Author: Philip Snow. Florida Lawmakers Are Poised to Burn the State’s Hemp Industry
What a long, strange trip it’s been… It seems like only yesterday we were negotiating the finer points of Florida House Bill 1475 (1475) in the spring of last year. A well-thought compromise between industry realities and consumer safety, 1475 made several positive...
SOUTH CAROLINA HAMMERS ITS HEMP INDUSTRY
You can turn hemp into a THC product by adding an acid into a compound. Well, that creates the THC level increase to the point where it gives you that high, euphoric feeling. At the end of the day, if it gets you high, it’s illegal in South Carolina. Bottom...
ROD DISCUSSES CANNABIS POLICY WITH LUKAS GILKEY OF HOMETOWN HERO (VIDEO PODCAST)
I recently sat down with my friend and client Lukas Gilkey, one of the founders of Hometown Hero, to discuss hemp policy and the the future of cannabis. Hometown Hero is a leader and Lukas is highly knowledgeable. The first two segments of our talk are below. I hope...
DEA Letter to Georgia Board of Pharmacy Raises Novel Legal Issues
[Note from the editor: This article is about a letter that the DEA sent to the GA Board of Pharmacy that I wrote for the American Journal of Endocannabinoid Medicine. It is reprinted here with permission. You can read the article in its original form by clicking...
“HEMP TODAY” STUCK IN THE PAST ON CANNABINOID HEMP
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Let’s Talk Hemp. It is reprinted here with permission. Thanks to Morris Beegle and the Let’s Talk Hemp staff. A recent spate of articles in Hemp Today, an industry media outlet focusing on fiber, grain, and other...
Rod Discusses THCa Hemp Legal Issues with CBD Oracle
Occasionally, a news organization takes the time to dig into a complicated issue and write a comprehensive and informative story. Journalist Lee Johnson did just that with THCa hemp in an article he wrote for CBD Oracle this week. The article quotes me and my...
ATACH USES “REEFER MADNESS” FEAR MONGERING IN COURT FILING AGAINST HEMP INDUSTRY
In a legal brief to the US Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, the American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp (ATACH), uses “Reefer Madness” fear mongering in an attempt to overturn the hemp industry’s recent victory in Arkansas. Despite the plain language of...
Rod Discusses Cannabis Civil War in Natural Products Insider
NOTE: I wrote this article for Natural Products Insider. This portion of the article is reprinted with permission. You can read the entire article by clicking here. -Rod Kight The past year has seen intense lobbying efforts, social media campaigns and lawsuits in what...
KIGHT LAW ANNOUNCES NEW 50 STATE HEMP PRODUCT AND THCA SPREADSHEET
At Kight Law, we spend every day working directly with our clients to help them navigate the rapidly evolving cannabis industry. The most difficult issue our hemp clients face is keeping up with various state laws regarding hemp, including understanding where their...
Farm Bill Extension Means Hemp Will Grow Big(ger) in 2024
During the past six months, I have been repeatedly asked to predict what would happen with the Farm Bill. This is because the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, better known as the “2018 Farm Bill” expired at the end of September. “Will it change?” “Will hemp be...
Mid-Atlantic Cannabis: Driving Applications
Marijuana impairs a driver’s reaction time, decision-making ability, capacity to accurately track objects, balance and equilibrium. Still, it is difficult to measure when a person is impaired. The intoxicating ingredient in cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is metabolized differently by individuals and remains in the body long after its psychoactive effects have ceased. Currently, there is no way to reliably measure whether a person who has ingested cannabis an hour earlier is impaired because THC concentration does not correlate well with subjective impairment.
Pennsylvania Medical Cannabis – Chasing the Green
The Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) reported that almost $100 million in medical marijuana sales occurred between February 15, 2018, and February 15, 2019, the first full year that medical cannabis was available to Pennsylvania patients. More than $40 million in sales occurred between growers and dispensaries. Pennsylvania does not tax sales to patients, but does tax transactions between growers and dispensaries at a rate of 5%. Thus, in the first year of licensed sales, the Commonwealth received approximately $2 million in tax revenue from medical cannabis.
Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana: Open Fields of Pennsylvania Hemp
The 2018 U.S. Farm Bill has opened the gates to industrial hemp farming. Hemp, a crop that has been banned in the United States since 1937, now may be legally grown. While the most popular product of hemp − oils containing cannabidiol (CBD) and other naturally occurring non-psychoactive cannabinoids − are still subject to conflicting federal and state regulations, the plant itself may be grown across the United States.
Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana: No Good Deed
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania wants medical researchers to study cannabis at Pennsylvania medical schools, eight of which have been certified as Academic Clinical Research Centers (ACRCs). ACRCs can contract with Clinical Registrants (CRs), entities that the Commonwealth will license to cultivate, package and dispense cannabis for medical research. An entire set of regulations, commonly referred to as “Chapter 20,” has been drafted, redrafted and amended to make medical research of cannabis a reality in the Commonwealth.
Pennsylvania Cannabis: Dispensary Woes
On December 18, 2018, the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) issued 23 cannabis dispensary permits (Phase II licenses). Fifty entities have been awarded dispensary licenses, which is the total number allowed under Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Act. Each licensee can operate up to three dispensaries, bringing the total number of possible dispensaries in Pennsylvania to 150.
Cannabis: Social Justice in Commercial Cannabis
As the legal status of cannabis evolves, state legislatures are confronted with a difficult moral issue – how should local and state governments treat persons convicted of offenses that are no longer illegal? Below is a discussion of some of the options.
Pennsylvania and New Jersey Cannabis: Hemp Gummies
But of course, the “hemp oil” or cannabidiol (CBD) remains illegal under state law. Even if the CBD is locally sourced and sold through a licensed dispensary, edibles are not legal in Pennsylvania. Edibles are presently restricted to underage patients New Jersey. Moreover, Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Act (MMA) strictly prohibits advertising or packaging that appeal to children. Candy-shaped CBD probably runs afoul of the spirit of the MMA.
Pennsylvania and New Jersey Cannabis: Recovering Capital
National legalization of cannabis is now a reality − in Canada and Uruguay. Further south, we are still waiting, our hopes stoked by committed legislators who assure us that changes are coming soon.
Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana: Transparent Cannabis
The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court has decided a new case that may have a huge impact on cannabis licensing in the Mid-Atlantic region. The Commonwealth Court hears cases involving state and local government entities and state agencies in Pennsylvania and has heard a number of challenges regarding the administration of the 2016 Medical Marijuana Act (MMA).
A/NJ Cannabis: Slow March Toward Progress
On September 21, 2018, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania certified eight medical schools as Academic Clinical Research Centers (ACRCs). The following schools are now certified by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to contract with Clinical Registrants (CRs) to conduct medical research: