Latest Cannabis News: February 2, 2021

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.

Dry:

Idaho: Idaho state lawmakers on Friday advanced a constitutional amendment seeking to prevent the legalization of marijuana and other psychoactive drugs not already legal in the state. The Associated Press reported that the proposed resolution won approval in a 6-2 decision by the Senate State Affairs Committee, with members voting along party lines.
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Kansas: The governor of Kansas on Monday unveiled a plan to legalize medical marijuana and use the resulting tax revenue to fund Medicaid expansion. This comes as lawmakers in the state have already introduced two separate cannabis proposals in recent days. Gov. Laura Kelly (D) held a press conference to announce her legislation, arguing that Kansans are ready for marijuana reform, which she said would provide patients with a critical alternative treatment option and would give the state the resources to expand healthcare with even more money left over.
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CBD:

Alabama: A Republican senator in Alabama has once again filed a bill to legalize medical marijuana, and advocates think 2021 might be the year that the state finally moves to allow patients to access cannabis. Sen. Tim Melson (R) introduced the legislation, which would allow people with qualifying conditions to access cannabis for therapeutic purposes. He’s the same lawmaker who sponsored a similar bill that was approved by the Senate last year but which later died without a House vote amid the coronavirus pandemic. Under the new proposal, an 11-member Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission would be established to implement regulations and oversee licensing.
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North Carolina: Next month, the Tribal Council will consider a measure to legalize pot for medicinal purposes, which could be part of a broader legalization effort on tribal land. “The people want cannabis, the world is changing, society is changing,” says Jeremy Wilson, a former Tribal Council member and the government affairs liaison for the principal chief. “We want to have dispensaries here on the Qualla Boundary and to be able to sell, but we have to start with this phase first,” he says.
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Tennessee: Lawmakers will debate whether or not to decriminalize marijuana this year in the state legislature. A Memphis lawmaker filed a bill to allow possession of weed up to an ounce without prosecution. However, the bill wouldn’t allow for the sale of the plant.
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Texas: Late last year, when it was looking as if the state would have a nearly $5 billion budget deficit heading into the legislative session, cannabis advocates were optimistic they could advance their agenda to legalize the drug in Texas. Legalizing cannabis products would add another revenue stream that could bolster the state’s pandemic-battered budget, they argued. “They would help fund schools. They would help fund teachers. We could even talk about property taxes,” said Jax Finkel, the executive director of Texas NORML, a group that aims to “move public opinion sufficiently to legalize the responsible use of marijuana by adults.”
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Medical:

Maryland: The push is on at the Maryland General Assembly to legalize marijuana for recreational use. Del. Jazz Lewis, D-24-Prince George’s County, and a coalition of legalization advocates have introduced a legalization measure, House Bill 32, in Annapolis. The measure calls for tax revenue collected from legalized marijuana to be invested in the state’s four historically Black colleges universities — including the University of Maryland Eastern Shore — as well as communities impacted by the “war on drugs.”
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Minnesota: An influential group of Minnesota legislators is renewing a push to legalize recreational marijuana this year, as more neighboring states allow and reap the financial windfall from legalized cannabis sales. “The ability for Minnesotans to drive across the border to get cannabis is going to increase significantly,” House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler, DFL-Golden Valley, said at a news conference on Monday. “People are willing to drive to Wisconsin in order to buy fireworks. They’re sure as heck going to drive to South Dakota to get cannabis.”
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Mississippi: The Mississippi Supreme Court said it will hear the challenge to a voter-approved medical cannabis initiative on April 14, as the legal effort to thwart legalization in one of the country’s most conservative states drags on. The legal challenge in Mississippi is one of several pending across the U.S. in the aftermath of a clean sweep for marijuana at the November ballot box.
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Missouri: State workers are streamlining the process to qualify Missouri patients for medical marijuana. Doctors can now submit certifications through an online system. The secure account includes verification of the physician’s identity and that they are in good standing with the state. The switch is the latest step in a process to move the entire certification program online by June.

In other news, Florida-based marijuana inventory tracking firm Metrc lost an appeal in Missouri over whether the company was contractually allowed to charge licensed medical cannabis businesses extra money for state-mandated plant tags.
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New Hampshire: Representatives from the New Hampshire House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee voted to retain a marijuana legalization bill. The representatives voted Wednesday night after several hours of testimony from both sides of the issue. It’s a decision that will likely keep the topic of legalization off the table for the rest of 2021. State officials decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana in 2017, however, full legalization continues to face opposition. The committee cannot consider either bills again until 2022.
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New Jersey: A measure to allow Garden State residents to grow their own weed has been introduced by a Republican legislator, who has voted against recent efforts to lay the groundwork for recreational marijuana in New Jersey. State Sen. Gerald Cardinale, R-Bergen, has outlined legislation that would permit private possession of up to six marijuana plants, subject to the state moving forward with plans for legal, adult-use pot.
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New Mexico: The first slate of what’s expected to be several bills to legalize marijuana in New Mexico this year were introduced on Monday. A Republican senator is sponsoring one of the newly filed bills, while the other is being sponsored by a Democrat in the chamber. But because neither piece of legislation comprehensively addresses social equity issues, advocates are holding out hope for a separate House bill that’s expected to be formally introduced as early as Tuesday.
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Pennsylvania: The economic potential of medical marijuana may soon have its biggest demonstration yet in the region as a new research joint venture works to set up major facility on the North Side. Atlanta-based Parallel confirmed that it has committed to a long-term lease for 120,000 square feet with the Buncher Co. at its Northside Commerce Center, an industrial building in the Chateau neighborhood of the North Side.
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Rhode Island: Legislation is pending to facilitate equity among those licensed to operate in the medical cannabis industry. H. 5273 would direct the Department of Business Regulation to conduct an analysis to “examine whether racial disparities exist in the process to obtain a state license to sell marijuana, and in arrest and conviction rates pertaining to marijuana.”
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West Virginia: Eligible West Virginia residents will be able to begin registering for access to medical marijuana through the Office of Medical Cannabis for the first time at 12 p.m. Wednesday, the latest step forward for legalization in the Mountain State. “We are happy to get this finally rolling out to the patients,” said Jason Frame, director of the Office of Medical Cannabis in the state Department of Health and Human Resources, Bureau for Public Health.
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Virginia: Proposals to legalize marijuana in Virginia cleared key committee votes in both chambers of the state legislature over the weekend and Monday morning as lawmakers raced to qualify the bills for full floor votes ahead of an upcoming mid-session deadline on Friday. Gov. Ralph Northam (D) and top lawmakers unveiled the legalization plan in mid-January, on the first day of a short 2021 legislative session scheduled to end later this month. To survive into the next stage of the session, versions of the marijuana proposal must pass the Senate and House of Delegates by Friday, the state’s so-called crossover deadline.
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Recreational:

Arizona: A new bill introduced in Arizona aims to fix the supply shortage which started in November 2020 when mandatory testing of all medical marijuana sold at Arizona dispensaries began. The new bill reads, in part, that: “If an independent third-party laboratory does not provide the test results for the usable marijuana and marijuana products for medical use to the nonprofit medical marijuana dispensary within seven business days, the independent third-party laboratory shall remit the amount paid for the test by the nonprofit medical marijuana dispensary to the department for deposit in the medical marijuana fund established by Section 36-2817. The department may use monies deposited in the medical marijuana fund pursuant to this subsection for proficiency testing as prescribed in subsection I of this section.”

In other news, The Arizona Department of Health Services has issued its end-of-year report for 2020, and to the surprise of virtually no one, medical marijuana sales increased year-over-year, for the eighth year in a row. Arizonans purchased 106 tons of cannabis products from dispensaries in 2020, according to the report, and all signs point to much higher numbers in 2021.
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California: The Fresno City Council voted to establish an equity fund that would help financially assist disadvantaged marijuana business owners, the latest city among California municipalities that are trying to give a leg up in the industry to those hit hardest by the war on drugs.
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Maine: Nova Analytic Labs received the green light to start testing adult-use cannabis on Friday. At Nova Analytic, workers say testing marijuana is not just about making sure the product is safe, but measuring its potency, which determines how it can be sold and provides buyers with information about the product. “That’s important when someone wants to test their product, and then move it and sell it to the next licensee,” Nova Analytic Co-Founder and CEO Christopher Altomare said. One problem he mentioned is the only two labs available currently are in southern Maine, so stores that want their product tested up north have to travel. He says they hope to develop some sort of courier service that will reduce their turnaround time.
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Michigan: The state collected data in December that showed 79% of people interested in ownership of licensed marijuana facilities were white. Black people accounted for 3.8% while 1.5% were Hispanic or Latino.

In other news, A marijuana dispensary billing itself as Michigan’s first and only certified organic cannabis company has opened its doors in Ann Arbor. Apothecare Ann Arbor is now open for both medical and adult-use recreational sales. The store’s open to the public seven days a week for in-store purchases, curbside pick-up, and delivery.
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Montana: The governor of Montana said on Thursday that he wants marijuana tax revenue to fund drug treatment as the state grapples with the consequences of substance misuse. But that’s not how those dollars were designed to be appropriated when voters approved a legalization initiative in November.
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Nevada: Nevada marijuana company Planet 13 Holdings raised 69 million Canadian dollars ($53.9 million) on Tuesday in a bought deal public offering. According to a company news release, the money will be used for “potential acquisitions for purposes of retail, cultivation and production expansion outside of Nevada, as well as general corporate and other working capital purposes.”
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Vermont: On Town Meeting Day, voters in at least eight Vermont towns will decide whether or not their municipalities should allow recreational marijuana businesses. The rollout process has been unique to each individual town. In Burlington, there’s been extensive conversation about racial equity when it comes to the emerging retail marijuana market, as well as ensuring small, local farms have a chance to succeed.
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