Author: Solomon Israel

[ad_1] Marijuana industry real estate company Innovative Industrial Properties (IIP) reported $164.2 million in net income for its common shareholders in its full 2023 fiscal year. The full-year profit was earned on $309.5 million in revenue for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, an increase of 12% over IIP’s 2022 revenue. IIP’s annual dividend was $7.22 per share, including a fourth-quarter dividend of $1.82 per share. The San Diego-headquartered real estate investment trust (REIT) reported fourth-quarter net income of $41.3 million and quarterly revenue of $79.2 million, up 12% over the same quarter in 2022. During the fourth quarter, IIP…

[ad_1] The Canadian government is increasing eight regulatory fees levied on the regulated cannabis industry beginning April 1. The fee increases are in line with Canada’s official inflation rate of 4.4% over the 12 months leading to April 2023, according to details published in the official Canada Gazette. The new fees will be: Micro-cultivation license application screening: 1,969 Canadian dollars ($1,457). Standard cultivation license application screening: CA$3,933. Nursery license application screening: CA$1,969. Micro-processing application screening: CA$1,969. Standard processing application screening: CA$3,933. Medical cannabis sales license application screening: CA$3,933. Security clearance application: CA$1,987. Import or export permit application: CA$734. The Canadian…

[ad_1] Marijuana-sector real estate lender AFC Gamma is splitting off its non-cannabis commercial real estate business into a separate company. The new publicly traded company, which will be called Sunrise Realty Trust, intends to operate as a real estate investment trust (REIT), West Palm Beach, Florida-based AFC Gamma said in a late Thursday news release. According to a company statement, the spinoff “will result in two pure-play debt capital providers – one focused solely on the cannabis industry and a second on (commercial real estate) in the southern United States. “AFC Gamma believes that the separation will allow both companies…

[ad_1] More workers at Southern California cannabis delivery company Amuse have joined the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, marking another victory in the labor union’s push to organize legal cannabis workers. Los Angeles-based Teamsters Local 630 said its new members include an unspecified number of Amuse “drivers, operations leads, associates, and cash counters” in Culver City. “We look forward to working alongside our new members to negotiate a strong contract that protects them and addresses their issues at work,” Teamsters Local 630 Secretary-Treasurer Lou Villalvazo said in a statement. The Teamsters previously announced a successful union vote by Amuse drivers in…

[ad_1] Canadian recreational cannabis sales were worth 5.07 billion Canadian dollars ($3.8 billion) in 2023, an increase of 12.2% compared to 2022, according to government retail sales data released Thursday. The year-over-year retail trend marks a slowing growth rate for Canadian cannabis sales as the market matures, more than five years after adult-use legalization in October 2018. In 2022, annual marijuana sales increased by 17.9% compared to 2021, reaching roughly CA$4.5 billion. “I think it’s a natural slowing,” said Brad Poulos, a professor of entrepreneurship at Toronto Metropolitan University who studies the Canadian cannabis industry. The vast majority of growth…

[ad_1] A limited medical marijuana legalization bill put forward by Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin has reached the end of the line, and it won’t move forward during this legislative session. Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Thursday that the bill will not reach a vote before the Assembly’s session ends next week, the Associated Press reported. However, Vos said the bill will still have a public hearing ahead of the next session. The restrictive legislation would have permitted sales of nonsmokable cannabis products from state-run stores to patients with a limited number of medical conditions. The bill’s demise had been…

[ad_1] Quebec’s government-owned cannabis retail monopoly reported net income of $33 million Canadian dollars ($24.5 million) for its third quarter. The Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC) said retail sales of recreational cannabis totaled CA$201.6 million for the quarter ended Dec. 30, up 7.6% over the same quarter a year before. By volume, the retailer sold 37,215 kilograms of cannabis (82,045 pounds). The quarterly sales total includes CA$189.3 million worth of cannabis sold from brick-and-mortar stores and CA$12.3 million sold online, the profitable public-sector business said in a news release. A labor dispute ended during the quarter as SQDC signed new…

[ad_1] California marijuana company Blüm Holdings plans to acquire three Sacramento cannabis retail stores from Operators Only Corp. The proposed purchase price is $9.7 million, including “a $1.9 million secured promissory note over 34 to 42 months” and issuance of more than 1.8 million common shares of Blüm, according to a follow-up news release issued Wednesday. The sellers will get nearly 16% of Blüm, “incorporating an additional approximate $14.0 million of revenue to the Company’s 2023 revenues of $33 million while not diluting” gross margin, the release noted. The sellers also “retain the option to exchange their stock issuance for…

[ad_1] Many U.S. cannabis companies will need to comply with a new reporting requirement under federal law, an attorney for the marijuana industry warns. “This is a pretty complex law, and I think a lot of cannabis business owners are not aware that it exists,” said Rachel Gillette, a partner with Denver-based law firm Holland & Hart who specializes in cannabis business and tax law. The new beneficial ownership reporting requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act likely will apply to “most small cannabis businesses – (although) there are certain exemptions,” Gillette explained. Although the law is already in effect, most…

[ad_1] Democratic lawmakers in Tennessee have once again filed a bill that would put marijuana legalization referendum questions on the 2024 ballot, although the results of any ballot vote would be nonbinding. According to political news outlet The Tennessee Journal, the legislation would pose three questions to voters: Should Tennessee legalize medical marijuana? Should Tennessee decriminalize marijuana possession of less than an ounce of marijuana? Should Tennessee legalize and regulate recreational marijuana? The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jesse Chism and Sen. Raumesh Akbari, would also require Tennessee’s secretary of state to forward any referendum results to the Legislature and to…

[ad_1] The government of New Mexico has provided marijuana processor and manufacturer Vana with a $90,000 grant. The grant to the family-owned company is the first disbursement to a cannabis business through the state’s Local Economic Development Act fund, which is meant to incentivize job creation in New Mexico. Vana plans to use the funding “to facilitate the addition of 12 new employees with an average salary of $46,626,” according to a Monday news release from the New Mexico Economic Development Department (EDD). “The business plans to invest $2.6 million over the next decade.” Clovis-based Vana is the first company…

[ad_1] California marijuana company Blüm Holdings has closed the last cultivation facility owned by its Unrivaled Brands subsidiary as it shifts to focus on cannabis retail and brands after a corporate reorganization. Blüm said in a Monday news release it was concentrating “on operating and expanding profitable cannabis assets and developing brands.” “The divestiture of our final California cultivation facility positions the company to concentrate on the cannabis retail market and on our leading cannabis brands, where we believe we have stronger opportunities for revenue generation and market leadership,” Blüm CEO Sabas Carrillo said in a statement. Blüm did not…