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Here's the news:
Politics
The governors of Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington asked U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Muchin and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to
let the legalization experiments continue. A reversal, they wrote, “would divert existing marijuana product into the black market.”
And if asking nicely doesn’t work, Washington plans to
fight the feds.
The DEA asked Colorado for
information on marijuana prosecutions, a freedom of information request revealed. Despite jitters, Colorado authorities downplayed the note’s significance for legalization.
The Cannabist interviewed Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) on his evolution from
legalization opponent to near supporter. He also discusses how he feels about it as a parent of teenagers.
AG Sessions said a new task force comprised of law enforcement officials
will review federal marijuana policy and other criminal justice issues. He asked for recommendations by July 27.
At least 13 bills addressing various aspects of cannabis reform
have been introduced in Congress and await committee hearings. It’s not clear if any have the support needed to pass.
For more see here.
Nevada Republican lawmakers reached out to Sessions for
guidance on REC. Rhode Island is conducting its first
“census” of legal, home-grown MED plants.
Four of the five candidates in France’s presidential election
support cannabis reform, including centrist frontrunner Emmanuel Macron. Only far-right candidate Marine Le Pen opposes.
A strict MED bill is heading to
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s (D) desk. He’s expected to sign.
Delegations from numerous states as well as South American and European nations have
visited Washington to learn how to regulate cannabis. Many visit Colorado too.
Companies are
going public in Canada and using the proceeds to invest in the U.S. Canadian producer Aphria
invested $18.6M in a licensed Florida CBD business.
A Canadian financial analyst predicts a legal market of
$4.6 billion in 2019 eventually growing to exceed $10 billion.
New York VC fund Lerer Hippeau Ventures
put $3M into LeafLink, an online cannabis marketplace for businesses.
After less than a year, Leah Heise, CEO of networking company Women Grow, is
leaving to start a MED dispensary in Maryland. COO Kristina Neoushoff will serve as interim CEO.
Liquor distributors in Nevada
didn’t jump on the REC opportunity. “We haven’t picked a side one way or the other,” an executive said. “We’re waiting to get some guidance and information from the state and everyone involved in it to find out how it’s going to be structured. We’re interested in learning more about it.”
The Massachusetts Agriculture Department says regulating legal pot will be
expensive.
Personal MED costs
can’t be deducted on federal income taxes, but can be on some legal state taxes.
U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.)
criticized the DEA for making it too hard to grow hemp. The North Carolina Industrial Hemp Commission
may join a lawsuit against the DEA, over the agency’s ruling that CBD products can’t be transported across state lines. Canna Law Blog has
more.
Health and Science
A great story in Buzzfeed tells how 19-year old Riley Hancey
almost died because testing positive for marijuana blocked his eligibility for a double lung transplant.
Google has uploaded cannabis DNA sequence data from Phylos Bioscience and it’s publicly available from the
1,000 Cannabis Genomes Project.
Kentucky outlaw John Robert “Johnny” Boone was returned to U.S. custody from Canada and he’ll face federal drug charges. Known as the “Godfather of Grass,” Boone, 73, previously spent a decade in prison for running the cornbread mafia, a network of almost thirty pot farms across the Midwest.
At his sentencing in 1988 he said "With the poverty at home, marijuana is sometimes one of the things that puts bread on the table," Boone said. "We were working with our hands on earth God gave us." At times he had a reputation as a Robin Hood.
D.C. cops are carrying out
$20 sting operations against street dealers. REC is legal in D.C. but sales are not. (D.C. cannabis activists have
two protests planned for April.)
Pacific Standard argues that Sessions’ tough on drugs approach is a
jarring contrast with the Trump administration’s new opioid commission, led by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who supports a public health approach to addiction. (During the Republican primaries, Christie was the only outspoken marijuana prohibitionist.) “Trump’s tough-on-drugs rhetoric is recognizable — part of the inglorious history of the “War on Drugs,” launched by President Richard Nixon in the 1970s. But his decision to temper that rhetoric with compassionate understanding for the largely white communities affected by the opioid epidemic betrays the toxic racial undertones of the government’s long-standing anti-drug policies,” Krish Lingala writes.
Vox has more.
Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D) introduced legislation that would
drastically reduce drivers’ license suspension or revocation for those convicted of non-violent drug offenses. O’Rourke, who supports legalization, plans to challenge Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018.
AG Sessions told the Justice Department to “
review reform agreements with troubled police forces nationwide.” The effect, Pacific Standard writes, will be to roll back Obama era work to oppose discrimination and civil rights violations by police departments.
MED use
could be on the table as NFL players and owners hope to extend the current collective bargaining agreement. For more
see here.
After offering “Coachella Blend” pre-rolls, company Lowell Farms received a
cease and desist letter from the festival producer. Lowell posted the letter and dubbed it “NotChilla.” Pot is still
banned at Coachella.
A new podcast called
Stoner by journalist and Polymath Aaron Lammer features conversations with interesting people that often begin with the question, “When was the first time you ever smoked weed?”
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