California Cannabis Sales.
California cannabis sales came in at ~$407M in September compared to ~$414M in the previous month which is a decline of 1.9% MoM and down 8.7% YoY. This is the seventh consecutive months of YoY decline in cannabis sales for California. Unit volumes in the month were up 0.5% YoY and down 0.6% MoM. The story here, like in many states that we cover, is the fact that the average item price declined 1.3% MoM and declined 9.2% YoY. September marks the 16th consecutive month that the state saw a decline in average item price on a YoY basis. The pain seems to be slowing but is still declining. We will be focusing our research in finding the trough in prices across North American markets.
More Noise around safe+
When President Biden in early October came out and announced the mass pardons at the federal level of minor cannabis charges and also mentioned the fact that his administration is looking into the avenues to reschedule or reschedule cannabis and a schedule 1 drug, this allowed for the possibility of some type of SAFE Banking to get passed during the lame duck session. The reason why those moves made for the possibility of the next big catalyst in cannabis to be on the horizon is the fact that it put less pressure on Senators Schumer and Booker to include drastic social equity language in the cannabis banking bill which would have lost the support of the Republicans needed to get this passed. Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Congress is getting “very close” to introducing and passing a cannabis banking bill, citing progress he’s made in discussions with a “bunch of Republican senators.” There will likely be some social justice language in this SAFE+ bill like expunging records. Overall, we are going more optimistic that this can get done during the lame-duck session, but cannabis reform at the federal level has never been about if they can but rather if they will.
AYR In Florida.
Ayr Wellness (AYRWF) announced this morning the opening of two new retail stores in Florida, located in Daytona Beach and Lake Worth, as well as the expansion of LEVIA water-soluble cannabis tinctures to its Florida retail menus. Ayr’s newest stores in Daytona Beach and Lake Worth join more than 50 other retail locations throughout the state. “We are excited to see the results from the progress we’ve made in Florida since acquiring Liberty Health Sciences in 2021. We’ve opened more than 20 new locations, with our store count now at 52, and have introduced several brands from our national portfolio to the market,” said Jonathan Sandelman, Founder and CEO of Ayr. “On our mission to produce the highest quality cannabis at scale, Florida has been instrumental in bringing that vision to life.”
