420 with CNW — California Legislators Send Marijuana Bills to Governor’s Desk

California legislators have approved a series of marijuana-related bills in their just-concluded session. The bills cover various aspects of the industry and have garnered significant attention, particularly from industry professionals. During the session, several cannabis-related laws were introduced, including one that was designed to safeguard workers who use marijuana in traditional office settings.

Governor Gavin Newsom has until Oct. 14, 2023, to either reject or sign the measures.

Three bills have taken center stage in discussions among California’s cannabis industry insiders, those addressing issues related to social equity, labeling and consumption lounges restrictions.

SB 51, which seeks to rectify historical injustices by extending the provisional license program of the cannabis control department, has garnered support, particularly from social-equity licensees and applicants. The measure allows retail-equity licensees and applicants to receive or renew temporary licenses for up to five years under certain conditions, allowing businesses to remain in compliance while working toward permanent annual permits.

The transition to annual state licenses has proven challenging, especially in Los Angeles, where many social-equity cannabis businesses are struggling due to real estate hurdles and capital shortages. SB 51 aims to provide relief to more than 300 applicants across the state, spanning areas such as San Jose, San Diego and Long Beach.

AB 374 has also been seen as a potential victory for cannabis retailers. The legislation would permit California cannabis shops to operate conventional kitchens and host events. It promises operational changes and new revenue streams while serving as a model for other states struggling with consumption lounge regulations. The law would take effect on Jan. 1, 2024, pending the governor’s approval, but it would apply only in jurisdictions that permit consumption lounges.

Unlike the other two measures, AB 1207 has encountered strong opposition within the industry. The bill introduces new restrictions on product packaging and labeling, including bans on various designs and images that might appeal to persons under 21 years of age.

The measure carries significant implications for brands and manufacturers, particularly minority-led and small enterprises that use packaging to highlight their unique identities and stories. AB 1207 has successfully passed through both legislative chambers and now awaits the governor’s signature.

Despite consistent industry demands, tax relief for the marijuana sector has once again failed to gain traction during this legislative session. SB 512, which aimed to eliminate double taxation imposed by the state and local jurisdictions, failed to progress beyond committee stages.

For global-focused companies such as Cronos Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CRON) (TSX: CRON), the evolving regulatory landscape in California is of great interest since the developments there can cascade to other U.S. states and jurisdictions around the world, impacting the trajectory of the industry.

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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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420 with CNW — US Nurses Association Recognizes Marijuana as Specialty Practice Area

The American Nurses Association (ANA) has released a formal statement recognizing marijuana as a specialty practice area for nursing. The statement, which was released last week, highlighted that cannabis nurses would play a crucial role in providing patients with guidance and education on how to incorporate cannabis into treatment.

Currently, the ANA represents more than 5 million nurses across the United States. The organization’s president, Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, stated that this move underscored the crucial role and special contribution of marijuana nurses to the healthcare system and promoted integration of marijuana treatments for health care consumers in different healthcare settings.

The ANA also credited the American Cannabis Nurses Association for contributing to the extensive landscape of nursing practice and patient care and pioneering the marijuana nursing field. The ACNA advocates for studies on medical cannabis, as well as education and policy reform on the same. ACNA president Rachel Parmelee stated that the organization was gratified by the establishment of marijuana nursing as a recognized nursing specialty.

In her statement, Parmelee observed that cannabis nursing needed specialized knowledge and competencies to address the stigma linked to the use of medical marijuana, navigate care and support a healthy society. She then noted that the organization’s objective was to establish lasting and transformative change that would enrich both general and specialized nursing practices, helping serve the needs of patients across the country.

In its statement, the ANA also voiced its support for urgent clinical studies informing patients on the effectiveness of cannabis and associated cannabinoids, quoting its 2021 statement on the therapeutic use of marijuana. The 2021 statement suggested that cannabis be reclassified as a Schedule II substance under the Controlled Substances Act to facilitate research. The statement also called for the development of evidence-based standards for dosing and use of marijuana and the protection of patients who used cannabis from criminal or civil penalties.

Generally speaking, nurses in America have favorably supported the legalization of cannabis. One survey conducted in 2018 determined that 82% of polled nurses were in favor of legalizing medical cannabis while almost 60% supported the legalization of adult-use marijuana.

While there has been an increase in studies on marijuana in the last few years, certain obstacles continue to hinder progression. A good example would be marijuana’s current classification as a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act. This schedule makes it hard for researchers to obtain marijuana for research and even harder to study it.

This formal recognition of marijuana as a nursing specialty practice field is likely to be positively received by the wider cannabis industry, including entities such as Cresco Labs Inc. (CSE: CL) (OTCQX: CRLBF) since it inches cannabis closer to being integrated fully into mainstream medical care.

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420 with CNW — Germany’s Marijuana Legalization Bill Advances Despite Opposition from State Representatives

Contenders of a proposed measure aiming to legalize cannabis in Germany faced a setback as they failed to garner sufficient support to thwart its progression through the legislative process. Germany’s legislative framework comprises two main chambers: the Bundesrat (also known as the Federal Council), comprising individual states’ representatives, and the Bundestag, which comprises democratically elected legislators. The legalization measure was presented in the Bundesrat, where lawmakers advocated for amendments but were unable to halt its advancement.

Germany’s federal cabinet, from whom the measure originally came, will now respond to the Bundesrat’s input before sending the law to the Bundestag for potential approval.

The motion to pause the legislation made by the Bavarian Bundesrat Rep. was rejected, as was a proposal to need the formal approval of the Bundesrat prior to legalization. Another attempt to raise the current draft’s 18-year-old legal possession age limit was similarly unsuccessful. However, there was consensus among the state representatives that the bill had a systemic enforcement weakness. They are seeking amendments to ensure that the states are not burdened with administrative expenditures associated with the federal government’s implementation of regulations.

The legalization proposal received 80 amendments from Bundesrat committees, including proposals to address drunk driving, prohibit alcohol sales and use in marijuana clubs, and set safety requirements for growing facilities.

The cabinet is expected to issue a counterstatement, after which the bill will proceed to the Bundestag. If it passes there, the Bundesrat can debate the measure but cannot block its implementation.

If enacted, the bill would permit adults 18 years of age and older to legally possess marijuana and grow up to three cannabis plants for personal use. Furthermore, the proposal introduces social clubs to distribute cannabis to members, with purchase caps of 25 grams per day for those older than 21 years of age and 30 grams monthly for those aged 18 to 21. The clubs cannot be established within a 200-meter radius of educational institutions or playgrounds. There are also specific limits on the number of clubs per district or city.

The bill also includes cost estimates for program implementation, potential savings from reduced enforcement and expected new revenue collected through employment taxes.

Germany’s journey toward legalization involved months of internal discussions and negotiations, complemented by visits to California marijuana businesses. Additionally, high-level meetings with European counterparts signaled a commitment to ending cannabis prohibition and regulating the industry.

As more markets such as Germany open on the European continent, enterprises such as Canopy Growth Corp. (NASDAQ: CGC) (TSX: WEED) could have a larger international market to expand into.

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420 with CNW — Wholesale Marijuana Prices Rebound in Several States

Wholesale marijuana prices have recently found stability or even experienced slight rebounds in select markets during the summer. However, industry experts are advising cultivators to prepare for a potential renewed downward trend as the fall harvest bolsters inventories through the year’s end.

Ben Burstein, a strategist at LeafLink, points out that a significant inventory buildup is observed across the industry during this time of the year, particularly around the harvest season, triggering substantial price drops. LeafLink’s data gathered from 13 states shows that after several months of consistently hitting record-breaking lows, wholesale cannabis flower prices have stabilized in certain well-established markets, such as Michigan and California. While this is good news for producers, retailers are grappling with rising costs.

In California, for instance, retailers paid more than 29% more for marijuana flower in August compared to the previous year due to a 15% decline in licensed square footage. Meanwhile, Michigan witnessed a 19% price rebound since the end of 2022, registering more than a 4% increase compared to the previous year.

In contrast, Oregon and Oklahoma, known for having some of the lowest wholesale marijuana prices in the country, experienced price increases of more than 5% and 7%, respectively, compared to the previous year. On a broader scale, prices across the 13 states exhibited a 4% year-over-year increase in August 2023 and a 15% rise compared to the end of last year.

Despite these positive trends, wholesalers in most states continue to grapple with price compression due to an oversupply of inventory. According to Cannabis Benchmarks, prices have reached a “historic low,” with the spot index plummeting to only $935 per pound, a 7.3% decline from September last year.

Burstein noted that the marijuana market tends to follow a similar pattern in most states. When medical cannabis programs launch, prices per pound can reach as high as $10,000. However, as more growers become licensed, prices gradually decline.

For instance, in Maryland, where recreational cannabis sales commenced in July, prices surged by more than 40% from August 2022 to August 2023. In Missouri, adult-use sales introduced in February increased wholesale cannabis flower prices from around $1,500 per pound in late 2022 to more than $2,000 per pound in August.

Arizona, after experiencing oversupply issues in 2021 and 2022 due to extensive greenhouse cultivation, saw prices inch up slightly in August, rising by more than 2%. Colorado, on the other hand, currently boasts the lowest wholesale prices in the nation, standing at $810 per pound in August.

In Massachusetts, the market is adjusting to reduced out-of-state demand, dropping from 25% to 15% following cannabis legalization in neighboring states such as Vermont, New York and Connecticut. Wholesale prices in the state have fallen by more than 27% since August 2022. Looking ahead, Burstein predicts further declines in the latter half of the year, as pricing shifts typically occur between the harvest and the early months of spring, when product availability decreases.

Cannabis companies such as Aurora Cannabis Inc. (NASDAQ: ACB) (TSX: ACB) are used to these seasonal changes in the wholesale price of marijuana, and likely calculate this into their pricing policies so that they still earn a profit by the end of the year.

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420 with CNW — Concerns Arise as Few Blacks Enroll for UK Study on Marijuana’s Effects on the Brain

A campaign behind a UK-based study to research the effects of marijuana use on the brain is struggling to recruit Black and Asian volunteers who smoke cannabis regularly. The lack of adequate representation in the volunteer pool has raised concerns that the study’s findings would not be truly representative of the United Kingdom’s population.

With £2.5m ($3.04 million) in funding, the King’s College London study seeks to understand how cannabis use can lead to psychosis and paranoia in some users but have no such effects in other users. Findings from the upcoming study could open the door to expanded therapeutic use of cannabis and increase the safety of illicit recreational cannabis use.

But while White people have volunteered for the study in relatively large numbers, few Asian and Black cannabis users have volunteered for the study. After 18 months of working to build a 3,000-strong pool of marijuana users from the London Area, the “Cannabis and Me” campaign still needs to recruit hundreds more Asian, Caribbean and Black people.

Understandably, these two communities have met attempts to collect data about illicit drug use with suspicion and distrust. A 2021 analysis by the Liberal Democrats found that Black people in the UK are around 12 times more likely than White people to be arrested and prosecuted for marijuana possession.

Former police chief and the Liberal Democrat’s House of Lords home affairs spokesperson Brian Paddick said at the time that law enforcement’s focus on marijuana possession was undermining the Black community’s confidence and trust in the police. Asian and Black people also have an 11.8 cannabis possession conviction rate compared to White people, at 2.4 times even though they have lower self-reported rates of cannabis use.

Furthermore, Black people in the UK cumulatively make up a quarter of all cannabis possession convictions even though they make up less than 4% of the country’s population.

The two communities’ unwillingness to participate in the cannabis study points to a deeper issue in research science: Black people and other ethnic minorities have little representation in clinical research. This underrepresentation was especially present in clinical trials for coronavirus vaccines even though the pandemic had a significantly larger impact on minorities such as Asians and Black people.

Marketing consultant and head of the campaign’s recruitment drive William Gadsby-Smith says that for people who have had their trust in the government and law enforcement eroded by years of corrupt and racist police, saying no to participating in such initiatives is extremely easy.

An advocacy group based in Brixton that tackles racism in the UK’s legal system called Unjust refused to help the campaign recruit participants from minority groups. According to Unjust’s founding director Katrina French, the study’s findings on cannabis and psychosis could potentially lead lawmakers to expand cannabis criminalization among Black males while ignoring the effects of cannabis prohibition.

The fact that licensed companies such as Trulieve Cannabis Corp. (CSE: TRUL) (OTCQX: TCNNF) are permitted to operate in certain jurisdictions in the world doesn’t mean that all forms of prohibitionist policies were rolled back. The struggle for an end to prohibition is an ongoing process, and the reluctance of Blacks to enroll for the study above is testament that more still needs to be done.

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420 with CNW — SAFER Banking Bill Clears Panel, Heads to Senate Floor

The Senate Banking Committee advanced a new bill on Sept. 27, 2023, that would grant marijuana businesses access to banking services. The bipartisan measure, the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act, seeks to provide legal safeguards for financial institutions that choose to offer services to state-regulated cannabis enterprises.

Senator Jeff Merkley (D), the bill’s lead sponsor, celebrated this progress as a historic event, highlighting the remarkable spirit of cooperation across party lines.

He expressed his concerns about the current scenario where legal cannabis businesses are forced to operate solely in cash, terming it an invitation to criminal activities such as organized crime, robberies and money laundering. Merkley articulated his commitment to fostering bipartisan support to ultimately enact legislation that eradicates the cash-driven marijuana economy, thereby bolstering public safety nationwide.

The bill also boasts support from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D) and Senators Steve Daines (R), Kyrsten Sinema (I) and Cynthia Lummis (R). The lawmakers issued a joint statement underscoring the legislation’s potential to create safer environments for small businesses and local communities by granting legal marijuana enterprises access to conventional financial services, such as bank accounts and small business loans.

Despite the legalization of marijuana for medical and recreational use in 39 states, the industry has grappled with growth limitations due to its classification as a Schedule I substance under federal law. This has deterred many banking institutions from offering financial services to cannabis-related businesses, thus restricting their access to capital and broader markets. As a result, state-regulated marijuana enterprises have been compelled to conduct their operations exclusively in cash, exposing them to the perils of theft, organized crime and money laundering.

Given the expansion of recreational marijuana markets in various states, analysts from the MJBizFactbook anticipate that the combined sales of recreational and medical marijuana in the United States will reach $33.6 billion by the close of 2023.

The recent Senate vote represents a historic milestone, marking the first time the Senate has considered such legislation. While a previous iteration of the bill, the SAFE Banking Act, enjoyed multiple House approvals, it faced repeated obstacles in the Senate under both Republican and Democratic control.

The latest version of the bill also includes stringent provisions for federal regulators, preventing them from closing cannabis-related accounts without valid justification and from denying banking services based on political motivations and personal beliefs. The fate of the bill now hinges on the potentially more challenging terrain of the Republican-controlled House.

The entire cannabis industry, including major entities such as Tilray Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: TLRY) (TSX: TLRY), is waiting with bated breath as they follow how this landmark bill will be handled on the U.S. Senate floor.

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420 with CNW — Marijuana Banking Outlook Improves in Senate

Banking access in America’s state-legal marijuana industry has been a controversial topic since its inception. Federal law prohibited cannabis even as dozens of states legalized the plant for medical and recreational use, resulting in a state-level industry that dealt in a federally outlawed product.

Consequently, businesses in the cannabis sector were unable to access banking and financial services as financial institutions generally avoided state-legal cannabis cultivators, processors, and retailers for fear of federal reprisal.

Efforts by a group of lawmakers to mitigate this issue and finally grant the cannabis industry access to banking have generally moved at a slow pace, forcing cannabis businesses to operate on a cash-only basis in the meantime and increasing their risk of suffering violent robberies.

The Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act sought to expand banking access to America’s cannabis industry. However, the measure stalled in the U.S. Senate several times despite the support of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Most recently, lawmakers filed a revised version of the bill called the SAFER Banking Act and sent it to the Senate Banking Committee for review. Soon after, Schumer released a statement hailing the measure as a means of making small businesses and their communities safer by allowing the cannabis industry to finally access conventional financial services like small business loans and bank accounts.

The safety aspect likely referred to the fact that cannabis businesses are often targeted by criminals because they often have stockpiles of cash and cannabis, which are highly liquid assets, on-site. However, while Schumer and the other lawmakers behind the SAFER Banking Act are optimistic about its chances of advancing, several industry insiders aren’t confident of the measure’s chances of success.

Some advocates had been concerned that the SAFER Banking Act would be held up by a possible government shutdown that would halt legislative activities in Congress. Until this weekend, the U.S. government had been only days away from its fourth partial shutdown in the decade as Republicans and Democrats still hadn’t passed funding legislation for federal agencies.

Over the weekend, however, Congress passed a last-minute bill, keeping the government open. Now attention turns to the bill. Last week, Senate Banking Committee chair Senator Sherrod Brown predicted that a majority of the committee would vote in favor of the SAFER Banking Act. This has come to pass, as the bill has now been advanced to the Senate floor.

Brown noted in the Ask a Pol podcast that while he didn’t expect many amendments to the measure on the Senate floor or what the vote committee vote would be, he was confided that the bill would pass “decisively.”

Marijuana industry advocates, as well as enterprises such as Verano Holdings Corp. (CSE: VRNO) (OTCQX: VRNOF), hope that this particular piece of legislation will fare better than its predecessor did.

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420 with CNW — Thai PM Announces Clampdown on Marijuana in Major Policy Reversal

Srettha Thavisin, Thailand’s newly elected prime minister, has pledged to change the country’s cannabis laws over the next six months to limit their use to medical purposes only. Thailand became the first Asian country to decriminalize marijuana after delisting the plant as a narcotic last year, resulting in a surge of cannabis dispensaries and cafes in major tourist locations such as Pattaya, Chiang Mai and Bangkok.

Currently, Thai law allows adults over the age of 20 to use marijuana inside their homes but not while they are nursing or pregnant. Furthermore, foods containing cannabis extracts are permitted to be served in restaurants with a license.

However, the lack of legislation to govern its usage has resulted in a legal gap in the country. Presently, about 6,000 dispensaries are operating nationwide, offering a range of cannabis products from oil extracts to buds. Thai farmers have also been permitted to cultivate marijuana after registering with the Thai FDA.

Thailand’s new leader, who took office in August, stressed the consensus within the coalition government to amend the law and prohibit recreational use. “The law must undergo a complete overhaul,” Srettha stated. “It needs correction. We can only control it for medical use,” he added, dismissing any compromise for recreational usage.

Srettha is the leader of the Pheu Thai Party, which formed a coalition government with 10 other parties. Prior to the May elections, the coalition advocated for a strict antidrug campaign and pledged to undo the historic cannabis decriminalization policy. The coalition includes the Bhumjaithai Party, led by Anutin Charnvirakul, who remains committed to advancing a parliamentary bill aimed at introducing stricter industry oversight while opposing the reclassification of marijuana as a controlled substance.

Some within the tourism sector have welcomed the move to restrict cannabis usage, citing problems arising from lax industry regulations. Thanet Supornsahasrungsi, group executive director of Sunshine Hotels and Resorts in Pattaya, remarked that most marijuana shops largely cater to recreational users and that there have been reports of marijuana overdoses. He emphasized the importance of stricter regulations to ensure that individuals who need it receive safe medical care.

Supporters of recreational cannabis argue that reclassifying the substance as a narcotic instead of implementing industry regulation, could drive recreational usage into an unregulated underground market, exacerbating control issues. Thailand plays a key role in drug trafficking along the vast Mekong River valley in southeast Asia, often with the assistance of law enforcement agencies. Srettha has committed to eliminating illicit drugs in the nation within a year.

This policy reversal is obviously disturbing to companies that were investing in the industry in anticipation that enabling regulations would be enacted. Even established companies such as SNDL Inc. (NASDAQ: SNDL) would be immensely impacted if any of the markets in which they had advanced plans to expand into suddenly changed course and reestablished prohibitive policies.

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420 with CNW — Top Minnesota Marijuana Regulatory Official Quits as Background Information Raises Questions

A recently appointed marijuana regulatory official in Minnesota has stepped down just a day after taking the post after an MPR-APM report revealed conflicts of interest and evidence of business impropriety. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz appointed Erin DuPree as the head of the new Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management on Sept. 21, 2023, and his office penned a press release praising her for leading research on cannabis and hemp-derived products while remaining compliant with state cannabis regulations and laws.

However, a background review by APM Reports and MPR News raised major questions about her background and the Walz administration’s verification processes, prompting DuPree to abdicate her post. The investigation by MPR News-APM Reports revealed that DuPree owned a business that sold products with more than the state-mandated THC limit, racked up tens of thousands of dollars in tax liens and was in debt to several former associates.

Starting in July 2022, a website for DuPree’s business Loonacy Cannabis Co. marketed cannabis products containing well over the allowed THC limits in Minnesota and advertised THC vape products that are illegal under Minnesota law.

Even though DuPree cleared out her strip mall storefront at Apple Valley on Friday and said that she had plans to sell the business to avoid conflicts of interest once she assumed a regulatory role, the report revealed that the location was involved in illegal activity. Prior social media posts by DuPree showed her advertising illegal vape pens and edibles that surpassed low-dose potency limits.

Following her exit from the cannabis regulatory post last week, DuPree released a statement saying she never “knowingly sold” noncompliant products. She also said that running a lawful business has always been her business objective and she removed all non-compliant products from her inventory once she learned they were not in line with Minnesota cannabis policies.

Even so, DuPree noted that she had “become a distraction” that could hinder the work that had to be done to launch Minnesota’s recreational industry.

Governor Walz released a statement saying that interim director Charlene Briner would remain in an interim capacity but did not mention DuPree’s resignation. Walz said that state leadership had a duty to guarantee Minnesotans that the nascent cannabis market would be lawful, well regulated and safe. He added that the administration was making progress toward this goal and had begun the process of hiring key leaders for the adult-use market.

DuPree’s decision to quit after questions were raised about her past alleged transgressions is a good one as it allows the industry to start on a clean footing that operators elsewhere including TerrAscend Corp. (TSX: TSND) (OTCQX: TSNDF) would appreciate from an official charged with overseeing the cannabis industry in any state.

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420 with CNW — Wyoming Activists Consider Court Action Against Government Official Regarding Stand on Marijuana Voter Measure

Activists behind two cannabis reform measures in Wyoming are considering seeking legal action against the secretary of state over a voter-signature disagreement. According to the campaign, Secretary of State Chuck Gary’s office “provided incorrect information” on the number of signatures activists had to submit for their measure to qualify for the 2024 ballot.

The Compassionate Options Wyoming, the state Libertarian Party and Wyoming NORML says the misunderstanding has turned into a time-consuming back-and-forth that has derailed the marijuana reform measures and prompted them to consider litigation. Both measures would legalize medical cannabis in Wyoming and decriminalize simple possession of small amounts of marijuana.

In a recent press release, activists claimed that the secretary of state’s office had instructed them to collect more than 40,000 signatures for their measure to qualify for the ballot even though state law only called for 29,730 signatures. The cannabis measures would have qualified under the rules requiring slightly under 30,000 signatures; instead, both measures failed to qualify for the ballot earlier this year.

Wyoming NORML announced in March that although it had collected enough raw signatures for both initiatives, the group didn’t meet the minimum percentages needed in two-thirds of the counties in Wyoming. The activists collected 47,426 signatures for the cannabis decriminalization proposal and 48,687 signatures for the medical marijuana proposal but clarified at the time that the signatures were not state verified.

Reform activist and Oquirrh Mountain Strategies consultant Apollo Pazell said the disagreement stemmed from a dispute on when and how the secretary of state’s office determined the signature thresholds for measures to qualify for the ballot. According to Pazell, the campaign reached out to the office on several occasions but was “given the turnaround.” Pazell also notes that a state website showed that the minimum threshold for ballot initiatives to qualify was 41,776, but number changed to 29,000 the day after the campaign’s deadline passed.

Conversely, Secretary of State Gary says Pazell’s claims are untrue and an attempt to shift blame onto the office for not doing enough due diligence. Gary explained that the campaign began collecting signatures 15 months before he took office, and any incorrect information the organizations received would have come from the previous administration’s election team.

Wyoming is one of the few states in the country that still outlaws both medical and recreational cannabis. Reform activists tried to qualify a cannabis measure for the 2022 ballot but were unable to collect enough signatures due to the coronavirus pandemic and poor weather.

As the calls for reform in Wyoming become louder, a time will come when this outlier state on matters of marijuana policy also eventually opens up and allows local enterprises akin to Green Thumb Industries Inc. (CSE: GTII) (OTCQX: GTBIF) to mushroom and thrive within its borders.

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