Board of Pharma Loved More After Fixing Loveless + Lots of Cannabis Love in the Governor’s Revised Budget
1. BILL HEARINGS
→ H.F. 3595 (Edelson), the Board of Pharmacy’s bill on the regulation of products containing cannabinoids, is scheduled to receive its first hearing tomorrow, Friday, March 18, at 10:30AM in the House Health Finance and Policy Committee. The bill author intends to offer this delete-everything amendment to the bill that would bring edible cannabinoid products under the jurisdiction of the Board of Pharmacy and authorize their sale subject to a number of requirements. The hearing will be remote and live-streamed.
The bill’s Senate companion, S.F. 3716 (Koran), has been referred to the Senate Health and Human Services Finance and Policy Committee and has not yet been scheduled for a hearing. Both H.F. 3539 and S.F. 3716 have bipartisan authorship.
What the bill does: (a) closes the Loveless Loophole by clarifying that products containing non-intoxicating cannabinoids extracted from hemp are not Schedule I controlled substances as long as they contain less than 0.3% THC, (b) limits the sale of hemp-derived products meant for human consumption to individuals aged 21 and older, (3) allows product manufacturers to supply required labeling information via barcode or QR code, and (4) clarifies that it is the products containing cannabinoids that must be tested, not just the hemp from which the cannabinoids are extracted.
What the DE amendment changes: It adds (a) a definition for "Edible cannabinoid product" as “any product that is intended to be eaten or drunk by humans, contains a cannabinoid in combination with food ingredients, and is not a drug,” (b) inclusion of edible cannabinoid products under the Board of Pharmacy’s statutory jurisdiction, (c) authorization for the sale of edible cannabinoid products under the same requirements the bill establishes for all other products containing cannabinoids, as well as some additional specific requirements aimed at ensuring edible products are not marketed or accessible to children (no animal or fruit shaped gummies, no branding similar to products marketed to kids, childproof packaging, etc.), and (d) a requirement that edible cannabinoid products contain no more than 2.5 milligrams of any tetrahydrocannabinol and 50 milligrams of cannabidiol in a single serving, or more than a total of 25 milligrams of any tetrahydrocannabinol and 500 milligrams of cannabidiol per package. It also adds an exclusion for edible cannabinoid products to the definition of “food” under MN statute section 34A.01.
Leili’s Take: The DE amendment introduces a temporary fix to allow the sale of edible CBD products which are currently not legal under MN law. The decision to use the Board of Pharmacy bill as the vehicle for this fix may reflect concerns on the part of legislators and regulators about H.F. 2996/S.F. 3969’s (the bill authorizing the use of hemp extract as a food additive for intrastate commerce) pathway for passing into law. While I’ve been critical/skeptical of this bill in the past, a good number of my core concerns were assuaged this week when the Board of Pharmacy stated its position that this bill is a temporary stop-gap and voted to support the creation of a Cannabis Management Office that would assume regulatory responsibility for all adult-use and hemp products (more on this below in Item #3)
→ On Tuesday, March 15, the House House Health Finance and Policy Committee laid over H.F.3876 (Edelson) as amended for possible inclusion in the House Health Finance Omnibus Bill. The amended bill requires the Department of Health to implement a state-centralized medical cannabis electronic database to monitor and track manufacturers' medical cannabis inventories from the seed or clone source through cultivation, processing, testing, and distribution or disposal; addresses various issues pertaining to transport and transportation staffing for medical cannabis; and deletes various obsolete language. The committee also laid over for possible inclusion H.F. 3119 (Edelson) a bill to reduce the fee for patient enrollment in the medical cannabis program from $200 to $40.
Tuesday’s hearing can be viewed here and included testimony from Chris Tholkes, Director of the Office of Medical Cannabis, and Maren Schroeder, Policy Director of Sensible Change Minnesota. Letters of support submitted to the committee can be viewed here.
This reduction in medical cannabis enrollment fees is included as a new item in Governor Walz’s revised supplemental budget recommendations that were released today (see Item #4). The revised budget shows that the reduced fee will result in an overall fee revenue loss of $5.6 million in FY 2022-23 and $15.8 million in FY 2024-25 but indicates that “the program will still be in balance as current revenue projections are expected to be greater than expenditures.”
2. LATEST BILL INTRODUCTIONS
→ On Monday, March 14, Senators Karin Housley (R-Stillwater), Jason Rarick (R-Pine City), Karla Bigham (DFL-Cottage Grove), and Mark Koran (R-North Branch) introduced S.F. 3969, a bill authorizing the use of hemp extract as a food additive for intrastate commerce and directing the MN Department of Agriculture to promulgate rules governing the production, manufacturing, testing, and labeling of foods containing hemp extract. The bill has been referred to the Senate Agriculture and Rural Development Finance and Policy Committee. The bill is the Senate companion to H.F. 2996 (Vang) which was heard and approved by the House Agriculture FInance and Policy Committee and the House State Finance and Elections Committee earlier this session.
→ On Monday, March 14, Senator Mark Koran (R-North Branch) introduced S.F. 3981, a bill providing for the operation of Tribal medical cannabis programs, establishing dual registration of Tribal patients, providing for transportation of medical cannabis by manufacturers registered with Tribal medical cannabis programs, and authorizing Tribal compacts regarding medical cannabis. The bill has been referred to the Senate Health and Human Services Finance and Policy Committee. The bill is the Senate companion to H.F. 3162 (Freiberg) which was heard and approved by the House Health Finance and Policy Committee last month.
The purpose of the bill is to eliminate the possibility of a Tribal member enrolled in a Tribal medical cannabis program being arrested for illegal cannabis possession when not on Tribal land. The details of the bill are summarized well in this Session Daily article.
3. BOARD OF PHARMA FIXES LOVELESS AND VOTES TO SUPPORT ADULT-USE LEGALIZATION
→ Yesterday, the Board of Pharmacy voted to adopt a scheduling order that removes tetrahydrocannabinols that fall under the definition of hemp found in Minn. Stats. 18K.02 from the list of Schedule I controlled substances, a decision that will close the Loveless Loophole as soon as it’s published in the State Register. But the scheduling order also adds all synthetic cannabinoids to Schedule I. The details of the scheduling order and the analysis of Board of Pharmacy Executive Director Cody Wiberg in support of its adoption can be read here.
The Strib wrote an article about it yesterday, including some appreciative reactions from industry members.
→ The Board of Pharmacy also voted to go on the record as supporting H.F. 3595/S.F. 3716, including the DE amendment that would transfer the authority for edible cannabinoid products to the Board. In his analysis in favor of supporting the bill, Board of Pharmacy Executive Director Cody Wiberg states “This bill is seen by the departments involved, and by some elected officials, to be a temporary ‘stop-gap’ measure to allow certain non-intoxicating, hemp-derived products to be sold - until a more comprehensive approach to the growth, production, processing, manufacturing, and sale of Cannabis sativa plants and cannabis-derived products can be enacted.”
→ Which leads us to the third thing the Board of Pharmacy voted to support – the Governor’s Proposal to legalize adult-use cannabis and create a Cannabis Management Office. In his analysis, Cody Wiberg wrote, “The Board’s Executive Director has been consulted about this proposal and understands that the Cannabis Management Office (CMO), as alluded to in the announcement, would be a separate state agency that would be given authority over all aspects of cannabis regulation. That would include assuming the Board’s power and duty to regulate cannabis-derived products that meet the legal definition of the word ‘drug.’ Having a single state agency or office regulate everything related to Cannabis sativa is consistent with what many other states have done. It makes sense to have such an agency so that regulatory authority is not spread among several different departments.”
→ Credit where credit is due: The Board’s actions are the extremely impressive handiwork of the extremely impressive cannabis reform lobbyist Kurtis Hanna. Kurtis sent me this video of him asking the Board of Pharmacy to use their statutory authority to remove cannabis from Schedule I ELEVEN YEARS AGO TO THE DAY of the Board’s meeting yesterday.
4. CANNABIS ITEMS IN THE GOVERNOR’S REVISED BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS
→ Governor Walz released his revised supplemental budget recommendations today. We’ve aggregated all the cannabis-related budget items for your viewing pleasure here.
5. HUBBARD COUNTY BOARD HEARS FIRST-IN-THE-STATE PROPOSAL FOR A COUNTYWIDE DRUG PARAPHERNALIA ORDINANCE
→ Last week, the county board of Hubbard County heard a draft ordinance that would require a license for any retail establishment with over 25% inventory or sales in regulated drug paraphernalia items and prohibit them from being within one mile of certain locations, such as schools, churches, candy stores or parks. The proposed ordinance was developed by the Hubbard In Prevention Coalition, a nonprofit dedicated to prevent childhood use of alcohol, tobacco, controlled substances and other drugs. The Park Rapids Enterprise published an in-depth article detailing the ordinance, the county board’s discussion of its pros and cons, and how the ordinance interacts with current and possible future state and city laws.
6. UPCOMING EVENTS
→ The MN Department of Health’s Task Force on Medical Cannabis Therapeutic Research will be meeting tomorrow, Friday, March 18, at 3:00PM. Items on agenda include an update on the rollout of smokable medical cannabis (MDH, Vireo Health of MN, LeafLine Labs), and update on manufacturer ownership changes and management structures (Vireo Health of MN, LeafLine Labs), and Tribal medical cannabis programs in Minnesota (Red Lake Nation, White Earth Nation). Members of the public can view the meeting virtually via WebEx.
→ Registration is now open for the Spring into Cannabis Symposium, a two-day symposium sponsored by medical cannabis company Green Goods. Per their press release, Day 1 will be “an all-day educational conference with physicians, researchers, patient advocates, and policy experts from around the country presenting on key topics including cannabis as an alternative to opioids, medical cannabis in neurology and mental health, pediatric uses of medical cannabis, and more,” including a “a presentation on the recent advancements to the Minnesota Medical Cannabis Program and an overview on how the program works.” Day 2 will feature a guided tour of the Green Good’s cannabis cultivation facility in Otsego, MN. The symposium will take place April 7-8, 2022. Details and registration are available here.
7. SECTION 8 RULES PROHIBIT PATIENTS FROM USING MEDICAL CANNABIS IN THEIR HOMES
→ The Sahan Journal published an in-depth article this week about a divergence in state and federal laws that makes it illegal for patients enrolled in Minnesota’s medical cannabis program to use their medication inside their homes if they live in federally-assisted housing but not in state-assisted housing. The story profiles a patient named Mary Davis who has to leave her Section 8 home every time she needs to use her medical cannabis and, as a Black woman, “fears the day she has to explain to the police why she’s using cannabis outside.” The article discusses a range of approaches that have been proposed for addressing the issue.
8. COME ON, MICHELLE 🙄
→ Last Friday, GOP gubernatorial candidate Sen. Michelle Benson sent an email to her supporters about fellow GOP gubernatorial candidate former-Sen. Scott Jensen with the subject line “Scott Jensen: Democrats’ favorite Republican” (which we can only assume means that she thinks “quack,” “science-denier,” and “asshat” are terms of endearment Democrats use for people they like). In her email, she specifically calls out Jensen for siding with Democrats in supporting marijuana legalization. For someone whose conception of a cannabis user is based on 90s DARE commercials, she sure seems to be the one with impaired short-term memory because the rest of us all remember when Jensen co-authored a legalization bill with Sen. Melisa Franzen just so he could spend the next 6 months giving speeches about how he wouldn’t be voting for the bill himself–and then voting against it….right after Michelle asked him to.