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Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) vetoed legislation on Friday that would have taken multiple steps toward expanding the state’s limited medical cannabis program, the Des Moines Register reports.

The bill had passed through both legislative chambers with sweeping approval — 96-3 in the House and 40-7 in the Senate — but the governor cited concerns about “the health and safety of Iowans” and said her veto was based on the state medical cannabis board’s recommendations.

“Ultimately, I believe Iowa must proceed cautiously to ensure that any expansion of our medical (cannabidiol) program is thoughtful and deliberate — particularly because Iowa’s program is in its infancy and the body of research that analyzes the efficacy of medical CBD is limited.” — Gov. Kim Reynolds, via the Des Moines Register

Iowa‘s five-year-old medical cannabis program is already quite restricted — THC inside of medical cannabis products is capped at just 3 percent and the program only allows for capsules, extracts, concentrates, lotions, ointments, and tinctures, while flower products that can be smoked or vaped are not allowed.

If it had not been vetoed, the bill would have:

• Replaced the state’s THC cap with a new system that would allow patients to access up to 25 grams of THC over a 90-day period.
• Changed the program’s “untreatable pain” qualifying condition to just “severe or chronic pain,” which would have given more patients access to the program.
• Allowed additional health care professionals to make medical cannabis recommendations.
• Removed a ban on felons participating in the program.
• Established a system for state health officials to collect and analyze data associated with the program.
• Given terminal patients a waiver allowing for unlimited THC.

On the day before the veto, activists submitted a petition with nearly 1,600 signatures calling for Gov. Reynolds to sign the bill.

According to the Iowa Department of Public Health, there are more than 2,800 active patient registration cards in the state’s medical cannabis program.

 

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Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed a bill last week that will allow doctors to recommend medical cannabis for any condition for which they might have prescribed painkillers, The Denver Post reports.

Senate Bill 13 — which passed the Senate 33-2 and the House 47-16 — is set to take effect on August 2, 2019. The bill is aimed at reducing opioid overdose rates by using cannabis as a potential offramp for opioid addicts. Specifically, the bill “adds a condition for which a physician could prescribe an opiate to the list of disabling medical conditions that authorize a person to use medical marijuana for his or her condition.”

“Adding a condition for which a physician could recommend medical marijuana instead of an opioid is a safer pain management tool that will be useful for both our doctors and patients.” — Ashley Weber, executive director of Colorado NORML, via The Denver Post

The legislation was introduced at the start of the year and drew wide support from medical cannabis advocates. A legislative hearing in January included two-and-a-half hours of testimony from 40 individuals, mostly in favor of the bill.

Concerned medical professionals, however, voiced some opposition to the proposal.

“Our real concern is that a patient would go to a physician with a condition that has a medical treatment with evidence behind it, and then instead of that treatment, they would be recommended marijuana instead,” said Aurora-based physician Stephanie Stewart. “This will substitute marijuana for an FDA-approved medication — something that’s unregulated for something that’s highly regulated.”

Research, meanwhile, has indicated that states with established comprehensive medical cannabis programs see an overall reduction in opioid overdose rates.

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Is this cannabis’ “Diet Coke Moment”?

Los Angeles, California — Award-winning SoCal cannabis brand KushyPunch releases the very first sugar-free cannabis gummy on the market, delivering a game-changing new edible option for consumers with strict dietary requirements.

This new lychee sugar free THC gummy is a healthier take on their iconic and top-selling 100mg strawberry sativa gummy, which was recently featured at the top of a Los Angeles Times round-up on edibles.

Containing just 2.5 calories per dose, and with a low glycemic index and insulin response, this gummy is geared towards those looking to minimize sugar intake without compromising on taste or quality.

“Coca-Cola spent more than 20 years working on Diet Coke. They wouldn’t release anything under their brand name that was less than perfect,” starts Ruben Cross, founder and CEO of KushyPunch.

“We applied that same mentality to our new sugar-free gummy. We wanted to get this exactly right before it became part of the Kushy brand.”

KushyPunch’s sugar-free gummy has been a long time in the making for Cross, who was recently named one of High Times’ top 100 cannabis industry professionals. His initial foray into cannabis in 2014 was spurred by a desire to create a consistent, healthy product for patients with specific dietary needs and limited consumption options.

“When I looked at the edible market back in 2014, I saw a lot of high calorie, high carbohydrate, high sugar products that were really inconsistent in their THC levels and very vague when it came to dosing,” Cross told leading cannabis publication Leafly in 2018.

“Personally, I’m a health nut but I also have asthma, so my cannabis needs were pretty specific. I set about trying to create a product that worked for me: potent, consistent, easy to consume, and — crucially — healthy.”

But until now, a sugar-free version of their award-winning and iconic sativa gummy that is up to the brand’s high standards proved elusive.

“We didn’t want to compromise on anything, which is why it took us so long to release this product,” he states.

“Over the years, we created and tested many iterations of the sugar-free gummy using a variety of ingredients, flavors and sweeteners. It wasn’t until we landed on this recipe that we felt it was ready to be released.”

“In terms of taste alone, this is my favorite KushyPunch product, hands down,” adds Cross. “Finding the right consistency is the hardest part,” adds KushyPunch’s chief scientist Carolina Vasquez Mitchell, a notable honoree of Dope Magazine’s Outstanding Women in Cannabis. “It’s not as simple as swapping out our regular syrup for a substitute like stevia. We tried about 20 different recipes and many different ingredients, and we all felt like this was really it.”

“With so many people turning to cannabis for relief and wellness, our new sugar-free gummy allows patients to ingest only the healthiest, natural ingredients and to dose with absolute confidence,” said Ruben.

KushyPunch’s sugar-free lychee gummy is available in dispensaries across California from April 2019.

If you would like to review this product, or interview Ruben Cross, reach out to ross@kushypunch.com.

Key Facts About KushyPunch’s Sugar-Free Gummy

• The first cannabis-infused sugar-free gummy on the market
• 100% natural lychee flavor
• 100mg of THC from full-spectrum cannabis oil
• No artificial colors or sweeteners
• 2.5 kcal per serving
• Low glycemic index and low insulin response
• Non-cariogenic, making it healthier for your teeth
• Tested by an ISO certified laboratory

About KushyPunch

KushyPunch is one of Southern California’s iconic and award-winning edible brands. Best known for its line of top-selling full spectrum gummies, KushyPunch has built its reputation on delivering a consistent, full body experience for patients and recreational consumers across California.

To learn more, visit https://kushypunch.com/

It’s sister brand KushyCBD brings the best practices of KushyPunch into the emerging CBD market. Created and tested in state-of-the-art facilities with the highest quality full spectrum oil, KushyCBD’s diverse product line includes their classic gummy, an all-in-one vape, omega-3 rich gel caps, and a sublingual mango tincture.

To learn more, visit https://kushycbd.com

http://bit.ly/2I68Fi3 April 30, 2019 at 09:17PM, 420GrowLife, KahliBuds

California Sen. Kamala Harris, who is also a candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, said on Wednesday that incarcerated cannabis dealers should be freed and deserve access to the burgeoning cannabis industry’s new economic opportunities.

Sen. Harris made the comments during an appearance at the She The People conference in Houston, Texas.

“[Many] of the people who historically were arrested for marijuana sales were young men, young men of color. Isn’t that the irony of it all? This is one of the fastest-growing money-making industries in our country and the very young men who were trying to make money doing the same thing got criminalized and now have been branded felons for life [and] are excluded from the economic opportunities that are now available because of this new industry.” — Sen. Kamala Harris (D), during her She The People appearance

“They were ahead of the curve,” she said, and they should be “first in line to get the jobs that are available.”

Sen. Harris also reiterated her stance regarding federal cannabis legalization, stating that she “strongly” believes that prohibition is a failed policy that should be abolished. “It has … contributed to the problem of mass incarceration in our country, and has led disproportionately to the criminalization of young black and brown men in this country,” she said.

The California senator also described drug prohibition broadly as a failure. “There is no question of the failure,” she said, reiterating previous arguments she has made that the Drug War has mistakenly turned what should have been a public health issue into a criminal justice issue.

As the marijuana industry continues to grow, there are people of color sitting behind bars for doing the exact same thing. It’s time we changed the system. #SheThePeople2020 pic.twitter.com/7KotnCqihx

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) April 24, 2019

Historically, however, Sen. Harris has not always landed on the right side of progressive cannabis reforms. She did not publicly endorse California’s successful cannabis legalization initiative, for example, and did not endorse any federal cannabis reforms until 2018.

According to Marijuana Moment, the now-senator at one point bragged that, during her tenure as California’s Attorney General, she “increased convictions of drug dealers from 56% in 2003 to 74% in 2006.”

Sen. Harris also has a somewhat troubling habit of referring to the ongoing Drug War in the past tense — as if there weren’t still millions of drug-related felony convictions (including for cannabis) carried out each year in the U.S.

http://bit.ly/2I68Fi3 April 25, 2019 at 11:47AM, 420GrowLife, KahliBuds

The Washington state House of Representatives has approved a bill expunging nearly 69,000 misdemeanor cannabis convictions, according to The News Tribune.

The bill, which originated in the Senate, passed the House in a 69-29 vote on Tuesday and now returns to the Senate for the reconciliation of one amendment added by state representatives. The House amendment specifies that the bill would also apply to misdemeanor cannabis convictions resulted from municipal rules in addition to those charges brought under state law.

If re-approved by the Senate, the bill will head to Gov. Jay Inslee’s desk for his signature.

“This proved you can do transformative justice reform issues and it’s a bipartisan thing. Our unjust laws of the past shouldn’t hold you back from being successful in the future.” — Bill sponsor state Sen. Joe Nguyen (D)

The Washington State Patrol said that 58,864 individuals with 68,543 misdemeanor cannabis convictions would be eligible for expungement under the proposal. Individuals with cleared convictions would be able to write on job and housing applications that they were never convicted of those cannabis-related crimes.

Earlier this year, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) said he would pardon a collection of cannabis convicts but the Legislature’s proposal would go much further than the governor’s plan.

State Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon (D) — who sponsored the House version of the bill — has been pushing for similar legislation ever since voters chose in 2012 to end cannabis prohibition via a successful voter initiative.

“The King and Pierce County prosecutors chose [then] to dismiss all pending marijuana misdemeanor possession charges in their jurisdictions. I thought that was a great step,” Rep. Fitzgibbon said in a statement. “The voters no longer felt the possession of small amounts of marijuana should be a crime for people 21 and over.”

Sen. Nguyen and Rep. Fitzgibbon appeared together in a video on the senator’s Facebook page discussing the bill’s successful passage.

http://bit.ly/2I68Fi3 April 18, 2019 at 06:29PM, 420GrowLife, KahliBuds

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In the Washington State legislature, Rep. Andrew Barkis (R-Olympia) has sponsored an amendment to the House budget allocating 18 million dollars to police departments around the state to fight drug addiction in homeless camps over the next two years. The program will be funded with cannabis tax money; however, there are no restrictions on how police can spend the grants.

Earlier in the session, Barkis’ proposal failed in the House Appropriations Committee but, after watching a widely publicized documentary on homelessness and drug addiction in Seattle, he asked his staff to draft the budget amendment. Upon hearing Barkis’s impassioned plea — his son suffers from heroin addiction and until recently was homeless in Seattle — the amendment passed with a bipartisan vote.

“Mr. Speaker, I watched a documentary or a news report the other day. If we don’t take these steps, all we are going to hear in the future is more bills named in memory of somebody, and I pray to God that it’s not named in memory of my son. Mr. Speaker, help me today in support of this amendment.” — Washington state Rep. Andrew Barkis, in testimony to the House

The budget passed on Friday, cementing Barkis’s amendment in the House Budget.

Most of Washington’s cannabis tax money currently goes to funding Medicaid, including $262 million in 2018, according to a KING 5 report. Another slice of the pie goes to funding substance abuse and prevention programs, while a large portion is sent back to cities who do not have cannabis moratoriums. A 2017 adjustment allows cities to spend their portion of cannabis tax revenue as they choose, some of which is used to fund local law enforcement. If Barkis’s amendment remains in the final budget, however, this will be the first money from cannabis taxes sent directly to local law enforcement in Washington state.

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http://bit.ly/2I68Fi3 April 5, 2019 at 11:04AM WEED.NEWS, Graham Abbott April 5, 2019 at 02:10PM

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The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) has released its first canopy report in which the agency measured and analyzed the state’s canopy-based cannabis licenses.

In the report, plant canopy is defined as “the square footage dedicated to live plant production, such as maintaining mother plants, propagating plants from seed to plant tissue, clones, vegetative or flowering area.” In Washington, plant canopy allotments are divided into Tier 1 (<2,000 sq ft), Tier 2 (2,000-10,000 sq ft), and Tier 3 (10,000-30,000 sq ft) licenses.

In an effort to gather first-hand information on actual canopy size — going beyond just license documents and traceability plant canopy datasets — the WSLCB hopes this data will help them more thoroughly analyze and develop rules, update policies, and better understand cannabis production within the industry.

Results

The Canopy Analysis Team ultimately surveyed 792 premises out of 1179 total licenses; fourteen sites were surveyed by drone. The WSLCB could not survey all 1179 licensees due to 254 licenses having no canopy and 109 who gave various reasons for not participating in the survey. They compared the canopy allotments according to license type to actual canopy used and found allotted canopy space in Washington State is largely underdeveloped. According to the report, four percent of licensees were producing over their allotted canopy quota.

Tier	% of Total Surveyed	%of  Total Canopy	% of Un-Used Canopy
1	17%	3%	41%
2	45%	28%	42^%
3	38%	70%	38%

State regulators report that the low canopy utilization numbers are likely caused by the high price of developing canopy space. Additionally, “market prices for cannabis have been consistently declining, access to capital investment is problematic, and the traceability transition has been difficult,” according to the report.

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http://bit.ly/2I68Fi3 April 2, 2019 at 11:40AM WEED.NEWS, Graham Abbott April 2, 2019 at 09:05PM

SAFE Banking Act Passes Key Congressional Committee

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The Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act was approved by the House Financial Services Committee in a sweeping 45-15 vote this morning.

The bill is the first piece of major cannabis reforms to pass committee at the federal level; it was introduced by Reps. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colorado) and Denny Heck (D-Washington) but has been cosponsored by 152 lawmakers — including 12 Republicans — which is more than one-third of the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives.

If fully approved, the bill would allow banks to work with state-legal cannabis companies, improving safety and easing business woes for the currently cash-only cannabis industry.

“This is a big day for the businesses, employees and communities who have been forced to operate in cash-only for many years.” — Rep. Ed Perlmutter, on Twitter

The banking bill has not yet been scheduled for consideration by the full House, but that vote — and other cannabis-related House legislation — is expected in the coming weeks.

“This is a positive step forward to address an untenable tension between state-legal cannabis marketplaces and federal marijuana prohibition,” said Justin Strekal, political director for the cannabis advocacy group NORML, in a press release. “No industry can operate safely, transparently, or effectively without access to banks or other financial institutions.”

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Missouri), who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, commented, “I have long fought for criminal justice reform, and deeply understand the need to fully address the historic racial and social inequities related to the criminalization of marijuana. While H.R. 1595 is the only aspect of these efforts that are within the committee’s jurisdiction, as the bill moves forward, it must be a part of holistic approach to considering these reforms.”

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon), founder and co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, called it “the most significant step we’ve seen” in addressing outdated federal cannabis policies.

“I applaud the outstanding work of Chairwoman Waters and Representatives Heck and Perlmutter for making this possible,” Blumenauer said. “The SAFE Banking Act solves a major problem for the state legal cannabis industry and its success moving through the committee is a signal of how we can move forward with other critical proposals.”

Ten U.S. states plus Washington D.C. and the Northern Mariana Islands have legalized cannabis for adult-use. Meanwhile, a strong majority of American voters — including 77 percent of Democrats, 62 percent of Independents, and 57 percent of Republicans — support cannabis legalization, according to Gallup.

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https://ift.tt/2FtXCNR March 28, 2019 at 02:03PM BruceDayne, Graham Abbott March 28, 2019 at 04:11PM