Canada medical marijuana grower Tilray has confirmed another export deal
with a cannabis company licensed by the Chilean government, becoming the
first foreign mover in overseas markets. While this is a big move in the
emergence of a new global marijuana market, it is also a reminder of how
cannabis companies in the United States are lagging behind the rest of
the world in exports. Because the U.S. still considers marijuana illegal
at the federal level, marijuana companies which are legal at the state
level are unable to export their product. Until the U.S. de-schedules
marijuana, Canada will dominate the global marijuana market.
There are still several influential anti-cannabis voices in the United
States who may have significant influence on the future of federal marijuana
policy. The National District Attorneys Association has assembled a working
group to develop a policy platform regarding marijuana. Some DAs want
to send a letter to the governors of states with legal marijuana telling
them to close those businesses within 90 days. Attorney
Charles Feldmann of Cantafio & Song PLLC, a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent
and cannabis industry attorney, believes the District Attorneys "would
carry some weight.”
“It is an important group. I don’t think that means it’s
going to become Holy Scripture for (the DOJ),” he said, “but
it is something they would pay attention to.” Conversely, he added,
is the NDAA “just too diverse and divided to ever really come up
with something unifying?”
Read more of this week’s marijuana news here.