The government is drafting new regulations after legalizing cannabis cultivation, sales and possession earlier this month.
Thailand is fine-tuning the regulations for its cannabis industry after legalizing cannabis cultivation, sales and possession earlier this month.
The Lower House Scrutiny Committee on the cannabis and hemp legislation has opted to limit home cannabis cultivation to 10 plants, according to a Thai PBS World report.
The committee has also moved to limit the size of the land on which cannabis can be commercially cultivated, the news outlet reported. The bill would mandate that small growers cannot exceed 0.8 hectares for cannabis cultivation, medium-sized growers cannot exceed 3.2 hectares and large-scale growers cannot exceed 3.2 hectares, although there would be no limits on plant count.
The legislation, initiated by Bhumjaithai, the second largest government party, passed its first reading June 8, according to Thai PBS World. The bill will now be debated and voted on in the Lower House in its second and third readings, the news outlet reported.
Since the Public Health Ministry announced that cannabis and hemp would be removed from the Category 5 narcotics list, effective June 9, nearly 900,000 people have registered to grow cannabis, according to Thai PBS World, although there were initially no restrictions on home cultivation.
RELATED: Thailand to Distribute Cannabis Plants for Home Cultivation
Thailand’s government has also set to work on regulations that take aim at minors’ cannabis use, according to an ABC News report.
New rules took effect June 17 to forbid all public smoking of cannabis, the news outlet reported, as well as to ban the sale of cannabis to those under the age of 20, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers.
Additional regulations ban cannabis from schools, require retailers to provide information about the use of cannabis in food and beverages, and a law that defines cannabis smoke as a public nuisance that is punishable by jail time and a fine, ABC reported.
With two weeks left in the ballot campaign, optimism has turned into apprehension for legalization proponents.
Barely three weeks following peak optimism, a group of medical cannabis legalization advocates in Nebraska now have dashed hopes of hitting their signature benchmark ahead of a July 7 deadline to appear on the state’s November ballot.
Proponents of Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana (NMM), a grassroots initiative effort, announced June 22 that they’re about 50,000 signatures short of putting a pair of complementary legalization measures before voters this year. The group has 60,000 of the roughly 87,000 valid John Hancocks it needs for each measure but is hoping to gather north of 110,000 signatures for each measure to provide a cushion for those that are not validated.
State Sen. Anna Wishart, D-Lincoln, a co-sponsor of the petitions, announced earlier this month that the ballot campaign was on track after NMM had raised $50,000 and doubled its signature count to approximately 40,000 for each measure in a two-week period. The group had qualified 15 of Nebraska’s 93 counties at that time.
RELATED: Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana Picks Up Signature Steam For Ballot Initiative
This week, Wishart wasn’t so confident.
“The reality is we need 50,000 Nebraskans to sign the petition in the next two weeks,” she said, NBA-affiliate WOWT reported. “Now it’s on Nebraskans. The volunteers and patients have carried the water this far. It’s on Nebraskans to go out and find a place to sign it.”
The tone among other reform advocates turned emotional during a NMM press conference on June 22 in Lincoln, the Nebraska Examiner reported.
One mother, Crista Eggers of Omaha, who serves as a campaign chairwoman for NMM, held up a photograph of her 7-year-old son, Colton, who suffers from up to 100 epileptic seizures a day, as she implored Nebraskans to sign the petitions, the news outlet reported.
“Do it for the suffering people in this state who are pleading with you,” Eggers said. “This will fail if you don’t step up. We are begging you.”
Nebraska is one of 13 states where medical cannabis without low-THC restrictions remains illegal. Under current Nebraska laws and penalties, possessing 1 ounce to 1 pound of cannabis is a misdemeanor punishable by up to three months of incarceration and a $500 fine.
Kristen Thomson’s resignation is effective immediately, and Carolina Barrera has been appointed as the interim director.
New Mexico Cannabis Control Division (CCD) Director Kristen Thomson, who became the division’s first director in November 2021, resigned June 16, according to NM Political Report.
“Yesterday, June 16, 2022, Kristen Thomson submitted her resignation from the position of Director of the Cannabis Control Division of the Regulation and Licensing Department (RLD),” Bernice Geiger, an RLD spokesperson, told the news outlet. “Her resignation was effective at that time. We thank Kristen for her service to the Cannabis Control Division and the State of New Mexico and wish her success in her future endeavors.”
Geiger did not say why Thomson resigned, but revealed that Thomson did not plan to work at the CCD for the remainder of her career, according to NM Political Report.
“I am a creator, not a regulator,” Thomson told the news outlet. “That just was never going to be the role for me.”
She added that she is “honored” to have worked with the CCD.
“Never in my life did I think that would be something that I worked on,” Thomson told NM Political Report. “I’m so proud of the work that was accomplished.”
Carolina Barrera has been appointed as the interim director, the news outlet reported.
The organizations are working to tap into animal feed as a new market for hemp and its byproducts.
The Hemp Feed Coalition (HFC) and National Hemp Association (NHA) announced they have partnered to accelerate a shared goal: to obtain approvals for hemp as an animal feed ingredient.
"The hemp industry is at a critical point where we need regulators and policymakers to recognize the existing, well-documented science surrounding the safety and efficacy around hemp ingredients for feed," HFC Executive Director Morgan Tweet said in a press release. "We need them to work collectively and proactively with the industry to open the U.S. feed markets, many of which are open in other places in the world. We believe a strategic partnership between NHA and HFC will provide the leadership needed to have constructive and informative discussions with these parties as well as continue the effort of supporting research and applications."
Since 2017, HFC has been actively working to advance hemp as an animal feed ingredient; however, it's been a challenge, as the process of including any new ingredient in animal feed requires "an abundance of data and approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center for Veterinary Medicine (FDA-CVM)," Cannabis Business Times previously reported.
HFC submitted an application in February 2021 to the FDA to gain approval for hemp seed cake and meal to be used as commercial feed for laying hens. The submission included research and data from a two-year study "consisting of an ingredient investigation of hemp seed cake and meal and a clinical trial to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of hemp for laying hens," according to a press release.
In addition, NHA and HFC organizers have also worked together on projects centered around advocating for hemp as an animal feed product, according to the release.
The partnership will allow each organization to come together and share its resources and knowledge, creating a "team that is greater than the sum of its parts.” The HFC brings its knowledge of animal research and animal feed ingredient applications, while NHA provides "administrative support, advocacy, and outreach,” the release states.
"The superior nutritional profile of hemp has long been known, and hemp has a long history of use as animal feed prior to its prohibition," NHA Executive Director Erica Stark said. "Especially now, when animal feed shortages are a looming problem, we need to get hemp recognized as an official feed ingredient. We are excited to be working with the experts at HFC to make it happen."
The cannabis reform measure was removed from the America COMPETES Act, a GOP request that top Democrats caved in to agree upon.
Even with ongoing momentum from six passages in the U.S. House, the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act was dealt another defeat June 23.
The act, which many advocates hope will provide clarity and safe harbor to financial institutions servicing state-legal cannabis industries, was removed Thursday from the America COMPETES/USICA Act—extensive legislation that involves a historic investment to surge production of American-made goods and tackle supply-chain vulnerabilities to increase global competitiveness, among other priorities.
Passing SAFE Banking would improve safety and opportunities for hundreds of thousands of people and foster economic development in a majority of states, reform group NORML’s Political Director Morgan Fox said in a news release Thursday.
“It is mind-boggling that this is now the sixth time that SAFE Banking has been approved by the House but stalled by the Senate,” Fox said. “This narrowly tailored, incremental, and necessary legislation has broad bipartisan support in both chambers, and it is incredibly disappointing that politics continue to get in the way of saving lives and helping struggling small businesses disrupt and ultimately replace the underground cannabis market. If there is a legislative version of the Twilight Zone, the SAFE Banking Act seems to be stuck in it at this point.”
SAFE Banking passed the U.S. House five times between 2019 and 2021, including twice as a standalone bill, but stalled before making headway in the Senate each time. That’s despite the bill’s author, Rep. Ed Perlmutter, receiving broad bipartisan support in his chamber each time, including a 321-101 roll call vote in April 2021.
Most recently, House members approved SAFE Banking a sixth time via an en bloc amendment package to the American COMPETES (Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology) Act, which the lower chamber passed in its entirety on a 222-210 vote Feb. 4.
RELATED: Rep. Perlmutter Makes Final Push on SAFE Banking
In late March, the Senate voted 68-28 to substitute the text of the House’s COMPETES Act (House Bill 4521) with the text of the Senate’s U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) of 2021 and sent it back to the House.
The House rejected the substituted legislation and requested a conference to reconcile the differences. In a recent push among top Washington lawmakers to find middle ground before their July 4 break, the aim is to pass the legislation before the August recess.
Part of that reconciliation process included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer agreeing to the GOP demand from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to remove the SAFE Banking Act as an amendment to the legislation, Punchbowl News reported Thursday morning.
That news came as a disappointment, but not a surprise, U.S. Cannabis Council (USCC) CEO Steven Hawkins said in a news release.
“Cannabis banking reform is absolutely relevant to American competitiveness, but it is not at the core of this particular piece of legislation,” he said. “It was always going to be an uphill climb, and we thank the House and Senate conferees who pushed hard to keep SAFE Banking in the final version.”
Hawkins added that USCC members remain optimistic that SAFE Banking will find full passage this Congress because the legislation has such broad support on Capitol Hill and throughout the country, where state-legal dispensaries continue to be targeted by criminals seeking cash.
RELATED: Washington Dispensary Worker Fatally Shot During Robbery
“The support and political will [are] there to get the SAFE Banking Act across the finish line,” Hawkins said. “We are encouraged by conversations about pairing the bill with other helpful cannabis and criminal justice reforms. We look forward to working with our members and allies to help get the job done.”
In his push to enact SAFE Banking before retiring at the end of his current term, Perlmutter said earlier this year that he will pursue every possible avenue to get the bill signed into law.
The veteran Democrat from Colorado took to social media following his bill’s sixth defeat on Thursday.
“By excluding the SAFE Banking Act from the USICA/COMPETES bill, the Senate continues to ignore the public safety risk of forcing cannabis businesses to deal in all cash,” he said on Twitter. “In the wake of the Senate’s inaction, people continue to be killed and businesses continue to be robbed.”
Perlmutter added, “I will continue to push for SAFE Banking to be included in COMPETES, other legislative vehicles, or for the Senate to finally take up the standalone version of the bill which has been sitting in the Senate for three and a half years.”
Schumer, who has continued to say he plans to sponsor a broader bill for full federal legalization with Senate colleagues Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., has repeatedly kicked that can down the road without a formal introduction of the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act.
Cannabis Business Times’ interactive legislative map is another tool to help cultivators quickly navigate state cannabis laws and find news relevant to their markets. View More