Detroit to finally allow recreational sales
The Detroit City Council has finally established its rule for licensed adult-use sales in the state’s largest city, following over a year’s postponement. On Monday, the city agreed to allow 75 licenses for retail stores, 35 for consumption establishments, and 35 for microbusinesses. Licenses for cultivation and secure transporters won’t face similar caps. As part of the city’s social equity provisions with its adult-use licensing program, the ordinance calls for at least 50% of all licenses to be disbursed to “legacy Detroiters,” which is defined as an individual who has lived in Detroit at least 15 of the past 30 years and for the past one year; a low-income legacy Detroiter has to have 13 years of 30 and the past year; a person who has been incarcerated needs to have 10 years residency and the past year.
In another high-profile celebrity product launch, rapper Jay-Z introduces his own cannabis line.
Billionaire business mogul and rapper Jay-Z is launching his own cannabis line called Monogram. The brand’s launch is in partnership with California cannabis company Caliva, which Jay-Z joined in 2019 as Chief Brand Strategist. Its website offers little detail on the product itself, and its release date is unknown. He joins other celebrities who have recently started their own product lines, like Martha Stewart’s CBD wellness products with Canopy Growth and Kristen Bell’s CBD skincare products with Cronos.
Cuomo gives a positive signal for NY legalization.
NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) commented that the state could legalize adult-use to generate revenues and alleviate the state’s COVID-19 induced, multi-billion dollar budget deficit. In an event promoting his upcoming book, Cuomo responded to the question of “When is New York going to legalize marijuana?” with, “Soon, because now we need the money.” He went on to say, “I’ve tried to get it done the last couple of years. There are many reasons to get it done, but one of the benefits is it also brings in revenue, and all states — but especially this state — we need revenue, and we’re going to be searching the cupboards for revenue. And I think that is going to put marijuana over the top.”
Cuomo’s position on marijuana has reversed over the past decade. When entering office in 2011, Cuomo opposed both medical and adult-use legalization. He switched his position on medical in 2014 and signed a bill legalizing it. It's only been in the past two years that Cuomo has reversed his adult-use stance and began pushing towards recreational legalization. The combination of New Jersey legalizing adult-use and the state’s budget deficit may be enough to push New York towards legalization.
