Oregon Cannabis Company Proposes Cannabis-for-Opioid Swap Program
Last month President Donald Trump declared America’s opioid crisis a public health emergency. However, that declaration came with a meager $57,000 in additional funding from the official Public Health Emergency Fund. With 91 Americans dying from opioid overdoses every day, many are looking to cannabis for a safe solution.
Kaya Holdings, Inc., the first fully owned and operated legal seed-to-sale cannabis enterprise, announced Tuesday that it plans to launch “Kaya Cares,” a cannabis-for-opioids swap program where prescription opioids can be exchanged for cannabis free of charge.
The Oregon-based company is communicating with state and local law enforcement officers, as well as compliance officials, before officially launching. Craig Frank, CEO of Kaya Holdings, said the data surrounding opioid use in states with legal cannabis programs inspired the action.
“We decided to step up and do our part after President Trump announced the war on the opioid epidemic,” Frank said in a press release. “Numerous studies, including those reported by Newsweek, NBC News, US News and World Report, CNN and others, have shown that states with legal marijuana programs have declining rates of opioid addiction, with some states reporting a decrease in deaths as high as 25 percent. We want to help people in the communities we serve, as well as demonstrate that cannabis companies can be part of the President’s solution to the crisis.”
In 2013, Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole issued the “Cole memo” providing an outline for the Department of Justice’s newest approach to drug enforcement. The memo instructs federal prosecutors to allow states with cannabis programs certain regulatory enforcement rights.
- David Jones, senior advisor for Kays, thinks the Trump Administration’s efforts to combat opioid deaths can be enhanced by the cannabis industry’s participation.
“We realize this administration has been reviewing its stance on legal marijuana,” Jones said in a press release. “We wish to heed President Trump’s call to create constructive, private sector based initiatives with high probabilities of success. We believe a program like Kaya Cares and other initiatives to be undertaken by KAYS will help transition people away from dangerous opioids, making the government’s war on opioids a little more successful.”
Kaya Holdings Inc. operates three cannabis retail stores, with a fourth store opening soon. The company also owns 26 acres in Lebanon, Oregon, where it plans to develop a cannabis cultivation and manufacturing complex with the hope of eventually creating opioid-free, cannabis-infused pain relief products.
