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Trinidad and Tobago’s cannabis bill will become law on Monday.
As Cannabis Wire reported this week, what began as a decriminalization bill turned into one that would allow for cannabis business, import, and export, as it moved toward the president’s desk. Last night, Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Keith Rowley said that the bill will come into effect on December 23.
South Dakota voters will see medical cannabis on the 2020 ballot.
As Cannabis Wire reported last month, activists in South Dakota submitted signatures for both medical and adult use cannabis measures. Last night, the secretary of state announced that there were enough signatures to put medical cannabis on the ballot: 25,524 (and 16,961 were required). The measure voters see on the November 3 ballot will be called Initiated Measure 26.
This is the first cannabis legalization effort (medical or adult use) in the US to qualify for a 2020 general election ballot.
DOJ wants to block asylum seekers with drug offenses.
Yesterday, USAttorney General William Barr proposed denying asylum to those who have drug convictions, including those that are minor and/or have been expunged. In response, Maria McFarland Sanchez-Moreno, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, said in a statement:
“The Trump Administration is once again using the failed drug war as an excuse to punish extremely vulnerable people–in this case, refugees from other countries who in many cases may themselves be victims of drug war-related violence and abuse.
If the administration really wants to further public health and security, instead of just fueling stigma and punishment, it should focus on reducing the role of punishment as a response to drugs, building out access to voluntary treatment and other forms of support for those who need it, and rolling back the prohibitionist policies that help to generate so much violence and corruption abroad.”
California regulators roll out QR codes for verifying legal shops.
The state continues to expand enforcement efforts to help rein in the thriving illegal cannabis market, and the latest involves consumers’ smartphones. Building on the state site that allows a consumer to look up any license, CApotcheck.com, the Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC) has given retailers a unique QR code that they can display to distinguish their shop from unlicensed ones. Consumers can scan the code to get up-to-date information about the license status and address.
“We believe licensed retailers will benefit from a recognizable emblem distinguishing them as a licensed business in the community,” BCC head Lori Ajax said in a statement. “We also want to provide consumers with the best information possible so they can determine which licensed California cannabis retailers carry products that are tracked, tested, and legal.”
Trulieve expands its board.
The company has named to its board of directors Susan Thronson, formerly SVP of global marketing for Marriott International, and Thomas Millner, formerly CEO of outdoors company Cabela’s.
