Wisconsin Sens. Jon Erpenbach (D-West Point) and Patrick Testin (R-Stevens Point) and Rep. Chris Taylor (D-Madison) introduced bipartisan legislation Sept. 20 to legalize medical cannabis in the state.

Under the bill, patients suffering from a wide range of conditions, including cancer, AIDS, Alzheimer’s, post-traumatic stress disorder, severe pain and chronic disease, could register with the state to use cannabis, according to an Associated Press report. A licensing system would be created for growers through the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer protection, the news outlet reported.

This renewed push for cannabis policy reform in the state comes after Gov. Tony Evers announced plans in February to include decriminalization and medical marijuana legalization plans in his state budget proposal. Republicans stripped those provisions from the spending plan, however, and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos announced earlier this summer his plans to launch medical cannabis legalization efforts again this fall.

Democrats have tried to pass cannabis policy reform legislation in every legislative session for the past decade, the Associated Press reported, and this year’s attempt came from Rep. Melissa Sargent (D-Madison), who introduced legislation in April that would have legalized cannabis for both medical and adult use.

Any form of legalization faces obstacles in Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled legislature, according to the Associated Press, and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald has said he does not support the issue.

A U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Sept. 20 that Colorado’s cannabis industry is subject to federal labor laws, such as overtime pay rules, despite federal prohibition.

The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed by Robert Kenney, a former Helix TCS employee who sued the company in U.S. District Court in 2017 after it refused him overtime pay in his role as a security guard for Helix’s cannabis industry clients, according to a Denver Post report. The case alleges that the company’s refusal to pay overtime is a violation of the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act.

Helix’s attorneys moved to dismiss the case, the Denver Post reported, arguing that a federal court has no jurisdiction to hear the case because cannabis remains illegal at the federal level. The district court rejected the motion, and the decision was appealed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

The appeals court has now upheld the district court’s decision to reject Helix’s dismissal of the case, with Senior Judge Stephanie Seymour ruling that employers are not exempt from federal laws solely because cannabis remains federally illegal, according to the Denver Post. Seymour further argued that denying employees in the cannabis industry federal labor protections would give their employers an unfair advantage and encourage others to circumvent regulations, the news outlet reported.

The case now goes back to the district court.

This week, lawmakers announced that the House will vote on the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, bipartisan legislation that would allow the cannabis industry to access banking services. Elsewhere, the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) awarded $3 million in the form of nine research grants to study whether CBD can relieve pain.

Here, we’ve rounded up the 10 headlines you need to know before this week is over.

• Federal: The U.S. House of Representatives will vote later this month on the SAFE Banking Act, bipartisan legislation that would allow cannabis businesses to access the federal banking system. The bill, which was introduced in the House in February by Reps. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), Denny Heck (D-WA), Steve Stivers (R-OH) and Warren Davidson (R-OH), was approved by the House Financial Services Committee in March, and a Senate version of the legislation was introduced by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Cory Gardner (R-CO) in April, although the bill has yet to pass out of a Senate committee. Read more
• Vertically integrated multistate cannabis operator Cresco Labs has expanded its reach in Nevada and Arizona—and entered Utah’s nascent medical cannabis market—through the acquisition of assets from Tryke Companies, LLC, a vertically integrated seed-to-sale cannabis company that held Reef Dispensary locations and licensed cultivation and processing operations across the three markets. The purchase consideration for the acquisition is approximately $252.5 million for Tryke’s operating assets, plus $30 million for the company’s real estate assets. Read more
• The NCCIH, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has announced that it has awarded nine research grants worth $3 million in total to study whether CBD can relieve pain. THC research is excluded. Read more
• Hawaii: The state is cracking down on CBD products sold outside licensed medical cannabis dispensaries and removing them from commercial shelves after Hawaii health officials reported the state’s first case of vaping-related lung illness. “We are very concerned about the safety of CBD products on the market,” Hawaii Department of Health Director Bruce Anderson told lawmakers in the wake of headlines. Read more
• Colorado: Regulators are considering how to distribute new social equity cannabis business licenses, which are set to launch in 2020. The new licenses, reserved for low-income demographics, allow licensees to use established cannabis companies’ facilities to research and manufacture their own cannabis products. Read more
• Ohio: Ohio’s medical cannabis patients say cost is the greatest obstacle to purchasing products in the state, followed by the distance to the nearest dispensary, according to a survey conducted by Ohio State University’s Drug Enforcement Policy Center and an advocacy group called Harm Reduction Ohio. More than 600 of Ohio’s roughly 52,000 registered medical cannabis patients participated in the online survey, and nearly half indicated that they are “very dissatisfied” with the program, while less than 4 percent said they are “very satisfied.” Read more
• Illinois: Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has proposed banning adult-use cannabis sales in most of the downtown area as part of a new zoning plan. The rest of the city would be split into seven “cannabis zones,” where licensed dispensaries could set up shop when adult-use sales launch on Jan. 1. Read more
• Alaska: The Alaska Marijuana Control Board is seeking public comment on proposed rules that would allow limited investment in cannabis testing facilities from outside the state, reversing an earlier policy that prohibited such investments. The Marijuana Control Board originally stipulated that only Alaska residents could own or invest in testing facilities, in part to keep the state’s cannabis industry in the hands of Alaskans, but the state’s small population and the industry’s lack of banking and loan services have limited the capital available for testing facilities, prompting a change in rules. Read more
• California: By the end of October, if all goes according to plan in California’s often-unpredictable cannabis market, all licensed cannabis businesses will finally be enrolled in the state’s track-and-trace system. Statewide, the state has issued more than 6,700 cannabis business licenses, and getting each one of those businesses on the same page has been a feat. Read more
• Canada: British Columbia’s Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch (LCRB) has banned the promotion of cannabis in the province’s licensed establishments, including restaurants, bars and even events that have special permits. A policy directive announcing this guidance was sent to all LCRB staff, licensees, industry associations, local governments, First Nations and law enforcement. Read more

WINNIPEG, Sept. 19, 2019 /CNW/ - PRESS RELEASE - Delta 9 Cannabis Inc. has announced that it has entered into a binding letter of intent (LOI) to enter into a definitive agreement to acquire from Modern Leaf Group Inc. all or substantially all of Modern Leaf Group's assets located in the Province of Alberta relating to two proposed retail cannabis stores. The acquisition will be completed through the company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Delta 9 Cannabis Store Inc., or one or more of its nominee(s).

"The proposed acquisition of these additional cannabis stores continues our strategy of establishing a chain of Delta 9 branded retail stores across Canada," said John, Arbuthnot, founder and CEO of Delta 9. "Following completion of this acquisition we will have a total of six operating retail stores in Western Canada and we are actively looking to increase this number as quickly as possible."

Delta 9 has now organized a dedicated team to assess retail expansion opportunities across Western Canada. Kronos Capital Partners acted as financial advisor to the Modern Leaf Group on the proposed transaction.

The purchase price for the proposed transaction is $1,300,000, subject to customary adjustments and other adjustments that may be determined necessary in the course of the company's due diligence investigation respecting the proposed transaction. $1,000,000 of the purchase price will be satisfied through the issuance of 1,250,000 common shares in the capital stock of the company at a price per common share of $0.80 based on the closing market price of the common shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) on the date hereof. $150,000 of the purchase price will be paid as a deposit that is non-refundable except where the proposed transaction does not proceed due to the occurrence of certain events, or the discovery or disclosure of certain information, described in the LOI. If the proposed transaction proceeds, the deposit will be applied against the purchase price, and the $150,000 balance of the purchase price will be satisfied in cash on the closing date of the proposed transaction.

The LOI and the proposed transaction are subject to, among other conditions: (i) the completion by the company of a satisfactory due diligence investigation; (ii) the obtaining of all required third party and governmental consents, authorizations and licenses required in connection with the proposed transaction and the operation of the proposed Alberta cannabis stores following the proposed transaction, including, without limitation, all consents, authorizations and licenses required to be issued by Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis (AGLC); and (ii) the approval of the TSX.

Subject to a satisfactory due diligence investigation, management of the company anticipates the closing of the proposed transaction to occur on or around Nov. 30, 2019.