WEEK OF 9/2 - 9/9, 2019 - A person with a severe respiratory illness died in Oregon, and state health officials say it could be related to vaping.

HEADLINES

• A person with a severe respiratory illness died in Oregon, and state health officials say it could be related to vaping. The Oregon Health Authority said the person, who died back in July, recently used an e-cigarette or vaping device with a cannabis product they bought at an Oregon shop. The person's symptoms matched those of more than 200 other similar cases of respiratory illness that recently popped up among teens and young adults in at least 25 states. [Video] The heads of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration sent an update on investigations into cases of severe lung injury that appear to be associated with with use of e-cigarette products containing THC and/or nicotine. The CDC also warned consumers that they "should not buy these products off the street." State and federal health officials investigating mysterious lung illnesses linked to vaping have found the same chemical in samples of marijuana products used by people sickened in different parts of the country and who used different brands of products in recent weeks. The chemical is an oil derived from vitamin E. Investigators at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found the oil in cannabis products in samples collected from patients who fell ill across the United States. National Institute on Drug Abuse Director Nora Volkow said "there has to be some way of regulating" vaping devices, seeming to inadvertently acknowledge a major public health benefit of legalization.
• A federal grant from the National Science Foundation will be used to develop methods to remove dangerous pesticides from marijuana. A federal agency is providing a quarter of a million dollars in funding to a biotech startup that’s developing technology to remove dangerous pesticides from a variety of crops, including marijuana. The National Science Foundation announced the $250,000 two-year grant to Brooklyn Bioscience last month. The money will go toward research into the company’s efforts to engineer an enzyme that’s able to break down organophosphates (OPs), which are pesticides that are particularly hazardous to people and the environment. “The product is of particular interest to cannabis farmers, because OPs, when vaporized and inhaled, are exponentially more toxic than when ingested by mouth,” according a a press release from New York University, where one of Brooklyn Bioscience’s principals is a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering. “[I]n states such as California and Colorado, which are introducing strict regulations governing the cultivation of cannabis, a much lower level of OPs is allowed than that considered acceptable in fruits and vegetables.”
• From the Chicago Tribune - Flying with legal weed: Does TSA care about marijuana? Ever since states began legalizing marijuana for medical and recreational use, there has been the question of whether it can cause a person any trouble to try and smuggle legal weed on a plane. There have been countless reports published on this subject over the past few years, most of which seem to indicate that it is a relatively riskless feat to challenge airport security to sniff out a bag of dope – at least in legal jurisdictions. Regardless, most folks in possession of marijuana still get pretty nervous during the pre-flight screening process. But is there really any cause for concern? anyone caught with pot is simply referred to the state police. Still, as long as the passenger is at least 21, and the amount they are holding does not exceed the possession limit, the cops have to let them go. What’s more, they cannot seize the weed or paraphernalia.  the agency still has absolutely no interest in cracking down on people for pot. “We would not retain drugs in the same way we wouldn’t retain fraudulent IDs or credit cards — we would kick those over to law enforcement,” Mike McCarthy, a spokesman for the TSA, told the Globe. “Our agents do administrative searches, not criminal searches. Our officers are looking for any item that could cause catastrophic harm to the aircraft,” he continued, “but, as part of their duties, if they detect anything that they believe to be illegal, they will refer the passenger and the baggage over to local law enforcement, and it is up to local law enforcement how to respond.” So if law enforcement in a legal state cannot do anything about marijuana found at an airport and TSA agents are unwilling to deal with it, then is the passenger simply free to board a plane with marijuana after the heat dies down? Probably not. [But] here’s the rub: As long as a traveler is flying out of a legal state, the worst-case scenario is that dealing with police and TSA over the matter could cause them to miss their flight. If the weed happens to be discovered in an area of prohibition, however, that person could be arrested and/or fined.

WTF?! of the Week

• PolitiFact determined that Alex Berenson's book attempting to link marijuana to psychosis and violence "goes far beyond what the available science actually shows." 

OREGON Frontrunners

• U.S. attorneys and officials from the Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture are holding a behind-closed-doors "Marijuana Summit" on Thursday. The invite-only event, hosted by Oregon’s U.S. attorney, is being held at the federal courthouse in Portland. It will be the second summit of its kind, following up on a similar event that the federal prosecutor, Billy Williams, held last year that was largely seen as hostile to legalization and which came about after then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded Obama-era guidance on federal cannabis enforcement priorities. Williams also serves as the head of the Justice Department’s Marijuana Working Group, which is tasked with studying the impact of cannabis legalization. He has been critical of Oregon’s marijuana program, arguing that illegal diversion is rampant. “The goal of this gathering is to provide a sharing of perspectives on the current state of marijuana,” the agenda for this week’s event states. U.S. attorneys from California, Washington, Florida, Colorado, and Vermont and will speak on a panel at the start of the summit. After the prosecutors panel, representatives of the Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Oregon Department of Agriculture and the cannabis company Oregon CBD are scheduled to discuss the “current and future landscape” of hemp and CBD. During another panel discussion, an official from the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the U.S. deputy surgeon general and a cannabis education coordinator from the Colorado Health Department will talk about the risks associated with underage use and driving while impaired. They’ll be joined by Kevin Sabet, president of the anti-legalization Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM). The executive director of the federal High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program overseeing Oregon and Idaho is set to appear at a law enforcement-focused panel alongside the chief postal inspector and the sheriff of Jackson County, Oregon. Finally, MAPS Credit Union’s chief risk officer Rachel Pross and the executive director of NuLeaf, a social equity-focused cannabis nonprofit will close the event with a conversation about “economic, and justice considerations” related to marijuana legalization. You can read the full agenda for the summit here.
• Soccer player Megan Rapinoe and her twin  sister are launching a CBD company with a Local Rogue Valley Entrepreneur. In June, Megan Rapinoe led the U.S. Women's Soccer Team to a World Cup title, and took home the Golden Boot for scoring the most goals in the tournament. Now she and her twin sister, Rachael Rapinoe, hope to score in a field: the rapidly growing CBD industry. Megan and Rachael were both star players at the University of Portland. For the past two years, they've run a company—part sports training business, part apparel line—called Rapinoe SC, which grossed $1 million last year. Next month, they are unveiling a second company, called Mendi. Designed to provide athletes with CBD products they can trust to treat pain and sustain recovery, Mendi is soft-launching this month. The Portland company projects complete sellout of all products in the first month. In April, Mendi was one of more than 140 competitors at TechfestNW's startup competition, PitchfestNW. Local Rogue Valley entrepreneur, Kendra Freeman, is the co-founder and president of this hip forward-thinking new company!

​Highlights from Across THE UNITED STATES OF CANNABIS

• Washington State May Consider Home Delivery for Small Growers. The proposal is part of what could be a sweeping overhaul of the state’s cannabis industry. The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board is pushing a bill that would allow cannabis home delivery for licensed growers operating less than 2,000 square feet of cultivation space. The long-in-the-works proposal is seen as a shot in the arm for small business owners struggling to compete with larger companies in the crowded Washington marketplace. As oversupply has driven prices down, the board is seeking ways to boost licensed growers’ engagement with what quickly became a buyer’s market in Washington.
• Mississippi activists turned in what they say are more than enough signatures to place a medical cannabis measure on the state's 2020 ballot.

Big HEMPin’

• Sheepscot General Store and Farm is launching a “pick your own” hemp farm. There are other farms in Maine growing hemp this year -- some with much larger plantings than the Marcus' have grown. But the Whitefield farm will be unique, because they believe it will be the only “pick your own” hemp field anywhere. They say people will be able to harvest their own hemp and then process it themselves to extract the CBD content, which can then be used in a variety of ways to use for the range of treatments it can provide. “Make their own medicine," says Taryn. The couple says word of the pick-your-own has spread through the farm’s newsletter and local news coverage and believe there is a lot of interest among potential pickers. The farm has a plan to harvest, dry and wholesale whatever hemp is left in the field. More information can be found at the Facebook page for Sheepscot General Store and Farm.
• The amount of land on which U.S. farmers are licensed to grow hemp has more than quadrupled this year. That's according to a report released on Thursday by advocacy group Vote Hemp. U.S. farmers have been licensed to grow 511,442 acres of marijuana's non-intoxicating cannabis cousin this year—a 455 percent increase over 2018 levels—according to Vote Hemp's annual survey of state agriculture departments. That's up from 78,176 acres grown last year, 25,713 acres in 2017 and 9,770 acres in 2016, the group reported.

​Miracle Cure: MEDICAL, HEALTH & RESEARCH

• A study found that "THC promoted periodontal cell wound healing by inducing [human periodontal fibroblast cell] adhesion and migration" and that "cannabinoids may contribute to developing new therapeutics for periodontal regeneration and wound healing." Both CB1 and CB2 were expressed in periodontal tissues but with different expression patterns. THC promoted periodontal cell wound healing by inducing cell adhesion and migration. This was mediated by focal adhesion kinase (FAK) activation and its modulation of MAPK activities. The effect of cannabinoids on periodontal fibroblast cell adhesion and migration were mainly dependent on the CB2. Conclusion: These results suggested that cannabinoids may contribute to developing new therapeutics for periodontal regeneration and wound healing.

Modern Stoner: CULTURE & LIFESTYLE

• Cartoonist Scott Adams dismissed the alleged link between marijuana use and violence, tweeting, "All of the mass shooters masturbated too. Should we investigate the link?"
• Actor Seth Rogen announced he’s hosting a marijuana-infused carnival this month to raise money for Alzheimer’s research. In 2014 he made a cannabis joke at the start of a Senate hearing about the disease, which his mother-in-law suffers from. “We here at Hilarity for Charity love to fight Alzheimer’s disease, but we also love rides, alcohol and weed!” Rogen, who launched his own cannabis company in March, said in a promotional video for the Los Angeles event. “We also love trying to be good people so that in the event there is an afterlife, we don’t go to hell.” Comedians Adam Devine, Andrew Rannells, Ben Feldman, Casey Wilson, Ilana Glazer, Ike Barinholtz, Jeff Ross, Josh Gad, Kate Micucci, Nick Kroll, Regina Hall and Riki Lindhome are participating in the event. Skateboarder Tony Hawk is set to do a halfpipe performance. And rapper Anderson Paak will also put on a show. [Video]

Let’s Get LEGAL

• Florida Medical Marijuana Case Goes to State’s Supreme Court. A lawsuit brought by Florigrown to dispute the state’s licensing process will be heard by the Florida Supreme Court after a split appeals court refused to grant the state’s request for a new hearing.
• The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled against a company that wanted to force the Idaho State Police to return a seized hemp shipment, saying that it must instead pursue the case in state court. 
• A federal judge has ruled that an Oregon vineyard has plausibly alleged harm from a neighboring marijuana operation and may proceed with a racketeering lawsuit against it. U.S. Senior District Judge Anna Brown has denied the marijuana-growing neighbor’s motion to dismiss the complaint, finding that Momtazi Vineyard has legal standing under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act to pursue the case. The vineyard has plausibly claimed under RICO that it’s suffered a “concrete financial loss” because a customer canceled an order over fears the grapes were contaminated with the smell of marijuana, the judge said. “The customer’s concerns, whether valid or invalid, arose directly from the proximity of defendants’ marijuana-grow operation,” Brown wrote in the 20-page opinion. The defendants — Mary and Steven Wagner, along with their son Richard — had argued that Momtazi’s allegations of lost grape sales, reduced grape marketability and reduced property rental income weren’t “concrete” damages caused by a RICO violation, but the judge rejected those claims. The Momtazi family, which owns the vineyard in Yamhill County, filed the lawsuit earlier this year accusing the Wagners of running a “criminal enterprise” because marijuana is illegal under federal law. The complaint seeks compensation for “three times the damages” caused by this alleged “racketeering activity.”

INTERNATIONAL Stoners

• Thailand Removes Cannabis, Hemp Extracts From Narcotics List. Thailand legalized medical cannabis in 2018 and is beginning to take down the regulatory obstacles standing in the way of business development. While no licenses are available to private entrepreneurs just yet, the county has formally removed low-THC cannabis and hemp extracts from its list of scheduled narcotics. For now, only hospital and research facilities may produce those cannabis extracts, according to Reuters’ recent reporting on the country, but investors appear to be lining up to support this expansion of the industry in much the same way that the U.S. is seeing a surge of interest from hemp growers and CBD product manufacturers. ​