Legislative & Licensing Update: May 5, 2022
Adult-use sales: Fall start in NY. $2 million on Day 1 in NJ.
Plus, Florida Black farmers to get another shot in the next round of licensing. A flood of applicants for Connecticut’s license lottery and a flood of support in Kentucky for executive action. Uncertainty continues in Kansas legislative action. Georgia voters get a chance to weigh in during May primaries. Plus cannabis licensing news from Vermont, Rhode Island, California, and Louisiana.
New York sales are expected to start by fall according to Tremaine Wright, the chair of the Cannabis Control Board. The Cannabis Control Board has their next meeting on Thursday, May 5.
New Jersey dispensaries sold almost $2 million worth of recreational marijuana products to more than 12,000 customers on the first day of legal sales on April 21, 2022. The next round of conditional license approvals is expected on May 24.
Ohio regulators announced up to 73 new dispensary licenses will be awarded this month.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear (D) said his office has received more than a thousand emails on medical cannabis since he began accepting input on the issue last week and that he plans to take some kind of executive action this summer.
Florida in an amendment tacked onto SB 768, the DOH package bill, an eligible Black Farmer applicant who doesn’t get a license can now roll over the application fee into the next application window. The bill passed unanimously and was signed by Governor Ron DeSantis last week. It takes effect July 1.
Connecticut regulators have received more than 4,700 applications to win marijuana business licenses in a lottery.
Kansas House and Senate negotiators held the first conference committee meeting to begin reaching an agreement on a medical cannabis bill, but passage is uncertain.
Vermont regulators announced a delay in issuing marijuana business licenses. Separately, they will review recommendations on cannabis business license prequalification and approve social equity applicant status on Monday.
Rhode Island regulators awarded the state’s final medical cannabis dispensary license.
Georgia voters will get a chance to decide on a non-binding marijuana legalization question that asks if marijuana should be regulated and taxed similar to alcohol in the upcoming primary election on May 24.
Georgia regulators are being sued over alleged “conflicts of interest” in the medical cannabis licensing process.
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has published proposed emergency CBD regulations. The draft includes language on hemp and CBD manufacturing and import licensing.
The Louisiana House Health & Welfare Committee approved a bill to add new medical cannabis cultivation licenses and transfer authority for the program to the Department of Health
One to watch: The Missouri House Special Committee on Government Oversight approved a Senate-passed bill to allow medical cannabis businesses to deduct expenses on their taxes.
DoorDash Technologies Canada Inc. is partnering with Superette to provide cannabis pickup in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.