A Mexico senator has introduced a bill that would legalize recreational marijuana.
Andrés Manuel López Obrador is the president-elect of Mexico, and his soon-to-be interior interior minister Olga Sanchez Cordero proposed a bill to legalize marijuana.
If it passes, each person will be allowed to have up to 20 plants at a time for personal consumption. The bill would also include regulating and monitoring production, sales and consumption.
In five separate court cases, Mexico’s supreme court has ruled in favor of private citizens suing for their rights to consume recreational marijuana. If this law passes, it would no longer require a lawsuit for each citizen to smoke.
He said the committee on legalizing the medical use of marijuana and kratom leaves (Mitragyna speciosa) and the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) had suggested that 17 Articles from two previously proposed drug laws could be used to prepare a shorter bill for the legalization of marijuana. This suggestion was taken up.
BigMike Straumietis Plans Charitable Giving for Veterans Day
Through his Holiday Heroes charity, the Advanced Nutrients founder and CEO will distribute 1,500 backpacks stocked with personal supplies to LA's homeless population.
[Los Angeles, California] - PRESS RELEASE - On Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018, BigMike Straumietis and his team of Holiday Heroes volunteers will assemble and hand out 1,500 backpacks filled with critical personal protection and hygiene items to Los Angeles’ homeless community. The backpacks will be stocked with personal items for the recipients, including toothbrushes, deodorant, body wash, blankets, first aid kits and hand squeeze flashlights.
BigMike originally launched Holiday Heroes in Bulgaria in 2012, giving families in need packages of food and other critical supplies through door-to-door charity visits. He brought Holiday Heroes to the United States in 2016, when he and a team of volunteers, including Advanced Nutrients team members, handed out backpacks full of essential supplies to homeless individuals and families in Los Angeles. Since then, Holiday Heroes has grown and continues to serve LA residents in need, providing more than $100,000 worth of necessary supplies last Christmas.
This November, Holiday Heroes is celebrating Veterans Day and Thanksgiving by working with the Department of Veterans Affairs to distribute the backpacks to veterans in need, and also to deliver other much-needed supplies to Downtown Women’s Center, Homeboy Industries, United Rescue Mission, United Rescue Mission Hope Gardens, and the homeless population of Downtown LA’s Skid Row.
“When I first walked through Skid Row, I saw firsthand all the challenges the homeless community faces,” says BigMike who, as a child, had personal experience living in poverty and without regular meals. “I believe a corporation should give directly back to the community that supports it. I’ve been on the opposite side of poverty, and it’s a reason why Holiday Heroes is so dear to my heart.”
Working with the Department of Veterans Affairs to give back to the community on Veterans Day was a deliberate choice by BigMike to honor our nation’s heroes. “I have immense respect for the brave men and women who choose to serve our country,” BigMike says. “And I want to show my gratitude by serving the LA community with the resources I have. We can all give something to make life better for others.”
LeafLink List Honors Cannabis Brands and Products
The cannabis wholesale platform has ranked brands and products in categories such as bestselling, fastest-growing and best branding.
LeafLink has launched a list to measure how cannabis brands and products are securing shelf space in dispensaries and finding success in this increasingly competitive market.
The LeafLink List ranks brands and products in several categories, including bestselling, fastest-growing and best branding. Companies honored on the list will receive a badge that can be used on their packaging and websites to note the recognition.
“We’re excited to introduce LeafLink List as a way to recognize some of the incredible brands on our platform,” said CEO and Co-Founder Ryan G. Smith, in a press release. “It’s amazing to see how powerfully retailers respond to high quality, beautifully branded products on LeafLink. LeafLink List is not only a celebration of ingenuity and quality among today’s growing cannabis brands, but also of the rich community of purchasing managers who use LeafLink to educate themselves on the latest and greatest products available to them.”
LeafLink is a cannabis wholesale platform that connects more than 2,500 retailers and 700 brands. It has become one of the largest sources of industry wholesale data, currently processing 11 percent of all wholesale orders.
In Top Brands, the inaugural 2018 LeafLink List names California’s dosist as the No. 1 best-selling brand and Colorado’s Summit as the No.1 fastest-growing brand. LeafLink Customer Favorites, brands that were honored for their dedication to excellent retailer responsiveness and service on LeafLink’s platform, include Alaska’s Good Titrations, Nevada’s Green Harvest and California’s Greenstone Distribution in the first through third spots, respectively.
In the Diversity in Leadership category, Wana Brands took first place for best-selling brand, while Colorado-based Jade and Jane was ranked the fastest-growing brand.
Oregon’s Smokiez was named No. 1 for best advertising campaigns on LeafLink in the Best Branding and Advertising category, while Maryland’s Prime Extracts took the top spot for best branding on LeafLink.
Products honored include Wana Brands’ Sour Gummies, which were ranked the No. 1 best-selling edibles. CI Wholesales’ Devour Gummies took first place for fastest-growing edibles.
Roots’ Blue Dream CCELL Vape Cartridge secured the top spot in the best-selling vaporizers category, and Timeless Vapes’ Alaskan Thunder F*ck – 500 mg was named the No. 1 fastest-growing.
Siskiyou Sungrown’s Cannabis Oil – THC was named the No. 1 best-selling concentrate, while Nature’s Medicine secured the top spot in the fastest-growing category with its Blue Suede Zkittles Shatter (1 g).
In the Flower and Pre-Rolls category, Caviar Gold’s Cavi J was named the No. 1 best-selling product, while oreKron’s Lemon OG secured the top spot in the fastest-growing category.
Evolab won first place in the best-selling medical category with its Alchemy 500 mg cartridge, while Timeless Vapes’ Blue Cheese 100 mg took the top spot in the fastest-growing category.
Finally, Apothecanna’s Extra Strength Relieving Cream was named the No. 1 best-selling topical and transdermal, while Kindred’s Relief Massage Oil was honored as the No. 1 fastest-growing product in the category.
According to the Associated Press, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has submitted a letter of resignation to the president.
The letter makes it apparent that President Trump had requested his resignation.
"I have been honored to serve as Attorney General and have worked to implement the law enforcement agenda based on the rule of law that formed a central part of your campaign for the Presidency," he wrote in this letter. Read the full letter below.
Sessions' time at the helm of the U.S. Department of Justice was marked most visibly to the cannabis industry by his repeal of the Cole Memo, which had previously guided states' marijuana regulations. Repeatedly, Sessions invoked the department's mission to uphold the "rule of law" on behalf of the federal government.
"Attorney General Jeff sessions has been an impediment to the growth of the regulated cannabis industry," Derek Peterson, CEO of Terra Tech, told Cannabis Business Times. "We believe we are at a tipping point nationally in terms of voter sentiment as well as support from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. With Pete Sessions being voted out and Jeff Sessions resigning, the corridor is now open to accelerate a states rights approach to regulating the cannabis industry."
Trump tweeted: "We are pleased to announce that Matthew G. Whitaker, Chief of Staff to Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the Department of Justice, will become our new Acting Attorney General of the United States. He will serve our Country well ... We thank Attorney General Jeff Sessions for his service, and wish him well! A permanent replacement will be nominated at a later date."
Not much is known currently about Whitaker's stance toward cannabis reform or states' rights to legalize and regulate cannabis markets.
Whitaker served as U.S. Attorney General for the Southern District of Iowa from 2004 to 2009 under the George W. Bush administration, submitting his resignation to President Barack Obama shortly after he took office. In his resignation letter, shared by lawandcrime.com, Whitaker said he that as a U.S. Attorney, he was "firmly committed to protecting our citizens from terrorist attacks, reducing gang and gun violence, protecting our children from predators, reducing the availability of meth, cocaine, and marijuana in our communities, and protecting the taxpayers through our civil division."
Since Oct. 2017, Whitaker served as the chief of staff and senior counselor to Sessions, Newsweek reported.
"We believe its increasingly likely Congress could take action to regulate and tax cannabis at the federal level," said Isaac Dietrich, CEO of MassRoots. "We expect the perceived risks related to the cannabis industry to continue to dissipate, which could lead to a shift of institutional capital and interest from Canadian licensed producers to companies focused on the regulated United States market."
"The resignation of Jeff Sessions marks another key turning point for the cannabis industry, removing a key obstructionist to cannabis reform from the Justice Department," added Frank Lane, president of CFN Media. "Many cannabis stocks have already surged following the news in hopes that the resignation will usher in a change to federal cannabis policy, including passage of the STATES Act. We are cautiously optimistic ahead of the appointment of a new Attorney General."
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
Melissa Schiller
