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New Jersey prepares to launch recreational cannabis market

by The Real Dirt | Mar 16, 2022 | Blog, Business, Cannabis Business, Cannabis Law, Cannabis Law and Compliance, Cannabis News, Industry News, Legalization, Politics

New Jersey recreational cannabis sales to start soon

New Jersey’s recreational cannabis market is gearing up to launch within weeks and is poised to become one of the largest on the East Coast with annual sales projected to top $2 billion within a few years.

The state is positioned to beat rival New York to the punch and to match, if not exceed, Massachusetts in annual adult-use sales.

But, like most new markets, industry officials are concerned about whether supply will be adequate to meet demand – at least in the early stages.

New Jersey’s adult-use market – approved by voters in November 2020 – is expected to launch with only a handful or so of the state’s existing medical cannabis operators.

The start of recreational marijuana sales also comes as social equity applicants are struggling to develop their business know-how, raise funds and secure real estate.

Existing medical marijuana operators might get as much as an 18-month head start on some new cannabis businesses, an industry expert said.

Missed deadline

The recreational marijuana law implementing the voter initiative called for sales to begin by Feb. 22, 2022, but the state ignored that deadline, saying it was too early.

Gov. Phil Murphy then hinted in late February that the market could launch “within weeks,” and state regulators indicated recently that they were nearly finished reviewing applications by five current MMJ operators.

Industry officials say that the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission could take up and approve those applications at its March 24 meeting, but it’s unclear how quickly sales would then be allowed to begin.

“We could have only five operators trying to meet the initial demand of the entire state,” said Rob DiPisa, co-chair of the cannabis law practice at Cole Schotz in New Jersey.

“It’s almost naive to think we aren’t going to run into some issues.”

While that’s been the case in other new adult-use markets as well, the New Jersey recreational marijuana law included provisions intended to prevent negative fallout for the state’s roughly 120,000 MMJ patients.

MJBizDaily projects that New Jersey recreational marijuana sales will ramp up from $625 million to $775 million in 2022 to more than $2 billion a year by 2025 or 2026.

Medical marijuana sales, meanwhile, are expected to peak by 2023 and then begin declining, as has been the trend in most adult-use states.

Read Full Story on MJ Biz Daily

World’s first airport cannabis store to open in Canada

by The Real Dirt | Feb 9, 2022 | 420 Culture & Travel, Blog, Business, Cannabis Business, Cannabis News, Culture, Industry News, Legalization, Stranger Than Fiction

first airport cannabis store opening in Canada

The Prince George Airport in British Columbia is one step closer to hosting what reportedly would be the world’s first in-airport cannabis store.

The Prince George City Council voted in favor of the store’s land-use application at a public hearing Monday night.

Retail brand Copilot plans to open its airport terminal store by the beginning of summer, said co-founder Owen Ritz, pending further government approvals and store construction.

“We think that one potential segment are customers who are looking to purchase cannabis products and potentially consume them before traveling,” Ritz told MJBizDaily.

“It’s not necessarily because we view cannabis as a way to get intoxicated before traveling – it’s that cannabis is a product that people use to relieve stress and travel is a stressful experience, and it’s a practice that already exists.”

Other potential customers include arriving travelers looking to pick up cannabis before heading to their final destination in B.C., Ritz added, as well as curious travelers who might not ordinarily visit a cannabis store.

“We really view being in an airport as an opportunity to do that, to introduce our brand, and cannabis retail in general, to any type of customer.”

Cannabis consumption area planned

The Prince George Airport Authority (PGAA) publicly announced the planned cannabis retailer in January.

Ritz said he and fellow Copilot co-founder Reed Horton originally pitched the airport on the retail concept nearly two years ago, gaining PGAA’s approval and support for the retail concept.

The single-terminal regional airport served nearly 500,000 passengers in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold and zapped air travel.

Read Full Story on MJBizDaily

New York Will Not Issue Adult-Use Licenses Until 2023

by The Real Dirt | Nov 3, 2021 | Blog, Business, Cannabis Business, Cannabis Law, Cannabis Law and Compliance, Cannabis News, Industry News, Legalization, Politics

New York recreational cannabis licenses delayed until 2023

The head of New York’s Cannabis Control Board said last week she does not anticipate the state will begin issuing industry licenses until the spring of 2023 at the earliest.

The head of New York’s Cannabis Control Board said last week that she does not anticipate the state will begin issuing industry licenses until the spring of 2023 at the earliest, WXXI News reports. Tremaine Wright’s comments came during a cannabis conference at Comedy at the Carlson in Rochester.

“What we do control is getting (dispensaries) licensing and giving them all the tools so they can work within our systems. That’s what we are saying will be achieved in 18 months. Not that they’re open, not that they’ll be full-blown operations, because we don’t know that.” — Wright via WXXI

The state’s legalization law included a launch date of April 1, 2022, at the earliest and Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) only appointed members to the Cannabis Control Board in September. Hochul was not governor when lawmakers passed the broad legalization bill last March; she would replace Gov. Andrew Cuomo in August following his resignation over sexual misconduct allegations.

During the board’s meeting in late October, Wright declared the practice of “gifting” cannabis — including it with the purchase of another, often overpriced product — illegal and that violations could be met with “severe financial penalties.”

While state regulators have been slow to get the cannabis licensing process underway, adult-use cannabis sales have already commenced under the jurisdiction of several New York tribes, including the St. Regis Mohawks.

A bill has also been introduced that would allow licensed cannabis cultivators to start growing their crops prior to the launch of the formal program, creating provisional licenses that would allow businesses to operate if the Office of Cannabis Management doesn’t propagate program rules by January 1. That bill remains in the Senate Rules Committee.

Read Original Story on Ganjapreneur

Pennsylvania Cannabis Legalization Bill Introduced

by Travis C | Sep 29, 2021 | 420 News, Blog, Cannabis Business, Cannabis Law, Cannabis Law and Compliance, Legalization, Politics

Rep. Jake Wheatley (D) has introduced a new bill that would legalize Pennsylvania cannabis for adult use. Previous bills have been shot down by the state legislature, but HB 2050 has some revisions that Wheatley is hopeful will help it get through to the Governor’s desk.

Governor Tom Wolf has expressed numerous times his support for broader Pennsylvania cannabis legalization, however the Republican led state legislature has rejected every attempt so far.

Pennsylvania House Bill 2050

House Bill 2050 creates a dynamic permitting structure for growers, processors and dispensaries, allowing any size company to enter the legal cannabis market. This includes lowering initial application and permit fees to alleviate financial barriers. Renewal fees will be based on gross revenue; the higher a company’s gross revenue the higher their renewal fee, which is the fairest way to do it.

Among other things, my bill provides for the Commonwealth Reinvestment Fund (CRF). Specifically, the CRF will fund the following initiatives;

Minority and Women Grant Program to help disadvantaged populations benefit from this new industry,
Student Loan Reimbursement Program,
Mixed Income Housing Program,
After-School Programs,
And a public information campaign to educate the public on adult-use cannabis

Under this legislation, a wholesale tax of 10% will be levied on business to business transactions. Growers and processors who partner with an existing Pennsylvania Farm will not be required to pay the wholesale tax. Consumers will see an excise tax (in addition to sales tax) that will start at 6% for the first two years, 12% for years three and four, and then 19% for each year after.

Wheatley’s reasoning for pushing HB 2050 is similar to that of legislators in other states that have moved forward with cannabis legalization. The war on drugs has negatively impacted minority communities that most, and Pennsylvania cannabis legalization would give priority to those most disproportionally affected.

The bill also includes a “clean slate” provision that would help those charged with crimes under the Controlled Substances Act related to cannabis lessen or even wipe prior convictions. In a press conference Tuesday, legislators also used the example of 2019’s vape epidemic — a controversy that impacted over 2,000 consumers — as a reason for legalizing, stating that keeping cannabis illegal only helps the illicit market thrive.

The Pennsylvania state legislature has yet to hold a vote on HB 2050. If passed, Pennsylvania would join 16 other states that have legalized adult-use recreational cannabis.