California crackdown.
We have commented on how the black market in California is growing out of control, due to the high taxes that the state has put on products and the oversupply of cannabis in the state. In 2022 the state has taken some action to try and combat this illegal market with authorities seizing nearly one million illegally cultivated cannabis plants and over 200,000 pounds of illegally processed cannabis in the state, according to the California Attorney General’s Office. “California has the largest safe, legal, and regulated cannabis market in the world, but unfortunately illegal and unlicensed grows continue to proliferate,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. “The California Department of Justice’s CAMP task force works tirelessly each year to eradicate illegal grows and reclaim our public lands, but shutting down these grows is no longer enough. With the transition to EPIC, we’re taking the next step and building out our efforts to address the environmental and economic harms and labor exploitation associated with this underground market.”
Canadian Licensees.
Just under 10% of federal cannabis license holders in Canada have exited the market since legalization in October 2018, according to new government data. We have yet to see a thinning out of cannabis production even with decreased demand and pricing power in the Canadian market making it nearly impossible to have a profitable business in Canada. According to the data, roughly 95 cannabis license holders threw in the towel, representing 9.7% of licenses issued during that period. There are nearly 920 active cannabis licenses across Canada today. With a consumer slowdown ahead of us, Quad 4, and an industry that is struggling to survive in the best of time, we expect more licensees to give up in Canada in the following year or a see consolidation of business within this market.
CBD IN MLB.
Major League Baseball (MLB) has signed Charlotte's Web Holdings, a CBD company, as their first ever cannabis sponsor. It is rumored that they will promote the business during the upcoming world series at the end of the month. Charlotte's Web will be the official CBD company of the MLB. As part of the deal, Charlotte’s Web will be releasing a line of “Sport” cannabis products that feature the MLB logo. The baseball association will also receive a portion of shares in the company, which is publicly traded in Canada as well as collect rights fees and get a percentage of sales. In the world of sports, cannabis has just recently come out of the dog house as many players across all major sporting leagues have had news headlines for years about players being suspended for failing drug tests around cannabis. marijuanamoment.net
