Feds sue California cannabis regulators for biz info (Newsletter: July 21, 2020)

VP contender: Biden need not back legal marijuana; MT cannabis campaign has enough ballot signatures; ID officials reject e-petition request

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• Kenny Golson: “Marijuana Moment has provided me with valuable information as I try to keep track of Pennsylvania legislation on the use of cannabis. It is an aspiration of mine to grow and sell in Pennsylvania. Tom and Marijuana Moment allow me to stay up to date as I try to enter the industry.”

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/ TOP THINGS TO KNOW

Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division Makan Delrahim wrote in a little-noticed letter that controversial investigations of marijuana industry mergers are “consistent with protecting consumers’ access to cannabis products, not with animosity toward the industry.”

• “In particular, the Division was forced to consider whether the antitrust laws could or should be applied to protect and promote lower prices and increased output of a substance that is facially illegal under federal law. Ultimately, the Division determined, in consultation with others in the Department, that it should analyze proposed transactions in that industry to determine whether ‘the effect of such acquisition may be substantially to lessen competition,’ as required under” federal law.

Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA), who is being considered as a potential vice presidential pick, said presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden doesn’t need to back legalizing marijuana even though a majority of voters support it.

• “I think you can have problems with marijuana and I don’t like the way it is just put out there as though there’s no problems at all… I think that part of the legalization movement is selling something that I don’t believe is accurate to communities of color, that the reason why we need to legalize it is to address the disproportionate arrest and incarceration rate.”

Montana marijuana activists say official data from county elections officials shows they collected enough signatures to qualify two legalization measures for the state’s November ballot. The secretary of state must formally certify the initiatives by August 20.

Idaho’s secretary of state rejected a medical cannabis campaign’s request to collect electronic signatures for their ballot measure. They’re now considering suing to get the same relief a federal judge has already granted to a separate education funding effort.

/ FEDERAL

A federal judge delayed the trial of a former Fall River, Massachusetts mayor who is accused of extorting marijuana businesses.

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn spoke about the agency’s efforts to formulate CBD regulations.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse is seeking public input on its 2021-2025 strategic plan.

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) sent a press release cheering the inclusion of language protecting state medical cannabis laws in Justice Department funding legislation.

The House bill to require the Food and Drug Administration to allow CBD as a dietary supplement got one new cosponsor for a total of 12.

/ STATES

Missouri’s secretary of state ordered Cannabis Plus Missouri LLC and its executives to pay penalties and restitution for unregistered securities it sold.

One North Dakota campaign says it is “pretty close” to getting the required number of signatures to qualify a marijuana legalization measure for the ballot.

Massachusetts regulators released draft revised marijuana rules.

California regulators submitted a report to lawmakers on local jurisdictions awarded marijuana equity grant funds. Separately, the state Department of Justice reported that cannabis arrests are down but that racial disparities in enforcement persist.

Rhode Island regulators are accepting applications for additional medical cannabis dispensary licenses.

Wisconsin regulators will hold a public hearing on proposed hemp rules on Thursday.

West Virginia’s top medical cannabis regulator said the program should launch in the spring.

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/ LOCAL

Portland, Maine activists filed a proposed ballot measure to repeal the cap on the number of marijuana dispensaries.

/ INTERNATIONAL

The UK’s National Health Service is planning to manufacture its own medical cannabis oil.

Bermuda’s attorney general filed a bill to expunge marijuana convictions.

British Columbia, Canada’s premier said he misspoke by calling drug addiction a choice, and said he would back decriminalization efforts.

Two Guernsey deputy ministers submitted a proposal to direct a committee to develop a  marijuana legalization plan.

/ SCIENCE & HEALTH

A study of people with sickle cell disease found that “inhaled cannabis was safe” and “was more effective than inhaled placebo in interference in mood, but there was no statistically significant difference in pain rating between cannabis and placebo.”

Researchers developed a method that “can detect 48 individual terpenes and terpenoids and was validated for selectivity, linearity, LOD/LOQ, precision, intermediate precision, and accuracy (recovery) for 22 terpenes and terpenoids.”

/ ADVOCACY, OPINION & ANALYSIS

A poll found that New Zealanders support a marijuana legalization referendum, 43%-39%.

Several organizations are hosting a Drug Policy Reform Seminar on August 15 ahead of the Democratic and Republican national conventions.

/ BUSINESS

Canopy Growth Corp. did another round of layoffs.

Woodstock Ventures LC, which owns the rights to the Woodstock music festival, asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to uphold a lower court’s ruling allowing it to sell marijuana products under that name despite protestations from Woodstock Roots LLC.

Arkansas medical cannabis dispensaries have sold $109 million worth of products since the program launched in May 2019.

/ CULTURE

TV host Pat Robertson said, “All this drug addiction, can you imagine somebody made in the image of God is a slave to a bunch of weeds? I mean, you know, they’re plants and vegetables. Cocaine, marijuana, all these things are vegetables, and we’re supposed to be in charge. He said, ‘I’m going to give you dominion over the whole earth,’ and yet we’re slaves to vegetables. I mean, this is so humiliating.”

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Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.