Imposing such a blanket ban on higher-potency products will not eliminate demand for these products, but it will succeed in driving this market underground — making it unregulated and unsafe.
The post NORML Responds to Growing Calls to Re-Criminalize Higher Potency THC Products appeared first on NORML.
Last year, co-founders of MedMen Adam Bierman and Andrew Modlin were both ousted from MedMen. After misusing business money for security and glamour, investors chose to sue and the two were forced to distance themselves from the company.
A centerpiece article was written for Politico, making the whole debacle national news. So, it comes with a bit of a surprise that they are so quickly able to get back on their feet and tie themselves to a new venture.
For several months, they have been working with Coastal Dispensary, which works in retail and delivery in Southern and Central California. According to the CEO of Siva Enterprises who spoke to MJ Biz Daily, “[Bierman has] been going around to retailers and investors and pitching a retail-management concept, sort of along the lines of MedMen 2.0.” So a case of “ain’t broke, don’t fix” mentality.
Despite the controversy surrounding the way they spent funds, their success and entrepreneurial abilities may be too good to pass up for some. Their marketing for MedMen was second to none, including very active billboard campaigns, and a commercial directed by Spike Jonze.
[embedded content]
Read more at MJ Biz Daily.
In a continuation of a pattern that we see happening from time to time with members of the federal government, Congressman Yarmuth, Democrat from Kentucky, seemed to benefit from insider knowledge of an expected stock bump when he bought between $1,000 and $15,000 worth of marijuana stock before announcing the MORE act to Congress, which stands for the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act. This was all uncovered in an investigation done by Popular Information.
It is only required for lawmakers to give a range of the amount they invested so we can’t be sure how much Yarmuth had invested, but between the stocks for Canopy Growth, Aurora Cannabis, and Tilray he spent up to $15,000. Since December, these stocks have risen in value significantly, with Tilray rising 3.5 times in value.
In the past, we’ve seen Senators sell stocks as inside knowledge gave them a headstart before the pandemic hit.
Illinois has a program called R3, which stands for restore, reinvest, and renew, that is funneling funs made from marijuana services into paying for public schools in the state, according to Ganjapreneur.
In total, about $858,669 has been allocated so far. This money is going towards legal aid for students, helping incarcerated youth back into society, career coaching, reproductive education, and more programs to help students.
“R3 is so important to me because I felt that it was critical that if we were going to be legalizing a product that has been used for the last 80 years to penalize largely Black and brown people, it was incredibly important that we took some of the resources of the sale of this product and begin to reinvest it in repairing some of those same communities that had been torn down by the war on drugs,” said State Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth, who aided in the creation of the R3 program.
And that six-figure amount is only what has been allocated for public schools. In total, the program garnered about $31 million of funding for the state, and they expect the number to potentially raise to $65 million in the next year.
Read the source at Ganjapreneur.
In a very long delayed move, New Jersey has finally passed legal marijuana after their Governor signed multiple bills this morning.
Governor Phil Murray was waiting on a proposal that detailed punishment for underage users, and once that reached his desk, he signed all of the bills into law. This is included cannabis legalization, decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana possession, limiting the use of previous marijuana convictions, and creating a regulated cannabis marketplace.
Marijuana will now be legal in NJ.
We’re one step closer to ending this unjust, failed war on drugs that has systematically targeted Black & Brown people & the poor across our state & nation.
Grateful for @GovMurphy, NJ leadership & advocates who fought so hard for this day. https://t.co/nJprUIYq9s
— Sen. Cory Booker (@SenBooker) February 22, 2021
The legislation has been delayed and pushed back on ever since it was approved by voters in November, but things were looking good last week when Governor Murphy signaled he would sign the law as long as specific and appropriate punishment was detailed for those underage caught with marijuana. A written warning and small fine was eventually agreed upon.
Congrats, New Jersey!
Jim Patterson, Eaze’s CEO until 2019, is under legal woes for “deceiving banks into processing $100 million worth of credit and debit payments for marijuana products,” according to MJBizDaily.
He will plead guilty tomorrow, thereby waiving an indictment.
The two men who were in charge of the online marketplace for Eaze were both indicted in March of 2020 for the scheme.
“The indictment alleged that the two, operating the Online Marijuana Marketplace, created fictitious online merchants that sold dog products, dive gear, carbonated drinks, green tea and face creams to route the marijuana transactions and get around cannabis banking restrictions,” again from MJBizDaily.
In the meantime, Eaze as a company is looking to put this all behind them and distance themselves from the controversy. A spokeswoman for the company wrote in an email to MJBizDaily, “as reported, we are cooperating with relevant authorities, Jim is no longer with the company and Eaze is not a defendant in this matter.”
Read the full story over at MJ Business Daily.
“The present study provides empirical evidence on the consequences of marijuana legalization on issues related to the labor market outcomes, in particular, WC [workers’ compensation] claiming of older adults. … Our findings suggest potentially important benefits to older workers and society at large.”
The post Study: Adult-Use Marijuana Legalization Laws Associated with Declines in Workers’ Compensation Claims appeared first on NORML.
With a new administration seemingly open to marijuana legalization and more and more states taking action themselves, stocks for cannabis companies within and outside the country feel like solid bets.
Therefore cue the WSB army, who just last month ransacked the stock price of Gamestop, AMC, Nokia, and others, leaving very little behind.
In particular, Sundial (SNDL), Tilray (TLRY), and aphria (APHA) have come under intense Reddit scrutiny. Just yesterday, Tilray, a Canadian cannabis company, had its stock rise 36%. However, with the attention of WallStreetBets also comes volatility, and today the stock is plunging back down, now under 41% of where it opened.
And attention already seems to be waning, with many on the subreddit eyeing Bumble as their next victim. Hopefully, this will leave the cannabis sector to itself and back to normalizing, where it’s incremental yet steady climb will continue throughout the year.
For me, my work with NORML is a civic duty. I care about fighting racism; about replacing a black market that empowers and enriches gangs and organized crime with a legal one that produces good jobs and lots of tax revenue; and about defending our civil liberty to simply enjoy the recreational use of marijuana if we want to.
The post TV Show Host and Travel Author Rick Steves to Chair NORML Board of Directors appeared first on NORML.
2020 was the first year weed became legal in the state of Illinois, and the demand just keeps coming.
According to the Sun Times out of Chicago, a total of $670 million of recreational marijuana was sold last year. Those are fantastic numbers, but the cherry on top is that this year seems to have the potential to reach the billion dollar mark.
Last January, the amount of marijuana sold was $39 million. Decent profit, but January 2021 reached $88 million. That’s more than double, and if this growth keeps up, a year of $1.2 billion in sales isn’t out of reach.
However, some are saying this upwards trend won’t likely be replicated month to month. “I wouldn’t expect constant upward trends every single month. It will be a combination of more consumers entering the market, some products ‘premiumizing,’ some products falling in price slightly and changes in consumer frequency of use,” says Alyssa Jank, an analyst at a cannabis research firm, Brightfield Group.
Promising signs, and despite apparent headaches during the application process, more and more pot shops are opening up in the state.
Read the full story at Chicago Sun Times.
