The War On Cannabis Heats Up
The war on drugs or at least the cannabis industry is heating up and certain to create even more nervousness among cannabis investors. While the Department of Justice has its hands tied with regards to being funded to pursue cannabis law breakers, other parties are cracking down.
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In April, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials seized a large shipment of Stashlogix containers in Los Angeles, referring to the product’s “combination lock, used to prevent children from gaining access to the marijuana contained inside,” as drug paraphernalia and justification for the seizure. Stashlogix makes personal travel and storage cases designed to keep pharmaceuticals, medications and valuables out of reach of kids, pets, or snoops.
Skip Stone founded the company two years ago and has patented the storage cases. Ancillary cannabis businesses have been thought to be the low risk side of the industry, but that could be changing. Amazon even sells Stashlogix products on their website, so by this logic then Amazon is selling paraphernalia.
“This devastating action by the federal government makes no sense,” said Stone. “While the seizure appears to be legal, denying parents the ability to simply protect their children from cannabis, which is legal in 29 states and the District of Columbia, seems absurdly wrong-headed. We wonder if this action marks a fresh effort by the federal government to interfere with states’ rights relative to cannabis laws and business.”
California legalized medical marijuana years ago and is in the process of establishing legal adult use marijuana. So, it seems fairly contradictory to then seize a company that focuses on packaging and specifically packaging that will keep it out of children's hands.
Yet, that contradiction is also playing out in Nevada where adult use marijuana is about to be available for purchase. Isaac Dietrich, the Chief Executive Officer of cannabis social media site MassRoots was kicked off the gambling floor of the Wynn Resorts because his income comes from cannabis.
"I can confirm that I was permanently banned from gambling at Wynn Resorts on June 7, 2017 due to my role as Chairman and CEO of a publicly-traded technology company focused on the cannabis sector," said Dietrich.
Wynn Resorts has not confirmed that it banned Dietrich, but in an email exchange with him they wrote, “Our regulatory requirements are not limited to identifying businesses that facilitate the sale of marijuana - we are obligated to identify the source of wealth of our customers to ensure the funds have been lawfully earned.” The Wynn representative went on to say, “The "state vs. federal" debate will continue at much higher levels than this email. Until that debate is clearly resolved with respect to the Bank Secrecy Act, the Wynn Las Vegas leadership team has chosen to take the more conservative approach.
Las Vegas is home to one of the biggest cannabis conferences in the country each fall and as of July 1, adults will be able to buy recreational marijuana. So, it seems unusual to turn down a customer for being in the cannabis industry. Surely, Mr. Dietrich will be able to gamble at a more favorable resort that isn't checking the guests' source of income at the door.
