Biden panel rejects legal cannabis recommendation (Newsletter: July 10, 2020)

State treasurers push Congress on marijuana banking; FDA sends CBD purity update; PA Senate Dems call for legalization

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/ TOP THINGS TO KNOW

A report from a criminal justice reform task force created by the campaigns of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) does not recommend the former vice president endorse legalizing cannabis despite support for the proposal from a majority of panel members. The document mostly reiterates Biden’s existing cannabis position and adds new specifics such as letting Washington, D.C. legalize recreational sales, ending deportations for marijuana use and investing legalization revenue in communities harmed by incarceration. It also urges Biden to “reduce criminal penalties for drug possession.”

• “We didn’t reach consensus on legalization. That conversation will have to continue,” a task force member told Marijuana Moment.

A bipartisan coalition of 16 state treasurers is pushing Congress to include marijuana banking protections in the next coronavirus relief legislation.

• “Lack of access to financial services forces businesses to operate exclusively using cash making these businesses, their employees, and  customers targets for violent crime. In many cases, cannabis stores and dispensaries are  limiting sales to curbside pickup or delivery, forcing these all-cash transactions to take place outside, without the option of no-contact exchanges.”

The Food and Drug Administration sent a Congress a report on its efforts to test CBD products and evaluate the accuracy of their labels.

• “Of the 102 products that indicated a specific amount of CBD, 18 products (18 percent) contained less than 80 percent of the amount of CBD indicated, 46 products (45 percent) contained CBD within 20 percent of the amount indicated, and 38 products (37 percent) contained more than 120 percent of the amount of CBD indicated.”

The Kansas City, Missouri City Council approved an ordinance ending all penalties for marijuana possession under the municipality’s local laws.

A majority of Pennsylvania Senate Democrats are calling on the state to legalize marijuana as a way to boost the economy amid coronavirus and to address racism in the criminal justice system.

• “We need to ensure our spending on healthcare, education, housing, and small businesses continues unabated throughout this crisis. Legalizing adult-use cannabis will raise revenue and help mitigate the possible need for cuts, and additionally can serve as a revenue saving tool in agencies such as the Department of Corrections.”

/ FEDERAL

The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ruled that Stanley Brothers Social Enterprises, LLC could not register a trademark for Charlotte’s Web hemp oil extracts because they violate federal law.

A U.S. Sentencing Commission analysis found that there “was no statistically significant difference in the recidivism rates of offenders released early pursuant to retroactive application of the Drugs Minus Two Amendment and a comparable group of offenders who served their full sentences.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture updated the list of crops eligible for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, but hemp isn’t one of them.

/ STATES

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak’s (D) budget proposes keeping 10 Marijuana Regulation Division positions unfilled.

North Dakota’s Pardon Advisory Board recommended another round of marijuana pardons to Gov. Doug Burgum (R).

Indiana’s attorney general cheered a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruling vacating a lower court’s decision that blocked a state law banning smokable hemp.

Massachusetts regulators fined Acreage Holdings subsidiary The Botanist $250,000 for failing to disclose its controlling relationships with other licensees. They also fined Garden Remedies and $200,000 after it admitted to falsifying documents to hide its use of banned pesticides and fined 4Front Ventures’s Health Farms $350,000 for illegal pesticide use and improper record keeping.

Washington State regulators are being sued by an Idaho businessman who is challenging the state’s residency requirement for marijuana investors.

California regulators released a fact sheet about branded marijuana company merchandise.

Pennsylvania regulators published a notice about the need for hemp to be sampled and tested for THC content.

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Marijuana Moment is already tracking more than 1,500 cannabis bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.

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/ LOCAL

A lawsuit challenging Los Angeles, California’s marijuana licensing process is being dropped after the city agreed to process more applications.

The Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Board of Supervisors is considering a resolution that calls on Congress to pass legislation supporting the legalization of marijuana and safe consumption sites for illegal drugs and expunging prior drug convictions.

/ INTERNATIONAL

Ireland’s government is delivering medical cannabis to approved patients who cannot travel to the Netherlands to get it due to the coronavirus pandemic.

South Africa’s government tweeted, “We are also leading a research and innovation pillar of the Cannabis Industrialisation Master Plan. To this extent, our focus is to develop medicinal products for Covid-19, cancers, diabetes, TB, and HIV/AIDS and neurodegenerative diseases, amongst others.”

A Nigerian lawmaker filed a medical cannabis bill.

/ SCIENCE & HEALTH

A review found that “preclinical studies have observed robust anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective and analgesic effects of CBD in animal models,” that preliminary preclinical evidence also suggests that CBD may protect against gastrointestinal damage associated with inflammation and promote healing of traumatic skeletal injuries” and that “early stage clinical studies suggest that CBD may be anxiolytic in ‘stress-inducing’ situations and in individuals with anxiety disorders.”

A research letter concluded that at a safe consumption site for illegal drugs in an undisclosed U.S. city, “there were 10,514 injections and 33 opioid-involved overdoses over 5 years, all of which were reversed by naloxone administered by trained staff” and that “no person who overdosed was transferred to an outside medical institution, and there were no deaths.”

/ ADVOCACY, OPINION & ANALYSIS

The Movement for Black Lives is calling on Congress to decriminalize and retroactively expunge drug offenses.

The Marijuana Policy Project is hosting a summit on race, policing and cannabis on July 15, featuring speakers including actor Seth Rogen and the president of the NAACP.

/ BUSINESS

HighTimes Holding Corp.’s has reportedly been temporarily blocked by the Securities and Exchange Commission from selling shares because it failed to meet an extended deadline to file an audited annual report.

A judge ruled that Bloom Farms can’t close on a new round of financing while a case on allegations it cooked its books to fool an investor is ongoing.

Vireo Health International Inc. signed an exclusive licensing agreement with eBottles420 to manufacture and distribute the company’s terpene-preserving packaging system, which it says keeps cannabis potent and flavorful for longer.

Generation Hemp, Inc. and GenCanna Acquisition Corp. signed a toll processing agreement, under which the former company will dry, process and store hemp biomass for the latter firm.

A federal judge blocked S.G. Farms from being a party to a lawsuit filed by an Indian tribe whose  hemp plants were seized by San Joaquin County, California police.

Captor Capital is being sued for alleged fraud and breach of contract.

/ CULTURE

The NFL Players Association reminded players that they are subject to random drug testing when they show up to training camps beginning this month.

The Wire creator David Simon said, “The drug war is effectively a war on the poor. It’s a means of using social control on people of color and people in poverty by the ruling class. That’s all it has ever been.”

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Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.