MjLink Cannabis Business News and Press
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has included an adult-use cannabis legalization proposal in his state budget that calls for a tax on adult-use sales and funding for a new Cannabis Management Office, grants for business owners and education programs, according to the Duluth News Tribune.
The proposal, put forth in collaboration with Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, also includes provisions that would expunge nonviolent, cannabis-related convictions, the news outlet reported.
Walz and Flanagan said during a Jan. 26 news conference on the budget proposal that cannabis prohibition has not worked for Minnesota, according to the Duluth News Tribune, and that the state should instead try to reap its economic benefits and free up law enforcement to focus on violent crime.
Adult-use legalization in the state faces strong opposition not only in the Minnesota Legislature, the news outlet reported, but also from a statewide coalition of groups including the Insurance Federation of Minnesota, the Minnesota Catholic Conference, and the state trucking and police associations. These organizations have announced the formation of the Minnesotans Against Marijuana Legalization.
Walz has said in the past that he would sign an adult-use legalization bill into law should one land on his desk. The Minnesota House approved adult-use legislation last year, and the bill is still active, although House Speaker Melissa Hortman told the Duluth News Tribune that she does not plan to hold additional hearings on the measure this year. Senate Majority Leader Jeremy Miller has said he opposes the bill, according to the news outlet.
A pair of Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin reintroduced a medical cannabis legalization bill in Madison Jan. 26.
Sen. Mary Felzkowski and Rep. Patrick Snyder’s legislation is identical to a bill Felzkowski filed last year, according to an AP News report.
The latest proposal from Felzkowski and Snyder would create a new state commission to regulate medical cannabis in Wisconsin. Physicians who earn a certification from the commission would be able to recommend cannabis to their patients, according to AP News.
Patients could then access medical cannabis in liquid or oil form, which could be dissolved in alcohol or in a topical formulation, the news outlet reported. Inhalants would be prohibited under the legislation, according to AP News.
The bill also levies a 10% state excise tax on wholesale cannabis.
The South Carolina Senate addressed a proposed medical cannabis legalization bill this week. The Compassionate Care Act is, on its face, a fairly conservative example of medical cannabis legislation, one that would prohibit dried flower sales, possession and consumption.
The bill has been filed with the state Legislature for more than a year now.
State Sen. Tom Davis, a Republican from Beaufort, in the southern part of South Carolina, has been advocating for medical cannabis reform for much of his tenure. He is sponsoring the bill and leading the Legislature’s efforts to debate the issue openly.
“What I'm trying to do is let doctors do what they think is in their patient's best interest. What is so radical about that?” Davis said on Wednesday. “What's radical is, is that we're letting law enforcement and politicians tell doctors what's in their patient's best interest. That's what's ludicrous!"
CBD products have been legal in South Carolina since 2014, but the merits of a licensed, regulated medical cannabis market remain hotly contested.
The South Carolina House has not yet taken up the bill for consideration. The state Legislature’s session ends in early May, however, providing a tight deadline at this point for Davis’s bill.
On Wednesday, the California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) issued a product recall for Claybourne Co.’s “Head Banger” flower sold between Nov. 2, 2021, and Jan. 26, 2022. Those packaged units were reportedly contaminated with Aspergillus niger, otherwise known as black mold.
The DCC determined this contamination via independent testing. The UID number for the affected products is "1A406030000326B000094476," and the batch number is "28090621HB."
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A Delaware House committee has given the green light to an adult-use cannabis legalization bill.
House Bill 305, a modified version of last year’s adult-use legislation, House Bill 150, cleared the Health & Human Development Committee Jan. 26, according to a WDEL.com report.
RELATED: Delaware Lawmaker Files New Adult-Use Cannabis Legalization Bill
H.B. 305 would create a legal framework for the sale and possession of cannabis in the state, as well as a business licensing structure. Adult-use cannabis would be regulated similarly to alcohol under the legislation, WDEL.com reported, with adults 21 and older able to purchase up to one ounce at a time.
The bill would create up to 30 retail licenses within 16 months of the legislation being signed into law, according to the news outlet.
EUREKA, Calif., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- PRESS RELEASE -- Papa & Barkley, a leading brand and manufacturer of THC topicals, edibles and concentrates in California, and CBD products nationally, today announced that Guy Rocourt has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer, effective Feb. 1, 2022. Rocourt has served as Papa & Barkley's Co-founder and Chief Product Officer since 2015. In this new role, Rocourt will lead the company's expansion into additional THC markets in California and beyond.
(Editor's note: Guy Rocourt is a member of the Cannabis Conference 2022 advisory board.)
RELATED: Beyond the Show: Guy Rocourt
As President and Chief Product Officer, Rocourt led the development and launch of Papa & Barkley's best-selling product lines, including Releaf topicals, Releaf Gummies, the Sleep Releaf Collection and Papa's Select solventless living extracts –which has won the Emerald Cup every year since 2018.
"I've dedicated my career to unlocking the power of cannabis and developing products that improve people's lives," said Rocourt. "I look forward to leading Papa & Barkley as we focus more on THC markets in California and other states and bring new customers into our fold. It's a privilege to work with such a solid team of changemakers, and I can't wait to see what we can accomplish together."
The world’s second-largest cannabis market shows early indications that its retail industry experienced a 50% year-over-year (YoY) growth in 2021.
Although December figures have yet to be tallied, Canada’s cannabis sales are on pace to eclipse CA$3.9 billion in 2021, casting a monster shadow on its CA$2.6 billion in sales from 2020, according to federal data agency Statistics Canada.
The record year was backboned by eight straight months of market growth, from March through October, before a slight dip in November. The momentum came during the third full year of Canada’s adult-use cannabis market, which launched in Oct. 2018.
Despite the overall sales growth, Canadian cannabis retail prices declined across all product categories throughout 2021, including as much as 35% for some categories, according to market data from Seattle-based cannabis analytics firm Headset.
While sales growth portrayed an inverse relationship with retail prices in 2021, consumer demand grew faster than prices fell, said Cooper Ashley, senior data analyst at Headset.
“For example, when comparing November and December 2020 to 2021, total retail cannabis transaction volume increased by about 58% across the Canadian markets Headset tracks,” he told Cannabis Business Times. “In fact, the large increase in total purchasing volume itself may have helped drive increased competition and price compression in the Canadian market.”
An Illinois lawmaker has filed legislation to limit the amount of THC in cannabis products, and according to the Chicago Sun-Times, the state’s dispensaries aren’t happy about it.
House Bill 4709, which was introduced Jan. 21 by Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield), would cap the amount of THC at 10% for flower and 15% for concentrates.
Batinick filed the legislation at the request of the Illinois State Medical Society, which has voiced concerns about cannabis potency and the number of cannabis-related calls made to the Illinois Poison Center, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
The calls have increased from 487 in 2019 to 743 in 2020, when Illinois launched its adult-use cannabis program, and then rose to 855 in 2021, according to the news outlet.
Batinick’s proposal has already received pushback from industry stakeholders, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
New legislation in Oklahoma would give the state’s counties more control over medical cannabis cultivation licenses.
State Rep. Todd Russ has introduced House Bill 2989, which would require growers to apply for licenses through the county they operate in, rather than directly through the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA).
Voters in the state’s counties would then ultimately decide whether to accept the cultivation business, according to a KTUL report.
"It's a huge local control issue and that gives each county the right to choose whether they want that type of activity in their county or not," Russ told the news outlet, adding that the availability of resources like water, energy and local law enforcement could influence counties’ decision to host growers.
Russ’ legislation requires cultivation businesses to submit annual license applications on June 30, and voters would decide on hosting the operations every other year, KTUL reported. If an application is denied, the cultivator would be barred from reapplying in that county for the next five years.
A medical cannabis task force has delivered its promised recommendations to Maine’s Office of Marijuana Policy: recommendations that are meant to assess the market’s current framework and suggest a helpful, accessible path forward.
One major target of the task force’s work over the past few months? Seed-to-sale tracking. And, long story short, the task force has come out against the mandate of such a system.
According to the Portland Press Herald, “the group soundly rejected the policy office’s previously proposed requirement that the medical market adopt a ‘track-and-trace’ product tracking system.” This has been a point of contention between Maine’s caregiver-led medical cannabis space and the policymakers charged with developing robust regulations to match the broader U.S. cannabis industry’s evolution.
The task force—which includes cannabis business stakeholders and patients—concluded that the state’s tracking system should be required solely for licensed dispensaries. Caregivers, of whom the state counts around 3,000, would be given voluntary standing with the system, according to the task force’s proposal.
Right now, the track-and-trace system is in place for the state’s relatively new adult-use market.
The concern on the medical side of the marketplace is that track-and-trace compliance would be a significant financial hurdle, particularly for the state’s caregiver population.
DENVER, Jan. 26, 2022 /CNW/ - PRESS RELEASE - Schwazze has announced that it has closed the transaction to acquire the assets of BG3 Investments, LLC dba Drift which consists of two cannabis dispensaries located in Boulder, Colo. This purchase continues Schwazze's expansion plan in Colorado, adding to the company's current dispensary footprint, and bringing the total number of dispensaries to 20. As part of the purchase, Schwazze will also acquire the assets of Black Box Licensing, LLC, which contains certain intellectual property.
"We look forward to adding these dispensaries to our portfolio. The company remains focused on bringing excellent shopping experiences to all areas of Colorado by providing a wide assortment of quality products along with great service that our customers have come to expect from our brands. We are excited to bring that experience to our customers in Boulder," said Nirup Krishnamurthy, Schwazze's COO.
The consideration for the acquisition was $3.5 million and was paid as $1.9 million in cash, and $1.6 million in common stock.
Corporate Update
Since April 2020, Schwazze has announced and/or acquired a total of 32 cannabis dispensaries, including the ten R. Greenleaf New Mexico dispensaries. The company has also announced and/or acquired in 2021 a total of seven cultivation facilities, three in Colorado - SCG Holding LLC, Brow 2 LLC and Star Buds - and four licensed by Medzen and RGO in New Mexico. The R. Greenleaf acquisition will add a New Mexico manufacturing asset, Elemental Kitchen & Laboratories, LLC, to the company's manufacturing plant, Purplebee's in Colorado.
In May 2021, Schwazze announced its BioSciences division and in August 2021 it commenced home delivery services in Colorado.
]]>Amazon might not be in the cannabis business, but that’s not stopping the company from using its clout to advocate for federal reform.
The second-largest employer in the U.S., Amazon endorsed U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace’s States Reform Act (SRA), legislation introduced in November that aims to end federal cannabis prohibition.
RELATED: GOP Congresswoman Mace Spices Up Federal Cannabis Legalization
Amazon announced the endorsement Jan. 25.
“Most recently, we endorsed the States Reform Act, a Republican-led bill offering comprehensive reform that speaks to the emergence of a bipartisan consensus that it is time to end the federal prohibition of cannabis,” wrote Beth Galetti, senior vice president of human resources at Amazon.
The endorsement backs up Amazon’s advocacy of equitable workplaces. In June 2021, the company announced it would exclude cannabis from its comprehensive pre-employment drug screening program for positions not regulated by the Department of Transportation or other government entities.
Adrienne Scales-Williams made history Jan. 21 when she opened Luxury Leaf, Missouri’s first Black-owned medical cannabis dispensary.
That’s just the beginning of the story, as Scales-Williams and her team plan to let patients’ needs guide the St. Louis-based business as it looks toward adult-use legalization, which could become a reality later this year as grassroots organizations work to send the issue to Missouri’s 2022 ballot.
Scales-Williams entered the cannabis space in 2018, when she applied for a business license in Michigan. Shortly thereafter, Missouri voters legalized medical cannabis in the 2018 election, and Scales-Williams moved back to her home state, where she ultimately won a cannabis retail license.
“It’s close … to home, so it seems like it would be a perfect scenario for me to work in the community I’m more comfortable with, knowing I can make a difference in the community and offer some alternatives to medicine,” she says. “We’re looking to give [patients] different alternatives in the healing process that they can get from the plant.”
Jamila Owens-Todd, Luxury Leaf’s general manager, says the dispensary’s first day of operations last week was “a great success” with the local community—and also those from farther corners of the state—turning out on opening day.
Thailand took a giant step Jan. 25 toward becoming the first country in Asia to decriminalize cannabis, potentially opening the door for home grows and adult use.
Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced Tuesday that Thailand’s Narcotics Control Board approved dropping cannabis from the ministry’s list of controlled drugs, setting up the de facto decriminalization of cannabis in the country, The Associated Press reported.
Charnvirakul would need to formally sign the delisting by the ministry’s Food and Drug Administration, and then the signed delisting would need to be published in the Royal Thai Government Gazette—the public newspaper of record of Thailand—for 120 days before taking effect, according to the AP.
The decriminalization effort comes on the heels of the Thailand government amending it drugs laws last year to reduce the number of people in prison.
Southeast Asia has some of the world’s toughest penalties for drug usage and possession, and Thailand has the largest prison population among the 10 member states in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), with more than 80% of people in prison held for drug offenses, according to the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC).
Nonetheless, it remains unclear whether those who possess cannabis in Thailand would still be subject to arrest under the current decriminalization push.
An Oklahoma lawmaker has introduced a bill that would allow regulators to pause medical cannabis business licensing, according to a Tulsa World report.
Rep. Rusty Cornwell (R-Vinita) has filed House Bill 3208 to give the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) the power to implement a moratorium on licenses as the agency deems necessary.
“Since 2018, Oklahoma has seen a huge number of commercial medical marijuana grows and facilities flooding into our communities,” Cornwell told Tulsa World. “In the initial rush to roll out a system for granting commercial licenses, we’ve failed to enforce their compliance with state law. House Bill 3208 would temporarily pause the issuance of commercial licenses so that we can confirm current operations are complying with the law.”
The legislation would also prohibit the transfer of cannabis business licenses or the sale of facilities if the existing license or facility has a current violation, according to the news outlet.
Oklahoma’s 2022 legislation session kicks off Feb. 7.
New York doctors can now recommend medical cannabis for any condition after the state’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) launched a new certification and registration system that expands patient access and eligibility, according to the New York Daily News.
The state’s adult-use cannabis law, which passed last year, included provisions to expand New York’s medical cannabis program, which launched in 2016 and was only accessible to patients with one of several qualifying conditions.
Patients can now access whole cannabis flower under the expanded law, the New York Daily News reported, and dentists, podiatrists and midwives can now certify patients for the medical cannabis program under the new rules.
The latest rule change also increases the amount of cannabis a patient or caregiver can purchase from a 30-day supply to a 60-day supply, as well as eliminates the registration fee for patients and caregivers, according to the news outlet.
New rules also shift regulatory oversight of New York’s medical cannabis program from the Department of Health to the OCM, although OCM executive director Chris Alexander told New York Daily News that patient access will not be disrupted during the transition.
GATINEAU, Québec., Jan. 25, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PRESS RELEASE -- HEXO Corp., a producer of cannabis products, today provided an update on its previously announced strategic plan, "The Path Forward," designed to solidify HEXO’s position as the number one cannabis company in Canada by recreational market share, with the goal of becoming the first amongst its peers to be cash flow positive from operations.
“The Path Forward is made up of both expense and growth initiatives. Today’s announcement of new product launches supports our strategy to accelerate growth through organic market share gains and speaks to our commercial capabilities and strong innovation pipeline,” said Scott Cooper, CEO of HEXO. “To that end, HEXO is seeing significant demand for its products and brands across multiple categories and geographies and we continue to remain focused on our growth objectives.”
HEXO is committed to providing its shareholders with updates as the company executes the strategic plan. Today’s announcement provides updates to one of the five strategic pillars: “Accelerate growth through organic market share gains.”
Accelerate Growth Through Organic Market Share Gains
Redecan announces expansion into the low-cost, high-margin edible cannabis market with RedeblesToday, HEXO’s subsidiary, Redecan, announced that it had entered the cannabis edibles category in Canada with a new gummy confection called Redebles.
The news can be overwhelming these days, especially amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but when Jerry Millen happened to catch a report about the American Red Cross declaring a national blood shortage, it grabbed his attention and inspired him to act.
“These people need blood,” he said. “I saw that [news report] and I thought about it for a minute, and then it started sinking in more over the next week.”
Millen, the owner of The Greenhouse, a medical and adult-use dispensary in Walled Lake, Mich., launched a “Pot for Plasma” campaign to offer free pre-rolls to blood donors to help raise awareness.
The promotion started Jan. 18 and will run for six weeks. While state regulations prohibit dispensaries from giving products away for free, The Greenhouse sells the pre-rolls for a penny, which Millen covers for the dispensary’s customers.
NEWYORK and SYDNEY, Jan. 25, 2022 – PRESS RELEASE – Tilray Brands Inc.,a leading global cannabis-lifestyle and consumer packaged goods companyinspiring and empowering the worldwide community to live its very best life, announcedthe expansion of its medical cannabis product offering in Australia and a newmedical cannabis e-learning platform for health care providers.
DeniseFaltischek, head of international and chief strategy officer, said, “Tilray istransforming the industry globally with our highly scalable footprint andportfolio of diverse cannabis products. As medical cannabis demand increasesworldwide, we remain committed to providing health care professionals andpatients with safe and reliable access to the highest-quality medical cannabisproducts.”
Faltischekadded, “After listening to patient feedback and leveraging learnings from ouroperations in Germany, we are excited to be introducing new products inAustralia that meet consumer needs.”
Tilray's productoffering in Australia approved under the Therapeutic GoodsAdministration (TGA) Special Access and Authorized Prescriber Scheme iscentered around its whole flower options ranging from balanced 1:1 whole flower(THC 10, CBD 10), including mid-range (17), and high-THC (25) varieties of 15gbag GMP-certified medical cannabis whole flower.
GeorgePolimenakos, general manager, Tilray Australia and New Zealand, said, "Weare committed to providing reliable access to patients in need withpharmaceutical-grade medical cannabis products and are pleased to be expandingour medical cannabis offerings in Australia."
Polimenakosadded, “On a related note, cannabis education is paramount to everything we do,and [we] are therefore excited to offer health care professionals with thetools they need to learn about cannabis through our new e-learning platform.”
Preliminary Studies Show Cannabinoids Could Ward Off COVID-19. Will They Live Up to Their Potential?
A study from Oregon State University (OSU) made waves this month when it demonstrated three cannabis-derived compounds–cannabigerolic acid (CBGA), cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), and tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA)–have the potential to prevent the coronavirus from entering human cells.
Other recent research has shown promise for cannabinoids’ potential in fighting off infection, including research from Canadian-based Waterloo University and Michigan State University, the latter in collaboration with GB Sciences.
The recent attention regarding cannabinoids’ medicinal potential has incited excitement among the hemp and cannabis industries and even caught fire in the mainstream.
But some researchers are urging the public to take caution amid these findings–the research still has a long way to go to prove what, if any, effects can play out in humans. “You go into these things hopeful that they’re going to pan out to match the hype,” says Dr. Ethan Russo, M.D., a board-certified neurologist and founder of CReDO Science, “a biopharma holding company that exists to solve problems of the human/animal [endocannabinoid systems] including developing optimized formulations from the cannabis plant for better living,” according to the company’s website. “But something everyone has to realize straight out of the shoot is there’s this tremendous gulf between lab results and what may be achieved clinically.”
The Oregon Research
The OSU study has shown exciting preliminary results for Richard van Breemen, a researcher with Oregon State’s Global Hemp Innovation Center, College of Pharmacy, and Linus Pauling Institute.
