Politics – Page 18 – International Cannabis Business Conference

International Travel Icon Rick Steves Urges Voters To Support Legalization

Written by Johnny Green on September 23, 2020. Posted in Politics.

Rick Steves is one of the most beloved humans on earth. Steves’ books and television shows dedicated to traveling the world have been read/viewed by tens of millions of people all over the globe.

Steves is one of the biggest champions for cannabis reform that the cannabis community has ever known. He has fought for cannabis reform and leveraged his celebrity status to support legalization efforts all over the planet, including and especially in the United States.

Rick’s support of cannabis reform is a big reason why we were so honored to have him as a keynote speaker at our virtual cannabis event that we held earlier this year.

Rick Steves is urging voters in various states to support legalization initiatives that will be appearing on the ballot in November. Below is more information about it via a press release that was sent to us by our friends at NORML:

Internationally renowned travel guide, author, and NORML Board member Rick Steves released a video message today urging voters this November to decide in favor of a number of statewide ballot proposals seeking to legalize the use of marijuana for either medical or adult use.

In his message, Steves calls the criminalization of marijuana a “counterproductive law” with racist origins, and praises state-level legalization policies for having raised tax revenue, mitigated the size of the illicit market, and promoted civil liberties. “We’re glad we legalized [marijuana in Washington state in 2012] and so are citizens in lots of other states. And with this election, in your state you can legalize too. Be sure to vote, and vote ‘yes’ on marijuana.”

Voters in Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota will decide on adult-use legalization ballot initiatives on Election Day. Voters in Mississippi and South Dakota will decide this November on medicalization ballot measures.

In a text accompanying his video message, Steves wrote: “I’ve campaigned for marijuana legalization in six different states — Washington (2012), Oregon (2014), Massachusetts and Maine (2016), and Illinois and Michigan (2018) — and in each one, we’ve been successful. And for 2020, as I’m doing that work from home, I’ll be ‘barn-storming’ virtually in four states: New Jersey, Arizona, South Dakota, and Montana. We’re polling well in all four states and fully expect to win — as long as people who believe it’s time to update the racist and counter-productive current laws get out to vote.

“Partnering with MPP (the Marijuana Policy Project, in South Dakota and Montana) and NORML (the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws — of which I’m a longtime board member — in Arizona and New Jersey), I’ve committed myself to ten solid days of media work (from September 21 through September 30) in these four states.

“I see this work as a civic duty…an act of good citizenship. If you care about fighting racism, defending civil liberties, and replacing a thriving black market with a highly regulated and taxed legal one, I hope you can work to elect politicians who favor an end to the prohibition on marijuana with this year’s election.”

NORML‘s Erik Altieri said: “We are thrilled to have Rick Steves taking time out of his busy schedule to emphasize that marijuana prohibition laws are a tragic, costly, and counterproductive policies for our country. Rick knows, as do the majority of voters in this country, that it is time to end this failed policy and legalize marijuana.”

Further information and additional videos are available at RickSteves.com here.

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Cannabis Opponents’ Poll Backfires, Shows Legalization Winning By Large Margin

Written by Johnny Green on September 23, 2020. Posted in Politics.

Support for cannabis reform has surged in the last 10 years according to various polls. It’s tough to say whether the polls are accurately reflecting a change in opinion among voters around the globe, or if people are just simply confident enough to now admit that they support cannabis reform and have for a very long time.

Regardless, the end result is that support for cannabis reform is at an all-time high, especially in the United States. A record 66% of respondents in Gallup’s annual cannabis legalization poll expressed support for legalization last year. The results for this year’s poll should be out any day, and it’s a safe bet that support for legalization has either remained consistent or increased.

A number of states will be voting on cannabis legalization in November in the United States, including South Dakota. South Dakota will be the first state in U.S. history to place medical legalization and adult-use legalization initiatives on the same ballot for voters to decide.

Cannabis opponents conducted their own poll recently to gauge voter interest in both of the South Dakota measures, and unfortunately for opponents (but fortunately for supporters!) the results were presumably not what opponents were hoping for, as reported by Marijuana Moment:

There’s strong support for each of the measures in the new prohibitionist-funded survey, which was conducted June 27-30 and announced in a press release on Thursday. Roughly sixty percent of South Dakota voters said they favor recreational legalization, while more than 70 percent said they back medical cannabis legalization, according to the No Way on A Committee, which didn’t publish detailed cross-tabs, or even specific basic top-line numbers, from the poll results.

The decision by the prohibitionist committee to release the results of a poll showing such broad support for legalization is an interesting one. Typically, ballot campaigns and candidates use polling results to demonstrate momentum, but perhaps the South Dakota group is seeking to sound the alarm and generate donations from national legalization opponents to help stop the measure. If South Dakota votes to legalize cannabis this November, that would signal that the policy can pass almost anywhere.

Neither cannabis reform measure in South Dakota is earth shattering so to speak. They are both sensible measures that have policy components that are already in place in other states.

Just as there are no significant issues regarding the policy changes in other states that have legalized cannabis for medical and/or adult use, the same will prove to be true in South Dakota. Hopefully the poll results prove to be accurate and South Dakota gets on the right side of history in November.

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Why Is The MORE Act Vote A Really Big Deal?

Written by Johnny Green on September 16, 2020. Posted in Politics.

The United States House of Representatives is expected to hold a vote later this month that is going to be truly historic. Below is more information about it via a press release sent to us by our friends at NORML:

BY PAUL ARMENTANO, NORML DEPUTY DIRECTOR

Members of the US House of Representatives are expected to vote later this month on The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement Act (a/k/a The MORE Act). Since its introduction last August, NORML has worked diligently to gain political support for the Act, which is now co-sponsored by nearly one-quarter of the US House.

While NORML anticipates successful passage of the bill in the House, we also recognize that this vote is far from the end of this campaign. Nonetheless, the forthcoming House vote will mark an important and significant milestone in the history of marijuana law reform.

First, Some Context

To date, 33 states and the District of Columbia regulate the production, sale, and use of marijuana and marijuana-infused products for medical purposes. Eleven of these states also permit marijuana possession by adults, and ten of them also regulate adult-use sales. Yet, to date, all of these state-level legalization policies are incongruous with federal law, which classifies the cannabis plant as a Schedule I criminal substance.

This state-federal conflict is problematic for a variety of reasons. For example, those who operate state-licensed marijuana establishments experience unnecessary fears and hardships as a result of this conflict – such as a lack of banking access, the failure to qualify for federal small business loans, and the lingering concern that one day their activities may be the target of a federal prosecution. Ultimately, only legislative action by the federal government can rectify this schizophrenic-like situation.

Of course, gaining Congressional approval for any legislation is a difficult task – over the past decade, fewer than three percent of bills or resolutions introduced in Congress were signed into law – and passing substantive marijuana reforms at the federal level is even more difficult. Nonetheless, passing legislation through Congress remains the most viable pathway for amending the federal Controlled Substances Act, so therefore it is the primary avenue that advocates must pursue.

What Does the MORE Act Do?

There are many competing marijuana-related reform bills pending in Congress. The MORE Act is the most significant and comprehensive of these legislative efforts.

Most importantly, The MORE Act removes cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act — thus providing individual states with the authority to be the primary arbiters of cannabis policy and eliminating the existing conflict between state-level marijuana legalization policies and federal law.

The MORE Act would also make several other important changes to federal marijuana policy. For example, it permits physicians affiliated with the Veterans Administration for the first time to make medical cannabis recommendations to qualifying veterans who reside in legal states, and it incentivizes states to move ahead with expungement policies that will end the stigma and lost opportunities suffered by those with past, low-level cannabis convictions. The MORE Act also allows the Small Business Administration to support entrepreneurs and businesses as they seek to gain a foothold in this emerging industry.

Why Is This Vote So Important?

Despite the reality that Senate GOP leaders, and Speaker Mitch McConnell in particular, at this time lack the appetite to advance even moderate cannabis reform legislation, House action on The MORE Act is significant nonetheless.

First, the House’s pending floor vote is historic. It will be the first time since the passage of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 that a Congressional chamber has ever voted on legislation to remove marijuana from its prohibitive classification under federal law.

Second, this vote puts the 435 members of the House on record. Following this vote, the public will know who in the US House of Representatives stands with the majority of Americans in support of an end to the failed federal policy of marijuana prohibition. Conversely, voters will also know which members wish to continue to threaten the freedom and liberty of the millions of Americans who reside in states that have enacted common-sense alternatives to cannabis criminalization.

Third, a majority vote in favor of MORE will provide reformers with significant political clout to encourage the Biden campaign to take a more progressive and aggressive stance on the marijuana reform issue. Currently, the campaign has publicly endorsed a policy of marijuana rescheduling – a policy that NORML believes is woefully inadequate and that could inadvertently complicate statewide reform efforts. However, approval of The MORE Act by the Democratic-controlled House could be the impetus necessary for the Biden campaign to revisit its existing stance and move in a direction that provides for federally descheduling marijuana — a position already held by Vice Presidential candidate Kamala Harris..

Finally, the advancement of The MORE Act by the House sets the stage for a potential, and necessary, Senate battle in 2021. If Democrats gain majority control of the Senate in November, our most significant hurdle – Speaker Mitch McConnell – will no longer be able to single-handedly stonewall legislative progress. Further, several powerful Senate Democrats, such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, are already on record in support of descheduling and would likely be receptive to debating and advancing this and other important marijuana reform legislation in the next Congress.

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NORML advocates for changes in public policy so that the responsible possession and use of marijuana by adults is no longer subject to criminal penalties. NORML further advocates for a regulated commercial cannabis market so that activities involving the for-profit production and retail sale of cannabis and cannabis products are safe, transparent, consumer-friendly, and are subject to state and/or local licensure. Finally, NORML advocates for additional changes in legal and regulatory policies so that those who use marijuana responsibly are no longer face either social stigma or workplace discrimination, and so that those with past criminal records for marijuana-related violations have the opportunity to have their records automatically expunged.

Find out more at norml.org and read our Fact Sheets on the most common misconceptions and myths regarding reform efforts around the country

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South Africa’s Parliament To Miss Cannabis Legalization Vote Deadline

Written by Johnny Green on September 9, 2020. Posted in Politics.

As it stands only Canada and Uruguay have legalized cannabis for adult use. The two nations’ legalization model differs in many ways, however, both countries permit the possession, cultivation, and legal sales of adult-use cannabis in one way or another.

Many other countries are exploring ending cannabis prohibition within their borders, and Mexico and Italy have court decisions in place that require legalization to be implemented. Neither Mexico nor Italy has seen its lawmakers step up and successfully pass a legalization measure.

One country that is not on many people’s radars when it comes to legalization is South Africa. South Africa’s Parliament has been in discussions to legalize cannabis for adult use for a while now and was set to vote on a legalization measure in order to comply with a 2018 court ruling.

Unfortunately, it appears that the vote will not happen, at least not by the initial deadline of September 17. Below is more information about what is being proposed, per Business Day:

According to the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill, the maximum quantity allowed for possession for personal consumption will be 600g of dried cannabis or cannabis equivalent per adult, or 1,200g per dwelling occupied by two or more people. The maximum permissible quantity in a public place will be 100g.

In terms of cultivation no more than four cannabis plants can be grown per adult or not more than eight plants in a dwelling occupied by two or more people. Dealing will remain prohibited, as will smoking cannabis in public.

It is unclear at this time if/when the measure will get another chance at a vote. With a court ruling having been previously handed down, it’s fair to assume that a legalization measure will eventually be passed and implemented in South Africa.

With that being said, the effort to legalize in South Africa could linger on for a while. After all, the process involves politicians, and politicians are not exactly the most efficient when it comes to getting things done.

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U.S. Lawmakers Prepare For A Historic House Floor Cannabis Legalization Vote

Written by Johnny Green on August 31, 2020. Posted in Politics.

September will reportedly see a historic cannabis legalization vote occur in the United States House of Representatives. Below is more information about it from our friends at NORML via a press release sent to the International Cannabis Business Conference:

House lawmakers are preparing for a September floor vote on legislation – The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement Act a/k/a The MORE Act – to remove marijuana from the federal Controlled Substances Act. The forthcoming vote would mark the first time since the passage of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, which placed cannabis in the same category as heroin as a Schedule I controlled substance, that a Congressional chamber has voted to remove marijuana from its prohibitive classification.

“Passage of The MORE Act is essential in order to truly right the wrongs of federal marijuana criminalization, and to once and for all allow the majority of states that have legalized cannabis for either medical or adult-use to embrace these policies free from the threat of undue federal prosecution or interference,” NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said.

Since the bill’s introduction last year, NORML has been a leader in the federal lobbying efforts in support of The MORE Act. To date, NORML members have sent over 100,000 messages to Congress in support of the Act’s passage.

Earlier this month, Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden chose California Senator Kamala Harris to be his running mate. Senator Harris is the lead sponsor of The MORE Act in the Senate. According to national polling data compiled by the Data for Progress think-tank, 62 percent of likely voters – including majorities of Democrats and Republicans – support passage of The MORE Act.

The House version of the Act, HR 3884, currently has over 85 cosponsors, including Assistant Speaker Ben Ray Lujan; Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries and caucus-Vice Chair Katherine Clark; and Committee Chairs Maxine Waters, Jim McGovern, Raul Grijalva, and Nydia Velazquez; and Cannabis Caucus co-Chairs Earl Blumenauer and Barbara Lee.

Last November, members of the House Judiciary Committee advanced the House version of The MORE Act, marking the first time in history that federal lawmakers have moved forward legislation to remove (a/k/a deschedule) cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). NORML believes that comprehensive federal marijuana policy reform is only possible via descheduling marijuana rather than by rescheduling it. Just as alcohol is not included in the CSA, thereby leaving states to be the primary regulators of their own alcohol policies, NORML maintains that cannabis should similarly be descheduled.

“Less than two years ago, we put out our blueprint outlining a path to cannabis legalization in the 116th Congress,” said Representative Earl Blumenauer, co-Chairman of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus. ”Now, after many months of hard work and collaboration, we finally have a chance to end the failed policy of prohibition that has resulted in a long and shameful period of selective enforcement against people of color, especially Black men. As people across the country protest racial injustices, there’s even greater urgency for Congress to seize this historic opportunity and finally align our cannabis laws with what the majority of Americans support, while ensuring restorative justice.”

The Act would also make several other important changes to federal policy. For example, it permits physicians affiliated with the Veterans Administration for the first time to make medical marijuana recommendations to qualifying veterans who reside in legal states, and it incentivizes states to move ahead with expungement policies that will end the stigma and lost opportunities suffered by those with past, low-level cannabis convictions. If approved, The MORE Act also allows the Small Business Administration to support entrepreneurs and businesses as they seek to gain a foothold in this emerging industry.

“A House floor vote will put our federal lawmakers on record,” NORML‘s Armentano said. ”We will know who stands with the majority of Americans in supporting an end to the failed federal policy of marijuana prohibition, and equally importantly, we will know in Congress wishes to continue to threaten the freedom and liberty of the millions of Americans who reside in states that have enacted common-sense alternatives to cannabis criminalization.”

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Find out more at norml.org and read our Fact Sheets on the most common misconceptions and myths regarding reform efforts around the country

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Mexico’s President: Legalization Will Advance Through Congress

Written by Johnny Green on August 26, 2020. Posted in Politics.

Mexico’s Congress is set to begin its session next month, and cannabis reform observers are eager to see what happens to cannabis legalization policy efforts that have been languishing for many months.

The Mexico Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that cannabis prohibition was unconstitutional and tasked Mexico’s lawmakers to draft, pass, and implement a cannabis regulation and legalization measure. The original deadline in which to do so was one year, however, 2019 came and went.

A new deadline was granted, and lawmakers then had until the end of April this year to comply with the Court’s ruling. Unfortunately, due to COVID that deadline came and went and a new deadline of December 15 is in place.

It is unclear what would happen if the new deadline was not complied with, yet cannabis reform supporters are hopeful that it will ultimately prove to be a moot point after Mexico’s President made comments recently that were very encouraging. Per Marijuana Moment:

The president of Mexico says that marijuana legalization will advance through Congress when it reconvenes next month—and he won’t stand in the way.

During a press conference on Wednesday, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was asked about a recent meeting with a key senator who is championing the cannabis reform legislation and whether he’s supportive of the proposal.

He emphasized that “it must be taken into account that we are respectful of the division and balance between powers” when it comes to the executive and legislative branches of government, according to a translation, adding that the marijuana proposal has “been around for a long time.”

Mexico has a long history when it comes to the War on Drugs, and that includes cannabis. If/when legalization gets passed in Mexico it will be very interesting to see how things play out because of how complicated things are there.

It will also be interesting to see how the United States’ federal government reacts. After all, the United States will then be sandwiched in between two legal countries. Only time will tell.

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New Zealand Cannabis Legalization Vote Moved To October

Written by Johnny Green on August 26, 2020. Posted in Politics.

New Zealand is the only country voting on a national cannabis legalization measure in 2020. As of right now, adult-use cannabis is only legal in two countries – Uruguay and Canada.

Two other countries, Mexico and Italy, are in the process of implementing previous court rulings which determined that cannabis prohibition is unconstitutional in those nations.

A handful of other countries are exploring pilot programs that would legalize cannabis for adult-use in limited instances.

The cannabis legalization measure in New Zealand is part of the overall General Election, which was originally scheduled to take place on September 19, 2020. However, a recent COVID-19 outbreak has resulted in the election, and with it the vote on legalization, being moved to October. Per Stuff:

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has delayed the 2020 election by a month, with a new polling day set for October 17.

Ardern has been under increasing pressure to delay the election, previously set for September 19, after Auckland was placed in a two-week lockdown due to an outbreak of Covid-19 in the community, leading to a halt in most political campaigning.

Parliament will now dissolve on September 6, with early voting starting on October 3 and overseas voting starting on September 30. The two referendums scheduled to coincide with the election will also be moved.

Polling for the cannabis legalization measure has been all over the board, with some polls showing it losing and others showing that it will win once it is voted on. Ultimately, only time will tell.

The delayed vote could prove to be a blessing for cannabis advocates because it gives them more time to convince voters that cannabis prohibition is a failure and that it’s time for a more sensible approach.

To be fair, it also provides more time for opponents to pursue their goal of convincing voters in New Zealand that prohibition is working.

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Portugal Moves Forward On Regulating Domestic Hemp Market

Written by Marguerite Arnold on August 11, 2020. Posted in Politics.

On August 4, the Portuguese government issued a regulatory document that authorizes the cultivation and exploitation of the domestic hemp market.

According to the document, translated from Portuguese, the law “establishes the conditions, authorizations and inspection that apply to the cultivation, production, manufacture, employment, trade, distribution, import, export, introduction, dispatch, transit, possession for any purpose and use of plants, substances and preparations.”

Here are the big takeaways:

The Departments of Agriculture and Justice have an overview and supervisory authority over the vertical for hemp bound for industrial purposes. The Institute for the Financing of Agriculture and Fisheries along with the Judiciary Police, National Republica Guard and the Public Security police will also all have a role to play in the regulation and oversight of the industry and its regulatory schemata and rules.
Regardless, however, no matter where the hemp is grown, it will be subject to certification just because of difficulty authorities have already identified, namely understanding quickly which plant is which (higher THC cultivars vs. low THC plants with less than 0.2%).
This classification includes all hemp grown for non-human consumption (i.e. industrial) and animal food.
The regulations will also be applied to the medical cannabis market – namely creating a space domestically for the legal prescription of narcotic drugs.
Sets fees for cultivation (3,000), additional certifications (1,000), and additional charges set by the government for the licensing and certification process.

Significance In the European Market

Portugal is currently one of the few countries which have allowed cannabis production from the medical perspective since Tilray established production facilities in the country in 2017. Now, however, it is clearly joining the list of European countries determined to try to regulate hemp separately.

This means, however, that the country has not taken a stand on the discussion before any European Commission decision that hemp is somehow a “narcotic” (pending in September). The Portuguese decree also does not appear to take a stand on the question of whether hemp is “novel” or not for human consumption.

This careful designation, in other words, appears to presage a future where the terms and conditions of the entire industry are set by those who believe that hemp or its extracts are somehow “new” in Europe. Or potentially classified for all human consumption as a “narcotic.”

In the meantime, beyond the headlines, German-produced, and EU-BIO certified, higher quality hemp oil is showing up in chain grocery stores across Deutschland.

It is inevitable that there are a few rounds left in the entire discussion from the regional and country perspective.

In the meantime, another country in Europe has established a formal hemp program, even if it seems to be a very small first step.

Join the International Cannabis Business Conference when it returns to Europe in 2021. Until then, stay tuned to our blog!

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Canada Grants Only 257 Cannabis Pardons In Program’s First Year

Written by Johnny Green on August 11, 2020. Posted in Politics.

A cannabis offense on a person’s record can literally ruin their life. When someone is arrested and convicted of a cannabis offense, the initial punishment is the fine and/or incarceration. However, the punishment continues well after the offender has served their ‘debt to society.’

Cannabis offenders are essentially branded with the ‘cannabis scarlet letter’ and they carry it for as long as the offense pops up on background checks, which can prove to be the case for decades after the offense.

A cannabis offense on a record can result in someone being turned down for a job that they are otherwise qualified for. It can prevent people from receiving government assistance, including financial aid for college. People can lose out on housing opportunities and can even be prevented from volunteering for various organizations and causes.

No one should have to live like that – not for possessing a plant that is 114 times safer than alcohol. Canada, which legalized cannabis for adult use in 2018, launched a program roughly a year ago that was geared towards helping folks get cannabis offenses removed from their records. Unfortunately, it appears that the program has not helped enough people. Per CBC:

It has been one year since the government launched a program offering Canadians with a criminal record for simple pot possession a fast, free pardon — but only 257 people have been granted one so far.

Critics say the low number proves the program is “unconscionable” and a “total failure.” They’re calling on the government to deliver an automatic removal of those criminal records.

According to figures provided by the Parole Board of Canada (PBC), 458 people have applied to the program. Of those, 259 were accepted for consideration, with 257 granted and two discontinued. Another 194 applications were returned because the person was ineligible or the file was incomplete, while five more are still in the works.

It should be a standard feature of any legalization measure going forward, regardless of the country or jurisdiction, that past cannabis convictions get automatically expunged and the records sealed.

It makes zero sense for someone to continue to be punished, no matter how major or minor the punishment is, after the binding law is changed.