New Testing Requirements and Turkish Drug Raids

LOS ANGELES - July 13, 2020 - PRLog -- On the domestic front, the House Armed Services Committee approves an amendment to the annual defense spending bill, which would allow former military service members to reenlist after admitting to past cannabis use. Current policy prohibits such action, even if the marijuana use occurred only once in a state where it's legal. The measure, which was introduced by Ruben Gallego of Arizona, would permit reenlistment waivers to be granted on a case-by-case basis for those who disclose cannabis use up to the level of a misdemeanor offense while not on active duty.

60 employees at NETA's Franklin grow facility become the latest cannabis industry workers to vote in favor of unionization under the United Food and Commercial Workers. The organization, which represents 1.3 million members across multiple sectors, have been actively seeking to unionize marijuana industry employees in states such as Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Oregon, as well as in Ontario, Canada.

Illinois's adult use cannabis sales continue to rise, reaching a record high of 47.6 million dollars for the month of June. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, 12.4 million of that came from out-of-state visitors. Because of varying rates depending on product and jurisdiction, tax figures are difficult to estimate, but are expected to be in the tens of millions. Cannabis markets in other states, such as Oregon and Maryland, have also hit record highs during the ongoing health crisis. While some predict Illinois's marijuana sales will level out due to the easing of lockdown restrictions and diminishing unemployment relief, others suggest demand could increase as more nonresidents travel to the state for those same reasons.

Fire and Flower announces the openings of two Alberta outlets, which will be located adjacent to Circle K convenience stores. This follows a 380 million dollar investment into the marijuana firm, from Circle K's parent company. The co-location strategy, which the companies plan to implement throughout Canada and internationally, will use Circle K's high foot traffic in combination with Fire and Flower's digital and online services to provide increased convenience for customers. Some fear the openings signify a move toward more widespread marijuana product availability, similar to alcohol and tobacco, which could render dispensaries obsolete and diminish opportunities for the craft cannabis industry.

Overseas, authorities seize more than 2,000 cannabis roots in a series of drug raids across Turkey, leading to the arrest of five suspects. This follows a similar bust earlier last month which resulted in the destruction of over 7.5 million roots from 89 locations in the southwestern region of the country. Turkish security forces believe the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, is behind the illegal enterprise, as they have used the illicit drug trade to finance their terrorist activity since at least the 1980's.

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