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Cannabis has been illegal at a federal level in the US since 1970, when the Controlled Substances Act was passed by the Congress. Things started to change in 1996, when California became the first state to legalize medicinal use of marijuana. Since then it has been a long and treacherous road, but most states (35 to be more exact) have legalized the medical use of cannabis. In 2012, Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize recreational use of cannabis and some other states follow suit. Currently, 15 states legalized the recreational use of cannabis and in 16 other states the consumption for recreational purposes is de-criminalized, and more reforms in this area are expected in the nearest future.

2020 has been particularly baked. Instagram feeds have been overloaded with photos of breads, cookies, pies and other comfort foods—even more than usual—in our attempts to manage Covid-related stress and stay occupied while trying out a new recipe. Let’s call it what it is—anxiety baking.  

Now it’s that time of year when we get extra cozy indoors and start whipping up even more delicious baked goods than we do the rest of the year in an attempt to help us all get through the chill of winter. Do we bake out of boredom? Or because brownies are delicious? Or both? It seems that the world is baking extra right now because our activity options are more limited. And because, let’s face it, anxiety baking, or any kind of baking, is fun.

Baking can be solitary or social; it can be done to pass time, or it can be attached to a special occasion. Like any hobby or activity, it’s always exciting to experiment, which you can do in baking by tinkering with new (or old) recipes, playing with temperature, and adding or removing ingredients, among other things.

Photo credit: Alex M. Smith

One way that people are experimenting with baking this season is by mixing all the many varieties of CBD oils, tinctures, sweeteners and more into breads, cakes, muffins, and beyond. 

The U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor on this first-of-its-kind federal cannabis decriminalization bill. It was a partisan vote despite marijuana being a bipartisan issue. Democrats voted 213 YES and 6 NO, while Republicans voted 5 YES 156 NO.

Just after an election that saw four states legalize marijuana and two states legalize medical marijuana, it’s become clear that most Americans have a progressive view on marijuana. In fact, Pew Research reports that 67% of Americans support marijuana legalization.

As Steven Hawkins, executive director at the Marijuana Policy Project purports, “The prohibition and criminalization of marijuana has led to decades of injustice and devastating consequences, and it’s clear that a strong majority of Americans do not support the status quo.”

And the issue is bipartisan, with two of the legalizing states being Montana and South Dakota. But it’ll take a progressive Senate to pass such a progressive policy. And that’s where the MORE Act may run into trouble.

What is the MORE Act?

The MORE Act is the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement Act, a historic bill that was approved by the House Judiciary Committee for a floor vote by the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday, Dec 2, 2020.

According to the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance, Canada’s hemp acreage and export value are both up more than 20% this year.

“The Canadian hemp industry continues to grow in 2020 despite the challenges posed by COVID-19,” CHTA board chairman Keith Jones said in a statement after the group’s annual meeting, held online this year. “Canada seeded some 92,000 hemp acres in 2019, with exports exceeding $110 million Canadian dollars ($85 million).”

The South may be quietly adjusting to the new legalization landscape. But for now, the good ol’ white guys prevail, and Christians have righteous morality straight from the Bible on their side.

As of the November elections, there are now 15 states and the District of Columbia who have legalized adult use. There are some 36 states that enacted or voted to enact medical marijuana laws.

In the years leading up to this November, voters decided affirmatively on 28 separate ballot measures legalizing cannabis (18 measures legalizing medical marijuana, 10 measures legalizing adult use), according to National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

This amazing progress in the U.S. began with a soundly defeated voter initiative on November 7, 1972 in California, finally leading to legalization of medical marijuana in California in 1996.

The 2020 legalization progress in the U.S. comes as Mexico joins Canada to completely legalize medical and adult-use marijuana.

The New Year's Day deadline until New Jersey's constitutional amendment authorizing recreational marijuana takes effect is fast approaching, along with the final scheduled legislative voting session of the year.

But New Jersey's Democratic-led Legislature finds itself at an impasse over measures decriminalizing marijuana and, until late Friday, also setting up the new recreational marketplace.

Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy and legislators said they reached an agreement on setting up the marketplace, but didn't disclose details on Friday.

Lawmakers and lobbyists express cautious confidence that the measures will move forward, but the logjam comes even though the top two legislative leaders and Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy largely agree on how to move forward more than a year after the trio announced their support for legalization.

Legislators have penciled in Dec. 17 for the final voting sessions of the year. On Jan. 1, the amendment that passed with support from two-thirds of the voters takes effect.

There’s a renewed push to legalize medical and recreational marijuana in Nebraska, lawmakers say they plan to obtain 250,000 total signatures to get both medical initiatives on the ballot in 2022.

Nebraska voters are already weighing the pros and cons to both proposals.

“There's a negative propaganda about it and I think... people should look deeper into it,” said Nick Hancke. “There’s a positive aspect to it than what’s been said about it.”

“I think everything has its limitations,” said Princess Brown. “So as long as it’s not something that is going to be abused, which we all know people do that, I do think it would be beneficial.”

Nebraska State Senator Adam Morfeld said many voters are on board with medical and recreational marijuana, so that is why he’s pushing to legal both.

The United Nations has voted to remove cannabis from its classification as a dangerous drug. This week the U.N. Commission on Narcotic Drugs voted to remove cannabis and cannabis resin from a category of the world’s most dangerous drugs. This decision could potentially jumpstart the global medical marijuana industry. Many cannabis companies have eyed global expansion, but the markets have proven to be challenging as laws have remained strict.

This marks the first time in four years that Green Wednesday has beat out Black Friday, which saw a 75% increase in sales.

Data from both Akerna (Nasdaq: KERN) and Headset agreed that Green Wednesday (the day before Thanksgiving) sales in 2020 easily beat Black Friday sales for the first time. Cannabis consumers clearly wanted to make their purchases in advance of Thanksgiving and were less inclined to go shopping afterward.

Business intelligence from Akerna found that cannabis consumers spent approximately $238 million during the 2020 Thanksgiving weekend (11/25 – 11/28).  Green Wednesday was the single biggest sales day of 2020 with an 80% increase in daily sales. The average basket size for medical consumers was $122.64, representing a 5% increase over the daily average. Adult-use consumers spent, on average, $78.14, which is an increase of approximately 12%.

This also marks the first time in four years that Green Wednesday has beat out Black Friday, which also saw a 75% increase in sales.

“Once again, Thanksgiving ranks in the top 5 cannabis sales days of the year,” said James Ahrendt, Business Intelligence Architect, Akerna. “As we have noted throughout the year, daily sales averages have increased over the last year as a result of COVID. Since average days show such notable year-over-year growth, the percentage of growth during the holidays doesn’t seem as large. However, this is because more people, in general, are purchasing cannabis.”

We know what you’re thinking: isn’t an article about “cannabis scalability” a bit premature? After all, we’re talking about an industry that’s still federally illegal. How could businesses plan for the future when marijuana laws are in constant flux? 

True, scalability is trickier in the cannabis sector, but that doesn’t mean business owners shouldn’t consider it. Cannabis may be a new industry, but it’s moving at a rapid pace. Competition in recreationally legal states is already intense, and you’d better believe established companies have a game plan for new markets. 

TORONTO, Dec. 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aleafia Health Inc. (TSX: AH, OTC: ALEAF) (“Aleafia Health” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the launch of high potency CBD 50 oils, further strengthening the Company’s growing line of cannabis products for wellness oriented consumers. It will be sold to adult-use consumers as SymblTM High CBD 50, and to medical patients as EmblemTM CBD 50.

“The commercialization of our business is fully underway with Aleafia Health’s third major product release in the last month,” said Aleafia Health CEO Geoff Benic. “CBD 50 formulas are differentiated and highly sought after formats in both the medical and adult-use markets which further reinforces our cannabis extract market leadership position.”

CBD sales to medical patients commenced today, with product shipments to the adult-use market expected later this month. Highlights include:

For Investor & Media Relations:

Nicholas Bergamini, VP Investor Relations
1-833-879-2533
IR@AleafiaHealth.com
LEARN MORE: www.AleafiaHealth.com

As a matter of federal law, yes, cannabis will be descheduled entirely if the MORE Act becomes law. And not only that, but all federal marijuana convictions will be expunged

We have spilled a good bit of ink on this blog writing about the MORE Act (Marijuana Opportunity and Expungement Act) which is finally headed to a floor vote in the House, probably tomorrow, December 3. The MORE Act ends federal marijuana prohibition and the criminalization of cannabis by descheduling marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

That would be great, of course. Assuming the House version (HR 3884) passes, it will be crucial for the Senate version (S 2227), sponsored by Vice-President-Elect Kamala Harris, to also see daylight in the upper chamber. My guess is it won’t, unless both Democratic candidates prevail in the Georgia runoffs this January, resulting in Mitch McConnell’s replacement as Senate Majority Leader.

But that’s a question for another day. For now, I want to highlight what would happen if the MORE Act does become law someday soon, because I’m seeing some bad information out there. The biggest point of confusion seems to be the idea that if the MORE Act passes, cannabis will become legal nationwide. It won’t. As a matter of federal law, yes, cannabis will be descheduled entirely. And not only that, but all federal marijuana convictions will be expunged — even the folks who were captured with many tons of cannabis in helicopters and submarines. But state laws will not be preempted in the least.

Does this mean someone could still be arrested for walking around with an ounce of cannabis in e.g. Boise, Idaho, the day after the MORE Act becomes federal law? Yes it does! And that’s a shame, because most cannabis arrests today are for simple possession, and most are made under state laws and by state police.

More Americans than ever support the idea of making cannabis legal for both medical and recreational use. They have proven that again and again at the ballot box, and they’ve shown up in bigger numbers than ever for the latest Gallup Poll.

Gallup releases its survey of Americans’ opinions on a range of issues every year, including the legalization of weed. The most recent survey found that 68 percent of those questioned favored legalization. That’s the highest number in five decades.

The survey also captures the public zeitgeist, as it was released in the same month that voters in Arizona, New Jersey, Montana, and South Dakota all voted to legalize recreational use of marijuana. Those in Mississippi did the same for medical marijuana.

All but three groups support legalization.

The new survey found some interesting data on what groups support marijuana the most and the least. That included an extremely small gender divide. Of those surveyed by Gallup, 69 percent of men and 66 percent of women favored legalization.

Age groups showed a larger divide, although every age group had a majority that supported legalization. When separated by age groups, the percentage in favor of making cannabis legal broke out as follows.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) has announced an expansion of the pilot Multi-Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI) plan for hemp that will take effect in the 2021 crop year.

MCPI is the most common form of the federal crop insurance programme in the USA that insures against crop yield losses from all natural perils such as weather, fire and pestilence by enabling farmers to insure a certain percentage of historical crop production.

While delivered by private companies, MPCI is reinsured by the federal government.

The new states to be included for MPCI coverage are Arizona, Arkansas, Nevada and Texas – but only select counties within each. Additionally, 13 new counties are being included in states with existing coverage.

Just when we thought election season was over, supporters of marijuana legalization are gearing up for one last major fight of the season. That is because the last hope for full cannabis legalization at the federal level fully depends on the outcome of two special elections for U.S. Senate in Georgia on January 3, 2021. 

Simply put, if the Democratic candidates win both of these seats, flipping control of the U.S. Senate to the Democrats, legalization supporters will have their best opportunity to end the decades long disastrous policy of cannabis prohibition. A Republican victory in either one of these elections means there is little to no chance of federal legalization until at least 2023, and likely much longer. After all, the party in control of the White House typically loses seats in Congress in midterm elections, making the prospects of unified Democratic government after the 2022 elections narrow at best. 

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jon Ossoff of Georgia speaks to supporters during a rally on ... [+]

 GETTY IMAGES

It is worth saying that it shouldn’t have to be this way. Marijuana legalization is not a heavily partisan issue. It enjoys widespread support nationwide, with the most recent Gallup poll finding 68% of Americans support legalizing marijuana for adults, including 48% of Republicans and 49% of self-identified conservatives. In this past election, legalization was passed by voters in every state where it was on the ballot, all by convincing margins. This included win tallies of 54% in deep red South Dakota, 57% in conservative Montana, and a whopping 60% in now purple Arizona. 

This week the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on a bill that would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act and require federal courts to expunge many prior marijuana offenses. It will be the first time the full House will vote on ending the federal prohibition of cannabis.

Morgan Fox with the National Cannabis Industry Association says House passage would “send a really strong message to not only the rest of Congress, but to a lot of other states that the time to end prohibition has come.”

The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act (MORE Act), introduced by Rep. Jerry Nadler (D., N.Y.), would eliminate conflict between state and federal law and allow states to set their own marijuana policies.

“We don't need to have one size fits all. We just need to get rid of prohibition and then let the states do what the states are doing. It's essentially what the states have done already. They haven’t waited for the federal government, which is why we have a lot of these discrepancies and challenges,” said Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D., Ore.), who has long pushed for marijuana legalization.

Jars of marijuana are seen on display at Montana Advanced Caregivers, a medical marijuana dispensary, Nov. 11, 2020, in Billings, Mont. Recreational marijuana initiatives passed in four states this year, from liberal New Jersey to conservative Montana and South Dakota. Advocates' next goal is to get marijuana removed from a federal list of illegal drugs with no accepted medical use and high potential for abuse. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)

Cannabis delivery is finally becoming available across the country, but despite this being many a-weed smokers’ dream, the service is still new and a little difficult to navigate. Some delivery services seem a little iffy, or not entirely trustworthy, while others seem to only cater to customers that are willing to shell out exorbitant amounts of money for the privilege of having weed delivered directly to their door.

Every service is a little bit different, so choosing the right one can take a little time and trial and error. To help you find the right weed delivery service for your needs, we’ve created this simple guide featuring tips for selecting a reputable delivery service to make your weed delivery dreams a reality.

Is This Delivery Service Compliant?

A legitimate cannabis delivery service must comply with state and local cannabis rules and regulations. As a consumer, you want your weed delivery to be above board not only to prevent yourself from getting into legal trouble but also to ensure that the products you buy are from a reputable source. If you can’t trust them to follow basic regulations, how can you trust them to bring you top-notch cannabis?

Best practice to ensure you are ordering from a compliant delivery service is to look for the company’s cannabis license, which should be prominently displayed on their website and any email communications.

Is Tax Applied To Your Purchase?

Like other consumer products, recreational and medical marijuana purchases are taxed. If the cannabis delivery service you choose does not apply tax to their products (either before or after purchase) they are likely not compliant with local regulations and restrictions.

On Tuesday, Dec. 8, from 1-2 p.m. CST, the Minority Cannabis Business Association (MCBA), along with the U.S. Hemp Roundtable (USHR), will host a free webinar, “Cultivating Entrepreneurship in the Hemp Industry: A Complimentary Webinar for Small and Minority-Owned Companies.” The webinar is designed to provide essential information for small and small minority-owned businesses and engage all industry stakeholders.