Regulations

Virginia’s legislative chambers are advancing separate proposals to begin regulated adult-use cannabis sales by next year.

The U.S. Virgin Islands Cannabis Board voted on Tuesday to approve long-awaited rules and regulations for the territory’s adult-use cannabis industry, which was approved by lawmakers last January.

A ballot initiative that would change Arkansas medical cannabis policy was rejected by the state’s Attorney General due to formatting and ambiguity issues. The initiative aims to expand medical cannabis access and trigger adult-use legalization if cannabis is federally legalized, and is supported by the state’s medical cannabis industry.

In a recent report prefacing the state’s upcoming adult-use cannabis market, Minnesota officials said they will need to license at least 381 cannabis dispensaries to satisfy the state’s legalization law.

Many of California’s cannabis testing labs are currently not allowed to test the potency of flower products due to a rule change designed to combat so-called “lab shopping” in the state.

Canadian cannabis operators destroyed a record amount of legal cannabis in 2022 and 2023. Since the market’s 2018 launch, licensees have now destroyed about 3.7 million pounds of product, largely due to the products being too old or low-quality.

Starting this year, the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority will be utilizing “secret shoppers” in its effort to regulate the industry. Under the new law, regulators will anonymously purchase products and have them tested by a lab.

New Mexico cannabis regulators this week revoked the licenses of two adult-use cannabis cultivators for allegedly exceeding the legal plant count limits and failing to properly utilize the state’s mandatory track-and-trace system.

The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission is in a state of disarray after the recent suspension of two top officials and ongoing controversies, signaling instability within the agency overseeing the state’s cannabis industry.

Going against the will of Ohioan voters who legalized cannabis and assigned its tax revenues to causes like social equity and jobs programs, the Ohio Senate has moved instead to funnel the funds toward law enforcement and the state’s general fund.

A bill in South Carolina aims to regulate and tax intoxicating hemp-derived products such as delta-8 and delta-10 THC; under the measure, hemp products would require laboratory testing.

Oklahoma officials said this week that the number of medical cannabis cultivators in the state has dropped from about 9,400 in 2021 to about 3,200 today; the decline comes amid a crackdown by regulators on alleged bad actors in the industry.

California cannabis regulators this month issued an embargo on cannabis products from three companies, claiming the products may have been “adulterated.”