MjLink Cannabis Business News and Press

Despite a global pandemic keeping consumers at home and hurting stock prices already tamped down by the economic strain, North American cannabis companies had an overall solid Q2. Yet big questions remain about corporate cannabis performance for the balance of 2020, with physical retail sales likely to be impacted until 2021—possibly beyond.   

Cannabis Business Times and Cannabis Dispensary spoke with leadership at three of the industry’s largest companies for a snapshot of this quarter’s results and the industry’s position as a whole moving into the second half of an unprecedented year.

Green Thumb Industries (GTI)

Chicago, Ill.

Q2 Revenue: $119.6 million (167.5% year-over-year increase)

Net Income: $12.9 million adjusted net loss 

Highlights:

PRESS RELEASE - The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) recently released the modified proposed regulations for the OCal Program, a statewide certification program that will establish and enforce comparable-to-organic cannabis standards. The release of these modified regulations marks the official start of the 15-day public comment period provided under California law. All interested parties are encouraged to submit comments about the proposed cannabis regulations by 11:59 pm on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020.

The OCal Program will ensure that cannabis products bearing the OCal seal have been certified to consistent, uniform standards comparable to the National Organic Program.

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At the beginning of 2020, there were about a dozen states with either medical or adult-use cannabis legalization ballot initiatives, in various stages, in the works. However, the coronavirus pandemic proved challenging for organizations trying to collect thousands of signatures to qualify their ballot initiatives, and some campaigns had to call it quits. The landscape looks very different than it did just a month ago, and now, five states will vote on some form of cannabis legalization this November. One state, Nebraska, still hangs in the balance roughly 60 days before Election Day. 

NEBRASKA: Close, but Challenges to Medical Initiative Continue

Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana received news Aug. 26 that the organization had collected enough signatures to qualify for a medical cannabis amendment on the November ballot.

“We crushed the 122,000 voter signatures needed statewide — and we qualified in 48 counties!” the group posted on Facebook. The organization collected more than 182,000 signatures, and enough were verified to move forward. “The ballot isn’t certified yet, so we’re still waiting to hear the final word from Secretary of State Bob Evnen. But there’s no doubt that we met the constitutional requirements for signature collection.”

Two days later, Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen approved the medical cannabis legalization measure, according to an Associated Press News report, despite opponents urging Evnen to reject the proposal, arguing that the measure violates the state constitution.

Evnen said opponents raised “several valid points” about issues with the initiative’s language, AP News reported, but he ultimately decided that the measure met all the necessary legal requirements to go before voters.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf called for adult-use cannabis legalization last week as part of a broader plan to help combat the economic fallout of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in a move that has been met with both optimism and skepticism from some industry stakeholders.

“I think it’s got more of a real shot now than it ever has,” Joshua Horn, partner and co-chair of the Cannabis Law Practice at Fox Rothschild, told Cannabis Business Times and Cannabis Dispensary.

While adult-use legalization has strong support from Wolf, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and the public, the issue has historically lacked the backing it needs from key lawmakers in the state’s Republican-controlled legislature.

RELATED: Will Pennsylvania’s Legislative Leadership Consider Adult-Use Cannabis Proposals This Year?: Legalization Watch

For Chris Visco, president and CEO of TerraVida Holistic Centers, one of Pennsylvania’s licensed medical cannabis operators, the legislature’s opposition to legalization means the issue will stall unless Democrats and Republicans can come together to work out their differences.

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) announced plans Sept. 1 to increase the number of new dispensary approvals that can be issued each month.

The AGCO began issuing up to 20 Retail Store Authorizations (RSAs) per month in April and has issued 164 retail store authorizations to date. Currently, 150 dispensaries are open in the province.

Now, the agency will move to double the pace of new dispensary approvals this fall, according to its recent announcement.

‘Uprooted’ explores how excessive regulation, escalating taxes, flawed social equity programs and NIMBYism have stymied the promise of legal cannabis CALIFORNIA: When it comes to the legalization of cannabis, is California a model to follow or a cautionary tale? California-based Weedmaps, the leading technology and software infrastructure provider to the cannabis industry, has produced a three-part Read the full article...

Menu expansion promotes Black-owned cannabis brands, establishes industry-leading support for equity license holders, and encourages conscious consumption CALIFORNIA: Eaze, California’s largest marketplace for legal cannabis, today announced expanded efforts to support an equitable cannabis industry: A major menu expansion in Los Angeles featuring Black and POC-owned brands, and the Social Equity Partners Program, a multi-point Read the full article...

Begins local process for medical cannabis with community impact plan NEW JERSEY: Terrapin has announced plans to open a medical cannabis dispensary in Hoboken, with a social equity community impact plan that has the support of the community’s nonprofit sector. Minority-owned Terrapin has plans to open a dispensary in Hoboken at 86 River St. After Read the full article...

Since mid-August, wildfires have burned through more than 1 million acres of California land. It’s another echo of a recurring environmental catastrophe in a state that more than 5,000 licensed cannabis growers call home. 

The firebreaks on the Sweet Creek property helped soften the impact of the Lnu Lightning Complex fires.

For Keala Peterson, whose family runs a farmstead in the hills above Santa Rosa, the Lnu Lightning Complex fires have brought swift devastation to her property, Sweet Creek Farm. When we spoke with her on Aug. 25, she said that some 95% of the property had been torched by the fast-moving fires.

At Sweet Creek, Peterson’s family had been growing Hawaiian sativa cultivars and other hybrids (among their many vegetable crops, as well). The cannabis buds hadn’t set when we spoke with Peterson, and she was hopeful that perhaps the smoke and ash of the blaze hadn’t settled on the flowers themselves. “We’re not holding our breath, but that’s a little bit of a silver lining,” she said.

On Aug. 19, Peterson was in Santa Rosa, where she lives with her husband, paying close attention to what was happening up on the ridgelines.

“I was watching the camera that faces kind of directly over the property, and I saw this glowing fire wall,” she said. “It was unbelievable.” She spoke with her mother, who was already packing the bags, and decided to head up the mountain to meet her family.

The property was pretty well safeguarded against certain kinds of fire. Peterson’s father is a retired firefighter and a vocal proponent of good fire safety practices. By nightfall, the scope of the wildfire in the hills was clear.

Harvest is the most exciting and also the most stressful time of the entire outdoor grow cycle. Six or more months of hard work and a whole year’s income ride on this small window of time, and it can make or break your operation. Here are some of the most important things to do before harvest to ensure success and avoid common mistakes.

1. Make sure your drying space is ready.

Clean and sanitize your drying area. Post-harvest contamination is a huge issue in regulated markets, so you want to have a good, clean start. Pull out your fans and dehumidifiers, clean them and test them to make sure they work. Acquire more if you do not have enough. Make sure you have a lot of ventilation and airflow to prevent post-harvest fungal issues. Buy a humidity monitor for your drying area and try to keep it as close to 50% relative humidity (RH)  as possible. Especially after the first day.

2. Decide how you are going to harvest, dry and separate buds from plants, and calculate how much space you will need to do this.

Not having enough drying space is one of the most common mistakes new farmers make. This choice can also affect drying time and ultimately the quality of finished flower. Options include:

Harvest, hang and dry whole plants and handle sorting later.Harvest and break down plants into individual branches and hang. Remove buds wet, and then dry the flower on screens.

Post-harvest contamination is a huge issue in regulated markets, so you want to have a good, clean start. Puffin Farm's drying area is cleaned and sanitized before harvest begins. Photo by David Goodman. 

3. Scout plants for botrytis and fungal issues frequently.

As harvest approaches, depending on your location, the weather may be getting cooler and wetter. Any infected buds need to be removed daily, or the fungus can spread rapidly. After harvest, continue to check drying material, as mold can take hold in the drying area and destroy your harvest.

4. Watch the weather and be prepared to harvest early due to ongoing rain or extended temperatures below 25 degrees F.

Your beautiful crop can turn to mush quickly if the weather does not cooperate. An early harvested crop can still make high-quality concentrates. You may get less for it, but better than nothing if your crop is destroyed. The plants can handle temperatures lower than you would think, so do not panic and harvest if the weather is 26 to28 degrees F at night. The plants can freeze and thaw quite a bit without harm. It is extended freezing that is an issue. Do not panic if it rains a little, as well. It is constant, ongoing rain that is a problem.

New Instagram Series to Highlight Acts of Civil Disobedience and Protest in New Jersey NEW JERSEY:  For over three decades, Ed Forchion aka NJWeedman has fought for the legalization of marijuana. As one of the first Black activist in the movement, dating back to the early 90’s, Forchion has spent over 1200 days in prison, Read the full article...

MASSACHUSETTS  Curaleaf Holdings, a leading vertically integrated cannabis operator in the United States, today announced that its line of Select Elite Live cartridges has reached $1 million in sales since launching in the Florida medical market on August 6.Select Elite Live features high quality, high potency oil with a wide variety of strain-specific flavor and effects. Curaleaf will unveil additional Select Read the full article...

Portland, Maine has received 30 applications for 20 available cannabis dispensary licenses, and after a recent court ruling declared the city’s scoring matrix unconstitutional, it is unclear how officials will decide who ultimately gets the licenses, according to a Portland Press Herald report.

Applicants had an Aug. 31 deadline to submit applications to operate medical and adult-use dispensaries within the city; four applicants are seeking medical cannabis retail licenses, the Portland Press Herald reported, while the rest would operate in the adult-use market, which is expected to launch Oct. 9.

Portland City Council spent a year developing its cannabis zoning and licensing regulations, which included a scoring matrix to determine who would get a retail license if the city received more than 20 applications, according to the news outlet.

Although the city approved its local cannabis ordinance in May, its residency bonus for license applicants who lived in Maine for at least four years was challenged in court by Wellness Connection of Maine, a non-local cannabis operator, and a federal judge ruled last month that Portland cannot prioritize local businesses in its licensing process.

The city is still trying to decide how to respond to the court ruling, the Portland Press Herald reported, but in the meantime, residents will vote on a cannabis referendum in November that could eliminate the licensing cap on dispensaries, which would also eliminate the need to narrow down the applications.

 Confirms Legalization On Docket For Third Week Of September August 31, 2020 Dear Colleague: On September 8, the House will return for its Committee Work Period, to be followed on September 14 with a busy legislative work period.  I want to thank all of you for your efforts during the August District Work Period, which Read the full article...

Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner has challenged Nebraska’s medical cannabis initiative in court, according to an AP News report.

Wagner filed the challenge Aug. 28, following Secretary of State Bob Evnen’s ruling that the medical cannabis legalization measure can proceed to the November ballot.

Opponents of the measure argue that it violates state rules that mandate ballot initiatives must focus on a single question, but Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, the measure’s organizers, say they are confident that the initiative will stand up to the legal scrutiny, AP News reported.

The Nebraska Supreme Court will now have the final say in whether the issue goes before voters this fall.

The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) voted Aug. 28 to expand cannabis delivery in the state, according to the Worcester Business Journal.

Among the approved changes to the delivery license model, the CCC unanimously voted to divide the delivery licenses into two categories, the news outlet reported, which sets the stage for a courier-style license and a separate delivery license that would allow for the wholesaling and warehousing of product.

Previously, the CCC planned to license only courier-style delivery businesses, where drivers could deliver cannabis products to consumers, but could not store any merchandise when not working, according to the Worcester Business Journal. The new licensing model aims to allow prospective business owners to operate delivery-only business models without brick-and-mortar locations by allowing delivery businesses to purchase cannabis products directly from cultivation and manufacturing facilities and warehouse those products for delivery, the news outlet reported.

Applications for delivery licenses became available in May and are available only to economic empowerment applicants and participants in Massachusetts’ social equity program. Initially, non-economic empowerment and social equity applicants could apply for the licenses after two years, but the CCC voted Aug. 28 to extend this to three years, according to the Worcester Business Journal.

The Virginia Senate approved legislation Aug. 28 that would prohibit police stops based on cannabis odor, according to a WDVM report.

Senate Bill 5029 would outlaw search and seizures based on the smell of cannabis alone, the news outlet reported, in an effort to combat racial disparities in cannabis-related arrests.

The bill now heads to the House of Delegates for consideration.

Supporters of an Oklahoma adult-use cannabis legalization initiative have withdrawn their petition, according to a Tulsa World report.

The state gave proponents of State Question 807 the green light to collect signatures, but petitioners said gathering the required 177,958 signatures required to get the issue before voters is unlikely during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the news outlet reported.

The coronavirus crisis also delayed the petition process to advance to the signature-gathering phase, according to Tulsa World, and it is now too late for the measure to qualify for Oklahoma’s 2020 ballot.

After a delayed grand opening due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Michigan-based Nature’s Finest opened its Battle Creek dispensary in early June to serve the state’s medical and adult-use cannabis markets with a variety of products, as well as friendly and knowledgeable customer service from its budtenders.

Nature’s Finest originally planned to open March 15, but in response to the coronavirus crisis, it held off on launching medical cannabis sales until June 8 and added adult-use sales at the end of July.

“Since then, we have all the protocol in place with the masks—we wear masks all the time,” says Operating Partner John Kassa. “There’s a lot of sanitation always. Curbside is huge—a lot of people are placing their orders on Weedmaps and we’re going out to their car to deliver their order. It’s really just following the state protocol that’s in place.”

Nature's Finest opened its Battle Creek dispensary on June 8 for medical sales and added adult-use sales at the end of July.

Kassa formerly worked with a cultivation operation in Colorado, and upon returning to Michigan, set to work launching his own cannabis business in the Wolverine State.

Kassa and his team initially planned to start up as a grow operation, but Kassa’s time in Colorado taught him that cultivators who didn’t have an outlet for their product had a difficult time selling it. This experience led Nature’s Finest to lead with a retail operation in Michigan’s market.

This week, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf called for adult-use cannabis legalization as part of a broader plan to help combat the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. Elsewhere, in Nebraska, Secretary of State Bob Evnen approved a medical cannabis legalization measure for the state’s November ballot.

Here, we’ve rounded up the 10 headlines you need to know before this week is over.

Arkansas: The state’s medical cannabis sales have reached $131 million, with dispensaries selling more than 20,000 pounds of product since the program launched in May 2019. The state has nearly 76,000 registered patients and 28 operational dispensaries, with nine more retailers expected to open. Read moreArkansas’ temporary extension of medical cannabis cards is set to expire in September. Earlier this year, the Arkansas Department of Health suspended expiration dates on patients’ medical cannabis registration cards due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but cards with an expiration date on or before Sept. 30 will expire on that date, and patients must complete a renewal application by Sept. 11 to allow for processing time. Read moreMinnesota: The White Earth Nation, Minnesota’s largest tribal nation, has voted to legalize medical cannabis. Tribal members voted 994-150 to approve the measure, which legalizes the production, regulation and distribution of medical cannabis within the reservation’s borders. Read moreVermont: Lawmakers are considering legislation that would expand cannabis expungements in the state by automatically expunging criminal records involving the possession of two ounces or less of cannabis. The move comes as lawmakers in the House and Senate work on a final bill to tax and regulate cannabis sales. Read moreColorado: Columbia Care Inc. has announced that it will complete its acquisition of The Green Solution (TGS), one of the largest vertically integrated cannabis operators in Colorado, on Sept. 1. Columbia Care’s fully integrated operating portfolio includes 23 dispensaries and six cultivation and manufacturing facilities. Read moreA judge determined this week that the court did not have jurisdiction to hear a lawsuit brought against Loveland, Colo., City Clerk Patti Garcia by supporters of a petition for a ballot initiative to allow cannabis dispensaries in the city, but the city clerk’s office has agreed to accept additional signatures collected during the initial 90-day period allotted for signature gathering. Petitioners had 90 days to collect a minimum of 2,888 valid signatures from registered electors to place the issue before voters, and the lawsuit arose following allegations that Garcia provided misinformation to the petition representatives. Read morePennsylvania: Gov. Tom Wolf is calling for adult-use cannabis legalization to help boost the state’s economy amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Wolf says the state could use the tax revenue generated from adult-use cannabis sales to support grants for small businesses and fund restorative justice programs, with 50% of funding earmarked for historically disadvantaged businesses. Read moreNevada: The Cannabis Compliance Board is issuing stricter policies for cannabis companies that have past due taxes or licensing renewals. Moving forward, regulators will notify businesses immediately if they miss a deadline and will terminate access to the METRC database until taxes and fees are paid. Read moreNebraska: Secretary of State Bob Evnen has approved a medical cannabis legalization measure for the state’s November ballot. Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana submitted enough signatures in July to place the measure before voters this fall, but opponents urged Evnen to reject the proposal, arguing that the measure violates the state constitution. Read moreInternational: The Warsaw Zoo will study the effects of CBD-rich cannabis on its three African elephants. The research is meant to gather data on how CBD affects elephants’ stress levels, and the CBD oil will be administered to the elephants through their trunks. Read more