The federal government’s approach to states that have legalized marijuana is “intolerable.”So said U.S. Attorney General William Barr Wednesday during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing that he would prefer the U.S. take an approach to marijuana similar to the one outlined in the states’ rights marijuana bill sponsored by Colorado’s U.S. senators over the current system.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse released a job posting seeking a contractor to roll marijuana joints “within a range of varying concentrations of delta-9-THC and analyze strength and stability of them.”
The Food and Drug Administration has scheduled a public hearing on CBD regulations for May 31.
This will be a big year for the industry, with marijuana regulations sunsetting and bills vetoed by former Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper resurfacing. And the cannabis lobby at the Capitol is growing, in numbers, spending and stature. Cannabis lobby gains new clout in Colorado as its spending tripled in the past five years.
For a review of the cannabis bills introduced in the 2019 Colorado legislature, please go here
The fastest-growing industry in the U.S. right now is cannabis. The marijuana industry added 64,389 jobs in 2018, an increase of 44% from the year before, according to a new report from the cannabis website Leafly and Whitney Economics.
Marijuana is the fastest-growing sector in the US job market
Maybe it’s the potential money. Maybe it’s Snoop’s influence. Or maybe she overly embraced her prison nickname (M. Diddy). But Martha Stewart has teamed up with a Canadian cannabis company to create and promote a new line of hemp-based CBD products. Stewart is joining the Canadian marijuana company Canopy Growth as an adviser to help them develop cannabis products for people and their pets. It’s unclear if Stewart’s products will be served in one of her famous decorative gourds.
Stewart will join her friend Snoop, who together co-host the VH1 talk show “Martha and Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party.” Snoop Dogg has partnered with Canopy for the last three years.
Hawaii, yes liberal Hawaii which is considered politically left of California, decided not to legalize adult-use cannabis. Again.
U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), who sits on the House Financial Services Committee, purportedly “guaranteed” that a bill allowing banks to legally service state-regulated marijuana companies “is “going to pass the House overwhelmingly” according to former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA). “Democrats want it. Banks want it. The Republicans are split. But the main obstacle before was [former Attorney General] Jeff Sessions, who was obstinate on this, and now he’s gone,” said Frank, who has joined with Beantown Greentown, a local group of underground growers, marketers, and event organizers trying to go legit.
Even Denver Mayor Michael Hancock weighed in, tweeting: “Time is long overdue for marijuana businesses to have access to the same banking and financial services that other legitimate U.S. businesses have. Let’s make this happen.”
More than 900 cannabis-related bills moved through state capitols and Congress in 2018, and there are already about 600 bills for 2019 sessions, according to Marijuana Moment’s Legislative Tracking Tools.
Colorado Leads member Dixie Brands weighs in on the issue of state-by-state regulations.
Free from the Feds? Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden introduced legislation in the Senate — The Marijuana Revenue and Regulation Act— that would deschedule marijuana by removing it from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), establish a federal excise tax on legal sales and create a system of permits for businesses to engage in cannabis commerce. This would allow states to establish their own cannabis regulations free from federal interference.
Wyden also introduced another piece of legislation exempting state-legal cannabis businesses from what is known as 280(E), which prevents them from taking normal business tax deductions that are available to operators in other industries. Co-sponsors include Colorado’s senior U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet.
From “unalterably opposed” to legalization to “I’m all in” Former U.S. House Speaker John Boehner announced a new, industry-funded group to lobby for marijuana reform in banking, taxes and research in an effort to overhaul federal cannabis policy.
Marijuana Business Daily Article »
Riding the hemp waveThe USDA is now working to implement plans for increased hemp research and provision of oversight to state plans for growing hemp. As the USDA makes laws clearer, CBD retailers will enter the U.S. market in a major wave.
For a look at the growth of Colorado’s hemp industry:
Vetoed Autism Bill Returns A bill – similar to the one vetoed last year by then-Gov. John Hickenlooper – that would allow Coloradans with autism to use medical marijuana cleared its first legislative hurdle last week.
The only two adult-use cannabis shops in El Paso County are a financial boon to Manitou Springs. Mayor Ken Jaray said a recent project to bury cable lines previously suspended on telephone poles would not have been possible without the taxes the city brings in from the two shops. The fund the city uses for these types of projects, its Urban Renewal Authority, climbed from an average of $34,000 a year before recreational marijuana, to $1.2 million in 2016.
Denver’s second business allowing social consumption of marijuana in the city will open its doors next month.
Gov. Jared Polis, considered the most industry friendly governor in the country, takes the reins at a crucial time for Colorado as the state’s regulations come under review and as at least one bordering state considers developing its own legal cannabis industry. The marijuana industry is optimistic Polis will champion its cause to keep the industry growing and moving legislation that his predecessor vetoed.
Colorado Sun Article »
Indeed, several new marijuana bills were among the first filed as the legislature opened, including a new attempt to add autism spectrum disorders to conditions that qualify patients for medical cannabis; another would make people eligible if they have a condition under which a doctor would prescribe opiates.
Reporter Herald Article »
Polis takes office as marijuana sales show signs of leveling off after five years of constant and dramatic growth. New state figures show Colorado has logged over $1.4 billion worth of medical and recreational marijuana sales from January to November 2018, just $93 million behind 2017. And while a dramatic surge is not expected, Colorado is still on pace to finish the year slightly ahead of the year before.
Summit Daily Article »
While sales remain strong in Colorado today, will the state’s industry be impacted by a change in leadership across the border? The Albuquerque Journal takes a look at legislation being proposed to legalize cannabis in New Mexico under a new Democratic governor.
Albuquerque Journal Article »