This week, Cresco Labs co-founder Joe Caltabiano announced that he had resigned from his role as the company’s president, effective immediately, in a decision he says he had been considering and discussing with the Cresco team for a few weeks. Elsewhere, in Utah, the state’s first medical cannabis dispensary opened, signaling the official launch of the market.
Here, we’ve rounded up the 10 headlines you need to know before this week is over.
Federal: Cresco Labs co-founder Joe Caltabiano announced March 2 that he had resigned from his role as president effective immediately, a decision that he says he had been considering and discussing with the Cresco team for a few weeks. Caltabiano co-founded the Chicago-based multi-state operator in 2013, and said it is time for him to “step back and look at some opportunities that I’ve always wanted to pursue,” as his skillsets no longer align with Cresco’s future needs. Read moreMinnesota: Regulators have asked lawmakers to establish a state cannabis office to oversee the state’s medical cannabis, hemp and CBD industries, as well as, potentially, an adult-use market. Officials from the state’s Pharmacy Board and departments of Agriculture, Health and Public Safety have asked for a centralized body, called the Office of Cannabis Management, to regulate the industry and prepare the state for the potential legalization of adult-use cannabis in the future. Read moreUtah: Gov. Gary Herbert signed legislation that fine-tunes the state’s medical cannabis law, just days before the state launched its first medical cannabis sales. S.B. 121, sponsored by Sen. Evan Vickers, contains several amendments to the state’s Medical Cannabis Act, which the legislature approved in December 2018 to make changes to Utah’s voter-approved medical cannabis ballot initiative. Read moreUtah’s first medical cannabis dispensary, Dragonfly Wellness, opened in Salt Lake City March 2, as the state launched a slow rollout of its medical cannabis program. The state’s second dispensary is expected to open this month, with seven more opening by June. Read moreNew Jersey: Senate President Stephen Sweeney has appointed social worker Krista Nash as the first official member of the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission, a panel charged with regulating the New Jersey’s cannabis industry. The commission still needs four additional members before it can become operational; Gov. Phil Murphy must appoint three members and State Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin must appoint one under New Jersey’s expanded medical cannabis law. Read moreMaine: The legislative committee that oversees the Maine’s adult-use cannabis market approved a bill that would allow the Office of Marijuana Policy to create an adult-use cannabis delivery license. Lawmakers banned the sale of adult-use cannabis through vending machines, drive-thrus, online platforms and delivery services during their rewrite of the 2016 voter-approved initiative that legalized adult-use cannabis in the state, but the committee vote could signal a shift on the issue. Read moreTennessee: Lawmakers plan to introduce a new medical cannabis legalization bill, called the Clinical Cannabis Authorization and Research Act. The legislation, which will be introduced through amendments by Sen. Steve Dickerson and Rep. Bryan Terry, would allow cannabis oils, tinctures, lotions and capsules, but not smokable cannabis, vapes or edibles. Read moreMichigan: The Marijuana Regulatory Agency announced a plan to phase out caregiver-sourced cannabis in its medical cannabis dispensaries. Effective immediately, licensed cannabis businesses may no longer purchase cannabis concentrates, cartridges or other infused products from caregivers in the state, although the final day for caregiver-sourced cannabis flower transfers will be Sept. 30. Read moreFlorida: Rep. Ray Rodrigues has filed legislation that would impose a 10% THC cap on medical cannabis products for patients under the age of 21. Rodrigues introduced his bill the day after similar legislation stalled in the Senate, in the form of an amendment to H.B. 713, a Department of Health legislative package. Read moreCanada: Health Canada, the country’s department of health, is starting a committee to research how cannabis and related products can, or should, be used without a prescription or a doctor’s oversight. The committee’s formation is part of an initiative to form cannabis-related regulations that began in Canada in 2018. Read more