MIAMI, Florida, June 9, 2022 - PRESS RELEASE - Parallel, a multi-state medical cannabis operator, announced today the opening of a new Surterra Wellness (Surterra) medical cannabis dispensary in Miami, Florida, becoming the third Surterra location in the Magic City. The dispensary is located at 10755 Southwest 72nd Street, known locally as Sunset Drive. The grand opening celebration and ribbon cutting ceremony will take place Thursday, June 16, 2022, with the unveiling of a special art creation for Surterra by internationally known, local artist Douglas Hoekzema, aka Hoxxoh.
"As Surterra continues to expand its dispensary locations across Florida, we're excited to increase our presence in the sunny home to hundreds of thousands of Miami residents who seek high-quality medical marijuana products, which we're proud to provide," said Parallel CEO James Whitcomb.
The new Surterra dispensary is conveniently located among the suburbs of Kendall, Pinecrest, The Hammocks and South Miami, and is easily accessible to the I-95.
Surterra is committed to wellness, providing medical marijuana to patients in need, and bringing people together to celebrate the arts–showcasing both emerging and established artists. Hoxxoh, who will create a special work of art on location, the day of the new dispensary opening, started his career in Miami, where he continues to create today. Internationally known for his murals and spray work, he weaves his paints like a human loom to chronicle the passage of time, using nontraditional tools to push boundaries to find equilibrium. Surterra embraces his talent and artistic message, understanding the deep connection between art and wellness.
"We're thrilled to open a third Surterra location in Miami, complimented by the meaningful artwork from a local artist. Our new dispensary increases access to the world-class products and service for which Surterra has become known," said Zack Fleming, Surterra president. "We welcome all registered patients and also look forward to assisting in the qualification process for new patients."
In celebration of the store's grand opening, patients will enjoy 42% off all items (excludes accessories) and double loyalty points for the entire day of the grand opening. Loyalty rewards allow shoppers to save more when they spend, with 1 point awarded for every $1 spent and at 500 points members receive a 10% discount, which can be stacked for more savings. They will also have branded giveaways for early shoppers. Surterra welcomes anyone 18 and older in its stores so that they can ask questions and learn more about products directly from their highly educated staff.
Surterra's Artist Showcase, a state-wide initiative, is kicking off at the new Miami location and actively looking for local artists to put their work on display in Surterra stores for up to four months. Selected artists will gain exposure to new audiences in the store as well as through Surterra's email, subscriber lists and popular social media channels. As an ambassador of the artist Showcase, Hoxxohwill engage as a curator of the program and occasional collaborator with artists. Interested artists can apply at www.surterra.com/artist-showcase/.
The new Miami dispensary is currently open. Days of operation and hours are Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Patients who are registered in the state of Florida with a medical cannabis card are welcome to purchase. All other visitors are welcome to seek consultations.
Homeland Hempcrete’s Matt Marino pouring hemp hurd into a water and lime mixture as the business’ Sam Marino, Matt’s wife, mixes it all together.
Photo by Patrick Williams
Hempcrete Demonstration, ‘Canna Bus’ Featured in Cleveland School of Cannabis Hemp Day
Homeland Hempcrete of North Dakota brought their expertise to Northeast Ohio.
Mixing hemp hurd, lime and water in a kiddie pool isn’t the way hempcrete is usually created, but that’s how Homeland Hempcrete did it at the Cleveland School of Cannabis’ (CSC) Hemp Day June 7.
In front of an audience, husband-and-wife duo Matt and Sam Marino of North Dakota-based Homeland Hempcrete deconstructed the mixing process in the pool, then poured the hempcrete into a short wall frame as the material solidified.
Matt, Homeland Hempcrete’s founder and president, said hempcrete serves as an insulative infill in buildings.
“This wall is framed very similarly to how a traditional wall would be framed,” he said. “So, it's just a microscale of a standard hempcrete install.”
Nicole Fenix, CSC’s director of education, said a conversation with Matt on LinkedIn led to Homeland Hempcrete’s visit and the larger, three-hour, hemp-focused open house of CSC’s new Independence, Ohio, campus.
At Hemp Day, various hemp, cannabis and agriculture professionals provided demonstrations, such as the hempcrete one and another on composting from the Rid-All Green Partnership; educational material; hemp-derived products; and networking opportunities with current and prospective CSC students and alumni, and the public.
The five-year-old college’s curriculum includes classes about industrial hemp and CBD, horticulture, dispensary operations, processing and more, and grants certificates to graduates. In addition to traditional classroom and hands-on cannabis cooking and extraction education, CSC aims to hone in its hands-on hemp cultivation education following the recent acquisition of a hemp research license from the state of Ohio; the college has a roughly 500-square-foot indoor hydroponic grow room that currently includes horticultural plants but will house hemp.
“You can walk in [and see], ‘Oh, this is ebb and flow. This is a water-drip system. This is deep water culture,’” Fenix said. “Students can walk in, see it, learn it, play with it, smell it.”
Hemp Day marked the latest in a series of approximately monthly open houses that the school has hosted since COVID-19 cases and restrictions have declined from their peaks and, in January, the school moved from multiple stories in an Independence tower to its new single-story building less than half-a-mile down the street.
“We had such a vibrant cannabis community at our school, we’ve struggled to bring it back, and just having these events is fun and interactive,” Fenix said.
Matt said Homeland Hempcrete hopes coming to events such as CSC’s Hemp Day will raise awareness of hempcrete among current and prospective hemp growers, processors and builders, as the material provides benefits such as sustainably serving as a carbon sink.
He added that gaps exist in the industrial hemp supply chain, such as farmers being reluctant to grow it unless a processor is willing to buy it.
Sam, who is involved in various aspects of Homeland Hempcrete's business, said some processors provide builders with hurd pieces that are too large to create hempcrete.
“I’m like, ‘That’s way too big. We’re not sticking that in a wall,’” she said. “And others—it’s just nothing, like [with] shreds and a bunch of fiber in it. And we don't want that either.”
“I know there are always people looking for opportunities, and there are many of them out there,” he said. “You just have to figure out what's interesting to you and start to ask questions and start learning, because we're all learning right now. This has been trial and error for years.”
Photo by Patrick Williams
Hempcrete serves as an insulative infill in buildings, Matt Marino says.
Signing Up Medical Patients
Also for Hemp Day, Dr. Bridget Cole Williams, M.D., the owner of Green Harvest Health, held medical cannabis consultations. (Adult-use cannabis is not legal in Ohio.)
Originally from Detroit, Cole Williams spent part of her career as a physician with the Cleveland Clinic. About 15 years ago, she had a patient who survived breast cancer and was newly diabetic. The patient spoke highly of cannabis, though Cole Williams didn’t believe in its benefits at first.
“I saw her transform in front of me,” Cole Williams said. “So, then, right there, that was it. Then, when [medical cannabis] became legal in Ohio, I knew I wanted to [prescribe] it, but I also wanted to do what my patients had always been asking me for—personalized medicine—and time. Go figure, right? Not the 15-minute diagnosis, pill, diagnosis, pill. So, I created something that I like to think is more personable.”
Cole Williams also life coaches and sells CBD out of Green Harvest Health’s offices in Pickerington and Berea, Ohio, and in December 2021 released the book, “Courage In Cannabis: An Anthology Of Inspiring Stories Written By Heroes.”
She began teaching at CSC in 2019 on topics such as cannabinoids, the endocannabinoid system, and patient experiences. She now serves as the college’s outreach education adviser.
Of Hemp Day, Cole Williams said: “It's almost like walking into memory lane because I'm seeing all these people that have had some influence on my experiences within cannabis. It's a small community.”
All Aboard the Canna Bus
Parked out front of CSC on Hemp Day was The Green Room Fumoir, a shop in a rehabilitated public school bus from 1993 that is painted an aqua-like color.
Dana Ferrell, the bus’s current owner, finished work on it in May.
But the Green Room Fumoir wasn’t always a bus. Ferrell started selling boutique products via the business three years ago, starting with vendor shows.
“I sell novelty-type items, … but I try and stay as local and women-owned as possible …,” Ferrell says of the vendors that source The Green Room Fumoir’s various products, which include CBD products, coffee mugs, waterpipes, and candles.
Dana Ferrell, owner of The Green Room Fumoir, finished rehabilitation of the “Canna Bus” in May.
Event Vendors
Among the vendors participating in Hemp Day was Blue Planet Chocolate, a chocolate manufacturer out of Lyndhurst, Ohio.
Laura Armstrong and Annie Butts are two chocolatiers-in-training at Blue Planet and recent alumnae of CSC with certificates from the college’s Cannabis Dispensary and Executive Program tracks, respectively. At Hemp Day, they connected with the college’s students and instructors, and the public, as they sold the business’ various chocolate bars that contain cannabinoids such as CBD, delta-8 THC and cannabinol (CBN), and additional ingredients like melatonin and valerian root.
Regarding Hemp Day, Armstrong said, “I think the networking is the best part, and then just getting to know other people in other businesses.”
Butts said she believes more opportunities are becoming available for current and potential cannabis professionals in Ohio, though on the THC-rich side, the state is still limited by being medical-only.
“I believe once they figure out how to really regulate it and control [cannabis], I think all of the states will … realize the revenue that they’re missing and how much it will benefit the state, because this isn’t any different than people having drinks,” Butts said. “I think it’s a lot safer, actually, and I think it’s more medically beneficial.”
Chagrin Valley Hemp Company (CVHC), a hemp processor, extractor and manufacturer that works with various other hemp companies such as Blue Planet, is the lab that CSC partners with for hands-on education.
Fenix owns CVHC alongside Benjamin Moidell, CVHC partner and CEO, who spoke with Cannabis Business Times at Hemp Day about the importance of education.
“We lead with our educational content, because at the end of the day, we're here for the community and the cult of cannabis,” Moidell said behind his company’s booth, which had an array of hemp- and cannabis-related pamphlets on it.
He said he was impressed with the turnout and noted how many alumni had shown up, adding, “It’s really cool to see former students of the school actively engaging in the cannabis industry and adding value.”
Adobe Stock
Thailand Legalizes Cannabis, a First in Asia; Public Use Prohibited
The country of roughly 70 million traditionally has had the largest prison population among its Southeast Asia neighbors.
Thailand officially legalized the cultivation, sale and possession of cannabis June 9, joining the likes of Canada and Uruguay to fully reform its drug policy for adult use at the federal level.
The end to prohibition comes nearly six months after Thailand began the shift toward becoming the first country in Asia to decriminalize cannabis: Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced Jan. 25 that Thailand’s Narcotics Control Board approved dropping cannabis from the ministry’s list of controlled drugs. He signed the measure in early February.
Thailand’s parliament voted to approve cannabis for medical use in 2018—also a first in Asia. The loosening of those restrictions has since attracted tourism from its Southeast Asia neighbors, The Associated Pressreported.
“We should know how to use cannabis,” Charnvirakul said recently, the AP reported. “If we have the right awareness, cannabis is like gold, something valuable, and should be promoted.”
With full legalization taking effect Thursday, the government’s plan to distribute 1 million cannabis seedlings to its citizens will begin Friday. In a tropical region with its capital city of Bangkok within 1,000 miles of the equator, Thailand’s shortest day of the year still receives more than 11 hours of sunlight while average temperatures range from 82 degrees to 89 degrees throughout the year—an ideal climate for outdoor cultivation.
The removal of cannabis from the country’s controlled drugs list means all parts of the plant are allowed to be used. Previously, flower and seeds were prohibited. However, extracted content greater than 0.2% THC will remain illegal.
Thursday’s legalization also comes after Thailand’s government amended its drug laws last year in an effort to reduce the number of people in prison.
Southeast Asia has some of the world’s toughest penalties for drug use and possession, and Thailand has the largest prison population among the 10 member states in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), with more than 80% of people in prison held for drug offenses, according to the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC).
Under new law, thousands of people will be released from Thailand prisons, Gloria Lai, Asia regional director of the IDPC, told the AP. One of her organization’s main objectives is to promote policies that would discourage countries from stigmatizing, punishing and repressing people because of their drug use.
“From our perspective, a major positive outcome of the legal changes is that at least 4,000 people imprisoned for offenses relating to cannabis will be released,” Lai said of Thailand’s legalization. “People facing cannabis-related charges will see them dropped, and money and cannabis seized from people charged with cannabis-related offenses will be returned to their owners.”
While Canada and Uruguay have regulations and oversight for their federally legalized cannabis programs, the guidelines for what people can grow and consume in their private residences remains less clear in Thailand, where those who choose to home cultivate must simply register to do so and declare it is for medical purposes, according to the AP.
While Thailand’s 2022 decriminalization law signed by Charnvirakul removes all parts of the cannabis plant from the country’s Category V list of controlled drugs (that includes heroin, opium, methamphetamine, cocaine), public use of cannabis could still be construed as a public nuisance and punishable by up to three months imprisonment with a fine, Thailand government officials cautioned.
The Bhumjai Thai Party, which Charnvirakul leads, was expected to provide further clarity on the plant’s legal status when Charnvirakul signed the decriminalization measure in February, but some rules remain less clear under the new law, professor Sarana Sommano of Chiang Mai University’s Department of Plant and Soil Sciences told the AP.
“There are still risks. The problem is that cannabis is no longer considered a narcotic but there are no ministry regulations and rules governing the use of it,” she said. “There is no mention of limits on use, drug-impaired driving laws. This could be a mistake by the government in trying to rush out its policy to please voters without really planning the details and explaining to the public what’s going on.”
Cannabis businesses planning to operate under the new law only need permission from Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration to cultivate cannabis and manufacture products, which the government still views as medicine and food additives, Cannabis Business Times previously reported.
RYLAND ZWEIFEL | Adobe Stock
D.C. City Council Approves Bill to Prohibit Employers From Firing Workers for Failed Cannabis Tests
The Cannabis Employment Protections and Amendment Act of 2022 would also bar employers from firing or refusing to hire employees due to their use of medical or adult-use cannabis.
The Washington, D.C. City Council unanimously approved a bill this week that would protect employees who use medical and adult-use cannabis.
The Cannabis Employment Protections and Amendment Act of 2022 would prohibit employers from firing workers for failed cannabis tests, as well as bar employers from firing or refusing to hire workers due to their use of medical or adult-use cannabis, according to NPR.
The legislation carves out exceptions for employers acting under federal guidelines, as well as for employees who consume cannabis at work or while performing work-related duties, the news outlet reported.
In addition, the bill does not cover employees in “safety-sensitive” occupations, including police, security guards, construction workers, those operating heavy machinery and health care workers, as well as those who work for power and gas companies, according to NPR.
The legislation also exempts employees of the federal government and D.C.’s courts, although other D.C. government employees would be protected under the bill, the news outlet reported.
The bill also bars employees from the “possession, storage, delivery, transfer, display, transportation, sale, purchase, or growing of cannabis” at their place of employment, according to NPR.
With City Council’s approval, the legislation now heads to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser for approval, the news outlet reported. If she signs the measure, it will become law after a 60-day congressional review period and after it has been published in the District of Columbia Register.
Employers will then have 60 days to notify their employees of their new rights under the legislation and whether they are considered safety-sensitive employees who are excluded from the bill, NPR reported. Employers must provide that same notice to their employees on an annual basis, as well as provide it to each new hire, according to the news outlet.
Employers in violation of the law would be subject to up to a $5,000 fine, NPR reported, and would be required to pay the employee’s lost wages and attorney's fees.
D.C. legalized adult-use cannabis in 2015, and while it remains illegal to sell cannabis in the District, adults 21 and older can possess up to two ounces of cannabis and grow up to six plants at home, according to NPR.
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Hemp-Derived THC Could Soon be Allowed in Food and Beverage Products in Minnesota
Gov. Tim Walz is expected to sign legislation recently passed by the state Legislature that would regulate and create prohibitions for cannabinoid and hemp-derived THC products currently sold in the state.
Hemp-derived THC could soon be allowed in food and beverage products in Minnesota, while the sale of inhalable products containing more than 0.3% THC could be prohibited.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is expected to sign legislation recently passed by the state Legislature that would regulate and create prohibitions for cannabinoid and hemp-derived THC products currently sold in the state.
According to Hellmuth & Johnson (HJ) Law Firm, this measure would allow for the use of CBD, CBG and THC in food and beverage products for adults 21 years and older. However, THC added to a food or beverage product must “contain no more than 5 mg of THC in a single serving and [a] total of 50 mg per package, and the food product cannot contain more than 0.3% weight by volume of any THC,” the law firm reported.
However, the measure also defines products containing more than 0.3% THC as an adulterated drug, which would “prohibit THC vape cartridges and flower, including delta-8 and delta-10 products, from being sold in Minnesota,” HJ Law Firm reported.
The measure also includes a list of labeling and packaging restrictions for CBD and THC products. Edibles would need to be sold in child-resistant packaging and include the statement “Keep this product out of reach of children” on the label. The serving size would also need to be clearly listed on the label, StarTribune reported.
In addition, product packaging would be prohibited from containing any characteristics or designs that could be appealing to children.
Kurtis Hanna, lobbyist for the Minnesota chapter of NORML, said the reform efforts will help Minnesotans see “what it's like to have legal products being sold on shelves in a non-gray market," StarTribune reported.
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