Retail

A recent study found that about 19% of online cannabis retailers do not require age verification when purchasing cannabis products. However, it is unclear if the study differentiated between regulated cannabis and hemp-derived cannabinoids.

Nearly 70 New York state lawmakers sent a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul urging her to sign the Cannabis Crop Rescue Act, which lawmakers approved in June to allow licensed cannabis farmers to sell their products to dispensaries located on Tribal lands.

The Pennsylvania Senate last week passed a proposal that would allow more licensed medical cannabis companies to operate as dispensaries — currently, just five of the state’s 25 cannabis companies are allowed to retail medical cannabis products.

Square announced this week it was entering the Canadian cannabis space through a partnership with cannabis e-commerce company Jane Technologies.

Workers at a Phoenix, Arizona dispensary went on strike last week after the company, Curaleaf Midtown, failed to negotiate a contract despite workers having voted to join the UFCW Local 99 union last summer.

Combined medical and adult-use cannabis sales in Connecticut set a new monthly record at $25 million in August after adult-use sales totaled $14 million and medical cannabis sales reached $11 million.

California lawmakers have passed a bill to allow cannabis cafes in the state, sending the proposal to Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) for final approval.

Adult-use cannabis dispensaries in Massachusetts have sold more than $5 billion worth of product since the market launched in 2018.

High Times, the famed counterculture publication-turned-cannabis retailer, last week entered an intellectual property partnership with Lucy Scientific, a Canada-based company with holdings and operations in a variety of psychotropic businesses.

Missouri’s combined medical and adult-use cannabis sales totals last week topped the $1 billion mark, according to state data.

This week marked the second collective bargaining agreement in the Michigan cannabis industry after workers at Ascend Cannabis Provisions in Grand Rapids voted to join the Teamsters Local 406.

The average cost of medical cannabis in Arkansas fell to $4,545 per pound in June, down from $5,466 per pound in 2022. Additionally, dispensaries in the state sold about 5,149 pounds of medical cannabis in June, an increase from the 2022 monthly average of 4,212 pounds.

Medical cannabis sales in Arizona have fallen to their lowest point yet since the January 2021 launch of the state’s adult-use marketplace.

Combined medical and adult-use cannabis sales in Missouri have topped $100 million again for the sixth consecutive month, totaling $123.2 million in July.

Michigan cannabis dispensaries sold $275 million worth of product in July, putting the state on track to crest $3 billion in cannabis sales for the year.

Connecticut adult-use cannabis retailers sold $13 million worth of product in July while medical cannabis sales continued to decline for the second consecutive month, sliding to $10.6 million.

New York’s first “Cannabis Growers Showcase” — which is the state’s answer to lagging retailer licenses and will be similar to a farmer’s market for cannabis products — is set to open today, August 10, in New Paltz.

Adult-use cannabis retailers in Maine set yet another sales record in July at $20.9 million; it’s the third month in a row of record sales for the state’s cannabis dispensaries.

Maryland dispensaries sold nearly $85 million worth of cannabis products in July, which was the state’s first month of legal adult-use sales.

Illinois’ adult-use cannabis sales topped $136 million in June — the state’s highest monthly sales total of the year and its third-highest total ever.

New York cannabis regulators voted to approve a “cannabis showcase” program to let growers sell products to the public at events including concerts and festivals.

NativeCare, a medical cannabis dispensary in the Red Lake Nation in Minnesota, announced plans to begin selling adult-use cannabis starting August 1, the first day that cannabis will be legal in the state.

The commissioner of Virginia’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said the administration of Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) does not plan to facilitate the launch of adult-use cannabis sales while he is in office.