New York Governor Kathy Hochul has announced that the state is initiating a campaign to urge persons 21 years and older to purchase cannabis from licensed dispensaries. The move is meant to make sure that people buy safe products and that profits are directed toward achieving equity and reinvestment objectives.

Hochul stated the “Why Buy Legal New York” initiative will debut around April 20, 2023, the unofficial cannabis holiday, to capitalize on the heightened awareness surrounding cannabis-related issues.

The campaign is premised on reaching consumers aged 21 or older via educational materials; digital advertisements, such as a handbook on safe consumption habits; visuals as well as movies that feature licensed marijuana business owners; and messaging about the benefits of participating in the legal market.

The state has come under fire for the way its adult-use market has been implemented, with only a handful of businesses currently licensed to sell cannabis among an uncountable number of unregulated outlets that officials are intent on rooting out.

Although New York has taken several measures to expedite the launch of online stores, there are still a few channels of entry because the administration and regulators are giving priority to licensing enterprises owned by individuals that were disproportionately impacted by prohibition. In addition, regulators recently published a how-to manual on how consumers can read cannabis dispensary receipts, as they explain how taxes from their cannabis purchases are distributed between community reinvestment programs, local governments, and the state.

Hochul emphasized that even though New Yorkers’ options are limited in the present market, seeking out permitted stores is important for supporting local reinvestment through marijuana taxes.

The initiative in New York is akin to the “Buy Legal” drive, which was started by significant cannabis businesses and the Governor Phil Murphy administration in New Jersey last year. Its objective is to inform buyers about the risks of purchasing cannabis products outside of legal marketplaces.

Last month, New York officials stated that the number of allowed conditional cannabis licenses would be increased from 150 to 300. This resulted from applicants’ suggestions that they could be in position to open stores more quickly and independently thanks to a state initiative designed to assist qualifying organizations in establishing physical locations.

The state emphasizes its role in promoting public awareness about the bill legalizing cannabis. For example, the state has released a taxpayer-financed cannabis PSA that focused on the racially biased results of marijuana criminalization and emphasized efforts that state regulators were taking to make up for the mistakes of prohibition. This was broadcast during NBA finals in most of NYC last year.

In addition, Hochul has sponsored measures to strengthen police authority to crack down on illegal marijuana merchants as the state goes about establishing a regulated market.

As the recreational market gets underway in New York State, there are also some enterprises such as IGC Pharma Inc. (NYSE American: IGC) that are hard at work developing therapeutic formulations from select constituents of this plant.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to IGC Pharma Inc. (NYSE American: IGC) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://cnw.fm/IGC

About CNW420

CNW420 spotlights the latest developments in the rapidly evolving cannabis industry through the release of two informative articles each business day. Our concise, informative content serves as a gateway for investors interested in the legalized cannabis sector and provides updates on how regulatory developments may impact financial markets. Articles are released each business day at 4:20 a.m. and 4:20 p.m. Eastern – our tribute to the time synonymous with cannabis culture. If marijuana and the burgeoning industry surrounding it are on your radar, CNW420 is for you! Check back daily to stay up-to-date on the latest milestones in the fast -changing world of cannabis.

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In February, the state of Missouri launched its recreational cannabis market. This was after voters in the state approved amendment 3 in November 2022, making Missouri the 21^st state in the country to legalize adult-use marijuana. Almost two months later and the market is set to hit $1 billion in sales in its first year.

However, increasing demand from local and out-of-state customers as well as medical cannabis patients has greatly surpassed operators’ expectations, resulting in higher wholesale prices and product shortages.

In some areas, such as near the Kansas border, retailers have observed significant increases in foot traffic since recreational sales were launched. In the southwestern region of the state, consumers from Illinois have been crossing the Mississippi River for St. Louis marijuana, which is said to be more affordable. Of the eight states bordered by Missouri, only Illinois has legalized adult-use marijuana.

Even illicit cannabis in the neighboring state of Oklahoma hasn’t affected demand in the state, causing inventory shortage throughout the supply chain and huge spikes in wholesale prices of flowers.

This is a sharp contrast from other markets such as Oregon, Michigan and Massachusetts, where a supply glut and declining prices are affecting businesses’ ability to grow. A strategy analyst at Leaflink, Ben Burstein states that there isn’t enough flower in Missouri to meet the demand in the market, noting that the demand in the state’s recreational market is exceeding supply. Data from Leaflink shows that since the launch of the recreational market, the price of bulk flower has doubled to $3,000 per pound.

Availability of bulk flower has also declined by almost 79% while the number of product stock-keeping units has also dropped by two-thirds during the same period.

Despite these issues though, medical and adult-use marijuana in the state of Missouri brought in more than $126 million in sales last month, a more than 20% increase in sales from February. Projections expect total cannabis sales in the state to reach $1.3 billion in the first year of recreational retail.

The heart of Missouri’s problem lies in underproduction, despite the abundance of cultivation capacity in the state. Manufacturing issues are also affecting major players, with Clovr experiencing a distillate shortage caused by a flower shortage. Clovr is the biggest producer in the state, with almost 100% coverage across more than 190 stores in the market.

Growers expanding their cultivation capacity and manufacturers scaling up their extraction capabilities will go a long way in helping meet consumer needs in the state.

Meanwhile, a number of entities such as IGC Pharma Inc. (NYSE American: IGC) are investing in coming up with pharmaceutical-grade medicines from THC and other marijuana constituents. These formulations will go a long way in addressing the symptom-relief needs of patients once the FDA gives those medicines the nod.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to IGC Pharma Inc. (NYSE American: IGC) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://cnw.fm/IGC

About CNW420

CNW420 spotlights the latest developments in the rapidly evolving cannabis industry through the release of two informative articles each business day. Our concise, informative content serves as a gateway for investors interested in the legalized cannabis sector and provides updates on how regulatory developments may impact financial markets. Articles are released each business day at 4:20 a.m. and 4:20 p.m. Eastern – our tribute to the time synonymous with cannabis culture. If marijuana and the burgeoning industry surrounding it are on your radar, CNW420 is for you! Check back daily to stay up-to-date on the latest milestones in the fast -changing world of cannabis.

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Federal law in the United States makes it unlawful to use or possess marijuana, but the majority of states have recently legalized it for either recreational or medical use. The shift in the law has coincided with a sharp rise in public support for cannabis legalization.

Based on surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center and other sources, we’ve highlighted seven key facts below concerning Americans’ perceptions of and attitudes toward cannabis.

About 90% of Americans believe cannabis should be legal for either recreational or medical use.

A survey by the Pew Research Center in October 2022 found that an overwhelming majority of Americans (88%) believe that marijuana should be legal for either medicinal or recreational use. Of this population, 30% believe that it should only be legal for medical purposes, while 59% advocate for its recreational use; 10% believe that the drug should never be authorized in any form.

Race, ethnicity, political party, and age all significantly affect public support for legalizing marijuana.

The October 2022 survey found that those 75 and older are significantly less likely to support the legalization of marijuana for adult use than younger adults. Only 3 out of 10 people above the age of 75 believe marijuana should be legal for adult use, compared to 53% of those between the ages of 65 and 74. In contrast, 72% of people under the age of 30 favor legalizing marijuana for recreational and medical use.

GOP and Republican leaners are less likely than Democrats and Independents with a Democratic lean to support marijuana legalization (45% vs. 75%).

Regarding race and ethnicity, 48% and 49% of Asian Americans and Hispanics, respectively, support legalizing marijuana, compared to 68% of Black and 60% of white adults who support it.

Those in for and against cannabis legalization have given various justifications for their positions.

According to a 2019 Gallup poll, the perception of marijuana’s medical benefits (86%) and the belief that legalizing the substance would allow law enforcement to focus on other types of crime (70%) were the two most frequently cited reasons by supporters of cannabis legalization.

An estimated 79% of Americans who opposed legalizing marijuana cited the rise of road accidents and fatalities as a major justification for their opposition.

Support for cannabis legalization has significantly grown over the past 20 years.

According to Gallup surveys from 2000 and 2019, there has been a significant increase in support for legalizing marijuana. Two-thirds of Americans in the 2019 study said they supported marijuana legalization, which is more than double the percentage who said the same in the 2000 survey.

Less than one-half of American adults (46%) claim to have used marijuana at some point.

This is according to a 2021 Survey on Health and Drug Use. The same survey found that while many Americans claim to have used cannabis in the past, much fewer actually do so now. At the time of the survey, 13% had used it recently, while 19% had done so the previous year.

The majority of Americans favor reducing the penalty for those who have marijuana-related convictions.

According to a survey by the 2021 Center conducted in October, 67% of adults supported releasing prisoners who were being imprisoned for marijuana-related charges. Additionally, roughly 6 out of 10 Americans (61%) are in favor of expunging or deleting marijuana-related charges from people’s criminal histories.

Black Americans, Democrats, and younger persons are more likely than older adults to approve these measures. For instance, almost 74% of Black adults support releasing prisoners who are only being detained for marijuana-related charges, and a similar percentage supports expunging or erasing marijuana-related convictions from criminal records.

As of April 2023, 21 states and Washington, D.C., allow adults to use recreational cannabis in modest amounts.

In addition to the 21 states and Washington, D.C., the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands have all enacted recreational cannabis legalization laws.

Approximately 48% of Americans currently reside in a state or territory where recreational marijuana is legal, according to a Center study of U.S. Census Bureau population projections for 2022.

Separately, some kind of medicinal marijuana program has been approved by more than 30 states, as well as Washington, D.C. The percentage of Americans (74%) who reside in areas with medicinal marijuana programs is about three-fourths of the total.

Additionally, many states have passed laws that decrease the severity of criminal penalties for some marijuana-related crimes or permit the expungement of prior convictions.

As more companies such as IGC Pharma Inc. (NYSE American: IGC) venture into developing cannabis-based medicines that end up being approved by the FDA, attitudes to this plant could shift even more away from prohibition.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to IGC Pharma Inc. (NYSE American: IGC) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://cnw.fm/IGC

About CNW420

CNW420 spotlights the latest developments in the rapidly evolving cannabis industry through the release of two informative articles each business day. Our concise, informative content serves as a gateway for investors interested in the legalized cannabis sector and provides updates on how regulatory developments may impact financial markets. Articles are released each business day at 4:20 a.m. and 4:20 p.m. Eastern – our tribute to the time synonymous with cannabis culture. If marijuana and the burgeoning industry surrounding it are on your radar, CNW420 is for you! Check back daily to stay up-to-date on the latest milestones in the fast -changing world of cannabis.

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You might not get as high off the marijuana you’re buying as you had hoped. A recent study by UNC researchers revealed that most cannabis product labels made claims about potency that were higher than what was present in the products. The researchers reached these conclusions after evaluating marijuana samples from multiple Colorado dispensaries.

The study’s conclusions highlight the absence of regulations in the rapidly growing cannabis market all around the country and raise the possibility that many consumers are being misled into thinking their purchase will contain more THC, the psychoactive ingredient responsible for marijuana’s euphoric “high.”

For the study, the researchers purchased 23 different varieties of marijuana flowers from 10 dispensaries in three Colorado cities — Garden City, Denver, and Fort Collins — and tested the THC levels of each sample.

The THC levels in 18 of the samples were lower than what was indicated on the labels, according to the researchers. Some of the products contained 40–50% less THC than what was stated on the labels. The 18 samples, on average, had 23% less THC than what was indicated on the product label. Only five of the samples exhibited THC concentrations that were within or very near the range stated on the labels.

Although recreational marijuana is legal in 21 states and Washington, DC, researchers claim that there is insufficient control over the THC dosage that a person might receive when purchasing cannabis. One major reason for the lack of control is that the drug is still federally illegal, which means both medical and recreational cannabis requirements differ by state.

Cannabis cultivators send samples to independent labs for analysis to determine the THC content of the plant. Frequently, prices increase linearly with THC content. According to Anna Schwabe, the study’s lead author, this cost dynamic has encouraged businesses to cultivate, market and sell marijuana with higher THC contents.

Different sections of the marijuana might contain varying amounts of THC, which often decreases as you move from a plant’s top to its lower limbs. According to studies, the THC in cannabis buds can also degrade with time, particularly if the herb isn’t maintained properly. However, the researchers found that the cannabinol that results from THC degradation was not present in significant amounts in the study’s samples. This suggests that the reduced potency in the observed vs. reported levels was not caused by aging or poor storage conditions.

These inconsistencies in ingredient potency make a strong case for cannabis products, especially those intended for medicinal purposes, going through the clinical development process as is being done by IGC Pharma Inc. (NYSE American: IGC) in the company’s bid to bring standardized pharmaceutical-grade formulations to market after gaining FDA approval for those formulations.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to IGC Pharma Inc. (NYSE American: IGC) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://cnw.fm/IGC

About CNW420

CNW420 spotlights the latest developments in the rapidly evolving cannabis industry through the release of two informative articles each business day. Our concise, informative content serves as a gateway for investors interested in the legalized cannabis sector and provides updates on how regulatory developments may impact financial markets. Articles are released each business day at 4:20 a.m. and 4:20 p.m. Eastern – our tribute to the time synonymous with cannabis culture. If marijuana and the burgeoning industry surrounding it are on your radar, CNW420 is for you! Check back daily to stay up-to-date on the latest milestones in the fast -changing world of cannabis.

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A federal judge has found that it is unlawful to prohibit marijuana users from owning or selling firearms. Paola Connelly, who lives in El Paso, Texas, was found guilty of distinct offenses for having and moving a gun in 2021 while accepting that she was a marijuana consumer; she was cleared after the United States Federal Court for the Texas West District agreed to review the case.

A recent decision by the United States Appeals Court for the 5th Circuit forced a re-evaluation after the court had earlier given the conviction. The decision centered on an earlier ruling established by the Supreme Court of the United States, which held that any constraints on firearms must be in keeping with the past background of the second amendment’s initial enactment in 1791. Numerous objections to the prohibition of guns for cannabis consumers have their roots in the Supreme Court’s decision.

Judge Cardone Kathleen rejected the DOJ’s efforts to draw parallels between the prohibition of cannabis and statutes prohibiting the use of firearms while inebriated and the consumption of marijuana by those who are regarded as “unvirtuous.”

The court stated that since merely possessing marijuana would only constitute a minor offense under the law of the United States, “any past custom of disarming ‘unlawful’ persons is incompatible with disarming Connelly for purported marijuana use.” The court emphasized that the person in question had not previously been charged with a marijuana-related violation, undermining the DOJ’s argument for the charges. She merely acknowledged smoking cannabis to relieve anxiety and help her sleep.

The decision has brought attention to how federal cannabis law has changed and how it may be affecting these weapons cases. Due to Michigan’s marijuana laws allowing “habitual cannabis users” and other prohibited people to obtain guns illegally, the ATF released guidance in 2020 that mandates gun vendors to run federal background investigations on all unregistered gun buyers.

Congressmen and state legislators are aggressively investigating how the use of firearms affects cannabis regulation. For instance, lawmakers in Arkansas recently sent an initiative to the governor’s office that aims to make it clear that people who use medical cannabis can obtain concealed carry permits for weapons. A Republican Pennsylvania senator reportedly urged authorities to take action to remove state restrictions on the ownership of firearms for marijuana consumers, especially medical cannabis patients, given the significance of the federal court’s finding in February that the federal ban is unlawful.

For patients who will have the chance to use marijuana-based formulations from companies such as IGC Pharma Inc. (NYSE American: IGC) once they gain regulatory approval, no such concerns about gun ownership rights will arise since those patients will be using a federally approved medicine.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to IGC Pharma Inc. (NYSE American: IGC) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://cnw.fm/IGC

About CNW420

CNW420 spotlights the latest developments in the rapidly evolving cannabis industry through the release of two informative articles each business day. Our concise, informative content serves as a gateway for investors interested in the legalized cannabis sector and provides updates on how regulatory developments may impact financial markets. Articles are released each business day at 4:20 a.m. and 4:20 p.m. Eastern – our tribute to the time synonymous with cannabis culture. If marijuana and the burgeoning industry surrounding it are on your radar, CNW420 is for you! Check back daily to stay up-to-date on the latest milestones in the fast -changing world of cannabis.

To receive instant SMS alerts, text CANNABIS to 21000 (U.S. Mobile Phones Only)

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