Welcome to Senior Cannabis Digest. This week we take a look at rumors of federal legalization of cannabis, a celebrity who denies any involvement with CBD ads, a new testing process proposed for CBD products and more. Enjoy.
Is Legalization Coming In 2021?
Bloomberg reporter Jennifer Bissell-Linsk talked to several economic analysts who suggested that the political stars may be aligning this year to set the stage for the possible legalization of cannabis across the U.S. in 2021. At the very least, they expect decriminalization and perhaps the expunging of cannabis convictions as part of legislation addressing criminal justice reform.
The key to setting all this in motion is the possibility that Democrats will win not only the White House in November but also control of the U.S. Senate while holding the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
As Curaleaf Holdings Inc. Chairman Boris Jordan sees it, “Biden will be under pressure from the left wing of the Democratic party to move cannabis forward because of the social justice issues.”
Analysts expect that a move to either legalize or decriminalize at the national level would have to involve a criminal justice reform legislative package that would seek to open doors for minority participation in the cannabis industry.
As the election plays out over the next few months, a dominant campaign factor – the coronavirus pandemic – may also be a driving factor in next year’s efforts toward cannabis reform for the simple reason that all states will be desperately looking for new sources of revenue.
Read more at:
Senior Celebrity Spotlight
It appears at least one celebrity has decided not to join the CBD endorsement trend. An award winning actor/director has made it clear he wouldn’t endorse a CBD product for a ‘fistful of dollars’ or even ‘a few dollars more.’
Alexandra Steigrad, writing for the New York Post reports that Clint Eastwood has filed two lawsuits in Los Angeles federal court on Wednesday against CBD manufacturers, marketers and online retailers for falsely claiming he endorsed their products through fake news articles, spam emails and web metadata.
Steigrad’s article illuminates the shady world of phony or exaggerated celebrity endorsements of CBD products.
According to Steigrad, Eastwood is seeking millions of dollars in damages and a court order that the companies be forced to give up their profits.The first lawsuit blasts as fake an online interview that had the famous actor claiming that his new role selling CBD offered him “something bigger than movies.”
The fake article used a photo of Eastwood from an appearance on the “Today” show, along with the show’s logo — as well as testimonials about the effectiveness of Eastwood’s CBD line from Hollywood pals Terry Bradshaw, Sam Elliott, Michael J. Fox and Garth Brooks.
The lawsuit targets three CBD companies — Sera Labs Inc., Greendios and For Our Vets LLC — as being behind the defamatory article. According to the court filing,“Mr. Eastwood has no connection of any kind whatsoever to any CBD products and never gave such an interview.”
Steigrad reported that Eastwood also sued 10 companies and individuals he says used programming code to insert his name into online search results for CBD products in order to mislead consumers into thinking Dirty Harry himself manufactured or endorsed them.
The defendants in Eastwood’s second round of lawsuits included Norok Innovation, Natural Stress Solutions and Mabsut Life US Corp.
To learn more, read Alexandra Steigrad’s article in the July 22, 2020 issue of the New York Post.
nypost.com/2020/07/22/clint-eastwood-sues-over-claims-hes-leaving-hollywood-to-sell-cbd/
New Federal Testing Program Looks At CBD Quality. Is Cannabis Next?
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is setting up a new testing program to inform consumers about the quality of cannabis derived products such as CBD.
According to reporting by Kyle Jaeger in Marijuana Moment, the Cannabis Quality Assurance (CannaQAP) program will initially seek to encourage best practices in lab testing. But Jaeger said that officials acknowledged that the new program could eventually look at testing cannabis concentrates, flower and edibles in the future.
According to NIST, the new initiative intends to “help laboratories accurately measure key chemical compounds in marijuana, hemp and other cannabis products including oils, edibles, tinctures and balms. The program aims to increase accuracy in product labeling and help forensic laboratories distinguish between hemp, which is legal in all states, and marijuana, which is not.”
As NIST research chemist Brent Wilson told Jaeger, “When you walk into a store or dispensary and see a label that says 10 percent CBD, you want to know that you can trust that number.”
The first phase of the program, which could last from six months to a year, will see NIST send hemp oil samples to participating labs to see if they can properly measure “THC, CBD and more than a dozen other cannabinoids” in the samples. While the results each lab sends back to NIST will be kept anonymous, the agency intends to show the public just how accurate or inaccurate the testing can be and in so doing hopes to encourage labs to adjust their protocols as needed.
Besides gauging quality control, NIST will use the data to issue recommendations on best practices for cannabis testing.
You can read more about NIST’s new program at:
Stats of the Week
When it comes to CBD products, over half of consumers adhere to brand loyalty. So says Craig Boyte reporting for Cannabyte. According to Boyte, 51 percent of CBD consumers always or usually use familiar brands.
Boyte also found that:
Among all survey respondents who have ever purchased and consumed CBD, 25 percent of CBD consumers rarely know which brand is being purchased.
One-quarter (25 percent) of CBD consumers report using new brands at least as often as familiar brands.
Four in 10 (40 percent) claim that a brand influences their purchasing decisions.
Four in 10 (40 percent) prefer to buy from certain brands.
More than one-third (36 percent) report seeking specific brands.
More than one-half (53 percent) agree that the brands they want are accessible.
More than four in 10 (42 percent) claim to prefer purchasing brand name or premium products.
To learn more, read Craig Boyte’s article in the July 27, 2020 issue of Cannabyte, a publication of New Frontier Data.
newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/brand-preferences-among-u-s-cbd-consumers/
Senior Cannabis Digest is compiled and edited by Joe Kohut and John Kohut. You can reach them at joe.kohut@gmail.com or at 347-528-8753
