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Montreal Shroom Shop Raided, Owner Says ‘We’re Just Getting Started’

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FunGuyz location in Montreal, Quebec was raided but there are no signs the chain will be slowing down.

An unlicensed psilocybin mushroom shop in Montreal, Quebec in Canada was raided during its opening day Tuesday, but the shroom shop owner says he’s nowhere near done with his business venture.

CTV News Windsor reports that several police officers descended on the FunGuyz (pronounced fungi’s) shop hours after the company opened their first location in the province of Quebec in Montreal’s Sainte-Marie district. The shop was raided during its opening day, so day one of sales was likely not a secret. Four people were arrested, police say, and their investigation into the shroom dispensary is ongoing.

FunGuyz sells products containing psilocybin, which remains illegal in Canada. At FunGuyz, shrooms were sold in 7-, 14-, or 28-gram bags of dried mushrooms labeled by the strains Golden Teachers, Blue Meanies, African Pyramid, Amazonian, Penis Envy, and so on. Microdose psilocybin options for most of the strains of shrooms are available as well in 50, 100, or 200 micrograms. They also sell psilocybin-infused gummies, chocolate, tea, and other products.

“We’re just getting started and we hope that the word gets out,” Edgar Gorbans told CTV News Windsor. FunGuyz runs 11 other stores in Ontario, plans to open more in Quebec, and has locations close to Detroit, Michigan.

Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante said that the city would “apply the law” and that Montreal police (SPVM) officers would be ready to act if the store were to open.

Montreal Police Chief Fady Dagher said officers will be keeping an eye on it following the raid. “For me, as long as it’s illegal, there’s no way I’m going to be able to tolerate [it]. And I saw what he said, going to keep opening, all that. We’ll see in the future,” Dagher told CTV News.

iHeartRadio reports that Gorbans spells his name to the media differently each time intentionally, and that he’s aware of the risks of operating in the gray area. “We have lawyers in place for these instances and we take care of lawyer fees for our workers,” he said.

Psilocybin for Medical Purposes

Psilocybin is being explored for the treatment of depressionobsessive-compulsive disordertraumaalcoholismirritable bowel syndrome, and other medical conditions. There are efforts to decriminalize psilocybin and other psychedelics in Colorado, Washington, Massachusetts, and cities throughout California.

In Canada, the law is slowly changing: On August 4, 2020, an amendment to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) came into effect, allowing for an exemption regarding the use of psilocybin for medical purposes. This landmark decision acknowledges the therapeutic potential of psilocybin and a growing body of scientific research supporting its use in treating various mental health conditions.

Individuals seeking psilocybin treatment must obtain a medical prescription from a healthcare professional authorized to prescribe controlled substances.

It’s also being explored for its benefits for people battling cancer such as reducing the stress of MRIs, and in this case, at a nearby hospital in Montreal. 

Dr. Houman Farzin treats cancer patients in palliative care with assistance from psilocybin at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, and is a member of the training committee for the non-profit organization TheraPsil, advocating for legal access to psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy. “Doing these sorts of experiences can bring out things that require support. And so if someone does something in an unsupported environment, these substances are amplifiers of our psyche and so it can definitely cause harm,” Farzin told CTV News Windsor. “It has caused harm in the past. In the clinical trial setting, it has been proven to be extremely safe.”

To learn more about FunGuyz, visit the website.

Source: https://hightimes.com/news/montreal-shroom-shop-raided-owner-says-were-just-getting-started/

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New Mexico cannabis operator fined, loses license for alleged BioTrack fraud

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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:

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/

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Marijuana companies suing US attorney general in federal prohibition challenge

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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.”

Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/marijuana-companies-suing-us-attorney-general-to-overturn-federal-prohibition/

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Alabama to make another attempt Dec. 1 to award medical cannabis licenses

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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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