A federal judge has ruled that a group of Petaluma neighbors cannot sue a cannabis company and its lead grower under a federal racketeering and corruption law because bad odors and noise are nuisances that don’t cause the kind of measurable financial losses required to pursue the case.

U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar’s Dec. 27 ruling halted what may have been the first attempt in California to use the civil portion of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, passed in 1970 to combat the mafia and organized crime, to stop marijuana cultivation since it was legalized for recreational use.

The plaintiffs argued that the operation’s “sickening cannabis odor” and loud noise diminished the value and enjoyment of their properties. But Tigar, in his 11-page decision dismissing the case, wrote that the neighbors’ complaints amounted to nuisances and personal injuries, which are “not compensable under RICO.”

Read more

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PRESS RELEASE -- Applied BioSciences Corp., a diversified cannabinoid therapeutics company focused on the medical, bioceutical and pet health industries, announced that it has withdrawn its Registration Statement filed on Dec. 3, 2018 and will not sell any securities under the Common Stock Purchase Agreement related to the Registration Statement.

On Dec. 20, 2018, President Trump signed the U.S. Farm Bill into law. The new law defines hemp as an agricultural product for the first time in 50 years and allows American farmers to plant and harvest hemp. This will allow farmers and researchers of hemp to receive the same benefits as farmers and researchers of other crops, including the ability to apply for insurance and federal grants.

The Hemp Farming Act of 2018 inclusion in the final version of the Farm Bill is a major victory for hemp CBD companies like Applied BioSciences, as it adds provisions to remove hemp from the federal list of controlled substances and removes any federal regulations preventing farmers from growing and selling hemp as an agricultural commodity. The language provides the entire supply chain with certainty and enables businesses of all sizes and types to source hemp for food, building materials and textiles from U.S. crops.

According to the Hemp Business Journal, in 2017, U.S. hemp sales reached $820 million with hemp CBD and hemp food products making up $327 million of the total and projections see U.S. CBD sales reaching $2.1 billion by 2020, even before the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill.

“The Farming Act provides much needed certainty to the hemp community and businesses that will allow them to provide products that consumer need and want. At Applied BioSciences, we strive to be a socially responsible company and invest in industries that make a positive impact, such as the CBD industry. Applied BioSciences has achieved that by diversifying ourselves amongst different CBD and hemp products, ranging from creams and oils to capsules and vapes,” stated JJ Southard, treasurer.

“The regulatory backdrop has changed significantly since we started the company, almost three years ago. Applied BioSciences has strived to be a cutting-edge organization and our experience in the space is a competitive advantage. With our current portfolio of brands and investments we believe there are multiple financing and strategic alternatives to generate shareholder value which are in the best interest of the company and our investors," stated Chris Bridges, president.

Applied BioSciences products are USDA NOP certified organic, non-GMO, vegan, paleo, gluten-free, sugar-free and THC-free. The products are formulated with organic 99-percent pure cannabidiol along with a proprietary blend of certified organic botanicals, herbals and essential oils to further optimize bioavailability.

Michigan forced more than 70 unlicensed medical marijuana dispensaries to close after a state-issued Dec. 31 licensing deadline, severing many patients’ access to their medication.

The businesses had to apply for state licenses by Feb. 15, 2018 and have remained open under emergency rules that allowed them to temporarily operate while awaiting state licenses. However, permanent rules that took effect Dec. 1 did not include provisions for temporary operations, said Matthew Abel, attorney with Cannabis Counsel, P.L.C., a boutique marijuana law firm in Detroit, and executive director for Michigan NORML. Temporary operators faced an ultimatum—get licensed by Dec. 31 or shut down.

“They can proceed with the licensing process, assuming that [they began] the licensing process by last February,” Abel said.

Michigan’s new governor, Gretchen Whitmer, took office Jan. 1 and appointed a new director for the state’s Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), the licensing and regulatory body for the state’s cannabis industry.

“It’s possible that they might put in place some new emergency rules, but I don’t see that happening really,” Abel said. “The state needs to expedite the consideration of the applications, … and maybe they should consider those temporary operators first—let them jump the queue, as it were, to be first in line. But other people who completed their applications earlier and who have never opened would object to that. We just need the state to be more aggressive in considering the applications, and frankly, the Republicans who were in charge, in my opinion, were slow-pedaling this the whole licensing process.”

The state will hold its next monthly licensing board meeting Jan. 16, where it will presumably issue more licenses, Abel added.

And although the licensing process will continue, patients who have been using dispensaries that have been shut down will likely revert to the illicit market for their medicine, he said. This presents obvious safety concerns, Abel added—under the new regulations, all products sold at licensed dispensaries must be lab tested, but products sold outside the regulated market are largely untested and unlabeled.

“The good part is that everything will be lab tested,” Abel said. “The bad part is there aren’t that many dispensaries licensed yet. I’m thinking the number’s around 50. So, there are more closed than open. It certainly wasn’t a smooth rollout.”

RELATED: See Where Medical Marijuana Shops Are Licensed in Michigan

And the state has largely been unapologetic, he added. “They’re saying, ‘Well, nobody has to drive more than 60 miles … to get to an open provisioning center,’ but that’s kind of too little, too late for a lot of people,” Abel said. “Yeah, there are some dispensaries, but a lot of them are going to have quite limited product availability for several months, it looks like, because they really should have licensed the growers first and then the processors and then the dispensaries; some of the dispensaries are owned by companies that are vertically integrated, where they’re not going to sell their product to any other dispensaries.”

As of October 2018, Michigan had about 300,000 registered medical marijuana patients on the books.

Patient access is further hampered by moratoriums in place by the state’s municipalities, Abel added—a little more than 100 out of the state’s 1,700 some municipalities allow any form of commercial cannabis businesses, which includes growers, processors and dispensaries.

“We’ll see what happens in the next couple of weeks, and at that board meeting later this month, but right now, it’s iffy,” Abel said. “Eventually, the supply will catch up with the demand, but I think it’ll probably take a whole year and by then, we’re going to have increased demand because at that point, the retail stores will be hopefully open. Right now, the only people who can go into a dispensary are medical patients. So, even though adult-use is legal, there’s no way to buy it."