Iowa considers sourcing medical marijuana from Minnesota

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By Kyle Potter and Linley Sanders, The Associated Press

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Top state lawmakers are trying to work out a system allowing Iowa residents to start buying medical marijuana oils and pills in Minnesota, a novel arrangement that could raise issues with the federal government.

Iowa could join more than two dozen states with medical marijuana programs under a bill awaiting Gov. Terry Branstad’s signature. That legislation would expand a limited 2014 law, allowing more patients to buy the low-dose medication from in-state dispensaries by December 2018.

But in the meantime, Iowa residents could look to Minnesota. A provision of the bill specifically references that state as a potential source of medication and directs Iowa regulators to contract with Minnesota’s two manufacturers of medical marijuana.

It’s the first half of an arrangement being worked out between Iowa House Speaker Linda Upmeyer and Minnesota House Speaker Kurt Daudt, friends who first explored the idea last year until the push to expand Iowa’s medical marijuana law fizzled out. Both lawmakers confirmed their discussions to The Associated Press this week.

Upmeyer said Minnesota could offer immediate relief to sick Iowans while the state works to set up its program over the next 18 months. Minnesota may even serve as a permanent back-up in case the state can’t secure its own manufacturer, a prospect she and others have feared.

“It’s providing access to Iowans and doing it as quickly as we can,” Upmeyer said. “I just want to be sure if we have a tough time finding a grower, we have another source available. It all just fits together.”

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has been noncommittal on the legislation since it hit his desk earlier this month. He is expected to act on the bill before leaving office to become President Donald Trump’s ambassador to China, pending the U.S. Senate’s confirmation.

While several states with medical marijuana laws recognize cardholders from other states, sending residents across the border to buy their supply would be a new arrangement if both sides move ahead. The nearest of Minnesota’s eight dispensaries to Iowa is in Rochester, a roughly three-hour drive from Des Moines.

That arrangement could raise federal concerns. Despite its legal status in nearly 30 states, the federal government still considers medical marijuana a Schedule I drug that can’t be moved across state lines. And fears of a federal crackdown on states with medical marijuana laws have increased under Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has repeatedly expressed his disapproval of the drug.

Upmeyer said she’s trying to meet with Sessions’ office to get greater clarity on how the federal government might treat Iowa’s arrangement.

Medical marijuana sales began in Minnesota in July 2015. If Branstad signs the bill, Iowa patients with a doctor’s certification could start registering immediately.

Both states would have restrictive programs that ban the use of the plant form and limit the availability of marijuana oils and pills to patients with just a handful of severe conditions. Iowa’s law goes farther by limiting the potency of the oils that can be sold.

It’s unclear how many Iowa patients might take advantage of being able to buy their supply in Minnesota, but Daudt said any patients from Iowa could help manufacturers in Minnesota, where the tight restrictions have led to lackluster patient enrollment, high medication costs and huge financial losses for both companies. Though Daudt voted against the 2014 legislation that created Minnesota’s program, he said he’s open to the arrangement.

“One of the problems that we have had here is that the manufacturers … have a limited number of customers, and it may become difficult to sustain their business,” Daudt said Thursday. “It may be helpful to our manufactures and ultimately to our jobs and economy here in Minnesota. I think it could be a mutually beneficial thing.”

It would require specific legislation allowing out-of-state residents to buy their medication in Minnesota, a measure that could be tucked into the massive budget lawmakers are working to finalize. Daudt said lobbyists for Minnesota’s two manufacturers, Minnesota Medical Solutions and LeafLine Labs, and medical marijuana advocacy groups have been working on crafting the language.

Minnesota’s regulators haven’t been involved in the discussions, nor has Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton, who was never a strong backer of Minnesota’s law. Michelle Larson, who runs Minnesota’s Office of Medical Cannabis, said they would need to figure out how to handle a new crop of patients from a different state in their patient registry system. And the prospect of Iowa residents facing problems for bringing Schedule I medication across state lines worried her.

“We’d certainly want to make sure people were aware of the risk,” Larson said.
___

Sanders reported from Des Moines.

Infused with chef Hosea Rosenberg: Warm spinach salad with bacon

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By Hosea Rosenberg, Special To The Cannabist

Editor’s note: The Cannabist’s debut video recipe series “Infused” with award-winning chef Hosea Rosenberg is sponsored by Binske, purveyors of marijuana-infused cooking oil, honey and chocolate.

Cannabis-Infused Warm Spinach Salad with Bacon

Serves: 4

“Everything is better with bacon.”
–Chef Hosea

Ingredients
½ red onion, sliced thin

¼ cup water

2 tablespoons sugar

Pinch of salt

1 cup red wine vinegar

8 ounces spinach leaves, trimmed and cleaned

4 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

4 tablespoons chevre, crumbled

8 strips bacon, diced

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

½ teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 serving cannabis-infused honey (10mg THC)–chef Hosea uses Binske Wildflower Honey

1 serving cannabis-infused olive oil (10mg THC)–chef Hosea uses Binske Lemon Olive Oil

Instructions
1. Bring red onion, water, sugar, salt and 1 cup red wine vinegar to boil. Turn off heat, and cool for 4 hours or overnight. Drain onions before serving. Reserve.

2. Cook diced bacon in pan until crispy. Remove bacon and keep warm. Reserve bacon fat in pan.

3. Add red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, Dijon, Binske Wildflower Honey, and Binske Lemon Olive Oil to bacon fat in pan and bring to boil.

4. Place spinach in large bowl and toss with warm dressing.

5. Transfer to 4 serving bowls. Top with bacon, pine nuts, chevre, and pickled red onions. Serve immediately.

marijuana-infused-spinach-salad-with-bacon-chef-hosea-rosenbergChef Hosea Rosenberg prepares a gourmet marijuana-infused spinach salad with bacon. (The Cannabist)

Tips from Chef Hosea
• Pick up spinach from your local farmers market if possible. Otherwise go with organic baby spinach.
• Bacon is best cooked extra crispy for this recipe, but don’t burn it.
• You can add a hard-boiled egg, avocado, dried figs or any other dried fruit to make this salad more hearty.
• Salad must be served within minutes of tossing or spinach will wilt.

Cannabist Show: She’s a psychologist helping opioid addicts; She’s bringing Israeli MMJ to America

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By The Cannabist Staff

Featured guests: Addiction treatment psychologist Cali Estes and Jyl Ferris of Tikun Olam USA.

LOTS TO TALK ABOUT

•  Using cannabis in treating opioid dependence; concerns about potentially trading one addiction for another.

•  Marijuana use in American professional sports — only the NHL doesn’t test for THC — helping athletes recover in the offseason with CBD and THC products alike.

•  Bringing an historic Israeli medical marijuana company to the United States, fitting in to the system.

TOP MARIJUANA NEWS

Persistent prosecution of Oklahoma head shop seems like “a waste of taxpayer money” to residents: For years, attempts to open up shops in this left-leaning Oklahoma college town to sell things like rolling papers and smoking accessories have faced a harsh crackdown from local law enforcement. Officers raided stores, confiscated merchandise and shut down the operations. While other states across the nation are easing penalties for marijuana use or legalizing the drug altogether, Norman police and its Republican district attorney are taking the opposite tack: pursuing criminal charges against the now-shuttered Friendly Market shop owner Robert Cox and several of his clerks for selling glass pipes in a local store. But the latest target of police and prosecutors is fighting back. –Report by the Associated Press’ Sean Murphy

Trump says he reserves right to ignore medical marijuana protection provision in spending bill: President Donald Trump signed his first piece of major legislation on Friday, a $1 trillion spending bill to keep the government operating through September. Trump signed the bill despite his objections to numerous provisions included in the measure. One such provision prohibits the Justice Department from using any funds to block implementation of medical marijuana laws by states and U.S. territories. In a signing statement that accompanied the bill and that laid out his objections, Trump said he reserved the right to ignore the provision. He held out the possibility that the administration could pursue legal action against states and territories that legalize marijuana for medical use. –Report by The Associated Press’ Darlene Superville

QUICK HIT

A cash transaction at a Colorado marijuana shopAn employee at a Denver marijuana shop handles cash during a transaction in May 2014. (Brennan Linsley, Associated Press file)

Colorado marijuana sales top $131M, set record in March 2017: The Colorado cannabis industry’s unbridled growth hasn’t waned — in fact, it’s still setting records. The state’s licensed marijuana shops captured nearly $132 million of recreational and medical cannabis sales in March, according to The Cannabist’s extrapolations of state sales tax data. The monthly sales haul of $131.7 million sets a record for Colorado’s relatively young legal marijuana industry, besting the previous high of $127.8 million set last September, The Cannabist’s calculations show. It’s the tenth consecutive month that sales have topped $100 million. Sales tax revenue generated for the state during March was $22.9 million, according to the Colorado Department of Revenue. –Report by The Cannabist’s Alicia Wallace

POT QUIZ

Test your current-events knowledge about politicians trading pot insults, a Washington state cop linked to a cross-country trafficking operation, an abstaining pop star and more.

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California gov commits $1.5M to clean up damage from illegal marijuana grows

Published: • Updated:

By Will Houston, Eureka Times-Standard

California Gov. Jerry Brown is earmarking $1.5 million in his May revised budget for cleanup of environmental damage caused by illegal marijuana farms within the state’s cultivation heartland in Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity counties.

“These illegal grow sites do untold damage to forests and wildlife along the North Coast and with Assemblymember [Jim] Wood’s leadership, we’re doing something about it,” Brown said in a statement Wednesday.


Nearly 900 marijuana plants and a butane hash lab were seized by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office and California Department of Fish and Wildlife from this Kneeland property in June 2014. The investigation found that water was being illegally diverted from a nearby creek and that a large area on the property had been graded and clear cut. (Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office)

The announcement from North Coast Assemblyman Jim Wood’s office comes a day after local law enforcement and California Department of Fish and Wildlife officers eradicated an illegal 3,400-plant marijuana grow in the remote hills of southern Humboldt County.

Sheriff William Honsal said he thinks it is great that the state is providing more support to combat the “huge impact” the thousands of illegal grows have had in the region. But he said the amount allocated is not nearly enough to address the extensive damage caused to ecosystems by decades of illegal diversions, clear cutting and grading.

Honsal compared the environmental damage caused by marijuana grows to the contaminated former lumber mill sites throughout the county, and he fears that the damage could be even more widespread.

“We need more resources and more deputy sheriffs dedicated to these illegal grows,” Honsal said. “… I think further supporting the sheriff’s offices in these three counties will ultimately help people come into compliance with state law and be contributors instead of takers from the system.”

‘Closing the loop’

The announcement comes a day before Brown is expected to release his May revise of the 2017-18 state budget. Wood (D-Healdsburg) said he has been working with Brown’s office on this issue since 2014 when he introduced one of three bills that would eventually become the state’s newest and more comprehensive regulations on medical marijuana. Wood said environmental restoration was a major focus of his bill and said he felt like the funding is “closing the loop” on those efforts. Wood said he met personally with Brown about a week ago to discuss the need for the funds.

“Some of the pictures and narratives from our state agencies and some of us in the Legislature I think was enough to help bring some funding along and get started with the process,” Wood said. “It’s not going to be nearly enough, and it’s a start.”

Wood said it has yet to be determined how the funding would be split between the three counties, but he said he will be advocating for the funds to be used first in areas that are most heavily impacted.

Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Charlton “Chuck” Bonham states the funding will be used as part of the Fisheries Restoration Grant Program that was created to address impacts to wild populations of salmon and steelhead trout. Illegal water diversions, clear cutting, grading, pesticide contamination and general pollution by illegal marijuana grows have impacted wildlife on the North Coast and has contributed to declining fish habitat to threatened species like coho and Chinook salmon on the Eel River.

“The $1.5 million will help us continue to clean up the egregious environmental damage, specifically to California’s waterways, caused by illegal marijuana cultivation sites,” Bonham said in a statement.


Thousands of butane gas canisters litter the site of a butane hash lab in southern Humboldt County after an explosion in November 2014. (California Department of Fish and Wildlife)

The $1.5 million will be additional funding on top of continued funding for the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Watershed Enforcement Team, which was created in 2014 to address environmental impacts caused by marijuana grows.

Wood said that illegal marijuana operations not only pose a danger to wildlife, but to firefighters, hikers and law enforcement.

“Our beautiful pristine forests have become havens for these illegal grow sites,” Wood said in a statement. “These illegitimate growers have continued to ignore not only state laws for farming cannabis, but have left these sites ravaged by lethal chemicals, clear cutting and thousands of pounds of trash.”

County discussions

At its Tuesday meeting, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors discussed how it would handle marijuana grows that violate the county’s marijuana regulations. First District Supervisor Rex Bohn, who represents a large portion of Southern Humboldt County, was among the supervisors advocating for enhanced enforcement of farms that are not seeking to become legalized under the county’s and state’s marijuana laws.

“If they don’t come in and get permitted there is very good chance they will be having a visit,” Bohn said Wednesday morning. “And hopefully the first people on the list are the ones causing ecological damage affecting our watersheds our rivers and our aquatic wildlife.”

Trinity County Supervisor Judy Morris said in a statement that the importance of the state funding cannot be underestimated.

“The cleanup of these areas will also serve to deter any future rogue growing activity, since the associated infrastructure is a significant cost,” Morris said.

An unspecified amount of tax revenue from the state’s recreational marijuana legalization measure Proposition 64 will also be dedicated to environmental cleanup of illegal marijuana grows. But Wood said that those tax funds may be needed to launch the state’s regulatory system before any comes to environmental cleanup. He said the $1.5 million will act to “jump-start” enforcement activity in the meantime.

Humboldt County is also taxing its medical cannabis farms and is expecting to generate $2.2 million in additional revenue in the 2017-18 budget year. Honsal said he plans to request part of those funds be used to hire three new deputies for the sheriff’s office’s marijuana drug enforcement unit.

“Right now we have two people and three people over the summer,” Honsal said of the unit’s staffing. “That is not nearly enough. We need at least double that number to go out and to make an impact. We want to go after the most egregious violators. And to do that we need more resources.”

Humboldt County 2nd District Supervisor Estelle Fennell said county funds can only go so far, and that there is need for further state support.

“With the federal government threatening to pull enforcement funds, it’s now more important than ever for the state to step in and help us address these problems,” she said. “…The environmental impacts of egregiously illegal cultivation practices have been a central concern of our efforts to regulate cannabis growing.”

Will Houston can be reached at 707-441-0504.

This story was first published on TheCannifornian.com

Sessions overturns Holder memo, returns to harshest drug sentencing policy

Published: • Updated:

By Sari Horwitz and Matt Zapotosky, The Washington Post

WASHINGTON – Attorney General Jeff Sessions overturned the sweeping criminal charging policy of former attorney general Eric H. Holder Jr. and directed his federal prosecutors Thursday to charge defendants with the most serious, provable crimes carrying the most severe penalties.

The Holder memo, issued in August 2013, instructed his prosecutors to avoid charging certain defendants with drug offenses that would trigger long mandatory minimum sentences. Defendants who met a set of criteria such as not belonging to a large-scale drug trafficking organization, gang or cartel, qualified for lesser charges – and in turn less prison time – under Holder’s policy.

But Sessions’ new charging policy, outlined in a two-page memo and sent to more than 5,000 assistant U.S. attorneys across the country and all assistant attorneys general in Washington, orders prosecutors to “charge and pursue the most serious, readily provable offense” and rescinds Holder’s policy immediately.

The Sessions memo marks the first significant criminal justice effort by the Trump administration to bring back the toughest practices of the drug war, which had fallen out of favor in recent years with a bipartisan movement to undo the damaging effects of mass incarceration.

“This policy fully utilizes the tools Congress has given us,” the attorney general’s memo says. “By definition, the most serious offenses are those that carry the most substantial guidelines sentence, including mandatory minimum sentences.”

The new policy is expected to lead to more federal prosecutions and an increase in the federal prison population. In February, Sessions seemed to prepare for that inevitability, reversing a directive from previous deputy attorney general Sally Yates for the Justice Department to stop using private prisons to house federal inmates.

Yates said at the time that doing so was possible because of declining inmate numbers. Sessions, though, said it had “impaired the [Bureau of Prisons’] ability to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system” – hinting that he saw a very different future for putting people behind bars.

In speeches across the country, including his first major address as attorney general, Sessions has talked of his belief that recent increases in serious crime might indicate that the United States stands at the beginning of a violent new period. He has noted that the homicide rate is half of what it once was, but he has said he fears times of peace might be coming to an end if law enforcement does not quickly return to the aggressive tactics it once used.

Sessions recently ordered the Justice Department to review all its reform agreements with troubled police departments across the country – which he says stand in the way of tough policing – and marijuana advocates fear he might crack down on the drug even in states that have legalized it.

The Sessions memo was largely crafted by Steven H. Cook, a federal prosecutor who was president of the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys and is now detailed to the Justice Department. Cook was a harsh critic of the Obama administration’s criminal justice policies. The implementation of Sessions’s memo will be overseen by Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, who has come under criticism in recent days for the firing of former FBI director James B. Comey.

The new policy revokes Holder’s previous guidance to prosecutors to not specify the quantity of drugs in the charges they brought to avoid triggering mandatory minimum sentences – provided the defendant did not have a significant criminal history, was not violent, or was not a leader of an organization or tied to a gang.

That was particularly significant, because large quantities of drugs typically forced judges to impose stiff sentences – 10 years for a kilogram of heroin, five kilograms of cocaine or 1,000 kilograms of marijuana. Prosecutors, too, could use the threat of a mandatory minimum penalty to facilitate plea bargains, and some were irked that Holder’s memo stripped them of that tool.

Cook has said that the Holder memo “handcuffed prosecutors” and it limited when “enhancements” can be used to increase penalties, an important leverage when dealing with a career offender and getting them to cooperate.

Sessions’ memo says there could be exceptions, but those cases must be approved by a U.S. attorney, assistant attorney general or other supervisor, and the reasons documented in writing.

The memo also directs prosecutors to always pursue sentences with the range calculated by federal guidelines – which are sometimes above even the mandatory minimums – unless a supervisor says it is OK to do otherwise.

“There will be circumstances in which good judgment would lead a prosecutor to conclude that a strict application of the above charging policy is not warranted,” the memo says. “In that case, prosecutors should carefully consider whether an exception may be justified.”

Cannabis concerns? Call Denver’s new Marijuana Health & Safety hotline

Published: • Updated:

By , The Cannabist Staff

Who you gonna call with your pot questions? Denver now has a 24-7 hotline for marijuana health and safety queries: 1-877-741-3777.

Launched this week, the Marijuana Health & Safety line — a pilot program from Denver Health and Denver Environmental Health — will connect pharmacists, nurses and toxicology officials to consumers and industry members curious about topics such as safe-use concerns, serving sizes, allergic reactions, occupational safety hazards, labeling and pesticides, officials said.

“Given the fact that (marijuana) is more prevalent now, the variety of the calls have gone up,” said Chris Hoyte, fellowship director and associate medical director of Denver Health’s Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center.

Those past poison control calls have included people who weren’t feeling well after consuming cannabis, those concerned about cross-reactions with other medications, those interested in knowing safe and appropriate dosing, and businesses questioning the safety of certain ingredients and additives. Alternatively, Denver’s 311 received a slew of queries and complaints about topics such as licensing, inspections, food regulations and pesticides.

Hoyte and other officials at Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center, which has created service lines for questions surrounding substances such as opioids, acetaminophen and cough medicine, saw an opportunity to create a similar mechanism for marijuana. The two-dozen nurses, physicians and toxicologists who currently handle the poison and drug center’s phone line will continue to take these queries on this dedicated line.

The city and county of Denver agreed and put $15,000 to help fund the effort. The phone line’s pilot program has a duration of three months, but could be extended, officials said.

From the conversations — which will remain anonymous and confidential — officials hope to glean some insights about health and occupational safety issues, said Danica Lee, director of the Public Health Inspections Division at Denver Environmental Health.

The line could help officials potentially nip issues in the bud before they turn into broader public health concerns, to develop educational campaigns involving topics that become patterns, and to see where additional research is needed, Lee and Hoyte said.

“We might see some trends or we might not; but either way, I think this will be a helpful resource for consumers (and industry members),” Lee said.

The line will not have information such as marijuana business listings and it is not for use during emergencies, officials said.

If someone has a life-threatening emergency or is in need of immediate medical attention, they should call 911, officials said.

Alicia Wallace joined The Cannabist in July 2016, covering national marijuana policy and business. She contributes to the Denver Post’s beer industry coverage. In her 14 years as a business news reporter, her coverage has spanned topics such as the…