Latest Cannabis News: May 3, 2022
Latest Cannabis News: May 3, 2022
Stay up to date with the latest legalization and cannabis news with the C.B. 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.
Dry
Kansas: Kansas House lawmakers on Thursday laid out their plan and proposed compromises for medical marijuana legalization in the state, moving the legislature one step closer to enacting the reform following the appointment of a bicameral conference committee charged with reaching an agreement on the issue.
Negotiators met for the first time on Wednesday to go over two pieces of medical cannabis legislation—one that passed the House but did not advance in the Senate and another that was taken up by the Senate and discussed in committee last month. Now the House negotiators have come to the table with a compromise.
CBD
Georgia: Medical marijuana business Cumberland Curative filed a lawsuit against the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission (GMCC) over the agency’s handling of the application process for MMJ licenses. According to Atlanta TV station WAGA, filed in Fulton County Superior Court, the lawsuit alleges “conflicts of interest” and “backroom deals” during the licensing process.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/georgia-company-files-lawsuit-over-medical-marijuana-licensing-process/
Kentucky: Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear on Tuesday approved creating a cannabis research facility in the state. However, he used his veto power to strike selected passages of the legislation. Beshear’s approval of the measure, House Bill 604, comes one week after the Democratic governor said he would take steps to legalize medical cannabis in the Bluegrass State.
Under the legislation, the Kentucky Center for Cannabis Research would be established at the University of Kentucky. According to the statute’s text, the new facility would be tasked with planning and conducting research “to advance the study of cannabis and cannabis derivatives for the treatment of certain medical conditions and diseases,” according to the statute’s text.
Source: https://hightimes.com/news/kentucky-governor-approves-cannabis-research-facility/
Tennessee: Lawmakers are trying to expand the use of medical cannabis in Tennessee, with one saying he can personally benefit from its use.
House Bill1747 adds quadriplegia as a qualifying medical condition for the lawful possession of cannabis oil. The proposed legislation allows the Medical Cannabis Commission to study the effects and give legal possession of cannabis oil to Tennesseeans who is quadriplegic. The current diagnoses on the list include Alzheimer’s, ALS, cancer, epilepsy, HIV, and sickle cell.
Representative Jernigan said adding quadriplegia to the list can help with the most common side effects like severe muscle spasms, chronic pain, overactive bladders, and insomnia.
Source: https://www.wate.com/news/house-bill-adds-quadriplegia-for-medical-cannabis-use-in-tennessee/
Medical
Arkansas: Arkansas medical marijuana patients will soon be able to buy the product in Oklahoma. The Arkansas Department of Health announced Wednesday that it anticipates issuing registry ID cards within 30 days, pending next week’s Medical Marijuana Commission (MMC) meeting, where commissioners plan to award the state’s 32 dispensary licenses.
Source: https://www.armoneyandpolitics.com/arkansas-medical-marijuana-oklahoma/
Louisiana: Louisiana has only two medical marijuana growers and nine dispensaries, and it doesn’t look as if that’s going to change dramatically anytime soon.
According to The Advocate in Baton Rouge, legislation that would expand the state’s heavily regulated MMJ program is opposed by House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, a Republican, and Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards. Edwards said it’s too soon to depart from the current licensing structure, which allows only up to 10 MMJ dispensaries, which the state calls pharmacies dramatically. Nine have been licensed so far.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/louisiana-medical-marijuana-expansion-seen-as-unlikely-this-year/
New Hampshire: Any hope for some form of marijuana legalization this year in Concord went up in smoke Thursday in the state Senate.
A bipartisan majority of state senators shot down a proposal that would have made legal the possession of up to three-fourths of an ounce of marijuana and cannabis-infused products with no more than 300 milligrams of THC.
Source: https://www.wmur.com/article/new-hampshire-senate-marijuana-legalization/39854505#
Ohio: A Republican lawmaker’s efforts to overhaul Ohio’s medical marijuana program and expand the number of Ohioans eligible for a cannabis prescription were tested Wednesday.
The House Government Oversight Committee held its fourth hearing on Senate Bill 261, introduced by Sen. Steve Huffman (R-Tipp City), to streamline businesses vying for a medical marijuana license and permit physicians to prescribe the drug where they “reasonably” believe it will help a patient.
Source: https://fox8.com/news/more-ohioans-could-be-eligible-for-medical-marijuana-under-senate-bill/
Rhode Island: On Friday, the state Office of Cannabis Regulation awarded its sixth and final new medical marijuana dispensary license to Mother Earth Wellness Ltd., which plans to open a retail business at 125 Esten Ave., in Pawtucket.
That’s where company owner and director Joseph Pakuris operates one of his other businesses, Kitchen and Countertop Center of New England.
The official and brief announcement – occurring over a Zoom meeting – lacked the drama that marked last October’s lottery selection for five other new dispensary licenses.
West Virginia: The West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) has issued a consumer protection warning regarding illegal hemp products sold in West Virginia retail stores.
The WVDA says it has become aware of illegal products containing non-naturally occurring cannabinoids and counterfeit recreational marijuana.
The Department urges consumers not to purchase these products as the WVDA works with law enforcement to remove all illicit and counterfeit products immediately.
Source: https://www.wsaz.com/2022/04/26/wvda-issues-warning-about-illegal-hemp-marijuana-products/
Recreation
California: Consumers would be able to buy cannabis directly from cultivators at farmers’ markets just like they do for produce under legislation approved Tuesday by the state Assembly Committee on Business and Professions.
The push to allow small farmers to sell directly comes as the cultivators see their most daunting financial challenges since the legalization of cannabis in 2018. The wholesale prices farmers receive for outdoor-grown marijuana collapsed to $488 a pound for the week ending April 15, a more than 55 percent drop from 15 months earlier, shows research firm Cannabis Benchmarks.
Source: https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article260793787.html
Connecticut: A bill that aims to eliminate commercial cannabis gifting and allow physician assistants to write medical marijuana prescriptions in Connecticut passed the House on Tuesday.
House Bill 5329, which includes several amendments, is headed to the Senate. The original bill, which covers a range of issues related to cannabis, drew criticism from marijuana advocates and patients who said it would re-criminalize the substance and outlaw the social gifting that many rely on to get their medicine.
Maine: A new law strips the state office charged with overseeing Maine’s two legal marijuana markets of the ability to independently craft new rules governing just one of those markets — the market for medical marijuana, where a state official has said there’s likely more illegal activity happening.
The new law, which took effect Saturday, means the Office of Marijuana Policy can’t act on its own to issue temporary rules governing the state’s medical marijuana market. Any proposed regulations from the office regulating medical marijuana have to go through the Legislature, which can either accept, reject or modify them.
New Jersey: In Arizona, police aren’t allowed to consume marijuana recreationally or medicinally, so some of Jacobs’ former colleagues can’t partake as he can. Jacobs thinks more states should follow New Jersey’s lead. Acting Attorney General Matt Platkin reminded law enforcement chiefs that the New Jersey law allowing for recreational marijuana permits cops to consume it off duty.
As marijuana activists nationally celebrate — they say the law will remove the stigma around cannabis and allow cops to understand better the drug — some towns in the Garden State are saying no way. Officials in Jersey City, Wood-Ridge, Toms River, Kearny, Woodland Park, and elsewhere said they are barring local police from using cannabis.
Vermont: The Cannabis Board announced that it would not begin issuing cannabis licenses on May 1st as provided in Act 164. The Board does not anticipate a long delay in issuing licenses to qualified applicants. The Board has made significant progress in meeting this target date. However, our core mission remains to create a safe, effective, and equitable adult-use market. When the Board does not yet have a full licensing staff or a compliance team, strict adherence to this date runs counter to our consumer protection and public safety mandates.
While the Board’s current staff consists of four full-time employees, we were recently authorized to hire the staff we need and are currently recruiting them. Please be patient while we put the team in place to ensure the Vermont cannabis market will be a model for the country.
In the meantime, the Board is working diligently to review applications and approve qualified applicants for licensure, and the recipients of those licenses may begin to operate immediately.
If you have questions about your application or the application process, please review our guidance page and reach out to us at CCB.Applications@vermont.gov or 802-828-1010, ext. 3.
Source: https://ccb.vermont.gov/may1
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