Latest Cannabis News: October 15, 2024

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

Medical

Arkansas: In November 2024, Arkansans could vote on Issue 3, which would protect constitutional amendments and expand parts of the state’s medical marijuana program. The issue will appear on ballots. But as of now, the votes won’t be counted. The Arkansas secretary of state has said the group fell short of the required number of valid signatures. The group behind the amendment, Arkansans for Patient Access, has filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn that decision.

Source: https://www.4029tv.com/article/arkansas-issue-three-medical-marijuana/62313948

Hawaii: Hawaii officials are seeking proposals to assess the state’s current medical marijuana program—and also estimate demand for recreational cannabis sales if the state eventually moves forward with adult-use legalization.

Source: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/hawaii-officials-seek-expert-analysis-on-potential-marijuana-market-demand-as-lawmakers-continue-to-consider-legalization/

Texas: The Texas Department of Public Safety now has a fresh report on the state’s Compassionate Use Program, or CUP. The report by Weeds Inc. says Texas geography is a hurdle for patients and dispensing organizations for statewide access. While the Legislature has expanded the qualifying conditions for a prescription, there hasn’t been an increase in the number of doctors who can write those prescriptions, and dispensary locations are still limited outside of Central Texas. Weeds Inc. is recommending three things to meet more patient needs.

Those three things include a recommendation to recruit more doctors, allow existing dispensaries to open additional locations outside of Central Texas and to allow more dispensaries to open outside Central Texas.

Texas DPS says with the next legislative session about to convene in January, the department isn’t making any recommendations to change the program. But it is passing along the report to lawmakers to consider future changes.

Source: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/health/texas-dps-cannabis-compassionate-use-program/269-8508cd74-9d8d-4e1e-85e2-d53028868c91

Recreational

Minnesota: “We are still in the process of reviewing our 1,818 applications that we received,” said Charlene Briner. “I am confident that we will hold a lottery before the end of 2024.” OCM is currently “looking at the ownership structures, business agreements and the capitalization tables to make sure that they all match and that the applicants are not in violation of (state law) in terms of applying for more than one license and that the social equity applicant percentages actually are consistent,” Briner said.

Source: https://tcbmag.com/slow-going-on-cannabis-licensing-in-minnesota/

Rhode Island: The Rhode Island Cannabis Control Commission met to discuss Cultivation and Manufacturing regulations and Testing regulations on October 15.

Source: https://ccc.ri.gov/past-meetings

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