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MedMen Prevails in Lawsuit Against Arizona-Based Whitestar Solutions

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CALIFORNIA: MedMen Enterprises Inc., a premier cannabis retailer with operations across the United States, announced the Company has received a summary judgment in its favor on all counts in a lawsuit against Arizona-based Whitestar Solutions, LLC.

In March 2020, litigation was filed by Whitestar against MedMen in the Superior Court of Arizona, Maricopa County, related to a Membership Interest Purchase and Sale Agreement governing the purchase of EBA Holdings, Inc. dba MedMen Scottsdale. Whitestar alleged fraudulent inducement and breach of contract, among other claims, and sought rescission of the underlying transaction or $60,000,000 in alleged monetary damages. MedMen consistently maintained that the lawsuit and claims were baseless and without merit – and the judge agreed on all counts, cancelling the upcoming jury trial and stating that “no reasonable juror could conclude that Whitestar is entitled to relief on any of those claims.” The judge further ruled that as the prevailing party, MedMen is entitled to submit an application to recover attorneys’ fees and taxable costs from Whitestar.

“We’ve always maintained MedMen’s innocence in this matter, and are pleased to be formally exonerated,” said Ed Record, MedMen’s CEO. “This is yet another baseless lawsuit MedMen has been party to in recent years, and we remain committed to vigorously defending the Company and recovering attorneys’ fees when possible.”

MedMen is represented by Jennifer Catero and Steven Jerome of Snell & Wilmer in this matter.

Separately, the Company announced Tyson Rossi, Chief Strategy Officer, is leaving MedMen, effective June 3, 2022. Moving forward, the role will be filled internally.

“We thank Tyson for his leadership and contributions to MedMen,” said Record. “We wish him all the best in his future endeavors. We are also thankful to have a strong bench of talent to fill these openings.”

Ohio Board of Pharmacy Publishes Updated Patient & Caregiver Numbers for April 2022

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OHIO: The State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy published updated patient & caregiver numbers for April 2022. 

These numbers include:

  • 487,571 Recommendations
  • 271,029 Registered patients
    • 17,319 Patients with Veteran Status
    • 18,850 Patients with Indigent Status
    • 1,077 Patients with a Terminal Diagnosis

    141,856 Patients with both an active registration and an active recommendation

  • 260,216 Unique patients who purchased medical marijuana (as reported to OARRS by licensed dispensaries)
  • 29,252 Registered Caregivers

For the full list of program numbers, please visit the Program Update page.

OLCC Commissioners Implement Marijuana Licensing Moratorium Legislation

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OREGON:  Oregon’s marijuana market has experienced exponential growth, which has led to a crowded market place. In response to this reality, the 2022 Oregon legislature passed legislation requiring the Oregon Liquor & Cannabis Commission (OLCC) to cease issuing marijuana licenses to applicants who submitted an application after January 1, 2022. 

“We see both sides of this issue,” stated Commissioner Maletis. “There’s people that are very happy and there’s people that are very unhappy, but the legislature made a decision. We’ve always had a unique system in Oregon. There’s no easy way to do this.”

At its regularly scheduled Commission meeting on April 21, 2022, Commissioners received an update from the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Industry and heard from Oregon’s independently-owned liquor stores on the strengths of Oregon’s liquor market. The Commissioners also approved stipulated settlement agreements, initiated rulemaking in response to 2022 legislation and appointed two new agents to operate small business liquor stores in Creswell and Hillsboro-Aloha.

In the face of inflation and labor shortages, the Oregon hospitality industry foresees growth as bars and restaurants continue to staff up and explore efficiencies to streamline their operations. Oregon’s independently-owned liquor store operators echoed this sentiment by presenting their own experiences and discussed the future of the liquor industry.

Along with the marijuana license moratorium, Oregon’s 2022 legislature enacted several bills requiring OLCC to work with the industry to develop rules to address various changes to OLCC policies. Commissioners voted to enter rulemaking to address the alterations to the bottle bill, requirements for reporting human and sex trafficking in the marijuana industry, and requirements to develop a marijuana license reassignment program for surrendered licenses. OLCC staff will hold public meetings to gain input from the respective industries this summer.

Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority Releases Licensing & Tax Revenue Report for April, 2022.

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OKLAHOMA: The Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority has released the latest licensing and tax revenue reports as of this month. 

 

Licensing Reports, Tax Revenue Reports, and County Totals

Tax Revenue Reports

Current Tax Revenue Report

Congressional Cannabis Caucus Co-Chair Joyce Issues Statement on MORE Act

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DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Congressman Dave Joyce (OH-14), the Republican Co-Chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, released the following statement on the MORE Act:

“Now is not the time for Congress to simply check a box on cannabis reform. Yet here we are, voting on more-or-less the same, deeply flawed bill that barely passed the House last Congress and died directly thereafter. 

“With a President who has made clear his unwillingness to fully desechedule cannabis and a Senate Majority Leader set to roll out his own comprehensive package, no serious legislator, cannabis advocate, or industry stakeholder believes the MORE Act has any prospect of becoming law this Congress. How do I know this? They told me. I only wish they told the millions who are depending on them as well.

“This is not the political reality that any of us want, and I will continue my efforts to change it. But to do so, we must move forward with the understanding that an end to cannabis prohibition must coincide with responsible federal regulations.

“I cannot support a proposal that does not take into account, aside from the physician prescribed treatment of a minor, that cannabis is and should remain an adult product with federal safety and production regulations that ensure it is suitable for consumption. Senators Schumer, Wyden and Booker also recognize this.

“That’s why, rather than advancing a bill that further polarizes lawmakers whose consensus remains vital to progress, they have gone through exhaustive lengths to hone in on federal regulations to include in their legislation and build the bipartisan foundation necessary to pass impactful reform. Not only does the MORE Act not contribute to that foundation, it jeopardizes it.

“Having long worked to advance this issue among conservatives, I see where opportunities to build that foundation currently exist and where work to create it remains undone.

“As a Co-Chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, I remain dedicated to the swift and responsible end of cannabis prohibition and as a former prosecutor, I believe in effectively addressing the unjust consequences of the criminalization of cannabis. These goals cannot be achieved with a messaging bill.

“We must give cannabis reform the meaningful consideration it deserves so that we can pass progress that will be signed into law and improve the lives of millions. There is no more time to waste.”

New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission Special Meeting April 11

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NEW JERSEY:  The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission has added a meeting to the year’s roster for Monday, April 11 at 1 p.m. 

The meeting will be publicly noticed and an agenda added to the agency’s website prior to the meeting.

The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission establishes and enforces the rules and regulations governing the licensing, cultivation, testing, selling, and purchasing of cannabis in the state.

New App Canopyright Will Protect Legacy Genetics Through First-of-its-Kind Cannabis Strain Registry and Licensing System

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CALIFORNIA: Cannabis business lawyer Jeff Hamilton and two women leaders from the Humboldt County cannabis industry – Kelsey Parker, and Lelehnia DuBois – announced that they are launching Canopyright, a blockchain-based botanical registry and licensing system. Canopyright is in the initial funding stages with its tentative launch scheduled for November 11, 2022. 

Beginning in early 2020, Hamilton began developing Canopyright in response to his clients’ pressing need for a defensible mechanism to document their cannabis genetics portfolio assets.

With Canopyright, home growers and state-licensed cannabis businesses alike will have the ability to publicly or privately register their strain intellectual property assets, for free, and maintain physical frozen plant samples in tamper-evident “evidence bags.”

State-licensed cannabis breeders and cultivators will then be able to negotiate licensing contracts in a matter of seconds. Automated Metrc-based invoicing from “flowering plant” information will offer the breeder and cultivator scalability, fairness and flexibility.

Breeders will be able to upload any number of photos, lab tests, genetic tests, certifications and/or other information, and will also have the ability to generate provisional patent filing applications with ease. Users can choose whether to make any of these documents completely private, or locked until a licensing contract has been entered into.

Cultivators seeking new genetics will be able to search within their state and use an array of filters to find exactly what they need. All users may save or share strains and follow their favorite breeders.

Canopyright uses distributed ledger technology (DLT) and a number of encryption features to offer users complete data privacy. Chuck Fried and Craig Drabik, the DLT software developers behind the agency TxMQ, have been leading the backend software development effort since summer 2020. Fried and Drabik chose to build on the Hedera network to document secure, encrypted, smart contract transactions with a low environmental impact.

TxMQ completed the Beta MVP of the platform in August 2021. In September 2021 Hamilton started working with DuBois, leader of the Humboldt Grace Legacy Project, and Parker, cannabis marketing manager and UI designer, to develop the user experience to serve breeders and small farmers.

To see the upcoming app design or get on the waiting list for user focus groups, go to www.Canopyright.info

To test the Beta MVP, go to www.Canopyright.com

Follow Canopyright on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/canopyright/

Representatives Mace and Lee Introduce Resolution Instructing UN to Deschedule Cannabis

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DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Reps. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) released the following statement after the introduction of their bipartisan resolution instructing the United Nations to deschedule cannabis from Schedule 1 of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, and treat cannabis as a commodity similar to other agricultural commodities:

“Many countries would deschedule cannabis and reevaluate how cannabis is classified if the U.N. did so. Cannabis has been shown to be effective in the treatment of numerous medical conditions such as epilepsy, PTSD, cancer pain relief, nausea, and chronic and terminal illnesses. Descheduling at the U.N. would support global research into how cannabis can treat a wide range of ailments and conditions,” said Rep. Nancy Mace.

“Scientific research has shown that cannabis has wide-ranging positive effects on chronic illness treatment. The classification of cannabis as a schedule one drug is outdated, out of touch, and should be addressed not only in the United States, but around the world. The United States should be leading the way on cannabis reform on the global stage, and descheduling at the United Nations would be a great start,” said Rep. Barbara Lee.

 

Ayr Wellness Announces “Changing Legacies,” A Series of Expungement Events

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Company Teams Up with Community Partners in MA, NY, NJ, IL and NV to Assist Individuals in Obtaining a Fresh Start

FLORIDA: Ayr Wellness Inc., a leading vertically integrated U.S. multi-state cannabis operator, has announced the launch of Changing Legacies, a series of record expungement clinics scheduled to take place on February 27, 2022.

As part of the series, Ayr has partnered with numerous not-for-profit and community organizations with expertise in social justice and legal and criminal justice reform. The Company and its partners specifically designed each clinic to assist individuals in expunging cannabis and other non-violent crimes from their records, allowing an opportunity for a fresh start.

“Despite the legalization of cannabis across 35+ states – two-thirds of the US population – the criminal justice system still grapples with a host of issues related to the War on Drugs, which continues to disproportionately impact Black and Brown Americans,” said Jonathan Sandelman, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Ayr. “We believe it is critical to be part of the solution to these issues, addressing the harms of the past and creating opportunity for the future. The main objective of our ‘Changing Legacies’ program is to create an ecosystem of support, partnership and hope for that better future. We thank our partnering organizations for making an event like this possible.”

Ayr will host these expungement events in conjunction with local community partners in multiple states across the country. These events will serve as models for similar events going forward, expressing Ayr’s ongoing commitment to righting harms of the past and creating opportunities for the future.

Community partners play an essential role in promoting equity and fairness in cannabis in America, and Ayr is actively seeking more partnership opportunities for similar events in the future. If you are interested in collaborating with Ayr, please reach out to socialimpact@ayrwellness.com.

Ayr is currently calling on community organizations across the country that may be interested in hosting similar events in the future, and encourages them to reach out to the Company via socialimpact@ayrwellness.com. More information regarding Ayr’s Changing Legacies events, along with Ayr’s latest social impact activations, can be found on the Ayr Wellness Social Impact Instagram Page, @ayrsocialimpact.

 

Location Partnering Organization About our Partner Additional Supporting Organizations
New York The Center for Community Alternatives/

Clean Slate NY (501c3)

 The Center for Community Alternatives (CCA) is a leader in community-based alternatives to incarceration and policy advocacy to reduce reliance on incarceration.

 

The Clean Slate NY campaign is fighting for a new law (S1553A/A6399) that will automatically clear a New Yorker’s conviction record once they become eligible. The civil damage a conviction record can inflict is often wide-ranging and enduring—permanently barring many individuals from basic opportunities like stable jobs, licenses to practice trades, and safe, secure housing.

 The Legal Aid Society;

Community Service Society;

Legal Action Center;

NYC 67th Precinct Clergy Council, Inc. (“The Godsquad”);

Stash Queens;

Change Agents NYC;

Brooklyn Commons
Massachusetts Mass CultivatED Mass CultivatED is the nation’s first jails to jobs cannabis program. This innovative public-private partnership provides fellows with a robust co-op educations program, legal services, workforce preparedness training and cannabis fellowships with livable wages and benefits. PBS (NOVA): The Cannabis Question;

Greater Boston Legal Services;

The Town of Somerville, MA;

Let’s Talk Weed
New Jersey (2) The Library NJ The Library of New Jersey is pursuing entry into the NJ cannabis industry as a social equity applicant, seeking to operate as a retail dispensary and in-house cannabis cultivator while simultaneously educating customers and combatting the opioid addiction crisis. Stockton University;

New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT)
Illinois Cabrini Green Legal Aid Cabrini Green Legal Aid (CGLA)is a statewide leader in supporting low-income individuals who have been negatively impacted by the criminal justice system, aiming to proactively fill the void of legal representation, wraparound services, and advocacy. Dispensary 33
Nevada* Minorities for Medical Marijuana: Project Clean Slate Project Clean Slate is the social justice program for Minorities for Medical Marijuana (M4MM). The program provides expungement services for select marijuana related charges in qualifying states. The program also extends wrap-around services including access to expungement-related legal services, social service support, workforce readiness education, mentoring, and more. The Dispensary NV;

Mynt

*In Nevada, Ayr will be collecting donations at Nevada retail locations (The Dispensary NV and Mynt) between February 18 and March 4, which will directly support Project Clean Slate.

 

Dried Plant Available for Minnesota Medical Cannabis Patients in March

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MINNESOTA:  Patients registered in Minnesota’s Medical Cannabis Program will be eligible to buy dried cannabis flower for smoking from the state’s medical cannabis dispensaries starting March 1.

In preparation for the change, registered patients interested in smokable cannabis can make an appointment for a consultation with a medical cannabis dispensary pharmacist beginning Feb. 1 so they will be pre-approved to buy pre-packaged dried flower and pre-rolls once available.

Consultations, which can be in-person or virtual, are required when a patient changes the type of medical cannabis they receive. Smokable cannabis may be available a few days before March 1, if the state’s relevant administrative rules are finalized early. Patients should check with their medical cannabis dispensary for further details.

The sale of smokable cannabis is limited to patients and caregivers who are 21 years or older and who are registered with the Medical Cannabis Program. Proof of age will be required when picking up smokable medical cannabis. Scheduling an appointment at a medical cannabis dispensary ahead of time is strongly recommended.

“Patients need to weigh the risks of smoking medical cannabis, including those related to secondhand smoke and lung health, with any potential benefits,” said Minnesota Commissioner of Health Jan Malcolm. “Smokable cannabis may not be right for everyone; patients should have a conversation with their health care practitioner for guidance.”

Minnesota’s medical cannabis dispensaries will offer pre-packaged dried flower and pre-rolls in a variety of strains and levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). Registered patients can get up to a 90-day supply of smokable cannabis.

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) expects patient enrollment to double or triple, based on the experiences of other states that added dried flower to their medical cannabis program. In an October 2021 survey by the Office of Medical Cannabis, enrolled patients were asked if they were likely to try smokable cannabis when it becomes available. Of the respondents, 71% said they were very likely or somewhat likely to try it.

Patients who decide to use smokable cannabis are encouraged to learn where smoking medical cannabis is and is not allowed. Registered patients can only use medical cannabis within Minnesota. Medical cannabis can be used on private property, but not in public places where it is illegal to smoke or vape tobacco. Medical cannabis cannot be smoked or vaped where a minor could be exposed to secondhand smoke or vapor.

To become a patient in the Medical Cannabis Program, a person must be certified by a participating health care practitioner for at least one of 17 qualifying medical conditions. More information on the enrollment process is available on the Office of Medical Cannabis website.

The Medical Cannabis Program will add another option for medicine later this year. Infused edibles (in the form of gummies and chews) will become a new delivery method in the program effective Aug. 1, 2022. This was approved during MDH’s annual petition and comment process to solicit public input on potential qualifying medical conditions and delivery methods for medicine.