Rep. Rohrabacher speaks at the announcement, Photo via Earl Blumenauer/YouTube
Members of Congress last week announced the formation of a ‘Congressional Cannabis Caucus’ in order to organize and affect cannabis policy at the federal level. Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Jared Polis (D-CO) and Don Young (R-AK) announced the creation of the caucus on February 16th. Cannabis advocacy and drug policy groups were quick to commend the formation of the organization.
In a joint statement issued on Friday, the National Cannabis Industry Association, the Marijuana Policy Project, the Drug Policy Alliance, NORML, Americans for Safe Access, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Law Enforcement Action Partnership, Doctors for Cannabis Regulation, and Clergy for a New Drug Policy expressed commendation and excitement for the new group. “We commend Representatives Blumenauer, Rohrabacher, Polis, and Young for their leadership on the issue of cannabis policy,” reads the statement. “The establishment of a Cannabis Caucus will allow members from both parties, who represent diverse constituencies from around the country, to join together for the purpose of advancing sensible cannabis policy reform. It will also facilitate efforts to ease the tension between federal prohibition laws and state laws that regulate cannabis for medical and adult use.”
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Photo: Michael Campbell, Flickr
The members of Congress that formed the caucus all represent constituents in states where cannabis is legal for medical and adult use. “The formation of this caucus is a testament to how far our country has come on the issue of cannabis policy,” says the joint statement by the drug policy reform groups. “We look forward to working with caucus members to translate this growing public sentiment into sound public policy.” According to their statement, 44 states so far have adopted laws effecting cannabis prohibition on the state level, representing 95% of the U.S. House of Representatives and 88% of the Senate.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Photo: Gage Skidmore, Flickr
Representatives Blumenauer and Rohrabacher have been prominent cannabis policy reform advocates in the past. Blumenauer supported the bill to legalize adult use cannabis in Oregon back in 2014 and Rohrabacher introduced the Rohrabacher–Farr amendment to Congress, which prohibits the Justice Department from spending money on interfering with state medical cannabis laws.
According to an article on Roll Call, Blumenauer says the caucus will focus on more medical research and the tax and banking regulations hurting cannabis businesses.
President-elect Donald Trump nominated Sen. Jeff Sessions from Alabama for Attorney General and Rep. Tom Price from Georgia as the new Health Secretary. Those appointments still require Senate approval before they are officially members of the cabinet. Neither of the picks to head the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) is friendly to cannabis.
What’s the bad news?
Both of those agencies are at the center of any federal regulation of cannabis, including access for research. As Attorney General, Jeff Sessions would essentially have the ability to block any rescheduling efforts, as outlined in the Controlled Substances Act.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, (R), 69. Photo: Gage Skidmore, Flickr
Sessions has made inflammatory, racist remarks and showed his disdain for cannabis users on multiple occasions. He disgracefully said at a Senate hearing in April, “Good people don’t smoke marijuana.” When he was a federal prosecutor, Sessions was a prominent advocate for the War on Drugs, and perhaps even still is.
Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) Photo: Gage Skidmore, Flickr
Tom Price, a Republican Congressman from Georgia, has voted repeatedly against pro-cannabis legalization bills, including twice against the Veterans Equal Access Amendment as well as the Rohrabacher/Farr Amendment, which “prohibits the use of funds in the bill to supersede State law in those States that have legalized the use of medical marijuana.” NORML’s Georgia Scorecard gave Tom Price a D grade for his previously voting against pro-cannabis bills.
What’s the good news?
While Sen. Jeff Sessions is certainly no friend to legal cannabis, I believe he is not a serious danger to the cannabis industry. This op-ed on CNN does a terrific job at summing up Sessions’ potential threat to the cannabis industry, but also why it may not be cause for a total panic. The author mentions a laundry list of DoJ priorities over cannabis, but I think the larger issue at hand is states’ rights.
Republicans are historically passionate when it comes to keeping states’ rights sovereign. With cannabis’ big wins on Election Day, a majority of the country’s population now lives in states where cannabis is legal.
Aaron Smith, executive director of NCIA
There is too much momentum behind legal cannabis for a new administration to waste precious resources and time on trying to disrupt it. States are getting too much tax revenue from regulating cannabis to just let the DoJ interfere with their economies. “Voters in 28 states have chosen programs that shift cannabis from the criminal market to highly regulated, tax-paying businesses,” says Aaron Smith, executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA). “Senator Sessions has long advocated for state sovereignty, and we look forward to working with him to ensure that states’ rights and voter choices on cannabis are respected.” Smith’s words in the NCIA statement are pointed and clear: this is a states’ rights issue at heart and they must respect that.
By forcing the states’ rights issue to the front, it is possible to put legal cannabis in a bipartisan lens, thus eliminating the possibility of a few old drug war stalwarts disrupting the industry. While rescheduling efforts could be thwarted for the coming years, I have faith that the federal government will not interfere with states that legalize cannabis.
Lezli Engelking founded the Foundation of Cannabis Unified Standards (FOCUS) in 2014 to protect public health, consumer safety, and safeguard the environment by promoting integrity in the cannabis industry through the use of standards. Standards are an agreed upon way of doing things and specify guidelines or requirements for producing goods or providing services, according to FOCUS.
Peter Maguire, committee chair of the FOCUS Cultivation Standard
Standards can take the form of a “reference document, which may include specifications, guidelines, conditions or requirements for products, operations, services, methods, personnel and systems on how to design, operate, manufacture or manage something.” Peter Maguire, VP of System Applications for Lighthouse Worldwide Solutions and committee chair of the FOCUS Cultivation standard, joined the organization wanting to make a positive impact on the industry that is in line with protecting people and medical patients. He sees so much variability in the industry and the need to homogenize standard operating procedures (SOPs). “I have worked with multiple cultivation facilities and a few of them have operating procedures in place but having them in place is only half the solution- it’s critical to have the right ones in place,” says Maguire. He has twenty years of experience in contamination control in manufacturing, before entering the cannabis industry.
The FOCUS cultivation standard was created by experts who have years of experience in both cannabis cultivation, good agricultural practices and in the tightly regulated pharmaceutical industry. “FOCUS created these guidelines as a sort of roadmap for success in business; You need to keep your employees healthy and your products safe to survive in the long term,” says Maguire. We sit down with Lezli Engelking to find out how the standards are created, what makes them significant and what businesses can gain by working with them.
CannabisIndustryJournal: Why are standards important?
Lezli: Standards are the international language for trade – they exist in every industry. “The U.S. Department of Commerce estimates that standards and conformity assessment impact more than 80% of global commodity trade.” FOCUS is not reinventing the wheel with what we are doing. We are simply adapting a business model the federal government already uses. In the 80s, when the heroin epidemic swept across the US, methadone clinics popped up in every state in the country within two years. The clinics were all operating under different state, city and county regulations – much like the cannabis industry is today. The federal government took a look at the situation and decided they needed a way to regulate these clinics in order to protect public health and safety. They released a Request For Proposal (RFP) looking for an organization to create voluntary-consensus standards and a third-party certification system for the methadone clinics. Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) is the organization that answered and won that RFP. CARF continues to work with Health and Human Services to maintain the standards and provide third-party certification to the clinics today. FOCUS develops international, voluntary consensus standards and a third party certification program for the global cannabis industry based on the CARF model. This is extremely important, because of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act, (Public Law 104-115), signed into law March 7, 1996 by President Clinton. The act requires that all federal agencies use standards developed by voluntary-consensus standards bodies, instead of government-unique standards wherever possible. Perhaps even more importantly, the Act includes provisions that encourage federal agencies to partner with the private sector in the development of standards that not only help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government, but also strengthen the U.S. position in the global marketplace.
CIJ: What exactly goes into developing a voluntary-consensus standard?
Lezli: Voluntary-Consensus refers to the type of standard and how it is developed. Everyone who participates in the development of voluntary-consensus standards does so on a voluntary basis. Committee members must come to a consensus on every point within the standard- down to every comma or semicolon. Once the development process is complete, the standards must undergo a 30-day public review period. The process for developing voluntary-consensus standards is designated by International Organization for Standardization (ISO). ISO has member agencies in 163 countries that participate in the development of standards. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is the American body for ISO. FOCUS follows all ISO/ANSI guidelines in the standards development process. This is extremely important because it means FOCUS standards are suitable for accreditation and adoption into regulations according to the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act. All voluntary-consensus standards are developed under the principles of:
Openness| Participation in the standard development process is open to individuals with a stake in the standard who bring useful expertise along with the spirit and willingness to participate.
Balance| Focus stakeholder groups involve all stakeholder groups: industry, regulatory, quality assurance, medical, law enforcement, business, research, consumers, patients and the general public.
Voluntary-Consensus| Individual subcommittees of volunteers develop each area of the standard, offering their unique expertise to form a consensus. They are not paid for their participation.
Lack of Dominance| No party has dominant representation, or influence to the exclusion of fair and equitable consideration of other viewpoints.
CIJ: More specifically, how are the FOCUS standards developed?
Lezli: To create a baseline standard, FOCUS utilized World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), Good Laboratory Practices (GLP), Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) for pharmaceutical GMPs, nutraceutical GMPs, food safety standards, OSHA and HACCP. From there, applicable cannabis regulations from around the world were added. All of this information was compiled into auditor-style checklists. Each committee member was provided time to go edit, remove or add to items in the checklist on their own. Over the next two years, each of the eight committees had monthly meetings, going through and coming to a consensus on each line item of the standard. Once the committees completed development, the standards were open for a 30-day Public Review to collect comments and feedback. The first eight FOCUS standards, completed and ready for use, cover Cultivation, Retail, Extraction, Infused Products, Laboratory, Security, Sustainability and Packaging & Labeling.
FOCUS is currently recruiting committee members to begin development of five new cannabis standards later this year: Advertising/Marketing, Insurance, Banking/Finance, Patient Care and Research. Committees will receive a list of proposed suggestions for what should be considered in developing the standards. Each committee member will develop a list to select criteria they think should be included into the standard. FOCUS will compile the lists, then committees will go through the monthly standards development/vetting process for each line item in the standard.
CIJ: So what does a business have to gain by adopting a FOCUS standard?
Lezli: Compliance becomes easily manageable with the FOCUS software platform, integrating standards, training and SOPs into the everyday operations of the business. FOCUS certified clients could expect to reduce costs, reduce risk and reduce liability by assuring they are producing safe, quality and consistent products. FOCUS certification allows a business to differentiate themselves from their competitors, and prove to their patients and customers they can trust their products. Certification also allows businesses to access reasonable insurance rates and drives interest from investors.
FOCUS is here to partner with cannabis businesses. We are there to hold their hand, by providing guidance and assistance along every step of the way. Unlike state mandated audits that delineate what a business is doing right or wrong, FOCUS is an on-going compliance management system. We are here to make sure a business runs as efficiently as possible and take the guesswork out of compliance. Under FOCUS certification, a business receives ongoing consulting, customized SOPs, employee training and a documentation management software system to track and prove compliance.
CIJ: Can you give us an update on FOCUS’ progress in 2016?
Lezli: A large milestone for FOCUS this year, aside from completing version one of the standards, is choosing an appropriate software platform, (Power DMS) to house the standards and provide an ongoing compliance management system for our clients. Power DMS also houses regulatory standards for law enforcement; health care, federal aviation and fire departments, so most agencies in public health are already familiar with it. The familiarity and access to this platform is a huge benefit on the regulatory side. It allows first responders to access the schematics of a FOCUS certified client in the event of an emergency. This is crucial in the event of an explosion from extraction equipment, or a fire in a cultivation facility, as without first identifying where the hazards are, they will not access the facility. The FOCUS software platform allows first responders access to all pertinent information through computers in police cars, ambulances, or fire trucks.
For the industry, the FOCUS software platform is equally as impressive. Not only does the platform house the standards and all SOPs, it is also complete compliance management system. FOCUS certified clients have a simple management tool that houses all training and documentation, assuring all required compliance documentation can be easily accessed at any time. The platform also allows FOCUS certified clients to provide access to governing bodies in advance of state audits –streamlining the process and minimizing time and interruption caused by state audits. The FOCUS platform tracks all changes to required documents, provides real time updates on employee training, creates appropriate traceability logs, and provides updates on regulatory changes, including which SOPs need to be changed to maintain compliance. The platform allows FOCUS to be way more than an auditing company. FOCUS is a partnership in compliance for cannabis companies wanting to maintain good business practices and stay compliant with regulations.
We have about 140 new committee members that will assist existing committees with standards updates and participate in the development of the next set of FOCUS standards for advertising/marketing, banking/finance, research, patient care and insurance. All committees will convene before 2017.
As many probably already know, last month the DEA announced that the organization was going to reconsider its position on cannabis and would come to a decision about whether or not to reschedule cannabis on The Controlled Substance Act (CSA) by June of this year. Many would say this is long overdue, considering the DEA has cannabis listed as a Schedule I drug, the same as heroin and LSD.
Rescheduling cannabis to Schedule II would place it in the same category as Vicodin, cocaine, methamphetamine, Adderall, oxycodone, and many more. These substances are defined as drugs with a high potential for abuse, with use potentially leading to severe psychological or physical dependence. However, they are recognized as having some potential medical benefits.
If cannabis were to become a Schedule II drug, it would allow further research on the plant. This could be beneficial to the industry because further medical research would finally provide the scientific validation that cannabis does have medical benefits and that it should be accepted as a form of medicine.
Those benefits come with a steep cost.
If cannabis becomes Schedule II it means the federal government finally sees cannabis as a plant (drug) that can provide some medical value. Which, at face value, is good because that is what many advocates have been fighting for. On the other hand, the only reason that larger pharmaceutical companies have largely kept out of the industry so far is because it is a Schedule I drug and the government did not officially recognize that it had any medical value. If this were to change, there is no reason for those pharmaceutical companies to continue watching from the sidelines. There is also no industry better fit than the pharmaceutical industry to run, manufacture, control, and profit from medical cannabis. The infrastructure is already in place.
There is also not another industry that has the money and the historical relationship with the FDA like the pharmaceutical industry. If the FDA were to regulate cannabis, it would have to regulate every single product on the shelf of every single dispensary, which would require more stringent lab testing guidelines. Just because one of your brownies made it through the FDA regulation process, does not mean the cookie next to it will. Entering into this process would take companies years to complete and cost more than $1 billion per product. Think about how many products some dispensaries have. Think about the number of different strains that dispensaries carry. That requires years of testing and multiple billions of dollars, just for the strains.
Big Pharma is positioned perfectly to come in and take control of the entire process if this happens. It will be a mad rush from all pharmaceutical companies to come in and quickly obtain market share. I know that as an industry we think we are seeing a lot of money in sales and profit, but compared to the pharmaceutical industry, it is merely a drop in the bucket. These companies will easily, and willingly, out-spend every company currently in the industry to the point where we can no longer compete. All the work that advocates and business professionals have put in to get the industry to where it is today could be lost.
Schedule II status would also turn the adult-use industry into utter chaos. The only reason we are able to have an adult-use market right now without the interference of the FDA is because cannabis is federally illegal. If cannabis is moved to Schedule II it will be recognized by the government, which means the FDA will have to come in and start the approval process for every product on the shelf. How smoothly do you think that will go for the adult-use retail centers in the industry? The cost alone will force shops to close. There is also not another substance that has a Schedule II classification that we have an adult-use industry for. Could cannabis be the first? I would not want to take that chance with the government or have to go through that process as an adult-use cannabis business owner.
When discussing this matter with several colleagues, some would ask “But what about now? We are in direct violation of the federal law right now, and they are leaving us be.”
Yes, that is for the most part true, but it is true because cannabis is now a Schedule I, federally illegal drug. Meaning the government does not even recognize it. The FDA will not regulate anything that is not recognized by the federal government because they are a federal agency. If the FDA were to implement regulations and an approval process, that would mean that a federal agency is recognizing cannabis as a consumer product. Right now that goes directly against the government’s public stance on the issue. And pharmaceutical companies cannot start selling a drug that is federally illegal and has been classified by the government as having no medical value. But as soon as the government recognizes cannabis as a form of medicine, it opens the doors for these organizations to get involved because it is justifiable now.
If that were to happen all the money that has been generated in this industry, and has made several people very wealthy and successful, will slowly, but surely get stuffed into the pockets of Big Pharma, the FDA and the government.
In my mind, rescheduling cannabis to a Schedule II substance will create more issues for the industry than it will benefits.
If the government were to take any stance on cannabis, it should completely declassify it. It should not be listed on any type of controlled substance list by the government. It is a natural plant, not a man-made substance. If the government will not declassify cannabis, I would rather them keep it as a Schedule I substance. At least this way it protects the industry and keeps it as is, belonging to the people.
Opportunities like the cannabis industry are once in a lifetime. It would be a shame to see it taken by Big Pharma, or controlled by the government.
For those that have made it this far down on this post, please understand that this is a worst-case scenario. A very drastic, but realistic outcome down one of the many paths the industry could go. But the motto in this industry since the beginning was, “prepare for the worst, and pray for the best.” I think we should follow those instructions now more than ever.
Editor’s Note: This article represents the opinion of the author, not necessarily that of Cannabis Industry Journal. We invite all readers who agree or disagree with the author’s opinion to join the conversation in the comments section below the article.
Twenty-four U.S. states now have some form of medical marijuana legalization on the books. These states allow patients with a variety of qualifying conditions to possess and cultivate cannabis lawfully as a treatment for such medical conditions. The number of states allowing medical cannabis is set to increase dramatically, as various additional state legislatures have bills or ballot measures pending on this topic. You can read more about this topic here.
The federal government surprisingly already has their hands in medical marijuana. The federal government sends free, pre-rolled cannabis cigarettes to a special, albeit dwindling, group of patients on a regular basis and they have been doing so since 1976. This is a product of the 1976 federal Investigational New Drug Program (Compassionate Access I.N.D.), which still operates, but was closed in 1992 to any new patients.
The U.S. Government holds a federal patent for therapeutic cannabinoid use (US6630507 B1). The patent, “Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants,” (LINK) covers a method of treating diseases by applying a therapeutically effective amount of cannabinoids derived from marijuana. In addition, the White House website provides links to government-funded research projects involving medical marijuana. Presently, the links show 219 completed projects and 95 projects in progress.
On June 23, 2015, the American Medical Association adopted the formal position that marijuana is a form of medicine. Reliable scientific studies address the medical efficacy of the use of medical cannabis for an increasing number of conditions. Medical cannabis is here to stay and the health care industry needs to pay close attention.
Simply put, the health care industry has been resistant to beginning the study of medical marijuana. This does not bode well for health care systems that will see more patients utilizing various forms of medical cannabis. Moreover, this is not a sustainable health care business model. With an increased focus on alternative forms of medicine and treatment both by practitioners and health care insurance providers, it is imperative that the health care industry studies the facts.
The New Mexico Workers’ Compensation Administration began requiring employers and insurers to reimburse injured workers for medical marijuana when the state’s health care provider fee schedule took effect January 1, 2016. Workers compensation claimants can be reimbursed up to $12.02 per gram of marijuana for up to 226.8 grams of marijuana per year, according to the fee schedule. Such reimbursements were ordered after the New Mexico Court of Appeals had ruled three times since May, 2014 that medical marijuana should be classified as reasonable and necessary medical care for injured workers.
The same momentum is impacting Latin America. Brazil’s governmental health care agency, ANVISA, recently removed a component of cannabis, cannabidiol (CBD), from the list of banned substances, meaning the marijuana molecule can now be prescribed by physicians for treating seizures, multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia and other ailments. As such, ANVISA has approved the importation of CBD from the United States.
More and more research studies are published every year. In the National Center for Biotechnology Information database of biomedical literature, 4,516 medical abstracts reference both cannabis and cannabinoids. Still the vast majority of medical schools do not educate students about the human endocannabinoid system.
Denis Petro, a neurologist and pharmacologist, researches cannabis as a treatment for multiple sclerosis. He founded Patients Out of Time, a non-profit organization dedicated to research and education on the endocannabinoid system. “At present, conventional treatments for spasticity are unsatisfactory,” Dr. Petro wrote, in an article, Indications for Therapeutic Use of Cannabis. “Based on scientific evidence, cannabis is a safe and effective alternative when compared to conventional treatments.”
Physicians in Colorado can recommend marijuana and the Colorado Constitution legally protects them (Article XVII, Section 14). The Colorado Constitution gives physicians immunity for advising a patient about the risks and benefits of medical marijuana for a debilitating medical condition, and for recommending medical marijuana to a patient.
Moreover, physicians have a duty to care for their patients, and that includes considering medical marijuana if it would help that patient. Consequently, by understanding the health benefits and the particularized sources of liability, physicians can lend clarity to the medical marijuana industry.
While medical marijuana policy changes may lead to uncertainty, most questions about the marijuana industry, including the risks and its related legality, have answers. The problem is that health care providers and insurance companies do not know where to turn for this information.
I delivered a number of presentations concerning this topic to various provider and insurance-related entities across the country serving our health care system. It is evident that many of these health care related entities can move forward with a better understanding of the risk implications and devise better informed strategies to incorporate medical cannabis into their operational plans, whether for now or in the near future.
An understanding of the researched health benefits of medical marijuana is increasingly necessary for physicians and other members of our health care system. A conservative approach is certainly advisable, but it is more than just a good thing to learn about; it is a necessity in this day and age to remain relevant and informed. This needs to happen now. And the providers that take appropriate steps soon will be better positioned to deal with these issues as they become increasingly prevalent.
By Aaron G. Biros, Matthew A. Karnes, CPA 1 Comment
According to Matthew Karnes, founder and managing partner of GreenWave Advisors, LLC, looking toward the growth of the cannabis industry requires analysis of the changes in state and federal laws. “Eventual rescheduling or de-listing of marijuana as a federally prohibited drug, will hopefully lead to consistent and uniform national regulation and taxing authorizations that will ultimately change the structural and economic landscape of the industry,” says Karnes in an article here.
Looking at the sales trends in current legal states is a viable option to make financial projections, but much of that relies on the changing legal and political landscape of our country. According to Karnes, because it is impossible to accurately predict federal rescheduling or full legalization, investors must look at short, medium and long term trends to guide their decision making process. Cannabis Industry Journal sat down with Matthew Karnes to discuss some of the foreseeable trends.
Cannabis Industry Journal: What are some of the trends happening presently, that you can expect to continue?
Matthew Karnes: Just as states continue to pass legislation in some form of legalization measure, there is talk at the federal level of minimizing interference with state policies and removing prohibition statutes. We can see this national progression continuing until rescheduling cannabis eliminates the current obstructions that have limited industry growth.
Where states continue to roll out legislation to legalize cannabis, the rate of retail and cultivation license granting will have a large effect on the growth rates for each given state. Free market approaches as seen in Colorado and California will allow for faster growth rates than more restrictive states.
Recreational and adult use measures being introduced are notable disruptions in the medical sector that once fueled legalization. Medical research and development of strains for specific ailments is still in its early stages due to the impact of federal policy on research.
With an eye forward to eventual federal rescheduling or possible de-listing it is reasonable to assume that uniform national testing and operational standardization protocols will eventually be implemented at least as a baseline binding thread that will steadfastly assure consumers of an expectant consistency of product.
CIJ:Where do you see medium term trends taking the industry?
Matt: With more and more states legalizing cannabis in some form, we can expect the federal government to make a policy change. This will be accomplished via a DEA policy change or through congressional avenues in conjunction with federal agencies like the FDA, USDA and Department of Agriculture administering regulations.
With FDA or Department of Agriculture implementing cannabis policies, we can expect increased interest from outside the industry in research and development of cannabis-based drugs. This will lead to a medical market with more targeted medicine with precise dosing. We can expect more physicians to gain comfort in treating ailments with cannabis as well.
The recreational market will expand greatly with normalized commerce, enabling larger cultivation operations and infused products brands could grow to the national scale with interstate commerce.
CIJ: Where do you see the industry going long term?
Matt: When the cannabis industry matures down the road, we can expect multiple offshoots occurring. The recreational industry will involve local, regional and national policy much like the alcohol industry, and will likely resemble a liquor store model with individual “mom and pop” type businesses.
We anticipate that the medical market will recalibrate as more targeted products with precise dosing and efficacy are developed. At that point it will experience increased competition and consolidation. Without medical research and clinical trials, we cannot accurately project the growth of the medical sector.
Regulations involving tax revenue will most likely use a similar mechanism that states use for alcohol and tobacco taxation. Entities like state liquor control boards will oversee cannabis regulations. When that time comes, the cannabis industry will no longer be a novel idea and will become another conventional ‘consumer staple.’
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