Jeremy Berke

Two interesting charts in the recent Deloitte report on Canadian cannabis excise taxes:

www.cannabis-council.ca/press-releas...

New York's Cannabis Advisory Board is meeting now. Chair Belluck says there will be a "robust" update on the Community Reinvestment Fund.

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Lack of track-and-trace system at heart of NY marijuana 'inversion' More than two and a half years after the first legal adult-use marijuana sale, New York still has no functioning track-and-trace system.

Here's the backstory.

State regulators say they're investigating brands over product 'inversion,' and industry experts say the lack of effective track-and-trace implementation is the root cause:

mjbizdaily.com/lack-of-trac...

Lack of track-and-trace system at heart of NY marijuana 'inversion' More than two and a half years after the first legal adult-use marijuana sale, New York still has no functioning track-and-trace system.

Track-and-trace firm BioTrack responds to recent reporting that out-of-state cannabis products are being sold in NY.

NY picked BioTrack as its track-and-trace provider in 2022. It's a crucial part of cannabis supply chain management.

mjbizdaily.com/lack-of-trac...

The case is Hybrid NYC LLC v New York State Cannabis Control board.

Statement from founder Joanne Wilson here:

New York cannabis dispensary chain Gotham has filed lawsuit against the state's Office of Cannabis Management over what they call an "unconstitutional mandate" in the MRTA that requires all NY cannabis companies to execute a labor peace agreement to obtain or renew a license.

DeSantis’ anti-cannabis campaign in hot water | Cultivated Plus, Rhode Island approves cannabis regs 🌿

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is in hot water over steering $10 million of a legal Medicaid settlement into his wife’s charity — which then went to two organizations that successfully fought legalization last year.

www.cultivated.news/p/desantis-a...

How will tariffs impact the cannabis industry? | Cultivated Trump's tariffs could create new challenges for the cannabis industry, adding economic pressure to an already struggling market and impacting state-level production.

How will tariffs impact the #cannabis industry? Well, it's not good.

Grow lights, packaging, rolling papers, and vape hardware are mostly manufactured in China and Asia.

Read the latest @cultivatednews.bsky.social:

www.cultivated.news/p/how-will-t...

Our March in review @cultivatednews.bsky.social

Cannabis retail expansion in Canada came with only a small uptick in the number of consumers Increased usage among women and older adults during 2019-2023 seemed related more to falling prices than to the expanding number of stores.

Did Canadians consume cannabis more widely, more frequently and at younger ages as it became more accessible and affordable? The answer was mostly no.

From @profmjarmstrong.bsky.social theconversation.com/cannabis-ret...

States that will lead legal weed, according to an economist | Cultivated Discover which U.S. states are poised to become cannabis economic powerhouses under potential federal legalization, with insights from a leading economist.

In today's @cultivatednews.bsky.social

The most profitable legal weed states — if the federal government legalizes — are those with more laissez-faire regulations, according to an analysis from UC Davis economist Robin Goldstein.

Read it here:

www.cultivated.news/p/states-tha...

2) The difference in rhetoric from Republican governors vs Democratic governors on cannabis is immense.

While DeSantis takes money from Philip Morris to fight legalization and Youngkin vetoes legislation, Shapiro is going on a full-court press to get legalization passed in his home state.

And two thought bubbles, from me:

1) In his veto statement, Youngkin lists a bunch of embellished and poorly researched public health impacts from legalization.

But constraining supply isn't an effective tool to rectifying these issues. Taxation and regulation is better.

In today's @cultivatednews.bsky.social:

🌿Virginia might be for lovers, but it's not for cannabis
🤝 Glass House gets into hemp biz
🥊 Minnesota publishes proposed regs
🤔 Arizona rules all hemp must be sold in dispensaries

Read it below and be sure to subscribe.

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If other states follow suit, that’s a massive shift in how hemp beverage companies are able to do business, and brings the US system more in line with Canada.

Attorney General Mayes Warns Retailers and Law Enforcement About Illegal THC Product Sales PHOENIX – Attorney General Kris Mayes today issued letters to Arizona law enforcement agencies and retailers, making it clear that the sale of THC-infused products without a valid marijuana establishm...

Arizona’s attorney general ruled that all Hemp-THC products including beverages and edibles must be sold within state-regulated dispensaries.

www.azag.gov/press-releas...

Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains may be getting a little smokier | Cultivated Tennessee lawmakers propose cannabis legalization to fund road repairs, aiming to turn pot revenue into pothole solutions in this legislative effort.

In today's @cultivatednews.bsky.social, Tennessee weighs a 'pot for potholes' bill to legalize and tax recreational cannabis to pay for road and infrastructure repairs.

But Republican lawmakers in the deep-Rep state are against it.

www.cultivated.news/p/tennessee-...

Nice day climbing and skiing with my brother

You don't say.

ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/03/10/f...

Driving while high is hard to detect. States are racing to find a good tool Police are experimenting with various methods to determine whether drivers are under the influence of marijuana, but unlike alcohol, a number of factors make that difficult to know with certainty.

Driving while high is hard to detect. States are racing to find a good tool

www.npr.org/2025/03/10/n...

The president, who last week told Congress he had "stopped all government censorship and brought back free speech in America," said today that the government had arrested a student because of his disfavored opinions.

"This is the first arrest of many to come," he said.

Legalizing cannabis Justin Trudeau’s biggest accomplishment as PM | Cultivated Canada's cannabis legalization under Justin Trudeau marked a pivotal policy shift, transforming the nation's approach to cannabis and setting a global precedent.

PM Justin Trudeau is on his way out of office, to be replaced by Mark Carney.

His crowning achievements of nearly 10 years in office?

Cannabis legalization, according to a recent poll. Read the latest @cultivatednews.bsky.social

www.cultivated.news/p/legalizing...

Until then, they'll use Canada — with its coherent federal regulations — as a testing ground for their products until they're able to bring them to the US.

But they also said that attitudes among beer distributors and wholesalers are shifting, as beer sales decline — even in the last six months. They want in.

Still, they haven't seen a "scalable" opportunity in the US quite yet.

Execs, including incoming CEO Michael Spillane, said the regulatory environment doesn't give them much comfort, given that the Farm Bill could be renegotiated this year and could wipe out the intoxicating hemp industry.

Boston Beer Co isn’t ready to mass-produce hemp drinks in the US — yet | Cultivated Boston Beer Co's hemp drink plans, earnings from Ayr, Jushi, and TerrAscend: A comprehensive look at the latest cannabis industry developments and financial insights.

Sam Adams maker Boston Beer Co execs revealed how big beer companies are thinking about the cannabis and hemp-derived beverage industry in the US.

In short, they're not quite there yet, I write in today's @cultivatednews.bsky.social.

www.cultivated.news/p/boston-bee...

Welcome to our new weekly wrap-up. This Week In Cannabis News, powered by Dutchie.

www.cultivated.news/p/this-week-...

Either way, he had the opportunity to use his success in freeing Marc Fogel to push a broader message — it's telling that he didn't.

It’s possible his posts were simply a way to neutralize Democratic support. It’s also possible he was courting the young male crowd, who are overwhelmingly in support of legalization.