California Marijuana Businesses Should Act Now To Comply With New Packaging Rules That Don’t Take Effect Until 2028 (Op-Ed)
“2028 sounds far away. But artwork gets locked with the printer weeks or months before the run. Then the boxes sit in a warehouse until they are used.” By Adrian A. Holguin, CannaShark Consulting Last month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed AB 2249, a bill that puts a much clearer line around what cannabis […]
What Massachusetts Cannabis Consumers Need to Know About Question 8, The Ballot Measure To Roll Back Legalization (Op-Ed)
“If licensed adult-use retailers disappear, consumers will continue to seek cannabis through other channels… None of the alternatives will produce the safe and regulatory tested products, jobs and tax revenue the current legal market generates.” By Steve Reilly, Insa If you are a Massachusetts voter who has not been following the debate over cannabis policy, […]
Addressing Cannabis Safety Issues Is A Strength, Not A Weakness, For The Legalization Movement (Op-Ed)
“Acknowledging these problems is not a concession to prohibition. Solving them is how we protect the future of cannabis access.” By Steph Sherer, Americans for Safe Access For much of the modern cannabis movement, raising concerns about safety has been politically complicated. Advocates have spent decades fighting exaggerated claims about cannabis harms, and opponents have […]
Congress Should Regulate THC Products, Businessman In Both The Marijuana And Hemp Industries Says (Op-Ed)
“Eliminating a competing channel is not the same as regulating it… Responsible operators on both sides should want rules that protect consumers and make it harder for bad actors to compete.” By Dylan Raap, Upstate Elevator President Donald Trump signed a stopgap spending bill last week that keeps the federal government funded through December 11. […]
Rhode Island Hemp Farmer Wants Attorney General Candidates To Answer These Questions (Op-Ed)
“Rhode Island has already chosen to regulate hemp rather than prohibit it. Our next attorney general should explain whether they intend to defend that decision.” By Mike Simpson, Lovewell Farms via Rhode Island Current Last October, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha (D) joined 38 other state attorneys general in signing a letter urging Congress […]
The Next Few Months Will Determine If The Future Of Hemp THC Products Is Regulation Or Prohibition (Op-Ed)
“The coming weeks will show whether the one-month reprieve becomes a bridge to lasting regulatory clarity or simply a brief postponement of an existential deadline.” By Matt Ginder, Greenspoon Marder For years, the hemp industry has occupied a unique and controversial space within the broader cannabis economy. What began as a niche agricultural market under […]
Newly Released VA Records Raise Questions About How ‘Cannabis Use Disorder’ Diagnoses Are Affecting Veterans (Op-Ed)
“Diagnoses are sometimes entered into medical records without…meaningful consideration of medically authorized cannabis use.” By Etienne Fontan, Veterans Action Council The 2013 release of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) introduced cannabis use disorder (CUD) as a new diagnosis, replacing the DSM-4 categories of Cannabis Abuse and Cannabis Dependence with a single, […]
Federal Rescheduling Sets The Stage For Marijuana Business Acquisitions As Pharma And Ag Firms Eye Industry (Op-Ed)
“The practical question isn’t whether this is something to celebrate, it’s whether your business is positioned to be a consolidator, an attractive acquisition target or something different.” By Christopher B. Lynch, Dickinson Wright PLLC There are a lot of rumors and misinformation out there about what the April 23 federal marijuana rescheduling order means. Some […]
How Cannabis Companies Can Take Advantage Of The Research And Development Tax Credit Under Federal Rescheduling (Op-Ed)
“Cannabis companies should consider various pitfalls to ensure not only legal compliance, but to maximize potential benefits.” By Meeren Amin, William Bogot and Douglas W. Charnas, Fox Rothschild LLP With rescheduling of medicinal marijuana and potential relief coming for recreational use, cannabis companies should be aware of tax benefits available to the industry. One such […]
Reports Of Increases In Problematic Cannabis Use Don’t Mean We Should Return To Prohibition (Op-Ed)
“A free society should be capable of learning to live with potentially risky substances without the government banning them.” By Jeffrey A. Singer, Cato Institute As a physician, I don’t dismiss recent reports of increases in problematic cannabis use. But we should avoid letting them trigger another drug-war moral panic. Cannabis use has increased as […]