Issue 65: Did the U.S Just Move Closer to Interstate Commerce?
Some Thoughts On The Potential Big Impact of A Shipment of A Small Amount of Weed From One Hawaiian Island To Another. Plus, Some Updates From Massachusetts.
Hey friends, this week I’m back with a slightly more typical newsletter, as we’ve gotten a slight reprieve from the endless onslaught of cannabis news here in Massachusetts.
In this issue, I offer some thoughts on the impact of Hawaii’s recent inter-island shipments of weed. Also included are some updates regarding the lawsuit between Shannon O’Brien and Deb Goldberg.
Did the U.S Just Move Closer to Interstate Commerce?
Why A Small Shipment of Cannabis From One Hawaiian Island Could Have Much Larger Implications In New England… And Beyond
Life just got a bit better for Hawaii’s medical marijuana patients, as Marijuana Moment reported this week that the state has seen its first shipment of cannabis products for one island to another. This move should allow for a wider selection of products for patients who were previously only able to buy medical marijuana that was produced on the island that they reside on.
While these types of inter-island shipments are fairly standard occurrences in other industries, there’s a particular reason why it took years for the Aloha State to build up the courage to attempt such a thing with weed: traveling between islands requires movement through federal waters or airspace, an event that state-level policymakers have long feared would bring the wrath of the federal government.
The New England Angle
This story has interesting implications for island communities in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maine.
In Maine’s relatively unregulated medical marijuana market, there appears to be at least one cannabis cultivator who operate from one of the state’s unbridged islands. On the adult use side, neither the state’s laws or cannabis regulations mention the state’s island communities. Regulators have issued one conditional retail license for a business on Monhegan, but no adult use businesses on unbridged islands have appeared to actually open for business.
(While some of Maine’s unbridged islands see their populations swell during the summer vacation months, most only have a few dozen permanent residents.)
Rhode Island’s law follows a similar path to Maine, as it doesn’t seem to officially address how the state will handle cannabis businesses in New Shoreham, which is located on Block Island.
Massachusetts took a little bit more of a pro-active approach to prevent cannabis from traveling through federal waters, as the state’s cannabis law required regulators to come up with make necessary accommodations and promulgate special regulations for the two counties in the state that are composed entirely of islands. They accomplished this by coming up with regulations that allow for cultivators to seek alternatives to sending their product to be tested at an independent lab.
Are Coast Guard Raids An Actual Concern?
At this point, it’s starting to seem increasingly unlikely that the federal government would apprehend a plane or boat that’s moving state-legal weed across federal airspace or waters from one in-state location to another.
This fact is supported by the realities in Alaska, where cannabis has been flown through federal airspace for quite some time with no action from the feds. It’s a similar situation in Washington, where ferry companies have apparently adopted a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy about vans transporting weed from island communities.
However, given the relatively small population of island communities in New England, it may be some time before regulators feel enough pressure to get around to acknowledging the reality that Coast Guard raids don’t seem to be likely.
Tourists also don’t have a whole lot of incentive to shop local when visiting these communities, as it remains fairly easy to bring small amounts of cannabis in personal luggage while traveling via ferry, even if such a thing isn’t technically isn’t allowed.
Are There Larger Implications?
In the grand scheme of things, the issue of non-bridged islands that sit in federal waters probably isn’t the most pressing thing on the mind of lawmakers and regulators.
However, the fact that more and more cannabis is now being moved through federal airspace and/or waters without even so much as a statement from federal law enforcement adds to the growing amount of evidence that there’s little appetite to interfere in state-legal cannabis shipments.
This could have big implications for efforts to use interstate compacts as a way to ship cannabis from one legal market to another. These agreements would allow individuals states to enter deals with one another that would allow for cannabis products that are grown or manufactured in one state where cannabis is legal to be shipped to another. Such agreements could help alleviate the current situation where states have way more supply than demand while others don’t have enough product to go around.
While there are concerns that inter-state commerce could disrupt efforts to ensure that the cannabis industry is equitable, some proposals have also called for the creation of import licenses to be set aside for social equity applicants in states that receive cannabis shipments from other jurisdictions.
Are Concerns Over Federal Interference Legitimate, Or A Convenient Excuse?
Up until this point, state-level policymakers have always gone to great lengths to make it clear that cannabis can’t cross state lines under any circumstances. While these rules were once based in a reasonable fear of federal intervention, they’ve also had the added protectionist effect of allowing states to create their own fully independent cannabis economies, leading to more local jobs, business licenses, and tax revenue than otherwise might exist in a world where state borders weren’t an issue.
While fears of federal interference were easy to justify in the days where the Bush and Obama administrations were still allowing the DEA to raid cannabis dispensaries, it’s now been over a decade since we’ve seen any willingness from the feds in regards to cracking down on state-legal businesses.
Even with some postering from figures in the Trump administration and Jeff Sessions’ repeal of the Cole Memo, the lack of follow through on conservative threats to disrupt state-legal cannabis markets is a likely indication that politicians realize how unpopular such a crackdown would be amongst voters.
It’s also important to remember that literally every aspect of state-legal cannabis markets violate federal law. The Supreme Court has ruled that pretty much any activity involving marijuana is a violation of federal drug laws, even if the marijuana in question never crossed state lines. We’re all violating federal law on a daily basis, and nothing’s being done about it.
While the Cole Memo did outline preventing inter-state cannabis shipments as an area that federal law enforcement should focus on, it’s not as if transporting product from one legal state to another will somehow force the feds to start setting up checkpoints and raiding boats and planes that may be shipping legal weed. Even the most anti-cannabis lawmakers on Capitol Hill likely realize that any sort of federal raids would only hasten the downfall of federal prohibition.
State Laws May Cause A Logistical Nightmare
While there’s no longer as much reason to be concerned that there will be federal interference in inter-state cannabis shipments, there are still some logistical issues to keep in mind, particularly in situations where states involved in a compact don’t share a physical border.
If, for example, a plane full of legal weed flying from Oregon to New Jersey had to make an emergency landing in a prohibitionist state like Kentucky, state-law enforcement would likely be within their legal rights if they seized the weed and arrested the individuals who were transporting it. Efforts to move cannabis via ground transportation could also face similar issues if it involves moving weed through states that aren’t part of the compact.
The idea of state law enforcement arresting pilots and truck drivers for transporting weed from one state to another may sound absurd at first, but past disputes over alcohol sales on Amtrak trains passing through dry states have shown that this scenario isn’t entirely out of the question.
At the very least, this legal reality would probably have the effect of making transporting cannabis from state-to-state a lot more difficult (and expensive) than your standard shipment of legal goods.
O’Brien Hearing Called Off At Request Of Both Parties
Sudden Cancellation Caps Off A (Relatively) Quiet Week In Massachusetts
Bad news for fans of courtroom drama: Less than 24 hours before Shannon O’Brien’s lawsuit against State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg was set to receive a preliminary hearing, state court documents were updated to reflect the fact that the hearing had been cancelled.
A little while later, Boston Business Journal reported that O’Brien filed a motion to continue her request for a preliminary injunction.
UPDATE (2:11PM): You can see O’Brien’s full notice of continuance here.
O’Brien said in a statement to BBJ that Goldberg had agreed to hold a hearing regarding her suspension. That hearing is scheduled for November 7th.
In related news, Jeff Rawson, President of the Institute of Cannabis Science, put out a statement that expressed concern over the suspension of O’Brien. The letter also called attention to some off-the-shelf testing that the organization has done of cannabis products and highlighted the potential conflict of interest in hiring a former lab executive to oversee the regulation of testing labs in the state.
While this week was relatively quiet compared to weeks prior *, the next few upcoming business days should be interesting. In addition to the regularly scheduled CCC meeting on Thursday, the agency also plans on holding yet another mediation session behind the closed doors of executive session on Tuesday.
The release of information to the Boston Globe regarding Trulieve’s apparent $500K+ fine also suggests that we may be close to getting official word of the end of the CCC’s investigation into the company.
* = With my luck, a massive story will break the second I click “send” on this newsletter.
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New England
🔐 MASSACHUSETTS CANNABIS SALES MAY BE UP, BUT EMPLOYMENT IS DOWN (Cassie McGrath | Boston Business Journal)
For example, Revolutionary Clinics dropped from 350 employees to 212, SIRA Naturals dropped from 350 employees to 198 and Garden Remedies dropped from 215 total employees to 201.
Some of this has come in layoffs with some of the largest cannabis companies — INSA and Revolutionary Clinics — having letting go of staff this year. Meanwhile, Trulieve, a multi-state operator that had three stores in Massachusetts, decided earlier this year to close all operations in the Bay State, resulting in layoffs of 90 employees.
ANALYSIS: I’ve been tracking the total number of registered agents in the state for a while now, but this article offers some interesting insight into the specific headcount at some of the state’s largest companies.
While it’s easy to blame layoffs on the declining price of weed, everyone in the industry knew from the get-go that sky high prices weren’t going to last forever. Some businesses clearly planned for this better than others.
🔐 IS CT'S CANNABIS MARKET GROWING TOO QUICKLY? EXPERTS SAY CT CAN AVOID MISTAKES MASSACHUSETTS MADE (Kalleen Rose Ozanic | CT Insider)
[Darren] Weiss [President of Verano] said that, while heavy-handed regulation goes against “free market principles,” it's better to let the state correct and regulate the cannabis market. Otherwise, the market would correct itself with retail closures — the "least-preferred method" of dealing with oversaturation, he said.
Regulation is not without precedent, Weiss said, comparing the cannabis industry to how the Federal Communications Commission licenses the airwaves.
ANALYSIS: The FCC licenses the airwaves because there’s a finite amount of bandwidth available. Unless artificial barriers are created, that’s simply not the case with cannabis.
Business closures are unfortunate, but not giving people a chance to open a business at all doesn’t seem like a logical strategy to address this problem. Restaurants close all the time, but this fact hasn’t led to governments clamoring to regulate the total amount of eateries that are allowed in their states or worrying that the price of a cheeseburger has gotten too low.
Plenty of mistakes have been made in Massachusetts, but I can think of about 5 billion reasons why allowing an unlimited amount of total cannabis licenses wasn’t one of them.
It would have been nice to hear some perspectives from consumers who are dealing with the state’s high prices, or potential business owners who have been boxed out by the limited licensing structure.
A NORTH ADAMS COUPLE WANTS TO OPEN A DISPENSARY WITHIN 500 FEET OF COLEGROVE PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (Sten Spinella | The Berkshire Eagle)
Board member Rye Howard called the closeness to the school a “deal breaker.”
Miksic pushed back, noting that his daughter attends the school and saying, “I personally have no issue whatsoever with the location of this. I just don’t think it matters. You can’t walk into one of these establishments if you’re a child. It’s not possible. The security is way tighter than any package store anywhere.”
“My numbers say it’s 315 feet away,” Miksic said. “It’s also 50 feet up. There’s a cliff between a school up on the hill and this establishment down here.”
Analysis: If it feels like we’ve been having arguments in Massachusetts over dispensaries being too close to schools and daycares for over a decade now, that’s because we have.
These strict measurement-based rules often don’t account for the realities on the ground, particularly in more urban areas. These measurements are almost always taken “as the crow flies” — but last time I checked — elementary students can’t fly.
The particular details escape me, but I remember seeing one cannabis-related project in the Boston area get shot down because it was a few dozen feet too close to a daycare, even though there was an Amtrak line running in between the two properties. A different project I was once involved with during my industry days was blocked because a small sliver of the building’s parking lot was within 500 feet of a bowling alley. The bowling alley had a full-service bar — but it also hosted the occasional birthday party — leading town officials to rule it as a “place where children commonly congregate.”
Rest of U.S / National
MARIJUANA ‘ENTOURAGE EFFECT’ WITH MULTIPLE CANNABINOIDS PRODUCES A STRONGER AND LONGER LASTING HIGH THAN PURE THC, STUDY FINDS (Kyle Jaeger | Marijuana Moment)
When most people think about the “high” of consuming marijuana, they typically think about the plant’s main psychoactive component, THC. But a new study is supporting the “entourage effect” theory, finding that cannabis products with a more diverse array of natural cannabinoids produce an even stronger psychoactive experience that lasts longer than the high generated by pure THC products.
The study utilized novel electroencephalogram (EEG) technology supported by AI to quantify the “high” people experienced when vaping two different products: 1) a full-spectrum live rosin with average 85 percent THC as well as other natural cannabinoids and terpenes, and 2) a high purity THC oil with 82-85 percent potency.
ANALYSIS: While this study adds to the growing amount of evidence in support of the so-called entourage effect, the article points out that these experiments was backed by a cannabis company who openly admitted they were seeking the results that they got.
Considering there are over 160 types of cannabinoids (not to mention terpenes and flavonoids), it’s probably going to be a while before we figure out the “secret sauce” of marijuana.
International
🇳🇱 DUTCH CANNABIS PILOT STARTUP PHASE TO LAUNCH IN DECEMBER, OVER 3 YEARS LATE (MJBizDaily)
A startup phase for a pilot program to allow limited cultivation and distribution of adult-use cannabis in the Netherlands is set to launch in December with only two cultivators, the Dutch government disclosed in a letter to Parliament.
The program, which is supposed to involve 10 cannabis cultivators supplying dozens of stores, had originally been intended to launch in 2020.
“The cabinet has decided that the (startup) phase of the closed coffee shop chain experiment will start on December 15, 2023,” according to the government letter.
ANALYSIS: There’s two things that I simply can not stand: people who are intolerant of other people’s cultures, and the inability of the Dutch to figure out how they actually feel about cannabis.
From the outside looking in, it seems like the Netherlands has never figured out whether they want to embrace their status as one of the best places to consume cannabis or run in the opposite direction from it. In some sort of twisted take on the Pepsi Challenge, this proposal will see unregulated cannabis products being sold right alongside ones produced by license manufacturers for the first six weeks. After that, unregulated products will no longer be available at participating coffee shops, but only for a little while; the entire pilot program is only expected to last six months.
🇯🇲 GANJA INTEREST GROUPS WANT REGULATIONS FOR CANNABIS EDIBLES (The Jamaica Gleaner)
Interest groups in the ganja industry are calling for the authorities to put in place regulations to deal with cannabis edibles arising from the hospitalisation of students of Ocho Rios Primary School in St Ann on Monday.
More than 60 students were rushed to hospital after eating sweets containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a major psychoactive component in marijuana.
The majority of them have since been released.
It is claimed an unfamiliar vendor turned up at the school gate on Monday morning selling what a regular vendor described as “gummy weed” packaged as Sour Belts, and marked as containing Delta-8 THC.
ANALYSIS: It doesn’t appear that Delta-8 THC is any more legal than other types of cannabinoids in Jamaica, but that hasn’t stopped these American hemp-derived products from arriving on the country’s shores. 100mg is no small dose, and this incident seems to be way more extensive than any other similar edible scare I’ve seen at U.S. schools, which have generally only involved a handful of students.
Some causal research has shown the products in this incident to be Dimo Hemp brand Rainbow Sour Belts. This Southern California company sells all types of hemp-derived THC goods, shipping them to any of the 39 states that haven’t already banned these types of products. Their website claims that they don’t ship internationally, suggesting a middle man might be responsible for these products ending up in Jamaica.
Baseball lost a knuckleball legend this week.
Red Sox Nation was sad to learn of the untimely demise of Tim Wakefield, who passed away from brain cancer at age 57. Wakefield won over his fair share of fans during his playing days with his calm demeanor and mastery of this mesmerizing spin-less pitch.
The loss of Wakefield was tragic, but the tributes to his impact on the sport were a moving reminder of his impact.
Most of the tributes came off the field, but one of the better ones happened on it. Even though the knuckleball has largely gone the way of the dodo since the retirement of Wakefield, R.A. Dickey and Steven Wright, Seattle Mariner George Kirby busted one out for the first time in the final game of the team’s season as a tribute to Wake.
The batter, four time all-star Corey Seager, whiffed on the pitch. More miraculously, Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh caught it; Bob Uecker once famously remarked that the easy way to catch a knuckleball was to “wait for it to stop rolling and then pick it up.”
Wakefield was a big supporter of the Jimmy Fund, so a donation would be a good way to honor his legacy.
This week it’s Basil, who’s available for adoption at Worcester ARL.
Special Bulletins
Brian “Box” Brown is currently holding a Kickstarter to fund out a hardcover book that chronicles his excellent Legalization Nation comic strip. Check it out.