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Tell Congress To Include Cannabis In The Next COVID-19 Relief Bill

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Politics.

In these truly difficult times, many small businesses in the cannabis industry are struggling. The fact of the matter is that if smaller cannabis companies in the United States close down during the coronavirus pandemic, they will likely never open again.

We cannot let that happen.

The National Cannabis Industry Association is spearheading an effort to get financial relief for the emerging cannabis industry in the United States. So far, stimulus packages have not involved assistance for the cannabis industry.

Below is an action alert from the National Cannabis Industry Association that we are encouraging everyone to participate in, even if you don’t own a cannabis company. We are all in this together, so please step up and do your part:

While we all continue to do our jobs to flatten the curve in the age of COVID-19, our lobbying team in D.C. has been hard at work on your behalf. We have been working every angle and are exploring any and all opportunities to provide relief for our industry.

The offices of Congressman Blumenauer (D-OR) and Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) have taken the lead on sending a letter to congressional leadership asking that they address the exclusion of state legal cannabis and ancillary businesses from the recently passed CARES Act. But now, we need your help.

In order for these letters to be seriously considered by congressional leadership, we need to get as many members of Congress to sign on as possible. Please consider calling your representative and Senators today and ask them to sign on to the appropriate letter. You can find your member of Congress and how to contact them here.

Here is a short script you can use:

“Hi, I am calling/writing today to ask that you sign onto Congressman Blumenauer/Senator Rosen’s letter to leadership. This letter asks that state-legal cannabis businesses have access to Small Business Administration programs to ensure they have the financial capacity to undertake the public health and worker-focused measures experts are urging businesses to take. This current lack of access will undoubtedly lead to unnecessary layoffs, reduced hours, pay cuts, and furloughs for the workers of cannabis businesses who need support the most. As your constituent, I ask and urge that you sign on to Congressman Blumenauer/Senator Rosen’s letter as soon as possible. Our industry, our businesses, and our employees cannot wait.”

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U.S. Cannabis Plant Seizures Spike, Arrests Fall In 2019 According To DEA

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Politics.

Cannabis prohibition started at the national level in the United States in 1937. Since that time the federal government in the U.S. has worked to eradicate cannabis crops across the country and arrest people that cultivate, possess, and/or distribute cannabis.

For many decades cannabis was prohibited across the entire U.S., however, in 1996 California voters passed the nation’s first medical cannabis legalization measure. Since that time a number of other states have followed suit and a growing list of states have also legalized cannabis for adult use.

As cannabis prohibition continues to erode in the U.S., it is important to remember that the federal government, and many states, continue to wage a war on the cannabis plant and those that consume it. The DEA released stats this week regarding cannabis plant seizures and cannabis arrests in the U.S. which is detailed in a press release by NORML that can be found below:

Federal law enforcement agents and their partners made fewer marijuana-related arrests in 2019, but seized a far greater number of plants than they did the year before, according to annual data compiled by US Drug Enforcement Administration.

According to figures published in the DEA’s Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Statistical Report, the agency and its law enforcement partners confiscated an estimated four million marijuana plants in 2019 – up from 2.8 million in 2018.

By contrast, marijuana-related marijuana arrests compiled by the DEA fell to 4,718 in 2019 – a decrease of 16 percent from 2018’s totals. It was the second-lowest number of arrests reported by the DEA in the past decade. In 2011, for instance, the DEA seized over 8.7 million marijuana plants and made over 8,500 annual arrests as part of its nationwide Eradication/Suppression activities.

Commenting on the longer-term trends, NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said: “Following the enactment of statewide adult-use cannabis legalization laws, both DEA-related marijuana arrests and seizures have fallen dramatically. That said, these totals affirm that targeting marijuana-related growing operations still remains a DEA priority, even at a time when most Americans have made it clear that they want cannabis policies to head in a very different direction.”

Much of the spike in plant seizures in 2019 was attributable to an increase in activity in California. In 2019, law enforcement eradicated 1,344 outdoor grow sites statewide — up from 889 in 2018, and seized nearly 3.2 million plants, nearly twice the previous year’s total.

In 2018, the same year that California began permitting licensed adult-use sales of cannabis, marijuana plant seizures fell nearly 30 percent from the prior year. In February 2019 however, the Governor announced the deployment of national guard troops to track down on illicit marijuana grow operations, an effort which may have played a role in the sudden uptick in seizures in 2019.

According to the DEA, “The DCE/SP began funding eradication programs in Hawaii and California in 1979. The program rapidly expanded to include programs in 25 states by 1982. By 1985, all 50 states were participating in the DCE/SP. … In 2020, the DEA continued its nation-wide cannabis eradication efforts, providing resources to support the 127 state and local law enforcement agencies that actively participate in the program.”

DEA data for 2019 is online here.

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NORML‘s mission is to move public opinion sufficiently to legalize the responsible use of marijuana by adults, and to serve as an advocate for consumers to assure they have access to high-quality marijuana that is safe, convenient, and affordable.

Find out more at www.norml.org and read our factsheets on the most common misconceptions and myths regarding reform efforts around the country at www.norml.org/marijuana/fact-sheets

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Ontario’s Decision To Allow Cannabis Delivery And Pickup Is The Right One

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business.

The coronavirus pandemic has affected virtually every facet of almost every industry on earth in one way or another. Companies are being forced to adapt their business practices if they want to continue to operate, and that includes companies in Canada’s emerging cannabis industry.

Earlier this month Premier Doug Ford put out a list of ‘non-essential’ industries which resulted in those industries having to close temporarily until the pandemic subsides. Unfortunately, cannabis outlets were on that list.

Initially, it looked like cannabis outlets were going to have to close completely, however, Premier Ford reversed his decision days after the initial list went out and will now allow cannabis outlets to continue to sell cannabis via deliveries and curbside pickup. Per CBC:

On April 3, Premier Doug Ford expanded the province’s list of non-essential business to include cannabis stores.

Four days later, the province issued an emergency order allowing those stores to both deliver and offer curbside pickup from Monday to Sunday, between 9 a.m. and 11 p.m.

“This change was made to allow cannabis retailers to have the same opportunities as other non-essential businesses that are permitted to operate remotely if they can provide goods for pickup and delivery.” said Jenessa Crognali, spokesperson for the Attorney General of Ontario.

The reversal in Ontario was the right decision. Countless patients use cannabis for medical purposes throughout Ontario, just as they do in every other part of Canada. For some of them, ordering cannabis online is sufficient, however, many patients prefer to acquire their cannabis through brick and mortar outlets.

Allowing deliveries and pickup services obviously benefits adult-use consumers as well. There are safe ways for consumers to purchase legal cannabis from licensed outlets, and allowing retail outlets to facilitate consumer cannabis purchases via deliveries and pickup will help those businesses stay open.

If outlets were forced to close it’s not as if it would have resulted in consumers choosing to go without cannabis, but rather, it would have resulted in consumers seeking cannabis from unregulated sources which would have no doubt resulted in social distancing practices being ignored. That is the last thing that Ontario needs to happen right now.

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Ireland Minister For Health To Assist Medical Cannabis Patients

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Medical.

Ireland’s health minister recently announced that the government will help patients access medical cannabis and arranged for an emergency shipment of medical cannabis products from Holland to help address patient access issues. Below is a press release from Ireland’s government with more information:

Minister for Health Simon Harris TD has announced an initiative for patients who avail of a Ministerial licence for medicinal cannabis products to have the products delivered.

Speaking today, Minister Harris said:

“I am aware that the limited number of patients who avail of a Ministerial licence for medicinal cannabis products issued under section 14 of the Misuse of Drugs Acts have been encountering difficulties with access owing to travel restrictions and people’s need to self-isolate.

“I am very glad we have been able to make arrangements to have an emergency supply of their products collected for them in Holland, where the products are supplied, and to have the products delivered to the patients in Ireland. Patients and their clinicians are now being contacted by the department in order that these arrangements may be put in place.”

Ireland’s medical cannabis program is still very limited compared to other parts of the world, however, the move by Ireland’s government is encouraging. Hopefully the import from Holland will not be the last if the pandemic lingers onward and shortages continue, and hopefully as many patients are helped as possible by the imports.

Medical cannabis is essential for the patients that need it, and there are many suffering patients across Ireland that will not have safe, legal access to cannabis despite the imported medical cannabis products from Holland. Activists in Ireland must keep fighting until the day comes when every patient in Ireland gets the safe access to medical cannabis that they need and deserve.

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Shortages, Price Increases Are The Snapshot Of The Euro Industry During The Covid 19 Pandemic

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Business.

If there is one thing that is clear during the current Pandemic, it is this – policymakers from a national and international level have not only dropped the ball on cannabis but are contributing to patients suffering unnecessarily.

Here is just a snapshot of the pain in Europe:

In France, black market prices, the realm of the desperate in a country which has shamefully lagged on any real reform, have doubled. The reason? Border controls to contain the virus have shut down “normal” supply routes from the Netherlands, Belgium as well as Morocco. This means that patients not only risk arrest in trying to meet dealers, but in a world where paychecks for most have been shrunk if not are non-existent, many cannot afford to buy a drug whose price has skyrocketed in the last month. This situation is even leaving the police worried about what comes next. Rivalries between gangs competing for products may lead to public disorder. Lockdowns, particularly in crowded accommodations, will get much more difficult to enforce. 

In Spain, most of the cannabis clubs have had to shut, due to a lack of regulatory decision making to keep them open or declare them “essential” as seen in the U.S. and Canada.

And in Germany, pro-cannabis associations, like the Branchenverband Cannabiswirtschaft (BVCW) have begun to warn not only of impending drug shortages but also the danger to patients from being forced to go to both doctor’s offices and apothekes to obtain the drug. Or worse, fall into the black market again.

BVCW has started calling for the Ministry of Health to implement telemedicine options like online doctor prescriptions and of course home delivery.

The reality of course, is that the entire industry was dealt a painful blow by the UN’s decision to delay a vote on rescheduling right before declaring a global pandemic for another 9 months.

In the meantime, the industry is being hit on all sides by a lack of regulatory guidance, bailouts, or basic legitimacy, and in a situation where cannabis patients are a subset of the most vulnerable.

That said, it is also clear that the industry is also gearing up to respond. It is unlikely, as a result, that international if not more regional and country-wide reform will be left on the table after the end of the year.

In the meantime, the industry is adapting, as it has before, to the next challenge, with the hope that it will finally see international recognition and regulation by the end of the year.

For updates on the latest regulatory changes across a now global industry, be sure to attend the International Cannabis Business Conference in Germany later this summer.

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Spanish Patients Can No Longer Access The Cannabis Clubs

Written by Marguerite Arnold on . Posted in Cultural.

In the United States, the issue of whether the cannabis industry is “critical” or not is being fought on a state by state basis. In Europe, the situation is almost the same, except the mandates here are “national” and “federal.”

In Spain, one of the worst-hit Covid countries, cannabis patients are in a terrible situation. The Cannabis Clubs are all in a tenuous position thanks to the lockdowns and a failure by authorities to address the situation to help keep them open, even in a limited capacity (at least officially).  Most of the associations are closed due to the Pandemic. Those who risk opening for an hour or two a day are doing so in secret. And the supply on the street has rapidly escalated in price.  

As a result, most of the 200,000 patients in Spain currently served by the clubs are now left without medication, either because of lack of access to the clubs, or money, or both.

The clubs themselves are also in an almost impossible solution, even if they wish to help. Obtaining supplies from the outskirts of towns where the cannabis is cultivated for the clubs is almost impossible due to the lockdown measures. Those who brave the measures and are caught risk huge fines. Some clubs are opening for an hour or two a day, despite the lockdown, clandestinely, just to stay alive, if they can.

Indeed, as reported by Spanish ‘zine ElPlural.com, the Pandemic and efforts to control it, are having an outsized and terrible impact on Spain’s cannabis patients.  Carola Perez, president of the Spanish Observatory of Medicinal Cannabis, put it this way. “Right now, we are facing many calls from desperate people.”

Unlike the United States, Canada, and even Germany, where the drug has slowly begun to gain acceptance, and patients can still obtain supplies from dispensaries and pharmacies, the lack of regulatory progress or even current guidance in Spain has thrown a curveball that is, as some are describing it, a human rights violation of massive proportions because nobody thought about giving the clubs any sort of protection to operate. Or patients the right to obtain their meds from these outlets.

Where is the status of cannabis regulation In Spain?

The calls and promises to regulate the drug and normalize its use, even medically, have stalled since 2017. Cannabis has been banned in Spain “officially” since 1967 when the dictator Francisco Franco outlawed it, but in recent years, the clubs have begun to fill in the grey areas. There are currently only ten companies in Spain who have the right to cultivate the plant, given said authority from the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS). This medication must be obtained from a doctor (still difficult) and is highly expensive.

Everyone else depends on the clubs and exists in a tenuous reality, created by a lack of forward progress on cannabis reform domestically, if not internationally. The pandemic, of course, has already made the gaps in the system, and the lack of real reform all the more visible.

For up to the date information on regulatory change across Europe, be sure to attend the International Cannabis Business Conference when it returns to Europe in late summer 2020.

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Far Fewer Incidences Of Vaping Illness Reported In Legal Cannabis States According To Study

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Business.

In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, many people forget about a previous health crisis that was sweeping across the globe and was particularly bad in North America – the vaping crisis.

For many weeks reports were popping up of people experiencing illnesses after consuming vape pen cartridges, and in some cases, the suffering individuals died, which is extremely unfortunate. Cannabis opponents pounced on the crisis and pointed to it as ‘proof’ that cannabis reform was failing.

Cannabis advocates were quick to point out that a vast majority of the vape pen cartridges involved were unregulated, and that the best way to address the crisis was via more cannabis regulation, and not less, which is essentially what cannabis opponents were calling for.

A recent press release from NORML provides further proof that cannabis advocates are right. See the press release from NORML below:

Incidences of the vaping-related lung illness EVALI (e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury) are primarily concentrated to jurisdictions where adult-use cannabis consumption is prohibited, according to data published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network Open.

Commenting on the findings, NORML Executive Director Erik Altieri said, “These findings come as little surprise. In jurisdictions where cannabis is legally regulated, consumers gravitate toward the above-ground retail marketplace where they can access lab-tested products manufactured by licensed businesses.” He added, “Just like alcohol prohibition gave rise to the illicit production of dangerous ‘bathtub gin,’ marijuana prohibition provides bad actors, not licensed businesses, the opportunity to fulfill consumers’ demand – sometimes with tragic results.”

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 3,000 people have sought hospitalization because of the illness, which peaked last September, and nearly 70 people died as a result of it. In November, the CDC publicly identified vitamin E acetate – a diluting agent sometimes present in counterfeit, unregulated vape pen products – as a primarily “culprit” in the outbreak.

Writing on Monday in the journal JAMA Network Open, researchers affiliated with Indiana University reported that last year’s sudden outbreak of EVALI cases was not driven by either state-level differences or prevalence in e-cigarette use. Rather, they reported that cases “were concentrated in states where consumers do not have legal access to recreational marijuana dispensaries. … One possible inference from our results is that the presence of legal markets for marijuana has helped mitigate or may be protective against EVALI.”

A previous analysis of EVALI prevalence in legal cannabis markets versus illegal markets by Leafly.com drew a similar conclusion.

In a statement to the online news site MedPageToday.com, the study’s lead author said that the team’s findings are “consistent with the hypothesis that people have demand for marijuana products, and in states where they don’t have access to them in this regulatory fashion, they end up purchasing them elsewhere.”

Full text of the study, “Association of state marijuana legalization policies for medical and recreational use with vaping-associated lung disease,” appears in JAMA Network Open. An accompanying editorial, “Marijuana legislation and electronic cigarette- or vaping-associated lung injury,” also appears online here.

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NORML’s mission is to move public opinion sufficiently to legalize the responsible use of marijuana by adults, and to serve as an advocate for consumers to assure they have access to high-quality marijuana that is safe, convenient, and affordable.

Find out more at www.norml.org and read our factsheets on the most common misconceptions and myths regarding reform efforts around the country at www.norml.org/marijuana/fact-sheets

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Medical Cannabis Imports Double In Germany In The Last Year

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Medical.

Germany is home to the largest economy in Europe and a population that is more than twice the size of the population of California. With that in mind, it is not a coincidence that Germany’s medical cannabis market is one of the largest on earth.

Ever since Germany’s medical cannabis program opened up to the masses in recent years, cannabis entrepreneurs and investors have tried to crack into the German medical cannabis market in a meaningful way, and in the process, reap the financial rewards.

Domestically cultivated cannabis is still evolving in Germany, with the market still being supplied by medical cannabis imports from other countries. According to recent statistics released by Germany’s government, the import market grew significantly in the last year in Germany. Per Born2Invest:

The German government provided figures on the increasing demand for medical cannabis products. In 2019, 6.5 tons of cannabis flowers were imported into Germany to meet the needs of patients who treat their diseases with medical cannabis. That amount is double compared to the previous year. Significant increases have also been recorded for Sativex, Dronabinol and other cannabis products used for therapy.

Almost the entire demand for cannabis is covered by imports since cultivation is strictly regulated in Germany. According to Kirsten Kappert-Gonther, drug policy spokesperson of the parliamentary group of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, the hard cap on the cultivation of cannabis in Germany was a mistake.

It will be very interesting to see if the import figures level off with domestic cultivation ramping up in Germany, or if it will continue to increase in size. Germany’s medical cannabis industry is still young by many standards, and it’s likely a safe bet that many patients will choose whichever option is the most affordable.

In theory,  domestically cultivated cannabis has an edge from a pricing standpoint. Local cannabis is fresher and doesn’t require the shipping costs and other financial burdens that come with sending medical cannabis across international borders (and in some cases, oceans).

However, domestic cannabis isn’t an automatic winner from a profit potential standpoint. Cannabis may be able to be cultivated abroad for cheaper. Perhaps so much cheaper that the combined wholesale price and cost to export the wholesale medical cannabis is less than cultivating cannabis in Germany. After all, there’s a reason why a lot of agricultural products come from South America. Why would cannabis be different from fruits and vegetables in that regard?

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Will Mexico Legalize Cannabis By The April 30th Deadline?

Written by Johnny Green on . Posted in Politics.

As of this blog post, there are only two countries that have legalized cannabis for adult use – Canada and Uruguay. Uruguay was the first country to legalize cannabis for adult use, and Canada was the first G-7 country to do so.

A court ruling last year in Italy struck down cannabis prohibition, however, lawmakers in Italy have yet to pass legislation to implement a cannabis legalization law. Prior to the court ruling in Italy, a similar court ruling occurred in Mexico, with Mexico’s Supreme Court not only ruling that cannabis prohibition was unconstitutional, but the Court also tasked lawmakers with passing legalization legislation by the end of 2019.

The initial deadline came and went, and Mexico’s Supreme Court issued an extension, with a new deadline being April 30th. That is obviously a month away still, yet with everything going on in regards to the coronavirus pandemic, it’s looking increasingly unlikely that Mexico’s lawmakers will be able to meet the new deadline.

Senate commissions in Mexico passed a legalization bill earlier in March, but there’s still a lot that needs to be done before the bill gets all the way through the political process in Mexico. The legislation still needs to go through the Mexico Senate plenary and the Chamber of Deputies before it goes to Mexico’s President for his signature.

Anything is possible, obviously, but the odds of Mexico’s lawmakers getting all of that done within a month are not good. That would be true even if there wasn’t a pandemic going on. With the pandemic still affecting operations all over the globe, including in Mexico, the legalization in effort could get frozen in Mexico for the time being.

Mexico’s lower chamber suspended most functions on March 20th, with no firm date set to resume all operations. With that being said, presumably, Mexico’s Supreme Court will issue another extension, which will allow Mexico’s lawmakers more time to build consensus around a comprehensive cannabis legalization measure.

What the new date would be is anyone’s guess at this point.