MjLink Cannabis Business News and Press

Name: Hughes Pope

On March 9, New York State’s Cannabis Control Board (CCB) and Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) published draft regulations that spell out the eligibility criteria and application process and requirements to obtain a conditional adult-use retail dispensary license. These regulations are now subject to a 60-day public comment under New York’s State Administrative Procedure Act (SAPA) before being adopted into law. In total, these regulations require an application to include 34 separate pieces of information, as well as “any additional information requested by [OCM].”

Additionally, the proposed regulations require the applicant to “attest” to 16 conditions, including that the applicant “has entered into a labor peace agreement with a bona fide labor organization actively engaged in representing employees in the cannabis industry and understands that the maintenance of such a labor peace agreement shall be an ongoing material condition of the license.” To further protect employees, the proposed rule requires “each party to the agreement has signed such agreement prior to the license being granted.” Future retail dispensary licensees will be subject to the same requirements as these impending conditional licensees.

So, what does that mean for applicants?

Those seeking an adult-use retail license in New York must first identify a suitable local cannabis employee union as counterparty and then negotiate and execute a legally binding LPA with it. These are no small feats for entrepreneurs without labor law knowledge.

What is a Labor Peace Agreement?

Generally, a Labor Peace Agreement (LPA) is an agreement or contract between the employer and a labor union, where they both waive certain rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) related to union organizing, such as a union pledging not to strike, in exchange for certain conditions. In New York State and City, LPAs are already required for hotels, convention centers, food and retail establishments at covered development projects, government human services contracts, and food, retail, news/gifts, and duty-free concession stands.

Other labor peace agreement concessions can include card check (employer recognition of the union based on signed cards instead of secret ballot election results); neutrality (employer refraining from expressing negative opinions about a union and intervening in an organizing campaign); and workplace access (an employer allows outside union organizers).

Denver approved the first social equity hospitality license for a cannabis consumption lounge, city officials announced March 21.

Tetra Lounge operated as a private social club during the past few years but closed down after a new licensing mandate went into effect last year, NBC-affiliate News 9 reported.

Tetra’s license approval this week—which now awaits the successful completion of required inspections before the business can start operating—comes nearly a year after city council members overhauled the local cannabis industry by passing two measures last April.

One of those measures set forth a path to license cannabis consumption facilities, such as bars and clubs, where customers could bring cannabis to consume, or the facilities could sell small amounts of cannabis for consumption. That measure also opened the door for the city to implement cannabis tour buses and shuttles.

RELATED: Cannabis Delivery Legislation Passed in Denver

Before that overhaul, Denver allowed people to use cannabis at private clubs without a licensing system. Now, the city requires establishments to acquire licenses to offer on-site consumption.

The Mississippi Cannabis Trade Association is trying to ensure medical cannabis access for all those who need it—even patients in cities that have opted out of the state’s medical cannabis program.

The industry group is holding signature drives in local municipalities that have opted out of hosting medical cannabis businesses to give voters a chance to opt back in, according to a local WAPT report.

Mississippi voters approved medical cannabis legalization by more than a two-thirds majority in the 2020 election, but the state’s Supreme Court overturned the measure in May 2021 due to a signature-gathering technicality.

Sen. Kevin Blackwell and Rep. Lee Yancey then fought to restore the will of their constituents through legislation to legalize medical cannabis. The bill cleared the Legislature in January and Gov. Tate Reeves signed it into law in February.

The law allows Mississippi’s counties and municipalities to opt out of hosting medical cannabis cultivators, processors and dispensaries within three months of the bill being signed into law, but residents can petition for a special election to overturn their city’s decision.

Cannabis dispensary employees in Manistee, Mich., a Lake Michigan coast city in the northwest part of the state, unionized earlier this month with the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 876.

The organized workers at the Authentic 231 retail facility in Manistee operate under vertically integrated cannabis company Left Coast Holdings (Heritage Farms), which owns multiple dispensaries throughout the state.

Left Coast ownership initiated the unionization, according to a UFCW press release.

Local 876 President Dan Pedersen said the Authentic 231 workers represent the first cannabis dispensary in the state to organize.

“UFCW 876 looks forward to building a strong relationship with both owners and workers of Authentic 231, in providing job guarantees and protections to this rapidly growing industry,” Pedersen said in the release. “It is UFCW 876’s goal this effort serves as a model for sustaining unionizing efforts, by building stronger communities with stronger jobs.”

Left Coast ownership served as the facilitator in seeking a union for its employees, as well as the development of a Labor Peace Agreement to extend the upcoming bargaining agreement for all locations, according to UFCW.

TORONTO, March 21, 2022 – PRESS RELEASE – Cronos Group Inc., an innovative global cannabinoid company, announced that its board of directors has appointed Mike Gorenstein as chairman, president, and CEO, effective March 21, 2022, in connection with Kurt Schmidt’s retirement.

“Mike is a visionary leader who knows Cronos better than anyone,” said Jim Rudyk, lead independent director of Cronos. “He is uniquely positioned to oversee the implementation of our strategic and operational realignment initiatives as we create a highly differentiated branded cannabinoid platform to drive long-term success. A key element of our plan is being ready for entry into the U.S. cannabis market once federally permitted—with Mike leading that charge every step of the way.”

Rudyk added, “On behalf of the board of directors, I would like to thank Kurt for his stewardship through the challenges of the pandemic and broader industry headwinds. We are grateful for his contributions to Cronos and wish him all the best in his retirement.”

Gorenstein previously served as chairman, president and CEO of Cronos until September 2020, when he transitioned to the executive chairman role. In addition, he is a co-founder and passive member of Gotham Green Partners.

“I am excited to return as CEO and accelerate progress by leveraging the innovative and daring approach that Cronos was built on,” Gorenstein said. “We positioned Cronos to have the best tools to succeed in this market with our evolving asset-light supply chain, an organically growing brand in Canada, differentiated IP with a focus on rare cannabinoids, and one of the strongest balance sheets in the industry. Now it is time to use those tools to deliver meaningful shareholder value.”

Gorenstein’s immediate areas of focus include:

Although demand for adult-use cannabis soared throughout 2021 in Michigan, falling retail prices have left some business executives uncertain of their future in an increasingly competitive market.

From flower, vapes, edibles and a host of other products, Michigan dispensaries sold $124.6 million of adult-use cannabis in January 2022, representing an 84.8% increase from the $67.4 million sold in January 2021.

But during that same one-year timeframe, the average retail flower price dipped from $323.68 to $152.74 per ounce at adult-use dispensaries, a 52.8% price decrease, according to Michigan’s Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA).

The percent decrease for medical flower was nearly the same. The average retail price per ounce for medical flower dipped from $252.04 in January 2021 to $119.64 in January 2022, representing a 52.5% decrease.

Michigan was the eighth state to launch adult-use cannabis sales in the U.S. when licensed dispensaries began opening their doors to customers in December 2019. During that inaugural month of adult-use sales, the average retail price of flower was $516.21 per ounce, according to information from Metrc, the state’s seed-to-sale tracking provider.

Cannabis business executives from Buchanan and Niles—cities in the southwestern part of the state—remain skeptical of those falling prices making any kind of meaningful rebound in the near future, the South Bend Tribune reported.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed five medical cannabis bills into law March 18 to create what she calls a “safe and responsible” medical cannabis program that is focused on patients, according to the Associated Press.

South Dakota voters approved ballot measures in 2020 to legalize both medical and adult-use cannabis in the state, although the South Dakota Supreme Court overturned the adult-use law last fall.

Noem fought this year for several changes to the state’s medical cannabis program, AP reported, and home grow provisions have been a particularly hot topic for the Legislature.

RELATED: South Dakota Lawmakers Divided on Allowing Home Cultivation in Medical Cannabis Program

The state’s voter-approved medical cannabis law placed no maximum cap on the number of plants patients could grow at home, but after some debate, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 24, compromise legislation that limits patients to four plants—two mature and two immature.

As more than 20 chief executives from top cannabis companies spent last week in Washington, D.C., urging U.S. lawmakers to pass the SAFE Banking Act, the inaction of those lawmakers was felt on the other side of the country.

A male worker at the World of Weed dispensary in Tacoma, Wash., was fatally shot during an attempted robbery just after 10 p.m. March 19, according to multiple local news sources.

Police officers attempted to save the worker’s life, but he died on scene from a gunshot wound, according NBC-affiliate King 5 News and CBS-affiliate KIRO 7 News. That was the third fatal incident involving a dispensary robbery in less than a week in the western part of the state, King 5 reported.

On March 16, two suspects robbed a Green Theory dispensary at gunpoint in a suburban neighborhood of Bellevue, Wash., and fled the scene with cash and products as a third suspect drove a getaway vehicle. Police chased the suspects through Renton and into South Seattle, where they took two people into custody, but the third person ran and hid in the shed of a nearby home, Fox 13 Seattle reported.

A Seattle SWAT officer gave a verbal warning for the third suspect, a 19-year-old, to show his hands, but that suspect fired at officers, who returned fire, the news outlet reported. The suspect was hit and died at the scene.

“Any decision to pursue a suspect is highly scrutinized, and we balance the threat posed by the suspects with the risk the pursuit poses to the community,” Bellevue Police Chief Wendell Shirley told Fox 13. “In this case, these suspects were armed and extremely dangerous, and we needed to get them into custody to prevent further harm.”

While Virginia lawmakers could not agree on a path to commercial adult-use cannabis sales this year, the General Assembly passed legislation to restrict the sale of certain THC products in the state.

Senate Bill 591, which is now headed to Gov. Glenn Youngkin, permits only the state’s licensed cannabis retailers to sell products containing more than 0.3% or 0.25 mg of THC per serving, as well as products containing more than 1 mg of THC per package, according to a Virginia Mercury report.

The restrictions apply to any naturally occurring or synthetic version of THC, including delta-8, the news outlet reported.

RELATED: Virginia Lawmakers Look to Regulate the Sale of Cannabinoid Products Containing THC

Virginia legalized adult-use cannabis last year, and while the law’s personal possession and home grow provisions took effect July 1, 2021, the state has yet to launch commercial adult-use sales.

One of the largest cannabis companies in the world by market cap is seeking out its first medical cannabis retail facility in Florida.

Las Vegas-based Planet 13 Holdings, a vertically integrated multistate operator, announced March 17 its plans to set up a medical dispensary in the town of Orange Park, a suburb on Jacksonville’s south side.

The planned location is on a busy retail corridor next to a Walmart Superstore and near the scenic St. John’s River, a popular destination for tourists and local residents, according to the company.

“We’ve been heads down working hard on our Florida expansion,” Planet 13 co-CEO Bob Groesbeck said in a press release. “We are progressing well on locating and working on both cultivation and retail under a dual track plan to bring both online at the same time. This is the first signed lease of our initial six planned neighborhood style stores all focused on major population centers and heavily trafficked retail locations.”

The move will expand upon Planet 13’s Nevada footprint, which includes its Las Vegas dispensary that became the largest in the world at 112,000 square feet when it opened in 2018, and it’s 55,000-square-foot retail facility in Orange County, Calif. The company has multiple “superstores” in each state as well as cultivation, production and distribution licenses.

The pathway to its Florida expansion opened when Planet 13 entered into an agreement with a subsidiary of Harvest Health & Recreation Inc. in September to acquire a license for $55 million to operate as a Medical Marijuana Treatment Center (MMTC) in the state. Regulated by the Florida Department of Health, MMTCs are the only businesses authorized to dispense medical cannabis to qualified patients and caregivers in the state.

WASHINGTON, March 18, 2022 – PRESS RELEASE – Reps. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and Barbara Lee, D-Calif., released the following statements after the introduction of their bipartisan resolution instructing the United Nations to deschedule cannabis from Schedule I of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, and treat cannabis as a commodity similar to other agricultural commodities: 

“Many countries would deschedule cannabis and reevaluate how cannabis is classified if the U.N. did so. Cannabis has been shown to be effective in the treatment of numerous medical conditions such as epilepsy, PTSD, cancer pain relief, nausea, and chronic and terminal illnesses. Descheduling at the U.N. would support global research into how cannabis can treat a wide range of ailments and conditions,” Rep. Nancy Mace said. 

“Scientific research has shown that cannabis has wide-ranging positive effects on chronic illness treatment. The classification of cannabis as a Schedule I drug is outdated, out of touch, and should be addressed not only in the United States, but around the world. The United States should be leading the way on cannabis reform on the global stage, and descheduling at the United Nations would be a great start,” Rep. Barbara Lee said.

California Sen. Scott Wiener has introduced legislation to help the state’s struggling cannabis industry, which has been burdened by high taxes that have resulted in commercial prices that cannot compete with the state’s still-thriving illicit market.

RELATED: ‘Surviving is Thriving’ in California’s Cannabis Market

Senate Bill 1336 establishes a carryforward tax credit for licensed cannabis dispensaries equal to the amount of the following business expenses, according to an announcement from Wiener’s office:

Sponsored by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Western States Council, S.B. 1336 “recognizes the difficulties that commercial cannabis retailers face, and provides a hand to a unique and important part of California’s economy,” according to Wiener’s announcement.

"UFCW members were the leading force behind the push for Proposition 64 in 2016 because we knew that a legal cannabis industry in California would provide workers with high road jobs that provided living wages, good benefits and an opportunity to save for their future," Amber Baur, executive director for the UFCW Western States Council, said in a public statement. “S.B. 1336 aligns with that long-held vision by ensuring legal cannabis employers invest in their workers and provide safety for consumers and communities. We are proud to sponsor S.B. 1336 because we know California can continue to lead the nation's cannabis industry into the future and support struggling businesses.”

Minnesota’s seed-to-sale tracking system for its medical cannabis industry will be provided by Metrc, a Florida-based company that has become somewhat synonymous with regulatory compliance in many state markets.

Metrc’s system offers a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag model, where each individual plant and product is traceable through patented RFID technology, allowing for data tracking for each plant, inventory control and cultivation management. The system helps ensure accurate reporting of sales as well as product safety for consumers.

The company’s agreement with Minnesota is its 19th government contract nationwide, it announced March 17.

Deploying an accurate inventory management system also helps to combat the illicit market, according to Metrc.

“As the Minnesota Medical Cannabis Program continues to evolve, we are excited to bring our state-of-the-art track-and-trace platform, which will enable state regulators to conveniently and securely track, store and retrieve millions of data points from operators around the state,” Metrc CEO Jeff Wells said in a statement. “Metrc is eager to work side-by-side with the Department of Health and partner with existing operators within the state to create an effective and well-regulated medical marketplace that Minnesota’s regulators, patients and operators can truly trust.”

The announcement comes on the heels of a new law allowing patients enrolled in Minnesota’s medical cannabis program to access flower, which went into effect March 1. Before, the state’s dispensaries could only sell medical cannabis in pill, oil and topical form.

Arizona Speaker of the House Russell “Rusty” Bowers made an unsuccessful push this year to establish a new regulatory body to oversee the state’s cannabis market, which is currently governed by the Department of Health Services.

Bowers, a Republican from Mesa, introduced House Bill 2828 Jan. 10 to create a new department to assume all “authority, powers, duties, and responsibilities of the Department of Health Services relating to the regulation of marijuana,” according to Phoenix New Times.

Bowers intended the legislation to take effect next year, the news outlet reported, but it missed a March 10 deadline for a first reading, which has blocked the bill from being assigned to a committee.

In addition, the last day for the Arizona House to consider any bill was Feb. 18, Phoenix New Times reported. The legislation would now require special permission from the Rules Committee in order to advance.

Bowers has been a vocal opponent of adult-use cannabis legalization, according to Phoenix New Times. He opposed Proposition 205, a failed 2016 ballot initiative that aimed to legalize adult-use cannabis, as well as Prop. 207, which passed in 2020 to legalize adult-use cannabis in the state.

The ball is back in the Senate’s court for medical cannabis in Kentucky.

House lawmakers cruised to passage of legislation that aims to make Kentucky the 38th state to legalize medical cannabis during a 59-34 vote on March 17.

The legislation, House Bill 136, would allow doctors to prescribe medical cannabis to patients by Jan. 1, 2023, for six qualifying conditions: cancer, chronic pain, epilepsy/seizure disorder, multiple sclerosis, chronic nausea or cyclical vomiting syndrome, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to the bill’s text.

The proposal would prohibit smoking as a form of use, and home cultivation would not be allowed.

In particular, PTSD was added as a floor amendment by Democratic Rep. Rachel Roberts, who was one of three Kentucky lawmakers who introduced an adult-use cannabis proposal last month.

RELATED: Kentucky Lawmakers Introduce Adult-Use Bill: LETT’s Grow

Kema Ogden became Nevada’s first Black female dispensary owner in 2014 when she co-founded Global Harmony LLC, the parent company of Top Notch The Health Center (Top Notch THC), in her hometown of Las Vegas.

Through guiding the company to receive medical and adult-use retail licenses, as well as a cultivation license, Ogden has learned a lot about operating a cannabis business, which she says is full of surprises.

“So much is surprising in this industry,” Ogden tells Cannabis Business Times. “I was a business owner before, … and it’s unlike any business you could imagine. And that’s why I feel like, even though you might have business experience, it doesn’t necessarily equate to you being successful at this because it’s so different.”

Ogden, who also serves as Board Secretary for Washington, D.C.-based Doctors for Cannabis Regulation and is on the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board’s Cannabis Advisory Commission, owned a gym and operated a nonprofit in the health and wellness space before her foray into the cannabis industry.

When Nevada legalized medical cannabis through a voter-approved initiative in 2000, Ogden’s passion for health and wellness inspired her to learn as much about cannabis and its medical benefits as she could.

Cannabis flower produced and sold by one of Colorado’s largest vertically integrated retailers was recalled for potential unsafe levels of total yeast and mold.

The recalled cultivar, Gelato Cake, was sold as a pre-weighed half ounce at LivWell Enlightened Health dispensaries across the state between the approximate dates of Dec. 30, 2021, and Jan. 20, 2022, according to a health and safety advisory issued March 11 by Colorado’s Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED) and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

The harvest batch number for the recalled product is: GELCAK#1F35B10/18/21.0252

“Consumers who have these affected products in their possession should destroy them or return them to the retail store from which they were purchased for proper disposal,” the advisory reads. “Consumers who experience adverse health effects from consuming the product should seek medical attention immediately and report the event to the Marijuana Enforcement Division by submitting a MED Reporting Form.

LivWell has 21 dispensaries throughout Colorado, 19 of which offer adult-use cannabis, Westword reported.

A LivWell executive said an investigation leading to the recall stemmed from a customer’s inquiry, according to the news outlet.

Brittney Griner, a U.S. national team basketball player, will be detained in Russia until May, according to an NBC News report.

Griner, a center for the Phoenix Mercury, has played in Russia for the last seven off seasons, the news outlet reported. She was taken into custody last month for allegedly carrying cannabis vape cartridges in her luggage at the Sheremetyevo airport, near Moscow.

RELATED: Top US Basketball Player Detained in Russia for Cannabis

“The court granted the petition of the investigation and extended the term of detention of U.S. citizen [Griner] until May 19,” TASS, a Russian state-owned news agency, reported, citing the Khimiki Court of the Moscow Region.

Griner’s alleged offense could carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, according to NBC.

Jushi is now a vertically integrated operator in Nevada, thanks to the closing of its acquisition of The Apothecarium, a Las Vegas dispensary. This marks the fourth state in which Jushi has consolidated a vertically integrated business. 

The dispensary buy will be paired with Jushi’s earlier acquisition of Franklin Bioscience NV, which holds cultivation, processing and distribution licenses.

“We are excited to add Apothecarium Nevada to our growing retail network, marking our first Nevada dispensary, located off the iconic Las Vegas strip,” CEO Jim Cacioppo said in a public statement. “This acquisition, along with the previously announced NuLeaf, Inc. acquisition, which is expected to close early second quarter of 2022, represents a major step forward in executing our strategic growth plans in Nevada. We look forward to unlocking strategic retail and wholesale opportunities in this market, including expanding access to our in-house, high-quality brands and products with our newly cemented vertically integrated model.”

Jushi’s Q4 and full-year 2021 financial results will be shared via conference call on March 24.