< Previousopportunities available beyond the special access to resourc-es and information. “There are a lot of opportunities to get involved in the many events that we host throughout the year where people can go and learn and meet others that are in the industry, or thinking about getting into the industry, in order to connect, network and hopefully help each other’s businesses,” says Morgan. The annual Cannabis Business Summit and Expo, held in July of this year, was without a doubt the largest it had ever been. There were over 400 exhibitors, 8,000 attendees and over 150 speakers including the former Deputy Attorney General James Cole, who was responsible for writing the Cole Memorandum that essen-tially allowed the industry to develop and flourish in 2014.In the United States, there are currently nine states as well as the District of Columbia where marijuana is legal for adults and eight of those states have regulated it similarly to alcohol. There are 31 states that have effective medical marijuana laws and 46 states in total have allowed some form of cannabis use ranging from very restrictive CBD programs all the way up to adult legalization. Unfortunately, marijuana is still illegal under federal law and the federal government has the ability to arrest any citizen for doing something that may be legal in their state. There has not been a lot of practical application of this issue, yet people are understandably still apprehensive, despite the fact that it would be a disaster for the Department of Justice to start cracking down on legal tax-paying businesses. Currently under federal law, marijuana businesses are not able to deduct taxes under IRC code 280E, which makes it very expensive for them to operate legally. It is also very difficult to obtain financial services for cannabis businesses and other businesses that support the industry. The banks are allowed to work with these businesses, yet they are required to follow a very strict recording schedule and some find that it is simply not worth dealing with the logistics. Many legitimate cannabis businesses are afraid of using banks and sending information to the federal government on a regular basis and there is no safe harbor for them. The alternative is working primarily in cash, which causes public safety issues and increased expense. Fortunately, there are a number of pieces of legislation in place right now at the federal level to change these things. “There is an appropriations rider that prevents the federal government from prosecuting people who are in compliance with state medical marijuana laws, but that does not apply to adult use programs and it is also a temporary measure that will expire on Sept. 30th when the budget expires,” Morgan explains. The rider will have to be renewed and the NCIA is hoping for stronger language in the next budget that extends the protection to all state-legal marijuana behavior.There are other smaller appropriations in motion that involve banking and taxation as well as some that are trying to make it easier for veterans to be able to access medical marijuana. There are pieces of legislation that would basically prevent the federal government from interfering in state cannabis programs and some that would make it legal at the federal level. 10Unfortunately, many of these bills have been barred from hearings or from consideration by the United States Congress because the House Rules Committee is chaired by a Congressman named Pete Sessions who will not allow any marijuana legisla-tion to be considered. It is a serious problem that has held up a lot of reform and there are people currently working to unseat him. “We’re very hopeful that we can get hearings in the next year and with any luck be able to get a positive vote in the next couple of years, because support for this issue in Congress right now is broad and bipartisan,” says Morgan. Nonetheless, a significant milestone was reached for the cannabis industry during the recent appropriations nego-tiations in Congress. The language that would prevent the Department of Justice from interfering with medical marijuana programs was included in the base bill; it was such a non-issue that it did not even require a debate. That piece of legislation had always been included in the final budget since 2014, yet it had never before been included in the base bill.Another achievement is witnessing the number of co-sponsors of federal marijuana-related legislation increase at a dramatic rate, far greater than in the past. This is partially due to the repu-diation of Jeff Sessions rescinding the Cole Memorandum in January 2014 and threatening to interfere with state marijuana programs. It is also due to a much greater understanding about cannabis as it becomes clear that regulation is working success-fully, and to NCIA’s lobbying efforts to ensure that information gets in front of Congress. A challenge for the organization is that there are individuals in the cannabis industry who view legalization as inevitable and have not been participating in advocacy and lobbying. The NCIA hopes to change that attitude through education and various attempts to get members involved in as many ways as possible, whether it be letter writing campaigns, attending town hall meetings during August recess, fundrasiers, or invita-tions to Washington for the annual lobby days. The rapid innovation within the cannabis industry has been driven by the regulatory requirements and the freedom to explore opportunities legally. Business owners have the ability to be much more creative in a legitimate industry. There are many innovators listed among the NCIA membership that are using advanced technology to add new and interesting products to the cannabis market and helping the industry evolve. “When I was at the expo, I was blown away by the innovation and technology that was on display and some of it I couldn’t identify if you paid me. It looked like something from a physics lab,” says Morgan. “It’s emblematic of what can happen when you stop prohibiting a substance and start treating it like 11other substances are treated, like alcohol.” The development of technology that has taken place since these laws have started to change has been astounding. People are not as afraid to work in the field and they are able to bring their expertise to bear in a way that cannot be done in an illicit market. Today there are complex chemical extraction devices, pieces of equipment to trim and process cannabis flowers in bulk, self-contained cultivation sites, misters and impressive growing technologies such as aeroponics. Additionally, the lighting technology has improved tremendously over the last couple of years and people are able to use low wattage LEDs that are extremely effective and can produce multiple spectrums of light instead of the formerly expensive and hot light bulbs. Everything is getting better and less expensive in terms of the technology needed to cultivate cannabis. Tens of thousands of people are no longer being arrested for using a substance that is objectively safer than alcohol and that has certainly been a benefit for society in general. “The fact that the businesses that supply consumers are now legal and all these ancillary businesses have been affected as well, it’s creating a lot of economic opportunity where none had existed before and I think that’s going to be a great boon for states that have decided to make marijuana legal,” says Morgan. Many states are already seeing the tax benefits of legalizing cannabis. For instance, in Colorado, new schools are regularly being constructed with the new taxes from marijuana sales. Police officers in these areas have more time to focus on serious crimes and many consumers no longer have to meet up with potentially dangerous drug dealers. “The benefits in terms of job creation, tax revenue and pulling money out of the criminal market have been immense,” says Morgan. The customer experience is much better for the consumer purchasing legal marijuana since they are aware of what is in the product and how strong it is. This is particularly beneficial for the millions of people across the country who use cannabis to help treat their medical conditions. The product is much safer and free of contaminants due to the measures put in place that priori-tize safety and health. Also, the general quality of cannabis has improved greatly since the legalization process began and from a consumer standpoint that is a major benefit. The NCIA is solely focused on United States policy and primar-ily on federal policy within the U.S. However, it has discussed branching out into international work and potentially getting more involved in state-level policy making as the needs of the industry evolve and as more countries begin to change their cannabis policies. “Discussions are currently ongoing about the scope of what we can do effectively and whether or not we should get involved in global and/or more state-orient-ed policies,” Morgan shares. “It’s definitely something we’re looking at and paying attention to but it remains to be seen “Many states are already seeing the tax benefits of legalizing cannabis.”OCTOBER 201812whether or not we’ll be able to get directly involved or whether we need to focus solely on U.S. federal policy.”The members of the NCIA are all eagerly looking forward to the initiatives that will be on state ballots this November. Michigan is looking at one that would regulate marijuana similarly to alcohol for adults, Utah is looking at a medical marijuana ini-tiative, Missouri is looking at a series of medical initiatives and North Dakota will be voting on an adult use legalization ini-tiative. These potential changes may open up very large new markets within the United States. Michigan in particular stands to be one of the most populated states that has made marijua-na legal and will be the only one in the Midwest to have made marijuana legal for adults. That will provide a lot of opportuni-ties for businesses in that state.The NCIA is also enthusiastic to see what sort of progress it can make with the new Congress next year. “One of the bills, the STATES Act which is co-sponsored by Elizabeth Warren and Cory Gardner, is gaining a lot of steam and Trump has said that he would support such legislation, so we’re very excited about potentially getting a hearing on that bill sometime in the near future and then hopefully a vote,” says Morgan.It will be interesting to see how the next election impacts Congressional representation and whether it plays a factor in reform efforts in the next Congress. The topic of marijuana itself could play a role in some of the state and federal races for lawmakers.Almost two thirds of Americans live in states with some form of cannabis access and it is now up to the Congress of the United States to make changes at the federal level. It is time to end federal marijuana prohibition and allow each state to set their own laws accordingly. It is time to create legal cannabis markets, enable access to banking services and have fair tax equity for legitimate businesses in the cannabis industry. It is time for the U.S. to experience the economic and societal benefits of cannabis legalization. “The benefits in terms of job creation, tax revenue and pulling money out of the criminal market have been immense.”13Lawmakers in both in the United States and Canada have had a complicated relation-ship with marijuana for over a hundred years, ever since it was first entered into the United States Pharmacopeia in 1850. Nowadays, most U.S. states allow the use of medical marijuana, and a few have approved recre-ational use of the drug as well. In Canada, as of October 17th, recreational marijuana use will be permitted nationwide.14OCTOBER 2018Written by Samita SarkarThe beginning of the trendToday, baby boomers can recall the widespread recreational use of marijuana as a cultural staple during their youth: the time of Woodstock, psychedelic art, and journeys of self-discovery – whether seeking ancient wonders in India, draft-dodging from the United States to Canada, or just embarking on cross-country road trips in a VW bus, at a time before gas prices became outrageous. Of course, the medicinal effects of the marijuana or cannabis plant have been well-established since long before that time, but it wasn’t until the 1970s and 1980s – perhaps due to the influence of the “spirit of the ‘60s” – that a number of U.S. states began to consider legislation that would regulate its use by certain patients. Medical marijuana was eventually success-fully legalized in the State of California in 1996, and several other states followed suit in the following years. Health Canada began regulating the plant’s use in 2001. As of now, recreational marijuana use for adults 21 and over is legal in nine states and the District of Columbia, as reported by the Specifically, rec-reational use is legal across the West Coast of the United States: in California, Oregon, Washington, and Nevada. It is also permit-ted in Alaska, Colorado, Vermont, Maine, and Massachusetts. Additionally, a total of 31 states, DC, Puerto Rico and Guam have comprehensive laws supporting marijuana’s medical use. Of those states that do not have such laws (which include Utah, Texas, and much of the Deep South), there is legislation in place to protect users of “low THC” cannabis products for limited medical use or as a legal defense. THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the cannabis plant’s main psychoactive constituent. Cannabis is now only completely outlawed under all circumstanc-es in four U.S. states: Idaho, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas. What legalization means for recreational usersAccording to when the Cannabis Act comes into force on the 17th, adults of 19 or over (18 in Quebec and Alberta) will be able to: purchase cannabis products by licensed sellers; consume the product in their homes and other locations that are authorized by local jurisdictions; possess up to 30 grams of cannabis in public spaces (such as a car); share the product with other adults; grow up to four cannabis plants per household (except in Manitoba and Quebec, which have not acceded to home growing); and make their own homemade cannabis edibles. As with the nine U.S. states that have also legal-ized the herb, no doctor’s note is required.The Cannabis Act, also known as Bill C-45, is an act that the gov-ernment introduced in 2017 “with the goals of keeping cannabis out of the hands of youth and keeping profits out of the hands of criminals and organized crime,” as stated by Bearing that in mind, it follows that legalization is far from a free-for-all. points out, marijuana restrictions are similar to those of public (cigarette) smoking or drinking. Driving high is prohibited, as is selling without a license and sharing your stash with a minor. Any of these crimes can result in four-figure fines or jail time. Since employers are left with the authority to enforce their own drug use policies, it is unlikely to be permitted in workplaces, if smoking marijuana is treated similarly to on-the-job drinking. This of course does not apply to medical marijuana, which employers are legally required to treat as they would any other medical prescription.Because Bill Blair, a Member of Parliament who heads the Canada’s legalization Task Force, has made statements that licensed medical producers offer a very strong model to build upon as Ottawa tries to build a functional market, marijuana business consultants are expecting that it is these already established medical businesses who will be serving the recre-ational cannabis market when it opens this month.15CANNABIS BRIGHTLINEShould you invest?Medical and health research cannabis businesses have blos-somed over the last couple of years. One of the most promi-nent examples is Canopy Growth Corp. Headquartered in the small town of Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canopy Growth is the first federally regulated, publicly traded cannabis producer on the continent (TSE:WEED and NYSE:CGC). It has been available on the Toronto Stock Exchange since July 2016, and on the New York Stock Exchange since May 2018. Like all producers, Canopy Growth is licensed by Health Canada. But Canopy Growth is doing more than growing cannabis. It’s also an exporter, researcher, producer of medical cannabis products, and acquirer of other companies. Its numerous acquisitions and partnerships (it’s the exclusive distributor of Snoop Dogg’s “Leafs by Snoop” brand through its online marketplace) have made Canopy Growth a well-known name in the blooming industry, pun intended. Trading at about $36CAD in May (at the time it first entered the NYSE), its current price is closer to $60CAD – likely higher by the time this article is published.There seems to be no time like the present for investors to get into a hot market, but as always, it’s important to proceed with caution. On August 30th, shares of Cronos Group Inc. (TSE:CRON and NASDAQ:CRON) plummeted by 27 percent. As the reveals, the Toronto-based cannabis company and global distributor experienced the stock drop after a Citron Research report accused the company of deception by deliber-ately not disclosing the size of its distribution agreements with Canadian provinces. Citron also implied the agreements are too small to justify Cronos’ stock prices.“When the reason you buy a stock is because of its price movement, that’s when you’ve started to speculate rather than invest, and that’s where you start to expose yourself to significant risk,” financial said of the Cronos dip.That being said, a calculated and well-researched investment into a reputable cannabis company with a robust business plan is, overall, a smart move for investors. OCTOBER 201816Sources:The future of marijuana lawsThe success of both business owners and private investors who have made fortunes in the legal marijuana business seems surreal in juxtaposition to low- and middle-income users who have had their lives turned upside down with criminal charges for marijuana use, impeding their opportunities to find jobs and advance their careers. With the legalization of recreational marijuana, this two-sidedness is all the more glaring. Task Force member Bill Blair, who is also a former Toronto police chief, has made statements regarding this hypocrisy. When speaking of marijuana charges, he has remarked that “one of the great injustices in this country is the disparity and the disproportionality of the enforcement of these laws and the impact it has on minority communities, Aboriginal communi-ties and those in our most vulnerable neighbourhoods.”Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also acknowledged the effects that social power can wield when it comes to evading recreational drug use charges, admitting that his father’s con-nections allowed his brother to escape these charges in the past. As Drew Brown has written for admis-sions like these imply Canada’s leader may be sympathetic to the idea of amnesty for those convicted of pot-related offenses (excluding drug trafficking) once the drug is legalized, though this is not guaranteed. Amnesty for recreational use would be even more significant in the United States, where a staggering 750,000 people are arrested for marijuana offenses every year. “Our love affair with incarceration is very American,” Kara Gotsch8, director of strategic partnerships for the Sentencing Project (a prison reform advocacy group) said in an interview.Still, in states where marijuana is legal, arrests are falling fast. reports that the number of marijuana possession cases in Colorado fell by 84 percent in four years, between 2010 and the time of legalization in 2014. In Washington State, possession cases dropped by 98 percent between 2011 and 2013, a year after its legalization in 2012. Some Californian cities have also moved to clear the records of recreational users. In February 2018, San Francisco dismissed all marijuana misdemeanour con-victions dating back to 1975; the city’s District Attorney George Gascon called the motion one of the ways to address “the wrongs that were caused by the failures of the war on drugs.”Such a motion is a significant first step, but legal recreational – and even medical – marijuana use is still a new development in Canadian and U.S. law, with a lot of aspects that are still waiting to be figured out. 17CANNABIS BRIGHTLINEA physical security breach can cost property and lose sensitive data, and the consequences can be severe. Veridin Systems Canada is a leader in providing custom security systems that help businesses meet industry regulations and mitigate risk.Written by Karen HawthorneAs the light turns green for the legalization of marijuana in Canada, cannabis compa-nies and brand developers are going full-tilt to get a share of the emerging market. There are huge dollars at stake and money to be made by established growers and new entrepreneurs in medical marijuana and a wide array of cannabis-infused products from edibles to skincare. But how do producers protect their assets, right from the grow room through to the product leaving the facility? This is done with top security and continuous surveillance.That is where Veridin Systems Canada comes in. The Mississauga, Ontario-based company has designed inte-grated security systems for organiza-tions in a range of sectors, including transportation logistics, financial services, property management, and healthcare. The company is also an early adopter in the cannabis market and has made a name for itself as a security expert for marijuana facilities across Canada. “Our experience in the cannabis sector started in the pharmaceutical sector, pro-viding security systems to organizations under the Controlled Substance Act,” says Colin Doe, Veridin President. “When Health Canada came out with its security guidance documents about what would be required to secure a cannabis facility, we looked at that and said, ‘Great, we’ve already been doing that within the pharmaceutical industry. All we need to do is add the video component, and we’re already there.’ So the cannabis sector in our space was kind of born for us, and we’ve been going ever since.”OCTOBER 20181819CANNABIS BRIGHTLINENext >