UK Parliament: House of Commons’ Home Affairs Committee calls drug laws “outdated.”
But, it stopped short of supporting legal adult use cannabis.
Still, cannabis came up repeatedly in the lengthy report published late last week, which largely focused on recommendations for a more public health-focused approach to drug laws. (In fact, the third sentence of the introduction is about Uruguay’s adult use reforms.)
The focus, however, was on the need for expanded medical cannabis access.
Here are the recommendations related to medical cannabis access:
“We support cannabis-based products for medicinal use (CBPMs) where there is an evidence base that it can be an effective form of treatment for managing conditions or symptoms. We welcome the [Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs] conducting a further assessment of CBPMs following on from its 2020 report. However, we are concerned that there is currently a lack of access on the NHS for patients with a genuine medical need. Access continues to be a problem despite the high-profile cases of Billy Caldwell and Alfie Dingley –two children with severe and rare forms of epilepsy who have received medical cannabis to treat their conditions. Pending the outcome of the ACMD’s review, we recommend that the Government widens the accessibility of unlicensed CBPMs on the NHS before the end of this Parliament.”
And: “There is evidence of the potential therapeutic value of CBPMs to treat chronic pain. We recommend that the Government supports researchers to conduct randomised control trials into the effectiveness of CBPMs to treat chronic pain. If the evidence base supports this, and it is deemed to be cost-effective, we recommend that the Government enables the use of CBPMs for this purpose and works with clinicians to ensure that it is a treatment option in appropriate cases.”
On adult use:
“We are concerned by the harms that cannabis for non-medical use may pose, particularly in relation to young people. We do not believe that cannabis should be legalised and regulated for non-medical use.”
What’s next? The government now has two months to respond to the Home Affairs Committee’s report and its recommendations, however it is not required to act upon any of them.
Berkshire Bank has a new “Cannabis Banking Program”
Berkshire Bank, a community bank with locations in New England and New York, announced the launch of its “safe, affordable and accessible cannabis banking program.”
While we’ve seen smaller banks, and especially credit unions, announce services for the industry, this is the most robust suite of cannabis banking offerings that we’ve seen. Berkshire highlighted everything from mobile banking and relationship banking to armored cash pick-up and wealth management.
“We recognize many banks do not serve the needs of businesses that sell cannabis-related products and services,” Lucy Bellomia, senior EVP and Head of Retail Banking, said in a statement. “These businesses have been underserved and we believe, as an industry, we must do better to promote economic equity and ensure access to safe banking services. Berkshire is pleased to step into this space to empower cannabis businesses with the right financial solutions.”
What is going on in North Carolina?
Recent cannabis developments in the state, one of the few in the country to not even have a medical cannabis law, have us scratching our heads.
First, this Thursday, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, which already permits medical cannabis, will hold a vote on whether to legalize cannabis for adult use.
In response, U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards, of North Carolina, introduced the Stop Pot Act in Congress, which would “withhold certain federal funding from states and tribes that permit the use of recreational marijuana,” according to his announcement on Friday.
That bill is unlikely to go anywhere, but the referendum stands a solid chance of passage.
On that note, this is playing out against the backdrop of failed reform efforts in the state legislature. But even though medical cannabis legislation has repeatedly stalled, campaign finance expert Bob Hall released an analysis last week that found tens of thousands of dollars flowing in the state as contributions from cannabis companies. (You can read the analysis, which is making the rounds in local newsrooms in North Carolina, here.)
Hall identified that “the largest individual donor to NC legislators in the first six month of 2023” with “$137,900 to 26 lawmakers and their 4 caucus committees” is Oklahoma resident Clint Patterson, CEO of Mockingbird Cannabis in Mississippi.
He also provided the names of other cannabis entities lobbying in the state, including multistate operator Trulieve, and Qualla Enterprises LLC, which is owned by the aforementioned Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
