Category: Politics

The complaint accuses New York-based Columbia Care of tortious interference with contract, unjust enrichment, civil conspiracy, aiding and abetting fraud and aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty, among other offenses,

A Florida company focused on low-THC cannabis sued a New York-based cannabis company in New York County’s Supreme Court Commercial Division Friday, arguing that a medical marijuana license worth tens of millions of dollars was fraudulently misappropriated.

In the complaint, which accuses New York-based Columbia Care of tortious interference with contract, unjust enrichment, civil conspiracy, aiding and abetting fraud and aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty, among other offenses, Kasowitz Benson Torres partner Sarmad Khojasteh also accused Columbia Care of “a pattern of racketeering and tortious activity” in other states, including Arizona and Massachusetts.

Khojasteh argued that his client, Florida MCBD, spent years and hundreds of thousands of dollars seeking a license to operate a medical marijuana treatment center from the Florida Department of Health, starting in 2015.

To complete that process, Florida MCBD entered into a joint venture agreement with Sun Bulb, a Florida-based nursery, to help meet the state’s requirements for medical marijuana treatment center licenses, according to court filings.

Read the full article here.

The governor of New Mexico said last week that the state needs to explore every option for economic relief, and that includes passing marijuana legalization.

Near the end of a two-hour livestream updating residents on the state’s coronavirus response efforts on Wednesday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) was asked whether she was in favor of the legislature passing adult-use legalization during an upcoming special session to generate tax revenue to offset financial challenges caused by the pandemic.

“Let’s end on a high note,” the governor joked, adding that she felt suspensions of various capital projects due to the health crisis “likely would not have occurred” if lawmakers had legalized recreational marijuana during this year’s regular session as she’d unsuccessfully urged them to do.

“The projections are nearly $100 million of recurring revenue into the budget” from cannabis legalization, she said. “If we want economic support and economic relief, then we have to use every economic idea. And I want to point out also that the vast majority of New Mexicans favor recreational cannabis.”

Lujan Grisham hinted that she may actively campaign against lawmakers who blocked her legalization bill in this year’s regular session.

“We have an opportunity,” she said. “I think all of our policymakers need to think clearly—and they should expect me to be supporting in the next general election—we have to pass recreational cannabis in the state. We need to diversify our economy, we need to increase opportunity for recurring revenue and we have to rebuild an economy that has suffered dramatically during this public health crisis.”

The governor made a similar argument last month, though she also acknowledged that the $100 million revenue estimate, which was released by a working group the governor formed to study the impact of legalization last year, would likely have been affected by the pandemic.

It should also be noted that the $100 million figure is an estimate of the combined tax revenue from the existing medical cannabis market and the add-on of adult-use sales. And that’s after the latter market matures.

Further, a legalization bill that passed one Senate committee earlier this year only to be rejected in another before the close of the short 30-day session stipulated that sales would have begun on July 1, meaning the state would not have been able to collect the much-needed revenue in the midst of the health crisis, unless emergency action was taken.

Legalization might not have happened as planned during New Mexico’s regular 2020 legislative session, but the governor said in February that she’s open to letting voters decide on the policy change via a ballot referendum.

While the Lujan Grisham didn’t directly answer the question about whether legalization should be pursued during the special session in June, a spokesperson for her office recently said that it’s unlikely the reform move will happen during the window.

Read the entire article here.

Louisiana lawmakers advanced three marijuana reform bills on Wednesday, and that includes legislation that would dramatically expand the state’s medical cannabis program and offer protections for banks that service marijuana businesses.

House-passed legislation to allow physicians to recommend medical cannabis to patients for any debilitating condition that they deem fit was approved by the Senate Health and Welfare Committee in a 5-1 vote. Under current law there are only 14 conditions that qualify patients for marijuana. The bill now heads to the full Senate.

Another bill introduced by Rep. Edmond Jordan (D) to protect banks and credit unions that service cannabis businesses from being penalized by state regulators also advanced on Wednesday, clearing the full House of Representatives in a 74-20 vote.

Beyond prohibiting such penalization solely due to marijuana-related banking activity, the legislation would further prevent state regulators from encouraging banks to deny financial services or cancel accounts for businesses “solely because the account holder is a cannabis-related legitimate business or service provider, or is an employee, owner, or operator of a cannabis-related legitimate business or service provider.”

The financial services legislation will next be considered by a Senate committee before potentially going to that body’s floor.

(However, even if the bill is enacted and provides state protections, banks still face penalties from federal regulators under ongoing national prohibition. The U.S. House has passed federal marijuana banking legislation on two occasions but it has thus far languished in the Senate.)

Over in the Louisiana House Labor and Industrial Relations Committee, members unanimously approved a resolution to establish “a task force to study and make recommendations relative to the cannabis industry projected workforce demands.”

Text of the legislation states that “there is a need to study the workforce demands and the skills necessary to supply the cannabis industry with a capable and compete workforce, including physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, and other healthcare practitioners”

An 11-member task force would be required to “report its findings and recommendations, including any suggestions for proposed legislation, to the legislature no later than February 1, 2021, at which time the task force shall cease to exist.”

The Senate Health and Welfare Committee was also set to take up another another House-passed bill on Wednesday to let licensed dispensaries deliver cannabis to the homes of patients, but the sponsor, Rep. Larry Bagley (R), withdrew it.

He told Marijuana Moment that the reasoning was it’s his understanding that because his separate medical cannabis expansion bill is advancing, it would mean marijuana could be delivered just like any other prescription medication. It’s not clear if regulators will agree with that interpretation, as doctors are still prohibited from “prescribing” cannabis and marijuana products are not dispensed through traditional pharmacies.

That said, Louisiana’s Department of Pharmacy recently released a memo temporarily authorizing dispensaries to temporarily deliver cannabis to patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, so it’s possible officials will be amendable to extending that policy on a permanent basis.

Bagley’s delivery bill would require a government regulatory body to develop “procedures and regulations relative to delivery of dispensed marijuana to patients by designated employees or agents of the pharmacy.”

Finally, another marijuana resolution that was scheduled for debate in the House Agriculture, Forestry, Aquaculture, and Rural Development Committee was also deferred by its sponsor. The measure would have requested a study the impact of adult-use cannabis legalization in the state.

Under the legislation, members of the panel or a subcommittee would be tasked with meeting “as a joint committee to study the impact of legalizing the possession and use of cannabis on the citizens of this state and to report its findings to the legislature prior to the convening of the 2021 Regular Session of the Legislature of Louisiana,” the text states.

Lawmakers have until the end of the legislative session on June 1 to get any of these measures to the desk of Gov. John Bel Edwards (D).

View the entire article here.

As you likely know, the federal SAFE Banking Act would make it easier for cannabis businesses to secure banking access. This is important for the safety of cannabis workers (to reduce the risk of robberies), for the efficiency of businesses (thus helping reduce prices) , and now for public health (to reduce the reliance on cash, which could have the virus on it).

This is a little bit of a dive into the current state of SAFE, its possible passage via the stimulus package, and the steps you or your org can take that would be timely and effective in support.

Leader McConnell came out with some negative statements today, directed specifically at the diversity provisions that appeared in SAFE and were included in the stimulus draft. At this point we are not sure how much that will impact the trajectory of the banking provisions in SAFE over the next few weeks – and it’s worth noting his hemp constituents will be direct benficiaries of the provisions. Here’s where we see things at the moment:

In the House

While the SAFE provisions are in the package already, we believe that package will be hotly debated for several weeks. Despite that, we do think the SAFE provisions will remain in the final version, for the simple fact that it already passed the House by a wide margin, and House members would not want to be seen as holding it up.

While we think it will likely pass the House, it will have opposition. A key consideration during this period of debate will be whether SAFE is “necessary and germane” to COVID-19, and not simply inserted in a must-pass measure. We saw that in responses to McConnell’s comments on Twitter. We believe the strongest new argument among Republicans is that banks need the currency to lend out to other businesses in need. For the Democrats, we are emphasizing the health and safety of their constituents and government workers processing large amounts of cash.

In the Senate

The more significant challenge will be in the Senate. On that score, our best asset is that Republicans want to help Sen. Cory Gardner, currently locked in a senatorial race with former Gov. Hickenlooper. Gardner is a strong advocate for safe banking, and passage of the SAFE provisions helps his campaign. Don is in regular communications with Gardner and his staff.

Our second best asset is that financial institutions and other large business interests are also interested in SAFE Banking,and this is where we are asking for your help

Steps you can take

If your company has a good relationship with your banker, or if you have allies such as law firms, tax or accounting firms, or other companies that operate on a national level, please consider reaching out and enlisting their voices. Specifically, we want these ancillary institutions talking with members of the Senate Banking Committee, and asking for their support on this issue before the next stimulus package is up for consideration in the Senate. They already know cannabis companies want it – now let’s magnify the message.The members and their contact information is available here and I listed them below. Please consider reaching out to your network if you see an opportunity.

Lawmakers like Joe Biden have lamented not enough marijuana research exists to end federal prohibition, but scientists have just as often lamented tight regulations from the federal government inhibits legitimate research from occurring.

Since 1968, scientists pursuing marijuana research have had to obtain their cannabis from a 12-acre farm located at the University of Mississippi. The Obama Administration signed legislation late in 2016 that would expand the number of facilities growing marijuana for research, but the Drug Enforcement Agency hasn’t granted any licenses four years later.

Thanks to a lawsuit spearheaded by the Scottsdale Research Institute (SRI) and cannabis researcher Sue Sisley, the public now understands why. A 2018 secret memo, released as part of the lawsuit settled, reveals the Trump Administration believes the nearly 50-year-old program in Mississippi has always been illegal. In fact, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) suggest the restrictions around marijuana research aren’t harsh enough.

The issue revolves around the United Nations’ 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs Act. According to the OLC’s interpretation of the UN treaty, only one federal government entity may handle drugs cultivated for research purposes. The National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) manages the University of Mississippi program while Obama’s plan would run through the DEA. Furthermore, both NIDA and DEA have split oversight responsibilities of federally licensed marijuana spanning back several decades. Under these programs, the OLC determined neither agency “owns” the marijuana grown for research, a stipulation the international treaty requires.

Essentially, the OLC memo states that the United States federal government has been breaking international law for about 50 years.

“We conclude that DEA must change its current practices and the policy it announced in 2016 to comply with the Single Convention,” reads the memo. “DEA must adopt a framework in which it purchases and takes possession of the entire marijuana crop of each licensee after the crop is harvested. In addition, DEA must generally monopolize the import, export, wholesale trade, and stock maintenance of lawfully grown marijuana.”

That the DEA wasn’t granting marijuana licenses for research purposes first came to light back in 2018. Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions had first obstructed this process—an atypical act, as previous attorney general never involved themselves in the research program. Lawmakers like Sens. Orrin Hatch and Kamala Harris sent a letter to the DOJ and Sessions, known to be a longtime anti-cannabis crusader, instructing them to stop blocking marijuana research. This secret memo now clarifies the DEA’s holdup in granting marijuana licenses.

Sisley’s lawsuit argued that marijuana provided by NIDA wasn’t suitable for research. An independent laboratory analysis found these cannabis samples were moldy and didn’t resemble what consumers would buy in stores. Upon release of the OLC memo, the SRI and Sisley argued that keeping this memo secret and blocking cannabis research deserves serious scrutiny.

“Boiled down, the fact that a secret re-interpretation of an international treaty from 1961 has blocked the advancement of marijuana science in this country for the past three years is absurd,” the Scottsdale Research Institute said in a statement. “Allowing American scientists to cultivate or acquire marijuana grown in this country under strict DEA regulation and supervision is pro-science, pro-veteran, and pro-law enforcement. It puts America First and promotes public health and safety.”

Read the full article here.

The governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands plans to send a revised marijuana legalization bill to the legislature on Tuesday, and is urging its passage to generate needed tax revenue from cannabis sales during the coronavirus pandemic.

Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. (D), who pushed for legalization as part of his State of the Territory address in January and previously called lawmakers into a special session to take up the issue, said establishing a regulated marijuana market could help the territory’s retirement system stay afloat.

“We have taken the time to gather further public input as well as address the concerns of the individual legislators,” the governor said during a COVID-19 update on Monday. “As the economic disaster, the last few weeks has created has affected the [Government Employees Retirement System] greatly it is our hope that we can have a greater sense of exigency in implementing all the things that can help us regain solvency.”

While Bryan stressed that legalization “is not the panacea” to USVI’s fiscal problems, he argued that it represents an economic opportunity that could prevent the government from slashing payments for retirees.

“Certainly cutting the annuity of retirees by 30 percent cannot be the path,” he said.

After Bryan first proposed the policy change and directed the legislature to take up the issue in a special session late last year, several legislators voiced opposition to specifics of the proposal.

Some questioned the notion that tax revenue from cannabis sales could make up for the significant deficits running within the retirement programs, while others argued that the legislation does not adequately address social equity. Another issue that arose concerned licensing, with lawmakers worried that small businesses on the island would be left out.

The revised bill has yet to be released, so it remains to be seen whether all of the issues have been resolved to lawmakers’ satisfaction following the governor’s solicitation of public input.

As originally drafted, the legislation would amend the territory’s current medical cannabis law, which Bryan signed early in 2019, to allow adults 21 and older to obtain a license from the government in order to purchase and cultivate marijuana.

The government estimated that legalization would be upwards of $20 million dollars in annual tax revenue. Marijuana would be taxed at 30 percent, with revenue distributed to the government retirement system (75 percent), funding senior citizens initiatives (20 percent) and to the territory’s Office of Cannabis Regulations (five percent).

Bryan also emphasized that tourism would play a role in generating cannabis revenue. The legislation proposed creating “day passes” for adult-use cannabis that visitors would purchase.

The initial bill also provides for automatic expungements for prior marijuana possession convictions, encourages research into the benefits of cannabis and recognizes the plant as a sacrament of the Rastafarian religion.

Last week, the governor of New Mexico also discussed the economic potential of legalization and said she regretted that lawmakers were unable to pass a reform bill during the short session earlier this year, stating that cannabis tax revenue would have been especially valuable during the pandemic.

Read the full article here.

Epidiolex, the only plant-derived cannabis drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is no longer considered a controlled substance, providing a boost to its manufacturer’s stock price.

GW Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company based in London, saw its stock go up 5.9% on Tuesday, one day after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said it would no longer classify Epidiolex as a Schedule 5 drug under the federal Controlled Substance Act.

Epidiolex is used to treat rare forms of epilepsy.

The DEA’s announcement lowers physician barriers to prescribing Epidiolex because they won’t have to notify the agency when prescribing it.

GW said it will now begin “implementing these changes at the state level” and through its distribution network.

The expansion comes two years after the DEA first took Epidiolex off the most-restrictive class of controlled substances.

That decision, issued months after the FDA approved the drug for treating certain types of epilepsy, was the first time the DEA removed any type of cannabis from Schedule 1.

The company’s U.S. subsidiary is Greenwich Biosciences.

GW Pharma trades on the Nasdaq as GWPH.

View the entire article here.