by The Real Dirt | Oct 11, 2021 | Blog, Business, Cannabis Business, Cannabis News, Industry News, Legalization
One of the country’s largest marijuana companies has officially purchased one of the country’s largest outdoor marijuana growing operations.
Curaleaf, a publicly shared marijuana corporation with business holdings throughout America and Europe, just announced that it has finalized the acquisition of Los Sueños Farms, Colorado’s largest outdoor marijuana growing operation. The purchase, worth a reported $67 million in cash, stock and assumed debt, was first announced in May, but didn’t close until this month, according to Curaleaf.
Two Pueblo dispensary licenses previously held by Los Sueños were included in the deal.
Under the agreement, 61 percent of the sale price will be paid in Curaleaf shares, 29 percent in cash and 10 percent in acquired debt. According to Curaleaf, Los Sueños founder Bob DeGabrielle will continue to oversee the farm and “take responsibility” for the company’s wholesale and retail operations.
Located in Pueblo County, Los Sueños’ outdoor marijuana cultivation comprises 66 acres of land with an additional 1,800 plants grown in an on-site greenhouse facility. Los Sueños originally agreed to an acquisition offer from Shwazze, then named Medicine Man Technologies, in 2019. However, Schwazze terminated the deal in 2020 for undisclosed reasons.
Los Sueõs joins over 130 dispensaries and growing operations across 23 states currently owned by Curaleaf, as well as a handful of infused-product brands, including Blue Kudu, a Colorado edibles maker purchased in 2020 for an undisclosed amount. Curaleaf also launched Select Cannabis, a line of vaporizer products and edibles, in Colorado earlier this year — after acquiring the original Select brand in Oregon.
by Travis C | Oct 8, 2021 | Blog, Business, Cannabis Law, Cannabis Law and Compliance, Cannabis News, Industry News, Legalization, Politics
“A lot of this is stuff that has been advocated for by a lot of folks in the community and industry over the last three years, and I don’t see it’s going to make it through the legislative process any time soon,” Jed Green, who helped establish the group Oklahomans for Responsible Cannabis Action, said of State Questions 817 and 818.
According to Green, a new Oklahoma State Cannabis Commission would take over industry oversight from the Oklahoma State Medical Marijuana Authority, which had itself been created under the state Department of Health by State Question 788.
Green was among those who helped get SQ 788 on the June 2018 ballot, which brought cannabis to dispensary shelves for licensed patients by that fall. As of September, Oklahoma had more than 375,000 licensed cannabis patients, as well as more than 2,300 dispensaries, 8,600 growers and 1,500 processors, respectively.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt last year vetoed House Bill 3228, which would, among other changes, have granted patients a way to have cannabis delivered to their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. In doing so, he said the bill would have made “substantial policy changes” to the law while being “not fully scrutinized” during the legislative session.
More recently, Stitt announced in August his selection of the fourth director of the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority. In doing so, he said, “I am committed to tackling the major challenges that the explosion of marijuana in Oklahoma is causing across our state.”
According to Green, one of the driving factors for the proposal was to ensure oversight independent from the state Health Department “to increase transparency and create a structure that could be functional.”
“When decisions are being made about how funds are being spent, … you have to go to either the commissioner of health or the governor to understand the decisions that are being made,” he said. “You can try to have conversations and be productive with OMMA directors, but at the end of the day they’re having talks that you’re not in the room for.
“And they’re making decisions that are not in line with the industry, and it’s tough. We have all the reason to believe the governor is not going to sign off on a new state agency if it makes it through the Senate.”
Nearly 178,000 valid signatures would be required on each of the petitions for it to be placed on a ballot in 2022.
by The Real Dirt | Oct 7, 2021 | 420 News, Blog, Business, Cannabis Business, Cannabis Law, Cannabis Law and Compliance, Cannabis News, Industry News, Legalization, Politics
New York marijuana regulators on Tuesday sought to make up for delays in the drug’s rollout by approving a chief equity officer and making immediate changes to the medical cannabis program during the inaugural meeting of the state Cannabis Control Board.
The five-member board charged with implementing marijuana legalization and advancing the state’s cannabis industry set a clear tone: They wanted to move past delays in implementing the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act.
The state law legalizing marijuana took effect in March, but infighting between then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature exacerbated delays in getting members appointed to the board, slowing down the work of getting regulations for legal sales in place.
“The MRTA was signed into law on March 31. But we were not able to begin the work of establishing New York’s cannabis market until Sept. 22, when the full cannabis control board was appointed. As such, there was a six-month delay to make up,” Christopher Alexander, executive director of the Office of Cannabis Management, told the board Tuesday afternoon.
The state legislature ended its regular session without making appointments to the board because lawmakers had been entangled in a fight with Cuomo over appointments to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Since Cuomo left office in August, Gov. Kathy Hochul has made getting the board going central to her early administration, saying in a statement announcing several new members of the board: “New York’s cannabis industry has stalled for far too long.”
The impact of the slow rollout could be felt. A portion of the law that would allow marijuana cardholders to grow plants six months after the law went into effect was delayed because the board was not in place, the Times Union in Albany reported.
But on Tuesday, the regulators moved ahead with several changes to the medical cannabis program. They include permanently waiving a $50 registration fee for patients and caregivers and making the whole flower an approved form of medical cannabis product.
Another provision allows for a 60-day supply of medical cannabis to be given to a certified patient or designated caregiver instead of a month supply.
by Travis C | Sep 28, 2021 | Blog, Business, Cannabis Business, Cannabis Law, Cannabis Law and Compliance, Cannabis News, Industry News, Legalization, Politics
Nearly a year after passing a constitutional amendment to legalize cannabis, New Jersey has yet to open a single retail cannabis store. While the industry has yet to take off, that isn’t stopping regulators from preemptively banning one of the most popular cannabis products.
When it comes to the cannabis products that consumers want, flower remains king. Vaporizer pens and concentrates for dabbing have been slowly catching up with flower as consumers seek a quicker way to get the desired effects of cannabis without burning the plant itself.
However, cannabis edibles have also been gaining popularity. Avoiding the need for any sort of inhalation at all, edibles are great for consumers who don’t want to vape or smoke, but still want the effects of cannabis.
Cannabis beverages have seen the greatest growth since the beginning of 2020, when cannabis sales skyrocketed across the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cannabis capsule products have also grown noticeably in popularity, showing that consumers are seeking a way to consume cannabis without, well, consuming traditional cannabis.
With such growth in the edible cannabis market, it would seem obvious to any potential industry that is about to open that edibles will be a high-demand product. Higher demand means higher profits, which is what any state is seeking when legalizing cannabis.
Unless you’re New Jersey.
Ban on almost all cannabis edibles
Despite having no functional legal cannabis industry to base their decision, regulators in charge of New Jersey’s recreational cannabis have decided to ban all forms of edible cannabis products except for lozenges. This means traditional products consumers would likely be familiar with — cookies, brownies, gummies, beverages — are all prohibited.
The reasoning behind the ban is the same used by many states when they first legalize; the children. Concern over edible products that might appeal to children is a consistent issue in the legal cannabis industry.
While other states passed new regulations requiring child-proof packaging and prohibiting edibles from being designed in a manner that would be appealing to kids (i.e. gummy bears, star-shaped cookies, etc.), New Jersey has decided to take a much more restrictive approach.
According to the new set of regulations passed by New Jersey cannabis regulators, “ingestible forms of cannabis… shall only include syrups, pills, tablets, capsules, and chewable forms.”
A growing and thriving grey market
Just because regulators are dragging their feet in getting a functional legal cannabis industry up and running doesn’t mean that the people aren’t already taking advantage of the new law. Seemingly taking a tip from the Washington D.C. playbook, New Jersey has begun to develop a thriving grey market industry.
While there is nowhere to legally buy or sell cannabis directly, there’s a workaround. Similar to how D.C.’s grey market operates, New Jersey currently has a gift/donation system in place to skirt the current regulations.
In this grey market, a consumer may find a delivery service online. One the website one might see several different cannabis products, or “packages” as they might be called. However that isn’t technically what the consumer is buying.
Instead, the cannabis product is simply a “gift” that is included with the purchase of another item on the website. This might be a sweatshirt, a t-shirt, or even something as small as a sticker. The price of the sticker may be around $40, which conveniently is the same price as an eighth of cannabis.
Within a couple hours, a delivery driver will be at the door with the sticker and the included gift, and bam you just “bought” legal cannabis in New Jersey. But just like D.C.’s grey market, the grey market in New Jersey is completely unregulated.
Although a legal cannabis company has to follow strict regulations on manufacturing and packaging, an unregulated market like that which is blooming in New Jersey has no such restrictions. So while regulators may think they are making progress by banning various forms of edible cannabis products, these new rules will be all but ignored by those operating in the grey market already.
In other words, the new regulations can’t possibly have any sort of impact until there is an actual legal industry to enforce them. As regulators take their time getting the legal cannabis industry up and operational in New Jersey, the grey market will continue to thrive only making it more complicated to get legitimate businesses licensed and running.
If you are interested in learning more about the New Jersey cannabis industry, need assistance with licensing, planning and implementation of your business plan, Greener Consulting Group can help you stay on top of the latest regulatory changes, fees and best practices for getting ahead of the competition when the industry takes off.
by The Real Dirt | Sep 23, 2021 | 420 News, Blog, Business, Cannabis Business, Cannabis Law, Cannabis Law and Compliance, Cannabis News, Industry News, Legalization, Politics
The U.S. House of Representatives late Tuesday night approved a bill that would let banks to do business with cannabis companies without fear of penalty, giving traction to the least-disputed reform sought by the growing industry.
The so-called SAFE Banking Act would be a boon for marijuana companies, which have so-far been stymied by the necessity to deal in cash because of federal restrictions. That has meant they have extra security costs and logistical problems, even as marijuana increasingly becomes legal. Some three dozen states now allow medical or recreational use, according to New Frontier Data, a cannabis research firm.
The measure, which has been passed by the House before with bipartisan support, was this time approved by voice vote as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.
Representative Ed Perlmutter, a Colorado Democrat, who had re-introduced the bill, has said that allowing cannabis businesses to access the banking system would bring more money into the economy and offer the opportunity to create good-paying jobs. The American cannabis industry had $20.3 billion in legal sales in 2020, according New Frontier Data.
The bill’s prospects are unclear in the Senate.
Yet it’s still a far cry from the wish-list of legal reforms that the industry seeks, including all-out legalization, and relief from tax burdens.
The U.S. Cannabis Council, a trade group that represents companies in the industry, called the current rules that require marijuana firms to be all-cash a security hazard.
“Over $17 billion in legal cannabis was sold in the United States last year, overwhelmingly through cash transactions. Forcing legitimate, well-regulated cannabis businesses to conduct most of their business in cash is anachronistic and a clear threat to public safety,” the council’s chief executive Steven Hawkins said in a statement before the bill passed.
BTIG analyst Camilo Lyon said in a research note this week that the SAFE Act’s inclusion with the defense authorization might enhance its prospects.
“Discussions with our D.C. contacts suggest it has an easier pathway of getting through the Senate, largely because no senator wants to be viewed as holding up the massive 1,700 page must-pass NDAA simply because of SAFE banking,” Lyon wrote.