Susan Duggan

The Arizona Supreme Court unanimously ruled that cannabis extracts – including concentrates, vaporizer cartridges and infused food and beverages – are legal and the state’s medical marijuana dispensaries can sell them. In doing so, the court handed a win to the state’s booming  medical marijuana industry. Some Arizona retail shop owners and marijuana product manufacturers feared the state would ban the products, which would have resulted in significant financial losses. Despite risks, though, many dispensaries continued to sell the products while they awaited the courts ruling. The court also vacated the convictions and sentences of Rodney Jones, whose case was at the heart of the argument over extracted products. Jones, a medical marijuana cardholder, argued he was wrongfully convicted of felony possession for having 0.05 of an ounce of hashish. “(The Arizona Medical Marijuana Act – AMMA) defines marijuana as including ‘all parts of any plant of the genus ca...

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said on Tuesday that passing marijuana legalization before the end of the legislative session is a top-10 priority. Efforts to legalize cannabis through the legislature have stalled in part due to a changing political dynamic in light of neighboring New Jersey’s failure to get a legalization bill over the finish line this year and because some senators want voters to first approve the idea of ending cannabis prohibition through a referendum, he said. But in two separate radio interviews, the governor challenged lawmakers to capitalize on a growing pro-legalization sentiment and get a bill to his desk before the session ends on June 19. Cuomo seemed open to the prospect of a referendum vote, but he made clear that the fight in the legislature isn’t over yet. He expressed frustration that lawmakers are falling short of their legalization promise for political reasons and not necessarily because they take issue with the merits of cannabis reform. A rev...

Canadian stockpiles of cannabis in dried and oil form continued to climb  to record levels in March, but retailers nationwide struggled to maintain consistent inventory of in-demand products. Finished inventory of dried marijuana held by federal license holders, provincial distributors and retailers hit a record 30,800 kilograms (67,902 pounds) in March, up significantly from the 23,200 kilograms stocked the previous month, according to Health Canada data. Finished inventory is stock that is packaged, labeled and ready for sale. Sale-ready inventory of cannabis oil rose slightly, from 59,500 liters (15,718 gallons) in February to 62,100 liters in March. Separate data from Statistics Canada showed that sales of adult-use marijuana enjoyed a bump in March, rising to 60 million Canadian dollars ($44.5 million) from CA$51 million the previous month. However, some retailers continued to struggle to stock consistent inventory of the types of cannabis products sought by consumers...

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) updated its policy on cannabis over the Memorial Day weekend, changing the medical marijuana section of its “What Can I Bring?” webpage from reading “no” to “yes” (with “special instructions”). Specifically, the agency is clarifying that hemp-derived CBD products may now be carried on planes under certain circumstances. Previously, TSA made no distinction between marijuana and hemp-derived preparations and warned on its website that cannabis products cannot be taken as carry-on items or in checked bags. But since the 2018 Farm Bill federally legalized hemp and its derivatives , that’s no longer the case. Now the agency’s webpage specifies that possession of “certain” cannabis products are illegal under federal law, and TSA agents are required to report suspected violations such as possession of “certain” products to law enforcement. Here’s the new policy as it appears on TSA’s website: Via TSA. “Products/medications that conta...

Customers making the trek from nearby New York  are responsible for as much as 50% of recreational marijuana sales so far in Massachusetts, according to reporting by Crain’s New York Business. In Great Barrington, a town on Massachusetts’ western edge that’s only a one-hour drive from Albany and less than three hours from New York City, Theory Wellness has hit $11 million in sales in five months. About half of those sales are credited to New Yorkers. “You see folks from New York City doing aggressive carpooling, with four or five people packed into a (vehicle),” Theory CEO Brandon Pollock told Crain’s. Pollock estimated that Theory has been receiving about 1,000 customers a day, and sales have been double what he had expected. Although New Yorkers are the biggest out-of-state customer demographic, plenty of consumers have visited from Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and other nearby states that don’t have legal marijuana shops. Original Article Source: https://...

Missouri regulators issued  final rules for the state’s medical marijuana program, effective June 3, and MMJ business applicants can start applying for the program Aug. 3. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the rules will remain in effect until February, when they can be revised. The state health department will hold a public hearing in July to gather more feedback. For more details about the finalized rules, click here . Original Article Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/missouri-sets-regulations-for-medical-cannabis-program/

Companies that sell cannabis products—even those consisting of CBD derived from hemp, which was  legalized in the U.S. through the Farm Bill  late last year—are continuing to have trouble accessing basic financial services that are available to businesses in other sectors. That includes being able to maintain bank accounts and process their customers’ credit cards. The latter problem could be solved under a new pilot program that has quietly been launched by the payment processing service Square. “Square is currently conducting an invite-only beta for some CBD products,” a spokesperson for the company said in an email. When asked about the reasons for the launching the new program, which comes after years of refusing to work with CBD companies, the spokesperson said that the company closely watches evolving public policies and strives to create new opportunities for clients. Thanks for checking in, but we’re not able to support sales of CBD at this time. ...