Author: Chris Roberts
[ad_1] Florida would become the third state in the U.S. to impose a market-wide potency cap on adult-use cannabis if a proposal advanced Tuesday by the Senate becomes law. Though Florida is currently home to the country’s biggest medical marijuana market, an adult-use legalization proposal might appear on voters’ ballots in November. That’s pending a state Supreme Court ruling on a challenge to the measure. Gov. Ron DeSantis recently said he expects adult-use marijuana to appear on the ballot. The 30% THC cap on smokable flower, proposed in SPB 7050, received a favorable vote in the state Senate Health Policy Committee.…
[ad_1] A federal judge has rejected the latest effort by out-of-state applicants to stop New York state from licensing adult-use marijuana stores, ruling in part that constitutional free-trade protections don’t apply to federally illegal marijuana. After the resolution of separate lawsuits that had frozen the ongoing rollout of New York’s legal market, two California-based companies filed a suit in December that sought to keep the state from issuing more adult-use retail licenses. That suit used a familiar argument: The U.S. Constitution’s dormant commerce clause prohibits states from setting rules that favor state residents, according to court filings made in court…
[ad_1] A longtime retail partner of multistate marijuana company Cookies is suing the California-based brand in New York state, alleging Cookies broke an “exclusive” agreement for a branded adult-use marijuana outlet in the year-old market. Earlier this week, a New York-licensed cannabis store called Culture House opened in the former location of a Cookies-branded clothing and CBD outlet in Manhattan’s Herald Square. Though no Cookies-branded cannabis is sold there, according to an online menu, the store is painted the familiar Cookies shade of light blue and sports the familiar “C” logo on the building’s façade. But by allowing a New…
[ad_1] A Kentucky state lawmaker introduced an adult-use marijuana legalization proposal on Tuesday, but the bill faces long-shot odds to become law. State Rep. Rachel Roberts was received with applause when she unveiled HB 420, the Louisville Courier Journal reported. The bill would set up a state regulatory authority to oversee licensed cannabis cultivation and sales in a fashion similar to other states. State excise taxes would be set at an initial rate of 9%. Kentucky legalized medical marijuana last year, but the program signed into law by Gov. Andy Beshear won’t take effect until 2025. The General Assembly is…
[ad_1] The Delaware House of Representatives advanced a bill that its sponsor claims will result in “improved access to medical marijuana.” President Joe Biden’s home state legalized adult-use marijuana last year, but state lawmakers such as Democratic Rep. Ed Osienski have identified what they claim are flaws in Delaware’s MMJ law. Delaware’s MMJ program launched in 2015 but remains relatively small. There are just over 29,000 qualified patients in the Delaware registry out of a state population of 1 million, according to state data. Sales were projected to exceed $52.5 million, according to the 2023 MJBiz Factbook. Osienski’s House Bill 285…
[ad_1] The Drug Enforcement Administration should go beyond health regulators’ marijuana rescheduling recommendation and deschedule the drug entirely, top Democratic U.S. senators suggested in a letter. The senators’ request comes as the DEA mulls an August 2023 recommendation by the Department of Health and Human Services to move marijuana from Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to Schedule 3. Shifting marijuana’s criminal status under federal law for the first time since 1970 “would mark a significant step forward, but it would not resolve the worst harms of the current system,” the senators wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland…
[ad_1] An Oregon cannabis company withdrew its federal lawsuit challenging a state ban on interstate marijuana commerce, court records show. Jefferson Packing House, a state-licensed cannabis distributor, sued Oregon officials in U.S. District Court in November 2022, alleging that a state law prohibiting marijuana companies from shipping across state lines was unconstitutional. The argument hinged on an interpretation of the U.S. Constitution’s dormant commerce clause, which generally prohibits states from passing laws that favor businesses based in that state. Though several states, including Oregon, have passed laws that would allow licensed producers to start supplying other markets with marijuana should…
[ad_1] A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by a Mississippi medical cannabis dispensary challenging the state’s ban on cannabis advertising. However, U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills seemed to hint that his Monday ruling could change if federal law changes. And Clarence Cocroft II, who brought the lawsuit and operates a state-licensed marijuana dispensary that he claims the advertising ban is harming, told the Associated Press he plans to appeal. Medical marijuana sales began last year in Mississippi. Cocroft’s attorneys claimed in their November suit that the state has the nation’s toughest laws on cannabis advertising. State-regulated MMJ businesses…
[ad_1] The Republican push to legalize medical marijuana in Wisconsin under some of the nation’s toughest restrictions won’t pass the state Senate, according to one of the state’s leading Republican cannabis advocates. That means legalizing medical marijuana in Wisconsin will likely have to wait until next year, state Sen. Mary Felzkowski told CBS-58. With no medical or adult-use cannabis, Wisconsin remains an exception in the Upper Midwest. Minnesota legalized adult-use marijuana last year. Adult-use sales launched in Illinois in 2020. Though Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, says he wants to sign adult-use legalization into law, he’ll settle for medical marijuana…
[ad_1] Sales of medical marijuana in Ohio’s tightly restricted market appear to have peaked, as state lawmakers continue to stall on launching the state’s recently legalized adult-use marketplace. Licensed retailers reported selling $484 million of medical cannabis in 2023, according to state sales figures first reported in Crain’s Cleveland Business. That’s below initial MJBizDaily projections and represents growth of only 1% from 2022 to 2023, as Crain’s noted. It also underscores the necessity for Ohio lawmakers to take quicker action and launch an adult-use marketplace, as Republican Gov. Mike DeWine recently said. Observers say the Ohio medical marijuana slowdown is…
[ad_1] Biden Administration attorneys asked a federal judge on Tuesday to dismiss a lawsuit filed by four marijuana companies challenging federal prohibition. However, while doing so, the Justice Department appeared to support both the ongoing federal marijuana rescheduling process, as well as state-legal cannabis. In October, all-star law firm Boies Schiller sued the federal DOJ on behalf of four state-licensed cannabis companies. The suit alleges the federal Controlled Substances Act is unconstitutional and harms their businesses. The suit is intended to reach the U.S. Supreme Court and revisit a landmark 2005 decision that upheld federal prohibition. In response, DOJ attorneys…
[ad_1] Missouri legal retailers reported selling over $1.3 billion worth of medical and adult-use marijuana last year, according to state sales figures. Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services Data shows that adult-use marijuana sales reached approximately $1.04 billion in 2023. Retailers reported a record $106.5 million in adult-use cannabis sales in December, breaking the previous record of $98.7 million set in July. Medical cannabis sales for the year were about $302.2 million. The total is approximately in line with MJBizDaily projections and the business association MoCannTrade. The 2023 MJBiz Factbook predicted $800 million in recreational sales and $500 million…