Maybe CNAB makes another run??chart looks oversold and news may be significant:
Pinoleville Tribe’s ‘collective’ collaboration in development of medical cannabis project
Editor's note: This is the first in a six-part series of articles covering the establishment of one of the first tribal cannabis farming projects in the United States. The Pinoleville Pomo Nation is providing Ukiah Daily Journal readers with a first-hand, exclusive look at the people, the processes and the philosophical underpinnings of this groundbreaking project.
By Carole Brodsky
for Ukiah Daily Journal
"I admit that I'd drank the Kool-Aid like everyone else. We used to call cannabis locoweed. Once we understood this was the farthest thing from the truth, the tribe began moving forward. I was one of those detractors, until I saw and understood the entire cannabis story," says Mike Canales, president of the Business Board of the Pinoleville Pomo Nation.
Canales is referring to the shift in attitude that he and Pinoleville tribal members have undergone during the past year, as they researched and enlisted the assistance of cannabis experts to develop their own medical cannabis growing and processing operation on their reservation.
From the beginning, we only wanted to be involved with medicinal cannabis. Initially we discussed creating edible medicinal products. Regardless of what we did, we knew we'd need help – to learn to grow and make the medicine, to acquire the right equipment, find the right people and create the structure to run this operation. At that point, we brought Barry into the conversation," Canales continues.
Barry Brautman is the CEO of the FoxBarry Companies – a limited liability corporation providing tribal entities with development and construction of farming projects, casinos, fuel distribution and other services.
"We had already been discussing the casino project with the tribe when this idea was presented. We recognized this could be a great tribal opportunity. But we were also very clear we weren't just going to grow and sell pot," Brautman explains.
The tribe and FoxBarry investigated medical cannabis companies. "We looked at the market. Who were the medical cannabis companies? Who was doing research? Who was patient-oriented? Who was leading the way?" Canales explains.
The United Cannabis Corporation was the company that was selected as the consulting entity for the project. United Cannabis is a Colorado-based, publicly traded medical cannabis company (CNAB) that produces no recreational cannabis products. The company's stated focus is to utilize cannabis for medical purposes, refine and improve upon medical-grade cannabis strains, employ best practice industry principles and emphasize patient care.
Brautman and tribal members visited the United Cannabis facilities along with other dispensaries. It took Brautman only 15 minutes observing patients filling the medical aisles inside Colorado dispensaries to reach his own conclusions. "These were cancer patients. Suffering people. People in severe pain. They weren't there to get high. They were in line to solve medical issues."
"When we met everyone at United Cannabis, there was no talk about marijuana, but there was a lot of talk about medical cannabis. We feel that's the distinction between our project and other tribal cannabis projects. The United Cannabis folks have put an astounding amount of research into this. There's no one else producing a line of medical products of this purity and quality. We're proud to work with them as our consultants," Canales continues.
Canales stresses that staff from United Cannabis are strategic project consultants and not partners or owners in any form. "They are high-tech advisors with a proven track record who are supervising the growing, harvesting, testing and processing of the plants and the construction of permanent greenhouses and processing facilities."
The project is following guidelines set forth in SB 420, utilizing a collective-cooperative structure, along with a detailed 47-page tribal ordinance drafted specifically for the project.
"I was nervous at first. But we made sure that everything was going to be done by the book, and that I or anyone else wouldn't end up in jail," smiles Canales.
The tribe's ordinance replicates what is known as the "Cole Memorandum" – the 2013 U.S. Department of Justice memorandum which was issued to United States Attorneys to guide prosecutors enforcing civil and criminal cannabis investigations and prosecutions under the federal Controlled Substances Act.
The memorandum focuses upon eight priorities: no distribution of marijuana to minors; preventing criminal enterprises, gangs, and cartels from accessing cannabis revenues; preventing the diversion of cannabis from legal to illegal states; preventing state-authorized cannabis activity as a cover for other illegal drug trafficking or activities; preventing violence and firearm use when cultivating and distributing cannabis; preventing drugged driving or the exacerbation of other adverse cannabis-related public health consequences; preventing the cultivation, production, environmental hazards and public safety concerns on public lands, and preventing cannabis possession or use on federal property.
Additionally, the ordinance includes a 2014 memorandum from the United States Department of Justice titled Policy Statement Regarding Marijuana Issues in Indian Country, which states that the eight priorities in "Cole" memorandum will also guide cannabis enforcement efforts of US Attorneys in Indian Country.
This memorandum states each United States Attorney should consult with the affected tribes on a government-to-government basis when evaluating marijuana enforcement activities in Indian Country.
"Our tribal ordinance states that we will arrest any tribal member that takes even one seed from our garden," says Canales. "Again, this is not about recreational marijuana. We are instituting guidelines that are stricter than the requirements of SB 420."
The tribal ordinance states that all applicable taxes under tribal, state and federal law shall be collected and paid. A regulatory agency will oversee all aspects of the operation – from the type and quantity of all effluent to be discharged into the tribe's wastewater or storm-water system, the prohibition of adulterating medical cannabis with any chemical or other compound to alter color, appearance, weight or smell, the prohibition of on-site cannabis consumption and the ruling that all products will be produced with child-resistant packaging, designed not to mimic candy, cookies or other items attractive to children.
As the midsummer sun blazes on the Pinoleville Medical Cannabis Project's garden site, a young man holds a staff – pacing in a deliberate circle, playing a whistle-like pipe, offering up prayers and gratitude, honoring ancestors and invoking Spirit to bless the project. "We had a blessing today," says Canales.
Canales envisions many blessings for the tribe and the greater community. "We will be making lives better – through the medicines, employment opportunities, youth programs, infrastructure improvements, donations to local charities and better education and housing for our people."
"Our collective is 100 percent tribally owned – a non-profit, formed and owned under the authority of the Pinoleville Pomo Nation. We may be the first tribal collective in the nation. We'll certainly be the first tribe to produce organic cannabis medicine. That's what Mendo should be. The first."
AI
