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Luxembourg becomes first European country to legalize cannabis

by Travis C | Oct 22, 2021 | 420 News, Blog, Cannabis Law, Cannabis Law and Compliance, Cannabis News, Culture, Legalization

Luxembourg legalizes cannabis for consumption and cultivation

In an effort to combat the illicit drug market, Luxembourg will legalize home cultivation and consumption of cannabis.

The country of just over 650,000 will permit home cultivation and consumption of cannabis, and allow the sale and purchase of seeds through local shops and from ordering abroad. There will be no shops to purchase cannabis flower or other cannabis products.

The law specifies that cultivation can only be done “in the four walls of your own home,” and the same goes for consumption. Which means there won’t be any sort of consumption lounges, and consumers cannot do so outdoors.

The leaders of the Greens – one of the three coalition partners in government along with the Democratic Party, and the Socialist Workers’ Party – said the move “represents a fundamental reorientation of Luxembourg’s drug policy”, as the government aims to tackle drug-related crime with a more “holistic” approach.

“The war on cannabis has failed,” the party said in a statement on Friday.

“The announcements of the Minister of Justice, Sam Tanson, represent a fundamental reorientation of Luxembourg’s drug policy. At last, the use of cannabis is being regulated and a legal alternative to the black market is being created.”

The Greens added that the main objectives of new legislation on cannabis would be to exempt production, purchase and consumption of a given amount of cannabis from punishment, keep users away from the black market, reduce the mental and physical dangers associated with it, and combat acquisitive crime.

With this new law Luxembourg will become the first European country to legalize cannabis for recreational use. While multiple other countries have decriminalized or legalized medical cannabis, and many have legalized hemp production in some form, none have fully legalized it for recreational use.

Even in a country like Holland, famous for Amsterdam which many consider a legal cannabis haven, cannabis is not technically legal.

While the Luxembourg law may be restrictive and lacking plans for an operational commercial industry, the government isn’t ruling out the domestic production of seeds for commercial purposes.

Billionaire-backed Denver Ordinance 300 would raise retail cannabis tax by 13%

by The Real Dirt | Oct 13, 2021 | Blog, Business, Cannabis Business, Cannabis Law, Cannabis Law and Compliance, Cannabis News, Industry News, Legalization, Politics

Denver Ordinance 300 would raise taxes on recreational cannabis.

An advocacy organization registered in Delaware and backed by a Bahamas-based billionaire Forbes calls “the world’s richest 29-year-old” is going head-to-head with the Denver cannabis industry — and the mayor — through a proposed city ordinance that would increase Denver’s recreational marijuana tax by 13%.

Initiated Ordinance 300, which will appear on the 2021 ballot, proposes that “Denver retail marijuana sales tax be increased by $7 million” through a 1.5% tariff to fund “pandemic research” at the University of Colorado Denver.

Should a statewide ballot initiative that will also be put before voters in 2021, Proposition 119, pass along with Ordinance 300, Denver cannabis consumers will be paying nearly 25% more for their weed within the next three years. Denver residents currently pay a total of 26.41% in taxes on recreational cannabis: 11.41% to the city and 15% to the state.

The move has Colorado cannabis industry insiders wondering why Colorado, why CU Denver and why their sector.

“Ordinance 300 taxes Denver cannabis consumers to fund, and I’m putting this in big old air quotes, ‘future pandemic research,'” Marijuana Industry Group Executive Director Truman Bradley told Denver Business Journal. “I literally cannot think of a cause that’s going to achieve more attention globally than [pandemic research]. It makes no sense to ask Denver cannabis consumers to foot the bill for that.”

MIG, along with industry advocacy organization Colorado Leads, primarily expressed concern about the impact on cannabis buyers who consume for medical purposes but may not have the means for a medical card — something that requires an often expensive annual physical exam and fees paid to the state — or simply don’t want to be on an official list.

“This measure — funded by a rich, out-of-town carpetbagger — taxes people’s pain relief to pay for a random pandemic preparation program that has no accountability, no oversight, no specific solutions and no connection to the marijuana industry,” Chuck Smith, Colorado Leads board president and CEO of Denver-based cannabis giant BellRock Brands, told DBJ. “If, as the proponents contend, this program is so beneficial, why aren’t all Denver industries asked to pay their fair share?”

Read Full Story on Denver Business Journal

New York cannabis board holds first meeting

by The Real Dirt | Oct 7, 2021 | 420 News, Blog, Business, Cannabis Business, Cannabis Law, Cannabis Law and Compliance, Cannabis News, Industry News, Legalization, Politics

New York marijuana regulators on Tuesday sought to make up for delays in the drug’s rollout by approving a chief equity officer and making immediate changes to the medical cannabis program during the inaugural meeting of the state Cannabis Control Board.

The five-member board charged with implementing marijuana legalization and advancing the state’s cannabis industry set a clear tone: They wanted to move past delays in implementing the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act.

The state law legalizing marijuana took effect in March, but infighting between then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature exacerbated delays in getting members appointed to the board, slowing down the work of getting regulations for legal sales in place.

“The MRTA was signed into law on March 31. But we were not able to begin the work of establishing New York’s cannabis market until Sept. 22, when the full cannabis control board was appointed. As such, there was a six-month delay to make up,” Christopher Alexander, executive director of the Office of Cannabis Management, told the board Tuesday afternoon.

The state legislature ended its regular session without making appointments to the board because lawmakers had been entangled in a fight with Cuomo over appointments to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Since Cuomo left office in August, Gov. Kathy Hochul has made getting the board going central to her early administration, saying in a statement announcing several new members of the board: “New York’s cannabis industry has stalled for far too long.”

The impact of the slow rollout could be felt. A portion of the law that would allow marijuana cardholders to grow plants six months after the law went into effect was delayed because the board was not in place, the Times Union in Albany reported.

But on Tuesday, the regulators moved ahead with several changes to the medical cannabis program. They include permanently waiving a $50 registration fee for patients and caregivers and making the whole flower an approved form of medical cannabis product.

Another provision allows for a 60-day supply of medical cannabis to be given to a certified patient or designated caregiver instead of a month supply.

Read Full Story on NCPR

Washington State Announces ‘Joint for Jabs’ Covid Vaccine Program

by The Real Dirt | Jun 9, 2021 | 420 Culture & Travel, 420 News, Blog, Cannabis News, Culture, Politics, Stranger Than Fiction

A vaccine can now get you some pre-rolled bud in the state of Washington.

The state’s liquor and cannabis board announced on Monday that in an effort to support coronavirus vaccinations, it will temporarily allow state-licensed cannabis retailers to give a free joint to adults who get their first or second dose at a vaccine clinic at one of the retail locations.

Call it the latest bounty in an ever-expanding list of incentives popping up across the country meant to push Americans to get their shots. “Joints for jabs” and similar campaigns have been around for months, with cannabis activist groups and local dispensaries offering joints for vaccinations. Now, a state is promoting the program.

Health experts have repeatedly said vaccine demand would wane and each new shot in an arm would be harder to achieve either because of hesitancy, access or logistical challenges for the population left unvaccinated.

“Since the start of the pandemic itself, we’ve always had about a quarter of the population that’s been like, ‘Uh, I really don’t know,’ ” said Rupali Limaye, a behavioral and social scientist that studies vaccine hesitancy at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “It makes sense we’re at this place where we’re having to persuade people to get the vaccine.”

She said it was “pretty fascinating” to see how creative states can get with their incentives, especially as health officials and local leaders figure out how to tailor messaging, and incentives, around different segments of the population. Officials in New Jersey and D.C., for example, said they were targeting younger populations with campaigns offering free beer for shots.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) also announced a suite of other vaccine incentives last week — including lottery prizes, sports tickets and game systems — to help encourage unvaccinated residents.

“For some people it may be enough to say, ‘You get a doughnut.’ For others, they may need something more, like a college scholarship,” Limaye said. “To me, it matches the general principles of how we should focus on behavioral science, by meeting people where they are.”

Vaccination incentive campaigns have ballooned in recent weeks — getting a vaccine can make you a millionaire, or at least get you a free beer. These marketing strategies from local leaders and corporations have taken on added urgency as vaccination levels across the country fall. The Biden administration has itself pushed an array of incentives to get more people vaccinated ahead of the Fourth of July, a deadline set by the president to get 70 percent of adults at least partially vaccinated.

In recent days, the nation’s daily average doses has dropped to under a million, down more than two-thirds from a mid-April peak of more than 3.3 million daily average doses, according to data tracked by The Washington Post. The lag puts Biden’s national goal at risk, even as more than a dozen states have already reached the 70 percent milestone.

Read Full Story on Washington Post

Colorado marijuana regulation bill overwhelmingly passes in House

by The Real Dirt | May 28, 2021 | 420 News, Blog, Business, Cannabis Law, Cannabis News, Industry News, Legalization, Medical Marijuana, Politics

A Colorado marijuana regulation bill has been passed in the state house

It would restrict teens’ access to high-THC products and tighten rules for medical marijuana

The Colorado House of Representatives passed the state’s most substantial marijuana regulation policy since legalization on Thursday, intending to crack down on youth access to high-potency THC products and tighten rules for the medical marijuana market.

HB21-1317 passed overwhelmingly, 56-8, and moves on to the state Senate, where it is also expected to pass.

Some of the few House members who did criticize the bill argued data collection would lead to discrimination against consumers, as well as a slippery slope toward a fresh round of prohibitionist lawmaking.

Garnett disagreed, saying on the House floor just before the vote that he supports “making sure we all understand where this market has gone, how this (high-potency) market has expanded. … I just want to make sure that if there is an impact on the dev brain then we have public health research.

“We have waited too long to get to this point.”

Colorado’s legislative session must end no later than June 12, meaning this bill will move to the desk of Gov. Jared Polis in the next two weeks if it passes as expected.