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South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem announced on Wednesday that she is seeking to delay the implementation of a successful voter initiative to legalize medical marijuana. The state’s voters approved Initiated Measure 26 (IM 26) to allow qualified patients to use cannabis medicinally in the November general election with nearly 70% of votes cast.

Under South Dakota law, initiatives and amendments are supposed to go into effect on July 1 of the year following passage. But Noem announced this week that she is seeking to delay the implementation of the medical marijuana initiative by one year, with the support of fellow Republicans in the South Dakota Senate and House of Representatives.

“We are working diligently to get IM 26 implemented safely and correctly,” Noem said in a statement released by her office on Wednesday morning. “The feasibility of getting this program up and running well will take additional time. I am thankful to our legislative leaders for helping make sure that we do this right.”

To effect the change, lawmakers introduced House Bill 1100 in the House State Affairs Committee on Wednesday morning. The measure amends a pending state statute prompted by the passage of IM 26 and replaces several instances citing the original start date of the measure with the date “July 1, 2022.” The bill also creates a legislative task force to draft legislation legalizing medical marijuana while addressing issues left unclear in the initiative, such as which methods of consumption should be allowed to comply with a requirement that schools accommodate medical marijuana use by qualified patients.

Consulting Firm Cited To Justify Delay

To justify the delay, Noem cited a letter from Cannabis Public Policy Consulting (CPPC), a firm that has assisted state and local governments across the country and in Canada with the implementation of cannabis legalization measures. According to CPPC, creating a safe, efficient, and effective medical marijuana program takes an average of 14 months.

With its neighboring states embracing marijuana legalization, Connecticut is now ready to get in on the act.

The state’s governor, Ned Lamont, outlined his plan to bring recreational pot to Connecticut in his budget address on Wednesday.

“Now our neighboring states are offering recreational marijuana on a legal and regulated basis,” Lamont, a Democrat, said in a pre-recorded address. “Massachusetts dispensaries are advertising extensively here in Connecticut. And, rather than surrender this market to out-of-staters, or worse, to the unregulated underground market, our budget provides for the legalization of recreational marijuana.”

“These additional revenues will go to distressed communities, which have been hardest hit by the war on drugs,” he continued. “Half the tax revenues should be allocated to PILOT payments, in addition to a three percent local excise tax option. And importantly, my proposed legislation authorizes the automated erasure of criminal records for those with marijuana-related drug possession, convictions, and charges.”

As Lamont noted, Massachusetts voters passed a measure legalizing recreational marijuana for adults in 2016. And his call for Connecticut to end prohibition comes a month after New York’s own Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo, offered up his own legalization proposal. 

At the behest of the Idaho Farm Bureau, the House Agriculture Committee has voted unanimously to introduce new legislation to legalize industrial hemp in Idaho, for production, processing, transportation and research. The vote clears the way for a full hearing on the bill, which supporters said they hope will settle years of debate about how to allow for industrial hemp production by Idaho agricultural producers without running afoul of concerns about hemp’s psychoactive cousin, marijuana.

Idaho is the last state in the nation to take this step; industrial hemp already is legal in 49 states and at the federal level. You can read my full story here at idahopress.com.

Braden Jensen, lobbyist for the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation, told the lawmakers, "Throughout the country, there are 49 states, two territories and 48 tribes that have legalized industrial hemp in some form or fashion. The Idaho Legislature has considered the issue over the past couple of years, and we bring before you today a new proposal for your consideration."

Jensen said the Farm Bureau worked with stakeholders on the issue including the agriculture industry, the trucking industry, state agencies and law enforcement.

"Our first goal is to legalize the production of industrial hemp in the state," he said. "Second, our goal is to maintain a strong and enforceable drug policy; and third, to work to ensure all stakeholders are comfortable with the proposal that we've developed. ... I do not pretend that everybody will love every aspect of the proposal that is before you. Nevertheless, it does represent a certain level of consensus among the stakeholders."

About $31 million from adult-use cannabis taxes is going to nonprofits in Illinois as part of the Restore, Reinvest and Renew, or R3 program, and it’s not all going to Chicago.

Cannabis sales for January neared $90 million. Since adult-use sales began in January 2020, nearly $757.9 million in cannabis has been sold. The taxes on that can be more than 40%, depending on the potency and whether a local sales tax is added on to the state taxes.

For the state’s taxes, the total collected from January 2020 through last month totaled more than $205.4 million dollars.

Floridians said they believe hemp businesses will boom this year and are hopeful about it.

“It’s just everything we worked on for two years is now in front of you. It’s very exciting,” said Holly Bell, the Director of Cannabis for the Florida Department of Agriculture.

Bell said she could barely contain her excitement looking at all the harvested plants in the middle of a greenhouse in Central Florida. 

Bell said she knows that 2021 is the year for hemp to take over.

“What we’re seeing in our preliminary numbers from our economists in our groups is tax revenues in the first full 12 months around $17 million,” Bell said.

Marijuana’s slow but steady movement towards federal legalization has been heavily documented, gaining support across the nation and with more and more medical and recreational programs gaining approval. But there remains a lot of mystery in the purchase process, with many turning to black market marijuana because it seems simpler and less intimidating than legal weed.

Legal marijuana still has some growing pains, but it has slowly become a simple and more intuitive process. Now, depending on the state where you live, you’re able to purchase marijuana online, at times having it delivered or scheduled for pick-up. Here’s how to buy weed on the web.

Do Your Research

When ordering marijuana flower and marijuana products, it’s important to account for where you live, since you won’t have access to these services if you live in an illegal state.

Your second step is to get very informed and to be sure that you’re not falling for any scams or sketchy websites. The website you’re ordering from should look legitimate, like it was designed in this century, and should also have recommendations from publications and reviews from different customers. When scrolling through these reviews, make sure they use different words and ways of expressing themselves; this suggests they’re not a bot.

While there are websites out there where you can purchase marijuana products directly, there are others that can connect you with dispensaries. This latter option might be better for someone who wants to talk to a budtender regarding their marijuana purchase, who can make recommendations on the types of products that work best for them.

Thirty years from now, hemp advocates envision the versatile crop will play a prominent role in the U.S. economy, used regularly in the production of everyday products including food, fiber, fuel, pharmaceuticals and building materials.

But getting to that point is not so simple. 

Lawmakers must adopt policies to ease the regulatory burden on farmers and processors. Scientists must conduct the research and development needed to pioneer new technologies. Breeders must continue studying hemp genetics that best serve such wide-ranging markets.

That was the underlying theme of the first National Hemp Symposium — looking ahead to 2050, and finding the roadmap for a thriving industry.

About $31 million from adult-use cannabis taxes is going to nonprofits in Illinois as part of the Restore, Reinvest and Renew, or the R3 program, and it’s not all going to Chicago.

Cannabis sales for January neared $90 million. Since adult-use sales began in January 2020, nearly $757.9 million in cannabis has been sold. The taxes on that can be more than 40%, depending on the potency and whether a local sales tax is added on to the state taxes.

For the state’s taxes, the total collected from January 2020 through last month totaled more than $205.4 million dollars.

The last few years have been a wild ride for the United States’ hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) industry. Ever since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took the position that CBD is unlawful in many consumer products, the industry has faced many questions about what it can and cannot do. To add fuel to this fire, many states have adopted laws and regulations that are different from, more complicated than, and/or inconsistent with the FDA’s position. To say the least, things are complex.

Life is particularly challenging for smokable CBD products. The FDA’s initial positions on CBD failed to address smokable products, and as we noted a few years ago and again last year, it didn’t appear that the FDA would expressly try to regulate smokable products.

Many states nevertheless decided to ban smokable hemp and even smokable products like CBD vapes. For example, last year, Iowa made the sale of smokable hemp products a serious offense. As another example, a ban on smokable hemp was upheld by a federal appellate court for the state of Indiana last year.

On top of that, during the vape crisis over the last few years, many states and municipalities began proposing and even passing laws that restrict flavored vape products. While many of these efforts were limited to nicotine-bearing products, not all were, further restricting how CBD vapes could be sold in some cases.

Recently, there have been a few developments that place the smokable hemp industry in even more jeopardy. First, the FDA issued warning letters to CBD product sellers, including the seller of an inhalable product. While, to be fair, it wasn’t a smokable product, the FDA in 2019 issued a warning letter for the seller of CBD vapes. So even though the agency hasn’t taken the most clear position on smokable CBD in its policy documents, it has taken action against sellers of inhalable products and it appears that will continue.

A new study reports that cannabis use may lower blood pressure in older adults, though additional research is necessary to get a better understanding of the substance’s effect on cardiovascular health. The research comes from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the Soroka University Medical Center; it was recently published in the European Journal of Internal Medicine.

The increasing legalization of marijuana, as well as medical marijuana programs, has resulted in a growing number of people — including older adults — consuming the substance for various potential health benefits. Use for chronic pain issues is one driving factor behind medical marijuana use, and the researchers say that pain relief may help explain why cannabis use is associated with lowered blood pressure in older adults.

The study focused on adults ages 60 and older who were diagnosed with high blood pressure (hypertension). Using data from ECG, 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, and more, the study found that marijuana use was associated with a ‘significant’ drop in both diastolic and systolic blood pressure over a 24-hour period, with the lowest point occurring three hours after use.

The participants consumed marijuana in the form of smoking and oil extracts, the study notes, also reporting that while blood pressure decreased during both the day and night, the nighttime decrease was more significant. BGU Faculty of Health Sciences’ Dr. Ran Abuhasira said:

One way to reduce opioid overdose death rates in American communities may be to expand legal access to another, less lethal drug. A study published in January 2021 in the BMJ suggests that U.S. counties that have more cannabis dispensaries also have lower opioid-related deaths. 

The study focused on 812 counties in 23 U.S. states and the District of Columbia that allowed cannabis dispensaries to sell recreational or medical marijuana. Across all the counties in the study, the average number of cannabis dispensaries increased from slightly less than one per county in 2014 to more than four by 2018.

When the number of cannabis dispensaries in a county increased from one to two, researchers estimated that overall opioid mortality rates fell by 17 percent.

Death rates from synthetic opioids like fentanyl, which are responsible for a greater proportion of opioid fatalities in the United States, dropped by 14 percent when the number of medical marijuana dispensaries increased from one to two, and declined by 21 percent with a similar increase in recreational marijuana dispensaries.

Two things might be driving the reduction in opioid-related deaths in communities with more cannabis dispensaries, says W. David Bradford, PhD, a professor of public policy and administration at the University of Georgia in Athens who wasn’t involved in the study.

Cannabis is not the only industry that can act as a microcosm of the world but it may be the most prominent. Cannabis is still federally illegal so there are many areas in which people can be turned away from participating due to previous arrests for cannabis.

During the Fall Emerge 2020 Virtual Cannabis Conference & Expo, Minorities for Medical Marijuana (M4MM) Founder and CEO Roz McCarthy led a panel discussion with industry-leading advocacy organizations. Together, they addressed the myriad concerns surrounding social equity within the cannabis industry.  

Several organizations, including Women Grow and the Last Prisoner Project, were also present to add their insights to the equity-themed conference. Each has a primary directive to achieve social equity and dismantle systemic racism within the cannabis community. 

Cannabis and Criminal Justice

The Cannabis and Criminal Justice panel covered many topics, one being what exactly is the issue with handling systemic racism within the cannabis industry. 

Harborside, a California cannabis dispensary, appealed the Tax Court’s decision of tax deficiencies totaling over $29 million dollars for the periods between 2007 through 2012. Harborside’s tax liability stems from the IRS’s denial of deductions under IRC §280E and the disallowances of cost of goods sold reported on Harborside’s tax returns. Internal Revenue Code §280E prohibits tax deductions for businesses whose activities involve a federally controlled substance (within the meaning of schedule I and II of the Controlled Substances Act). Unfortunately, cannabis is still and at the time (of the facts in the case) a Schedule I Controlled Substance. 

On appeal Harborside makes two arguments: (1) whether IRC §280E violates the Sixteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution; (2) whether IRC §471 regulations excludes certain inventory costs for Harborside (cannabis businesses). This article will not go into the constitutionality of IRC §280E in reference to the Sixteenth Amendment but will focus on the cost of goods sold (COGS) and IRC §471 issue.

The Tax Court erred in determining that “processing costs related to inventory are not includable in Harborside’s cost of goods sold.”

The IRS did not allow Harborside to include purchasing, handling, and storage costs related to the goods it purchased for resale (“indirect costs”) — costs like testing, labeling, curing, storing, trimming, manicuring, maintaining, and packaging the [cannabis], or [cannabis] products — in its cost of goods sold.  Harborside would reject [cannabis] if it wasn’t properly cured, if it hadn’t been sufficiently trimmed, if it had an incurable safety issue such as pathogenic mold, or if it didn’t contain the right “cannabinoid profile.”

In response to Harborside, the IRS admits in the Appellee’s brief, “if Harborside could establish that Section 471 permits it to include indirect costs in its cost of goods sold, Section 280E would not prevent that result, as that section only bars Harborside’s claim to deductions.” Section 471 states that “the use of inventories is necessary in order clearly to determine” income, and “on such basis as the Secretary may prescribe as conforming as nearly as may be to the best accounting practice in the trade or business and as most clearly reflecting the income.” 

When 1606 Original Hemp ships a load, it crosses the country, from the company’s growing facilities in California to its manufacturing plants in New York, and back again. That means crossing dozens of state lines and navigating just as many hemp transport regulations — an overwhelming prospect.

And it's more than 1606 Original Hemp wanted to manage on its own, so it turned to specialty carrier 357 Hemp Logistics for help.

New Zealand is facing a collapse of legal medicinal cannabis supply after March 31, when a deadline to meet stiff new government rules is expected to keep the products of three of the country’s five main importers out of the market, reports NZ Herald’s Kate MacNamara in this Herald Premium article.

Last April, the government unveiled a new regulatory system to create more safe, widespread and affordable access to medicinal cannabis. It has not yet approved a single product.

New Zealand-based importers Medleaf Therapeutics, Nubu Pharmaceuticals, and Eqalis Pharmaceuticals confirmed their products are not likely to be approved under the new standards before the March deadline. Domestic production, still in its very early stages, is not likely to reach the market until late this year.

On March 31, special provisions, which have allowed companies to import under an old, stop-gap system will expire. Shane Le Brun, regulatory and business development consultant at Medleaf, currently estimated to be the country’s largest importer of medicinal cannabis, said his firm is preparing for a hiatus from the market of at least several months. A situation he described as a “looming crisis” for patients.

Even after receiving ministry verification, products will face a lag in reaching New Zealand, Le Brun warned. Companies require licences to both import to New Zealand and export from abroad, these cannot be obtained until after verification, and shipping times are uncertain.

There are many ways to extract CBD from hemp and cannabis plants, which include oil infusion, distillation, liquid solvent extraction, and carbon dioxide extraction.

Cannabis legitimization has demonstrated several advantages for some reasons – pot’s remedial worth improves lives and decreases compulsion and the business development and potential is useful for the economy.

However, there are as yet the individuals who demand that ongoing cannabis utilization, such as using phoenix tears Canada, simply makes individuals more dumb.

To exacerbate the situation, a recent report has as far as anyone knows discovered confirmation that pot use diminishes an individual’s IQ after some time. 

This deception has fanned out quickly among against pot distributions throughout the previous five years, prompting expanded disarray on the issue. 

There are a ton of elements that go into play when considering these patterns – and making these cases – and considerably more that specialists deliberately forget about. 

Mexico is one of the most exciting emerging cannabis markets in the world and we expect to see increased interest in the market from leading cannabis companies. A few months ago, we published an article on the Mexican cannabis market and received a lot of positive feedback from our readers.

After noticing the amount of interest in the Mexican cannabis market, we conducted due diligence on the operators that are focused on the emerging market. Based on our analysis, we determined that the market is wide open for companies to come in and grab market share and will monitor how the industry evolves over the next year.

Many analysts expected the Mexican cannabis industry to be a major market after former President Enrique Peña Nieto signed legislation to legalize medical cannabis in 2017. Since then, the government has failed to advance the industry and medical cannabis remains out of reach for many patients.

Although we are surprised with the amount of time it has taken for the Mexican cannabis market to advance, we believe the industry is reaching an inflection point. Last year, legislation was introduced that would allow private companies to sell cannabis to the public and the bill is expected to be implemented in the near future.

During the last two years, we have noticed a substantial increase in the number of companies that are focused on the Mexican cannabis market. A few years ago, Aurora Cannabis Inc. (ACB.TO) (ACB) announced plans to enter the Mexican cannabis market and this aspect of the business seems to have stalled. We do not blame Aurora Cannabis for the lack of execution and believe that the Mexican government is making the legalization of cannabis more challenging than it needs to be.

California just overturned a state ruling that allowed for cannabis billboard advertising along state and interstate highways. While cannabis billboards are still allowed, they are prohibited on any highway that crosses state borders, a new restriction for the industry. 

The new regulation, which comes from the California Bureau of Cannabis Control, overturns the previous ruling, which claimed that billboards were allowed unless they were within a 15-mile radius of the border. Obviously, not being allowed on any highways that leave or enter the state is a lot more restrictive than just keeping them away from the border, so this is a blow for cannabis advertising in California. 

“To comply with the law and regulations, licensees may not place new advertising or marketing on any interstate highway or state highway that crosses the California border,” the official notice explains. “Licensees should also begin the process of removing current advertising and marketing that meets this criteria.”  This can also be found in Business and Professions Code section 26152(d). 

Advertising Cannabis

Back when Proposition 64 first passed in California, the California Bureau of Cannabis Control was given the power to regulate the new industry, and the matter of cannabis billboards has pretty much been in debate since the state legalized. Some contend that the billboards are necessary for advertising what is a perfectly legal industry inside state borders, while others feel it’s just asking for tourists to stop at dispensaries and drive back across the border. 

Back in 2019, the regulations were set in place that allowed advertising on interstate and state highways, except for those that were too close to the border. However, this new rule was challenged by a resident from San Luis Obispo County, who claims that the billboards expose his children to cannabis advertising. 

A study observing the impact of medical cannabis on prescribed opioid usage in chronic pain patients has revealed interesting results.

The US opioid epidemic claimed 47,600 lives in 2017 and it’s estimated 10.3 million people were misusing opioids in 2018 – a staggering 3.7% of the US population. It’s thought medical cannabis may be able to help address the situation and various studies have indicated this might be the case.

One of the more recent studies involved 525 patients from three medical cannabis practice sites who had used prescription opioid medications to treat chronic pain for at least 3 months continuously – and were using medical cannabis in combination with these medications.

40.4% reported they stopped all opioids while 45.2% reported some decrease. 13.3% reported no change in opioid usage, and 1.1% reported an increase. Furthermore, 48.2% reported a 40-100% decrease in pain, 80.2% reported an improved ability to function and 87% an improved quality of life using medical cannabis. 62.8% didn’t want to take opioids in the future.

“We believe our results lend further support that medical cannabis provided in a standardized protocol can lead to decreased pain and opioid usage, improved function, and quality of life measures, and even complete cessation of opioids in patients with chronic pain treated by opioids,” state the paper’s authors.

A change in pain level was reportedly not affected by age and gender. However, the younger age group (