for the opportunity zone program with respect to the marijuana industry and said “it is not the intent of the opportunity zones that if there is this conflict [between state and federal marijuana laws] that has not been cleared that, for now, we should not have those businesses in the opportunity zones.” In addition to clarifying eligibility for hemp-focused businesses, Riggleman’s new bill would also create a “hemp farmer start-up tax credit” equal to 10 percent of the cash rent paid for land used for production or 15 percent of the “crop share rent so paid by the taxpayer.” To be eligible, farmers would need to have less than $25 million in gross receipts for the last taxable year.The legislation would further establish a “small hemp farmer credit” that would enable businesses with less than $250,000 in gross receipts for the previous taxable year to obtain a credit “equal to 30 percent of the basis of hemp farming property placed in service.” “Hemp farming is a new and thriving industry,” Riggleman, who lost his primary renomination bid this year and only has a few months left in Congress, said. “By providing these tax incentives hemp growers in Virginia and the 5th District are primed to lead based on their historic production of tobacco.”
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August 31, 2020
Pandemic renews calls for marijuana legalization in Hawaii
This week, Hawaii took a step forward in legalizing industrial hemp, something the agricultural committee says would be a big boost to the state's economy. But while 11 other states, including all of the West Coast have legalized recreational marijuana, Hawaii has still been hesitant to take that step, despite our status as a strongly blue state. "Law enforcement has been against it, conservative groups have been against it," explains former State Senator Will Espero. But he says the pandemic has changed the game. With record unemployment and calls to diversity our tourism-heavy economy, Espero says he believes lawmakers will be more willing to take another look next session. In other states like Nevada for example, marijuana tax revenue brought in $70 million the first year alone. Espero says if legalization were to pass, Hawaii would already have the infrastructure in place to support the industry. "We have people already growing, and who know to grow," he says. He says while other states may have been first, Hawaii could easily position itself as the best in the industry. "There's no reason Hawaii couldn't market itself as having the best product in the world," he says.
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August 30, 2020
House to vote on removing the federal ban on marijuana
Legislation removing the federal prohibition on marijuana, taxing the drug to provide to communities hardest hit by the war on drugs, and expunging cannabis-related convictions will come before the U.S. House when it returns from its August recess. The bill passed the House Judiciary Committee on a bipartisan vote in November, and had been waiting action by the full House. The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, or More Act, would remove the federal ban on marijuana, currently scheduled as a Class 1 controlled substance. That would give states carte blanche to legalize it, give banks the ability to offer credit cards and checking accounts to legal cannabis businesses, and make it easier to study any medicinal benefits of pot. The legislation also would require federal courts to expunge prior marijuana convictions, tax marijuana to fund job training and other programs and loans to minority-owned small businesses wanting to enter the cannabis industry, and provide aid to communities hardest hit by the war on drugs as so many residents were arrested and jailed for possessing weed. The announcement by House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., was welcomed by proponents of legalizing cannabis. “After many months of hard work and collaboration, we finally have a chance to end the failed policy of prohibition that has resulted in a long and shameful period of selective enforcement against people of color, especially Black men,” said Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus.
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After failing to convince Nebraska’s secretary of state to keep a medical marijuana initiative off the state’s ballot, a local police official is now going to court to try to prevent voters from getting a chance to decide on the measure. Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner filed the case on Friday, just one day after Secretary of State Bob Evnen rejected his arguments that the ballot proposal “cases confusion,” “creates doubt about what will be authorized after the election” and violates the state’s single-subject rule for initiatives. That filing was made by a law firm that refused to disclose the sheriff as its client. Now the top county cop has revealed himself in the new lawsuit filing, and the state Supreme Court will take up the dispute, with arguments expected on Thursday. A decision will need to be made in the case by September 11, which is the deadline to certify items for November ballots. Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana submitted nearly 200,000 signatures last month, well beyond the 121,669 required to qualify for the ballot. Under the proposal, physicians could recommend cannabis to patients suffering from debilitating medical conditions, and those patients would then be allowed to possess, purchase and “discreetly” cultivate marijuana for personal use. Sens. Anna Wishart Adam Morfeld, cochairs of the legalization campaign, and other legislators have tried for years to pass medical cannabis bills in the legislature only to be blocked by opposition from leadership. But with help from the Marijuana Policy Project and other advocacy groups, they decided to put the issue directly to voters. On Saturday, Morfeld recalled pressing Wagner about the relative dangers of marijuana, alcohol and other drugs during a Judiciary Committee hearing. “I asked Sheriff Wagner how many people had died from drug and alcohol overdoses in his career?” the senator tweeted. “He said too many to count. How many from marijuana? Zero.”
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In September, the House will vote on removing cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act as well as erasing some marijuana criminal records, The Hill reports. The bill would not legalize cannabis. That choice would still be left up to states. Even though the vote will not legalize the drug, it will still be a historic step to reduce legal penalties related to cannabis. Marijuana is currently legal in 11 states. The September vote is set to be the first taken by either chamber of Congress to remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act. As of right now, cannabis is listed as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act. This means there is no benefit to medical use and a high chance for abuse of the drug. If the drug were removed from the act, federal prohibition of the drug would be eliminated, but state laws that make it illegal would remain in place.It would also remove criminal records and give grant funding to people negatively affected by the enforcement of marijuana laws. House Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler first introduced the bill last year which passed the panel by a 24-10 vote in November. With the votes of GOP Reps. Matt Gaetz (Fla.) and Tom McClintock (Calif.), it passed the committee. It is unlikely that the bill will pass the Republican-controlled Senate. The vote will happen during a time of national reckoning over systemic racism and police brutality, with racial justice advocates calling to attention the disproportionate enforcement of marijuana laws against people of color in the US.
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August 29, 2020
Months after his death, Pete Frates’s legacy lives on in family’s push for ALS patients to try medical marijuana
By the time Pete Frates tried medical marijuana, he and his family felt as if they had run out of options for treating his anxiety. The Boston College graduate, diagnosed with ALS years earlier, was already seeing top psychiatrists and therapists at Massachusetts General Hospital. He had tried every anxiety drug made available to him. All his family wanted was something — anything — that would ease the anxiety Frates felt as his diagnosis left him trapped inside his own body. “Pete was always super on edge before we started to use marijuana, like anything could be a trigger for him,” said his wife, Julie Frates. “You know, if his hands weren’t moved correctly, or something wasn’t done the right way, and he’s not able to communicate with us exactly what it is he needs. All of those things were just constantly a battle for us.”...For Jonsson, that’s the frustrating part about the federal status of cannabis: While patients like Frates can tout the benefits of medical marijuana, cannabis companies are limited in what they’re allowed to say. Marijuana remains federally illegal, and cannabis has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration only for use in a drug that treats rare, severe forms of epilepsy. Hemp — a cannabis plant similar to marijuana, but with lower levels of THC — is federally legal, but cannabis companies have been warned by the FDA not to make unapproved medical claims about the benefits of any cannabis plant. As recently as last summer, Curaleaf was asked to remove social media posts and articles in which it claimed its CBD products could treat cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, chronic pain, and anxiety.
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August 28, 2020
With cannabis legalization on the ballot, towns are weighing their options, experts say
For municipal officials interested in dipping their toe into the cannabis industry, Tuesday’s online forum by NJ Cannabis Insider laid out the biggest issues facing towns and the industry moving forward. The 90-minute webinar, “Cannabis Legalization and Your Town,” examined the state of efforts to pass the upcoming ballot referendum on adult-use cannabis legalization, the state of the medical cannabis program during the pandemic, potential tax and employment benefits and issues for municipalities, and whether cannabis companies can force their way into town.
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August 28, 2020
House set to vote on marijuana legalization
The House will vote on legalizing marijuana next month. States would still have to vote to legalize the drug. Marijuana is already legal in 11 states. The MORE Act would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act and erase some cannabis criminal records. The vote will come during the September work period, according to an email Majority Whip Jim Clyburn’s (D-S.C.) office that was sent to members Friday. The email also asked members to indicate if they would support the MORE Act by Sept. 3. Why is this important? Neither chamber of Congress has ever voted on removing marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act.
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August 27, 2020
Nebraska Medical Marijuana Initiative Has Enough Signatures For Ballot, But Legal Challenge Filed
Activists behind a campaign to legalize medical marijuana in Nebraska announced on Wednesday that the secretary of state’s office has informed them they collected enough signatures to qualify their initiative for the November ballot. Meanwhile, a law firm representing unnamed state residents filed a last-minute legal challenge attempting to prevent voters from having a chance to decide on the measure. Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana said in an email blast that while the secretary of state has not formally certified the initiative, office staff informed them that they submitted enough valid signatures to make the cut.
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August 27, 2020
DEA’s Hemp And CBD Rules Raise Concerns About Potential Crackdown, Industry Insiders Say
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) recently released proposed rules for hemp and CBD—but while the agency claimed the regulations would simply put its procedures into compliance with federal law, some industry players suspect that they’re really setting the stage to crack down on the newly legal market. Some background is necessary: the 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp and its derivatives, shifting control of the substances from DEA to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
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