Licensing

A federal judge has halted Detroit’s cannabis licensing process due to a lawsuit challenging the local legacy licensing plan, which seeks to prioritize local Detroiters.

The mayor of Newport, Arkansas, and several other private entities have filed suit against Natural State Wellness Enterprises over allegations of fraud, conspiracy, and breach of contract.

Wisconsin is assigning notably fewer hemp cultivation permits this year compared to last.

The city of Detroit is now accepting cannabis industry applications from people who qualify for the “Legacy Detroiters” program, which prioritizes local Detroiters.

Green Thumb Industries is reportedly the subject of a federal investigation over possible pay-to-play violations during the licensing process. The company called the allegations baseless and said it is unaware of any such investigation.

Alaska’s licensed cannabis consumption lounges have been dramatically delayed, but not defeated, by the coronavirus pandemic.

An Illinois proposal would establish new cannabis industry licenses after leaked documents revealed that just two percent of registered Illinois cannabis business owners last year were Black or Latino.

Oklahoma lawmakers are attempting to slow the state’s rapidly growing medical cannabis industry with a two-year cap on new licenses.

Missouri officials have started to revoke the business licenses of some medical cannabis operators who failed to open their business on time.

Portland, Maine is expecting dozens of new cannabis businesses to open up in the coming weeks, about five months after the launch of adult-use sales in the state.

An Illinois proposal seeks to block former cannabis regulators and their family members from working and investing in the state’s licensed cannabis industry.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra claimed in a recent court filing that the vast majority of California cannabis companies have no right to due process because they are still operating on provisional licenses.

Nearly two-dozen towns and other jurisdictions in Vermont have approved adult-use cannabis retail operations in recent town meetings.

Rhode Island regulators are seeking a 3rd-party lottery administrator to help select the winners for six new medical cannabis dispensary licenses.

New Jersey regulators can resume their review of medical cannabis license applications under a recent appellate court ruling. The licensing process has been delayed for more than a year due to lawsuits.

In Delaware, the state just doubled its medical cannabis access points with three new business licenses and the state auditor threw her weight behind adult-use reforms.

New Mexico officials may revoke the license of New Mexicann Natural Medicine after a fire from a botched extraction process seriously injured two workers last October.

Data recently released by Michigan’s Marijuana Regulatory Agency shows that applications for cannabis business licenses by white people outnumber applications from people of color by a ratio of 16 to 1.

Following months of delays, Illinois officials have informed cannabis industry applicants of problems they can remedy in their applications as the latest licensing process begins anew.

ProVerde Laboratories in Portland, Maine has been shut down for conducting cannabis tests without a proper license. With no license, the testing lab is allowed to test hemp and CBD products but not medical or adult-use cannabis.

Ilinois state senators have advanced a measure aimed at improving the state’s social equity cannabis licensing process.

20 years after issuing its first medical cannabis cultivation permit, the United Kingdom has awarded a second such license to Jersey-based Northern Leaf.

An Illinois judge has ruled against an effort by the Illinois Craft Cannabis Association to force the licensing of craft cannabis businesses in the state after many months of delay from the coronavirus pandemic.

After its inception this year despite delays from the coronavirus, the Washington Social Equity in Cannabis Task Force has opted to center on anti-Black racism in the cannabis industry.