California officials Wednesday announced up to $20 million in marijuana tax subsidies to universities conducting cannabis science and policy studies. This includes research to prevent monopolies in the legal industry and ensure “heritage” genetics. stock.
This is the second round of academic marijuana grants from the Department of Cannabis Control (DCC), which said it is soliciting research proposals from public universities focused on five priority research areas.
The department said it developed research priorities in consultation with other state agencies, aiming to learn more about implementing cannabis legalization “from economic vitality to public health to preserving the state’s cannabis heritage.” .
Regulators previously issued $30 million in marijuana research grants to public universities statewide in 2020.
For this new round, the DCC will provide cannabis potency and cannabinoid analysis, the health of the state’s marijuana industry, “data on monopolies and unfair competition, traditional cannabis genetics, and medical marijuana use.” I’m looking for a solicitation for a project to handle.
DCC is looking for cannabis-related academic research proposals! Up to $20 million available for public universities in California. For the first time, DCC has identified specific research topics for priority grant funding. Details: https://t.co/z3B25nZzG7 pic.twitter.com/yld0LKBK8t
— California Department of Cannabis Control (@CAcannabisdept) October 5, 2022
“California continues to spend millions of dollars advancing the scientific understanding of cannabis and assessing the impact of legalization,” DCC Director Nicole Elliott said in a press release. “Decades of federal cannabis bans have hampered our collective knowledge about these issues, damaging consumers, communities, our environment, and more.
“Our hope is that research from these grants will prove beneficial not only to policy makers in California, but to people across the country and around the world,” she said. rice field.
One of the more noteworthy research objectives concerns industry anti-competitiveness. This is a topic of increasing interest as state markets across the United States are becoming increasingly consolidated and concerns about the future of small cannabis businesses are growing.
The DCC “supports reasonable competition, reduces anticompetitive behavior, preserves the ability of small businesses to compete in legitimate markets, and may prevent the creation of monopolies within the California market. It said it was seeking investigations and recommendations “relevant to policy.”
California also has its own initiative by soliciting research proposals to “identify and preserve the history, value, and diversity of California’s traditional cannabis cultivars, and the rich experience of traditional growing communities.” It seems to be leaning towards the marijuana culture and economy.
DCC said genetic sequencing and chemical profiling of these legacy strains (such as Granddaddy Purple) could be part of that research.
“Although grant funding will not be limited to identified topics, their prioritization will help future grants aspire to help state cannabis leaders fill gaps in research. It provides additional direction for gold recipients,” the department said. “The resulting research and data will continue to inform the creation of a safe, sustainable and equitable cannabis market that protects people, protects the environment and provides adults access to safe and tested products. provide and support.”
Research proposals will be accepted from November 1 to 30, and grant winners will be announced in February 2023.
The academic funding opportunity came just days after California officials announced they would be accepting another application for grants to support local efforts to promote equity in the marijuana industry. rice field.
The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) began accepting early grant applications under the program this time last year, with a total of $35 million available statewide. This year’s funding cap is set at $15 million.
Earlier this year, the Department separately distributed community reinvestment grants totaling $35.5 million, along with tax revenue generated from recreational marijuana sales.
GO-Biz announced in July that it had awarded 78 grants to statewide organizations that support the economic and social development of communities disproportionately affected by the war on drugs. The program’s funding and beneficiary numbers increased from last year’s levels, when the state awarded nearly $29 million in grants to 58 nonprofits through his CalCRG program.
Meanwhile, the state is also taking steps to set up more marijuana businesses as it continues to ease the illegal market.
California has begun granting interim marijuana business licenses as a way to launch the adult market more quickly. That temporary license category was set to expire last year, but was extended to give the region more time to complete the permitting process and meet environmental requirements.
Since then, the state has identified a number of jurisdictions that may require additional support to bring these interim licensees into the traditional annual license category. A separate grant program, run by the Cannabis Control Commission (DCC), provides that license funding.
Enabling territories to effectively set up regulated industries is especially important in California, where more than half of the state’s jurisdictions have banned cannabis businesses from operating in their territories.
Governor Gavin Newsom (Democrat), along with regulators and lawmakers, has tried a variety of means to solve the problem.
The governor last month announced about a dozen marijuana proposals, including one proposal to prevent regions from blocking medical marijuana deliveries, along with measures on interstate marijuana commerce, consumer job protections, and past conviction record sealings. signed the Reform Act.
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Congress introduced a number of cannabis bills to Newsom near the end of the session, and he handled most of them in one fell swoop last month. The governor said reforms are needed to continue to deliver on the promise of legalization and address the collateral consequences of the ban.
Newsom has a long track record of supporting marijuana reform and supporting the state’s market, so he was usually expected to sign reform measures presented to his desk. But despite his record, he recently rejected a major piece of the drug policy reform bill that would have approved his program to pilot safe drug consumption sites in the state.
Since then, San Francisco officials have shown they are ready to defy the governor and initiate an overdose prevention program, regardless of veto power.
Another disappointment for reform advocates is that another bill legalizing possession of limited amounts of certain psychedelics was recently withdrawn by its sponsors after the main provision was dropped. Literature on the subject.
Here is a summary of other recent drug policy developments in California:
In July, California officials awarded more than $1.7 million in grants to promote sustainable marijuana cultivation practices and help growers obtain annual licenses. is assigned. The program was first announced in August 2021 and is accepting applications until April 2023.
Regulators also recently announced that they are seeking comments on a proposed rule to standardize how cannabis is tested across states. It’s an effort marijuana companies hope will discourage “lab shopping” to find establishments likely to have the highest possible THC levels. Then brag about your product.
California has received nearly $4 billion in marijuana tax revenue since the state’s adult market opened in 2018, the Tax and Fees Administration (CDTFA) reported in July. Also, in the first quarter of 2022, the state earned approximately $294 million in cannabis revenue from excise, cultivation and sales taxes on marijuana.
The state collected approximately $817 million in adult marijuana tax revenues during last fiscal year. This represents 55% more Treasury cannabis revenue than was generated in the 2020-2021 period.
Three out of four Maryland voters support a marijuana legalization referendum that includes a Republican majority, polls show
Photo courtesy of Brian Chambren.
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