Alaskan capital says yes to on-site marijuana edible consumption, outdoor cannabis smoking areas
A city ordinance passed by the Juneau Assembly will allow customers to consume cannabis edibles inside licensed dispensaries as well as smoke in designated outdoor areas. The ordinance was approved 6-2, and an amendment that would have allowed only vaping in outdoor smoking areas failed.
Local cannabis business owner John Nemeth approved of the Assembly’s decision.
“This is a great step in the right direction,” Nemeth said. “It’s something we never thought we’d see here in Juneau and it’s giving people a safe place to consume.”
Medical marijuana could hit shelves in Louisiana next week
It’s been four years since Louisiana lawmakers legalized medical marijuana, and next week patients could finally have access to therapeutic cannabis.
“If there are no problems, no contamination, and we don’t expect any, then hopefully by the end of the week or early next week, there will be products moving to the market. That’s kind of the timetable,” said Louisiana Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain.
Only cannabis grown at Louisiana State University and Southern University is authorized for use in the state’s medical-marijuana program, and nine pharmacies will dispense cannabis in liquid form. Patients can use liquid cannabis applied as drops under the tongue, or into an inhaler. Louisiana also plans to allow patients access to cannabis oils, pills, and topical applications.
Oklahoma dispensary owners sue Facebook
Seven medical marijuana dispensaries have filed a suit against Facebook for putting them in “Facebook jail” for posting about their businesses. The owners say that Facebook has “a pattern of targeting the Oklahoma medical marijuana industry” and that the social media giant is censoring their business pages.
“Facebook jail” is when a page or profile is temporarily disabled for allegedly violating standards.
The petition claims that “Facebook has an arbitrary, subjective, discriminatory and archaic policy and their policy does not apply to all. It is just random. Or at least it appears to be random. There is no way for an individual or a business to contact anyone within Facebook to get assistance. They hide behind their keyboards and mete out whatever punishment they feel if they find that you have committed an infraction to their subjective community standards.”
The marijuana business owners are seeking a court order preventing Facebook from censoring their bushiness pages, as well as more than $75,000 for the “economic harm” caused by the censorship.
California police carried out multiple raids on illegal marijuana grows Wednesday in an ongoing effort to tamp down on black market cannabis. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department served 80 search warrants in Anza Valley and made several arrests. They seized an estimated 140,800 plants valued at $189 million, along with 3,00 pounds of processed marijuana, 17 rifles, and 10 handguns.
“There are legitimate concerns in Northern California particularly as it relates to illegal cannabis grows. They are getting worse, not better,” Governor Gavin Newsom said.
California has a comprehensive regulatory framework for legal marijuana, and cannabis growers are required to go through a step-by-step licensing process, including background checks. However, according to New Frontier Data, as much as 80% of the cannabis sold in the state comes from the black market. The company estimated that California’s black market marijuana is worth $3.7 billion, more than four times the size of the legal cannabis market.
A report from the state Cannabis Advisory Committee found that “Lack of enforcement is creating a thriving environment for the unregulated ‘underground market.”
The problem isn’t just limited to marijuana grows. The state Bureau of Cannabis control has sent 2,842 cease-and-desist letters to cannabis shops operating without state licenses.
“It’s difficult to say how many of those letters resulted in action,” Bureau spokesman Alex Traverso said. “Businesses could shut down and relocate.”
In June, local law enforcement raided five properties in Sonoma County that were producing medical marijuana oil. The owner of the company was using “illegal and hazardous production methods” in addition to breaking a number of city ordinances.
Cannabis is easy to get in the state: 1 in 5 Californians have purchased marijuana from illegal sources in the last three months, and 84% of those people said that they were highly likely to purchase cannabis from the same illicit source again.
In order for a regulated cannabis market to thrive and for consumers to get safe, high-quality cannabis, enforcement of marijuana regulations, and convincing non legal operations to go through the licensing process is essential.
“We believe that this governor is committed to addressing our concerns, and he has a Legislature that is showing their willingness to author bills that will strengthen the regulated market while minimizing the illicit market,” said Josh Drayton, a spokesman for the California Cannabis Industry Association.
Cannabis Delivered to Your Door
There’s renewed hope for marijuana delivery in Colorado as a new bill that would legalize the service received approval from a state House committee. HB1234 would allow home delivery of medical marijuana starting in January 2020. Recreational marijuana delivery would be delayed until January 2021.
Rep. John Singer (D), one of the bill’s sponsors, said that the legislation is “an opportunity to stamp out a black market and provide a service for people who are sick.”
The bill includes a $1 delivery surcharge that will go to local law enforcement, and cities and counties must opt-in to the program. Delivery vehicles would be tracked by GPS and follow state-mandated safety rules. Medical marijuana dispensaries already in operation would have the first opportunity to apply for delivery permits. After a year, delivery permitting would open up to third-party transporters.
Matt Kahl, a veteran who uses medical cannabis, told lawmakers, “There are a lot of people out there who really need it. They have no other way to get cannabis.”
Last year, a similar measure was defeated in the Senate, but advocates of HB1234 hope that changes to the bill and Colorado’s new weed-friendly governor will improve its chances of becoming law.
“We have bipartisan support on this bill. We also have bipartisan opposition on this bill,” said Rep. Singer.
Medical Marijuana for Autism
On Autism Awareness Day, Governor Jared Polis (D) signed a bill that adds autism spectrum disorder to the list of qualifying conditions for medical marijuana. The new law enables children under the age of 18 with autism to be treated with medical cannabis, provided they have the approval of two physicians.
“It’s National Autism Day today, and we are acting by expanding patients’ access to cannabis products that help those with autism,” Polis said before signing the bill. “We know that not just anecdotally, but with a mounting amount of good scientific data that is coming in.”
Colorado’s former governor, John Hickenlooper (D) vetoed several cannabis bills last year, including one that would have given access to medical cannabis to people with autism.
Another year, more legal cannabis! 2018 saw a ton of changes in the cannabis industry and support for legalization is at an all-time high.
These were some of the biggest cannabis stories of 2018:
California Adult-Use Sales
On January 1, recreational marijuana sales officially began in California. The state is home to nearly 40 million people, and the potential cannabis revenue is in the billions. Changing regulations, licensing delays, high taxes, local cannabis bans, and testing snafus caused a less than smooth roll-out of adult-use sales in the state. California’s Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC), charged with issuing licenses to retailers and distributors, initially issued businesses licenses to eighty-eight stores in 34 cities. As of December, the BCC has issued 547 temporary licenses to recreational marijuana dispensaries, still on the low end to supply the market adequately. Only 70 of California’s 482 cities allows recreational cannabis retail stores, but recent changes in regulations will allow cannabis deliveries throughout the state.
Massachusetts also began adult-use sales this year, with the first recreational dispensaries opening in November.
FDA Approves Cannabis Epilepsy Medication, Pushes to Deschedule CBD
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Epidiolex, a cannabis-derived medication used to treat certain forms of epilepsy, in June. Epidiolex, developed by UK-based GW Pharmaceuticals, is made from CBD and contains no THC.
In October, the FDA released a memo advising the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) that CBD has “negligible potential for abuse,” “currently accepted medical use in treatment,” and that any abuse “may lead to limited physical dependence.” As a result, the FDA recommended that the DEA reschedule CBD under its least restrictive category, Schedule 5.
Canada Legalizes Marijuana Nationwide
On October 17, Canada became the second country in the world to legalize adult-use cannabis. Uruguay was the first country to legalize cannabis in 2013. In June, the Senate and House of Commons passed the Cannabis Act, making it legal for adults 18 years-and-older to purchase, possess, and grow cannabis. Canadians will be able to cultivate up to four plants and possess up to 30 grams of cannabis in public. There’s no limit to the amount of cannabis residents can possess in their homes.
State Legalization
November’s mid-term elections resulted in huge wins for adult-use and medical marijuana legalization. Michigan was the first state in the Midwest and the 10th in the country to approve recreational marijuana. The first recreational dispensaries are expected to open in 2019 or 2020.
In Missouri and Utah voters were in favor of medical marijuana, a watershed moment in states that have traditionally opposed marijuana use. Missouri had three medical marijuana initiatives on the ballot, but Amendment 2 was the only one to pass with 65 percent approval. In Utah, Proposition 2 met voter approval, despite opposition from the Mormon Church.
Farm Bill Legalizes Hemp
The 2018 Farm Bill removed industrial hemp from the federal government’s list of controlled substances, legalizing its use as an agricultural product. While the bill didn’t deschedule CBD, it did legalize CBD extraction from hemp. The bill will enable farmers to grow, sell, and export industrial hemp, and opens the door for researchers studying CBD and other cannabinoids. Moving hemp to legal status will make banking and advertising in the industry more accessible, and this could be another step closer to nationwide cannabis legalization.
According to a new poll released by Qunnipiac University, 63 percent of Americans think that marijuana should be legalized nationwide. To date, that’s the largest level of support for legal cannabis measured by the Qunnipiac survey. That’s up from 2012, when 51 percent of surveyed voters supported legalization.
“Voters are more favorable to legalizing marijuana than in any previous Quinnipiac University survey, and do not see its use as a gateway to more serious drugs,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.
The numbers are even more dramatic when it comes to support for protecting states with legalized medical or recreational marijuana. Voters oppose 70 -23 enforcement of federal laws in states with legalized cannabis, and support 74 – 20 percent a bill protecting states that have ended marijuana prohibition.
The 11 marijuana-related survey questions were included as part of a federal bill query and represent the largest number of cannabis-related questions on a single Quinnipiac poll.
Below are the marijuana poll results:
Do you think that the use of marijuana should be made legal in the United States, or not?
- Yes: 63%
- No: 33%
- DK/NA: 4%
Do you support or oppose allowing adults to legally use marijuana for medical purposes if their doctor prescribes it?
- Support: 93%
- Oppose: 5%
- DK/NA: 1%
Keeping in mind that your answers are confidential, have you ever recreationally used marijuana or not?
- Yes: 43%
- No: 54%
- DK/NA: 2%
If you agreed with a political candidate on other issues, but not on the issue of legalizing marijuana, do you think you could still vote for that candidate or not?
- Yes: 82%
- No: 13%
- DK/NA: 5%
Would you support or oppose the government enforcing federal laws against marijuana in states that have already legalized medical or recreational marijuana?
- Support: 23%
- Oppose: 70%
- DK/NA: 7%
Is recreational marijuana legal in the state in which you live, or not?
- Yes/Legal: 22%
- No: 72%
- DK/NA: 5%
(If yes/legal) Do you think that legalizing recreational marijuana has been good for your state or bad for your state?
- Good: 48%
- Bad: 25%
- DK/NA: 26%
As you may know, legalizing recreational marijuana allows states to tax the sale of marijuana, which can result in increased revenue. Do you think that increasing revenue in your state is a good reason or a bad reason for recreational marijuana to be legalized?
- Good reason: 54%
- Bad reason: 42%
- DK/NA: 4%
Do you consider marijuana a so-called “gateway drug”, or not?
- Yes/Gateway drug: 31%
- No: 61%
- DK/NA: 8%
Do you think that legalizing marijuana will make people more likely to use opioids, less likely to use opioids, or don’t you think legalizing marijuana will have much impact either way?
- More likely: 20%
- Less likely: 20%
- Not much impact: 56%
- DK/NA: 5%
1,193 voters were surveyed nationwide between April 20 -24, with a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percentage points, including the design effect. Live interviewers call landlines and cell phones. Keep in mind, some results are also from states without legal marijuana laws.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is seeking public comment (yep, that means you) regarding the classification of marijuana as a Schedule I substance under both U.S. law and international drug agreements. The FDA is putting together a recommendation for the United Nations’ World Health Organization (WHO). WHO is currently reviewing the international classification of cannabis, including THC, CBD and other cannabinoids.
Cannabis was listed in the UN’s Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs as a Schedule I drug in 1961, and the WHO says that cannabis is “the most commonly used psychoactive substance under international control.” Schedule I drugs include LSD and heroin–drugs that are considered high risk for abuse and addiction and that have no currently accepted medical use.
The FDA is specifically looking for input regarding the “abuse potential, actual abuse, medical usefulness, trafficking and impact of scheduling changes on availability for medical use of” marijuana. The FDA will forward public comments to the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO). Recommendations from the WHO are used to inform public health policy and drug laws.
In December, the WHO released a preliminary review of CBD, a non-psychoactive compound found in marijuana, that said CBD should not be scheduled as a controlled substance. They concluded that CBD has a low potential for abuse and that it “has been demonstrated as an effective treatment of epilepsy in several clinical trials” and “is generally well tolerated with a good safety profile.”
The preliminary review also found that “there is no evidence of…any public health related problems associated with the use of pure CBD.”
The deadline to submit public comments to the FDA is April 23.
Want to support the declassification of cannabis, but you don’t know where to start? NORML has posted a pre-drafted comment on their website, and they will be hand delivering all comments to the FDA.
We made it! The election is finally over–and the big winner is definitely cannabis.
Recreational marijuana initiatives were on the ballot in five states, with Arizona as the only holdout.
Here are the state-by-state results:
- Arizona: Proposition 205, which would have legalized recreational marijuana use for adults 21 and older, failed, with 52% against.
Medical marijuana was legalized in Arizona in 1996.
- California: Voters approved Proposition 64, and the state is poised to become the country’s largest cannabis market. The measure had 4,952,476 votes for, or 56 percent, to 3,920,303 votes against, or 44 percent. Proposition 64 legalizes recreational cannabis use for people 21 and older. Marijuana will be subject to 15% sales tax.
In 1996, California was the first state to make medical marijuana legal.
- Maine: Results of a ballot measure to legalize recreational cannabis in Maine is still too close to call. “Yes” votes to Question 1 are in the lead, but votes are still being counted.
- Massachusetts: Question 4 passed in Massachusetts with 54% in favor. Medical marijuana became legal in Massachusetts in 2012.
The passage of Question 4 allows people 21 and older could use, possess or grow cannabis. They can have under 10 ounces in their home and under 1 ounce in public and be allowed to grow six plants.
- Nevada: Question No. 2 passed with 52% in favor. The initiative is similar to laws adopted in Washington and Colorado, which tax and regulate cannabis like alcohol. Legalization in the Silver State permits anyone 21 or over to purchase recreational cannabis.
As of Tuesday’s election, medical cannabis is legal in more than half of U.S. states (28 states and Washington D.C.).
- Florida: Medical marijuana was one of the most contested issues on the Florida ballot, but in the end 71% of voters approved Amendment 2. Florida is the second largest medical marijuana market in the country, behind California.
A vote in 2014 barely defeated a similar medical marijuana amendment. The measure received about 57% of the vote; 60% support is required to pass a ballot measure in Florida.
- Arkansas: With the passage of Issue No. 6, Arkansas is the first state in the Bible Belt to legalize medical marijuana. The initiative passed with 53% in favor.
- North Dakota: 64% of voters approved Statutory Measure No. 5, legalizing the use of medical marijuana to treat defined debilitating medical conditions, such as cancer, AIDS, hepatitis C, ALS, glaucoma, and epilepsy.
- Montana: Ballot Initiative 182 passed on Tuesday, loosening restrictions on medical marijuana as well as adding post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of eligible conditions.
While the results of the presidential election may leave some questions up in the air as to the state of legal marijuana federally, this was a huge state-by-state advancement for cannabis!