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canna
BUZZ
UN Votes on Cannabis
Recommendations
in December
Despite concerns about
COVID-19, it looks like a
United Nations vote on
cannabis will go ahead in
December. A document
prepared by the chair
of the United Nations
Commission on Narcotic
Drugs (CND) has laid out
a course to keep on track
for December’s key vote
on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) cannabis scheduling
recommendations. The vote could have far-reaching implications
for the global cannabis industry. One recommendation, for
instance, would recognize the medical value and a lesser
potential for harm of cannabis at a U.N. level — making it easier for
member countries to adopt medical cannabis programs. Another
recommendation would ease restrictions on CBD products. The
WHO recommended last year that the UN Commission remove
cannabis from its list of banned substances and reschedule the
plant as a pharmaceutical drug. If approved, this move would open
the door to more feasible international trade and research.
Whistleblower
Says Barr Wrongly
Targeted Cannabis
Companies
A Department of Justice
(DOJ) whistleblower
says U.S. Attorney
General Bill Barr
improperly went after
cannabis companies
solely because of his
dislike of the industry.
John Elias, a career
department employee,
highlighted Barr’s perceived motivations behind 10 mergers
in the cannabis industry. In a statement, Elias wrote that the
10 investigations were not “bona fide” but, rather, driven by Barr’s
personal dislike of the marijuana industry. Elias notes one of his
superiors said in September 2019 that “the investigations were
motivated by the fact that the cannabis industry is unpopular
‘on the fifth floor,’ a reference to the location of Barr’s office
at DOJ headquarters. “Personal dislike of the industry is not a
proper basis upon which to ground an antitrust investigation,”
Elias says. A probe into a planned merger between MedMen and
PharmaCann, collapsed in late 2019 because of regulatory delays.
The investigations were documented by department staff as
appearing “unlikely to raise significant competitive concerns.”
New York Still
Eyeing Cannabis
Legalization
There’s a push in New
York to pass a package
of criminal justice reform
legislation that includes
marijuana legalization.
The Safer NY Act is a
collection of five bills
previously introduced
that largely focus on
policing reform, but also
contains legislation to
legalize recreational cannabis. After the recent rioting, Sen. Julia
Salazar (D) notes in a press release that legislators should take up
the package soon in order to “help increase police transparency
and help increase accountability to New Yorkers’ most common
encounters with police.” Part of that means “legalizing marijuana
with strong attention paid to ensuring that resources are
reinvested in communities most harmed by prohibition.” Salazar
goes on to say that “it’s not enough until we fully make it legal and
we stop criminalizing people for using it, especially for using it
responsibly, and stop criminalizing people for something that is
completely legal within driving distance of our state.” Looks like
it’s a matter of when, not if, New York legalizes cannabis.
Oregon Tops
$100 Million in
Monthly Weed Sales
The state of Oregon hit
a record for cannabis
sales in May, selling
more than $100 million
worth of product. The
$103 million May total for
recreational and medical
sales was a whopping
$38.5 million more
than in the same month
in 2019, a 60 percent
increase, according to the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.
Even with the COVID pandemic, the cannabis business has been
surging as year-to-date sales reached $415.2 million by the end of
May, up 40.2 percent compared to 2019. While cannabis retailers
have stayed open in Oregon during the pandemic, online orders,
often paired with curbside pickup, have surged. Although it
remains a small portion of overall sales in the state, home delivery
has taken off, as well, with sales jumping from $271,888 in May
2019 to $1.38 million this past May, a 409 percent increase.
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