Last Week In Weed Issue 63
Published June 12th 2023
In this week’s issue of last week in weed, We take a look RAW winning a lawsuit against OCB producer Republic Brands. The popular live-streaming service Twitch banned Cannabis, and finally. North Yorkshire police issue warning signs of ‘cannabis farms’ to landlords.
RAW Wins Historic Lawsuit Against Republic Brands
The first story that we’ll look at this week comes from the United States and is the latest in a bitter battle between two rival rolling paper brands. For the better part of a decade now, RAW parent company HBI International and OCB producer Republic Brands, two of the biggest players in the rolling paper industry have been locked in a fierce battle for supremacy.
On June 5th the most recent case involving the two companies concerning the similarities between HBI’s ‘RAW Organic Hemp’ and Republic’s ‘OCB Organic Hemp’ product packaging and advertising was finally settled. A US court ruled that Republic Brands “had wilfully infringed RAW Organic Hemp’s trade dress” and “had willfully infringed RAW’s copyrighted “Sold Here” sign.”
The Judge ruled that Republic are not entitled to either damages or disgorgement of profits from the sale of ‘RAW Organic Hemp’ products and ordered them to pay $1.5 million to RAW rolling papers' parent company HBI International for infringing its copyright and trademark.
This case began back in 2016 after communication between the rival brands about the two products' similarities broke down. HBI International first contacted Republic Brands pointing out the likeness between its ‘RAW Organic Hemp’ papers released in 2009 and their ‘OCB Organic Hemp’ papers launched in 2011.
In 2014, Republic launched its papers into the US market and its marketing and packaging triggered HBI to request the companies discuss the obvious similarities between the two. Unfortunately for RAW, they didn’t respond choosing to sue them in Illinois instead.
Speaking in a press release shortly after the verdict, RAW founder Josh Kesselman said that the company is “pleased with the outcome, but that doesn’t make this any less frustrating.” Before going on to say that “Republic has persistently filed lawsuit after lawsuit against our company, perhaps because of our success.”
“We intend to donate the net proceeds we will receive, now that this case is resolved, to organizations working to help small businesses in the cannabis field, particularly businesses that are start-ups involving individuals who were previously convicted of non-violent cannabis-related crimes.
“We’re hopeful that Republic will now cease its relentless effort to destroy our business and focus, like us, on helping the emerging cannabis industry achieve greater equity in the marketplace.”
This case took so long to resolve as Republic filed several simultaneous claims about a plethora of different complaints. The verdict comes just a few months after a jury found that RAW had engaged in unfair trading practices under Illinois State law, but not under US federal law.
A Republic spokesperson responded to the verdict and subsequent press statement by saying that this is a “new and misleading spin on an old ruling” and an “attempt to deflect” from the February ruling that found HBI guilty of “violating the Illinois uniform deceptive trade practices act and the law of unfair competition by constantly making false and misleading statements for more than a decade.”
We shall have to wait and see what happens next in this long-rolling saga. However, one thing that has annoyed me about these lawsuits is that it was a perfect opportunity for one of the companies to point out that ‘hemp’ isn’t a real plant and that they are cannabis papers. Just a thought.
Twitch Bans Promotion of Cannabis Brands and Products
The popular Amazon-owned live-streaming service Twitch has updated its Terms of Service (TOS) for individuals using the platform. The new policy expressly prohibits the promotion of cannabis businesses and cannabis-related products including CBD, delivery services, and vaping products.
The controversial and contentious anti-cannabis policy came to light last week as part of a much larger sponsorship and brand partnership guidelines scandal caused by Twitch when it updated its TOS. Following significant pushback from streamers and the gaming community the company quickly reversed its decision.
Prior to the subsequent speedy U-turn their updated company’s branding guidelines were set to limit live streamers to using just 3% of their screen for paid promotions and ban the use of burned-in audio, display, and video ads. Which would greatly limit the earning potential and disempower streamers on the platform.
Although the vast majority of the newly rolled-out policy changes were quickly overturned the cannabis ban is set to continue, at least for now. Cannabis now joins tobacco, gambling, pornography, political and weapon sponsors on the services list of prohibited promotional partnerships.
This new policy is somewhat of a volte-face from the Jeff Bezos-owned company. In January 2022, Twitch’s parent company Amazon announced that it was backing calls to federally ‘legalise’ cannabis in the United States of America. And in February 2022 Twitch clarified under its new username policy that cannabis references were excluded from the ban on drug-related usernames – along with tobacco and alcohol.
This ban is happening while the platform is explicitly endorsing the promotion of alcohol – with the only limitation being placed on alcohol sponsorship being that the stream must be marked as for a mature audience. So why can’t they do the same for cannabis and tobacco products?
The smoking of cannabis on Twitch has always been a grey area as the company’s TOS and guidelines have historically avoided expressly banning the consumption of cannabis, likely due to the issue of various regions having ‘legalised’ cannabis over the last decade.
Two days after the passing of Prop 64 officially ‘legalising’ cannabis in California, Snoop Dogg appeared on a stream smoking a blunt while playing a video game. This led the Twitch community to infer that the consumption of cannabis on Twitch is fine – so long as it takes place in a ‘legal’ jurisdiction.
Shortly after the Snoop Dogg incident, another live streamer received a message from Twitch, which they later published to Reddit, in which the company says that; “[they] discourage broadcasters from the use of marijuana on our services if doing so violates your local laws, causes you to inflict harm upon yourself, or is a focus of your broadcasts, this activity is entirely prohibited from broadcast.”
So even with the new ban on sponsorship and promotion of cannabis and cannabis-related brands, products, and services were still going to see cannabis continue to be represented on the platform through consumption – in some regions at least.
North Yorkshire Police Issue ‘Cannabis Farm’ Warning To Landlords
North Yorkshire Constabulary has issued advice on how to spot the warning signs of tenants growing cannabis in rental properties to landlords in the region. The force claims that the number of properties being used to extract electricity and cultivate cannabis in its jurisdiction is on the rise.
A spokesperson for North Yorkshire police has said that “Cannabis farms are sophisticated set-ups used by organised crime gangs to produce several crops of the drug over time.” And that “Cannabis production is extremely harmful to communities, and often used to fund criminal gangs involved in human trafficking, sexual exploitation and the distribution of other drugs including cocaine and heroin.”
“Furthermore, the electricity supply may have been tampered with (to bypass the meter), creating a high risk of fire – which could spread to neighbouring properties. Residential and commercial premises could be used as cannabis farms, so today we’re issuing a warning to landlords to be vigilant around your properties.”
The statement continues to list possible red flags that landlords should be keeping an eye out for when visiting their rental properties. They state that landlords should be vigilant for these signs;
- No or poor references from a previous landlord or letting agent
- Tenants offering to pay several months upfront
- Asking to pay rent in cash without ‘reasonable cause’
- Wanting to keep utility bills in the landlords' names
- Changing the locks so the landlord/letting agent cannot enter without the tenant's permission
- Requesting privacy including no periodic inspections
- Preventing inspection of property when given ‘reasonable’ notice
The propagandist press release concludes with a spokesperson for the force stating that “The cost of restoring a property if it’s been used as a cannabis farm is very high, and may fall to the landlord.” Before imploring the public to ‘grass up’ their green-thumbed neighbours by contacting crime stoppers anonymously with any information.
Well, where do I begin here? Firstly, its assertion that all cannabis cultivation is “extremely harmful to communities.” is just patently untrue, 23 US States have now ‘legalised’ cannabis and collectively generate billions in tax annually that is actively being invested directly back into local communities.
Secondly, the implication is that cannabis cultivation is only conducted by organised criminal gangs – some of them are operated by organised ‘legal’ gangs like GW (allegedly). Seriously, though there are now several large-scale facilities either in operation or due to begin production here in the UK soon.
Thirdly, the conflation of cannabis cultivation with other criminal activities such as theft, sexual exploitation, and human trafficking is a deliberate one to turn the public against small-scale self-sufficient home cultivators and cannabis consumers.
Finally, the UK has a rich history of small-scale home growers breeding and producing world-class quality cannabis cultivars. While accidents can and do happen the vast majority of cannabis growers are safe, considerate, and otherwise law-abiding. In recent years the increased policing of personal and small-scale craft grows has driven out passionate and considerate consumer growers. They’ve slowly been replaced with none cannabis-consuming ‘cash croppers’ - both lawful and unlawful ones.
Now let's quickly address each of the bullet points provided to landlords by the force. Not everyone will have a history of renting and thus wouldn’t have a previous landlord's reference – such as students, young people, immigrants, widows, and military personnel to name but a few.
Tenants may want to feel secure in their housing and thus would likely offer to pay several months upfront to achieve this goal. There are many reasons a tenant may choose to pay their rent in cash or want to keep the utility bills in the landlord's name. And it is, at least for now, our right to pay for goods or services however we see fit. (#FuckTheCashlessSociety)
Many tenants have a multitude of ‘reasonable’ excuses as to why they may not be able to make an arranged appointment. Likewise, there are many justifiable reasons for a tenant to request privacy, infrequent visitations, and occasionally miss appointments that don’t involve the assumption that their cultivating cannabis.
Whether intentional or not there is a clear undertone of classism, misogyny, and racism to these ‘warning signs’ issued by the North Yorkshire force. This guidance issued by the force does little more than to cast suspicion over already demonised groups in society such as ethnic minorities, immigrants, young single men, and the poor.
These guidelines give landlords the green light to further invade the privacy and private lives of peaceful citizens to do the immoral and reprehensible work of the police. They disproportionately impact people like those suffering from mental health issues, special educational needs, and vulnerable single women.
In April the new Home Secretary Suella Braverman announced the commencement of consultation asking if the current law is effective enough to protect vulnerable tenants from predatory landlords seeking ‘sex for rent’ deals.
‘Sex for Rent’ is a growing predatory phenomenon in the UK with as many as 200,000 women potentially being victims of the exploitative practice according to research conducted by Generation Rent and Mumsnet.
Their joint study found that 4% of all respondents indicated that they had been offered reduced or free rent in exchange for ‘sexual favours’ with the incidence rising to 10% when the household annual income was less than £20,000. I do not believe that with figures like these landlords should be allowed to decide what is ‘reasonable’ or not.
“We know the vast majority of landlords abide by the law: seeking permission to enter and respecting their tenants’ privacy. However, given the unparalleled access landlords have to tenants’ personal spaces and lives, and the scale of the issue, this consultation is necessary in ensuring that everyone, especially the most vulnerable among us, has access to a safe and secure home, free from harassment and exploitation.” - Dan Wilson Craw, Generation Rent
The fact that the police are actively encouraging an increase in predatory landlord practices at a time when entire police forces are under fire for having a ‘culture of racism and misogyny’ is, in my opinion, emblematic of the rot at the heart of our crumbling British institutions.
Remember kids - landlords, like the police, are not your friends.
Written By Simpa For The Simpa Life
