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Georgia House Passes Bill To Increase Medical Pot Licenses

March 13, 2023 Published by

The Georgia House of Representatives passed a bill on March 7 that would expand the number of medical cannabis licenses available. The passage of House Bill 196, which received 170 votes in favor and only two opposed, would boost the current license number of six to 15. According to the Capitol Beat, the passage of this bill is to address the lawsuits that the state of Georgia has received from cannabis businesses that were denied a license.

Although Georgia first legalized medical cannabis oil possession in 2015, it took four years for legislators to introduce bills that would regulate cannabis cultivation and sales. In 2019, six licenses were issued in total, including two Class 1 licenses (for cultivation up to 100,000 square feet) and four Class 2 licenses (cultivation up to 50,000 square feet). 

This includes two Class 1 licenses owners Botanical Sciences LLC and Trulieve Georgia, and four Class 2 licenses that were delayed due to numerous lawsuits, which caused the suspension of all chosen applicants.

Initially, the Class 2 licenses were awarded to FFD GA Holdings, TheraTrue Georgia LLC, Natures GA LLC, and Treevana Remedy Inc. in July 2021. Protests were filed by applicants who were not chosen. According to Kristen Goodman, the lawyer representing these four of the applicants who did not win a license, the license process was a “train wreck.” She also stated that the two licenses that have been confirmed went to out-of-state companies. “They’re not serving the children who have excessive seizures in Northwest Georgia. They’re not serving the children with cancer in Southwest Georgia,” said Goodman. “They have all the market they need right here in the central part of the state.”

In an attempt to remedy the situation, the House introduced HB-1425 in February 2022 which would have completely started the license process over from scratch. The Senate offered a substitute to HB-1425 that would ask the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission to award licenses to six applicants, but not specifically the same six applicants that were originally chosen. Ultimately, the House bill was shut down and the Senate version advanced, but eventually died at the end of 2022.

Rep. Alan Powell spoke to legislators on March 6 about the necessity of HB-196 as a way to resolve the ongoing issue. “Let’s fix the system,” said Powell. “Let’s get it moving and go forward.”

The HB-196 also requires that a Medical Cannabis Commission Oversight Committee be created to manage “membership, inspections, provision of information, plan for accredited lab testing, and patient and physician input.” If passed, it would also allow the commission to increase the number of dispensaries based on how many medical cannabis patients are registered. Every increment of 5,000 patients would allow an additional Class 2 license, and every 10,000 patients would allow an additional Class 1 license, in order to keep up with demand. As of February, there are almost 25,000 medical cannabis patients on the state registry.

Now HB-196 moves on to the Senate for consideration.

In the meantime, owners of Botanical Sciences LLC and Trulieve Georgia are moving forward with their respective businesses. Botanical Sciences CEO Gary Long told Georgia Public Broadcasting about his progress. “We have already begun the production process, which starts with the seeding of cannabis plants in our indoor growing facility producing a variety of tinctures, capsules, and topicals formulated to address the needs of Georgia patients,” Long said. “The opening of our facility was a key milestone for our company, for the city of Glennville, and for the many thousands of those in need awaiting access to this critical form of medicine.”

Trulieve released a press statement on Dec. 6, 2022. “Trulieve is thrilled to receive a Georgia cannabis production license and we appreciate the Commission’s diligence throughout the selection process,” said Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers. “We look forward to educating the Georgia market on the numerous health and wellness benefits of cannabis, as well as providing patients statewide access to the medical cannabis they have been seeking.”

The post Georgia House Passes Bill To Increase Medical Pot Licenses appeared first on High Times.

Florida Group Submits 420,000 Signatures for Cannabis Amendment—Halfway to Qualifying for Ballot

March 6, 2023 Published by

The group that is powering a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize recreational cannabis in Florida is halfway to its goal of getting the measure on next year’s ballot.

According to the News Service of Florida, supporters of the proposed amendment “have submitted more than 420,000 valid petition signatures to the state,” and they will “need to submit at least 891,589 signatures to get on the ballot” in 2024.

“Last month, the committee topped a 222,898-signature threshold needed to trigger a crucial Florida Supreme Court review of the proposed ballot wording,” the News Service reported.

The group behind the effort, Smart and Safe Florida, is being heavily backed by the medical cannabis company Trulieve, which has a significant presence in the Sunshine State.

Smart and Safe Florida launched its campaign last summer.

“We came into this with a mission to provide access to high-quality products that are safe and have an appropriate value proposition to give folks control over their—in the original days—medical journey,” Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers said at the time. “I don’t think that changes here. I mean, in effect we are at our core about expanding the opportunity for access to safe legal product, which is what this would allow us to continue to do.”

Trulieve donated $5 million last summer when the campaign launched.

According to the News Service of Florida, the company “had spent $25 million as of the end of January on the Smart & Safe Florida initiative.”

The amendment would legalize the possession and consumption of cannabis for adults in Florida aged 21 and older, and would also set the framework for a state-regulated pot industry. 

Specifically, the measure would enable the state’s existing medical cannabis facilities to transition into recreational pot dispensaries.

Florida legalized medical cannabis in 2016.

“One of the interesting aspects here is that we do have [a] medical-cannabis market and we have hundreds of thousands of patients in Florida who are utilizing medical cannabis regularly. So our ability to reach out and to have more direct communication…is a bit unique from a positioning perspective,” Rivers said in the summer.

Activists in Florida have been stymied in their previous attempts to get marijuana legalization over the line, including most recently in 2021, when an initiative was blocked by the state Supreme Court.

“Every initiative has provided some level of learning,” Rivers said last year. “With this initiative, the authors have taken a hard look at the Supreme Court rulings surrounding the previous efforts and taken that into consideration. We believe it’s a very appropriate and narrowly focused amendment that does defer appropriately to the Legislature.”

With a growing population that ranks as the third largest in the country, Florida is a coveted potential market for cannabis investors.

“Florida is definitely a market of interest, especially compared to some of the other more mature, more saturated markets,” said Jade Green, president of cannabis industry consulting firm Next Titan Capital. “The main reason is, everybody has a similar belief that, whatever happens in 2024, eventually adult-use (recreational) cannabis will come to Florida.” 

“If you can make it in Florida until rec (recreational marijuana) hits, then you will have a significant advantage in what will be one of the largest cannabis economies not just in the U.S. but in the world,” Green added.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, widely thought of as 2024 Republican presidential contender, has spoken negatively about marijuana legalization in the past.

“What I don’t like about it is if you go to some of these places that have done it, the stench when you’re out there, I mean, it smells so putrid,” DeSantis said last year.

The post Florida Group Submits 420,000 Signatures for Cannabis Amendment—Halfway to Qualifying for Ballot appeared first on High Times.

Trulieve Makes History as First Cannabis Brand to Advertise on Twitter

February 18, 2023 Published by

When Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022, speculation about looming company-wide changes made worldwide headlines. Every controversial decision Musk made, from “ending” political censorship to charging for verification checkmarks, gave journalists and media outlets salacious opportunities to evaluate his choices. The announcement from the social media platform that it will change its cannabis advertising policies has the industry applauding the bold decision.

The new policy will lift advertising bans on cannabis advertising and related content, allowing for greater promotion of previously restricted ads. According to the policy update announced on February 15, Twitter will immediately allow advertising and promotional content related to legal cannabis products and services. The new rules will make concessions for content that promotes education and research about the plant and allow advertisers to promote brands, products and services.

Specifically, according to the Cannabis Ads Policy, CBD and similar cannabinoid products, THC and related products and cannabis-infused products and services—including delivery services, labs, growing technology, search engines and more—are now allowed to advertise on the platform. Additionally, to incentivize businesses to advertise, Twitter is offering to match every cannabis or CBD advertising dollar spent up to $250,000 until March 30, 2023.

Under the social media platform’s policy change, on February 15 behemoth multi-state operator Trulieve made history as the first company to launch an advertising campaign on Twitter.

“The plant really provides an opportunity for the world outside of traditional medicine that can bring great changes and benefits to all and Twitter is an important platform to educate within,” Gina Collins, chief marketing officer at Trulieve, said. “But there’s also a business reality that nobody talks about—especially in the macro-economic conditions we’re all facing—there’s ad revenue to be had. It has mutual benefits for more than just two key players or one small industry. It seems much bigger than that.”

Collins says she hopes the groundbreaking update from Twitter will encourage cannabis advertising policy reform across other social media platforms, believing the news to be a “catalyst.”

“If there’s bravery on a platform such as Twitter to come out and say this is an untapped industry and allow a credible business to come forth, then the rest will have to reconsider their policies too,” Collins says. “Twitter has been evolving its policies and products since they had a leadership change. Elon Musk is a huge advocate of the plant itself, and I suspect there were pretty active conversations around the decision.”

Potential advertisers will have to contend with an arduous approval process to ensure they follow the updated guidelines and are educated on the platform. Once cannabis executives pass that hurdle, they’ll have new tools with Twitter’s advertising products, such as in-stream videos, promoted tweets and product opportunities, to name a few. While that’s a win for cannabis marketers, the promotion of illegal drugs, drug paraphernalia and content that promotes drug use are still prohibited.

Joe Hodas, chief marketing officer for cannabis MSO Wana Brands, says that the new Twitter policy will change the company’s financial commitment to its 2023 marketing plan.

“Strategically, I still need to reach the consumer and drive them into a dispensary to purchase the product,” Hodas says. “And this has offered me another chance to do it. This potentially gives me another more targeted approach to reaching the consumer I can’t get through programmatic ads.”

Will Other Advertising Platforms Follow Suit?

Search engine giant Google quietly announced it was making some adjustments to its restrictive advertising policies around CBD and hemp products beginning in January 2023. However, it didn’t go nearly as far as Twitter and by all accounts, the updated policies are an excessively costly, burdensome process of paying a certification provider thousands of dollars in application, monitoring and website fees before paying for the advertising costs itself.

While Google did remove CBD from its list of unapproved pharmaceuticals and supplements list, its policies are still highly restrictive, only allowing hemp-derived topical CBD products with less than 0.3% or less THC ad content.

Hodas agrees that, as it so often is the case, education is key to progress and that we’re still contending with a lack of understanding.

“This question of hemp and CBD, it’s an issue for the cannabis industry in the sense that I think there’s a lack of education,” Hodas says. “In the early days, some platforms said CBD was permitted, but not allow THC. Well, now that’s all getting blurred as well. I think this further reinforces that we need better education.”

The post Trulieve Makes History as First Cannabis Brand to Advertise on Twitter appeared first on Cannabis Now.

Weed Sales on Super Bowl Sunday Decrease in 2023

February 16, 2023 Published by

An estimated 113 million viewers watched Super Bowl LVII to see if the Philadelphia Eagles or Kansas City Chiefs would win this year (the second-most watched since Super Bowl XLIX in 2015). Among those viewers were countless cannabis consumers, but cannabis sales took a slight dip in comparison to last year.

A cannabis checkout purchase averages at around $84.61, but sales from this past weekend saw a 4% drop in sales.

According to data collected by Chicago-based Fyllo, pre-rolls were the most popular products purchased this weekend at 37% of sales. In a statement to Forbes, Fyllo founder Chad Bronstein explained that the reason pre-rolls sold so well is because they are “the cheapest product in dispensaries.”

“We see this sensitivity to pricing most significant among persons aged 25 to 75, where consumer spending this year around the Super Bowl decreased significantly,” Bronstein added. Among age demographics, Fyllo also found that Gen Z consumers purchased rose considerably on Feb. 12, especially with buyers between 21 to 24 (a 10% increase from that age group).

The second most popular product category was described as “dispensary gear” by Fyllo, which saw a 20% increase this year. This was followed by “plants” at a 200% increase, and beverages at a 39% increase. Both topicals and edibles dropped in sales, with a respective 36% and 25% decrease. Bronstein believes that this is “potentially a response to pricing, driven by higher manufacturing costs, especially for those looking to optimize the cost of their high.”

Fyllo also found that while west coast sales dipped, eastern and southern states’ cannabis sales increased. Sales in Florida increased significantly by 27%, while Maine sales increased by 17%, and Arkansas increased by 7%.

While cannabis sales dropped slightly in previous years, it didn’t hamper the cannabis-related festivities of offered in Arizona where the Super Bowl took place this year. 

Trulieve Cannabis Corp.’s recent move into Arizona led with the launch of Ricky Williams’s Highsman brand. “Our expansion into Arizona is made possible through our retail partnership with Trulieve, and Abundant Organics, whose organic living soil cultivation techniques produce some of the cleanest and most flavorful flower I’ve tried,” Williams announced last month. “Both partners clearly see the Highsman vision and share the same enthusiasm for physical and mental healing as I do. Highsman is for anyone seeking greatness, mental and spiritual well-being.”

Trulieve’s CEO, Kim Rivers, was proud to partner with the former NFL player. “Trulieve is excited to launch this limited-time exclusive partnership with legendary NFL player Ricky Williams in Arizona, just weeks before the Super Bowl will be hosted in the state,” said Rivers. “Ricky was well-known for his belief in the power of cannabis during his playing days, and the Highsman brand reflects his values and passion for cannabis. We are proud to launch Highsman products in the Arizona market.”

HARA Brands partnered with Rolling Stone Live this weekend to celebrate the Super Bowl as well. The brand’s CEO and co-founder, Bryan Gerber, expressed his excitement for what this means for the industry. “We are extremely proud to represent the cannabis community at such a high-profile event during one of the biggest weekends in sports and entertainment,” said Gerber. “It’s a testament to how far this industry has come, and we couldn’t be more excited to be part of this exclusive experience alongside some of the most successful brands and talented individuals.”

WNBA star athlete Brittney Griner attended this year’s Superbowl with her wife Cherelle Griner. Following a 10-month battle for her freedom after being imprisoned in Russia for possessing a small amount of cannabis, Brittney was recently named Arizonan of the Year by Arizona Republic.

The post Weed Sales on Super Bowl Sunday Decrease in 2023 appeared first on High Times.

Florida To Double Number of Medical Cannabis Licenses

February 7, 2023 Published by

The Florida Department of Health announced last week that it will open a new round of licensing for medical marijuana businesses that will double the number of vertically integrated cannabis operators in the state. In an emergency rule released on Friday, the health department revealed that 22 new medical marijuana business licenses will be available, a move that would double the 22 operators currently licensed to produce and sell medical marijuana in Florida.

The new emergency rule comes more than six years after Florida voters legalized the medicinal use of cannabis with the passage of a constitutional amendment ballot measure in 2016. The following year, state lawmakers passed legislation to regulate the state’s medical marijuana industry, with provisions to issue additional cannabis business licenses as the number of registered patients grew. 

With the number of registered medical marijuana patients now standing at nearly 790,000, according to data released last week, state regulators should have issued nearly two dozen medical marijuana business licenses to keep up with the program’s growth. But until last week, the Department of Health had failed to take action on issuing additional medical marijuana business licenses since the administration of Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis took control of the state’s executive branch in 2019.

“This is an exciting milestone for Florida’s medical cannabis program, more than five years in the making,” Courtney Coppola, a former director of the state’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use, told The News Service of Florida. “These additional licenses are an important step in moving the program forward for Florida’s patients and future licensees.” 

Florida Applications To Be Accepted In April

In December, cannabis regulators at the state health department announced that it had developed a process to apply for new medical marijuana business licenses, with plans to accept applications in “batching cycles,” according to media reports. Under the emergency rule published on Friday, the department will accept applications for 22 additional licenses between April 24 and April 28. Louise St. Laurent, a former general counsel for the state Department of Health, said that the state’s medical marijuana operators “are thrilled” by last week’s announcement from regulators.

“There’s been no shortage of companies waiting and watching the department for these rules since probably at least 2017 to be able to have an opportunity to be able to compete for these licenses,” St. Laurent said on Friday.

Florida’s existing medical marijuana operators were licensed under a 2014 law that legalized “non-euphoric” forms of cannabis for a limited number of patients. The new licensing round announced on Friday will be the first batch of new licenses issued since the measure to regulate the state’s medical cannabis industry was passed in 2017.

The 2017 legislation also required the Department of Health to issue a license to a Black farmer with business ties in Florida. In September, regulators announced that the license would be awarded to a man in Suwannee County, but legal challenges have forced the health department to delay issuing the license to the successful applicant.

Recreational Weed Initiative Planned For 2024

Although Florida has so far only legalized medical marijuana, a constitutional amendment campaign to legalize cannabis for use by adults is currently underway, with plans for the proposal to appear on the ballot for the 2024 election. Last week, organizers for the constitutional amendment campaign, which is largely funded by Florida’s largest medical marijuana Trulieve, submitted enough signatures from voters backing the measure to require the Florida Supreme Court to review the proposal.

Under state law, the Supreme Court must approve initiatives before they can be placed on the ballot. In 2021, Florida’s highest court used that power to strike down two separate proposals to legalize recreational marijuana, denying the state’s voters the opportunity to weigh in on the initiatives. But Jade Green, the president of cannabis industry consulting firm Next Titan Capital, believes that the fate of the 2021 proposals is not likely to impede support for this year’s attempt to legalize adult-use cannabis.

“Florida is definitely a market of interest, especially compared to some of the other more mature, more saturated markets,” said Green. “The main reason is, everybody has a similar belief that, whatever happens in 2024, eventually adult-use (recreational) cannabis will come to Florida.” 

Florida’s existing medical marijuana industry is estimated to generate about $1 billion in annual sales for the state’s operators. Adding legal recreational marijuana would open the market to all adults in the state, offering companies an added incentive to enter Florida’s medical marijuana industry.

“If you can make it in Florida until rec (recreational marijuana) hits, then you will have a significant advantage in what will be one of the largest cannabis economies not just in the U.S. but in the world,” Green said.

The post Florida To Double Number of Medical Cannabis Licenses appeared first on High Times.

Maryland Voter-Approved Legalization Measure Takes Shape in New Year

January 5, 2023 Published by

Maryland might still be years away from the launch of its new legal marijuana market, but the start of the new year has still marked the beginning of the post-prohibition era mid-Atlantic state.

A large majority of Maryland voters approved a ballot initiative in November that will both legalize recreational pot use for adults in the state and also establish a regulated retail cannabis market. 

Per local news station WJLA, although “recreational marijuana won’t be fully legal until July 1, as of now possession of up to 1.5 ounces is no longer a crime”; instead, according to the station, “It’s a civil violation carrying a $100 fine.”

“For amounts up to 2.5 ounces the fine is $250,” the station reported.

But the new law will yield immediate changes on the criminal justice front. 

According to WJLA, Marylanders with a cannabis-related conviction on their criminal record on will have it automatically be expunged by July 1, 2024, but they do not have to wait that long.

“You can go to the Maryland Courts website and apply for an expungement without any help from an attorney. They even have instructional videos,” the station said.

WJLA continued: “There is also very good news for those currently locked up for cannabis-related crimes. As long as that is the only crime for which they’re serving a sentence, they can immediately ask for resentencing and a judge must resentence to time served and they must be released.”

Sixty-seven percent of Maryland voters approved Question 4 in November, making the state the latest to end the prohibition on cannabis use. 

The “Yes on 4” campaign was bankrolled by Trulieve, a major cannabis company with a significant presence in Maryland’s existing medical cannabis market. 

The campaign also deployed former Baltimore Ravens player Eugene Monroe as its chairman. 

“Tonight voters in Maryland made history by bringing the era of failed marijuana prohibition to an end,” Monroe said in a statement following its passage in November, as quoted by the Associated Press. “For decades, the unequally enforced criminalization of cannabis in Maryland inflicted damage upon Black and Brown communities. We must turn the page on that disturbing history by centering Maryland’s legal marijuana market around racial equity. Cannabis legalization will create good-paying jobs, open up doors for small business owners, and generate new tax revenue for our state. Legislators in Maryland have a responsibility to ensure people in historically underserved communities are able to enjoy those benefits.”

The success of Question 4 was foreshadowed by a series of encouraging polls for the campaign.

One that was released in early October by the University of Maryland and The Washington Post found more than 70% of voters in favor of cannabis legalization.

“The thing that stood out to me is the high level of support and the diversity of support. Whether you look across party, region, almost every characteristic, you see majorities supporting this,” said Michael Hanmer, the director of the University of Maryland’s Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement, as quoted by The Washington Post. “That’s been the trend across the country. People have really shifted their views across time on this issue, all pointing in the direction of being more supportive.”

The “Yes on 4” campaign has been optimistic about the new law’s potential economic benefits for the state, projecting that legalization could “provide the state with over $135 million in tax revenue.” 

“That figure does not include city and county revenue or the savings from the millions of dollars Maryland spends each year enforcing marijuana possession laws. Passing Maryland Question 4 would empower local law enforcement to focus its limited resources on combating violent crimes. Of the ten counties in the United States with the highest rates of marijuana possession arrests, Maryland is home to three of them,” the campaign said on its website.

The post Maryland Voter-Approved Legalization Measure Takes Shape in New Year appeared first on High Times.

Former Supervisor Says Trulieve Promoted Safety Manager After Worker’s Death

October 11, 2022 Published by

A former supervisor at a Trulieve cannabis cultivation and processing operation in Massachusetts says that the company promoted the site’s environment, health and safety manager only one month after a worker reportedly died from inhaling marijuana dust at the facility, according to reports from WeedWeek and the podcast The Young Jurks. Trulieve is a Florida-based vertically integrated cannabis company with operations in 11 states.

Late last month, The Young Jurks revealed that Trulieve employee Lorna McMurrey died after inhaling dust from cannabis while she was producing pre-rolled joints at the company’s facility in Holyoke, Massachusetts. After an investigation, Trulieve was fined more than $35,000 for violations at the Holyoke facility, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. After news of the incident broke and nine months after McMurrey’s death, Trulieve confirmed the report on October 3.

“In January of this year, Trulieve experienced the loss of one of our team members, Lorna McMurrey, who was working in our Holyoke, Massachusetts facility,” the company wrote in an email statement to High Times. “Our hearts go out to Ms. McMurrey’s family, friends, and colleagues as the circumstances around her passing have recently resurfaced, resulting in their having to re-experience their loss.”

“Out of respect for the family’s privacy, we are not going to provide any details as to the specifics of that day. However, OSHA conducted a thorough investigation of the Holyoke facility. PPE was available onsite,” Trulieve continued in its statement. “They tested the air quality throughout the facility and the samples were all well below acceptable ranges. OSHA did issue citations related to communication standards and Trulieve has contested those findings. We cherish and value all of the 9,000 employees who make Trulieve a family and the safety of our team members is paramount to our core values.”

Former Supervisor Disputes Trulieve

But Danny Carson, a former Trulieve supervisor who hired McMurrey in spring 2021 and supervised her until he left the company the following August, disputed Trulieve’s statement that protective equipment was available to employees working at the Holyoke facility. He said that the face masks at the cannabis cultivation and processing operation were for protection from COVID-19 rather than respirators designed for workers in industrial settings. The masks employees were given, he added, did not fit the face tight enough to keep out particulates in the air.

“They are not sufficient to help their employees with breathing,” Carson told WeedWeek.

In an interview with The Young Jurks over the weekend, Carson said that “cultivation protective equipment” was given to workers to protect the product rather than the employees.

“Gloves are not personal protective equipment,” he said. “A hairnet is not personal productive equipment.”

Carson also said that Trulieve had promoted the Holyoke facility’s environment, health and safety manager a month after McMurrey’s death. The promoted manager, who was not identified, did not respond to a request for comment from WeedWeek.

OSHA Fined Facility More Than $35,000

In its report, which has not yet been finalized by the agency, OSHA investigators wrote that an employee was grinding cannabis flower to be packaged into pre-rolls on January 7 when she “said she couldn’t breathe.” Although the report provides few details on the incident, the OSHA investigation determined that the unidentified “employee could not breathe and was killed, due to the hazards of ground cannabis dust.” The report also mentioned that the inhaled dust contained marijuana kief, which are detached cannabis trichomes, the glands that produce THC and other active compounds found in marijuana.

In June, OSHA assessed fines totaling more than $35,000 against Trulieve in connection with McMurrey’s death, although she was not identified in the report. The three violations cited by OSHA are categorized as “serious,” with the agency alleging that Trulieve violated federal regulations requiring that companies maintain a written hazard communication plan, keep safety data sheets on hazardous chemicals and provide information and training on those chemicals.

The Young Jurks first reported McMurrey’s death in a podcast live-streamed in late September. In a post on YouTube, The Young Jurks shared a statement from an unidentified former co-worker who alleged mismanagement at the Trulieve facility.

“Lorna McMurrey tragically passed away while processing kief in Trulieve’s Holyoke, MA manufacturing facility,” the former employee said. “I had quit about a month prior to her passing due to the horrific management and corruption that I witnessed daily as a supervisor within the facility. I wish that I had been there to save her. Please look out for your people. Please educate yourselves.”

WeedWeek reported that the cannabis industry trade groups the U.S. Cannabis Council and the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) did not respond to a request for comment about the possible need for respirators for workers in the cannabis industry.

“While this is an ongoing case, all I have to say is that I’m deeply saddened to learn of Ms. McMurrey’s passing and are watching the case closely,” said NCIA executive director Aaron Smith.

The post Former Supervisor Says Trulieve Promoted Safety Manager After Worker’s Death appeared first on High Times.

Majority in Maryland Backs Legalization Weeks Before Vote

October 5, 2022 Published by

Weeks before Maryland voters will head to the polls and decide whether to legalize recreational cannabis, a new survey suggests that the measure is poised to pass.

The Washington Post-University of Maryland poll found that 73% of voters in the state favor the legalization of cannabis for adults aged 21 and older, while only 23% said they were opposed. Four percent of voters said they had no opinion.

The findings bode well for supporters of Question 4, which would legalize adult-use marijuana in Maryland beginning July 1, 2023, and establish a regulated cannabis market in the state.

Maryland is one of several states where voters will decide on recreational pot measures this November. (Arkansas, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota are the others.)

The Washington Post-University of Maryland poll, released on Wednesday, suggests Maryland is highly likely to join the 19 other states that have legalized recreational pot use for adults.

“The thing that stood out to me is the high level of support and the diversity of support. Whether you look across party, region, almost every characteristic, you see majorities supporting this,” said Michael Hanmer, the director of the University of Maryland’s Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement, as quoted by The Washington Post. “That’s been the trend across the country. People have really shifted their views across time on this issue, all pointing in the direction of being more supportive.”

The Washington Post noted that the poll showed the measure to be “especially popular among young voters, with 87 percent of voters under 40 favoring legalization.”

“By far those most enthusiastic about legalization are young voters. Almost 9 in 10 voters under age 40 said they support legalizing cannabis, compared with roughly 7 in 10 of those ages 40 to 64 and just over half of those 65 and older,” the Post reported.

Moreover, the survey found that “77 percent of Black voters and 70 percent of White voters favor the proposal,” which also boasts “strong support from wide majorities of independents (81 percent) and registered Democrats (78 percent), along with a narrow majority of registered Republicans (53 percent).”

Lawmakers in Maryland passed legislation earlier this year to set a ballot referendum for marijuana legalization.

Question 4 is heavily backed by the cannabis giant Trulieve, which has several medical marijuana dispensaries in Maryland.

The chairman of the “Yes on 4” campaign is Eugene Monroe, a former offensive lineman for the Baltimore Ravens and a marijuana advocate.

“Legalizing cannabis would stimulate Maryland’s economy and create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs, while allowing Maryland residents to benefit from vital investments in education, public health, and public safety funded by cannabis taxes,” Monroe said last month, as the Question 4 campaign officially kicked off.

The “Yes on 4” campaign is bullish on what recreational marijuana could mean for Maryland’s economy.

“Marijuana legalization is projected to provide the state with over $135 million in tax revenue. That figure does not include city and county revenue or the savings from the millions of dollars Maryland spends each year enforcing marijuana possession laws. Passing Maryland Question 4 would empower local law enforcement to focus its limited resources on combating violent crimes. Of the ten counties in the United States with the highest rates of marijuana possession arrests, Maryland is home to three of them,” the campaign says on its website.

This week’s Washington Post-University of Maryland is not the first survey to suggest that Maryland voters are ready to end prohibition on pot.

A Goucher College poll released in March found that 62% of Maryland voters support legalizing cannabis for recreational use, compared with only 34% who said they were opposed.

That poll also found bipartisan support, with 65% of Democrats and independents, and 54% of Republicans, all saying they backed legalization.

The post Majority in Maryland Backs Legalization Weeks Before Vote appeared first on High Times.

Worker at Massachusetts Cannabis Producer Dies from Inhaling Cannabis Dust

October 3, 2022 Published by

An employee at a Massachusetts cannabis production facility died earlier this year from inhaling cannabis dust while working, according to a preliminary inspection report from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). According to the report, the employee died while producing pre-rolled joints at a marijuana production site in Holyoke, Massachusetts operated by Trulieve, a Florida-based vertically integrated cannabis company with operations in 11 states.

In its report, which is subject to amendment by the agency, OSHA investigators wrote that an employee was grinding cannabis flower to be packaged into pre-rolls on January 7 when she “said she couldn’t breathe.” Although the report provides few details on the incident, the OSHA investigation determined that the unidentified “employee could not breathe and was killed, due to the hazards of ground cannabis dust.” The report also mentioned that the inhaled dust contained marijuana kief, which are detached cannabis trichomes, the glands that produce THC and other active compounds found in marijuana.

In June, OSHA levied fines totaling more than $35,000 against Trulieve in connection with the employee’s death. The three violations cited by OSHA are categorized as “serious,” with the agency alleging that Trulieve violated federal regulations requiring that companies maintain a written hazard communication plan, keep safety data sheets on hazardous chemicals and provide information and training on those chemicals.

Holyoke’s civic leaders have welcomed Massachusetts’ regulated cannabis industry to set up shop in the city’s many vacant industrial buildings, issuing 72 licenses to cultivate, manufacture, and retail cannabis products to businesses operating in the jurisdiction, according to data from the state Cannabis Control Commission. Local independent news site The Shoestring reports that indoor cannabis cultivators are particularly attracted to the city north of Springfield in western Massachusetts, which has relatively low electricity rates compared to other areas. Holyoke is one of the nation’s first planned industrial cities, allowing it to provide affordable electrical power produced via a dam and municipal canal system.

Co-Worker Alleges Mismanagement at Trulieve Facility in Massachusetts

The Trulieve employee’s death was first reported last week by the podcast The Young Jurks. Although the deceased worker was not identified in the OSHA investigation report, The Young Jurks identified the employee as 27-year-old Lorna L. McMurrey of West Springfield, Massachusetts. In a post on YouTube, The Young Jurks shared a statement from an unidentified former co-worker who alleged mismanagement at the Trulieve facility.

“Lorna McMurrey tragically passed away while processing keif in Trulieve’s Holyoke, MA manufacturing facility,” the former employee said. “I had quit about a month prior to her passing due to the horrific management and corruption that I witnessed daily as a supervisor within the facility. I wish that I had been there to save her. Please look out for your people. Please educate yourselves.”

When asked about the death at the Trulieve cannabis cultivation facility, Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia said on Sunday that it was the first he had heard about the incident. He added that he did not have any information and could not offer a comment on the situation.

“This is news to me and I’m very shocked to hear this,” he wrote in a text message sent to a reporter for The Shoestring.

Drew Weisse is an organizer at United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1459, a labor union that represents workers at a Holyoke cannabis production facility operated by Green Thumb Industries. He told local media that workers in the cannabis industry face a variety of workplace hazards.

“You’re doing farm work in a factory, so you have the health hazards associated with both farm and factory settings,” said Weisse.

Trulieve is licensed to grow up to 80,000 square feet of cannabis plants at its facility in Holyoke, which is located in a former Conklin Office Furniture factory building. The company also operates three cannabis retail stores in Massachusetts. Nationwide, Trulieve has operations in 11 states with legal cannabis, with leading market positions in Arizona, Florida, and Pennsylvania.

A publicist for Trulieve told High Times the company was drafting a statement on the incident but declined to provide further comment.

The post Worker at Massachusetts Cannabis Producer Dies from Inhaling Cannabis Dust appeared first on High Times.

House Bill 837 Aims to Legalize Pot Possession, Home Grow in Maryland

September 19, 2022 Published by

Activists behind a ballot referendum to legalize cannabis in Maryland launched a new ad campaign last week, urging voters to support the proposal when they go to the polls on November 8. If passed, the ballot measure would make Maryland the 20th state in the union to legalize recreational marijuana for adults.

In April, the Maryland General Assembly passed two bills designed to legalize recreational marijuana. Under the proposals, Maryland voters will decide in this fall’s general election if cannabis should be legalized for adults, leaving lawmakers to pass additional legislation to regulate the commercial cannabis industry.

“We’re at the beginning of an important process where we begin to look again at how we have treated the substance—cannabis,” Delegate Luke Clippinger, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee and the sponsor of the legislation, told his colleagues in the House of Delegates when they passed the bills earlier this year.

The legislation approved by lawmakers includes House Bill 837, a measure that would legalize possession of up to 1 1/2 ounces of marijuana for adults and create an equitable path to cannabis legalization, according to Clippinger. The bill would also allow adults to cultivate up to two cannabis plants at home.

Maryland Voters to Decide on Question 4 in November

House Bill 837 will go into effect if voters approve House Bill 1, a cannabis legalization constitutional amendment measure that will appear as Question 4 on the ballot for the November general election. The referendum is supported largely by Trulieve, a cannabis producer and retailer with operations in eight states, including three medical marijuana dispensaries in Maryland.

On Thursday, the campaign to pass Question 4 launched a new ad campaign featuring a website and video encouraging voters to support cannabis legalization in Maryland. Eugene Monroe, a former offensive lineman for the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens and the chairman of the committee sponsoring the referendum campaign, said the ballot measure would create economic opportunities for both entrepreneurs and workers.

“Legalizing cannabis would stimulate Maryland’s economy and create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs, while allowing Maryland residents to benefit from vital investments in education, public health, and public safety funded by cannabis taxes,” Monroe said in a statement quoted by the Washington Post.

Supporters of cannabis policy reform in the Maryland General Assembly have said that legalizing marijuana will help the state address the harms caused by prohibition and the War on Drugs. A study from the American Civil Liberties Union showed that between 2010 and 2018, Black people in Maryland were more than twice as likely to be arrested for a marijuana-related offense than white people, despite evidence that the two groups use cannabis at nearly equal rates.

“Passing Question 4 will put an end to the failed criminalization of cannabis, create a well-regulated legal marijuana market centered around equity, and open up new doors for local entrepreneurs and small business owners,” Monroe said in the statement.

Delegate Jazz Lewis of Prince George’s County, who gave his reluctant approval to the legislation passed earlier this year, said that the legal cannabis industry should be open to all.

“We need to make sure that we build a brand new industry where people can get in where it is most appropriate for them, and that they have a support system around them so that they can thrive,” said Lewis.

Maryland legalized medical marijuana in 2014, leading to the launch of the medicinal cannabis industry three years later. But not one of the businesses approved to operate in the industry was Black-owned. Delegate Gabriel Acevero, who represents part of Montgomery County, said that the recreational cannabis industry must not follow the same path.

“The Maryland General Assembly unfortunately got it wrong on medical cannabis,” said Acevero. “It did not prioritize equity, it did not ensure that – in an industry that now generates millions – that communities most impacted would be able to participate in that.”

“We’re not prioritizing mitigating the impacts of the racist drug war – we’re just moving on this issue because we recognize that it’s very popular with Marylanders and for some people, it’s politically expedient,” Acevero added. “But we have to get this right.”

Delegate David Moon, who represents a different section of Montgomery County, is the chair of the criminal justice impacts subcommittee of the cannabis legalization workgroup. He said that the group will wait until the referendum is passed and equity studies are completed early next year before drafting a regulatory system, noting that it could be years before recreational marijuana businesses open their doors to customers.

“That’s exactly why we’re on this sort of two step process,” Moon said. “This whole conversation about licensing requires a few more conversations and analysis, I think because of exactly the history [of the medical marijuana inequities.] The workgroup meetings that have happened have been about getting the basic conversations going on licensing and health effects, so I think it’s really a preview for what’s going to happen in next year’s legislative session.”

With 50 days before the election, Question 4 is receiving strong support from the public. In a poll of 748 likely voters released on Monday morning, 59% said they would vote in favor of the referendum.

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