This week’s most notable cannabis-related announcement from SciCann Therapeutics, of Toronto, which announced on November 6 that it has received good news on a “prior art” search pursuant to its patent application for a CBD Combination Therapy happens to come on the day of the US midterms. To me, it indicates that both the science and the commerce of applications of CBD are chugging along in a now-routine way, which should itself inform the decisions of voters in the US. What I mean is, Cannabis has become a mainstream conversation, a routine part of America’s news cycle.
The Midterm in California: Dana Rohrabacher
As of this writing (Wednesday morning), it is still unclear whether Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R) has won re-election, or has lost his seat to Harley Rouda (D). Rohrabacher has represented what is now called California’s 48th Congressional District for three decades, since Dan Lungren, in 1988, left Washington to join Governor Deukmejian’s administration.
Rohrabacher is generally listed as “conservative” by people who have to divide all of politics into just two tribes. But in my opinion, Rohrabacher has both libertarians and idiosyncratic streak that regularly takes him off the conservative reservation.
Specifically: Rohrabacher has made himself a leader in Congressional efforts to reform marijuana laws. His name is on the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment which, after several false stats, became law in December 2014 and has been renewed annually since. This amendment prohibits the US Department of Justice from spending any part of its budget interfering with the medical trade in cannabis where that trade is in accordance with the law of the several states.
Just last year, Rohrabacher was one of a small founding group of a newly registered Congressional Member Organization, the Cannabis Caucus. The Caucus regards the issue of marijuana law, both in its medical and its recreational aspects, as a states rights issue, and it wants to harmonize federal banking law and taxation with the various state programs.
If Rohrabacher has lost this election, that fact is a loss as well for the broad movement toward the normalization of cannabis and all its derivatives.
The day after the election, President Trump asked for and received the resignation of his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions. For the medical marijuana and CBD industries, Sessions’ resignation is important because as AG he was the chief war-on-marijuana hawk of this administration. In May 2017 he asked Congress to repeal Rohrabacher-Farr. (This request went unheeded.) In January of this year he sent a memo to US Attorneys around the country telling them that “marijuana is a dangerous drug … marijuana activity is a serious crime,” and rescinding the Cole Memorandum, an Obama-era guidance that had urged a laissez-faire approach to commerce in accord with state laws on the subject.
It is unclear whether Sessions’ departure means a change in policy with regard to marijuana at the Justice Department. But the odds are high that if there is a change it will be, from the point of view of this industry, a positive one.
Texas Midterm Election: Ted Cruz
On the Senate side one of the most closely watched races of the midterm was the big-as-Texas contest between incumbent Ted Cruz (R) , and challenger Beto O’Rourke (D). Cruz had a close call, but in the end he did win another term.
Cruz’s importance for this Weekly Review works in the opposite direction from Rohrabacher’s. The latter has long been a defender of our industry, the former has been at best indifferent. Cruz says that as a believer in states’ rights, he respects the decisions of states that have legalized to go their own way, though he would vote against legalization if there were a referendum on the subject in Texas. He has done nothing to harmonize the federal law with those states’ prerogatives, with respect to such matters as banking regulations, and he supports legislation that mandates drug testing for individuals seeking federal unemployment benefits.
His opponent, O’Rourke, on the other hand is unequivocal on the subject. O’Rourke has said that though marijuana may have negative impacts on cognitive development, the “least bad” solution to the question of what to do about it is legalization and regulation. O’Rourke has the support of NORML, which says it is confident he will “be an outspoken and indispensable ally in reforming our federal laws relating to marijuana and [will] fight to finally end our failed prohibitionist policies.”
The day after the election, President Trump asked for and received the resignation of his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions. For the medical marijuana and CBD industries, Sessions’ resignation is important because as AG he was the chief war-on-marijuana hawk of this administration. In May 2017 he asked Congress to repeal Rohrabacher-Farr. (This request went unheeded.) In January of this year he sent a memo to US Attorneys around the country telling them that “marijuana is a dangerous drug … marijuana activity is a serious crime,” and rescinding the Cole Memorandum, an Obama-era guidance that had urged a laissez-faire approach to commerce in accord with state laws on the subject.
It is unclear whether Sessions’ departure means a change in policy with regard to marijuana at the Justice Department. But the odds are high that if there is a change it will be, from the point of view of this industry, a positive one.
Local Initiatives and Cannabis Related Ballot Questions
Politicians aside, voters had their say directly about their state’s law on cannabis in four states on election day: Michigan; North Dakota; Utah; Missouri. There were also local initiatives on a lot of ballots around the country. In Racine, Wisconsin, for example, voters confronted seven different ballot questions on the subject, because the city and the county were presenting voters with three (non binding) cannabis questions each.
Again, in a sense, making the point that something is noteworthy precisely because it has become routine. Let us look at those seven questions.
Racine County asked:
Should marijuana be legalized for medicinal use?
Should marijuana be legalized, taxed, and regulated in the same manner as alcohol for adults 21 years of age or older?
Should proceeds from marijuana taxes be used to fund education, health care, and infrastructure?
The municipality of the same name asked:
Should cannabis be legalized for adult recreational use in Wisconsin?
Should cannabis be legalized for medical use in Wisconsin?
Should cannabis sales be taxed and the revenue from such taxes be used for public education, health care, and infrastructure in Wisconsin?
And, Should cannabis be decriminalized in the State of Wisconsin?
The result of all this: a show of resounding support for legalization or at the least decriminalization, and for both medical and recreational use.
Other counties and cities in Wisconsin asked similar questions, with the result that though there was no statewide vote, nearly half of Wisconsin voters saw at least one such ballot measure this election day.
Utah and Missouri Results
In Utah, voters approved Proposition 2, Medical Marijuana Initiative by a 53/47 margin. This sets the battleground for a renewed struggle in the legislature over a compromise bill that may considerably modify the sweep of the bill referenced in that ballot question.
Meanwhile, in Missouri, voters were asked to vote on three ballot questions concerning cannabis, effectively choosing between two constitutional amendments and/or an act of legislation, each addressing the issue of medicinal marijuana use in somewhat different ways.
The voters supported one of the amendments, rejected the other (and the legislation).
The amendment they approved requires the state’s Health Department to accept applications for qualifying patients, and dispensaries, for a medical cannabis program. This includes nine qualifying conditions and additional conditions with a doctor's approval.
Amendment 2 levied a tax on the sale of medical marijuana at 4 percent and allocated revenue from the tax toward providing healthcare services, job training, housing assistance, and other services for veterans.
The three proposals differed from one another largely in this: the proposal that passed was the only one that explicitly approved \ at-home grow-your-own marijuana: up to 6 flowering plants.
Were there other key changes in Cannabis legislation that you found important but not mentioned here?
Let me know and I’d be happy to comment on anything I missed.
Sources:
Ballotpedia Staff, “Missouri Amendment 2, Medical Marijuana and Veteran Healthcare Services Initiative,” Ballotpedia, November 6, 2018.
Investor Relations, “FSD Pharma Announces Launch of IBS Clinical Study,” Business Wire, October 31, 2018.
Investor Relations, “SoCann Therapeutics Announces Positive ISA Report for ‘Steady Stomach’ CBD Combination Therapy Patent,” EIN Newsdesk, November 6, 2018.
Kyle Jaeger, “Almost Half of Wisconsin Voters Will See Marijuana Ballot Questions in November,” Marijuana Moment, August 29, 2018.
Christina Lieffring, “County, City Support Pot Legalization,” The Journal Times, November 7, 2018.
Ethan B. Russo, “Cannabinoids in the Management of Difficult to Treat Pain,” Therapeutics and Clinical Risk Management, February 2008.
Jim Salter, “Missouri Voters Face 3 Ballot Choices on Medical Marijuana,” The State, November 6, 2018.
Patrick Svitak, “Marijuana Legalization, War on Drugs Emerge as Issues in Race Between Beto O’Rourke and Ted Cruz,” The Texas Tribune, May 2, 2018.
ThinkProgress Staff, “Rep. Rohrabacher, ‘I Hope It’s Your Families that Suffer’ From a Terrorist Attack,” ThinkProgress.org, April 24, 2007.
UPI, “Deukmejian Lobbies Legislators for Lungren,” Los Angeles Times, November 29, 1987.