Industry rarely calls out for more regulation, but a new marijuana startup sees creating nationally standardized rules as key to the future of the pot business.

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Cleveland, OH--JUNE 24, 2018 -- PRESS RELEASE -- The Medical Cannabis Pioneers Picnic will be held at Rid All Green Partnership, a thriving urban farm in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 22, 2018 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Guests will enjoy healthy and organic picnic fare, while several certified-to-recommend doctors from Cleveland/Akron-area private practices discuss their path to recommending cannabis to their patients.

Food and drink included in price of ticket ($16). All children are free. Doctors will be available or patient questions. Cannabis industry businesses and activist organizations will be providing information on the status of Ohio’s medical program and professional opportunities and products. Keynote speakers are Dr. Solomon Zaraa of Compassionate Cleveland and Dr. Janet Levatin of Patient Focus.

A visit to Rid All Farm is always a treat, with “regenerative agriculture” on display amid a campus of greenhouses and orchard in Cleveland’s own “Innovative Agriculture Zone." Sustainable agriculture talks and tours will be provided by the experts at Rid All. Children’s entertainment will be provided by Magic Nate, energy elixirs provided by Urban Farm Doctor, and food will feature locally-sourced plant-based foods with meat options. Wine-tastings, gift basket raffles, and giveaways throughout the evening.

Midwest CannaWomen is an organization formed by and for women from diverse backgrounds who are pioneering into the Midwest regional cannabis industry. Our mission at Midwest CannaWomen is to provide resources, education, skills training, and unique networking opportunities to women to unify, build a base of support for each other, and to connect with quality opportunities within the industry. Tickets at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/medical-cannabis-pioneers-picnic-tickets-47119280035

July 1 will come and go this weekend without the celebratory first adult-use cannabis sales that were foretold in Massachusetts two years ago, when the state developed a regulatory framework for its voter-approved cannabis law, and last fall, when state regulators landed on the July deadline.

Rather, those businesses that are awaiting news on their state license are left in a period of limbo, and so are their customers.

“I have resisted making a forecast and I will continue to resist making a forecast," Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) chairman Steven Hoffman said June 26 during a press conference. "We are going to issue licenses on an ongoing basis. They have to become final licenses; we have to get city and town approval. There are too many moving parts so I’m not making a forecast."

The state has received 18 cannabis retail applicants—and 61 complete applications across all business categories, like cultivation and product manufacturing. (The CCC has received 1,615 total applications, though the vast majority of them are incomplete.)

Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission June 26, 2018, presentation by sandydocs on Scribd

The CCC has intimated to local news outlets that it will be issuing cannabis business licenses during the first week in July; the next public meeting is July 2. But once retail licenses are granted, there remains the matter of licensing cannabis testing facilities. As in other states, cannabis products may not be sold without first being tested by an independent and state-licensed laboratory. Reportedly, one lab is in the process of applying for a cannabis business license.

That said, the CCC realigned its priorities and will review testing lab applications as soon as they are received.

As of press time, on June 28, the Cannabis Control Commission had issued only one adult-use license: a cultivation license for Milford-based Sira Naturals, which has also applied for multiple retail licenses.

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U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) filed a sweeping marijuana decriminalization bill June 27 that would leave regulation in the hands of states. The bill would also remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act.

The bill would, however, maintain federal law enforcement's authority to prosecute interstate "drug trafficking."

As a point of differentiation from other decriminalization and legalization bills, Schumer's bill would involve the Small Business Administration and create "dedicated funding streams" to support women- and minority-owned cannabis businesses to the tune of 10 percent of all cannabis tax revenue or $10 million (whichever amount is greater).

And tracking with other legislative trends in states that have legalized cannabis, Schumer's bill would help fund states' marijuana conviction expungement processes.

“The time to decriminalize marijuana is now,” Schumer said in a press release. “The new Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act is about giving states the freedom to be the laboratories that they should be and giving Americans – especially women and minority business owners as well as those convicted of simple possession of marijuana intended for personal use- the opportunity to succeed in today’s economy. This legislation is simply the right thing to do and I am hopeful that the balanced approach it takes can earn bipartisan support in Congress and across the country.” 

Schumer first announced this bill more than two months ago. "I'll be introducing legislation to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level from one end of the country to the other," he said at the time. "The legislation is long overdue."

Read the full bill here:

Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act by sandydocs on Scribd

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