Author: Kate Robertson
[ad_1] Connecticut’s House of Representatives voted in favor of a bill that would restrict and regulate hemp products in the state. House Bill 5150 passed by a 130-16 vote and will now go to the state Senate, according to CT News Junkie. If approved, the bill would: Amend the definition of high-THC products to include those containing 1 milligram of THC per serving and remove the differentiation of THC potency limits for various product types. Remove hemp-derived products from groceries, convenience stores and pharmacies. Allow social equity cultivators to partner with hemp producers and acquire licenses to make products outside…
[ad_1] Georgia’s governor signed off on a bill aimed at regulating hemp-derived products and growing the state’s hemp industry. According to the Capitol Beat News Service, Senate Bill 494, signed into law Tuesday, will: Provide for the issuance of manufacturer licenses, wholesale consumable-hemp permits and consumable-hemp retail establishment licenses. Require testing labs to be registered. Close the “THCA” loophole by redefining delta-9 THC. (THCA is THC’s biosynthetic precursor that must be heated in order to be converted into THC.) Prohibit sales of hemp-derived products, including CBD, to anyone younger than 21. The General Assembly passed the bill, aka the Georgia…
[ad_1] Two social equity marijuana applicants in Missouri are appealing regulators’ decision to revoke their business licenses because of their connection to a Michigan company called Canna Zoned. Regulators said the licenses of Frankenstein Enemy in Columbia and Seashore Rhythm in Arnold because they weren’t able to verify that the businesses would be owned and operated by the applicants, according to nonprofit news outlet Missouri Independent. Instead, Canna Zoned owner Jeffrey Yatooma was the designated contact on both license applications, according to the revocation notices sent by regulators. The social equity licensees said they didn’t know Yatooma. A Seashore Rhythm…
[ad_1] The latest effort to legalize medical marijuana in Kansas has been halted by the Republican-controlled state Senate. A motion that would transfer Senate Bill 135 from the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee to the Senate had only 12 votes on Friday, well short of the required 24 “to force a bill to the Senate floor,’ according the Kansas Reflector. With only days left in the legislative session, SB 135 was essentially left hanging in committee. The measure would have created an act that would regulate the cultivation, processing, distribution, sale and use of medical cannabis. Republican Sen. Rob…
[ad_1] Massachusetts adult-use marijuana retailers sold more than $6 billion in products since the program launched in 2018. Combined with medical marijuana sales, the total number is about $7 billion as of April 17, according to Spectrum News 1. This past 4/20 set a single-day sales record at $8.5 million, according to a Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) news release. “I continue to be encouraged by these sales milestones because they show that the industry is strong and efficiently regulated, both spurring economic development and critical tax revenue for the Commonwealth and providing safe, tested products for consumers and patients alike,”…
[ad_1] Grown Rogue, an Oregon-based craft marijuana cultivator, increased its stake in its Michigan operation, Golden Harvests, from 52.2% to 80% through two transactions. The approximate value of both transactions is $2.8 million, with $200,000 paid in cash and $2.6 million in four-year sellers’ notes, according to a news release. Canopy Management, which is 87% indirectly owned by Grown Rogue, has a 60% interest in Golden Harvests. Grown Rogue bought the remaining minority interest in Canopy for $800,000 with a 20% cash down payment and monthly payments over the course of four years at an interest rate of 5.2% per…
[ad_1] Minnesota cannabis stakeholders are concerned that the forthcoming adult-use market will be undersupplied and/or delayed if cultivators can’t begin growing before lawmakers finish deliberating over the program’s rules. Legislators voted against a proposed amendment to a bill that would allow state regulators to pre-approve cultivators, according to CBS Minnesota. Adult-use cannabis sales are scheduled to begin in early 2025. With rulemaking still under deliberation, cultivators won’t have enough time to ramp up marijuana supply before the adult-use market launches next year, Vicente LLP attorney Jason Tarasek said in an interview with CBS Minnesota. “I’ve had concerns that we’re going…
[ad_1] Two prominent New York cannabis industry associations disagree about whether regulators should accelerate the issuance of retail licenses in the state. The Cannabis Farmers Alliance sent a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office pleading for “immediate and decisive action” to relieve cultivators of the massive glut of unsold marijuana that many are grappling with because of the slow rollout of the state’s adult-use program, according to Spectrum News 1. “These farmers, central to the cannabis supply chain, have endured overwhelming financial losses, with a staggering 97% of them operating at a loss,” the letter notes. The memo was in…
[ad_1] Hundreds of customers flocked to the Great Smoky Cannabis Co. on 4/20 to celebrate the launch of medical cannabis sales on tribal lands near Asheville, North Carolina. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) began MMJ sales Saturday at a 10,000-square-foot dispensary, Great Smoky Cannabis Co., on the Qualla Boundary, the Asheville Citizen-Times reported. Marijuana sales are not legal in North Carolina yet, but Native American tribes such as the ECBI are permitted to establish marijuana programs on tribal lands outside the scope and enforcement of state officials. The ECBI’s MMJ launch follows in the footsteps of tribes in…
[ad_1] U.S. liquor retail chain Total Wine & More is making THC and CBD drinks by Texas-based Hill Beverage Co. available to consumers nationwide via delivery. Total Wine will offer delivery of the Do It Fluid brand starting on April 20, aka 4/20, the unofficial marijuana holiday 4/20. Do It Fluid was developed in partnership with entrepreneur Snoop Dogg and Death Row Records, according to retail news website Retail Touchpoints. The drinks, which come in four flavors, also will be available at Total Wine stores in California. The Maryland-based retail chain created a dedicated THC beverage section at some of…
[ad_1] Months before Oxford University Press declared “rizz” the 2023 Word of the Year in December, Mario Naric registered the domain name rizzlers.com for 800 Canadian dollars (roughly $584), setting the stage for his cannabis company’s latest brand. London, Ontario-based Motif Labs launched Rizzlers, a closed-loop vape system, in January. Now Naric, the company’s 31-year-old CEO, hopes the products will repeat some of the success Motif’s other brands have achieved so far, particularly with the younger demographic of cannabis consumers. Motif’s Boxhot brand – named after a sketch by comedian and former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Kyle Mooney –…
[ad_1] Cannabis industry lender Chicago Atlantic issued a $20 million loan to Massachusetts-based multistate operator Nova Farms. The senior secured financing will be used to expand in Connecticut and New Jersey, according to a news release. Nova Farms already operates a cultivation facility in Massachusetts, seven retail brands and five retail outlets in Maine, Massachusetts and New Jersey. “Nova Farms has demonstrated its ability to operate successfully and identify attractive opportunities to accelerate progress,” Peter Sack, a partner at Illinois-based Chicago Atlantic, said in a statement. “We have every confidence in their plans to open additional locations across the Northeast,…