Don’t worry about international treaties, industry group says

TREATIES
Rescheduling would not violate international treaties

What’s happening: The advocacy group leading the push for rescheduling in DC – The Coalition for Cannabis Scheduling Reform – commissioned a legal opinion about how rescheduling would not violate any international treaties.

Why not: It’s all about treaty signatories doing what’s right by their own country, and what’s right by emerging/new evidence. 

According to the opinion, “the Treaties provide Parties with the flexibility to reevaluate the scheduling of substances under their respective domestic laws based on the emergence of new scientific and medical evidence…” 

Best offense is: As they say in sports, the best offense is a great defense. As Adam Goers, the Coalition’s spokesperson, told Marijuana Moment: “We’re releasing it [the legal opinion] publicly to debunk arguments being made by prohibitionists…”

What’s next: All indications are that a rescheduling decision is coming, at some point, from the DEA. 

Supportive Democrats in the House and the Senate have had their say in recent weeks. So have members of Congress that don’t want to see cannabis rescheduled. The Biden Administration is on record, as is the Department of Health and Human Services. 

So, all that’s left is for the DEA to make an announcement. We’re all ears. 

Yesterday, we wrote about Virginia’s push for legalization and the Governor’s opposition. Today, four law enforcement groups in Virginia voiced their opposition to legalization. 

New Hampshire’s House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee is set to vote on an amended legalization bill on Wednesday.

GEORGIA
Major cannabis brands face class action lawsuit

Driving the news: A class action lawsuit against major cannabis brands Cookies, STIIZY, and others, claims that these companies sold (and conspired to sell) cannabis products under the guise of legal hemp products.

Why it matters: The suit gets to the heart of a brewing conflict over hemp producers and cannabis producers — and how the latter say the former are deliberately flouting federal law by selling products containing Delta-8 THC, an intoxicating cannabinoid, and passing it off as hemp.

Back up: The 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp in the US, defined as the cannabis plant containing less than 0.3% Delta-9 THC, the main intoxicating compound. But some hemp companies have found a workaround, by using Delta-8 THC and calling it hemp. 

Federal and state agencies are struggling to wrap their heads around how to regulate this. 

What they’re saying: “In essence, (customers of the defendants) are paying for legal hemp-derived THC but are receiving illegal marijuana, which has created millions of dollars of fraudulent profit,” the suit says, per Green Market Report.  

Brooklyn weed dispensary sparks outrage for painting over famous mural of Notorious B.I.G. | New York Post

Mike Tyson’s cannabis brand, TYSON 2.0, is partnering with Royal Queen Seeds, a cannabis seed bank. 

California cannabis company Blum Holdings will acquire three dispensaries in the state for $14 million, including Cookies’ flagship store in Sacramento. 

Canadian cannabis company Organigram reports a $15.3 million (CAD) net loss on $36.5 million net revenue for the first-quarter of ‘24.

As we said on Monday, cannabis and the Super Bowl go hand-in-hand. 

New data from LeafLink backs that up: During the week of January 21, Nevada cannabis dispensaries purchased 67% more cannabis than the week prior to stock up ahead of the big game.

We would in no way call this one “cool” — but it does make you chuckle a bit. Legislators in Idaho are recommending a fine for misdemeanor cannabis possession of $420. While these prohibitionists seem to have a sense of humor at least, it’d be a lot cooler if there were no fines at all.