Weekly Canna: Biden Blocked – The Paper.

June 29, 2021 at 4:37 pm

President Joe Biden will do his best to avoid re-election. Despite the overwhelming electoral support for cannabis legalization, the president can’t even bring himself to feign disinterest when the subject comes up. Instead, he’s foaming at the mouth and pushing for reverse reform – and wishing he could turn back the clock and go back to the good old days of the Reagan era at the same time. But the Democrats in Congress won’t let the old bugger get away – at least for now.

Last month, Biden presented a federal budget proposal for 2022, which contained in particular the language of the “Harris Rider”. This Republican provision, which was added to the budget in 2014, bans the taxation and sale of cannabis in Washington DC, even though our nation’s capital legalized the drug that year. It was originally added to the federal budget by Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), Despite the city’s legalization initiative, which was backed by 64.87 percent of voters. Since it was added, the driver has prevented DC residents from buying cannabis or opening pharmacies.

Biden’s decision to include the ban in his proposal angered many of the people who helped him get him into office. The New Republic impaled the president’s “shameful, conservative stance” in a headline last month. “For a president portraying himself as a defender of democracy, this represents a deeper missed opportunity,” wrote author Matt Ford. “By refusing to fully commit to legalizing marijuana, Biden is losing the chance.” prove that American democracy can actually work. “

However, this isn’t the only marijuana misstep the president has made. During his campaign, many cannabis advocates stressed his leadership in the war on drugs and the fact that he drafted the 1994 Crime Bill – a law that increases penalties for drug offenses and opens the doors to mass incarceration in the land of the free. During the pre-election democratic debates in the Oval Office in 2019, Biden described marijuana as a “gateway drug.” He later went back, but it was clear to many that Law and Order Joe hadn’t changed his views on cannabis.

As a smoothing tactic, the government would end up promising to decriminalize cannabis and release federal offenders if it wins the presidency. This promise has remained completely unfulfilled to this day. In April, The San Francisco Chronicle asked Vice President Kamala Harris about the government’s progress in decriminalization. “Honestly, at the moment we were focused on getting people to eat, helping them stay in their apartments or at home, getting kids back to school and getting shot in the arms,” ​​she said. “That cost everything.”

In context, Biden’s inclusion of the Harris Rider was nothing less than a declaration that legalization will be next to impossible under his presidency. Fortunately, our nation still has a system of checks and balances, and the Democratic lawmakers in House Appropriations Financial Services and the General Government Subcommittee actually challenged the President last week by removing the tab from the budget they submitted.

The not-so-terrible news is that laws protecting medical cannabis companies from prosecution in states that have been legalized have been left untouched in Biden’s proposed budget. The president also provided funds to support industrial hemp production. So he’s only been doing as bad a job as former President Donald Trump – until now.

Producers want tax refunds in the millions

After marijuana was legalized in New Mexico and medical cannabis became tax-deductible, the state’s largest cannabis producer is demanding that the state reimburse previously collected taxes.

The Associated Press reports that Ultra Health has asked to be included in a lawsuit between another medical cannabis maker, Sacred Health, and the Taxation and Revenue Department. Ultra Health has asked the state Supreme Court for permission to make arguments in support of its colleague.

Sacred Health claims that medical marijuana, like other drugs, should always have been exempt from gross income tax. A state appeals court ruled in favor of the company last year, but state tax officials are calling on the New Mexico Supreme Court to overturn the decision.

It paid nearly $ 2.7 million in gross income taxes in 2020 alone, according to Ultra Health. If the court rules in favor of Sacred Health, the state could be asked to repay that money.

In the future, the sale of medical cannabis will be exempt from gross income tax thanks to the Cannabis Ordinance Act. This provision was likely included in the bill to allay fears that the recreational market could harm medical marijuana companies.

Study: THC is better than CBD for some symptoms

It’s common for medical cannabis advocates to highlight the therapeutic benefits of using CBD, while dismissing THC as the compound that gets you high. But research makes many question this divide. A recent study from the University of New Mexico confirmed what some proponents have always said: THC may be more medically beneficial than CBD.

The study, published last month in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology, found that consuming cannabis improved symptoms of nausea by almost four points on a 10-point scale. The researchers analyzed data from 2,220 self-administered cannabis sessions with 886 users reported through the Releaf app. The app enables users to document changes in symptoms and other reactions during cannabis use.

According to the study, nausea relief was most evident in those who used flowers and concentrates compared to tinctures and edibles. Improvement in symptoms was also more likely to be associated with strains labeled as either sativa or hybrid compared to those labeled as indica. Among the various methods of consumption, joints outperformed any other option in improving symptoms.

Perhaps most shocking was the finding that THC was more closely associated with symptom relief than CBD.

The study’s authors say the mechanism behind THC’s ability to fight nausea is still unknown. In a UNM press release, co-author, Associate Professor Jacob Vigil of the UNM Department of Psychology, said the plant may be able to activate CB1 receptor responses in the central nervous system.

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