Colorado Weed Delivery
While delivery is legal in Colorado for recreational and medical marijuana, fewer than a handful of municipalities have opted into the service.
The Colorado Legislature legalized marijuana delivery in 2019, with a staggered rollout for medical marijuana in 2020 and recreational marijuana in 2021. However, only Superior and Aurora have opted into recreational delivery, and Longmont and Boulder allow medical marijuana delivery.
The City of Denver is considering a proposal to opt in to weed delivery as well as loosening restrictions on cannabis consumption at licensed businesses.
However, a bill from House Representative Marc Snyder (D-El Paso) proposes changes to the marijuana delivery program that would add additional hurdles for marijuana businesses. If the bill were successfully passed, it would require a minimum number of days and hours of in-store operation—at least five days a week and five hours a day. The bill would also prohibit dispensaries from allowing customers to use pre-paid accounts.
The bill currently doesn’t have any co-sponsors.
Mexico Passes Bill to Legalize Marijuana
Mexico is one step closer to ending marijuana prohibition after lawmakers approved a bill that would legalize cannabis for recreational, medical, and scientific uses.
Mexico’s lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, approved the bill by a 316-to-129 vote. Next, the bill will head to the Senate, where it’s expected to pass before being sent to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who is likely to sign the legislation.
If marijuana is legalized in Mexico, it will enable adults 18 and older to purchase and possess up to 28 grams of marijuana and cultivate up to six plants. Small farmers and commercial growers could apply for a license to cultivate and sell marijuana.
Record employment in cannabis as the marijuana industry grows
According to the 2021 Leafly Jobs Report, the cannabis industry now supports more than 321,000 full-time jobs.
According to the report, there are “more legal cannabis workers than electrical engineers. There are more legal cannabis workers than EMTs and paramedics. There are more than twice as many legal cannabis workers as dentists.”
More than 77,000 jobs were added in 2020—a doubling of the previous year’s job growth–but the report states that diversity in cannabis is still an issue.
While Black Americans represent 13% of the population, only 1.2% to 1.7% of cannabis companies have Black ownership.
The pandemic has been hard on the U.S. economy and jobs. Outside of the cannabis industry, the economy shrank by 3.5%, and the unemployment rate almost doubled, leaving nearly 10 million Americans without work.
The pandemic has also affected marijuana sales. In 2020, Americans purchased $18.3 billion worth of cannabis products, a 71% increase over 2019.
Whether it was a year to remember or a year you wish you could forget, 2020 is coming to a close.
Here were some of the biggest stories in weed this year:
Five more states vote to legalize recreational, medical marijuana
While marijuana prohibition is still in effect at the federal level, voters in states across the country continue to push to legalize marijuana.
This November, four states voted to legalize adult-use marijuana, and two states legalized medical marijuana.
Arizona
In Arizona, voters passed Proposition 207, legalizing recreational marijuana for adults 21 years and older. Recreational sales are expected to begin in March 2021. Arizonans can grow up to six cannabis plants at home or no more than 12 plants in a house with more than one adult. Additionally, Arizonans with a prior marijuana conviction can petition to have the record expunged as of July 12, 2021.
New Jersey
Voters in the Garden State said ‘yes’ to Question 1, legalizing adult-use cannabis. Adults 21 and older will be able to purchase and possess legal cannabis, subject to rules and regulations that will be overseen by the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission, which already oversees New Jersey’s medical marijuana program.
Montana
Montana is so into legal weed that they voted on not one but two ballot measures to legalize recreational marijuana.
Initiative 190 legalized the sale and possession of up to an ounce of cannabis and the cultivation of up to four cannabis plants and four cannabis seedlings at home. Recreational marijuana sales will be subject to a 20% tax.
Constitutional Initiative 118 amended the state constitution to allow the Legislature to set the age for adults permitted to possess and consume marijuana to 21 years and older.
South Dakota
In South Dakota, voters went all in for legal cannabis, simultaneously legalizing medical and recreational marijuana.
Measure 26 to legalize medical marijuana passed with a whopping 69% of the vote. Amendment A passed with the approval of 52% of voters, allowing adults 21 and older to possess up to an ounce of cannabis. However, the new law doesn’t kick in until July 1, 2021, so for now, it’s still illegal to possess marijuana in South Dakota.
Mississippi
Mississippians approved Ballot Initiative 65 to legalize medical marijuana in their state. Residents will be able to apply for a medical marijuana card for 22 qualifying conditions, including cancer, chronic pain, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Each medical marijuana patient will be able to possess up to 2.5 ounces of medical cannabis per 14-day period.
After November’s election, 15 states plus the District of Columbia have legalized recreational cannabis, and 35 states have legalized medical marijuana.
Europe’s Highest Court Rules that CBD is Not a Narcotic
The future of the CBD market in Europe is set to expand with a ruling from the European Union’s (EU) highest court that CBD is not a narcotic. According to the ruling, CBD “does not appear to have any psychotropic effect or any harmful effect on human health.”
Before the ruling, many CBD products in the EU existed in the grey market that allowed cannabis to be sold for agricultural purposes.
The ruling comes as the result of a lawsuit in France against a company that makes CBD oil from whole hemp plants. Only the fiber and seeds of hemp plants containing less than 0.2% THC could be used commercially in France.
The EU court ruled that France’s law banning the use of whole plant hemp-derived CBD went against the EU’s law on the free movement of goods.
Marijuana Dispensaries Essential Businesses During COVID-19
In March, COVID-19 upended our lives and temporarily shuttered businesses across the country. Marijuana dispensaries were among the businesses deemed essential.
After stay-at-home orders were issued in Colorado, recreational marijuana dispensaries converted to online pre-orders and curbside pickup. While Gov. Jared Polis (D) said that recreational and medical marijuana dispensaries were “critical” retail businesses, the process wasn’t without hiccups.
In contradiction to the governor, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock (D) deemed recreational marijuana dispensaries and liquor stores non-essential. Several hours later, Denver officials walked back the decision after hordes of Denverites rushed to stores to stock up.
Pandemic marijuana sales consistently break records
Maybe people just needed a way to cope, or maybe they had more free time—whatever the reason, marijuana sales records broke records month-over-month this year.
Colorado dispensaries sold $192,175,937 worth of marijuana in May, about 11 percent higher than the previous sales record of $173.2 million set in August 2019. Colorado cannabis sales were up 29% from April and up 32% as compared to May 2019.
Adult-use marijuana sales amounted to $158,102,628 during June, the first time that more than $150 million worth of recreational cannabis had been sold during June.
Marijuana sales hit an all-time high in July at $226 million, and for the year, more than $1.63 billion in cannabis products have been sold in the state.
Beginning Oct. 1, Hawaii will be the first state in the U.S. to require cashless-only cannabis sales.
A Colorado-based credit union will permit dispensaries in Hawaii to open bank accounts, and a debit app called CanPay will enable patients to purchase cannabis with their smartphones. The app is currently in use in six states, but Hawaii will be the first to use it exclusively for medical marijuana transactions.
Because marijuana is still illegal under federal law, most banks and credit card companies refuse to work with cannabis industry. As a result, marijuana businesses are forced into cash-only transactions, making day-to-day operations tedious and putting dispensaries and employees at risk for robberies and other crime.
To put the amount of cash floating around the marijuana market in perspective, consider that Colorado consistently makes $100 million in pot sales every month (with California expected to dwarf that number)–that’s a lot of physical money, and most businesses don’t to have anywhere to put it.
Having access to banking is a big deal in the cannabis industry–and widespread access probably won’t happen until Congress decides to deschedule marijuana.
Hawaii was one of the first states to legalize medical marijuana in 2000, but dispensaries weren’t legalized until 2015.
The state Department of Health delayed the roll-out of medical marijuana until this year because the state didn’t have a certified lab–putting dispensaries in the unenviable position of growing and harvesting plants that they weren’t allowed to sell.
So far, there are eight licensed dispensaries in the state: Three on Oahu, two on Hawaii Island and two on Maui. The state’s first two medical marijuana dispensaries opened last month.
Another month, another record-breaking amount of cannabis sales in Colorado. The cannabis industry achieved a milestone in May, with $100 million in pot sales for the 12th consecutive month.
“I think that $100 million a month (in sales) are the new norm,” said Bethany Gomez, director of research for Brightfield Group, a cannabis market research firm.
Over 12 months, Colorado saw monthly sales reach $1.4 billion the state collected nearly $223 million in taxes and license fees. Since recreational marijuana was legalized four years ago, recreational sales have consistently counted for two-thirds of the monthly pot sales totals.
In May, recreational-use sales accounted for about $90.1 million and those from medical marijuana contributed just over $37.5 million. The industry’s 2017 cumulative sales through five months neared $620 million, generating close to $96 million in state revenue from taxes and fees.
However, Colorado is seeing a slow-down of growth in the industry as more states legalize recreational marijuana. Sales in Nevada–where dispensaries made about $3 million in sales and the state made about $1 million in tax revenue between July 1 and July 4–prompted the governor to declare a state of emergency as marijuana supplies ran dry. Recreational marijuana sales launch in California in 2018.
In Colorado, the market is still growing, but Gomez said that the market is approaching maturity.
“What you’re seeing in Colorado is similar to other industries, we’re starting to see lower double-digit growth rates, rather than the triple-digit growth rates,” she said. “That time of massive growth expansion in Colorado, I think, is over.”
Signs of market maturity includes the increased demand for concentrates and edibles, as well as a decrease in overall number of medical marijuana patients. New Frontier Data, a cannabis analytics firm, said that falling prices have reduced the incentive for patients to apply for medical marijuana prescription.
As of May 31, 2017, a total of 86,964 patients had an active medical marijuana registration, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. A year before, that figure was 106,066.
Since recreational use began in 2014, the products that cannabis users have evolved. Consumers have shifted from dried marijuana flower to infused products, edibles, and concentrates.
“There is increased innovation in the product category, and that’s continuing,” she said. “Consumption patterns haven’t really settled in the recreational market yet; people are still experimenting. There is still a lot of room for change there.”
There’s a first for everything, especially when it comes to the cannabis industry, so perhaps it’s not surprising that a lack of weed has led the governor of Nevada to declare a state of emergency.
Less than two weeks after recreational marijuana sales began, dispensaries report that they’re running out of product to sell. The state of emergency will allow state officials to decide on new rules to help alleviate the shortage.
The problem is that when Nevada approved recreational marijuana last November, the ballot measure stipulated that for the first 18 months of recreational marijuana sales, wholesale alcohol distributors would be granted the exclusive right to transport cannabis from grows to dispensaries.
However, the Department of Taxation hasn’t approved a single distribution license–and dispensaries are unable to restock their shelves. The department says that they haven’t issued any licenses because of incomplete applications and zoning issues.
“The business owners in this industry have invested hundreds of millions of dollars to build facilities across the state. They have hired and trained thousands of additional employees to meet the demands of the market. Unless the issue with distributor licensing is resolved quickly, the inability to deliver product to retail stores will result in many of these people losing their jobs and will bring this nascent market to a grinding halt. A halt in this market will lead to a hole in the state’s school budget,” said Department of Taxation spokeswoman Stephanie Klapstein.
The Nevada Dispensary Association estimated that dispensaries made about $3 million in sales and the state made about $1 million in tax revenue between July 1 and July 4. Over the next two years, Nevada tax officials expect cannabis sales to generate $100 million in revenue.
The Nevada Tax Commission will vote on regulation to expand the pool of eligible distributors on Thursday.
