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around 100,000 pounds of pot short of being able to satisfy both markets. The CRC’s decision was met with ire from both state officials and residents. However, Gov. Murphy appeared confident that, despite regulators’ concerns, retail sales were mere weeks away. While it seemed unlikely given the supply gap, by the second week of April, the commission approved the hybrid license applications and set retail sales in motion. The seven companies that will begin selling recreational pot in New Jersey NEW JERSEY RETAIL SALES START IN are Acreage Holdings, Ascend New Jersey, Columbia Care, Curaleaf, Green Thumb Industries, TerrAscend and Verano Holdings. While New Jersey’s adult-use rollout clearly favors multi-state operators (MSOs), the state is reviewing retail license applications and those from businesses owned by people who have been convicted of a Cannabis crime, as well as diverselyowned businesses – those owned by N ew Jersey will officially launch retail Cannabis sales on April 21 – just a day after the high holiday, 4/20. The Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) approved license applications for seven medical marijuana minorities, women or disabled veterans – will receive priority from the CRC during the review process as part of the state’s social equity rules. However, there will likely be a long wait before new businesses are able to companies to begin selling recreational Cannabis at 13 locations around start selling Cannabis. With a 90-day review process and 120 days allotted the state. to meet jurisdictional requirements, plus the time it takes to staff a business

If the start of adult-use sales in New Jersey seems sudden, despite it coming and obtain a proper supply of product, the first legal sales from newly licensed over a year after Gov. Phil Murphy signed the legalization bill into law and businesses are likely months away. And it’s more likely that they won’t begin nearly a year and a half after voters approved Cannabis legalization on until 2023.

Election Day 2020, it’s probably because just weeks ago things were looking As licenses are issued and new businesses prepare to open, the state can bleak in the Garden State. begin retail sales with hybrid shops. And while the sizable headstart given

At the end of March, the CRC declined to approve the conversion to MSOs is irksome to many advocates who fought for equity, some feel the applications that would allow the state to begin retail sales. Regulators cited lengthy delay of retail sales helped shorten the gap, hopefully preventing an their concern that the Cannabis companies – which were medical marijuana industry dominated by established companies. dispensaries applying to operate as hybrid shops servicing both medical New Jersey will beat nearby New York and Connecticut to the adult-use patients and recreational users – would not be able to adequately serve the market. Once retail sales begin in earnest, experts anticipate that the Garden state’s patients. The primary issue was supply, as the CRC felt the shops were State will exceed $2 billion a year in recreational pot sales.

Equity in Massachusetts Equity in Massachusetts

awmakers in Massachusetts are considering a new bill that would create access to funding for Cannabis businesses operated by people disproportionately impacted by pot prohibition. L

The measure, which unanimously passed the Senate, is an attempt to bolster the state’s fledgling social equity program by increasing opportunities to enter the Cannabis industry.

One of the biggest obstacles to participating in the industry is access to money. And, given marijuana’s unique status as a Schedule I narcotic that remains illegal at the federal level despite being legal in certain states, banks are barred from working with Cannabis companies. This, of course, means that marijuana business hopefuls can’t rely on bank loans to get their companies started in the industry.

Getting the average adult-use pot shop up and running can cost operators millions of dollars. Sure, there’s a great deal of money to be made in retail weed, but you need to spend a whole lot of cash before you can make any.

The bill passed by the Senate would create a Cannabis Social Equity Trust Fund with 10 percent of marijuana excise tax revenue earmarked for it – resulting in an estimated $18 million of revenue from 2023 alone for the equity fund, according to an Associated Press report.

Qualified equity applicants would be eligible for grants and loans through the fund, helping to level the playing field in the industry.

“Addressing racial justice in our state means getting real about closing our cavernous racial wealth divide … With this bill, Massachusetts will reclaim our leadership role, carving a path to make equity a reality in the Cannabis industry,” State Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz, who sponsored the bill, said in a statement.

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The measure would also pave the way for Cannabis consumption sites – allowing marijuana to be consumed in designated shops where it is sold – if approved by local voters or city council referendum.

After passing the Senate with a 39-0 vote, the bill now moves to the House.

HIGH IN

THE SKY

hould pot be growing from the rooftops in New York City? Countless stoned New Yorkers have no doubt envisioned such a verdant future while walking through the streets of the concrete jungle. But while such S musings might be explained away as joint-induced fantasy, it turns out the city’s top political figure would like to see rooftop pot become a reality.

As New York continues to implement its adult-use Cannabis program, forward-thinking officials are advocating approaches that will benefit their jurisdictions and constituencies. New York City Mayor Eric Adams is no exception. And in early April, Adams announced his desire to see Cannabis cultivation sites on the roofs of New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) buildings.

Given the dearth of available space for growing marijuana in NYC, Adams’ idea makes sense. And, if he has his way, it would come with the added benefit of employing the people who live in those buildings.

“We want to examine the possibilities of having a greenhouse space on NYCHA rooftops to grow Cannabis. … The jobs can come from NYCHA residents. The proceeds and education can go right into employing people right in the area,” Adams explained during a panel discussion in Albany with Black mayors from New York on the subject of legalization.

A spokesperson for the mayor later added that Adams’ goal is making sure “those targeted by the ‘War on Drugs’ are first in line to benefit from the legal Cannabis industry.”

Despite having a worthy goal, the mayor will need to rethink his proposal. As it turns out, NYCHA is federally subsidized public housing and Cannabis remains illegal at the federal level. This means that Adams’ greenhouse grows are a no-go.

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While the mayor hasn’t officially approached the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) about his plan, a spokesperson for the department shot the idea down, telling Gothamist, “There isn’t much more to say, marijuana is illegal in public housing.”

Despite decades of prohibition, there have been encouraging developments at the federal level of late. The House of Representatives recently passed a bill that would deschedule Cannabis, removing it entirely from the Controlled Substances Act. And, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is rumored to be close to unveiling his federal legalization legislation.

Should either measure eventually become law, Mayor Adams might just get to implement his high-scraper proposal after all.

SHOULD COPS SMOKE POT?

egalization brings with it any number of unforeseen issues that officials must mull over, debate and ultimately decide. Whether it’s personal cultivation rules or lab testing procedures – or even if cops should be allowed to get high.

That’s the issue currently occupying far too much of many New Jersey officials’ minds, including Gov. Phil Murphy. The dilemma stems from a memo sent by state Attorney General Matthew Platkin, which confirmed that off-duty officers are allowed to consume marijuana under New Jersey’s adultuse Cannabis law.

And while that may seem like a fairly mundane statement, it is making several Garden State lawmakers irrationally angry.

“There’s no allowing anybody to show up impaired, whether you’re drinking or whether you’ve smoked weed. … Anybody who shows up impaired would be dealt with aggressively,” Gov. Murphy postured.

Predictably, the governor is interested in a “legislative fix that would address this.” Such a fix would be necessary because the legalization bill that Murphy signed into law specifically states that police departments “may not take any adverse action against any officers because they do or do not use Cannabis off duty.”

Clearly, much of the uproar stems from the fact that marijuana remains in the system longer than most drugs – long past the point of intoxication.

While Gov. Murphy appears concerned that off-duty cops who smoke will show up for work stoned, state Sen. Paul Sarlo is worried about appearances. “With Cannabis remaining in one’s system for 30 days; police will subject themselves to never ending lawsuits & questioning of their judgements,” he tweeted.

Like Gov. Murphy, Sen. Sarlo is “hopeful we can modify the law to match all the other states that have zero tolerance for use of off duty Cannabis by police.”

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State Assemblywoman Beth Sawyer took things even further, criticizing AG Platkin, even though he was simply reiterating the law as it is currently written, and saying, “Anyone who wants to work in public safety must be held to higher standards.”

If only there were some safe, newly legal substance in New Jersey that could mellow all these people out.

>> Continued from pg. 15 FIGHTING FOR ASWEET FUTURE

The venerable Vermont-based ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s has had enough of federal pot prohibition. Given the ample opportunity afforded to lawmakers to enact change and the overwhelming support for legalization from voters across the country, the company is undoubtedly frustrated with the continued inaction in Congress.

So, Ben & Jerry’s decided to channel that frustration into action by teaming up with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and calling on Americans who support legalization to demand that the Senate pass justice-based Cannabis legislation.

This 4/20, Ben & Jerry’s provided an easy way to “Take action now and tell your senators to legalize Cannabis and help those who have been hurt by its criminalization.” Via this digital ad campaign on social media, users had a one-click option to send a message to their senator.

The campaign targeted the Senate as the House of Representatives recently passed the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act. The MORE Act would federally legalize Cannabis by removing it from the Controlled Substances Act while also focusing on restorative justice, including expunging the records of people with marijuana-related convictions.

This is the second time the House has passed a federal legalization bill. Unfortunately, the Senate has failed to capitalize on this progress and prohibition continues. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer prefers his own legalization measure and, as a result, he has not given the MORE Act his support. Schumer has also failed to advance the SAFE Banking Act, which would allow banks to work with Cannabis companies, insisting that his federal legalization plan should be enacted first.

Of course, he has not yet introduced his legalization bill.

The House has passed marijuana banking legislation in some form six separate times, yet none have made it past the Senate.

All of this amounts to an unacceptable delay according to Ben & Jerry’s, which emphasized the need for immediate action in a press release:

“Hundreds of thousands of people are still arrested every year for possession or are still locked up for past convictions – and they are disproportionately Black. In addition, the legal Cannabis industry is now worth more than $25 billion a year, and white men are more than 70 percent of the C-suite in the industry while only 7 percent are Black. To put it simply, Our Cannabis laws are half baked.”

The company’s global head of activism and strategy, Chris Miller, explained that the people most harmed by prohibition continue to be the least likely to benefit from legalization. “That’s why the Senate must immediately pass legislation that begins to right the wrongs of the decades long War on Drugs by legalizing Cannabis and expunging records while restoring equity to the booming legal Cannabis industry,” Miller said in a statement.

With overwhelming support for marijuana legalization from voters across the country, Ben & Jerry’s believes, “It’s time for our laws to reflect the will of the people.”

HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH MOLD?

Connecticut officials are setting new standards for laboratories testing for mold in Cannabis. The new limit, proposed by the Department of Consumer Protection and approved by the state’s Attorney General, makes the maximum allowable amount of colony-forming mold units 100,000 per gram. Under the new rules, no traceable amounts of Aspergillus (a type of mold that can affect the lungs) would be allowed.

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The state currently has just two Cannabis testing labs. Based on the new limits, one had been allowing more mold and yeast on the marijuana it tested, while the other had been allowing less.

With the public comment period for the proposed changes having ended, many Connecticut medical Cannabis patients expressed concern with the allowable amount of mold. Some suggested the maximum amount permitted should not exceed 10,000 units per gram, which would be in line with several other states.

Patients were able to bring officials back to the table regarding mold testing after the state allowed one of its testing labs to increase the permissible limit of mold to 1 million colony-forming units per gram. That change was approved by private email in 2020, leading to public outrage when patients eventually found out about the decision.

This time around, Connecticut officials say they consulted with microbiologists about mold limits and the type of mold that laboratories should be required to test for.

Because Cannabis is federally illegal, state officials have no guidelines to rely on when establishing policy. And other states that have legalized adultuse marijuana aren’t particularly helpful, as limits and specific mold tests vary. Some states have no established mold testing requirements at all.

Until federal regulations can standardize Cannabis testing, adult-use states can do little more than consult with scientists and establish requirements to the best of their ability. But while consumers agree that regulations are necessary, not all agree that Connecticut has got it right.

And, with greater Cannabis competition in the Northeast, comparisons will naturally be made to nearby rec states. As one patient quipped to the CT Mirror, “Is Connecticut really comfortable with safety standards 10 times above the limits typically seen in regulated markets, including Massachusetts?”

NEW HAMPSHIRE MAKES HISTORY

awmakers in New Hampshire made history in April by passing a marijuana legalization measure. But, before you get too excited, it’s important to note that the pro-Cannabis vote is only historic because it took place in New Hampshire – where marijuana-law reform has moved L at a glacial pace.

A state Senate committee narrowly approved a bill that would legalize the possession and cultivation of Cannabis for adults 21 and older. This is the first time a marijuana legalization measure has been passed by a New Hampshire Senate panel, albeit it by a 3-2 vote.

The House already passed the legalization bill, meaning it will now head to the Senate floor.

While the measure would not create retail sales of Cannabis, it would allow for possession of up to three-fourths of an ounce of personal-use pot. It would also allow for home growing, as adults could cultivate up to six plants (three mature and three immature). Limited marijuana gifting and THCinfused products would be permitted as well. Public consumption, on the other hand, is still banned. Those caught smoking publicly would simply face a civil fine of $100.

New Hampshire is becoming increasingly isolated as the state clings to pot prohibition. Other states in the Northeast – including Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut – have all legalized Cannabis. And Rhode Island is close to joining the region’s adult-use states.

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While the House has passed a number of legalization bills, pot progress is repeatedly stalled by the New Hampshire Senate, where meaningful marijuana-law reform has traditionally been a nonstarter. Even if the Senate committee’s historic vote leads to the Cannabis bill passing the chamber, Gov. Chris Sununu (R) would almost certainly veto the legislation.

Earlier this year, the New Hampshire House passed a bill that would create a state-run Cannabis market. Unfortunately, the bill managed to upset both pot advocates and prohibitionists.

Should the measure eventually become law, it would be the first of its kind in the country. The bill would allow possession of up to four ounces of marijuana, and Cannabis could be purchased at dispensaries run by the state. Of course, because marijuana is federally illegal, state employees would be violating federal law by selling pot – even if it is deemed legal at the state level.

In addition, a local measure would decriminalize psychedelics in the state’s second largest city, Worcester.

Should the latest reform-minded ballot initiative succeed, Worcester would join Somerville, Cambridge, Easthampton and Northampton as Massachusetts cities that have changed their policy for policing possession of psychedelics.

The Worcester initiative actually goes beyond psychedelics, as it would ban any government funding from going towards criminalizing possession (or sharing) of up to five grams of any controlled substance by people 18 and older.

Psychedelics receive additional protections from the measure, barring the city from using any funds to prosecute adults 18 and older for possession or cultivation of up to 15 grams of psilocybin, DMT, mescaline, MDMA and ibogaine.

Importantly, the initiative includes protections for possession of paraphernalia such as “pipes, syringes, needles or testing strips,” which can often lead to arrests and fines.

Bay Staters for Natural Medicine (BSNM) is behind the latest local initiative. While BSNM is hopeful the Worcester City Council will take up the proposal, the group is also gathering signatures in order to place the initiative on the ballot next year, if necessary. Activists must collect approximately 16,000 signatures and submit them for review by summer 2023 in order to qualify for the November ballot.

But that’s not all. Thanks to an odd loophole in Massachusetts’ law, citizens can take advantage of a “by request bill” – essentially allowing citizens to have the lawmakers who represent them introduce a bill “by request,” regardless of the legislator’s stance on the issue.

Activists hope to use this method to create legislation that ensures statewide regulated access to psychedelics for therapeutic use and decriminalizes possession of small amounts of all controlled substances.

As for the future of local psychedelics reform initiatives, BSNM told Marijuana Moment that Amherst is up next.

REIMAGINING PSYCHEDELIC LAWS

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Massachusetts has taken the lead of late on decriminalizing psychedelics at both the state and local levels. Activists are hard at work on a plan that would force lawmakers to introduce legislation legalizing entheogenic substances.