Elections are around the corner, and states are getting their signatures.
With the 2022 mid-terms right around the corner, it is that time of the cycle when state activists are collecting signatures in order to get cannabis legislative onto their state ballots. North Dakota activists will submit their 21,400 and counting signatures to the state office in just a few days (just 3 months after they got authorized to start collecting signatures by the state). On Friday, activists in Arkansas submitted double the required signatures (190k) than needed to get their cannabis legalization initiatives onto the November ballot. It also looks like Nebraska might have enough signatures, they submitted the 90k and the state requires 87k, in order to put two medical marijuana initiatives onto their ballot. The Nebraska court system is working through different arguments on the matter, so we will have to wait and see what happens there. No matter what happens in Nebraska, there are clearly positive signs that there will be several states in which the vote to legalize cannabis will occur in November. Without any sign of hope from D.C., state legalization remains the strong tailwind for the industry.
This is why we need the fed.
In California, it is very common for businesses to shop around looking for a testing facility that will more likely show higher THC concentration in their products. You would think that a unionized system of testing, like the federal government, has with food, would be a no-brainer, but since it is federally illegal, it is up to the states to come up with these procedures. California is proposing a new rule to standardize the testing within their own state. “One of the challenges we face in regulating an industry that is not federally recognized is the lack of standardized, and validated methods for testing,” DCC Director Nicole Elliott said in a press release. “Individual, licensed laboratories use different methods which may produce inconsistent results and inaccurate data on cannabis cannabinoid content. DCC is working to change that so there is greater integrity in the market, accurate information for consumers, and confidence among stakeholders.”
New yorks black market has been put on notice.
Last week, New York regulators handed out cease and desist letters to 52 businesses that were selling unlicensed cannabis in the state. “There are no businesses currently licensed to sell adult-use cannabis in New York State,” Tremaine Wright, chair of New York’s Cannabis Control Board (CCB), said in a press release. “Selling any item or taking a donation, and then ‘gifting’ a customer a bag of untested cannabis does indeed count as a sale under New York’s Cannabis Law.” New York is set to go adult-use very soon, and they have a lot at state. How much at state, well their budget estimates that the state will generate more than $1.25B in tax revenue from the industry over the next 6 years.
