Latest Cannabis News: November 17, 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.

Dry:

Nebraska: The state’s governor, Pete Ricketts, on Tuesday once again sounded the alarm on something that a growing majority of the country is cool with. “Well, we’ve certainly seen in other states like Colorado when you pass legalization of recreational, as well as medicinal, marijuana that you see an increase in traffic fatalities that are caused by marijuana use and an increase in a number of other things such as young people getting a hold of the marijuana,” Ricketts said, as quoted by Omaha-based television station KETV. “The marijuana has the opportunity to create psychosis in people and that could lead to a number of very bad outcomes as well, so those bad health effects happen when you legalize marijuana.”
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Texas: 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. The coronavirus pandemic has blown a $4.6 billion hole in the state budget, according to the comptroller’s latest estimate, and the lawmakers argue that a legal marijuana industry could bring in hundreds of millions in tax revenue and create tens of thousands of jobs.
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Medical:

Arkansas: The governor of Arkansas says the federal government’s lax approach to marijuana is to blame for the growing number of states that are enacting legalization. “Whenever there’s not a clear federal position on legalization of marijuana, legalization of drugs, if there’s not a clear federal position, then there’s going to be a continued erosion and movement toward legalization of marijuana at the state level,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) told The Washington Post’s Bob Costa.
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Mississippi: Politicians didn’t want it. Leaders in medicine, law enforcement and religion warned against it. Conservative talk radio railed against it. The Legislature, after years of inaction, offered an alternative. Voters bucked that advice. They easily passed Initiative 65 on Nov. 3, amending the constitution and legalizing medical marijuana. A program overseen by the state Department of Health will allow Mississippians with one of at least 22 medical conditions to buy the drug as early as August 2021.
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New Hampshire: Hopes of legalizing marijuana in New Hampshire any time soon figuratively went up in smoke, thanks to voters in this month’s election. Supporters are left to dream that Gov. Chris Sununu might abruptly end years of opposition and actually lead a campaign to make it legal to buy and use cannabis. Never-give-up advocates will reintroduce legislation in 2021 from Rep. Carol McGuire, R-Epsom, that would allow adults to legally possess a small amount of pot and grow up to six plants at home.
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New Mexico: Third-quarter medical marijuana sales in New Mexico exceeded the same period in 2019 by 62 percent, according to Ultra Heath, the largest marijuana seller in the state. The 34 licensed producers in New Mexico’s Medical Cannabis Program reported $55 million in cannabis sales in the third quarter, a $21 million boost over last year.
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Ohio: On Nov. 12, Ohio medical cannabis regulators and the Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee (MMAC) held a virtual meeting to discuss the Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program. Regulators shared numerous updates, including about cultivation, processing, testing, dispensing and patients.
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Oklahoma: The Oklahoma City area has its first medical marijuana vending machine, according to a news9.com report. Dr. Terpz, a marijuana dispensary in Midwest City, Oklahoma, now has a vending machine that allows customers to purchase marijuana. Customers need to register using an identification card, have a thumb print scan and allow the machine to take their photo. An employee then checks the picture and the thumb print.
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Virginia: Gov. Ralph Northam said Monday he plans to propose legislation legalizing marijuana when the General Assembly convenes in January, setting the state on a path to become the first in the South to allow recreational use of the drug. “We are going to move forward with legalizing marijuana in Virginia,” Northam said. “I support that and am committed to doing it the right way.”
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Recreational:

Illinois: Cannabis industry insiders in Illinois are calling on state lawmakers to allow certain existing medical marijuana dispensaries to relocate without losing the ability to add an adult-use sales license. Under the current administration’s interpretation of Illinois’ marijuana law, relocation prevents medical cannabis dispensaries from also having a recreational license at the same site.
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Maine: Maine is one of 19 states that have founded the Cannabis Regulators Association, a national, nonpartisan organization of cannabis regulators throughout the U.S. The association, which announced its launch Thursday, aims to share knowledge and best practices and to assist federal, state and local jurisdictions that have approved or are considering legalization of cannabis, according to a news release.
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Michigan: As Congress considers potentially legalizing marijuana, or at least removing it from the list of schedule 1 drugs deemed to have “no accepted medical use,” the growing number of states that allow marijuana use are unifying. Michigan marijuana licensing officials joined up with counterparts from 19 other states to form a national marijuana regulators association, the state licensing agency announced last week.
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New Jersey: The New Jersey Senate on Monday approved a marijuana decriminalization bill as lawmakers continue to discuss broader enabling legislation to legalize cannabis following voter approval of the issue on Election Day. Members of the Assembly were also scheduled to take up the decriminalization proposal—which would eliminate criminal and civil penalties for marijuana possession of up to six ounces. But that action was postponed, in part over disagreements about an amendment added in committee last week that would lower penalties for possession of psilocybin mushrooms.
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