FL GOING REC IN 2021?
State Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith of Orlando introduced a bill in the Florida House this week that would make marijuana available for use by adults over 21 without needing a medical marijuana card as part of a round of legislation review certain marijuana-crime convictions. According to Smith's office, the Availability of Marijuana for Adult Use legislation, House Bill 343, would establish a “robust and free-market regulatory approach” to medical and adult-use of marijuana in Florida. An identical, corresponding bill in the Senate by Republican state Sen. Jeff Brandes, of St. Petersburg was also introduced. If approved, the bill would revise licensing and functions of medical marijuana facilities in Florida, authorizing anyone over 21 to possess and/or deliver cannabis in specific amounts. “The need to end Florida’s prohibition of responsible adult use of cannabis is long overdue. This bill creates a sensible bipartisan framework for legalization that can earn the support needed to pass the Florida legislature,” Smith said in a statement. “It doesn’t include everything I’d like to see, but it’s the fresh start Floridians deserve to move past the draconian cannabis prohibition-era finally.”
Companies currently operating in FL: CURLF, CRLBF, GTBIF, MMNFF, TCNNF, ACRGF, CCHWF, ITHUF, CNTMF, HRVSF & LHSIF (AYRWF)
AZ GOES REC EARLY
Arizona launched retail cannabis sales Friday afternoon, less than three months after passing adult-use legalization on last November’s ballot. More than 70 existing dispensaries got the nod to immediately start adult-use sales Friday, accounting for over half the marijuana stores across the state. AZ has one of the strongest medical markets in the country, and this is just going to make things bigger. Friday’s openings mean the Grand Canyon State now owns the record for the fastest turnaround from passing an adult-use initiative to actually launching sales, blowing out Nevada’s previous mark of eight months, set in 2016. Since Tuesday, a spokesperson for Arizona’s Department of Health Services said 79 medical marijuana dispensaries had applied to sell recreational marijuana. All but six got the nod to move forward on Friday. The others are expected to be approved within a few days.
Companies currently operating in AZ: CURLF, MMNFF, CCHWF, ITHUF, HRVSF, AYRWF, CRLBF, VERO & FFNTF
2020 was a record cannabis year
2020 was a banner year for cannabis sales. Even markets considered to be mature like Colorado and Oregon had healthy growth rates during the pandemic. In emerging states like Illinois and Ohio, sales reached new highs, as seen in the chart below. California’s legal market reached $4.4B, up 57% from $2.8B in 2019. Colorado sales surpassed $2B even though December had not been reported yet compared to $1.7B in 2019. Washington State (2nd oldest legal state) reached $1.4B, up 27% from 2019. In its first year of legal sales, Illinois reached $1B. Massachusetts nearly reached $700M, up 56% from 2019, despite adult-use stores' closure in the spring. The Marijuana Business Factbook forecast U.S. sales would reach $10.6 to $13 billion in 2019 and $18 to $21.6 billion in 2020. There were several growth drivers in 2020, including government stimulus funds, higher unemployment checks, and fewer spending occasions with restrictions that will be difficult to disaggregate from the underlying demand growth.
