Connect with us

Business

German cabinet sends diluted recreational cannabis bill to Parliament

Published

on

Europe’s largest economy inched closer to ending marijuana prohibition after the German federal cabinet gave the green light to a watered-down bill to legalize some recreational cannabis use.

The cabinet’s approval this week is an important step from Germany’s three-party governing coalition and marks a milestone for the cannabis industry in Europe.

The draft law now heads to the Bundestag – Germany’s Parliament – which is expected to make changes to the law.

“The Cannabis Act marks a turning point in what has unfortunately been a failed cannabis drug policy. The aim is to push back the (illicit) market and drug-related crime, curb the dealing in adulterated or toxic substances and reduce consumer numbers,” Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said in a news release.

The bill lays the legal footing for “nonprofit cultivation associations” – clubs of up to 500 people – which will be strictly regulated.

The measure also:

  • Allows adults to grow up to three cannabis plants for their own consumption as well as for community, noncommercial cultivation for their own consumption in grow associations or cooperatives.
  • Bans advertising and sponsorship for consumer cannabis and cultivation associations.
  • Limits the transfer of consumer cannabis via growers’ associations to members only, with a limit of 25 grams per day or 50 grams per month.
  • Limits distribution to people 18-21 years old to no more than 30 grams per month. Their THC limit will be 10%.
  • Limits distribution to dried marijuana and hashish.

The draft law mandates an evaluation take place on the social impact after four years.

Germany had originally intended to fully legalize cannabis but decided on a lighter, two-track approach after running into resistance from the European Commission – the European Union’s executive branch.

The German Hemp Association hailed the draft as a “milestone” on the way to reforming cannabis policy.

The body said the move could put an end to criminalizing relatively minor consumption-related offences.

However, the association is hopeful major issues will be addressed in the parliamentary process.

Some include:

  • An “unrealistic” ban on consumption in cannabis cultivation clubs.
  • Hefty penalties and fines for small violations of “already arbitrary limits.” For instance, the group said possession of 25 grams will be made perfectly legal, but 26 grams would carry a prison sentence of up to three years.

Germany is expected to bring forward a second law, the timing of which is not yet confirmed, to facilitate regional pilot projects with commercial supply chains.

The 181-page draft law is available here.

Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/german-cabinet-sends-diluted-recreational-cannabis-bill-to-parliament/

Business

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

Published

on

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/

Continue Reading

Business

Marijuana companies suing US attorney general in federal prohibition challenge

Published

on

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/

Continue Reading

Business

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

Published

on

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/

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2022 420 Reports Marijuana News & Information Website | Reefer News | Cannabis News