“There are 450,000 people currently incarcerated for a drug related charge, and even if you released them all it would not be enough to flatten the curve in the criminal legal system.”
– Kassandra Frederique, Managing Director of Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns at the Drug Policy Alliance

Welcome To The Weekly Roll Up – A Compendium of The Week’s Cannabis News

Vermont 

 Mental Health Monday Weekly Video – Tune in on FB every Monday at noon!

 April Fool’s: US DEA Advocates For Nationwide Cannabis Legalization
MMJ dispensaries stay open, but some limit hours
 Condos announces election law changes to address pandemic
 UVM survey on the impact of coronavirus on food insecurity
 Governor Scott issues order on travel and lodging restrictions
 Vape shops go curbside
 Judge issues order to protect Chittenden County residents from evictions
 Vermont orders incoming travelers to self-quarantine for 14 days
 Southwestern Vermont Health Care Foundation launches COVID relief fund
 Website created to help hospitality and personal service industry
 Data hints Vermont’s COVID-19 response working
 Gov announces new medical surge locations in Essex Jct and Rutland
 COVID-19 resources for your business and tax questions

New England

 New England

• CDC New England: Small business owner’s guide to the CARES Act

 Connecticut

• The Numbers on State’s Newest Crop: Hemp
• State Moves To Ensure Medical Pot, Craft Beer Flows During Covoid Crisis

 Maine

• Regs restricting public access to their offices amid the coronavirus outbreak
• Regulators may accept expired driver’s licenses or ID cards amid outbreak

 Massachusetts

• Newton dispensary produces hand sanitizer for health workers
• Gov. Refuses to Reopen Adult-Use Dispensaries
• 2 NETA employees test positive for virus, workers question protocol
• Getting an MMJ card is easier than you think
• Regulators will consider “potential relief” for cannabiz
• Ordered to close, Canna-preneurs staring down insolvency
• Mass. canna-regulator joins fight to allow rec stores to reopen
• Cannabiz beginning to furlough employees after not deemed essential
• Rep: move to close rec stores during outbreak hurts military veterans

 New Jersey

• Patients can pick up MMJ curbside. How many dispensaries offering it?
• What’s the MMJ Process in 2020?
• Dragonfly Health: MMJ Funny Business
• Cunningham for Congress in NJ 2nd, Wants to Change Cannabis Laws
• MMJ patients face unavailable medication, long lines

 New York

• Cannabis legalization up in smoke for 2020, gov says
• Legalization Left Out Of New York Budget

 Rhode Island

• Regs issue guidance on MMJ concerning packaging, labeling

National

 Advocacy/Activism

• WATCH: Cannabis as a Tool to Drive Positive Social Change
• Trump’s drug war is “effort to distract from delayed response to crisis”

 Arts/Entertainment

• Finding the harmony between cannabis and music

 Business

• Rec sales still falling after initial coronavirus-related spike
• How COVID-19 Force Majeure Claims May Wreck or Save Your Business
• Customers Cash In Loyalty Points For Discounts During Pandemic
• Cannabis Companies Answer Call for Help, But Who Will Answer Theirs?
• Cannabis Business in the Wake of COVID-19

 Cannabis

• People Still Using Cannabis During Pandemic. How Are They Getting It?
• WATCH: How to Read Your Cannabis Ash
• Are $1 Weed Tablets the Future of Productivity?
• How To Enhance Your Creative Process With Weed
• What is hotboxing with cannabis and does it work?

 CBD

• Overhyping CBD during a public health crisis hurts industry’s credibility

 Commerce

• Canna-shops Using Zap’s Lightning App During virus Cash Crunch

 Coronavirus/COVID-19

• Cannabis & Coronavirus: Is It A Good Idea?
• AOC Says Dispensaries Should Stay Open If Liquor Stores Can
• The inspiring response cannabis is having to the pandemic
• How Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Changed Cannabis Use?
• Does Smoking Cannabis Put You at Higher Risk for the Coronavirus?
• The COVID-19 Homeschool Pivot
• People Need Weed, But Stores Can’t Get Federal Funding in a Crisis
• Quick guide to fed aid available to hemp biz impacted by coronavirus
• Tips to conserve your weed during quarantine
• Here’s How Coronavirus Spreads, According to Epidemiologists
• Here’s How to Stop Touching Your Face So Much
• CBD Can’t Cure Or Prevent COVID-19
• States Deem MMJ Essential Industry Amidst COVID-19 Emergency
• Viral Outbreak Spurs Legislative Change for Cannabis Businesses
• How Weed Dealers And Users Are Navigating The Coronavirus
• Majority Of Americans Agree: Pot Shops Are Essential
• Feds Tell Ex-NFL Star to Stop Saying His Weed Can Cure Coronavirus
• COVID19: Cannabis sales in US up 90%, demand by women rises 32%
• Users Indulging More Than Ever Amid Coronavirus
• Company delivering products via drone to reduce contact
• Cannabis had the fewest respondents indicating they are spending less
• Prohibitionist groups: cannabiz should not be considered essential
• First coronavirus fatality in prison was man serving 27yrs for drug offense
• CBD company run by former NFL player receives fed letter, tweets:

 Culture

• Rogan: Biden’s excuse for appearances would be if he were on edibles

 Driving

• Researchers develop roadside saliva test for THC

 Economics

• Could a Resurgent Industry Rescue Economy Stalled by COVID-19?

 Education

• The Best Weed Reads To Build Your Cannabis Library

 Events

• Weed Between the Lines: Cannabis Networking and Creative
• Jessica Billingsley to Participate in Expert Webcast

 Federal

• Feds Researching How CannaConsumers Are Impacted By Virus
• NORML: DEA’s Proposed Bulk Cultivation Rules Are “Unduly Onerous”
• After 4yr Delay, DEA Will Review Requests to Grow for Research
• FDA ongoing effort to regulate CBD doesn’t shield companies from lawsuits
• Bill would block landlords from evicting people for legal extract manufacturing
• IRS Rejects Recommendation To Provide Cannabiz Tax Guidance
• 11 Senators Push To Let Cannabiz Access Federal Loan Programs

 Food & Bev

• Dime Barrel Cocktail with CBD (video)
• Release your inner cannabis chef

 Growing and Making

• Greener Lights for Green Growers

 Health and Wellness

• 6 Effective Ways to Heal Your Lungs After Smoking

 Hemp

• EcoGen Labs’ Hemp Seed Buyback Program to Support Farmers
• Hemp Crop Protection for Cultivators & Investors
• Hemp Roundtable, American Shaman preparing hemp for the long haul
• Feds Settle Claims They Seized Legal Hemp Shipments
• Hemp Milk Market To Guide Trends
• A Guide to the Federal Stimulus Package for Hemp Businesses
• Is Hemp A Vital Resource In A Time Of Crisis?
• Dept of Ag approved hemp plans for SC, WV and three Indian tribes
• USDA Approves Hemp Plans For South Carolina And West Virginia

 History

• How cannabis and humans evolved together
• Declaring cannabis ‘essential’ marks a watershed moment in history

 Hypocrisy, Prevarication, and Outright Lies

• What a Highland Park Drug Ring Reveals About America’s Drug War

 Law Enforcement

• Fairness is an issue in clearing low-level cannabis convictions

 Legalization

• Coronavirus Delays: Where Do Cannabis Bills Stand Across the US?
• Why States Need To ‘Flick The Legal Switch’ On Cannabis Amid COVID-19
• Coronavirus Delays: Where Do Cannabis Bills Stand Across the US?

 Medical

• Medical cannabis businesses eye potential new markets in southern U.S.

 Military/Veterans

• U.S. military considering using hemp fibers for Army vehicles and uniforms

 People

• 6 fierce cannabis influencers to follow
• Pot Put Him in Prison. Now It Nets Him $46 Million
• How David Albanese Is Disrupting The Cannabis Industry In America
• Story of cannabis organizer Dan Rush, who pleaded guilty to fed crimes

 Podcasts

• Jamie EvGirls, aka the Herb Somm
• NCRMA Launches Chronic Risk Podcast
• Big Cannabis Can Be Good Cannabis, Good Cannabis Can Be Big Biz
• Fyllo’s Jeff Ragovin Talks With Cresco Labs’ Cory Rothschild

 Presidential Campaign 

 Science

• Cannabis Scientists Are Chasing the Perfect High

 Seniors

• Older adults and MMJ: Reduced stigma and increased use

 Sex

• Top 5 Best Cannabis Strains for Sex
• Can CBD Improve Your Sexual Health?

 Social Justice

• Why Relief Is Needed For Incarcerated Cannabis Offenders

 Studies and Surveys

• Does Cannabis Use Affect Exercise Levels in Adolescents?
• New research sheds light on potentially negative effects of cannabis
• More Than 90% Of Legal Cannabis Products ‘Too Strong’ For Pain Relief
• Cannabis could be turning adolescents into couch potatoes
• CU Study Links Teen Pot Use to Insomnia Risk
• Study suggests cannabis may impair female fertility
• New study cautions cannabis beginners to 26 adverse reactions
• Cannabis: Patients With Bipolar Should Avoid Use
• U.S. adults consider MMJ essential during pandemic, 44%-41%. 
• Products in legal dispensaries “seem unsuitable for medicinal purposes”
• A study: cannabinoids and adolescents w/cancer found benefits
• Study “cannabinoids alleviate cocaine-induced seizures by glycine receptors.”
• Mag looks at efforts by researchers to correlate terpenes w/effects
• Clinical Evidence Lacking in Support of CBD as an Anti-Viral Agent

 Stuff

• The smartest weed bong launches at the worst possible time

 Women

• Girls Growin Wild #3: Chelsea Brindle
• Essential Advice from Leading Women in Cannabis
• Why More Women Should Be Launching CBD Companies
• Tracey Mason, Co-Founder & CEO House Of Saka Sips Her Cannabis-Infused Wine

States