April 13, 2020
Colorado Governor Asks Congress To Let Marijuana Businesses Get Coronavirus Aid Funds
Even as many states deem marijuana businesses to be “essential” operations that can continue their activities during the coronavirus pandemic, ongoing federal cannabis prohibition means they can’t get access to relief funds available to other industries under COVID-19 legislation passed by Congress. The governor of Colorado is seeking to change that. “Unfortunately, a large number of small businesses in Colorado are not eligible for these loans due to their involvement in the state-legal cannabis industry, which is a major employer and tax revenue generator in our state,” Gov. Jared Polis (D) wrote in a letter to a Colorado congressman on Monday. The federal Small Business Administration (SBA) has not only maintained that current law prevents it from offering loans and other services to marijuana businesses such as growers, processors and retailers but also insists that the ban applies even to companies that work indirectly with the cannabis industry—including accounting and law firms. “As you can imagine, there are hundreds of Colorado companies that fall into the latter category, from HVAC companies and lighting equipment suppliers to law firms and accounting firms,” Polis, himself a former congressman who for years was one of the most vocal proponents of marijuana law reform on Capitol Hill, wrote to Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO). It “could have a devastating effect on our business community and tens of thousands of employees” if those companies are blocked from getting aid, he said. “In an ideal world, Congress would include a provision in an upcoming bill guaranteeing that all state-legal cannabis businesses, direct and indirect, will be eligible for these loans,” Polis said. “In the alternative, I hope that you can at least work with your colleagues to ensure that Indirect Marijuana Businesses will be eligible for the loans.”
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Cannabis companies are entering a new normal as the coronavirus pandemic puts stress on every sector of business, fundamentally altering the industry in possibly permanent ways. The COVID-19 outbreak has exacerbated fault lines in the rapidly evolving market and led to number of new outcomes, including: Retailers adapting to changing consumer behavior by offering delivery, curbside pickup, etc. State-by-state legalization movements hitting major obstacles Businesses hoping for post-pandemic real estate deals. An acceleration of acquisitions and business failures, specifically in California. Canadian companies making the best of market uncertainty and changing regulations. Firms reevaluating the viability of the international supply chain. As the market moves through this crisis, companies and their investors will learn to develop built-in resilience, make better assumptions about what could go wrong and put robust practices in place to gird against any disruptions, no matter how major or minor. And they need to be flexible. “Don’t plan for disruptions to end on your timeline,” said Sumit Mehta, CEO of San Francisco-based investment group Mazakali. Buyer behavior. Consumers’ purchasing habits are changing, including the method they use to buy cannabis products. Online ordering, delivery, curbside pickup and drive-thru lanes are likely here to stay as customers recognize their ease of use.
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Before it ends, the coronavirus crisis described by the U.S. government as "our Pearl Harbor moment" will likely kill hundreds of thousands of Americans while the nation sinks further into recession, if not a full-blown depression. Small businesses will shutter. Hourly workers will become homeless. Unemployment will continue to soar, exposing a fragile system left in place after decades of globalization. Stimulus money might help, but what the United States really needs is a self-sustaining, homegrown commodity that would benefit everyone, from the agricultural farmer to the medical patient, as well as all the clerks and customers in between — not to mention the hospitals and clinics experiencing severe shortages of gloves, facemasks, and gowns. That commodity would be hemp, a powerhouse of a plant that until recently had been criminalized by the federal government because it is a cannabis derivative, although it does not contain enough THC to get a person high. Legalized at the federal level with the 2018 Farm Bill, hemp is expected to become a billion-dollar industry in Florida and has the potential to be a godsend for multigenerational farmers who have suffered economically since the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in the 1990s. Florida, in fact, is the only state where hemp can be grown year-round. During the summer, farmers can grow industrial hemp for its fiber, and in winter, they can produce CBD-rich hemp. "The rest of the United States can only produce 70 percent of what we can produce in Florida," says Glenn Whitworth of Whitworth Farms in Boynton Beach. "We can get four harvests a year when other places are lucky to get two, maybe three."
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April 13, 2020
Virginia Governor Proposes Several Amendments To Marijuana Decriminalization Bill On His Desk
Virginia’s governor approved a marijuana decriminalization bill on Saturday, though he submitted a series of recommended amendments for the legislature to consider before it is formally enacted. While several were technical in nature, the two main proposed changes concern the deadline for a cannabis legalization study report and reporting requirements for drivers who unlawfully possess marijuana. Another interesting amendment Gov. Ralph Northam (D) proposed is related to a federal statute that links funds for highways to state drug policies. The governor wants to delete language voicing opposition to a federal statute encouraging states to automatically suspend the drivers license of individuals convicted of any drug-related offense. But it’s not because he doesn’t support an opt-out. Rather, it is because the provision’s inclusion in the decriminalization bill is seen as redundant after the issue was already covered in separate legislation he approved earlier this month. Nonetheless, it highlights intriguing federal-state drug policy questions. The federal statute, which prompted a slew of states to adopt the penalty for fear of losing out on federal highway funds, stipulates that states must enact laws requiring drivers license suspensions for a minimum of six months for drug convictions, including for charges unrelated to driving, and that the governor must submit a written certification of compliance. However, there’s a provision allowing states to proactively opt-out, and the Virginia legislature triggered that as part of a standalone bill passed in March. That legislation expresses the will of the General Assembly to end drivers license suspensions in accordance with the opt out allowance and stipulates that the governor should submit “the necessary certifications” by September 21 to make clear that Virginia will no longer abide by the federally imposed penalty mandate. Virginia is one of only six states—along with Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Michigan and Texas—that continue to suspend drivers licenses for drug convictions that have nothing to do with operating a motor vehicle.
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April 12, 2020
Virginia Governor Approves Marijuana Decriminalization Bill
The governor of Virginia announced on Sunday that he approved a bill to decriminalize marijuana possession in the state. The legislation, which would make possessing up to one ounce of cannabis punishable by a $25 fine with no threat of jail time and no criminal record, was passed by the legislature and transmitted to the governor’s desk in March. Prior Virginia law made simple possession punishable by a maximum $500 fine, up to 30 days in jail and a criminal record. Gov. Ralph Northam (D) approved the legislation—SB 2 and HB 972—with no public signing ceremony amid the coronavirus outbreak, but he’s consistently expressed support for decriminalization and included a call for the policy change in his State of the Commonwealth address in January. “Virginians have long opposed the criminalization of personal marijuana possession, and Governor Northam’s signature turns that public opinion into public policy,” NORML Development Director Jenn Michelle Pedini, who also serves as the executive director of the state affiliate, Virginia NORML. Though reform advocates are pushing for broader reform, many view this development as a necessary step that could set the stage for cannabis legalization to pass sometime over the next few legislative sessions. A provision that requires the formation of a working group to study the policy change was also part of the bill, and insiders say that’s important because the legislature historically prefers such studies before enacting major legislation. Northam proposed the legislature make one amendment to the decriminalization legislation, however, pushing back the due date of the legalization study from November 30 of this year to November, 30, 2021. As such, there is one more step that the bill has to go through before it’s technically enacted. Lawmakers are set to reconvene on April 22 to consider the governor’s recommended changes to this and other legislation. If Northam’s amendment is adopted without changes, the bill will be formally enacted without needing his signature. Otherwise, it will come back to his desk for action. Not all advocates are on board with the decriminalization bill, however. ACLU Virginia has opposed the measure, arguing that the status quo is superior to incremental reform. The chapter sent a letter to the governor last month, requesting that he recommend a series of large-scale amendments to the bill before signing it. The prospects of that happening were unlikely given that legislators already rejected the proposals during consideration of the bill, including a measure to remove certain penalties against juveniles caught possessing marijuana. Ultimately the group’s requests did not materialize. Virginia NORML, meanwhile, requested that the governor ask lawmakers to add an emergency clause to the bill that would make its provisions effective immediately. That didn’t happen either, however, and so for now it’s expected to take effect on July 1, as written in the text as sent to Northam’s desk. The governor also signed several other cannabis-related bills in recent days. He gave his signature to legislation formally legalizing medical marijuana in the state (rather than simply offering patients an affirmative defense as under prior law), expanding access to medical cannabis for out-of-state patients temporarily residing in Virginia and requiring the formation of a separate working group to study the state’s medical marijuana program and issue recommendations, including the possibility of expanding the system and allowing flower rather than oil alone.
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Wanda James sold more cannabis two weeks ago than she usually does on April 20 — the day many marijuana users have come to consider their holiday — after Denver's mayor announced that recreational cannabis shops like hers would have to shut down to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. "There was a huge rush. It felt like people were starting to hoard," said James, who opened her shop, Simply Pure, in 2016. "Everyone was buying cannabis and toilet paper." But since Mayor Michael Hancock quickly reversed himself and exempted the stores because they were getting swarmed by anxious customers, causing long lines that violated social distancing guidelines, her sales have fallen off a cliff. She hasn't been able to get a delivery license from the state yet, and customers, who might be getting laid off and spending more judiciously, aren't coming through the doors. Now, with additional social distancing measures in place statewide that require businesses to cut staff by at least 50 percent, she's had to lay off employees and is asking her landlord for a temporary cut in rent. James says her store should have the same opportunities for federal financial relief that other small businesses are getting to help them through the crisis, such as the $350 billion small-business loan program that Congress passed late last month. But her shop and others in the 34 states that have legalized medical or recreational marijuana can't qualify for the assistance because the federal government still considers their product illegal. The problem is compounded by their inability to get loans because banks are afraid to violate federal law by doing business with them. They can't even take federal tax deductions for expenses as other businesses do because of cannabis' illegal classification. The industry has been among the fastest growing in the U.S., accounting for about 243,000 jobs and $13 billion in sales last year, according to cannabis industry figures. But it is facing a potentially crippling financial crisis as it grapples with how to get products to customers amid and with fears about a possible slowdown in private investment, the industry's traditional source of funding, because of the pandemic. "Like all consumer goods cannabis sales have been on a wild ride these last six weeks, with panicked buying, business operations changes, and state travel and store restrictions," said Liz Connors, director of analytics at Headset, a cannabis market research company. After sales increased to twice there normal levels in mid-March, most states have seen those numbers taper off, Connors said, with some, like Colorado and Nevada — which are heavily reliant on tourism — seeing a dramatic declines that pushed sales into the negative compared to the same time last year. While legislation moving through Congress would ease funding problems and legalize marijuana, industry players are uncertain whether the pandemic will be the catalyst to get the bills passed. "We're hoping that common sense prevails here," James said. "Even though the federal government wants to deem us illegal in nature, I think everyone knows we aren't running an illegal business."
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April 10, 2020
Pelosi Wants Marijuana Banking Access Included In Next Coronavirus Relief Bill, Congressman Says
A congressman says he’s working to include provisions to allow marijuana businesses to access banking services in an upcoming COVID-19 stimulus package. The proposal from Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) also has the support of top congressional leadership, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), he said. The congressman brought up the measure—a revised version of the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act—during a Democratic caucus meeting last week. That bill, which cleared the House along largely bipartisan lines last year, has been the subject of ongoing negotiations since it advanced to the Senate Banking Committee. On a town hall call with small businesses in his Colorado district on Thursday night, Perlmutter was asked by the executive director of a top marijuana company whether the cannabis market has any hope of becoming eligible for federal loan and lending programs, as businesses that work with marijuana directly or indirectly are currently excluded from Small Business Administration (SBA) benefits. Perlmutter first discussed the SAFE Banking Act and said that there “had been work on it and then the pandemic hit.” But now he’s working to insert its provisions into the next coronavirus package, albeit in a revised form. “We have prepared legislation that we hope will be in the next package. Probably not the one that’s being discussed right now, but we’ve asked for legislation to allow for banking, for SBA lending, for testing to be part of the next package,” the congressman told the LivWell Enlightened Health executive. “Whether we’re going to get it, whether we can get the Senate to finally get off of their fannies and pass it, I don’t know. But you can rest assured that the issue you raised is front and center.” A spokesperson later said the congressman misspoke when he referenced including SBA program access in the legislation, though there is a strong push by industry stakeholders and advocates to extend those benefits to cannabis businesses through upcoming coronavirus legislation. “I raised this very question to our caucus, to Speaker Nancy Pelosi directly last week, saying, look this is a major employer in Colorado and elsewhere around the country. They have been deemed essential services in many, many states,” Perlmutter said during the town hall call. “They cannot access any of the relief that we are providing for in any of these three packages that we have passed. She said, as did the other leadership members on the call, said she wanted to see it get passed.” Perlmutter reiterated that the speaker supports his proposal and said the Democratic caucus will “continue to work on it over the next couple weeks as we put these additional packages together.” Marijuana Moment reached out to Pelosi’s office for comment, but a representative did not immediately respond.
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April 10, 2020
Central Texas farmer first to receive license to grow hemp
A farmer in Killeen is the first in the state to be issued a license to grow hemp following the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, which directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture to establish a regulatory framework for hemp production in the U.S., Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller announced in a press release Thursday. The name of the farmer and the site where the hemp will be grown weren’t released Thursday. “Let’s face it, Texas farmers and ranchers needed some good news,” Miller said. I am happy that I can be the one to deliver it. I know Texas farmers have been eagerly waiting for a chance at these hemp licenses and now the wait is over.” Following passage of the 2018 Farm Bill the Texas Legislature, in 2019, approved legislation establishing rules governing hemp production in the state. In January 2020 the USDA approved the state’s plan and the application process started on March 16. The agriculture department has received 454 producer applications, 58 handler applications and 30 handler sampler applications, Miller said. “License number one is just the beginning for industrial hemp in Texas,” Miller said. “Hemp offers Texas farmers a great new opportunity, but I want them to understand that with every promise of high profit comes the reality of high risk,” he said. “My job was to get this program started, it’s now up to farmers and processors to build that Texas ‘hempire,’” he said.
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Sales of recreational cannabis and liquor could become bright spots for states as the coronavirus pandemic and governors’ stay-at-home orders hammer state revenues.
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It's been a difficult road when it comes to the legalization of marijuana in New Jersey. NJ Medical Marijuana Legalization in 2020 and legalization of recreational marijuana are at the top of everyone's minds it seems. Buyweed-NJ has been keeping you updated on this situation, and today is no different. First, a little history on NJ Medical Marijuana Legalization in 2020 and recreational legalization. 2017 Legislation was Not Successful. Rewind back to 2017 when Scutari, an advocate for legalizing recreational marijuana, introduced a bill in May of 2017 to legalize marijuana. This bill said that adults 21 and older would be able to legally possess and consume marijuana, but it didn't sit very well with then-governor Christie. The proposal's contents included: Did not allow for the cultivation of cannabis for personal use. New Jersey adults 21 or older could legally possess cannabis up to one ounce, and could possess edible cannabis products up to 16 ounces, cannabis-infused drinks and oils up to 72 ounces, and concentrates up to seven ounces. Sales tax would be imposed on cannabis products. The taxes for the first and second years would be seven and 10 percent respectively, with the tax progressively increasing by five percent each year until reaching 25 percent after four years. Even after Christie left, Scutari's proposal was not approved. But it was quickly followed in the assembly by the proposal of more than 15 other legalization requests. Current Governor Murphy supports legalization, and has repeatedly displayed his support, going so far as to say marijuana should be decriminalized as a temporary measure.
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