MAINE RECREATIONAL CANNABIS SALES BEGIN OCTOBER 9TH | TRICHOMES Morning Buzz
August 18, 2020
In today’s top cannabis news, the UK is relaxing penalties for athletes for certain drugs including cannabis, residents of Maine FINALLY have a calendar date for when rec sales will begin, and research suggests the U.S. government is missing out on billions of dollars until cannabis is legalized.
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, the UK is Reducing Penalties for Recreational Drugs for Athletes
According to Ganjapreneur, United Kingdom Anti-Doping (UKAD) is imposing shorter bans for athletes who fail out-of-competition drug tests for non-performance enhancing drugs, including cannabis and cocaine, saying it was to put an “emphasis on athlete welfare,” the BBC reports.
The details of the new policy are still being finalized but further penalty reduction would be available for athletes who complete a treatment program and promptly admit to their violation.
The new rules, which take effect in January, come as the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) reduces its ban for some recreational drugs to one to three months instead of two years. UKAD Chief Executive Nicole Sapstead said the new rules reflect the WADA standards.
According to a CBC report, the WADA approved changes to its code last year after a two-year consultation process. In May 2019 more than 150 current and former athletes – including now cannabis business owner Mike Tyson – sent a letter to WADA asking them to remove THC from its banned substances list.
**Next up, Maine has an Official Start date for Recreational Cannabis Sales
According to MaineBiz, nearly four years after voters approved the legalized sale of recreational cannabis, Maine will start granting licenses to recreational cannabis businesses on Sept. 8 and allow retail sales of recreational cannabis to adults age 21 and older as of Oct. 9, state regulators said Friday.
An active license is required for adult-use establishments to come into possession, process and sell adult use cannabis, including initiating plant transfers from Maine’s existing medical program.
In Friday’s announcement, the Office of Marijuana Policy said it is moving ahead with its structured rollout of Maine’s nascent adult-use industry, which had been held up by the pandemic most recently, but also a lengthy debate about how to best regulate the industry.
“The public’s health and safety are at the forefront of every decision we make at the Office of Marijuana Policy,” said Erik Gundersen, director of the Office of Marijuana Policy.
**Lastly today, Research Finds that the U.S. Government Could be Missing out on Over $50 Billion a year due to Cannabis Prohibition
According to AmericanMarijuana.org, the U.S. could be missing out on $53.23 billion a year by not legalizing cannabis, and by spending precious dollars to enforce drug prohibition policies.
The research did not dive into the social or health-related implications of legalizing cannabis nationwide, but more so the fiscal impact in terms of state and federal losses and, also, where cannabis revenue is spent in those states that have medical or recreational cannabis laws.
Last year, Insider reported that police forces in America spend about $3.6 billion annually to enforce possession laws, resulting in about 820,000 arrests each year.
To defend a cannabis arrest, it can cost an individual $2,000-$20,000 and those who are incarcerated will likely see a reduction in wage growth upwards of 30%, which has a long term economic impact in terms of employment, reliance on government assistance, and recidivism. At the time, it was estimated that at least $100 billion is lost due to cannabis enforcement every five to six years.
**That was today’s buzz! Thanks for listening…for more cannabis news and insights from industry professionals, and a place to discuss these stories and others, visit TRICHOMES.com
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