Category: Cannabis

  • DEA Begins Formal Process to Deschedule Cannabis

    DEA Begins Formal Process to Deschedule Cannabis

    Credit: Burdun

    The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has begun to publicly share details about its long-anticipated hearings on cannabis rescheduling.

    The agency announced last week that Dec. 2 will mark the beginning of its “formal hearing proceedings” on the U.S. Department of Justice’s proposal to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act.

    A “preliminary hearing” is expected “to address legal and logistical issues and discuss future dates for the evidentiary hearing on the merits. No witness testimony will be offered or received at this time.”

    The hearing began today at 9am and will continue until 5pm at the DEA’s headquarters in Virginia, and a live stream is available.

    Nearly two dozen entities requested to participate in the hearing process, but a DEA administrative law judge determined last week that only a dozen had “established standing” to do so.

  • Oregon Measure to Ease Path to Cannabis Union

    Oregon Measure to Ease Path to Cannabis Union

    Credit: Media Hain

    In Oregon, Measure 119, which would allow cannabis workers to form unions, passed on Tuesday with a vote of 55% to 45%.

    The measure will require cannabis businesses to enter “labor peace agreements,” promising to stay neutral when union organizers communicate with their workers.

    After lawmakers declined to pass a similar law last year, union representatives brought the measure to voters, arguing the agreements were needed because of uncertainty over how federal labor law applies to cannabis workers, media reports.

    While the measure faced no organized opposition, business interests and attorneys for the Legislature previously argued that the agreements could conflict with federal labor laws.

  • Cannabis, Psychedelics Legalization Suffer Losses

    Cannabis, Psychedelics Legalization Suffer Losses

    Credit: Rex and Pan

    Several states suffered losses of bills aimed at legalizing cannabis and psychedelic products.

    Florida voters rejected a ballot measure to legalize marijuana. It got majority support but did not reach the 60 percent threshold needed to be enacted under state law.

    Colorado Gov. Jared Polis explained the benefits of marijuana legalization to Florida voters ahead of their decision on a ballot measure to enact the reform, saying it reduces youth cannabis use, shrinks the illegal market and generates revenue for businesses and state services.

    North Dakota voters defeated a marijuana legalization ballot measure two years after also rejecting a prior initiative to legalize cannabis.

    South Dakota voters rejected a marijuana legalization ballot measure. The state Supreme Court overturned an earlier initiative they approved in 2020.

    Nebraska voters approved two medical cannabis legalization initiatives on the ballot—but the results of the election could potentially be overturned due to ongoing legal challenges.

    Massachusetts voters rejected a psychedelics legalization ballot initiative that would have allowed adults to possess, grow and share certain amounts of substances such as psilocybin, ibogaine and DMT.

    Oregon voters approved a ballot measure to require marijuana businesses to enter into labor peace agreements.

    Texas voters in Dallas, Bastrop and Lockhart approved marijuana decriminalization measures on their local ballots.

  • Canada Cops Bust Crime Group for Cannabis Edibles

    Canada Cops Bust Crime Group for Cannabis Edibles

    Credit: CRMP

    Police in Canada said they have arrested six people involved in an organized crime group believed to have produced tens of thousands of counterfeit cannabis-laced candy bars and edibles resembling popular name-brand products.

    The takedown began early this month, according to a statement from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Tuesday. On Oct. 3, the Pacific Region Royal Canadian Mounted Police federal policing investigators executed search warrants at two dispensaries and five separate residences on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.

    “These warrants were associated to an organized crime group allegedly involved in the production and distribution of illicit drugs, and contraband tobacco in Port Alberni and Nanaimo,” authorities said. “The dispensaries in question were Green Coast Dispensary in Port Alberni and Coastal Storm Dispensary located in Lantzville.”

    Search warrants were also executed at a suspected stash site in Port Alberni, as well as a storage and production facility adjacent to Coastal Storm Dispensary, including two modular trailers where cannabis edibles were being produced, stored, and distributed, authorities stated in a press note.

    Credit: CRMP

    The list of items seized includes over 120,000 cannabis edibles with packaging resembling popular name-brand chocolate bars, potato chips, nacho chips, honey and other candies, including over 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) of psilocybin mushrooms, 1,740 psilocybin capsules, over 400 psilocybin chocolate, candies and a multitude of other psilocybin products, 2.2 pounds of pressed cannabis resin, over 500 pounds of cannabis bud, more than 19 pounds of shatter, over 5000 cannabis vape cartridges, counterfeit cannabis-laced honey, five vehicles, two ATM machines containing cash, an estimated 164 master cases of contraband tobacco equating to 82,000 packs of cigarettes, over $400,000 in cash and a shotgun, police said.

    “Although the contraband cannabis-laced candy bars and chips resembled professionally manufactured, packaged, and quality-controlled products, they were discovered to have been produced in the highly unsanitary, and heavily contaminated modular trailers,” authorities from RCMP said. “A preliminary assessment of the edibles also indicates that they had been treated with unknown amounts of THC, and likely cross-contaminated with other drugs and substances present in the trailers where they were being produced and packaged.”

    Of equal concern, according to police, was the fact that the counterfeit snacks had packaging claims of possessing medicinal properties and dangerously high drug potency values, with many of the candy wrap labels claiming to be “100 times more potent than regulated cannabis products.”

    “Given the highly contaminated and unsanitary conditions of the illicit drug production facility where these cannabis edibles were being produced, it is possible that the consumption of these products can lead to serious health risks,” RCMP said. “We urge members of the public to practice extreme caution if they already possess, or come across such products in the future, especially with Halloween being just around the corner.”

  • California Ban on Intoxicating Hemp Now in Effect

    California Ban on Intoxicating Hemp Now in Effect

    Credit: Niro World

    Emergency regulations issued by California Gov. Gavin Newsom a few weeks ago limiting the sale and production of intoxicating hemp products are now in force.

    According to a records request by SFGate, the rules were enacted Monday after being approved by the state’s Office of Administrative Law. Newsom issued the restrictions on Sept. 6, which were proposed by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).

    Jonathan Miller, general counsel of industry trade group Hemp Roundtable, predicted the order will eliminate 90%-95% of hemp retail products.

    Newsom has argued that lax rules have allowed underage youth to access intoxicating products, and he filed emergency rules earlier this month to completely ban them. However, the hemp industry has said that the Newsom administration was abusing the emergency rulemaking process to pass the hemp THC ban and that banning hemp THC would have disastrous effects on medical patients who rely on hemp to treat a wide range of health conditions.

    The Office of Administrative Law agreed with Newsom, writing in the order that the emergency rules are “deemed to be an emergency situation.” The ban on hemp THC will be effective until March 25, 2025.

    Newsom’s hemp ban has caused outrage in the medical cannabis community, with families “panic buying” thousands of dollars of hemp in anticipation of the rules going into effect.

  • Minnesota bans Vaping THC in Multifamily Properties

    Minnesota bans Vaping THC in Multifamily Properties

    Credit: Ontronix

    The restriction, which went into effect this summer, does not apply to approved medical use.

    Minnesota’s ban on smoking and vaping cannabis in multifamily properties was initially to become effective in March 2025. However, the new law moved up the effective dates to establish the full powers of the newly formed Office of Cannabis Management by July 1. Cigarette smoking is still permitted in private units in the state.

    The exception on smoking for medical marijuana leaves housing providers caught in the middle between those with prescriptions and residents who object to marijuana smoke, according to Cecil Smith, president and CEO of the Minnesota Multi Housing Association. 

    “Many multifamily properties became smoke-free years ago and that is now the resident expectation,” Smith told Multifamily Dive. “It is unclear how this conflict [will be] resolved.”

    Federally funded housing is not covered under the medicinal marijuana exemption because marijuana use and possession is illegal under federal law, according to HUD. Residents of federal housing, such as through Section 8 or other programs, cannot legally use or possess recreational or medical marijuana in any form, regardless of state law. HUD also banned smoking tobacco in all public housing properties in 2016.

    According to the Centers for Disease Control, while 12 states, including Minnesota, have laws prohibiting smoking in the public areas of private housing communities, no states ban smoking in private units. 

    Eighty-five municipalities have enacted bans on smoking in multifamily units, all of them in California, according to a list compiled by the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation. Carlsbad, California, is the latest jurisdiction to ban smoking tobacco or marijuana in apartment properties with a law announced Aug. 28.

  • California Governor Proposes Total Hemp THC Ban

    California Governor Proposes Total Hemp THC Ban

    Credit: Promesa art studio

    Gov. Gavin Newsom fired a direct attack Friday on the booming hemp industry, filing emergency rules that would completely ban THC — an intoxicating compound found in cannabis — from hemp products in the state.

    Hemp products are sold outside of regulated cannabis stores and can be purchased online or at retail locations like gas stations throughout the state. Newsom said in a statement Friday that the emergency rules were needed to protect children, media reports state.

    “We will not sit on our hands as drug peddlers target our children with dangerous and unregulated hemp products containing THC at our retail stores,” Newsom said. “We’re taking action to close loopholes and increase enforcement to prevent children from accessing these dangerous hemp and cannabis products.”

    The emergency rules would require that all hemp products in California have “no detectable amount of total THC ” and that customers be over 21 to purchase them. The rules still need the approval of the California Office of Administrative Law before they go into effect.

    Reg title: DPH-24-005E-Emergency Regulations for Serving Size, Age, and Intoxicating Cannabinoids for Industrial Hemp has been proposed. Click here to read the proposed regulations. Click here to read the “Finding of Emergency” on which they are based. 

    Most notably, under the proposed regulations the definition of “THC” is expanded to include “THC or comparable cannabinoids” and adds over 30 cannabinoids to the list of “THC”. Additionally, the amount of THC allowed in a serving is “no detectable amount.”

    Cannabis attorney Rod Kight said, “This is an “all hands on deck” moment for the entire cannabis industry to stop this nonsense. If you have business interests in California, stop what you’re doing and call the Governor’s office and your state representatives now.”

  • Organigram Closes 2nd Tranche of BAT Investment

    Organigram Closes 2nd Tranche of BAT Investment

    Photo: krishnadasekm

    Organigram Holdings closed the second of three tranches of a CAD124.56 million ($92.2 million) equity investment by British American Tobacco’s BT DE Investments subsidiary.

    Pursuant to the second tranche closing, the investor acquired 4,429,740 common shares and 8,463,435 Class A preferred shares at a price of CAD3.22 per share for gross proceeds of $30.82 million. The remaining 12,893,175 shares subscribed for are due to be issued at the per share price in the final tranche on or around Feb. 28, 2025.

    “With two tranches of the Jupiter pool now funded, combined with our strong balance sheet and targeted investment strategy, Organigram is well on its way to executing on its ambitious growth plan focusing on international, technological and product expansion,” said Organigram CEP Paolo De Luca in a statement.

    “Our inaugural Jupiter investment in Open Book Extracts marked our second investment in the U.S. market, and our first international investment in Sanity Group represents a significant first step in our ambitions to grow our footprint in the fast-growing German market,” he added.

  • Texas Police ‘Traumatize’ Store Staff in Hemp Raids

    Texas Police ‘Traumatize’ Store Staff in Hemp Raids

    Credit: Ongala

    Police in Allen, Texas, secured up evidence and marched out business owners in handcuffs for selling what attorneys for the vape shops say are legal products. In a coordinated raid, police invaded nine locations simultaneously.

    Allen police chief Steve Dye told media that the stores involved, more than a third of the vape shops within Allen city limits, were all caught marketing and selling products with illegal levels of THC. The THC compound can be derived from marijuana and hemp (both members of the cannabis family).

    “We did multiple rounds of undercover operations, including sending minors in, and many of them were able to buy the THC underage. And then we started testing those products and we found that the vast majority of those products were well over the .3 percent,” he said.

    Early Wednesday morning, an attorney representing some of the vape shops in a federal lawsuit against the DEA called the raids “legally questionable.”

    “These local, family-owned businesses are operating legally. The Allen, Texas Police Department and the DEA overstepped their authority by destroying products, taking point-of-sale systems and records, and confiscating personal computers belonging to employees,” said David Sergi of San Marcos-based Sergi & Associates.

    Pictures provided by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which assisted with the raid, show a bag of chips labeled “Doweedos”, cookies labeled “Trips Ahoy” and candy labeled “Medicated Skittles.”

    “We’ve seen percentages of THC in the high teens, upwards of 60, 65 percent. That is almost toxic levels of THC when you think about it. And is that what somebody is expecting to get?” asked DEA Special Agent In Charge Eduardo Chavez.

    The raids left owners and employees “traumatized,” according to Sergi, who also represents the Allen Hemp Coalition as well as eight of the nine shop owners. “We think it’s absolutely horrendous,” he told a media oulet.

    Sergi said that when police sent a letter to businesses in May raising concerns, the stores voluntarily removed the products mentioned from their shelves. This time, he said, police chose a different approach.

    “Rather than getting guidance and partnership from the Allen Police Department, we have gotten arrested, we have had clients whose stores have been destroyed, we have employees whose computers have been taken,” he said.

    Sergi said that while there’s no law against selling hemp products to minors, many shops voluntarily choose not to.

    When asked about the attorney’s comments, a spokesperson for Allen police said the department tried working with store owners, offering to provide advice about which products might pose a problem. Not all, he said, took them up on it.

  • UKVIA Warns Against Illegal ‘Spice’ Vape Devices 

    UKVIA Warns Against Illegal ‘Spice’ Vape Devices 

    Photo: fedorovacz

    The U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) has cautioned consumers about an increase in illegal “Spice vapes” and called for urgent government action to protect young people.

    The warning follows reports of people misusing “open” vape devices—which allow consumers to add e-liquid—to deliver synthetic cannabinoids such as Spice and the psychoactive chemical THC, which is found in cannabis. Spice is a nickname for a substance containing one or more synthetic cannabinoids.

    The trade UKVIA  the regulated nicotine vape industry is in no way connected with the trend of using open vape devices as a delivery mechanism for illegal drugs.

    “Consumers can feel confident that when they buy regulated products from any reputable vape supplier, that they will be getting nicotine vapes which are designed to help them transition from cigarettes,” said UKVIA Director General John Dunne in a statement.

    “I am worried, however, that there are vape devices available from unofficial sources which may contain illegal drugs and that those who buy them may have no idea what is contained in these products.”

    According to Office for Health Improvement & Disparities statistics, of the 12,418 young people under 18 in contact with alcohol and drug services between April 2022 and March 2023, cannabis was the most common substance (87 percent) for which young people sought treatment. While 10,837 young people reported having a problem with cannabis only 1,737 said they had a problem with nicotine.

    “We need the government to step on now with a nationwide education campaign in traditional and social media to highlight the dangers of obtaining vape devices from unofficial sources and explaining the differences between legal and illegal vape products,” said Dunne.

    “Unless a clear distinction is made between the regulated vape market supplying adult smokers with products which are 95 percent less harmful than cigarettes and the unofficial supply of illegal products, then people will become wary of all vapes with the potential to drive smoking rates back up again.”

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