Cannabis 101 Update
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, and Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., reintroduced the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States Act, or STATES Act, in the Senate on Thursday. Reps. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and David Joyce, R-Ohio, put the measure forth in the House.
Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski, from Alaska, and Rand Paul, from Kentucky, as well as Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar, from Minnesota. The House bill is co-sponsored by Reps. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and Tom Graves, R-Ga., among others.
Forty-seven states have laws permitting some form of marijuana or marijuana-based products, according to the sponsors. Ten states – along with Washington D.C., Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands – have legalized recreational marijuana. Marijuana remains illegal under federal law.
Even where cannabis is legal it is still illegal. The feds still have Marijuana and its psychoactive components registered as a class 1 Substance. As for CBD it’s non psychoactive component, the FDA has not approved it as an edible in any form.
It is still illegal to participate in the manufacture, distribution or advertising of marijuana and drug paraphernalia on a federal level.
Those who create the packaging are flying under the radar for the most part but those who create the advertising can still generate Federal scrutiny. Elizabeth Warren’s bill would change all of that and put the matter into individual states and allow them to regulate the industry similar to the alcohol and tobacco laws.
Labeling laws are highly restrictive and require a universal THC symbol along with warnings that range from addiction to breast feeding to the carcinogenic effect of smoking along with side effects etc. Some also require warnings regarding edible products cautioning that the effects may take as much as two hours to kick in. In recent studies edibles have been responsible for psychotic episodes by novices.
Other legal requirement are similar to the beverage alcohol industry which has two basic elements: pay your taxes and don’t advertise or sell to anyone under legal age!
Packaging and advertising should not include anything graphically, promotionally or by endorsement that would attract anyone under the age of 21.
Health claims are being made regarding depression, anxiety, pain, arthritis, IBS, and even cancer but the FDA and FTC ban the use of any claims without actual scientific support. The truth is that most claims made are unsubstantiated and that a majority of products tested do not even contain the elements advertised. This is where the industry needs government oversight. All products should be tested in a peer approved, facility under strict scientific guidelines as to contents and strength listed on the labels or as advertised. This is already damaging the industry when people purchase bogus products and are disappointed in the results.
Dosages reported to be effective from athletes using CBD is based on elements such as body mass etc. A daily dose presently prescribed is 1 MG per day for each Kliogram of body weight as the base amount. This would mean someone who weighed 220 pounds would need 100MG of CBD to alleviate muscle pain per day.
As for your intellectual property you are still out of luck in the USPTO or patent and Trademark Office will only protect trade marks and patents regarding legal business operations. If you file you have no real protection other than an implied one.
Finally the legislation that Senator Warren has introduced leaves the decisions up to the states which is temporarily keeping the large Pharmaceutical and major Wall street operations from swooping in and taking over the smaller indy operators but we will see how long that lasts.
It’s a promising industry but like the ones I have lived through in the past, the ones who have the strongest brands will survive. They will be bought up by the big financial groups like a game of PAC MAN and there will be four of five major players in three to four years.