The scene in Michigan highlights how more established industries will likely insert themselves into the legalization process to gain a foothold in the multibillion-dollar cannabis industry.
Read more from the Source: Alcohol, tobacco interests eyeing Michigan marijuana market – Marijuana Business Daily
Politically connected developer Jay Odom is suing his partners in a state-licensed medical marijuana dispensary over a pending sale to a new operator out of Canada.
Read More from the Source: Partners of Florida medical marijuana grower fight in court over pending sale | Miami Herald
Voters in Westwood (MA) have decided resoundingly to prohibit recreational marijuana businesses in the town, joining a growing number of communities that have outlawed the legal operations within their town borders.
Source: Westwood joins growing number in banning marijuana shops – The Boston Globe
The Department of Health has revealed a few new details on the lengthy rollout of its medical marijuana program. The names of dozens of potential dispensaries have been released, though officials won’t say where exactly they’ll be located. The deadline to apply for licenses to grow or sell marijuana was March 20th.
According to Source: State releasing names of potential marijuana sellers | News | witf.org The Announcement came 4/27 on the states Medical Marijuana Program website.
On 4/20 the Department of Health announced that the Department of Health selected MJ Freeway to implement the seed-to-sale electronic tracking system for Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Program. This was a little surprising as MJ Freeway has struggled to implement it’s only state contract with Nevada. MJ Freeway also experienced a major security breach in early 2017, loosing thousands of business and customer records.
Colorado may prohibit law enforcement officers from assisting in a potential federal marijuana crackdown.
The state House voted 56-7 Wednesday to bar public employees from assisting federal agents in “arresting a Colorado citizen for committing an act that is a Colorado constitutional right.”
The Colorado bill doesn’t specifically mention marijuana. But sponsors say it is inspired by threats that federal authorities may try cracking down on the marijuana industry. Federal authorities generally rely on local law enforcement to enforce federal drug law.
California lawmakers are considering a similar bill .
Source: Colorado may bar cops from helping with marijuana crackdown – Denver7 TheDenverChannel.com
According to the Associated Press,
A bill allowing local governments to issue permits for marijuana social clubs has passed in the Nevada Senate.
The bill passed 12-9 Tuesday and next will be reviewed by the Assembly, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported (http://bit.ly/2plDbsV ).
Source: Marijuana Social Clubs Could Become Reality in Nevada | Nevada News | US News
Nevada has done a more than fair job regulating alcohol and gaming.
Lets hope Nevada is gearing up to allow for a safe place for consumers to use marijuana.
Voters may have approved recreational marijuana in the last election, but the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors has voted to prohibit all commercial marijuana growing operations.
Source: Commercial Marijuana Growing Operations Banned In Sacramento County – capradio.org
Several CBD / Cannabis companies show promise in the stock exchange. Check out the trending stocks from the Source: Revenues in Lucrative Legal Marijuana and CBD-Oil Markets Contin – Crossroads Today
Both S.B. 375, which advocates for tribes’ rights to establish marijuana facilities, and S.B. 344, which aims to protect children via marijuana packaging mandates, received a 21-0 vote of approval from the Senate floor on Tuesday. Both bills will now head to the Assembly floor.
S.B. 236, which would allow businesses to apply for a license for use of marijuana on that businesses property, did not receive the same bipartisan support, passing with a 12-9 vote.
Another bill, S.B. 374, which would allow medical providers to recommend medical marijuana to patients with opioid addictions, also passed in the Senate with a 12-9 vote.
Source: Nevada senators vote to OK smoking pot in businesses, among other bills
According to an abovethelaw.com, California Governor Jerry Brown recently proposed changes to the Budget Trailer Bill. The Bill addresses the Govenors vision for consolidating the regulatory framework for the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (“MCRSA”), approved by California voters in 2015 and the Control, Regulate, and Tax Adult Use of Cannabis Act (“AUMA”), in response to California voters in 2016. Above The Law lays out an outline of the Governor’s 79 page proposal reporting it would:
Change the name of the AUMA to the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act;
Mandate anyone seeking to operate an adult use cannabis business apply for “A-Licenses,” and those seeking to open a medical cannabis business will apply for “M-Licenses.” You can apply for both kinds of licenses and operate both kinds of businesses, but you cannot co-locate those businesses on the same premises;
Remove AUMA’s requirement of “continuous residency” in California from at least January 1, 2015;
Hybridize the process for local approval prior to licensure by allowing licensees to submit proof of local approval to the state, but leaving it up to local governments to ensure the license applicant is in compliance with local laws;
Keep AUMA’s near total vertical integration of licenses except for testing labs, which must be independent of other licensees;
Allow AUMA’s open distributor model for both medical and adult use cannabis businesses by allowing “a business to hold multiple licenses including a distribution license … [to] make it easier for businesses to enter the market, encourage innovation, and strengthen compliance with state law”;
Define “applicant” as “an owner applying for a state license,” and define “owner” as any person having at least 20 percent ownership, or any person who participates in the “direction, control, or management” of the business;
Require each cannabis business owner to pass a Department of Justice fingerprinting and criminal background check and each applicant to disclose “every person with a financial interest in the person applying for the license as required by the licensing authority”;
Support the AUMA’s more liberal allowance for cultivation licenses;
Add a new cultivation license — Type 1C, identified as “specialty cottage” — which will mean California will have 20 types of cannabis business licenses;
Require microbusinesses (licenses only available under the AUMA) secure regulatory approval from the Bureau of Cannabis Control and the Departments of Food and Agriculture and Public Health;
Mandate the AUMA and MCRSA have the same environmental protections and restrictions on licensees; and
Task California’s Department of Food and Agriculture, not its Bureau of Cannabis Control, to create California’s cannabis appellation standards by January 1, 2020.
Source: California Set To Harmonize Recreational And Medical Marijuana Laws | Above the Law
