News

Presidential Politics 

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Yes, the Democratic National Committee delegates voted against including marijuana legalization in the party platform. Not surprising considering presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden doesn’t support federal legalization of recreational marijuana. Biden does back decriminalizing marijuana on the federal level and legalization of medical marijuana.

In the grand scheme of things, does it matter when it comes to the future legalization of cannabis? Probably not. For better or worse, the DNC vote appears to be more of a strategic decision to avoid controversy before the election.

The fact is that a November of 2019, a Pew Research study revealed that 9 out of 10 Americans favor legalization of either medical or recreational/adult-use marijuana. If the Democrats were to win both the White House and Senate, most observers believe there is the will for decriminalization and leaving the question of legalization up to states.

“It’s not a partisan issue — for sure we have support on both sides of the aisle — but I do think the Democratic leadership has shown a desire to pass cannabis legislation where the Republican leadership has not,” Curaleaf CEO Joe Lusardi said to Yahoo! Finance.

Even during a pandemic, the work continues. 

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Spending bills unveiled in the U.S. House of Representatives include provisions to protect medical legalization laws from federal interference, ease marijuana businesses’ access to basic banking services, expand cannabis research, oversee the country’s hemp and CBD industries and finally grant Washington, D.C. the ability to legalize recreational sales.

“More and more, cannabis provisions are becoming a normal staple of federal appropriations packages,” Justin Strekal, political director for NORML, told Marijuana Moment. “This bodes well for our opportunity to receive a vote on standalone marijuana legislation in the near future.”

It’s still early in the process, and much can change over the next few week.  But below are details on the spending bills.

Banking. The bill includes a provision removing some roadblocks to banking and financial services for legal cannabis businesses at the state level.  But it is a watered-down version of the stand-alone bill (SAFE Act) passed in the House and stalled in the Senate.  While the Treasury Department would be barred from punishing banks, the Justice Department could still prosecute both banks and businesses.

Research. The spending bill covering the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education would prevent colleges and universities from losing funding simply for researching cannabis or its applications.

Advocacy. Schools receiving federal funds would be prevented from actually advocating for legalization.

D.C. Legalization. The Financial Services and General Government spending bill, which also covers matters relating to the District of Columbia, would remove a budget rider that has prevented Washington, D.C. from legalizing recreational marijuana sales.

Hemp and CBD Regulation. The bill funding the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) contains “funding to develop a framework for regulating CBD products.” And the DOJ spending bill includes a rider meant to protect state hemp research programs established under the 2014 Farm Bill, which launched research and commercial ventures in a number of states.

State medical marijuana laws.  A DOJ spending bill extends legal protections to states with medical marijuana programs by prohibiting the DOJ from using federal funds to interfere with legal medical cannabis laws.

Yeah, let’s legalize … something? 

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Tim Childers, one of 12 Frankfort City Commission candidates, lit a marijuana pipe while answering a question during a live video debate.

“Let’s go against the state and legalize something,” Childers said as he held a lighter to his marijuana pipe. “Big money in that. Bunch of states doing it. I have the answers — candidate with solutions, people.”

Under the Dome 

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Senate Bill 16, which would have required parental notification if a school employee is caught providing marijuana or alcohol to a student, died in the House Judiciary Committee. The concern among some members was that the notification was required when a person was charged, not after the person is tried in court.  

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Colorado lawmakers advance bill to eliminate the industry’s residency requirement.

UK expedites cannabis imports • Canopy’s bad day • A global cannabis standard? • & more…

In the News

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Member in the News: 

Bob DeGabrielle, CEO of Los Sueños Farms, talked to Westword about the problems cannabis growers face when hit with severe and unpredictable weather. Growers aren’t allowed under Colorado law to move plants off the property during a weather emergency.  

“From a bud product prospective, we felt like we lost about $7 million last year,” he said.

There is a bill in the state House of Representatives that would require the MED to create regulations allowing outdoor marijuana growers to make contingency plans when extreme weather threatens their plants.

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Amen 

Cannabis entrepreneurs are flocking to the Bible Belt because of its low taxes.

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More taxes? 

Newly elected Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman supports a cannabis tax increase to fund city programs.

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Another first for Colorado 

The state’s first licensed cannabis R&D firm is set to study marijuana’s effect on Alzheimer’s disease. MedPharm Holdings is the only company in the state that holds a marijuana research and development license. 

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Move to overturn the will of the voters 

Initiative 282 would repeal Amendment 64 and remove language permitting recreational use of cannabis in the state constitution.  Title Board hears the case today. 

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Under the Dome 

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A bill that aimed to protect employees from being fired for using marijuana on their personal time died in the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee last week. Some committee members said the absence of a test to determine if an employee is intoxicated in the moment — like a breathalyzer does for alcohol — was their reason for shelving the bill, while others said they thought the bill was too broad.

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Land of Enchantment lawmakers not enchanted with cannabis 

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A bill in New Mexico’s Legislature that would have legalized recreational marijuana was rejected by a committee in the Senate, effectively killing the bill this year. A majority of state residents back legalization, as does Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.  

“Legalized recreational cannabis in New Mexico is inevitable,” she said after the senate vote.  “Ultimately, we will deliver thousands of careers for New Mexicans in a new and clean and exciting industry, a key new component of a diversifying economy. We will deliver justice to the victims of an overzealous war on low-level drugs.”

And they’re off!

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This year’s legislative session isn’t expected to have as many cannabis bills – or the drama (well, maybe) –  as last year. But five new bills ranging from prohibiting employers from firing employees for using marijuana during off-hours to reducing felonies for criminal marijuana possession have been introduced.  And bills addressing diversity in cannabis-industry ownership and statewide expungement of former marijuana crimes are expected in the near future. 

Highlights of proposed legislation are below. For more detailed info on all cannabis-related bills, go here.  

  • HB 1080. Removes the requirement that managers and employees of a medical marijuana business or a retail marijuana business with day-to-day operational control must be Colorado residents when they apply for licensure. 
  • HB 1089. Prohibits an employer from terminating an employee for conducting off-duty activities that are lawful in Colorado even if those activities are not lawful under federal law. 
  • More info here »
  • SB 016. Adds providing alcohol and the sale, dispensing distribution or transfer of marijuana or marijuana concentrates by an employee to a student to the parent notification requirements by schools.  

“High time” to legalize cannabis, says New Mexico Guv 

During her State of the State, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham told lawmakers that legalization of marijuana provides a lucrative economic opportunity for the state and is supported by a vast majority of state residents.  

New Mexico only has a 30-day session, so lawmakers need to hustle if they want to be the 12th state  in the country to legalize cannabis for adult use. 

And yes, she really did say that. 

Where is the federal banking bill? 

U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter and three other congressmen who’ve been pushing to give cannabis businesses access to banking services sent a letter to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs to address the chairman’s concerns about the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act and urging him to take action. 

The chairman, Mike Crapo of Idaho, recommended adding public health and safety requirements to the bill, including potency disclosures and a possible 2% THC limit on products before banks could do business with cannabis companies.

The representatives said they are hesitant to expand the scope of the bill, saying “we should exercise caution before adding limitations on the legislation’s safe harbor that impose unworkable burdens on financial institutions.”

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and five other attorneys general also weighed in a separate letter to the U.S. Senate, stating “the SAFE Banking Act is a narrowly tailored solution that would provide immediate public safety benefits without supporting expansion of the existing cannabis industry.”

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What are the chances something happens this year?

Industry observers say it’s unlikely the Republican-controlled Senate will pass a major piece of marijuana reform this year, but they expect the momentum to continue.

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One example of why the cannabis industry needs banking 

The number of break-ins at Denver marijuana businesses hit a three-year high in 2019, according to the Denver Police Department. 

“We probably won’t see any relief in these kinds of robberies until these businesses aren’t forced to deal only in cash,” said John Goutell, general counsel for Frosted Leaf.

Local Cannabis News

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Superior town trustees on Monday unanimously voted in favor of an ordinance to allow both medical and retail marijuana to be delivered to residents.

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Louisville ballot question 2F proposes allowing retail marijuana cultivation facilities 

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Historic Vote!

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The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a historic bill Wednesday providing legalized cannabis businesses access to banking services.

Colorado Congressman Ed Perlmutter, lead sponsor of the SAFE Banking Act, said:

“After six years of working on this bill, the SAFE Banking Act will go a long way in getting cash off our streets and providing certainty so financial institutions can work with cannabis businesses and employees.”

It’s still an uphill climb in the U.S. Senate, but Senate Republicans may be softening. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.,  said Wednesday:

“I think you can be against marijuana and still understand that if it’s going to be a legalized product, we need to be able to control it through our banking system.”

And the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, has said he wants to advance banking legislation by the end of the year, although it may not be Perlmutter’s bill.

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Bipartisan Group of 21 AG’s Implore Congress to Act 

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and 20 other attorneys general signed a letter sent to congressional leaders on Monday, supporting the STATES Act, which would allow legal cannabis businesses to access banks, shield legal cannabis businesses from federal interference and deter criminal activity associated with a largely cash-only business. 

“We are a bipartisan group of state and territorial attorneys general who share a strong interest in defending states’ rights, protecting public safety, improving our criminal justice systems, and regulating new industries appropriately,” the letter reads.  “Legislation like the proposed STATES Act is simply meant to ensure that if a state or territory does choose to legalize some form of marijuana use – which at least 33 states and several territories have done – its residents are not subject to a confusing and dangerous regulatory limbo.”

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