By Dalton Rosario
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Editorial Director, Rux Martin
Long Story Short. The Cannabis edibles food space is evolving far beyond the pot-brownies of years’ past. Intricate cooking recipes mixed with chemistry and botany has led to incredible advances in the arts and sciences of cooking with cannabis.
Gimme the Juice! As an emerging niche market combining the culinary sector with unique publications from literary houses and experimenting writers, the legal cannabis trade is becoming injected with a burst of excitement geared around the intricacies of cooking with THC. Cook books expounding upon recipes infusing cannabis with lamb chops marinated in yogurt, cilantro-cannabis dressings layered over fresh kale and bacon bits, and pepperoni cured from pot is becoming the standard of a new direction previously unexplored to such culinary depths.
So What’s the Bottom Line? Human civilizations have been cultivating cannabis and cooking with these home-grown herbs since the beginning of Time. Whether cited in research spanning back to the Mesolithic era, or ritualistic concoctions named “Bhang” shared by Yogis in India for over 3,000 years; this ever-present fascination of infusing cannabis in our daily diets to nourish the body and spirit have been a part of our culture as a people.
Click Here to Read More: https://www.washingtonpost.
By Dalton Rosario
Long Story Short. At the beginning of 2019 California had 6,924 temporarily registered cannabis farms, including a total number of growers with licenses that are expiring at a rate faster than annual and provisional licenses are being issued by the California Department of Food & Agriculture (CDFA). This spells a pending crisis in supply shortages if not rectified by the state.
Gimme the Juice! Of the 3,300 back-logged license applications, the CDFA has so far approved only 500 annual and provisional cannabis farming licenses. This means at best, the state of California will have access to 1,500 registered cultivation farms by the end of the month and at worst, just 1,000 based on the pending rate of license expirations.
So What’s the Bottom Line? California state regulators and the CDFA have a vested interest in the success of the cannabis industry and its stable growth. They are ramping up efforts to register as many temporary licenses as possible at a nearly 100% guarantee approval rate, so long as cultivators file a provisional license. For some perspective, only 5 applications had received licensing at the beginning of March, which had increased to 500 approvals by the 31st. With that said, at the current rate of expirations and provisional licenses being administered, by early May half of the current 6,924 temporary cannabis farming licenses will have already expired.
Click Here to Read More: https://www.leafly.com/news/industry/this-one-chart-captures-californias-cannabis-supply-crunch
By Dalton Rosario
Long Story Short. Florida Health Officials are allowing the state’s largest medical cannabis manufacturer - Trulieve - to open more dispensaries than the State law limits; totaling 49 retail locations.
Gimme the Juice! Florida’s medical cannabis program caps dispensary operators at 25 locations statewide. This limit increases as more companies enter the emerging market. The outcome was supposed to create a level-playing field and reduce the risk of market monopolies. This limit has risen to 35 locations per operator since, and will be in place until April 2020.
So What’s the Bottom Line? Reducing product availability does not help the end-user in any way, and even adds unnecessary barriers of entry for companies looking to take a foothold in Florida’s medical cannabis market. Trulieve has set the precedence by being allowed to lawfully open a total of 49 dispensaries. This amount includes the original 14 locations they started in business with, plus the additional 35 retail store limit to be revoked from state law in April 2020.
click here to read more: https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florida/fl-ne-nsf-trulieve-dispensary-ruling-20190401-story.html
By Dalton Rosario
Susan Curtis, Executive Director of Massachusetts’ Medical Association
Long Story Short. The pet market is the largest growing niche within the CBD Market for states that have legalized cannabis.
Gimme the Juice! Particularly in Massachusetts, Veterinarians are reporting increasingly more cases of pet-owners giving cannabis-derived products to their pets to treat their ailments. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place. Veterinarians and pet-owners are in favor of medication that mitigates pain in animals; however, Massachusetts law strictly enforces punishable offensives for licensed vets that recommended cannabis to a pet that experiences adverse side effects.
So What’s the Bottom Line? Veterinarians confirm from pet-owners that cannabis and CBD derivatives work wonders for pets with a myriad of health conditions. But without the proper scientific research to back these claims, even though Vets are doing what is morally right to reduce pain in these animals, they are still unlawfully recommending medications that they can and will be held accountable for under state law.
click here to read more: https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/marijuana/2019/03/28/more-people-are-treating-their-pets-with-marijuana-and-veterinarians-aren-sure-quite-how-handle/lZXlrHE2mQTFiR4BuhpBQK/story.html
By Dalton Rosario
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy
Long Story Short. Legislative efforts to expand NJ’s medical cannabis program and expungements program fell through Monday, March 25th as the Legislature was not able to secure enough support, despite increasing momentum for legalizing adult cannabis consumption.
Gimme the Juice! The Democratic majority largely supported the emerging cannabis legislation; however, Democratic leaders representing predominately urban areas believed the bill did not do enough to aid lower socio-economic neighborhoods. They argued the bill favored the profitability of the industry at large, rather than contributing to the betterment of communities of color targeted most directly by law enforcement.
So What’s the Bottom Line? State lawmakers are optimistic about adult cannabis consumption passing in New Jersey, but the question on everybody’s mind is how soon. Ideally, the vote would have been secured before NJ’s July 1st new state budget deadline. But with the failed vote this past Monday, speculation has already hinted that such a heavily debated topic would be untouchable by Assembly members during re-election campaigns in the late summer and early Fall. The next vote for the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory and Expungement Aid Modernization Act can come as soon as November.
Click Here to Read More: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/27/nyregion/marijuana-legalization-new-jersey.html
By Dalton Rosario
Long Story Short. National cannabis legalization is historically rooted with the LGBTQ community’s fight for acceptance since the early 80’s, so why do industry insiders feel the cannabis market is leaving behind some of their founding members?
Gimme the Juice! The cannabis industry overlooks LGBTQ representation despite acceptance of marijuana use and legalization having direct parallels to the cultural shift of mainstream acceptance for the LGBTQ community; including legislative implementation of the same liberties and rights we all enjoy.
So What’s the Bottom Line? Similarly to how the national conversation of cannabis restitutions revolve around lower socio-economic neighborhoods and communities of color having equal inclusion in the economic opportunities to be gained in the emerging cannabis market; this narrative must also include representation from the LGBTQ community which has fought alongside pro-cannabis legalization from the very beginning.
Click Here to Read More: https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrebourque/2019/03/18/the-road-to-national-marijuana-legalization-has-allies-in-the-lgbtq-community/#68923a4d737b
By Dalton Rosario
“This legislation will establish an industry that brings fairness and economic opportunity to all of our communities, while promoting public safety by ensuring a safe product and allowing law enforcement to focus their resources on serious crimes,”
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy
Long Story Short. New Jersey is on path to sanction indoor & outdoor cannabis lounges, cannabis delivery services and cannabis dispensaries.
Gimme the Juice! NJ's Cannabis Regulatory Commission would oversee residential cannabis deliveries, exempt NJ’s 42,500 medical cannabis patients from the 3% recreational sales tax, and casinos/hotels could use 20% of their facilities for consumption lounges.
So What’s the Bottom Line? As early as march 25, 2019 NJ lawmakers will vote on this pro-cannabis legislation that, if passed, will implement a state-wide multimillion dollar industry before year’s end.
Click Here to Read More: https://www.readingeagle.com/news/article/weed-delivery-and-pot-lounges-could-be-a-reality-as-nj-cannabis-legalization-bill-heads-for-a-vote
By Dalton Rosario
Today our 116th Congress met at the first cannabis hearing of the year to discuss the SAFE Banking Act, which aims to draft legislation that provides banks and credit unions with precautionary provisions for handling legitimate cannabis proceeds from licensed businesses without fear of being flagged by the federal government and IRS for money laundering and dealings with illicit criminal activity. This is a major step in ending federal prohibition, as all legal industries require the services of financial institutions, particularly for cash-heavy sectors like the cannabis industry. Not only does this increase the public safety and wellbeing of these businesses, their employees and our communities, but also it creates the necessary transparency for cannabis markets to be taxed, regulated and held accountable for the proceeds of their daily dealings at the state and federal level. Furthermore, by banks investing in local cannabis companies and providing financial resources and services, the cannabis industry will wholly embrace a previously unattainable level of standardization that has been lacking; making cannabis seem less like a favorable market commodity and more like a potential hazard and financial liability for those congressman, governors and state lawmakers who seek to pass pro-cannabis legislation but lack the infrastructure and support from our federal government to do so.
Local banks require protection in their dealings with cannabis companies, which have been by and large outright denied in their undertakings of standardized services that all other commercial industries have access to across the country. Whether that be in the form of unfavorable cash deposit rates, the inability to request a line of credit or restrictions on filing for annual tax exemptions based on U.S. Code Section 280E. Ending cannabis prohibition is not just administered through statewide legalization, but through policy reformation and legislative provisions impacting all satellite sectors and services surrounding the cash cow commodity that this bustling industry relies on. According to the U.S. Department of Treasury, nearly 500 financial institutions across the country support cannabis businesses. And although this shows a rising support from Corporate America favoring the legitimacy of this estimated $50 Billion cannabis industry in just a few short years, as it stands only one-third of all licensed retailers, distributors and cultivators have reliable dealings with banks and credit unions. - An unheard of statistic with no parallels in our country's commercial marketplace.
By Dalton Rosario
Following Baltimore city’s top prosecutor Marilyn Mosby pledging that her office will end prosecuting possession-related cannabis arrests last week, Maryland is now the latest state to officially have passed cannabis legalization in the forms of possession, purchasing, consuming and cultivating. Individuals can legally carry up to an ounce of dry herb or five concentrate cartridges and home-grow up to four plants per household. Cannabis sales from licensed retailers will be taxed at a modest six percent, with state tax revenues being implemented in programs ranging from substance abuse and DWI prevention to K-12 and reparations for communities disproportionally targeted by law enforcement during cannabis prohibition; including expungements of current and prior possession and cultivation convictions.
As stated by Olivia Naugle, the Marijuana Policy Project’s Legislative Coordinator, in regards to pro-cannabis legislation passing in Maryland, “[cannabis] can be conducted by licensed, taxpaying businesses rather than criminal enterprises. This legislation would improve public health and safety [and] also have the bonus of generating significant new tax revenue for the state.” Maryland is a prime example of the green pendulum sweeping our nation. 2019 has proven to be a year of state lawmakers lining up to file recreational adult use cannabis bills for the benefits of surplus from immediate tax revenues to be allocated and reinvested directly into state programs, while also providing a means of reparations for communities impacted most dearly from cannabis abuses during prohibition.
By Dalton Rosario
Starting this week in Baltimore all cannabis offenses short of federal possession with intent to distribute will be charged as a misdemeanor. And as restitutions are concerned, arrest rates as far back as 2011 will be given expungement, and all current cases will be dropped and dismissed into diversion programs. Top prosecutor Marilyn Mosby, Baltimore State’s Attorney said recently, “No one who is serious about public safety can honestly say that spending our resources to jail people for marijuana is a smart way to use our limited time and money.”
The motivation behind this response is recurrent from the war on drugs’ explicit history of ethnic and racial segregation and how this has affected countless communities disproportionally for decades. In Baltimore, an analysis of police data released by the Baltimore Fishbowl claims that out of the 1,514 documented cannabis-related possession cases between 2015 and 2017, 96% of these charges involved African Americans.
Statistics like this project the harsh, simple truth fueling the war on drugs for the past decade; and more purposefully, it provides a substantial framework for arranging cannabis reformation in immediate fashion. If these wrongs can be corrected in Maryland, then we can all model Baltimore's legislation as a prototype for lawmakers nationwide. Maryland homes half the population of nearby states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, yet ranks seventh highest in the country for statewide possession-related cannabis arrests. A grotesque 90% of cannabis arrests are possession based, accounting for half of all drug arrests within the state. But not anymore in the city of Baltimore, where 30% of the population was targeted for 90% of cannabis crimes.
