Catch the Smoke: Oct. 10, 2023
D.C. licenses slowly awarded
ABCA awarded just one license last week for a conditional manufacturer. Multiple applicants have told The Outlaw Report they are still waiting to hear back from the regulatory authority.
Elevated robbed
One of the cornerstone I-71 gifting shops, Elevated Lounge, was robbed last week. Police arrested a man Tuesday night with over $12,000 worth of edibles, concentrates and plants, according to authorities.
Reminder: Unlicensed operators aka D.C. I-71 gifting shops will be able to apply for licenses starting Nov. 1 through Jan. 29. There is a virtual information session at 10 A.M. on Oct. 10. Register here.
Federal comment: Both Maryland and D.C.’s attorney generals submitted comments along with 22 other attorney generals in support of the federal cannabis banking reform.
Social equity crunch
Two Maryland women spoke out about the social equity license system in Maryland’s new adult use market. They feel that the reduced fee is still too high and the timeline too short. “You’re asking the poorest counties on the Eastern Shore, and in the state of Maryland, to come into this industry,” Lakia Harris-Pierce, an aspiring dispensary owner, told WMDT.
East Coast Round Up
66 New York legislatures signed a bill asking the governor to allow licensed cannabis growers to sell to tribal retailers. It is an attempt to give over 200 growers a place to legally get rid of their crop as only 23 dispensaries are open statewide. An illustrated look at the chaotic failure from the Guardian here.
Speaking of illustration: If you’ve seen Brain Box Brown’s illustrations on Instagram, you’ve probably been updated on some NY cannabis industry news from his illustrations. He is raising money to turn his illustrations into a hardcover book.
Rhode Island cannabis sales hit a record for the fourth month straight.
As the federal government gears up to attempt to solve cannabis banking, a record number of U.S. financial institutions are serving state-legal weed companies, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
Square is getting into the Canadian weed market.
The Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education, and Regulation (CPEAR), funded by the alcohol and tobacco companies, suggested that there be a nation-wide track-and-trace system as well as tax stamps to help distinguish between regulated and unregulated cannabis products.
Culture Corner
Legal wholesale cannabis prices stabilized and even rose in some states over the summer, but fall harvest will suppress the price again. The extreme drop in cannabis prices as legalization swept the country over the last decade has left many farmers and small growers struggling to survive. Maryland has the highest legal wholesale price in the country.
Despite a green rush in Thailand since cannabis decriminalization, a new prime minister may roll the country back to just medical legalization. A change in the law could upend small entrepreneurs who just recently opened shop.
From the Swamp
Well, the government narrowly averted a shutdown this weekend. This means the now SAFER Banking Act passed out of committee by the Senate last week could see a floor vote. SAFER is on the calendar to be voted on, but there has been no assigned date. Its gained 25 cosponsors. The House’s SAFE Banking Act has gone nowhere new, but it did gain nine new sponsors last week for a total of 78.
A lawyer is suing the Biden administration for the U.S. Health and Human Services Department’s letter suggesting the rescheduling of cannabis.
POLITICO dove in depth about the Republican threat to sink cannabis banking over measures that were meant to protect gun sellers and other industries the GOP says face unfair scrutiny. The bill is further than ever but it’s riding on increasingly shaky wheels.
Don’t miss
The Black Canni
The Living Well presents The Black Canni, a conference focused on Black entrepreneurs and leaders in the cannabis industry at Baltimore Unity Hall. (Oct. 14-15; $25-100)
Please submit your upcoming cannabis event here.
