Weekly Roll Up: March 16, 2018

Welcome to the Weekly Roll Up, Heady Vermont’s regular review of the top cannabis news locally, from our region and beyond.

Vermont

The Green Mountain State has its first cannabis law practice in Tim Fair of Vermont Cannabis Solutions, and TG Branfalt had him on for a podcast this week at Ganjapreneur.

While Fair may be the first, he probably won’t be the last. As in any regulated market, people will need attorneys to make sure they’re playing by the rules.

Regional

The Maine Legislature is contemplating an overhaul of its medical marijuana law that has the state’s network of roughly 3,000 caregivers divided, reports the Portland Press Herald.

The bill would tighten regulations for caregivers — which operate like mom-and-pop medical dispensaries — but it would also remove patients caps, giving them the opportunity to grow.

It appears not everybody in Maine is currently playing by the state’s medical marijuana rules. The feds seized more than 600 pounds of cannabis from a group allegedly growing under the guise of being a medical operation, but who were actually selling across state lines, according to the Bangor Daily News.

The February bust has now led to three arrests, and in addition to the illicit marijuana, investigators have also seized a kilo of ecstasy and several guns.

Meanwhile in Massachusetts, the Bay State is trying to bring everybody above board, and with recreational sales set to begin soon, the Boston Globe has a rundown of everything you need to know about the new rules.

International

Colombia suffered greatly during the United States-backed War on Drugs, but the Washington Post reports that the South American nation now plans to be the “Saudi Arabia” of legal cannabis.

That means less guns and more corporate investors. Right now their main competition could come from Canada, which has similar plans.