Aloha Alliance,
Word spread quickly today across mainstream news and cannabis industry news outlets that U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions will rescind the Cole Memo, a Justice Department memorandum authored by former U.S. Deputy Attorney General James Cole in 2013 to U.S. attorneys in all 50 states. The memo directs prosecutors not to interfere with state cannabis legalization efforts and those licensed to engage in the plant’s production and sale, provided that such persons do not engage in cannabis sales to minors or divert the product to states that have not legalized its use.
Since Hawai‘i does not have an adult-use cannabis program, Hawai‘i medical cannabis patients and industry stakeholders remain protected by the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment. Since 2014, members of Congress have passed annual spending bills that have included a provision protecting those who engage in the state-sanctioned use and dispensing of medical cannabis from undue prosecution by the Department of Justice. The amendment maintains that federal funds cannot be used to prevent states from “implementing their own state laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession or cultivation of medical marijuana.”
It is the Alliance’s mission to provide up-to-date and relevant industry information to the patients, current and future dispensaries, and related businesses of Hawai‘i’s growing medicinal cannabis industry. If you are not yet a member of the Hawai‘i Dispensary Alliance, join today to receive Cannabis Insider bi-monthly, and take an active role in the future of Hawai‘i’s medical marijuana industry. Contact us today and we will send you the Cannabis Insider November/December 2017 edition absolutely free. You can also find us on Facebook or Twitter. Raise your voice, take action, and join the Hawai‘i Dispensary Alliance today.