Saskatoon administration is proposing a number of regulations for cannabis-related businesses in the city, including an initial $20,000 licensing fee.

The licensing fee, which would have an annual renewal cost of $10,000, would apply to retail stores and production facilities.

The average cost of the most common business license in Saskatoon is $125, with an annual renewal rate of $85.

A city spokesperson a reason for the higher cost is the small number of businesses involved.

They added the cannabis business was thrust upon municipalities and the license fee reflects the city’s cost.

Read more

Top photo courtesy of Adobe Stock

WASHINGTON — PRESS RELEASE — For the first time ever, senators have included protections for state medical marijuana laws in their base Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations bill.

The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies approved the spending legislation Tuesday, including a provision that would block the Justice Department from using funds to interfere in state medical marijuana laws. The overall bill is expected to receive a full committee vote Thursday.

Such a provision has been in effect since 2014, but this is the first time it has been included in the Senate's base CJS Appropriations bill. The House added a similar provision to its base CJS Appropriations bill in committee last month. The House version of the measure, known as the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment (and subsequently the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment) was added to the bill as a floor amendment in previous years. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) was the most recent sponsor of the amendment in the Senate.

"The inclusion of this provision in the base bill symbolizes just how far this issue has come," said Don Murphy, director of conservative outreach for the Marijuana Policy Project. "We have reached the point where even in a Republican-controlled Senate, a medical marijuana provision is not considered a poison pill and its support requires no further debate. Protecting state medical marijuana laws against federal interference is now viewed as commonsense rather than controversial.

"We did not reach this milestone easily. For years, patients, their families, and advocates have been fighting for compassionate medical marijuana laws at the state and federal levels. We now have at least some form of medical marijuana law in nearly every state in the nation, and polls show nearly universal support for allowing the medical use of marijuana. We commend Senate leaders for taking a proactive approach and including this important provision in the base CJS spending bill."

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) co-sponsored the Marijuana Justice Act June 7, joining Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Kamala Harris (D-CA).

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) originally introduced the bill in August 2017 to legalize cannabis at the federal level.

For more information on the legislation, read our Marijuana Justice Act explainer here.

Also on June 7, Warren introduced the STATES Act along with U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO). That bill seeks to enshrine states’ rights to regulated legal cannabis markets.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions shows no signs of backing away from a potential Department of Justice (DOJ) crackdown on state-legal cannabis businesses, despite an agreement reached by President Donald Trump and Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) earlier this spring.

After Sessions’ repeal of the Cole Memo in January, Gardner vowed to block all DOJ appointments until Sessions softened his stance on cannabis, a siege that prevented at least 11 nominees from getting a Senate floor vote.

In April, Trump promised Gardner that he would support congressional efforts to protect states that have legalized cannabis within their borders. On Friday, Trump said he “probably will end up supporting” the STATES Act, which was introduced by Gardner and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), also on Friday, to eliminate the threat of federal intervention and prosecution in states that have regulated marijuana use and sales.

Sessions, on the other hand, has told Colorado Public Radio (CPR) that he was not told by Trump to back off from states that have legalized cannabis. “I did not have a meeting to discuss in detail what [Gardner’s] comments were,” he said. “They were more about the potential future legislation, as I recall it, and we were not ordered to do anything other than the policies that we intend to carry out nationally.”

“Marijuana remains prohibited by federal law, and Congress presumably will consider [the STATES Act],” Sessions added. “At this time, my view is clear, that the federal law remains in effect nationwide, just like it does for heroin and cocaine. Of course, [marijuana’s] not the death-dealing drug in the same way that fentanyl or heroin is, but it remains on the books as a prohibited substance.”

Sessions emphasized that the Cole Memo no longer protects against federal intervention in cannabis-related matters. “It remains clear that the Cole Memo has been withdrawn and the impact of that is essentially to make clear that we are not guaranteeing and cannot guarantee persons who use or distribute marijuana are protected from federal prosecution,” he said. “I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to, in effect, violate or neuter federal marijuana law.”

But while Sessions seems intent on upholding the federal prohibition on cannabis, he acknowledged that the DOJ has “priorities” when it comes to prosecution. "I can't give them immunity,” he said. “I can't guarantee that they are free from any consequences from an act that is contrary to United States law. We've got priorities. U.S. Attorneys around the country have heavy demands on them. And the federal government has never prosecuted on any kind of regular basis, small amounts of marijuana. It's just, our priorities are smuggling rings, and more deadly drugs normally."

Despite his firm anti-cannabis stance, Sessions did acknowledge in his comments to CPR that marijuana may have medicinal benefits. “You can have an extract from marijuana that improves epilepsy treatment,” he said. “I am very open to that possibility—haven’t studied the data on it—but to say that’s the same that young people should feel free to use marijuana every afternoon after school is a big difference.”

Top photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons