CANNA NEWS

STATE AND REGULATORY NEWS

Still unclear whether Biden would sign house-approved legalization bill. President Joe Biden’s press secretary Jen Psaki was unable to say whether the president supports the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act after the House passed the bill on mostly party lines. Rather, she said during remarks to reporters— first reported by Marijuana Moment — that Biden “agrees that we need to rethink our approach” to cannabis. These vagaries add to the haze clouding questions about cannabis policy during Biden’s first presidential term. The president himself has said little about cannabis legalization but in the past, he was not in favor of significant reforms. Secretary Psaki said last year that Biden’s opposition to broader cannabis reforms “has not changed,” despite saying on the campaign trail that states should decide their own cannabis policy, according to the report. Read More (Ganjapreneur)

Regulate cannabis like corn? U.S. Farm Bill proposal raises eyebrows, hopes. A seemingly offbeat idea to finally approve federal marijuana legalization is getting cannabis-reform advocates talking: What about adding high-THC cannabis to low-THC hemp in the next Farm Bill? It’s an idea few in the cannabis advocacy community have considered. But the suggestion isn’t coming from just any pro-legalization member of Congress. It’s an idea from a powerful gatekeeper: the chair of the House Agriculture Committee, Democratic Rep. David Scott of Georgia. Scott floated the idea a couple months ago after hearing powerful testimony from Amber Littlejohn, executive director of the Minority Cannabis Business Association. Littlejohn told lawmakers that small and minority-owned marijuana companies likely won’t survive without some help from Congress, adding that state-level social equity programs have not been able to keep many minority-owned businesses afloat. Read More (Marijuana Business Daily)

Schumer talking to GOP to ‘see what they want’ in marijuana legalization bill coming this month. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that he and colleagues are in the process of reaching out to Republican senators to “see what they want” included in a bill to federally legalize marijuana he’s planning to introduce later this month. The leader was pressed during a briefing with reporters about the fact that he’s been discussing plans to file legalization legislation for more than a year. The new comments come less than a week after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a separate legalization bill from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY). “We hope to [file the bill] towards the end of April” Schumer said, adding that he, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) “are talking about it and, in fact, we’re trying to reach out” to other lawmakers about the forthcoming bill. Read More (Marijuana Moment)

Weed seeds may be legal to ship across the U.S., DEA says. Cannabis commercial and home growers alike may be able to get their seeds from all over the country now, and not have to worry about breaking federal law. Before, because of federal illegality, cannabis seeds have been restricted to the state in which they were produced, so a strain bred and grown in one state, legally, could not go beyond that state’s boundaries. A recent legal clarification by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) could mean that the seeds of cannabis strains popular in one part of the country could legally be shipped to another part of the country, because the DEA considers all forms of cannabis seeds to be federally legal hemp. That means strains popular in mature markets like Washington, Oregon, and California could make their way to legal markets on the East Coast in Massachusetts and Maine, and soon-to-open markets like New Jersey and New York. Read More (Leafly)

Treasury Secretary Yellen frustrated with stalled marijuana banking reform. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen expressed her strongest support yet of marijuana banking reform – and frustration over the lack of progress on the issue in Congress. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, a Colorado Democrat who has championed the SAFE Banking Act, raised the issue with Yellen during a House Financial Services Committee hearing. Yellen added that banks are “trapped” in the middle of the conflict between state and federal marijuana laws, and a legislative solution is likely needed to resolve that conflict. In December, she expressed implicit support for marijuana banking reform. Yellen said, according to the U.S. Cannabis Council and media reports: “It’s an important issue – and it’s an extremely frustrating one that we haven’t been able to resolve it.” Read More (Marijuana Business Daily)

Prospects for federal marijuana reform: Q&A with GOP Rep. Nancy Mace. When Nancy Mace, the U.S. Rep., was asked: “What’s the status of the States Reform Act (SRA)?” She said: “We are waiting for the MORE Act to pass out of the House. The next step with the SRA will be a hearing. And we’re going to do that in the (House) Oversight (and Reform Committee). We’ll have a hearing in the Subcommittee on Civil Rights (and Civil Liberties). I’m the ranking Republican, and (U.S. Rep.) Jamie Raskin is the chairman, but that’s where we’ll have our first hearing. Once the MORE Act passes, we’ve talked to Democrats who do want to get on board with SRA, and I want to make sure we’re playing chess and not checkers and moving forward on legislation that we believe will be bipartisan and will have a chance of success.” Read More (Marijuana Business Daily)

Congress says it’s liberalizing pot research laws. What pot researchers really need is money. The Senate bill’s co-sponsors Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) claim in a press release touting its passage that “this important legislation will cut the red tape around the research process, helping get FDA-approved, marijuana-derived medications safely to patients.” But critics say the bill would make it more difficult to research some substances of medical interest derived from marijuana. They also say it does not require the feds to issue licenses for research, which means the government could block research, much as it did during the Trump administration when then-Atty. Sue Sisley, a physician and researcher who has dedicated her career to the study of cannabis for veterans suffering with untreatable PTSD, end-stage cancer patients with untreatable pain, and opioid addicts trying to get clean, was not impressed with the new bill. Read More (Cannabis Business Executive)

Russian invasion of Ukraine further upends cannabis supply chain. Global supply-chain woes – first triggered by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 – have been exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the U.S. cannabis industry is expected to feel the added fallout for months. Several ancillary company executives told MJBizDaily the problems are likely to continue this year, further forcing up costs and making it even more difficult for companies to secure key supplies such as specialty packaging, chemical solvents used in concentrate production and stainless steel. “The two big pain points are going to be the solvents – the extraction piece, the consumables on that side – and packaging, because everyone wants a specialized brand,” predicted Liz Geisleman, co-founder of Canna Consortium, a group of 16 ancillary businesses that cater to plant-touching marijuana businesses. Read More (Marijuana Business Daily)

States collected more than $3.7 billion in recreational marijuana tax revenue in 2021, report finds. States that have legalized marijuana for adult use collectively generated more than $3.7 billion in tax revenue from recreational cannabis sales in 2021, a report from the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) found. That’s a 34 percent increase compared to revenue that states received from cannabis sales in 2020. The report follows up on an analysis MPP put out in January that looked at the total adult-use cannabis tax revenue collected by all legal states since recreational sales started in Colorado and Washington State in 2014. At the time, the 2021 figures were incomplete but still showed that states received more than $10 billion in tax dollars from recreational marijuana sales over the past seven years. Read More (Marijuana Moment)

Source: Intro-act, MPP, Marijuana Moment

The study ranked the best ‘weed towns’ in the U.S. Just 10 years ago, weed lovers looking to legally smoke cannabis would have lost their luck unless they booked a flight to Amsterdam. However, since Colorado and Washington became the first two states to legalize recreational marijuana in 2012, the so-called “green rush” of legal weed has grown—and now plenty of states offer pot lovers a legal place to puff in peace. Here is a ranking of the top ten “weed towns” as identified by the Real Estate Witch: 1) Denver, Colorado, 2) Portland, Oregon, 3) Sacramento, California, 4) Las Vegas, Nevada, 5) San Jose, California, 6) Seattle, Washington, 7) San Francisco, California, 8) San Diego, California, 9) Los Angeles California, and 10) Phoenix, Arizona. Read More (Online Weed News)

The future of interstate cannabis commerce. Today, CBD companies can ship products across the state lines where a product was produced, however, some hemp-derived CBD companies don’t even ship to all the 50 U.S. states, thanks to individual state regulations. Interstate commerce could be permitted before federal legalization. There are pieces of legislation out there supporting interstate commerce as an isolated issue. The question is, will it happen before federal legalization arrives?  Our guess is no. Federal legalization and measures like SAFE Banking are the hot button, prioritized issues (as they should be), not interstate commerce. There’s not as much of a push for interstate commerce right now, especially as new markets are just getting off the ground and established brands capturing market share could disrupt those small businesses. Read More (Workweek)

Cannabis sales bounce back in February. Arizona: combined sales of $103.7 million were up 43.4% compared to a year ago, when there were only medical cannabis sales in the BDSA database, and down 0.4% from January. California: sales fell 7.8% sequentially to $253.5 million, with its 11.7% annual decline in February slightly better than the 12.2% drop in January. Colorado: sales fell 7.3% in February compared to January, declining 7.4% from a year ago to $156 million. Nevada: hit hard by the downturn in tourism due to the pandemic, Nevada was the only state in the West to experience an increase in sales from January, with the $59.7 million booked in February representing a 1.5% increase though down 14.3% from a year ago. Oregon: sales in February fell 4% from January to $80.3 million, down 9.5% from a year ago. Florida: sales have been relatively steady over the past year. In February, they fell 1.6% from January to $149.8 million, up 24.1% from a year ago. Read More (New Cannabis Ventures)

Source: Intro-act, New Cannabis Ventures

Recreational cannabis will be on Maryland ballot in November. Maryland voters will have an opportunity to legalize a recreational cannabis market in November after a vote by state lawmakers put the question on the statewide ballot. According to the Associated Press, the Maryland House of Delegates approved the recreational marijuana referendum in a 94-39 vote. Lawmakers also approved a companion measure that, if the legalization question succeeds in November, would implement a regulatory structure. However, the measure leaves open-ended questions related to taxation and licensing for lawmakers to resolve in 2023. If the ballot measure succeeds, adult-use marijuana possession and use by consumers would become legal in July 2023. It’s unclear when licensed sales might begin. Read More (Marijuana Moment)

Delaware marijuana legalization effort revived with two-track approach following House defeat. Rep. Ed Osienski’s (D) first attempt to pass a measure to tax and regulate cannabis for adult use this session was a flop, failing on the floor even though it received a majority of votes. It needed a three-fifths supermajority because the bill included economic components, and it came up two votes short of that. Now the lawmaker is back at it again with a different, two-track approach. He filed a new pair of bills late last month: one would simply legalize possession and sharing of up to one ounce of marijuana for adults 21 and older, and the other would create specific regulations for cannabis commerce that largely resemble the prior, House-defeated bill. Read More (Marijuana Moment)

Louisiana House approves legislation to prohibit smoking cannabis in a vehicle. Louisianians are prohibited from possessing non-medical cannabis while in a vehicle and from driving under the influence of cannabis, but the state’s current law leaves a glaring loophole—there is no law that prohibits drivers and passengers from smoking cannabis in moving vehicles. Lawmakers are now aiming to address the issue with House Bill 234, which Rep. Laurie Schlegel, R-Metairie, introduced in February to do just that, according to the Louisiana Illuminator. The House approved the measure April 6 in a 66-31 vote, the news outlet reported. A new law took effect Jan. 1 to allow Louisiana’s medical cannabis patients to access flower, highlighting the fact that smoking behind the wheel is not technically illegal in the state. Read More (Cannabis Business Times)

Massachusetts Senate approves overhaul of marijuana laws. The Massachusetts Senate unanimously approved the most significant changes to the state’s marijuana laws since legalization was implemented in 2017. The package of reforms would crack down on excessive fees charged by municipalities to licensed marijuana operators, clear the way for cities and towns to approve cannabis cafes, and put more muscle behind policies meant to make the licensed pot industry equitable after decades of racially disproportionate drug arrests. Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz, a Democrat, who championed the legislation as co-chair of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy, said: “Lowering entry costs and opening up new avenues to capital will put this multibillion-dollar industry within reach for many talented equity entrepreneurs.” Read More (MSN)

Lawmaker adds ‘poison pill’ amendment to Missouri’s adult-use cannabis legalization bill. The Missouri House Public Safety Committee approved an adult-use cannabis legalization bill, but not before one lawmaker included a controversial amendment that could ultimately doom the legislation. Rep. Nick Schroer, R-St. Charles County, amended House Bill 2704, the Cannabis Freedom Act, March 31 to bar transgender women from accessing no-interest loans for women- and minority-owned cannabis businesses, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The amendment drew criticism from both sides of the aisle, the news outlet reported, but the legislation still cleared the House Public Safety Committee in a 5-4 vote. Schroer voted no on the bill, however, citing last-minute changes that took place before the vote. Read More (Cannabis Business Times)

Colorado lawmakers approve MDMA Bill while rejecting broader psychedelics measure as ballot initiatives loom. A Colorado House committee approved a bill aligning state statute to legalize MDMA prescriptions if and when the federal government ultimately permits such use. Meanwhile, the House Public & Behavioral Health & Human Services Committee also rejected separate legislation to create a psychedelics review panel to study substances like psilocybin and DMT and issue recommendations on possible policy changes. But that measure’s defeat came at the request of its sponsor, who asked members to “kill my bill” to give voters a chance to weigh in on broader psychedelics reform initiatives that activists are actively pursuing for the November ballot. The MDMA legislation, however, unanimously passed in a 11-0 vote, with technical amendments. It now heads to the floor. Read More (Marijuana Moment)

Unlicensed marijuana dispensaries multiply in New York City despite warnings from state regulators. New York City is already known for having one of the most robust underground cannabis markets in the world. There’s no shortage of potent products or sophisticated branding, and convenient home delivery has been the norm ever since the advent of cell phones. But since New York legalized marijuana for adult use last March and lowered the penalties for unlawful sales, it’s also become increasingly easy to pick up a pre-rolled joint or bag of gummies from a store. That’s the case even though the first licensed dispensaries aren’t supposed to open until the end of 2022. Some shops point to loopholes in the law to make the case that they’re operating legally. Others have thrown any pretense that they’re not really selling weed out the window. Read More (Gothamist)

D.C. lawmakers reject bill to effectively legalize marijuana sales for adults and crack down on ‘gifting’ market. Washington, D.C. lawmakers rejected a measure to effectively circumvent a congressional ban on locally legalizing adult-use marijuana sales by allowing adults 21 and older to “self-certify” themselves as medical cannabis patients without needing a doctor’s recommendation. The emergency resolution faced criticism from some advocates over separate provisions that would have cracked down on unlicensed businesses that are using existing policy to “gift” cannabis to people who purchase unrelated products and services. District Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) sponsored the legislation, which is the product of a unique legal and regulatory quandary that the District has found itself in since voters approved the legalization of personal cannabis possession, cultivation and gifting at the ballot in 2014. Read More (Marijuana Moment)

California marijuana farmers clamber to avoid major ‘extinction event’. Marijuana farmers across California are scrambling to revamp their operations to stay in the licensed market at a time when hundreds, if not thousands, of cultivators are in danger of going out of business. Oversupply, high taxes and licensing fees, as well as depressed wholesale prices, are creating cash-flow shortages for farmers across the state, according to several industry insiders who spoke with MJBizDaily. As a result: 1) scores of farmers are opting to let costly licenses expire to save money, 2) most are trimming overhead and production, with many forgoing planting altogether this season, and 3) others are combining expertise and resources to make one final run at viability. Read More (Marijuana Business Daily)

More Mississippi cities opt out of medical cannabis ahead of deadline; Tupelo appears in. Under the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act, legislation Gov. Tate Reeves signed into law on Feb. 2, municipalities have 90 days, or until May 3, to decide whether to opt out of allowing medical cannabis businesses in their jurisdictions. Making Mississippi the 37th state to legalize medical cannabis without low-THC restrictions, Reeves’ ink came 456 days after voters approved Initiative 65 in the 2020 election. That ballot initiative was later struck down by the Mississippi Supreme court, motivating state lawmakers to act on the issue. While much attention is on Jackson, Gulfport and Southaven—Mississippi’s three most populous cities—Horn Lake is the largest city to opt out so far. Brandon and Ridgeland, the state’s 15th and 16th largest cities, also opted out in early March. Read More (Cannabis Business Times)

Detroit Council OKs adult-use marijuana ordinance; initial licensing to begin 4/20. The Detroit City Council finally signed off on a long-awaited local ordinance to kick-start the municipality’s adult-use marijuana industry. The business licensing process is scheduled to commence on April 20, the unofficial marijuana holiday. According to the Detroit Free Press, there will be no caps on licenses for cultivators and processors, and businesses seeking those licenses will be allowed to start submitting applications on 4/20. However, a maximum of 100 retail licenses will be issued during an application window that might not begin for an additional 100 days, the Detroit Metro Times reported. Also, half of the retail permits will be reserved for social equity applicants. Read More (Marijuana Business Daily) and More (Ganjapreneur)

Border patrol warns against carrying pot in New Mexico. New Mexico just became the 18th state to legalize recreational pot use for adults, but that makes no difference to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which issued a warning for anyone passing through the Land of Enchantment: it is still illegal to us. As Border Report noted: “Border Patrol operates highway checkpoints in New Mexico on Interstate 10 near Deming, north of Las Cruces, south of Alamogordo and north of Columbus, among others,” and agents who are situated there “primarily check for immigration documents of people traveling to the interior of the United States, but they also make drug seizures under Title 21 authority of the U.S. Code.” Read More (Marijuana Retail Report)

New Mexico cannabis sales top $5.2 million in first weekend. New Mexico cannabis sales totaled $5.2 million over the first weekend of adult-use sales, the Cannabis Control Division of the Regulation and Licensing Department reported. Friday, the first day of adult-use sales, was nearly double Colorado’s first day of adult-use sales. Between midnight on Friday, April 1, and 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, April 3, cannabis retailers made $5,219,575.73 in sales with medical and adult-use purchases combined. Adult-use sales alone brought in $3,522,811.27 and medical cannabis generated $1,696,764.46. The dollars came from 87,773 individual transactions from every corner of the state. As of the start of sales on Friday, 151 retail licenses had been issued, covering nearly 250 locations. Read More (The Office of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham)

Colorado: $12.3 billion in legal cannabis sales in seven years. Since Colorado began its sanctioned cannabis sales in 2014, more than $12.3 billion worth has been sold in the Centennial State. Consequently, the state has collected over $2 billion to fund various projects statewide, from allocations for its general fund, to a school capital construction fund, and law enforcement. Between 2014 and 2020, Colorado sold 2.5 million pounds of flower, or the equivalent of 3.4 billion one-third gram joints. Loose flower remains the largest product category, though its share of the market has fallen 20% percent (from 50% in 2017, to 40% in 2021). Over the same period, all other categories (except prerolls and topicals/tinctures) gained market share: Vapes are up 66%, edibles by 62%, and extracts by 31%. It is worth noting that despite any disparities in shares, revenues earned in each product category have increased across the board (based on annual growth in overall consumer spending). Read More (New Frontier Data)

Source: Intro-act, New Frontier Data

Illinois marijuana sales rebound in March, reaching $131 million, state officials report. Illinois’s marijuana market seems to be rebounding after a couple of months of lagging sales, with officials reporting that the state saw nearly $131 million in legal recreational cannabis purchases in March 2022. That’s the second highest recorded sales month for adult-use marijuana since the industry opened in 2020. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) reported that there were almost $90.4 million in adult-use cannabis sales from in-state consumers last month, while about $40.6 million came from out-of-state visitors. While Illinois broke its yearly record for cannabis sales in 2021—with more than $1.4 billion in cannabis sold last year—marijuana purchases dipped in January and February, following the December 2021 record-high of $137,896,859. Read More (Marijuana Moment) and More (New Cannabis Ventures)

Source: Intro-act, Marijuana Moment, IDFPR

Montana adult-use marijuana sales top $15.8 million in March. Sales in Montana’s new adult-use recreational marijuana market surpassed $15.8 million in March, up from $13 million for the previous month. According to data from the Montana Department of Revenue, the state tallied $15,861,516 in recreational cannabis sales in March and $9,872,283 in medical marijuana sales. That brought sales since the adult-use market launched January 1 to $43,537,110 for recreational marijuana and $29,373,731 for MMJ – a total of nearly $73 million. Average daily sales for recreational marijuana in Montana increased each of the first three months since the market launch. Montana recreational marijuana sales could total $90 million this year, the MJBiz Factbook predicts, and could grow to $325 million by 2025. Read More (Marijuana Business Daily)

The U.S. cannabis spot index increased 2.8% to $1,301 per pound; May 2022 implied forward unchanged at $1,265 per pound. The simple average (non-volume weighted) price increased $1 to $1,535 per pound, with 68% of transactions (one standard deviation) in the $688 to $2,382 per pound range. The average reported deal size declined to 2.3 pounds. In grams, the Spot price was $2.87 and the simple average price was $3.38. The average reported forward deal size declined fractionally to 78.2 pounds. The proportions of forward deals for outdoor, greenhouse, and indoor-grown flower were unchanged at 36%, 50%, and 14% of forward arrangements, respectively. The average forward deal sizes for monthly delivery for outdoor, greenhouse, and indoor-grown flower were 86 pounds, 77 pounds, and 62 pounds, respectively. Read More (Cannabis Benchmarks)

Source: Intro-act, Cannabis Benchmarks, New Leaf Data Services

Canadian market to reach $8.8 billion by 2027. A new report by Brightfield Group is predicting that Canadian cannabis sales will grow to $8.8 billion by 2027, after seeing sales grow 39% in 2021 to end the year at $4.39 billion with $3.9 billion coming from the recreational market. The leading growth categories in 2021 were pre-rolls (77.7%) with multi-packs taking 79% of pre-roll sales, vapes (47.3%), and flower (33%). In the U.S., edibles saw a lot of growth last year, but this was not seen in Canada. Consumers looking for more potent products are not well served by the edibles market due to regulatory constraints on THC limits. It also took quite a while for new innovations to get to market. Read More (Cannabis Retailer)

Canada streamlining application process to get cannabis to market quicker. Canada’s federal cannabis regulator is streamlining the application process to reduce the regulatory burden facing standard and micro-class marijuana processing license holders, a move that’s intended to give new and existing licensees the ability to bring products to market more quickly. Health Canada said it will begin granting sales authorization for dried and fresh cannabis products to all standard and micro-class processing license holders during the initial licensing process, meaning those licensees will no longer have to apply for an amendment in order to sell to wholesalers. The planned regulatory change will allow federal license holders to sell dried or fresh cannabis products to provincial wholesalers after the license has been amended. Read More (Marijuana Business Daily)

Canadian cannabis vape sales growth continues as consumer preferences evolve. Canadian sales of cannabis vape products continued to build from 2020 to 2021, with dollar sales up 79% and unit volume sales growing 100%, according to Headset. The growth in vape market share comes amid declining prices and a consumer base that increasingly prefers larger cartridges filled with a gram of vape liquid instead of the half-gram format that initially dominated the market. Meanwhile, the outlook for continued growth in the vape segment remains bright, according to an industry executive. Vape pen sales growth of 79% between 2020 and 2021 outpaced total cannabis market sales growth of 61%, indicating improved market share for the smokeless devices, observed Headset senior data analyst Cooper Ashley. Read More (Marijuana Business Daily)

Source: Intro-act, Headset, Marijuana Business Daily

Outdoor cannabis cultivation in Canada gaining attraction. Statistics Canada released licensed cultivation growing area data after almost nine months. The latest data set gives us a view of the indoor and outdoor growing area up through September 2021. Here are two seasonality charts that show the trend in indoor and outdoor growing areas across Canada. As seen in the chart, there was 1.73 million square meters of indoor growing capacity in September 2021, which was down from 2.0 million square meters a year earlier. This represents a 13.5% drop in indoor growing area. In contrast, there is a big push towards outdoor growing. Outdoor growing area increased substantially, reaching 894 hectares in September 2021. This is a massive jump relative to the same month in the previous year.  Over the 12 month period, outdoor cannabis cultivation capacity grew by 308 hectares or 53%. Read More (Cannabis Benchmarks)

Source: Intro-act, Cannabis Benchmarks, Hemp Benchmarks

British Columbia considering recreational cannabis consumption spaces. The government of British Columbia is considering allowing recreational cannabis consumption spaces and has launched a public consultation on the topic. Consumption spaces “could provide an opportunity for the sector to become more economically viable and could better meet the interests of people who use cannabis,” Mike Farnsworth, the province’s minister of public safety, said in a news release. The spaces could include business or special events where cannabis could be sold and used, and “examples include cafes, lounges, concerts or festivals, ticketed events and spas,” according to the release. However, provincial law would still prohibit any indoor smoking or vaping. Read More (Marijuana Business Daily)

COVID-19

The U.S. agencies warn seven CBD companies over COVID-19 health claims. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warned seven CBD makers over misleading claims regarding the efficacy of their products in treating the COVID-19 virus. FDA and the FTC sent letters warning the companies against selling CBD based on research studies that “claim or imply misleadingly that their CBD products will cure, mitigate, treat or prevent COVID-19.” According to a press release announcing the warnings: “The FDA has not approved or authorized any drug containing CBD for the treatment or prevention of COVID-19,” Companies that received warning letters were: 1) Functional Remedies, LLC, 2) Cureganics. Sherman Oaks, 3) Heaven’s Organics LLC, 4) Greenway Herbal Products LLC, 5) CBD Social, 6) UPSY LLC, and 7) Nature’s Highway. Read More (HempToday)

Cannabinoids vs. COVID – the first cannabinoid-based COVID-19 treatment hits the public market. Now a company has developed the first product based on cannabinoid acids designed to prevent and treat COVID-19. Van Breemen, which makes plant-based and wellness products, has created the hemp-based Original Wellness Formula, a blend founded by researcher Dr. Richard van Breemen of the Oregon State’s Global Hemp Innovation Centre, College of Pharmacy and Linus Pauling Institute, reports Benzinga. Dr. van Breemen just launched his company as he has founded his work based on research discovering that some cannabinoid acids within the hemp plant is beneficial for treating and preventing coronavirus. Read More (Cannabis.net)

COMPANY NEWS

TerrAscend & Cookies partner to open third cookies dispensary in Michigan. TerrAscend (TRSSF) announced that its subsidiary, Gage Cannabis will open a Cookies dispensary in Ann Arbor. Located in the heart of Ann Arbor at 2460 W. Stadium Blvd., the new flagship cannabis provisioning center will be operated by Gage in exclusive partnership with Cookies. Gage is the exclusive partner of Cookies in Michigan for cultivation, processing and retail, with the partnership recently extended until 2026.With the new location, TerrAscend now operates 26 dispensaries serving medical and adult-use cannabis markets in the U.S. and Canada, including 3 Cookies dispensaries in Michigan and 1 in Toronto. Read More (New Cannabis Ventures)

Jushi completes $45 million Nevada acquisition. Jushi Holdings (JUSHF) announced that it has closed its previously announced agreement to acquire NuLeaf, Inc. together with its subsidiaries and affiliated companies for $53.6 million. The acquisition of NuLeaf, along with the recently closed Apothecarium Nevada acquisition, expands Jushi’s retail footprint to four dispensaries in the $1.0 billion Nevada cannabis market, three of which are located in the bustling Las Vegas area. In addition, NuLeaf’s high-quality facilities strengthen the company’s cultivation and processing capabilities in the state, providing a strategic opportunity to expand Jushi’s ability to supply its best-in-class suite of branded products across its newly acquired Nevada stores and into the wholesale market. Read More (New Cannabis Ventures)

GlaxoSmithKline unit inks CBD pill deal with marijuana company Cann. Cann Group said it has entered into an exclusive evaluation and option deal with GSK Consumer Healthcare, a subsidiary of the U.K. drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline. The deal is regarding the potential commercialization of Cann’s CBD capsules for over-the-counter distribution in Australia and, potentially, globally. Cann Group said in a statement: “During the period of exclusivity, GSK Consumer Healthcare will undertake an evaluation of commercial potential and will review the results of Cann’s Phase 3 CBD clinical trial, which is currently underway”. Recruitment for the third phase of Cann’s CBD trial is currently underway. Read More (Marijuana Business Daily)

Canadian marijuana company Valens closing Citizen Stash facility in BC. The Valens Co. (VGWCF) is shuttering and selling a facility in Mission, British Columbia. Valens acquired the facility when it bought Citizen Stash Cannabis in 2021. Citizen Stash production has been moved “to our highly automated Kelowna facilities to centralize manufacturing and optimize margins,” Valens said in a news release announcing the closure. The facility closure and asset sales follow a bought deal offering that Valens said raised gross proceeds of $28.75 million. Valens said its decision to issue equity “was not taken lightly” but that its “asset-light strategy,” which involves purchasing cannabis from other growers rather than cultivating it themselves, required more working capital. The company said it also wanted to bolster its balance sheet in the face of “ongoing inflationary cost pressures, a volatile supply chain, and heightened geopolitical risk.” Read More (Marijuana Business Daily)

Harborside closes Loudpack acquisition ahead of transition to StateHouse. Harborside (BUDD-CA) announced that it has completed the previously announced acquisition of LPF JV Corporation (Loudpack). The acquisition of Loudpack follows Harborside’s acquisition of UL Holdings completed on March 1, 2022 and Harborside’s acquisition of Sublimation completed on July 2, 2021. Following completion of the acquisitions, the company plans to be renamed StateHouse Holdings. Pursuant to the terms of the definitive agreement announced on November 29, 2021, Harborside acquired 100% of the equity interests of Loudpack through the issuance of 90,752,140 subordinate voting shares, 2,000,000 warrants, the restructuring and assumption of $50 million of debt and cash consideration of approximately $5 million. Read More (New Cannabis Ventures)

Body and Mind provides state-wise operational updates. California: the company has recently completed rebranding of the San Diego dispensary from a ShowGrow branded dispensary to a Body and Mind (BMMJ) branded dispensary. The dispensary opened in April 2020 in the Miramar area of San Diego and has steadily increased the customer base with a wide selection of curated products. Nevada: Body and Mind is preparing for a busy 4/20 week in Nevada and will be participating in numerous programs with local dispensaries to promote Body and Mind branded offerings. Ohio: the recently opened Body and Mind production facility has received kitchen certification for production of edibles and the Company has commenced the process to submit proprietary edible products for approval by the state. Read More (PR Newswire)

Cannabis REIT NewLake funds $34 million C3 Missouri project. NewLake Capital Partners announced the closing of part-one of a three-part commitment for a cultivation property in Missouri. The commitment includes the purchase of a 40,000-square-foot industrial property in O’Fallon, Missouri, and entering into a long-term, triple-net lease with an affiliate of C3 Industries which is guaranteeing the lease. NewLake’s $34.0 million aggregate commitment will be invested across three parts. Part-one begins with NewLake’s $7.3 million purchase of the company’s flagship Missouri cultivation facility with a commitment to fund an additional $5.2 million to finish construction, which is expected to be completed by June 2022. Read More (New Cannabis Ventures)

Massachusetts regulators approve transfer of cannabis banking business. Massachusetts’ Needham Bank completed its acquisition of Eastern Bank, including the transfer of the cannabis banking and money service businesses after receiving the necessary regulatory approvals. Needham plans to open a branch focused on marijuana businesses. The bank also hired the cannabis banking team at Eastern, including executive vice president Paul Evangelista, according to a news release. Evangelista launched and led the cannabis banking strategy at Century Bank for nine years. Century was acquired by Eastern Bank in November 2021. The asset purchase agreement was announced January 14, 2022, and Needham received the necessary regulatory approvals in March. Read More (Marijuana Business Daily)

Metrc nabs Mississippi’s medical marijuana track-and-trace contract. Metrc signed a contract to provide track-and-trace services to Mississippi’s medical marijuana program. The deal marks Metrc’s 21st government contract with the U.S. state, the company said in a news release. Terms weren’t disclosed. Metrc has been on a solid run in securing state contracts this year, having landed MMJ contracts with South Dakota and Minnesota in March as well as an adult-use deal with New Jersey in January. Metrc’s platform will allow Mississippi regulators and businesses to track data and products from seed to sale. The traceability service uses a radio frequency identification (RFID) system to tag cannabis plants and products within the program. Read More (Marijuana Business Daily)

High Times announces partnership with Ginger Commerce. The High Times have entered into a partnership that will help create the largest direct-to-consumer offering in California. The company cooperate with gingerbread trade company that provides direct-to-consumer cannabis services in California through its proprietary e-commerce program. Ginger empowers entrepreneurs, content creators, and developers, inside and outside the industry, to build apps with cannabis-centric business models, launch DTC brands, deliver services, and fundamentally move the industry forward. In the partnership’s press release, the two companies discussed the growing importance of direct-to-consumer delivery in the cannabis industry, saying that it “has rapidly grown into a dominant revenue channel for companies.” Read More (Online Weed News)

EARNINGS

U.S. cannabis MSO revenue surges in 2021, fueled by expansion, acquisitions. The top cannabis multistate operators in the U.S. posted huge revenue gains in 2021 over the previous year as they expanded in high-growth markets and filled gaps in their geographic footprints through small and large acquisitions. In many cases, revenue nearly or more than doubled from 2020 while MSOs continued to take more of the overall U.S. market share of marijuana sales. Two big companies – Green Thumb Industries (GTBIF) and Trulieve Cannabis (TCNNF) – managed to turn a profit in 2021. By contrast, several companies – led by Cresco Labs (CRLBF) and Columbia Care (COLXF) – reported large losses as they increased production, opened new stores and acquired additional licenses or operations in key markets. Read More (Marijuana Business Daily)

Source: Intro-act, Company financial filings, Marijuana Business Daily

Tilray Q3 revenue declines 6% sequentially to $55 million. For third quarter fiscal year 2022, Tilray’s (TLRY) net revenue increased 23% to $152 million during the third quarter from $124 million in the prior year quarter. The increase was driven by 32% growth in cannabis revenue to $55 million, 64% growth in beverage alcohol revenue of $20 million and wellness revenue of $15 million. The company’s gross profit increased 31% to $40 million from $30 million in the prior year quarter. Gross margin increased to 26% from 25% in the prior year quarter. The company accounted significant growth in international cannabis with revenue up over 4,000% from the prior year quarter, and 37% increase in revenue in EMEA when compared to the previous quarter. Read More (New Cannabis Ventures)

Intercure Q4 revenue increases 29% sequentially to CAD$33 million. In its fourth quarter 2021, Intercure record revenue of $33 million (NIS 80 million), higher than preliminary results and three times greater than the fourth quarter of 2020 and representing sequential growth of 29% with adjusted EBITDA of $9 million (NIS 21 million), representing an 140% increase year-over-year, sequential growth of almost 50% and adjusted EBITDA margin of 26%. This marks eighth consecutive quarter of high double-digit growth representing an estimated annualized run rate of over $130 million (NIS 320 million). The company surpassed one-ton medical cannabis products dispensed per month in the fourth quarter, representing approximately 30% market share of Israel’s medical cannabis. Read More (New Cannabis Ventures)

CAPITAL MARKETS

Is credit quality improving? The graph shows the summary credit score for each of the nine largest MSOs for which we have data for both Q1:22 and Q1:21. The dark green and light green bars show each company's Viridian Credit Score on 3/31/22 and 3/31/21, respectively. Companies with the highest Viridian Capital Credit Scores are on the left. Green Thumb (GTBIF) has a Viridian Credit Score of 81, ranking it as the strongest credit of the group in 2022. Trulieve (TCNNF), formerly tied for #1 with GTII, drops to the #5 position in our ranking with a score of 61, down from 80 in 2021. Trulieve's dropped five places in our liquidity ranking primarily to a lower free cash flow adjusted current ratio. Trulieve declined from #3 in leverage to #5 due to weaker annualized funds from operation/ total liabilities. Read More (Viridian Capital Advisors)

Source: Intro-act, Viridian Capital Advisors, FactSet

MEDICAL CANNABIS

U.S. House of representatives approves Medical Marijuana Research Act. Researchers looking to study the medical benefits and risks of cannabis use have long been limited by federal prohibition, but legislation that cleared the U.S. House of Representatives April 4 aims to remove some of these barriers. The House voted 343-75 to pass House Bill 5657, the Medical Marijuana Research Act, which Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., introduced in October 2021, according to Forbes. The bipartisan legislation, which is co-sponsored by 11 other representatives, would allow researchers to access cannabis from state-legal dispensaries for their studies, the news outlet reported. The bill ultimately aims to make it easier for researchers to apply for approval to study cannabis by ensuring an adequate supply and establishing deadlines for federal agencies to consider applications, according to Forbes. Read More (Cannabis Business Times)

Key U.S. senator says he’s open to medical marijuana legalization. Lindsey Graham, a leading U.S. Republican senator, opposes the marijuana legalization measure passed by the U.S. house of representatives but said he’s open to legalizing medical cannabis. That might be an important message not only in terms of possible pathways to federal reform but also might resonate in Graham’s home state of South Carolina, where state lawmakers are considering legalizing medical marijuana. Graham told Charleston, South Carolina, TV station WCSC: “Medical marijuana, I’ve heard from many people in our state, seems to have some value.” Adding further: “If you can show me, and I think there’s evidence that it is helpful, then the medical marijuana idea I’d be open to.” Read More (Marijuana Business Daily)

D.C. council considers medical cannabis cards for all 21+ adults. The district councilmembers considered a proposal during their April 5 legislative meeting that would have allowed anyone 21 and older to obtain a medical cannabis card, with or without a doctor’s recommendation, The Washington Post reported. The councilmembers ended up rejecting that measure in an 8-5 vote. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, who brought the emergency legislation forward for a vote, said the measure would have made it easier for people to get their medical cannabis cards in an effort to encourage them to purchase from legal dispensaries. The city’s medical cannabis retailers have experienced “substantial erosion of their business to the illegal market,” Mendelson told the Post. Read More (Cannabis Business Times)

Kentucky governor considers taking action on medical cannabis legalization. Kentucky’s governor said he might issue an executive order to make medical cannabis accessible if an MMJ legalization bill doesn’t make it to his desk for his signature. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear made the comments as the latest medical marijuana bill remained stalled in the state Senate, the Associated Press reported. Beshear called on lawmakers to send him a bill that would allow Kentucky to join the majority of states that have legalized medical marijuana. A measure to legalize cleared the Kentucky House on a 59-34 vote last month, but it has made no headway in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer said in March that the bill MMJ is “done for the year” because of lack of support. Republicans have supermajorities in both chambers. Read More (Marijuana Business Daily)

Georgia lawmakers fail to pass bill implementing medical cannabis industry. Georgia legislators failed to agree on a bill to legalize production and sale of medical cannabis products, even though low-THC, marijuana-based oil has been permitted for registered patients since 2015. According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the state Senate tabled House Bill 1425 on a 28-27 vote just before the 2022 legislative session adjourned for the year. The upshot is the entire Georgia medical marijuana industry – and the state’s 22,000 registered patients – will have to wait until 2023 to participate in a legal avenue MMJ program. For seven years, lawmakers have failed to reach a deal that would allow private companies to legally grow marijuana plants and produce oil, leaving MMJ patients in limbo and businesses waiting for the green light to begin cultivation. Read More (Marijuana Business Daily)

South Carolina house committee hears public testimony on medical cannabis legalization bill. South Carolina lawmakers are taking their time in considering whether their state will become the 38th in the nation to legalize cannabis for medical purposes. The House Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs Committee heard six hours of public testimony April 4 as it considers whether to advance S. 150, which passed the Senate in early February after three weeks of debate. The bill, called the SC Compassionate Care Act, has since advanced to the Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs Committee, better known as the 3M Committee, which is the only one with a Democratic majority. Read More (Cannabis Business Times)

Mississippi inks deal for platform to aid in medical cannabis application process. Mississippi signed a five-year agreement in which Texas-based Tyler Technologies will provide a platform to help state regulators process medical cannabis business applications and assorted registrations. According to a news release, Tyler’s NIC Licensing Solution is a licensing platform that offers: 1) licensing for all business types, 2) employee credentialing, 3) patient and caregiver registration, and 4) practitioner registration. Through the NIC platform, Mississippi plans to start accepting applications online for licenses for marijuana operators such as dispensaries, patients and doctors. The company said in its release that the NIC platform is already being used for cannabis licensing in Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey and West Virginia. Read More (Marijuana Business Daily)

CBD/HEMP

Tilray hemp foods subsidiary to expand offerings in Whole Foods. Tilray’s (TLRY) hemp food subsidiary, Manitoba Harvest, plans to launch a new line of hemp powders blended with green tea leaves and other greens through grocery chain Whole Foods Market. A distribution deal announced pairs ground hemp protein with other “on-trend plant-based ingredients” such as matcha, a caffeinated powder made from green tea leaves. Manitoba Harvest’s Hemp+ Matcha powders will be available in 348 locations across North America and Hemp+ Superfoods powders in 382 stores, according to a news release. After 90 days, the powders will be sold in other grocery channels. Manitoba Harvest is a Winnipeg company that makes foods from hemp grain, including hemp hearts, hemp protein, hempseed oil and hemp extract. Read More (Marijuana Business Daily)

Labatt shutters CBD beverage unit in Canada in latest blow to category. Labatt Breweries of Canada pulled the plug on its nonalcoholic CBD beverage unit in Canada, Fluent Beverages, signaling continued pressure on the nation’s fledgling infused-drinks category. In Canada, recreational beverages containing cannabinoids, even if it’s just CBD, can be sold only via licensed establishments. That means retailers such as Walmart are prohibited from selling CBD drinks in their stores. Another limiting factor is the country’s current federal regulations effectively limiting public possession and, therefore, single purchases, to 2.1 liters (71 ounces) of cannabis-infused beverages. But the government has proposed changing the rules informing that limit. Read More (Marijuana Business Daily)

Feeding cows hemp helps them chill out, federally funded study finds. A new study suggests feeding cattle industrial hemp—a horticultural cousin of marijuana—reduces their stress levels and makes them lie down more. That could prove beneficial to ranchers because relaxed steers tend to be healthier. Researchers at Kansas State University said hemp could be a natural way to decrease stress-related respiratory infections and other ailments when cattle are being transported or weaned off their mothers. Mike Kleinhenz, assistant professor of beef production medicine at the K-State College of Veterinary Medicine, published the results of the study recently in Scientific Reports. “We might have a more natural way to reduce stress in cattle” he said. “And we’re just starting to scratch the surface on some of the benefits.” Read More (Marijuana Moment)

The campaign to develop hemp genetics for the modern market. After decades of prohibition, the importance of developing hemp genetics suitable to growing regions across the U.S. is a priority for the hemp industry. Both public and private stakeholders are devoting resources toward research that they hope will yield new hemp cultivars that will make the crop economically attractive to farmers and processors, as well as competitive with traditional staple crops. This past March, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee released a report that encouraged ARS to “conduct biotechnology and genomics research in collaboration with capable institutions to elucidate the genetic control of key production and product quality traits in hemp to facilitate cultivar development.” The committee also allocated $2.5 million for ARS “to partner with institutions already engaged in such research to conduct hemp genetic improvement research and breeding with new breeding and editing techniques.” Read More (Hemp Benchmarks)

PRODUCTS

Pepsi’s hemp-infused energy drink will cause sailors and marines to test positive for drugs, Navy college claims. A new Rockstar energy drink from Pepsi that contains hemp seed oil recently hit the shelves—but members of the Navy were specifically warned on Wednesday that the beverage is off limits, claiming it “will” result in a positive drug test. Regardless of the fact that hemp was federally legalized in 2018, and products containing its non-intoxicating derivatives like CBD are now widely available at grocery stores and gas stations across the country, military branches have made clear in a series of memos and warnings that service members aren’t allowed to partake. But this latest advisory, which was sent by the Naval War College’s (NWC) Drug and Alcohol Program Advisor and obtained by Marijuana Moment, is uniquely specific, calling attention to a single product that’s emerged on the market while reminding members of the broader cannabis policy in effect. Read More (Marijuana Moment)

Tilray launches cannabis edible in Quebec despite restrictive regulations. Tilray Brands (TLRY) has launched a line of cannabis edibles in Quebec, working around the provincial government’s strict rules regarding such products. The Solei Bites product released under Tilray’s Solei adult-use cannabis brand are “the first legal ready-to-eat edible cannabis product to be sold in Quebec,” according to Fabrice Giguere, spokesperson for the Société Québécoise du cannabis (SQDC). The products contain 5 milligrams of THC and 10 milligrams of CBD and are sweetened with dates rather than added sugar, according to a Tilray news release. SQDC already carried ingestible THC powders and cannabis beverages, but the new Tilray product is currently the only edibles item listed on the retailer’s website. The list price is CAD $6.90 ($5.50) per package. Read More (Marijuana Business Daily)

Cookies to debut in Hawaii. Cookies will make its debut in Hawaii through a partnership with Noa Botanicals. Noa Botanicals will open “Cookies Corners” – which the company describes as a “store-within-a-store” concept – at all three of its dispensaries on Oahu. Noa Botanicals will open “Cookies Corners” – which the company describes as a “store-within-a-store” concept – at all three of its dispensaries on Oahu. Cookies products available will include four cultivars sold in both flower and cartridges, as well as Cookies hats, apparel and accessories. Bill Jarvis, CEO of Noa Botanicals. “Our partnership allows us to offer a broader selection that includes local strains, patient favorites, and now, internationally-recognized cultivars, to the Hawaii market." As part of the Cookies launch on April 8, Noa says the first 50 patients at its locations will receive a Cookies gift bag valued at $50. Read More (Cannabis Business Times)

SOCIAL

St. Louis medical marijuana dispensary workers unionize in a Missouri first. Eight workers at the Root 66 medical marijuana dispensary in St. Louis voted to join the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union. The unionization is the first in Missouri’s MMJ industry, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Worker concerns included wages, sick leave and vacation time, the newspaper reported, citing a UFCW Local 655 news release. Root 66 has multiple locations, but only workers at one location will be included in the bargaining unit, the newspaper reported. The Post-Dispatch previously reported that UFCW Local 655 has been working since 2021 to unionize Missouri cannabis workers. The UFCW has made inroads with cannabis employees in multiple states so far this year, including in California, Illinois and Michigan. Read More (Marijuana Business Daily)

Social equity in California cannabis needs to be more than a political photo-opportunity. The solution lies in two places. First, the State of California needs to remove local governments from the licensing equation. There should be a statewide criteria for cannabis licenses and local governments, other than zoning and taxes, should be removed from the licensing process altogether. This will eliminate rampant local corruption, ill-fitting laws and regulations, and will create a consistency for applicants and operators alike. Second, social equity components, at the State level, should not require that social equity recipients own the majority of the cannabis business and it should not require that social equity recipients be restrained from selling their interests to anyone they choose, ala to the highest and best bidder. Read More (Cannabis Business Executive)

Cleveland Mayor Bibb signs motion to expunge thousands of misdemeanor pot convictions. Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb joined Cleveland chief prosecutor Aqueelah Jordan and Cleveland City Council president Blaine Griffin to sign a motion seeking the expungement of more than 4,000 marijuana convictions. Specifically, the motion seeks the expungement of minor misdemeanor marijuana possession cases involving 200 grams or less that date back to 2017. The motion to expunge minor misdemeanor possession comes after Cleveland City Council passed legislation in 2020 to lower the penalties for misdemeanor possession cases to no fines or prison time. The legislation also ensured those convicted would not have a criminal record and would not have to report the charge on employment applications. Read More (News 5 Cleveland)

Will Elon Musk buying into Twitter make the platform more cannabis friendly? There is speculation about what this announcement could mean for cannabis advertising on Twitter. Given that Elon Musk is one of the country’s most well-known supporters of cannabis use, There’s a photo of the tech expert smoking weed at a podcast show on the internet. Musk’s intention for the social media platform is not clear at the moment. But all indicators suggest that he’s here to improve the platform’s adherence to free speech. Last month, he organized a Twitter poll for his followers to state whether or not Twitter practiced adequate free speech. The poll results showed the majority believed the platform was too restrictive. Read More (The Fresh Toast)

Arizona issues 26 social equity cannabis licenses: here’s what these licensees should do for long-term success. The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) awarded the state’s 26 highly sought-after social equity cannabis licenses April 8 marking the beginning of each licensee’s journey to opening an adult-use dispensary, and, if they so choose cultivation and processing operations. The social equity cannabis licensees should focus on securing real estate in municipalities that have finalized their adult-use cannabis ordinances, Berekk Blackwell, COO of Zoned Properties, which provides commercial real estate services to the cannabis industry says, but should also think about where, geographically, they would prefer to operate. Read More (Cannabis Business Times)

Can changing the name ‘marijuana’ help address racial divide from America’s drug war? The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to decriminalize cannabis at the federal level. The MORE Act, among other provisions, would replace statutory references to “marijuana” and “marihuana” with “cannabis.” A few states have already presented legislation to strike the word “marijuana” from local laws. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill that erases “marijuana” from state statute to use “cannabis” instead. Virginia and Maine have proposed similar bills. Lawmakers seek to redress the disproportionate impact anti-drug policies have had on people of color, particularly Black and Latino communities. Racial disparities in marijuana-related arrests, for example, persist even in states that have legalized or decriminalized it, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Read More (Cannabis Business Executive)

Marijuana legalization tied to significant decrease in foster care placements, new study finds. Legalizing marijuana for adult use is associated with at least a 10 percent decrease in foster care admissions on average, according to a new study, including reductions in placements due to physical abuse, neglect, parental incarceration and misuse of alcohol and other drugs. Further, if cannabis was legalized nationally, it would result in hundreds of millions of dollars in estimated cost savings for foster care systems every year. Researchers at the University of Mississippi analyzed data from several sources, using a difference-in-differences design to compare trends in foster care systems in states that have legalized cannabis with those in non-legal states. Read More (Marijuana Moment)

INTERNATIONAL

Evolving perspectives for LatAm legal cannabis exports. Based on current trends and emerging European legislation, New Frontier Data identified potential opportunities for Latin American companies. The analysis contains three basic scenarios to facilitate discussion and guide future research: 1) business as usual, 2) protectionism, and 3) breakthroughs. The first resembles current dynamics in Colombia, and (to some extent) Uruguay, where large corporations with close affinity with governments — armed with quality certifications (e.g., EU-GMP) and strong lobbying — will grow to dominate the market. Presently, a handful of large companies dominate LatAm export markets; once they find buyers in Europe, they position themselves for significant growth. The scenario presents some daunting challenges for small producers, while failing to provide social justice benefits if nevertheless being very comfortable for regulators. Read More (New Frontier Data)

Colombia sets trade regulations for medical MJ, CBD and other cannabinoids. Colombia has put in place international trade regulations for medical marijuana, CBD and other cannabinoids under a resolution adopted. The new rules allow companies already licensed to grow marijuana or hemp for industrial purposes, research and export to start the commercialization of a wide range of cannabis derivatives including dried flowers. The ministries of justice, agriculture, health, and commerce signed off on a highly anticipated resolution bearing the changes, which adds to a growing body of rules for cannabis in Colombia. The export license rules apply to scientific and commercial uses of seed, grain, plant components, plants in a vegetative state, derivatives, and finished CBD, THC and other cannabinoid products for human or veterinary use. Read More (HempToday)

Polish high court rules against health officials, clearing hemp flowers as food. Poland’s highest administrative court has ruled against the country’s main public health agency and affirmed the legality of unprocessed products made from the hemp plant’s flowers and leaves. In doing so, the Supreme Administrative Court ruled that Poland’s Chief Sanitary Inspectorate (GIS) wrongly ordered off the market capsules filled with ground-up hemp plant tops introduced by hemp company Kombinat Konopny in 2019. Maciej Kowalski, Kombinat Konopny’s CEO, said: “The judgment that was passed is probably the first case in Poland – or in Europe – in which the court did not limit itself to mindlessly rewriting the position of the authorities, but acquainted itself with the case in a matter-of-fact manner.” Read More (HempToday)

TECHNOLOGY

Legacy to legal: How tech helped the transition. Head Cultivator at Grizzly Peak, Gonzalo Soto shares his experience building a new legacy for his family in the legal cannabis space. Soto attributes their consistency and quality to implementing solid SOPs and using SaaS platforms, like Aroya, to monitor their grow and catch problems in advance. Using set parameters and sensors in their facility Soto and his team are alerted any time there's a problem, and they're able to address it before it becomes a more significant issue. Soto believes that compliance has been one of the most challenging things to maintain in his transition and that the software provided by Aroya really helps to smooth the system and keep them in compliance with the state. Implementing these advanced technology solutions has reduced the amount of time and paperwork his staff needs to complete their job. Read More (CannabisTech)

Dispensaries accepting payments in Cryptocurrency. Crypto and cannabis have always been kindred industries. They both operate within a grey zone of a complex economy-legality dichotomy. The blockchain provides a legitimate and transparent solution for an industry shrouded in skepticism.  The blockchain provides the cannabis industry with transparency and security not provided by the traditional banking system. Dispensaries can process payments without high service fees from third-party processors and rely on the public ledger and crypto wallets to ensure accurate reporting. Most dispensaries are not yet accepting crypto payments. However, services like SpeedWeed – which facilitates cannabis deliveries from a wide range of dispensaries – act as a third-party service providers, allowing dispensaries to benefit from customers' crypto transactions without implementing crypto infrastructure themselves. Read More (CannabisTech)

Innovative grow house designs for the future. Instead of importing produce from halfway around the world, localized farming supplies fresh vegetables, fruits, herbs — and yes, even cannabis — to their local communities, dramatically reducing CO2 emissions related to the movement of people, produce, and supplies. Cannabis, a high-value cash crop, is particularly suitable for vertical treatment. However, vertical farming typically happens in more urban areas with higher real estate costs. The startup costs for build-outs and equipment tend to be significantly higher than traditional indoor facilities. But, the output is potentially three or more times that of conventional farming practices. Moreover, with the ability to stack units vertically, up to three or more tiers high, what was once wasted facility space is suddenly pumping out profits. Vertical farming makes it financially feasible for indoor crops to move into urban facilities because of the economies of scale. Read More (CannabisTech)

LEGAL & IP

Florida CBD franchiser accused of deceptive trade practices in lawsuit. SunFlora has been accused of deceptive trade practices by several business partners in Pennsylvania, according to a new lawsuit filed against the company in federal court. The suit, filed by Joseph Gradwell, Christopher Miller, Greg Muiter and Melanie Vaughan, alleges that the company tricked them in 2019 into signing documents that made them “affiliates” instead of “franchisees,” in violation of both state and federal law. Law360 reported that the quartet all agreed to run Your CBD Stores – a national chain franchised by SunFlora – in western Pennsylvania, but weren’t told that they’d be charged over-wholesale market prices for SunFlora-made products, which the plaintiffs alleged erased their profit margins. Read More (Hemp Industry Daily)

New lawsuit says Illinois cannabis regulators discriminated against out-of-state dispensary applicants. In the latest of a string of lawsuits challenging Illinois’ process to issue 185 new adult-use cannabis dispensary licenses, two plaintiffs allege that the state unconstitutionally discriminated against out-of-state residents. The plaintiffs, Juan Finch Jr. and Mark Toigo, are seeking a court order to block the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) from issuing the licenses, which the department allocated during a series of three lotteries last summer but has not yet officially awarded, Patch.com reported. The complaint, filed March 23, also seeks to block the IDFPR from providing preferential treatment to Illinois residents in the licensing process, Patch.com reported. Read More (Cannabis Business Times)

SUSTAINABILITY

How cannabis growers can use cover crops to reduce their carbon footprint, save money. Cover crops can help cannabis growers use less water and fewer added nutrients as well as reduce overall costs tied to things such as soil replacement or pesticides. Cover plants, which include clover, mustard and cereal grains such as rye and oats, are often incorporated as part of a living-soil cultivation system – where the planting material is rich with microorganisms that feed the cannabis plants versus synthetic nutrients. The cover crop can be grown along with the cannabis plants to help fend off harmful predatory bugs, for example. Or the plants can be deployed during the offseason, when the soil is fallow, to prevent erosion. Read More (Marijuana Business Daily)

The case for sustainable cannabis. Growing more cannabis following a permaculture model could reap huge benefits. A study conducted by the Centre for Natural Material Innovation at Cambridge has calculated that marijuana can capture atmospheric carbon twice as effectively as trees, absorbing between 8 to 15 tons of CO2 per hectare of cultivation (forests capture 2 to 6 tons of carbon per hectare). Unlike timber, the cannabis plant doesn’t emit the captured carbon once cut. And besides converting greenhouse gases into biomass for the land, sustainable cannabis can be used to produce clean biodiesel, construction materials like hempcrete (replacing water-hungry concrete,) and biodegradable plastics – which haven’t had the neutralizing environmental impact many hoped. Read More (Leafly)

CANNA FACTS

Source: Intro-act, Health Canada, Prohibition Partners

ETF SPOTLIGHT

THCX The Cannabis ETF (NYSEARCA: THCX)

THCX: the pure-play ETF solution for investing in cannabis. Supported by favorable regulatory trends, increasing use cases and growing public acceptance, cannabis is one of the fastest growing current investment themes. To put the opportunity into perspective, the global cannabis market is estimated to reach $630 billion by 2040. THCX was constructed to make investing in cannabis easier by helping investors get exposure to a basket of stocks that are expected to benefit from growth of the hemp and legal marijuana industries. THCX is a fund focusing mainly on North American cannabis companies, specifically in the U.S. and Canada. The initial universe of Index constituents consists of publicly listed Cannabis Companies that are involved in the legal cannabis industry. “Cannabis” is defined as (i) marijuana (or products derived from marijuana) and (ii) hemp (or products derived from hemp, which includes CBD-based products (i.e., products that contain cannabidiol).

Monthly Market Performance (Month Ending 3/31/2022)

Quarterly Market Performance (Quarter Ending 3/31/2022)

Top 10 Holdings (updated as of 4/8/22)

For more information on THCX visit: https://thcxetf.com/fund/

CANNA CAPITAL MARKET TRENDS

Source: Intro-act, Viridian Capital Advisors

CANNA PRICES – WEEKLY TREND

Source: Intro-act, Cannabis Benchmarks Price Index

Source: Intro-act, Cannabis Benchmarks Price Index

Source: Intro-act, Cannabis Benchmarks Price Index

CANNA BRANDS AND PRODUCTS RANKING – STATE IN FOCUS: ONTARIO

Source: Intro-act, Headset

Source: Intro-act, Headset

Source: Intro-act, Headset

Source: Intro-act, Headset

Source: Intro-act, Headset

Source: Intro-act, Headset