Business
U.K.-Based Hemp Farm Shuts Down Due to THC in CBD Products
Jersey Hemp is the only farm permitted to grow hemp in the British Isles, and now it faces an uncertain future.
In the British Isles, Jersey Hemp is the only farm permitted to cultivate hemp. While it’s licensed to produce CBD products, the United Kingdom government recently closed the farm down because it found trace amounts of THC in the farm’s products.
According to a BBC report, Jersey Hemp co-owners David Ryan and Blair Jones were forced to lay off half of their staff and ceased operation, and the U.K. government restricted any export of Jersey Hemp’s products.
As a result, Jersey Hemp published a press statement on June 23 that it will be considering taking both the Home Office and U.K. Food Standards Agency to court on the issue. “Jersey Hemp, the sole licensed CBD producer in the British Isles, is considering taking legal action against the U.K. and Jersey Governments following a directive from the U.K. Home Office and the subsequent support of the Jersey Authorities to restrict the export of Jersey Hemp’s CBD Wellness products to the U.K.,” the statement explained. “This decision, which contradicts a legal opinion affirming the compliance of Jersey Hemp’s products with relevant legislation, is a clear error in both law and judgment.”
Jersey Hemp was licensed for cultivation in 2019, and has spent the last three years meeting all of the country’s requirements for compliant operation. “We’ve got to really take a step back and consider the position we find ourselves in,” said Ryan. “It’s very frustrating, pretty sad, the impact on us has been devastating.”
The company’s concern is that this decision could negatively affect the CBD industry as a whole. “If this decision is upheld, it would effectively render the entire CBD market in the UK illegal, proving detrimental to Jersey Hemp’s viability as a business,” it continued. “Consequently, Jersey Hemp has already experienced significant financial repercussions, resulting in a redundancy process impacting over 50% of its staff.”
Hemp exportation is licensed under the Misuse of Drugs (Jersey) Law 1978, which is allowed on a “shipment-by-shipment” basis, according to the BBC. A United Kingdom Home Office agency spokesperson commented on the situation. “CBD in its pure form is not a controlled drug, but if a CBD product contains THC or other controlled cannabinoids then it is likely that the product would be controlled,” the spokesperson stated.
A joint statement from Minister for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture Kirsten Morel and Minister for Health and Social Services Karen Wilson explained that both Morel and Wilson are aware of the situation, but didn’t provide any details about what happens next. “We are aware that Jersey Hemp is in contact with HM Government with respect to exports to the UK—as a separate jurisdiction, we cannot comment on those talks and would also not speculate on their outcome,” the statement said. “All businesses that are licensed to cultivate cannabis in Jersey are responsible for making sure they comply with the relevant legislation in the jurisdiction into which they export products.”
There is evidence that U.K. citizens want to see improved access for cannabis, as well as other substances. A poll from June 2022 found that one fifth of British adults have tried CBD in the form of flower or oil, and 58% of people who participated in the survey said that they believe CBD offers health benefits.
Separately though, the U.K. maintains control over its own territory and blocked Bermuda from following through with cannabis legalization in September 2022.
But the future isn’t all bleak, as there is plenty of support growing for cannabis and psychedelics at the moment. In December 2022, U.K. police chiefs called out for decriminalization of cannabis for first-time drug offenders.
In April 2023, the U.K.-based University of Exeter debuted a postgraduate course on clinical psychedelics called “Psychedelics: Mind, Medicine, and Culture.” In May, Labor MP Charlotte Nichols spoke in support of psychedelic reform. “There are serious and considerable barriers to legitimate research, associated with Schedule I regulations,” said Nichols. “While current legislation does not preclude scientific research with these drugs, it does make them significantly more difficult, time-consuming and costly to study.”
In June, U.K. Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations Michael Gove openly admitted that he used cannabis in his youth, describing it as a “feature of the student experience for a lot of people.” However, he claims that he “didn’t get very high.”
Source: https://hightimes.com/news/u-k-based-hemp-farm-shuts-down-due-to-thc-in-cbd-products/
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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