The Georgia runoff election will determine if Republicans or Democrats are in charge of the Senate and is like the most important day for the short history of the Cannabis industry. The Federal cannabis legalization will become a top priority in Congress if the Democrats reclaim the Senate next week, according to Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who made this declaration during a video chat hosted by the Black cannabis advocacy group Green Enterprise.
States potentially passing recreational legislation in 2021
With November’s green wave catalyzing legalization momentum at the state level, several key states appear likely to pass recreational legalization in 2021: New York (19.4M residents), Connecticut (3.6M residents), and Virginia (8.5M residents).
NY’s Gov. Andrew Cuomo continued sharing his intent for NY to go recreational in comments late last week to North Country Public Radio in Canton, New York, saying, “I think this year it is ripe because the state is going to be desperate for funding.” Top state leadership on both sides of the aisle have expressed similar sentiments. New York Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay (R) stated that he believes adult-use legalization will come to NY in 2021, saying, “There’s still back and forth, but I suspect this year this will actually get done.” Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D) has expressed expectations for adult-use legalization to come in the new year. Axel Bernabe, Assistant Counsel for Health to NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo, said in October that cannabis legislation would be brought up again through the state budget in January – the goal being to enact recreational legalization by April.
CT’s Gov. Ned Lamont, when asked in an interview on Yahoo Finance Live if he’d pursue adult-use legalization in 2021, said, “I think so. Right now, I’m surrounded by states – New Jersey and Massachusetts – where marijuana is already legal. I don’t need a lot of people driving back and forth across the border.”
VA’s Gov. Ralph Northam (D) has affirmed his state pursuing legalization in 2021 and shared his hopes for Virginia to guide Southern states to follow. In comments to WAMU radio’s The Kojo Nnamdi Show, Northam said, “There are 15 or so other states that have moved toward legalizing marijuana. Virginia will be the first in the South, but we tend to be leaders, and now that’s what we’re going to do this year. And we’re going to do it the right way.”
Trulieve awarded a state grant for Pennsylvania operations (TCNNF)
Pennsylvania has granted a $2 million capital grant to Trulieve as it expands its PurePenn cultivation and processing facility outside Pittsburgh. PurePenn is a premier cultivation and production company producing medical marijuana products. Its portfolio includes some of the highest THC potencies in the Pennsylvania program, with 750mg THC per 30mL bottle tincture and the original THCA sand with potencies over 96%. PurePenn currently operates a 35,000 square foot cultivation and processing facility in McKeesport, PA, which is undergoing expansion to 90,000 square feet, expected to be operational by Q1 2021.
Gabe Perlow, the president of PurePenn, commented, “We currently employ 77 people, and we will potentially double or triple that number in this new building as we are potentially doubling or tripling the size of our production capabilities.”
PurePenn currently wholesales to 100% of the operating dispensaries in Pennsylvania, and with its 35,000 square feet of cultivation, produces 461,207 grams of finished product annually. Aside from PurePenn, Trulieve also owns Solevo Wellness, which operates three medical marijuana dispensaries in the Pittsburgh area.
Illinois expunges nearly half a million marijuana-related arrest records.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) announced at the close of 2020 that his state had expunged close to half a million marijuana-related convictions. Pritzker said, “Statewide, Illinoisans hold hundreds of thousands low-level cannabis-related records, a burden disproportionately shouldered by communities of color. We will never be able to remedy the depth of that damage fully. But we can govern with the courage to admit the mistakes of our past—and the decency to set a better path forward.” The expungement effort specifically helped those people convicted of non-felony cannabis offenses.
The Illinois legal market likely topped $1 billion in sales in its first full year with recreational operations, despite coronavirus restrictions, economic disruptions, and having less than 100 adult-use dispensaries running.
