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The MLB and its players union have discussed the possibility of loosening its testing on marijuana, according to the LA Times

This March, John Coyles, the MLB vice president of drug, health and safety programs, sent a memo to players about marijuana. He warned major and minor players alike that CBD, much as any other cannabis substance, was banned for baseball players. Echoing what the PGA Tour told golfers earlier this year, he said using CBD could elicit a positive drug test for marijuana.

“Claims of CBD products being ‘THC free’ are false and misleading,” Coyles wrote in the memo. “We have seen multiple positive drug tests…in the past year for THC that appear to have resulted from the use of CBD products, despite the product labels.”

He isn’t wrong, by the way. Last month, Ellipse Analytics tested 250 top-selling CBD products and found THC in 45% of them. Among products that labeled itself “THC free,” 21% of them were detected for THC. While baseball players don’t sustain the level of injury and inflammation as football players, they still need effective and safe pain management tools. What constitutes as safe and effective is under review, the Los Angeles Times reports, following the death of Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs.

The toxicology report found that Skaggs had the opioids fentanyl and oxycodone when he died by choking on his vomit, as well as alcohol. Opioids and cannabis are listed as drugs of abuse under the MLB’s current policy. Though players undergo routine tests for performance-enhancing drugs, they don’t receive regular testing for drugs of abuse. But in the minors, players have stricter testing and this season 13 players were suspended after test revealed drugs of abuse in their system. However, 80% of those suspended were due to marijuana.

Now the MLB and its players union have discussed the possibility of loosening its testing on marijuana, according to the LA Times. What happened to Skaggs has also opened the possibility of teams testing players for opioid use (team doctors can’t prescribe players opioids). Currently the two sides are now discussing whether players could use cannabis following surgeries, or whether they could use it as general pain relief.

“The parties have discussed whether to loosen baseball’s restrictions on marijuana—not specifically as a trade-off for opioid testing, but as part of the annual review of the sport’s drug policy, according to three people familiar with the talks but not authorized to comment publicly on them,” reports the Times.

In June 2019, the Sunny Meadow Street explosion in San Diego that left three people badly burned sent shockwaves through the media. The reason behind the devastating detonation? An illegal attempt to produce a concentrated form of cannabis, known as hash oil or honey oil.

Hash-oil explosions caused by illegal operators have become more frequent across the U.S. and Canada, leaving a slew of serious injuries in their wake. Many don’t realize just how dangerous cannabis extraction can be. That’s why legal, state-licensed cannabis laboratories use sophisticated, high-tech systems to help maximize efficiency and mitigate risk. However, even for legal operators who practice their cannabis craft by the book, real hazards exist and significant safety precautions need to be taken to keep staff, consumers and community members safe.

In a high-risk line of work in an ever-changing industry, it’s important for cannabis companies to consider designating a safety and compliance manager to hold everyone accountable. These individuals will take the lead to develop and implement a comprehensive, customized safety and compliance program to address potential hazards, reduce risk, and improve overall efficiency.

So, What Are The Risks Exactly?

The most common injuries for cannabis workers include slips, trips, and falls, exposure to pesticides and other biological hazards, electrocution, improper handling of sharp objects, and cuts, among others. According to a Colorado cannabis workplace analysis by Pinnacol, a workers’ compensation provider, more on-the-job injuries spike in frequency between 10 a.m. and noon and the most expensive injuries occur at 2 p.m.  More injuries occurred in February and October versus any other month and, despite the industry-recognized 4/20 holiday, April marked the month with the fewest accidents. Of the workers surveyed, 38 percent were more likely to be injured within their first six months of employment.

It's not like cannabis companies are ignoring safety. For many companies, production managers are responsible for the supervision of the staff as well as the line and oversee all aspects of production, quality control, and inventory. But with so much on their plates already, it can be difficult for production managers to keep their undivided focus on worker safety. For this reason, it is important that cannabis operators take these factors into consideration and think about designating an individual who can dedicate their full attention to ensuring safety and compliance practices are carried out properly.

But even when a cannabis company designates someone whose sole responsibility is to lead safety and compliance initiatives among workers, it can be difficult to determine what areas need to be addressed first. Here are a few important steps for safety and compliance managers to consider:

Surveying the work environment. And identify and evaluate the hazards that pose the most risk to staff members. Take time to speak with upper-level management, representatives of every area of production, and legal resources. Once the high-risk areas of the workplace are determined, focus initial training and safety initiatives on addressing these areas first.

Establish a company culture of workplace safety. Make sure that workers at every level of management understand and reiterate the importance of safety practices within the workplace. Ensure that leaders within the company prioritize safety in their own practice and encourage workers their managing to do the same.

Use clear, concise messaging. To keep employees engaged and help them to retain important information, safety and compliance managers should through modern, customized approaches. Effective training techniques may include visual and hands-on methods, including videos, presentations, interactive polling and even funny memes. It may be beneficial to draw inspiration from parallel, yet more established industries such as brewing and pharmaceutical.

Communicate with outside experts. Widen your knowledge by communicating with other safety and compliance team members outside the company. Safety and compliance managers would benefit from communicating one another to fine-tune efforts and increase overall transparency within the industry.

In a transformative and growing industry, it’s important that cannabis companies make safety and compliance a priority and take proactive approaches to identify and address risks. While effective safety procedures and protocols are important in every industry, in cannabis it can mean the difference between safety and serious injury.

Whether you’re struggling with a health issue or your quality of life needs a positive boost, CBD could potentially help. Here are some ways to incorporate and use CBD-based products in your everyday life.

The cannabis plant itself is both medically and therapeutically beneficial, especially because of the wide variety of cannabinoids it contains. Although cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are two well-known and widely used cannabinoids, according to one study, the cannabis plant contains over 400 chemical entities, and more than 60 of those chemicals are known as cannabis cannabinoids.

Despite the latter, specific compounds like CBD are extremely useful, especially in the treatment of different medical conditions and diseases. Since CBD is non-psychoactive, non-addictive, and medically beneficial, numerous people are attracted to it. Whether you’re struggling with a health issue or your quality of life needs a positive boost, CBD could potentially help. There are numerous ways to incorporate and use CBD-based products in your everyday life. Here are just a handful of suggestions.

Cannabidiol Delivery Methods and Ways to Use This Cannabinoid

Cannabidiol can be derived from both industrial hemp and the whole cannabis plant. However, individuals can reap CBD’s benefits regardless of where it was derived from. In general, there are numerous medicinal and therapeutic benefits that users can experience from consuming various CBD-based products. Thus far, studies have revealed CBD’s ability to treat different medical conditions, diseases, and illnesses, which has led to an increase of people looking into and using this alternative form of medicine. Also, CBD can improve one’s quality of life and well-being. Regardless of where you are in your life, you can benefit from consuming CBD.

In addition, there are different ways that CBD can be consumed, as well as the usage of various CBD products. For example, there are five main delivery methods that can be utilized, such as inhalation, oral, sublingual, topical, and transdermal administration. And there are numerous CBD-based products that can easily be incorporated into one’s life. Due to the variety of benefits cannabidiol contains, people consume this cannabinoid to improve their well-being and to achieve medicinal and therapeutic relief in their daily life.

Highly Recognized Medicinal Properties of CBD

People consume CBD for different reasons, but some of the cannabinoid’s most common and highly recognized medicinal properties include: analgesic, anti-anxiety, anti-depressant, anti-spasm, anti-epileptic, antiemetic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, neuroprotective, and anti-tumoral. CBD contains many more medicinal properties, but recently, these properties have been the reason for countless people consuming this cannabinoid: analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-spasm, anti-anxiety, and anti-epileptic. Aside from CBD’s medicinal properties, therapeutic benefits can be delivered too. Thus, regardless of your current state of being, different CBD-based products could be incorporated into your life.

Topical and Transdermal CBD-Based Products to Implement into Your Daily Routine

Regardless of the medical condition you have or the health issues you experience, CBD could be very useful. There’s not one particular product that works for everyone, which allows individuals to find CBD-based products that work best for them. Depending on the reasons for CBD usage, certain products may be more beneficial than others.

For instance, if your goal is to experience localized relief, it’s suggested to use a topical CBD-based lotion, cream, or ointment that can be applied onto certain body parts or joints that need relief. Generally, topical CBD products are ideal for relieving muscle soreness, cramps, muscle spasms, and neck, knee, or joint pain. Topical CBD products are increasing in usage for several reasons, but especially because they don’t deliver psycho-active effects since they seep into the skin’s pores rather than entering the body’s bloodstream. If you’re interested in using a topical CBD product, check out this lotion, which is produced and sold by a Colorado company called Infinite CBD.

Besides topical CBD products, individuals can use CBD transdermal patches.

Transdermal CBD patches are similar to nicotine and birth control patches in terms of where they’re placed on the body and the medicine that’s distributed throughout the body. These patches consist of an adhesive patch that’s infused with cannabis-based oils or cannabis-based isolates like CBD, THC, or a combination of them. Then, the patches gradually deliver the cannabinoid medicine through the body’s skin and via the capillaries, which permit the cannabinoids to enter the body’s bloodstream.

A 2003 study was conducted on the impact transdermal CBD patches had on rodents. It was found that the patches were successful, and they provided relief to the rats. Another similar study discovered that the transdermal application of CBD disallowed inflammation. Via transdermal usage, the active cannabinoid medicine doesn’t process through the body’s respiratory and digestive systems as compared to inhalation and oral consumption.

Also, transdermal CBD patches are convenient and easy to use, they provide a gradual release of relief, long-lasting effects, and they’re sold with pre-loaded doses of cannabinoids to provide users with more control regarding the quantity of medicine they’re taking. If you’re interested in trying this form of CBD, check out the patches sold by Mary’s Medicinals.

Oral, Sublingual, and Inhalation CBD-Based Products to Implement into Your Daily Routine

Oftentimes, CBD products are consumed orally via infused food and drinks. However, the effects take longer to kick in as compared to other methods. It’s important to know that oral CBD products enter the bloodstream while passing through the digestive system. For immediate relief, this isn’t the best option. To prevent pain and related symptoms from occurring, individuals can consume CBD-based oral products like infused capsules and infused gummies or other foods. If this is the route you want to take, check out Infinite CBD’s infused capsules and flavorful infused gummies.

Then, sublingual CBD administration is different than other methods because of how it’s consumed and its nearly immediate effects. To prevent and/or relieve anxiety, stress, or pain, many individuals use CBD sublingual sprays or droppers. The medicine is placed underneath the tongue, and the effects occur very quickly. Several CBD sublingual sprays and droppers are on the market, but you choose which one has the right CBD:THC ratio based on your needs, wants, and financial state. One popular CBD-based sublingual product is by Care by Design, which has a ratio of 18:1 CBD to THC.

Lastly, inhalation is another method that’s still used nowadays. Some people smoke high CBD strains whereas others vape instead. One study found that when one vapes, they absorb up to 33 percent of the total cannabinoids that are present in that product or cannabis strain. For health purposes, vaping is better than smoking because combustion is avoided. If you’re interested in experiencing a positive quality of life and well-being while putting your health first, consider checking out Infinite CBD’s vape juice that can be added into your favorite vaporizer. Or, you can purchase vape cartridges depending on your preference.

Overall, CBD has a non-addictive makeup, non-toxic properties, incredible safety profile, and a wide variety of medicinal and therapeutic benefits, which can be useful to anyone. If you’d like to improve your quality of life, well-being, and achieve much-needed relief, consider implementing a CBD-based product or two into your daily life. Leave a comment below about which CBD product you’d be willing to try and/or the success you’ve had with CBD products so far!

Kat Merryfield was ready to share her farm-to-home oils, chocolates and creams with the rest of the country. But banks and credit card processors weren’t ready to work with her small business.

“We started out our website with PayPal, and it took about six months before they shut us down,” Merryfield said. “And then they seized our money.”

Merryfield could use QuickBooks to run credit cards over the phone, but it wouldn’t hook up to her website, katsnaturals.com. She tried Clover, another payment processor. Two weeks later, Clover shut her down too.

Kat Merryfield, right, answers questions about her organic hemp business, Kat’s Naturals, at the Southern Hemp Expo in Franklin, Tennessee, last month. | Stateline

All the while, Merryfield went from bank to bank, desperate for help. Online transactions made up most of her sales. But banks that welcomed Merryfield through the door lost interest once they learned of Kat’s Naturals’ main ingredient: hemp CBD.

Marijuana business owners in states that have legalized the drug, like Michigan, have struggled for years to access banking services, thanks to conflicts between federal and state law.

Now people who grow and sell hemp — a nonpsychoactive form of cannabis — are facing a similar set of problems. Although Congress legalized hemp last year, state and federal regulators are still trying to figure out how to test hemp to make sure it’s not marijuana and how to respond to the craze for hemp CBD, which is booming as an ingredient in wellness products.

Banks and credit unions aren’t sure how to serve hemp businesses while regulations are up in the air. So, many are staying away, and thousands of people who have leapt into the rapidly expanding hemp industry this year now have trouble getting bank accounts and accepting debit and credit card payments from customers.

Advocates say minority farmers and entrepreneurs find few avenues for participation and are especially vulnerable to predatory contracts with private investors.

Industry attorneys and entrepreneurs such as Merryfield, who is white, tell horror stories of hemp business owners paying high transaction fees or being dropped by their banks and payment processors unexpectedly.

“You’ve got money rolling in one day, and the next day you don’t, even though you still have customer demand and the ability to sell your product,” said Tyler Russell, an attorney with Ward and Smith P.A., in Raleigh, N.C. “But there’s nobody to clear your payments for you.”

Some in Congress are trying to help both cannabis industries with the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act, or SAFE Act, which passed the U.S. House in late September with bipartisan support. The bill would assure banks and credit unions that they won’t be penalized by federal regulators for working with cannabis clients in states that allow marijuana or hemp production and sales.

The legislation, which the U.S. Senate has yet to consider, also would require federal banking regulators to issue guidance on how financial institutions should serve the hemp industry.

“My intent with the amendment is to create a very clear roadmap for a financial institution to kind of check off what they need to do in order to avoid any kind of legal scrutiny,” U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, a Kentucky Republican who wrote the hemp amendments, told Stateline.

Kentucky has emerged as a major hemp producer, with the state Agriculture Department approving close to 1,000 growers to plant some 60,000 acres of hemp this year. Barr said his constituents have complained about lack of access to banking services, particularly processing credit and debit card payments.

But some legal experts say the confusion won’t be cleared up until the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Food and Drug Administration and state agencies with hemp programs finalize their rules for hemp testing, labeling and sales.

“It’s not going to open all the doors to every bank and credit facility out there on Day 1 of becoming law,” Russell said of the SAFE Act.

What’s Legal?

Banks and credit unions face two legal issues in providing services to hemp businesses.

The first is the thin line between hemp and marijuana. The two Cannabis Sativa plants can look the same, smell the same and generate the same chemical compounds.

Last year’s farm bill defines industrial hemp as cannabis with up to 0.3% concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the compound in pot that creates a high. Cannabis with a higher concentration becomes, under federal law, marijuana — and therefore a dangerous drug.

That’s a big problem for banks, because financial institutions that serve marijuana businesses can be federally prosecuted for money laundering or financing criminal activity.

“Banks must have a reliable mechanism to distinguish federally legal hemp from federally illegal marijuana with extreme confidence,” the American Bankers Association told the U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee in a July statement.

But the U.S. Department of Agriculture has yet to create a standard, so states have developed their own. In Oregon, for instance, the top 8 inches of plants are tested 28 days before harvest for THC; in Tennessee, a portion of the top third of plants are tested 30 days before harvest. Colorado only tests the top 2 inches of hemp plants.

The varying rules mean it’s possible for hemp grown legally in one state to be classified as illegal marijuana if it were sold in another. A USDA spokesman told Stateline the agency has submitted a draft rule to the Office of Management and Budget and expects to have regulations in effect for the 2020 planting season.

And while states require THC testing before harvest, they don’t necessarily track whether hemp products hitting store shelves are, indeed, made from hemp. In Oregon, where both hemp and marijuana are legal, hemp products can be sold by marijuana dispensaries or mixed into marijuana products to up their cannabinoid content.

Adding another layer of uncertainty, U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials have said many hemp CBD products are being marketed illegally and may be unsafe.

People are getting rich selling hemp CBD as a healthy extract people can eat, dot under their tongues, or mix into creams and rub on sore muscles. Yet the FDA has said CBD can’t be sold as a dietary supplement, because the agency has approved a cannabidiol-based drug and drugs can’t be added to the food supply.

FDA leaders have said they’re open to creating a path for CBD to be legally marketed but have yet to announce new regulations. “We’re looking to report on our progress by early fall,” agency spokesman Michael Felberbaum said in an email to Stateline.

All this legal confusion makes banks and credit unions nervous. “Financial institutions are always wary of serving a business that could be running afoul of the law somehow,” said Rachel Pross, chief risk officer for Maps Credit Union in Salem, Ore.

Banks and credit unions are also waiting to see if the federal government issues specific requirements for monitoring hemp accounts, Pross said. The former President Obama administration in 2014 issued guidance that has allowed banks and credit unions to work with marijuana clients.

“As a financial institution, we are legally obligated under the Bank Secrecy Act to report any activity that is suspicious in nature,” she said. “If you don’t have a lot of clarity around what the requirements are, it’s hard to monitor the account.”

Maps Credit Union, which is known for serving marijuana clients, has approved 54 hemp accounts. Bank staff closely monitor the accounts, just as they would any other accounts judged to be high-risk, Pross said.

Banks are eager to be a part of the burgeoning hemp industry, according to hemp industry attorneys. Trade groups that represent the banking industry have backed the Safe Banking Act, arguing that it will make it easier to serve cannabis clients.

“They want in,” said Joey Fuson, an attorney with Hemp Law Group in Nashville. “They want those CBD stores that have $20,000 to $30,000 a month running through their account. They just say they don’t have any regulations to follow, and they don’t want to be the ones to forge the path.”

‘The demand is insane’

For now, many hemp farmers are caught in the middle: growing and selling a crop that’s technically legal, but not quite legal enough to satisfy banks.

It took Bob and Joe Sudderth, father and son first-time hemp growers in Gallatin, Tenn., four banks before one was willing to set up an account. Bankers were turned off by their business name, Station Camp Hemp Farms, they said, but they wanted to keep hemp in the title.

In early September, weeks prior to harvest, Joe walked between rows of hemp crops checking the health of each plant. Bob Sudderth surveyed his acre of hemp for CBD — a $7,000 investment. “Hemp is our big gamble,” Joe said.

Some entrepreneurs are trying to tackle the payment processing problem. “The demand is insane. There’s thousands of businesses that need help,” said Brian Meyer, a co-founder and vice president of business development at Solvent. Solvent, a company founded earlier this year, is developing underwriting and compliance tools that can help banks serve CBD businesses.

And growers and hemp oil manufacturers are scraping by. Merryfield has devised a payment processing workaround by partnering with Direct CBD, an online distributor of CBD products that can take credit card payments. But she’s frustrated by the regulatory delays, which she says would help encourage fair business practices.

Without federal regulations and banking services, the work of the Tennessee legislature and state lobbyists to develop the hemp industry will be a waste, she said.

“I think we’re all groping around in the dark hoping something will solve these problems,” Merryfield said. “The farm bill, well, that protects the farmers, but without manufacturers, how are the farmers going to sell what they produce? We have to protect everyone in the supply chain.”

If you’ve been holding your breath waiting for New York state to legalize recreational marijuana use, you’re not alone.

If you’re searching for clarity on the state’s approach to CBD products, decriminalization of pot use, clearing the records for past drug infractions or guidelines in starting up a cannabis-related business, you’re not alone in that, either.

It’s time for an updated look at where we stand with cannabis in New York.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty on all of this,” Kaelan Castetter, CEO of Binghamton-based cannabis company Castetter Sustainability Group, told a conference called Cannabis Insider Live Monday in Albany. “No one knows what it’s going to look like.”

But, Castetter said, "If you’re interested in cannabis in this state, you need to be prepared for what’s coming.''

Marijuana legalization, you may remember, failed to win approval in New York this year, despite many forecasts that this would be the year it became legal to light up.

The state has approved a so-called marijuana "decriminalization” law, but its full impact hasn’t yet been felt. And a bill that attempts to clarify the state’s confused stance on cannabis products, like CBD, is still awaiting action from Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Cannabis Insider Live, presented by Advance Media New York, assembled several panels of experts to sort out and clarify the issues for about 90 attendees who came from across the state seeking answers. (Advance Media New York owns and operates syracuse.com, NYup.com and the Syracuse Post-Standard).

Much of the conference centered on the business of cannabis, but there was plenty of talk about other issues. The give-and-take from the conference offered several insights into what’s happening with cannabis in New York state:

1. Will recreational use marijuana use for adults win approval by the state, and when?

The panelists were optimistic the answer will be yes and that it will happen in the coming year -- but then again there was lots of optimism last year, too.

It is certain there will be another attempt to pass a bill. Bills will be introduced in both the state Assembly and Senate. Both houses are controlled by Democrats.

“I think it will happen, but it’s not going to be a perfect bill for everyone,” said Castetter, whose company grows hemp and makes wines using non-psychoactive hemp compounds. Recreational marijuana could, eventually, provide a boost to companies like his.

Last year, it looked like New York might join the 11 states that have legalized recreational marijuana. (New York is among 33 states that have already legalized medical marijuana). Gov. Andrew Cuomo, previously opposed to legalization except for medical use, threw his support behind it last year and attempted to have it included in the 2019-2020 budget.

But it failed to win enough support. It was hindered by disagreements over such questions as how retail sales should be handled, how to provide justice for minority communities ravaged by the drug wars, whether to allow counties to opt out of retail sales and whether to allow home-grown plants, among others.

A big part of the difficulty is that New York, unlike many of the states that have legalized marijuana, doesn’t have a mandate from the public.

“In the states that have this, it was done by public referendum, not by the legislature,” Melissa Moore, deputy state director of the pro-reform Drug Policy Alliance, said during Monday’s conference. “So there’s not really a model for doing it this way.”

Yet polls show most New Yorkers favor legal marijuana.

2. If marijuana becomes legal, who gets to process and sell it?

This is one of the complex issues that helped kill last year’s legalization attempt.

Although Cuomo pledged support for legal marijuana, many pro-legalization advocates accused his administration of favoring a system that would allow large companies to control the manufacture and sale of legal cannabis.

Many of the panelists at Monday’s conference would be prefer to see the legal marijuana business opened up to more than just a handful of big companies.

“We should do this so we create 1,000 millionaires, not one billionaire,” Castetter said. He warned that “vertical integration” of the business -- from growing to processing to sales -- would “stymie innovation.”

He suggested a system based on the current “three tier” model used by the alcohol industry, which separates manufacturing, wholesaling and retailing in most cases.

On the other hand, said Moore of the Drug Policy Alliance, some limits on the number of business might be acceptable. “You don’t want a free-for-all,” she said.

This also touches on the social justice issue: Advocates favor some sort of incentives to help marijuana business get a jump start in communities affected by disproportionately high criminal enforcement. And it involves the provisions of last year’s legalization bills that allowed counties and some larger cities to “opt out” of hosting cannabis retailers.

“We need to have some level of local control,” said Jervonne Singletary, assistant vice president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation. “But we can’t have ‘Reefer Madness’ take over. Opting out can’t be based on outdated hysteria.”

The questions surrounding the regulation of cannabis businesses have confounded policy-makers not just in New York, but in other states that have legalized marijuana.

“Nobody has figured it out in New York yet,” said Imani Dawson, managing partner of MGM Strategy, which focuses on branding and marketing in the cannabis industry. “But nobody has figured it out in California or Colorado, really. It’s still a nascent industry.”

3. If New York legalizes marijuana, will you be able to grow your own?

This is a hot button question for those who believe legalization is mostly about individual freedom. Cuomo’s initial plan did not allow home growing, but some of the other proposal last year would have allowed adults to possess up to 6 plants for “personal use.” They wouldn’t be able to sell it without a license.

Again, Castetter compared it to alcohol, specifically beer. “You can brew your own beer and also go to the store and buy it. If you can do that with beer, why can’t you grow some of your own (marijuana) and also buy it from retailers.”

But Castetter, an experienced hemp farmer, warns that growing cannabis “is not as easy as it seems.” Cannabis is sensitive to light, so growers have to take that into consideration.

“It’s an energy intensive process,” he said. “So it’s not for everyone.”

4. New York “decriminalized” marijuana this year. What does that mean?

There are two part to this: One reduces the penalties for possession, and the other clears the records of past low-level convictions.

The new law’s big change for new cases is reducing the penalty for possession of less than two ounces from a misdemeanor to a violation. That means just a fine and no criminal charges on your record.

Rob DiPisa, a New York City-area lawyer specializing in cannabis law, said the biggest impact going forward is a change that eliminates higher penalties for possessing marijuana “in public view.” Even if you’re stopped on the street, the possession penalty is the same as in your home.

“What this really affects is the ‘stop and frisk,’ cases,” DiPisa told the conference. Those are the situations in which police stop someone for another reason, and then find marijuana in their possession. “That’s going to cut out a lot of cases.”

On past convictions: Melissa Moore, of the Drug Policy Alliance, said as many as 800,000 criminal possession cases in New York -- involving possibly 500,000 people -- would be automatically “expunged” from the records by next year. (But, she said, that seals the records. Individuals would likely need to hire a lawyer to have the records physically destroyed).

Still, decriminalization is not the same as legalization. Using marijuana is still illegal, and growing and selling it will still result in major penalties.

“Decriminalization is not enough,” Moore told the conference. “If all we get is decriminalization, that’s a failure for New York.”

New York state has declared CBD in food and drinks to be illegal. But some products, like chocolate bars and gummis (left), can still be found, while others, like the CBD Cold Brew Coffee at right, have been pulled from the shelves.

5. What’s the legal status of CBD products?

This seemed like a relatively easy question to answer until this summer.

Products containing CBD (cannabidiol) can be found almost everywhere in New York, from supermarkets to coffee shops. The cannabis extract does not contain significant amounts of THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana, but it has been touted in some circles for its health effects (most of which are not proven).

It’s been available in topical oils, salves and tinctures, and in candies, coffees, muffins and other consumable items. The boom began in 2018, when the federal farm bill legalized the farming of hemp (but not marijuana), from which CBD can be extracted. New York state is now licensing dozens of hemp growers across the state through a pilot program

Then the New York Department of Agriculture & Markets issued an advisory letter July 19 that says CBD is illegal in New York when added to food or drinks. The advisory does not apply to topical oils, patches, oral tinctures or other uses. It also does not apply to foods or beverages containing hemp seed oil (without CBD).

And, it turns out, the state has not enforced the advisory evenly. Some edible products have been pulled from shops; many others have not.

“It’s a gray area,” said Allen Gandleman, who runs Head + Heal, a cannabis grower/processor in Cortland and is president of the New York Cannabis Growers and Processors Association. “There’s been a lot of trial and error.”

Two potential changes are in the works: First, the state Legislature approved a “hemp extracts bill” in June that is an attempt to clarify the rules for processing and selling CBD products. It has not yet been signed by the governor, whose office is still studying it.

The bill, as currently written, would allow beverages to contain up to 22 miligrams of CBD per serving. But it would not legalize CBD in food.

Gandleman supports that bill in part because it establishes strict procedures for New York-processed CBD and gives priority to New York’s cannabis industry. In the current marketplace, many CBD products available in New York are processed in states with less stringent regulation.

“You don’t always know what you’re getting with some of these products,” Gandleman said. It’s an uneven marketplace."

If the New York hemp extract bill becomes law, “this state will have the strongest, strictest regulations in the country.”

Meanwhile the Federal Drug Administration, which currently considers edible CBD to be illegal, is working on some new regulations too.

Rob DiPisa, the cannabis lawyer, said clear new rules from the FDA would be helpful for everyone.

“Right now, we’re all driving blind,” DiPisa said. “We’re doing what we think is right now and hoping we don’t have to do a 180 (degree turn) when the new regulations do drop.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a longtime opponent of reforming marijuana laws, is spending more time than usual thinking about cannabis on a trip to California this week.

McConnell is attending at least two days’ worth of meetings with cannabis industry executives, small-business owners and advocates in Southern California, in order to discuss potential cannabis-related banking reform, among other topics, according to people familiar with the matter. McConnell’s schedule includes two cannabis-related lunches with executives and advocates, one of which will take place in Newport Beach, Calif., and a tour of at least one cannabis-related company in the area.

It was not immediately clear whether McConnell’s California Wednesday and Thursday schedule signals a shift in his thinking about cannabis banking reform, the people said. McConnell’s Washington office did not respond to several requests for comment.

“I think this is absolutely positive that McConnell is meeting with stakeholders in the cannabis market,” PI Financial analyst Jason Zandberg told MarketWatch over the phone. “The U.S. market needs the banking act to flourish, without it — there are legitimate companies that are following the rules that are facing major obstacles. Banking legislation would be a huge positive catalyst.”

The cannabis industry representatives will attempt to convince McConnell that reform is necessary because the current legal regime unfairly penalizes businesses that obey federal laws, such as hemp farmers producing the crop for legal CBD products, according to a person familiar with the lobbying strategy.

“We’re happy to see that Leader McConnell is coming to see how a regulated market is an improvement over prohibition,” National Cannabis Industry Association executive director Aaron Smith told MarketWatch in an interview. “Right now the priority is banking, which affects [McConnell’s] constituents in the hemp and CBD industry, as well as legal cannabis businesses here in California. That’s really our primary ask — common-sense policies around banking and public safety, and we’re hopeful [McConnell] will see the need for that and move forward along with Chairman [Sen. Mike] Crapo.”

The senator’s visit to the Golden State comes weeks after the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, a bill aimed at giving banks and credit unions additional clarity around servicing cannabis companies that wish to open accounts for things like paying bills. Because marijuana is illegal at the federal level, financial institutions can encounter legal problems, and cannabis companies — including those that operate cannabidiol, or CBD, businesses — face difficulties banking.

Large amounts of cash sloshing around the cannabis sector makes pot companies the target of robberies and other crimes, lobbyists in favor of the SAFE Act have said.

Up until recently, McConnell appeared to be a major roadblock to the Senate taking up the bill, and has said in the past that marijuana is hemp’s “illicit cousin, which I choose not to embrace.” The hemp industry holds a significant amount of power in Kentucky, McConnell’s home state, and a new provision in the SAFE Act grants specific protections to hemp farmers.

Crapo, an influential Republican senator from Idaho, told Politico in September that he wanted to hold a Senate Banking Committee vote on a cannabis banking bill. Progressive groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for American Progress and others have criticized top House Democrats for moving forward with a bill that doesn’t address social-justice issues tied to decades of cannabis prohibition.

We are rapidly approaching that dreadful time once again: cold and flu season. All one has to do is spend a few hours in an airport — a petri dish inside the global travel system — and it becomes painfully evident by all the coughing and wheezing whipping about the terminal that it won’t be long before some kind of sickness puts us flat on our back. And that almost guarantees we will suffer fever, chills, and uninspired coughing fits, causing us to miss work and those all-important social activities that keep us sane. When those vile germs strike, and sure as Shinola, they will, we are destined to feel like hell has opened up shop in our bodies. In turn, we’ll beg for mercy, we’ll pray for death, but all we will get from this pleading is five to seven days of the ick.

What makes this disgusting, snot riddled breakdown of our health so ghastly is that there is no known cure (or even an effective treatment) capable of getting us back on our feet in a reasonable amount of time. We must simply endure the sick, knock back Nyquil like Charles Bukowski would a boilermaker and let it run its course. Some people, however, believe that marijuana can help alleviate cold and flu symptoms more effectively than over the counter medications. But is there really any evidence showing that getting stoned is the best way to feeling whole again?

As with most things medical marijuana, there really isn’t much scientific research pointing to it as a legitimate remedy for a cold or flu. But that’s not to say that cannabinoids do not have a place in easing these nasty afflictions. We know that cannabis compounds have anti-inflammatory properties, and there is also evidence showing they can help ease low-level pain. Both of which are popular complaints for anyone with the feel-bads. While the cannabis plant is not a cure for the common cold, there are perhaps some ways it can be administered during those times when the body is ravaged by microscopic assassins that make it an excellent alternative to other medicines.

But using marijuana as a way to rise above the funk really comes down to how it is consumed. Smoking weed (or even hitting a vaporizer) probably isn’t the right way to go for the person who is seeking a trapdoor out of the misery that comes with a cold or flu. Smoke can irritate the throat, sinuses and lungs and make coughing, congestion and headaches much worse. As it was pointed out earlier last year by former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb, “using a lung as a drug delivery vehicle isn’t optimal.” And anyone who has ever tried smoking weed when their respiratory system is being beaten into submission by a virus understands that there are better ways to medicate.

“These detrimental effects are likely to be due to the smoke and heat that burning cannabis produces,” says Medical News Today.

Fortunately, there are now all sorts of smoke-free cannabis products on the legal market that are optimal for those with a cold or flu. Edibles, beverages and tinctures can be purchased at almost any medical marijuana dispensary or neighborhood weed store, none of which will cause a sick person excruciating pain the way smoking can. We have even seen cannabis-infused soups and hot teas in some dispensaries that are explicitly designed for people who are feeling under the weather. These are good for treating a cold or flu with cannabis, as the consumption of hot liquids fits right in line with doctor’s orders. Some reports have even suggested that cannabis products containing higher cannabidiol (CBD) content might be an even better route than products designed to give the user a buzz. This cannabinoid has been known to ease muscle and joint pain, which is desperately needed in times when the cold or flu has settled in to make life a miserable experience for the next week or so. However, a person who is vomiting and having trouble finding their appetite shouldn’t avoid THC altogether. This cannabinoid, which produces the stoned effects, has been helping people eat and control nausea for years.

But perhaps the best way to get through cold and flu season is to do everything in your power to keep from getting sick in the first place. This means it might be a good idea to stop smoking weed with other people. As we pointed out, smoking devices contain around 50% more bacteria than a toilet seat. So it makes sense that avoiding situations where a group of people are sitting around a room slobbering all over the same bong, bowl or dab rig is a solid first step in preventing the spread of disease. Yeah, yeah, we’re just being paranoid. But the next time you’re curled up in the fetal position under a layer of blankets, sweating profusely with a temperature of 102 and crying for your mommy to make it all go away, don’t say we didn’t warn you.