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Reclassifying Marijuana Could Unlock Billions in Tax Savings for Cannabis Companies
Wall Street Journal
Proposed change could lift income-tax burden that wipes out most licensed marijuana retailers’ earnings
By
Jennifer Maloney
May 5, 2024 9:00 am ET
Cannabis businesses are currently barred from claiming deductions on many basic business expenses.
Many U.S. cannabis businesses could become profitable for the first time if the Biden administration follows through on its plan to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug.
That is because the change could lift a heavy income-tax burden: Section 280E of the federal tax code currently bars cannabis businesses from claiming deductions on many basic business expenses. That rule often results in an effective tax rate of 70% or more, wiping out most licensed marijuana retailers’ earnings.
“It’s an absolute game-changer,” said Boris Jordan, executive chairman of Curaleaf Holdings, which operates 145 dispensaries and 19 cultivation sites across the U.S. “It’s something we’ve been waiting for, for the better part of 10 years.”
The proposed rule could take months to complete and could be further stalled by lawsuits. The public, including state regulators and marijuana companies, would have a chance to comment and the White House would have to sign off on a final version of the rule before it could go into effect.
Marijuana is legal in some form in 40 states and the District of Columbia, but is illegal under federal law—and would remain so even if the Drug Enforcement Administration moved marijuana from Schedule I to the less-restrictive Schedule III, equivalent to prescription medications such as anabolic steroids and some combinations of acetaminophen and codeine.
Cannabis businesses would still have to contend with limited access to banking services and financing. They still wouldn’t be allowed to transport marijuana across state lines. And companies that sell marijuana in the U.S. still couldn’t be traded on U.S. stock exchanges. (Several Canadian operators are listed on U.S. exchanges while U.S. operators are listed on Canadian exchanges.)
Current tax rules allow cannabis businesses to deduct their cost of goods sold, so growers that put most of their resources into production don’t get hit hard.
A national survey conducted in 2022 by Whitney Economics, a cannabis industry research firm, found that fewer than 25% of cannabis businesses were profitable. Licensed U.S. cannabis companies this year are expected to make $31.4 billion in sales and pay $2.3 billion more in federal taxes than they would under normal business tax rules, according to Whitney Economics forecasts.
For companies that have been hanging on in hope of one day making it into the black, the policy change could be transformative. Business leaders said they could use the cash to invest more in marketing, offer better benefits to employees and expand into newly opened markets such as Ohio. Industry leaders said they are also optimistic that the policy shift could reduce the stigma around cannabis, bring more investors into the sector and make federal lawmakers more open to legalizing marijuana.
Congress created Section 280E of the tax code in 1982, when Sen. Bill Armstrong (R., Colo.) tucked the provision into a larger bill as the federal War on Drugs was ramping up.
Cresco Labs CEO Charlie Bachtell, center, said the company has paid millions more in U.S. federal taxes than it would have under normal business conditions. PHOTO: DANIEL ACKER/BLOOMBERG NEWS
The law denies many ordinary deductions and tax credits to businesses that are “trafficking in controlled substances” listed under Schedule I and II.
When marijuana was illegal at the federal and state levels, that deduction limit had a relatively small impact, and it mostly gave U.S. authorities an additional tool to go after drug dealers and impose taxes on top of criminal prosecutions. But state legalization combined with Section 280E created an odd hybrid. The cannabis industry looked like regular businesses in many respects—except for the income-tax bills.
“Draconian, I think, is putting it lightly,” said Charlie Bachtell, chief executive of Cresco Labs, which has dispensaries and production facilities across eight U.S. states. For each of the past two years, Cresco has paid between $70 million and $80 million more in U.S. federal taxes than it would have under normal business conditions, he said. Despite the hefty tax bill, Cresco in the last quarter of 2023 became free cash-flow positive for the first time since it went public in 2018.
The cannabis industry has “really been kind of stumbling its way forward because of the economic burdens of 280E,” said Brian Vicente, a cannabis lawyer in Denver.
The current tax rules allow cannabis businesses to deduct their cost of goods sold, so growers that put most of their resources into production don’t get hit hard. Businesses closer to the consumer get hammered by Section 280E. For instance, a retailer selling clothes or food can deduct rent, marketing and wages when calculating taxable income. But a cannabis retailer typically can’t take any of those deductions.
“It’s impossible to make those numbers work,” said Wanda James, CEO and co-founder of Simply Pure Brands, which has a dispensary in Colorado and a new branch about to open in New Jersey. “It’s just a question of how long is your runway.”
James, a former Navy officer, restaurateur and political organizer, was among the first Black cannabis licensees in Colorado. She said the tax change could lower the barriers to entry for women, people of color and veterans, many of whom have struggled to keep their cannabis businesses afloat after winning state lotteries for social-equity licenses.
The tax change could also shrink the gap in profitability between legal and illegal cannabis businesses, helping licensed businesses that have struggled to compete with the black market. Unlicensed operations can sell marijuana at lower prices and pay fewer administrative and regulatory costs.
More broadly, moving cannabis to Schedule III could create an unusual tax regime. Businesses would still face significant state taxes and high costs for banking and other services. But cannabis would actually have more favorable federal tax treatment than alcohol and tobacco, which are subject to federal excise taxes on top of income taxes.
Senators Schumer, Wyden and Booker reintroduce Cannabis legislation!!!
Good video of them announcing they are reintroducing the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act and striking while the iron is hot. They feel they have the wind at their backs on Cannabis legislation and are going full steam ahead!!!
We may have broken the log jamb and things are going to happen very quickly now on the way to legalization of cannabis.
May 1, 2024
On Wednesday, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) held a press conference about the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act.
How about those New Artizen Hoodies & Tees !!
Look pretty Cool!
https://www.artizencannabis.com/shop
Pricella Ray has a bog on the New Site some good information on Cannabis.
https://www.artizencannabis.com/blogs
Majority Of Americans Say Marijuana Banking Bill Would Promote Public Safety And Help Underserved Communities,
Financial Association Poll Finds
Published on May 2, 2024By Kyle Jaeger
A strong majority of Americans agree that passing a marijuana banking bill would improve public safety, according to a new poll commissioned by Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA).
The survey, conducted by Morning Consult, found that 64 percent of Americans feel the provisions of the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act to allow cannabis businesses to access the banking system will “help improve public safety.”
A second question in the poll noted that some cannabis-related businesses are owned and led by people of color, women and members of the LGBTQ community, asking respondents whether “opening the banking system to cannabis-related businesses would help these underserved communities.” Fifty-four percent agreed.
CBD Can Help Treat Pain, Cancer, Schizophrenia, COVID And Other Conditions
As Senate leadership works to advance the legislation, which cleared committee last September, the ICBA poll that was released last week underscores that the proposal enjoys sizable public support.
ICBA has long advocated for the bipartisan cannabis banking legislation and commissioned several polls consistently demonstrating its popularity. The association’s president, Rebeca Romero Rainey, said in a press release that this latest survey featuring questions on cannabis banking and other policies of concern for the association shows that “Americans from coast to coast support our views on key policy issues.”
“With polling conducted by Morning Consult showing Americans understand the importance of these issues in ensuring continued access to locally based banking, ICBA is proud to continue helping community banks advocate in Washington and power the potential of local communities nationwide,” she said.
The polling is consistent with findings from a separate American Bankers Association (ABA) survey released last month that found 63 percent of Americans back cannabis businesses banking access, compared to just 17 percent who are opposed.
A prior ABA survey, in 2022, found 66 percent of people either strongly (37 percent) or somewhat (29 percent) supported marijuana banking reform, while 16 percent either strongly (8 percent) or somewhat (8 percent) opposed it. Nineteen percent of respondents last year said they didn’t know or didn’t have an opinion.
A separate ABA poll earlier in 2022 found that 68 percent of respondents felt Capitol Hill should act.
ICBA, meanwhile, also hosted a summit in Washington, D.C. this week, where House Financial Services Committee Chairman Vice Chair French Hill (R-AR) discussed ongoing bipartisan collaboration on a cryptocurrency regulations bill that certain lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), hope will be merged with the SAFER Banking Act.
Hill said last week that he’d support a hybrid marijuana banking and cryptocurrency bill, saying “our country will benefit” if both reforms are enacted.
There have also been talks about attaching both measures to a must-pass Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill. But those plans are meeting some opposition, with a Senate aide telling Marijuana Moment on Monday that Republican leadership is proactively opposing that possibility.
A spokesperson for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) separately told Marijuana Moment that the senator, who is considered a legislative gatekeeper in the GOP caucus, “continues to oppose marijuana banking.” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is also reportedly against the move to attach cannabis banking to the aviation legislation.
U.S. Senators Introduce Bill To Legalize Marijuana
A.J. Herrington
Contributor
I cover cannabis and hemp news, business, and culture.
May 2, 2024,09:33am EDT
A group of 18 Democratic Senators this week reintroduced a bill to legalize marijuana nationwide, only a day after news reports revealed that the U.S. government would reclassify cannabis under federal law. The legislation, known as the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, was introduced in the Senate on Wednesday by Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Senate Majority Chuck Schumer and Oregon’s Sen. Ron Wyden, with co-sponsorship by an additional 15 lawmakers in the upper chamber of Congress.
“It’s past time for the federal government to catch up to the attitudes of the American people when it comes to cannabis,” Schumer said in a statement about the bill. “That’s why we’re reintroducing the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, legislation that would finally end the federal prohibition on cannabis while prioritizing safety, research, workers’ rights and restorative justice. We have more work to do to address decades of over-criminalization, particularly in communities of color, but today’s reintroduction shows the movement is growing, and I will keep working until we achieve meaningful change.”
The comprehensive legislation goes further that the Biden administration’s proposal to reclassify marijuana under the CSA that was advanced by the Department of Health and Human services last year. If approved by the White House Office of Management and Budget, the proposal would remove cannabis from Schedule I, the strictest classification that includes heroin and LSD, and instead place it under Schedule III, a group of drugs such as Tylenol with codeine and testosterone. I
n January, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined that marijuana was eligible for reclassification after a review of relevant scientific data. On Tuesday, the Associated Press reported that the Drug Enforcement Administration had approved the bid to reschedule marijuana and ease restrictions on the drug under federal law.
“Our comprehensive Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act doesn’t tell states what to do—but it provides them with the tools to effectively implement the laws their voters and legislators choose,” said Wyden. “Public health, public safety, opportunity and social justice must be at the core of any cannabis reform proposal, and it’s crucial stakeholders continue to have a seat at the table. I look forward to working with my colleagues and advocates across the country to make these priorities a reality.”
The comprehensive legislation goes further that the Biden administration’s proposal to reclassify marijuana under the CSA that was advanced by the Department of Health and Human services last year. If approved by the White House Office of Management and Budget, the proposal would remove cannabis from Schedule I, the strictest classification that includes heroin and LSD, and instead place it under Schedule III, a group of drugs such as Tylenol with codeine and testosterone. In January, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined that marijuana was eligible for reclassification after a review of relevant scientific data. On Tuesday, the Associated Press reported that the Drug Enforcement Administration had approved the bid to reschedule marijuana and ease restrictions on the drug under federal law.
Looks like we have a NEW Website for Artizen?
Spin off must be getting close, new headquarters location and a New Website.
https://www.artizencannabis.com/
PVSP on X - "Everything is Falling into Place" !!!
Pervasip Corp
@PervasipC
·
$PVSP Everything is falling into place
https://twitter.com/search?q=%24PVSP&src=cashtag_click
Pot Stocks Surge on Report DEA Is Moving to Reclassify Marijuana
Carmen Reinicke, Bloomberg News
(Bloomberg) -- Shares of cannabis-related companies jumped Tuesday after the US Drug Enforcement Administration moved to reclassify marijuana to a less dangerous drug category in what would be a historic shift for the industry.
Tilray Brands Inc. jumped 40%, while Canopy Growth Corp. gained 79%. The MJ PurePlay 100 Index, which tracks the industry globally, rose 22%, the most since October 2022. Meanwhile, the AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF surged 25% and was halted for volatility in intraday trading.
Investors have been long awaiting DEA action on the reclassification of marijuana, which has been grouped with drugs such as LSD and heroin. Moving the substance to a different group would remove additional taxes that cannabis companies have to pay — a major overhang for the industry. The agency has been reviewing the classification for marijuana since September after a nudge from the Biden administration.
“There’s been a lot of rumors coming out in the last few days but this looks official,” said Dan Ahrens, managing director of Advisorshares Investments LLC, adding that this move from the DEA could start a domino effect. “I think it makes it easier for the House and Senate to act on SAFER Banking.”
The SAFER Banking Act would make banking and financial services more accessible for the industry.
Cannabis industry stocks have risen this year and even outperformed the S&P 500 Index as investors bought back into the beaten down names in anticipation of the DEA action. Still, pot stocks are trading at steep discounts to the highs hit a few years ago at the start of the cannabis boom.
Read more: WEED, MJ Beating S&P 500 as Cannabis-Reform Hopes Mount
In addition to removing extra taxes cannabis companies have to pay and therefore boosting cash flow, changing the classification could also help bring institutional investment to the industry, Jefferies analyst Owen Bennett wrote in a Tuesday note.
“The major reason current multiples are depressed is lack of institutional ownership,” Bennett wrote, adding that this is due to a combination of factors including major exchanges not listing cannabis stocks.
Reclassification could also prompt more states in the US to legalize marijuana, help destigmatize use and make it easier for the substance to be studied, according to the Jefferies note.
The move “would hugely improve the prospects of full federal legalization within the next 5 years, with a critical piece of this move making it easier to study cannabis and thereby fill in the data gaps where there may be concerns around its widespread use among the population,” said Bennett.
Of course, it’s not clear when the final word on the change could come from the DEA. In his note, Bennett said a rule could be published this week, while Needham analyst Matthew McGinley expects a scheduling announcement in the coming months, he wrote in a note.
“If enacted, rescheduling would be a significant federal reform and the most substantial incremental policy change regarding cannabis at the federal level in a century,” said McGinley.
Attorney general moves to reclassify marijuana as lower-risk drug, officials say
By Michael Scherer, Tyler Pager, Dan Diamond and David Ovalle
Updated April 30, 2024 at 2:45 p.m. EDT|Published April 30, 2024 at 1:55 p.m. EDT
The White House Office of Management and Budget must review the proposal from the Drug Enforcement Administration to reclassify marijuana. (Arin Yoon/for The Washington Post)
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday will recommend loosening restrictions on marijuana in what would be a historic shift in federal drug policy, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.
The measure, if enacted, would not instantly legalize marijuana at the federal level but could broaden access to the drug for medicinal use and boost cannabis industries in states where it is legal. The move may also prove to be a political win for President Biden, who is campaigning for reelection and has sought to ameliorate racial and criminal justice inequities wrought by the nation’s long war on drugs.
The Justice Department was scheduled to submit the formal recommendation to the White House on Tuesday. It follows the Drug Enforcement Administration’s approval of the Department of Health and Human Services recommendation that marijuana be reclassified.
The White House Office of Management and Budget must review the measure, according to the people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal administrative matters. The measure, if accepted, would not go into effect for months until the public has a chance to comment.
The DEA’s approval was first reported Tuesday by the Associated Press. The DEA, the Justice Department and the White House declined to comment.
For more than five decades, marijuana has been classified as a Schedule I controlled substance with a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use. Under the DEA’s proposed change, marijuana would go to the less-risky Schedule III — in the same tier as prescription drugs such as ketamine, anabolic steroids and testosterone.
The historic policy shift comes as marijuana is easier than ever to obtain and has become an industry worth billions in the United States. Thirty-eight states and D.C. have legalized medical marijuana programs, and 24 have approved recreational marijuana.
Biden administration plans to reclassify marijuana, easing restrictions nationwide
Cannabis is currently classified along with drugs like heroin and LSD. The DEA is expected to reschedule it into a category that includes Tylenol and steroids.
Since 1971, marijuana has been in the same category as heroin, methamphetamines and LSD.
April 30, 2024, 1:30 PM EDT / Updated April 30, 2024, 2:05 PM EDT
By Julie Tsirkin and Monica Alba
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration will take a historic step toward easing federal restrictions on cannabis, with plans to announce an interim rule soon reclassifying the drug for the first time since the Controlled Substances Act was enacted more than 50 years ago, four sources with knowledge of the decision tell NBC News.
The Drug Enforcement Administration is expected to approve an opinion by the Department of Health and Human Services that marijuana should be reclassified from the most strict Schedule I to the less stringent Schedule III, marking the first time that the U.S. government would acknowledge its potential medical benefits and begin studying them in earnest.
The Justice Department "continues to work on this rule," a Biden administration official said. "We have no further comment at this time."
What rescheduling means
Since 1971, marijuana has been in the same category as heroin, methamphetamines and LSD. Each substance under the Schedule I classification is defined as a drug with no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Schedule III substances include Tylenol with codeine, steroids and testosterone.
By rescheduling cannabis, the drug would now be studied and researched to identify concrete medical benefits, opening the door for pharmaceutical companies to get involved with the sale and distribution of medical marijuana in states where it is legal.
For the $34 billion cannabis industry, the move would also eliminate significant tax burdens for businesses in states where the drug is legal, notably getting rid of the Internal Revenue Services code Section 280E which currently prohibits legal cannabis companies from deducting what would otherwise be ordinary business expenses.
The Department of Justice’s rescheduling decision could also help shrink the black market which has thrived despite legalization in states like New York and California and has undercut legal markets that are fiercely regulated and highly taxed.
Years in the making
President Joe Biden directed the Department of Health and Human Services in October of 2022 to review marijuana’s classification. Federal scientists concluded that there is credible evidence that cannabis provides medical benefits and that it poses lower health risks than other controlled substances.
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Biden even made history at the State of the Union address this spring, for the first time referencing marijuana from the dais in the House chamber and making note of the federal review process. “No one should be jailed for using or possessing marijuana,” the president said during the speech.
When Biden served as Vice President in former President Barack Obama’s administration, the White House was opposed to any legalization of marijuana because it would “pose significant health and safety risks to all Americans.”
Jim Cole, who served as deputy attorney general in the Obama administration authored the now infamous Cole Memo in 2013 which paved the way for the modern marijuana market. The memo scaled back federal intervention in states that legalized marijuana, as long as they implemented “strong and effective regulatory and enforcement systems to control the cultivation, distribution, sale and possession of marijuana.”
Cole, who is now a member of the National Cannabis Roundtable, told NBC News in an interview this week that reclassifying marijuana to Schedule III would “open up the ability to actually test it and put it in a laboratory without all of the restrictive measures” of a Schedule I drug.
Kevin Sabet, president and CEO of Smart Approaches to Marijuana and a former Obama Administration advisor, said that the decision to reclassify marijuana is "the result of a politicized process," arguing that it "will be devastating for America’s kids, who will be bombarded with attractive advertising and promotion of kid-friendly pot products."
"The only winner here is the marijuana industry, who will receive a new tax break and thus widen their profit margins," said Sabet. “Reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule III drug sends the message that marijuana is less addictive and dangerous now than ever before. In reality, today’s highly potent, super strength marijuana is more addictive and linked with psychosis and other mental illnesses, IQ loss, and other problems.”
Researchers have raised concerns about high-potency marijuana and cannabis-induced psychiatric disorders, particularly young men.
Some challenges ahead
Once the DEA formally makes its announcement, the marijuana industry will see immediate benefit. But with the DEA’s proposed rule change comes a public review period that could lead to a challenge, and perhaps even a change, to the rescheduling proposal.
Once that public comment period has concluded and the Office of Management and Budget reviews the decision, Congress would be also able to overturn the rule under the Congressional Review Act, which gives the legislative branch the power to weigh in on rules issued by federal agencies. Democrats control the Senate with a 51-seat majority and for a CRA to be successful, two-thirds of the House and Senate would be needed to support it, meaning the marijuana rescheduling would likely survive.
Though cannabis remains a divisive topic on Capitol Hill, there has been growing support on a bipartisan basis for marijuana reforms, largely driven by the electorate. Nearly six in ten Americans say that marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational purposes, according to a Pew Research poll last month. Cannabis is legal in 24 states for recreational use.
Congress is considering its own bills
Congress is considering its own measures that would make it easier for legal marijuana businesses to thrive and would allow for more small and minority-owned shops to flood the marketplace.
The SAFER Banking Act, for example, would grant legal marijuana businesses access to traditional banking and financial services and could pass both chambers by the end of the year.
Lawmakers are also considering the HOPE Act, another bipartisan bill that would provide states and local governments resources to automatically expunge criminal records for petty, non-violent cannabis offenses.
There is also a Democratic-only effort to remove cannabis entirely from the Controlled Substances Act, empowering states to create their own cannabis laws and prioritize restorative and economic justice for those impacted by the War on Drugs.
But there is weariness among lawmakers who remember the last time Congress made law surrounding the drug.
The Republican-led Senate legalized hemp production in the 2018 Farm Bill, a decision that led to synthetic and exotic cannabinoids being sold over the counter, oftentimes without regulation, particularly in states where marijuana is not legal.
It’s a gray area that has earned pushback from both sides of the aisle, most recently with the rise of Delta-8: a synthetic THC product that uses chemicals — some of them harmful — to convert hemp-derived CBD into Delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol.
Rescheduling would eliminate Code 280E, allowing for credits or deductions!!
Were DEA to accept FDA’s current recommendation, it would have significant implications for state-legal cannabis businesses, though the rescheduling would not change the ultimate conflict between state and federal law with respect to the sale and distribution of cannabis and its derivatives.
For example, though rescheduling would not federally legalize these businesses, it would eliminate the burden of Internal Revenue Code 280E (IRC 280E), allowing state-legal cannabis businesses to take credits or deductions other than those for costs of goods sold. Currently, cannabis businesses cannot make these deductions because they are prohibited for businesses that are “trafficking in controlled substances (within the meaning of schedule I and II of the Controlled Substances Act).”
DEA Cannabis Scheduling announcement as early as Today!!!!!
Officials with the nation’s top marijuana prohibitionist advocacy group say they are hearing that the results of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) cannabis scheduling review will be announced “very soon,” possibly as soon as “today or tomorrow.”
Marijuana Rescheduling Announcement Coming ‘Very Soon,’ As Early As This Week, Opposition Group Says
Published on April 29, 2024By Kyle Jaeger
Officials with the nation’s top marijuana prohibitionist advocacy group say they are hearing that the results of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) cannabis scheduling review will be announced “very soon,” possibly as soon as “today or tomorrow.”
DEA has spent the last eight months considering a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommendation to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Now leaders of the organization Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) say they’re seeing indications that DEA’s review is complete and will be revealed imminently.
“We’re hearing a lot of chatter—even as we’re having this podcast, I’m hearing from some sources that pro-marijuana Democratic senators are saying it’s very soon, as in today or tomorrow,” SAM President Kevin Sabet said during an interview on the organization’s “The Drug Report” podcast on Monday. “So it could be wishful thinking or not. I don’t know whether it will be coming as we as we talk. So, again, we’ll see.”
Rumors about the timing of a rescheduling decision have been swirling for months. But the sources of those rumors have been consistently pro-reform, making it all the more notable that this time it’s coming from a prohibitionist group that has advocated for keeping marijuana in Schedule I.
“We are hearing it’s going to come soon. It very well could happen this week,” Sabet said. “But it also could happen in three weeks. It could happen in three months. We don’t know.”
The SAM executive also reiterated his skepticism about the revised Food and Drug Administration (FDA) drug scheduling review process—a talking point that’s also been picked up by certain GOP lawmakers.
“One thing I have to say: Obviously sort of a glass half full-glass half empty way to look at this. Obviously, I don’t like [rescheduling] for many reasons, and we completely oppose it,” Sabet said. “But the glass half full, if you’re going to look at it that way—and I always think you’ve got to sometimes look at it that way, even if it’s overall not good, you don’t want it, you wanted a full glass of water—but if you have a half and you look at it that way, the goalposts have changed.”
Sabet said earlier in the interview that SAM has “some pretty decent intel that [the scheduling review is] moving through the process. There’s no doubt about it.”
He pointed out that past scheduling petitions have taken years to complete, only to have the government deny the asks to reclassify marijuana under the CSA. In this case, however, the scheduling review was directed by President Joe Biden. A DEA official also recently said it sometimes takes up to six months for the agency to complete its analysis of health officials’ recommendations—which is now less than how long it has now been since the agency began its current cannabis assessment.
SAM has long opposed even incremental marijuana reform, and it’s coordinated messaging with GOP lawmakers to discourage DEA from rescheduling marijuana. It’s also encouraged supporters to reach out to their congressional representatives to oppose rescheduling, marijuana banking reform and legalization proposals.
Last week, a coalition of 21 congressional lawmakers told DEA to “promptly remove marijuana from Schedule I,” while recognizing that the agency may be “navigating internal disagreement” on the issue.
That point references reporting in The Wall Street Journal that said DEA officials are “at odds” with the Biden administration over the scheduling review.
Marijuana Moment reached out to DEA about the status of its review multiple times in recent weeks, but representatives have not provided on-the-record comment. The White House has also so far declined to comment about the rumored timeline.
Meanwhile, the head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says there’s “no reason” for DEA to “delay” making a marijuana scheduling decision.
Last month, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra defended his agency’s rescheduling recommendation during a Senate committee hearing and also told cannabis lobbyist Don Murphy that he should pay DEA a visit and “knock on their door” for answers about the timing of their decision.
IMO Riss will be CEO of PVSP again!!
PVSP is very likely to announce a deal with a private company that wants to go public, just like Artizen did, and Mesa did with HTSC which Riss controlled.
Riss know everything about SEC listing and Spin Offs and is the guy to convince a partner that is seeking to go public that a reverse merger is the cheapest and most efficient way to become a public company and to up list.
The COO has already resigned and is continuing as a consultant which is expected with the spin off of Artizen just weeks away. IMO German will go with Artizen also, these guys know POT that is about it.
Lets see what happens, but Riss is the guy that can get PVSP a new partner with a reverse merger once again.
Congressional Lawmakers Demand DEA ‘Promptly’ Reschedule Marijuana,
Regardless Of ‘Internal Disagreement’ At The Agency
Published on April 25, 2024By Kyle Jaeger
A coalition of 21 congressional lawmakers is telling the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to “promptly remove marijuana from Schedule I,” while recognizing that the agency may be “navigating internal disagreement” on the issue.
In a letter led by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and John Fetterman (D-PA), as well as Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Barbara Lee (D-CA), members told DEA Administrator Anne Milgram and Attorney General Merrick Garland that it’s been eight months since the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommended that DEA move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA)—and it’s “time for [DEA] to act.”
They added that the current Schedule I status of marijuana “produces a cascade of severe penalties for marijuana users and businesses, including for criminal records, immigration statuses, employment, taxation, health care, public housing, social services, and more.”
CBD Can Help Treat Pain, Cancer, Schizophrenia, COVID And Other Conditions
Citing prior letters, the lawmakers—including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY)—reiterated that while a Schedule III reclassification would be a “meaningful improvement, the only way to remedy the most concerning consequences of marijuana prohibition is to deschedule marijuana altogether.”
“The DEA now has the power to determine whether it will continue the failed approach of keeping marijuana in Schedule I,” the letter says.
“Although some at the DEA have indicated that the agency’s review of an HHS scheduling recommendation often takes up to six months, almost eight months have now passed since the DEA received HHS’s recommendation,” they said. “While we understand that the DEA may be navigating internal disagreement on this matter, it is critical that the agency swiftly correct marijuana’s misguided placement in Schedule I.”
That point references reporting in The Wall Street Journal that said DEA officials are “at odds” with the Biden administration over the scheduling review.
“The longer marijuana remains scheduled in the CSA, the longer our communities face senselessly severe penalties and the longer the marijuana laws of the majority of U.S. states remain in conflict with federal law,” the letter continues. “Right now, the Administration has the opportunity to resolve more than 50 years of failed, racially discriminatory marijuana policy.”
“We trust that the DEA is working as quickly as possible toward a decision on how marijuana is scheduled, as Vice President Kamala Harris recently reassured stakeholders. We are also hopeful that the DEA will not make the unprecedented choice to disagree with HHS’s medical finding that a drug does not belong in Schedule I.”
The letter concludes by applauding President Joe Biden for promoting marijuana reform during his State of the Union address and saying Second Chance Month represents a “prime opportunity to finally begin remedying the harms of marijuana’s scheduling by removing marijuana from Schedule I.”
“We look forward to your prompt action and appreciate your attention to this important matter,” they said.
The letter, which was first reported by HuffPost, also cites a response several senators received from DEA earlier this month explaining that the agency is carrying out its duties in the cannabis review and “must follow the procedures set forth in the [CSA], including an opportunity for a public comment period and a hearing.”
That’s notable, as it appears to be the first time DEA has explicitly acknowledged the likelihood of a public feedback period including a public hearing after it announces the conclusion of its review.
Other signatories on the letter include Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR), Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jeff Merkeley (D-OR), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Reps. Robert Garcia (D-CA), Dina Titus (D-NV) and more.
Meanwhile, the head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says there’s “no reason” for DEA to “delay” making a marijuana scheduling decision.
Last month, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra defended his agency’s rescheduling recommendation during a Senate committee hearing and also told cannabis lobbyist Don Murphy that he should pay DEA a visit and “knock on their door” for answers about the timing of their decision.
Bloomberg Marijuana Stocks Gain Momentum on Cannabis Reform Hopes
US Edition
Markets
By Carmen Reinicke
April 19, 2024 at 12:00 PM EDT
Updated on April 19, 2024 at 4:20 PM EDT
Marijuana Stocks Gain Momentum on Cannabis Reform Hopes
Two cannabis funds have beat the S&P 500 in last six months
Investors see major upside for the industry with policy change
Bloomberg
By Carmen Reinicke
April 19, 2024 at 12:00 PM EDT
Updated on April 19, 2024 at 4:20 PM EDT
Investors have been diving into cheap pot stocks in hopes that a change in US policy will unlock major upside for cannabis companies.
A look at funds and stocks following the marijuana industry ahead of the unofficial marijuana holiday of April 20, popularly known a
PCAOB Audit completed Feb, Spin Off SOON!!!
Paul Riss
@PaulRiss
·
Feb 9
$PVSP has uploaded PCAOB audited financial statements. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Now they can work on #spinoff and creating value. Onward and upward! I think my $MHRE spinoff will happen first. It's a race.
https://twitter.com/PaulRiss
Schumer And Other Democrats Amplify Calls For Marijuana Reform Ahead Of 4/20
Which Congressman Says Should Be Celebrated ‘Every Day’
Published on April 17, 2024By Kyle Jaeger
Democratic senators, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), are “trying to recruit Republicans” to join them in the push for federal marijuana legalization, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) said at an event ahead of 4/20, which another lawmaker said is a holiday that should be celebrated “every day” this year as advocates work to get reform “across the finish line.”
At a press briefing organized by the Last Prisoner Project (LPP) on Wednesday, multiple congressional champions of cannabis legalization marked progress in the fight to end prohibition.
As Schumer, Wyden and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) prepare to file a bill to federally legalize marijuana later this month, Wyden said the trio are “out right now trying to recruit Republicans to join in.”
Teen Marijuana Use Has Declined In Washington Since Legalization
“I want you to hear what my message is. I’m gonna say one word: Deschedule,” he said. “Descheduling ought to be a Republican dream… Sometimes I think they’re only for states’ rights if they think the state is right.”
Schumer, meanwhile, applauded advocates and discussed his work on legalization and cannabis banking reform in a pre-recorded video that was shared with Marijuana Moment ahead of a National Cannabis Policy Summit on Wednesday.
“My commitment to ending federal prohibition on cannabis remains as strong as ever,” he said. “As many of you know, cannabis reform is an issue I’ve cared about, and I’ve been working hard on, for years. And as many of you know, momentum is now in our favor.”
“Here in Congress, we’re making some good progress,” he said, pointing to the Senate Banking Committee passage of the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act last September. Schumer also reiterated his interest in attaching a measure to incentivize state-level cannabis expungements to the legislation when it’s brought to the floor.
The majority leader also talked about his forthcoming Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA) to legalize marijuana.
“Cannabis legalization has proven successful at the state level. It’s high time that Congress catches up with the rest of the country,” Schumer said. “Of course, we know none of this is easy, especially in divided government. We need all of you to continue reaching out to members, especially Republican members, so we can make cannabis reform a reality.”
Back at the LPP event, Congressional Cannabis Caucus founding co-chair Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) touted his 51 years of work to reform state and federal marijuana laws. He also said it’s “appropriate” that advocates and lawmakers are celebrating 4/20 three days early because, “this year, we ought to be celebrating 4/20 every day.”
“Forces are aligned to be able to end this failed war on drugs and mobilize unprecedented support across the country,” he said. “And, frankly, the Biden administration has been doing a little realignment, which I welcome. But it’s time to not just realign but get it done.”
“President Biden, if I was interested in mobilizing young people—if I was interested in energizing them—this is a no-brainer,” Blumenauer said.
It is the whole reason for the Spin Off!
They have explained it a dozen times now, read the releases.
Paul is the Man!!!!!
Got to love this guy, he never quits and the Artizen spin off is going to set this gem FREE!!!
Just hope we can get the deal done soon, before the cannabis sector starts to run agin. With the much anticipated funding we should be able to acquire cannabis assets at Rock Bottom prices. Buying up some distressed Retail Locations in multi states would set to stock price on fire!!
"Company expects to file Qtrly report in several days"
The company was not able to complete its accounting for the period ended 02/29/2024 in sufficient time for
management to thoroughly review the report. The Company expects to file the report in several days
Riss Spin Off of HTSC to MHRE on FiRE!!
MHRE the California Garage Door Installer doing around $20M in sales with 100M shares outstanding is up 150% in past few months from .02 to .05.
PVSP spin off of Artizen will be structured the same, 100M shares outstanding, plus we keep all of our PVSP shares that will be to bring private company public, so we will own two new companies!!!
Keep and eye on this one.
https://ih.advfn.com/stock-market/USOTC/mesa-home-resources-pk-MHRE/chart
5 day Extension on Qtr Report has been Filed.
The Attorney Amended Letter may have caused delay or change in Qtr report, should be ready by end of week is my guess.
https://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/PVSP/overview
Florida Supreme Court approves ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana
If the provision gets 60 percent in November, it will legalize recreational marijuana in the country’s third-most populous state.
Florida voters will have a chance to weigh in on recreational marijuana legalization this November. | John Minchillo/AP
By AREK SARKISSIAN
04/01/2024 05:43 PM EDT
TALLAHASSEE, Florida — The Florida Supreme Court will not block a ballot initiative that seeks to legalize recreational marijuana use for adults in this year’s general election, giving a major boost to the effort to open up pot use in the third-most populous state in the country.
With the green light from Florida’s conservative-leaning high court and more than 1 million signed and certified voter petitions in hand, Florida voters will have a chance to weigh in on an issue the state’s Republican-led Legislature has rejected for years.
The decision was in response to a request made by Florida Republican Attorney General Ashley Moody to reject the ballot language, arguing the measure fails to remind voters about a federal ban on marijuana.
Florida’s Supreme Court in a 5-2 ruling determined that the ballot language proposed by the Smart & Safe Florida committee to go before voters in November’s election fit the state’s single-subject rule for ballot initiatives.
Justice Jamie Grosshans wrote in the majority opinion that the ballot language was not too confusing for voters, and rejected an argument that the proposed amendment would require the Legislature to create new licenses to sell pot beyond the companies currently allowed to sell medical marijuana.
“We do not believe the summary would confuse a voter into thinking that the Legislature is required to authorize additional licenses,” the opinion states, later adding, “It clearly states that the amendment legalizes adult personal possession and use of marijuana as a matter of Florida law.”
Smart & Safe Florida’s campaign was funded by more than $39 million from Trulieve, which is the largest medical marijuana company in Florida. The proposed amendment, if approved by 60 percent of voters in November, would allow Trulieve and the 24 other companies licensed by the state to sell and grow pot for medical use to begin selling to anyone over the age of 21.
“We are thankful that the Court has correctly ruled the ballot initiative and summary language meets the standards for single subject and clarity. We look forward to supporting this campaign as it heads to the ballot this Fall,” Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers wrote in a statement, later adding that a coalition of companies has formed to aid in the campaign to November.
Trulieve operates 131 of the 618 medical marijuana dispensaries in Florida, and Moody used the Tallahassee-based company’s market position to argue that the ballot language was not written within the best interest of voters.
Lawyers from Moody’s office argued in briefs — filed before the court heard oral arguments in November — that the company was footing the bill for the initiative so it could lure consumers to willfully break federal law in the name of profit.
The justices all but dismissed Moody’s arguments during oral arguments. The same court had previously rejected two legalization initiatives from recent election years, handing down decisions that identified several mistakes. Lawyers for Smart & Safe Florida argued that the proposed language sought to address the mistakes that were cited by the court in the previous decisions, and Moody’s lawyers argued that the court should reconsider parts of the previous decisions.
In Monday’s opinion Grosshans wrote the amendment does not violate the single subject rule by impacting the state’s medical pot industry.
“Selling and possessing marijuana appear, for better or worse, directly connected, and we cannot say that an amendment addressing both components violates the single-subject requirement,” the opinion states.
Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2019 was hailed a champion by medical marijuana businesses and patients just weeks after he first took office, after he called on the state Legislature to repeal a ban on the sale of smokable marijuana known as flower.
DeSantis has since signed legislation that tightened the state’s controls on medical marijuana marketing to further prevent advertising that attracts children and implied that products were for recreational use. And his annual state budget recommendations to the Legislature have included millions in funding to expand testing, safety and enforcement efforts at the Office of Medical Marijuana Use.
DeSantis has, however, called recreational pot use a “real problem,” even lamenting the plant’s “stench.” While campaigning for president last year, DeSantis told reporters that marijuana has become more potent over the past two decades and warned that it could be laced with fentanyl.
“I think it’s a real, real problem, and I think it’s a lot different than stuff that people were using 30 or 40 years ago,” DeSantis said. “And I think when kids get on that, I think it causes a lot of problems.”
Florida already has the largest medical marijuana program in the country, with more than 871,000 patients registered with the state Department of Health.
More than 71 percent of voters legalized pot for medical use in 2016 after a successful ballot initiative backed heavily by high-profile Orlando lawyer and self-proclaimed “Pot Daddy” John Morgan, who contributed close to $7 million in cash.
LOL the Village Idiot speaks again, LOL
Dumbest post from you ever, it is a conspiracy, run for the hills, bla, bla, bla.
Congressional Lawmakers Push Attorney General To Issue ‘Overdue’ Marijuana Guidance, Saying Ongoing ‘Legal Limbo’ Is “Unacceptable’
Published on March 27, 2024By Kyle Jaeger
It is “unacceptable” that the Department of Justice has yet to reissue federal marijuana enforcement guidance to discourage interference in state cannabis programs, leaving Americans in a “legal limbo” despite promises to update the policy, two Democratic congressional lawmakers said in a new letter to the attorney general.
Writing to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday, Congressional Cannabis Caucus co-chairs Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Barbara Lee (D-CA) said the department should “correct this oversight and reissue a memo making clear DOJ’s limited resources will not be spent prosecuting those acting in accordance with state or Tribal law.”
It’s been over six years since then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded the previous Obama-era Cole and Wilkinson memos that generally directed prosecutors not to interfere with state and tribal marijuana laws, respectively. And making matters “especially concerning,” it’s been over a year since Garland signaled that updated guidance was forthcoming, they said.
CDC says teen pot use declined in Washington after legalization
“While we appreciate the historic steps the Biden-Harris Administration has taken to pardon federal simple possession marijuana offenses and begin the formal review of marijuana’s schedule under the Controlled Substances Act, it is unacceptable that more than half of Americans living in jurisdictions with legal marijuana markets are left in limbo without public guidance to prevent unjust prosecution of those complying with their state’s or Tribe’s regulations,” the lawmakers wrote.
“Law enforcement, state regulators, small businesses, patients, and everyday Americans are caught in the ambiguity of the federal-state gap, made worse by the delay in reissuing the Cole and Wilkinson Memoranda protections,” they said.
Blumenauer and Lee also noted that, for years, they’ve “urged DOJ to act on this commonsense protection,” and they’ve been “consistently disappointed in meetings with agency leadership and DOJ prosecutors on existing policies.”
“As congressional allies in the work to undue the harms of the misguided war on drugs, we request answers on the delays in reissuing these protections:
Given President Biden and Vice President Harris’ public position that no one should be incarcerated for marijuana possession, what steps is DOJ taking to ensure state- or Tribe-legal actions are not prosecuted?
What is the DOJ’s specific timeline for reissuing the Cole and Wilkinson Memoranda protections?”
“While Congress works to address the impacts of the federal-state gap on cannabis policy, the urgency of issuing public guidance addressing federal prosecution of those who comply with state and Tribe cannabis laws should inform DOJ’s actions,” the letter concludes. “We look forward to your response and to the long overdue reissuing of these critical, fiscally responsible, and common-sense protections.”
When Garland was asked about the issue during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last March, he said that it was “fair to expect” that the updated marijuana policy would be “very close to what was done in the Cole Memorandum.”
At an earlier hearing in June 2022, the attorney general said the Justice Department was still “examining a wide range of issues that relate to marijuana and its production, sale and use, and we intend to address these issues in the days ahead.”
While there’s still no formal guidance in place, the federal policy of non-interference in state cannabis programs has generally persisted over the recent administrations. But advocates want to see the memo reissued nonetheless for added protections.
In the meantime, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is working to complete its review into cannabis scheduling after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommended moving it from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).
DEA Officials Discuss Marijuana Scheduling Timeline, Seeking To ‘Correct Misperceptions’ That Decisions Are Made In A ‘Shroud Of Secrecy’
Published on March 28, 2024
By Kyle Jaeger
A Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) official says the agency wants to “correct misperceptions” that its drug scheduling review process is done in a “shroud of secrecy” as it works to reach a final decision on possibly reclassifying marijuana. He also said it sometimes takes up to six months for DEA to complete its analysis of health officials’ recommendations—which is just about how long it has now been since the agency began its current cannabis assessment.
In the latest episode of the agency’s “Prevention Profiles: Take Five” series, DEA Senior Prevention Program Manager Rich Lucey spoke with DEA pharmacologist Buki Ebeigbe about the scheduling process and specifically how it relates to the ongoing cannabis review—marking the first time that officials with the agency have discussed its current analysis of marijuana’s Schedule I status publicly in any depth.
“I just think it’s important for people to—again, going back to correcting misperceptions and really the issue of transparency and, by us even doing this podcast, just to help people understand the process,” Lucey said. “We don’t want it to necessarily feel as if it’s behind this shroud of secrecy, which I think then lends itself to this idea that it’s a whole arbitrary process.”
Transparency has been a key concern for advocates and lawmakers, with DEA declining to say anything publicly beyond confirming that they’ve received the recommendation from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and are now carrying out their own review.
That process is “independent” of the HHS review, Lucey stressed.
That’s right,” Ebeigbe said. “It’s in its process. We’ve received [the HHS analysis], and we’re in the process of writing that recommendation” on cannabis scheduling to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram.
“Once that information is compiled and that document is written—that eight-factor document is written—it’s reviewed through our internal process,” she said, referring to the multi-step analysis the agency is completing on the effects of cannabis. “Ultimately, the administrator will make a decision on where to place it—whether to change it or whether to remove it or whatever.”
Lucey also commented on the complexity of drug scheduling reviews and what that means in terms of timing.
“Right now it’s a ‘wait and see.’ HHS has done their part, and now DEA is doing its part, which is that eight-factor analysis. And that can take anywhere from like three to six months sometimes,” he said. “I mean, it’s not like we’re going to be done in a week. It never happens that way.”
While Lucey was speaking generally about the drug scheduling review process, that timeline is notable. HHS delivered its Schedule III recommendation to DEA last August, meaning it’s been more than six months now that the drug agency has been conducting its own review. And there’s significant pressure to complete its work expeditiously.
Former governor launches Jesse Ventura Farms cannabis brand
Good time to jump in with both feet!!!
Matt Sepic Minneapolis
March 27, 2024 4:32 PM
Former Minnesota Governor Jess Ventura laughed and noted that "Jimi Hendrix is looking down on Minnesota" during remarks at the state capitol as current Governor Tim Walz signed a bill legalizing cannabis as of Aug. 1.
Ventura, who started the process by lighting a spark when he was governor, also said he was glad to have lived long enough to witness this day.
Judy Griesedieck for MPR News
Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura is launching his own brand of cannabis edibles.
Ventura is partnering with Columbia Heights-based Retro Bakery, which is producing hemp-derived THC edibles under the Jesse Ventura Farms brand.
Ventura, a longtime advocate of legalizing marijuana, testified in favor of the adult-use cannabis bill at the Legislature and was with Gov. Tim Walz when he signed it last year.
Ventura has said the drug helped his wife Terry get her seizures under control and alluded to that in his product launch video.
“Cannabis saved my family’s life, and now it’s time for me to return to the cannabis world,” he said in the video.
Retro Bakery said the Ventura-branded edibles will be available for pre-order on Monday, with a launch party at the Hook & Ladder in Minneapolis on April 20.
Why Marijuana Stocks Are Hopping Again on Tuesday
Rich Smith, The Motley Fool
Tue, Mar 26, 2024, 12:04 PM EDT2 min read
In This Article:
SNDL
+13.87%
Marijuana stocks are red hot Tuesday, as investors digest the latest cannabis news. And what news we've got! Last week, Vice President Kamala Harris voiced plans "to legalize marijuana" in the U.S. In just a few days, Germany will do just that, decriminalizing both marijuana possession and home cultivation of cannabis effective April 1.
Investors who pocketed gains yesterday are lining up to buy more on Tuesday. As of 10:40 a.m. ET, shares of marijuana stocks Cronos Group (NASDAQ: CRON), SNDL (NASDAQ: SNDL), and Canopy Growth (NASDAQ: CGC) are up 4.8%, 8.3%, and 11.8%, respectively.
Voters support cheaper marijuana
There's good reason for optimism. While U.S. federal marijuana legalization may or may not happen, support is building in Congress for legislation making sales at the state level -- where 24 states have fully legalized weed -- more profitable for the companies that sell it.
As cannabis news source Marijuana Moment reports, an American Bankers Association poll finds that 63% of voters polled support Congress passing a Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act to let cannabis companies secure loans and use other banking services. Leading senators such as Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer already support the bill.
Legalizing bank services would lower the cost of doing business for companies that cultivate and sell marijuana, potentially making these businesses more profitable, allowing them to lower prices for consumers -- or both. As such, it's a logical next step for Congress to take, even prior to full-scale legalization.
Tick tock
All that said, Congress has been trying to pass "SAFER" for half a decade now, so far without success. While legalization is probably coming, in whole or in part, it remains to be seen which cannabis companies will survive to see it.
Analysts don't see Canopy Growth turning profitable before 2028 for example, or Cronos turning a profit... ever. SNDL, however, might earn a profit in 2025 -- and has enough cash to last eight more years at its current burn rate. When betting on marijuana legalization, don't forget to keep an eye on a company's cash.
Biden, at risk with young voters, is racing to shift marijuana policy
A Biden campaign aide said marijuana policy is one of a number of issues the campaign believes will motivate young people.
(Jose Luis Magana/AP)
BY NOAH BIERMAN
STAFF WRITER
MARCH 26, 2024 3 AM PT
WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris looked up from prepared remarks in the White House’s ornate Roosevelt Room this month to make sure the reporters in the room could hear her clearly: “Nobody should have to go to jail for smoking weed.”
Harris’ “marijuana reform roundtable” was a striking reminder of how the politics have shifted for a onetime prosecutor raised in the “Just Say No” era of zero-tolerance drug enforcement. As President Biden seeks badly needed support from young people, his administration is banking on cannabis policy as a potential draw.
Biden made similar comments to Harris’ in this month’s State of the Union address — though the 81-year-old president used the term “marijuana” instead of “weed.” The administration is highlighting its decision to grant clemency for pot possession as it races to have cannabis reclassified under the Controlled Substances Act before Biden faces voters in November.
“What’s good about this issue is it’s clean and it’s clear and it cuts through,” said Celinda Lake, one of Biden’s 2020 pollsters who also works for the Coalition for Cannabis Scheduling Reform, an industry group, along with Democratic organizations supporting Biden’s reelection. “And it’s hard to get voters’ attention in this cynical environment.”
The challenge is significant. Biden is viewed favorably by only 31% of people ages 18 through 29, much worse than he fares with other age groups, according to a recent Economist/YouGov poll. Though he leads former President Trump by 21 percentage points in that age group, he needs a high turnout to repeat his 2020 formula. Biden’s age probably has played a role in alienating a group that is both essential for Democrats and historically harder to galvanize than older voters, who more consistently show up at the polls.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has delivered a recommendation to the Drug Enforcement Administration on marijuana policy, and Senate leaders hailed it Wednesday, Aug. 30, as a first step toward easing federal restrictions on the drug. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File)
WORLD & NATION
U.S. regulators might change how they classify marijuana. Here’s what that would mean
VENICE, CA - MARCH 20, 2024 - - Pedestrians walk past the now closed MedMen cannabis store on Abbot Kinney on March 20, 2024. A pair of signs on the front windows says that the store is closing temporarily. In the summer of 2018, cannabis retailer MedMen opened a boutique shop on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice - "the coolest block in America," as the company hyped in a press release at the time. But, in the years that followed, the once rapidly expanding company began to unravel. Their stock plummeted to zero and recently they abruptly closed most of their California locations, including the one on Abbot Kinney, at least temporarily. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
BUSINESS
“In the year 2024, it’s fair to expect more from a Democratic president,” said Matthew Schweich, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, a nonprofit trying to loosen laws at the local, state and federal levels.
Schweich said he worries about Trump returning to office but believes Biden has done the “absolute bare minimum,” missing a political opportunity to push for legalization in Congress and to advocate for the complete removal of marijuana from the controlled substances list, which Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and 11 other Democratic senators urged in a January letter to the DEA.
Trump, whose administration threatened federal enforcement against localities and states that had legalized marijuana, is unlikely to attract support from legalization advocates.
Polling that Lake has done for the industry shows even the incremental step Biden is seeking could boost his approval by as much as 9 percentage points with younger voters in battleground states. But it’s hardly certain how that would play out.
A campaign aide, who would speak only on condition of anonymity, said marijuana policy is one of a number of issues the campaign believes will motivate young people — important but not as prominent as top-tier concerns including college affordability, reproductive rights, the economy, climate and healthcare.
The campaign cautions against treating young people as a monolith, noting that they care about a variety of issues and tend to see connections between them. Democrats, through a variety of methods including social media influencers and a newly launched campus outreach program, are trying to make the broader case to young people that Biden is fighting for equity and change while Trump is looking backward.
They note that young voters proved critical not only in Biden’s 2020 election but also in the 2022 midterm elections, when concerns over democracy and abortion rights helped the party perform better than expected.
Overall support for legalization is now at 70%, the highest recorded by Gallup, which began polling the question in 1969, when just 12% of Americans favored legalizing marijuana. The substance is legal in 24 states and Washington, D.C., for adults, and a total of 38 have made it legal for medical use, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a legalization advocacy group.
The administration has pitched its marijuana agenda as part of its broader efforts to change other criminal sentencing laws and to improve job and business opportunities for people who have spent time in jail or prison.
Lake argues the two efforts combined could help Biden with Black men, another group where he has lost significant support since winning election in 2020.
Padilla said he still gets asked about marijuana regulations regularly, even though California was the first state to pass a medical-use law in 1996. “It resonates with a lot of people,” he said.
In practical terms, reclassifying marijuana changes little. Federal penalties would remain the same, though the Justice Department has for decades treated most marijuana crimes as low-priority prosecutions. It would remain illegal to transport pot across state lines, meaning access to banks and financial markets will remain a hurdle, even for companies operating in states that have legalized pot.
The biggest difference is that scientists and doctors could more easily study the drug for medical uses, something that is now practically banned. Such a change could open the door for greater acceptance. It also would lower tax burdens for the industry in states where it is legal, by allowing deductions for ordinary business expenses that are currently prohibited by the Internal Revenue Service.
Other potential changes are less certain. Banks and credit card issuers, for instance, would not immediately lift restrictions on marijuana transactions, though that could come if regulators in the Treasury Department decide to take up the issue, according to Shane Pennington, an attorney specializing in the Controlled Substances Act who has industry clients.
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra speaks during an event announcing the launch of the Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy at the State Department, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, at the State Department in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
SCIENCE & MEDICINE
Senators hail federal recommendation to ease restrictions on marijuana
Aug. 30, 2023
Biden proposed reviewing marijuana’s status in October 2022, a process that usually takes an average of more than nine years, Pennington said. The Department of Health and Human Services recommended Schedule III in August, the first step toward a change. A DEA spokesperson, in an email, said the agency would not discuss the issue while it is under review.
“It often takes a very long time, but we’re in unprecedented territory here” because the order came directly from the president, Pennington said.
Harris, in her roundtable discussion on marjuana reform, showed her impatience.
“I cannot emphasize enough that they need to get to it as quickly as possible, and we need to have a resolution based on their findings and their assessment,” she said.
The rushed nature of the process could expose the administration’s actions — which are almost certain to draw lawsuits — to further scrutiny.
Kevin A. Sabet, a former marijuana policy advisor in the Obama administration who heads an anti-legalization group, noted that Biden’s Health and Human Services Department released its preliminary recommendation at 4:20 p.m., slang for weed smoking time, underscoring the political nature of a normally button-down regulatory process. He argued that the decision was poorly crafted and could run afoul of U.S. treaty obligations.
But Sabet also agrees with advocates that Biden could have gone further.
“I think what the president wants to do is reap some of the benefits of the guy who’s embracing all this stuff without actually becoming in favor of legalization,” said Sabet, who heads the group Smart Approaches to Marijuana.
Florida bankers say passage of SAFE Act for cannabis clients is in sight
Banking & Financial Services
Medical marijuana is nearly a $2 billion industry in Florida, with over 800,000 licensed patients across the state.
RYLAND ZWEIFEL / EYEEM
Christina Georgacopoulos
By Christina Georgacopoulos – Reporter, Tampa Bay Business Journal
Mar 26, 2024
Updated Mar 26, 2024 7:30am EDT
“We need to be able to bank this population. It doesn’t matter whether you believe in [legalization] or not,” according to a Tampa banker who lobbied lawmakers to pass the SAFE Act while in D.C. last week.
THIS ARTICLE IS FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY
Schumer Circulates Petition For Marijuana Banking Bill As Pressure Builds For Vote
Published on March 22, 2024By Kyle Jaeger
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is asking people to show their support for a marijuana banking bill by signing a petition as he steps up his push for the legislation. In a new email about the effort, he also reiterated his support for comprehensive federal cannabis legalization.
With Congress positioned to pass a final package of appropriations legislation for the current fiscal year, lawmakers have been renewing their call to move the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act. And in an email blast on Friday, Schumer again leaned into the issue.
“Can you imagine running a business without being able to deposit your money anywhere?” the email says. “That’s the reality for law-abiding marijuana businesses across the country.”
States That Legalized Marijuana See Massive Reduction in Tobacco Use
“In states where marijuana is legal, these businesses have extremely limited access to basic banking services like deposits or lines of credit. They’re forced to keep massive amounts of cash on hand—a danger for everyone involved,” it continues. “Banks are nervous to interact with legal marijuana businesses because marijuana remains illegal at the federal level.”
“I firmly believe that we should legalize marijuana. But while I continue pushing for legalization, these businesses need our immediate support,” Schumer said in the email promoting the online petition, which is a common list-building tactic for campaign fundraising. “Sign on to support the SAFER Banking Act and make sure marijuana business owners can access basic banking services.”
Completing the sign-on form then takes people to a brief questionnaire inquiring about their familiarity with the cannabis banking issue.
“Did you know about 90 percent of U.S. banks deny service to marijuana businesses?” one question asks.
“Did you know that if marijuana businesses do manage to get a bank account, they’re often charged sky-high service fees to cover the bank’s liability?” another prompt says.
“Senate Democrats are looking out for small business owners and fighting to end the unjust criminalization of marijuana. Will you help protect our Democratic Senate Majority to keep making progress on these issues?” it concludes, listing donation options.
The ball is currently in Schumer’s court. The Senate Banking Committee approved the bipartisan cannabis legislation last September, and now it’s a matter of scheduling it for floor action before it’s potentially sent over to the House, which has passed earlier versions of the proposal in some form seven times in recent sessions.
But at least in terms of messaging, lawmakers seem freshly optimistic about the bill’s prospects.
Schumer told Marijuana Moment earlier this month that the bill remains a “very high priority” for the Senate, and members are having “very productive” bicameral talks to reach a final agreement.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-OH) also said on Thursday that passing the SAFER Banking Act off the floor is a “high priority.” However, he also recently said in a separate interview that advancing the legislation is complicated by current House dynamics.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) separately said during an American Bankers Association (ABA) summit on Tuesday that he wants to see the SAFER Banking Act move.
He said that, “for whatever reason, the federal government has been slow” to act on the incremental reform that he supports even though he doesn’t identify as “a marijuana guy.”
One key factor that’s kept the bill from the Senate floor is disagreement over mostly non-cannabis provisions dealing with broader banking regulations, primarily those contained in Section 10 of the legislation.
Bicameral negotiations have been ongoing, however, and recent reporting suggests that a final deal could be just over the horizon.
The Democratic Senate sponsor of the SAFER Banking Act, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), told Marijuana Moment this month that the legislation is “gaining momentum” as lawmakers work to bring it to the floor and pass it “this year.”
The office of the Republican SAFER Banking prime sponsor, Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), separately told Marijuana Moment that “conversations have been productive and Senator Daines is working to get the bill across the finish line.”
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Marijuana Moment is tracking more than 1,400 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.
Germany legalises cannabis possession for personal use from April
German laws on cannabis use now among most liberal in Europe, but medical experts warn it ‘makes you stupid’.
22 Mar 2024
The German parliament has approved the partial legalisation of cannabis for personal use in a landmark vote that leaves the country with some of the most liberal laws on the substance in Europe.
Lawmakers in the Bundesrat, or the upper house, passed the long-debated bill on Friday, making it legal to obtain up to 25 grams (0.88 ounces) of the drug per day for personal use through regulated cannabis cultivation associations, as well as to have up to three plants at home, when the new rules come into effect on April 1.
The new law, which still prohibits possession and use of the drug for anyone under 18, will leave Germany with some of the most liberal cannabis laws in Europe.
Malta and Luxembourg legalised recreational use of the drug in 2021 and 2023, respectively. The Netherlands, known for its liberal cannabis laws, has been cracking down on sales to tourists and non-residents in recent years.
The cannabis law has been the subject of bitter wrangling within the coalition of Chancellor Olaf Scholz‘s Social Democrats, the Greens and the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP). In their coalition agreement, the three parties had pledged to go further and allow cannabis to be sold in shops, a move slapped down by the European Union. They are now planning a second law to trial the drug’s sale in shops in certain regions.
In the run-up to the vote, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, a member of the Social Democrats, called on members of parliament to back the controversial law, arguing that the country had seen a sharp rise in the number of young people using cannabis obtained on the black market.
Simone Borchardt of the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, said the new law, fiercely opposed by medical associations, would only increase health risks for young people, accusing the three parties in Scholz’s coalition government of “making policy for their ideology and not for the country”.
The changes, which were passed by the Bundestag, or the lower house, last month, did not formally require Bundesrat approval. However members of the upper house could have called on a mediation committee and slowed down the process.
Cannabis
People meet for ‘World Stoner Day’, a demonstration for the immediate decriminalisation of cannabis, in Berlin, Germany, on April 20, 2023 [Nadja Wohlleben/Reuters]
Divisive
Proponents of the law, such as the German Cannabis Association, say black market cannabis can include sand, hairspray, talcum powder, spices or even glass and lead. Cannabis can also be contaminated with heroin or synthetic cannabinoids that are up to 100 times stronger than natural psychoactive cannabinoids, experts have said.
Steffen Geyer, director of Berlin’s Hemp Museum, expressed relief at the law, saying Germany had become “a little bit more free and tolerant”.
“This is the first step on the road to a rational and science-based drugs policy,” he said.
Health experts opposing the law warned that cannabis use among young people can affect the development of the central nervous system, leading to an increased risk of developing psychosis and schizophrenia. Sustained use has also been linked to respiratory diseases and testicular cancer.
“Chronic cannabis use makes you stupid, to put it bluntly, and can also cause psychosis,” Thomas Fischbach, president of a German federation of doctors for children and adolescents (BVKJ), told the Die Welt newspaper.
“Cannabis use among young people will increase because such substances are always passed on to younger people,” he said. “This could have serious consequences for young people’s physical and mental health.”
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The German public is divided on the new law: according to a YouGov poll published on Friday, 47 percent are in favour of the plans and 42 percent are against.
FDA says marijuana has a legitimate medicinal purpose
As a Schedule 1 drug, marijuana is currently in the same category as some of the hardest drugs, like heroin and LSD.
The FDA released a report saying that marijuana does have a legitimate use for medical purposes and recommended the US Drug Enforcement Agency to change its classification from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3. “The definition of a schedule 1 drug says it has no health benefits to it, and, so, obviously, there’s been plenty of research that has documented the multitudes of ways that cannabis can be helpful,” said Dr. David Berger with Wholistic ReLeaf.
Marijuana
By: Anthony HillPosted at 5:43 AM, Mar 21, 2024 and last updated 7:13 PM, Mar 21, 2024
TAMPA, Fla. — The FDA released a report saying that marijuana does have a legitimate use for medical purposes and recommended the US Drug Enforcement Agency change its classification from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3.
“The definition of a schedule 1 drug says it has no health benefits to it, and, so, obviously, there’s been plenty of research that has documented the multitudes of ways that cannabis can be helpful,” said Dr. David Berger with Wholistic ReLeaf.
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Though not all in the medical community agree, many people swear by the medicinal effects of marijuana to help treat symptoms of cancer, anxiety, PTSD and epilepsy.
“It’s no longer appropriate to say that there’s no medical benefit when there are hundreds if not thousands of medical studies that show the opposite,” explained Dr. Berger.
As a Schedule 1 drug, marijuana is in the same category as some of the hardest drugs like heroin and LSD, which means it’s classified as being more dangerous than fentanyl and methamphetamine.
“What happens after this is the federal government has more decisions to make as to what they’re going to do next,” said Dr. Berger.
CDEL MM did the same today, making market.
CDEL bought the 9m dumped at open today at BID of .0003, and then placed the 9M on the ASK for .0004, looking to make the spread profit.
Easy $900 for one trade.
That is what MM do, they make a market
They BUY at the Bid and SELL on the ASK, that is what you are seeing.
Very, very little actual trading going on.
+ 65% in One Hour, LOL. Now 80% Gain!!!
These Cannabis stocks can gain 100% in 2 minutes while it took 2 years to lose 80%!!!
Last run for PVSP was over 1400% gain!!
Stock today is worth .02 just on current share structure!!
It will Run Big Time just a matter of when, and you better have bought your ticket and not chase it!!!
Don't you just love a nice SHORT Squeeze, +46% LOL
Cannabis sector is ready for HUGE rebound. Schumer says expects Safe Banking approval by election!
MindMed’s stock jumps 24% after FDA grants breakthrough designation
MindMed’s stock jumps 24% after FDA grants breakthrough designation to LSD therapy for a form of anxiety
By Ciara LinnaneFollow
Biotech also issues new shares and reports positive data from Phase 2b trial
Mind Medicine Inc.’s stock jumped 24% early Thursday, after the biotech company said the Food and Drug Administration has granted breakthrough designation for its MM120 LSD-based treatment for generalized anxiety disorder.
Published: March 7, 2024 at 8:26 a.m. ET
Board of Dopes, LOL
Seriously Mr. Free shares that has to be your dumbest post ever!
Do you even do any research, any at all? I didn't think so, just blab, blab, blab.
The Cannabis wholesale market has seen a price drop of over 50% in the past few years, and you are not happy that Artizen has been able to maintain revenues by cutting expenses, improving operations etc, etc.
They have done a great job in managing the business in difficult times of oversupply and declining prices.
Key Highlights
Gross Profit for the year ending November 30, 2023 totaled $4,890,763 on $15.8 million in revenues, compared to gross profits of $2,724,601 during the same period in 2022.
Gross Margins improved from 17% to 31%, a 182% increase. The improved gross margin reflects increases in production yields and gains in production efficiencies.
Revenues of $15.8 million equal 2022 revenues, achieved in a market that continues to battle over supply and price compression.
Operating Loss for the year ending November 30, 2023 totaled ($460,037), compared to an operating loss of $2,422,916 during the same period in 2022.
Cashflow for the year ending November 30, 2023 totaled $409,507, compared to negative cashflow of ($798,033) during the same period in 2022.
Income Tax liabilities increased due to a materially improved Gross Profit. Under 280e tax treatment, the Company is being taxed on Gross Profit as compared to non-cannabis businesses being taxed on Net Income.
“We continued to increase yields and margins in a market that is still challenged by oversupply and price compression.” said German Burtscher, Pervasip’s President and Chief Executive Officer.