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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The issue of cannabis dispensaries in Vacaville has been hotly debated since before California voters approved their legalization in 2016. It may go before local voters in November if the Vacaville City Council approves a ballot measure to impose a cannabis business tax.
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Last Friday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down several of Gov. Tony Evers’ (D) partial vetoes to the state’s biennial budget for fiscal years 2020 and 2021. Of the 78 partial vetoes issued by the governor in July 2019, four were challenged and the court struck down three. One of the vetoes the state court struck down seemed intended to extend the reach of the vapor tax by adding liquid heated by vaping devices into the definition of “vapor products.”
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Oregon would have the highest tax on a pack of cigarettes on the West Coast if a ballot measure passes in November. Anti-smoking advocates are hoping increasing the tax by $2 from its current rate of $1.33 will get more smokers to consider quitting.
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July 12, 2020
Hawai‘i House Passes Bill Legalizing Industrial Hemp
The Hawai‘i House of Representatives on Friday passed a bill legalizing the growing, processing, and sale of industrial hemp in Hawai‘i. It passed the Senate on Wednesday unanimously, with Senators Les Ihara, Clarence K. Nishihara, and Laura H. Thielen expressing reservations. The legislation now goes to Governor David Ige to sign into law. “This commercial hemp program will help grow a new industry in our state, which is especially needed now due to the impacts of COVID-19,” said Sen. Mike Gabbard. “This bill will provide an opportunity for economic development and the diversification of our economy. Hemp is an incredible plant that produces over 25,000 products and we’re very close to making the Hawaiian Hemp brand a reality, not only in the US but globally as well.” The bill, HB1819 HD2 SD3, was championed by Senators Gabbard, Donovan Dela Cruz, Rosalyn H. Baker, Karl Rhoads, and Senate President Ronald D. Kouchi, along with Representatives Mark M. Nakashima, Sylvia J. Luke, Nadine K. Nakamura, Kyle T. Yamashita, Richard P. Creagan, Chris Lee, and House Speaker Scott K. Saiki. Another hemp bill, Senate Bill 1353, was vetoed by Governor Ige last year after he expressed concerns that it was unenforceable. This year’s version was worked on directly with the Governor’s administration to ensure its enactment, a state press release said. “Instead of using state funds to set up a hemp agency, this bill was amended to save half-a-million dollars by allowing local hemp farmers to apply directly to the USDA to get their licenses,” Gabbard said.
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Alison Gordon. Alison Gordon is revolutionizing the medical cannabis industry in Canada. She currently serves as chief executive officer of 48North, a cannabis
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He believes in cannabis decriminalization, not legalization. The recommendations, however, supply more details about specific marijuana polices Biden could…
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