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🌿 Another route for rescheduling, cannabis beverages on tap, and bipartisan cannabis reform bill

Welcome to another edition of The Pre Roll, the cannabis newsletter that keeps you up-to-date on the industry happenings you need to know. Here’s what we’re rolling up this week: Another route for rescheduling, cannabis beverages on tap, bipartisan cannabis reform bill, and more. Let’s get to it.

Author

Alex Lipnik
July 12, 2024

together with

Happy Friday Pre Rollers! Welcome to another edition of The Pre Roll, the cannabis newsletter that keeps you up-to-date on the industry happenings you need to know.

First, to address the obvious.

Whether you are a recent reader or have been subscribed from the start, you may notice some changes this week. We are delighted to debut our updated logo and brand identity, including a new icon you can check out on our LinkedIn page (and feel free to give us a follow, we’ll be sharing more content there going forward). The improvements were made to enhance your experience and reflect the evolution of the newsletter. We hope you enjoy. Let us know what you think in the poll at the bottom or by replying to this email directly.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Here’s what we’re rolling up this week:

  • Another route for rescheduling

  • Cannabis beverages on tap

  • Bipartisan cannabis reform bill

…and more. Let’s get to it.

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🚨 ROLL CALL
Policy

Source: Veriheal

Need for speed. The Congressional Research Service (CRS), a group that contributes policy and legal research and analysis to Congress, determined legislators can schedule, reschedule, or deschedule substances — including cannabis — with “greater speed and flexibility” than administrative processes such as the one currently being undertaken by the DEA.

Administrative scheduling under the CSA proceeds via formal rulemaking, which generally takes months or years to complete. In making scheduling decisions, DEA is required by statute to make certain findings with respect to each substance’s potential for abuse and accepted medical use. DEA scheduling orders (other than temporary scheduling orders) are subject to judicial review, including consideration of whether the agency properly applied the relevant statutory standards. By contrast, Congress is not bound by the CSA’s substantive or procedural requirements. This means that it can schedule a substance immediately, regardless of whether the substance meets the statutory criteria. While scheduling legislation may also be challenged in court, the scope of judicial review of legislation is typically more limited than judicial review of regulations.

Legislative Scheduling of Controlled Substances by the Congressional Research Service

Perhaps this provides another route for rescheduling should the current one hit a roadblock.

Policy

Source: Tara Jacoby / POLITICO

Cannabis on tap. A new law in Minnesota allows hemp-derived THC-infused beverages to be sold on tap. While other states may have done it in practice, the Land of 10,000 Lakes is the first to make it explicitly legal according to Bob Galligan, Director of Government and Industry Relations at the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild.

Cannabis drinks have exploded of late. An analysis by leading market research firm Euromonitor International estimates the hemp-derived beverage market could reach $4.1 billion by 2028.

Policy

Righting the wrongs. A bipartisan criminal justice reform bill has been introduced by Congressman Troy A. Carter, Sr. (D-LA) and Congressman Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) that would help expunge records for low-level violations of federal cannabis law.

“No one should be in jail just for using or possessing marijuana. This bipartisan bill will restore justice to millions of Americans who have suffered excessive secondary consequences associated with marijuana-related misdemeanors. These misdemeanors, even without a conviction, can restrict the ability to access educational aid, housing assistance, occupational licensing, and even foster parenting. Delivering justice for people who have been impacted by marijuana-related misdemeanors is a vital part of comprehensive cannabis reform.”

Congressman Troy A. Carter, Sr. (D-LA)

Congressman Carter has also cosponsored several other cannabis reform bills and is a member of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus.

The full text of the bill can be found here.

🇺🇸 STATE OF THE INDUSTRY

Arkansas: Advocates for expanding medical cannabis access submitted more than 111,000 signatures in an effort to get the issue on the November ballot, as sales dropped compared to last year.

Illinois: Retail cannabis sales surpassed $1 billion in the first half of the year, faster than it did in 2023.

Maryland: Total cannabis sales topped $1.1 billion during the first year following legalization.

Michigan: Lawmakers revealed a plan to merge the regulations for recreational adult-use and medical cannabis.

New York: A proposed rule change would let cannabis businesses offer discounts.

Wyoming: A group of hemp businesses and one individual hemp seller filed a lawsuit against Governor Mark Gordon a number of state officials over a new law against synthetic cannabis variants.

đź’Ľ BUSINESS

Curaleaf launches exclusive Dead & Company strains in Nevada

The multi-state operator released the limited-edition strains ahead of the band’s residency at Sphere Las Vegas.

đź’» TECH

Lucid Green raises Series C

The cannabis supply chain technology innovator secured $1.4 million in funding to fuel its growth and expansion into new markets.

🌏 AROUND THE WORLD

Australia: Cannabis remains the most used illicit drug in the country, but meth and cocaine use is reaching near-record highs.

đź’¨ QUICK HITTERS

  • State Senator Sharif Street spoke in favor of legalizing cannabis for adult-use in Pennsylvania.

  • Michigan-based cannabis brand butter collaborated with Detroit nonprofit Bees in the D to create two varieties of THC-infused honey.

  • The owner of Ontario cannabis company WeedMD was fined $350,000 for disclosing confidential information about the company’s expansion plan to a friend, which led to insider trading of its shares.

📚 WHAT WE’RE READING

  • Weed drinks are everywhere in Minnesota. Other states are now embracing them. (POLITICO)

  • Opinion | Moore’s marijuana pardons are a start. Next: sane federal policy. (The Washington Post)

  • Rescheduling and recreational marijuana: Possible step toward national legalization? (Reuters)

  • Texas Has Basically Legalized Marijuana. We Have the Proof. (Texas Monthly)

  • Minnesota raises $10 million in first year from hemp-derived THC sales, but isn’t the industry bigger than that? (MinnPost)

  • Ohio will start selling recreational marijuana soon. What does it mean for Kentuckians? (Lexington Herald-Leader)

🎙️ POTCASTS

  • Managing Employee Compliance in Highly Regulated Industries (Troutman Pepper)

📽️ VIDEO OF THE WEEK
đź—“ UPCOMING EVENTS

October 8—9: Benzinga is hosting its Cannabis Capital Conference at the Marriott Magnificent Mile in Chicago, Illinois.

🔎 JOB BOARD

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📨 PUFF, PUFF, PASS REEFERAL PROGRAM

Stay tuned for more cannabis industry news next week!

đź’š,

The Pre Roll Team

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