ARIZONA WILL VOTE ON RECREATIONAL CANNABIS THIS NOVEMBER | TRICHOMES Morning Buzz
July 3, 2020
Today in cannabis news more industry employees are voting to unionize, Arizona has over 420,000 reasons to celebrate, and the U.S. House of Representatives has finally agreed that researchers should get “the good stuff.”
The Morning Buzz presented by TRICHOMES brings you late-breaking news that tells you what’s happening within the cannabis industry.
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First up today in cannabis news, Employees at a Cannabis firm in Massachusetts vote to unionize
According to MJ Biz Daily, employees of New England Treatment Access, a cannabis company based in Massachusetts, voted to form a union under the United Food and Commercial Workers.
NETA is the largest cannabis employer in the state. In 2019 the company had 750 employees.
According to the Boston Business Journal, 60 NETA grow facility employees in Franklin cast the votes to unionize.
This move represents the latest cannabis industry workers to affiliate with the UFCW, which represents 1.3 million people in multiple industries.
If the vote is certified by the Massachusetts Department of Labor Relations, the union will negotiate contracts on behalf of the employees.
Other workers in the cannabis industry have unionized, including a recent vote at Cresco Labs in the Chicago area.
**Next, the Arizona Cannabis Legalization Campaign has Submitted over 420,000 Signatures
A measure to legalize adult-use in Arizona filed 420,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot in November, the Arizona Republic reports.
While the measure technically needs only 237,645 valid signatures to go in front of voters, supporters of the Smart and Safe Arizona ballot initiative campaign’s estimate of signatures is a salute to cannabis culture and its popularized references to the number “420.”
The proposal would create a taxed and regulated recreational cannabis industry in the state, individuals 21-and-older would be allowed to make legal purchases and possess up to 1 ounce. A 16 percent excise tax would be implemented, along with regular sales taxes, and industry-derived taxes would be mostly directed toward public safety and community colleges.
This means that the Smart and Safe Arizona initiative would not only legalize possession of cannabis but set up a system for issuing retail licenses to already-licensed medical dispensaries in Arizona, plus 26 additional “social equity” businesses.
It also includes expungement provisions for cannabis possession crimes up to 2.5 ounces.
If the bid is successful, Arizona would become the 12th state to legalize cannabis.
** And last up today, Congress Votes to Finally let Researchers Study Cannabis from Dispensaries
According to Marijuana Moment, the House of Representatives approved legislation on Wednesday aimed at finally letting researchers study cannabis purchased from businesses in state-legal markets instead of only letting them use government-grown, as is the case under current law.
Additional attempts of lawmakers to file cannabis-related amendments in the committee were either withdrawn, defeated, or never formally debated, but recently a wide-ranging cannabis measure filed by the chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee was successfully attached.
The provision calls for the Department of Transportation to consult with the attorney general and Department of Health and Human Services to develop a report with recommendations on providing researchers with access to “samples and strains of marijuana and products containing marijuana lawfully being offered to patients or consumers.”
As it stands, researchers can only access cannabis from a single federally-authorized manufacturing facility, and the quality of the products it produces has been criticized. At least one study found that its cannabis is chemically closer to hemp than what’s actually available to consumers in commercial markets.
The overall infrastructure bill was approved by a vote of 233-188. It’s not clear if the Senate will include cannabis provisions in any related legislation it takes up this year.
**That was today’s buzz! Thanks for listening…for more cannabis news and insights from industry professionals, visit TRICHOMES.com
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