Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we look at a change in policy by a major employer, another delay in rescheduling cannabis, cannabis as a non-opioid alternative for seniors and more. Enjoy.
The Shape of Things to Come
The private sector can often do a better job of responding to social change than the public sector because in order to thrive businesses must be willing and able to adapt to change to stay competitive and attract suitable employees.
Case in point: The largest home improvement retailer in the United States—a company with more than 400,000 employees—will remove cannabis from screening panels entirely and stop pre-employment drug testing of most of its workers as of September 1.
That’s according to a Human Resources memo from Home Depot obtained by Marijuana Moment.
Ben Adlin, reporting for Marijuana Moment, writes that the memo says that pre-employment drug testing going forward “will only be conducted for external candidates with contingent offers in Asset Protection and Corporate Security.” The policy changes do not apply to employees regulated through the federal Department of Transportation.
Adlin notes that the memo also says, “Home Depot continually evaluates our policies, the external environment, and benchmarks with other companies to ensure we remain competitive while complying with local, state, and federal laws.”
In his article, Adlin also makes the point that when the policy takes effect, Home Depot will be one of the largest private companies ever to cease marijuana screening of its employees.
To learn more we urge you to read Ben Adlin’s article in the August 27, 2024 issue of Marijuana Moment.net.
Rescheduling News and Notes
Once again we are reminded that when it comes to a change in cannabis policy, the federal government will never miss a chance to kick the can down the road.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has scheduled a hearing to consider differing expert opinions on the Justice Department’s proposal to federally reschedule marijuana. The hearing will be held on December 2, according to a notice set to be published in the Federal Register.
That’s the word from Kyle Jaeger, reporting for Marijuana Moment. In his article, Jaeger makes the point that the hearing adds some uncertainty to the potential rescheduling timeline.
Some in the industry have voiced concerns that this December date for the hearing means the rescheduling process will not be completed before January of 2025. That could set the stage for a policy change after the November election that could affect the rescheduling process.
Jaeger notes that the DEA has already made clear that it feels additional information is needed on a number of topics related to the scientific review into marijuana that led to the reclassification recommendation. Some view the scheduling of the hearing as more evidence of DEA skepticism.
It’s important to remember that moving cannabis to Schedule 3 is not the same as legalization at the federal level. What it will do, however, is affirm that cannabis can have medical applications, make it easier to conduct research and remove the tax burden faced by cannabis companies under IRS rule 280E.
While this last change may sound obscure, this rule prevents cannabis companies from taking deductions and credits allowed to other types of businesses—and that affects the potential profitability of cannabis companies.
As we have stated before, the conflict between the DEA and HHS over rescheduling is a bit like watching two administrative behemoths with different missions (think Godzilla and King Kong) duke it out over a policy issue in public.
More news as more news develops.
To learn more, we recommend reading Kyle Jaeger’s article in the August 26, 2024 issue of Marijuana Moment.net. As always, his reporting is stellar.
Investor News and Notes
Cannabis stocks responded to the news that the DEA will delay its final ruling on cannabis rescheduling until after the November presidential election by moving sharply lower.
That’s the word from Nicolás Jose Rodriguez, reporting for Benzinga.
According to Rodriguez, the market’s response was immediate and pronounced. He notes that the AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF (NYSE:MSOS) dropped over 10 percent in early trading, while individual cannabis stocks experienced significant declines.
For example, he points out that some of the biggest losers included Curaleaf Holdings, Cresco Labs, and Cansortium:
• Curaleaf Holdings (OTC:CURLF) fell by 15.68 percent to $2.71, with 372,001 shares traded.
• Cresco Labs (OTC:CRLBF) declined 13.89 percent to $1.55, on a volume of 435,673 shares.
• Cansortium (OTC:CNTMF) dropped 16.67 percent to $0.125 with 312,094 shares traded.
Running contrary to the trend, however, Trees (OTC:CANN) showed resilience by gaining 9.01 percent.
Rodriquez also suggested Green Thumb Industries presented what he described as a “compelling buy opportunity.” That’s because despite a significant drop in price of over 10 percent, GTBIF’s larger market cap of $2.25 billion and its position as one of the industry leaders suggest strong recovery potential, making it—in his opinion— a strategic buy for investors seeking long-term growth.
To learn much more, we suggest reading the article by Nicolás Jose Rodriguez in the August 27, 2024 issue of Benzinga.com. His article also appeared in Yahoo!Finance.com.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cannabis-stocks-plummet-16-dea-150932111.html
Cannabis Quote of the Week
“In states where marijuana is legal, doctors prescribed an average of 1,826 fewer daily doses of painkillers per year to patients enrolled in Medicare Part D.
Using those figures, making medical marijuana accessible nationwide could result in cost savings of up to $500 million per year.
If marijuana is rescheduled, our first priority must be expanding research to study the use of medical cannabis for treating pain and other conditions for seniors in a controlled way – and integrating compassionate care within a payer-provider health care system such as Medicare Advantage.
The potential savings to the Medicare system could be substantial, and it could help improve the quality of life for seniors.
The DOJ and Drug Enforcement Administration are on the verge of ushering in one of the most historic moments in marijuana since the 1970s, but that moment will remain little more than a squandered opportunity without additional action.
Now is the time to pave the way for more research on medical cannabis as an alternative to prescription drugs – to reduce the 65-and-older population’s reliance on opioids for treating pain and other medical conditions.
Integrating medical cannabis into senior care could improve the lives of millions of older Americans who deserve more and better treatment options as they navigate increasingly complex health issues in their golden years.”—Robert Kent
Mr. Kent served as general counsel to the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy during the first two years of the Biden-Harris administration. For nearly two decades, he has been involved in drug policy at both the state and federal levels. His comments are taken from an op-ed he penned for MJBizDaily.
In his article, Kent shares his belief that the potential rescheduling of marijuana and the realization of Medicare innovation might provide seniors with a non-opioid alternative to treat many “age-related medical conditions.”
He also recounts the findings of a study at the MorseLife Health System in Florida that found “more than 62 percent of senior residents 65-75 years old either replaced or reduced pharmaceutical usage because of cannabinoid-based therapies.”
You can learn more by reading Mr.Kent’s article in the August 23, 2024 issue of MJBizDaily.com.
https://mjbizdaily.com/marijuana-rescheduling-would-be-only-the-beginning-for-research/
Cannabis Trends
The number of Americans who use both cannabis and tobacco products is increasing, particularly among older adults. That’s a key finding of a new study conducted by researchers at Duke University School of Medicine.
According to Graham Abbott, reporting for Ganjapreneur, the study, which was published in the journal Addictive Behaviors, found that the co-use of cannabis and tobacco products by Americans has increased over the last two decades.
Abbott notes that researchers used data from 708,891 adult respondents to the U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health from the years 2002-2021. They then assessed the prevalence among Americans of past 30-day cannabis and tobacco use, exclusive cannabis use, and exclusive tobacco use.
What the researchers found was that the number of American adults who use both cannabis and tobacco products has increased significantly since 2002 with the increase driven largely by rising rates of overall cannabis use.
Abbott makes the point that the study data shows that the prevalence of co-use of cannabis and tobacco particularly increased among older Americans, especially people aged 26-34 and those aged 50 and older. Co-use rates have dropped only for young adults aged 18-25, whose co-use rates stagnated from 2002-2014 and then dropped significantly from 2014-2019.
In his article, Abbott also reported that researchers also noted that exclusive cannabis use has been on the rise since 2007 while exclusive tobacco use has declined since 2002. The researchers did not offer any policy recommendations.
To learn more, we suggest reading the article by Graham Abbott that appeared in the August 23, 2024 issue of Ganjaprenur.com.
To read an abstract of the study, click on the following link.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306460324001783
Senior Cannabis Digest is compiled and edited by Joe Kohut and John Kohut. You can reach them t joe.kohut@gmail.com and at 347-528-8753.
