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CannaBeat: Federal Cannabis Reform May Pave the Way for Tennessee

Credit: Toby Sells

Cannabis reform in Tennessee can’t clear one big hurdle, but that hurdle has a shot at being removed this year.

Lawmakers here haven’t been able to pull the trigger on reform, as so many other states have, because the drug is listed on the federal government’s Schedule I. This puts cannabis on the same list as heroin, LSD, meth, and peyote. This designation seems to scare the bejeezus out of Tennessee lawmakers for fear the feds might begin cannabis enforcement once again.

It does seem the state is moving toward reform. The Tennessee Medical Cannabis Commission began its work late last year, hammering out some details of what such a program here might look like. However, the bill that created that group states clearly that Tennessee will not move forward with any cannabis reform until the federal government removes the drug from the Schedule I.

However, there is a cannabis bill already filed for the Tennessee General Assembly’s next regular session. In July, state Rep. Bruce Griffey (R-Paris) filed legislation that, if approved, would ask Tennesseans what they think about legalizing marijuana with a nonbinding poll question in 2022 elections. The bill, though, was panned by many as doing too little for any actual reform.

“This is the type of bill you introduce when you don’t have the courage, as a legislator or a party, to just do what’s right,” tweeted state Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville) at the time.

But Congress cracked the door on reform last year, offering some hope of removing that federal hurdle on reforms here. In September, the House Judiciary Committee passed the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, which would remove the drug from the controlled substances list, expunge nonviolent cannabis convictions, and more.

While this move has support from Democrats, a Republican effort was announced in November. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) filed the States Reform Act. The bill would remove cannabis from the Schedule I and provide states a framework for reform working with their unique laws.

“The States Reform Act takes special care to keep Americans and their children safe while ending federal interference with state cannabis laws,” Mace said at the time.

In April, Virginia became the first state in the South to legalize cannabis for all adult use, medical or recreational. The new law sets the path for legal cannabis sales to begin there in 2024. Also, New Hampshire lawmakers approved recreational cannabis reform earlier this year.

In Europe, Malta lawmakers turned heads when they legalized cannabis with nationwide legislation, becoming the first European Union country to do so. German lawmakers promised cannabis legalization in December after such proposals had been blocked for years.

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CannaBeat: Tearful Testimony Before Cannabis Commission

T. J. Ramsey went swimming this summer. 

That’s no small feat for the Nashville-area fourth grader. He cannot walk and has cerebral palsy that gives him epileptic seizures. Doctors removed a medical tube from Ramsey this summer, too. His mother, Holly, told lawmakers Friday that “life is so much better.” Then, she began to cry.     

“If I would have known that, I would have moved,” Holly Ramsey said, fighting back tears. “I did not know that [medical cannabis] would make it that much better for him.”

Holly and T.J. Ramsey testified Friday before the second meeting of the Tennessee Medical Cannabis Commission. Holly Ramsey has been advocating for medical cannabis legalization in Tennessee as early as 2019. 

Two years before that, according to a News Channel 5 story at the time, Holly Ramsey began giving her son CBD and saw dramatic improvements she was not seeing from the various medications he was taking. 

Holly and T.J. spoke to the state House committee in this year’s legislative session as they debated legalizing medical cannabis in Tennessee. The Tennessee General Assembly and Gov. Bill Lee cracked the door on cannabis here with a law that legalized a small amount of THC to be sold to qualifying medical patients, and established the Tennessee Cannabis Commission. 

That board is now setting up what Tennessee’s cannabis program will look like. However, the program, according to the law that established the commission, will not be active until the federal government removes cannabis from the Schedule I. That category is home to drugs with no medical use, according to the government, and high potential for abuse. Cannabis is there alongside heroine, ecstasy, LSD, and peyote. 

Ramsey argued the medical cannabis she gets for her son does have a medical use. His seizures — once up to 30 per day — have fallen into the single digits. When she first tried cannabis for T.J., he did not have a seizure for two weeks; “it was amazing,” she said. 

When asked what she wanted from state officials, her message Friday was simple, “we need to have medical cannabis in this state.”

I have to break federal law to get meds for my son.

Holly Ramsey

“I have to break federal law to get meds for my son,” Ramsey said and held up a clear plastic bag of what looked like red candy.    

 “I live in Brentwood and can get Delta 8 gummies at [stores] all over town but the state won’t let me get meds for my child that doesn’t look good, doesn’t taste good, and doesn’t get anybody high.

“We should not have to drive hours to get meds. We need to have [medical cannabis] in this state.”

Commission board members got to work Friday to fill the role of the commission’s executive director. So far, about 65 people have applied. Five candidates are at the top of the list after a review of the applications from state staffers. However, commission members asked to re-post the position and, perhaps, widen the net of applicants. The posting will close at the end of the year. 

The budget for the executive director’s salary is now $88,788 with a benefits package just north of $21,000, for a total of about $109,000.  

The commission is also due to report to the Tennessee General Assembly in January. That report will likely inform votes on passing cannabis legalization laws in the 2022 session. 

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INFOGRAPHIC: Arkansas Marijuana Sales Top $163M

Arkansas mariuana sales
Infogram

INFOGRAPHIC: Arkansas Marijuana Sales Top $163M

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CannaBeat: Arkansas Sales Top $86M in First Year

If you’ve ever been standing near the river and could just swear a cloud of ganja was rolling over from Arkansas, you may have been right.

Sales of medical cannabis began in in May 2019. In the first two weeks of sales, Arkansas patients bought about 50 pounds of Banana Kush, Pineapple Trainwreck, and dozens of other strains. In the first week, medical cannabis sales in Arkansas were $353,802.

A little more than a year later, the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission said the state’s 22 dispensaries have sold about 14,000 pounds of cannabis with sales that just surpassed $86 million. Over the year, daily statewide sales have averaged $517,000 over the last three weeks.

Here’s the commission’s total breakdown of the sales as of June 1st:

• Since Suite 443 (Hot Springs) first opened on Friday, May 10th, the company sold 689.10 pounds of medical marijuana.

• Since Green Springs Medical (Hot Springs) first opened on Sunday, May 12th, the company sold 2,545.45 pounds of medical marijuana.

• Since Arkansas Natural Products (Clinton) first opened on Thursday, June 20th, the company sold 357.38 pounds of medical marijuana.

• Since Greenlight Dispensary (Helena) first opened on Thursday, June 27th, the company sold 389.40 pounds of medical marijuana.

• Since Native Green Wellness (Hensley) first opened on Tuesday, July 2nd, the company sold 989.50 pounds of medical marijuana.

• Since Fiddler’s Green (Mountain View) first opened on Thursday, July 11th, the company sold 939.43 pounds of medical marijuana.

• Since the Releaf Center (Bentonville) first opened on Wednesday, August 7th, the company sold 1,527.07 pounds of medical marijuana.

• Since The Source (Bentonville) first opened on Thursday, August 15th, the company sold 1,079.18 pounds of medical marijuana.

• Since Acanza (Fayetteville) first opened on Saturday, September 14th, the company sold 1,116.31 pounds of medical marijuana.

• Since Harvest (Conway) first opened on Friday, October 11th, the company sold 958.82 pounds of medical marijuana.

• Since Purspirit Cannabis (Fayetteville) opened on Wednesday, November 20th, the company sold 600.38 pounds of medical marijuana.

• Since NEA Full Spectrum (Brookland) opened on Monday, December 9th, the company sold 607.72 pounds of medical marijuana.

• Since 420 Dispensary (Russellville) opened on Tuesday, December 17th, the company sold 240.93 pounds of medical marijuana.

• Since Fort Cannabis (Fort Smith) opened on Wednesday, December 18th, the company sold 511.50 pounds of medical marijuana.

• Since Red River Remedy (Texarkana) opened on Friday, January 10th (2020), the company sold 162.59 pounds of medical marijuana.

• Since Bloom Medicinals (Texarkana) opened on Wednesday, January 15th (2020), the company sold 46.69 pounds of medical marijuana.

• Since Plant Family Therapeutics (Mountain Home) opened on Monday, February 3rd (2020), the company sold 395.87 pounds of medical marijuana.

• Since Little Rock House of Cannabis (Little Rock) opened on Friday, February 14th (2020), the company sold 131.39 pounds of medical marijuana.

• Since Herbology (Little Rock) opened on Wednesday, February 26th (2020), the company sold 54.04 pounds of medical marijuana.

• Since Custom Cannabis (Alexander) opened on Thursday, March 5th (2020), the company sold 96.84 pounds of medical marijuana.

• Since Natural Relief Dispensary (Sherwood) opened on March 17th (2020), the company sold 354.97 pounds of medical marijuana.

• Since Body and Mind Dispensary (formerly Comprehensive Care Group in West Memphis) opened on April 27th (2020), the company sold 21.98 pounds of medical marijuana.

Combined, this is more than 13,816 pounds of medical marijuana and $86.38 million in total sales.

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CannaBeat: Tennessee’s Medical Cannabis Bill Stymied by Coronavirus

All right, we know there are bigger fish to fry at the moment than cannabis. (Well, unless some dank nugs can defeat coronavirus. Wait. Has anybody even thought of that yet?! Oooh. Well, remember you heard it thought of here first.)

The Tennessee General Assembly has decided to skedaddle this year after they get the budget done. Totally understand. Everyone needs to do their part to help stop this awful virus and let us get back to normal (well, normal-ish, I guess).

Anyhow, legislators are going to leave a ton of legislation in limbo when they leave. That’s good and bad, I guess, depending on where you sit. But one big piece of legislation that probably won’t see action until 2021 is a bill that would have legalized medical marijuana in Tennessee.

Last Wednesday, a bill by Rep. Steven Dickerson (R-Nashville) won a crucial up-vote by the Senate Health and Welfare Committee. Called the Tennessee Clinical Cannabis Authorization and Research Act, the bill “legalizes and decriminalizes the possession, consumption, cultivation, processing, purchase, transportation, and sale of medical cannabis and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the plant to any qualifying patient who has been assessed by a medical care practitioner as having a debilitating medical condition and has successfully applied for a medical registry identification card.”

That was a mouthful. But it does a couple of simple things. It legalizes medical marijuana in Tennessee. It allows for the sale of “sprays intended for sublingual [under the tongue] or buccal [between the cheek and gum] administration, capsules, pills, suppositories, transdermal patches, ointments, lotions, lozenges, tinctures, oils, and liquids.” But it does not allow for the sale of “vape or vaporization pens or cartridges, atomization, nebulization, gummies, candy, candy bars, or products in a form that a reasonable person would consider as marketed or appealing to children.”

That last part about “appealing to children” includes flower product. So you won’t find raw buds or pre-rolls in any store if this bill is passed. Womp. Womp. But you take what you can get, right?

So, who qualifies for medical cannabis here if the legislature picks it back up next year? Well, it’d be considered medicine, of course. So, the bill now allows for patients with a range of maladies like cancer, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, post-traumatic stress disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, sickle cell disease, chronic pain, muscle spasms, seizures, and a raft of other disorders “that interfere with mental health.”

The rest of the bill is aimed at organizing the Tennessee Clinical Cannabis Commission to oversee medical cannabis here. That group would define and license retail outlets and grow operations and have the final word on what types of medical conditions are covered.

The bill got further than any cannabis bill here since 2018. But there was a huge, last-minute amendment that created a huge, last-minute caveat. The bill would only be passed when the federal government downgraded cannabis from a Schedule I drug (alongside LSD and heroin) to Schedule II (alongside cocaine and meth).

Again, we have bigger fish to fry at the moment. But if coronavirus has you anxious, go get yourself some CBD products. Where? Thumb through this week’s Flyer and you’ll find the finest hemp-product purveyors in the area. Please tell them you saw their ad in this fine publication. We’re in this thing together.

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CannaBeat: New Bill Would Make it Harder for Cops to Search You

CREDIT: Dimitri Bong | Unsplash

So, you’re cruising through Midtown, puffing on a perfectly legal doober of CBD flower. Some cop smells it, says it’s THC, wants to search your car, and maybe arrest you.

What can you do? Right now? Nothing. But that could change, thanks to the work of two Republican lawmakers in Tennessee. (You read that right.)

A Baptist and former special education teacher, Sen. Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma), and a cattle-farming, Church of Christ congregant, Rep. Jay D. Reedy (R-Erin), want to make it harder for law enforcement officials to search your car (or anywhere else) “based solely on the odor of cannabis.”

CBD and industrial hemp were legalized thanks to the 2018 Farm Bill, but much of the details of that legalization were left up to the individual states. Regulations have come here in spurts and fits, but there’s been no “here’s-what-we’re-doing-with-CBD” task force or regulatory agency formed. So CBD and hemp is still in the Wild West a bit.

Dimitri Bong | Unsplash

The “odor-of-cannabis” bill shows just how wild. Historically speaking, Republicans have been tough on crime and not too keen on jazz cabbage or its fans. Yet, this bill seems a reversal on both stances.

However, it does fit Republican ideals in two ways. Industrial hemp and CBD are rising industries in Tennessee (read: business and bucks). They’re also agricultural products (read: Tennessee farmers are so on Republican brand, and they vote).

But a look under the hood of this possible new law shows it could be a boon to local governments. The folks in Nashville who put price tags on all kinds of legislative ideas say the bill would cut simple possession or casual exchange violations in half.

Researchers with the state government assumed there were about 18,690 convicted on such charges last year. Most of these offenders wind up in local jails. Keeping 10 percent of them out would save local governments more than $897,000 in incarceration fees.

Possessing a half-ounce to 10 pounds of marijuana — a Class E felony — will get you an average of 1.28 years. Cut that by 10 percent, the researchers say, and the state government saves more than $752,000 every year.

However, state and local drug dogs will need to be trained to distinguish between hemp and marijuana, the researchers said. That training could cost up to a total of $300,000 annually.

Two other Republicans, Rep. Bryan Terry (R-Murfreesboro) and Sen. Richard Briggs (R-Knoxville), want to push the THC front a bit.

Their bill would prohibit the “revocation of parole, probation, or bail based on a drug test result that is positive for THC below a certain level.” It would also prohibit “public employers from taking adverse employment action and denying certain benefits based on such a test result.”

Few details of the legislation were immediately available. It was filed in late January and hasn’t yet been debated.

Hemp Fest 2020

Um, is it too early to get excited about Mid-South Hemp Fest? I didn’t think so.

Last year’s was the largest cannabis event in the state. It returns on Saturday and Sunday, April 18th-19th, at Shelby Farms. Search for the event page on Facebook. We’ll see you there!

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CannaBeat: Akbari Files Recreational Cannabis Bill

Sen. Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis) wants to legalize it.

Akbari filed a bill in the state legislature on Friday that would decriminalize low-level possession offenses and legalize the sale of marijuana for recreational purposes. Akbari’s bill is modeled after Colorado’s laws.

If approved, the legislation would put a 12 percent tax on the sale of marijuana. Half of the taxes generated would be applied to public school funding, roughly a third would apply to road and bridge projects, and 20 percent would be returned to the state’s general fund.

“This legislation makes criminal justice more fair, creates thousands of Tennessee jobs, and invests real money in our students and teachers,” Akbari said. “With marijuana now available closer and closer to our state, it’s time for Tennesseans to have a real discussion about repealing outdated penalties for low-level possession and investing in our economic future and public schools through legalization.”

Tennessee General Assembly

Sen. Raumesh Akbari

The bill is not finalized, but Akbari said the goal is to “stop wasting tax dollars on a failed drug policies and to start creating economic and educational opportunities for Tennessee families” and address concerns related to potential drug use.

“Tennessee’s tough-on-crime possession laws have trapped too many of our citizens in cycles of poverty, and they haven’t actually stopped anyone from obtaining marijuana,” Akbari said. “The enforcement of these laws in particular [has] cost our state billions, contributed to a black market that funds criminal organizations, and accelerated the growth of incarceration in Tennessee’s jails and prisons. Tennesseans deserve better.”

In the draft of the bill, state regulators would be responsible for developing policies related to commercial sales of marijuana here. The legislation is not yet scheduled for debate.

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CannaBeat: Play Ball!

CREDIT: Body and Mind

Here we go!

The General Assembly cranked back up last week, and while it seems some new leaders may have dampened efforts toward medical cannabis, some other cannabis bills have already been filed.

New House Speaker Cameron Sexton said of cannabis legislation, “It’s against federal law. And so, until that changes, it’s hard to have a discussion.” However, other states have passed medical cannabis despite speakers’ reluctance, according to the Marijuana Policy Project. Gov. Bill Lee said he wants to “explore alternatives before we go there.”

However, Rep. Rick Staples (D-Knoxville) filed a bill last week that would allow referenda in Tennessee counties that would “authorize the growing, processing, manufacture, delivery, and retail sale of marijuana within jurisdictional boundaries.” The bill also “decriminalizes the possession of small amounts of marijuana statewide.”

The Memphis City Council tried to lower punishments set here for the possession of small amounts of cannabis back in October 2016. The move would have allowed Memphis Police Department officers to charge anyone in possession of less than a half-ounce of marijuana with a $50 fine or community service. However, state lawmakers voided the rule.

Sen. Sara Kyle (D-Memphis), who sponsored a raft of pro-cannabis legislation last year, is back this year with a new bill. Kyle wants to allow medical cannabis patients from other states immunity from Tennessee laws. If a person carries a medical marijuana patient identification card from another state and has less than a half-ounce on them, they “do not commit an offense in this state.”

So, say you’re a patient from West Memphis and you carry your legally prescribed cannabis with you across the bridge. If Kyle’s bill were law, police here could not arrest nor charge you for carrying your medicine.

A number of other cannabis-related bills remain from the first part of the 111th legislative session. However, no major bill has yet been filed that would organize a medical marijuana system in Tennessee.

Buds of Summer

ICYMI: Major League Baseball (MLB) players won’t face drug penalties from the league if they use cannabis.

MLB and the MLB Players Association announced last month that marijuana had been removed from the league’s list of banned substances, and its consumption among players will now be treated the same as alcohol. Up to now, players were fined $35,000 if they tested positive for cannabis.

The new policy begins with spring training 2020, which starts on February 21st when the Rangers meet the Royals in Arizona.

Body and Mind

Coming soon to West Memphis

West Memphis

Work is underway for three dispensaries to be open soon in West Memphis, according to WMCTV.

The dispensary sites were approved by the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission in 2018. At the time, no work had begun on any of the West Memphis sites. Plans were filed for the shop on OK Street in October. That one is from Body and Mind, a Vancouver-based, publicly traded company that offers dried flower, edibles, topicals, extracts, and vape pen cartridges.

West Memphis Mayor Marco McClendon told WMC that the lure of medical marijuana could help people from Memphis to move to his side of the Hernando DeSoto bridge.

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CannaBeat: Cohen Pushes ‘Landmark’ Cannabis Legislation

When the House Judiciary Committee approved a “landmark” and “historic” cannabis reform bill yesterday, Memphis was there pushing it right along.

The committee approved the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act. The legislation would decriminalize cannabis at the federal level, reassess and expunge past cannabis convictions, and fund a series of programs to help those unduly affected by the War on Drugs.

Memphis Rep. Steve Cohen, a senior member of the Judiciary Committee and a longtime cannabis advocate, voted to advance the MORE Act to the House floor. The committee vote was 24 to 10.

Ninth District congressman Steve Cohen

“These failed and racist policies disproportionately affected communities of color,” Cohen said in a statement after the vote. “The effects extend well beyond arrest and prosecution.

“This bill’s expungement provisions help those convicted of non-violent marijuana offenses fully reintegrate into society and pursue their potential. Without a criminal record, they will be better able to find good jobs, access housing, and vote. I’m proud to advance this measure to the House floor and look forward to voting for it there.”
[pullquote-1] In January, Cohen introduced the Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States (CARERS) Act. It will allow access to medical marijuana for patients in states where marijuana is legal without fear of federal prosecution.

He also introduced the Fresh Start Act which would expunge criminal records for non-violent offenders with seven years of good behavior.

Watch Cohen’s committee remarks on the MORE Act below:

CannaBeat: Cohen Pushes ‘Landmark’ Cannabis Legislation

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CannaBeat: New West Memphis Dispensaries, Marketing CBD

Moves are afoot to open one of three approved medical marijuana dispensaries in West Memphis as plans have been submitted for a Body and Mind dispensary on OK Street.

Body and Mind is a Vancouver-based, publicly traded company investing in cannabis cultivation with a production facility in Nevada. Its products include dried flower, edibles, topicals, extracts, and vape pen cartridges. Body and Mind strains have won the Las Vegas Hempfest Cup 2016, High Times Top Ten, and the NorCal Secret Cup.

The company will team up with Arkansas’ Comprehensive Care Group to open the West Memphis dispensary. The project will get underway with $1.2 million in start-up costs, according to a news release issued by Body and Mind.

Plans for the new dispensary in West Memphis must first be approved by city leaders there.

‘Dat CBD Life

The legal cannabis industry in America, while lucrative, is still so young that its growing pains are numerous.

For example, many banks won’t do business with cannabis retailers because cannabis is still illegal on the federal level. This means many cannabis retailers run as cash-only operations, leading to higher risks of robbery.

Marketing cannabidiol (CBD) products can also be tricky. Thanks to those federal laws and a myriad of different state laws, getting messages to consumers online comes with high hurdles.

For example, CBD ads are often banned from social media. Google doesn’t even allow marketing firms to use its Keyword Planner to search for potential terms to target. Cannabis also makes the list of prohibited content on Google AdWords. Thanks to all of this, CBD companies can’t use pay-per-click ads for advertising.

An Arkansas company is side-stepping some of this by influencing social-media influencers. Little Rock-based Tree of Life Seeds launched its “CBDisLife” campaign last week.

“What we’re doing is reaching out to social media gurus with large audiences who use CBD oil,” said Jason Martin, Tree of Life CEO. “They share how the products have benefited them, which clears up common misconceptions about CBD products and educates the general public.”

The company said once other people catch onto the “CBDisLife influencer movement” they can join and share their stories, no matter their audience size.

Cannabis Cafe

On Monday, a Los Angeles Times story gave the ins and outs of The Lowell Cafe. The first-of-its-kind cannabis cafe in West Hollywood will allow diners to smoke cannabis inside and outside the restaurant, thanks to a new license issued by the city.

Says the Times: “When you arrive, you will be seated at a table and greeted by a flower host (also known as a ‘budtender’) who will serve as your cannabis guide. He or she will drill you on your past cannabis experiences (whether you’re Snoop Dogg-level or haven’t smoked since high school or at all) and help personalize your cannabis order. You also will have a server from whom you can order food and non-alcoholic beverages.”