Cannabis Industry News

The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission has voted to offer the job of the agency’s next executive director to Holliston Town Manager Travis Ahern after the agency’s first pick for the position declined the role.

Ohio cannabis officials recently proposed new rules for the state’s cannabis industry that would ban advertising methods including billboards, radio, television, and online ads.

Kentucky cannabis regulators have announced the state’s final 12 medical cannabis dispensary license winners, awarded via a lottery of over 4,000 applicants.

Missouri’s cannabis market is gaining momentum, and MJ Unpacked in St. Louis offered a front-row seat to the industry’s rapid evolution. From insightful panels to innovative product showcases, the event highlighted the opportunities and challenges shaping the region’s cannabis landscape.

Licensed cannabis dispensaries in Massachusetts have surpassed $7 billion in sales since the adult-use market launched in 2018.

The launch of Minnesota’s adult-use cannabis industry has been delayed at least several months after officials abandoned a social equity early licensing plan this month, moving instead to open with general licensing later next year.

Connecticut cannabis prices hit an all-time low this year at $10.86 per gram, according to data from the Department of Consumer Protection.

The Boston Beer Company has launched Emerald Hour, a line of non-alcoholic, rosin-infused cannabis beverages in Ontario, Canada. The cans contain regionally sourced ingredients and 10 milligrams of THC and regionally sourced ingredients.

Massachusetts officials last week unveiled their plan for licensing adult-use cannabis consumption sites including cannabis tasting rooms, cafes, lounges, movie theaters, and more.

Armed robbers last week held at gunpoint five cannabis workers at a licensed California cannabis farm, making off with more than 150 pounds of processed cannabis that officials estimated to be worth about $150,000.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office recently unsealed documents against two former California officials who used their positions to solicit bribes from cannabis companies in exchange for licenses.

The University of Illinois Chicago Analytical Forensic Testing Laboratory is accused of providing law enforcement with flawed test results in potentially hundreds of DUI cases.

Eighteen New York organizations including civil rights groups, small business organizations, cannabis social equity leaders, and drug research advocates expressed concern in a letter to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul about the administration’s perceived pivot away from the state’s cannabis social equity commitments.

California state officials said the state has collected over a quarter of a billion dollars in cannabis tax revenue during the third quarter of 2024.

Officials with the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority are opening a testing lab that will perform its own testing of medical cannabis products, double-checking the results from the state’s commercial testers.

A Minnesota judge blocked the state’s cannabis social equity license lottery this week in light of several lawsuits filed by applicants whose applications were denied last week.

Two lawsuits filed against the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management aim to delay the state’s social equity licensing lottery after the agency denied about two-thirds of the social equity applicants.

A new draft of the Farm Bill includes language aimed at closing intoxicating hemp loopholes, but stops short of setting per-serving or per-container limits for hemp-derived THC.

Minnesota officials this week denied about 1,200 cannabis social equity applicants, two-thirds of those who applied, for issues ranging from inadequate paperwork to “flooding” the application pool in an attempt to improve the odds of receiving a license.

The average price of cannabis flower in Michigan dropped to $74 per ounce in October, down almost $20 from September.

Data shows that millennials made about 45% of the cannabis industry’s pre-roll purchases from 2023 to mid-2024.

Massachusetts cannabis regulators last week issued the state’s first cannabis research license to a facility operated by Curaleaf Processing, a subsidiary of Curaleaf Holdings.

An appellate judges panel in Missouri recently ruled that local governments cannot stack cannabis sales taxes, overturning a lower court’s decision from May.

The Cannabis Research Institute, a collaboration between the University of Illinois and Discovery Partners Institute backed by the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago, officially launched last week.