The task of testing hemp for for its primary psychoactive compound will now have to be handled by state inspectors rather than growers under a change in federal policy. The S.C. Department of Agriculture has asked lawmakers for $1.6 million to hire staff, as well as pay for vehicles and travel, sampling equipment and laboratory costs. The law mandates a hemp crop contain less than 0.3 percent tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, to be harvested. State inspectors will take samples from each field within two weeks prior to harvest to ensure proper levels, according to agency spokeswoman Eva Moore. The S.C. House approved the full request, $1.1 million of which is a recurring expense, in its proposed budget legislation. Lawmakers are expected to return to Columbia this week to finalize the budget. “South Carolina’s hemp farming program has brought enormous opportunity to farmers, and capable, large-scale hemp processing is a key part of future development as the industry grows,” Hugh Weathers, state agriculture commissioner, previously told The Post and Courier. The changes to the recently approved state hemp plan were made to meet U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines issued in October. About 350 people applied to farm hemp in South Carolina this season, the state announced last week. While that appears to be a big jump at first glance, the net number is expected to remain about the same. The reason is that some of the 114 permits issued last year covered multiple growers, who are required to apply for individual licenses in 2020.
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Canada had permitted cannabis for medical use since 2001. Medical patients were allowed to grow four plants, and licensed producers cultivated larger crops for sale online to those with valid prescriptions. But most Canadian cities had illegal – but tolerated – dispensaries where the drug was sold completely indiscriminately. These stores made Amsterdam’s coffee shops look as prim as a WI cake stand. The quality and variety of cannabis on sale at these illegal outlets was outstanding, bewildering. Business was not just booming, but blazing.And it was all completely illegal.
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April 4, 2020
Guest Commentary: If they’re “essential,” marijuana companies should get coronavirus stimulus funds
A confounding hypocrisy about cannabis is again rearing its head. In mid-March, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced disaster assistance including low-interest loans of up to $2 million — yet taxpaying, state-licensed cannabis businesses do not qualify, according to the SBA. Congress went on to pass a $2 trillion stimulus package, the largest emergency relief bill in American history — but cannabis businesses are left out of that, too. Licensed cannabis businesses across the U.S. are unable to take the ordinary tax deductions afforded to other industries, leaving them saddled with an effective tax rate that is two-to-three times higher than other legal businesses. In sum, legal cannabis businesses paid an estimated $4.7 billion in federal taxes in 2017, for example (along with state and local taxes). And in recent weeks many states have declared cannabis businesses as “essential service” providers — and yet the government is not providing any emergency support so these businesses can meet payroll and continue operating.
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April 3, 2020
Backers for Arizona initiatives, including marijuana legalization, want to gather signatures online
Backers of four voter initiatives, including marijuana legalization, are asking the Arizona Supreme Court to let them gather qualifying signatures online now that the state is under a stay-at-home order and other restrictions because of the coronavirus outbreak. The proponents asked the high court Thursday to allow them to use the same electronic system that candidates for state and federal offices now use to gather signatures. They say there's no other safe and effective way for them to get their proposals on the ballot. They argue that the requirement for initiative backers to collect signatures in person violates the state constitution. That’s because the ability of voters to write their own laws through the initiative process is a fundamental right under the constitution and the current emergency prevents them from doing that. They face a July 2 deadline to collect nearly 238,000 valid signatures from registered voters. They also say allowing candidates to use the Secretary of State's secure online signature-collection system but barring citizens seeking to write their own laws from that system violates the constitution's equal protection and due process clauses. The four initiatives would legalize marijuana, provide new school revenue by raising taxes on high-earning Arizonans, limit school vouchers, and implement criminal justice reform. Backers of two other initiatives sued in federal court Thursday, making similar constitutional arguments.
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April 3, 2020
Eleven senators, including Markey, push to let marijuana businesses access federal loan programs
US Senator Ed Markey joined with 10 other senators to send a letter to leadership in a key committee asking that they add a provision allowing marijuana businesses to access federal loan services in an upcoming annual spending bill. In the letter, led by US Senator Jacky Rosen, the lawmakers told the Appropriations Committee that it should “include report language prohibiting the Small Business Administration (SBA) from denying loan applications” to cannabis firms as part of the fiscal year 2021 spending bill for Financial Services and General Government and Related Agencies. “Over the last decade, there has been a clear shift in public opinion toward supporting the legalization of cannabis in the United States,” the letter states. While the number of legal marijuana states continues to grow, and those jurisdictions continue to collect millions of dollars in tax revenue, SBA policy prohibits participation in their programs by companies that directly or indirectly “aid the use, growth, enhancement, or other development of cannabis” by providing marijuana products or services. “Consequently, small businesses in states with some form of legal cannabis must choose between remaining eligible for SBA loan programs, or doing business with a rapidly-growing and legal industry,” the senators wrote. “The SBA’s loan programs provide financial assistance in the form of loans and loan guarantees to small businesses who cannot easily access capital, which disproportionally impacts minority entrepreneurs.” SBA services that marijuana companies should be eligible for include the Loan Guarantee Program, Disaster Assistance Program, and Microloan Program, the group said. The letter also notes that “most banks are reluctant to serve cannabis businesses due to conflicts with federal law, meaning that these businesses often are forced to operate using purely cash, creating an unsafe operation.” “SBA loans would be especially helpful to cannabis small businesses because they would fill gaps left by the private sector. Access to these SBA loan programs could ensure that small businesses — especially those led by our minority, women, and veteran entrepreneurs — can raise money for their ventures and support job creation. We strongly support ensuring that SBA loan programs are made available to all cannabis small businesses.” Senators Ron Wyden, Tammy Duckworth, Michael Bennet, Kirsten Gillibrand, Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, Bob Menendez, Jeff Merkley, and Kamala Harris also signed the letter. In recent days, advocates have stepped up the push to include provisions for marijuana businesses in an upcoming fourth round of coronavirus relief legislation. SBA did confirm last week that cannabis companies do not qualify for disaster relief loans amid the coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, the agency has touted its work in support of hemp businesses following that crop’s legalization through the 2018 Farm Bill. It remains to be seen whether any lawmakers will take up the industry’s call to insert language providing for marijuana industry relief in the next COVID-related stimulus bill.
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A campaign to put a medical marijuana initiative on Idaho’s November ballot announced on Thursday that it is suspending its signature collection efforts due to the coronavirus pandemic. It’s the latest in a series of drug policy reform campaign cancellations in recent weeks. Activists across the country have been left virtually helpless to qualify measures as governments continue to impose restrictions on public gatherings, encourage social distancing and issue shelter-in-place orders amid the COVID-19 outbreak. The Idaho Cannabis Coalition said that volunteers will no longer be conducting in-person signature gathering, and that will likely leave the campaign without enough signatures to make the ballot. They had to collect 55,057 by May 1 to qualify. Additionally, the state requires that initiatives receive signatures from six percent of registered voters from a majority of legislative districts. What that means is “the odds are against Idahoans being able to vote on medical marijuana in November of 2020,” campaign spokesperson Russ Belville told Marijuana Moment in an email. But while it appears advocates will be turning their attention to 2022, the campaign isn’t entirely shutting down. The email states that “we are now focusing on distributing petitions through online download at IdahoCann.co and encouraging every volunteer who has downloaded a petition to get them turned in to their county clerk’s office by mail, regardless of how many signatures they have collected.” Belville added that the campaign is excited to see successes in other states such as Mississippi, where an initiative to legalize medical cannabis qualified, and South Dakota, where medical and recreational measures will appear on the ballot. “[S]hould South Dakota pass its medical marijuana initiative, we are saddened by the thought that Idaho could then become the last political jurisdiction in all of North America to criminalize the possession and use any amount of THC by patients for medical purposes,” he said. “Nevertheless, we will persist. If medical marijuana does not make the 2020 Idaho ballot, we will file immediately to begin the process of placing it on the 2022 ballot,” he added. “The need for medical marijuana access for sick and disabled Idahoans is not going away, and neither are we.” Drug policy reform efforts across the U.S. are struggling amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Activists in California released a video last month asking officials to allow digital signatures for a petition to revise the state’s adult-use marijuana program. In Washington, D.C., advocates for a measure to decriminalize psychedelics similarly wrote to the mayor and local lawmakers, imploring them to accept online signatures for their ballot petition.
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April 2, 2020
Plans for NY legal pot up in smoke
Expectations that legislation legalizing recreational marijuana would soon become state law are "not likely," according to Governor Andrew Cuomo, just hours ahead of a midnight deadline for the state budget.
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April 1, 2020
Cannabis Dispensaries in Illinois Remain Open, Change Protocols During COVID-19 Pandemic
As most of Illinois stays at home to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, cannabis dispensaries remain open in Illinois because the industry is considered essential. At one such dispensary, Nature's Care in Rolling Meadows, the line stretched out the door on Wednesday afternoon. Customers stood far apart from each other in accordance with state and federal policies on proper social distancing during the pandemic, and upon entering the facility, all customers were told to wash their hands. According to statewide association CannabizIL, cannabis dispensaries sell products that help people with anxiety and other medical issues, and therefore are a critical business during an uncommon period of upheaval in all areas of society. "We’ve had a lot of customers come through and the business has not slowed down at all," said Jeff Neuschaefer, dispensary manager at Nature's Care. Sophia Babiarz was one of the individuals visiting the facility on Wednesday, saying she takes medical marijuana to treat her pain. "There’s very, very sick medical patients that are way more ill than me that they need this to survive," Babiarz said. Dispensaries across the state have been given guidelines to follow during the pandemic. Nature’s Care is requiring customers to order online and to choose a fifteen minute window to pick up their cannabis orders to try to minimize the number of people in line. According to officials with CannabizIL, recreational marijuana is still available for sale in the state, and dispensaries are adequately stocked to deal with customer demands during the state’s “stay-at-home” order.
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In an effort to ensure the spoils of marijuana legalization are available to everyone, Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee (D) signed a bill on Tuesday to allow state regulators to funnel unused marijuana business licenses to people from communities that have been negatively impacted by the drug war. The legislation came at the request of state cannabis regulators, who have pointed out that Washington’s legalization law, which voters approved in 2012, failed to include any provisions aimed at addressing past prohibition harms. The new law signed by Inslee aims to diversify the industry by issuing more business licenses to people negatively affected by drug law enforcement and providing them with technical assistance to get their companies off the ground. It creates a state Marijuana Equity Task Force and allows the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) to grant forfeited, canceled, revoked or otherwise unissued marijuana business licenses to qualified equity applicants. “HB 2870 creates a new social equity program that provides business opportunities to people from disproportionately-harmed communities so they can benefit economically from the cannabis industry and become a cannabis retailer,” Inslee said in a statement that his office shared with Marijuana Moment. According to the ACLU, black people in Washington State were roughly four times more likely to be arrested on cannabis charges prior to legalization than were white people, despite similar rates of use. That disparity is similar to those in other states, such as New York. And while legalization itself has reduced the number of people arrested on marijuana charges, racial disparities in arrests remain. Since legalization, Washington’s marijuana industry has also been overwhelmingly white. The state Commission on African American Affairs, using statistics from the LCB, recently estimated that just one percent of cannabis production and processing licenses have been issued to African Americans, who also have majority ownership of only three percent of the state’s marijuana retail licenses. “Initiative 502 missed an opportunity to incorporate a focus on social equity,” LCB Director Rick Garza told lawmakers earlier this year. “The history of cannabis prohibition shows abundant evidence there was disproportionate harm in communities of color, and that those harmful effects remain with us today.” To qualify for the new program, an applicant must be from a “disproportionately impacted area,” defined as a census tract that has high poverty and unemployment rates, a high rate of participation in income-based government programs and high rates of arrest or punishment of cannabis-related crimes. The applicant must also submit a “social equity plan” showing how their business would help achieve equity-related goals. According to the bill’s text, the changes are intended “to reduce barriers to entry to the cannabis industry for individuals and communities most adversely impacted by the enforcement of cannabis-related laws” and establish a state cannabis industry that “is equitable and accessible” to those hit hardest by anti-drug laws.
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The COVID-19 outbreak is impacting the lives of all Americans. In recent weeks, our leadership has been asked to address numerous policy issues surrounding the state-licensed cannabis industry as well as the health and welfare of the estimated 14 percent of Americans who self-identify as current cannabis consumers. Safety first. As long as cultures have consumed cannabis, the practice of sharing a joint or a pipe among friends has been a common social practice. But given what we know about COVID-19 and its transmission, we believe that it is mindful during this time to halt this behavior. The cannabis community should be similarly precautions when it comes to various other conduits for consuming marijuana, including the use of bowls, bongs, and vape pens. Avoid direct sharing and continually keep your personal collection clean; using 90 percent + Isopropyl Alcohol is an effective and affordable way to clear any germs or pathogens off your pieces. Because COVID-19 is a respiratory illness, consumers, and in particular, those patients who may be susceptible to greater health risks, should either limit or altogether avoid their exposure to combustive smoke of any kind. Alternative delivery devices, such as vaporizer heating devices can significantly mitigate combustive smoke exposure, and of course, the use of edibles or tinctures can eliminate smoke exposure entirely.To the extent that one is able, it is also best to know where your cannabis is coming from. Cannabis from the unregulated market may potentially possess molds, pesticides, or other unwanted adulterants that could hamper one’s immune system. Whenever possible, consumers should try to obtain a lab-tested, regulated product — though we fully understand that many people in our country still live in a state that enforces prohibition and this is not a realistic option for all consumers. This advice is especially pertinent for portable vaping devices (e.g., vape pens), as unregulated counterfeit vape products have been known to contain Vitamin E acetate and other dangerous additives that can harm the lungs. We also encourage cannabis consumers and others to beware of online misinformation surrounding the use of either whole-plant cannabis or CBD as a potential remedy for the COVID-19 virus. To be clear, there is as of yet no substantiated clinical data supporting either the prophylactic or therapeutic use of cannabis products in the treatment of COVID-19. In short, if something sounds too good to be true, it likely is too good to be true.
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