This is just a glimpse. Want to receive every issue of Cannabis Wire Daily, our newsletter that is sent to subscribers each weekday morning, and unlimited access to cannabiswire.com?
DOJ estimates Biden’s latest pardon announcement “doubled the potential applicant pool.”
The Department of Justice published a notice in the Federal Register today regarding its proposed “information collection” with regard to the “application for certificate of pardon for simple possession of marijuana.”
The context: President Joe Biden announced in October 2022 that he would pardon federal simple cannabis possession convictions. Then, in December 2023, Biden slightly expanded the pardon.
The notice says that the application will remain largely unchanged. However, there was a small but interesting detail in the notice that puts into perspective the impact of the December announcement: “Available information suggests that the new proclamation has approximately doubled the potential applicant pool.”
GOP Congress members introduce resolution on “high-potency” products.
In Washington, D.C. on Thursday, Sen. Pete Ricketts and Rep. Pete Sessions announced a resolution that calls for limits on “high-potency marijuana” products.
Specifically, it “urges Federal, State, and local governments to collaborate with public health organizations, medical professionals, and community stakeholders to develop evidence-based policies that address the public health and safety concerns associated with high-potency marijuana.”
The announcement came at the kickoff of Smart Approaches to Marijuana’s Good Drug Policy Summit.
+ Related: SAM was joined in D.C. by Rep. Andy Harris, who this week wrote a letter to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram, as first reported by Fox News Radio, to blast HHS’ recommendation to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III.
There’s been quite a bit of moving and shaking in the industry this week. Here are the highlights:
• Former Rep. Ed Perlmutter, who spearheaded SAFE Banking, has joined the National Cannabis Roundtable as a “federal policy advisor.” He joins other former lawmakers at NCR, such as Sen. Cory Gardner and Speaker John Boehner.
“When I retired from Congress, I made it clear that I remained as committed as ever to fighting the good fight, particularly when it comes to advocating for common-sense cannabis reforms and the enactment of the SAFE Banking Act,” Perlmutter said in NCR’s announcement.
• Cookies’ Manhattan shop reopens as Culture House. The new store, which has the recognizable baby blue lettering, is “a partnership between CAURD social equity applicant Gabriel Marin, Jack Terzi, and Michael J Cohen,” according to its announcement.
The store’s products will include “exclusive strains from the award-winning cultivators behind cannabis lifestyle brand Cookies and other local New York growers.”
• Cresco names Greg Butler as president. Butler previously served as Chief Commercial Officer at Cresco.
• PAX sues Stiiizy. This week, PAX filed two patent infringement lawsuits: one against Stiiizy and one against ALD Group, which is, as the complaint notes, “an original design manufacturer of accused products for” Stiiizy.