Politics Archives - Page 15 of 19 - The Real Dirt with Chip Baker

U.S. House of Representatives approves cannabis banking bill

by The Real Dirt | Apr 20, 2021 | 420 News, Blog, Business, Cannabis Law, Cannabis Law and Compliance, Legalization, Politics

The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday passed legislation that would allow banks to provide services to cannabis companies in states where it is legal, a step towards removing what analysts say is a barrier to development of a national industry.

Lawmakers voted 321-101 to approve the bill and send it to the Senate.

The bill clarifies that proceeds from legitimate cannabis businesses would not be considered illegal and directs federal regulators to craft rules for how they would supervise such banking activity.

Banks have generally been unwilling to do business with companies that sell marijuana or related products, fearing they could run afoul of federal laws.

That has left companies in the marijuana industry with few options, including relying on just a handful of small financial institutions or doing business in cash.

The American Bankers Association has lobbied aggressively for the “SAFE Banking Act” bill.

“Banks find themselves in a difficult situation due to the conflict between state and federal law, with local communities encouraging them to bank cannabis businesses and federal law prohibiting it,” the group wrote in a letter to lawmakers on Monday. “Congress must act to resolve this conflict.”

Thirty-six states have legalized medical cannabis while 17 states now allow adult use, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, in an early-April interview with Politico, said he would try to advance legislation legalizing marijuana use for adults. Asked about the SAFE Banking Act, he said he would like to see such a bill move forward as part of a more comprehensive measure – even if President Joe Biden was not supportive.

Original Story from Reuters

Playboy Celebrates National Cannabis Awareness Month

by The Real Dirt | Apr 20, 2021 | 420, 420 Culture & Travel, 420 News, Blog, Business, Culture, Legalization, Politics

LOS ANGELES, April 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — In celebration of National Cannabis Awareness Month taking place throughout April, Playboy Enterprises today announced a month-long initiative supporting nationwide cannabis reform and advocacy. Building on the success of their legalization and expungement campaign in September, Playboy will continue its decades-long work championing the legalization and decriminalization of cannabis using a multifaceted approach focused on the three levers of people, policy and culture. In addition to making notable contributions to the Marijuana Policy Project and tapping into partners like Eaze Momentum, Playboy will also host a series of Twitter takeovers handing the mic over to notable members of the cannabis community throughout the month to discuss cannabis culture and important issues facing the industry today.

“Playboy has been fighting for cannabis rights for over six decades, and today we are closer than ever to achieving our goal of full federal legalization. Now is the time to make sure we do this right,” said Rachel Webber, Chief Brand Officer and President of Corporate Strategy at PLBY Group. “We are proud to support the amazing work our partners at Marijuana Policy Project are doing to ensure that the new laws enacted around legal cannabis are humane, combat injustices, and promote equality.”

“As we continue the fight to end cannabis prohibition nationwide, MPP is proud to partner with Playboy in celebration of National Cannabis Awareness Month,” said Steven Hawkins, Executive Director, Marijuana Policy Project. “Our shared vision for humane and equitable cannabis policies will help to ensure a diverse and inclusive future for legal cannabis that roots out injustices and empowers individuals and communities all across the country.”

Playboy has been engaged with cannabis reform since the 1960s and continues to use its platform to push the conversation forward today. As a proud founding donor of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) over 50 years ago, Playboy has been a pioneer in the cannabis space since the brand’s beginning. Today, once again, Playboy is doubling down on its efforts in support of cannabis reform and advocacy programs, and working to bring conversations surrounding cannabis mainstream.

People: Playboy will produce a collection of Instagram Stories and tweets to introduce and update their audience on Eaze’s Momentum program, a business development incubator for under-represented founders in the cannabis industry. Playboy supports Momentum and its 2021 class of entrepreneurs through monetary and in-kind donations.
Policy: The Playboy Foundation will make a donation of $25,000 to the Marijuana Policy Project to support their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work and further their advocacy for fair and equitable cannabis policy in the fight for federal legalization and expungement. Marijuana Policy Project activates people and mobilizes resources to create lasting policy solutions that improve the quality of life for patients and their families, empower individuals with personal choice, combat injustices, and promote equity.
Culture: Throughout the month, Playboy will continue to use its media platforms to drive conversations around cannabis, as they have done for almost 70 years. In doing so, Playboy will pass the mic to notable members of the cannabis industry, partnering with Brian Karem, Ashlee Marie Preston, Matt Barnes and dream hampton to take over their Twitter channel the week of April 19th and engage with Playboy’s audience of 1.5 million followers around the newest information in the cannabis space. Playboy will also be hosting the class of Eaze Momentum startups, whom the company has sponsored and been mentoring, at their company happy hours, where these cannabis entrepreneurs will pitch their businesses to the Playboy team for support and feedback.

In honor of its legalization and expungement campaign in September, Playboy made a charitable donation of $25k to Eaze Momentum, kicked off its mentorship program with both Eaze Momentum and the Last Prisoner Project, urged Congress to pass the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act via a Medium piece written by Playboy CEO Ben Kohn, commissioned eight artists to create work inspired by the inequities of federal cannabis prohibition, and more.

Playboy remains committed to pushing boundaries through its lifestyle and consumer product business, and driving important conversations that bring topics like cannabis reform, social justice and free expression out from the shadows, doing the work to ensure Pleasure for All. The company has also rolled out a line of pleasure-forward CBD products and smoking accessories over the past year on its sexual wellness hub, www.pleasureforall.com.

Press Release from PR NewsWire

Minnesota Marijuana Legalization Bill Moves past 6th House Committee

by The Real Dirt | Apr 16, 2021 | 420 News, Blog, Cannabis Law, Cannabis Law and Compliance, Legalization, Politics

Minnesota marijuana legalization has been passed in a 6th house committee

A bill to legalize marijuana in Minnesota is going through a thorough vetting process, with a sixth House committee on Wednesday giving the reform proposal a green light following a hearing.

House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler (D), Speaker Melissa Hortman (D) and other lawmakers filed the measure in February. It would allow adults 21 and older to purchase and possess up to 1.5 ounces of cannabis and cultivate up to eight plants, four of which could be mature.

Days after a separate panel approved the legislation with amendments, the House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee passed it in a 9-7 vote.

“The purpose of House File 600 is to eliminate the harm that cannabis has in our society,” Winkler said of the bill at the hearing. “The primary harm that cannabis poses in Minnesota is the prohibition and criminal enforcement of cannabis.”

“The goal of House File 600 is to shift in a legal marketplace that is policed and over-policed disproportionately and instead to create a policy of repair, an opportunity for those most adversely affected by the war on drugs,” he said.

The House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee was the last body to approve the bill, on Monday, and members there adopted a number of changes to the proposal. For example, it now stipulates that members of a cannabis advisory council established under the bill could not serve as lobbyists while on the panel and for two years after they end their service.

Before that hearing, the House Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee, the Workforce and Business Development Finance and Policy Committee, the Labor, Industry, Veterans and Military Affairs Finance and Policy Committee and the Commerce Finance and Policy Committee each advanced the measure.

Its next stop is the State Government Finance and Elections Committee.

Winkler recently said that he expects the legislation to go through any remaining panels by the end of April, with a floor vote anticipated in May.

Still, even if the legislation does make it all the way through the House, it’s expected to face a significant challenge in the Republican-controlled Senate, where lawmakers have signaled that they’re more interested in revising the state’s existing medical cannabis program than enacting legalization of adult use.

After the New York legislature approved a recreational cannabis legalization bill—which the governor promptly signed into law—Winkler said that Minnesota is “falling behind a national movement towards progress.”

Read Full Story from Marijuana Moment

New Mexico Cannabis Legalization Signed into Law by Governor

by The Real Dirt | Apr 13, 2021 | 420 News, Blog, Cannabis Law, Cannabis Law and Compliance, Legalization, Politics

New Mexico cannabis legalization has passed

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed legislation Monday legalizing recreational marijuana use within months and kicking off sales next year, making it the seventh state since November to put an end to pot prohibition.

The governor, a Democrat, has supported marijuana reform as a way to create jobs and shore up state revenue.

On Monday, she also touched on concerns about the harm inflicted on racial and ethnic minorities by drug criminalization and tough policing, noting that the new law could free about 100 from prison and expunge criminal records for thousands of residents.

“It is good for workers. It is good for entrepreneurs. It is good for consumers,” she said of legalization. “And it brings about social justice in ways in which we have been talking about and advocating for, for decades.”

The signed bill gives the governor a strong hand in oversight of recreational marijuana through her appointed superintendent of the Regulation and Licensing Department.

Agency Superintendent Linda Trujillo said people age 21 and over will be allowed start growing marijuana at home and possess up to 2 ounces (56 grams) of cannabis outside their homes starting on June 29.

Recreational cannabis sales start next year by April 1 at state-licensed dispensaries.

Full Story on AP News

A surprising oasis for medical marijuana: Oklahoma

by The Real Dirt | Apr 10, 2021 | 420, 420 Culture & Travel, Blog, Business, Culture, Guest, Hemp, Legalization, Medical Marijuana, NewsNation Now, Politics

When you think of Oklahoma, marijuana is probably not a thing you associate with the state.

OKLAHOMA (NewsNation Now) — Drive about 40 miles northeast of Oklahoma City and you’ll land on Chip Baker’s hundred-acre farm.

At first glance, it looks like any plot in rural Oklahoma. Spacious fields studded with work sheds and tarped greenhouse tunnels. Roosters roam freely next door.

Throw open the barn door and the golden light doesn’t reveal amber waves of grain but a different kind of cash crop.

It’s a marijuana operation and it’s all “baker’s brand.”

“Tokelahoma, cushlahoma, weedlahoma [and] gongelahoma” Baker says are just a few of the brands he sells.

“I think Lester Grinspoon said it best when he said “I smoke marijuana every chance I get.” and it’s true! Every chance, I do! ” exclaimed Baker.

Baker has grown weed around the world since he was 13. From the woods of Georgia and the lakes of Switzerland to Colorado and California.

“I love California weed, I love California growers. But there’s a certain snobbiness and we’ve done it all,” said Baker. “But like Oklahoma it’s this newness, adventure, that’s partly why we’re here.”

The 48-year-old and his wife Jessica moved to Oklahoma a couple of years ago after 57 percent of statewide voters literally greenlit medicinal marijuana through state question 788.

David Lewis is a lifelong Oklahoman and coo of Stability Cannabis, one of the state’s largest indoor grow facilities.

“I think people underestimate how much of a culture shock this was. This was a state where you couldn’t buy wine in a grocery store, yet we passed medicinal marijuana,” explained Lewis. “Born and raised in Oklahoma, I never would have thought we’d have almost 400,000 patients consuming medical marijuana. It’s shocking.”

According to the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority, there are more than 380,000 Oklahomans with active medical marijuana cards, about 10 percent of the population. That’s more than any other state in the country and double that of New Mexico, which comes in second.

In a state whose politics are as red as its dirt, the numbers almost seem wrong.

“Oklahoma and Texas are the home of outlaw country, right? Just because people are conservative or work on the land, or fish or hunt as relaxation, or even go to church, doesn’t disbar them from using cannabis and enjoying it,” said Baker.

“What I would say is look around the congregation at your church, and that’s our customer base,” added Lewis.

They’re consumers who get to come out of the shadows like Taly Frantz-Holly.

“I’ve been on the black market, as far as cannabis, as a smoker and everything from the time I was 19,” said Frantz-Holly.

She suffers from PTSD and says certain prescription pills left her suicidal. She found relief in cannabis.

“I went from taking 8 pharmaceuticals—8 medicinal pills every day. And now I’m down to 2. I only have panic attacks once ever few weeks and I was having panic attacks every single day,” stated Frantz-Holly.

Frantz-Holly says, without a doubt, the plant saved her life. So enamored by its medicinal powers, she now grows it herself.

“I literally got drug charges when I was 21 for a joint. And did 30 days in county jail. For a joint! And now I’m picking up 75 marijuana plants to go home to my commercial grow,” said Frantz-Holly.

She’s not alone. There are 7,000 other commercial growers across the state. Baker says it’s never been easier or cheaper to break into the business.

“Oklahoma just made it so easy to get involved that the average and normal person could,” said Baker. “There just no boundaries here.”

The application fee for growers, processors, dispensaries and transporters is $2,500. For patients, it’s $100. $20 for disabled veterans. Baker says it took him 15 minutes to apply in other states? He’s waited two years.

“Well if you look back at the political cycles, Oklahoma is the reddest of the red states. And I think what that translated to in medical marijuana was a free market approach,” said Baker. “The government wanted the free market to settle out who the winners and losers would be, and as a result you saw very limited restrictions on getting into the market and a lot of people participated.”

And many doctors, especially during a pandemic, have signed off on cards for patients suffering from anxiety, depression and insomnia.

“Oh COVID was a boom to the industry! Turns out if you’re trapped at home I guess with your kids and your in laws, you might have to medicate a little bit more every now and then,” said Lewis.

“The other thing is people aren’t sharing cannabis as much because of COVID. So people have been having their own bowls and their own joints,” stated Baker.

Baker says industry-wide, the business grew 50 percent last year.

If you’re surprised by Oklahoma’s booming numbers, Baker says you shouldn’t be. People just haven’t been able to talk about it but singing it.

“Oklahoma has a cannabis history. The cross Canadian ragweed, the famous song from 20 years ago. Oklahoma boys roll their joints all wrong. Its famous! It’s been famous for years!” said Baker.

Virginia Cannabis Legalization Will Now Take Effect July 1, 2021

by The Real Dirt | Apr 9, 2021 | 420 News, Blog, Cannabis Law, Cannabis Law and Compliance, Legalization, Politics

Virginia cannabis legalization has been moved forward by a new provision

Following today’s legislative approval of Democratic Governor Ralph Northam’s amendments to Senate Bill 1406 and House Bill 2312, Virginia becomes the first southern state to legalize the possession and use of marijuana by adults.

Senate Bill 1406, introduced by Senator Adam Ebbin (D-30) and Senate President Pro Tempore Senator Louise Lucas (D-18), and House Bill 2312, patroned by House Majority Leader Delegate Charniele Herring (D-46), establish a statutory timeline for the legalization of the commercial marijuana market in Virginia. The measure also permits for the personal possession and cultivation of cannabis by those ages 21 or older.

Last week, Gov. Northam recommended changes to the legislation to permit the personal use provisions of the law to take effect on July 1, 2021 rather than on January 1, 2024 — the enactment date initially approved by lawmakers. Today, a majority of the legislature concurred with that change.

Therefore, beginning July 1, 2021, adults will be permitted to possess up to one ounce of marijuana and to cultivate up to four cannabis plants per household without penalty.

The timeline by which state regulators have to enact provisions licensing commercial cannabis production and sales remains July 1, 2024.

Commenting on the final passage, NORML Development Director Jenn Michelle Pedini, who also serves as the Executive Director of Virginia NORML, said: “This is an incredible victory for Virginia. Legalization will bring an end to the thousands of low-level marijuana infractions occurring annually in the Commonwealth — ending a discriminatory practice that far too often targets Virginians who are young, poor, and people of color.”

Majority Leader Charniele Herring added: “It is a huge day for equity in the Commonwealth. Virginia is now the first state in the South to legalize recreational marijuana use, and I am so proud to have been able to carry this monumental legislation. I am ever grateful for the commitment and advocacy from NORML on this topic. Getting Virginia to this day would not have been possible without their hard work and dedication to the cause.”

Senator Adam Ebbin said: “The passage of SB1406 caps off years of struggle to reform our broken and outdated marijuana laws and begins the deliberate steps to repeal the harms of the failed prohibition. I am thankful to NORML, the Governor, and my colleagues for moving this 283 bill from inception to passage over the last four months, and look forward to continuing to partner with them to establish a regulated, equity focused, adult-use marketplace in the coming years.”

Newly released statewide polling data finds that 68 percent of registered voters in Virginia, including majorities of Democrats and Republicans, support legalizing marijuana for adults.

“Virginians were very clear that they are ready for legalization this year, sending over 8,800 emails in support of these measures,” Pedini added.