Uncategorized Archives - Pacific Coast Relief

Political greenBrief
Friday, August 4, 2017
www.cannabismanufacturers.org

Ohio State Senator Kenny Yuko wants the Drug Enforcement Agency and the U.S. Congress to drop marijuana from the list of controlled substances

“Cannabis seems to be a very effective answer for symptom relief, versus continually increasing your amount of opiates. I find that’s usually what resonates most in the medical community. Some in the population at large feel that medical use is a cover for recreational use. If you have recreational use alongside medical use, then those people still seeking medical have one less barrier to cross.”
Chuck Rifici, cannabis entrepreneur

“Marijuana is part of this war on drugs that has not benefited our society whatsoever. We have tried to address drug addiction through the criminal justice system, when really the better way to address it is through public health. We have to look at ways to treat the issue. We’re spending billions of dollars on our state prison systems.”
Mike Brickner, Senior Policy Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio

Meadow Is Poised To Become The Amazon Of Weed (CA – Cannabis Distribution)
Tech Crunch (August 2, 2017) Meadow launched this week the final piece of its marijuana dispensary software suite: loyalty. It lets ganja buyers earn points for shopping at the same place, which they can redeem for cash back, discounts, free products and prizes. Meadow’s vision is that if a dispensary relies on it for everything from scanning bar codes on jars of weed in their store to securely storing patient medical data, they’ll tack on its online storefront and delivery logistics for convenience sake.
https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/02/buy-weed-online/

California City To Use Pot Shops To Fight Racial Inequities (CA – Social Justice)
USA Today (August 1, 2017) Convicted marijuana dealers are getting help to go legal under a precedent-setting system in Oakland. The city’s “Equity Applicant” system aims to help poor, longtime Oakland residents — including those with convictions for illegally selling marijuana — get started in a business that otherwise has remained stubbornly white, male and middle class across the USA.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/07/31/marijuana-oakland-california-shop-owners/507008001/

Oakland Gives Weed Convicts Opportunity To Open Marijuana Businesses As Reparations (CA – Social Justice)
Vibe Magazine (July 30, 2017) The Oakland city council unanimously approved its new initiative, the Equity Permit Program, last month, the first step in a plan to make the industry more inclusive after a city analysis found cannabis laws continued to be disproportionately enforced against minority, and particularly black, residents.
http://hoodline.com/2017/05/to-promote-equity-oakland-launches-new-cannabis-permits

Former Congressional Aide Charged With Taking Pot Shop Bribe (CA – Court Cases)
U.S. News & World Report (August 2, 2017) A former California congressional aide promised to “make things happen” to keep an illegal Compton pot shop in business — for a price, prosecutors said Wednesday. Michael Kimbrew, 44, pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles federal court to attempted extortion and receiving a bribe.
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/california/articles/2017-08-02/former-congressional-aide-charged-with-taking-pot-shop-bribe

Rastafarian Pot Farm Shootout Sparks Religious-Use Debate (CA – Public Safety)
U.S. News & World Report (August 2, 2017) The shooting of two California deputies responding to a disturbance at a Rastafarian marijuana farm has drawn attention to religious use of the drug, sparking debate over whether churches be protected from drug prosecutions. Religious organizations throughout California have been growing marijuana for ceremonial purposes for years — and have been losing in court for just as long.
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/california/articles/2017-08-02/rastafarian-pot-farm-shoot-out-sparks-religious-use-debate

Chuck Rifici: The Problem-Solving Cannabis Financier (CA – Cannabis Business)
Leafly (August 3, 2017) Today, Rifici is CEO of finance company Cannabis Wheaton, but he made his name in the industry first as co-founder of Tweed Marijuana Inc., North America’s first federally regulated and publicly traded cannabis producer. His new venture, Cannabis Wheaton Income Corporation, a finance company that employs a “streaming” model borrowed from the mining industry. “We never actually touch the plant,” Rifici says. “We’re very much a finance company.”
https://www.leafly.com/news/canada/chuck-rifici-problem-solving-cannabis-financier

Kush Bottles Appoints Jim Mccormick As Chief Financial Officer (CA – Cannabis Business)
Business Insider (August 3, 2017) Kush Bottles, a provider of packaging,supplies, vaporizers, accessories,branding solutions and terpenes for the regulated cannabis industry, announced today it has appointed industry veteran, Mr. Jim McCormick, as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. McCormick has demonstrated financial and strategic leadership in his previous roles in the cannabis and tobacco industries.
http://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/Kush-Bottles-Appoints-Jim-McCormick-as-Chief-Financial-Officer-546200

Cannabis At County Fairs? Pro-Marijuana Festival Canceled Amid Uncertainty (CA – Cannabis Events)
KCAL 9 Los Angeles (August 2, 2017) Organizers at the Del Mar Fairgrounds announced Tuesday the cancellation of a cannabis event that was initially set to take place in September. The Goodlife Festival would have been San Diego’s largest-ever cannabis festival, and while cannabis would not have been sold or distributed at the event, medical marijuana cardholders were expected to be permitted to bring their own cannabis to smoke in certain designated areas.
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2017/08/02/cannabis-marijuana-county-fair/

Pot Laced With Pesticides Forces States To Act As EPA Stays Away (U.S. – Pesticide Regulation)
Bloomberg Politics (August 2, 2017) Regulating pesticides for marijuana plants is a state issue because the federal government still classifies pot as an illegal drug. That’s prevented the Environmental Protection Agency from evaluating the safe use of cannabis pesticides, as it does for all other crop chemicals. An attempt by Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. to register some pesticides for pot was rebuffed in June by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-02/pot-laced-with-pesticides-forces-states-to-act-as-epa-stays-away

Ohio Senator Wants To Reclassify Marijuana (U.S. – Federal Policy)
Digital Journal (August 3, 2017) Ohio’s State Sen. Kenny Yuko reportedly has filed a bill calling upon Congress and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to downgrade marijuana’s restrictive category.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/3435837#ixzz4onTG8J00

Expansion In Legal Cannabis Markets Increasing Sales And Job Opportunities Across Marijuana Industry (U.S. – Jobs & Economy)
Business Insider (August 2, 2107) Cannabis companies are pioneering their way through uncharted territory across the globe as marijuana continues to become legalized in more and more states, and ultimately creating new worlds of revenue and economic opportunity in various ways for active companies in the sector.
http://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/Expansion-in-Legal-Cannabis-Markets-Increasing-Sales-and-Job-Opportunities-Across-Marijuana-Industry-1002226377

Survey: 80% Of Respondents Report Success With CBD Therapies (U.S. – Medical Cannabis)
Gangapreneur (August 3, 2017) The largest-ever survey conducted on cannabidiol (CBD) users found 80 percent of respondents reporting the cannabinoid “very effective” or “extremely effective” in treating their respective conditions, with 42 percent reporting they actually stopped using traditional prescription and over-the-counter medicines and replacing them with CBD-based products.
https://www.ganjapreneur.com/survey-80-percent-report-success-with-cbd-therapies/

Cory Booker’s ‘Marijuana Justice Act Of 2017’ Could Fundamentally Change Cannabis Law In The U.S. (U.S. – Federal Policy)
Civilized (August 1, 2017) First and foremost, the bill would deschedule marijuana. But it goes even further than that: The bill would withhold federal money from states with racially disproportionate arrest and incarceration rates, and would use any money withheld to fund libraries and job training. Moreover, it would require courts to expunge existing marijuana convictions, and would allow those subject to discriminatory cannabis arrests to sue states.
https://www.civilized.life/articles/cory-booker-marijuana-justice-act-2017/

Jeff Sessions' Approach To The Opioid Epidemic Is Basically A Nationwide Prescription For Heroin (U.S. – Opioid Epidemic)
Civilized (August 3, 2017) Rather than fixing America's opioid problem, his flawed solution will likely fuel a health crisis that is already producing record-breaking death tolls. Sessions' plan involves creating a task force called the Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit – a team of 12 lawyers that will work with the FBI and DEA to crack down on doctors and pharmacists who profit off the opioid epidemic by writing illegal prescriptions.
https://www.civilized.life/articles/jeff-sessions-opioid-epidemic-heroin/

Medical Marijuana Walk-In Clinics Come To Florida (FL – Medical Cannabis)
News 10 Tampa (August 2, 2017) They're the first of its kind in the Sunshine State: Walk-in clinics for medical marijuana. Tetra Health Centers, which has opened six facilities in Florida, works the same as walking into an urgent care center, except you see a licensed doctor about receiving medical marijuana as a treatment.
http://www.wtsp.com/weather/health/medical-marijuana-walk-in-clinics/461443247

Alaska Cannabis Tax Revenues Reach New High (AL – Tax Revenue)
Ganjapreneur (August 3, 2017) Tax revenues derived from Alaska’s legal cannabis industry nearly doubled from May to June, from $272,100 to $512,200 – the most in a single month since sales began in late October, Alaska Dispatch News reports. Officials from the state Department of Revenue are anticipating the trend will continue for July.
https://www.ganjapreneur.com/alaska-cannabis-tax-revenues-reach-new-high/