MjLink Cannabis Business News and Press

A bill to limit the number of medical cannabis testing facilities to two license holders in West Virginia took one of the stranger paths to defeat.

While the vast majority of proposed bills never become law, House Bill 4627 had overwhelming support in both chambers of the West Virginia Legislature. The legislation aimed to 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.”

RELATED: West Virginia House Clears Bill for Two-Lab Cannabis Monopoly

House members approved the proposal, 67-33, on Feb. 24, and Senate lawmakers voted, 30-3, in favor of the bill on March 12.

All signs pointed to final passage.

But a last-minute amendment by the House to change the bill’s title derailed the process. Delegates voted, 71-25, to amend the title on March 12, but the Senate ran out of time to approve that change before the Legislature adjourned later that day for the year.

The Louisiana Legislature is considering multiple bills this year that would expand the state’s medical cannabis program, which began serving patients in 2019.

Proposed legislation would increase the number of cultivation and pharmacy licenses in the state and allow nurse practitioners to recommend medical cannabis to patients, among other provisions, according to a WVUE report.

Louisiana’s medical cannabis program is currently one of the most expensive in the country for patients, the news outlet reported, due to the state only licensing two cultivators.

“It definitely causes some issues with supply,” Jeff Schmidtke, executive director of BioSciences Louisiana, told WVUE. “It also causes some issue with contingency. What is the backup? What is the population supposed to do when an entire harvest fails, either through failing tests, or spoilage, or contamination?”

Louisiana’s two licensed cultivators, Southern University and LSU, have partnered with Ilera Holistic Healthcare and Good Day Farm to grow medical cannabis for the state’s patients.

Medical cannabis legalization is back on the table in Kansas.

Senate Bill 560, the Medical Marijuana Regulation Act, was introduced March 11 in the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee and is sponsored by Sen. Robert Olson, a Republican who serves as the vice chair of the committee.

The legislation seeks to regulate the cultivation, processing, distribution and sale of medical cannabis and includes more than 20 qualifying conditions for potential patients. Some of those conditions include Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, epilepsy, fibromyalgia, glaucoma, hepatitis C, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, sickle cell anemia, Tourette’s syndrome and traumatic brain injury.

The reform effort comes two months after a House-passed medical cannabis bill stalled in the Senate, with leadership in the upper chamber canceling planned hearings on the legislation and re-referring it to another committee, The Kansas City Star reported.

Under the new bill, the smoking, combustion or vaporization of medical cannabis would be prohibited. According to S.B. 560’s text, the following forms of medical cannabis may be dispensed: oils, tinctures, plant material, edibles, patches, or any other form approved by the secretary of revenue. Plant material would have a 35% THC cap in its final dispensed form.

While the maximum supply that may be purchased by a patient or caregiver would be 3 ounces of dried flower or an equivalent in a 30-day period, there would be exceptions “from any such limitation upon submission of a written certification from two independent physicians that there are compelling reasons for the patient or caregiver to purchase greater quantities of medical marijuana,” according to the legislation.

WAKEFIELD, Mass., March 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- PRESS RELEASE -- Curaleaf Holdings, Inc., an international provider of consumer products in cannabis, today announced the opening of its newest location in Tamarac, Flora. Curaleaf Tamarac is the company's 45th location in Florida and the second in Broward County.

Located at 6899 N University Drive, Curaleaf Tamarac will expand medical cannabis access in the western half of the state's second most-populated county. Patients can choose from a wide variety of high-quality products including Select Nano Bites, Select Squeeze, Select Bites as well as the company's proprietary gravity-fed vape pod, Cliq by Select. Last week, Select's first solventless product, Select Live Rosin vapes began rolling out across the state. Curaleaf first began serving Broward County in 2018 through its Deerfield Beach location, however this new location is Curaleaf's first location in West Broward County.

Curaleaf continues to scale its operations in the largest medical market in the U.S. Using a tailored retail approach rooted in patient education and advocacy, the company has served nearly 300,000 patients through its 45 dispensaries across Florida. Curaleaf's recent momentum has doubled its Florida market share over the last year.

"We are excited to deepen our roots in the Sunshine State and serve even more patients in Broward County," said Matt Darin, president of Curaleaf US. "Our team is grateful for the continued support of Florida's medical cannabis community as we offer convenient and accessible patient experiences through our growing retail presence."

To celebrate the grand opening of Curaleaf Tamarac, the company will offer half-priced products and double rewards points beginning Friday, April 1 through Sunday, April 3. Prizes and gifts with purchases will also be offered on Friday, April 1.

Talley Wettlaufer, vice president of retail for multistate cannabis operator Curaleaf, says she was one of the few people who tried to convince a recruiter that she wasn’t the right fit for her current role.

“I got an email from a recruiter on LinkedIn, just saying, ‘Hey, would you talk to us?’” Wettlaufer says. “And I said, ‘Sure, I’ll have a conversation.’ I was really excited about the opportunity [with Curaleaf ]—such growth, such evolution. It was really a time to create something and to take my familiar retail experiences and lessons from that and put it into a new industry that really hadn’t been defined. That said, I was like, ‘Are you sure you want me? Are you sure you think I’m the right candidate?’”

Wettlaufer, in fact, was the right candidate. She has over two decades of expertise in global merchandising, retail expansion, and profit loss and management, and previously held roles with J. Crew, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Petco. She moved to California shortly after the state launched legal adult-use sales in 2018 and says “it’s been an amazing journey since then.”

Here, Wettlaufer reflects on the customer experience, evolving retail trends, and the industry’s biggest challenges and opportunities this year.

Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for style, length and clarity.

After nearly five years serving as the first executive director of the Los Angeles Department of Cannabis Regulation (DCR), Cat Packer is stepping down from the head regulator position of California’s largest city.  

As the department’s executive director, Packer advised Los Angeles officials on cannabis law, policy and regulation, and she oversaw the city’s licensed commercial cannabis market.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti appointed Packer to the position in August 2017, after city voters approved the local regulation and taxation of adult-use cannabis earlier that year.

Commenting on her departure in a social media post on March 9, Garcetti said, “When we established DCR, we knew we needed a fierce leader who would not shy away from controversy associated with this responsibility. Cat was that leader.”

Outspoken in her role, Packer publicly criticized the Los Angeles City Council for leaving DCR understaffed and underfunded while the department was tasked with overseeing one of the largest cannabis markets in the world, POLITCO reported.

Specifically, Packer helped navigate the department through the rollout of the city’s Social Equity Program, which opened the application process for retail licenses in September 2019, after the California Cannabis Equity Act of 2018 and the Budget Act of 2019 appropriated state funding, include $7.8 million to Los Angeles, to help local jurisdictions develop and operate cannabis equity programs.

When Canada’s legal cannabis market launched in 2018, Canadians were legally permitted to grow up to four plants at home for personal use—but not in Quebec, where the province’s Cannabis Regulation Act prohibits home cultivation.

Now, the Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to weigh the constitutionality of Quebec’s law, according to a Global News report.

Janick Murray-Hall challenged Quebec’s ban on home cultivation, which the province’s Superior Court declared unconstitutional in 2019 when it ruled that the law fell under federal jurisdiction, the news outlet reported.

The decision was then overturned in 2021 by the Quebec Court of Appeal, sending Murray-Hall to the Supreme Court, according to Global News.

A date has not yet been set for the hearing.

New York grabbed national headlines when state officials announced March 9 that they will issue the state’s first adult-use cannabis dispensary licenses to applicants with cannabis-related convictions.

The following day, Gov. Kathy Hochul provided more details on the state’s plans to prioritize those most impacted by the war on drugs in the adult-use cannabis licensing process.

In a March 10 announcement, Hochul unveiled the “Seeding Opportunity Initiative,” which aims to “position individuals with prior cannabis-related criminal offenses to make the first adult-use cannabis sales with products grown by New York farmers,” according to a press release from her office.

The plan will allow the state to launch adult-use sales before the end of the year, the press release said, while ensuring support for social equity applicants and investing in the communities most disproportionately impacted by the enforcement of cannabis prohibition.

“New York State is making history, launching a first-of-its-kind approach to the cannabis industry that takes a major step forward in righting the wrongs of the past,” Hochul said in a public statement. “The regulations advanced by the Cannabis Control Board today will prioritize local farmers and entrepreneurs, creating jobs and opportunity for communities that have been left out and left behind. I'm proud New York will be a national model for the safe, equitable and inclusive industry we are now building.”

The majority of Delaware House lawmakers supported an adult-use cannabis bill during a floor vote March 10, but the legislation was defeated without the supermajority approval it needed.

Sponsored by Democratic Rep. Ed Osienski, House Bill 305 aimed to legalize the possession of up to 1 ounce of cannabis for adults 21 and older, promote equity and inclusion, and reinvest a portion of tax revenue into disproportionately impacted communities through a Justice Reinvestment Fund.

The bill also aimed to require regulators to issue up to 30 cannabis retail licenses within 16 months of its effective date.

House lawmakers voted, 23-14, almost entirely along party lines Thursday, with 23 Democrats casting yeses, and 13 Republicans and one Democrat casing no votes. House Speaker Peter Schwartzkopf was the lone Democrat in opposition.

The bill needed a three-fifths majority (25 votes) to pass in the 41-member chamber. Two Democrats did not cast votes—had they both voted yes, the measure would have passed.

The legislation was the first adult-use cannabis proposal to reach the House floor since a similar bill failed in 2018, the Delaware News Journal reported.

Fear of the law for those seeking the medicinal value of cannabis is perhaps no greater than in Kentucky, despite 90% of state’s residents supporting legalization.

One of 13 states remaining to legalize the plant for medical purposes, Kentucky lawmakers offered hope to reform on March 10, when the House Judiciary Committee voted, 15-1, in a near unanimous decision to advance House Bill 136.

The legislation would allow doctors to prescribe medical cannabis for four qualifying conditions: multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, epilepsy and nausea, the latter with a focus on providing access for cancer patients. It would prohibit smoking as a form of use.

Democratic Rep. Rachel Roberts proposed an amendment for the House floor to consider that would add post-traumatic stress disorder to that list.

Roberts 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

For Casey O’Neill, owner and operator of HappyDay Farms, a ban on direct-to-consumer sales under California’s adult-use cannabis regulations was the first of many blows to small farmers operating in the state’s regulated marketplace—and the blows just kept coming.

That’s why O’Neill, along with 19 other Mendocino County-based cannabis growers, have come together to launch MendocinoCannabis.Shop, an online sales and delivery platform that allows the farmers to sell their small-batch, craft cannabis products directly to Sacramento and Butte County residents.

RELATED: Cannabis with a Conscience: New Delivery Service Connects Sacramento & Butte County Consumers to Sustainable Mendocino Farmers

Products purchased on the platform, which launched March 7, provide 90% return of the retail price back to the farmer, after applicable taxes are paid.

The farms participating in the MendocinoCannabis.Shop platform are members of the Mendocino Cannabis Alliance (MCA), a cannabis trade association that provides guidance to small, legacy cannabis operators whom O’Neill says are struggling to stay afloat in the wholesale marketplace.

Some Connecticut vendors are being a little too ambitious with their cannabis handouts, or at least that’s the position of a proposed bill taking aim at those putting a bow on the product.

Connecticut lawmakers passed adult-use legalization during a special session in June 2021 via Senate Bill 1201, which, in addition to allowing adults 21 and older to possess up to 1.5 ounces of cannabis flower or an equivalent amount of concentrate in public, allows adults to “gift” cannabis to each other, according to advocacy group Marijuana Policy Project.

But as the state’s forthcoming retail market gets its ducks in a row ahead of a commercial sales launch (perhaps as soon as this spring), gifting cannabis in one Connecticut town has drawn the attention of state lawmakers.

Earlier this year, shoppers in Hamden were enticed by novelty art and clothing vendors who were also handing out cannabis at the High Bazaar festival, The Connecticut Mirror reported.

“We appreciate that gifting will go on between people in the privacy of their homes,” Rep. Mike D’Agostino, a Democrat who represents Hamden, told the newspaper. “An event that’s organized, that rents space and is really a market just violates the entire intent of the statute that we put in place last year.”

Now Connecticut lawmakers are considering legislation, House Bill 5329, an act concerning cannabis transfers, advertisements and recommendations by the state’s social equity council. Specifically, H.B. 5329 would impose up to a $10,000 fine and one year of incarceration against those who violate cannabis gifting provisions, the Mirror reported.

Indoor cannabis cultivation consumes a lot of energy, to put it mildly. This basic fact means that sustainable business practices and mindful energy conservation go a long way to limiting a company’s carbon footprint. Increasingly, companies are prioritizing that work by building out specific roles or even departments to manage goals and oversee implementation of new strategies.

Elizabeth “Libby” Lee is the environmental health and safety manager at Veritas Fine Cannabis in Colorado. She has brought to the company a strong passion for drawing down wasteful habits and single-use products. And she’s done this through goal-setting and clear communication—within Veritas, but also with the broader industry at large. 

Here, Lee shares her perspective on sustainable business practices in the cannabis space—and how we all might set goals to improve our environmental standing.

Eric Sandy: How did you get into the cannabis industry?

Elizabeth Lee: I graduated in 2017 from American University in Washington, D.C., and I had actually never visited Colorado, so I decided to venture out and come move here. I had an environmental studies degree, so I felt that I could find a job within that realm. I decided to attend a cannabis sustainability happy hour, and I met a few people who worked in the industry. From there, I started working in a dispensary, and I moved up from there—they were a grow, as well. So, I got to experience a smaller aspect of the cannabis industry. From there, I decided that I wanted to see the back of house a little bit more. I ventured out and became interested in Veritas, and put in an application. I started at Veritas in March 2020 as a packager and began to show what my skills were—but also my passion and my interest in incorporating environmental health and safety sustainability into the cannabis industry.

ES: Could you define that term, “sustainability,” just in terms of what it means to you or what it means to the company?

New York officials offered more details on their plans to address social equity in the state’s forthcoming adult-use cannabis market March 9, when they announced that the state will issue its first adult-use dispensary licenses to applicants with cannabis-related convictions.

Those affected by the war on drugs will get access to the first 100 to 200 cannabis retail licenses in the state, according to the Associated Press.

Some of these initial licenses will be awarded to nonprofits or businesses led by someone with a prior cannabis-related conviction, the news outlet reported, while others will go to applicants with a parent, legal guardian, child or spouse who has been convicted of a cannabis-related offense.

Convictions must have taken place before March 31, 2021, when former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the state’s adult-use cannabis legalization bill into law, AP reported.

RELATED: How to Win a Cannabis License in New York: 4 Tips for Success

South Dakota lawmakers, who have been divided on allowing home cultivation in the state’s medical cannabis program, have reached a compromise that is now headed to Gov. Kristi Noem’s desk, according to a Mitchell Republic report.

The state’s current medical cannabis law, which voters approved in the November 2020 election, allows patients to grow three or more plants at home, but the new deal reached by legislators would limit patients to four plants, two of which can be mature, Mitchell Republic reported.

The four-plant limit comes from recommendations from a legislative conference committee of three lawmakers from the House and three from the Senate who voted 4-2 on March 9 to approve the new cap, according to the news outlet.

“It's a compromise, if you will,” said Rep. Fred Deutsch (R-Florence), prior to the vote.

A study committee spent last summer reviewing the medical cannabis law approved by voters and ultimately recommended that the Legislature altogether ban patients from growing cannabis at home.

Washington, D.C., residents will have to ride on without access to commercial cannabis sales for at least another year.

Despite the district’s voters approving adult-use cannabis via Initiative 71 in the November 2014 election, a rider was introduced by Maryland U.S. Rep. Andy Harris the following year, which stripped the district’s power to regulate a retail industry within its roughly 68-square-mile borders. Commonly referred to as the Harris rider, the provision that blocks the district from taxing and regulating cannabis sales has been in place ever since.

While there were hopes among district officials and industry advocates that a Democratic-controlled U.S. Congress would strip that provision this year, that wasn’t the case. Congress retained the rider in the $1.5 trillion omnibus spending package, House Resolution 2741, which it unveiled March 9.

Since the District of Columbia is not a state, Congress retains oversight on the city’s laws and can restrict how its officials use local funds.

But certain elected officials in the district were not so thrilled about the rider retention, The Washington Post reported.

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, a Democrat who has introduced legislation to legalize cannabis sales in the district, told the news outlet that Congress “has set up for the district, with this rider, a public safety problem. I can’t be strong enough about this.”

PRESS RELEASE - Following years of successfully reselling Kwazar Sprayers, Advancing Alternatives is assuming the role of Kwazar’s U.S Distributor for its Garden Sprayer Line. A smooth transition is promised from all parties.

Kwazar Corporation is one of the leading plastics processors and manufacturer of sprayers in Poland. Its line of high-quality Garden Sprayers exceed the expectations of gardening professionals and enthusiasts for work in the garden, greenhouse, flowerbeds and household. The garden sprayers have capacities from 0.5l to 15l, are designed for protective and care works, and are designed in accordance with these four principles: Durability, Safety, Comfort, and Innovation.

For over 20 years, Advancing Alternatives has been serving the North American commercial greenhouse and horticulture industries. Its specialties include Touchscreen Environmental Controls, Rack & Pinion Motors, Curtain Motors, Natural Ventilation, and Heating. The company's innovative rolling, thermally sealed, natural ventilation curtain systems and associated products complement any horticultural/agricultural structure. As the needs of growers and farmers have grown and changed, so has Advancing Alternatives. Today, as always, the company's offerings are being developed, expanded, and advanced to new applications so it can be exceedingly responsive to its valued customers.

WAKEFIELD, Mass., March 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- PRESS RELEASE -- Curaleaf Holdings, Inc., an international provider of consumer products in cannabis, today launched Select Live Rosin, the company's first line of solventless extracts, to patients across Florida. The products will initially launch at 12 Curaleaf locations and will continue to expand statewide by April 7.

Select Live Rosin builds upon the brand's existing collection of premium oil products, including Elite, Elite Live and Essentials, and is formulated for experienced cannabis consumers looking for more flavorful, true-to-flower experiences. The products feature an aromatic, pure cannabis flavor created through the company's live harvesting, flash-freezing and gentle solventless extraction processes that preserve the natural integrity of each strain's terpenes and cannabinoids. Curaleaf's proprietary water-based extraction process eliminates the waste and inefficiencies associated with live rosin manufacturing. This scalable technology allows Curaleaf to offer Select Live Rosin vapes and concentrates at a more accessible price point for patients seeking premium, true-to-flower experiences.

"We are proud to expand our product offerings in Florida to serve our patients' increasingly sophisticated preferences," said Matt Darin, president of Curaleaf US. "Curaleaf's R&D strategy is rooted in delivering novel and exceptional customer experiences, and introducing affordably priced live rosin products along with high-quality vape hardware not only reimagines what is possible for the Company, but for the industry at large."

Select Live Rosin vapes and concentrates will be available in Florida this month and will be followed by Select X Bites in the coming weeks. For more information on product availability, please visit https://selectcannabis.com/find-us.

JACKSON,Miss., March 10, 2022 – PRESS RELEASE – Kelly G. Williams, an attorney,entrepreneur and mother, has launched Kelly's Green, a medical cannabis companydedicated to providing expertly cultivated medicinal products andpatient-centered service to the people of Mississippi.

Withthe recent passage of the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act, Williams and theKelly's Green team are ready to work with providers, caregivers anddispensaries to give pain relief options to patients across the Magnolia state.

"I'mexcited today to introduce you to Kelly's Green. We are a patient-centeredservice medical marijuana company," Williams said. "We're the onlycompany that's been fiercely fighting for Mississippi patients from the verybeginning. I made the first financial contribution to Initiative 65, my familyand I gathered signatures for a year, and I attended campaign meetings.

“Asthe only company who's been fighting with Mississippians from the verybeginning, Kelly's Green is driven by the same heart and soul, kindness andcompassion, humanity and commitment to Mississippians that drove Initiative 65.That service to Mississippians continues with Kelly's Green."

Asa woman with business and legal experience, Williams has strong personal tiesto both the state of Mississippi and the patients and caregivers who willbenefit from medicinal cannabis.

"I'vedone legal work with thousands of families and children all over the state, andthis work has taught me that every human being has inherent worth. Every humanbeing deserves to pursue relief from pain. When my father died from Alzheimer'sdisease in 2018, I found myself wishing he had more options for treatment andpain relief," Williams said. "Also, when my own niece was diagnosedwith Ewing's sarcoma, my eyes were opened to the intensity and senselessness ofher pain and suffering. I knew I had to do something to help my niece and otherpatients like her obtain the pain relief they deserve."

TORONTO, March 9, 2022 – PRESS RELEASE – TerrAscend Corp., a North American cannabis operator, and Gage Growth Corp., a cannabis brand and operator in Michigan, announced they intend to close the previously announced acquisition of Gage by TerrAscend by way of a court-approved plan of arrangement under the Canada Business Corporations Act (the "transaction") on March 10, 2022, subject to satisfaction or waiver of all remaining closing conditions.

Upon completion of the transaction, TerrAscend will have an expanded footprint with owned and managed operations in California, Michigan, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Canada, including seven cultivation and processing facilities and 25 operating dispensaries serving medical and adult-use cannabis markets in the U.S. and Canada.

"This is a defining moment for TerrAscend as we combine two leading vertically integrated operators with proven cultivation and manufacturing expertise, deep portfolios of proprietary flower strains, and top-selling brands across our core markets," said Jason Wild, executive chairman of TerrAscend. "I look forward to working with the talented Gage team as we integrate and align our cultivation, retail, and operational practices to continue providing our patients and customers with best-in-class product offerings and retail experiences."

"We are thrilled to join forces with TerrAscend to create one of North America's most prominent cannabis companies," Gage CEO Fabian Monaco said. "With our shared core philosophies and complementary areas of expertise, we can't wait to execute on our collective vision."

Key Transaction Highlights and Benefits

The transaction is anticipated to result in the following benefits: