Latest Cannabis News: February 23, 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:

Kansas: Kansas is one of three remaining states, along with Idaho and Nebraska, to not have at least some form of legalization. Advocates hope that changes. The Kansas Medical Marijuana Regulation Act will get a hearing this week in the Kansas Legislature. Proponents of the bill will speak on it this Wednesday, while opponents will testify Thursday.
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Nebraska: Parents of children with serious health conditions and other advocates called on Nebraska lawmakers to establish a compassionate medical cannabis program for patients and pass measures designed to improve the state’s ballot initiative process. Nebraska Families for Medical Cannabis said they are supporting three bills, each introduced by state Senator Anna Wishart: LB 474 would establish a program that allows patients with qualifying health conditions to safely and legally access medical cannabis with approval from their health care practitioner; LB 475 would require the Attorney General to issue an opinion with respect to whether an initiative measure contains more than one subject before petition circulators begin collecting signatures; LR 24CA would place a constitutional initiative on the 2022 ballot to amend the Nebraska Constitution’s “single subject rule” to allow for broader and more lenient interpretation.
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CBD:

Kentucky: A group of Kentucky lawmakers are pushing two separate bills that would legalize cannabis in the state. Supporters believe legalizing the drug would generate revenue, address the disproportionate number of minorities incarcerated because of misdemeanor marijuana charges and provide some relief for people suffering from chronic illnesses.
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North Carolina: An Elon University poll has found growing support among North Carolina residents for legalizing marijuana for recreational use and continued strong support for allowing medical use. Nearly two-thirds of the state’s adults say they do not believe marijuana use is morally wrong and support reducing penalties for marijuana possession, saying that legalization would boost the economy.
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South Carolina: South Carolina voters support legalizing medical marijuana by a ratio of five to one, according to a new poll. As lawmakers consider bills to enact the policy change this year, the survey shows 72 percent of respondents back the reform, while just 15 percent are opposed. “The results of this poll reinforce what advocates have known for years—that the overwhelming majority of South Carolinians support a compassionate medical cannabis program,” Judy Ghanem, whose daughter suffers from a rare genetic disorder, said in a press release. “Voters understand that medical cannabis can provide life-changing relief, and that the law should not stand in the way.”
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South Dakota: Reform groups New Approach South Dakota and South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws have put forward an alternative plan that would still push back the effective date of the legalization measure, but by less time. Simultaneously, it proposes amending the governor’s legislation to offer legal protections for medical cannabis patients even before they’re formally registered. The House State Affairs Committee approved the implementation delay bill last week, and it was expected to be considered on the floor on Monday but it was deferred for later action.
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Tennessee: Two Tennessee Republicans are calling for the creation of a medical cannabis commission to examine what steps the state should take if marijuana is removed from the Schedule I drug list under federal law. SB118/HB490 is sponsored by Senator Ferrell Haile (R-Gallatin) and Representative Bryan Terry (R-Murfreesboro). Under the bill, a 9 person commission would be created representing each of the state’s three grand divisions along with a physician and a pharmacist.
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Wisconsin: The governor of Wisconsin released a budget plan on Tuesday that calls for legalizing both medical and recreational marijuana in the state. Despite vocal resistance from leaders in the Republican-controlled legislature, Gov. Tony Evers (D) moved forward with attaching the reform to his proposal. It would allow adults 21 and older, or qualifying patients, to purchase, possess and cultivate cannabis for personal use.
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Medical:

Arkansas: Since the first medical marijuana dispensary opened in mid-2019, Arkansans have spent $242 million to obtain 36,656 pounds of marijuana. 66,638 Arkansans currently have active patient cards, data from the Arkansas Department of Health shows. Overall, medical marijuana patients in Arkansas are spending approximately $665,000 a day on purchases.
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Florida: The medical marijuana market in Florida created nearly 15,000 new jobs in 2020 and employs an estimated 31,444 state residents, according to a new analysis. Florida recorded nearly $1.23 billion in marijuana sales in 2020, according to the report posted by Leafly and Whitney Economics. Florida’s sales were more than every state except California and Colorado, where marijuana is legal for adults.
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Georgia: From nearly 70 applicants, six companies will be chosen to begin manufacturing medical marijuana oil for Georgia patients. The Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission announced this month that it will review the proposals and then award licenses, possibly in late spring or early summer.
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Hawaii: Lawmakers in Hawaii voted to advance two marijuana bills on Tuesday, one to legalize and regulate cannabis for adults 21 and older and another to increase the amount that is covered under the state’s existing decriminalization law. A separate proposal to legalize psilocybin mushrooms for therapeutic use, meanwhile, is set to be heard on Friday.
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Iowa: The Iowa Department of Public Health on Tuesday put out a notice of intent to license Iowa Cannabis Company East LLC, in Iowa City, as a Medical Cannabidiol Dispensary. The notice said the company will be notified of the license offered, but the license has not yet been issued. The document also shows two other companies are eligible for a license, MedPharm Iowa in Coralville, and Community Cannabis of Iowa, in Iowa City.
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Maryland: The issue of legalizing marijuana in Maryland had its first committee hearing on Tuesday, with lawmakers considering a bill to regulate adult-use cannabis and earmark large portions of industry tax revenue for programs aimed at communities disproportionately harmed by the drug war. The House panel heard more than two hours of testimony and debate on the bill at Tuesday’s hearing but ultimately did not vote on whether to advance the measure.
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Minnesota: A bill to legalize marijuana in Minnesota was approved by a House committee on Wednesday—the first of up to a dozen panels that are expected to take up the reform legislation in the weeks to come in advance of a floor vote. House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler (D), Speaker Melissa Hortman (D) and other lawmakers filed the measure earlier this month. It would allow adults 21 and older to purchase and possess up to 1.5 ounces of cannabis and cultivate up to eight plants, four of which could be mature.
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Mississippi: Last Friday, the Mississippi state Senate approved a medical cannabis bill, SB 2765, during a 1 a.m. vote. But, doesn’t Mississippi already have a medical cannabis program? The legitimacy of voter-selected Initiative 65 is being debated in the Mississippi Supreme Court, but medical cannabis advocates are pushing forward with preparing for the rollout of Initiative 65 at the end of this year. With a new, ever-evolving bill approved by the senate and headed to the house and a lawsuit that could mean the citizen-supported Initiative 65 could fail to launch, it’s easy to wonder what is the future of medical cannabis in Mississippi. It seems the future is in the hands of the legislature and the supreme court.
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Missouri: A commission that is hearing hundreds of appeals from applicants who want licenses to grow medical marijuana has approved two applications that the state previously rejected. The state Administrative Hearing Commission on Tuesday awarded Heya Kirksville and Heya Excello cultivation licenses, according to orders issued by Commissioner Sreenivasa Rao Dandamudi, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
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New York: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has released the full text of amendments to his marijuana legalization plan that he hopes will resolve disagreements with legislative leaders over his original proposal. The main changes would allow cannabis delivery services, specify how social equity grant funding is distributed and lower the proposed penalty for selling marijuana to people under 21, all of which were previewed earlier last week.
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New Mexico: New Mexico legislators are sprinting amid the pandemic to come up with a framework for regulating and taxing recreational marijuana after voters ousted key opponents of pot legalization in 2020 elections. “There are five legalization bills, which shows there is a lot of support,” says Emily Kaltenbach, a senior director at the Drug Policy Alliance that advocates a variety of drug policy reforms. “The hard part will be getting down to one bill.”
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North Dakota: The North Dakota House on Tuesday approved a bill to legalize marijuana—a measure that’s being sponsored by a Republican lawmaker who is opposed to the policy change but prefers the legislature sets the rules rather than leave it up to activists via  a ballot measure. The chamber advanced the legislation, which narrowly cleared the Human Services Committee last week, in a 56-38 vote. Lawmakers also passed a separate, complementary bill to establish the tax structure for a recreational cannabis market, 73-21.
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Oklahoma: The Oklahoma House on Thursday approved extending the length of medical marijuana licenses granted to out-of-state residents. On a vote of 52-32, the House approved legislation to extend nonresident medical marijuana licenses from 30 days to two years. House Bill 2022 from Rep. Scott Fetgatter, R-Okmulgee, would also open nonresident medical marijuana licenses up to residents from all 50 states. Currently, only medical marijuana license holders from other states with medical marijuana programs are eligible for a nonresident license to buy, use and grow medical marijuana in Oklahoma.
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Utah: Utah could get a 15th medical cannabis pharmacy, as lawmakers seek to add options for patients who don’t live along the Interstate 15 corridor, The Salt Lake Tribune reports. A lengthy proposal presented Thursday by Senate Majority Leader Evan Vickers would create an additional license for a pharmacy situated somewhere in rural Utah, with the goal of serving patients who now face long drives to buy cannabis.
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Virginia: Virginia lawmakers overwhelmingly passed legislation that would allow smokable marijuana flower sales later this year, a reform that will dramatically boost sales in the state’s nascent medical cannabis market. Flower sales often account for roughly 50% of market sales. Gov. Ralph Northam has supported marijuana, including urging adult-use legalization, so he’s expected to sign the bill.
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Recreational:

Maine: The state reported nearly $2 million in sales in December, which was the most successful month to that point. Customers are also spending more per sale. The average customer spent about $74 per sale in January, which was $8 more than the first month, the Portland Press Herald reported.
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Michigan: The first year of state-licensed recreational marijuana sales in Michigan saw $511 million of sales in recreational and $474 million in medical sales, generating over $100 million in tax revenue, but the state also found that the commercial marijuana industry drastically failed to attract minority business owners. The Marijuana Regulatory Agency 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.
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Montana: A state lawmaker wants to delay the sale of voter-approved recreational marijuana in Montana until 2023, saying he doubts the state can be ready to implement the massive new program by late this year. “It’s an implementation time frame that doesn’t make any sense,” Rep. Bill Mercer, R-Billings, told MTN News Saturday. “I wonder if the voters had any idea when they adopted this initiative that they were going to increase the state bureaucracy by 100 people within nine months.”
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Nevada: Marijuana sold at five dispensaries in Nevada, including Greenleaf Wellness in Sparks, failed microbial testing and should not be used, the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board reported Saturday. The marijuana that failed called Gelato Glue, batch and lot numbers 122320B86 – ABGG02, and Last OG, 122320B86 – ABLOG01. They were believed to be sold as flower and pre-rolls between Jan. 27 and Feb. 19. The marijuana failed for total yeast and mold, the board reported.
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New Jersey: Gov. Phil Murphy signed three bills into law on Monday that make adult use of marijuana officially legal, and decriminalize small amounts of marijuana possession in New Jersey. After the legislation was approved, state officials also moved to dismiss pending marijuana charges and end arrests. The bills also limit the use of previous marijuana convictions and create what Murphy says will be a “carefully regulated” cannabis marketplace that he said will give the state an economic boost.
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Oregon: Oregon recreational marijuana companies are experiencing the best market conditions in years, with demand far outpacing supply because of the COVID-19 pandemic and more consumers forgoing the illicit market in favor of legal retailers. But the question remains whether the trend will continue once the pandemic subsides and state regulators offer additional production licenses to cannabis entrepreneurs. According to a recent supply and demand report conducted by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC), cannabis production has increased 78% since 2019, while the amount of cannabis sold has skyrocketed by 150%.
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