In this week’s edition:
- Dentons’ Cannabis group congratulates client Botanical Sciences on receiving the top score among applicants for cannabis production licenses in Georgia
- Major US corporations lobby in support of cannabis legalization and related legislation
- US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy voices support for decriminalization of cannabis
- And more…
Federal
Surgeon General says stop locking people up for marijuana – US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy voiced support for the decriminalization of cannabis. “When it comes to decriminalization, I don’t think that there is value to individuals or to society to lock people up for marijuana use,” Murthy said in an appearance on CNN.
Amazon, investment banks, booze, and big tobacco lobbying big on marijuana policy – Several major corporations are showing an active interest in lobbying on behalf of cannabis legalization and related legislation, including e-commerce and cloud-computing giant Amazon, global financial services firm Morgan Stanley, multinational pharma giant Glaxo Smith Kline and tobacco accessories company Turning Point Brands.
States
CT – Terp Street, a website that provided information on medical cannabis, has shut down after the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection ordered it to stop using street names for cannabis. A spokeswoman from the department said the business owners “were asked—and agreed—to remove the street names from their website. They then chose to take down the website entirely.”
GA – Following a competitive bidding process, the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission selected six recipients of licenses to sell, grow and manufacture medical cannabis oil. From a field of 69 applicants, Dentons’ client Botanical Sciences was the top scorer and one of only two companies to win licenses to cultivate medical cannabis oil on 100,000 square feet of indoor growing space. Four companies will be licensed for smaller 50,000 square foot operations.
ME – Maine achieved a new record for adult-use cannabis sales in the month of June. According to the Office of Marijuana Policy, retail dispensaries grossed more than $6.4 million in June, breaking the previous record of $5.3 million in May. To date, Maine has reported over $29 million in adult-use sales and approximately $2.9 million in sales tax revenue.
NY – New York police are no longer seizing cannabis, making arrests or issuing citations for low-level possession at Albany International and other airports throughout the state. Bart R. Johnson, a federal security director for 15 upstate airports, indicated that security professionals are concerned with threats such as explosives, knives and guns, as opposed to illegal narcotics.
PA – The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the state Department of Health may not allow cannabis license applicants to redact their own applications notwithstanding the burden this places on the department.
International
Colombia boosts budding cannabis industry by removing ban on dry flower exports – Colombia passed a decree removing a prohibition on the export of dried cannabis for medical and other industries. Under the decree, Colombia will also allow for the expansion of sales of cannabis-based medicines and simplify related regulatory procedures.
HSE to directly pay cost of prescriptions for eligible patients treated under Ministerial License – The Netherlands Department of Health (HSE) announced that its existing refund system for certain eligible patients who obtain cannabis-based prescription products will be replaced by a direct payment system.
Business
New cannabis dispensary roundup – Several cannabis businesses, including Curaleaf, Parallel, Cake House, Cansortium, Trulieve, Deep Roots, Coastal Dispensary, Ack Natural, Strawberry Fields, Ayr Wellness, Verano, and High Tide recently opened new adult-use and medical cannabis retail locations across various states.
Medical/Health
Cannabidiol effectively reverses mechanical and thermal allodynia, hyperalgesia and anxious behaviors in a neuropathic pain model – A study found evidence that CBD may be beneficial in the treatment of chronic pain and associated comorbidities such as anxiety.