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Is the sixth time a charm for SAFE banking?
The US House of Representatives has approved adding the SAFE Banking Act amendment to a larger bill geared toward innovation and manufacturing, reports Marijuana Moment.
The details
- If passed Friday, it marks the sixth time the act has made it through the House
- It’s attached to the America COMPETES Act
- The success rate shows bipartisan support for loosening banking restrictions on the cannabis industry
The takeaway
While the House isn’t a challenge, the US Senate is another story. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in particular is intent on passing comprehensive federal reform focused on equity and social justice. In his view, SAFE Banking could hurt those goals. As for Senate Republicans, they aren’t that eager to work on anything that gets Democrats – and President Biden – any kind of win in an midterm election year.
Enjoy Cannabis Daily each morning at 7 a.m.
THE BIG GUYS
Internal struggles at Canada’s big LPs
Both formerly-Quebec-base HEXO and Ontario-based Canopy Growth are managing major headaches this week. And in both instances, the problems appear to be in-house.
The HEXO hex
Remember the activist investor who demanded the resignation of HEXO co-founder Sebastien St-Louis last September? Well, he’s still mad. Now Adam Arviv, who owns about 2% of the company’s shares and is a former advisor to recent acquisition Redecan, is looking for a proxy fight, and wants to nominate five new independent directors to HEXO’s board at an upcoming shareholder meeting, reports BNN Bloomberg. Earlier this week, Nasdaq issued a warning to the company after its share price dipped below $1 for 30 consecutive days.
Moving on from mold
Canopy Growth says photos circulating on Twitter purportedly taken by an employee showing mold on some of its plants aren’t representative of the quality of its products, and that the plants had been destroyed. “There are quite a few fairly upset cultivation employees in our Smiths Falls facility, because it is a photo taken completely out of context,” Mario Castillo, vice president of manufacturing, told MJBizDaily. “We had an irrigation system failure on Dec. 25 and 26.”
INFUSED POLICE
This Toronto cop loves to narc on herself
At a police act hearing this week, Const. Jamie Young apologized and pleaded guilty to discreditable conduct after eating a cannabis-infused chocolate bar that her partner had stolen from an unregulated store after they raided it in 2018, reports CBC.
According to the agreed statement of facts
- Young and her partner Const. Vittorio Dominelli raided Community Cannabis Clinic on Jan. 27, 2018
- Dominelli stole three chocolate bars and they shared one at a restaurant
- Young said she felt pressured because Dominelli was her senior
- When Dominelli felt ill from the effects of the cannabis, Young called 911
- One of the officers who came to their aid slipped on ice and fell, suffering a concussion
- Dominelli went to hospital
Remember to go low and slow, folks
“This was a huge mistake,” Young told the tribunal after pleading guilty. “In doing so, I caused great embarrassment and injury to the reputation of the service and my fellow officers, and for that I am deeply sorry.”
IN BRUGES
Belgium treats CBD flowers like tobacco. Will the rest of Europe follow?
Since 2019, Belgium has taxed smoked CBD products at the same rate as tobacco—and it could be the path forward for other European countries, reports BusinessCann.
So far, permitting CBD sales with an excise tax has:
- Shrunk the number of CBD stores from 200 to about 30
- Created new growth and product variability for tobacco retailers
- Allowed CBD to be sold in bookstores, newsstands and gas stations—many channels that were deemed essential through the pandemic
The takeaway
“Many European nations are still facing a legal grey area, but by authorising distribution and sale of CBD products the Belgium government has helped the market expand rapidly with increasing numbers of actors joining this specific sector of the tobacco industry,” writes BusinessCann.
