Cannabis Legalization

National Cannabis Legalization Update

December 22, 2017 by CCT Staff Leave a Comment

2017 is coming to a close and there are more than a handful of states that currently allow for the legal purchase and consumption of recreational marijuana, and even more on board for medical marijuana. But now that the elections are over for 2016, the focus is on, what’s next.

The East Coast

We saw states like Massachusetts and Maine vote for the end of marijuana prohibition, in 2016, and now many of their neighbors are poised to follow. From Vermont to Rhode Island the Eastern seaboard is not taking legal marijuana lightly.

Maryland- In 2014, Maryland passed a law allowing for the medicinal use of marijuana, which was a victory! But now speculations are pointing to all out legalization of marijuana, including recreational usage. With the support of 61% of voters, according to a Washington Post poll in 2016, recreational marijuana has a good chance of passing during the next vote.

While medical marijuana has been a little bit slow moving with getting started, supporters are hoping that with the addition of recreational usage, things would start to move more quickly. Thus far, 15 preliminary licenses to grow, 15 licenses to process marijuana, and 102 approvals to companies have been granted.

Verdict: Look for recreational marijuana on the ballot in 2018 for Maryland!

Rhode Island- This tiny state has a big taste for marijuana. At only 1,212 square miles, the smallest state also had the highest rate of cannabis consumption in 2014 and 2015. With well over 50% of public support in most polls, it seems like a no-brainer that the ocean state could be next to legalize recreational marijuana.

Most recently in 2015, a bill supporting the cause failed to pass. But, after the 2016 election and the win in Massachusetts, Rhode Island’s governor has vowed to take a stronger look at the issue. Since neighboring Massachusetts will be selling legal recreational weed to adults 21 and over, there is a good chance that RI will miss out on revenue and tax money from the cause.

Verdict: Even if the cause is fueled by tax incentives, it is likely to be pushed through to a vote in 2018.

The Midwest

In the middle of America people love their weed just as much as anywhere else. With strong support in even some of the more religious states, cannabis is becoming a more talked about subject throughout the Midwest. There are already a handful of states allowing for medicinal usage of cannabis, but who will be next with recreational use?

Michigan- One of the more liberal states in the Midwest, Michigan has allowed for medical use of marijuana since 2008. Even more recently, cannabis has been decriminalized in the state. With progressive towns like Ann Arbor and Keego Harbor leading the way allowing for the use of recreational marijuana, with little or no consequence, it isn’t hard to see Michigan enacting legal recreational marijuana very soon.

Currently supporters are collecting signatures for the matter to be put on the ballot in 2018. They will need 250,000 signatures for the case to even be taken up by the state, but that’s not out of the question! In a recent poll 57% of voters are looking to pass a law legalizing the recreational use of marijuana.

Verdict: While still in the early stages, the movement to legalize recreational marijuana is stronger than ever. With support and signatures, it very well could come up in the 2018 election.

Missouri- While currently both medical and recreational use of marijuana is illegal in Missouri, steps are being taken to change that. Signatures are being gathered by multiple groups to get marijuana on the ballot in 2018. A solid effort was made for the 2016 election, but was not enough to make it to a vote. Decriminalization of marijuana was however voted through in 2016, and put into place in January 2017. This step in the right direction is a reminder to supporters that legal marijuana is not too far out.

Verdict: 2018 is a possibility for at least medical marijuana and hopefully recreational won’t be far behind.

Updates on the Most Recent Recreational Marijuana States

Massachusetts- In 2016 Massachusetts joined the likes of Alaska, California, and Nevada in legalizing the recreational use and sale of marijuana for adults 21 and older. Although this landmark bill passed the public vote there have been a few hiccups since the election. For starters, the governor has signed a bill pushing back opening of recreational dispensaries 6 months. This in turn takes the ability to purchase legally into 2018. There has also been push back from the governor pertaining to the Cannabis Control Commission which is imperative for the budding legal recreational market. For now, sales are scheduled to start in July of 2018 and include taxes from the state, local precinct, and an across the board marijuana tax as well.

California- California has been on the forefront of marijuana use for years. They were the first state to legalize marijuana for medical use in 1996. And even before that it was decriminalized in the state in 1973. But, the biggest win for cannabis enthusiasts in the golden state came at the end of 2016 when it was voted legal for recreational use. Since the vote passed adults 21 and older have been legally allowed to be gifted marijuana or seeds. The big changes will come in 2018 when dispensaries can sell to adults.

For now, you can enjoy marijuana in your private residence, that has been gifted to you of course. Regulations are being formed currently for the new market and are likely to be finalized by the end of the year.

Alaska- Although it is the largest state in the union, it is also one of the least populated. Nonetheless in 2014 Alaska passed a law allowing for the use and sale of recreational marijuana. Measure 2 not only allows for the use of recreational marijuana, but also allows for marijuana cafes. This is a unique to Alaska option, which is hoping to draw in tourism. Since shops have setup for sales legally in 2016 there have been a handful of dispensaries put in place, and more on the way.

DEA Fog “Clarification” Of Hemp Extract Legality

December 20, 2017 by CCT Staff Leave a Comment

On January 13th, 2017 the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) issued the drug code 7350, a new drug code for marijuana extract that went into effect immediately. Drug Code 7350 allows DEA and DEA-registered entities to track quantities of marijuana extract separately from the quantities of marijuana.

In essence, the DEA is creating a new drug code for marijuana extract. How they’re defining the new drug code is as follows, “an extract containing one or more cannabinoids that has been derived from any ‘plant’ of the ‘genus’ Cannabis, other than the separated resin (whether crude or purified) obtained/extracted from the plant.”

As per DEA, the extracts from any part of cannabis remains as a Schedule I controlled substance. When Drug Code 7350 went into effect there was a lot of confusion over the specific implications of the code. Several extracts of the plant only include traces of cannabinoids (CBD) and have huge medical benefits.

Are these included in the new drug code? Additionally, the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) establishes a definition of marijuana, does the new drug code ignore that definition?

The public confusion over Drug Code 7350 prompted the DEA to release a memorandum to clarify the new drug code. Unfortunately, the memorandum did little to clarify the new drug code and only brings up more questions.

Summary of the Memorandum

The Memorandum (memo) makes three broad “clarifications:”

The new code does not include materials or products that are excluded from the definition of marijuana in the CSA.
The new drug code includes only extracts that fall within the CSA definition of marijuana (a little redundant, tbh).
If the product consists solely of parts of the marijuana plant excluded from the CSA definition of marijuana, then it does not fall under the drug code of marijuana extracts (7360).

The DEA is clarifying that this new drug code is not adding any new extracts or materials to the definition of marijuana.

What they are doing is only meant to further “clarify” the separation between:

The marijuana plant used for recreational purposes;
Marijuana extracts used for medicinal drugs;
Forms of recreational use that don’t involve the entire plant;
and any other purposes for extracting materials from the plant.

However, this attempt at clarification has created a lot of legal confusion surrounding marijuana.

CSA Definition of Marijuana

In order to understand the legal implications of the memorandum it is important to know how the government defines marijuana.

Title 21 USC, the CSA defines marijuana as:

“All parts of the plant Cannabis sativa L., whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; the resin extracted from any part of such plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such plant, its seeds or resin. Such term does not include the mature stalks of such plant, fiber produced from such stalks, oil or cake made from the seeds of such plant, any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such mature stalks (except the resin extracted therefrom), fiber, oil, or cake, or the sterilized seed of such plant which is incapable of germination.”

The updated drug code makes the marijuana plant as a whole fall under Drug Code 7360, but use of the marijuana extracts in any form (excluding those specifically listed) fall under Drug Code 7350.

Cannabinoids (CBD)

One of the major controversies of this clarification involved the extraction of CBD from the plant’s resin. It is not illegal to use the resin, the sticky organic substance exuded by the marijuana plant, of the fully matured stalk. Resin contains small traces of CBD.

The question becomes, can you produce a CBD product that comes from solely the resin of the marijuana (hemp) stalk? According to the memo, the answer is no. In order to understand this conclusion, let’s take a further look at CBD and resin.

CBD is a cannabis compound (molecule) that provides all the medical benefits of the plant, without giving the user a “high” or “stoned” feeling. In fact, it can actually counteract the psychoactive effects of THC. CBD has been linked to giving relief for pain, inflammation, anxiety, seizures, spasms and several other conditions.

It can be used in the treatment of MS, arthritis, diabetes, alcoholism, chronic pain, schizophrenia, epilepsy, and even possibly, has anti-cancer properties. It’s no wonder the public wants to further explore its potential, but unfortunately you cannot legally experiment with this substance as a member of the general public.

While the use of resin is legal, the use of any CBD is not. When you extract resin from the plant, there are small traces of CBD in the resin (not enough to have any significant impact).

If someone could potentially extract enough CBD from the resin to make it useful, then it would fall under the definition of an illegal marijuana extract under Drug Code 7350. Essentially, you would be exploiting the legal product of the plant to reproduce the extract of the plant that is illegal. Regardless of how you produce the CBD it is still illegal.

This was determined in Hemp Industries Association v DEA (2004) and further clarified in the memorandum to Drug Code 7350. While a memorandum typically holds the weight of the law, a verification of that law through judicial precedence makes the memorandum even more powerful in a legal sense.

Drug Code 7350

While the Drug Code 7350 is unclear and further extends the reach of the DEA to measure marijuana extracts in products, it can also be seen as a step forward for the legalization of marijuana. The government has acknowledged that marijuana extracts have separate effects and implications than the plant as a whole.

This diversification allows for a new basis of legal challenges and ramifications. While it currently has no effect on the use and separation of CBD, it is at the very least an acknowledgement of the different uses of the marijuana plant extracts.

At the end of the day, do we need to worry too much? And the answer is, like the states have been ignoring the Federal government, I feel like we will also be ignoring the DEA on how they choose to classify and control, yet, another layer of cannabis.

Cannabis Research While Federally Illegal?

November 27, 2017 by CCT Staff Leave a Comment

What “Legit” Research Can We Do While Cannabis Is STILL Federally Illegal?

Layers of control keep cannabis TIGHTLY shackled and behind bars. America’s federal government continues to aggressively steer the public eye from even looking at cannabis or having a positive thought about it. Why do our authority figures behave like this?

Governments continue to behave like this because the foundation the U.S. was built with CHEAP inferior alternatives. A blatant war was waged on cannabis because of the THREAT superior cannabis would have on their current investments and profits.

Since ALL modern things can be made from cannabis, it logically rings true that ALL top industries business moguls would attempt to prevent potential harm to profits.

It’s common knowledge that cannabis is generally SUPERIOR in most all ways you can measure it. In fact, it’s SO common that the U.S. government threatened American farmers with federal prison time for NOT producing hemp for World War II. Ironically, as soon as the war ended BOOM hemp was instantly made federally illegal, again.

Why does the government bully this industry so much?

The quick truth and reason why cannabis prohibition began is because William Randolph Hearst had the potential to lose a lot of money in the paper industry. He owned a newspaper and had a lot of money tied up in wood paper.

With the invention of new hemp farming technology called the decorticator, he was at risk of losing a lot of money because hemp could made a better cheaper paper. And so the story goes, since he owned a newspaper William deployed the DIRTY strategy of yellow journalism and started spreading LIES about this new drug called MARIHUANA.

Now cannabis, and hemp, are controlled by several layers of government who have labeled cannabis as a Schedule I drug, meaning it doesn’t have any medical value. Being schedule I makes it almost impossible to research, under the Federal umbrella. The U.S. government won’t give research money to uncover the truths about cannabis because it’s considered to have ZERO medical value. And since it allegedly doesn’t have any medical value, government logic goes, why would we give them any money to research it.

Thus opens the doorway to several problems. We can’t research it to prove it has medical value because it’s illegal and since it’s illegal, we can’t research it! Then the question becomes the topic of our discussion. What legitimate cannabis research can humans do while world governments are waging physical, psychological, and emotional warfare on weed? While they are waging war on weed, who do we really listen to and how do we know?

What makes research worthy enough to apply in real life?

Two research methods we’ll look at:

Anecdotal Evidence (everyone can do)
Clinical Research (very few can do)

Anecdotal Evidence

Advantages In Potential Legitimacy

Anecdotal evidence is information gather informally and relies HEAVILY on personal testimony. Before writing, there was oral storytelling. Everything that was known was memorized. Throughout history there is essentially 100% accuracy in passing oral history down throughout the generations and thousands of years. What could make this form of intelligence gathering valid involves the echo of the same message that predates history and is verified daily.

What is verified daily is that cannabis has killed ZERO people, due to consumption, since the beginning. What makes the story of cannabis so powerful, and valid, lean almost entirely on this fact. Cannabis is only superior “medicine” because it fits the definition more appropriately than the synthetic molecules science attempts to pass off as health care. All modern health care creations have taken a life, which is why listening to them about cannabis doesn’t make too much sense.

As we listen to the miraculous stories and experience first hand the power of nature we naturally have a hard time listening to “science” when they spend countless years failing to solve our problems & pains. True health uses all known forms of healing and doesn’t shut down possibilities while turning people into felons.

The simple fact is, animals don’t take pills and some species live to be hundreds of years old! How do they do it and how can I replicate it?

Flaw & Vulnerabilities

Anecdotal evidence means we must trust people on their word. It’s like playing the telephone game from childhood. Much of the original message gets distorted and rarely comes out the other end the same way it went in.

Much like the placebo effect occurs in medicine, so does it sometimes happen in anecdotal healing.

Clinical Research

Advantages In Potential Legitimacy

Clinical research involves several phases and a lot of time and money. The benefits of this method of acquiring information leans heavily on the scientific method. What is GREAT about the scientific method involves careful consideration over each step before claiming truth and legitimacy. It’s a rigorous process and has to stand up to transparent duplication in the public light.

Flaw & Vulnerabilities

Brilliant minds, who spend 10+ years studying the human body get put into EXTREMELY awkward positions of fierce competition over resources in funding their research project. Just because you have a gifted brain that can crunch large amounts of information, doesn’t mean you are automatically chosen to be the researcher who gets approved for LARGE federal funding. These dangerously high levels of competition exerts tremendous amounts of pressure on researchers. Competition over money arouses the animal within and suppresses the creativity, cooperation, risk-taking, and original thinking that goes into unlocking breakthrough discoveries. [1]

Other very risky activity that goes along with this method of research makes verifying and replicating discoveries almost impossible. Fundamental discoveries seemingly takes a lot of time, money, equipment and book intelligence. Even if we were to look at the information, how would we know if it was true, beyond the words on the research paper CLAIMING it was true?

Perhaps real world results are how we would verify legitimacy? The problem with this is the average time it takes for drug to go from the research lab to the patient is 12 years and costs hundreds of millions to billion dollars. Even more crazy is only 1% of drugs that begin “preclinical testing” ever even makes it to human testing. [2] By the time we’re able to test safety, how many people have to die in between?

Final thought. Why would we take medical health advice from an industry of people who have the shortest life span, high suicide rates and the highest rate of drug abuse?

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[1] https://www.pnas.org/content/111/16/5773.full

[2] https://www.ca-biomed.org/pdf/media-kit/fact-sheets/CBRADrugDevelop.pdf

Cannabis Industry Future Prediction

November 20, 2017 by CCT Staff Leave a Comment

How the cannabis industry MIGHT evolve as we move into full legalization?

Marijuana is becoming more and more popular, as legalization continues.

Consumption methods and availability are expanding each day. The question is: What will the future of marijuana look like? Is there a any room for improvement?

From this perspective, the future of marijuana looks very bright. Many changes have been happening in recent years. The media is becoming more and more involved with promoting cannabis. And we are also seeing more and more TV shows dedicated to PURELY to marijuana (Weeds / Workaholics).

New technologies and new products regarding cannabis are constantly being developed and improved. Research conducted by Gallup, in 2016, states that 60% of people want weed to be legalized nationally.

VERY conservative futurist predict that by 2030 ALL 50 U.S states will legalize marijuana OUTRIGHT.

Recently the term Cannapreneur and Ganjapreneur became respectable business words. These words are used to describe entrepreneurs in cannabis industry. As the cannabis industry continues to evolving at a RAPID PACE, more and more people are becoming interested in becoming a part of it. Experts estimate that the size of the legal market will be worth more than $30 billion by 2020, if not more.

Just because cannabis is legal doesn’t mean the companies that produce marijuana are regulating their products with the HIGHEST standards, most appropriate to our industry. In fact, those entrepreneurs that decide to enter marijuana industry cannot get access to financial and banking services, so they have to start their business by using cash only. Otherwise, their assets may be seized by the government. This is predicted to change in the following months, since new regulations are on the way.

According to Marijuana Business Daily, by 2021, the US it is predicted more than $70 billion dollars to be collected by cannabis industry. Predictions from ONLY cannabis sales, the total economic impact will be up to $68 billion by 2021. Comparing that with current economic impact generated from sales of marijuana, this is more than 240% of increase.

On the other hand, Cowen & Co. predicted that by 2026, there will be an economic growth of marijuana industry to $50 billion. This means the annual growth rate would be around 24% which is more than enough, considering that this effect should last for almost a decade. Marijuana is estimated to become an economic force and a big business generator that will provide many opportunities in terms of jobs, development and health benefits.

International Market Predictions

Another big prediction of future of marijuana is regarding international markets.

The legal marijuana sector is going to become even bigger, as many countries plan to legalize marijuana for recreational use. This will lead to evolution of international marijuana market which will include countries like America, Canada, Germany, Netherlands and others.

Flavored Cannabis?

When talking about the future of marijuana, have you heard about flavored marijuana?

A revolutionary technology has come to the cannabis industry that can add different flavors. Yofumo technology adds different fragrance and flavors to marijuana by enhancing terpenes which are flavor molecules in plants. The technology offers ways of modification the flavor, enhance the flavor that is already present or adds new flavors.

This technology is only a small part of future cannabis industry.

One future technology related to marijuana is breathalyzer. The idea behind this technology is to protect drivers on the road. This is a device that should detect if a driver is under the influence by detecting the levels of THC. But, it is not that simple. Since THC sticks in the blood for 30 days, the test can be positive even though a driver didn’t consume in days or weeks.

No clear measurements exists when it comes to a “dangerous” level of THC in your system. This will require a development of more guidelines and research regarding the potential dangers of cannabis while driving. If there is any danger.

THC Amount In Products

Another way to think about the future of cannabis it so consider the amount of THC in products. Nowadays, cannabis oils and concentrates contain from 20 to more than 90 percent of THC. Some word of mouth products are boasting 100% THC, if you can believe it. Would this even be desireable? Does the cannabis community want to see THIS much modification in their plants? As these products get more and more creative and interesting, this will call for more regulations and quality control standards.

Genetically Modified Marijuana?

In the meantime, companies are discussing production of genetically modified marijuana by affecting marijuana genome. This raises some concerns, since genetic modification usually comes with bad effects. The debate over GMO foods is already a hot debate. Can you image what the debates will be like when GMO weed comes into play? What if the government takes over the entire cannabis industry, like what happened in Uraguay, and they force us to ONLY buy government ganja that has been genetically modified? These are questions that will occur in the VERY near future.

Researching Medical Benefits

Recently, U.S. scientific academy reviewed more than 10,000 studies about marijuana and its medical benefits. Some key facts that were found include the use of marijuana for treating depression, cancer, chronic pain, multiple-sclerosis and epilepsy. It has been proved that cannabis treats chronic pain and help dealing with multiple-sclerosis symptoms.

In addition, GW Pharmaceuticals developed a new drug from cannabis called Epidiolex that treats childhood-onset epilepsy. The drug proved to have positive effects, but the company still needs to develop and test it more.

Future Weed Prices

One final future prediction for the cannabis industry.

The prices for cannabis are estimated to fall, as many companies and cultivators enter the market. Since the demand is going to be lower than supply, producers won’t have another choice but to lower the prices in order to stay on the market and be competitive, especially considering the fact that the black market still exists and still has very profitable sales.

Final prediction: One day weed will be cheaper than a bag of tea.

“The best way to predict the future is to to create it.” ~Abraham Lincoln

Predict the future you want by creating it.