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Delta-8 Dispute Gets In Way of Illinois Pot Reform

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Is the Farm Bill getting in the way of legalization in Illinois?

Bickering over how to regulate Delta-8 THC is getting in the way of general cannabis industry reform in Illinois (and that’s not the only state). While the hemp-derived cannabinoid gives access to THC in states where cannabis is illegal, unfortunately, debates over Delta-8 are now making general adult-use legalization more complicated and legislation challenging to pass. 

Most recently, in Illinois, a cannabis industry reform bill failed at the May legislative deadline. The pushback is due to stakeholders failing to find common ground during the final days of the spring session. If passed, it would have increased the canopy space for craft growers, allowed dispensaries to operate drive-through windows and offer curbside pickup, and provided social equity retail license holders another year to secure real estate. However, then a proposal to regulate Delta-8 THC was tacked on. Squabbling over whether to ban Delta-8 or regulate it like cannabis halted the other broader reform efforts. 

As a result, they pushed back the entire bill until the fall session, Illinois Democratic Rep. LaShawn Ford, the bill’s sponsor, told Capitol News Illinois. Ford is against adding a Delta-8 THC ban in the bill until they receive more insight from state regulators and industry stakeholders. “We need to regulate it, make it safe, make sure that it’s taxed, and treat it just like cannabis,” Ford said.

Delta-8 THC comes from the naturally occurring cannabinoid in hemp. It is psychoactive with effects similar to its more famous cousin, Delta-9. Both are isomers of THC, but one has a double bond on the eighth carbon chain, while the other has the same double bond on the ninth carbon chain, giving the cannabinoids their names, Delta-8 THC and Delta-9 THC. While everyone reacts differently, it’s generally understood that Delta-8 provides a milder, more physical high compared to the cerebral effects of Delta-9, the THC everyone (well, not everyone) knows and loves. 

While cannabis is still illegal on a federal level, when the $867 billion Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (better known as the Farm Bill) passed, hemp production is now totally legal nationally. Cultivators are allowed to produce the plant if it contains under .3% of THC in its chemical makeup. Because humans will always find a way to get high, hemp manufacturers began generating and selling psychoactive Delta-8 products. In addition to offering residents of non-legal states something psychoactive, Delta-8 calls the Federal government on its legislation’s absurdity. Regulating and outlawing a plant based on chemical levels is nonsensical and doesn’t work—nature finds a way.  

While it’s excellent that Delta-8 gives folks access to some form of psychoactive cannabis, many may want to switch to Delta-9. To start, extracting Delta-8 takes much more effort (and can be worse for the environment) than regular ole’ Delta-9, which is simply more prominent. 

Production of Delta-8 is also more expensive, but putting away manufacturing concerns, Delta-9 is just stronger. There are many medical patients and recreational users who simply prefer the more potent and ethereal effects of Delta-9, and it’s a shame that the Farm Bill, filled with hope for the eventual legalization of cannabis, is now getting in the way of adult use and access to Delta-9. 

Regulation of Delta-8 across the U.S. varies. At least 14 states have banned Delta-8 THC products altogether, and that number will likely rise over the next year. For instance, Colorado lawmakers introduced bipartisan legislation earlier in 2023 to regulate any intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids (aka Delta-8). Conversely, Minnesota, which recently legalized adult-use cannabis, becoming the 23rd state, is offering producers licenses for cannabis and hemp-derived products. In a stoner’s perfect world, one would have affordable, easy, and equitable access to both hemp and cannabis products without fear of the feds. Still, until then, we will continue to report on the unfolding patchwork of cannabis legalization in the U.S. 

Source: https://hightimes.com/news/delta-8-dispute-gets-in-way-of-illinois-pot-reform/

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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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