Latest Cannabis News: July 13, 2021

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.

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Georgia: Georgia regulators are getting closer to issuing licenses to grow medical marijuana, but isn’t quite there yet. The Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission voted Wednesday to finalize scores given to grower applications. Those scores will be used to award licenses, but the commission stopped short of awarding them. Nearly 70 companies have applied for six licenses to be issued. The commission previously promised to issue licenses by June 30. Patients and applicants have grown frustrated by the wait. The commission’s next step is to contact applicants “to find out interest or extensions or responses or withdrawals, as necessary,” said Commission Chairman Dr. Christopher Edwards. Georgia legalized low-THC oil and products for people with medical conditions in 2015, but didn’t create a legal framework for production until last year.

Source: https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/georgia-medical-marijuana-licenses

North Carolina: Medical marijuana is legal in 36 states. Now, the state General Assembly could make North Carolina the latest state to open up the market to cannabis. Medical cannabis advocates are trying to throw veterans a lifeline with Senate Bill 711. “The veteran suicide rate is twice the national average in North Carolina, so clearly whatever it is that we’re doing isn’t exactly working,” said Rob Rens. Rens believes Senate Bill 711, or the Compassionate Care Act, could be a game-changer. The bill would legalize medical cannabis and create a framework for regulation and distribution. SB 711 already passed the judiciary committee. It still has to go through the NC Senate Finance and NC Rules Committee. After that, it will go to a full vote in front of the NC Senate.

Source: https://www.wnct.com/news/senate-bill-could-legalize-medical-marijuana-in-north-carolina/

Tennessee: A Tennessee state lawmaker wants to put recreational and medical marijuana on the ballot next year. Rep. Bruce Griffey (R – District 75) introduced the measure on Wednesday. If passed, the bill would require county election commissions to include three non-binding questions related to marijuana legalization on the 2022 ballot.

Source: https://www.wsmv.com/news/tennessee-lawmaker-introduces-bill-to-put-marijuana-legalization-on-2022-ballot/article_2930ddf2-e2fb-11eb-904a-3f5f29702b60.html

Medical

Alabama: Despite some businesses claiming so, you can’t pre-register for a medical marijuana card in Alabama. The Alabama Board of Medical Examiners is warning residents about businesses that are claiming they can help individuals receive or get pre-registered for a state-issued medical cannabis card by having a physician evaluate them. “It’s way too early for any business to be offering anything related to medical marijuana, much less something that simply doesn’t exist and won’t exist when the law is fully implemented,” said Wilson Hunter, General Counsel of the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners. Hunter said he believes that the motive these businesses have for advertising the ability to pre-register for a medical marijuana card is money.

Source: https://www.wsfa.com/2021/07/07/alabamians-warned-against-pre-registration-medical-marijuana/

Connecticut: Now that recreational marijuana is legal in Connecticut, the governor has launched a website where people can go to follow any updates regarding the new law.

Cannabis became legal in Connecticut back on July 1. While part of the law legalizing recreational marijuana has gone into effect, there are other components that don’t go into effect for another one to two years, most notably the establishment of retail sales, which are expected to begin toward the end of 2022 and will have a very specific licensing process and social equity requirement. Therefore, the new website, which can be found by clicking here, will provide resources so residents can keep up with the latest information.

Source:  https://www.wfsb.com/news/state-launches-new-website-dedicated-to-recreational-marijuana-updates/article_c0a196da-dda2-11eb-830f-db669d855068.html

Missouri: Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) vetoed legislation Friday that would have lifted a prohibition on licensed medical marijuana companies deducting business expenses on their taxes. In his letter vetoing the measure, Parson didn’t mention the medical marijuana provisions. He said his decision to reject the bill came down to a section lawmakers included that would have provided tax relief for businesses impacted by city-wide or county-wide public health restrictions. Parson said those provisions would have created “significant unintended consequences that could greatly harm localities. ” In vetoing the bill, however, the medical marijuana provision was also struck down. Missourians voted to legalize medical marijuana in 2018. But under federal law, growing, transporting, or selling marijuana remains a crime.

Because of this dynamic, marijuana companies differ from every other legal business in the state because they can’t deduct ordinary and necessary business expenses on their tax returns.

While federal law remains unchanged, the legislation approved nearly unanimously in both the House and Senate would have changed that for state taxes.

Source:  https://www.marijuanamoment.net/missouri-marijuana-tax/

Rhode Island: On Tuesday, the RI House of Representatives Committee on Finance examined legislation that would legalize recreational cannabis use for adults, with legislators and the public showing strong support for the bill and contemplating how it could be improved. The proposal in the House differs from the Senate’s recently passed, similar legislation in a number of key areas, including automatic expungement for past cannabis offenses and oversight and impact fees to be paid to municipalities where retail stores open. The legislation, if approved in the House and signed into law, would legalize cannabis in the state. Fifteen recreational cannabis licenses would be made available if the legislation is approved, with five of those being designated for equity applicants. Three of the licenses would go to the state’s three existing compassion centers and seven new licenses would be up for grabs, with one of those slots set aside for a co-op business.

Source: https://www.ricentral.com/east_greenwich_pendulum/house-committee-examines-cannabis-legalization-bill/article_9e3577fa-de70-11eb-b5b6-7b817bdca77c.html

West Virginia: More than a dozen bills related to both medical and recreational cannabis were introduced during the session, but none ultimately passed. Senate Bill 590, which aimed to legalize edible forms of medical marijuana for patients under the existing Medical Cannabis Act, was passed by the Senate but died in the House Health and Human Resources Committee. Likewise, Senate Bill 231, which included numerous amendments to the Medical Cannabis Act, such as expanding the list of serious medical conditions for which patients may qualify for access to medical cannabis and increasing the allowable forms of medical cannabis that may be distributed to patients, passed in the Senate but died in the House. None of the cannabis-related legislation introduced in the House of Representatives made it out of that chamber. As a result, West Virginia’s marijuana policies remain unchanged after the 2021 legislative session.

Source: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/west-virginia-legislature-adjourns-5424945/

Recreational

Illinois: For the first time in Illinois, cannabis smokers will be able to legally light up in public Saturday in a lounge specifically built for that purpose. There have been discussions in Chicago and elsewhere in the state about opening consumption spaces, but the first will be in the tiny downstate city of Sesser, in a remodeled former bank. Despite a local election battle that was fought over allowing a gathering place for marijuana users, owner Holly Roeder remains optimistic that locals and visitors will support her new venture, The Luna Lounge. The state law that legalized cannabis last year prohibits consumption in public, including in motor vehicles and parks. People are allowed to smoke in their homes, but a landlord or business may prohibit it, and the government bans it in all its buildings, including public housing.

Source:  https://herald-review.com/news/state-and-regional/illinois-is-about-to-get-its-first-marijuana-lounge-and-its-not-in-chicago-or/article_42f82a1b-4c31-53fb-bb74-50be5ffc0fd9.html

Massachusetts: Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker today, July 12, named Kimberly Roy as the gubernatorial appointee to the five-member Cannabis Control Commission, charged with regulating both the adult use and medical marijuana industries.Roy currently serves as Director of External Affairs for Sheriff Lew Evangelidis and the Worcester County Sheriff’s Department. In this capacity she oversees the Department’s Face2Face substance misuse prevention and education program in partnership with local school districts.

Source:  https://framinghamsource.com/index.php/2021/07/12/gov-baker-appoints-roy-to-massachusetts-cannabis-control-commission/

Nevada: The most significant regulator of combat sports has made a huge move in the way it deals with marijuana. The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) voted Wednesday to no longer discipline fighters for cannabis. NSAC, which regulates some of the most high-profile boxing and MMA fights in the world, joins the Florida State Boxing Commission, which stopped testing for marijuana completely in May. The new policy begins Wednesday and is not retroactive to cases that have yet to be adjudicated.

Source:  https://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/31777158/the-nevada-state-athletic-commission-votes-not-discipline-boxers-mma-fighters-marijuana-use

South Dakota: South Dakota government officials scrambled on Friday to reach a consensus on rules around medical pot, showing that the rollout of the voter-passed law has been anything but smooth. Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg’s office appeared to counter guidance from the Highway Patrol on medical marijuana ID cards issued by Native American tribes. But on Friday the attorney general issued a statement saying he agrees with the Highway Patrol’s stance. Meanwhile, the Department of Education tried to work past state lawmakers’ objections to its proposed rules for allowing students to use medical pot at school. Under the new law, the state’s Department of Health has until November to start issuing medical marijuana ID cards. The attorney general’s statement clarifies that it only considers a recommendation to use medical pot as valid if it comes from a doctor licensed in South Dakota and is part of a “bona fide practitioner-patient relationship.”

Source: https://apnews.com/article/health-south-dakota-sd-state-wire-f2d6aa6e401eee30e5c7abdda98d210f

Virginia: For Frank Carite, there’s a sense of liberation with every puff now that recreational marijuana is legal. At Queen’s Green Apothecary in Virginia Beach, Carite and others 21 and older can boldly light up safely and free from judgment. “It’s nice to have a safe place to go other than home to be able to smoke at,” Carite said. The safe place is known as a “Cannabar,” one of the first of its kind in Virginia. Queen’s Green Apothecary owner Nick Rocha said the Alice in Wonderland-themed smoking lounge is for those who vape or use weed. According to Virginia Beach Police, marijuana legislation is similar to laws for alcohol. You can smoke weed inside a private establishment like Queen’s Green Apothecary, just as if you were in a bar drinking, but you can’t be in public at the beach or on the sidewalk, for example, and light up.

Source: https://www.wtkr.com/news/cannabar-in-virginia-beach-offers-safe-space-to-smoke-weed-or-vape

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