Latest Cannabis News: December 8, 2020

Stay up to date with the latest legalization and cannabis news with the CB 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.

CBD:

Nebraska: There’s a renewed push to legalize medical and recreational marijuana in Nebraska, lawmakers say they plan to obtain 250,000 total signatures to get both medical initiatives on the ballot in 2022. Nebraska State Senator Adam Morfeld said many voters are on board with medical and recreational marijuana, so that is why he’s pushing to legal both.
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Wisconsin: A new ordinance legalizing the possession and use of marijuana in Madison went into effect Friday. Up to one ounce can be smoked in private homes and on public places like sidewalks, but not on state-owned property, like the Capitol grounds or on the UW-Madison campus. Lawmakers have polarizing views on whether this could catch on statewide.
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Texas: With a state budget devastated by the coronavirus, some Democratic lawmakers are hoping the economic crisis could become an opportunity to coax Texas into joining a growing number of states opting to legalize — and tax — recreational marijuana use. The chances are slim. State Sen. Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio and state Rep. Joe Moody of El Paso filed bills this week in advance of the 2021 legislative session that would legalize, regulate and tax personal cannabis use. State Rep. Terry Canales of Edinburg has proposed putting the question of legalization to Texas voters.
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Medical:

Maryland: Maryland lawmakers will weigh legalizing recreational marijuana when they return to Annapolis next year. Although the state could use the revenue it would generate, that doesn’t mean all are on board. The decision of whether or not to legalize recreational marijuana has been part of discussions for at least ten years in Maryland. However, once again, the debate is heating up as lawmakers approach the next general assembly session.
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Missouri: A KC company is ready to roll out a line of medical marijuana product ranging from gummies to vape pens to Christopher Elbow chocolates. CLOVR said it was the first medical marijuana manufacturer in Missouri to receive state approval to operate, according to a company blog. That will allow it to sell products — its own and licensed goods from multi-state brands like Wana, Keef and Robhots — through dispensaries later this month.
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Rhode Island: As next Tuesday’s deadline approaches for applying for one of six new medical marijuana dispensary licenses, local officials from Richmond to Woonsocket have been mulling individual business proposals. Community approval is necessary for applicants to qualify for a lottery that state regulators plan to hold to determine license winners for each of six geographical regions.
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Utah: The burden for stocking the shelves of Utah’s new medical cannabis pharmacies has largely fallen on four of the state’s eight approved cultivators, newly released data shows, while the remaining growers have barely made a dent in demand for the plant-based treatment. State records shared with The Salt Lake Tribune in response to a public information request show that half of Utah’s growers are responsible for about 96% of the medical cannabis harvested to date.
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Recreational:

Arizona: The city councils of two sizable municipalities in Arizona are planning to vote against allowing new adult-use cannabis businesses and testing labs, even though the state’s voters approved a recreational marijuana market during the November election. The Chandler City Council is expected to vote Dec. 7 on an ordinance that would block new recreational establishments, and the Mesa City Council is planning a similar vote Dec. 8.
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Colorado: The Aurora City Council on Monday night gave preliminary approval, by an 8-2 vote, to cannabis delivery in Colorado’s third-largest city. The ordinance will need a second vote in two weeks, and if it passes, deliveries of marijuana could begin in early 2021.
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Illinois: November sales of recreational weed surpassed $75 million for a second straight month, and one researcher believes total sales of legal marijuana — including medical cannabis — could surpass $1 billion by the time 2020 is over. The recreational total for last month, $75.19 million, was only slightly lower than the record set in October, $75.28 million.
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Maine: Medical marijuana sales totaled $221.8 million from January through October, more than double what had been sold by this time last year, according to state sales tax figures. That puts the industry on pace to hit $266 million in sales this year despite a global pandemic that has put many Mainers out of work and depressed consumer spending nationwide.
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New Jersey: The compromise puts one limit on licenses back into the legislation: The state can only give out 37 licenses for marijuana growers during the first two years of legal sales. The limit does not apply to microlicenses, which can be given to businesses with 10 or fewer employees. It also dedicates 70% of the sales tax revenue, as well as all of the funds raised by a tax on cultivators, to support restorative programs for legal aid, health care, mentoring and more in minority communities disproportionately affected by the drug war.
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South Dakota: On Tuesday, Gov. Kristi Noem (R) said during her annual budget address that she wanted to “call out one budget provision related to the disappointing votes on marijuana at the ballot box this year” and that there are “significant safety and regulatory costs associated with both the medical marijuana measure and the recreational one.” The budget is complicated by a lawsuit challenging the adult-use reform measure, Noem said, stating that she will “have to present two courses of action—a path forward with both recreational and medical, and a second with just medical.”
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