Ensuring Entrepreneurs and Businesses Stay Informed of Developments in the Burgeoning Cannabis Industry
Marijuana sales in Colorado totaled nearly $1.75 billion in 2019 according to data released by the Department of Revenue’s Marijuana Enforcement Division. The $1,747,990,628 in sales includes both recreational and medical marijuana and is a sizeable increase from 2018, when sales totaled $1,545,691,080.
Read MoreIn November, we wrote about a lawsuit filed against Amazon by a New Jersey man claiming he was wrongfully terminated due to a failed marijuana drug test despite being a patient in the state’s medical marijuana program. Now, New Jersey state lawmakers have advanced a bill that would require workers’ compensation to cover medical marijuana.
Read MoreKentucky is well-known for its support of the hemp industry, but it has been slow to come around on marijuana. That may be changing.
Read MoreA few weeks back, we opined about the need for cannabis companies to focus on data security in 2020. We noted that the industry was particularly vulnerable to data breaches given the sensitive personal information maintained by cannabis companies and the abundance of cash-strapped start-up entities in the industry.
Read MoreOn this episode of the Joint Status Report, Doug and David check back in on the bribery scandal involving the former mayor of Fall River, Massachusetts and how the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission is now involved (:30), analyze whether a federal judge can appoint a receiver to oversee a company providing financial services to cannabis companies (3:01), discuss Leafly’s annual cannabis jobs report (6:19), and chat about Politico Pro’s recent article regarding the environmental impact of the cannabis industry (10:34).
Read MoreLast Friday, Leafly released its latest annual jobs report and the numbers are encouraging. Leafly reports that the legal cannabis industry supports 243,700 full-time-equivalent jobs as of January 2020. That number grew by 33,700 new jobs over the past 12 months, which makes legal cannabis the fastest-growing industry in the United States.
Read MoreOn this episode of the Joint Status Report, Doug and David discuss how laws regarding marijuana in the workplace are evolving, and how a pending case in front of the Supreme Court of New Jersey could change the landscape (1:05), a recent decision out of the Ninth Circuit regarding marijuana and deportation (7:54), the surprising decision of MedMen’s founder to step down (11:05), and the record numbers set in Illinois’s first month of recreational sales (14:11).
Read MoreYesterday, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a bill impacting Host Community Agreements. These State-required contracts are the lynchpin of the license application process in Massachusetts because marijuana businesses must enter into such agreements with the city or town where they operate as a precursor to getting a license from the State. In particular, the bill would provide the Massachusetts’s Cannabis Control Commission with the explicit power to regulate and enforce Host Community Agreements and would prohibit Host Community Agreements from including any financial obligations for the company other than a “community impact fee” of up to 3% of gross sales. The bill also authorizes cities and towns to waive the State’s Host Community Agreement requirement. However, it is unclear if any cities or towns would actually exercise that right.
Read MoreIn the second episode of season 2, Doug and David interview Locke Lord’s Cannabis Industry Group Coordinator, Akshita Singh. Akshita details how she became involved in the cannabis industry, what she has learned through her experiences working in-house at a large MSO and during her time at Locke Lord.
Read MoreNew Jersey is often mentioned among the states that may legalize recreational marijuana in 2020. And for good reason. The state has taken several steps over the past year to reform its cannabis laws, including creating the New Jersey Industrial Hemp Pilot Program and overhauling its medical marijuana program to address supply problems, relax quantity restrictions, permit home delivery, and add workplace protections for card holders.
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