North Carolina lawmakers have indicated that a vote on the NC Compassionate Care Act, a medical cannabis legalization bill, may be postponed until 2022 as the Legislature focuses on the state budget and redistricting process during the final months of this year, according to a local WNCN report.
After addressing an amendment containing several technical changes to the legislation, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the bill a second time before sending it to the Health Care Committee, which signed off on the legislation at the end of August.
Despite the building momentum, some of the lawmakers behind the bill have said there are still some issues they are trying to resolve before bringing the legislation to the Senate floor for a vote, WNCN reported.
“There’s far more moving parts to this thing than I thought there was when we began,” Sen. Paul Lowe (D-Forsyth), one of the bill’s sponsors, told the news outlet. “We want to make sure we get it right.”
With other issues now taking priority, Republican Senate Leader Phil Berger told WNCN that the bill may not get a vote in the Senate until lawmakers return for next year’s legislative session, although no final decision has been made.
The legislation would allow patients to access medical cannabis to treat specified “debilitating medical conditions,” including cancer, epilepsy and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Some of the unresolved concerns raised by lawmakers center on the number of qualifying conditions, patient access, business licensing challenges and whether the bill would ultimately lead to adult-use cannabis legalization, WNCN reported.
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Connecticut’s New Cannabis Laws Take Effect Oct. 1
New rules cover changes to the state’s smoking restrictions and allow patients to grow their own cannabis plants at home.
A host of new laws will take effect in Connecticut Oct. 1, including some that include new rules for the state’s existing medical and forthcoming adult-use cannabis markets.
Gov. Ned Lamont signed an adult-use legalization bill in June, and the new cannabis law includes several changes to the state’s smoking restrictions for cigarettes, cigars and vaping, according to the Hartford Courant.
New rules prohibit smoking within 25 feet of buildings that serve the public, such as restaurants and retail stores, the news outlet reported. The new law also prohibits smoking in hotels, motels, prisons and psychiatric facilities.
In addition, communities with more than 50,000 residents must designate an area for cannabis use, such as a section of a park, according to the Hartford Courant.
While the new law allows people to smoke cannabis anywhere that they are permitted to smoke cigarettes, towns can draft their own rules based on local zoning regulations, the news outlet reported.
New laws taking effect next month also allow medical cannabis patients to grow their own plants at home.
Beginning Oct. 1, registered patients who are 18 and older can grow six plants at home, with a maximum of 12 plants allowed per household, the Hartford Courant reported.
Adults 21 and older can grow their own plants beginning in July 2023 under Connecticut’s cannabis law, according to the news outlet, and adult-use retail sales are expected to launch in May 2022.
Dispense Closes $2M Seed Funding Led by NextView Ventures and Poseidon Asset Management
The investment allows Dispense to ramp up recruiting, product development, sales and marketing capabilities in the rapidly growing cannabis market.
NEW YORK, Sept. 21, 2021 – PRESS RELEASE –Dispense, a leading digital dispensary management platform, announced the completion of its $2 million seed funding. The round of investment is led by NextView Ventures with NextView co-founder, Lee Hower, joining the Dispense board. Leading cannabis VC's Poseidon Asset Management and Achari Ventures participated, along with Arrive, a Roc Nation company, and Wayne Chang.
Dispense is one of the fastest growing software companies in the cannabis space. The platform is currently used by dispensaries in five states, including Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey and Massachusetts. Since its beta launch in August 2020, Dispense has processed over 1.5 million orders, with an order value of over $200 million with only two employees. Co-founders Kyla Moore and Tim Officer plan to use the funding to hire top talent, continue developing and enhancing their product, and scale their sales and marketing efforts.
Prior to launching Dispense, Moore and Officer founded Tablelist and TablelistPro, an online ticketing, reservations and venue management software for nightlife and events. When nightlife and in-person events stopped due to the pandemic, the team pivoted and repurposed the software to help cannabis dispensaries manage their customer purchases and pick-ups.
"What makes Dispense unique is that our software is built to empower our dispensary partners, giving them simple-to-use tools to not only take online orders but to build and maintain direct customer relationships, optimize their sales, and streamline their operations," said Moore, who serves as the company’s CEO. "This new funding will allow us to grow our team, expand into more states and continue to build features that align with the needs of the dispensaries and their customers."
Dispense differentiates itself from other online dispensary management platforms by giving retailers 100% ownership of their customer data, online orders and order details. Dispense gives business owners the tools to connect, build, and nurture relationships to create loyal and lasting customers. The platform is used by some of the country's top dispensaries, including Ascend Wellness, a leading retailer in the Midwest and East Coast.
"Our experience using Dispense so far has been great," Ascend Wellness founder and CEO Abner Kurtin said. "Their hospitality and customer-centric approach to building the software has made it both intuitive and easy to use. Dispense e-commerce and order management software is an important part of our customer service experience at Ascend."
"We are very pleased to have the opportunity to work with Kyla Moore and Tim Officer at Dispense," said Hower, who’s also a partner at NextView Ventures. "The growth they've achieved in the last year is astounding. I've worked with many early-stage software startups in my career, and Dispense's software really is top-notch. We see tremendous opportunity to work with Dispense to help drive the expansion of their unique, customer-centric platform that is already making waves at some of the biggest dispensaries in the industry."
"We are excited to be both an investor in Dispense and a strategic partner," said Emily Paxhia, co-founder and management partner at Poseidon. "Their platform provides much-needed solutions to the growing cannabis retail sector, and their focus on the customer experience along with their refined software will help them scale across the cannabis industry while making retailers' lives easier and the customers' experiences more enjoyable."
Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission Issues Recall for Hemp Labeled Product with High THC Levels
The Select CBD tincture could impair unsuspecting consumers, and agency inspectors continue to trace the cause of the mislabeled product.
Portland, OR -- PRESS RELEASE -- The Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission has issued a mandatory recall for a product labeled as a hemp tincture that can get consumers “high” because the product contains undisclosed levels of THC. Consumers using this mislabeled product may become unexpectedly impaired.
The recall is for an item labeled as a hemp CBD tincture produced by Cura CS, LLC, and sold under its Select brand. The specific batch of this product Select CBD Drops “Broad Spectrum” Unflavored 1000 MG CBD was only available for purchase through OLCC licensed retailers. Photos of the recalled product and packaging are at the bottom of this press release.
The OLCC has notified cannabis retailers about the recall, and has put a hold on the product in the OLCC cannabis tracking system to prevent further sales from OLCC licensed retailers.
The recall affects this specific product produced on May 14, 2021. The OLCC estimates approximately 500 units have been sold starting June 19, 2021 and about 200 units remain in the inventories of OLCC retailers and those items are required to be quarantined.
Customers who have purchased this product can either return it to the OLCC licensed retailer they purchased it from or destroy the product.
Consumers with health-related concerns about this recalled product should contact the Oregon Poison Center at 800-222-1222, or their medical provider.
If consumers have other product related complaints related to this recall they should notify the OLCC at marijuana@oregon.gov and include any information you have, including the consumer’s name and phone number.
Photos courtesy of OLCC
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U.S. House Adds SAFE Banking to Defense Spending Package
In a voice vote Tuesday night, the lower chamber attached cannabis banking reform as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act.
As cash pertains to cannabis, the supermajority consensus in the U.S. House of Representatives is that federal regulators should not penalize depository institutions for providing banking services to legitimate cannabis-related businesses.
That consensus was unveiled during a 321-101 vote in April, when the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act cruised to bipartisan passage in the lower chamber, which has indicated time, and time again, that the federal government has a responsibility to provide safe harbor to financial institutions servicing the industry.
But that was a standalone bill, which has yet to make progress in the Senate.
The question on Sept. 21 in the House was whether SAFE Banking should be attached as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) spending package for fiscal 2022.
While Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., supported SAFE Banking as a standalone bill five months ago, he said Tuesday night it had no business hitching a ride with NDAA. Rogers is the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, which works hand in hand with NDAA.
“This is a fine piece of legislation in a standalone fashion,” Rogers said. “In fact, I voted for the gentleman’s standalone bill. I think what he’s trying to accomplish is admirable and should be accomplished, but not in the National Defense Authorization Act.”
Majority opinion steered from Rogers opposition, as SAFE Banking passed by a voice vote as the first amendment to be added to the NDAA package. It marks the fifth time the act has passed in the House.
In the last Congress, the lower chamber overwhelmingly passed a standalone version of SAFE Banking in 2019, and then House members passed the measure two more times as part of federal coronavirus relief bills in 2020. But the legislation stalled, in part because former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., never acted on calendaring it for floor debate in the upper chamber.
Office of the Clerk, U.S. House
Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., speaks on SAFE Banking Tuesday night on the House floor.
In his opening remarks Tuesday as the chief author of the bill, Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., offered the amendment as the identical version of the standalone act that passed in April.
“This will strengthen the security of our financial system in our country by keeping bad actors like foreign cartels out of the cannabis industry,” he said. “But most importantly, this amendment will reduce the risk of violent crime in our communities. By dealing in all cash, these businesses and their employees become targets for robbery, assaults, burglaries and more.”
Perlmutter said getting cash off the streets would improve safety in communities. In his home state, Perlmutter referenced Travis Mason, a 24-year-old husband and father of three when he was working as a security guard and killed during a 2016 robbery attempt at Green Heart dispensary in Aurora. Mason was a Marine veteran.
After Rogers said language in SAFE Banking is not related to NDAA, Perlmutter reminded him that the matter was deemed germane by a parliamentarian.
Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, said the reason the parliamentarian ruled SAFE Banking was germane was because cartels control much of the drug trade in the United States.
“And while most states have made some legal form for marijuana, the cartels still dominate the market,” Davidson said.
Particularly in Southern California, sheriff’s departments from San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties have shed some light on the extend of the illicit market during recent eradication operations. A $1.2-billion cannabis seizure in July that resulted in 131 arrests was tied to Mexican drug trafficking organizations as well as Chinese and Armenian organized crime groups, according to LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva.
Davidson continued during Tuesday night’s floor session and said, “For too long in America, we’ve had a standard that said, well, you’re not going to bank ‘these people,’ are you? And who ‘these people’ are has changed. This is preventing us from stopping the cartels.”
In a letter to Senate and House leadership, cannabis advocacy organization NORML maintained that NDAA is an appropriate vehicle for SAFE Banking provisions, stating nearly one in four veterans report consuming cannabis, mostly for its therapeutic effects.
Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif., also rose in support of the amendment Tuesday, calling it a common-sense measure.
“Cannabis customers and businesses are law-abiding citizens and entities, yet they have to pay their employees, their bills and their federal taxes with cash,” he said. “It just does not make sense.”
In his closing remarks, Perlmutter reiterated why he believes SAFE Banking is an applicative amendment, calling it a “public safety and national security matter very germane to the issues at hand.”
While SAFE Banking has gained notoriety in the House, it has yet to replicate that reputation in the Senate. Although, Sens. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Steve Daines, R-Mont., are leading the charge as primary sponsors of the bill in the upper chamber, where the legislation was introduced in March and has 39 co-sponsors.
About an hour before Tuesday’s NDAA amendment session in the House, Curaleaf founder and Executive Chairman Boris Jordan told 500-plus listeners during a social media cannabis townhall to remain patient on reform efforts.
“There’s going to be another shot at this in the Senate, in terms of getting the right aspects of the bill,” Jordan said. “I can tell you that Schumer’s people, if you look at their bill in terms of the safe banking element of it, they get it. All the necessary issues are there. So, this is not going to look the way it is now.”
The Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA), a broader reform effort that aims to end federal prohibition, was introduced in its draft form in July by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J. Industry organizations sent feedback to the Senate trio during the following weeks, and the act has yet to be formally introduced.
When CAOA was first introduced, Booker vowed to block SAFE Banking as a standalone without broader reform but later backtracked from that statement and expressed support.
During the townhall, Jordan said he believes Schumer will push SAFE Banking to the side until first giving CAOA a shot at getting passed.
“My understanding is that he’s still going to want to try to get the wider bill, but he fully understands that he’s going to have to pass something, and it’s going to have to happen before April, because after that … we go into funding season with reelections and primaries and all that kind of stuff,” Jordan said. “So, I think they’re going to try to get it through, and I think SAFE in a wider format will get through. But I think it’s probably going to get attached to another vehicle.”
While Jordan doesn’t forecast SAFE Banking getting signed into law through an amendment to the NDAA package, he said “miracles” do happen.
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Melissa Schiller
Posted by Tony Lange
