Newsletter
Border Patrol union head admits legal cannabis disrupts cartels (Newsletter: February 17, 2020)
Bloomberg anti-marijuana remarks on tape; Support grows for veterans cannabis research bill; Study examines CBD for horse stress & pain
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/ TOP THINGS TO KNOW
The 2015 recording of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (D), a presidential candidate, discussing racist police practices that has generated controversy in recent days also contains previously unreported comments about marijuana legalization.
- “It is just a terrible, terrible idea… I just can’t imagine why society is doing this… If you’re my age, of course you smoked a joint in the 60s—but it was very different and just because we did doesn’t make it right… Today it’s much stronger and potentially much more damaging.”
The president of the National Border Patrol Council—a labor union that represents U.S. Border Patrol agents—acknowledged in an interview that legalizing marijuana pushes cartels out of the cannabis market.
Reps. Lou Correa (D-CA) Clay Higgins (R-LA) are working to shore up support for their bill to expand medical marijuana research for veterans. Nearly a quarter of the House members are already signed on as cosponsors, but the Veterans’ Affairs Committee hasn’t yet scheduled a vote.
Marijuana Moment spoke to the lead researcher in a new study that’s examining whether CBD can help reduce stress, inflammation and obsessive compulsive behaviors in horses.
/ FEDERAL
The U.S. Department of Agriculture published a report on the growth of Germany’s hemp market.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), a presidential candidate, tweeted, “The President’s new budget would end @TheJusticeDept’s policy not to interfere in states’ marijuana laws. Just more proof that federal marijuana policies are broken & outdated. I support legalization – & @SenCoryGardner & I have a bipartisan bill to end the federal marijuana ban.”
Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld (R), a presidential candidate, said he resigned from the board of Acreage Holdings, Inc. so he can focus on his campaign.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) visited Denver to meet with marijuana industry professionals.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) tweeted, “Here’s our three step plan to legalize marijuana: ✅ End federal prohibition ✅ Expunge prior offenses for use ✅ Invest the tax revenue in black and brown communities across America that have been harmed by the war on drugs.”
The House bill to require the Department of Veterans Affairs to study medical cannabis got two new cosponsors for a total of 104.
The House bill to shield military veterans from losing benefits over state-legal marijuana use got one new cosponsor for a total of 17.
West Virginia Democratic Senate candidate Richard Ojeda tweeted, “I would like to open the jail cells and let everyone out who have been incarcerated for marijuana issues. Then we can free up jail space for the real criminals.”
/ STATES
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) made his first appointments to the new Cannabis Compliance Board.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) tweeted, “Industrial hemp is creating jobs all across New Mexico! … The hemp manufacturing industry is delivering on its incredible economic potential all across New Mexico, just one example of how our investments in the state economy are reaching every corner of the state, both rural and urban.” Separately, the Senate approved a bill to limit the medical cannabis program to only in-state residents. Meanwhile, the House speaker said he will recuse himself from voting on that legislation to due to his role as an attorney for a marijuana business and patients in a related lawsuit, and the House minority leader objected to the process by which the bill is advancing.
Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor predicted that Republican lawmakers will come around to ending marijuana prohibition once more neighboring states enact legalization. Separately, regulators noted the two-year anniversary of medical cannabis sales in a tweet.
Kentucky’s House speaker said a floor vote on medical cannabis legalization could happen as soon as this week.
Rhode Island’s House speaker said that municipalities, rather than the state, should take the lead on regulating marijuana.
Oklahoma regulators set an April 1 deadline for all medical cannabis products to be tested prior to being sold.
The Colorado Department of Transportation partnered with Lightshade to distribute bouquets with messages about not driving under the influence of marijuana for Valentine’s Day.
The California Legislative Analyst’s Office released an analysis of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) marijuana-related budget proposals.
Iowa regulators voted on recommendations to expand the state’s limited medical cannabis program.
Here’s a look at Massachusetts’s failure to fulfill a provision of the state’s legalization law aimed at allocating marijuana tax revenue to communities harmed by the drug war and to police training.
A Missouri senator said that the fact he did not disclose an investment in a medical cannabis business while criticizing regulators in a floor speech did not represent a conflict of interest.
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/ INTERNATIONAL
St. Kitts and Nevis lawmakers approved legislation to establish medical cannabis regulations, expand marijuana decriminalization and expunge past records.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was pressed by the Labour Party’s leader about the practice of deporting people convicted of drug offenses.
The former president of the United Nations’s International Narcotics Control Board has been hired as president of the Thai Cannabis Corporation.
The chairman of the Mexico Senate Committee on Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Rural Development hosted a forum on marijuana legalization.
/ SCIENCE & HEALTH
A review concluded that “adjunctive CBD resulted in a greater reduction in convulsive seizure frequency than placebo and a higher rate of [adverse events] in patients with [Dravet syndrome] presenting with seizures uncontrolled by concomitant antiepileptic therapy.”
A study suggested that “psilocybin may increase emotional and brain plasticity, and the reported findings support the hypothesis that negative affect may be a therapeutic target for psilocybin.”
/ ADVOCACY, OPINION & ANALYSIS
The California Cannabis Industry Association distanced itself from a labor peace agreement white paper its Human Resources Committee published after it was called out as anti-union.
Questions are being raised about whether ProTech Local 33, which says it is actively organizing marijuana industry workers, is actually a bona fide labor organization.
Local Washington, D.C. sex work activists are pushing back against the involvement of Marijuana Policy Project founder Rob Kampia, who has been accused of workplace sexual misconduct, in a planned effort to put a prostitution decriminalization measure on the city’s ballot.
/ BUSINESS
Canopy Growth Corporation reported $124 million in quarterly net revenue and a loss of $92 million.
Charlotte’s Web, Inc. is facing a proposed class action lawsuit over its alleged failure to make its website compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Pennsylvania medical cannabis dispensary Justice Grown is being sued by its former pharmacist who says she was fired after refusing to illegally sample the shop’s products.
Tests by Vertosa show that liners in aluminum cans can reduce the potency of marijuana-infused drinks.
/ CULTURE
Former basketball player Charles Barkley said he is open to players using cannabis medicinally.
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Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.
