Author: Chris Roberts

[ad_1] Prominent brand Cookies’ retail marijuana store in Los Angeles plans to close Nov. 7, co-founder and cannabis entrepreneur Berner has announced on social media. The closure would be at least the second to affect a Cookies-branded outlet in 2023. A separately owned and managed location in Oklahoma City closed this spring. California-based Cookies licenses its familiar light-blue branding and proprietary, highly recognizable marijuana strains to separate businesses that hold state licenses around the U.S. and handle day-to-day operations under a franchise model. But the situation in west Los Angeles – where Cookies Melrose’s landlord is asking for a hefty…

[ad_1] Ohio is poised to become the cannabis industry’s next big thing if voters there, as expected, approve an adult-use marijuana legalization measure on Tuesday. Legal cannabis in Ohio – with nearly 12 million people, it’s the country’s seventh-most-populous state – would provide a boost to existing medical marijuana businesses, which would be positioned to serve an adult-use market worth as much as $4 billion within a few years, according to MJBizDaily projections. It would also be another milestone for the U.S. reform movement that would likely put even more pressure on Congress to legalize marijuana – or at least…

[ad_1] A bipartisan but Republican-led effort to legalize marijuana federally was reintroduced in Congress last week, but chances for passage might be slim in the House under new Speaker Mike Johnson. Rep. Nancy Mace, a South Carolina republican, was expected to reintroduce the States Reform Act before Oct. 24, when her office refiled a bill “to amend the Controlled Substances Act regarding marihuana.” The bill, which currently has no text and serves as a placeholder, of sorts, has four co-sponsors: Democratic Reps. Dean Phillips of Minnesota and David Trone of Maryland as well as Republican Reps. Tom McClintock of California…

[ad_1] A Black former manager at Ascend Wellness Holdings who sued the multistate operator alleging he was mistreated and fired because of his race recently settled his case out of court, documents show. Tyrick Gales, a Pennsylvania resident who worked at Ascend’s cultivation operation in Franklin, New Jersey, sued Ascend in federal court in March. The two parties agreed before trial to drop the suit, according to a Nov. 1 letter from Ascend attorney Ivan Novich to U.S. District Court Judge Jessica Allen. Terms of the settlement were not available. Novich did not immediately respond to an MJBizDaily email seeking…

[ad_1] In a growing legal fight that many predicted, two marijuana companies in Missouri are suing to overturn local taxes they argue are unconstitutional. Adult-use sales began in February in Missouri, where cannabis buyers pay a 6% state tax – one of the lowest rates in the United States. Additional municipal taxes of up to 3% are allowed if voters approve such a levy via a ballot initiative. But several counties in the state are illegally “stacking” a 3% county tax on top of the 3% municipal tariff, the Missouri Cannabis Trade Association told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. According to…

[ad_1] Several influential Ohio business organizations are asking the state’s voters to oppose an adult-use marijuana legalization measure on next month’s ballot. Ohio could become the 24th state to legalize recreational cannabis if voters approve Issue 2, which qualified for the Nov. 7 election after a contentious, yearslong process. Maryland and Missouri residents voted for adult use last fall as legalization moves away from liberal states on the coasts to more conservative areas. Voters in Oklahoma rejected a legalization measure in March, while lawmakers in Delaware and Minnesota passed bills earlier this year legalizing recreational cannabis. Ohio’s election process begins…

[ad_1] Georgia will soon become the first U.S. market in which non-hemp-derived medical marijuana products are sold at independent pharmacies as well as state-licensed MJ-only retail outlets. Considered restrictive compared to other states such as bordering Florida, Georgia’s 2019 MMJ law permits only low-THC oil of up to 5% THC. Flower is prohibited. However, in sharp contrast from other states, Georgia’s law provides for those low-THC cannabis products to be sold at “independent pharmacies.” Sales of products containing low-THC oil manufactured by Botanical Sciences – one of the two operators licensed to produce MMJ products in the state – will…

[ad_1] The parent company of cannabis publication and brand High Times as well as its board chair, Adam Levin, together paid more than $600,000 in fines to settle securities fraud allegations connected to the company’s efforts to go public, federal securities regulators announced. Hightimes Holding Corp. and Levin, 44, did not admit to any wrongdoing under a settlement agreement reached with the Securities and Exchange Commission. But both agreed to pay fines last month in connection with the charges leveled by the agency. Levin will now serve a three-year ban from serving as an officer or a director, according to…

[ad_1] The Florida Supreme Court set a Nov. 8 date to hear oral arguments as to whether an adult-use cannabis legalization initiative can appear on the state’s November 2024 ballot. The state high court must approve the proposed wording of the initiative before voters can weigh in November 2024, the News service of Florida reported. It’s unclear how soon the high court will rule after hearing arguments from attorneys for the Smart & Safe Florida adult-use advocacy campaign and the state’s Republican attorney general, Ashley Moody. The recreational marijuana legalization campaign has submitted more than 1 million signatures from registered…

[ad_1] Long-awaited federal cannabis banking reform is expected to sail through a key U.S. Senate panel hearing Wednesday, which would be the first time the landmark legislation has secured a yes vote in the upper chamber of Congress. But after that, prospects for the bipartisan and heavily negotiated SAFER Banking Act are much less certain, multiple cannabis industry observers told MJBizDaily. For once, negative attitudes toward marijuana wouldn’t be to blame. Instead, the obstacle is the chaos currently enveloping Congress, where a government shutdown looks increasingly likely – although not guaranteed – come Oct. 1. “If there’s a shutdown, we…

[ad_1] Two key Republican senators sponsoring cannabis banking reform are now pushing new legislation to thwart the Biden administration’s historic marijuana rescheduling efforts. Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming and Sen. Steve Daines of Montana on Thursday introduced the Deferring Executive Authority (DEA) Act. Both are supporters of the SAFER Banking Act, which is scheduled for a crucial committee hearing next week. If signed into law, the DEA Act would require any proposed change to federal drug law to first get approval from Congress. Such changes currently can be made by the executive branch via the attorney general. That would threaten…

[ad_1] An association of regulators of state cannabis programs is asking Congress to include in the next Farm Bill new rules governing hemp and hemp-derived cannabinoids, including a new definition for what constitutes “hemp” versus marijuana. If adopted, the proposed rules would have broad implications for products containing hemp-derived, intoxicating cannabinoids, including delta-8 THC. Such products have exploded in popularity since the 2018 Farm Bill was enacted. The Cannabis Regulators Association (CANNRA) asked House and Senate committee chairs in a Sept. 15 letter to include “key initial changes that are urgently needed” to rein in what’s become an unruly competitor…