MjLink Cannabis Business News and Press

Connecticut won’t roll out its adult-use cannabis retail program before the end of the year, as originally planned, but a launch date has been announced.

The state’s Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) notified nine licensed hybrid (adult-use and medical) retailers on Dec. 9 that they can begin selling adult-use cannabis products to those 21 and older beginning at 10 a.m. on Jan. 10, 2023. Transactions will initially be limited to 7 grams of cannabis flower or an equivalent amount (see details below).

The announcement came as the department is required by law to provide a 30-day notice for the commercial sales commencement.

“I am proud of the hard work our team has done to meet the goal of opening adult-use sales in a safe, well-regulated market,” DCP Commissioner Michelle Seagull said in a press release. “We know that many people are excited to participate in this marketplace, whether as a business or a consumer, and we encourage adults who choose to purchase and consume these products to do so responsibly once sales begin on January 10.”

The announcement comes as 21 states have legalized adult-use cannabis—with Maryland and Missouri voters passing ballot measures in November—with 16 of those states having launched their expanded retail programs already. New York, where regulators hope to roll out adult-use sales before the end of the year, and Connecticut are in line to be the 17th and 18th states to launch adult-use sales.

Connecticut’s retail rollout has been roughly 18 months in the making since Gov. Ned Lamont signed adult-use cannabis legislation in June 2021, becoming the fourth state (in addition to New York, Virginia and New Mexico) to end prohibition through the legislative process that year. The signed law allows adults 21 and older to possess up to 1.5 ounces of cannabis flower or an equivalent amount in public, and up to 5 ounces in their homes.

The Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program (MMCP) issued a voluntary product recall Dec. 6 for medical cannabis that did not pass all required testing.

The affected plant material was produced and sold to dispensaries by Green Investment Partners (GIP), who initiated the recall and reported to MMCP that certain batches of cannabis did not pass all state-mandated testing for yeast and mold before they were distributed for sale to patients.

The MMCP has launched an investigation and will issue an executive summary when the investigation concludes.

The affected plant material, intended for vaporization, was sold under the product name Tangie Power from Nov. 29 to present. The affected product IDs and batch numbers, as well as the dispensaries where they were sold, are as follows:

Product ID:

The New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) announced Wednesday that it is updating its online patient portal to allow medical cannabis patients to access their Patient Identification cards electronically.

The NMDOH updated its patient portal to streamline the application process, provide better assistance for new and returning patients, reduce the use of paper, and be more environmentally friendly, according to a press release.

RELATED: New Mexico Adds Anxiety Disorder as Qualifying Condition for Medical Cannabis

Patients using the portal will have a "shorter processing time and the added convenience of not needing to wait for a printed card to arrive in the mail,” NMDOH wrote in the release.

The state’s Medical Cannabis Program can also send messages to patients directly through the portal to help improve communication and service.

In a new report, Whitney Economics assesses that the total output of cannabis cultivated in the U.S. exceeds 48.8 million pounds.

The figure from the 2022 U.S. Cannabis Supply Report includes cannabis in both the legal and illicit markets and covers all product types, such as flower, concentrates and edibles.

Beau Whitney, founder and chief economist at Whitney Economics, said total supply is up slightly from 2021. This year’s supply pretty closely matches  the demand, he said.

Some cultivators in Northern California and Southern Oregon have bumper crops and cultivate more, Whitney said, adding, “But generally, the common practice is if they excess inventory one year, then they don't plant as much the next year. This has been confirmed by my interviews in the legacy fields as well as my interviews with state regulators in multiple states.”

Whitney Economics projects total legal cannabis sales to be $29.3 billion in 2022 and tick up to $81.6 billion by 2030. The firm also forecasts that legal supply will surpass illicit supply beginning in 2026.

RELATED: These 8 States Sold $12.8 Billion of Adult-Use Cannabis in 2021

TALLAHASSEE, Florida, Dec. 8, 2022 - PRESS RELEASE - Trulieve Cannabis Corp., a multistate cannabis company in the United States, announced the official launch of Khalifa Kush premium medical cannabis products statewide in all Trulieve Branded Pennsylvania retail locations starting Dec. 12. This is an exclusive partnership with multi-platinum selling, GRAMMY and Golden Globe Award-nominated recording artist Wiz Khalifa.

To celebrate the product launch on 12/12, a date designated as "Wiz Khalifa Day" by the Pittsburgh City Council, Wiz Khalifa will be on-site at the Trulieve Pittsburgh-Squirrel Hill and Trulieve Washington locations to meet with medical cannabis patients.

Trulieve will also be hosting pop-up events on 12/12 from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m., where customers will have a chance to receive Khalifa Kush branded swag and educational materials at the following dispensaries:

"It's super cool to be able to sell KK legally in Pittsburgh and because they know it's Wiz's, it's going to be bomb, of course it's gonna drive the city and the state crazy," said Wiz Khalifa. "Trulieve is the perfect partner for us because of its commitment to providing the highest quality products and best possible patient experiences." 

Khalifa Kush products are also available in Trulieve-owned and operated locations in Florida and Arizona and will soon be available in Maryland.

"Trulieve is excited to expand our partnership with the iconic Wiz Khalifa as an exclusive partner to curate and promote his unique product line exclusively in his home state of Pennsylvania," said Kim Rivers, CEO of Trulieve. "As an artist, he has such a strong vision of how he wants to express himself. Together, we've created a line of products that offer best-in-class medical marijuana to Pennsylvania patients and represent the passion and creativity for which Wiz Khalifa is known."

SANTA CRUZ, Calif., Dec. 8, 2022 - PRESS RELEASE - SC Labs, a cannabis and hemp testing company, announced its plans to expand into Southern California–beginning with a new lab opening in Los Angeles.

The new, 12,000+ square foot facility, located in the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles, will conduct both R&D and compliance cannabis testing–similar to its Santa Cruz counterpart–providing faster turnaround times to process samples for customers south of Santa Barbara. The new lab will offer the full suite of California compliance testing (potency, pesticides, heavy metals, residual solvents, microbials, water activity, filth and foreign material) as well as terpene and shelf stability testing. By opening this new state-of-the-art lab, SC Labs will deliver added testing capacity and more resources for research and development.

Similar to SC's operations in Santa Cruz, the new lab will maintain the same technology stack (Laboratory Information Systems and the SC Client Services Portal) and chemometric reporting for customers conducting both Cannabinoid and Terpenoid assays. The L.A. facility will also provide stability testing to determine shelf life in February 2023.

"We are thrilled to bring more high-quality testing to a wider swath of the Golden State," said Jeff Journey, CEO of SC Labs. "With this expansion, we are doubling down on California as a leading market that we believe has the regulatory oversight to enforce proper testing requirements. We're excited to get to work in Southern California, supporting even more customers with the high-quality, accurate testing they need as this market continues to mature and grow."

"Our customers have been asking us to open a Southern California lab for years, and we're excited to finally deliver on that ask," added Jeff Gray, co-founder and chief innovation officer of SC Labs. "This new state of the art lab more than doubles our California testing capacity, enabling us to do more R&D, and more importantly, provides ample and excess testing capacity for all of our customers."

Combined U.S. medical and recreational cannabis sales are estimated to be upwards of $52.6 billion by 2026–and California is currently the largest legal cannabis market in the world. In regulated cannabis markets like California, products for sale are required to undergo a series of tests by a state-accredited lab to help ensure that products are safe to consume and accurately labeled. SC Labs is allowing its customers to meet those requirements and ultimately help them meet the demand in the market.

Russia has freed WNBA player Brittney Griner, who was sentenced to 9 years in prison on cannabis possession charges, as part of a prisoner exchange in which the U.S. released Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

“She’s safe, she’s on a plane, she’s on her way home,” President Joe Biden said Dec. 8 in a statement from the White House, according to the Associated Press.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also confirmed the exchange, the news outlet reported, saying in a statement Thursday that the swap occurred in Abu-Dhabi and that Bout has been flown home.

Bout, a former Soviet Army lieutenant colonel, was serving a 25-year sentence on charges that he conspired to sell tens of millions of dollars’ worth of weapons that U.S. officials said were intended for use against Americans, AP reported.

Griner was taken into custody by Russian authorities in February for allegedly carrying cannabis vape cartridges in her luggage at the Sheremetyevo International Airport, just north of Moscow.

Viola is adding edibles to its product lineup.

The Michigan-based operator is partnering with Puff Cannabis for the launch of its gummy edibles, with an in-store release event at Puff’s Madison Heights, Mich., location on Dec. 16. The edibles will also be available at Puff’s Hamtramck and Utica locations.

Beyond Michigan, Viola plans to expand its edibles offerings to Arizona, California, and Colorado in early 2023.

The edibles will be available in four different flavors—Auntie’s Punch, Big Apple Dreamin, Paradise Island, and Uptown Espresso—all of which were inspired by Viola Owner Al Harrington’s grandmother, the company’s namesake.

RELATED: Viola Spreads The Wealth

“We’ve been working strategically to shift our product offering to convenience items to fit the lifestyles of our consumers,” said Najee Tyler, director of marketing at Viola. “With the massive growth of the edibles industry and gummies leading the way, we wanted to offer the Viola community something they’ve been asking for for a while. We’re excited to finally be able to provide premium products everyone can enjoy.”

No matter the exact cause, from post-COVID economic volatility to the marked financial doldrums of cannabis stocks, there are signs support for the “legacy farmer” is on an upswing.

Legacy farmers are proving to be an enduring competition for the regulated and certified market. According to the 2021 International Cannabis Policy Study, about 43% of all American cannabis sales still go to the illicit market, although this figure varies greatly by state. Calculations based on total consumption and legal sales suggest that between 60% and 75% of the sales in California, for example, are not coming from the regulated legal sector of the industry but, rather, legacy farmers supplying the illicit market.

Outside of North America, this is also a regular discussion as reform goes global.

Who Are Legacy Farmers?

Within the context of the U.S., this term generally refers to those who have grown cannabis for several decades, often since the change in California state law to allow medical use.

Overseas, in Europe, Africa and Asia, the definitions and specifics differ by country and context, but generally end up meaning the same thing. Namely the term refers to a small, non-corporate, often family-run farming operation that has been passed down through generations even if not specifically focused on cannabis historically.

For this reason, it is interesting to understand how this movement is expanding internationally.

A group of four cannabis business entities and three individual owners in Southern California were issued $128 million in civil penalties Dec. 5 after admitting to illicit operations in court, according to a summary judgement ruling.

The ruling by Judge Stephen Pfahler in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, stems from 2019 and 2020 investigations conducted by state authorities in Canoga Park, Calif. The defendants admitted to engaging in unlicensed commercial manufacturing and distributor cannabis activity on 527 separate days, according to the court ruling.

Specifically, the investigations revealed that the unlicensed activity was tied to Vertical Bliss Inc., one of the four named entities, which had held licenses for commercial cannabis manufacturing and distribution in the state at that time, according to the California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC).

State authorities from DCC’s predecessors—the DCC was formed in July 2021 by consolidating three former agencies—revoked Vertical Bliss’ licenses “swiftly” following investigations in November 2019. At the time, the state’s Bureau of Cannabis Control and Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced a search of the unlicensed location in Canoga Park resulted in seizure of $21 million in illicit products, including 7,200 vape cartridges.

In September 2020, the Bureau and CDPH filed a complaint seeking civil penalties from Vertical Bliss. With that filing, the state regulatory bodies also announced that seized records allegedly documented Vertical Bliss’ production of more than 3.3 million Kushy Punch Inc. brand gummies during an 18-month period, with an estimated value of $64 million.

RELATED: California Dispensary Pulls Kushy Punch Products From Shelves

Vertically integrated multistate operator Ayr Wellness announced its intention to donate $100,000 to restorative justice initiatives as part of its second annual “12 Days of Giving” holiday donation campaign.

Ayr is donating $1.12 of every transaction made at its retail locations between Dec. 5 and Dec. 16 to Freedom Grow, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting prisoners with cannabis-related charges and their families through its “The Wish Program;” and to the Minorities for Medical Marijuana Project Clean Slate initiative, a program that provides record expungement to adults with select cannabis-related charges, according to a press release.

The company’s goal is to hit $100,000 in donations, according to the release.

“This marks Ayr’s second year of the program, which is poised to directly benefit the families of those who have been incarcerated for cannabis offenses,” said David Goubert, Ayr president. “We hope that this initiative will inspire an ecosystem of giving for our customers and employees, ultimately benefitting those negatively impacted by the War on Drugs, a core focus of our Changing Legacies pillar.”

Khari Edwards, head of corporate social responsibility at Ayr, said the company’s partnership with Freedom Grow allows them to “brighten up the holiday season for those who are often overlooked in discussions about the harmful effects of prohibition–the families and children of offenders, many of whom have to scramble to make ends meet while their loved one is away.

“Combining this with our support of Minorities for Medical Marijuana’s Project Clean Slate, which provides expungement and wrap-around services across the country, allows us to take a more holistic approach to advocacy this holiday season."

The New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) is adding a new qualifying condition to its medical cannabis program for the first time since June 2019–bringing the total to 29.

The NMDOH announced at the Medical Cannabis Advisory Board meeting Dec. 6 that it is adding anxiety disorder to the list of qualifying conditions for enrollment starting Jan. 1, 2023.

A petition requesting for anxiety disorder to be added as a qualifying condition was submitted to the board in March for consideration and was approved in November by David R. Scrase, Ph.D., Acting Cabinet Secretary for the DOH, according to a press release from the NMDOH.

Scrase wrote in his decision that anxiety disorder is a debilitating condition and that “even though patients may access cannabis without a medical cannabis card through the adult use program, by including anxiety disorder in the list of qualifying conditions, patients would have increased opportunity to discuss with their medical provider how cannabis can be used to alleviate the symptoms of their anxiety disorder.”

A full list of the state’s qualifying conditions can be viewed here.

The Ohio House Finance Committee heard an adult-use cannabis legalization bill Dec. 6, despite time running out in the current legislative session, which is set to adjourn Dec. 21.

Ohio Reps. Casey Weinstein, D-Hudson, and Terrence Upchurch, D-Cleveland, introduced House Bill 382 last year to allow adults 21 and older to purchase and consume cannabis, as well as grow a limited number of plants at home for personal use.

RELATED: Buckeye Duo Formally Files Adult-Use Cannabis Bill in Ohio

At Tuesday’s House Finance Committee hearing, Weinstein said legalizing adult-use cannabis in Ohio would increase public safety and boost the state’s economy, according to a local NBC 4 report.

“Our state is actively losing dollars to neighboring states with recreational programs and missing out on hundreds of millions of dollars in potential tax revenue,” Weinstein said, according to the news outlet.

The Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act’s chances of clearing the U.S. Senate are again fading as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell urges congressional leaders to remove the cannabis-related language from the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

The Kentucky Republican called on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to forego the SAFE Banking provisions, which would allow federally regulated financial institutions to work with state-legal cannabis businesses.

McConnell dismissed the banking-related language Dec. 6 as reform “in name only,” according to The Hill.

“House and Senate Democrats are still obstructing efforts to close out the NDAA by trying to jam in unrelated items with no relationship whatsoever to defense,” McConnell said on the Senate floor Tuesday, according to the news outlet. “We’re talking about a grab bag of miscellaneous pet priorities, like making our financial system more sympathetic to illegal drugs or permitting reform in name only that’s already failed to pass the Senate earlier this year.”

McConnell suggested that Democrats could have brought the SAFE Banking Act to the Senate floor earlier this year, The Hill reported, and said stripping its provisions from the NDAA will give the defense bill a better chance of passing Congress before the end of the year.

“My colleagues across the aisle need to cut their unrelated hostage-taking and put a bipartisan NDAA on the floor,” he said.

WAKEFIELD, Massachusetts, Dec. 7, 2022 - PRESS RELEASE - Curaleaf Holdings, Inc., announced a first-of-its-kind cannabis education partnership for its Grassroots brand with Ganjier, the Cannabis Sommelier Certification Program.

Similar to the Sommelier's role in the wine industry, the Ganjier is trained in the art, science and appreciation of cannabis craft, consumption, and connoisseurship, possessing a multidisciplinary knowledge and astute professionalism serving to raise the standard of excellence throughout the cannabis industry. Following the overwhelming response to Ganjier's third year of record enrollments, the 2023 edition of this groundbreaking cannabis sommelier certification will feature the first-ever partnership for cannabis education and training sessions by one of the largest, leading teams in the cannabis industry today.

Founded in Chicago in 2014, Grassroots was originally created to perfect the art and science of cannabis cultivation–making the Curaleaf team members working on the brand ideal candidates for Ganjier training. Meticulous attention to detail and a commitment to cannabis cultivation are core components of the Grassroots brand and Curaleaf company culture. That tradition continues with this announcement of the new partnership with Ganjier.

"Analogous to the wine Sommelier, beer Cicerone or cigar Catador, the Ganjier is a trained and certified master of cannabis products, cannabis assessment, and cannabis service," said Managing Director of Ganjier Derek Gilman. "By training people like Grassroots' team members and partners to understand cannabis products more deeply, they become true leaders and advocates for quality within the modern cannabis industry."

"We're proud of each and every team member embarking on this one-of-a-kind training program supporting our mission to serve, advance and respect the cannabis movement," said Curaleaf Chief People Officer Tyneeha Rivers. "Cannabis education is paramount for all of us at Curaleaf and this pilot program takes cannabis professionalism to the highest level." 

The Grassroots and Ganjier partnership is officially underway, with 100 leadership-nominated team members across all Curaleaf departments, along with external partners, chosen due to their passion and dedication to cannabis education. An additional 79 participants, including Curaleaf's executive roundtable participants and other Curaleaf corporate social responsibility "Rooted in Good" partners, will receive access to an online cannabis curriculum as part of Green Flower's new Social Equity in Cannabis program. Most participants have enrolled via an online-only curriculum–built, led, and taught by the renowned Ganjier council. Every participant received a welcome kit, which included a strain journal, as well as a terpene palate training kit and jewelers' loupe. Regular group study sessions are underway to align the cohort on the self-paced online curriculum.

On Dec. 10, the Emerald Cup Harvest Ball will welcome its first Scratch n Sniff packaging.

Humboldt Seed Company (HSC) collaborated with Calaveras County, Calif.-based craft producers One Straw Farm and Burr’s Place to bring the technology to cannabis consumers, said Benjamin Lind, HSC owner and chief science officer.

HSC creates the Scratch n Sniff ink using the actual terpenes extracted from the same batch of cannabis contained in the package, Lind said, adding that it solves the issue of consumers being unable to smell product prior to purchase.

Creating Scratch n Sniff ink from its own genetics, HSC has put Scratch n Sniff advertisements in nationally distributed magazines and applied the ink to their cannabis seed packs since the inception of California’s adult-use cannabis market in January 2018. 

HSC aims to create a richer consumer experience with Scratch n Sniff ink, which Lind said does not include any controlled substances.

“The cost associated with dedicating a portion of a cannabis crop to terpene extraction seemed to scare some of our potential collaborators away, but now with California’s cannabis prices tanking it made perfect sense to our long-time seed customers One Straw Farm and Burr’s Place,” Lind said.

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont announced plans Dec. 6 to clear the records of thousands of residents with low-level cannabis possession convictions.

The move represents a key component of Connecticut’s adult-use cannabis law, which Lamont signed in June 2021.

Records in roughly 44,000 cases will be fully or partially erased in January through an automatic erasure method, according to Lamont’s announcement.

“On Jan. 1, thousands of people in Connecticut will have low-level cannabis convictions automatically erased due to the cannabis legalization bill we enacted last year,” Lamont said in a public statement. “Especially as Connecticut employers seek to fill hundreds of thousands of job openings, an old conviction for low-level cannabis possession should not hold someone back from pursuing their career, housing, professional, and educational aspirations.”

How individuals are granted erasure of their records depends on when they received their conviction. According to Lamont’s announcement convictions will be handled in the following ways:

Hemp-derived THC edibles in Minnesota have been legal for adults 21 and older since July 1, but one manufacturer and two of its retail facilities may be going beyond what the law permits.

The Minnesota Board of Pharmacy filed a civil lawsuit Dec. 5 in Clay County District Court alleging that Moorhead-based Northland Vapor Co. and its dispensaries in Moorhead and Bemidji are in violation of potency limits. Under the law, an “edible cannabinoid product” cannot contain more than 5 milligrams of any hemp-derived THC in a single serving and no more than a total of 50 milligrams per package.

RELATED: Cannabis Edibles and Beverages Containing Hemp-Derived THC Now Legal in Minnesota

The lawsuit claims that officials from the Pharmacy Board and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found edibles from the manufacturer with 100 milligrams of THC per serving (20 times the legal dose) and packages containing 2,500 milligrams of THC (50 times what’s permitted) during a joint investigation Nov. 8. 

That investigation came after the FDA received complaints about “adverse events” associated with Northland Vapor’s “Death by Gummy Bears” delta-8 THC products, allegedly including one death, but the FDA has not determined that the products caused the adverse events, according to a news release from the Pharmacy Board.

“We’re working together with our state partners to protect the public from harmful products,” Dr. Janet Woodcock, FDA principal deputy commissioner, said about the joint investigation in the release.

The Massachusetts Department of Agriculture Resources (MDAR) changed its “Pesticide Use of Marijuana Policy” to allow the use of certain pesticides on cannabis plants if specific requirements are met.

When Massachusetts legalized adult-use cannabis in 2017 (following Question 4’s passage in the 2016 election), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “did not allow the use of a registered pesticide on cannabis or hemp because there were no products labeled for such use.” Therefore, Massachusetts prohibited the use of pesticides on cannabis or hemp, MDAR explained in a recent policy memo.

Following passage of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (the 2018 Farm Bill), which legalized hemp at the federal level, pesticide manufacturers amended pesticide labels to include hemp, and there are now EPA-registered pesticide products that include hemp, according to the policy memo.

The MDAR wrote in the memo, “MDAR understands that the difference between hemp and marijuana is a legal one and that both originate from the same plant and in many cases are being produced, manufactured, and used for the same purposes (i.e., topical, edible, smokable). Because hemp and marijuana are both cannabis and only distinguished through law by the THC level, MDAR will allow the use on hemp to extend to marijuana as well,” if all of the following conditions are met:

The policy change went into effect Nov. 30.

A 16-member task force in Virginia has recommended stricter rules on hemp-derived delta-8 THC products, suggesting that businesses selling the products should be required to apply for a license to do so.

With convenience stores and smoke shops selling delta-8 in the absence of regulated adult-use cannabis sales, the General Assembly created a task force earlier this year to study the issue, according to a Virginia Mercury report.

The task force has now issued a report to lawmakers to recommend policy changes to better regulate delta-8 THC products in the state.

In addition to requiring businesses selling the products to have a state-issued license, the report recommends harsher penalties for businesses that violate the rules, Virginia Mercury reported.

The task force also recommends a new approach for how Virginia regulates all types of cannabis, according to the news outlet, rather than the current situation with numerous agencies overseeing the industry.