Licensing

Voters in Portland, Maine will decide this November whether or not to remove the city’s cap on cannabis business licenses.

Curaleaf has successfully completed its acquisition of Grassroots to become the largest vertically-integrated cannabis operator in the country.

Massachusetts regulators have issued $800k in fines to three companies for improper pesticide use and other regulatory infractions.

Social equity advocates who were suing the city of Los Angeles have dropped their suit after officials agreed to process additional applications.

The Los Angeles city council has unanimously approved new regulations that will tighten up the cannabis social equity program and create rules for licensing new dispensaries in city neighborhoods that have already reached their cap.

Colorado’s governor has signed legislation addressing social equity concerns in the cannabis industry — the new law allows for additional low-level cannabis possession pardons and sets aside business licenses for social equity applicants.

San Diego is the latest California city to establish a city-specific agency dedicated to licensing and regulating businesses in the cannabis space.

Medical cannabis firms in Oklahoma have filed suit against the state over new industry residency requirements and other rules which will spell trouble for some licensees who are already operating in the state.

New cannabis licensing and social equity recommendations from the Los Angeles Department of Cannabis Regulations are under consideration today by the City Council.

Illinois officials say the state is almost ready to begin awarding social equity cannabis licenses after Gov. J.B. Pritzker suspended the process in late April due to the pandemic-prompted shutdown.

Florida MCBD is suing New York-based Columbia Care claiming a pattern of wrongful interference as Columbia worked to secure a Florida cannabis business license.

The Maine Cannabis Coalition is suing the state over its recent decision to remove residency requirements for cannabis licensees.

Recent data released by the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission shows that just 10 percent of the state’s cannabis industry investors are people of color.

Florida’s medical cannabis marketplace is based on the vertical integration of participating companies; this can be good for regulators and tax dollars, but very bad for patients and consumers.

Missouri lawmakers have approved a measure giving medical cannabis regulators in the state the ability to access the FBI’s national fingerprint and background check database; the bill also aims to ban kid-friendly cannabis edibles shapes.

Lawmakers in Missouri’s House of Representatives have approved legislation to remove the state’s medical cannabis licensing cap; the proposal would allow any qualifying business owner to secure a license.

A whistleblower complaint has sparked an investigation into the Missouri medical cannabis licensing process.

In light of the coronavirus pandemic, Illinois Gov. Pritzker has indefinitely pushed back the date for awarding the state’s social equity cannabis licenses.

The Social Equity and Workers Association is suing Los Angeles over the city’s first-come, first-served cannabis licensing process.

Denver officials have approved rules establishing a new research and development business license for the cannabis space.

Texas regulators issued the state’s first industrial hemp license this week; Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said it was “just the beginning.”

The USDA approved state hemp program plans for Georgia and South Carolina this week.

Two of Iowa’s five licensed medical cannabis dispensaries were abruptly shut down without explanation from their operator nor state health officials, who said they will work to license two new retailers.

Maine cannabis company Wellness Connection has filed suit over the state’s residency requirement, claiming the rule violates the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution.