NATIONAL NEWS

Attempts to increase minority participation in Washington state’s marijuana industry are ongoing, but government officials there face hurdles in creating a workable social equity program, due to stiff competition and plentiful supplies, reports Marijuana Business Daily.

Governor Jay Inslee in March signed House Bill Gov. Jay Inslee 2870 to create a new social equity program “that provides business opportunities to people from disproportionately harmed communities so they can ... become a Cannabis retailer.”

Existing weed retailers in Washington are well established, as the state began recreational sales in 2014. That makes the state one of the most competitive in the nation for all types of Cannabis licensees.

It will still be months before any social equity business licenses are issued, according to state health department employee Christy Hoff.

Members of a task force - expected to consist of about a dozen people from state agencies, Cannabis businesses and minority representatives - haven’t been selected.

trends & culture

‘POSITIVE PERCEPTIONS’ OF CANNABIS FOR LEGAL STATES

Researchers with the University of Waterloo, School of Public Health in Canada surveyed 5,530 adult respondents living in Alaska, California, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington state, and they found some very reassuring news, reports NORML.

Adults over the age of 21 who live in states where retail Cannabis sales are allowed tend to have positive impressions of the marijuana industry, according to data published in the journal Addictive Behaviors.

“The current findings suggest generally positive perceptions of the legal “THIS DATA ONCE AGAIN AFFIRMS THAT Cannabis market,” the authors reported. “Most respondents, including frequent MOST VOTERS DO NOT Cannabis consumers, perceived legal EXPERIENCE ‘BUYER’S REMORSE’ FOLLOWING MARIJUANA Cannabis to be of equal or greater quality and convenience, and as safer to buy and LEGALIZATION.” use than Cannabis from illegal sources.” “This data once again affirms that most voters do not experience ‘buyer’s remorse’ following marijuana legalization,” said NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano.

“In the minds of most Americans, these laws are operating as voters intended and in a manner that is consistent with their expectations.” “Our research has always shown that a majority of Montanans support legalization, and now voters will have the opportunity to enact that policy, which will create jobs and generate new revenue for our state.”

-New Approach Montana Political Director Pepper Petersen,

describing the group’s successful effort to get Initiative 190 and Constitutional Initiative 118 on the November 2020 ballot.

southwest ARIZONA LEGALIZATION INITIATIVE WILL BE ON NOVEMBER BALLOT

Cannabis could become legalized in Arizona in the near future as a new measure has officially qualified for the November 2020 ballot. The Secretary of

State in August announced that activists had turned in enough valid signatures to qualify, one month after about 420,000 signatures “ADULTS WOULD HAVE THE RIGHT were submitted, reports TO LEGALLY

Marijuana Moment. Adults would have POSSESS UP TO AN OUNCE OF CANNABIS the right to legally UNDER THE possess up to an ounce MEASURE.” of Cannabis under the measure.

Cultivation of up to six plants for personal use would also be allowed.

Restorative justice provisions are also included in the measure, such as allowing people with prior pot convictions to petition for expungements and establishing a social equity

Cannabis business ownership program.

LEGALIZATION NEW INITIATIVE TO LEGALIZE CANNABIS SALES FILED IN D.C.

Activists have filed a new proposed bailout initiative to legalize Cannabis sales in the nation’s capital. The “New Modern Day Cannabis Justice Reform Act” would halt prosecutions of marijuana cultivation, sales and consumption, reports Marijuana Moment.

It would also stop Cannabis from being the cause of police searches and provide for record expungement of prior marijuana convictions. D.C. voters approved a legalization measure in 2014, but it only covered possession and home cultivation - not sales.

The city has been prevented from implementing a retail model due to a Congressional rider barring it from using local tax funds for such purposes.

The currently unregulated system of legalization has failed to address problems such as racially disproportionate enforcement, according to Dawn Lee-Carty, Executive Director of the campaign behind the initiative.

To qualify for the ballot, activists would need to collect 24,835 valid signatures from registered voters. Activists recently submitted enough signatures to qualify Initiative 81, which would decriminalize psychedelics in D.C.

politics PELOSI DEFENDS MARIJUANA’S COVID-19 THERAPY POTENTIAL

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in August defended a provision of the Democratic coronavirus relief bill tied to Cannabis. “I don’t agree with you that Cannabis is not related to this,” Pelosi said during a press briefing, reports The Hill.

“This is a therapy that has proven successful.” House Democrats passed their own $3 trillion stimulus bill called the Heroes Act on May 15, but it never got a vote in the GOP-controlled Senate, reports Forbes.

The provision would have allowed legal Cannabis businesses to work with banking services, reports USA Today. Cannabis business have been deemed ‘essential’ during the pandemic, but aren’t eligible for Small Business Administration loans, according to the National Cannabis Industry Association.

7

tons of Cannabis hidden inside lime boxes was seized at the Mexican border by authorities in August.

16

percent of Canadian Cannabis market share is earned by vape pens, reports Headset data.

75

new Cannabis retail licenses will be issued by Illinois in September, more than three months after the deadline.

266

Cannabis plants were seized after two men were arrested for illegal cultivation in Bradford, England

$50m

is the projected value of Virginia’s limited commercial medical Cannabis program by the year 2024.

$348m

was the jaw-dropping record amount of retail Cannabis sales reported for California in just the month of July.