Tag: news

  • Virginia is First Southern State to Legalize Marijuana

    Virginia is First Southern State to Legalize Marijuana

    Virginia became the 16th U.S. state to legalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana on Wednesday. Under the new law, adults ages 21 and over can possess an ounce or less of marijuana beginning on July 1 this year, rather than Jan. 1, 2024.

    marijuana leaf
    Credit: Rex Medlen

    Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, proposed moving up the date, arguing it would be a mistake to continue to penalize people for possessing a drug that would soon be legal. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, also a Democrat, broke a 20-20 vote tie in Virginia’s Senate to pass the bill. No Republicans supported the measure.

    Democratic House of Delegates Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn hailed the plan, according to NPR. “Today, with the Governor’s amendments, we will have made tremendous progress in ending the targeting of Black and brown Virginians through selective enforcement of marijuana prohibition by this summer,” she said in a statement.

    Republicans voiced a number of objections to what they characterized as an unwieldy, nearly 300-page bill. Several criticized measures that would grant licensing preferences to people and groups who’ve been affected by the war on drugs and make it easier for workers in the industry to unionize. Senate Minority Leader Tommy Norment also questioned Northam’s motives.

    “We have a governor who wants to contribute to the resurrection of his legacy,” Norment said, referring to the 2019 discovery of a racist photo in Northam’s 1984 medical school yearbook.

    The accelerated timeline creates an unusual situation for Virginia cannabis consumers. While it will be legal to grow up to four marijuana plants beginning July 1, it could be several years before the state begins licensing recreational marijuana retailers. And unlike other states, the law won’t allow the commonwealth’s existing medical dispensaries to begin selling to all adults immediately.

    Jenn Michelle Pedini, executive director of Virginia NORML, called legalization “an incredible victory” but said the group would continue to push to allow retail sales to begin sooner, according to NPR. “In the interest of public and consumer safety, Virginians 21 and older should be able to purchase retail cannabis products at the already operational dispensaries in 2021, not in 2024,” Pedini said in a statement. “Such a delay will only exacerbate the divide for equity applicants and embolden illicit activity.”

  • South Carolina Bill Banning Local Vapor Rules Advancing

    South Carolina Bill Banning Local Vapor Rules Advancing

    A bill that would ban South Carolina cities and counties from limiting sales of vaping products and traditional tobacco products is advancing in the state’s House of Representatives.

    A 15-7 vote April 6 by the House Judiciary Committee sent the bill to the House floor for debate. Advocates said they don’t want local governments to create a mishmash of fees and rules across the state that hamper businesses and cut into state tax collections, according to an article in The Post & Courier.

    State taxes on cigarettes, cigars and “other tobacco products” (which includes vapor) tallied nearly $146 million last fiscal year, according to the state Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office. Opponents include more than a dozen public health groups which have urged legislators to reject the proposal co-sponsored by both the chamber’s Republican and Democratic leaders.

    As amended, the measure grandfathers in any local ordinances enacted before Dec. 31, 2020. That would allow Myrtle Beach to keep in place its ban on sales of tobacco, hemp oil and vaping products within a 10-block section along Ocean Boulevard, if it survives a court challenge. It’s unclear how many other local rules exist. Advocacy groups that represent local governments did not immediately know.

    “The idea is we establish a statewide standard and don’t have a hodgepodge of rules related to these products,” said state Rep. Micah Caskey, R-West Columbia. “This is an attempt to get ahead on this issue so we don’t end up with more.” The bill does not affect local governments’ ability to use zoning laws to regulate where tobacco businesses can locate within their borders.

    Update: On April 7, the South Carolina House of Representatives passed the law by a vote of 80-23. The bill will now move to the South Carolina Senate.

  • Bill to Ban Local Vapor Rules Dies in Montana Senate

    Bill to Ban Local Vapor Rules Dies in Montana Senate

    An attempt by the Montana legislature to stop local governments from enacting ordinances to ban the sale of flavored vaping products was shot down by the state’s Senate on Tuesday. Senate Bill 398, from Sen. Jason Ellsworth was voted down on a second reading by a 21-29 margin. It was then indefinitely postponed on a 31-18 vote.

    In opposition to the bill, Sen. Carlie Boland, D-Great Falls, said the state is dealing with a vaping epidemic and that companies make flavors to target children. Boland said taking away the ability to enact regulations to counter vaping among children was harmful, according to an article in the Montana Standard.

    “It has to be a community working together to achieve this. We need to address this problem and it should start at our homes and at the local level,” Boland said. Ellsworth argued vaping products are legal and their sale should not be restricted. He also said owners of vape shops testified that local ordinances dramatically hurt their businesses and that shops aren’t allowed to sell to underage minors.

    “We should not be enacting laws on a local level. Just think about that for a second. We’ve seen that happen. We’ve seen how that has had repercussions and we’ve had to come back here as a body to rein in these local governments trying to restrict our freedoms,” Ellsworth said

    Earlier this session, Rep. Ron Marshall, R-Hamilton, brought a bill that would have barred a local government or the state Department of Public Health and Human Services from creating or continuing a regulation, ordinance or restriction related to vaping products. That bill passed the House in February but later was voted down in the Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee. Marshall is a co-owner of a vaping shop.

    At the state level, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services proposed to ban flavored vaping products in 2020 over concern that flavors targeted children. Ellsworth was a leader in a push from GOP lawmakers to oppose the ban, which the department eventually dropped. Missoula had passed a ban on flavored vaping products, but delayed enforcement until May after it was sued.

    Ellsworth’s bill would have said local governments could not enact ordinances that prohibited the sale of vaping products or alternative nicotine products. It did allow the enactment of “reasonable” ordinances or resolutions related to the sale of vaping products, but did not define reasonable.

  • IOTO Expands Into Fast-Growing Hemp Sheets Market

    IOTO Expands Into Fast-Growing Hemp Sheets Market

    IOTO will leverage its experience in tobacco to serve the hemp industry
    (Photo courtesy of IOTO)

    IOTO International, a U.S. and Brazil-based manufacturer of homogenized wrapper, cut filler and binder, has expanded its Yerba Mate, Chamomile and other herbal homogenized sheet offerings to include premium reconstituted hemp sheet.

    Utilizing qualified and tested hemp flower, leaf or stem supplied by customers (or directly sourced locally by IOTO), the company is now able to offer customized manufacture of hemp sheet to the specific herbal content requirements of its clients.

    “Demand for hemp smoking wrappers in the USA has increased exponentially over the last two years as brand developers have brought novel hemp cigarettes, cigars, hemp wrappers and hemp cones to the market,” said Helder Tullio, director of operations at IOTO, in a statement.

    “Unfortunately, the majority of the hemp wrap available today is generic and not crafted to meet the specific smoking qualities required by brand owners.

    At IOTO, we are set up to run both small-scale and high-volume production, and we are able to meet the specific formulation needs of the client.

    We can help make smaller brands more viable and give them real points of differentiation.

    Helder Tullio, director of operations, IOTO

    “Given our scaled manufacturing approach, we can work with smaller initial production runs and ultimately grow with brand owners as sales volumes expand. In effect, we can help make smaller brands more viable and give them real points of differentiation from the generic hemp wrapper offerings that are in the market today.

    “The IOTO hemp wrapper is a highly durable hemp sheet, and we believe our manufacturing process gives us a distinct edge over competitors and delivers a superior quality hemp sheet for clients. In addition, IOTO’s capabilities in flavor development also helps our customers meet their targeted taste profile requirements when making flavored hemp sheet.”

  • Organigram buys The Edibles & Infusions Corp.

    Organigram buys The Edibles & Infusions Corp.

    Photo: Erin Stone from Pixabay

    Organigram Holdings has acquired The Edibles & Infusions Corp. (EIC) in a CAD35 million ($27.88 million) stock deal, reports Reuters.

    EIC specializes in pot edibles, like gummy bears, brownies and drinks, and have been the biggest beneficiaries of increased demand for cannabis products during coronavirus lockdowns.

    Edible products remain an important product category to Organigram, and EIC represents an ideal partner with which to expand our market presence in this category as well as other derivative cannabis categories.

    Greg Engel, CEO, Organigram

    “Edible products remain an important product category to Organigram, and EIC represents an ideal partner with which to expand our market presence in this category as well as other derivative cannabis categories,” Organigram Chief Executive Greg Engel said.

    In March, British American Tobacco announced it would buy a nearly 20 percent stake in Organigram for about £126 million ($174.30 million) as it looks to diversify beyond its main tobacco business.

    Organigram said it currently expects first sales of EIC-manufactured soft chews in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021.

    The Toronto Stock Exchange has approved the EIC deal, according to Organigram.

  • Driftwood Vapor and Super Vape’z Get FDA Warning Letters

    Driftwood Vapor and Super Vape’z Get FDA Warning Letters

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is intent on removing vaping products from the market that have not submitted a premarket tobacco product authorization (PMTA). The latest companies to receive warning letters are Van Howling Enterprise LLC d/b/a Driftwood Vapor and Super Vape’z, bringing the total number of warning letters for the illegal sale of vapor products to 82 in 2021. The letters were posted on the FDA’s website on April 5, the same day the businesses received the warnings.

    Credit: Vapers Map

    Driftwood received the warning for selling its Driftwood Vapor Watermelon 3mg e-liquid without a marketing authorization order and has over 3,600 products registered with the FDA. Super Vape’z received a warning for its Premium E-liquid Apple Mango 60ml 12mg e-liquid and has over 700 products listed with the FDA. Many of the FDA’s letters so far have gone to local vape shops that manufacturer their own e-liquid in the store, as is the case with Driftwood Vapor, for example.

    The FDA states that the companies failed to submit PMTAs by the required Sept. 9, 2020 deadline. The FDA also states that “the violations discussed in this letter do not necessarily constitute an exhaustive list” and companies should quickly address any products that violate the same rules as the product mentioned in the letter.

    In February, the director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, Mitch Zeller, said that there were over 400 million vaping-related products that required a PMTA in order to remain on the market. “These warning letters are the result of continued surveillance and internet monitoring for violations of tobacco laws and regulations. We want to make clear to all tobacco product manufacturers and retailers that the FDA is keeping a close watch on the marketplace and will hold companies accountable for breaking the law,” said Zeller.

    Companies that receive warning letters from the FDA have to submit a written response to the letter within 15 working days from the date of receipt describing the company’s corrective actions, including the dates on which it discontinued the violative sale, and/or distribution of the products. They also require the company’s plan for maintaining compliance with the FD&C Act in the future.

  • RELX: Common Coolant Agent Not Toxic to Test Animals

    RELX: Common Coolant Agent Not Toxic to Test Animals

    Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive

    The WS-23 cooling agent has limited impact on the experiment animals at the tested dose, according to a study performed by RLX Technology and published in the Journal of Applied Toxicology.

    The RLX Technology study showed that there were no deaths in any of WS-23 treated groups in the acute and subacute inhalation studies, with no remarkable changes occurred in body weight, organ weight, hematology and serum biochemistry and no toxic effects in the histopathologic analysis.

    It was the first study published on the Science Citation Index (SCI) indexed journal conducted by the Chinese e-cigarette industry.

    WS-23 is a well-known artificial synthesis cooling agent widely used in foods, medicines and tobaccos. As a common cooling agent in e-cigarette liquids, WS-23 has led to concerns about the inhalation toxicity with the proliferation of e-cigarettes in recent years. The study shows that at the tested dose level, inhalation of WS-23 will not bring toxic side effect to test animals.

    “Product safety has always been RLX’s top concern, and it is also the direction and commitment in our research and development,” said Xingtao Jiang, head of RELX Lab, which is part of RLX Technology, in a statement. Before the study was published, RELX Lab conducted vitro tests to prove the aerosol containing WS-23 is safe to use in the products.

  • FDA Cleaning House With 80 Vapor Warning Letters in 2021

    FDA Cleaning House With 80 Vapor Warning Letters in 2021

    The total number of warning letters issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to e-liquid manufacturers for illegally marketing vapor products now stands at 80 in 2021. The FDA issued four more warning letters for marketing illegal vapor products. Kidney Puncher, Vapor Gold, Violet Vapor and Voltage Vapor all received letters on March 26 and those letters were posted to the FDA’s website on April 1.

    The FDA states that the company’s failed to submit premarket tobacco product applications (PMTA) by the required Sept. 9, 2020 deadline. The FDA also states that “the violations discussed in this letter do not necessarily constitute an exhaustive list” and companies should quickly address any products that violate the same rules as the product mentioned in the letter.

    Kidney Puncher has more than 1,000 products registered with the FDA; Vapors Gold has more than 500; Voltage Vapor has more than 1,500 products registered; and Violet Vapor has more than 4,900 products listed with the regulatory agency.

    Companies that receive warning letters from the FDA have to submit a written response to the letter within 15 working days from the date of receipt describing the company’s corrective actions, including the dates on which it discontinued the violative sale, and/or distribution of the products. They also require the company’s plan for maintaining compliance with the FD&C Act in the future.

  • Philippine Dept. of Education Supports Vapor Rules

    Philippine Dept. of Education Supports Vapor Rules

    Credit: GEO TV

    The Department of Education (DepEd) in the Philippines has expressed its support towards stricter measures on electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and electronic non-nicotine delivery systems (ENNDS), according to a statement penned by the agency’s leader.

    “On matters related to substance use prevention, education alone is not enough. In their classes, we teach our learners how to reject harmful substances. Outside these classes, we need policies and structures that will help reinforce our learners’ health-promoting choices, complementing what we teach them in school,” Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones wrote in her support statement. The letter was released during a public hearing on the provisions of the Vaporized Nicotine Products Regulation Act, according to press note.

    The Senate hearing explored regulations on age restriction, online trade, product flavors, among other items. Currently, vaping products and heated tobacco products (HTPs) are already regulated under Republic Act 11467 (RA 11467), signed by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in January 2020. Under RA 11467, selling vapor products and HTPs to persons below 21 years old is prohibited. However, the pending bills in the Senate, similar to the substitute bill at the House of Representatives, intend to reduce the minimum age of restriction to 18.

    “This a real concern for us in DepEd. Before the pandemic, the Philippine Pediatric Society (PPS) has coordinated with us to explore the determinants of e-cigarette use among [Grades 7 to 9] learners [and results showed] that 6.7 percent [of 11,500 learners surveyed] have tried and are using e-cigarettes,” Briones said.

    The PPS survey results showed that the top reasons for using vape among DepEd learners are online accessibility (32%), varied flavors (22%), and the belief that e-cigarettes are safer than tobacco (17%).

    “Especially now that we are in a pandemic, I appeal to our legislators to approach the issue from a health perspective. We are all first-hand witnesses of how any threat or attack to a country’s health system eventually affects every other sector of public life, from economics to education,” Briones noted in her statement.

  • Charlie’s Holdings Raises $3 Million in Private Stock Sale

    Charlie’s Holdings Raises $3 Million in Private Stock Sale

    Charlie’s Holdings, Inc., parent to the Charlie’s Chalk Dust and Pacha Mama brands, announced that it has closed a $3 million capital raise through the private sale of 351,669,883 shares of common stock to the company’s founders, Brandon Stump, CEO, and Ryan Stump, COO, according to a press release. The company intends to use the proceeds from the offering to drive substantial future growth, facilitate new product launches, increase working capital, retire outstanding debt, and for other general corporate purposes.

    “The extensive process required to compile and submit a comprehensive premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) to the FDA will ultimately prove a huge differentiating factor for Charlie’s; but it was also very expensive. Charlie’s invested nearly $5 million for its initial PMTA submission and the company was in need of additional capital,” explained Jeff Fox, a member of Charlie’s board of directors. “After lengthy negotiations with numerous other potential investors did not produce acceptable terms, we are pleased that our founders, Brandon and Ryan Stump, chose to personally fund this $3 million common stock only investment. This financing does not include warrants or any other inducements. It will provide Charlie’s with sufficient proceeds to meet all of the Company’s current financial obligations and to drive substantial future growth opportunities.”

    David Allen, CFO said the proceeds from the private placement will strengthen the company’s balance sheet, accelerate European growth, allow for expansion into the Middle East, and facilitate the company reaching several important near-term milestones, including the FDA’s anticipated announcement of Charlie’s successful PMTA.

    “Such an accomplishment will allow Charlie’s to benefit tremendously as one of only a select group of companies operating responsibly in the premium e-liquid product space,” said Allen. “Combined with our international growth, a domestic PMTA approval will dramatically increase Charlie’s sales, profits, and market share. We expect 2021 will be a very exciting year for our shareholders.”