Federal agriculture officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture signed off on hemp production plans for two states and a U.S. territory this week. Minnesota, which has been a hemp state for six years under the 2014 Farm Bill pilot program, received approval for its plan on Tuesday. The state declared earlier this year that it would continue to operate under the 2014 pilot for the 2020 season. USDA’s approval of the state’s new hemp plan doesn’t change that decision. In January, Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Thom Peterson wrote in a letter to the USDA that the Oct. 31 date to change over from pilot programs to approved USDA plans is impractical, causing inconveniences both for farmers and for state agriculture department staff.
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July 16, 2020
We should legalize pot to fight the coronavirus
The US is mired in catastrophe. A pandemic, an economic meltdown, and a vacuum of competent governance are all conspiring to make the moment exceptionally miserable. One positive (if still tenuous) development has been the national fervor in support of criminal-justice reform. Part and parcel with that is drug-policy reform. And the simplest drug-policy reform is legalizing marijuana.
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The business has come a long way since the hippies of yesteryear peddled “pot” on city streets. Sales of legal marijuana are surpassing money spent on common items such as toothpaste. “With revenue of $10.6 billion-$13 billion in 2019, sales of legal adult-use and medical cannabis in the United States topped spending on sleep aids, hard seltzer and toothpaste combined,” said an analysis published by Marijuana Business Fact Book, and analysis issued by Marijuana Business Daily, an industry publication.
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July 16, 2020
South Dakota has months to go on hemp
Industrial hemp became legal in South Dakota when Governor Kristi Noem signed the emergency measure March 27. More than 100 days later, her administration is getting closer to submitting a program for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to consider for approval. State Department of Agriculture spokeswoman JaCee Aaseth said Thursday that South Dakota sent a preliminary version for USDA to look over. She also said state Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg’s office provided feedback on it this week. Those perspectives will be reflected in the revised version, according to Aaseth.
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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has a pending rule that, if finalized, would allow states to import prescription drugs from Canada. Importing medicine from Canada, however, is more dangerous than it looks because it is so difficult to prosecute fake or substandard drug sellers. Legislators and their consultants make it sound as if holding a foreign vendor accountable will be easy, but history has shown that the U.S. federal government, with all of its agreements, power, and resources, still struggles to bring criminals to justice.
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July 15, 2020
Rancho Bernardo Planning Board takes a stand against inconsistent cannabis distance rules
The Rancho Bernardo Planning Board decided to challenge the latest proposed wording in city code pertaining to cannabis outlets and production facilities. The board held a special meeting Saturday morning to decide what positions it wanted to take before the San Diego City Council met on Tuesday. The council was scheduled to make revisions to the city’s 12th update of its Land Development Code pertaining to cannabis (marijuana) outlets and facilities. This included rules pertaining to distance from homes and community facilities. The city issued proposed updates after the board’s June meeting and was scheduled to vote before the board’s monthly meeting scheduled for tonight (Thursday). The board’s Regional Issues Committee also held a special meeting last Thursday to review the cannabis issue plus proposed state legislation that could increase housing density in residential neighborhoods statewide, including Rancho Bernardo. Since both issues were discussed Saturday and there are no additional issues, tonight’s board meeting has been canceled. After hearing from several residents living near the site of a proposed outlet (dispensary) at 16375 Bernardo Center Drive, plus representatives from Hope United Methodist Church and its preschool — all of whom oppose the Urbn Leaf outlet — board members decided to focus on two points in their letter to city officials. The code proposal only places a 100-foot separation between an outlet or production facility and residential property lines, but a 1,000-foot separation between the cannabis facilities and sensitive uses. These include city parks, houses of worship, child care centers, playgrounds, libraries owned and operated by the city, minor-oriented facilities, residential care facilities and schools. After much discussion, the board decided to request “for consistency” a 1,000-foot separation for the residential code. Some meeting attendees said they worried they could risk losing the other 1,000-foot separation and, in the name of consistency, city officials could decide to opt for a 100-foot separation for all. But in the end the board decided it needed to take a stand and request the farther distance for both in the best interest of the community. Resident Rob Brienza, whose Bernardo Heights home is closest to the proposed outlet, said “there is a bit of risk, but also reward to consider,” in the board requesting a consistent 1,000-foot separation. Board members agreed the same concerns for children playing at a school or park and playing in their home’s backyard, or reading at a library versus their kitchen, should be equal. Since the city has decided there is a need for a 1,000-foot separation between a public space and outlet, the same should exist between a home and outlet. “We need to represent our community’s interest in this case and need to take a strong position on the difference of 100 feet versus 1,000 feet,” said board member Tom Lettington. “We need to represent our people.” “The inconsistency makes no sense,” said board member Sonny Googins. During the committee meeting, members expressed support of the line between outlets and homes being measured horizontally instead of path of travel or other barriers being factored in. However, when it comes to the distance between an outlet and the public spaces, the city proposes a 1,000-foot separation “measured between the property lines.” The wording is not as clear about a horizontal measurement, committee members said.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved hemp regulatory plans from Minnesota, Tennessee and Puerto Rico on Tuesday. This latest development brings the total number of approved plans across states, territories and Indian tribes to 53. “We thank USDA for their work on this new federal hemp program, and we are grateful they have approved Minnesota’s plan,” Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen said. “While this is a major step forward, there are still concerns over some the regulations imposed on states and tribal governments, such as testing requirements. We look forward to continuing our dialog with USDA so we can ensure Minnesota’s hemp growers and processors are successful in this fledging industry.” Puerto Rico is the second territory approval since the crop was federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill. In May, USDA accepted the U.S. Virgin Islands’s proposed regulations. Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón (R), who represents the territory in Congress, discussed her advocacy for other cannabis reform legislation—including preventing the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs from denying home loan benefits to veterans solely due to employment in a state-legal marijuana market—in a press release. USDA has been signing off on hemp proposals on a rolling basis over the past year. “USDA continues to receive and review hemp production plans from states and Indian tribes,” the department said in a notice. While the agency released an interim final rule for a domestic hemp production program last year, industry stakeholders and lawmakers have expressed concerns about certain policies it views as excessively restrictive. USDA announced in February that it will temporarily lift two provisions that the industry viewed as problematic. Those policies primarily concern testing and disposal requirements. The department declined to revise the THC limit, however, arguing that it’s a statutory matter that can’t be dealt with administratively. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has said on several occasions that the Drug Enforcement Administration influenced certain rules, adding that the narcotics agency wasn’t pleased with the overall legalization of hemp. Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is still in the process of developing regulations for CBD. It sent an update on its progress to Congress in March, explaining that the agency is actively exploring pathways to allow for the marketing of the cannabis compound as a dietary supplement and is developing enforcement discretion guidance. An FDA public comment period was reopened indefinitely for individuals to submit feedback on CBD regulations. This month, the White House finalized a review of FDA CBD and cannabis research protocols, but it’s unclear when or if the document will be released to the public.
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July 15, 2020
Psychedelic Therapists Petition Government For Permission To Dose Themselves In Order To Better Treat Patients
As a group of terminally ill patients in Canada awaits word from the minister of health on whether they can legally access psychedelic mushrooms for end-of-life care, their team of clinicians has tacked on an additional request: The therapists want to be able to dose themselves, too. The group behind the request, Victoria, B.C.–based TheraPsil, a nonprofit that aims to expand access to psilocybin-based psychotherapy in Canada, says the additional step of providing safe access for therapists will ensure they gain firsthand experience into the psilocybin’s effects and its applications to psychotherapy. “Part of ensuring a very high-quality psychedelic treatment for patients is to ensure high-quality training for therapists,” Spencer Hawkswell, TheraPsil’s executive director, told Marijuana Moment in an interview. “It’s greatly beneficial if therapists have had psychedelic therapy themselves.” Few people, he offered by analogy, “would advise going to a sex therapist who’s never had sex before.” TheraPsil, founded by clinical psychologist and psychotherapist Bruce Tobin, has been fighting for expanded access to psilocybin end-of-life care for years. In 2017, the group first filed a petition to exempt patients with certain terminal conditions from Canada’s ban on psilocybin. It was reportedly the first time a therapist had asked the Canadian government for such an exemption. It wasn’t until this past January that TheraPsil finally heard back, Hawkswell said. “After three years of back-and-forth, they got back to us and said, ‘We’re going to be rejecting this application.’” The agency said there was no obvious medical necessity for the psychedelics. TheraPsil was undaunted. “They say there’s no necessity,” Hawkswell said. “Maybe it’s because they haven’t met that person yet.” In April, the group helped four more people with terminal illnesses file petitions with Health Canada and Health Minister Patty Hajdu seeking exemptions that will allow them to access psilocybin. In an interview with Marijuana Moment, Hawkswell said patients had gone months so far without a word from Hajdu, who with a stroke of a pen could allow the patients to access the drug. “What we are working on right now is ramping up our messaging,” Hawkswell said. “We are going to try everything we can to get to the minister to make sure she sees these patients and responds to them.”
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Pain is defined as an unpleasant feeling that is conveyed to the brain by sensory nerves. Discomfort signals usually represent an alarm of disease and the symptom announces that something is not right with our bodies. Unfortunately, pain causes are not always understood and treatment can be challenging. Thus, the search for new and better pain relievers continues. Marijuana’s pain-relieving properties have been described widely and its analgesic features has been used to popularise the use of medical, as well as recreational marijuana. Marijuana which is also known as cannabis, is a complex plant. Even though cannabis has been used and cultivated by mankind for at least 6,000 years, our current knowledge on its pharmacological properties is based on more recent studies. The two most known compounds of the plant are cannabidiol and delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol; CBD and THC were isolated in 1963 and 1964 respectively. The discovery of these compounds has led to the further discovery of the important endocannabinoid human system. This system’s receptors are widely distributed in the human brain and body, which are considered to be responsible for numerous functions. These functions normally respond to endocannabinoids (cannabis type of substances normally produced by the human body). The functions of the endocannabinoid system are altered by the intake of external substances, including the cannabis plant, even in its natural form as a herb. CBD and THC have different effects in our systems and act like two different drugs. CBD does not induce intoxication and diminishes the psychotropic effects of THC; it causes a decrease in blood pressure and heart rate. In contrast, THC causes euphoria and an increase in blood pressure and heart rate. This last compound is responsible for psychotropic effects (“the high”). Traditionally, cannabis has been consumed and prepared from the plant. The cannabis plant has two main subspecies, cannabis indica and cannabis sativa. They can be differentiated by their different physical characteristics. Indica-dominant strains are short plants with broad, dark green leaves and have higher cannabidiol content than the sativa plants in which THC content is higher. Sativa-dominant strains are usually taller and have thin leaves with a pale green colour. Due to its higher THC content, C sativa is the preferred choice by recreational users. In the plant, cannabinoids are synthesised and accumulated as cannabinoid acids, but when the herbal product is dried, stored and heated, the acids decarboxylate gradually into their proper forms, such as CBD or d-9-THC. Pharmaceutical cannabis preparations offer users the opportunity to control the CBD/ THC ratios as well as quantities. This new feature makes cannabis a welcome new alternative for physicians to treat uncomfortable symptoms and chronic illnesses. As physicians, we are familiar with learning new drugs and titrating prescriptions to effect and to individual tolerability. Nevertheless, there has been a recent and consistent worldwide increase in cannabis potency in all of these formulations, with increasing associated health concerns. It is no longer rare to see acute cannabis intoxications in the emergency rooms located at jurisdictions where cannabis is more available. Cannabis has a wide range of effects that may vary between light and heavy users and can include feelings of intoxication, euphoria, altered sensory perception, cognitive and perceptual distortions, anxiety, dizziness, and increased appetite. In terms of cognitive processes, there is extensive evidence that acute cannabis exposure impairs attentional tasks, consolidation and retrieval of memory, learning and executive functions. Additionally, studies have found cannabis exposure related to disinhibition and impaired decision-making. Chronic cannabis use can also lead to what is called a motivational syndrome, which is characterised by apathy, lack of motivation and poor educational performance.
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With three Massachusetts marijuana companies facing fines of $200,000 or more for violations alongside uncertainty about the state budget amid the coronavirus pandemic, Shaleen Title of the Cannabis Control Commission asked her colleagues on the commission to write a letter to the legislature requesting that the agency be able to use fines and donations to support equity initiatives. The request from Title was not part of the agenda for the commission’s monthly meeting, which was held virtually on Thursday, and instead came up during the agenda item reserved for “New business that the chairman did not anticipate at time of posting.” Title had sent a memo with her request to Chairman Steven Hoffman, Commissioners Jennifer Flanagan and Britte McBride and Executive Director Shawn Collins on July 7, after meeting agenda was posted online. With the commission’s social equity program, the first of its kind in the industry, maintaining the same level of funding at $300,000 per year since 2017, Title wanted to see the agency request the legislature allow fines collected by the commission and donations, like from a licensee’s positive impact plan, to support equity initiatives. A way to allow for that to happen was introduced in a bill by state Sen. Jason Lewis, which was introduced in January 2019 and sent to study earlier this year, Title explained in her memo and during the Thursday meeting. The commission currently lacks a way to accept donations made as a part of positive impact plans and, in some cases, funds are sitting unused in escrow, Title wrote. Earlier in the meeting, the commissioners had discussed fines for three companies as well as budgeting. “I think it is incumbent upon us, particularly at this moment when leaders at all levels, including us, are being very thoughtful about how we can be more equitable in our decision making and policy making, that we should point out this technical challenge to the legislators who charged our agency with meeting these goals and specifically included that the commission should be able to accept funds and use them because if we don’t tell them they’re never going to know,” Title said to fellow commissioners when making her case Thursday. But other commissioners felt there was not enough time to prepare to have a conversation on the topic and expressed frustration at the timing of the memo.
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