After earlier proposals to block the sale of hemp-derived THC products stalled, Washington lawmakers are now considering a new bill that would prohibit these products from being sold both outside and within the state’s legal cannabis industry.

Sens. Karen Keiser and Mark Schoesler introduced Senate Bill 5983 Feb. 25 to ban hemp-derived THC, which has become popular in several states following the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill that legalized the production and sale of industrial hemp.

S.B. 5983 takes aim at hemp-derived THC products, such as gummies and vape oil, that are currently being sold at gas stations, according to an AP News report.

“These are being sold right now, without any regulation, without any oversight,” Keiser told the news outlet. “It’s a public health danger and a threat, and it needs to be removed.”

An alternative bill to ban all synthetic cannabinoids outside of Washington’s regulated cannabis market was also introduced last week in the House, AP News reported. That legislation would create a scientific panel to recommend ways for others to legally produce and sell synthetic cannabinoids in the future, according to the news outlet.

NEWTOWN, PA, Feb. 28, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NewMediaWire -- PRESS RELEASE -- Forian Inc., a provider of technology, predictive analytics and data science driven software solutions for the healthcare and cannabis industries, announced that the State of Florida Department of Health Negotiators have unanimously voted to choose BioTrack as the track and trace system for the Florida Department of Health’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use. This vote was affirmed by the Department of Health’s Notice of Intent to Award, which can be found here. 

Florida plans to use the BioTrack inventory tracking system to monitor the movement of cannabis products in the state’s medical-use cannabis market, while providing a real-time inventory of cannabis products available in Florida and preventing the unlawful diversion of products.

BioTrack’s software will track cannabis in Florida from when it is first planted as a seed to the point-of-sale to the patient – without additional costs to Florida businesses. All licensed medical marijuana cannabis establishments are required by Florida law to participate in the tracking system and log the movement of cannabis as it is grown, manufactured into other products, packaged, tested, and sold to qualifying patients. BioTrack’s state-of-the-art traceability system will also help recall cannabis plants and products deemed as unsafe or adulterated, and prevent adulterated and regulated materials from reaching the black market. 

“We are very excited to welcome Florida to the growing number of states that have chosen BioTrack’s technology for their cannabis-related initiatives. We look forward to our partnership with the state to provide real-time visibility and transparency on market activities,” said Moe Afaneh, VP of BioTrack. 

BioTrack’s point-of-sale software is used by customers in 38 states and 10 countries, while 10 state governments in addition to Florida, currently use BioTrack products.

LAS VEGAS – Feb. 25, 2022 – PRESS RELEASE – The Source+, an award-winning cannabis company with four dispensaries in the Las Vegas Valley and Reno, will partner with Immunize Nevada, Nevada’s only statewide nonprofit dedicated to immunization education, to host a “Joints for Jabs” event in Las Vegas. The public vaccination pop-up site will take place at the dispensary’s flagship store located at 2550 S. Rainbow Blvd. from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 26.

At the “Joints for Jabs” vaccination event, healthcare workers will be on-site to administer doses of the Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, as well as booster shots. Participants 21+ and those 18+ with a medical cannabis card will receive a voucher to redeem a pre-roll for a penny at The Source+.

RELATED: Wana Brands and The Green Solution Host Pop-Up Vaccination Clinics in Colorado

“The 'Joints for Jabs' events are a small but critical component in encouraging our communities to get vaccinated and boosted,” said Brandon Wiegand, president of the Nevada Cannabis Dispensary Association and chief commercial officer of The Source+. “Dispensaries in Nevada receive thousands of visitors and offer a great opportunity to bring vaccinations directly to our customers.” 

Nevada recently lifted its mask mandate, although health officials continue to emphasize that COVID-19 is still highly contagious, and information from the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory stated that the variant accounts for 100% of the recent cases across the state. 

Wanda James opened the first Black-owned dispensary in Denver — the Apothecary of Colorado — alongside her husband, Scott Durrah, in 2009. The next year in 2010, the pair opened Simply Pure dispensary in Denver.

In the decade-plus since then, James says not nearly enough has been done to support the cannabis industry in her state or on a federal level. James, CEO of Simply Pure, says a bevy of issues still plague the industry, including banking and financing, ensuring social equity, and even the rudimentary step of federal legalization.

"I don't know why this is still a battle," James tells Cannabis Business Times. "I'm thoroughly confused, and I'm going to call it cowardice of our entire Congress—both Democrats and Republicans. The fact that we have not stood up and just said, ‘Legalize for God's sakes and get it done.’ … It's really only the politicians that seem to have issues with cannabis."

© Simply Pure 

Zach Mentz: What does social equity in the cannabis industry mean to you?

Wanda James: I think we forget why social equity matters in the first place and why we're doing this. Right now, unfortunately, regulators and big business in cannabis see social equity as being able to get them more market share. That's not what social equity was supposed to be. Social equity was supposed to be able to ensure that the people who have been most harmed by the drug war actually have an opportunity to be a part of this industry. And I gotta tell you right now, I am most pissed off at legislators. The fact that we refuse to legalize [on a federal level] is beyond me and thoroughly befuddling.

We legalized cannabis in two states [10] years ago—Colorado and Washington. Colorado is now doing on average about $2 billion worth of sales a year. [Ten] years later, we now have legislators twisting themselves into ridiculous places to be able to carve out things like banking. Why the hell are we talking about banking [10] years later? We are an industry that has passed cotton, rice, and peanuts in this country as far as agricultural product is concerned, and yet we don't have something as simple as banking.

It is obscene to me that legislators will not legalize. And the reason for this is because the federal government is making more money than anybody off of 280E taxes in this country. And it's obscene—obscene—that we are being levied a tax penalty that was made for drug dealers like Pablo Escobar. We are registered with the secretary of state. We have legitimate business operations now in 18 states on the recreational level, 38 states on the medicinal level—much more than three-fourths of this country now has somehow or another legalized cannabis, and federally we can't get this done.

If we want to actually see Black and brown businesses or entrepreneurs have a place in this industry, then we need to legalize. Allow the SBA [Small Business Administration] to have training opportunities and to put loans in place so that we could actually go to a bank and start our businesses. On top of that, we can then start to look at ensuring that businesses have people of color operating from the top down. Because right now, as long as this remains federally illegal, we can't make any of that happen. We can't provide loans. We can't provide carveouts. We can't insist that businesses have Black and brown people on their board of directors, in their c-suites, and in their management teams. Right. We can't do any of that.

One of the more than two dozen alleged violators whom the New York Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) sent cease-and-desist letters to earlier this month is carrying on with business as usual.

Empire Cannabis Club, on Eighth Avenue in Chelsea, was one of the establishments OCM regulators warned Feb. 8 that “gifting,” where customers purchase non-cannabis items or services such as a club membership and then are provided cannabis as part of that sale, is illegal under current state law.

RELATED: New York Cannabis Regulators Send Cease and Desist Letters to Unlicensed Businesses

In the letter, OCM officials claimed to have the law on their side under the state’s Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA), signed by former Gov. Ander Cuomo in March 2021.

But Empire Cannabis Club owner Lenore Elfand doesn’t see it that way, CBS News reported.

“What they are actually doing is making the medical market the recreational market before people like us even get a chance to get into it,” she said. Elfand also told the news station that not only is Empire Cannabis Club going to remain open, but the business plans to expand to a third location in New York City.

Associate Editor Tony Lange began reporting on a West Virginia bill that had picked up an affirmative vote in the House this week, a bill that would cap testing labs in the state at two. This proposal comes after several years of discussions that insisted in no uncertain terms that there would be no cap on test lab licenses.

As evidenced by the support for House Bill 4627, that tune is changing.

There are already two testing labs licensed to operate in the state’s medical cannabis market, which is itself only a few months into actual operation.

So, the bill raises a question: How many testing labs are too many?

Check out Lange’s story, which frames this central question that crops up in most nascent cannabis markets in the U.S. 

We’ve rounded up some of the key cannabis headlines from the week right here.

An association comprising some of Michigan’s largest cannabis companies is taking aim at the state’s Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA) months after a 64,000-pound recall that was worth nearly $230 million.

The Michigan Cannabis Manufacturing Association (MCMA) is calling for greater cannabis safety enforcement mechanisms following reports that MRA agents said they had been instructed to ignore illicit cannabis discovered at licensed facilities, MLive.com reported.

The agent testimonies are tied to complaints by Viridis Laboratories, the state’s largest cannabis testing lab, which accused MRA of playing politics in a November 2021 lawsuit that stems from the recall, which involved products that Viridis tested.

“In a letter to state lawmakers, the Michigan Cannabis Manufacturers Association today (Feb. 23) called for greater cannabis safety enforcement following media reports of Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency agents testifying under oath they had been instructed by the agency to leave behind untested, illicit cannabis discovered at MRA-licensed facilities,” MCMA said in statement provided to MLive.com.

The MRA agents claimed they lack the authority to take immediate action when they encounter what they suspect to be illegal cannabis during on-site inspections, the news outlet reported. Only law enforcement officials can seize the products, and their response times vary, according to MRA enforcement supervisor Brian Hanna.

“The MRA agent depositions also highlight the urgent need to pass the bipartisan Michigan Cannabis Safety Act that helps ensure all cannabis in Michigan is tested, tracked, labeled, licensed and taxed,” the MCMA statement read.

West Virginia state lawmakers are moving toward a two-laboratory monopoly for testing products in the state’s medical cannabis program. But one testing executive indicated that just one lab may be sufficient.

Delegates voted 67-33 Feb. 24 to approve House Bill 4627, which would amend an article of the state’s Medical Cannabis Act to provide that “no more than two laboratories in this state may be certified pursuant to this section.”

Sponsored by Del. Brandon Steele, of Raleigh, the legislation now heads to the Senate.

The West Virginia Medical Cannabis Act was signed into law by Gov. Jim Justice in April 2017, but the program rollout hasn’t been breaking any records. The state’s Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) didn’t announce medical cannabis dispensary permits until January 2021. Patient registration opened the following month.

In March 2021, the state’s Office of Medical Cannabis (OMC) announced it awarded its first medical cannabis laboratory testing permit to Analabs Inc., of Crab Orchard, located in the southern part of the state.

But Analabs didn’t start receiving samples from the nascent industry until October 2021, the company’s vice president, Kelli Harrison, told Cannabis Business Times.

In a year already brimming with industry headlines, perhaps the most anticipated storyline comes to us from New York state, where the development of a new adult-use cannabis market awaits.

“It’s undeniable how strong of a market New York will be for cannabis,” says Anthony Coniglio, chief information officer of cannabis real estate investment trust NewLake Capital Partners. “People do expect that this will be a very, very large state in the cannabis ecosystem as the industry converts illegal sales into legal sales.” 

The population density alone is an ace card in New York’s portfolio, but so too is its geographic placement in the country and its cultural cache.

Perhaps the most notable asset on the table is New York City itself, home to more than 8 million people (with perhaps more than double that number commuting in for work) and a sprawling metropolitan area to boot. There is the temptation, naturally, to seek out real estate and eventual business operations within the city, but opportunities reveal themselves all over the state.

“Some of the best dispensaries that we see are located in secondary or tertiary markets,” Coniglio says. “People rush into the highly dense population centers often to find that, yes, they're highly dense, but you have a fair amount of, say, commuter traffic. So, I would focus on population density but also the dynamics of the population.”

As of February, about a third of all New York municipalities had opted out of the impending adult-use market. Most of those municipalities are the smaller towns and villages that dot the upstate landscape. But Coniglio is quick to assert: Don’t write off those towns and villages.

Nebraska is the only state in the country with a unicameral Legislature—one chamber—but that hasn’t made cannabis reform any swifter.

One of just 13 states remaining without a medical cannabis program, Nebraska’s legislative effort to advance a medical cannabis bill met widespread criticism from those who testified during a congressional hearing Feb. 23.

Legislative Bill 1275 intends to adopt a cannabis program that would limit qualifying patients’ access to the medicine to oil or pill form. The legislation clarifies it would not allow for edible cannabis products except for a pill.

The bill’s text lists four qualifying conditions: Stage IV cancer; uncontrolled seizures; severe or persistent muscle spasms caused by multiple sclerosis or muscular dystrophy; and a terminal illness with a probable life expectancy of less than one year.  

For reference, a medical cannabis bill recently approved by the South Carolina Senate includes 13 qualifying conditions. The bill’s sponsor dubbed the legislation as the most conservative in the nation.

Nebraska legislators must’ve got wind. 

Canada’s cannabis retailers experienced record sales throughout 2021, but that market growth is showing signs of slowing down from its rapid pace.

The world’s second-largest cannabis market hauled in a whopping CA$3.9 billion in 2021 sales among its eight largest provinces that regularly report monthly figures, according to federal data agency Statistics Canada. That figure represents 50% year-over-year growth from 2020’s CA$2.6 billion in sales.

While Canada’s most populated province, Ontario, represented the country’s largest cannabis market with CA$1.47 billion in 2021 sales, the fourth-largest province by population, Alberta, came in second with CA$716.7 million in sales.

Following suit were Quebec, CA$601 million; British Columbia, CA$556.2 million; Saskatchewan, CA$158.3 million; Manitoba, CA$148.8 million; Nova Scotia, CA$95.5 million; New Brunswick, CA$80.4 million; and Newfoundland, CA$60.7 million.

Editor’s note: Prince Edward Island and Canada’s three territories (Yukon, Nunavut and Northwest Territories) did not regularly report monthly sales figures in 2021.

While record retail months may continue, to some degree, 2021 trends indicate year-over-year growth is slowing. For instance, January 2021 sales increased 81.3% over January 2020 sales, but a steady decline progressed throughout the year to the point where December 2021 sales increased 28.5% over December 2020 sales.

February 23, 2022 – PRESS RELEASE – A new nationwide study commissioned by SICPA North America, a provider of regulatory compliance solutions, shows overwhelming support among cannabis users for more in-depth information about the products they may use. The poll was conducted online by The Harris Poll among 2,056 U.S. adults. Key study results include:

“Cannabis users clearly crave a greater depth of information about the safety of cannabis products, whether they’re using flower, concentrates, edibles, tinctures or topical products,” said Karen Gardner, chief marketing officer at SICPA US. “The desire among consumers for more safety information about the cannabis products they consume aligns with SICPA’s survey last fall that showed a broad appetite for secure, tamper-proof labeling of cannabis products to provide assurance that cannabis products are legitimate and safe.”

When it comes to improving social equity in the industry, the survey also shows large support exists for buying cannabis products from historically disadvantaged businesses, with 63% of cannabis users in support of buying cannabis products from groups who have been historically disadvantaged, such as people of color, women, veterans or small businesses, over buying from groups who have not. Social equity has been a priority for cannabis legalization and licensing in many states, with some states creating programs to provide reduced fees and mentoring to encourage historically disadvantaged groups to enter the market. New York, for example, which legalized cannabis in 2021, has set a goal of having 50% of licenses go to minorities and other social equity applicants. 

Similar to the growing interest in organic products in the food industry, the SICPA survey also shows significant support for organic products; more than three in four (77%) cannabis users would rather buy cannabis products that are developed with organic principles, over ones that are not.

The SICPA survey also measured cannabis use among Americans, finding that 50% of Americans have used cannabis products at some point in time, with more than 1 in 3 (36%) stating they’ve used cannabis products in the past 12 months, and 13% saying they consumed cannabis products for the first time in the past 12 months. This is the second SICPA-The Harris Poll survey on cannabis; the first poll, released in fall 2021, showed broad support among Americans for securely labeling cannabis products to verify their legitimacy and safety in the marketplace.   

Although New Jersey voters approved adult-use cannabis via Question 1 in the November 2020 election, they still have no place to legally buy it.

Among the four states that passed adult-use measures in that election, Arizona launched sales on Jan. 22, 2021, Montana launched sales on Jan. 1, 2022, South Dakota had its ballot amendment struck down, and New Jersey has missed multiple deadlines geared toward launching its licensed retail program.

Most recently, the Garden State missed a self-imposed Feb. 22 deadline to open dispensaries. But there was no enforcement mechanism for that date, which was more of a symbolic target to get the ball (and the joints) rolling.

Last month, the executive director of the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC), Jeff Brown, said there were still a lot of moving parts associated with the deadline, adding there was no firm commitment to meet that target. 

RELATED: Is New Jersey Going to Miss Another Cannabis Deadline?

It wasn’t the first deadline New Jersey missed, symbolic or otherwise. The CRC was scheduled to begin accepting and processing business license applications on Sept. 18, 2021, but had to delay that effort too.

Legislation to legalize adult-use cannabis lives to fight another day in one of the most conservative states in the country. 

The South Dakota Senate voted 18-17 on Feb. 23 to pass Senate Bill 3, which aims to legalize up to 1 ounce of cannabis for those 21 and older. An earlier version of the bill called for double that possession limit.

The legislation now heads to the House, where it has six Republican and two Democrat sponsors, but the lower chamber has been less receptive to adult-use reform. Earlier this week, the House rejected a separate measure that aimed to set up a tax structure and regulatory framework for a possible program. In addition, House Republicans have pushed for tighter restrictions on medical cannabis.

The legislative actions come as a result of Amendment A, a voter-approved ballot initiative to legalize adult use from November 2020, which passed with 54.2% majority, being struck down by a circuit court judge on the basis of the state’s single-subject rule. The South Dakota Supreme Court upheld that decision in November 2021.

RELATED: Seven Months Later, South Dakota Supreme Court Says ‘No’ to Adult-Use Cannabis Legalization

In addition to legalizing adult-use sales and possession, S.B. 3 aims to ban home cultivation, despite that proposal being approved by voters via Amendment A.

Despite unreliable THC testing, multiple procedure violations and an owner-client conflict of interest, one Arizona cannabis testing lab is buying its way out of trouble to retain one of the state’s 20 licenses.

OnPoint Laboratories, of Snowflake, a small town in eastern Arizona, has agreed to a nearly $470,000 settlement with the Arizona Department of Health and Services, the Arizona Republic reported.

The agreement comes after ADHS regulators sent a notice to OnPoint in August, threatening to revoke its license following a report from inspectors that the laboratory was using methods that could inflate the reported potency of cannabis samples it was testing, as well as other violations.

“The potency scaling person weighing a sample portion for potency testing stated, ‘I pick the top of the bud where the crystals are,’” according to ADHS documents obtained by the Republic. The worker told an inspector she was trained to prepare the potency samples that way, according to the newspaper.

But OnPoint Labs isn’t the only Arizona licensee facing regulatory issues.

ADHS officials sent a similar intent to revoke notice to Pure Labs, of Phoenix, in January. The company is currently negotiating a settlement agreement to keep its license, according to the Republic.

A decision on adult-use legalization in Maryland is one step closer to reaching voters in November after state lawmakers advanced legislation Feb. 23.

The early momentum comes on the heels of House leaders announcing earlier this month they wanted to first find out where voters stand on legalizing adult-use cannabis through a 2022 ballot initiative, before enacting legislation.

RELATED: Maryland House Leaders Smooth the Way For Adult-Use Legalization

On Wednesday, the House gave preliminary approval for the complementary measures.

Del. Luke Clippinger, a Democrat from Baltimore City who chairs the Judiciary Committee, sponsors House Bill 837, which he said would serve as companion legislation to House Bill 1, the ballot question for November’s election that he also drafted.

A final House vote could come Friday, The Associated Press reported, but the Maryland Senate would still need to approve it.

California may be one of the largest cannabis markets in the world, but opportunities abound in the Northeast, especially now that New Jersey and New York have legalized adult-use, according to Jay Czarkowski, founding partner and licensing expert at cannabis business consulting firm Canna Advisors.

The Canna Advisors team, which recently opened an office in the Empire State Building, expects New York to issue draft regulations on adult-use cannabis business licensing by the end of March.

“I’ve heard over a period of time, from multiple sources, that there may be somewhere around 750 business licenses that the state’s going to issue, which is a good number,” Czarkowski says. “It’s not a lot by any means. I think there could certainly be many more, but it’s a fair number of licenses.”

In any case, a limit on the number of licenses issued means it will be a competitive licensing process in the Empire State, and Czarkowski says there are ways for entrepreneurs to increase their chances of securing a license, even before the regulations are finalized.

RELATED: 4 Ways to Prepare for the Cannabis Licensing Process

One of the biggest cannabis companies in Texas now has the highest-dosage medical cannabis product available on the state’s market.

Texas Original Compassionate Cultivation expanded its gummy lineup to now include 20-milligram THC units, the highest dosage allowed under the state’s recently updated program.

The new product dosage was approved during last year’s legislative session, when state lawmakers also expanded qualifying conditions—to include cancer patients and those with post-traumatic stress disorder—and raised the THC limit for medical cannabis from 0.5% to 1%.

RELATED: Texas Cancer Patients, Those With PTSD Gear Up For Medical Cannabis Access

Offering stronger products will benefit the state’s medical cannabis patients, many of whom are veterans or suffering from cancer, Texas Original CEO Morris Denton told NBC-affiliate KNAX.

“We needed to make a stronger product that would allow them to get to their target dose as prescribed by their doctor, without consuming a whole lot of byproducts,” he said.

Once again, South Dakotans were at risk of losing their voice on effecting public cannabis policy, but a legislative bullet was dodged on Feb. 23.

Senate Bill 20 would have undone protections included in the state’s medical cannabis program, which 70% of voters approved in the November 2020 election, but the legislation was defeated by an 8-5 committee vote Thursday.

Under voter-approved Initiative Measure 26, an affirmative defense provision allows those who don’t have medical cannabis cards to defend themselves against punitive action for possessing certain amounts of cannabis by arguing they’ve met a qualifying health condition under the state’s medical program.

S.B. 20 would have eliminated that defense measure, Keloland reported.

“S.B. 20 was about the medical purpose defense, after the fact that I could have had a medical card,” Sen. Helene Duhamel, a Republican senator from Rapid City, told the media outlet.

Duhamel’s sponsorship of the bill came after South Dakota began issuing medical cannabis cards, which the senator indicated as a reason to eliminate the protective measure for those who do not have cards.

According to a report published Wednesday by Leafly, the U.S. cannabis industry now boasts more than 428,000 jobs. That’s a 33% increase from the 321,000 U.S. cannabis jobs cited in the media organization’s 2021 report. 

Read Leafly’s full report here. 

The relationship between American businesses and the American is fraught with tension—and bracketed by more anxieties now than we’ve seen in decades. And yet, for a variety of reasons, the cannabis space is hiring and retaining talent at a good clip. Part of that is due to the simple growth trajectory of a new legal market emerging from an unregulated landscape. Part of that is due to the cultural intrigue of cannabis. And yet another part of that story is due to many employers and employees building a cohesive, stable workplace that turns daily actions into shared goals and achievements.

We’ve certainly put the spotlight on that last narrative in our recent Best Cannabis Companies To Work For issue, but, indeed, the state of the cannabis workforce has many layers. Plant-touching businesses find themselves at the center of the story, but there’s more going on in this bustling industry.  

Here’s a bit more context from the team at Leafly:

“Those 428,059 jobs include direct cannabis jobs like cultivation and retail sales—what are often called “plant-touching jobs”—as well as indirect ancillary jobs that serve licensed companies or depend on legal cannabis sales. Ancillary jobs include work in accounting, human resources, legal affairs, regulatory compliance, security, maintenance, and construction. Also included are indirect jobs in cannabis media, technology platforms, public relations, lobbying, non-cannabis product suppliers, and industry associations.”