MJ in the Midterms
Plus More A’s For Your Legal Q’s Like: Can You Mail Cannabis? Can Veterans Consume Cannabis While Keeping Their Benefits? And Much More
Tammy: Welcome back everyone.
I have with me cannabis attorney Meital of Manzuri Law, and we're here to give you guys the knowledge you’ve been asking for.
Meital, what do midterm elections mean for cannabis?
Meital: It's my understanding that in the midterm elections, there's a lot of candidates that are trying to forward cannabis measures.
The American public overwhelmingly supports cannabis legalization.
Chuck Schumer has been trying to introduce descheduling at the Federal level. We'll see how much of that really comes to fruition.
Whenever it comes to Federal policy, I always feel a bit like: let's not get too excited. So, we'll see what happens.
What do you think is going to happen?
Tammy: I think that cannabis will not be legalized until they can figure out how to profit. So what's happening with the states legalizing is you're getting less bodies for mass incarceration, and I think that's affecting profits. So until they can figure out how to properly fill that void, I don't see Federal legalization helping.
And I don't really support Federal legalization anymore. We're seeing these states legalize, and they're raising the threshold for mold because they don't know how to grow cannabis without mold.
They will change the starting line so that they can win until they figure it out.
And I just don't think that it's fair. There are so many people in this industry who are skilled and qualified to get it right the first time.
And because they don't fit the corporate mold, they're iced out.
Meital: You know, what's interesting about the midterms is there's a few Democratic candidates that are forwarding cannabis legalization at the Federal level, whatever that looks like.
Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman talks about cannabis being central to his platform.
Chuck Schumer's talking about descheduling. The MORE Act and the SAFE Banking Act are both in discussion. We keep hearing these same things come up again and again.
And I agree with you, I think that Federal legalization is going to be really, really difficult for the smaller operators, the smaller industry, and the social equity community.
On the other hand, I feel like interstate commerce would be so exciting, at least from California because we produce so much cannabis, and so many cannabis producers in California are struggling right now.
Providing an outlet for them to another state for the best weed in the country would be phenomenal.
So I would love to see a policy where you can do cannabis transactions with another legal state. That will be exciting.
Any policy that we enact is going to have negative ramifications and not having a policy has negative ramifications. But I feel like, from a small business perspective, businesses will be able to expand if a policy is national.
Tammy: Yeah, note to Chuck Schumer: give us interstate commerce!
Meital: Yeah. There's a few states that are looking to legalize in November. So I think there's Arkansas and North Dakota.
And something really interesting in Minnesota happened where they accidentally legalized weed. Did you read about that?
Tammy: No, I didn't hear about that.
Meital: The lawmakers didn't understand the ramifications of the bill. And they inadvertently legalized low amounts of THC in drinks and edibles in Minnesota.
So the minute that happened, all the edibles were flying off the shelf like it was a madhouse and lawmakers came out afterwards and were like, “I had no idea that I was actually legalizing it.”
Tammy: That's nerve-racking knowing that lawmakers are passing laws that they have no idea that they're passing.
It reminds me of Oklahoma, where the people created the initiative and got this really lax set of rules for a very conservative state?
And the state didn't think that it was going to pass. And then when it did they were scrambling.
How did the state that legalized alcohol last get the most liberal set of cannabis laws in the country? But it was pretty funny. They didn't believe that they could do it. And they did it.
Meital: Yeah. Oklahoma was on fire for a hot minute as far as activity and commerce. And, you know, I think it's starting to cool down a little bit now. It was definitely like a hotbed area.
And it's funny because each place that starts to legalize becomes the Wild Wild West. We'll see what happens in New York.
Are you following New York’s legalization efforts?
Tammy: I'm following New York. I'm just praying that they get it right. Please be the model for all of us.
Because California, I think, dropped it the hardest. I mean, Prop 64 is just so bad.
Meital: I think New York is going to do worse. We have a bet in one of my groups as to the first lawsuit against New York. Like there's an over/under because New York, like every state, they're like: “we're gonna do it.” And then they get it all wrong.
Tammy: Ugh, New York, I'm praying for you.
Meital: Yeah. This was an interesting question that came up. What happens if an active duty member tests positive for cannabis use?
Tammy: That is a great question. Oh, my gosh, the VA is not cannabis friendly. We know that.
Meital: No, they aren’t. You know what I found out, though?
They have this weird system where a cannabis user can get medical care, but not from their VA doctor.
They can talk to their VA provider about cannabis use, but they have to get their cannabis somewhere else. If they are on active duty and they test positive, there's a whole host of issues.
And it depends on what state they're in. So if they're in a state where cannabis is legal, then the punishment is less. But it can be severe if it's in a state where it's illegal.
They can even be discharged from active duty.
Tammy: That's amazing. Because veterans typically combat PTSD with cannabis. We know this.
The United States government actually did a study on cannabis and PTSD and found that cannabis is really great for people who suffer with it.
Sometimes people with PTSD don't want to go to sleep. And cannabis is really great at knocking out those nightmares.
It is great for pain, sleep, irritability, we know all of this.
So you would think that people coming home traumatized from war would have eighths and little bags waiting for them. Instead, they could lose their benefits all together.
Meital: Yeah. I'm actually kind of surprised at the progress there because getting medical recommendations from any sort of 420 doctor online is so easy if it’s legal. And you’re right, you know, there are studies.
Tammy: It’s the Federal government study with Federal government cannabis by Dr. Sue Sisley. They know.
And then polypharmacide. So many veterans are dying of polypharmacide, not on purpose. But when you have too many chemicals that are being mixed, you can just end up dying.
So this plant, although it may feel like you're gonna die when you consume heavy amounts, like a heavy edible, you don't and that's beautiful.
Meital: Oh, this is an interesting one about employment. Do you ever get those questions like “Can I be fired for smoking?”
Tammy: Yes, absolutely.
Meital: It's interesting to watch it develop throughout the states.
You can get fired everywhere for testing positive pre-employment, during employment, off duty or on duty.
[Note: This video was recorded prior to the new employment legislation being passed in CA. Find the most up-to-date details here.]
I had an interesting case once many years ago, maybe like 10 years ago, where the gentleman was terminated for testing positive for cannabis.
And then the employment board made a decision to deny his unemployment benefits and so we fought with the employment board.
We ultimately got him his benefits. And it was such an interesting exercise and learning how employers, at least in California, can make whatever decisions they want as long as they're communicated to the employees when it comes to cannabis.
And so that was kind of a warning tale for everybody.
They can even screen you before the position. And, you know, there are competing interests there.
In some states, for example, you can't be discriminated against for smoking unless you operate certain kinds of heavy machinery. You know, those kinds of jobs where they need you sober.
Tammy: Anybody having to take a drug test? I feel it's such an outdated idea.
And the whole reason why we have drug tests is because of McCarthyism. It's just to test your loyalty.
What does somebody who consumes cannabis on a Friday have anything to do with a Monday morning? The answer is nothing.
So it's more so a loyalty test. And I'll let the audience guess which administration but there's an administration that actually hired their friend who created these new drug tests.
So he also made a lot of money in the process. Do you know which?
Meital: Is it Nixon?
Tammy: Almost! Reagan.
Meital: Oh, yeah. Makes sense. I’m trying to think in other countries and other places, do they do drug tests? It feels a little extreme.
Tammy: I mean, if they do, it came from us. And again, it's just a loyalty test. We don't know if you're smoking weed, but we can test you and we can find out and then we can take away your government job in the process.
Meital: That's crazy. But smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol is ok.
Tammy: Well, they can profit off of it. So they don't care about cigarettes or alcohol because they can make money off of you.
But you know, how dare you go and become a better person and free your mind and get better sleep and overall better health!
They don't make money off of that. That is not the American way. The American way is to make you sick and then we sell you the cure.
Meital: Wow. That's scary.
Tammy: Yeah. Next question. Steve in Colorado asks: are employers statutorily prohibited from interfering with employees lawful off duty conduct?
When defining lawful the state defers to federal law. And since cannabis is still federally illegal, off-duty cannabis use is not protected in Colorado. The current trend is to grant employment protections for both.
Meital: Yeah. Obviously, the interplay of federal law and state law in cannabis just complicates the whole employment scenario.
I mean, on the one hand, do business owners and businesses need to be able to check their employees on any drug use?
Tammy: I don't think so. I think if something happens on the job, they're gonna see if you're intoxicated, which they should.
But again, I think with as many responsible adults who use drugs, it's time to mind your own business. People are going to do it.
Regardless if you're testing or not, people are going to do whatever they want to do on their own time.
You don't own us.
Meital: Okay, so your position is if they do something on the job, then you can test them.
Tammy: Potentially. So if somebody is causing an accident while they're intoxicated, then yeah, that's an issue because you're not supposed to be coming to work intoxicated, and that's a risk.
But I don't think that there's any reason for you to randomly test somebody for drugs other than being nosy. And I think we're just so compliant because that's how we've always done it.
But we need to check ourselves. Like, what was the reason that we started it? And when you look at the reason, then we know: “Oh, it was problematic to begin with.” We need to get rid of it.
Meital: What about athletes?
Tammy: I think that that's another thing that needs to be mindful.
Like cannabis and alcohol and whatever drugs that athletes want to use is one thing.
But performance enhancing drugs, that's another thing. So, I don't think that they should be testing for ‘recreational drugs.’
But yeah, if you're using performance enhancing drugs, that's a little different.
Meital: Yeah, I can agree with you on that.
Tammy: Okay, true or false? The United States Postal Service is the biggest drug dealer in the nation.
Meital: Oh my god, is it true?
Tammy: Yeah! So UPS and FedEx, they're gonna be able to scan your packages.
The United States Postal Service mails so much mail that they literally cannot do it. And so if you're going to send anything, it's USPS.
Meital: Okay. Well, to clarify, it is illegal to mail cannabis. I have had several clients who have caught a charge mailing it through USPS. But they were mailing pounds.
Tammy: Oh, Okay. Yeah, that's good news.
Meital: Mailing pounds to Arkansas or Mississippi. I'm not talking about sending your friend a box of weed.
I learned this from the FBI report—when you go to the post office and you drop off a package, the post office initially scans the addressee and the sender. And they check databases to make sure that they line up with known people.
The fact that many people just don't get in trouble for it is one thing, but I have had a lot of clients who have caught a case on it.
Tammy: Okay, I do know somebody that got a package seized. But they used fake names.
Meital: So the person that receives the package is potentially liable as well.
Tammy: Yeah, I was told that they'll have a police officer deliver in a USPS outfit and make you sign for it. And then as soon as you sign for it they arrest you.
Meital: Yeah, exactly. But I think you're right, people do just mail stuff.
Tammy: Yeah, so maybe let's not mail pounds. But if you're sending edibles to your grandma who has arthritis, you’re probably fine.
Meital: Yeah, but this is my other thing about interstate commerce. You want to be able to put something in the mail without worrying about breaking a law.
Tammy: Yeah, absolutely. And you know once they legalize being able to mail it, they're gonna tax it.
You're sending cannabis. Okay, well, there's an extra tax for that.
Can I just say I sent a box of goodies to a friend who has MS and needs it for quality of life, and the driver dropped off the box with only two items left in the box. And I can't report it.
How do you report that to the post office? It was a vaporizer, edibles, concentrates, flowers. Then you're kind of dealing.
So the delivery is in California. I didn't tape it all the way at the bottom. So I'm sure they could see the little labels. They delivered it to her with two items left. I was so sad.
Meital: That's a bummer. But they were in California, right?
Tammy: Yeah, they're in California. The answer is they were in a county that is prohibited.
Meital: Oh, another thing that's kind of weird about mailing is that if it's hemp, you can mail it because it's federally legal.
If it's Delta-8 and you're talking about commercial distribution, in some states where it's legal you can send the Delta-8.
But there's this extra restriction on mailing vapes. So any business that's mailing the hardware of vapes has to comply with additional regulation.
Tammy: I did see a few brands dealing with that, like Puffco for example. They sell vaporizers for concentrates. And I know that they weren't shipping because of the new precedent that has been set.
Meital: And they've called it a nicotine rule, but it really affects any kind of vaporizer.
Tammy: Except pharmaceutical vaporizers, aka the machine that I use with asthma. That's fine.
Meital: Right. And do you know that California just passed a law that basically says you cannot make the equivalence of an asthma inhaler for cannabis.
You can't actually make that product, which just seems weird to me. Seems like the asthma inhaler company must be feeling threatened.
Tammy: That's because they know that cannabis is a very effective bronchodilator and that's why I don't use asthma medicines anymore. I don't need to.
Pinene, a cannabinoid commonly found in cannabis, is what's in a lot of pharmaceutical drugs for asthma.
That could be why they're creating laws to protect their business.
Meital: It’s crazy. Do you have asthma? Do you use a vape?
Tammy: No. Vaporizers really exacerbate my asthma.
And as somebody with asthma, I feel like I have swimmers' lungs sometimes, whether it's with the concentrate or with flower, because you have to keep those things so clean. And after two or three uses, they're pretty dirty.
So I've found that if I consume my cannabis with a hemp wrap, and I'm consuming 100% cannabis, I'm fine.
Stay tuned for Part II with details on the resurgence of Reefer Madness in the media & much more!
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