Austin to Vote on Cannabis Law Enforcement Reforms

1/11/2022

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Voters in Austin, Texas in May will vote on ending the enforcement of low-level cannabis offenses and no-knock raids by law enforcement, KXAN reports. The City Clerk’s Office on Monday qualified the ballot measure, known as the Austin Freedom Act.

Last year, the City Council approved a resolution prohibiting Austin police from spending city funds on lab tests to distinguish hemp from THC-rich cannabis in personal possession cases – a move meant to end arrests and fines for low-level cannabis possession.

Advocates submitted the petition signatures to officials last month. At the time, Ken Casaday, president of the Austin Police Association, said the 2021 resolution had already changed how the city police enforce cannabis laws and he didn’t “really see the point” of the initiative. He indicated that Austin police don’t make arrests for “low amounts” of cannabis.

Mike Siegel, political director of Ground Game Texas, which is backing the campaign, said the initiative would codify that “current informal policy.”

According to the certificate of sufficiency from the city outlined by KXAN, the petition had more than 5,000 pages containing more than 33,000 signatures. Ground Game Texas had to collect at least 20,000 signatures from qualified voters in order to get the issue on the ballot.

Following the approval, Ground Game Texas indicated in a blog post plans to petition in more cities across the Lonestar State to pass the reforms.

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Second Cannabis Legalization Bill Expected In Maryland

1/11/2022

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This article was written by Ethan McLeod and originally published by Outlaw Report.

Maryland lawmakers will have the burden of choice when it comes to legalizing recreational cannabis this year, with multiple proposals in the works that go beyond a simple referendum.

Sen. Brian Feldman (D-Montgomery County), the vice-chair of the state Senate’s powerful Finance Committee, told The Outlaw Report an “informal workgroup” of senators plans to draft legislation to create a framework for adult-use legalization. The senator, who sponsored a 2021 legalization bill that died in committee, said the workgroup’s forthcoming bill would serve as a companion to a ballot referendum measure pre-filed in the House of Delegates.

That proposal, sponsored by Del. Luke Clippinger (D–Baltimore) and backed by House Speaker Adrienne Jones, would put the question of legalization before Maryland voters on the November ballot. But even if the referendum is approved, legislators could punt on crafting rules and regulations for the adult-use industry until 2023.

Feldman said he doesn’t want to “blindly ask Marylanders to vote yes or no without knowing all the details on criminal justice reform, licenses, tax rates, all that.” Doing so would feel insufficient, he said, given that nearby states like Virginia, New Jersey, and New York are proceeding with their own plans to tax and regulate recreational cannabis.

He noted Maryland similarly used a referendum-first, regulations-later strategy with sports gambling in 2020, “and then we just spent the next year or longer working out the details.” (The first wagers took place in December 2021.)

“Just having a referendum question with nothing else really delays having a mature market […]at a time when a lot of our neighbors are moving forward,” Feldman said. An implementation bill “gives people an opportunity, before they vote on the ballot question, to actually know what the market will look like or the criminal justice reform aspects of the law.”

The Senate workgroup legislation would be separate from an expected equity-focused proposal being drafted by progressive Sen. Jill Carter (D-Baltimore) with input from civil rights groups. Carter’s legislation would authorize possession and home cultivation; direct 60% of tax revenue from legal weed sales to communities harmed by the war on drugs, vacate old convictions for possession, and more.

In an interview last week, Carter similarly criticized the House’s referendum-only approach, calling it “stupid and foolish” and arguing “it’s more fair to the people to have a proposal where you can say, this is what you’re voting on.”

Feldman said Carter is among the senators contributing to the informal Senate workgroup’s legalization bill, though her bill — being drafted with input from civil rights groups like the ACLU of Maryland and Baltimore-based Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle — is a separate effort. Still, he hopes the workgroup’s legislation will incorporate key components of her bill.

“I’m hoping that a lot of her bill makes its way into a separate bill that has support with more senators,” he said, adding, “I don’t view that as a bill in competition with the bill that the workgroup is working on. I think it’s thrown into the mix.”

Carter on Monday confirmed she’s contributing to the workgroup’s discussions, while also reiterating her stance that “equity is essential.”

“The legislature has not gotten it right in the past,” she said. “Most states have fallen short. I want to ensure we lead with the best policies.”

Among the areas where the bills could diverge is home cultivation – a top priority for legalization advocates. Separate proposals from Feldman and Del. Jazz Lewis (D-Prince George’s County) last year would have permitted growing up to six plants at home for personal use, though neither escaped committee. But going into the 2022 session, which kicks off this Wednesday, the workgroup is “somewhat split on that issue,” Feldman said.

“Ultimately you need votes, and I think that’s part of the equation,” Feldman said. “We need to find a sweet spot to get the bill out of the full Senate, and this is one of those areas where I think there’s gonna be a lot of discussion.”

The Montgomery County senator, a former trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Tax Division, noted the workgroup is consulting with the Maryland Attorney General’s office on language for social equity measures. The goal, he said, is to minimize the potential for lawsuits over racially reparative steps, as seen in states like Illinois, Missouri, and Maine. He said other states’ experiences can also help shape Maryland’s legal framework.

“We want strong social equity provisions, but [ones] that don’t have high exposure on the litigation front,” he said.

While the details for legal cannabis in Maryland remain up in the air, at a minimum lawmakers and advocates expect the Democrat-dominated legislature will overwhelmingly approve Clippinger’s bill to hold a referendum in November. That forecast is supported by recent polling from Goucher College, which found three in five Marylanders support allowing adult use of cannabis.

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USDA Approves Alaska Hemp Program

1/11/2022

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) last week approved Alaska’s hemp plan, allowing the state’s hemp farmers to market their products nationwide for the first time.

Division of Agriculture Director Dave Schade noted that “almost every legislator and the governor have supported the establishment of the hemp industry in Alaska.”

“The goal is diversification of Alaska’s economy with the addition of a new crop for our farmers. Industrial hemp is one crop where Alaska is not years behind the Lower 48 in development.” — Schade in a statement

Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) said state officials see “great opportunities in local, national and international markets” for ‘Made in Alaska’ hemp products.

“As food security, and all of agriculture, is a high priority of my administration, I am excited to see what production and markets develop in Alaska,” he said in a press release.

A Leafly report published last year found cannabis cultivated for adult use is the state’s highest-value cash crop.

Under the USDA-approved plan, the production, manufacturing, and sale of all industrial hemp products require registration with the Alaska Division of Agriculture, and any persons or companies found to be operating without complying with Alaska statutes and regulations will face immediate enforcement action, the Department of Natural Resources said in a press release.

According to Alaska Division of Agriculture figures, there were more than 250 entities registered to cultivate hemp in the state through 2021 under its pilot program.

 

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Can Cannabis Really Make You Sleep Better?

1/11/2022

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A new study published this past December in Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine found that chronic cannabis users reported more sleep disturbances, including trouble falling and staying asleep. But cannabis has been touted as a sleep aid for years, and with easier access to cannabis due to legalization in many US states, more are turning to cannabis for sleep support.

The COVID-19 pandemic, too, has ravaged normal sleep schedules — a new study published in the journal Sleep found that insomnia rates went up 26.7% from 2018 to 2020 as the first wave of the pandemic hit, causing intense psychological stress for millions.

Researchers at the University of Toronto, Canada analyzed data gathered on the cannabis use habits of 21,729 Americans in a study said to represent 146 million Americans. The data was collected over 13 years by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which was designed by the CDC. Calvin Diep, an anesthesiology resident at the University of Toronto and the first author on the paper, realized that others hadn’t taken advantage of the cannabis data in the survey and saw it as an opportunity to find something new. “Curiosity really set all this off,” Diep said in an interview.

They found that heavy users of cannabis (20 or more times within 30 days) struggled both with getting enough sleep and with sleeping too much. Moderate cannabis users (fewer than 20 times within 30 days) were more likely to sleep more than nine hours. Notably, the study found that recent users of cannabis reported seeing a physician regarding sleep issues more than non-users of cannabis. Sleep disturbances measured in the study include trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, and abnormal hours of sleep (this was characterized as fewer than six hours and more than nine hours of sleep). Overall, heavy users were at the greatest impact for sleep disturbances.

According to Diep, the study has opened a conversation for future research into cannabis and sleep:

“[Cannabis] is a drug at the end of the day; it’s a chemical agent. Just like all other drugs, we need to do research to figure out where exactly this might or might not fit into the realm of our therapeutic practices.” — Diep, in an interview

Their study explored the relationship between cannabis and sleep at a population level, not on an individual level. Next steps for other scientists might include a randomized control trial or a clinical trial to better control fine details like cannabis strain, time of use, and the questions asked about sleep habits.

But what about research that shows cannabis can help people sleep? Some research has found that using cannabis can decrease the amount of time it takes to fall asleep, called sleep latency. But this effect can disappear when use becomes chronic. Diep and his colleagues found that frequency of cannabis use and sleep duration were related — that is, how much you use cannabis can impact sleep quality.

How you consume cannabis matters, too. A 2021 study published in the journal Addictive Behaviors explored how cannabis use affects sleep when people use edibles instead of smoking. Just as with Diep and his colleagues’ study, more frequent cannabis use was tied to worse sleep quality. In the former study, this effect was more intense for those using edibles. This may be because edibles take longer to kick in than other methods of consumption, and their effects can last longer, thus potentially messing with our sleep for longer into the night.

The effects of CBD

Scientists in the study also asked participants to report average CBD (cannabidiol) use and found that those who reported a higher average CBD intake tended to have better sleep quality. Research has shown CBD has a sedating effect and can improve some aspects of sleep. Interestingly, older participants in the study saw more benefit from CBD than younger participants. The study authors think this might be related to how our bodies change as we age — metabolism slows as we get older, allowing more CBD to remain in the body.

Melatonin, in addition to CBD, has been shown to help the restless fall asleep quicker. Research also suggests mindfulness may improve sleep quality. An article published in the Washington Post in 2021 points to many methods for falling asleep like reading before bed, progressive muscle relaxation, and even cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia. So while CBD or infrequent cannabis use may help us sleep, it is not the only method.

It is important to note that both studies relied on survey material, and a multitude of factors can hinder a subject’s reported cannabis use in a survey. “These are just small pieces of information that people and consumers can use to guide their decision-making and to create an open conversation with their healthcare provider,” Diep says regarding their findings. Their study has provided insight for researchers to keep asking questions and uncover more about how cannabis use and sleep are related. “Good research opens more questions,” says Diep.

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Additional Sources

“Using Recreational Cannabis to Treat Insomnia.” 2019
“Use of Cannabis to Relieve Pain and Promote Sleep by Customers at an Adult Use Dispensary.” 2019
“Cannabis, Cannabinoids, and Sleep: A Review of the Literature.” 2017
“Recent cannabis use and nightly sleep duration in adults…” 2021

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Biotech Firm Approved by FDA to Study CBD-Based Drug for Opioid Use Disorder

1/10/2022

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Biotech pharma firm ANANDA Scientific Inc. announced last week that the Food and Drug Administration had approved its Investigational New Drug (IND) application for CBD-based Nantheia ATL5 as a potential treatment for opioid use disorder.

The study will be conducted at the Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA.

ANANDA’s CEO Sohail R. Zaidi said it is the fourth (IND) approval for the product line and “further reinforces” the company’s vision “of developing CBD as a therapeutic for a number of key indications.”

“This clinical study at UCLA is an important component of our clinical development efforts focused on opioid addiction, where a non-addictive therapy is a significant unmet need.” — Zaidi in a statement

The trial is being funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the firm said in a press release.

According to a summary of the proposal, this research aims to determine the effects and safety of CBD as adjunctive therapy for patients, who have opioid use disorder and are taking buprenorphine + naloxone. The researchers plan to recruit 60 participants from the Tarzana Treatment Center in Los Angeles, California who are currently receiving buprenorphine + naloxone therapy.

The study is planned for about nine weeks.

Edythe London, Ph.D., a distinguished professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, called the research an “important clinical trial” and a “key milestone for … ongoing research into therapeutic alternatives for opioid use disorder and reversal of the effects of the opioid epidemic.”

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Psilocybin Legalization Bill Introduced in Washington State

1/10/2022

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A bill introduced in the Washington state Senate would legalize the assisted adult use of psilocybin, the Bill of Health blog reports. Introduced by Democratic Senators Jesse Salomon and Liz Lovelett, the proposal has a social equity component, help for small businesses, and a provision to permit the use of psilocybin at home by patients with certain medical conditions.

Additionally, the bill would set up a licensing system through the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) for production facilities, testing labs, service centers, and facilitators. The Washington Psilocybin Advisory Board would advise the DOH on system implementations, the report says.

“Though psilocybin is non-addictive, the bill’s sponsors recognize the benefits of supported adult use. In this model of regulation, trained and licensed professionals called facilitators to administer psilocybin under supportive conditions at licensed service centers,” Mason Marks, an attorney who helped draft Seattle’s psilocybin decriminalization resolution, wrote in the Bill of Health post. “Under supported adult use, psilocybin services are made available to people 21 and older for nearly any purpose — the Act specifies that clients need not have a medical condition to participate, and psilocybin services in Washington will not constitute medical diagnoses or treatment.”

Recognizing that people with disabilities may have difficultly accessing treatment outside the home due to a mobility issue or medical diagnosis, the legislation would permit trained facilitators to administer psilocybin at home. Other provisions set up intake and outtake protocols that prepare participants for a psilocybin experience and assist in experience integration.

“Fundamentally, SB 5660 is a novel approach to the supported adult use of psilocybin,” Marks wrote. “It will allow clients to receive safe psilocybin products from licensed professionals and create economic opportunities for people statewide.”

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Alabama Gubernatorial Candidate Wants to Legalize Cannabis

1/10/2022

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An Albama gubernatorial candidate is including cannabis legalization in his campaign platform, AL.com reports. Chad “Chig” Martin, who operates Honeysuckle Hemp, a CBD company, Thunder Industrial, a repair and maintenance parts company, and a mobile home park, has already qualified to run for the Democratic nomination in the state’s May primary.

Martin said he believes cannabis is safer than alcohol and describes his vision for cannabis legalization in the state as “the free trade of cannabis … without regulations.”

“Alcohol is much more dangerous than cannabis. People can buy all they want freely and get as drunk as they want now. And they’re much more dangerous than people out there using cannabis.” — Martin to AL.com

Martin also expressed skepticism about whether the state’s medical cannabis program — which was approved by state lawmakers last year — will be open for businesses like his hemp company to compete fairly when the state begins issuing licenses.

Currently, a medical cannabis commission is setting up the program, and licenses are not expected to be awarded until next year, the report says.

Martin indicated cannabis sales in the state could be taxed at a rate high enough to help fund education, mental health care, and infrastructure while helping the state’s court system and reducing crowing in Alabama jails and prisons.

While Martin described himself as a conservative Democrat and “an independent at heart,” he said the Democratic Party “looked like an opportunity” that suited him well.

“The Republican Party was a party that is full of millionaires typically with lots of money. And when I saw this opportunity with the Democratic Party, a lot of values I have aligned with them,” he said. “And it just looked like it would be my best opportunity to get into a head-to-head with Kay Ivey here in the state of Alabama. And that’s what the goal was.”

Martin and Yolanda Flowers of Birmingham are, so far, the only two candidates to qualify for the Democratic Party primary.

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Quebec Will Require COVID Vaccine to Buy Cannabis and Alcohol

1/10/2022

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The Canadian province of Quebec, Canada last week implemented a rule requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for individuals seeking to buy cannabis or alcohol which led to a quadrupling of first-dose vaccination appointments in the day following the rule change, Newsweek reports.

When the requirement was announced last Thursday, the province was averaging around 1,500 vaccine appointments a day. On Friday, Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé announced that the number had jumped to about 6,000.

“Yes, this is very difficult right now. But we are [taking] all the measures, [to] make sure that we minimize the impact on our personnel, on our system.” — Dubé via Newsweek

The requirement takes effect on January 18. Quebec residents are already required to show proof of vaccination at places like healthcare facilities, sports venues, movie theaters, bars, and clubs. There are some exemptions for adults and children under 13-years-old.

In Quebec, the alcohol and cannabis retailers are government-run by the Societe des alcools du Quebec (SAQ) and Societe quebecoise du cannabis (SQDC), respectively.

The new rule comes as Quebec’s seven-day average for new coronavirus cases was around 40,000 when the rule was introduced last week — an increase from around 3,000 cases the month prior. Quebec is home to Montreal, Canada’s second-biggest city by population. The province’s vaccine rate is near 80%.

“If the unvaccinated aren’t happy with this situation, there is a very simple solution at your disposal,” Dubé said during the press conference making the announcement. “It is to get vaccinated. It’s free.”

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Perfect: Pharmacologically Inspired Cannabis Blends

1/07/2022

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Generally, inhalable cannabis products lack continuity — customers might buy the same branded flower from the same store but get a completely different experience from the last time they inhaled it. This is a big problem for patients looking for products based on pharmacological effects; it’s also an issue for brands who want to create products that a consumer can trust. California-based Perfect is attempting to solve this problem. Dean Hollander, Mo Isern, and Michael Backes founded the consumer goods brand in 2019. They sell three cannabis blends that are available in pre-rolls and chopped flower. Ganjapreneur spoke with Chief Product Officer Michael Backes over Zoom to learn more about Perfect.

“It’s nice that our products are consistent, but more importantly, it’s what that consistency enables. What it enables is that you take the same amount every time. If you know what works for you, then you can use cannabis with precision. In the past, a lot of it has been rolling the dice, you take a hit of something, and it’s going to do nothing, or you’re going to be flattened,” said Michael Backes.

When the project was still in its infancy, Dean approached Michael on Linkedin with an idea for three product formulations: a giggle weed called Happy Camper, an uplifting boost called Pick Me Up, and the self-explanatory NightCap. Before Perfect, Michael had founded a California medical dispensary in 2006, working with patients and learning about their experiences with the plant. He eventually wrote Cannabis Pharmacy: The Practical Guide to Medical Marijuana, a comprehensive overview of cannabis medicine.

He used this same wisdom to build formulations that make up the company’s three currently available flavors, a process that he thought would be much more simple than it was. The team took the plant apart to understand what compounds were essential to building a product that promised a reliable effect. As they studied the plant, they noticed through test results, research, and consumer panels that terpenes were the compound essential to their goal. Perfect’s research showed that if the terpene content remained the same from batch to batch, the consumer experience would be the same despite a person’s individualized endocannabinoid system.

Once they understood which part of the plant was guiding experience, Michael and the Perfect team began dialing in which monoterpenes would provide the desired effects for their three flavor concepts. The seasoned cannabis aficionado had been blending cannabis strains since he was in college, and that experience came in handy in this phase of formulating.

For example, the Pick Me Up gracefully provides uplifting focus without making the heart race. This was intentional, and accomplished based on Michael’s experience smoking uplifting strains. “It was informed by my experience working with Hazes and Diesels,” he said. “Diesels have a tendency to be a little speedy, Hazes have a tendency to be a little too psychedelic. And it was kind of finding the balance between those two where you could take a couple hits and sit and work for a really long time and just, hyperfocus.”

They construct each flavor by investigating the terpene content in strains that can produce the desired effect and identifying which terpenes are responsible for this effect. With this information, they use various strains to build out a product that contains the appropriate terpene ratio to meet the right effect. Michael knows that some heady cannabis lovers will be skeptical about buying a blend, even with this focused effort. He is confident, however, that if people try Perfect, they will buy it again. They see rates of repeat purchase high above the industry average: “Almost a quarter of the people who try Perfect at a dispensary will buy it more than four times … It’s one of these things where you don’t have to believe us, just try it and you’ll see.”

Perfect only sources high-quality, sun-grown flower because sun-grown generally has the highest, most diverse terpene content. They wholesale full buds from a large breeding program with a network of cultivation sites in California. The program uses an in-house state-of-the-art lab to test the compounds in their flower, making them an ideal choice for Perfect. When they acquire a strain, the pack is split in half. They chop one half and freeze the other to be extracted later.

The company doesn’t just use the word chop as marketing copy, it explains a process that Michael has been perfecting to preserve monoterpenes. Milling is common in the pre-roll manufacturing process but Michael explained that while milling is efficient, it can release a huge amount of monoterpenes into the air, never to return. The chopping process uses fine blades in a more culinary approach to rip apart the buds. It does still release monoterpenes, just not as many as other methods. That is why Perfect extracts high-terpene resin and THCa from the same crop. The flower and extracts are all tested after processing and then built to spec, hitting the desired ratios of each formulation. Products are sent back out for testing after they’re blended and generally test within 10-15% of spec every time.

The goal is to guide the effect of the product, but Michael also wants to provide an experience to the consumer, “Unless you’ve been in a cure shed at the moment that something’s perfectly ripe and ready to go, like, dried to perfection, you’ve never had the taste that the living plant produces as far as the terpene entourage. So we’re not jacking up the terpene content, we’re just restoring what the living plant had by using living plant extracts.”

The concept of blending is used in other consumer goods like coffee and wine. Starbucks Pike Place is a blend of Brazilian and Colombian coffee beans and it dominates the coffee industry — but premium blended inhalable cannabis products aren’t commonplace, and I don’t see why not.

Michael is excited to continue growing Perfect now that the three flagship flavors are released. One product in development will promote intimate human behavior. He also speaks about a future when he can use the same methods used to formulate Happy Camper and NightCap to rebuild strains that have been lost in time, like Lambsbread, Lavender, and Orange Velvet OG. After having the opportunity to try the flagship products, I look forward to seeing what the company releases next, and Michael is excited too, “To me, Perfect is pretty perfect. But I see a future where it’s even more perfect!”

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Cannabis Growers Make First Harvests for Research Purposes, Ending Federal Monopoly

1/07/2022

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Two companies announced they have harvested cannabis for research purposes in the U.S., ending a 50-year federal monopoly of the practice, Marijuana Moment reports. Previously, cannabis was only allowed to be grown for research purposes at the University of Mississippi and the available product has long been decried for its low quality and minimal research potential.

Groff North America Hemplex and BRC indicated that they are now growing and harvesting cannabis plants after having received the proper registrations from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). BRC completed their first harvest in November and Groff just completed their first harvest last week, according to the report.

“All of these steps are incremental steps that lead to our production at BRC, and certainly all of our peers in the federally legal cannabis industry,” George Hodgin, CEO of BRC, said in the report.

“These steps are taking place because of the loud drumbeat of the advocates of the cannabis community over the past decades. The DEA granted us everything we asked for.” — Hodgin, via Marijuana Moment

Frank Haughton, CEO of Brighterside Vertical Farms, the firm contracted to grow cannabis for Groff, said they wanted to show the DEA that “this was something that is possible” and growing cannabis for research is like “any other drug ingredient.”

Advocates and regulators have long complained about the lack of cannabis available for research purposes. In addition to the increased cannabis production, researchers will also have access to cannabis through state-legal markets, a development made possible by President Joe Biden’s (D) recent infrastructure bill.

National Institute on Drug Abuse Director Nora Volkow told Marijuana Moment that the increased access would be a “valuable” tool in determining any potential risks cannabis may pose to consumers.

Editor’s note: an earlier version of this article incorrectly referenced Brighterside Vertical Farms as a contractor for BRC. The article has been updated to reflect that Brighterside was contracted by Groff, another firm approved by the DEA to grow cannabis for research.

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Curaleaf Settles 10 Lawsuits Related to THC-CBD Product Mix-Up

1/07/2022

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The multi-state cannabis operator Curaleaf has settled 10 lawsuits over CBD drops it sold in Oregon that contained THC, the Oregonian reports. Employees at the company’s Portland facility had mixed up the company’s THC and CBD Select products which made their way to consumers and prompted a recall by state regulators last September.

Curaleaf, which is based in Massachusetts, agreed to a $50,000 payout for Ayuba Agbonkhese, an Air Force veteran who said he was taken to the emergency room after using the Select CBD tincture. He told the Oregonian that the company has not apologized.

“It was important for me to make sure that the company, as well as other companies like this, become more accountable. I want a safer community. That is my main reason for doing this in this way. … I want them to be better and I want the industry to be better. And I want a safer community.” — Agbonkhese to the Oregonian

At least four other people reported they had to go to the emergency room after consuming the products, which they thought contained only CBD. Terms of the other nine agreements were not disclosed while three cases remain unresolved, including a wrongful death lawsuit filed last month.

The Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) is still investigating Curaleaf for the mix-up. The company said the failure was due to “human error” and that it has changed its manufacturing process to prevent similar problems in the future.

The OLCC estimated that about 630 units of the product were sold beginning June 29, 2021.

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New York Gov. Creates $200M Cannabis Industry Social Equity Fund

1/07/2022

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New York is creating a $200 million fund for social equity applicants seeking adult-use cannabis licenses, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) announced Wednesday during her State of the State address. The plan is part of her Equity Agenda which also includes gender equity, racial equity, anti-hate, social justice, LGBTQIA+ community, immigrants and new arrivals, and veterans.

In a press release, the Governor’s Office estimates that New York’s cannabis industry will be worth $4.2 billion and that the industry “must create opportunities for all New Yorkers, particularly those from historically marginalized communities.” The public-private fund will be used to support social equity cannabis industry applicants “as they plan for and build out their businesses,” the Governor’s Office said.

The program will be funded by industry licensing fees and tax revenues along with “significant private investment.”

Amber Littlejohn, executive director of the Minority Cannabis Business Association, told Syracuse.com that she loves “the spirit” of the proposal but warned that “if it comes after the market has already opened, then it has come too late.”

The state’s legalization law sets a 50% target for adult-use social equity licenses. Under the law, individuals disproportionately targeted by the war on drugs, minority- or women-owned businesses, distressed farmers, and service-disabled veterans can apply for social equity status.

Denise Lyons and Cindy Gillespie, who are seeking an adult-use cultivation license for their business LG Growers, called the plan “groundbreaking and demonstrates the Governor’s commitment to providing social equity applicants an equal opportunity to participate in this innovative new industry.”

“This type of innovation is essential for New York State to meet its equity participation goal of 50% of approved licenses,” they said in an interview with Syracuse.com

Hochul said the Equity Agenda “will both protect the fundamental rights of all New Yorkers and widen the opportunity for people of all backgrounds, beliefs, and identities to pursue the New York Dream.”

New York’s cannabis legalization law was passed last year; however, Tremaine Wright, the head of New York’s Cannabis Control Board, has indicated that licenses likely won’t be available in the state until 2023.

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Maryland Senator to File Cannabis Legalization Bill

1/07/2022

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This article was written by Ethan McLeod and originally published by Outlaw Report.

A progressive Maryland state senator plans to file legislation next week to fully legalize recreational cannabis, leading with a framework geared toward social equity and criminal justice reform.

Sen. Jill Carter (D-Baltimore), who is drafting the bill in partnership with the ACLU of Maryland, wants to allow households to grow their own cannabis, direct more than half of tax revenue from recreational sales to communities harmed by the war on drugs, vacate previous weed-related convictions, along with other steps that put equity at the fore of the state’s transition to adult-use legalization.

“The equity is the primary motivation,” Carter told The Outlaw Report in an interview. “Marijuana legalization in and of itself is secondary to the good we can do with the equity proposals in the bill.”

A civil rights attorney who served 14 years in the House of Delegates and was elected to the Maryland Senate in 2018, Carter said her proposal can serve as “a companion” to a two-page referendum proposal from colleagues in the House. That bill, pre-filed by Del. Luke Clippinger (D-Baltimore) in December on behalf of House Speaker Adrienne Jones, seeks to put the question of legalization on the state’s ballot for the upcoming November general election. Maryland lawmakers could otherwise defer on creating an adult-use industry framework until 2023.

Carter said she’d rather avoid “unnecessary delay,” echoing concerns by advocates that a referendum could slow down the legalization process. She plans to file her bill during the first week of the legislative session, which begins on Jan. 12.

“I think it’s stupid and foolish to pass a referendum without companion legislation that lays out the details,” she said, adding, “It just makes more sense to me, it’s more fair to the people to have a proposal where you can say, this is what you’re voting on.”

The proposal would legalize possession of up to four ounces of cannabis flower for Marylanders age 21 and up. It also calls for sending at least 60% of tax revenue to communities most negatively affected by cannabis’ criminalization, including areas where people of color have been disproportionately arrested for possession. Other details — like how many plants are permitted per individual or household and which geographic areas would receive a share of tax revenue — are still being finalized, Carter said.

Yanet Amanuel, who was recently appointed as the ACLU of Maryland’s new interim public policy director, helped craft the legislation with Carter.

“We’re really trying to model this as a reparations model,” said Amanuel. “So that means that the communities that have been harmed have a role in deciding how that money is spent.”

Carter and the influential civil rights group have been in talks about addressing cannabis-related criminal justice issues for several years. Their forthcoming bill also includes provisions to ensure cannabis use can’t be used to deny someone housing and to prohibit police from using the odor of marijuana without other legitimate cause for suspicion (effectively codifying a recent landmark court decision).

“I think Senator Carter has been a champion on this issue for a long time, and that this bill will be centering both racial justice and what the community says it needs,” Amanuel said. “And so I think this will be the bill that is favored definitely by the people, and hopefully the rest of the legislators.”

Despite research showing nearly equal cannabis use rates across racial and ethnic lines, past investigations have found law enforcement in Baltimore City and across Maryland disproportionately arrest Black users compared to whites. (Baltimore prosecutors have since stopped charging residents with low-level crimes like possession.)

Maryland has also drawn heavy criticism over the lack of diversity in its medical cannabis industry, which launched in December 2017 and, as of last month, has surpassed $600 million in annual sales. Minority investors were infamously shut out from the medical market’s early stages in 2016 after Maryland’s blind application process for growing and processing licenses led to just one out of 30 of them going to a Black business owner. In 2020, several years after sales began, a Capital News Service investigation found only 10% of cannabis industry investors in Maryland were people of color.

After its licensing debacle and resulting lawsuits, the state paid for a 2018 disparity study of its medical market that found cause to consider race as a weighted factor in licensing because minorities are starting off at a disadvantage. The General Assembly has since passed legislation to create additional licenses set aside for minority-owned companies.

Carter said her bill will include language calling for a similar disparity study of the recreational cannabis market, but “it’s kind of a matter of common sense. The data is already there regarding the communities that have been devastated by the fake war on drugs, the over-incarceration of Black people.”

Carter expects “some resistance” from General Assembly colleagues about the home cultivation provisions, particularly given concerns about how to regulate privately grown cannabis. However, she said the bill would aim to prevent home-grown cannabis from being sold illicitly, and that colleagues from a 2019 Senate workgroup she served on have expressed support.

Maryland has formed multiple such workgroups in recent years to study the potential for recreational legalization. The most recent one, convened by Jones, met a handful of times this past fall.

However, the General Assembly has punted on the issue for several years in a row. In 2021, proposals from Del. Jazz Lewis (D-Prince George’s County) and Sen. Brian Feldman (D-Montgomery County) never escaped committee.

In the meantime, Maryland is falling behind other jurisdictions in the region — including the District of Columbia, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia — that have moved forward with adult-use legalization. Nationally, there are 18 states plus D.C. that allow recreational cannabis.

Lawmakers expect at least one other legalization bill to be filed by Senate Democrats around the beginning of the 2022 session, which runs from next Wednesday through April 11.

Three-fifths of Marylanders support allowing the adult use of cannabis, according to the latest poll from Goucher College.

Gaspard Le Dem contributed reporting to this story.

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New Hampshire House Approves Cannabis Legalization

1/07/2022

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The Republican-controlled New Hampshire House of Representatives on Thursday passed a cannabis personal possession and cultivation bill, the Associated Press reports. This is the fourth cannabis legalization bill the House has sent to the Senate in the past three years.

If approved, the bill would legalize the possession of 3/4 of an ounce – which is already decriminalized in the state – and allow the cultivation of up to six plants at home. Legislators say they worked on this bill over the summer and will be looking at more cannabis-related bills in the coming months.

“It is not and never has been the job of government to try to protect you from hurting yourself, and outside of 1950s B horror movies, it has never been the job of government to protect you from a plant.” — State Rep. Max Abramson (R), in the report

Gov. Chris Sununu (R) does not support the bill; however, the proposal passed the lower chamber with a five-vote, veto-proof majority, the AP notes.

New Hampshire does have a medical cannabis system with an extensive qualifying condition list, including HIV/AIDS, PTSD, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, nausea, opioid use disorder, and Parkinson’s disease. Under the state’s medical cannabis law, patients can possess up to two ounces and can purchase from dispensaries. Caretakers and home cultivation are not permitted under the program.

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Medical Cannabis Bill Drafted for Upcoming Indiana Session

1/07/2022

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Indiana state Sen. Greg Taylor (D) has drafted a medical cannabis legalization bill for consideration in the upcoming session, radio news station 95.3 MNC reports. Taylor said that the bill is aimed at Hoosiers who already drive to neighboring states to obtain cannabis products for medicinal use.

Taylor said that with 36 states with some form of cannabis legislation, “Indiana is about to be sitting on an island by themselves” without either medical or adult-use cannabis laws.

“Hoosiers, especially our veterans living with chronic pain, shouldn’t be forced to move to our neighboring states just so they can receive medical treatment to address issues that medical cannabis has been shown to help with.” — Taylor in a statement via Eagle Country Online

Last month, Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb said he remains opposed to any type of cannabis legalization in the state unless the federal government implements its own reforms. The legislature is also controlled by a Republican supermajority.

“[The federal government has] still not done anything to make it legal,” he said in the WANE interview. “I am not opposed to researching marijuana for the potential and possible positive medicinal uses. To do that, obviously, it would go through the same exact process that any other drug would go through to go to market – the [Food and Drug Administration] process.”

Taylor said that were the federal government to take even the modest step of rescheduling cannabis to a Schedule II substance, “the benefits to the state of Indiana drastically decrease because the federal government is gonna want a piece of the pie, as well.”

“So, if we don’t take that affirmative step very soon, we’re gonna be on the precipice of the federal government moving this to Schedule II, which would then allow it to be bankable,” he told 95.3 MNC. “At that point, the sky’s the limit because it won’t be an illegal drug.”

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TJ Stouder: Reimagining Cannabis Consumption with MyHi

1/06/2022

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As cannabis becomes more and more ubiquitous in social circles and even in public spaces, it’s important for new cannabis products to collectively drive the industry’s innovation and acceptance by more mainstream audiences. MyHi is especially in tune with that fact as a company and has dedicated a significant portion of its launch and brand identity to centering the conversation about social and convenient cannabis use.

In this episode of the Ganjapreneur.com Podcast, our host TG Branfalt connects with MyHi’s founder and CEO TJ Stouder to discuss the inspiration behind MyHi’s patented stir STIKs, the benefits of being able to add its fast-acting and nano emulsified THC powder to any beverage, and how the product is changing perceptions of social cannabis use and the role cannabis should play in social drinking circles. The pair also discuss emerging cannabis markets and trends from around the country, strategies for building a brand in the whirlwind cannabis industry, tips for entrepreneurs who are considering their own cannabis venture, and more!

Listen to the full interview below. You can also scroll further down to find a transcript of the interview.

Listen to the podcast:

Read the transcript:

Commercial: This episode of the Ganjapreneur Podcast is made possible by AROYA, a comprehensive cannabis production platform for commercial growers. If you are a commercial cannabis grower, you can use AROYA to level up your production workflow, featuring a combination of precision instruments and powerful software that help you intelligently cultivate, dry, and process cannabis. The AROYA cannabis production platform is your ticket to greater yields and consistent quality. Request a quote today online at aroya.io. That’s A-R-O-Y-A.io.

Cara Wietstock: Hi, I’m Cara Wietstock, culture editor at Ganjapreneur and host of our YouTube show, Fresh Cut. The best way to understand cannabis business is to speak directly to those who work within it, and Fresh Cut was created to shine recognition on the people who fill these roles.

In this interview series, we focus on those with their hands in the dirt, both literally and figuratively, from cultivators to budtenders, educators to advocates, activists to lobbyists. We aim to illuminate the workers who keep this industry thriving. Enjoy one-on-one conversations with me and guests by watching along on the Ganjapreneur YouTube channel, and follow our social channels to keep up with the latest episodes. Have a great day.

TG Branfalt: Hey, there, I’m your host, TG Branfalt, and thank you for listening to the Ganjapreneur.com Podcast, where we try to bring you actionable information and normalize cannabis through the stories of ganjapreneurs, activists, and industry stakeholders. Today, I’m joined by TJ Stouder, he’s the founder and CEO of MyHi, a line of water-soluble calorie- and sugar-free THC powder stir STIKs.

This is a product that I’m really excited about as somebody who doesn’t really consume much alcohol and have used many different products to try to bridge that non-drinker gap with my drinking friends. I’m really excited to have TJ on the show to let me know more about himself and this product. How you doing this afternoon, man?

TJ Stouder: Very well, TG, TJ, thanks for having me. This is going to be fun.

TG Branfalt: Hey, and I’m screwing it up already.

TJ Stouder: That’s great.

TG Branfalt: I’m really stoked to have you on the show, as I said at the top and as we were talking about before, I don’t really drink that much, so to have a product that is water-soluble, it can be mixed with most anything. But before we get into all that, man, let me know about yourself. You have a really interesting background.

TJ Stouder: Awesome. Thank you. Yeah. In a nutshell, I was a kid born in Indiana that was a cannabis consumer for most of my life. I like to call it the home of the stigma to put it simply. Not a good place to be a cannabis consumer. Left Indiana, grew up professionally at Procter & Gamble working on a myriad of big brands and kind of around the world on different budgets, brands and marketing of building consumer products.

I learned one big insight throughout that entire experience, which brand consumer connections go a lot deeper than a point of sale purchase. I like to use the example of throughout quarantine we still wash our clothes with Tide because it’s part of who we are, not how we wash our clothes. That’s how P&G thought about building a brand and really how, let’s call it, I grew up thinking about brands.

Left P&G on a mission to find something closer to home, a product or something that would work closer for me. As I said, long-term cannabis consumer, didn’t think that was the answer, believe it or not, despite the green rush and everybody going that way. I ran into some close family issues that needed CBD and/or any form of cannabis that they could get into and saw light basically in my mom’s eyes that she needed a root, like a brand, like what I just discussed, to open up that world of cannabis to her.

It’s, as I said, the home of the stigma. It runs very deep and people are afraid of this plant. That nice branding, that approachability, the product design for your life has really become crucial to people discovering this plant and really what I dedicated myself to and all of my skills, and now I’m in cannabis for the last three years. Super excited to be here.

TG Branfalt: You talked about your time at Proctor & Gamble, can you tell me a little bit about moving from the more corporate culture at a multinational company to the cannabis space and what some of your challenges were?

TJ Stouder: Definitely. It was a fun journey. I’ll say it’s not as far as it would seem apart. The biggest challenge is really … it’s been built bottoms up on how corporate structure works. However, it works really well. It’s just … Let’s call it, P&G they call it proctoids and you learn exactly how to be a P&Ger from day one to the end, which is impressive and it works and good teams, strong teams. You get brilliant people across all their roles.

Stepping out of that, we walk into cannabis where it’s a very differently trained environment of corporate world, however motivated, ambitious, sticking to the things that work and really focusing on blocking and tackling of getting stuff done. You see a lot of parallels. I’d say biggest challenge is timeliness of meetings. You ask what I’m doing today, I have no idea.

I hope I have at least 10 important meetings coming up after this, but it’s always fluid and you got to adapt. I think we share an awesome passion for wellness for consumers that drives us all to work 24/7, work harder than any industry I’ve ever worked in. Again, super excited about the momentum of cannabis, but some of the blocking and tackling we’ll still have to work on.

TG Branfalt: You had said too that going from Proctor & Gamble you didn’t exactly see yourself going into cannabis. You mentioned briefly your personal story. Was there something personally that you saw preventing you from getting into the space or what was your thinking at that time?

TJ Stouder: Good question. I’ve never answered that one. I’d say honestly, I never worked on spirits for a reason. I believed in the products I worked on and that they truly brought wellness or some better good to the consumer’s life. I saw cannabis like I saw spirits. It’s recreationally okay to go out and exit work, throw out some stress, have a party on a weekend, go to a concert, whatever it might be, but it’s not a way of life.

I don’t drink alcohol as part of who I am. It’s not something I do as you said, as a non-drinker. We evolve from our college days of how much can I drink? Versus, okay, I’ll have a social beverage with a friend or a business meeting, something like that. I think what I learned through my family members and my mom’s wellness journey was there’s a lot more to this plant. I was a recreational consumer that didn’t see the downside of it.

I was more than excited to consume cannabis myself, but I didn’t see the upside and how in important that can be as a product to consumers and really bringing this product into their everyday life. That’s where I really saw it as a career when I learned about the wellness upside of this plant and frankly, the recreational side is wellness.

As I watch states look at medical versus rec, it’s a happy hour is wellness for a consumer. It’s stepping out of your stresses from the day and getting ready to go into your evening and hopefully enjoy your family time, whatever that may mean. It’s more than getting as drunk as you can get at a bar.

TG Branfalt: Yeah. I mean, that’s something that during my tenure covering this industry, I realized that yeah, I consumed recreationally. I never had an interest in getting a medical card, but then realized, “Well, I’ve been medicating this whole time.” To your point, I mean, I think even for people who have consumed cannabis for a long time, that we end up there in that thinking, if you know what I mean.

I want to talk to you about MyHi. When I first saw this product, the first thing I went to personally as a guy who really loves candy and sugar was Pixy Stix, man, just THC Pixy Stix, and that excited me. Then obviously I started reading a bit more and I was like, “Wow, this is sort of a game-changer in many ways.”

Because as a non-drinker, I go to the bar, I order a soda and then I have to go outside, smoke a joint, or rip a vape or eat 30/40 milligrams of edibles before I get in there. It was something that excited me. Tell me and the listeners a little bit more about MyHi and what really differentiates it from other edibles in the space.

TJ Stouder: Awesome. Well, and thank you for telling a bit of the story through your own experience, because it’s exactly MyHi, how you said it. We like to say MyHi, my way. I am a cannabis consumer who finds a lot of points in my day that are tough to consume. Products don’t fit, as you just explained. I’m out with my friends for a drink and stepping outside to smoke a joint takes me away from my friends.

I miss a couple of toasts. I miss some news update, friend’s pregnant, et cetera. I’m outside smoking a joint. I take that edible before I go in. I’m not high when I get to the bar, an hour later I’m too high and it’s managing that experience. For me, it’s a product that fits in between all the others for those moments where you can’t consume for the cannabis consumer.

Secondly, and as you get to Pixy Stix, it’s that experience for a consumer that differentiates our product and bringing it back to like a cocktail, mixing up a drink at the table when your friends are having an alcoholic cocktail or elevating your alcoholic cocktail as you prefer. It’s that experience of stirring it in that makes cannabis cool to everybody at the table and you don’t have to separate to smoke.

You don’t have to eat the gummy under the table. You’re back in the middle. Lastly is that nanoemulsified powder is crucial to that experience. I choose flower as a consumer because it’s manageable, controllable. I know exactly where I’m going to go and how far. That’s why I like flower and I find with other discrete products, it’s often tough to manage some of that curve. With the nanoemulsion, it hits in we say 15 minutes conservatively.

Some of our consumers come back with faster, really like a cocktail would. You can have one every 30/45 minutes as you’re out or have one quickly on the go and you know exactly how far you’re going to go. Really MyHi, my way puts that experience back in the consumer’s hands to enjoy the product at their pace out and about.

TG Branfalt: Well, I mean, as most people know and you know, and I know, is the average edible, I mean takes 45 minutes to an hour, especially somebody my size, 6’3″, over 200 pounds, it can take a while. What type of cannabis consumer is MyHi aimed at? I know you say MyHi, my way, but for older consumers generally we say start low, go slow. Start with little 2.5, five milligram edible, if you’re going to go there. You talked at the top about marketing and brands, who is the end-user in your opinion for MyHi?

TJ Stouder: Awesome. A lot of people, I think. I like to say America drinks and I want to make that mean something different.

TG Branfalt: Interesting.

TJ Stouder: I mean, right now I have three beverages in front of me on my table that fits into my routine. It’s a water, a coffee and a juice from my breakfast that’s sitting here ready to be infused. I think the target demographic is really somewhere between the non-canna curious and I’ll explain what that means to me, and what we obviously know, the canna curious.

Non-canna curious to me is I live in Colorado and 75 to 90% of my friends don’t go to a dispensary more than once a year. That’s concerning for me as a category participant, investor and believer in the growth numbers behind this category. A developed market like Colorado, and I have a pretty good group of friends, that don’t see the need to go into a dispensary.

That for me, we get super excited about the current cannabis consumer. We all have friends that say, “I don’t smoke, or, eh, I had an edible one time and I was glued to the couch for the next three days. I’m not trying that.” I think encouraging that non-canna curious, who’s seen so many barriers about why to go in dispensary or really the intimidation about the products there, it’s approachable, it’s branded, it’s fun.

It’s something they can do that’s more like other things they consume in a beverage and a cocktail. I think that differentiator for the non-canna curious is most important for all of us to share what we believe are the upsides of this category with the new consumer. However, again, the flower I buy announced, and I don’t look at any other products.

I believe this stick elevates that experience in a way that me, as nearly that consumer, I put one of the sticks in the water, and enjoy a bowl or a joint next to it, really elevating that high to another level from an experience standpoint and because of that nanoemulsion, fast-acting, getting the high more elevated than it would’ve been on just a joint.

I didn’t even get to the caffeine element, which I should mention, but we do 30 milligrams of green coffee bean extract that truly elevate the experience versus I think many disappointments with sativa.

TG Branfalt: Yeah, and we are going to talk about the recipe a little bit later on, but I do want to just touch onto your point that I’m one of those people, I mean, I live in New York. We don’t have dispensaries. When I go to dispensaries, I’m primarily looking for edibles, metered-dose edibles so I know what I’m going to get.

So to have a drinkable product which are not … or a product that can be mixed with drinks, in an immature markets such as Massachusetts that doesn’t have a strong canna beverage presence, I think is something that I personally, a long-time consumer who really does like edibles would gravitate toward to that product. To your point about the non-canna curious, how overall does your product fit into the canna beverage market, which I said is mature some places, immature other places?

TJ Stouder: Super excited for canna beverages across the board. I think the category speaks to a lot of what I’m looking to … excited about on our product and how it hits the demographic. A lot of them are ready-to-drink beverages, which I think for a consumer has a place and a time and you know what you want to drink. I’m at a convenience store in a normal beverage, I pick my favorite juice and I’m ready to go.

What our product provides is the ease and convenience of infusing whatever you’re drinking, wherever you’re drinking, which I think the biggest benefit for consumers is it doesn’t have calories and it doesn’t have sugar. If I put it in a water, it’s a refreshing water that gives me my dose without anything else. If I want to make a hightail, I can get creative and make whatever I want.

I think as I look across the beverage markets, a lot of them are ready to drink and exciting and I think we’ll have a great place in that consumer’s refrigerator. We’re hopeful to be in every pocket, in their hats, behind your ear, easy, ready to go, convenient because our consumers are on the go. They live multitasking lives everywhere they go.

TG Branfalt: I’ve never heard the term hightail before.

TJ Stouder: That’s new. We’re working on coining it. The thought is replacement for a cocktail or elevating another mocktail and really MyHi-tail.

TG Branfalt: I like that too. What do you anticipate or expect the beverage market to look like when it’s fully mature?

TJ Stouder: Great question. I think full spectrum, the markets we look at today, beverage is small and growing rapidly. The rationale for that in my mind is they’re nascent markets with consumers like me that are hard to convince to change their product. I have my flower in my cabinet. I’ll check something else out here and there but I know my routine at the end of the day.

I think the emerging markets are super exciting from Las Vegas to New York, let’s call that the emerging side of the country, not fully developed, where new consumers aren’t used to smoking flower. They don’t understand concentrates. They’re a bit more connoisseur, whatever it might be. I think the new products and especially beverage are going to have a big way.

Then lastly, as I mentioned, markets like that, social lounges will be game-changers for cannabis. It’s the fact that happy hour at a cannabis type bar with no alcohol is going to be a new concept that I’ve experimented a lot with, but I know most of the country has not.

That’s the most exciting part for me, because waking up the next day at 5:00 AM to run and go to work is a new feeling for an alcohol drinker himself when you’ve had a long night out. I think that’s the growth market and I think it’s going to be a much larger portion of the national category split.

TG Branfalt: Well, and if I’m not mistaken, Colorado just recently passed social use legislation, is that accurate?

TJ Stouder: Correct. But it’s small and there’s a few licenses. Again, in a nascent market, I know how to consume at home. It’s bringing me out into the … And again, look where alcohol is. It’s everywhere from the ballgame to the park, to the kid classes on the weekend, alcohol has found its way to be our social life. Cannabis is not there in any market with social use. It’s separate from what everybody else is doing.

TG Branfalt: Have you had any potential social use licensees reach out to you yet?

TJ Stouder: Not yet. We’ve talked to a few that are working on plans for the back half of this year in California. We’ve only launched in California to date, but writing’s on the wall coming very soon. We are talking to some people in New York that are … It sounds like they’re going to aggressively move to the lead in social use. I think things are going to come in 2022 for sure.

TG Branfalt: I have to ask you this question and recently there’s been other products that have gotten a little bit targeted for their marketing practices we shall say. I’m not going to name names here, but what your product is essentially, it is a powder. Do you anticipate, or have you experienced any pushback for a powdered cannabis product?

TJ Stouder: It’s a great question and nowhere you see the risks of powders and I know why some of these companies are receiving backlash, at least in my opinion. We try to tailor our entire experience around that beverage delivery and it all starts with our stick itself, which is it’s designed off the Mai Tai umbrella. MyHi, you start to see ordering a bar and a drink, it sits nicely on top and looks like an umbrella in your drink.

Really everything we communicate is about infusing safely above 21, 18 with a medical card, beverages and really even we stay away from alcohol trying to manage that experience. As you said, with microdosers, learn how you infuse four ounces of water, learn how that 15 to 30 minutes goes and really learn how it works with your body first.

Really again, we’re a wellness-focused company that sees a recreational high as part of a wellness routine and everything we do in our product follows that nature. I’ve seen some of the others that are going different roots with powders that frankly, again, because I believe in cannabis as a category, I believe in the wellness nature, I think we need to be overly cautious with everything we do ensuring that people are consuming safely.

As a company, we believe in that. We continue to push. I’d say the biggest backlash we receive is really from buyers and dispensaries that are learning the category and new formats and how the science behind the actual pattern itself delivers to the consumer that is an educational curve for the category that we think we can get around with great marketing, a great delivery device that really differentiates versus that crowd.

TG Branfalt: In the three years that you had said that you’ve been in this space, how much of that has been focused on educating people about your product?

TJ Stouder: A lot. We do it very simply because we do it via trial. We sell all of our products in one, singles. So you can try it first and assume it works for you. Biggest for us is check this out. We do it as cleanly, safely and with this technology very transparently as possible, give it a shot. It’s a lot of people, like you said, are exploring beverages in the early days, even the more connoisseur consumers, but it might be the first beverage they’ve ever tried.

It’s really experiencing that first stick is what we try to get everybody a chance to do via everything from events to sampling. Education is transparency in my book because I think the category in total is learning by the day. We give that consumer promise that we’re going to stay ahead of the curve and really vet the right technologies and ensure your experience is top notch.

TG Branfalt: Talking about the experience, we spoke briefly about the recipe earlier. Tell me about the process of coming up with that recipe, which includes green coffee bean extract, L-theanine, theanine. I’m not a science, man, and monk fruit, which I think is very interesting. Your background isn’t necessarily in food, beverage, so tell me about your experience coming up with the recipe and what that process was like.

TJ Stouder: Awesome. Number one is transparency and know your lane. I never try to be smarter than I am and I find somebody smarter than me when you need something like formulation. However, it started with an insight and as I mentioned earlier, better than a sativa. I’m disappointed by sativas and I think we all know the … or at least the more experienced cannabis will know the seeds aren’t what they used to be and sativas and indicas are mostly a myth.

There’s mostly hybrids available and the mix of terpenes on that plant will greatly affect your experience, especially state to state, et cetera. A lot of those challenges of flower. Sativa, I always find myself grabbing a coffee next to a sativa to actually give myself energy, “That’s not what you promised sativa,” is what I say as a consumer.

Really what we did, we picked a hybrid extract to really capture the essence of that THC nanoemulsion that goes into your bloodstream faster, really delivering a more elevated experience naturally. Then green coffee bean extract, which is pure all-natural green coffee bean, 30 milligrams. That’s about a third a cup of coffee. It gives you a nice social awake high next to your THC and it’s really energizing, productive.

It’s funny, the influencer is coming back to us when they run out of samples saying, “I got so much stuff done while I have my MyHi.” It’s a new category of high. We’re saying that kind of asking people to prove us wrong, but it’s a different experience versus other products we personally have tried. It’s energetic, it’s awake, it’s social and it’s buildable as you have a couple of them next to each other.

Green coffee beans, the core that you’re actually going to feel, the next one is L-theanine which really is anything negative anyone gets from coffee, jitters, drowsiness coming down, things like that, L-theanine kind of balances that out and really L-theanine means balance, focus in general, an all-natural let’s call it brain supplement.

It’s a nice next to that caffeine and THC, keeps you balanced and focused, which a lot are feeling, especially on those longer evenings of enjoying MyHi. Lastly, monk fruit is critical for the no sugar piece and no added artificial sugars, et cetera. Monk fruit … I don’t know how it was discovered recently.

I just wanted to learn more about monk fruit myself, but I’ve been using it in everything and anything I can. It’s all-natural sugar. It doesn’t spike your sugars for diabetes. It is a super fruit that we’ve been missing to sweeten nicely. It’s only 10 milligrams, but it gives a nice little sweet refreshing edge on the end and keeping that no sugar, no artificials.

TG Branfalt: Interesting.

TJ Stouder: I didn’t actually answer your question. I got all that from Google. I started with literally the insight and I said, “What’s the best way to naturally do this stuff?” I think it’s funny that we work so hard in a lab to come up with complex long formula cards that the consumer can’t understand, and that’s how the consumer actually finds wellness.

For us, we’re starting very simple. THC is at the center of our product. Everything else is to help that feeling along, but innovation path is strong and we’re planning on doing minor cannabinoids, other formulas, terpenes, et cetera, to really bring different moods, different taste profiles and whatnot to MyHi. It’s just a start, let’s start with energy.

TG Branfalt: Is there a particular terpene that you’re more excited to work with or a specific cannabinoid? I mean, you seem like you’ve done a whole of thinking about this.

TJ Stouder: Lots and lots. I’m excited for cannabis. I mean, what we don’t know is what I’m most excited for. I’ll give you an example on the terpene front. We study about 40 terpenes out of over … I’m not even going to quote a number. I’ve heard over a hundred thousand as the safest number I’d say known terpenes on the planet, most concentrated in cannabis as a plant.

For me, what was destroyed over years of stigmatization and prohibition of cannabis is too sad to think about and what’s yet to be discovered because we’ve only really started researching the depth of this plant is too much to dream of. Really crafting that experience with some of the scientists who actually do the work behind me being a googler with insights, there’s huge upside.

It’s just really tailoring that experience up to fast-acting and long-releasing that can do it 15 minutes by 15 minutes where you’re going to go all via this stick.

TG Branfalt: Again, I hate to harp on it, but it’s one of these products and you’re just so interesting in the way that you present it, that a lot of times I don’t really get to … What’s the word I’m … I don’t want to say excited again, but I’m normally not super stoked on these things. Now that New York’s legal, I do hope that it is something I am able to find on the East eventually.

What states are you most excited about entering? You said that you’re right now only in California, what’s the future look like?

TJ Stouder: We have a small team that’s very focused. California’s the largest market with the most brands, frankly, is why we’re starting there. We want to prove it against the big guys and again, that we can grow a cannabis consumer’s basket size, the guy who’s buying flower concentrates and edibles already, plus a MyHi.

As well as drive new traffic into every one of those stores to look at cannabis for the first time, because they saw a product like this or see that’s something that might be approachable to their world. We believe after proving that in California, looking at a multi-state operator that has multiple states quickly, three to five to 15. We provide a unique standard operating procedure that gets up and running quite quickly.

It’s the patented delivery device of the stick itself, the consumer brand that’s ready to plug and play into any market and really hit that demographic provides a differentiator versus cannabis. There’s, as you say, kind of … And I don’t know how to put this in the nicest way. I’m a consumer that loves going into dispensary and I see the excitement of every consumer in there. The products we got to step it up.

As I look at the counter and I see one after another of things that look a lot alike and don’t motivate me to consume it, it’s … I love cannabis. I’m happy to buy it because it’s something there, but how do I find which product’s going to change my life? How do I find the one that if I’m going into quarantine, I need to stock up for a year and a half because there’s no chance I’m running out of this product?

I think we, as a category need to continue to push ourselves that just because the consumer’s willing to buy it, doesn’t mean it’s our best effort. We got to push for better and better and better and more innovative. I get excited about as more states come on board, as federal legalization looms, better and better products are coming.

It’s exciting to see the innovation for me as a consumer, beyond our product, and I say this to all of us as motivation. It’s exciting to see new products, new consumption, new consumers.

TG Branfalt: I mean, I really appreciate your insight. Your background’s very different than a lot of people who enter the space, and you’ve obviously chosen a very successful team. One that shares your vision, which you’ve clearly stated and I think is very worthwhile in this space at the very least. What advice would do you have for other entrepreneurs looking to enter the cannabis space?

TJ Stouder: Excellent. I think number one is find what you do best and find how to do it in cannabis. I think the world we see in cannabis today is a very small portion of what it will be in the future. I talked about things like social lounges and hospitality. They don’t exist yet in cannabis. I get a lot of people that come and they do something completely different from what cannabis today looks like, which I felt like that person.

I’m a consumer brander that came from P&G and worked on fine fragrances down to detergent and it’s, how do I play a role in cannabis? There’s no brands, there’s no scaled consumer products, et cetera. Ah, this is a consumer product that we need to scale and the industry needs you with your well-meaning mission to come aboard.

It’s finding how cannabis grows into the world you live in because it’s going to, as legalization comes in, as more consumers come on board as part of their daily routine. Find what that is and put your all into it. You really want in, there is plenty of space to grow this category.

TG Branfalt: Finally, my man, where can people find out more about MyHi and maybe find out more about you?

TJ Stouder: Awesome, getmyhi.com, G-E-T-M-Y-H-I.com, that’ll be in the show notes, is the best place, check it out. Now, all of our information my team’s done a phenomenal job with the website in our early days of launch. There’s plenty there.

TG Branfalt: The marketing is really something special.

TJ Stouder: That’s where we start obviously, and then come to California. We’re starting there, but hey, get out there this summer. It’s the summer of ’21. People are traveling again. I think we’re hopefully past this pandemic. Check us out in California. Would love to hear your thoughts if you get some product. If not, ask your local budtenders, write to your governor wherever you are in cannabis. We’ll come to your state hopefully soon.

TG Branfalt: Brilliant. That’s TJ Stouder. He’s the founder and CEO of MyHi, a line of water-soluble, calorie- and sugar-free THC powder stir STIKs. Thank you so much my good man for being on the show and I really look forward to one day finding MyHi in New York or Massachusetts, or basically anywhere on the East Coast now that we are opening up. Thank you so much for being on the show.

TJ Stouder: Awesome. Thanks TG.

TG Branfalt: You can find more episodes of the Ganjapreneur.com Podcast in the podcast section of ganjapreneur.com on Spotify and in the Apple iTunes Store. On the ganjapreneur.com website, you will find the latest cannabis news and cannabis jobs updated daily, along with transcripts of this podcast. You can also download the ganjapreneur.com app in iTunes and Google Play. This episode was engineered by Trim Media House. I’ve been your host, TG Branfalt.

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Illinois Reaches New Adult-Use Cannabis Sales Record 

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Adult-use cannabis sales in Illinois reached a new record last month at nearly $138 million — a 14% increase from November 2021, according to the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation outlined by the Chicago Tribune. The previous record was $128 million set last July, which analysts say was bolstered by the Lollapalooza music festival.

For the year, sales in the Land of Lincoln topped $1.38 billion — more than doubling totals from 2020, the first year of adult-use cannabis sales in the state. In 2021, the state’s 110 dispensaries sold more than 30 million cannabis products and nearly a third of Illinois’ cannabis sales were generated by out-of-state residents, the report says.

The state has not reported medical cannabis sales for December, but through 11 months of 2021, the sector had generated $362 million.

In 2020, combined medical and adult-use sales in Illinois totaled $1.03 billion, including $669 in adult-use sales and $366 in medical cannabis sales, the report says.

Last month, Gov. JB Pritzker (D) announced the state would inject $45 million from cannabis-derived taxes into Restore, Reinvest, and Renew (R3) grants, which are earmarked for communities most impacted by the war on drugs. The program is funded using 25% of adult-use cannabis tax revenues. In July, the state appropriated $31 million in funds collected from the state’s cannabis tax for the program.

Last summer, Illinois held three lotteries and awarded 185 new licenses with a social equity focus; however, a Cook County lawsuit challenging that process has delayed the rollout of the licensing round.

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Connecticut Approves Cannabis Social Equity Rules in Time to Accept Industry License Applications

1/06/2022

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The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection has approved the state’s social equity rules for the cannabis industry and the agency is set to begin accepting many industry license applications next month, the Hartford Courant reports. The Social Equity Council approved a workforce development plan, proof of residency, income requirements, ownership control, and other equity-focused rules and regulations.

Ginne-Rae Clay, interim executive director of the council, called the approvals “a huge deal.”

The 56 first-round licenses will be evenly split among social equity and general licenses and are available for retailers, micro-cultivators, delivery services, food and beverage businesses, manufacturers, and transporters, the report says. Social equity license hopefuls will have a one-time 90-day application period beginning on February 3 and ending on May 4.

Under the plan, social equity applicants are defined as a business seeking a cannabis license that’s at least 65% owned and controlled by an individual or individuals who had an average household income of less than 300% of the state median household income, which was about $74,000 in 2021, over three years.

The Department of Consumer Protection will schedule several lotteries for the remaining licenses and expects a second licensing round in the second half of the year. Applicants selected for the social equity licenses are subject to review by the Social Equity Council.

In November, workforce and economic development organizations the Connecticut Community Outreach Revitalization Program (ConnCORP) and The WorkPlace announced the creation of the Alliance for Cannabis Equity (ACE), which will focus on social equity and the economic opportunities for Black and Brown entrepreneurs and minority workers throughout the state’s cannabis industry.

State lawmakers approved the reforms last year and parts of the law, including possession by adults, took effect on July 1, 2021. Officials had expected retail sales would begin sometime this year; however, in September, Commissioner for the Department of Consumer Protection Michelle Seagull has indicated the rollout could be delayed.

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Massachusetts Cannabis at Lowest Average Price Per Ounce Since Pandemic Lockdown

1/06/2022

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The average price per ounce of cannabis in Massachusetts last month was $340.62 — the lowest it’s been since the start of adult-use sales in the state — excepting the first two months of the pandemic, the Worcester Business Journal reports. The price has consistently fallen since July when the average ounce price was $371, according to Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) data outlined by the Journal.

When adult-use sales first launched in Massachusetts in November 2018, the average cost per ounce was $390.81. The price reached its all-time high at $405 an ounce in February 2019, the report says. The lowest the price per ounce has ever been in Massachusetts was $299.08 in April 2020, and the price spiked the following month to $320.30.

The Bay State had sold $2.3 billion worth of cannabis in the first three years of the program, according to CCC data from November 2021.

Commission Chairman Steven Hoffman called the sales figures “pretty phenomenal.”

The state has 945 licensed cannabis businesses, including 176 open retailers, 62 operating cultivators, and 55 operational processors, according to CCC data. The adult-use sector employs more than 17,000 employees, while the medical cannabis industry employs about 8,800.

A recent the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and WCVB poll published in November found the reforms remain popular by Massachusetts residents, with 61% expressing a favorable view of legalization with 37% reporting a “very positive” view along with 24% who had a “somewhat positive” view.

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LOWD: Driving Demand with Premium Cannabis Flower

1/05/2022

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LOWD is a Portland, Oregon-based cultivator of premium cannabis products. Established in 2019, the company was founded with a mission of bringing only the highest-quality cannabis products to consumers.

Founder Jesce Horton got his start growing cannabis the old-fashioned way: with a small-scale medical cannabis grow based out of his own basement. Before becoming a professional cannabis grower and company leader, Horton held a corporate engineering job in Munich, Germany. That position followed him through a move to Portland in 2011 but within a year after moving to Oregon, Horton had left his corporate position and found his true calling as a cannabis entrepreneur. When his first commercial cannabis operation was uprooted by a change in local regulations that banned cannabis businesses, LOWD — which stands for Love Our Weed Daily — moved to its current location: a renovated warehouse facility in Northeast Portland.

Between the company’s premium cannabis offerings and a driving emphasis on positive culture and sustainability, the LOWD brand today faithfully represents Portland’s unique juxtaposition of urban culture — the growing city continues to attract more people, typically young and loudly progressive, each year — and the Pacific Northwest’s natural beauty, which encompasses impressive mountains, rivers, rainforests, and more.

LOWD Founder Jesce Horton poses between rows of cannabis plants in the company’s Portland facility. Photo credit: Sam Gehrke

Coming from an engineering background, Horton has worked closely with his team and outside professionals to maximize efficiency in the LOWD cultivation facility’s energy, heat, and water systems. LOWD demonstrates that effort to reduce the waste and overall environmental impact of its facility through a number of power-saving and efficiency-driving business decisions.

In terms of lighting: LOWD’s vertically integrated expansion facility will be primarily LED lighting but in the meantime, LOWD utilizes a mixed-spectrum lighting system with traditional double-ended lighting for 70-80% of the day and a plasma light for the remaining 20-30%.

And in terms of water, the team has put in significant effort to minimize their water use. LOWD’s plants are grown in smaller pots than those used by many other cultivators, which reduces water requirements and runoff. Additionally, the facility actually uses a custom-built system to reroute the condensation that builds up in its dehumidifying, HVAC, and AC systems into a filtration system that recycles the condensation as water for the plants. According to Horton, the system can provide “sometimes as high as 50% … and typically at least 20-30%” of the facility’s daily water usage.

Another strategy that LOWD uses to maximize efficiency — both in terms of heat and in facility cleanliness — is the use of fabric ventilation ducts: “Fabric ducting helps make our cooling a little more uniform, and helps us reduce the amount of fans needed to mix up that air and make sure there aren’t any heating or cooling pockets,” Horton said during an on-site interview.

“It also helps with cleanliness,” he said, because the ducts can be brought down and washed regularly to prevent any buildup of spores or powdery mildew, “which are often found in metal ducting or HVAC.”

These fabric ventilation ducts improve the LOWD facility’s heating efficiency and also make it easier to handle duct cleaning and other maintenance tasks.

LOWD’s work to streamline the cannabis production process also goes beyond its energy, heat, and water considerations: the company’s trimmers are provided ergonomic workstations designed by Horton and LOWD’s Post Production Director Sarah Morse, which can be raised or lowered at the workers’ whim and not only make trimming easier but also maintain worker safety, as the trimming process can carry a serious risk for carpal tunnel syndrome.

The head-turning quality of LOWD cannabis has earned the company a dedicated following in Portland. The company embraces its tagline, “Smoke like a grower,” with SLAG — a highly coveted line of flower products that are hand-selected by the company’s admins and head growers. These top-tier buds are stick-trimmed to perfection so that by the time they are touched by a human hand for the first time, it’s the consumer themself. LOWD’s SLAG product line is so well-known throughout Portland for its quality that each order — packaged in one ounce, half-ounce, and quarter-ounce collectible, ultraviolet, resistant glass jars — is often already claimed and waitlisted by the time it enters the curing process.

A Dope Cup trophy is on display in LOWD’s curing room. Several nearby jars of SLAG have been reserved with sticky note labels.

When it comes to hiring and expanding the company, Horton said he prioritizes people who faithfully represent cannabis culture because it’s important for both the industry and society in general to recognize that traditional cannabis culture, or “stoner culture,” is not taboo and should be considered an important part of the movement. Horton said the other considerations for building LOWD’s team are an emphasis on personal accountability — “People who come in understanding the opportunity that we have here in the industry,” — and people who will bring passion for their work on a daily basis.

LOWD Head Grower Greg Billingsly inspecting plants in the cultivation facility.

The successful team building at LOWD speaks for itself through both the quality of their products and the company’s genuinely pleasant, and professional, workforce. Horton did not hesitate to express his extreme satisfaction: “We’ve got literally what I believe — this is not hyperbole at all: I know some of the best teams, I know some of the best people out there in cannabis — we have the best team in cannabis, period, when you look at all of our crew,” he said.

While LOWD’s reputation and popularity continues to grow, Horton is already eyeing huge expansions for the brand including plans for a new, vertically-integrated facility in North Portland. The new compound would contain a cultivation facility, retail location, and (assuming that state and local laws will eventually permit it) a cannabis lounge for public consumption.

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Report: US Cannabis Industry Has $45.8B Potential by 2025

1/05/2022

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Headset, a cannabis industry data and analytics firm, is forecasting the U.S. industry has the potential to reach $45.8 billion by 2025 with compound annual growth rates between 2% and 8% annually.

The firm estimates in its “Cannabis sales projections for US markets in 2025” report that by 2025, Florida will be the nation’s second-largest market — behind California — with $3.2 billion in total sales. The report estimates that New York, where adult-use licenses are expected next year, will be the third-largest market by 2025 with $2.8 billion in sales.

The firm suggests that newly-legal states New Jersey and Virginia — which will have similar populations of individuals 21-and-older by 2025 — will produce $1.6 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively, in sales. Neither state has issued adult-use licenses having only passed the reforms last year.

Cy Scott, CEO and co-founder of Headset, said that “within the last decade, opportunities for growth and development within the market have accelerated after Colorado, Washington, and several other states legalized adult-use cannabis.”

“Despite the country’s piecemeal approach to legalization, individual states have created optimal conditions for improved scalability and sophisticated operations across distinct markets. With record levels of public and regulatory support for the regulated cannabis industry, the value of the domestic market will increase significantly over the next three years.” — Scott in a statement

The company also pinpoints Ohio as an emerging market, predicting sales of $1.6 billion by 2025; however, legalization efforts have recently stalled as the campaign did not submit enough signatures to force lawmakers to act on the reforms this session.

The Headset report notes that the Buckeye State’s medical cannabis market “is steadily growing with potential to reach half a billion in sales by the end of 2021 despite being a limited license market.”

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Montana Sells $1.5M of Cannabis During Program’s Opening Weekend

1/05/2022

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Montana, the latest state to launch its adult-use cannabis program, saw more than $1.5 million worth of cannabis sales during the program’s first two days, KTVH reports.

Dispensaries officially opened to anyone 21 or older last Saturday, January 1, and combined cannabis sales from the state’s approximately 380 dispensaries reached $1,566,980 over the weekend, according to Montana Department of Revenue numbers outlined in the report.

NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano lauded the market launch in a press release:

“Adults in Montana voted to regulate the retail marijuana marketplace so that these transactions can be above-ground and transparent, and so that consumers can have access to lab-tested, quality-controlled products. Such a system is certainly preferable to the status quo of marijuana prohibition, which is why no state to enact legalization has ever moved to repeal these policies.” — Armentano, in a statement

Montana voters approved the state’s cannabis legalization plan in November 2020. Voters had approved two initiatives at the time: one to legalize the possession, use, and home cultivation of cannabis — which took effect one year ago on January 1, 2020 — and the other to legalize the state’s adult-use cannabis marketplace exactly one year later.

Under state law, public cannabis use remains punishable by a civil fine. Customers can purchase up to one ounce of cannabis at a time from dispensaries, or the THC equivalent via other products including up to 800 milligrams of edibles or eight grams of concentrate. Cannabis sales are subject to a 20 percent tax.

18 states plus the District of Columbia now allow for the adult use and possession of cannabis products.

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Virginia Governor-Elect Calls ‘Forced Unionization’ in Cannabis Bill ‘Nonstarter’

1/05/2022

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In an interview last week with Virginia Business, Republican Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin said he “will not seek to overturn” the Legislature-approved law on personal cannabis possession but that there “is a lot of work to be done” on retail sales.

The governor added that while he is “not against” the reforms — which were approved by lawmakers last February and signed into law by outgoing Gov. Ralph Northam (D) in March — there are some “nonstarters” in the bill, including “forced unionization.”

“There have been concerns expressed by law enforcement in how the gap in the laws can actually be enforced. Finally, there’s a real need to make sure that we aren’t promoting an anti-competitive industry. I do understand that there are preferences to make sure that all participants in the industry are qualified to do the industry well.” — Youngin to Virginia Business

Youngin indicated support for social equity provisions in the law — which apply to minority communities most impacted by the war on drugs and women- and veteran-owned businesses — and that the state’s cannabis industry rules and regulations needed to make sure “they have the capabilities to compete and thrive in the industry.”

“So, I think there’s work to be done,” he said in the interview. “All of that will be on the table. Again, I don’t look to overturn the bill, but I think we need to make sure that it works.”

With the passage of the law last year, Virginia became the first Southern state to approve broad cannabis legalization. Youngkin has previously expressed doubt regarding the revenues derived from cannabis legalization in states where the reforms have been enacted and described it as “another problem” that would be “dumped at [his] feet.”

“And the reality is, if I had a group of kids here that were asking me about marijuana use, I would tell them don’t use it,” he said in a CNBC interview last May. “The reality is that the industry that everyone used as the rationale for legalizing it, has not performed in other states. They’ve already predicated a bunch of spending on it and the reality is I’m going to have to deal with this when I’m governor.”

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Ohio Advocates Fall Short of Signatures Required to Force Cannabis Legalization Vote

1/05/2022

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Ohio adult-use cannabis advocates have fallen short of the number of signatures required to force lawmakers to consider legalization legislation this session, the Associated Press reports. Ohio Attorney General Frank LaRose told the Coalition to Legalize Marijuana Like Alcohol that they were 13,062 valid signatures short of the 133,000-signature benchmark required to force lawmakers to act.

Despite the setback, group spokesperson Tom Haren said they will be able to collect the thousands of signatures needed before a January 14 hard deadline. If successful, the effort could still force lawmakers to take up adult-use legislation this session and if the legislature failed to pass a bill in four months, the group could collect an additional 133,000 signatures to put the issue to voters during the 2022 midterm election.

The petition seeks to legalize the possession of up to 2.5 ounces of flower and allow six plants per adult or 12 per household. Rep. Jamie Callender (R) introduced a bill last month to implement the reforms with a 10% cannabis tax. That rate is included in the group’s petition but Callender admitted his Republican colleagues do not support the bill, the report says.

While other Midwest states such as Michigan and Illinois have passed adult-use cannabis reforms, Ohio has struggled to legalize cannabis. Voters there rejected an initiative to legalize both medical and adult-use cannabis in 2015 due to concerns about an industry monopoly.

Medical cannabis did eventually become legal in Ohio; however, the rollout has been slow and patients have long complained of high prices and lack of product. Only recently have Ohio regulators started seriously addressing things like expanding patient daily allowances and product supply.

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