Two and a half centuries after the Boston Tea Party, legal cannabis operators say it might be time for a California Weed Party. But rather than dump their agricultural product into the Pacific Ocean, shop owners and others are floating the idea of withholding their state tax payments. This year, that could add up to $1.3 billion. The goal is to express frustration with the state of the industry in California, where legal cannabis merchants struggle to compete with illicit operators who have a huge price advantage specifically because they don’t follow the rules. This dynamic has been true for five years since state voters chose to regulate and tax cannabis. And legal operators say they need it to change. “This is the response you get when you feel like you’re being taxed and you don’t have representation,” said Jerred Kiloh, who owns a licensed cannabis store in Los Angeles and serves as president of the United Cannabis Business Association trade group.

Brooke Staggs, The Mercury News, 12/03/2021 19:00:00

Open article: https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/12/04/with-taxes-going-up-cannabis-operators-threaten-weed-party

Regulators with the Department of Health have announced that cannabis-infused edible products will be available in state-licensed medical dispensaries next year. Under the plan, patients in the state’s medical access program will be able to purchase marijuana-infused gummies or other similar chewable products beginning on August 1, 2022. Currently, qualified patients are only permitted to obtain cannabis products in the form of pills, extracts, tinctures, lozenges, or powdered mixtures. Earlier this year, lawmakers approved legislation expanding the program to include access to herbal cannabis. Dispensaries are anticipated to begin providing cannabis flowers in March. Minnesota lawmakers legalized patients’ access to limited formulations of cannabis in 2014. Currently, some 27,000 Minnesotans are registered to access medical cannabis products.

NORML, 12/05/2021 19:00:00

Open article: https://norml.org/blog/2021/12/06/minnesota-regulators-okay-patients-access-to-cannabis-infused-edible-products/

Years of petitioning the DEA to remove cannabis from the controlled substance act have yielded no positive results, in spite of its proven and established therapeutic potential. This article originally appeared on Cannabis.net and has been reposted with permission. Imagine pushing for marijuana legislation for decades, just for a drug produced from a more potent and harmful controlled substance to receive more support from the DEA. Very few people would have guessed that the “cocaine versus cannabis” discussion would come to light this year, and fewer still would have guessed that it would be the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) working tirelessly to see that a cocaine-derived drug is rescheduled before cannabis on a federal level. Scheduling System in America The federal government of the U.S. authorizes the DEA to regulate all forms of drugs. The DEA is in charge of classifying or scheduling a drug depending on its therapeutic value and its potential to be abused. According to the DEA policies, drugs like cocaine and marijuana are scheduled due to their relative potential for abuse being higher than their medical value.

Terry Hacienda, The Fresh Toast, 12/06/2021 11:30:00

Open article: https://thefreshtoast.com/marijuana-legislation/will-the-dea-deschedule-a-cocaine-based-drug-before-marijuana/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=will-the-dea-deschedule-a-cocaine-based-drug-before-marijuana

About 30,000 cannabis enthusiasts are expected to trek through the Sonoma County Fairgrounds next weekend for the revamped Emerald Cup Harvest Ball, a celebration all about the plant that has been a social, regulatory, and business fixture for decades in Northern California. Those pot lovers will learn about new, innovative weed strains, while some of the old guards will stick with such standbys as Blue Dream and OG Kush. Admission for the event starts at $75 for a single-day ticket and members of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan will perform. “The response has been amazing for an event we are doing … with the aftereffects of the pandemic,” said Kenneth Loo, spokesman for the Harvest Ball. “I think it really does show the resilience of this community.” The event comes as acceptance of marijuana continues to poll strongly. Legalization is favored by a record high 68% of U.S. residents, according to a Gallup poll taken last month. Passage at the federal level is closer than it has ever been with Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer sponsoring legislation that would remove all federal prohibitions on marijuana. Yet many in the business are having a hard time celebrating in a year where cannabis prices paid to growers have plummeted by as much as 50%, as illegal pot from states like Oregon and Oklahoma has flooded the market. And those same growers and others in the business contend they are hemorrhaging money under a tax and regulatory regime that makes it difficult to eke out a living.

Cannabis Business Executive – Cannabis and Marijuana industry news, 12/04/2021 09:25:00

Open article: https://www.cannabisbusinessexecutive.com/2021/12/ahead-of-emerald-cup-harvest-ball-cannabis-growers-raise-alarm-over-taxes-regulations/