Business
German Minister Expects to Introduce Updated Cannabis Legalization Proposal Soon
A German official has confirmed that an updated cannabis proposal is on its way.
German Health Minister Karl Lauterbauch recently attended a meeting in Brussels, Belgium with the Council of Ministers for Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumers on March 14. While in attendance, he spoke about the progress of his cannabis proposal and an estimated timeline of its release.
According to Europa Press, his proposal “has obtained a very good response from the Commission,” Lauterbach said.
He also spoke with news outlet NTV, explaining that his proposal will be presented in the “next few weeks.”
“We will soon present a proposal that works, that is, that conforms to European law,” Lauterbach said.
According to Europa Press, Lauterbach stated that it’s the responsibility of the German governing coalition to “comply with European legislation while maintaining their own objectives” in order to “[reduce] crime and to make cannabis use as safe as possible.”
He also added that there have been some concerns about cannabis legalization. “We have to address several issues. One of them has been presented by the Netherlands, which […] proposes a centralized care and focuse[s] on the recommendations of the experts,” Lauterbach said.
While Lauterbach’s formal proposal has yet to be released, a separate cannabis proposal was also held in a meeting with the German Bundestag Health Committee on March 15. “MEPs [Member of European Parliament] propose allowing adults to purchase and possess up to 30 grams of cannabis or cannabis resin,” the meeting description states. “The cultivation of up to three female cannabis plants for personal or community use should also be permitted. Keeping a year’s harvest of up to three plants should also be allowed. The draft law provides for administrative offenses and fines if the maximum permissible amounts are exceeded.”
Originally, a rough draft of Lauterbach’s proposal was leaked in October 2022 by RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland. One week after the leak, Lauterbach gave his proposal to German Chancellor Olaf Sholz.
Under that proposal text, cannabis possession between 20 to 30 grams for adults 18 and older would not result in a punishment. Product THC limits would be capped at 15%, with a 10% limit in place for young adults between 18 and 21 years of age. Sales and distribution would only be permitted for licensed businesses (and importing would be prohibited). Finally, residents would be allowed to cultivate three cannabis plants for personal use.
At the time, Lauterbach described his plan as “the most liberal legalization of cannabis in Europe, which will result in the most regulated market in the EU.” He also shared that an updated version of the plan would be presented as early as the beginning of 2023. “A formal introduction of the legalization measure will occur in the first quarter of this year,” he estimated.
Germany legalized medical cannabis in March 2017, but officials formally announced an interest in exploring recreational legalization in late 2021. Official interest began in June 2022 when it was announced that it would be holding five hearings to discuss the importance of public safety, youth prevention, supply chains, and more. “The hearings are intended to discuss which measures can be used to ensure the best protection for young people, health and consumers in the event of implementation,” said Federal Government Commissioner for Addiction and Drugs Burkhard Blienert. “Because one thing is clear: we want to protect children and young people in particular from possible risks.”
Officials from the delegation of the Health Committee of the Bundestag traveled to California in September 2022. They met with Oaksterdam University Chancellor Dale Sky Jones, CA NORML representatives, and many other advocates, and also toured cannabis dispensaries to assess the opportunities and risks of legalization. Finally, they explored Lowell Farms cultivation facility and discussed seed to sale, including energy and water conservation, as well as the inner workings of SC Labs in regards to lab testing and compliance.
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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