More on edibles in Florida (TCNNF, CURLF)
The introduction of edibles in Florida is expected to accelerate sales growth for the state's medical marijuana market. Florida's Department of Agriculture cannabis director, Holly Bell, said yesterday that four companies have kitchens that have passed food safety requirements per state law: Trulieve, Curaleaf, Parallel Florida, and VidaCann. As of the most Florida OMMU data, Trulieve has over 50% market share of THC and smokable flower sold with just a 20.6% share of dispensaries in the state, on a 4-week moving average basis.
In a press release yesterday, Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers commented, "Similar to what we saw when flower was introduced in 2019, we expect that edibles will contribute to a sizable share of overall sales. We know the demand is there, as we have been hearing from our customers for some time now. To meet that pending demand, Trulieve was the first in the Florida market to introduce ingestible products. We started with capsules and extended to other forms, such as TruPowder in January, follow-on flavored options just this month, and TruTincture Drops, which are similar to lozenges. We are glad to finally be able to offer edibles as yet another option for medical cannabis patients across Florida."
In an Echelon Capital Markets Digital Conference streamed on August 25th, Rivers said that edibles "could represent as much as 20% of product sold in our product lineup" and are a "great addition to our lineup from a margin perspective."
Trulieve (TCNNF) is a Hedgeye Cannabis Best Idea LONG.
Legal challenge filed after Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana gather enough signatures for ballot
Earlier this week, activists for a medical marijuana legalization campaign in Nebraska announced that their campaign had collected enough valid signatures for the November ballot. However, Secretary of State Bob Evnen has yet to formally certify the initiative. In a parallel to Arizona, a legal challenge has been filed to keep medical legalization off the ballot. A law firm filed the legal challenge with the Secretary of State, alleging the language of the ballot initiative is unconstitutional since it violates Nebraska's single-subject rule. The rule in question bars petitions from putting multiple issues in a single yes-or-no question, due to potential voter confusion and questions on what will be authorized post-election. There is concern that this legal challenge may derail the ballot initiative – the Secretary of State removed three casino gambling initiatives based on the single-subject rule this week.
If the legal challenge fails and the Secretary of State certifies the initiative, Nebraska will be the sixth state to have a marijuana legalization measure on the ballot this November. The state has a population of 1.9M per 2019 census numbers.
Israel's Health Ministry issues new regulations on cannabis
On Wednesday, Israel's Health Ministry published new regulations on cannabis designed to lower the price of medical marijuana and to simplify the process of accessing CBD products. Significantly, CBD was removed from the country's Dangerous Drug Ordinance. Until this removal, medical marijuana patients in Israel were required to gain a license to acquire CBD products, which has been cited as an overly bureaucratic process. The new regulations require patients to only have a prescription – a less difficult process. This legal change could expand the already robust medical marijuana program in Israel – the country recently became the world's No. 1 importer of medical flower, surpassing Germany, in July.
