Latest Cannabis News: December 6, 2022
Latest Cannabis News: December 6, 2022
Stay up to date with the latest legalization and cannabis news with the C.B. Advisors. Every week, we will release a snippet of what’s happening with each state in the cannabis industry. Did you miss last week? No worries – click here for last week’s cannabis news.
Alabama: The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday approved an update to zoning laws that will allow medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.
“I think it’s the right, progressive thing to do,” Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin told the city council before the vote. The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission is accepting applications for dispensary licenses until Dec. 30. Approved operators could begin operations as early as July 2023. The state commission oversees regulation of dispensaries.
Under state guidelines, Jefferson County could end up with as many as nine dispensaries.
Minnesota: The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) will add irritable bowel syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder to the list of qualifying medical conditions for participation in Minnesota’s medical cannabis program. Under state law, the new qualifying conditions will take effect Aug. 1, 2023.
Under state rules, patients certified for new qualifying medical conditions will become eligible to enroll in the state’s medical cannabis program on July 1, 2023, and receive medical cannabis from either of the state’s two medical cannabis manufacturers starting Aug. 1, 2023.
Source: https://www.health.state.mn.us/news/pressrel/2022/cannabis113022.html
Missouri: Beginning Thursday, December 8th, adults in Missouri may legally able possess cannabis. Retail adult-use sales are anticipated to begin in February.
Source: https://norml.org/blog/2022/12/05/missouri-legalization-takes-effect-on-12-8/
Recreational
Illinois: Governor J.B. Pritzker announced Monday he has appointed a new replacement Cannabis Regulation Oversight Officer.
The new appointee is Erin Johnson, who currently works at the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice and previously worked for former governor Bruce Rauner. The position works in the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to direct state agencies on regulating and taxing Illinois’ cannabis industry, as well as make sure the state is reaching its social equity goals.
Source: https://www.wcia.com/news/local-news/pritzker-appoints-new-cannabis-officer-for-illinois/
Nevada: The winners have been announced in a random “lottery” to award independent pot lounge licenses to 20 businesses in Nevada.
The Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board also released the list 20 new retail locations that will have lounge licenses. Previously existing retail locations that applied already have approval to put in lounges and were not listed in today’s news release.
The names were posted after a livestream showed the board going through a step-by-step process involving a computerized selection process and review by certified public accountants on Wednesday.
New Jersey: A New Jersey Assembly committee has approved a bill to provide state-level protections for banks and insurers that work with licensed marijuana businesses.
The Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee passed the bill from Assembly member Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D) with nearly unanimous support on Monday.
The bill would not immunize banks that service state-legal cannabis businesses from being penalized under federal law, but the committee action comes as congressional leaders are planning to file legislation that’s expected to contain those broader safeguards. Under the measure, it would be unlawful for a state agency to “prohibit, penalize, or otherwise discourage a financial institution or insurer from providing financial or insurance services to a legitimate cannabis-related business or the business associates of a legitimate cannabis-related business,” the text says.
Rhode Island: Rhode Island has licensed five of its six operating medical marijuana dispensaries to begin selling the drug for recreational use as well starting Dec. 1, when the state’s legalization goes into effect.
The newest of those five businesses opened for medical sales last week. Mother Earth Wellness, in Pawtucket, opened at 125 Esten Ave., and co-owner Joseph Pakuris said then “people are showing up.”
Recreational sales are expected to eclipse medical sales quickly, he said, especially with the number of registered medical marijuana patients in Rhode Island continuing to decline.
Virginia: A state task force studying the rise of unregulated cannabis products in Virginia is recommending stricter rules for businesses selling hemp-based delta-8 THC products that technically aren’t marijuana but produce a similar high when eaten or smoked.
Virginia’s piecemeal approach to legalizing marijuana has led to major enforcement gaps, with convenience stores and smoke shops offering a variety of difficult-to-classify products in the continued absence of state-sanctioned retail marijuana sales for recreational use.
The General Assembly created a task force this year to get a better handle on hemp-derived edibles and inhaled products that, unlike CBD, can get users high, but usually with a milder effect. A lengthy report the task force delivered last month points to possible legislation state lawmakers will take up when they return to Richmond next month.
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