MjLink Cannabis Business News and Press

Kentucky Rep. Jason Nemes is working on a revised version of his medical cannabis legalization bill, which he believes has the support it needs to clear the General Assembly if it comes up for a vote during the 2022 legislative session, according to a WDRB report.

RELATED: Medical Cannabis Legalization in Kentucky Faces an Uphill Battle

An earlier version of the bill passed the House in a 65-30 vote during the 2020 session before stalling in the Senate, the news outlet reported.

The legislation allows four qualifying conditions: chronic pain, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and nausea. It also bars patients from smoking medical cannabis.

Nemes told WDRB that some provisions previously included in the bill have been changed to increase its chance of passage, including more restrictions on who can grow, sell and prescribe medical cannabis.

Oklahomans for Responsible Cannabis Action filed two initiative petitions Oct. 7 to bring cannabis policy reform measures to the state’s 2022 ballot.

One initiative petition would legalize adult-use cannabis, The Oklahoman reported, while the other makes changes to the state’s existing medical cannabis laws.

The adult-use measure would allow adults 21 and older to grow, purchase, transport, receive, prepare and consume cannabis, according to the news outlet. The proposal levies a 15% tax on adult-use cannabis sales and phases out the 7% tax on medical cannabis sales over the course of a year, The Oklahoman reported.

The adult-use proposal also allows those serving time for cannabis-related convictions to ask the court for resentencing or dismissal.

“Until we pass recreational [marijuana legalization] we will not be able to truly bring stability to our program,” Jed Green, who heads Oklahomans for Responsible Cannabis Action and who backed the state’s medical cannabis initiative, State Question 788, told The Oklahoman. “Legalization prevents diversion. Folks have been and are going to use marijuana. Have been for decades. It is in the best interest of our state to get ahead of the curve on this issue. We must put this issue to rest.”

The cannabis committee at ASTM International, a century-old organization that has released more than 12,000 global standards for a wide range of industries, has turned its attention to sustainability standards.

The cannabis committee, D37, has published auditing and security standards in the past, and recently launched a subcommittee on sustainability to develop standards aligned with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

RELATED: Standardizing the Cannabis Industry: A Look at ASTM International’s Process for Writing Standards

The standards will create consistency in an industry that has historically been regulated through a patchwork of state rules, according to Shawn Cooney, chair of D37’s subcommittee on sustainability.

“[The cannabis industry can] wait for [regulators] to even off the differences state by state, or the industry could stand up through the utilization of something like ASTM and get what the industry sees as standards into view, and then let the regulatory agencies mirror what the industry is basically saying the regulations should be,” Cooney told Cannabis Business Times and Cannabis Dispensary.

CHICAGO and VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 7, 2021 – PRESS RELEASE – Green Thumb Industries Inc., a leading national cannabis consumer packaged goods company and owner of Rise Dispensaries, announced it will host a grand reopening for its newly expanded retail store, Rise Mundelein, on Oct. 16 in Mundelein, Ill. A patient and guest appreciation event will be held from 8-11 a.m. that day and will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 8:30 a.m. Mundelein Mayor Steve Lentz will be in attendance.

"Rise Mundelein has been an important part of the Green Thumb story since opening as Illinois' first medical dispensary in 2015. On Jan. 1, 2020, we were one of the first stores in the state to serve adult-use consumers,” Green Thumb founder and CEO Ben Kovler said. “Americans are overwhelmingly choosing cannabis for well-being, and we look forward to enhancing our patient and customer experience at Rise Mundelein for today and the future."

Lentz added: “Green Thumb and Rise Mundelein have been outstanding community partners since entering Mundelein in 2015. I look forward to celebrating the grand reopening of Rise and celebrating with our neighbors.”

Designed by acclaimed interior design firm Sasha Adler Design, the expanded space provides guests and patients with an open concept bar for individualized consultations, interactive product displays and pop-up shops, increased points of sale and additional educational spaces. Rise Mundelein will also offer legal on-site purchase and consumption of cannabis by reservation only. As part of the expansion, Rise Mundelein is the first store in Illinois to offer roll-thru car service for medical cannabis patients to pick up orders. Orders and reservations may be made at www.risecannabis.com.

NEW YORK, Oct. 7, 2021 – PRESS RELEASE – Columbia Care Inc., one of the largest and most experienced cultivators, manufacturers and providers of cannabis products in the U.S., announced the first Cannabist dispensary in Missouri, located in Hermann, is now open. This marks the ninth Cannabist location and the 75th active Columbia Care dispensary in the U.S. Cannabist Hermann is located at 2060 Village Lane.

The Cannabist name is part of Columbia Care’s national retail rebrand, which launched last month in Florida.

RELATED: Columbia Care Turns Its Attention to Florida in Effort to Launch Cannabist Retail Brand

“We are proud to bring the Cannabist experience to medical patients in Missouri,” said Jesse Channon, chief growth officer of Columbia Care. “We are seeing accelerating growth and a clear appetite for high-quality products and services among an increasing number of patients in Missouri’s young medical market. We’re incredibly thankful to the Department of Health and Senior Services, local regulators and our business partners who have helped make this a reality as we bring the Cannabist experience to new communities across the country.”

The dispensary boasts seven points of sale and a drive-thru service window. Columbia Care will also open a manufacturing facility in nearby Columbia, which will produce vapes, edibles, tinctures, tablets and pre-rolls. Missouri’s cumulative medical cannabis sales reached more than $113 million in September, since launching in October 2020. There are approximately 150,000 registered medical patients in the state. Hermann is located between Kansas City and St. Louis, the two largest population centers in the state.

SEATTLE, Washington, October 7, 2021 - PRESS RELEASE -  Headset, a provider of data and analytics to the cannabis industry, announced the launch of its competitive intelligence tool, Headset Insights, in Arizona, Illinois and Maryland. With the expansion, Headset's retail-derived cannabis market reports based on aggregated point of sale data at the receipt level are now available in 15 markets across the U.S. and Canada. Headset Insights is currently available in California, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Massachusetts, Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Pennsylvania and most recently, Michigan.

The expansion of Headset Insights into Arizona, Illinois and Maryland will provide the rapidly expanding U.S. cannabis industry with even more valuable consumer trend insights and real-time market data. The platform enables local businesses to gain a comprehensive understanding of shifts within the market, proactively identify emerging retail opportunities and develop data-driven strategies to stay competitive. In 2020, both Arizona and Illinois surpassed $500 million in full-year cannabis sales, with Arizona being the 8th top-selling state and Illinois being the 10th top-selling state in the country. Medical sales in Maryland grew by 40% in 2020, increasing from $34 million in monthly sales in April 2020 to $48.1 million in 2021.

"We are thrilled to expand Headset Insights further into the Southwestern, Midwestern and Eastern U.S.," said Cy Scott, founder and CEO of Headset. "Data from these markets will contribute to a comprehensive profile of the U.S. market as a whole and give new and existing businesses in Arizona, Illinois and Maryland the information they need to thrive. Data from these markets will also likely influence business and investing behaviors of neighboring states that are on the cusp of legalizing adult-use products or already have a thriving medical industry."

Arizona has shown strong year-over-year (YoY) growth, growing 62% YoY in August to $138 million in total cannabis sales (medical and recreational). As of August, Illinois has $1.1 billion in total cannabis sales and is only $400,000 away from surpassing Michigan as the third-largest cannabis market in sales in the U.S. Maryland is the smallest U.S. market being tracked by Headset, with $370 million in total cannabis sales, and sales have been fairly steady month to month, ranging from $42 million to $48 million per month from January through August. Looking at category sales shares in Arizona, Illinois and Maryland, flower is the largest category capturing 46.2% of the Arizona market, 43.2% of the Illinois market and 50.0% of the Maryland market.

To learn more about Headset Insights, please click here. For more Illinois and Maryland market insights, please read the recent industry reports, "A high-level overview of the Illinois cannabis market" and "A high-level overview of the Maryland cannabis market." Keep an eye out for the Arizona market report in the coming weeks.

More than six months after New York legalized adult-use cannabis through the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA), the state’s Cannabis Control Board (CCB) held its first public meeting Oct. 5.

Inaction by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in appointing a CCB chairperson as well as an executive director for the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) held up the process. It took current Gov. Kathy Hochul nine days after assuming the governor’s office Aug. 24 to call an executive session to make those appointments.

RELATED: New York Governor Nominates Cannabis Regulatory Heads; Senate Confirms

So, what was the five-member board’s first order of business during its inaugural meeting this week? To expand New York’s medical cannabis program to include the use of whole flower.

CCB Chairwoman Tremaine Wright—Hochul’s appointee who was confirmed by the state Senate on Sept. 2—provided some detail about the “enhancements.”

“I am excited to announce that we are directing the OCM to work with the Department of Health (DOH) to execute the expansion of the medical cannabis program pursuant to the MRTA,” she said. “The Department of Health and our OCM team are actively working on several changes, which will take effect immediately.”

LIM College, a university focused on fashion business and based in Midtown Manhattan, in New York City, has launched a Bachelor of Business Administration degree program in cannabis.

According to a recent press release, the program will focus on the business side of the cannabis industry and will be available in-person and online. It “will provide students with core business and industry-specific knowledge and experience to pursue careers in various aspects of the legal cannabis industry.”

The college plans to bring in cannabis industry experts and working professionals to teach courses in cannabis regulatory issues, retail, product development, marketing and more.

Penelope Nam-Stephen, a former merchandising director for Burberry and the now chief commercial officer for Community Growth Partners, helped develop the program. Nam-Stephen said in the release that the program is very “timely” due to the industry’s rapid growth, as there is a need for skilled and knowledgeable individuals to fill entry-level positions.

“Having a well-qualified pipeline of talent in this heavily regulated and fragmented industry will help us progress more efficiently,” Nam-Stephen said in the press release. “It is also a wonderful opportunity for people to enter the cannabis space through a conventional academic path.”

With the state’s five-member Cannabis Control Board recently appointed, regulations are expected soon for the New York adult-use cannabis market—offering a future job market well beyond the scope of what presently exists.

The Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA) issued a voluntary cannabis product recall Sept. 24 due to microbial failures.

According to the public health and safety bulletin, several batches of cannabis were run through a mechanical trimmer contaminated with the banned chemical residues Bifenthrin and Chlorfenapyr.

The product recall affects flower and pre-rolls produced by Michigan Medical Marijuana, LLC, DBA Glo. The microbial failures occurred during retesting of the products, according to the MRA’s bulletin.

The following batches of cannabis contain the chemical residues:

And the following packages of bud, pre-packaged buds and pre-rolls were produced from the batches of cannabis containing the chemical residues and sold at the following locations on the dates listed:

The bustling adult-use cannabis market in Illinois is showing signs of maturity.

After sales figures experienced a steady increase from $80.7 million in February to a summer peak of $127.8 million in July, the state’s retail market plateaued at $121.8 million in August and $121.9 million in September, according to monthly data released Oct. 4 by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR). 

The most recent sales total comes on the heels of an ongoing retail licensing saga, with the IDFPR awarding 185 licenses in a trio of lotteries held July 29, Aug. 5 and Aug. 19, but a standing court order has blocked the issuance of those licenses.

RELATED: Illinois Confesses Licensing Blunder; Has Another Lottery Coming

Nonetheless, September sales have Illinois barking at the door of hitting the $1-billion benchmark for 2021—through the first nine months of the year, cumulative sales rest at $997.1 million, representing a 130.9% increase from this time a year ago. After adult-use sales launched in January 2020, the Illinois retail market reached $669.1 million in total sales last year.

Should sales trends hold steady in fourth quarter 2021, Illinois’ adult-use market will cash in roughly $1.4 billion this year.

While many prospective New York cannabis entrepreneurs are awaiting the new adult-use regulations to decide whether to participate in this burgeoning industry, they should understand that the Marijuana Regulation & Taxation Act (MRTA) enacted  March 31, 2021, already prescribes the general contours of this forthcoming market and how its revenue will be apportioned among the 11 categories of license holders.

And with the five-member Cannabis Control Board (CCB) now appointed, further specificity is expected soon.

The forthcoming regulations from the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) will follow the release of the MRTA language earlier this year. The MRTA is analogous, and more detailed in certain areas, to other sister-states’ recreational cannabis regulations. While residents of other states may complain of “over-regulation,” New Yorkers may be complaining about “over-legislation,” as New York’s cannabis law already addresses matters both big (no import or export of cannabis, and prioritizing state business in the event of federal legalization) and small (yes, the law allows customers to use credit cards at retail dispensaries and, no, they cannot purchase cannabis at an establishment that sells beer).

Basically, the foundation of the adult-use cannabis industry has already been laid, and CCB and OCM will mostly fill in the details and administer this industry under existing MRTA law.

MRTA says: Cannabis is to Hard Alcohol as OCM is to SLA

What we already know under the law is that the OCM will be housed as a separate office within New York State Liquor Authority (SLA), and staff from SLA may be transferred to OCM to administer the adult-use cannabis program.

The statutes in cannabis law partly mirror the New York Alcohol Beverage Control Law, with both having similar general statutory provisions for “Severability” and injunctive relief against prohibited conduct, as well as separate articles based on the type of formerly illicit product (medical, adult use and hemp each have their own articles within the cannabis law). Additionally, the application criteria and documentation requirements are markedly like those prescribing licensing and permits for alcohol, wine and beer—except for “social and economic equity” and other additional components for adult-use cannabis licenses.

On Nov. 2, Colorado voters will decide whether to increase the state’s cannabis sales tax to fund a program that would provide out-of-school learning opportunities to low-income students.

If approved, Proposition 119, Learning Enrichment and Academic Progress (LEAP), would raise the sales tax rate on adult-use cannabis from 15% to 20% to fund a $150 million effort to provide tutoring aid, according to Colorado Newsline.

“This first-in-the-nation initiative to help close the opportunity gap, which has only grown during the pandemic, is uniting Coloradans regardless of their political leanings or where they live,” former Colorado Gov. Bill Owens told the news outlet. “That’s because they understand the futures of so many of our young people—who are our future employees, employers and community leaders—are on the line."

More than half of the registered hemp fields tested in Southern Oregon this summer are actually growing THC-rich cannabis as regulators admit they lack the resources to eliminate the still-thriving illicit market that threatens the state’s legal adult-use industry.

The Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) adopted temporary rules in July to allow the agency to work with the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) to test registered hemp fields across the state to determine if the farmers are growing legal hemp (containing less than 0.3% THC) or illegal cannabis (containing more than 0.3% THC).

The emergency rules stemmed from the implementation of House Bill 3000, which aimed to regulate cannabis intoxicants (including delta-8), curb the illegal production of cannabis, bring Oregon into compliance with the 2018 Farm Bill, and establish a task force to address the regulation and marketing of cannabis cultivation in the state.

That task force was deployed at the end of July for “Operation Table Rock,” which saw agents from the OLCC, the ODA and local law enforcement set out to test the THC content of plants at the 335 registered hemp grow sites in Jackson and Josephine Counties. The emergency rules set a THC limit of 5% for these farms.

RELATED: Oregon Launches Hemp Field Inspections to Crack Down on Illicit Cannabis Operations

Pennsylvania state Sen. Mike Regan is a fiscal conservative with a law enforcement background of fighting crime and protecting families.

The Republican serving Cumberland and York counties is now adding cannabis legalization advocate to his track record. Regan, who chairs the Law and Justice Committee, is seeking co-sponsorship for his intent to introduce legislation legalizing adult-use cannabis in the commonwealth.

In an Oct. 4 op-ed, Regan said it may come to the consternation of some that he’s circulating a co-sponsorship memo for his legalization bill, specifically stating his 23-year background in law enforcement. But the former U.S. Marshal called adult-use legalization inevitable.

“For decades, marijuana has been used by adult residents in the state, but such use has financially benefitted and perpetuated organized crime, gangs and cartels,” Regan said in the statement.

Prior to his political endeavors—which includes serving two terms in the Pennsylvania House, before getting elected to the state Senate in 2016—Regan began his law enforcement career in 1988 as a member of the U.S. Marshals Service and ascended to the post of Fugitive Task Force Commander in 1995. In 2002, President George W. Bush nominated him to become the U.S. Marshal for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, where he served until his 2011 retirement. 

Although Regan’s sponsorship of an adult-use cannabis measure may come as a surprise to some, he took on medical cannabis reform efforts and voted in favor of establishing a medical cannabis program when he served in the Pennsylvania House.

BILLERICA, Mass., Oct. 4, 2021 – PRESS RELEASE – Agrify Corp., a developer of highly advanced and proprietary precision hardware and software cultivation solutions for the indoor agriculture marketplace, announced it has acquired Precision Extraction Solutions (“Precision”) and Cascade Sciences (“Cascade”), two of the leading brands that provide equipment and solutions for extraction, post-processing and testing for the cannabis and hemp industry, from Sinclair Scientific (“Sinclair”).

With the addition of Precision and Cascade, Agrify has expanded its core business beyond cultivation by gaining instant access to complementary and highly attractive areas of the supply chain. Precision and Cascade offer cutting-edge technologies and end-to-end service solutions for cannabis and hemp extraction and post-processing. These leading brands have collectively worked with over 30 multistate operators (MSOs) and over a thousand cannabis and hemp customers. Precision and Cascade expect to generate approximately $40 million in revenue in 2021 with positive EBITDA. As a result of this transaction, Agrify now has a physical presence in seven states with a growing number of clients and business partners distributed throughout the country.

Management Commentary

“We are thrilled to announce the acquisition of Precision and Cascade, two companies that share our strong commitment and passion for delivering leading-edge solutions and exceptional customer service to the cannabis and hemp industry,” Agrify CEO Raymond Chang said. “Precision and Cascade have stellar reputations and powerful leadership positions in their respective spaces, which is a perfect complement to our existing business and should allow us to leverage new competitive advantages and synergies in order to accelerate our growth plans.”

Chang added, “This accretive and transformative acquisition offers us a number of critical benefits including giving us direct access to the thriving global cannabis extract vertical, which is expected to grow to $24 billion by 2028, increasing our potential customer base by approximately 50% and nearly doubling our annual revenue in 2021. Additionally, we believe this transaction provides us with a tremendous opportunity to engage with more MSOs through our fortified portfolio of solutions while also driving substantial gains to the lifetime value of our current and future clients as well as the legacy customers from Precision and Cascade. We want to officially welcome our new team members, customers, business partners and suppliers to the Agrify family, and we look forward to realizing the vast potential of our bolstered organization while generating significant value for all of our stakeholders and shareholders.”

“We are proud to partner with Agrify to create the most vertically integrated total solutions provider in the cannabis and hemp market,” said Nick Tennant, founder and chief technology officer of Precision. “We have seen firsthand that customers are craving best-in-class solutions that address the many challenges they encounter across the supply chain from a single trusted source. With a diverse suite of cultivation and post-harvest solutions, our combined organizations are poised to leverage our additional scale to become a dominant force within the industry.”

Utah cultivator Sugar House Selects turned some heads when its Ice Cream Cake cultivar tested at 45.13% THC in June, knocking on the world-record potency door. Sugar House promoted the results on social media.

But the cannabis flower sample that was tested by Aromatic Plant Research Center (APRC)—a cannabis testing facility in Utah—didn’t live up to its hype. When long-time medical cannabis patient advocate Christine Stenquist twisted the lab’s arm to retest a new sample, APRC’s follow-up analysis revealed that the actual potency was 21.71% THC, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

“I knew the lab results were wrong,” Stenquist told the Tribune. “They were wrong, and it goes against everything we’re trying to educate the public and community about. We’re not chasing highs; we’re trying to get good medicine.”

As many medical cannabis advocates and industry stakeholders are relaying to consumers, THC is just one element of the plant. Terpenes, flavonoids and cannabinoids like CBD also are key compounds that contribute to the ensemble effect—also referred to as the entourage effect—which is the synergistic phenomenon produced when all the plant’s compounds work together.

Some plant-touching experts relate cannabis’ ensemble effect to wine, explaining that beverage connoisseurs don’t actively select wine based on the highest alcohol content but rather for its aroma, taste and effect.

With third-party testing and some state-legal cannabis programs lacking a state-run lab, potency discrepancies present an obstacle for the industry: how can consumers be confident the labels on their purchases are accurate?

Sensible Florida has filed a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize adult-use cannabis in the state after the Florida Supreme Court struck down an earlier version in June.

The original initiative, called “Regulate Marijuana in a Manner Similar to Alcohol to Establish Age, Licensing and Other Restrictions,” was headed to the 2022 ballot before Florida’s highest court ruled that the words “for limited use” were misleading.

The new proposal would legalize cannabis use for adults 21 and older and would allow adults to grow up to 18 plants at home for personal use, according to a CBS Miami report. The measure would also block state lawmakers from limiting the amount of THC in adult-use cannabis products.

Sensible Florida must collect 891,589 valid signatures by Feb. 1 and receive Supreme Court approval to place the issue before voters in the 2022 election, CBS Miami reported.

Another campaign, Make It Legal Florida, also succumbed to a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year when judges ruled that the group’s ballot measure would have misled voters by failing to disclose that cannabis would still be illegal under federal law.

WAKEFIELD, Mass., Oct. 4, 2021 – PRESS RELEASE – Curaleaf Holdings Inc., a leading international provider of consumer products in cannabis, has successfully completed the previously announced $67-million acquisition of Los Sueños Farms and its related entities (“Los Sueños”), the largest outdoor grow in Colorado.

Curaleaf Executive Chairman Boris Jordan said, "We're very excited about the closing of the Los Sueños acquisition. The vertical integration of our business in Colorado significantly strengthens Curaleaf's market presence in the second largest state cannabis market in the U.S. This deal provides Curaleaf with a high-quality, efficient, and low-cost supply of biomass to support our wholesale and retail customers in Colorado and, once interstate commerce is allowed, on a regional scale. Overall, our newly expanded cultivation capacity will allow us to better serve Colorado's $2.2 billion annual cannabis market opportunity."

Following the successful completion of the Los Sueños acquisition, Curaleaf gains three Pueblo, Colo., outdoor cannabis grow facilities covering 66 acres of cultivation capacity including land, equipment and licensed operating entities; an 1,800 plant indoor grow; and two retail cannabis dispensary locations serving adult-use customers. As the largest cannabis biomass producer in the state, the Los Sueños facilities will help fuel Curaleaf’s Select brand’s already market-leading presence in Colorado with a variety of best-in-class cannabis products distributed to nearly 2,000 locations across 18 states.

Bob DeGabrielle, Los Sueños founder and Colorado cannabis industry expert, will continue to oversee the Los Sueños operation and will take responsibility for Curaleaf’s Colorado wholesale and retail businesses.

MIAMI, Oct. 04, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PRESS RELEASE -- Ayr Wellness Inc., a vertically-integrated cannabis multi-state operator (MSO), today announced it has closed, through a wholly owned subsidiary, on the purchase of 100% of the membership interests of PA Natural Medicine, LLC, an operator of three licensed retail dispensaries, deepening Ayr’s presence in the rapidly growing medical market in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

The acquisition of PA Natural adds key dispensary locations in central Pennsylvania, including the college towns of Bloomsburg and State College, as well as Selinsgrove. In keeping with the company’s retail strategy, the stores will be rebranded to “Ayr” from the existing “Nature’s Medicine” banner by year-end.

“We are excited to expand our retail presence in Pennsylvania, where we’ve generated great momentum since entering the market earlier this year, in terms of the excellent reception we’ve received for both our dispensaries and our Ayr-grown premium flower. With six stores now open and two additional dispensary openings anticipated by year-end, and one of the largest cultivation and production footprints in the state, we expect Pennsylvania to be a major contributor to our growth in 2022 and beyond,” said Jonathan Sandelman, Ayr Wellness founder, chairman and CEO.

The terms of the transaction include upfront consideration of $80 million, made up of $20 million in stock, $25 million in seller notes and $35 million in cash. An earn-out based on 2021 Adjusted EBITDA, is payable in Q1 2022.

Update on accelerated warrant exercise and expiry: The company’s trustee, Odyssey Trust, is making final determinations in connection with the warrant exercises ahead of the accelerated expiry effective Sept. 30, 2021. The company estimates over 90% of the expiring warrant holders chose to exercise for cash. As a result, Ayr expects approximately US$50 million in cash to be added to its balance sheet. A final update will be provided by the company in the near future.

With all the headlines explaining the proposed Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA) this summer, it was nice to see some action on cannabis reform from a high-profile U.S. House committee this week.

But it wasn’t the CAOA, which has yet to be formally introduced in Congress.

It was the MORE Act, a similarly comprehensive piece of legislation first introduced in 2019. The U.S. House has approved this bill before, but it’s still heartening to see it progress once again through the committee process.

“By advancing the MORE Act, the House will demonstrate that the majority of our political leaders are ready to correct this injustice and enact cannabis policy reform that undoes the harms that have been inflicted upon millions of otherwise law-abiding citizens,” NORML Political Director Justin Strekal said in a public statement. 

Indeed. This is more than mere symbolism, but the symbolism is still important. That idea that the House “will demonstrate” the political inclinations of the people is vital to the ongoing rush of progress our industry has seen in recent years.

It’s not a done deal by any means, and it’s far from a unanimous rallying cry for a federally legal cannabis industry. Support for legalization among the U.S. electorate is up—way up—but the rest of the story has yet to be told. This week’s major MORE Act vote is just one more step forward.