Licensing

Oregon’s price-per-pound for cannabis has dropped nearly $1,000 from $5,433 to $4,536 since July, 2021.

Connecticut has awarded 16 recipients the state’s first social equity commercial cannabis licenses; the licensees still have to pay a $3 million fee and pass a background check before receiving their final licenses. 

Connecticut had received more than 37,000 cannabis business applications for just 56 licenses by the time the application window closed last week.

Two Oklahoma attorneys have been charged with falsifying records, cultivation of a dangerous substance, and multiple counts of conspiracy after allegedly putting their legal assistants’ names on more than 400 cannabis cultivation applications.

A recent letter by the director of Montana’s Department of Revenue revealed that tribes in the state are restricted to the lowest tier of cannabis cultivation license.

Missouri companies Archimedes Medical Holdings, FUJM, and Holistic Health Capital must destroy medical cannabis products and relinquish their licenses as per an agreement with regulators following accusations of “pervasive irregularities.”

The first month of regulated cannabis sales in New Jersey reached $24 million with 13 dispensaries averaging about $5 million in sales per week.

Former Mississippi Gov. Ronnie Musgrove submitted an application this week for a medical cannabis testing facility license. 

A Cook County Circuit judge removed the 10-month stay blocking 185 adult-use cannabis licenses from being issued in Illinois after a lawsuit challenged the license lottery’s legality.

New York officials approved 58 more conditional cannabis cultivation licenses last week in an effort to expand the market quickly, bringing the state total to 146.

The Ohio Board of Pharmacy awarded 70 new provisional medical cannabis licenses.

Arizona selected recipients for the state’s 26 widely sought social equity cannabis licenses.

Ascend Wellness Holdings has reached an agreement for the acquisition of MedMen’s New York medical cannabis operations in a deal worth $88 million.

New York regulators approved an additional 36 cannabis cultivation licenses this week, bringing the total to 88 licenses in the state.

The New York Supreme Court determined that a $600 million lawsuit against Acreage Holdings and 30 other defendants can proceed.

New York’s Cannabis Control Board Chair Tremaine Wright and Office of Cannabis Management Director Chris Alexander have stated separately that they anticipate adult-use sales could begin by fall.

Cumberland Curative, a medical cannabis company, has filed suit against the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission alleging a conflict of interests in the scoring of state license applications.

Oregon enacted a moratorium on granting new cannabis licenses for applications submitted after January 1, 2022.

A federal lawsuit filed this week accuses Chicago-based cannabis companies of running a “cartel” and seeks to end cannabis licensing caps, divest the existing companies of all their assets, and legalize all amounts of cannabis.

New York officials have awarded conditional cannabis cultivation licenses to more than 50 companies and farmers currently licensed to grow industrial hemp.

New Jersey has approved seven medical cannabis companies to expand their operations into the adult-use market.

This editorial was contributed by Christine De La Rosa, co-founder and CEO of The People’s Ecosystem, a California-based and equity-focused multistate cannabis operator.

The Ohio Board of Pharmacy is looking to add 73 new dispensary licenses after the state’s demand for medical cannabis far exceeded projections.