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:
#psychedelicresearch – “Clinical-stage psychedelics biotech Cybin has completed enrollment in its Phase 2 study of novel deuterated psilocybin analog CYB003 for the potential treatment of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD.)
All participants in the sixth and final cohort have reportedly received at least one dose (placebo or 16mg of CYB003) with several second doses already https://armadalawyers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/blog-03-1.jpgistered; no serious adverse events were observed.
In the other five participant cohorts, CYB003 has also so far shown a favorable safety and tolerability profile at all doses (1mg, 3mg, 8mg, 10mg and 12mg.)
Dosing of this last cohort would round up in early Q4 this year, shortly followed by topline efficacy results which would be submitted to the FDA and inform the company’s next “pivotal” studies.”
#cannabisindustry – “A widespread recall targeting tens of thousands of infused cannabis products in Missouri has led to millions of dollars in lost sales and inventory for retailers and manufacturers, according to industry sources and court documents obtained by MJBizDaily.
At the same time, scores of operators caught up in the fallout have few options to recoup those losses.
Some retailers, such as Kansas City-based multistate operator Greenlight, have locked up thousands of vape pens and other products in vaults after Missouri regulators imposed an “https://armadalawyers.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/blog-03-1.jpgistrative hold” in August on the merchandise, then implemented a full-fledged recall.
Firsthand accounts from manufacturers such as Kansas City-based Clovr – the state’s largest – point to multimillion-dollar losses after the Division for Cannabis Regulation (DCR) recalled roughly 62,000 infused marijuana products with distillate manufactured and sold by Delta Extraction, a processor based in Robertsville.”
Read More: https://mjbizdaily.com/widespread-product-recall-upends-missouris-cannabis-industry/
#regulatedcannabis – “Just one day after being assigned to the top post of Minnesota’s Office of Cannabis Management, Erin DuPree is out.
On Friday, KARE 11’s partners MPR News and APM Reports reported that DuPree’s Apple Valley hemp business “sold products that exceeded state limits on THC potency, owed money to former associates and accumulated tens of thousands of dollars in tax liens.”
While she didn’t offer an explicit reason for her departure, DuPree denied ever knowingly selling illegal products at her business in a statement, adding when she became aware of them, she removed them from her shop’s inventory.”
#cannabispolitics – “Thailand’s new prime minister, Srettha Thavisin, has said his government will “rectify” its cannabis policy and limit its use to medical purposes within six months.
Thailand became the first country in Asia to decriminalise cannabis after it delisted the marijuana plant as a narcotic last year, leading to a boom of cannabis cafes and weed dispensaries in popular tourist destinations such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Pattaya.
However, the failure to pass legislation to regulate its use has opened a legal vacuum in the country.
Thailand’s new leader, a real estate tycoon who came to power in August, said there has been an agreement among the coalition government about the need to change the law and ban its use for recreation.”
#cannabislawsuit – “A California bankruptcy judge has rejected the Office of the U.S. Trustee’s second attempt to dismiss the Chapter 11 case of cannabis company The Hacienda Co., saying the watchdog’s claims that the case is a conspiracy to pay creditors using funds from criminal activity shouldn’t prevent Hacienda from using bankruptcy to liquidate assets.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Neil W. Bason said in an opinion filed Wednesday that the Office of the U.S. Trustee’s argument belies the fact that federal law doesn’t restrict companies engaged in illegal activity from making payments to legitimate creditors. Even if Hacienda is engaged in post-petition criminal activity — which it may not be — that doesn’t make it appropriate to dismiss the bankruptcy case, Judge Bason’s denial of the dismissal request says.
“It would be odd to read the Bankruptcy Code as implicitly barring any payments to legitimate creditors when that is what federal criminal law itself provides,” Judge Bason said.
The U.S. Trustee’s Office has argued that even after Hacienda filed for bankruptcy, it continued to violate the Controlled Substances Act by holding stock worth about $35 million in a Canadian weed company to which it transferred assets after ceasing operations in February 2021. Hacienda wants to sell that stock in Chapter 11 to fund payouts to creditors, a plan the U.S. Trustee’s Office said would violate federal criminal laws and money laundering statutes.
Yet even if Hacienda is breaking the law, it’s unclear that dismissing the bankruptcy case would be justified, Judge Bason said in his opinion. Congress has shown a willingness to avoid punishing a debtor that may have violated law when “the real victims would be innocent creditors,” the opinion says.”
#californiacannabis – “The legal battle wages on against Humboldt County’s cannabis abatement program, with stakes raised Thursday in the Ninth Circuit. The class action federal lawsuit challenging Humboldt County’s cannabis abatement program was denied by the Northern District Court. Now, The Institute of Justice has appealed that ruling. If the Appeal is granted, it could have implications for other counties, cities and states with similar cannabis (or other property) abatement programs, as these rulings apply to all of California, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, and Alaska.
On May 12, in a blow to impacted property owners, the Northern District Court Judge Robert M. Illman granted the County’s Motion to Dismiss all claims.
“[T]he Plaintiffs’ assertions as to their supposed injuries ring hollow,” Judge Illman wrote, adding, “[N]o Plaintiff has sustained any actual injury in the nature of excessive fines and fees in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, and given the fact that any future injury is speculative at best, Plaintiffs lacks standing to pursue a claim that they have been subjected to “excessive fines and fees.””
#californiacannabis – “San Luis Obispo County tax payers will pay more than $1 million during the current fiscal year to fund the county’s failing cannabis industry, according to the Sept. 27 Board of Supervisors agenda.
During the 2022-2023 fiscal year, the county spent $400,942 to subsidize the local cannabis industry. The county collected $1,126,229 on cannabis fees and taxes while spending $1,527,171 to manage the program.
Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg in June suggested a cannabis tax freeze in order to allow the industry to prosper. She also wanted to expand the delivery hours from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. and to permit retail stores in order to generate more fee and tax revenue.
Supervisor Debbie Arnold argued that county residents should not subsidize the cannabis industry.
On June 20, the board voted to lower the cannabis tax rate to 6% rather than raising it to a voter approved 10%, with Arnold dissenting.
As the result of lowering the tax rate, staff now estimates the county will need to spend $1,008,727 to subsidize the cannabis industry during the 2023-2024 tax year, according to the staff report. The county expects to collect $1,565,180 in cannabis fees and taxes and to spend $2,573,907 to manage the program.”
Read More: https://calcoastnews.com/2023/09/slo-countys-cannabis-program-more-than-1-million-in-the-red/