Staff
The Daily Hit is a recap of cannabis business news for Oct. 10, 2022.
ON THE SITE
More on the Exodus From the Top at Green Thumb Industries
Board members weren’t the only ones who resigned last week from marijuana company Green Thumb Industries (OTC: GTBIF). The company’s general counsel, Beth Burk, also departed, according to a U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission filing made Oct. 7. Burk resigned Oct. 4, along with three of GTI’s four independent directors. Read more here.
Michigan Fines Retailer, Suspends License Over Untracked Cannabis
Michigan authorities on Monday announced that The House of Mary Jane, a Detroit cannabis retailer, will have its license suspended for 30 days and be fined $75,000 after the company pleaded no contest to having cannabis products on-site that weren’t registered with the state marijuana product tracking system. Read more here.
Smoke Shops Popping Up Like Weeds in NYC in Anticipation of Legal Cannabis
All around New York City, smoke shops have been popping up like weeds, but not always just to sell tobacco, bongs and other paraphernalia. Some retailers hope to procure a coveted retail license to sell cannabis legally once they become widely available. Read more here.
Indigenous Communities Create Their Space in Cannabis Industry
While states continue to struggle to find the right formula around social equity, Indigenous communities have decided to stop waiting and forge a path for themselves in cannabis. New York state is a perfect example. To date, the only legal adult-use retailers operating in the state are on the Mohawk Indian tribal lands upstate. Other tribes, such as the Cayuga in central New York, have permitted sales through other businesses, such as gas stations. Read more here.
New Biden Push Could Have Major Financial Ramifications for Cannabis Industry
The news on Thursday that President Joe Biden had launched a formal review of cannabis’ status as a Schedule 1 controlled narcotic sent a shiver of joy down the industry’s collective spine, in part because of what it could mean on the financial front. Longer term, if the Biden administration moves cannabis lower on the list of controlled substances or yanks it off altogether, that will almost certainly resolve major financial hurdles such as the 280E provision of the federal tax code, which prohibits standard business deductions. Read more here.
Could Interstate Cannabis Commerce Become a Reality?
The possibility of legal cannabis companies shipping goods across state lines to other markets within the United States has been an industry talking point for years. Oregon activists even got a law approved in 2019 to prime the state for just such a development. A new bill introduced in New Jersey might move the idea from pipe dream to reality. Read more here.
IN OTHER NEWS
New York Harvest
Cannabis farmers in New York state are starting their first harvest to supply the adult-use market. Edward Kirkham, chief operating officer of HPI Canna, one of more than 200 hemp farmers in New York licensed to grow the state’s first crop of adult-use cannabis, said they will be harvesting one acre of flowering canopy this week. Read more here.
Michigan
Many marijuana business leaders in Michigan say they’re ready for increased enforcement on illicit marijuana that’s sneaking into an already saturated market now that Brian Hanna, who previously worked for the Michigan state police, has been named acting director of the Cannabis Regulatory Agency. Black market marijuana potentially damages the integrity and safety of the market, resulting in plummeting marijuana prices and stiff competition, the legal operators argue. Read more here.
Vermont
A little over a week after the rollout date, the Vermont Cannabis Control Board is working on processing over 30 more applications from businesses that want to sell adult-use pot, and more retailers are getting ready to open their doors. Read more here.
