California’s two very different legislative pushes underway this week.
With the legislative session heating up in the state, two very different groups are pushing their legislative priorities this week: industry on one side, youth advocacy groups on the other.
Let’s start with this week’s push from the industry: a group of players, including Nabis, Kiva, Lowell Farms, Sunderstorm, CannaCraft, Glass House, and The Parent Company, announced what they’re calling the Financial Stability for California Cannabis (FSCC) coalition in an effort to “address the debt challenges across the state’s market.”
They also sent a letter to Assembly member Phil Ting, sponsor of AB 766, to back the bill, which would rein in the issue of unpaid debts by requiring, for example, that invoices above a certain value be paid within a certain timeframe.
The bill has support from the Cannabis Distribution Association, the California Cannabis Industry Association, and the California Cannabis Manufacturers Association.
“For years, restrictions at the federal level have left our state’s legal cannabis operators with limited options for financing and capital. This has led to a severe debt bubble across the supply chain from cultivators all the way through to the retailers,” said Ting in the announcement. “My legislation aims to bring much needed financial stability to California’s industry, while also ensuring that operators receive payment for goods and services in a timely manner.”
Now, for the youth. Assembly member Jacqui Irwin held a virtual press briefing about her bill, AB 1207, which she’s calling the Cannabis Candy Child Safety Act, alongside people like Carol Greene, the president of California PTA, and Natalie Laub, a pediatrician at Rady Children’s Hospital.
The bill aims to rein in products that might be “attractive to children,” by preventing, for example, “descriptors of flavors” for cannabis vapes.
“The outrageous marketing and packaging of cannabis products so that they are intentionally attractive to children is one of the leading causes of pediatric cannabis exposures,” said Irwin in the announcement.
Both bills are scheduled for committee votes this week.
Spotlight on the NYS Library of Cannabis
The NYS Library of Cannabis is hosted by the Rochester Public Library. The library was created with the collaboration of Women of Color in Cannabis and Zach Sarkis, founder of NYHempLab.
The resource covers many of the areas that a cannabis licensee or industry worker hopeful would need to learn about, from business development topics to supply chain.
There’s a section on books, which includes A New Leaf: The End of Cannabis Prohibition, the book co-authored by Cannabis Wire founders Alyson Martin and Nushin Rashidian.
Research presented this week draws concerns about cannabis and plaque buildup.
While cigarette smoking has long been tied to peripheral artery disease (PAD), or plaque buildup that slows blood flow in the extremities, new research suggests that cannabis could have similar effects in some consumers.
Research scheduled to be presented this week at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions annual meeting, in Phoenix, Arizona suggests that cannabis consumers are at an increased risk for blood clots.
Researchers analyzed data from the U.S. National Inpatient Samples between the years 2016 to 2019. Results showed that cannabis consumers could be three times more likely to develop peripheral artery disease.
