Business
Connecticut AG Sues Five Retailers for Delta-8 Sales
The Connecticut attorney general has filed a legal action against five retailers in relation to sales of products containing delta-8 THC.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announced on Thursday that his office is suing five retailers for alleged violations of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act related to selling cannabis products without a license from the state, alleging that the shops are illegally targeting the sale of infused edible products to youth. The lawsuits focus on delta-8 THC, a psychoactive cannabinoid that can be produced from hemp.
“Cannabis products in Connecticut cannot be sold by unlicensed retailers and must meet rigorous testing and packaging requirements. Period,” Tong said in a statement from the attorney general’s office. “Any unlicensed Connecticut retailer selling delta-8 THC products that purport to contain high levels of THC is breaking the law and may be subject to both criminal and civil penalties.”
The legal action follows a series of unannounced visits in late December by the Office of the Attorney General to retailers throughout Connecticut. During those visits, officials discovered that the retailers were selling unregulated and untested delta-8 THC products to customers. In many cases, the products are designed to mimic nationally available snack food products that are popular among youth, including Fritos, Skittles, Airheads, and others. The attorney general’s office noted that such untested delta-8 THC products are illegal throughout Connecticut, including from regulated and properly licensed cannabis retailers.
“Our undercover investigation revealed widespread sale of untested, unregulated, delta-8 edibles mimicking popular youth snacks. The five retailers we are suing today offered some of the most egregious look-alike edibles posing the worst risks for accidental youth poisoning,” said Tong. “None of these edibles are tested or approved for sale in Connecticut, and packaging statements regarding THC content and safe serving sizes are not to be trusted. If you see delta-8 THC offered outside any licensed cannabis retailer, do not purchase it, and report it to my office immediately.”
Look-alike Edibles Pose A Risk To Kids
Tong’s office noted that unregulated delta-8 edibles pose a significant health risk for children who may not recognize that the products are infused with cannabinoids, leading them to unknowingly ingest high doses of potent psychoactive compounds. The announcement added that the serving size for many cannabis look-alike products can be very small and that children who eat an entire package of infused chips or candy may ingest up to 100 times the maximum serving size for adults.
One in five children nationally who accidentally eat cannabis edibles are admitted to the hospital, according to information from the Connecticut Poison Control Center. Over the last three years, the center reported 189 cases of cannabis ingestion in children under the age of 19. The majority of those cases resulted in a visit to an emergency department, and about a third resulted in the child being admitted to the hospital.
“For adults 21 years and older who choose to consume cannabis, there are many benefits to shopping in the regulated market,” said Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection Commissioner Michelle H. Seagull. “Products sold by licensed retailers are required to meet rigorous testing, packaging and labeling requirements to ensure consumers know what they are receiving and that they are getting exactly what they pay for. Unregulated products often are untested, come from unverified sources and can be easily mistaken for products that don’t contain cannabis, which can lead to accidental ingestion by adults and children who may not realize what they are consuming.”
The attorney general’s office also announced that it is in the process of sending warning letters to all licensed retailers of electronic vaping products informing them that selling products with more than 0.3% delta-8 THC by dry weight may be a violation of state law. Products that exceed the limit are considered cannabis products and may only be sold by licensed retailers. Cannabis products sold outside the regulated market continue to be illegal and may subject sellers to civil and criminal penalties.
Source: https://hightimes.com/news/connecticut-ag-sues-five-retailers-for-delta-8-sales/
Business
New Mexico cannabis operator fined, loses license for alleged BioTrack fraud
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/
Business
Marijuana companies suing US attorney general in federal prohibition challenge
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.”
Business
Alabama to make another attempt Dec. 1 to award medical cannabis licenses
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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