WeedLife News Network

The quest for Westland to become a major destination in the marijuana industry took another step this month.

A third marijuana business, this one planned on the north side of Cherry Hill west of Newburgh, recently received recommendation from the city's planning commission for a special land use and site plan. 

The business, which would be a collocated facility that contains retail space for medicinal and recreational marijuana, would be on the property near the Hush Haunted Attraction and The Legendary Axe bar. 

Missouri voters will have the ability to legalize recreational marijuana use through a constitutional amendment, now that the petition has gained enough signatures to go on the ballot.

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft ruled on two petitions Tuesday. One, dealing with ranked choice voting, did not gain enough signatures, but the petition on recreational marijuana did.

The marijuana petition received the number of needed signatures in six of Missouri’s eight congressional districts, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.

The petition will appear as Amendment 3 on the ballot, and if a majority of Missouri voters approve it, recreational marijuana will be legal in the state.

PINE RIDGE, S.D. — In a growing number of U.S. states, people can both drink alcohol and legally smoke recreational marijuana. In others, they can use alcohol but not pot. But on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, the opposite is true: Marijuana is legal, but booze is banned.

Citizens of the Oglala Sioux Tribe overwhelmingly voted in 2020 to legalize recreational and medical marijuana on their sprawling reservation, which has prohibited the sale and consumption of alcohol for more than 100 years.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and Mendocino County have teamed up to hold a series of cannabis technical assistance workshops in August and September.

These technical workshops are ideal for new and legacy farmers as well as cannabis consultants. Mendocino County’s permitting staff and CDFW’s cannabis program staff will be available to discuss project specific technical questions, compliance and cannabis grant program opportunities. Representatives of the Department of Cannabis Control and the State Water Resources Control Board will also be available.

To simplify the state’s regulation of the legal cannabis industry while working to reduce litigation and the specter of politics, some in Illinois are looking to create a statewide cannabis commission.

As it is right now, entrepreneurs in the adult-use and medical cannabis industry in Illinois have multiple state agencies they have to work through to get licensed and regulated. Application fees can be expensive and meeting various other requirements like being an social equity applicant can add more burdens.

State Rep. Marcus Evans, D-Chicago, wants to reduce the touch points by creating a cannabis commission similar to the state’s liquor or gaming commissions.

Marijuana stocks’ performance is often subject to what is happening in the cannabis industry. In the last couple of years, the cannabis industry has seen significant change and innovation both in the U.S. and internationally. 

Currently, more than half of U.S. states have legalized marijuana in some form, and the more legalization occurs, the more advancement can be had in the industry. 

However, with the rise of inflation and disturbance that have hit the Nasdaq, pushing stocks officially into bear territory, marijuana stocks also lost a lot of ground. The three primary players on average lost 77% of their market cap in the last 12 months.

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker is expected to sign into law S.3096, a measure aimed at supporting the 900 people harmed by the War on Drugs that have been enrolled in the commonwealth's social equity program as well as future members of the program.

The measure sets aside 15% of the revenue in the state's marijuana regulation fund generated by cannabis businesses to provide capital to social equity licensees. Cities and towns would have to prioritize equity applicants. The measure also includes language to pave the way for municipalities to incorporate social consumption lounges into communities for the first time.

Among the 177 issued conditional adult-use cannabis dispensing licenses announced recently by Gov. JB Pritzker were three Springfield-based operations looking to open their doors in the coming months.

Herban Quality Control, Dealership LLC, and Bolden Investments III LLC now have 180 days to find a physical storefront before being issued a full license which permits the sale of cannabis to Illinoisans age 21 and older.

Now the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation only has eight remaining conditional licenses to grant. A total of 185 licenses were allowed after a Cook County judge lifted a legal stay in May.

CATOOSA COUNTY, Ga. — A new lawsuit in Georgia seeks a court order declaring that a chemical related to the main intoxicating ingredient in pot is legal under state law.

Owners of two shops in northwest Georgia are hoping to get a court to order a local sheriff and a drug task force to let them sell chemicals containing hemp that are now considered legal by the federal government.

The shops issued a motion requesting an emergency injunction and temporary restraining order, which would prevent Catoosa County Sheriff Gary Sisk and the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit Drug Task Force "from conducting any arrests or civil asset seizures against individuals or businesses based on the sale or possession of products containing hemp extracts," which includes Delta products.

Hummingbird Labs is opening on Division Avenue Southeast, to make sure cannabis products are safe before being sold in stores.

A man has been jailed for more than four years after £30,000 worth of cannabis was found at the scene of a house fire in Stafford.

Denver's tax revenue from marijuana sales increased 3 percent in 2021 to $72.4 million, according to the city's annual marijuana tax report. 

The figures come as Colorado's marijuana industry is facing a slowdown. So far this year, more than $759 million of marijuana has been sold in Colorado compared to the $962 million sold around the state in the first five months of 2021, according to data from the Colorado Department of Revenue. 

Overall marijuana sales in Denver are down despite the increased tax revenue, with more than $167 million sold so far in 2022 compared to over $222 million sold between January and May 2021. 

State agencies also won't cooperate in any out-of-state investigations into lawful marijuana conduct that occurs in Colorado.

Gov. Jared Polis last week vowed by executive order that Colorado will not hold out-of-state convictions for most marijuana-related offenses against people applying for professional licenses here.

The Boulder Democrat wrote in his order, “There is a workforce shortage in Colorado. Employers are having difficulty recruiting and retaining qualified employees, many of whom need professional licenses. The exclusion of people from the workforce because of marijuana-related activities that are lawful in Colorado, but illegal in other states, hinders our economy and our state.”

Earnings season is just getting started for the cannabis sector and we hope to see a positive response from the market to company results.

Last week, Statistics Canada announced that $292.1 million (USD) (C$375.8 million) of recreational cannabis was sold in May. This amount is less than 1% higher than the amount of sales in April and we are favorable on the increase. Statistics Canada also updated the amount of recreational cannabis sales from April to be CA$373.3 million, which is slightly higher than the amount that was previously reported. (Technical420)

Breaking Down Performance by Province

New findings presented at the 2022 AACC Annual Scientific Meeting.

As the cannabis derivative delta-8-THC grows in popularity, it's important for drug tests to be able to detect and differentiate it from delta-9-THC—the primary psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. Breaking research showcased at the 2022 AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo demonstrates that common drug testing methods can do just that.

Unity Rd., the national cannabis dispensary franchise from Item 9 Labs Corp., is opening medical cannabis establishment, in South Dakota on July 27 with local entrepreneurs, B.J. Olson and Adam Jorgensen.

The new shop is located in the Sioux Falls suburb of Hartford at 404 West Opal Lane. (Benzinga)

In an inflationary period where the prices of most products are on the rise, why is it that cannabis seems unaffected? The question surrounding this is, “Is cannabis inflation-proof or are there other factors in play?” Historically, the price for a gram of cannabis has been around the $10 and $20 range, and on up. Nowadays, consumers can find cannabis for around $5 per gram depending on how much they purchase.

Hero Technologies a cannabis company focused on a "seed-to-sale" vertical integration strategy, has migrated its banking operations from traditional financial institutions to banks that specialize in marijuana-related businesses (MRB). The company expects that the move to MRB banks will facilitate its compliance with state and federal financial regulations and help it manage cash and financial risk as it grows. (Benzinga)

Banking for MRBs is challenging due to the varied regulations across the U.S., the cash-intensive nature of the marijuana business, and the explosive growth of the cannabis industry.