Reality Bites

NY regulators chew-up the cannabis industry.

Daily Recap

The New York legal cannabis rollout has been a disaster by virtually every measure but the Finger Lakes region has been hit particularly hard by the legal battles. More than a dozen businesses in the area had only recently received licenses after another lawsuit barred regulators from issuing licenses in that territory.

“It’s a huge setback, and the first setback was huge,” said Scott General, who received his license in the Finger Lakes in mid-June. “It’s just unreal how we’re being treated – how can this even happen?” They likely won’t find much sympathy from the medical operators who have also been sidelined from the start (who’ve filed yet another lawsuit).

The next hearing for the Big Apple Circus will be held in Kingston, NY on Friday, where the city that never sleeps awaits word on state-legal remedies that would allow it to do just that. The entire process has been a shanda, as my people would say.

The “tell me there’s a problematic chasm bw federal and state law without telling me there’s a problematic chasm bw federal and state law” item of the day comes by way of Chesapeake Bay. Maryland is ‘craftily’ coding marijuana tax revenue in obscure terms to ‘protect’ Wells Fargo, per the spry eyes at Marijuana Moment.

“This was a heavy lift and something we had to do,” a state official reportedly said at a conference last week. “In order to protect the banks, we can’t even call this cannabis on the tax return.” Instead, “we have craftily called this ‘A sale subject to the 9% rate under Senate Bill 516 of 2023.'”

In other news, Alcohol use is dropping among young adults as cannabis consumption grows, according to a new Gallup poll; a study found that medical cannabis is safe and highly effective for treating neuropathic pain and concomitant sleep disturbance; the University of Colorado Cancer Center tells us cannabis improves cognition in cancer patients by helping them cope with issues like sleeplessness, depression, anxiety and pain; and cannabis use does not increase the risk of heart attacks (although investing in cannabis stocks might).

New Jersey cops can puff as much weed as they want; Allen Iverson found his answer though his new cannabis brand; bipartisan senators said legal cannabis is disrupting cartels, which is good; Nevada regulators approved three more consumption lounges; the Swiss launched their second cannabis legalization pilot; Canadian companies have walked back their CBD aspirations; ATB is crushing on Verano and we’ll share a few random thoughts on the broader market as we slip toward the end of summer.

All that, and more, just scroll down…

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