Marijuana Business Magazine - March 2018

¬NDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS National & ¬nternational News Developments What’s Happening: Rob Kampia Ousted from National Cannabis Industry Association Board Rob Kampia, the embattled former chief of the Mari- juana Policy Project, was removed from the board of directors of the National Cannabis Industry Association. Kampia’s ouster adds to recent turmoil at the NCIA and raises questions about the trade organization’s future. “NCIA’s Board of Directors voted to remove Rob Kampia in accordance with our bylaws after an ethics committee review surfaced a pattern of behavior unbe- coming of a board member,” said Aaron Smith, executive director of the NCIA. Kampia called his ouster a “coup” by other board members. Former board member Kayvan Khalatbari had filed an ethics complaint with the NCIA regarding sexual misconduct allegations against Kampia. Kampia has denied those allegations. New Zealand Lawmakers Advance One Medical Mari- juana Bill, Reject Another New Zealand’s Parliament advanced a bill that would lay the groundwork for a regulated medical cannabis industry but rejected a sep- arate measure that would have established a more full-fledged market and allowed home cultivation. If the government’s bill wins final approval – or Royal Assent – from the country’s Governor-General, it would ultimately create a domestic medical marijuana market and give terminally ill people or those suffering chronic pain a legal avenue to acquire MMJ. The legislation also calls for the declassification of CBD as a controlled drug. It’s a major step forward for the nation’s MMJ industry, but for many in the country the legislation doesn’t go far enough. Lawmakers rejected a separate bill that would have made it legal for New Zealanders suffering from “a qualifying health condition” to use marijuana or MJ prod- ucts with the support of a registered medical practitioner. It also would have permitted home cultivation. Canada’s Illicit Marijuana Industry Bigger Than Domestic Beer Market Canada’s black-market marijuana cultivation indus- try is larger than the country’s entire domestic brewing industry, according to a federal government agency, underscoring the importance that cannabis plays in the nation’s overall economy even before adult-use legaliza- tion this summer. The findings are part of the first batch of data released by Statistics Canada’s Cannabis Economic Accounts, which is a set of provisional estimates related to mari- juana production, consumption and distribution. The agency pegged the size of the cannabis produc- tion industry (medical and nonmedical) at $2.7 billion (CA$3.4 billion), ahead of the local brewing industry’s $2.3 billion (CA$2.9 billion). The estimates are for 2014, the most recent year cross-sector data is available. 18 • Marijuana Business Magazine • March 2018