MjLink Cannabis Business News and Press
NEW JERSEY and TORONTO, July 27, 2022 - PRESS RELEASE – TerrAscend Corp., a North American cannabis operator, announced the opening of The Apothecarium Lodi, the company’s third retail location in New Jersey and 27th overall. The dispensary began medical and adult-use sales yesterday.
“Built with [a] drive-thru, off of Route 17 and I-80, two of the busiest highways in New Jersey, we expect the Apothecarium Lodi to be a strong contributor to our growth,” said Jason Wild, executive chairman of TerrAscend. “We are excited to bring The Apothecarium’s elevated retail experiences, including the exclusive Cookies Corner shop-in-shop and the widest product assortment in the state, while continuing to build meaningful relationships with the local community.”
The 5,000 square-foot dispensary, located at 200 NJ-17, features a spacious showroom and interactive “bud bar," where shoppers can see and smell the product before purchase. Patients and consumers can order online or through the Apothecarium app to experience the dispensary drive-thru. The Apothecarium Lodi is located in one of the most populous regions of Northern New Jersey, 14 miles outside of Manhattan and adjacent to the iconic Satin Dolls “Bada Bing” Club, as featured on The Sopranos.
The Apothecarium Lodi joins Maplewood and Phillipsburg in carrying a large assortment of the highly sought-after Cookies, Gage and Kind Tree branded products and accessories, including pre-rolls, vapes, concentrates, and syringes, as well as Valhalla soft chewable lozenges, the company's premium California edibles brand.
In the coming month, all New Jersey Apothecarium dispensaries will capture the unique Cookies retail experience through its “Cookies Corners” concept, which offers branded accessories, flower, pre-rolls, and vapes of proprietary cultivars including Gary Payton, Georgia Pie, Apples and Bananas, The Soap, Doggy Bag, Pancakes, Jealousy, Laughing Gas and more.
To celebrate the opening of the dispensary, the Apothecarium will host a grand opening party on Saturday, August 13th. The company will offer an outdoor market-style event with joint and blunt rolling tutorials, tie-dying stations, games, raffles, giveaways, local food vendors, and donations to local organizations.
As Rhode Island gears to launch adult-use cannabis sales by Dec. 1, 2022, local leaders throughout the state are deliberating over whether they should put an opt-in referendum before their voters on the November ballot.
When Gov. Dan McKee signed the Rhode Island Cannabis Act on May 25, officially making Rhode Island the 19th state to legalize adult-use cannabis in the U.S., the approved legislation included a provision for municipal authority.
While the state’s nine medical cannabis dispensaries—dubbed compassion centers—as well as existing cultivators, manufacturers and testing facilities are grandfathered in and allowed to continue their current business practices, any city or town that does not currently host an existing operator can put an opt-in ballot question to its voters.
Under the signed legislation, that question must read: “Shall new cannabis related licenses for businesses involved in the cultivation, manufacture, laboratory testing and for the retail sale of adult recreational use cannabis be issued in the city (or town)?”
So far, a dozen municipalities have passed resolutions via their town councilors to include that question on November’s ballot, according to ABC-affiliate WLNE. Those 12 towns include:
Cumberland and Coventry, towns of roughly 35,000 residents, are the most populated among those 12.
Over the past 10 years, the startup nature of the cannabis industry has attracted the angel investor as a key source of early stage capital for emerging private cannabis companies. Although angel investors generally provide smaller amounts of capital than family office or fund investors, the role of the angel investor in the cannabis industry is critical. This article examines the angel investor in cannabis and how this type of investor has evolved.
An angel investor is typically a private individual who provides capital for a business startup that is seeking its first round of funding. This type of funding usually takes the form of equity or convertible debt and us considered the riskiest type of capital due to the very early stage nature of the companies they invest in.
The 12 Business Sectors of the Cannabis Industry—and Which Ones Attract Angel Investors
In November 2014, Viridian published the first cannabis industry report that identified the 12 business sectors of the cannabis industry, as shown below.
The five sectors that attracted angel investors were:
Consulting ServicesConsumption DevicesInfused ProductsMiscellaneous AncillarySoftware/MediaWhat are the factors that enables companies in these five sectors to attract angel investors?
Low Capex: Startup companies in these sectors require relatively low capital expenditures and as a result lower amounts of startup funding. Since angel investors generally provide lower amounts of capital compared to family offices or funds, these sectors are ripe for angel investment.No State or Federal License Requirements: These five sectors don’t require state or federal licenses which are very expensive and time consuming, and often require “at-risk” capital. This compares to sectors that do require complex licensing arrangements such as Cultivation & Retail and Biotech.Low Start-Up Costs: Companies in these five sectors have low start-up costs enabling angel investors to provide the necessary startup capital.“Mom and Pop” Businesses: Consulting companies, infused products companies, advertising companies are often started without large staffing or office requirements, lending themselves to angel investors.Public vs. Private Cannabis Companies and the Impact on Angel Investors
According to the Viridian Cannabis Deal Tracker, in 2021, public cannabis companies attracted 83% of all capital invested in the cannabis industry in 2021 vs. only 17% for private cannabis companies. This was the high-water mark for public companies since we began analyzing this in 2015. This meant that there were fewer opportunities for angel investors which by definition invest in early-stage private companies.
Michigan’s cannabis retailers recorded more than $497 million in adult-use sales during the second quarter of 2022, easily the highest-performing quarter on record since the recreational market launched in December 2019.
That figure represents a 32.7% quarter-over-quarter increase from first three months of the year.
In particular, April was a record retail month with nearly $168 million in adult-use sales, according to monthly reports from Michigan’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency. By comparison, adult-use sales averaged just more than $109 million per month in 2021.
But Michigan’s upward trend in overall sales has come despite falling prices for the average flower ounce.
In June 2022, the state’s average retail flower price dipped to $122.43 per ounce for adult-use cannabis—an all-time low. That’s an $87 dive (a 42% decrease) from what the average ounce of adult-use flower commanded in the same month of last year.
Going back even further, Michigan’s average adult-use retail flower price was $512.05 per ounce in January 2020, when the state’s recreational market was just getting going. By January 2021, it was $323.68 per ounce.
Timonium, Md. — PRESS RELEASE — Curio Wellness, a cGMP-certified, vertically integrated medical cannabis company and innovator of health and wellness products derived from cannabis, has announced the launch of two scientifically-developed product lines: GI by Curio and Move by Curio.
GI by Curio is a plant-powered collection designed to improve quality of life, offer accessible options for patients facing gut discomfort or symptoms such as bloating and cramps, and to help improve the body’s gut health. Leveraging advanced science and Curio’s proprietary patent pending pulse technology, this is the one of the first gut-focused, cannabis-derived therapeutic lines by a cannabis brand nationwide.
The GI by Curio collection includes:
Soothe Vape and Tincture: For patients experiencing nausea or upset stomach, quick delivery is essential. The vape and tincture allow for a faster onset since the cannabinoids bypass the digestive system.Stimulate Chew: The medicated chew was created to help patients who struggle with reduced or no appetite.Comfort Tablet: Specifically formulated to address chronic GI issues, the patent pending Comfort tablet doses CBG and low THC in multiple pulses released at different intervals.Move by Curio is the company’s first line of topical products designed to offer targeted relief for those with active lifestyles. The collection includes three treatments—a topical balm, transdermal balm and transdermal gel—that are unscented and non-greasy for optimal and targeted application.
“Curio’s commitment to continuous product research and innovation stems from our mission to develop targeted therapeutics that are safe, effective and reliable for patients seeking alternative, plant-based relief,” said Sandra Hutson, Vice President, Innovation at Curio Wellness. “GI and Move are two prime examples of how our clinical-based approach is helping to reimagine the way medicinal cannabis is delivered to patients who need it most.”
Cannabis sales are on the rise in Illinois as the state’s adult-use sales figures reach $1.5 billion.
Sales are up 50% from $1 billion in fiscal year 2021, according to a CBS News report, and the state has received $445.3 million in tax revenue this year, an increase from $297.7 million last year.
RELATED: Illinois Adult-Use Cannabis Sales Hit $2.8 Billion in First 2 1/2 Years
Illinois’ adult-use cannabis law, the Cannabis Regulation Tax Act, mandates that 25% of the tax revenue generated from adult-use cannabis sales must support economically disadvantaged communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs, the news outlet reported.
“Illinois has done more to put justice and equity at the forefront of this industry than any other state in the nation and has worked to ensure that communities hurt by the war on drugs have had the opportunity to participate,” Gov. JB Pritzker said, according to CBS. “The $1.5 billion in sales of adult-use cannabis in Illinois translates into significant tax revenue with a portion of every dollar spent being reinvested in communities that have suffered for decades.”
A new law took effect July 1 in Minnesota to allow the sale of cannabis edibles and beverages infused with hemp-derived THC, but some of the state’s cities are pumping the brakes as they develop local rules for the industry.
In the past month, Marshall, Robbinsdale and St. Joseph have approved moratoriums on sales, according to the Duluth News Tribune, while other cities, including Waite Park and Prior Lake, are considering bans as they weigh regulations to govern cannabis-infused food and drinks.
In addition, Stillwater enacted a one-year moratorium on all cannabis product sales in November 2021, the Duluth News Tribune reported.
“We have no regulations,” Steve Meister, a city council member in Marshall, told the news outlet. “We have no monitoring. We have no taxing. I worry about the people who are most at risk: the children, the young, the elderly people on multiple medications. Taking a timeout just to do a little research on the pros, the cons, the benefits, the risks and figuring out how we're going to deal with this not only in the city of Marshall, but the state, is a great idea.”
Under Minnesota’s new law, adults 21 and older can purchase “edible cannabinoid products” that contain no more than 5 milligrams of hemp-derived THC per serving and 50 milligrams per package, and no more than 0.3% THC by dry weight.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D., July 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- PRESS RELEASE -- Unity Rd., the national cannabis dispensary franchise from Item 9 Labs Corp., is opening South Dakota's first medical cannabis establishment on Wednesday, July 27 with local entrepreneurs, B.J. Olson and Adam Jorgensen. The new shop is located in the Sioux Falls suburb of Hartford at 404 West Opal Lane.
South Dakota natives and best buds, Jorgensen and Olson bring a combined 40-plus years of experience in wireless technology, retail and business entrepreneurship. After witnessing the power of medical cannabis, the duo wanted to share this with those in need in the local community by opening their own medical cannabis establishment with Unity Rd.
"Adam and I have dreamed of having our own business together for a very long time. We are true believers in the benefits of cannabis and knew this was always the path for us," said Olson. "We were very intentional in seeking out our partnership with Unity Rd. Even with our combined retail backgrounds, we knew we would need additional support and resources to navigate the complexities of the industry. Unity Rd. has been instrumental to our success in opening a medical cannabis establishment in South Dakota and we know they have our best interest at heart."
Unity Rd. is a collective of locally owned and operated cannabis shops with the mission to inspire confidence in the benefits of cannabis for all, while keeping the door to dispensary ownership open to everyday entrepreneurs.
From offering a curated cannabis experience that is focused on local patients to hiring local talent, the Hartford shop is engrained in its community and allows for a culture unique to the neighborhood to shine through. Patients can expect the highest quality medical cannabis products available, continuously evolving as the emerging market grows. The shop's approachable and welcoming team members have gone through a robust training program and will be consistently staying up to date on the latest industry trends and product knowledge. Focused on serving a consistent experience with an enlightening, education-first approach, the Hartford shop supports all patients who walk through their doors.
"Being born and raised here, we see ourselves as a true community partner," said Jorgensen. "We are proud that the process of building our establishment from the ground up was through local Sioux Falls or South Dakota businesses, and nearly half of our team are Hartford residents themselves. B.J. and I are dedicated to educating patient card holders on our medical cannabis products as well as becoming even more involved in our community."
Washington D.C. - PRESS RELEASE - On Monday, Minority Cannabis Business Association (MCBA) announced that Amber Littlejohn will be transitioning out of the role as executive director to pursue new opportunities in the cannabis industry. MCBA Board President Kaliko Castille will serve as interim executive director.
During Littlejohn’s time at MCBA she was responsible for leading the organization’s federal policy work, starting off as policy director. She was later hired on as executive director where she authored the MCBA’s National Equity Report & Map, a info-packed social equity resource tool that was released earlier this year, which gives a comprehensive overview of state level legalization policies and their effect on equity.
“MCBA is grateful for the years of service that Amber has given to the cause of a more equitable cannabis industry and the concrete progress on policy she has helped secure on the state and federal level on behalf of Black and brown cannabis entrepreneurs,” said Kaliko Castille, president of MCBA.
Last year, under Littlejohn’s leadership, MCBA submitted nearly 30 pages of comments for the recently released Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA) with many of the organization’s suggestions being included in the latest draft. She was also instrumental in establishing SAFE4Equity, an education campaign in collaboration with Congressman Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., and cannabis advocacy organizations to support the passage of the Secure and Fair Enforcement Act (SAFE) Banking Act.
“I am grateful for my time with MCBA and look forward to continuing to work with the MCBA community to end prohibition and create an equitable cannabis industry,” Littlejohn said.
MIAMI, July 26, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PRESS RELEASE -- Ayr Wellness Inc., a vertically integrated U.S. multi-state cannabis operator, today announced the opening of its 49th Florida dispensary, located in Clearwater, a city northwest of Tampa Bay and St. Petersburg.
The new dispensary, located centrally in Pinellas County at 314 S Belcher Road, boasts 6,100+ square feet of retail space. Product offerings include Ayr’s full line of concentrates, edibles, vapes, and a growing selection of high-quality flower, including Kynd whole premium flower and Later Days whole flower.
“The opening of our Clearwater store continues our rapid expansion in Florida, where we’ve opened 49 stores,” said Jonathan Sandelman, founder, chairman and CEO of Ayr. “Since acquiring Liberty Health Sciences in 2021, we prioritized opening stores in prime locations across the state in an effort to make high-quality cannabis more accessible to patients across Florida.”
In February 2021, Ayr purchased Florida-based Liberty Health Sciences, which included a footprint of 31 dispensaries at closing. Since then, the company has opened 18 additional locations. In addition to the newly opened Clearwater location, the company has three other dispensaries in Pinellas County, the most densely populated county in Florida. Ayr is also in the process of relocating its Dania Beach dispensary, which is expected to re-open in the coming weeks.
In 2021, Ayr relocated its U.S. headquarters from New York City to Miami, underscoring the company’s commitment to the region. Florida has more than 738,000 patients enrolled in its medical marijuana program as of July 22, 2022, per Florida OMMU. Florida’s cannabis market ranks fourth in the nation by total legal cannabis sales, per BDSA, and generated over $1.8 billion in medical cannabis revenue in 2021. BDSA expects Florida’s legal cannabis market to generate $3.4 billion per year by 2026.
Pests are everywhere, and they happen to love the crop that your team is growing. Whether you’re working indoors or outdoors, a host of tiny antagonists await your plants.
So, what’s a cannabis grower to do?
One of the great fronts against mite pests is the world of biological control agents. These predator mites fight back against the problem. This process is called integrated pest management or “plant protection,” as Kansas State University entomologist Dr. Raymond Cloud puts it in this interview.
We spoke with Cloyd ahead of his research-based panel discussion at Cannabis Conference 2022 to learn more about how to combat pesky pests.
Eric Sandy: What drew you to study insects in the first place?
Raymond Cloyd: I've always been interested in biology and the sciences throughout my life. Around high school, I really was fascinated by the diversity of insects, the number of them and just all the wonders of insects. I liked the different morphology and their evolution processes. It's very fascinating dealing with a group of organisms that is by far the largest on the planet.
The big cannabis news out of Europe this year has been Germany planning to legalize for adult use, but Spain and Switzerland are making recent waves by improving access to medical cannabis. A recent European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) report estimated 22.2 million adults in the European Union (7% of the population) had consumed cannabis in the last year. Notably, almost every European Union country has legislated medical cannabis and has or is working on a regulatory framework for medical cannabis use. EU member announcements of positive regulatory changes for cannabis keep a continual lit fire under individual countries’ health agencies and politicians to do what is suitable for their population.
Cannabis Smoke Signals Show Loosening European Laws
Some countries like Germany have made access easier for patients. In their 2019 cannabis reform, Germany gave the freedom to doctors to choose the proper usages of cannabis for their patients. The reform had a positive effect, and the total patient count is nearing 200,000 for 2022, with an estimated 800,000 total medical candidates who could still benefit from cannabis therapies. Of course, the expected adult-use access has garnered all the recent news and will dwarf the medical numbers. But most feel the EU will regulate access as a narcotic with similar quality standards, which will not follow the U.S.-style adult-use markets.
Conversely, countries like the UK still make it difficult for patients to access cannabis. The UK laws require the General Practitioner (GP) to try at least two different therapies, and cannabis becomes a prescription of last resort should those therapies fail. The general indications for usage are epilepsy, cancer, multiple sclerosis, and clinically studied indications. An estimated 60% of EU patients use cannabis for various pain symptoms, so the exclusion of pain as an indication is holding back the access that is much needed. At an estimated 15,000 patients in the UK, there is much to be done to improve access for the country’s patients. And that goes for other European countries still restricting access for patients with widely accepted indications like pain, gastrointestinal issues and psychological indications.
Switzerland and Spain Increasingly Prioritize Patients
Switzerland has followed Germany’s lead and has given doctors the freedom to prescribe cannabis to their patients. No longer will doctors need to seek approval from the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) before prescribing cannabis to patients. Still, Switzerland only allows therapies high in CBD with less than 1% THC. The city of Zurich, Switzerland, has started a pilot for adult-use cannabis by beginning a trial with 10 social clubs, where they will monitor via the University of Zurich the effects of such an adult-use program on the members and community. More cities in Switzerland are also looking to implement adult use-style social clubs, which further broaden the discussions of Switzerland’s overall plans for cannabis.
Switzerland has been clear they are seeking proper regulation to protect the population by opening access to combat the unregulated market cannabis consumers are forced to go to. With a population of roughly 8.7 million, these decisive steps continue an upward trend toward legalization in Switzerland.
NEW YORK and TORONTO, July 22, 2022 /CNW/ - TerrAscend Corp. ("TerrAscend" or the "Company") (CSE: TER) (OTCQX: TRSSF), a leading North American cannabis operator, today announced with Cookies, a globally recognized cannabis and lifestyle brand, the opening of New Jersey's first-ever "Cookies Corner" at The Apothecarium location in Maplewood. Additional Cookies Corners are scheduled to launch in Lodi and Phillipsburg in the near future. All three retail spaces will offer exclusive Cookies products and accessories through an immersive, branded shopping experience.
TerrAscend first announced its licensing agreement with Cookies in August 2021, allowing the Company to cultivate and manufacture Cookies products in New Jersey. In March 2022, TerrAscend completed the acquisition of Gage, a leading vertically-integrated operator in Michigan, which extended its exclusive licensing agreement with Cookies until 2026.
Cookies is a globally renowned brand known for its game-changing genetics and a diverse selection of over 70 cannabis cultivars and 2,000 products. Cookies Corners is a modern retail experience enabling customers to fully immerse themselves with the unique Cookies brand. Features available at the Cookies Corners include bud bars, branded wall displays, branded merchandise and soon-to-launch vapes and pre-rolls.
"New Jersey rec is off to a strong start, and we are thrilled to add the exclusive Cookies Corners shopping experience to our dispensaries, " said Jason Wild, executive chairman of TerrAscend. "The addition of Cookies Corners demonstrates our commitment to offering New Jersey consumers an elevated cannabis retail experience."
"We are incredibly excited to be opening up our Cookies Corner in the Maplewood Apothecarium. New Jersey has really shown up for Cookies products since they have been in market, and I can't wait to show customers our in-store Cookies experience," said Berner, Co-Founder and CEO of Cookies.
To celebrate the openings of Cookies Corners, the Company will host a series of upcoming events at its Maplewood, Lodi and Phillipsburg Apothecarium locations. For more information about product availability and store hours, please visit The Apothecarium website.
BOCA RATON, Florida, July 25, 2022 - PRESS RELEASE - Jushi Holdings Inc., a vertically integrated, multi-state cannabis operator, announced the opening of its third medical cannabis dispensary in Virginia and 34th retail location nationwide. Providing an unparalleled in-store and digital retail experience via beyond-hello.com, Beyond Hello Alexandria will begin serving medical cannabis patients and registered agents at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, July 27.
Located at 5902 Richmond Hwy. (Rt. 1) and directly off the Capital Beltway (I-495), the new 9,600 square-foot store features 14 traditional and nine express patient checkouts and over 50 parking spots with easy in-and-out access to improve patient accessibility. Jushi designed Beyond Hello Alexandria to serve a growing patient population while offering convenient transaction processing through the company's online reservation platform – beyond-hello.com.
Housed in the former Great American Steak & Buffet building, Beyond Hello Alexandria will broaden patient access to Jushi's suite of high-quality medical cannabis brands, including The Bank, The Lab, Sèchè, and Tasteology.
"We're thrilled to open up our new dispensary in Alexandria – a town famous for its nationally recognized landmarks, rich history, vibrant arts, pristine waterfront and charming restaurants and boutiques," said Jim Cacioppo, CEO, chairman and founder of Jushi. "Beyond Hello Alexandria captures the best of our thinking and combines our digital and physical retail experiences with the flexibility and convenience of our express checkout services. In addition, Beyond Hello Alexandria is strategically positioned near the 'Beltway' with easy highway access, and is conveniently located within a 15-minute drive to approximately 400,000 people."
Cacioppo continued, "In the coming months, we look forward to furthering our mission to improve patient access to top-quality medical cannabis products in Northern Virginia. As previously reported, we are on track to open our much-anticipated Fairfax and Arlington locations by the end of the year. These two new locations, along with our dispensaries in Manassas, Sterling and Alexandria, position us to safely and securely meet growing demand while supporting the company's long-term growth."
Joining the company's Beyond Hello Manassas and Beyond Hello Sterling locations, Beyond Hello Alexandria will serve patients and registered agents Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Illinois officials have finally awarded long-awaited adult-use cannabis dispensary licenses to the applicants selected in a series of licensing lotteries that were held last summer.
Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) issued 149 conditional licenses July 22 to business that qualify as Social Equity Applicants as defined in the state’s Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, according to a press release from the governor’s office.
A full list of the awardees can be found here.
Forty-one percent of the awardees are majority Black-owned businesses, 7% are majority white-owned and 4% are majority Latino-owned, while 38% of the awardees did not disclose the ethnicity of their owners, according to the release.
“Illinois is leading the way in addressing the War on Drugs as no state has before, and dispensary ownership that reflects our state’s diversity is a product of that commitment,” Pritzker said in a public statement. “These licenses represent a significant step toward accountability for the decades of injustice preceding cannabis legalization. Illinois will continue to deliver on the promises of putting equity at the forefront of this process.”
A study published in the JAMA Network Open July 20 discovered that most topical CBD products are inaccurately labeled and make therapeutic claims which are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
From March to June, John Hopkins Medicine studied 105 topical CBD products (lotions, creams, and patches) from online and brick-and-mortar stores. “Forty-five products from 29 companies were purchased from 7 different stores in [Baltimore, Md., in July and August 2020], and 60 products from 39 companies were purchased online,” according to the study.
According to a press release from Hopkins Medicine, the “products were tested using a technology called gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to identify the actual amount of CBD and THC they contained.”
Of the 105 products, 89 advertised the total amount of CBD in milligrams on the label, 16 contained less CBD than marketed, 52 had more CBD, and only 21 were adequately labeled, according to the study.
“Misleading labels can result in people using poorly regulated and expensive CBD products instead of FDA-approved products that are established as safe and effective for a given health condition,” Tory Spindle, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the study’s lead author said in the release.
According to the study, products purchased in-store averaged 21% more CBD than advertised, and online products averaged 10% more.
Lawmakers have introduced a new cannabis research bill in Congress that could receive a House vote as soon as this week.
The Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act, introduced by U.S. Reps. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Andy Harris, R-Md., largely mirrors the Senate’s Cannabidiol and Marihuana Research Expansion Act, which Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, filed in March, according to a Benzinga report.
The U.S. Senate passed the Cannabidiol and Marihuana Research Expansion Act March 24, and the new version of the proposal in the House builds on a separate cannabis research bill in that chamber called the Medical Marijuana Research Act, which the House approved in April.
The Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act would expand scientific research on cannabis, although it does not include a provision previously included in the Medical Marijuana Research Act that would have allowed researchers to access cannabis from state-legal dispensaries for their studies, Benzinga reported.
The legislation would ease the process for researchers to apply for approval to study cannabis, according to the news outlet, and would require the U.S. attorney general to either approve a cannabis research application or request additional information from the applicant.
Parked outside Green Sage in Oakland, Calif., are nine diesel generators supplying energy to the cultivation facility. According to a lawsuit filed by neighbors, the generators are spiking the area with air pollution. With a local population comprising mostly Black and Latino residents, the suit frames this conflict as environmental racism, demanding the diesel generators be shut down.
The East Oakland neighbors, backed by the Environmental Policy Project, claim that this diesel engine exhaust problem has been transpiring for the past two years—24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“[Green Sage’s] unpermitted, semi-truck size generators have emitted tons of cancer-causing diesel particulate matter and other pollutants that are inhaled deeply into the lungs of residents of the facility’s live/workspace,” according to the lawsuit. “Residents of the densely populated community of color located just east of the facility’s generators are also exposed to the facility’s pollution. The generators’ emissions are not mitigated by any pollution limits or control technology because Defendant failed to obtain air quality permits before operating the generators.”
Read the full civil complaint below.
Alistair Monroe, board member of the Environmental Policy Project and a neighbor of Green Sage’s cultivation facility, wrote in a July 11 court filing that black soot is now visible along the external walls of the building.
“The fumes from the generators permeate my and other residents’ homes,” Monroe wrote. “The fumes are so powerful that they cause me and the other residents to become nauseous and otherwise physically ill. I am also concerned about other short-term and long-term health risks I am suffering as a result of breathing in these toxic fumes.”
The North American corporate cannabis sector has seen better days. Pandemic-galvanized sales surges are now mostly in the rearview mirror, and markets in large U.S. states and Canada have matured at a rapid clip. Despite the introduction of a new decriminalization bill, a lack of meaningful federal movement makes it feel like the industry is stuck at a crossroads.
As we move into the second half of the year, let’s look at how things have gone for major U.S. and Canadian cannabis companies in 2022 and what we can expect going forward. For expert insight, Cannabis Business Times spoke to senior cannabis banking executives and advocacy groups.
Revenue & Profits Slow, Stocks Get Slaughtered
Quarterly earnings reports and press releases showed a consistent theme: While revenues remain healthy and new markets continue to expand, growth is slowing down. Some companies are even experiencing downward trends in sales and revenue.
Canopy Growth, one of Canada’s biggest producers, reported net revenue of $112 million in fiscal Q4 2022, a 25% decrease compared to Q4 2021’s $148.4 million. For the 2022 fiscal year, Canopy’s revenue dropped 5% compared to 2021. Its recreational and medical sales numbers are both down double-digit percentages from last year. In investor presentations released earlier this year, Canopy blamed these dips on factors like “lower production output, price compression in the Canadian recreational business” and “higher third-party shipping, distribution and warehouse costs.”
American cannabis companies haven’t been spared from slowdowns. Massachusetts-based MSO Curaleaf drew more than $1 billion in revenue for the first time in 2021, good for 93% growth year-over-year. But in Q1 2022, the company reported quarter-over-quarter losses in revenue, profit and EBITDA.
Curaleaf raised $425 million in a December 2021 private placement of senior secured notes, but as of March 31, 2022 had $243 million in cash against $584 million in debt. Both figures are regressions from 2021’s $315 million in cash against $340 million in debt.
It took more than a year for Sen. Chuck Schumer and two of his Democratic colleagues to formally file a federal cannabis legalization bill, yet the majority leader indicated he still doesn’t have the support to pass it.
The Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA)—which Schumer formally filed July 21, along with Sens. Ron Wyden, Ore., and Cory Booker, N.J.— is a 296-page bill that aims to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act; federally tax and regulate the plant; and empower states to create their own cannabis laws.
RELATED: Schumer and Company File Federal Cannabis Legalization Bill
The legislation is 133 pages longer than the discussion draft of the bill that Schumer and company first unveiled in July 2021. The current version of the bill—as filed this week—comes after the Senate trio considered more than 1,800 public comments and worked with the chairs of 10-plus Senate committees to put forth a proposal they hope gains traction.
Yet Schumer did not offer any assurances that the legislation is as popular among his Senate colleagues as cannabis legalization is among the American public when he addressed the upper chamber following the bill’s introduction on Thursday.
Although, he did say he’s aiming to “get something done this year.” That comment comes as 68% of Americans support full cannabis legalization, according to a recent Gallup Poll.
