Author: Chris Casacchia

[ad_1] Hawaii’s Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a bill to legalize adult-use marijuana retail and cultivation. Senate Bill 3335, according to Honolulu Civic Beat, now goes to Hawaii’s more conservative House, where legalization efforts have been thwarted the past few years. However, operators and industry advocates are far more optimistic during this legislative session because the proposal is backed by the state’s attorney general and Democratic Gov. Josh Green. Under SB 3335, legalization would go into effect on Jan. 1 2026. Provisions include: Establishing the Hawaii Hemp and Cannabis Authority, overseen by the Hemp Cannabis Control Board, to regulate marijuana…

[ad_1] Herbl’s meteoric fall and ensuing receivership are nearing an end. Two buyers placed winning auction bids totaling more than $1.4 million to acquire certain assets from the defunct California marijuana distributor, according to court documents and industry sources. MJBizDaily also confirmed that a bundled package of unsettled Herbl legal disputes was acquired by Beverly Hills law firm Ervin Cohen & Jessup for an undisclosed amount. California distribution giant Nabis confirmed last week that it acquired Blackbird, a Nevada distributor that entered receivership after Herbl’s collapse in June 2023. Nabis acquired the company for $850,000, according to a listing update…

[ad_1] A Republican lawmaker in Kentucky has introduced a bill to widely expand qualifying conditions for medical cannabis patients as the state preps to launch an MMJ program next year. State Sen. Stephen West, who sponsored the 2023 bill to legalize medical marijuana in Kentucky, recently filed Senate Bill 337 with the goal of expanding eligible medical conditions from six to 21 and provide a boost for local MMJ businesses, Louisville Public Media reported. The proposed list of conditions includes: All terminal disease. HIV/AIDS. ALS/Lou Gehrig’s disease. Arthritis. Glaucoma. West’s proposal comes about two months after Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear…

[ad_1] Multistate operator Curio Wellness was fined $26,000 by Maryland regulators after reviewing video footage of employees at its flagship Maryland store retrieving cannabis from a dumpster that was later sold to medical patients and consumers. The company on Feb. 16 signed a consent order from the Maryland Cannabis Administration (MCA) acknowledging that workers at its Far & Dotter store in Timonium, just north of Baltimore, engaged in several health and safety violations and ignored standard operating procedures to mitigate potential contamination, dispose waste and properly log developments related to the incident. According to the consent order, an inventory manager…

[ad_1] Recent law enforcement raids in Michigan and Georgia have resulted in the seizure of thousands of plants and hundreds of pounds of cannabis. Michigan State Police seized an alleged illegal grow in the Detroit suburb of Highland Park, confiscating more than 4,000 marijuana plants, roughly 213 pounds of processed marijuana and 362 pounds of drying flower, Grand Rapids station Wood TV reported. The value of the seizure was more than $6 million based on the going rate of $93 per ounce in the Michigan market. Law enforcement officials did not disclose any arrests or potential criminal charges. Growing marijuana…

[ad_1] The vast majority of fines levied against unlicensed cannabis retailers in New York have not been paid, underscoring the ongoing enforcement challenges in the struggling market. Despite issuing fines in excess of $25 million, the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) and Department of Taxation and Finance have collected only $22,500 from unlicensed stores, The City news outlet reported. That development comes on the heels of an October MJBizDaily report that most crackdown efforts by New York regulators and law enforcement agencies related to illegal marijuana sales had not been resolved. At the time, according to The City, New York…

[ad_1] Ohio’s top cannabis regulator plans to issue adult-use marijuana businesses licenses on Sept. 7 at the latest if infighting in the Legislature continues to halt momentum on establishing rules, certain tax rates and other policies. Jim Canepa, director of the Ohio Cannabis Control (OCC),  told Columbus TV station WBNS he expects his agency to approve 300-350 adult-use licenses on that September date. The first batch of dual-purpose licenses will be awarded to existing medical cannabis retailers. Meanwhile, Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine is pushing for the licensing of adult-use businesses immediately, even though the state’s House and Senate seem…

[ad_1] Arkansas’ attorney general has signed off on language for a November ballot initiative that aims to vastly expand the state’s medical marijuana program and opens the door for full legalization. The Tuesday approval clears the way for advocates of The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment of 2024 to collect 90,704 signatures from registered voters by July 5 to qualify for the ballot, according to the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The proposal, which comes amid an increase in registered medical patients, would: Allow more health care professionals to prescribe MMJ. Expand qualifying conditions for use. Accept medical patients from other states. Increase…

[ad_1] Arizona could be the next state to approve interstate commerce for marijuana. Lawmakers recently introduced House Bill 2770, which would allow marijuana products to be sold across state lines, Phoenix TV station KNXV reported. “What this measure is trying to do is … get Arizona to that point to where they can be at the start line so that when the feds wave the flag they can start competing and start selling immediately across state lines,” Republican Rep. Justin Wilmeth, the bill’s sponsor and chair of the state House Commerce Committee, told KNXV. Similar to efforts in other markets…

[ad_1] The first license for a cannabis consumption lounge in Nevada has been issued to a business in Las Vegas. The long-awaited approval from the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board (CCB) went to Smoke and Mirrors, Las Vegas TV station KTNV reported. The operation is attached to Thrive Cannabis Marketplace, 2975 Sammy Davis Jr. Drive. According to KTNV, Smoke and Mirrors was awarded its consumption lounge license Thursday after passing a CCB inspection two days earlier. The establishment received a conditional license June 20. The CCB said 19 lounges have been approved for a conditional license, including 14 retail-adjacent locations and…

[ad_1] The nascent psychedelics industry is taking a different path to market than the marijuana sector, despite their shared medicinal roots. While most states moved to regulate commercial medical marijuana programs without an extensive library of research, psychedelics advocates are adopting a different strategy. “In the U.S., cannabis went for legalization in states before (there was) a ton of research,” explained Dr. Lynn Marie Morski, a former physician with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs who now serves as president of the Psychedelic Medicine Association. “It led with the legalization, whereas psychedelics led with the research,” added Morski, who will…

[ad_1] Ohio regulators have issued proposed rules for medical marijuana businesses and provisional license holders to convert to dual-use licenses to serve both the medical and adult-use markets. The draft rules released by the state’s Division of Cannabis Control (DCC) primarily focus on the application process, qualifications and other administrative protocols to meet a Sept. 7 deadline to issue adult-use provisional licenses, according to Youngstown TV station WKBN. In January, the DCC released rules outlining more specific requirements such as licensing fees and time elements. The application to convert to a dual-use license will be “simple” and take “minimal time”…