This week, preliminary sales data from the Maine Office of Marijuana Policy indicated that the state’s adult-use dispensaries logged 21,194 transactions for a total of approximately $1.4 million in sales during the first month of the program. Elsewhere, in Georgia, regulators announced plans to accept medical cannabis cultivation applications through Dec. 28.
Here, we’ve rounded up the 10 headlines you need to know before this week is over.
Pennsylvania: Multistate, vertically integrated cannabis operator Jushi Holdings has announced plans to nearly double the square footage of its subsidiary’s grower-processor facility in Scranton, Pa., from approximately 90,000 square feet to more than 160,000 square feet. The first phase of the expansion is expected to come online in mid-2021 and the final phase will be completed by the second quarter of 2022. Read moreMaine: Preliminary sales data from regulators at the state’s Office of Marijuana Policy indicate Maine’s adult-use cannabis retailers grossed approximately $1.4 million and made 21,194 transactions during the first month of retail sales. The reporting period covers sales made from Maine’s retail sales launch date of Oct. 9 through the end of the day on Nov. 8, a total of 31 days. Read moreCalifornia: San Luis Obispo County Superior Court Judge Ginger Garrett ruled Nov. 20 that cannabis billboards are illegal under California’s Prop. 64. Roughly 35 of California’s highways will be impacted by the ruling, although cannabis can still be advertised on billboards along highways that don’t cross state borders. Read more4Front Ventures Corp. has announced that its 185,000-square-foot production facility in Commerce, Calif., is nearing completion and will be ready to serve the state’s market in Q2 2021. The project is on target to be completed in April 2021 with the company planning for the first of its full line of edibles, tinctures and vape products to be on California retail shelves by May. Read moreWest Virginia: The West Virginia Office of Medical Cannabis has issued 10 medical cannabis processing licenses to businesses that can now manufacture pills, oils, topicals, vaporizable products and tinctures, which can then be sold to the state’s licensed dispensaries. Regulators will now move forward with scoring dispensary applications, which is the last stage in the state’s cannabis licensing process. Read moreSouth Dakota: Pennington County Sheriff Kevin Thom and South Dakota Highway Patrol Col. Rick Miller have filed a lawsuit challenging Amendment A, South Dakota’s voter-approved adult-use cannabis legalization measure, arguing that it violates the state’s one-subject rule and the amendments and revisions article of the South Dakota Constitution. Amendment A is a constitutional amendment that legalizes the use of cannabis for adults 21 and older, and allows the possession of up to one ounce of cannabis per adult. Read moreNew Jersey: The state’s voters passed legalization in November’s election by a landslide, but New Jersey cannabis advocates are now calling out serious shortcomings in the proposed A-21/S-21 bill, saying it doesn’t do enough to address the harsh repercussions of the drug war and will keep minority and disadvantaged small businesses from participating in the upcoming industry. New Jersey’s State Assembly and Senate both canceled meetings scheduled for Nov. 23 that were partially devoted to ironing out these issues, and the next scheduled legislative meeting is Dec. 7. Read moreMassachusetts: Some of the state’s existing cannabis retailers are prepared to sue over the Cannabis Control Commission’s delivery rules, which, if approved, would allow a new set of cannabis licensees to provide home delivery. CCC Chairman Steve Hoffman has said that the commission feels it has the authority to move forward with its plan to regulate cannabis delivery, and a final vote on the rules, which was initially scheduled for late September, has been postponed until Nov. 30 to allow the CCC to accept additional public comment on the regulations. Read moreGeorgia: The state is now accepting applications from companies that want to cultivate cannabis and manufacture low-THC oil for the state’s registered medical cannabis patients. Applications must be submitted by Dec. 28, and Georgia will ultimately issue a maximum of six cultivation licenses. Read moreInternational: The United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs is scheduled to vote on the rescheduling of cannabis and cannabis-related substances during the 63rd reconvened session in December. This scheduled vote follows an earlier meeting of the World Health Organization Expert Committee on Drug Dependence, during which the Committee recommended the rescheduling of cannabis and several cannabis-related items, effectively removing cannabis from the list of scheduled substances. Read more