A Little MORE
House Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler reintroduced a bill on Friday that would eliminate federal marijuana penalties, expunge certain federal cannabis records and create a grant program for individuals impacted by the war on drugs. "Since I introduced the MORE Act last Congress, numerous states across the nation, including my home state of New York, have moved to legalize marijuana. Our federal laws must keep up with this pace," Jerry Nadler. The MORE Act passed the House last December, and the reintroduction does not come as a surprise but has little chance of going far (the bill passed the House 228-164 last December.) The new legislation has several changes, including removing language added to last year's version that prohibited anyone with a felony record from applying for a cannabis license. Some technical changes to the language surrounding Small Business Administration funds align more closely with already-existing SBA programs for women, minorities, and veterans. Those programs will be available to anyone in the cannabis industry once federal penalties are removed. The Cannabis industry is awaiting the Senate's work on its own piece of comprehensive cannabis legislation. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden (Ore.) and Cory Booker (N.J.) have a timeline that is very unclear with Schumer's canned "coming soon" whenever quoted about the timeline.
Florida Tracker
Sales in Florida were up slightly from the week prior. Flower sales were up 1%, THC sales were up 4% and CBD sales were up 1%. AltMed (Owned by Verano) added one dispensary bringing their total to 33 dispensaries in the state. Companies with the largest increases in market share in the past eight weeks compared to the prior eight weeks are Surterra, AtlMed, and Curaleaf. Trulieve has lost 2.56% market share in the same time frame. Another notable increase is from Columbia Care which has increased .63% in market share from 1.65% to 2.28% which is significant as a smaller player in FL.
Consumption Lounges
Legislation that would legalize marijuana consumption lounges has advanced in the California and Nevada state Assemblies, according to Marijuana Moment. In California, the Assembly approved AB1034, enabling sites that allow recreational marijuana use to allow non-cannabis food and drinks. Currently, under state law, the latter is not allowed at such establishments. In Nevada, the Assembly passed AB341, which provides for the licensure and regulation of cannabis consumption lounges. There would be two types of lounges in Nevada: One for already existing cannabis dispensaries where the plant could be bought and consumed on-site (retail) and the other (independent) where marijuana could be used but would have to be delivered from another source. Both bills will now be considered in the Senates of both states.
