This week, the Hawaii Legislature passed legislation that would allow the sale of cannabis edibles, sending the bill to Gov. David Ige for his signature. Elsewhere, in Illinois, the state collected more than $52 million in cannabis tax revenue during the first six months of legal adult-use sales.
Here, we’ve rounded up the 10 headlines you need to know before this week is over.
Nebraska: Nebraskans For Medical Marijuana has submitted well over the roughly 121,000 signatures required to put the group’s constitutional amendment legalizing medical cannabis in front of Nebraska voters this fall. The campaign hopes to find out by mid-August if enough of the signatures they submitted are valid to qualify for a ballot initiative this November. Read moreNevada: Green Therapeutics LLC and Meridian Companies LLC have filed a lawsuit against Australis Capital Inc. in Nevada’s Eighth Judicial District Court in Clark County— against which Australis announced it plans to “vigorously defend” itself. The plaintiffs’ complaint, which has been heavily redacted, states that “… Australis stole … from Plaintiffs under false pretenses, has breached the contracts, and has acted in a manner inconsistent with the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.” Read moreMissouri: The state’s medical cannabis program director says sales could launch as soon as this fall. Two cultivation facilities, one in Earth City near St. Louis and another in Perryville, were given the green light to plant their first crops last month, which means product could be ready within the next few months. Read moreHawaii: Lawmakers have passed a bill that would allow the state’s eight medical cannabis licensees to sell edibles. The legislation now goes to Gov. David Ige for his signature. Read moreIllinois: The state collected roughly $52.8 million in cannabis tax revenue during the first six months of legal adult-use sales, including approximately $34.7 million in cannabis excise taxes and $18 million in sales taxes. The figures shatter Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s budget estimates, which predicted the state would collect $28 million in cannabis tax revenue by June 30. Read moreFlorida: The Florida Supreme Court ordered a second round of arguments this week in a case over whether the state properly implemented a 2016 constitutional amendment that broadly legalized medical cannabis. The lawsuit, filed by Tampa-based Florigrown, challenges the constitutionality of a 2017 law that implemented the constitutional amendment, particularly provisions related to the business licensing process. Read moreNew Mexico: Ultra Health, one of New Mexico’s largest medical cannabis producers, has sued the state’s Department of Health over its new medical cannabis regulations. The company is asking the district judge to request that the department repeal and rewrite several of the rules which it deems “arbitrary and capricious.” Read moreNew Jersey: The New Jersey Treasury Division of Taxation recently announced that, effective July 1, sales tax on medical marijuana is reduced to 4% from the previous 6.625% sales tax rate (the rate imposed under the state’s “Sales and Use Tax Act”). The tax reduction is the first of three scheduled tax reductions designed to eliminate the sales tax on medical cannabis sales in the Garden State. Read moreArkansas: The state’s five existing medical cannabis cultivators have filed a lawsuit to challenge the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission’s decision to issue three additional cultivation licenses. The lawsuit requests an injunction against the issuance of the new licenses, or that they be voided if they have already been awarded. Read moreRhode Island: The Department of Business Regulation will start accepting applications July 17 for six new medical cannabis dispensary licenses. The application period will be open through Dec. 15, and new licensees will be chosen through a lottery, although a date has not been set for awarding the licenses. Read more