Included in the language of the bill is HR 1595: The SAFE Banking Act, which amends federal law so that explicitly banks and other financial institutions may work directly with state-legal marijuana businesses. Members of the House of Representatives voted 321 to 103 in favor of the Act in September. Reform advocates, including NORML, had lobbied leadership to include banking reform in the latest COVID relief measure.
A new hemp company, Collective Growth Corp., virtually rang the bell on the Nasdaq Friday, beginning public trading already fully funded by investors. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Collective Growth is a blank-check company that intends to focus on the “federally permissive cannabinoid industry,” said Joseph Brantuk, the chief client officer for Nasdaq. The newly organized […]
California-based Omura, a marijuana and hemp flower vaporizer company, raised $5 million, with a portion of the funding coming from Bruce Linton, former CEO and founder of Canada’s Canopy Growth Corp. The raise, while not major by cannabis industry standards, is significant during the global coronavirus pandemic when investments are more difficult to secure. Linton, […]
In a letter to House leadership, the Marijuana Justice Coalition, which is made up by groups including the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, the ACLU, the Drug Policy Alliance, NORML, and others, sent a letter to Congressional Leadership requesting that small marijuana businesses be able to access the emergency relief funds being administered by the Small Business Administration. The Coalition letter focuses on the need for small business access to the SBA relief funds as an avenue to protect the progress that has been made by minority entrepreneurs in the emerging legal cannabis marketplaces. “Now more than ever, if we are to provide pathways of opportunity and ownership for communities that have been historically targeted… Read More
Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) introduced legislation to allow state-legal marijuana businesses to apply for COVID-19 benefits through the Small Business Administration. Currently, the SBA is prohibited from engaging with cannabis businesses due to federal marijuana criminalization. In the majority of jurisdictions that regulate cannabis marketplaces, state policymakers have designated these operations to be ‘essential’ to the health and well-being of the patient community. In others, regulators have either relaxed protocols or moved forward with new, emergency rules to facilitate expanded access – such as permitting patients to seek telemedicine appointments and allowing dispensaries to permit curbside pick-up and home delivery. The new legislation would create an exemption for the SBA to allow it and it’s employees to facilitate… Read More
Ten members of the Senate, led by Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), and 34 members of the House, led by Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Tom McClintock (R-CA), have recently issued letters requesting Small Business Administration funding programs be expanded so that they may be accessed by state-licensed cannabis businesses.
Hemp Industry Daily is providing a free calculator intended to help cannabis companies forecast their financial performance based on different revenue assumptions during the current economic tumult. The tool is designed to provide a snapshot of how a prolonged pandemic situation – or some other variable – might affect a business: If revenue drops 20%, […]
Canopy Growth, a global cannabis giant that muscled its way into the U.S. hemp market, has announced that it is shutting down its hemp-growing operation in New York state, citing a glut of hemp from last year. The Canada-based company will cease farming operations in Springfield, New York, but will continue using its hemp supply […]
Right now, the majority of states that regulate cannabis commerce have deemed the industry to be “essential” to the health and welfare of the community. Many of these establishments are small-to-medium size operators, and their employees are keeping their doors open without access to the support systems in place for other businesses, thus depriving them of much-needed resources in this time of crisis.
Here at NORML, we take our work seriously. With so many unsubstantiated claims being made regarding cannabis and staying safe during the COVID-19 outbreak, we’ve compiled a list of resources for consumers and ways your activism can thrive during social distancing. NORML’s Responsible Consumer Safety Tips As a member of our NORML family, we earnestly care about your well-being. We all know a large part of what binds cannabis consumers together is community and sharing. However, while we are living through the current pandemic consumers should be more mindful of day-to-day consumption practices. Read and download NORML’s consumer safety tips. A NORML Reminder: Beware of COVID-19 Cure All Claims NORML wishes to reiterate its message that the public beware of… Read More
