Newsletter
Federal watchdog weighs in on USDA hemp process (Newsletter: December 3, 2019)
Feds OK credit union employment for people with marijuana convictions; Treatment providers push UK to consider decrim; NASCAR blocks CBD sponsorships
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/ TOP THINGS TO KNOW
The National Credit Union Administration, a federal agency, finalized a rule that lets people with certain drug convictions work at credit unions.
- “There are already a host of significant extrajudicial consequences for individuals with nonviolent drug possession convictions, including not only employment bans but the loss of federal financial aid, eviction from public housing, disqualification from occupational licenses, loss of voting rights, and denial of public assistance. Moreover, research shows that drug convictions disproportionately burden people of color.”
The Government Accountability Office issued a review of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s hemp regulation process.
- “There is public interest in expediting the ability of the nation’s farmers to enter the new agricultural market presented by hemp.”
Four top drug treatment providers are calling on the UK government to consider decriminalizing drugs as a solution to the overdose crisis.
- “To that end, we urge the next Government to establish an expert, independent commission that will consider all options to reframe and reinvigorate the UK’s drug laws, including decriminalisation.”
/ FEDERAL
The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Justice are developing an information sharing system meant to expedite hemp shipments across state lines.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), a presidential candidate, spoke about her support for legalizing marijuana and letting people with prior convictions be “first in line” to get jobs in the legal cannabis industry.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) tweeted, “Legalize marijuana. Expunge marijuana convictions. End the war on drugs.”
Former Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) published an op-ed arguing that ending the war on drugs is the best response to cartel violence.
George McMahon, one of the last remaining handful of patients to have received medical cannabis directly from the federal government, has died.
/ STATES
Questions are being raised about how Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) appointed a former senator to be his top marijuana advisor.
Florida’s agriculture commissioner said she wants the state to be the “gold standard for the entire country” on hemp.
Vermont’s public safety commissioner said the state isn’t ready to legalize marijuana sales and that safe consumption facilities for illegal drugs aren’t “ready for prime time.”
The South Dakota legislature’s Hemp Study Committee approved a draft hemp legalization bill.
The New Jersey Assembly Oversight, Reform and Federal Relations Committee has scheduled a hearing for next week on legislation to place a marijuana legalization referendum on the 2020 ballot.
Minnesota regulators added chronic pain and age-related macular degeneration as medical cannabis qualifying conditions.
Pennsylvania regulators ordered a hemp business to cease operations due to the emission of odors as well as the installation and operation of equipment without approval.
Texas regulators are expected to submit proposed hemp regulations as soon as this week.
Arkansas regulators are giving medical cannabis dispensaries until the middle of 2020 to open or lose their licenses.
The Eastern Shoshone Tribe, located within Wyoming, is exploring the possibility of legalizing medical cannabis and hemp.
A number of Native American tribes located within South Dakota see opportunity in hemp.
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/ LOCAL
Chicago, Illinois’s mayor announced that officials will hold additional marijuana legalization information sessions this week.
/ INTERNATIONAL
Argentina’s Ministry of Science and Technology signed an agreement with a local government and a university to research medical cannabis.
/ SCIENCE & HEALTH
A study concluded that medical grade cannabis “may be successfully used to treat [drug-resistant epilepsy].”
A review on pain in orthopedics concluded that “most of the existing evidence suggests that medical cannabis use is effective, but this efficacy has been demonstrated only when either there is no comparator or cannabis is compared with placebo” and that “studies using an active comparator have not demonstrated efficacy.”
/ BUSINESS
Aurora Cannabis Inc. received approval for its medical cannabis oil products in Ireland.
GenTech Holdings, Inc. launched a CBD coffee subscription program.
Michigan retailers sold roughly $221,000 worth of recreational marijuana products in the first day of legal sales.
A survey of U.S. investors found that 9% already hold cannabis stocks and another 40% said they are open to doing so in the future.
The Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists is hosting a cannabis-focused conference in April.
/ CULTURE
NASCAR won’t allow sponsorships to be sold to CBD companies.
Filmmaker Kevin Smith joked about how he didn’t know marijuana is illegal in the UK.
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