Latest Cannabis News: November 24, 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:

Indiana: State Rep. Jim Lucas is filing a medical cannabis bill, a decriminalization bill, and a possible recreational bill to be voted on in the upcoming year. State Sen. Karen Tallian is also filing a bill to legalize the possession of small amount of marijuana following the increase of arrests in Indiana due to marijuana possession. State lawmakers will have until Jan. 8th, 2021 to file the bills.
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Texas: Several bills have been filed for the next legislative session that can decriminalize or legalized the use of marijuana in Texas. State representative Joe Moody has already files House Bill 447, which calls for the legalization of marijuana and would allow for retail sale. Moody is an advocate for legalizing marijuana and thinks it would be a huge financial and social benefit for the state. Cannabis sales would be taxed at 10% with revenue being chared between cities, counties, and the Teacher Retirement Systems.
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Wisconsin: City officials in Madison, Wisconsin, have voted to remove local penalties for marijuana possession and consumption, allowing cannabis use by all adults 18 and older. The Madison Common Council voted unanimously to approve three ordinances for the city’s marijuana laws. The changes permit adults to carry up to about an ounce (28 grams) of cannabis locally and consume it on public or private property and possess marijuana paraphernalia. Smoking cannabis will remain prohibited in places where tobacco is banned, and no one can have marijuana on school buses or within 1,000 feet of a school.
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Medical:

Georgia: The Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission voted to release a Request for Proposals (RFP) that will grant two(2) Class 1 licenses to grow marijuana indoors, up to 100,000 square feet space and four(4) Class 2 licenses to manufacture the oil derived from the plant limited to no more than 50,00 square feet space.
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Hawaii: The Hawaii State Department of Health has announced that Out-of-State medical cannabis patients may now apply online for a 329-V card, allowing qualifying visiting patients legal access to Hawaii’s medical cannabis dispensaries for up to 60 days. The 329-V card can be used at any of Hawaii’s state-licensed medical cannabis dispensaries located on the islands of Oʻahu, Maui, Hawaiiʻi Island and Kauaʻi.
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New Mexico: A panel including doctors and healthcare professionals held on Monday November 23rd, recommended an expansion in the state medical marijuana program. The Advisory board voted in favor of doubling the possession limit from 8 ounces to 15 ounces over the 90-day period. Recommendations to expand the list of qualifying conditions was also brought up during the panel, including conditions such as anxiety, attention deficit disorders, Tourette’s, and some substance abuse disorders.
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Oklahoma: On November 18th, Tulsa City Council voted unanimously to allow drive-thru service at dispensaries within city limits, saying it’s something many cities in Oklahoma have already been doing.
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Rhode Island: Rhode Island lawmakers are beginning to consider a plan to legalize marijuana, keeping the cannabis industry under government control with state-run shops and a ban on home cultivation. Sen. Ryan Pearson has predicted that the committee will formally take up the idea of legalizing marijuana in January as the house is very close to having majority support for the policy change.
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Utah: Utah’s medical marijuana law may soon expand if a bill being co-sponsored by GOP state Rep. Ray Ward and state Senate Majority Leader Evan Vickers, gets approved. The bill seeks to allow physicians to recommend cannabis for up to 15 patients without having to go through hours of specialized training through the state. Qualifying patients across the state have been struggling to find doctors willing to recommend medical cannabis.
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West Virginia: The state Office of Medical Cannabis is continuing to move forward with approving applications for medical marijuana businesses with hopes of having dispensaries open in the spring. Applications were approved earlier this month for medical cannabis processors, which will create pills, creams, and other products for medical use, as well as prepare the plants to be used in a dry leaf form. Officials are said to approve up to 100 dispensary applications and are hopeful that sales will begin in the late spring.
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Recreational:

California: On November 17th, Fresno County Superior Court Judge, Rosemary McGuire, dismissed a lawsuit by 24 cities seeking to invalidate state regulations allowing delivery of marijuana across the state. The 24 cities including Santa Cruz County, Agoura Hills, Beverly Hills, Covina, and Riverside argued that the regulation for delivery across the state undermined their local planning power and violated a promise of Proposition 64 giving local governments veto power over the sale of Cannabis in their Jurisdictions. McGuire ruled that the state regulation does not prevent cities from enforcing local ordinances restricting home delivery and therefor the court finds the matter is not ripe for adjudication. With the dismissal of the case, marijuana deliveries will continue under state regulations, but the case ruling appears to suggest that the debate might not be over.
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Colorado: On November 19th, officials from Denver, Aurora and the state discussed policy changes that will affect the marijuana industry in 2021. The Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED) will accept social equity program applications on January 1st. Social equity licenses will be available to residents who have been or have relatives that have been arrested or convicted of a marijuana offense, were subject to civil forfeiture , or lived in a low economic neighborhood or a neighborhood with high crime rates. Other goals for 2021 include increasing equity and diversity in the cannabis industry by 10% and establishing a cannabis industry assistance program for members of underrepresented communities by June 30th.
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Illinois: Illinois Equal justice Foundation launched a new initiative called New Leaf Illinois, aiming to partner with 20 nonprofit organizations to provide free legal representation in the process of expunging arrests or convictions for eligible residents. A portion of about $1.6 million in tax revenue collected from the legal sale of marijuana will be put toward the funding of the new initiative, including distributing grants to the 20 member organizations. There will be a five-year timeline for when arrests and minor convictions will be expunged.
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Maine: After granting 6 recreational use licenses in beginning of October – November, Maine’s new adult use cannabis market reported $1.4 million in legal sales for the first month. The state earned almost $141,000 in tax revenue from the sales.
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Massachusetts: New England Treatment Access (NETA) has started the mission in reducing barriers between cannabis operations in Massachusetts by launching its Security Equipment Grant Program. This program will award $25,000 to two economic empowerment or social equity cannabis licensees and fund their security equipment.
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Michigan: During a virtual public hearing on Tuesday, November 24, Detroit City Council approved a law for the operation of recreational marijuana shops. Council members approved the measure 9 – 0 and are estimating $3 billion in annual sales. The ordinance will give special preference to residents under a certification called “Detroit Legacy.” Applicants can qualify for the “legacy” certification if they’ve lived in Detroit for 15 of the last 30 years; lived in Detroit for 13 of the last 30 years and are low-income; or lived in Detroit for 10 of the last 30 years and have a past marijuana-related conviction. The adult-use law is expected to go into effect in January.
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Montana: I-90, one of the two initiatives that legalized recreational marijuana in the state, may be changed by the Montana Legislature during the upcoming 2021 session, and a lawsuit has been filed in Helena District court challenging the initiative. As of now marijuana is to be legal in Montana on January 1st, and the Montana Department of Revenue will begin accepting applications from the existing dispensaries to become recreational by Oct, 1st, 2021, and those dispensaries will have 12 months to apply for licensing before it opens to the public.
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