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 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 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 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.
Read MoreTo kick off 2020, we thought it would make sense to provide an update on what’s been going on in Illinois over the last few weeks (there’s been a lot) and is continuing to keep us extremely busy.
Read MoreIt’s official—the sale of recreational marijuana in Chicago will begin, as planned, on January 1st, 2020. Today, Governor J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot shot down an attempt by the City Council’s Black Caucus to delay sales of recreational marijuana in Chicago for six months. After a heated debate, the City Council ultimately voted 29-19 to defeat the proposal.
Read MoreCalifornia cannabis businesses and consumers have faced a rash of challenges as state agencies hike taxes and suspend business licenses. There is no sign of let up. On November 21, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) announced hikes on next year’s cannabis mark up and cultivation tax rates. Effective January 1, 2020, the newest mark up rate will increase from 60% to 80%.
Read MoreThe “Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2019” or “MORE Act” passed the House Judiciary Committee with a 24-10 vote on November 20, 2019. As we wrote about in more detail here and discussed on our podcast here, the MORE Act is a marijuana decriminalization bill that would, among other things, remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, allow states to set their own policy for marijuana legalization, implement a federal tax on marijuana products sold in states where such sales are legal, and seek to ensure that those impacted by the war on drugs have an opportunity to be a part of the cannabis industry.
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