Latest Cannabis News: February 1, 2022
Latest Cannabis News: February 1, 2022
Stay up to date with the latest legalization and cannabis news with the CB Advisors. Every week, we will release a snippet of what’s happening with each state in the cannabis industry. Did you miss last week? No worries – click here for last week’s cannabis news.
CBD
Georgia: The Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission has called a meeting for 10 a.m. on Saturday. This comes one week after a judge heard arguments from cannabis company, Georgia Atlas, which was not granted a license to produce cannabis oil. Three industry sources believe that the state-appointed commission could be looking into adding more licenses.
The commission does not have the statutory authority to do that. Lawmakers would have to introduce legislation before new licenses could be added.
If GMCC does decide to add more licenses, it would not be the first time a state did so. In 2019, Florida added additional medical marijuana operators – pulling from a pool of applicants that lost out in their first round of licensing in 2015.
South Carolina: South Carolina senators will debate a bill to legalize the medicinal use of cannabis this week after an eight-year effort to bring the proposal to the floor of the state Senate. If passed, Senate Bill 150 would allow patients with certain debilitating medical conditions to use medical cannabis products. A companion measure, House Bill 3361, is also pending in the South Carolina House of Representatives.
Last week, Senators unanimously agreed to assign special order status to the bill, which faces strong opposition in deeply conservative South Carolina. As a legislative priority, senators will be required to approve or reject the bill before moving on to other legislation. Debate on the bill is expected to begin Tuesday or Wednesday of this week, according to media reports.
The measure, known as the South Carolina Compassionate Care Act, was first proposed in 2015 by Republican Sen. Tom Davis. In 2018, the Senate Medical Affairs Committee advanced the bill to the Senate floor but senators opposed to the measure blocked the legislation from coming up for debate. At the close of the 2021 legislative session, Republican leaders promised Davis that the bill would come up for a vote this year.
Source: https://hightimes.com/news/south-carolina-senate-to-debate-medical-cannabis-bill/
Tennessee: A Tennessee lawmaker wants to legalize marijuana use, cultivation and sales across the state. Rep. Bob Freeman (D-Nashville) introduced HB 1968 on Jan. 25, which he is calling the “Free All Cannabis for Tennesseans Act.” As of Jan. 28, it had been assigned to the Criminal Justice Subcommittee for consideration.
The bill also sets standards for retail marijuana operations, making it legal to grow, process and sell plants, seeds, and paraphernalia with the proper licenses from the Department of Agriculture.
The proposed law would provide legal protections to people who use marijuana, but would still allow employers to consider marijuana use as a basis for refusing to hire applicants if the job’s responsibilities are consistent with the employer’s hiring policy in regard to other adulterants that would cause a refusal. It would also allow landlords to ban marijuana use in homes and apartments, much like tobacco.
Texas: Texas still hasn’t given up on trying to ban smokable hemp. The state of the smokable products have been in limbo ever since last August. The fight to keep these products legal in the state has gone all the way to the Texas Supreme Court.
After district courts decided the ban was illegal, the state’s Department of State Health Services filed a notice of appeal to the ruling in the Texas Supreme Court on Dec. 1. This notice of appeal supersedes the final ruling, meaning the smokable hemp ban in Texas is back in effect until the Supreme Court rules otherwise.
Wisconsin: More than a dozen Republican Wisconsin lawmakers announced on Wednesday that they are filing a bill to legalize medical marijuana in the state. Sen. Mary Felzkowski (R) and Rep. Patrick Snyder (R) are leading the bicameral effort, though advocates are already skeptical considering how the GOP-legislature has historically resisted and blocked cannabis reform. On Tuesday, for example, the Senate passed a bill to increase penalties for people who use butane to extract marijuana resin, and GOP members also shot down an amendment to the measure that would have legalized adult-use cannabis.
The Republican-led medical cannabis legislation is also fairly restrictive, as it prohibits smokable marijuana products and doesn’t allow patients to grow cannabis for personal use. Patients could only obtain cannabis preparations in the form of oils, pills, tinctures or topicals
DRY
Idaho: A bill introduced last week to allow Idahoans with multiple sclerosis or other neurological conditions to use a cannabis-derived medication passed the House Monday morning with 65 in favor and five against. Representatives Brent Crane, Yamamoto, Horman, Youngblood and Vander Woude all voted ‘no’ and there was no debate on the bill.
The bill would provide an exception to the oral pain relief spray, Nabiximols, which is derived from marijuana, where in Idaho both THC and marijuana are illegal.
The drug is currently pending FDA approval — and in states where marijuana is legalized, patients can get it right away, once approved.
Medical
Arkansas: A campaign chaired by a former Arkansas lawmaker has filed a constitutional amendment to put marijuana legalization on the state’s 2022 ballot—and it’s facing pushback from advocates who are working on two separate reform initiatives.
Eddie Armstrong, a Democrat who previously served as minority leader in the state House of Representatives before leaving office in 2019, first unveiled the plan to pursue legalization through the ballot late last year. Now that Armstrong’s group Responsible Growth Arkansas has formally filed the measure, its details are available.
The Arkansas Adult Use Cannabis Amendment would allow adults 21 and older to purchase and possess up to one ounce of marijuana. Existing medical cannabis dispensaries would be permitted to sell in the recreational market starting March 8, 2023, giving them an advantage.
Delaware: A state House committee in Delaware advanced an adult-use cannabis bill that focuses in large part on social equity and small businesses, the initial step toward legalizing a commercial market. The House Health and Human Development Committee on Wednesday approved a Democratic-sponsored HB 305, the Delaware Marijuana Control Act, along mostly party lines.
The bill needs to be considered by the House Appropriations Committee before heading to the full chamber for a vote. There, it would need a 60% majority to pass, according to the Washington, DC-based Marijuana Policy Project.
Within 19 months of the effective date of the legislation, the following licenses would be issued, according to a bill summary by MPP:
- 30 retail, including 15 to social equity applicants.
- 60 cultivation, including 20 to social equity applicants. Half the cultivation licenses would be set aside for small growers with less than 2,500 square feet of space.
- 30 product manufacturers, including 10 to social equity applicants and 10 microbusinesses.
- Five testing labs, including two to social equity applicants.
Florida: Black farmers with ties to doing business in Florida will be able to apply for one of the state’s highly sought-after medical marijuana licenses in March, according to an emergency rule published this week by state health officials.
The Department of Health will accept applications for the single Black farmer license from March 21 through March 25, the notice said.
Under the rules laid out by the department in October, applicants must pay a $146,000 fee to compete for the Black farmer license — more than twice the roughly $60,000 fee from the application process in 2015.
Recreational
Arizona: A possible high stakes court hearing took place on Jan. 28 over the marijuana social equity license program in Arizona.A lawsuit was filed to make sure those lucrative licenses get into the hands of the people disproportionately effected by marijuana laws, and keep them out of the hands of big cannabis corporations.
Currently, More than 1,500 people applied for a social equity license, which is part of the voter-approved Proposition 207, and 26 such licenses are set to be awarded by the state soon.
When activists dug into the applications, however, they tied more than 500 applications to large dispensaries – the exact opposite of what they wanted.
“With the social equity licenses, they have it to where you can win the license, and sell it the next minute afterwards,” said Celeste Rodriguez.
California: The golden gates of California’s legal marijuana industry are scheduled to slam shut in a few months with the expiration of the state’s provisional license program, which insiders say will sharply increase the barriers to entry for newcomers. Once the temporary permit program ends June 30, entrepreneurs looking to enter California’s legal marijuana industry will have two options:
- Obtain an annual state license – a process that can take months, if not years, before operations can commence.
- Buy an existing licensed company, a speedier prospect that could boost merger and acquisition activity.
The plan is for provisional licenses to be phased out over time. The first deadline is March 31. That is the last date for any business to apply for a provisional license to the DCC.
Connecticut: The state Department of Consumer Protection is going to start accepting applications for some adult-use cannabis establishment license types. Cannabis was approved for adult use in Connecticut in June 2021 and retail sales are anticipated to begin in the state by the end of the year.
The application period for the first round of lotteries will remain open for 90 days.
Applications for social equity cultivator licenses located in Disproportionately Impacted Areas will have a one-time 90-day application period beginning Feb. 3 and ending May 4.
Illinois: The Illinois high court threw another wrench into the state’s adult-use marijuana program. The state Supreme Court denied a request to allow Illinois to license the winners of craft marijuana cultivation licenses, which means the process is halted until pending lawsuits are settled, the Chicago Tribune reported.
According to state law, Illinois was required to issue up to 60 new craft cultivation cannabis licenses by Dec. 21, but at least 13 applicants sued to challenge their being denied permits.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/illinois-must-quit-awarding-adult-use-craft-marijuana-licenses-court-rules/
Massachusetts: There was no opposition in the Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy to fresh legislation targeting persistent issues with host community agreements and social equity in the new cannabis industry, setting the Legislature up to involve itself in cannabis policy more closely than it has since rewriting voters’ legalization law five years ago.
All 16 members of the committee who weighed in on the legislation (H 174/S 72) in the poll that closed late last week were in favor of advancing the bill to put tighter restrictions on the legally-required contracts between marijuana businesses and their host communities, establish a Cannabis Social Equity Trust Fund and lay the groundwork for cities and towns to allow on-site cannabis consumption establishments. And all 14 committee members who registered an opinion on a bill (S 73) relative to the expungement of convictions for marijuana possession voted to advance it favorably.
Source: https://www.wwlp.com/news/state-politics/sweeping-cannabis-bill-sails-through-committee/
New Jersey: While promising to open New Jersey’s legal cannabis consumer market, the state may not meet a self-imposed deadline originally set for late February. Jeff Brown, the executive director of the state Cannabis Regulatory Commission, said a number of factors are still in the way before the doors can open, including lack of municipal buy-in.
“There’s still a lot to be done,” Brown told NJ Cannabis Insider ahead of today’s CRC meeting, scheduled to start at 1 p.m. “Feb. 22 is not a concrete date to open. There is no firm commitment on timing of when recreational sales will begin.”
State legislation, S-21, directed the CRC to begin allowing sales on that date — six months after rules and regulations were established by the commission.
Virginia: Virginia Republicans are setting their sights on amending the state’s marijuana law that legalizes up to an ounce of the substance for adults, including reallocating where some of the state revenue should be spent, The Associated Press reported.
One piece of legislation introduced by state Sen. Tommy Norment (R) would channel 30 percent of state revenue from marijuana sales — made possible by a 2021 marijuana legalization law that was passed with Democratic support — to a general fund for the state in place of a Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund, the news outlet noted.
Source: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/591943-virginia-gop-seek-to-amend-states-marijuana-law
Washington: All individuals who use cannabis products medicinally are are now one step closer to being guaranteed the same protections from arrest, prosecution, or having their plants seized—regardless of whether they are registered in the voluntary medical marijuana registry database.
“No patient should face criminal charges simply because they have chosen not to be entered into the medical marijuana registry,” said Rep. Shelley Kloba, D-Kirkland, author of the bill and chair of the House Commerce and Gaming Committee. “It’s been almost 10 years since Washington led the nation by legalizing recreational cannabis across the state, and though there is still work to be done, this new legislation is a step forward.”
House Bill 1105 provides equal civil and criminal protections to every Washington resident who has authorization from their healthcare provider for medical cannabis.
Minnesota: Governor Tim Walz is calling on lawmakers to pass legislation to legalize marijuana use in Minnesota, as he proposes funds from his budget plan to launch a state authority to oversee a recreational marijuana program.
Speaking Wednesday, Governor Walz says his budget would set aside $25 million to create the new “Cannabis Management Office”.
The office would oversee the “safe and responsible legalization of cannabis for adult use in Minnesota,” according to Walz. The office would be tasked with developing a framework for legal cannabis in Minnesota. Funds would also pay for grants for “individuals entering the legal cannabis market.”
Source: https://www.fox9.com/news/marijuana-legalization-in-minnesota-gov-walz-pushes-for-legalization
Mississippi: Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan unveiled a sweeping package of health and public safety proposals Wednesday that would cost nearly $2.3 billion over three years. Walz and Flanagan’s supplemental budget recommendations include a slew of policies the governor says will lower crime rates and improve health outcomes. They include creating grants for preventive policing, legalizing marijuana for adults and establishing a public health insurance option.
“This is a comprehensive, modern approach to public safety that was built with every neighborhood in mind,” Walz said in a news release.
Walz also proposed legalizing recreational marijuana for adults; previously, he had said he would sign a bill to do so. The Minnesota House passed a bill to legalize marijuana last session, but it didn’t advance in the GOP-controlled Senate.
Missouri: In a rare move, a Missouri commission granted a medical marijuana license to an applicant after discovering irregularities with how state regulators evaluated applications.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) decided to forgo appealing the ruling, announcing Tuesday that it had reached a settlement with the jilted applicant to end the litigation.
The Missouri Administrative Hearing Commission on Dec. 28 granted NWGMO LLC a license to operate a marijuana cultivation facility. The commission’s decision came after testimony and evidence portrayed Missouri’s system for deciding who gets medical marijuana licenses as a rushed process informed by “intentionally vague guidance,” with no opportunities to review the work for problems.
Source: https://www.kcur.org/news/2022-01-26/reversing-decision-missouri-commission-awards-marijuana-license-to-jilted-applicant
Ohio: The medical cannabis program in Ohio is busting at the seams and ready to expand their services and products into new areas. The state will announce Thursday another 73 dispensary permits in a lottery style drawing. There are currently 57 dispensary permits already awarded.
“It’s an exciting time,” said Eric Schirm, pharmacist. “It’s just good for the patients that don’t have travel 90 miles or 120 miles to get their prescription.”
Source: https://www.wsaz.com/2022/01/26/ohio-expand-medical-cannabis-program/
Utah: The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) has created the Medical Cannabis and Industrial Hemp Division. Formerly a program under the Plant Industry Division, the Medical Cannabis and Industrial Hemp Division will continue to provide services for this up-and-coming industry in our state and will better serve the people of Utah.
“Making cannabis and hemp its own division within our department will allow for further growth within the program so we can keep up with the demand for cannabis and hemp products in our state,” said Craig Buttars, UDAF commissioner.
Dr. Brandon Forsyth has been named as the director for the Medical Cannabis and Industrial Hemp division. Dr. Forsyth has worked as the UDAF Laboratory Services Director and will continue in that role as well as this new position.
Source: https://gpnmag.com/news/utah-ag-department-creates-medical-cannabis-and-industrial-hemp-division/
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