Just two months into adult-use legalization and Illinois dispensaries are selling more than a million dollars of legal cannabis—per day.

‘Today marks another milestone in the successful launch of Illinois’ legal cannabis industry.’

Toi Hutchinson, senior advisor, Governor Pritzker for cannabis control

That number is based off revenue from steep taxes on legal sales. The state reported $10 million in cannabis tax revenue for the month of January, Gov. JB Pritzker’s office reported Feb. 24. The report shows how legalization is off to a roaring start in the Land of Lincoln.

Robust marijuana sales started Jan. 1, 2020 to tens of thousands of state residents and tourists who braved freezing pre-dawn temperatures and hours-long lines to smoke a piece of state history.

Long lines continued for days as flowers and vapes supplies quickly ran low. Some stores closed to recreational consumers, but kept serving medical patients. The result? Over $39 million in taxed, tested cannabis transactions; instead of street sales. Those sales generated $7.3 million in cannabis tax revenue, plus $3.1 million in retail sales tax revenue for the month of January.

‘Successful launch’

After taxes pay for regulators, the revenue goes to communities impacted by the war on drugs, as well as anti-drug programs, and mental health programs. Illinois built on the work from 10 prior legalization states, said Toi Hutchinson, senior advisor to Governor Pritzker for cannabis control.

“Today marks another milestone in the successful launch of Illinois’ legal cannabis industry. Our goal has been to build the nation’s most socially equitable program that includes new opportunities for the communities most harmed by the failed war on drugs. Revenue raised in this first month will soon begin flowing back into those communities to begin repairing the damage done by the failed policies of the past and creating new opportunities for those who have been left behind for far too long,” said Hutchinson.

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Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont has renewed his push for cannabis legalization this year, and while advocates say the concept of legalization has support in the legislature, Lamont’s proposed bill will likely require more work on the granular details before it has the support it needs to pass both chambers.

Lamont called for legalization during last year’s legislative session, as well, and although lawmakers worked on three separate bills to legalize and regulate adult-use cannabis, the session ended without any of the legislation advancing to the governor’s desk.

Lamont announced this year’s renewed push for legalization during his State of the State address in February. He then worked alongside the chairmen of key legislative committees to draft comprehensive legislation that would not only legalize cannabis for adults 21 and older, but also support the social and criminal justice components of legalization.

Senate and House leadership ultimately introduced S.B. 16 to realize the governor’s goals.

The legislation would legalize the possession of up to 1.5 ounces of cannabis starting July 1, and in July 2022, the state would launch retail cannabis sales.

Continue reading at Cannabis Business Times

With three adult-use cannabis legalization bills pending in the legislature and strong support from the governor, lieutenant governor and the public, Pennsylvania should have no problem legalizing this year, but advocates say leadership in the legislature will likely block any proposals from advancing before the current two-year session ends in December.

Gov. Tom Wolf announced his support for adult-use cannabis legalization last fall alongside Lt. Gov. John Fetterman. Wolf then attended New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Regional Cannabis Regulation and Vaping Summit in October, where the pair met with the governors of New Jersey and Connecticut in an effort to coordinate the states’ approach to cannabis policy reform.

Fetterman embarked on a recreational marijuana listening tour last year to get public input on the issue from all 67 Pennsylvania counties, and reported that he found strong public support for legalization.

Lawmakers took notice of the momentum.

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Up to a dozen states could legalize adult-use or medical marijuana in 2020 through their legislatures or ballot measures, although only about a handful will likely do so.

Much of the cannabis industry’s focus will home in on a possible recreational marijuana domino effect along the East Coast, which could create billions of dollars in business opportunities.

Potential legalization activity runs from the Southwest to the Dakotas to the Deep South. Mississippi in particular has a business-friendly medical cannabis initiative that has qualified for the 2020 ballot.Adult-use legalization efforts in New York and New Jersey stalled in 2019, but optimism has rekindled this year.

Here are three factors to keep in mind as states address either recreational or medical legalization this year:

1. In the past, marijuana legalization has primarily occurred through the ballot box. But in a momentous development, Illinois legalized a projected $2 billion adult-use program through its Legislature in 2019. Expect that trend to amplify in 2020. “Increasingly, legalization is moving toward legislatures,” said Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project. “That’s the biggest shift.”

2. State marijuana laws historically have reflected a patchwork of regulations. But a more mature industry means that legalization increasingly involves conversations over what has worked and hasn’t worked in legal states. The lack of industry diversity is one common topic. “There’s a strong focus on making sure communities most hard-hit by the war on drugs benefit,” O’Keefe noted.

3. Democratic governors in the Northeast are trying to coordinate adult-use legalization efforts. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo hosted a summit in October to begin discussing common approaches to licensing, taxation, minority and small-business participation, product potency and other issues. Cannabis businesses would still need a lot of resources to apply for licenses and to operate on the East Coast, but they might be able to use one application as a template for others in the region. But experts say a regional approach is easier said than done, with each state facing its own internal politics.

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Last week, South Dakota became the first state to place medical and adult-use cannabis legalization measures on the same ballot, a situation that has its challenges, as well as unique opportunities, according to Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) Deputy Director Matthew Schweich.

“It’s exciting that we’re able to make progress more quickly, and we did our research and we found that a majority of South Dakota voters support both medical marijuana and adult-use legalization,” Schweich told Cannabis Business Times. “We’ve done our homework and we’re confident that both can pass if we run an efficient campaign.”

South Dakota is currently one of three U.S. states that has no legal cannabis program on the books whatsoever.

The Secretary of State officially certified the adult-use legalization initiative, led by South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws, on Jan. 6, after the campaign submitted over 50,000 signatures.

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Utah health officials plan to award pharmacy licenses to 10 companies to dispense medical marijuana at 14 sites across the state.

The issuance of licenses in Utah is considered a milestone development for the launch of the program later this year.At least three of the licenses were awarded to multistate marijuana operators – Bloom Medicinals of Florida, Columbia Care of Illinois and Curaleaf of Massachusetts.

The sites chosen by the state health department are largely in metro Salt Lake City or elsewhere in northern Utah. However, they also include two in southern Utah and one in rural eastern Utah.

Eight sites might open as early as March while others would open by July, the department said.

Dispensaries in Utah might face licensing fees of $50,000 to almost $70,000 in a market where medical marijuana sales could reach $25 million-$35 million by 2022, according to Marijuana Business Daily projections.

– Associated Press

As California’s attorney general from 1999 to 2007, Bill Lockyer was on the inside as the state wrestled with a developing marijuana industry. But these days he’s watching the transformation from the outside, as co-founder of a licensed pot distributor in Lynwood.

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf says he is in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana in the commonwealth. He’s now asking lawmakers to consider legislation.

Wolf says he supports legalizing recreational marijuana, but he’s hoping lawmakers on both sides of the aisle will too.

“We are calling for the general assembly to seriously debate marijuana legalization,” Wolf said Wednesday.

After months of research, Wolf announced the results are in — Pennsylvania residents support legalizing recreational use of marijuana.

“I’m not opposed to it. I’m not an active user of marijuana, but I have no problem with legalization of recreational use in small quantities,” Bucks County resident Mark Gregotski said. “I think it’s also good not to tie up court systems for very minor possessions of marijuana.”

Read More at Philadelphia.cbslocal.com

WASHINGTON — Unlike most recent congressional recesses, this past summer’s break has seen some key financial policy news as bank regulators finalized a pivotal rule rolling back the Volcker Rule.

But when lawmakers return from their late-summer break on Sept. 9, there are a host of other unresolved financial services issues facing them, including efforts to let bankers serve the marijuana industry to reforms of anti-money-laundering requirements.

Late last week, House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif., outlined her panel’s priorities for the fall, including oversight of Trump-appointed banking regulators and reviewing Facebook’s proposed cryptocurrency. The committee will also consider solutions to increase access to homeownership, explore data privacy and the use of artificial intelligence in financial services and examine the state of minority depository institutions, among other things, Waters said in a press release.

It is unclear if Congress will be able advance any of these initiatives, with the 2020 presidential primaries fast approaching and the nation focused on more polarizing cultural issues. But the end of the August recess gives the industry a chance to continue engaging with lawmakers on legislative priorities.

After Democrats took control of the House, banks got their first hearing on a bill aimed at enabling the industry to serve marijuana businesses in the states where the substance is legal, without fear of repercussion from regulators.

The House Financial Services Committee passed the SAFE Banking Act, which would prohibit federal regulators to penalize firms that accepts insured deposits from state-approved cannabis businesses, in a 45-15 vote, with all of the committee’s Democrats joined by 11 Republicans in support of the legislation.

The Republican-controlled Senate has been viewed as an obstacle for cannabis banking, but the industry got a hearing in the Senate Banking Committee in July over the challenges for banks posed by the conflict between the federal ban on marijuana and state legalization efforts.

Though Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, was the only Republican to attend the hearing, the industry is optimistic that Congress will provide them clarity on whether they can serve state-approved cannabis businesses.

“We are very much focused on trying to get the bipartisan cannabis bill through the House,” said James Ballentine, executive vice president for political affairs and congressional relations at the American Bankers Association. “We were very supportive and interested in the Senate hearing that took place in July and certainly the questions that members asked demonstrated a lot of interest in this issue.” 

However, it will likely still be a challenge to get a Senate committee vote on any cannabis-related legislation as some Republicans are sitting out the debate until their primaries are over.

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