Cultivation
Here Are The Big Midterm Wins And Losses For Cannabis Legalization
These are the major cannabis victories and losses that came out of the 2022 midterm elections.
The 2022 midterm elections were unique and historical for all sorts of reasons. Sure, there was the “red wave” that never came, but there were also ballot measures and victories that will change the trajectory of marijuana legalization in several states.
Two states, Missouri and Maryland, both voted to legalize recreational marijuana. Several others, Arkansas, North Dakota and South Dakota, shot down measures that would legalize recreational adult use marijuana in their states.
There were also some key wins for cannabis legalization advocates, which may help further the hope of cannabis legalization on the federal level.
Maryland Votes Big to Legalize Recreational Cannabis
More than 65% of Maryland voters supported a ballot measure to legalize marijuana in the form of a constitutional amendment on election day. You might be wondering what this means exactly going forward. “The constitutional amendment defines that recreational marijuana would not be legal until July 2023 for people 21 and over, subject to a requirement that the General Assembly pass legislation in its next session regarding distribution, regulation and taxation of cannabis,” according to the Associated Press.
Cannabis is already legal to the North (New Jersey) and South (Washington D.C.). In fact, much of the North Eastern United States has gone green, with Pennsylvania being the largest exception, but more on the Keystone state later.
Missouri Legalizes Weed and Initiates Automatic Expungement
Missouri citizens voted 53.1% to 46.9% to legalize marijuana on election day. This decision is not only a victory for cannabis enthusiasts, but also for those who support criminal justice reform for non-violent cannabis crimes.
According to The Kansas City Star, “It will legalize recreational marijuana for adults over the age of 21 and create a licensing system for businesses who wish to sell or grow marijuana.” The Star also goes further, explaining that the law “allows for people with past non-violent weed charges to have their criminal records expunged.”
This is a major victory for those looking to destigmatize those convicted of low level marijuana crimes. Missouri also joins Alaska and other Red states in the recreational marijuana family, proving that legalizing cannabis is not as partisan an issue as many once thought.
North and South Dakota Both Vote Down Cannabis Measures
Both North Dakota and South Dakota had ballot measures that offered citizens the chance to legalize marijuana. Both ballot measures failed. In North Dakota, the measure failed by almost 10 percentage points. The South Dakota Measure to legalize adult use for those 21 or older lost by a much smaller margin of 52.9% voting “No” and 47.1% voting “Yes.”
While many were optimistic that these measures could pass, there are several reasons they couldn’t make it to the finish line. According to TIME, “The failure of three out of five of these marijuana ballot measures this year is largely due to lower voter turnout in a non-presidential election—and opposition from prominent conservative voices who were staunchly against the measures.”
Arkansas
There was high hope that Arkansas could be yet another red state to pass marijuana legalization measures this midterm election, but the Arkansas ballot measure lost 57% to 43%.
There are several possible reasons why this hopeful measure failed fairly considerably. From lower voter turnout (which is standard in a non-presidential election year), to an imperfect bill, there are plenty of places to point the finger. But the bill also received loud and considerable opposition. According to the TIME article,“Legalization efforts in Arkansas faced heavy opposition from groups like the Arkansas Family Council Action Committee, which worked with former Vice President Mike Pence to encourage citizens to vote no on the measure.”
Cannabis Advocates Win to Fight Another Day for Legalization
John Fetterman flipped a senate seat in Pennsylvania, where recreational cannabis is still illegal, and marijuana is still criminalized. Fetterman has been an outspoken advocate for marijuana legalization, as we have previously reported, so it will be interesting to see what happens with cannabis in the Keystone state over the next four years.
Congresswoman Nancy Mace, the republican congresswoman looking to move forward a bi-partisan federal cannabis legalization bill, won re-election in South Carolina. This will give her a chance to move forward with the States Reform Act. Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, who is sponsoring his own legislation on the other side of the aisle, also won reelection.
New Mexico regulators fined a cannabis operator nearly $300,000 and revoked its license after the company allegedly created fake reports in the state’s traceability software.
The New Mexico Cannabis Control Division (CCD) accused marijuana manufacturer and retailer Golden Roots of 11 violations, according to Albuquerque Business First.
Golden Roots operates the The Cannabis Revolution Dispensary.
The majority of the violations are related to the Albuquerque company’s improper use of BioTrack, which has been New Mexico’s track-and-trace vendor since 2015.
The CCD alleges Golden Roots reported marijuana production only two months after it had received its vertically integrated license, according to Albuquerque Business First.
Because cannabis takes longer than two months to be cultivated, the CCD was suspicious of the report.
After inspecting the company’s premises, the CCD alleged Golden Roots reported cultivation, transportation and sales in BioTrack but wasn’t able to provide officers who inspected the site evidence that the operator was cultivating cannabis.
In April, the CCD revoked Golden Roots’ license and issued a $10,000 fine, according to the news outlet.
The company requested a hearing, which the regulator scheduled for Sept. 1.
At the hearing, the CCD testified that the company’s dried-cannabis weights in BioTrack were suspicious because they didn’t seem to accurately reflect how much weight marijuana loses as it dries.
Company employees also poorly accounted for why they were making adjustments in the system of up to 24 pounds of cannabis, making comments such as “bad” or “mistake” in the software, Albuquerque Business First reported.
Golden Roots was fined $298,972.05 – the amount regulators allege the company made selling products that weren’t properly accounted for in BioTrack.
The CCD has been cracking down on cannabis operators accused of selling products procured from out-of-state or not grown legally:
- Regulators alleged in August that Albuquerque dispensary Sawmill Sweet Leaf sold out-of-state products and didn’t have a license for extraction.
- Paradise Exotics Distro lost its license in July after regulators alleged the company sold products made in California.
Golden Roots was the first alleged rulebreaker in New Mexico to be asked to pay a large fine.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/new-mexico-cannabis-operator-fined-loses-license-for-alleged-biotrack-fraud/
Four marijuana companies, including a multistate operator, have filed a lawsuit against U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in which they allege the federal MJ prohibition under the Controlled Substances Act is no longer constitutional.
According to the complaint, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, retailer Canna Provisions, Treevit delivery service CEO Gyasi Sellers, cultivator Wiseacre Farm and MSO Verano Holdings Corp. are all harmed by “the federal government’s unconstitutional ban on cultivating, manufacturing, distributing, or possessing intrastate marijuana.”
Verano is headquartered in Chicago but has operations in Massachusetts; the other three operators are based in Massachusetts.
The lawsuit seeks a ruling that the “Controlled Substances Act is unconstitutional as applied to the intrastate cultivation, manufacture, possession, and distribution of marijuana pursuant to state law.”
The companies want the case to go before the U.S. Supreme Court.
They hired prominent law firm Boies Schiller Flexner to represent them.
The New York-based firm’s principal is David Boies, whose former clients include Microsoft, former presidential candidate Al Gore and Elizabeth Holmes’ disgraced startup Theranos.
Similar challenges to the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) have failed.
One such challenge led to a landmark Supreme Court decision in 2005.
In Gonzalez vs. Raich, the highest court in the United States ruled in a 6-3 decision that the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution gave Congress the power to outlaw marijuana federally, even though state laws allow the cultivation and sale of cannabis.
In the 18 years since that ruling, 23 states and the District of Columbia have legalized adult-use marijuana and the federal government has allowed a multibillion-dollar cannabis industry to thrive.
Since both Congress and the U.S. Department of Justice, currently headed by Garland, have declined to intervene in state-licensed marijuana markets, the key facts that led to the Supreme Court’s 2005 ruling “no longer apply,” Boies said in a statement Thursday.
“The Supreme Court has since made clear that the federal government lacks the authority to regulate purely intrastate commerce,” Boies said.
“Moreover, the facts on which those precedents are based are no longer true.”
Verano President Darren Weiss said in a statement the company is “prepared to bring this case all the way to the Supreme Court in order to align federal law with how Congress has acted for years.”
While the Biden administration’s push to reschedule marijuana would help solve marijuana operators’ federal tax woes, neither rescheduling nor modest Congressional reforms such as the SAFER Banking Act “solve the fundamental issue,” Weiss added.
“The application of the CSA to lawful state-run cannabis business is an unconstitutional overreach on state sovereignty that has led to decades of harm, failed businesses, lost jobs, and unsafe working conditions.”
Alabama regulators are targeting Dec. 1 to award the first batch of medical cannabis business licenses after the agency’s first two attempts were scrapped because of scoring errors and litigation.
The first licenses will be awarded to individual cultivators, delivery providers, processors, dispensaries and state testing labs, according to the Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission (AMCC).
Then, on Dec. 12, the AMCC will award licenses for vertically integrated operations, a designation set primarily for multistate operators.
Licenses are expected to be handed out 28 days after they have been awarded, so MMJ production could begin in early January, according to the Alabama Daily News.
That means MMJ products could be available for patients around early March, an AMCC spokesperson told the media outlet.
Regulators initially awarded 21 business licenses in June, only to void them after applicants alleged inconsistencies with how the applications were scored.
Then, in August, the state awarded 24 different licenses – 19 went to June recipients – only to reverse themselves again and scratch those licenses after spurned applicants filed lawsuits.
A state judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Chicago-based MSO Verano Holdings Corp., but another lawsuit is pending.
Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/alabama-plans-to-award-medical-cannabis-licenses-dec-1/
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