We returned to the State House this week for another hearing held by the Joint Committee on Marijuana Policy, and while in some regards it was a subsequent demonstration of how little some officials in Mass care about the facts surrounding cannabis, there were also some critical moments.
I streamed video for those who want to suffer through it, and we will certainly be following up with ongoing coverage (in addition to all the articles from multiple sources we linked to below, some of which are quite informative), but for now I’ll focus on a few big takeaways:
The commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources also brought some interesting information, in his case regarding pesticides and other issues that potential mass growers (and small ones too for that matter) may want to check into. On this I will defer to ace reporter Shira Schoenberg at MassLive.
As the packed room was reminded of by the parents of Maddie Cole, who has intractable seizures due to epilepsy that is most effectively relieved by particular CBD strains, it is important to remember the patients in all of this. A bill supported by the Coles and the Massachusetts Patient Advocacy Alliance would, among other positives, make it easier for families in desperate need to get their children medicine. Under the current system, it took the Coles “two years of searching [to] finally find one physician in the whole state who had the appropriate certification.” That’s unacceptable.
Lastly, at least for for now, and it’s a waste of time to give this guy too much attention, but Cape & Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe is an absurd individual. To say his views are prehistoric is an insult to dinosaurs; he’s still fabricating gateway drug propaganda, claiming that the facts are on his side while openly conceding that he didn’t bring any specific data along with him. O’Keefe’s immediately following the Coles only added insult to injury.
To paraphrase the great anti-prohibitionist politician Barney Frank, It is a tribute to the First Amendment that this kind of vile, contemptible nonsense is so freely propagated … Trying to have a conversation with O’Keefe would be like trying to argue with a dining room table. I have no interest in doing it.
-Chris Faraone, Editor-In-Chief
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HEADY LINES
COMMONWEALTH CROP REPORT
Recreational Marijuana Industry Poised for Takeoff in Mass (Metro West Daily)
Jostling Continues Over Marijuana Industry Oversight Structure (Berkshire Eagle)
State Treasurer Talks Marijuana Regulation (Gloucester Times)
Medical Marijuana Fees Fill State Coffers (Eagle Tribune)
Medical Marijuana in Disarray Amid Pot Uncertainty (Boston Globe)
A Better Way to Regulate Marijuana (Boston Globe)
Lawmakers May Strip Treasurer of Pot Authority (Boston Globe)
Massachusetts Motorist Charged After Marijuana, Brass Knuckles Found (Buffalo News)
To Farmers, Cannabis Could Mean Much Bigger Bucks Than Tomatoes (Boston Globe)
Chabot: Bill Would Block Pot Purchase with EBT (Boston Herald)
Despite Political Barriers, Massachusetts Farmers Push for a Place in the Legal Weed Industry (Merry Jane)
Statewide Delivery to Launch in Massachusetts (www.leafy.com)
Statewide Medical Marijuana Delivery Service to Launch (7 News)
For Child Welfare to Driving Drugged, Lawmakers Consider Massachusetts Marijuana Law Changes (MassLive)
Commissioner Says Massachusetts Agriculture Department Will Need More Money to Regulate Marijuana Growth (MassLive)
Home Grow Limit is Flashpoint in Massachusetts Legislative Marijuana Debate (MassLive)
- At a hearing before the Legislature's Joint Committee on Marijuana Policy on Monday, Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe spoke out strongly in favor of lowering the home grow limit. "The idea you can grow in a house 12 pot plants for two adults is a recipe for increasing the availability of dope in the black market, with the target customer being the people who can't buy it legally -- in other words, the commonwealth's children," O'Keefe said. READ MORE
ROADRUNNER
CAMBRIDGE: SeaNatural Opens Cambridge’s First Registered Medical (Cambridge)
FALMOUTH: Teens Killed in December Crash Were Speeding, Had THC in Systems (CBS Local)
IPSWICH: Planners Endorse Delaying Recreational Pot (Wicked Local)
PLYMOUTH: Massachusetts Town Considers Ban on Marijuana Shops (WCVB 5)
QUINCY: Cannabis Brew is Coming (Boston Magazine)
STOUGHTON: To Vote on Pot Shops, Local Races (Boston Globe)
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UNDER COVER: WHO IS POTSQUATCH?
- I had made the trip to Potco, Mech’s CBD dispensary, café, retail store, infusion and extraction center, to spend an afternoon in the habitat of the Potsquatch. I didn’t count on getting literally under the creature’s skin—but as a reporter you often just roll with the scene. READ MORE
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JOINT PERSPECTIVE: WOMEN IN WEED
- I recently caught up with Shaleen Title, who is a co-founder of THC Staffing Group. A job placement agency focused on matching qualified and interested job candidates with cannabis enterprises, THC has a job fair in Boston this Thursday at District Hall. Here’s what you need to know … READ MORE
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CANNABIZ CORNER
BCC to Acquire Mass Cannabis Assets (Yahoo)
Opening a Dispensary on an Island: Overcoming a Barrier to Business (Cannabis Industry Journal)
BCC to Enter Massachusetts Cannabis Market with $5.1mm Acquisition (New Cannabis Ventures)
NEREJ’s Cannabis and Commercial Real Estate Summit Examines Challenges & Opportunities for Industry (NEREJ)
- The first panel discussed the challenges and opportunities, and featured Tim Keogh, president and CEO of the Denver-based AmeriCann, a firm that develops cannabis cultivation properties; Kris Krane, managing partner at 4Front Ventures, which works with medical marijuana entrepreneurs; and John Connor, principal at Vantage Builders, whose firm just completed a facility in Bridgewater. The panel was moderated by Jim Borghesani, president of Primepoint Strategic Media, who also served as communications director for the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol in Massachusetts, which spearheaded the passage of the recreational use law. READ MORE
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EDUCATION: WITH MARCUS JOHNSON-SMITH OF KUSH GROOVE & JOINT PERSPECTIVE
Looking to start, launch, make or invest in a cannabis business? Are you one who see’s cannabis not as just a plant but you see cannabis for business? Well now is a good time to get involved. As of March 2017, 32 states in the United States of America have recreational cannabis laws or medical cannabis programs allowing adults to access cannabis for either medicinal or recreational purposes. More than 1/2 of 240 Million U.S. adults have access to cannabis programs that allow for the purchase and consumption of legal cannabis. With demand (and access) for cannabis related products at an all time high (infused products with cannabis, cannabis delivery devices, cannabis delivery services), existing and aspiring entrepreneurs like you are eager to get a slice of a multi-billion dollar cash pie. READ MORE
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WHAT: Medical Marijuana Dispensary Agent Training Class
- WHO: HempStaff, a medical marijuana staffing and training agency
- WHEN: Saturday, April 8
- WHERE: Doubletree Boston North Shore, located at 50 Ferncroft Rd, Danvers, MA
- WHY: “HempStaff's team of recruiters, specializing in the cannabis industry, are available to business owners to help with all their staffing needs from multi-year, experienced Master Growers, Extractors, Dispensary Managers but also those entry level positions of site workers and dispensary agents which are so highly competitive and coveted right now.”
- MORE INFO
WHAT: CANAMED 2017
- WHO: Courtagen Life Sciences and Medicinal Genomics
- WHERE: The Joseph B. Martin Conference Center at Harvard medical School
- WHEN: April 9 - 11
- WHY: "The CannMed 2017 Conference will be a gathering of the greatest minds in medical cannabis research, where they will discuss the work they are doing to better understand this remarkable plant and how their work will shape future cannabis regulations."
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NECANN SPEAKERS ANNOUNCED
Over 100 of the TOP local and national expert speakers & panelists
Doctors, Lawyers, Security experts, Master Growers, Lighting experts, soil makers, organic product producers, healers, investors, builders, marketers, entrepreneurs, and business owners. You will talk to, and learn from, the best of the best: the true movers and shakers in the fastest growing industry in the world!
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