Government
German Conservative Politician Expresses His Support for Cannabis Legalization
The break in the ranks makes Munich CSU city counsellor (and medical doctor) Hans Theiss one of the first center right politicians in the German government to express support for recreational reform.
Hans Theiss has just made German history. He just came out publicly in favor of recreational cannabis reform.
This does not make him unusual right now as the country moves, however slowly and haltingly, towards a new cannabis reality. What does is where he is from—both geographically and politically.
Geographically, he represents constituents from a wealthy city in Bavaria, one of the country’s largest and most metropolitan cities. That said, Bayern is sometimes referred to as the “Texas” of Germany not to mention the most “rule-based” state in the country.
In the words of Theiss in a recent interview, “Bavaria already pursues a relatively strong rule of law policy and pursues things that are classified as illegal perhaps a little more consistently than is the case in other federal states.”
This is one of the reasons the state has one of the highest numbers of official cannabis patients. Doctors know that prescriptions are a form of protection for people too sick to be arrested.
Even more intriguing, his stance now is a fascinating political development, with national implications.
The first is that Theiss is a cardiologist. The second is that he is a member of the CSU/CDU—a hybrid alliance of two political parties in Germany which are “center-right.” This is the alliance that just lost power during the last national election. It is also the party that opposed both patient home grow and moving forward on recreational cannabis reform in general.
For that reason, a great deal of attention is being paid to Theiss’ recent public comments in support of legalization, both as a conservative politician and as a doctor. In large part, this is because this kind of pro-reform statement from anyone in the CSU is actually unheard of so far. When asked about whether others in his party share his views, Theiss replied diplomatically that he does not believe he is the only person in his party, at any level, who supports recreational change.
That said, the attention he has gotten from the pro-cannabis press has appeared to take him by surprise.
Theiss also said that the commitment of the Traffic Light Coalition to move forward with reform was the main reason he has now spoken out about the issue.
German Politics and Cannabis Reform
Compared to the United States, German politics are far more civil. German politicians are certainly more process-oriented—and can, when inspired, pass resolutions in a hurry. For example, the Bundestag has just passed legislation creating a vastly reduced public transportation ticket for the summer (about $30 for all the local transport used, per person, between June and August) to offset the rising costs of food and energy.
There is also a level of mutual, collegial respect here that is absolutely missing in U.S. politics. If the federal government says they are going to get something done, the consensus driven, overarching tendency of politicians here switches into a different mode.
As Thiess said, the fact is that recreational cannabis reform is now going to become German law. It is a bit silly to just oppose it, although there certainly will be some extreme hard liners who will continue to do so. What is now important is putting safeguards in place to protect consumers.
The Great Green Conversion
No matter his typical German modesty, the reality is that Theiss’ comments are a sign of how willing Germans are to accept a new day when it comes to cannabis. It is not like every German will suddenly switch from beer to weed. Or even that there will be a sudden swing of support for legalization from those who still stubbornly oppose the same. Even among advocates in the political class, there are concerns of course about teen use, driving, and drug abuse. However, now that medical efficacy has been established unequivocally, the boogie man that was cannabis has begun to recede in even the most conservative stalwarts of opposition.
This is for several reasons. The first is that it is a waste of taxpayer money to continue current policies of interdiction—a fact that is unavoidable in political discourse. The second is that the German economy can use all the help it can get right now. Inflation, a monster here at a level not seen elsewhere, in part because of national history, is over 7% this year. This is a shocking economic reality that is beginning to move other debates and issues.
Certifying a new industry which is guaranteed to generate both jobs and tax revenue for the state is certainly one way to respond to the same.
Theiss may, in other words, be one of the first of his ilk to publicly support change of the dank variety, but he most certainly will not be the last.
Source: https://hightimes.com/news/german-conservative-politician-expresses-his-support-for-cannabis-legalization/
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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