Editorial Note:
I will be heading out on VA for the year's balance and returning on January 3, 2022. We have scheduled a Cannabis 1Q22 themes call for January 18 @ 2 PM.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
Howard Penney
Supply chain disruptions
As a growth industry, supply chain disruptions in cannabis are not unusual these days. In Massachusetts, the industry is being hit by shortages in materials due to deliveries of supplies and materials needed to build and construct retail and cultivation facilities have been a problem in recent months. "There have been supply chain issues for my clients," said Brian Corey. He represents a Westport, MA retail operation that has yet to open and a 'vertically integrated' grow-and-sell business on Airport Road in Fall River. He says supply chain problems have delayed the opening of the building by ten weeks. He and his partners, one of whom owns a cannabis business in Brockton, also intended by the end of 2022 to begin growing plants, as part of their vertically integrated business model, on the top floors of the building.
Missouri medical
Fourteen months after the first sale to a qualified patient occurred in a Missouri medical marijuana dispensary, the total sales as part of the state-regulated medical marijuana program reached the $200 million mark. More than 300 facilities are now operating in Missouri as cultivators, manufacturers, dispensaries, testing laboratories, transporters, and seed-to-sale providers. "Nearly every facility which was part of the initial round of licensing is now up and running and providing beneficial products and service to the patients of Missouri," said Lyndall Fraker, Director of the Section for Medical Marijuana Regulation. "We are proud of the tenacity shown by both our regulatory team and all of the facility operators who were able to clear so many hurdles that COVID-19 presented during a critical time." DHSS is charged with providing safe and secure access to medical marijuana for qualifying Missouri patients. 158,169 qualified patients and 3,283 caregivers are currently active in Missouri's program. Including Missouri, 21 states have implemented medical marijuana laws since 2005. The national average for implementation is 29 months, and Missouri implemented its medical program in just over 23 months. Only five states implemented medical programs faster than Missouri (Pennsylvania, New York, Utah, Minnesota, and Oklahoma).
California Cannabis
There are many stories that California is considering eliminating its cultivation tax in early 2022. We have been digging into Glass House recently, and this would be a positive catalyst in 2022 for a stock that has been decimated in 2H21.
