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Showing posts from February, 2019

Oklahoma House Passes Medical Cannabis Protection Bill

Oklahoma’s medical marijuana program has divided patients and health professionals, voters and their elected officials. But a new bill, which cleared the House floor Thursday with a 93-5 vote, aims to create unity on the issue. The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana and Patient Protection Act represents a bipartisan effort to craft new rules for the state program. It also marks the culmination of a working group’s efforts to create a framework based on input from proponents and opponents of State Question 788. Oklahoma’s New Medical Marijuana Rulebook Just Passed in the House Jon Echols (R-Oklahoma City), Oklahoma’s House Speaker and co-chair of the working group behind HB 2612, said the goal of the Medical Marijuana and Patient Protection Act “is not to fix every issue or deal with every issue that will pop up.” Instead, Echols said the goal was to establish a framework for the booming industry and move on from there. That framework came as a result of 13 meetings group members held with

UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs delays vote on WHO cannabis recommendations

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That news comes after the release of the recommendations, which had been expected in December,   was delayed . The proposal, made by the World Health Organization’s Expert Committee on Drug Dependence, could have a significant impact on the global medical cannabis and hemp industry if adopted   UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs delays vote on WHO cannabis recommendations   The post UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs delays vote on WHO cannabis recommendations appeared first on CBD Oil Vape Liquid Spray - Cbd Pain Relief Capsules - Weed Consortium . from WordPress https://ift.tt/2VosnsJ via IFTTT

Thursday 28 February – State By State Digest: FDA, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Vermont

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FDA The cannabis industry is begging the FDA for some CBD regulations as Gottlieb heads to the Hill Companies selling food and drinks with CBD want the FDA to regulate the industry. Under FDA rules, it’s illegal to add CBD to food or drinks. Commissioner Scott Gottlieb will face questions about CBD at a congressional hearing Wednesday. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/27/the-cannabis-industry-is-begging-the-fda-for-some-cbd-regulations.html   FDA Is Exploring ‘Alternative Approaches’ To CBD Regulation, Commissioner Says     ALASKA Alaska’s marijuana business owners at odds with new governor’s plans for industry Alaska cannabis industry stakeholders are pressing their case against Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s plan to abolish the Marijuana Control Board, arguing it could harm the state’s MJ market. At a legislative reception in Juneau on Feb. 22 hosted by the Alaska Marijuana Industry Association, business owners told a group of 50 legislators and staffers the

Analysts Predict Starbucks Will Be First Major Chain to Offer CBD-Infused Drinks

Times are such that no beverage executive is spared from speculation about their conglomerate’s future in selling cannabis products. At the end of January, the CEO of Starbucks, Kevin Johnson, was posed the question by a CNBC reporter, “Can I get a cannabis triple venti?” Johnson played it coy. “Well you know, Jim, you can’t get a cannabis triple venti today and certainly—but you know, we’re well aware of what’s been happening around CBD, THC, and all the trends in the industry,” the executive said, a lesson in corporate speculative etiquette. The statements did not throw analysts off of tracking the company’s future plans. Quite the opposite—investment banking firm Cowen and Co. released a 100-page report on Monday in which it pinpoints the coffee and beverage giant as the likely first major chain that will market products featuring CBD. What’s perhaps even more startling is the report’s conclusion on the ubiquity of CBD in US culture. 6.9 percent of the respondents to Cowan’s 2,50

Virginia Senate Passes Bill to Allow School Nurses to Administer Medical Cannabis

Virginia lawmakers approved a bill last week that will allow school nurses in the state to administer medical cannabis to students on campus and at school events. The bill,  SB1632 , also protects students with the proper medical certification from suspension or expulsion for possessing THC-A or CBD oil. The bill was passed on February 23 in the House of Delegates by a margin of 95-1 and unanimously in the Senate by a vote of 40-0. Under current laws, possession of all forms of cannabis is prohibited and can result in expulsion and referral to law enforcement for prosecution. The measure was introduced in January by Sen. Glen Sturtevant, a Republican from Richmond, who said then that young people should have the same opportunity to use cannabis medications as other prescription drugs. “Virginia students and their families depend on new, safely produced and regulated cannabidiol and THC-A oils to treat a host of potentially debilitating conditions,”  said Sturtevant . A staffer fro

Forbes Profiles Chelsie Spencer . CBD TM Expert & Partner, Ritter Spencer

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Many brands and manufacturers are quickly catching on to the value of CBD following the recent passing of the Farm Bill in December of last year. Operating with the hopes of capitalizing on the rapidly shifting cannabis landscape, these brands are attempting to trademark their CBD products behind closed doors in the hopes of becoming the next “Coca Cola” of the industry. It’s a problem that’s so widespread that   The American Business Law Journal   even released a paper last year detailing the ways in which “innovative entrepreneurs disrupt legal regimes for strategic advantage” with relation to marijuana derived products. With CBD set to become a $2.1 billion industry by 2020   it seems as though the CBD industry is accelerating faster than most businesses can handle. That’s why Chelsie Spencer, an intellectual property attorney licensed in Texas and Florida who specializes in CBD compliance laws, is such a necessity. A partner of the Texas based law firm   Ritter Spencer , Chelsi

Lab Testing Reveals Banned Chemicals In Multiple Cannabis Samples In Los Angeles

A television news investigation revealed that unlicensed marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles are selling products contaminated with pesticides that have been banned by state regulators. The report from KNBC in Los Angeles purchased vape cartridges and cannabis flower from 24 dispensaries and delivery services  in the area and found nearly 30 percent had traces of prohibited chemicals. Reporters then had the cannabis products they purchased tested by Brightside Scientific in Long Beach, a lab licensed by the state to test cannabis products. The lab found that seven of the samples tested contained chemicals banned by state regulations that went into effect in July of last year, including malathion, bifenazate, and myclobutanil. Many of the chemicals banned by the state can cause serious health problems–including organ failure–when they are smoked or vaporized. The fungicide myclobutanil, for example, can release hydrogen cyanide when heated. “Why would you want to put poison in yo

San Francisco DA Plans to Expunge or Reduce Over 9,000 Marijuana Convictions

On Monday, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón announced that his office would be taking on more than 9,300 cannabis related cases, expunging them from people’s criminal records, reducing them from felony to misdemeanor, or from misdemeanor to infraction. “It was just a matter of dignity,” Gascón told the press. But the step to help right the Drug War’s historical wrongs is also required by California law. Mass expungement and charge reductions have challenged many law enforcement agencies in what they say is bureaucratic complexity, but they are seen as central as part of the process of restitutions for eras of racially biased policing . San Francisco is the first county in the state to announce full compliance with the record-change process stipulated by AB 1793 , a regulation related to Proposition 64 , the 2016 ballot initiative that legalized recreational marijuana in California that “requires automation of this process across the state” for charge reductions or expu

Tuesday 26 February – State By State Digest: Florida, Idaho Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon San Francisco

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FLORIDA Marijuana Smoking Bill Rolls Along in Florida Senate A Senate proposal that would allow patients to smoke medical marijuana is ready to go to the full Senate after the Rules Committee unanimously signed off on the measure. https://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/article/marijuana-smoking-bill-florida-senate/ IDAHO Idaho State Police Are Not Required to Return Seized Hemp (Yet) Idaho State Police Are Not Required to Return Seized Hemp (Yet)   MICHIGAN Michigan is looking for advice to help develop rules for legal marijuana The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs is looking for volunteers to help with the development of rules and regulations that will govern the recreational marijuana market. The state has until December to come up with the rules and then will begin to hand out licenses for the recreational market. Commercial sales of marijuana are expected to begin sometime early next year and pot for recreational use will be available to people

Oregon Residents Resent Cannabis Cultivation Water Usage—But Is It Justified?

Folks living in Deschutes County, Oregon say they’re running out of water. They say their wells are drying up and that they’re spending tens of thousands of dollars drilling new ones. And they know exactly who to blame: the nearby medical cannabis farm that began growing there in 2015. But are marijuana farms really the reason for rural resident’s water shortages? In Oregon, Residents Are Blaming Cannabis Farms for Water Shortages Charles Cook and Suezan Hill-Cook live in the Lake Park Estates subdivision in Redmond, Oregon. In 2015, shortly after Oregon legalized adult use and a commercial cannabis industry, a grow operation set up in the area. Things on the farm were slow at first. But as the industry in Oregon grew, operations at the cannabis grow got busier. Used to a quiet, rural setting, the area’s older residents grew to resent the noise, smell and traffic the farm was generating. Then, the water started running out. And on a hot summer day in 2018, Cook and Hill-Cook’s wel

Experts Criticize Canada’s Proposed Cannabis Edibles Regulations

Critics of Canada’s proposed cannabis edibles regulations say the rules would result in unappetizing and over-packaged products, according to media reports. When marijuana was legalized in Canada last year, initial regulations only allowed cannabis flower and oil to be sold. Since then, regulators have been creating rules for cannabis edibles, extracts, beverages , and topicals . Health Canada released the draft regulations in December and has been accepting feedback during a consultation period that ended on Wednesday. The federal health agency expects to have the final version of regulations in place by October 17, the first anniversary of legalization. But provisions in the draft regulations require that products not be appealing to children and prohibit packages from advertising dessert or confectionary flavors. They also must be shelf-stable and not “encourage overconsumption.” Although Health Canada has confirmed that ingredients such as chocolate and sugar will be allowed, ed

Kamala Harris’ Dad Claps Back at her Comments on Weed and Jamaican Roots

Perhaps you recall Senator Kamala Harris’ interview on NYC radio show “The Breakfast Club” last week? The one where the presidential candidate captured headlines when she answered host Charlamagne Tha God’s question about whether she supported legalization by reminding everyone that half her family is from Jamaica . “Are you kidding me?” Harris laughed, amused at the prospect of never having smoked marijuana, even as an ex-California attorney general. “Listen, I think [it] gives a lot of people joy, and we need more joy.” Turns out, her Jamaican father didn’t feel all that happy upon hearing of her remarks. Donald J. Harris, a Stanford University emeritus professor of economics, wrote to a site for which he had recently penned an essay outlining the steps he took to instill pride of her Jamaican heritage in Kamala, in order to express displeasure with the implications of what she shared about her family. “My dear departed grandmothers (whose extraordinary legacy I described in a re

Pennsylvania Lawyer Dressed in Pot Leaf Suit Helps Man Roll Car Up Snowy Hill

A Pennsylvania lawyer and cannabis enthusiast dressed in a pot leaf suit came to the rescue on Wednesday, helping to push a stuck neighbor’s car up a snowy hill. Criminal defense attorney Cary McClain was outside his Gladwyne, Pennsylvania home after a snowstorm so his son could shoot some video of him wearing his new suit in the snow for his social media accounts. That’s when he noticed a nearby white Mini Cooper, stuck in the snow and spinning its tires as it struggled to get up a hill. McClain went to see if he could help and his son kept the camera rolling as the attorney approached the car. “All I could see around me was white snow, and then all of the sudden, this angelic man in a green suit comes knocking on my window,” said the stranded driver , Zach Calilung, who is new to the neighborhood. He recently moved to the suburb of Philadelphia from Southern California, and it was his first time driving in the snow. Calilung said he was about to call a friend for assistance when Mc

Green Market Report: Marijuana Money Feb. 22

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Green Market Report: Marijuana Money Feb. 22 New Jersey makes progress with regards to full legalization, Tilray, Inc. is buying the largest hemp-based food company, and more financial cannabis news stories in this week’s Marijuana Money. The post Green Market Report: Marijuana Money Feb. 22 appeared first on The Fresh Toast . The post Green Market Report: Marijuana Money Feb. 22 appeared first on CBD Oil Vape Liquid Spray - Cbd Pain Relief Capsules - Weed Consortium . from WordPress https://ift.tt/2TdkQQ5 via IFTTT

New York State District Attorney Dismisses 35 Marijuana Possession Warrants

The district attorney’s office of New York’s Erie County will be dismissing 35 outstanding bench warrants for low-level charges of possession of marijuana, it was announced Friday. The decision was compelled by Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown’s announcement that the city’s police department would no longer be enforcing low-level cannabis-related crimes. “As legalization discussions continue in Albany, I am relieving a burden on those individuals who may have these charges hanging over their heads in the interest of justice,” District Attorney John Flynn said at a Friday press conference . “I do not believe people should find themselves in the criminal justice system and unable to apply for employment, student loans, or other services because of a low-level marijuana charge.” Flynn said his next step will be his office staff going to “every town and village court” in Erie County to get their list of outstanding low-level cannabis bench warrants in order to dismiss them. Though the distr

Another Former House Republican is Joining the Cannabis Industry

Former House of Representatives member Rob Curbelo, a Republican from Florida, has signed on as a senior advisor with the Cannabis Trade Federation, it was announced on Thursday. Curbelo said in a press release that his experience as a legislator with the non-profit cannabis industry advocacy group led to him joining its executive team. “During my time in Congress, I worked closely with the Cannabis Trade Federation,” Curbelo said . “Today, I am joining CTF’s team because I know that they are the most effective cannabis industry lobby and that they have the resources, talent, and professional acumen needed to pass game-changing reform at the federal level.” Curbelo served two terms in the House representing Florida’s 26th congressional district, until losing his bid for re-election in last year’s midterm contests to Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. During his tenure as a representative, Curbelo supported cannabis policy reform, including an unsuccessful attempt to exempt cannabis com

Senior Counsel & Head of Special Projects, Wirot Poonsuwanat, at Thai Firm Blumenthal, Richter & Sumet Pens Opinion Piece On Thai Regulated Cannabis Market

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Published in KhaosodEnglish.com THE HIDDEN EASTER EGGS INSIDE THAILAND’S NEW CANNABIS LAW http://www.khaosodenglish.com/featured/2019/02/20/the-hidden-easter-eggs-inside-thailands-new-cannabis-law/ n Tuesday, the new cannabis law became effective – solid and real, and much earlier than expected. Coming with the overwhelming support of nearly all sectors of Thai society, the actual law we got is nothing less than the framework for a new, powerful and ambitious movement to launch cannabis as a great economic crop to make a name for Thailand on the world market. The only thing to wait for now are the regulations implementing the law; eight of them are being diligently drafted by the Public Health Ministry for release as soon as next month – meaning all eyes are enthusiastically focused on the ministry. Once those are out, people can start filing their applications for FDA licenses to produce, sell, import, export and possess cannabis for medical use. Beyond that? A close look find

Man Facing 40 Years for Traveling with Legal Medical Marijuana Re-Sentenced

An Oregon medical marijuana patient who faced 40 years in a Mississippi prison for drug trafficking cannabis he purchased legally has been re-sentenced and could be paroled in three years. Patrick Beadle, 46, was sentenced in October to serve eight years in prison without the possibility of parole. However, last month he was allowed by Madison County Circuit Judge William Chapman, who has since retired, to plead guilty to simple possession and the original conviction was set aside. Beadle was then sentenced to 12 years in prison but will be eligible for parole after three years. At the sentencing hearing last year, Chapman had refused to reduce the conviction and said that Beadle could be sentenced to up to 40 years in the penitentiary. “My client didn’t want to roll the dice on an appeal since he was facing eight years in prison day for day,” said Cynthia Stewart, one of Beadle’s attorneys. Stewart said that Chapman and prosecutors agreed to vacate the drug trafficking conviction

First Clinical Trial Of Cannabis For PTSD in Veterans Is Now Complete

After a decade of working on the first FDA-approved trial examining the effects of THC and CBD on the symptoms of PTSD in war veterans, a team of researchers has declared their clinical trial complete. The process, however, was not simple. “We are proud to have persevered through these regulatory hurdles independently of hospitals, universities, or the VA system,” commented site principal investigator Dr. Sue Sisley in a press release. The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) received approval from the U.S. Public Health Service to start the study back in 2014. Research began in January 2017 at Phoenix, Arizona’s Scottsdale Research Institute, and was slated to also take place at Johns Hopkins University, until the school dropped out of the experiment in March 2017. The trial tested marijuana with varying cannabinoid makeups, experimenting with high-THC, high-CBD and equal THC-CBD (1:1) ratio cannabis. Subjects were able to use up to two grams per day duri