MjLink Cannabis Business News and Press

 CALIFORNIA: Medical Marijuana, Inc., the first-ever publicly traded cannabis company in the United States that launched the world’s first-ever cannabis-derived nutraceutical products, brands and supply chain, announced today that its subsidiary HempMeds Brasil, in partnership with the Consulate General of Brazil in Houston, sponsored “Autism Together We Are Stronger” at Rice University on February 22. “We see events like this one as prime opportunities to Read the full article...

BY TYLER B. MARK, JONATHAN SHEPHERD, DAVID OLSON, WILLIAM SNELL, SUSAN PROPER, AND SUZANNE THORNSBURY After a hiatus of almost 45 years, the 2014 Farm Bill reintroduced industrial hemp production in the United States through State pilot programs. This study documents outcomes and lessons learned from the State pilot programs and examines legal, agronomic, and economic Read the full article...

With three adult-use cannabis legalization bills pending in the legislature and strong support from the governor, lieutenant governor and the public, Pennsylvania should have no problem legalizing this year, but advocates say leadership in the legislature will likely block any proposals from advancing before the current two-year session ends in December.

Gov. Tom Wolf announced his support for adult-use cannabis legalization last fall alongside Lt. Gov. John Fetterman. Wolf then attended New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Regional Cannabis Regulation and Vaping Summit in October, where the pair met with the governors of New Jersey and Connecticut in an effort to coordinate the states’ approach to cannabis policy reform.

Fetterman embarked on a recreational marijuana listening tour last year to get public input on the issue from all 67 Pennsylvania counties, and reported that he found strong public support for legalization.

Lawmakers took notice of the momentum.

Pennsylvania Rep. Jake Wheatley has announced plans to introduce the state’s newest legalization proposal in the form of House Bill 2050. The legislation aims to lower the initial application and licensing fees in an effort to make the market more accessible for businesses, and would impose a 10% wholesale tax on business-to-business transactions, although cannabis growers and processors that have partnered with an existing Pennsylvania farm would be exempt from the tax.

The Botanist by Compassionate Care Foundation is the first The Botanist dispensary to open in the state of New Jersey NEW JERSEY:  Acreage Holdings, one of the largest vertically integrated, multi-state operators of cannabis licenses and assets in the U.S., today announced the opening of The Botanist by Compassionate Care Foundation on Saturday, February 22, 2020, Read the full article...

ILLINOIS: The Illinois Department of Revenue announced that adult-use cannabis sales generated $7,332,058 in cannabis tax revenue during the month of January, with an additional $3,147,928.29 generated in retail sales tax revenue. Governor Pritzker’s recently released budget conservatively estimated the state would collect $28 million in cannabis tax revenue during the remainder of the fiscal Read the full article...

How is a cop supposed to tell the difference between a consumer using a legal product, and an illegal consumer using or transporting a product from the illicit market?

Law enforcement wants to take marijuana-intoxicated drivers off the road. But roadside testing devices are still unavailable.

They want to help stop the illicit cannabis market. But one person’s ounce of weed looks like another’s.

They have their drug dogs at the ready. But drug dogs hit on hemp and marijuana, legal or not, and are being phased out or overruled.

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The sale of recreational marijuana in Illinois generated $7.3 million in cannabis tax revenue last month, the Illinois Department of Revenue announced Monday.

The Revenue Department also reported that an additional $3.1 million was generated in retail sales tax revenue.

Dispensaries across the state sold nearly $40 million in recreational pot last month.

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Associated Press ~ 

Builds on Regional Cannabis Regulation and Vaping Initiatives Previously Announced With Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Massachusetts Governor Cuomo: “I’m going to visit Massachusetts, Illinois and California or Colorado, which are three states that have legalized it and have different versions, and bring my team to meet with them, discuss what they’ve done, Read the full article...

Michigan’s Lake Superior State University (LSSU) launched Cannabis Chemistry and Cannabis Business majors in the fall of 2019, and on Feb. 21, the university held a ribbon cutting for the opening of a new cannabis research center, which will provide hands-on training for students in the Cannabis Chemistry program, according to an MLive.com report.

The 2,600-square-foot Cannabis Center of Excellence will help train undergraduate students through “hands-on, innovative experience using state-of-the-art instrumentation and industry protocols,” the news outlet reported.

LSSU students can earn an associate’s or bachelor’s degree in the chemistry program, and a bachelor’s degree in the business program, according to MLive.com, and graduates from the chemistry program are expected to be in high demand for safety labs and quality assurance positions in the cannabis industry and beyond.

LSSU is not the only Michigan university with cannabis programs, MLive.com reported—Northern Michigan University launched a Medicinal Plant Chemistry program in 2017, and the University of Michigan in 2019 launched PharmSci 420, a course that covers cannabis biology, chemistry, pharmacology, toxicology, epidemiology and pharmacokinetics.

The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission has announced plans to hire additional staff in order to cut the average wait time for cannabis business licenses from 121 days to 60 days, according to a MassLive.com report.

The agency unveiled its plan at a Joint Ways and Means Committee budget hearing Feb. 24 to address one of the most common complaints from prospective cannabis entrepreneurs, the news outlet reported.

The commission plans to achieve its goal in its 2021 fiscal year and will take a total fiscal 2021 operations budget of $12.4 million, a $2.8-million increase from last year, MassLive.com reported. The total budget request is $16.3 million, which includes regulation of the medical cannabis program and a statewide public awareness campaign, according to the news outlet.

The commission launched in 2017 and to date, has licensed 246 cannabis businesses, MassLive.com reported.

Tax revenue from Illinois adult-use cannabis sales surpassed $10 million in January, according to a Chicago Tribune report.

Illinois collects sales tax, as well as an additional cannabis tax, on adult-use sales, and January sales brought in more than $3.1 million in sales tax revenue and more than $7.3 million in cannabis tax revenue, the news outlet reported.

At this rate, the state is on track to top Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s budget estimates, which projected that the state would collect $28 million in cannabis tax revenue before June 30, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Adult-use cannabis sales reached nearly $40 million in January, after legal sales launched Jan. 1.

RELATED: Cannabis Industry, Chicago Alderman Respond to End of Prohibition in Illinois

Montpelier, VT — PRESS RELEASE — On Monday, Vermont’s House Appropriations Committee voted in favor (6-5) of a bill that would legalize, regulate and tax cannabis sales for adults 21 and older. S. 54 previously passed the House Government Operations Committee in a unanimous vote, the House Ways and Means Committee in an 8-3 vote, and the Senate in a 23-5 vote.

The bill is now expected to proceed to the House floor for a vote later this week.

Laws regulating and taxing cannabis for adult use have been enacted in 10 states. Vermont and Washington, D.C. are the only two U.S. jurisdictions where cannabis is legal but not regulated for adult use.

A new poll conducted by Public Policy Polling and commissioned by the Marijuana Policy Project found that an overwhelming 76% of Vermont residents support allowing adults 21 and over to purchase cannabis from regulated, tax-paying small businesses. The complete results are available here.

Matt Simon, New England political director at the Marijuana Policy Project, said, “Vermonters should be proud of their elected officials for heeding the will of voters and advancing this important legislation. Cannabis regulation is necessary in order to protect consumers and address important public health and safety issues facing the state. It’s time for the House to join the Senate in recognizing that prohibition has failed, and that Vermonters are overwhelmingly ready for a more sensible approach to cannabis."

Americans may want to rethink the stereotype of the pot-loving teen: More U.S. seniors are using the drug now than ever before.

The proportion of folks 65 and older who use pot stands at 4.2%, up from 2.4% in 2015, according to figures from the U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

"The change from 2.4 up to 4.2, that's a 75% increase," said senior researcher Joseph Palamar, an associate professor of population health at New York University Langone Medical Center. "It didn't double, but 75% is a pretty big increase, I think."

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Dennis Thompson ~ HealthDay.com ~ 

The Bahamas National Commission on Marijuana expects to complete a crucial public survey on whether cannabis should be legalized by mid-April.

The commission was split on whether adult-use cannabis should be legalized. It agreed to put the matter to a public poll in a bid to break the deadlock.

Commissioners must first decide on whether to use the Department of Statistics or turn to a private company to conduct the survey.

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Martin Green ~ Grizzle.com ~ 

A new report from Statistics Canada adds to a growing body of evidence that marijuana legalization dissuades adolescent use.

It would be wrong to state that marijuana legalization causes a drop in teenage use, due to a lack of rigorous scientific studies on the matter.

A coloration is developing, however. According to a new report from Statistics Canada, teenage use of cannabis has declined following adult-use legalization in the country.

In ending prohibition, the Canadian government wanted to ensure they were creating a system where cannabis couldn’t easily end up in youth’s hands. 

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MARYLAND:  U.S. retail sales of cannabis and CBD products reached $14 billion in 2019, and are on pace to increase 18% per year to $33 billion in 2024, according to data published in Cannabis and CBD: U.S. Retail Market Trends and Opportunities, the latest report by leading market research firm Packaged Facts. Cannabis products can be segmented by delivery format—i.e., the Read the full article...

NEW YORK: Cannabis use continues to increase in popularity among adults 65 years of age and older in the United States, according to a new study from NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Published today in JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers estimate that cannabis use in adults age 65 and older increased from 2.4 percent to 4.2 percent in the United Read the full article...

What do Willie Nelson and Snoop Dogg have in common? Their own cannabis strains! See how Artists’ favorite weed strains connect with their music. By Kate Patterson Over the years, Denver, Colorado, has gained the reputation for being the biggest ‘reefer town’ in the U.S. The “Mile High City” certainly has had its share of Read the full article...

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced at a press event Feb. 20 that he plans to tour legal cannabis states as part of his effort to legalize adult-use cannabis in the Empire State this year, according to a Times Union report.

Cuomo plans to visit Massachusetts, Illinois and either California or Colorado to find out which aspects of their legal cannabis program have worked and which have not, as well as their lessons learned, the news outlet reported.

In this announcement, Cuomo said social equity is one of his main goals for legalization in New York, and he and his team plan to discuss with other states how aspects of social equity and law enforcement have worked for them, Times Union reported.

Last year’s legislative effort to legalize adult-use cannabis in New York stalled in the Senate, but the state did manage to pass a decriminalization bill during last year’s legislative session.

Last fall, Cuomo hosted a Regional Cannabis Regulation and Vaping Summit with the governors of New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania to explore a unified approach to cannabis legalization and regulation.

Four new companies have been approved to cultivate cannabis for research purposes in Pennsylvania in partnership with the state’s medical schools, according to a TribLive.com report.

Laurel Harvest Labs LLC partnered with Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia; CannTech PA, LLC partnered with Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) in Erie; Organic Remedies, Inc., partnered with Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Philadelphia; and Curaleaf PA, LLC, partnered with The Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, the news outlet reported.

Under state law, eight companies—called “clinical registrants”—can grow, process and dispense cannabis for research institutions. The four new licensees bring the total number of clinical registrants to seven, TribLive.com reported.

Pennsylvania launched its medical cannabis research program last summer with the announcement that three partnerships had been approved, including partnerships between Drexel University College of Medicine and Agronomed Biologics LLC, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University and MLH Explorations LLC, and Penn State College of Medicine and PA Options for Wellness.

The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine is now the only approved medical school in the program without a clinical registrant partner, TribLive.com reported. Applications for the final clinical registrant will open Feb. 27, according to the news outlet.