MPX Comments on Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s Memo re: Marijuana Enforcement
TORONTO, Jan. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — MPX Bioceutical Corporation (the “Company” or “MPX”) (CSE:MPX) (OTC:MPXEF) would like comment on the memo issued today from the office of Jeffrey Sessions, Attorney General, regarding marijuana enforcement. The Company is interpreting the memo to mean that enforcement decisions will be left up to the U.S. Attorney’s in the respective States clearly indicating that the burden is with “federal prosecutors deciding which cases to prosecute by weighing all relevant considerations, including federal law enforcement priorities set by the Attorney General, the seriousness of the crime, the deterrent effect of federal prosecution, and the cumulative impact of particular crimes on the community.”
“We see this as a rather innocuous directive and consider it unlikely that federal prosecutors will take much enforcement action in those States where the legalization of cannabis has been implemented as a result of a ballot initiative supported by a majority of the State’s electorate or by an Act of the respective State’s legislature,” said Scott Boyes, Chairman, President and CEO of MPX. “There may be action taken against those players that are clearly acting outside of State regulations and that type of enforcement is a positive for the industry.”
The memo also states that the “memorandum is intended solely as a guide” (i.e. not a directive) which gives U.S. prosecutors considerable leeway in their enforcement decisions. As such, MPX has concluded that the probability of any material anti-cannabis prosecution in “blue” states to be very low. The ability of the Justice Department to act is also subject to “prosecutorial discretion in accordance with all applicable laws, regulations and appropriations,” the latter limitation being the most significant as any spending by the Department on cannabis enforcement is still restricted by the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer Amendment.
While the Sessions memo has caused some consternation in the industry, we do not expect it to have any material impact on the growth of the sector as a whole, or to weigh down the prospects for MPX.
Scott Boyes, Chairman, President and CEO of MPX
For us its business as usual. We will continue with our aggressive U.S. expansion plans, and in doing so we will operate within the spirit of the Cole Memorandum, in full compliance with all State and local regulations, in complete cooperation with the authorities in every community that we do business in, and we will continue to provide the highest quality products, and the highest level of service to our patients and customers.
About MPX Bioceutical Corporation
MPX, an Ontario corporation, through its wholly owned subsidiaries in the U.S., provides substantial management, staffing, procurement, advisory, financial, real estate rental, logistics and administrative services to two medicinal cannabis enterprises in Arizona operating under the Health for Life (dispensaries) and the award-winning Melting Point Extracts (high-margin concentrates wholesale) brands. The successful Health for Life brand operates in the rapidly growing Phoenix Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The recently acquired GreenMart of Nevada NLV, LLC (“GreenMart”) is an award winning licensed cultivation, production and wholesale business, licensed for both the medical and “adult use” sectors in Las Vegas, Nevada, and is already selling wholesale into the Nevada medical cannabis market. GreenMart has also optioned suitable locations and intends to enter the higher-margin retail arena by applying for at least two dispensary licenses in the Las Vegas market which will operate under the “Health for Life” brand.
The Company owns assets in Massachusetts supporting cultivation, production and up to three dispensaries there, and has added the management of a full-service dispensary in Maryland.
MPX continues to expand its U.S. footprint, and is in the process of acquiring management companies that provide operational and other services to two further dispensaries and one production license in Maryland. The Company also leases a property in Owen Sound, Ontario, for which an application to Health Canada has been made for a cannabis production and sales license. In addition, the Company will continue its efforts to develop its legacy nutraceuticals business.
