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 – “Connecticut officials say they are planning to review allegations made against one of the state’s largest cannabis producers and retailers that claim the company possibly failed to disclose millions in loans from a Russian billionaire.
Curaleaf and two of its primary shareholders accepted $400 million in loans from two companies owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, according to reporting in Forensic News.”
https://www.ctinsider.com/cannabis/article/curaleaf-ct-russia-review-17754030.php
#psychedelics – “Despite its illegal status, ayahuasca has become increasingly popular in the U.S., and interest has intensified as celebrities like NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Hollywood star Will Smith talked about attending ceremonies. Supporters have formed churches to hold their ceremonies, which are largely held underground in homes, at rented facilities or in remote locations like deserts….
A growing number of people in the United States are turning to ayahuasca to address a range of mental ailments they say conventional medicine has failed to remedy.
Many turn to the ceremonies to help with eating disorders, depression, substance use disorders and post-traumatic stress. One study, using data from the Global Ayahuasca Project, reported that most people with depression felt it had “very much improved” or “completely resolved,” while most of those with anxiety reported that their symptoms were “very much improved” or “completely resolved.””
https://apnews.com/article/psychedelics-ayahuasca-b3e7300633cf0fc628974c4cfc5cb740
#cannabisindustry – “The Cannabis Control Board has prevented further sales of all cannabis produced by a grower called Holland Cannabis, board chair James Pepper told VTDigger Thursday evening, after someone reported becoming sick after consuming it.
The person who smoked cannabis flower bought at The High Country in Derby reported a headache, a stomach ache and some nausea, all symptoms of a fungicide, Pepper said.
After the person provided a sample of the cannabis, testing revealed that it came from Holland Cannabis in the Orleans County town of Holland, Pepper said.
Pepper said the board used its inventory tracking system to trace the cannabis to five stores. He said the cannabis was not registered with the Cannabis Control Board, and the board is trying to determine how it made its way onto store shelves. The board has contacted the five stores, Pepper said, and they have all stopped selling the cannabis.”
https://vtdigger.org/2023/02/02/vermont-cannabis-control-board-halts-sale-of-contaminated-cannabis/
#californiacannabis – “At their next meeting, the Ukiah Planning Commission is scheduled to consider changes to city codes that would allow customers purchasing cannabis within the city limits to consume their purchases on-site.
The potential changes were pushed in large part by one local business owner, Kyle Greenhalgh, who told city officials last year that offering on-site consumption would be crucial to the viability of his operation, the cannabis microbusiness Heritage Mendocino located on Cunningham Street near Talmage Road.
“We put $1 million into this building, my wife and I, and we have a wonderful location that we would love to turn into a safe space for people to enjoy cannabis,” said Greenhalgh, who envisions being able to offer “farmers-markets,” events that would allow customers to sample many different offerings from local cannabis producers.”
#californiacannabis – “On January 20, the national non-profit public interest law firm, the Institute for Justice (IJ), filed an amended complaint for Thomas et al. v. Humboldt County et al., the class action lawsuit filed in October against Humboldt County’s “unconstitutional” cannabis abatement program….
The Institute for Justice alleges the program “Issues Ruinous Fines and Fees … without any regard for whether the penalty serves a valid governmental interest… [T]he County’s policy and practice is to ignore… the owner’s culpability, history of similar offenses, and the severity of the impact on public health and safety.”
The Institute for Justice elaborates in the amended complaint how they say regulation for profit ran rampant in Humboldt County since the legalization of cannabis. They write, “The County designed this code-enforcement policy to maximize its proceeds from legalized commercial marijuana growth, squeezing every possible dollar out of residents along the way…Humboldt County began aggressively prosecuting Building Code violations, [then] Imposes ruinous fines without regard for probable cause, [with an] abatement program…designed to force owners into settlements…[which is a] violation of the individual plaintiffs’ constitutional rights.””
#californiacannabis – “Assemblymember Matt Haney thinks he might have a new way to lure visitors to San Francisco and other places in California: cannabis cafes, like the ones that draw thousands of tourists to Amsterdam each year.
On Friday, Haney introduced legislation to make it easier for cannabis dispensaries to sell food and beverages.
“If an authorized cannabis retail store wants to sell someone cannabis, a cup of tea and a sandwich, we should allow cities to make that possible and stop holding back our economy and a service that people want. Those things are all illegal under state law now,” Haney told KQED.”
https://www.kqed.org/news/11940082/new-bill-could-bring-amsterdam-style-cannabis-cafes-to-california
#religiousfreedom – “A Native American cultural and religious center based in Wisconsin has sued a local bank, accusing it of discrimination for refusing to open a checking account for the organization on the grounds that the members engage in ritual and sacramental use of peyote.
Mashkikii-Boodawaaning Inc., also known as Medicine Fireplace, filed a complaint in Wisconsin federal court on Monday against Chippewa Valley Bank and its parent company, Chippewa Valley Agency Ltd. The complaint asserts counts of racial and religious discrimination.”
#californiacannabis – ” A woman is suing a Los Angeles based cannabis testing laboratory, saying she was wrongly fired over a physical condition that causes her to need more restroom breaks than usual after enduring harassment over the condition.
In a complaint filed last week in county court, Farai Chigovanyika alleged that she had told supervisors at CC Testing Labs Inc., which runs California Cannabis Testing Labs, during the interview process that she has interstitial cystitis, which causes her to frequently urinate and suffer bladder pain.
Chigovanyika said that she informed her supervisors that she would need to take more frequent restroom breaks than others, but faced discrimination and harassment in the form of supervisors messaging her with questions asking where she was, and why she had stopped working.”
#cannabisindustry – “A bankruptcy court’s recent denial of a debtor’s petition for bankruptcy relief on narrow grounds casts a long shadow on the viability of bankruptcy relief for those employed in the cannabis industry. Though confining the court’s holding to this debtor’s case, the court concluded that because the debtor engaged, and intended to continue engaging, in activities that violate the Federal Controlled Substances Act, the debtor could not objectively have filed for bankruptcy or proposed a plan of reorganization in good faith, as required by Federal bankruptcy law. While the Court noted the debtor’s warning that dismissing the case of “a ‘mere employee’ with no ownership interest in a marijuana business may lead to vast denials of bankruptcy relief for other debtors with employment or other relationships with cannabis-related activities,” the Court declined to extend its ruling beyond the facts before it.”
https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/bankruptcy-court-finds-cannabis-6045492/