Tuesday June 2, 2020
In todays report:
California has been struggling with their so called illicit Cannabis Market. Liberty minded growers are going to face increased scrutiny as States reeling from cultural shutdown and the resulting unbalanced budgets are looking toward legal cannabis, as a means to recoup some of those lost dollars. There is an initiative, in a reactive sense, to create more weed police to help stop all the hidden commerce from unsanctioned gardeners, a problem for which, the current solution doesn't seem to be working out.
in California, the Cannabis Enforcement Unit is solely tasked with fighting black market pot sales. This agency currently
inspects licensed cannabis businesses to ensure they are not diverting weed to the black market and helps bust
unlicensed weed grows and smuggling operations.
The BCC argues that having its own cops would allow it to better enforce these regulations. Although BCC inspectors
may discover illegal cannabis or diversion during a routine inspection, they are currently unable to seize any black
market weed that they discover. They are also unable to make arrests, write search warrants, or access criminal
databases. The agency is arguing that by having their own police, their inspectors would not be forced to rely on state
and local cops.
"The system of temporary permits and to annual permits is kind of in major disarray at this point," said Michael Katz, a
co-founder of Emerald Exchange, according to CNBC. "Instead of putting on a show and taking out the National Guard,
there's a lot of regulatory fixes that we think should be offered to help more cultivators enter the regulated space."
{from the referenced article]
https://merryjane.com/news/californias-solution-to-fighting-the-illicit-weed-market-hire-more-cops
https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/california-weed/article243061066.html
https://mjbizdaily.com/california-cannabis-regulator-requests-staffing-help-for-enforcement/
https://merryjane.com/news/the-black-market-for-weed-in-california-keeps-growing
https://merryjane.com/news/california-is-sending-the-national-guard-to-raid-illegal-weed-ops
In Maine, the legalization effort included a provision that only Maine residents were able to participate in Cannabis until 2021. The provision was challenged last year by a multi state operator Wellness Connection. WC argues that the restriction is unfair and limits the states opportunities because the funding can only come from in State resources. There was a constitutional issue with the State favoring in state residents to a degree that was not acceptable, and the Maine govt agreed to drop the residency requirement. Now they are being sued again by local folks concerned that giant cannabis is going to take over the state’s cannabis operations. Maine’s recreational legal cannabis effort has been delayed for years and now is that's the fault of the sometimes convenient, COVID19 plannedemic.
Maine recreational cannabis businesses sue to retain residency rule
https://mjbizdaily.com/maine-recreational-cannabis-businesses-sue-state-to-retain-residency-rule/
The idea of the law was to give local businesses a head start on the rec market.
At its core, the lawsuit alleged that the residency requirement found in the MLA is a violation of the dormant Commerce
Clause of the United States Constitution by explicitly and purposefully favoring Maine residents over nonresidents.
https://www.maine.gov/dafs/omp/news-events/news/aump-lawsuit-residency-requirement
A Pew Research study from the end of 2019 looks at cannabis opinions from over a 20 year period. Data suggests that 90% of Americans support Medicinal Cannabis use and the largest group of anti cannabis sentiment seems to like in the demographic of elderly Americans. This is also the first group of Americans who grew up under the dark chapter of the world's history with it's constant wars, incredible pollution and of course, Cannabis prohibition.
Meanwhile, an overwhelming majority of U.S. adults (91%) say marijuana should be legal either for medical and recreational use (59%) or that it should be legal just for medical use (32%). Fewer than one-in-ten (8%) prefer to keep marijuana illegal in all circumstances, according to the survey, conducted Sept. 3 to 15 on Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel.’
Silent Generation (born between 1928 and 1945) continue to be the least supportive of legalization: Only 35% favor legalizing marijuana, while 64% are opposed
Around nine-in-ten Americans favor legalization for recreational or medical purposes
Younger adults are somewhat more likely than older adults to say that marijuana use should be legal for both medical and recreational use. About two-thirds (69%) of those ages 18 to 29 say it should be legal for both types of use, compared with 48% of those ages 65 and older.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Marijuana/comments/gvjmmw/67_of_americans_favor_marijuana_legalization_in/
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/11/14/americans-support-marijuana-legalization/