Case That Could Disrupt Maryland's Medical Marijuana Industry Will Go to Trial
Circuit Judge Barry Williams said a trial should determine whether state regulators acted unlawfully when choosing which companies won cultivation licenses.
A Baltimore judge ruled Wednesday that a case that could disrupt Maryland's fledgling medical marijuana industry should proceed to trial.
Circuit Judge Barry Williams said a trial should determine whether state regulators acted outside the law when they chose which companies won lucrative licenses to grow the drug.
Williams dismissed the arguments of state lawyers, who wanted the case thrown out. If the court finds that the licenses were awarded improperly, he said, it has the power to order the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission to remedy the situation.
“It’s not something that can be determined at this juncture,” Williams said from the bench. He did not set a trial date.
At issue are the two of the state’s 15 medical marijuana growing licenses that were awarded to companies that did not rank among the top 15 applicants.
Regulators said they awarded the licenses to the two lower-ranked firms, located on the lower Eastern Shore and in Southern Maryland, to broaden the geographic diversity of the growers, as required by state law.
Canopy Growth Corp. says it will develop up to three million square feet of greenhouse growing capacity in British Columbia, more than doubling Canada's biggest licensed marijuana producer's production footprint.
The company said in a statement that it has entered into a definitive joint venture agreement with a large-scale greenhouse operator where it will be a majority shareholder of BC Tweed Joint Venture Inc., a new company.
Canopy Growth CEO Bruce Linton says the greenhouses currently grow peppers and the company will spend tens of millions of dollars to transform them to grow cannabis, the majority of which will be sold domestically.
Delegate Ron Walters, R-Kanawha, suggested Wednesday that members of the West Virginia Medical Cannabis Advisory Board recommend that personal growth of marijuana plants remain prohibited but consider allowing “the sale of buds.”
During a board meeting at the University of Charleston, Walters also asked board members to allow medical marijuana dispensaries to grow and process the plants.
Walters was among about seven lawmakers who recently traveled to Colorado to learn more about the marijuana industry. West Virginia passed its own medical marijuana law during the 2017 legislative session. The law allows doctors to recommend medical marijuana to patients and gives the Department of Health and Human Resources’ Bureau for Public Health regulatory oversight.
The West Virginia Medical Cannabis Advisory Board, which can recommend changes in the law to the Legislature, met for the second time Wednesday.
“I’m going to applaud you, but I’m going to caution you about the problems in our bill,” Walters said. “And if you can correct it through rule-making, please. That’s the easiest way to do it.”
It may be surprising to learn that a state considered as environmentally conscious as Colorado is lacking when it comes to diverting waste from landfills. In 2016, Colorado’s waste diversion rate was only 19 percent—well below the national average of 35 percent. In August 2017, the Colorado Solid and Hazardous Waste Commission approved statewide waste diversion goals, aiming to increase the amount of waste diverted from landfills by recycling and composting over the next 20 years. The new goals challenge Colorado to meet the national average for waste diversion by 2026 and to match the current diversion rate of the best-performing states—around 45 percent—by 2036.
Even more surprising might be how well the cannabis industry is doing overall in this effort when compared to other industries, such as the food and fashion industries. But cannabis industry leaders in Colorado are striving to be better even as they deal with a patchwork of regulations from the municipal to the state level. Recently a group of cannabis industry stakeholders, including license holders, NGOs and regulators, convened in advance of the Cannabis Sustainability Symposium that will be held Oct. 17-18, to discuss issues affecting industry progress such as waste control, packaging regulations and composting/recycling both plant and packaging materials. Amy Andrle of L’Eagle, Janet Burgesser of Denver Department of Environmental Health, Certifiably Green Denver, and Laurie Johnson, Executive Director, Colorado Association for Recycling (CAFR), led the group through a discussion on challenges and obstacles specific to waste in the cannabis industry, and to map a path forward.
While a lot of attention is given to pricey energy and water reduction technologies to increase sustainability, diverting waste from the landfill is a relatively affordable way to decrease a cannabis company’s carbon footprint. And as the popularity of marijuana increases throughout the country, as well as its legalization, many states are looking at Colorado for guidance on how to get it done, while Centennial State cannabis producers are looking to make their product more sustainable from seed to sale and beyond.
“We’re growing plants in topsoil and other mediums—these are the types of items that can very easily be composted,” Andrle said. “And then we also have a lot of plastics in our packaging, and those items should be recyclable.”
The role that regulation plays in determining environmental guidelines for the marijuana industry is one that cannot be overlooked, according to stakeholders at the roundtable. Frequent additions and changes in regulations within the cannabis industry are not a rare occurrence; but, as much as companies welcome additional clarity in current rules, new laws and codes can impede business growth in certain instances. Especially when those codes differ between municipal and state laws.
Photo courtesy of Kind ReDesigned
One of the more difficult hurdles that cannabis industry pioneers face is securing regulatory approval for the advancement of industry innovation. New processes (like Kind ReDesigned's Bokashi fermentation waste disposal), new equipment (like Alpine Waste and Recycling's compactor), and new technologies (like Sesh Technologies Manufacturing's rosin press) often require changes to current regulation and/or the development of new legislation. Engaging with regulatory bodies and other industry influencers to improve the legislative environment is critical to success. Outreach is often characterized in bursts of starts and stops. Educating regulators and local officials who are not science or technology oriented can be especially challenging.
Within the industry’s current codes, packaging must be child-resistant, resealable and stamped with labels indicating that the product is up-to-date and compliant with requirements. And though some products on today’s market are packaged in recyclable materials, it is still not a requirement. The fact is, edibles producers noted that they must deliver their product in packaging that is twice the size necessary for the product in order to accommodate labeling requirements and regulations.
What’s more, as with many industries involving the shipping of products, origin suppliers often use a large amount of extra material to ensure that items remain in good condition during transit, and for some manufacturers, the amount of labor necessary to begin and maintain a process for recycling this material is so resource-intensive it impedes implementation. Some cultivators said that even with a recycling program, limitations within the marketplace affect their ability to recycle—how some materials are sent to cultivators, for instance, is a challenge, sustainably speaking.
Waste and recycling companies, such as Alpine Waste & Recycling, are recognizing the concerns of cannabis producers, processors and retailers, and are working to accommodate for them. “One of our recent innovations,” said Grant Parsons of Alpine Waste & Recycling, “is our scaled trucks, which weigh exactly what we are picking up at each site. This information, while confidential to our client companies, is inputted into our monthly sustainability report which then measures how much trash was generated, and how much was able to be composted and recycled.”
This type of monitoring means each Alpine client can have a metric of their monthly waste to measure exactly how much they are recycling, composting and sending to landfills. Additionally, the technology allows for industry sectors to be rated against one another.
For waste and recycling companies, education is the key component in lessening the cannabis industry’s effect on the environment. For instance, learning that compacting plant materials with the required 50/50 mix is an option—instead of simply shredding the plant materials with something like a wood chipper, which can be a hazard to employees—is a vital piece of information that companies can use to improve landfill diversion rates and jump start recycling programs.
Photo courtesy of Kind ReDesigned
“We are looking, as an industry, at ways to amend how we can more effectively repurpose plant byproduct,” said Kristi Kelly, executive director of Marijuana Industry Group. “We are generating millions of pounds of green waste across the country, so there is a huge appetite for us to figure out how to resolve all of this plant waste and compost it correctly.”
Sectors such as the food industry already have measures and qualifications in place for handling waste; and while the cannabis industry is eager to glean information from these more established codes, marijuana companies are exercising caution in how closely they replicate other models. “We need to be careful not to imitate exactly what these other industries are doing—we need to remain innovative to support the industry, especially given the challenges associated with the industry,” Burgesser said.
The cannabis industry will continue the conversation about waste solutions at The Cannabis Sustainability Symposium in Denver on Oct. 17-18. For more information, visit www.cannabissustainability.org.
Shawna McGregor is senior vice president of The Rosen Group, a public relations agency based in New York City. She opened the Denver office in 2012. McGregor manages communications for leading cannabis brands, including cultivators, dispensaries, infused products producers and industry associations.
Photo courtesy of Shawna McGregor
EnRoot Products Ships Ameri-Coco Bagged Coir
Available in 1.5 cu ft. bags, Ameri-Coco products come in three varieties to suit growers' needs.
Cromwell, CT, October 11, 2017– EnRoot Products LLC, makers of high-quality coir products, has announced the release of Ameri-Coco ‘Ready-To-Grow’ bagged coir, according to a press release. Available in convenient 1.5 cu ft. bags, Ameri-Coco products come in three varieties to suit growers needs. Root Kandy is the perfect medium for high-value crops with ultra-low EC requirements. Root Kandy is 100% coco coir buffered with calcium nitrate for a resulting EC/salt content to below 200 PPM. Brown Pearl is 100% coir with a 70/30 blend of perlite - a long-respected natural amendment - for added aeration and drainage. Colombo Jumbo is our standard, ‘triple-plus’ washed coir, used globally in commercial growing. Low EC, and now fluffed and ready-to-grow right out of the bag!
“Superior crops deserve a superior growing medium, which is why we are introducing this new high-quality bagged coir, ready to go and ready to grow,” says Brian Ziff, National Sales Director.
“Griffin is enthusiastically supporting the launch of the Ameri-Coco fluffed coir product line. Bagged, expanded coir meets a need for commercial growers in the controlled environment agriculture (CEA) arena and has appeal to home gardeners as well. The Griffin team looks forward to helping more growers bring easy-to-use coir products into their toolbox as a solution to produce better crops,” said Tami Van Gaal, CEA Division Leader with Griffin.
Griffin is Enroot’s primary horticultural distribution partner for the Ameri-Coco line for the U.S. market.
Images courtesy of EnRoot Products
Legislative Map
Cannabis Business Times’ interactive legislative map is another tool to help cultivators quickly navigate state cannabis laws and find news relevant to their markets. View More
