In the days of the Armada, a fleet of warships, the scuttlebutt was the rumor or gossip that would spread throughout the ship. Today, Armada Law Corp presents The Scuttlebutt, a daily summery of news articles that people within the cannabis, hemp and plant medicine industries are chatting about along with links to the full articles.
In today’s news:
#cannabisindustry – “As discussed below, in some contexts, federal courts have dismissed plaintiffs’ claims under the old common law “illegality doctrine,” which holds that litigants engaged in unlawful practices may not access the court system to enforce their rights to proceeds of illegal acts. At the same time, the federal government has readily issued utility patents on legal cannabis inventions. The primary right accompanying an issued patent is the right to exclude others from practicing it – which generally requires the patent owner to sue in federal court. As a result, the enforceability of legal cannabis patents directly impacts their value.
Until recently, however, no federal court had addressed whether it would open its doors to legal cannabis businesses seeking to enforce their issued patents, injecting some uncertainty into the industry. In Gene Pool Technologies, Inc. v. Coastal Harvest, LLC ,1 a California federal judge ruled that the legal cannabis patents asserted in the case were enforceable, rejecting a motion to dismiss based on the illegality doctrine.”
#hempderived – “The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said Monday that two acetate compounds chemically derived from cannabis — delta-8-THCO and delta-9-THCO — are Schedule I substances under the federal Controlled Substances Act, even if they come from hemp.
The DEA made its findings public in a letter to attorney Rod Kight of Kight Law Office PC, who asked the agency in August for a determination of the control status of THC acetate ester, or THCO. The DEA’s response is limited to the isomers delta-8-THCO and delta-9-THCO.
“Delta-9-THCO and delta-8-THCO do not occur naturally in the cannabis plant and can only be obtained synthetically, and therefore do not fall under the definition of hemp,” said Terrence L. Boos, chief of the DEA’s drug and chemical evaluation section.”
#californiacannabis – “In a complaint removed to federal court Friday, Dennis Ashley Jr. and his son say they believe the city acted out of bigoted animosity toward them because they are Black and violated the social equity program under which the city promised to provide assistance for entering the cannabis business.
Ashley said he and his son were unable to get a retail license after the city “changed the rules and moved the goalposts,” with several of the licenses going to a single corporate entity.
After being denied a retail license, Ashley says, he and his son applied for a license to deliver cannabis and were told that they received temporary approval pending final approval by the state, and believed they were issued a temporary license as of October 2020.
However, Ashley alleges that the city misrepresented their approval status and he and his son were misled into believing they could begin operations, which they did in November 2021, ordering state-approved cannabis through an approved marketplace, according to the complaint.”
#cannabisindustry – “Technology company Forian said it is selling cannabis software provider BioTrack for $30 million in cash to Alleaves and exiting the marijuana industry to focus on health care.
The transaction is the second in just over two weeks in which a notable tech company has decided to leave the cannabis industry in the face of stiff competition, widespread layoffs and falling wholesale prices for marijuana products.”
https://mjbizdaily.com/forian-sells-cannabis-software-firm-biotrack-to-alleaves-for-30-million/
#cannabisindustry – New Mexico – “The bill, sponsored by Representative Marian Matthews (D-Abq.), would reorganize the state’s Regulation and Licensing Department, also known as NMRLD. That department contains the Cannabis Control Division, which oversees New Mexico’s cannabis industry. The bill also proposes letting the department hire compliance officers with police powers to enforce cannabis-related rules.”
https://www.krqe.com/news/marijuana/new-mexico-legislators-consider-creating-cannabis-police/
#californiacannabis – “Four vehicles said to be involved in an attempted burglary of a Santa Rosa cannabis dispensary evaded multiple law enforcement agencies Monday morning after speeding along Highway 101 through the fog and darkness, authorities said.
If successful, it would have been at least the ninth burglary or armed robbery of a dispensary in Sonoma County since early December 2022.
At 3:18 a.m. Monday, a worker at a cannabis dispensary on Ferdinand Court near Colgan Avenue called the Santa Rosa Police Department after a vehicle rammed into the business’s gates, according to Sgt. Christopher Mahurin, a spokesperson for the department.”