The track-and-trace software Marijuana Enforcement Tracking Reporting Compliance (Metrc) is one of the most popular options for states to monitor cannabis plants from seed to sale. It currently serves a handful of regions in the U.S., including 22 states (including 2 separate contracts in Colorado), as well as the District of Columbia and Guam.

On Feb 21, Metrc announced that it has officially agreed on a new contract with the state of Kentucky. Citing Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s signing of Senate Bill 47 in March 2023, which is set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2025, the state is currently working on establishing its regulatory framework in anticipation of that deadline. “Tasked with developing and implementing regulations for the Kentucky Medical Cannabis Program, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services aims to ensure Kentuckians suffering from serious medical conditions have safe, affordable access to medical cannabis, achieved via a commitment to evidence-based practices, transparency, outreach and education,” Metrc explained in a press release.

Metrc CEO Michael Johnson expressed his pride in Metrc being used in Kentucky. “As Kentucky works to establish its medical cannabis market, we are thrilled to have the opportunity to launch the state’s first-ever track-and-trace program,” Johnson said. “Our team at Metrc looks forward to working alongside the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to build a regulatory framework that will create a marketplace with the strongest foundation, where patients are guaranteed safe consumption and licensees are provided an environment to thrive.”

The service records all information about legal plants, such as “origin, testing results, handling, and chain-of-custody” using an RFID tag. The information can be accessed by state regulators but is also beneficial to dispensary operators to help manage their inventory, and track sales and cultivation data.

Metrc noted that it has a “particular presence in the South” part of the U.S., including Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, West Virginia, and now Kentucky, which marks its 25th government contract. According to the Metrc website, the company states that its “Total events logged in Metrc” is currently at 5,622,330,903, and its total value of sales monitored equates to $31,230,700,515.

The initial passage of the medical cannabis bill in Kentucky in March 2023 allows patients suffering from cancer, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, epilepsy, chronic nausea, and post-traumatic stress disorder. “Kentuckians with qualified medical conditions can continue to seek relief with medical cannabis by going out of state and following all those conditions that you need to carefully read in the executive order,” Beshear said in March after passing SB-47. “All Kentuckians with qualifying medical conditions deserve a chance at a brighter, pain-free future, without ever having to turn to opioids. We know what those did to our state.”

Last October, Beshear provided an update on the state’s medical cannabis program. “We have established the Medical Cannabis Program, which is the office that is going to do this work, as part of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services,” said Beshear. “The office is preparing to communicate the implementation of this law with a new website that went live today. So, moving forward, you can get updates on the implementation through kymedcan.ky.gov.”

SB-47 also calls for the creation of the Team Kentucky Medical Cannabis Workgroup, the purpose of which is to study medical cannabis policy, and is composed of government representatives, as well as individuals from law enforcement, agricultural, and healthcare backgrounds.

One of the last updates from Beshear was in January, when he stated that the law was made to provide “relief to Kentuckians with severe medical conditions,” and should be expanded upon to include more conditions. He mentioned an additional list of conditions that should also qualify, including ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, Parkison’s disease, Crohn’s disease, sickle cell anemia, cachexia (wasting syndrome), neuropathies, severe arthritis, hepatitis C, fibromyalgia, muscular dystrophy, Huntington’s disease, HIV, AIDS, glaucoma, and terminal illnesses. “This is a crucial set,” Beshear explained. “While the legislation referenced several qualifying conditions, it left others out.”

Medical cannabis isn’t the only focus in Kentucky, as some legislators are continuing to push for adult-use. Rep. Nima Kulkarni introduced adult-use legislation in January 2023 which would have allowed voters to approve cannabis use, possession, and home cultivation. “For decades, the failed and irrational War on Drugs has ensured that we have arrested, prosecuted and jailed millions of Americans for low level nonviolent drug offenses,” Kulkarni said at the time. “We have the chance to move forward in a way that makes sure that Kentuckains struggling with pain, with trauma, with opioid addiction, are able to access cannabis without fear of jail or a criminal record.”

In January 2024, Kulkarni introduced House Bill 72, which would legalize adult-use cannabis and allow cannabis use, possession and home cultivation, but not sales. As of Feb 23, there have been no further updates for this bill.

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Cannabis is flying off shelves in Connecticut, according to state data, and adult-use cannabis transactions accounted for over half of the money coming in. Adult-use sales began on Jan. 10 and sales revenue has increased every month since the market launched.

The Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) announced in an Oct. 10 press release that new preliminary data shows combined sales for adult-use and medical cannabis totaled to over $25 million for the period from Sept. 1 to Sept. 30, 2023.

The numbers do not include adult-use cannabis taxes, and medical cannabis patients never have to pay taxes on cannabis purchases.

The Hartford Courant reports that the sales numbers represent a new record, though it’s close to the totals recorded in August.

“The adult-use market recorded more than $14.3 million in sales during the month of September, while the medical marijuana market recorded almost $11 million in sales for the same period. Adult-use sales began on Jan. 10, 2023,” the report reads.

“In September, medical marijuana patients purchased 284,116 products, and adult-use consumers purchased 376,035 products,” the report continues. “The average product price for medical marijuana patients was $38.21 in September, while the average price of adult-use products was $38.37. In September, 52 percent of sales were usable cannabis, or flower, while vapes made up 30 percent of sales. Edible products represented 11 percent of sales.”

This data was collected through BioTrack, the state’s Seed-to-Sale Tracking System, a real-time inventory system used to track an individual cannabis plant from the point it is planted as a seed or clone to the point of sale.

All medical and adult-use cannabis licensees are required to input data into this system, showing the movement of cannabis products as they are grown, manufactured, tested, and ultimately sold. (Information about the person who purchases the final cannabis product is not recorded.) 

Recreational cannabis users can purchase a quarter ounce of flower or its equivalent per transaction. Medical cannabis patients may buy up to five ounces per month.

Connecticut officials record cannabis sales data every month, so you can map the steady march of adult-use cannabis sales by looking at month-to-month sales on one of their many graphics.

DCP does not make revenue projections, set sales expectations, collect taxes, nor do they regulate prices. The DCP will make future data available at ct.gov/cannabis. The data will be updated monthly on or after the 10th of each month, and new data will continue to be added as it becomes available. Officials with the DCP urge adults who choose to smoke to do so responsibly.

Steady Pace of Sales

The numbers are nearly the same as the data collected in August. The DCP said in a press release that between Aug. 1-31, the combined total of both adult-use cannabis and medical cannabis sales reached almost $25 million.

“The adult-use market recorded more than $14 million in sales during the month of August, while the medical marijuana market recorded almost $11 million in sales for the same period,” the press release stated.

In August, medical cannabis patients purchased 278,395 cannabis products (with an average price of $39.36), while recreational consumers purchased 354,700 (with an average price of $39.49).

By product type, most sales (about 53%) included flower, followed by vape cartridges (27%), edibles (10%), extracts (7%), and “other” (4%) which pertains to products such as pills, tinctures, topicals, and more.

Medical cannabis was approved by former Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy, but sales tracking was not required nor available prior to 2023. 

Adult-use cannabis was initially signed into law by Gov. Ned Lamont in June 2021. Adult-use sales didn’t go live until January 2023, but the state collected $250,000 in sales on the first day with eight operational dispensaries. 

For adult-use cannabis, sales in January reached a total of $5 million, followed by $7 million in February, $9.5 million in March, $10 million in April, $11.5 million in May, $12.5 million in June, $13 million in July,, $14 million in August, and $14 million again in September.

But now you must add home cultivation to the picture. Officials with the DCP marked the launch of home cannabis cultivation, which went into effect on July 1.

“Adults who choose to grow their own cannabis should use safe and healthy gardening practices for growing any products they intend to consume,” DCP Commissioner Bryan T. Cafferelli said in a statement from the agency. “Plants should also be kept indoors, out of reach and out of sight from children and pets.”

Under the state’s regulations for home cannabis cultivation, adults ages 21 and older are permitted to grow up to six cannabis plants, including three immature and three mature, flowering plants. Plants must be kept secure from children, pets and others who should not be allowed access to cannabis. It’s not entirely clear how home cultivation will impact adult-use sales.

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The Oneida Indian Nation announced on Monday that it is launching a new cannabis enterprise in central New York, with plans to begin construction next month on a 50,000 square foot facility to house the operation. The seed-to-sale venture will include cannabis cultivation and production at the new facility in Verona, New York, to be run entirely by the Oneida Indian Nation. Retail cannabis stores, which will be announced at a later date and located exclusively on tribal lands, are projected to open in late 2023.

Ray Halbritter, a representative of the Oneida Indian Nation and the CEO of Oneida Nation Enterprises, said that the Oneida Indian Nation is launching operations in the cannabis industry to take advantage of new economic opportunities created by the legalization of marijuana in New York and the surrounding area.

“As more and more states across the country enter into the cannabis business, including neighboring states and other tribal nations, it is important that the Oneida people not be left out from taking advantage of this economic opportunity,” Halbritter said in a statement from the Oneida Indian Nation. “We are excited about this new venture and are confident based on our expertise and proven track record within other highly regulated industries that we will be able to set the standard for developing a safe and successful adult recreational cannabis business on Oneida Indian Nation lands.”

Weed Is Now Legal in New York

New York legalized recreational marijuana last year with the passage of the Marijuana Taxation and Regulation Act, which was signed into law on March 31, 2021. Regulators are currently in the process of developing the regulatory system to govern the cannabis industry, with the first retail adult-use cannabis dispensaries expected to open by the end of the year.

Officials in New York have acknowledged that sovereign Native American nations are free to participate in the state’s legal cannabis market. The Cayuga Nation has established a cannabis growing and processing facility in Seneca County and a retail store in Cayuga County. The Akwesasne Mohawk Nation has retail cannabis outlets on its land in northern New York, while the Seneca Nation has about 20 retailers on its territory in the western part of the state.

For its newly announced cannabis enterprise, the Oneida Indian Nation has adopted a cannabis ordinance and regulations to govern the cannabis enterprise and hold it to standards comparable to New York State’s cannabis laws and regulations, including comparable age restrictions and limitations on purchase amounts, employee licensure requirements and assurances of product safety and quality.

The Oneida Indian Nation will own and operate all of the businesses associated with the cannabis enterprise, rather than issuing licenses to independent operators. The nation has discussed the tribe’s plans for the cannabis enterprise with the New York Office of Cannabis Management and is open to further talks, according to Joel Barkin, the nation’s vice president for communications.

The Oneida Indian Nation has engaged in discussions with the New York State Office of Cannabis Management to create a joint inspection partnership of their cannabis products. The nation will apply the same tax rate on marijuana sales as the state to “avoid competition questions,” Barkin said. All tax revenues will go to support the tribe and its municipal government services on the nation territory. Those include health care, education, public safety, and cultural preservation.

The Oneida Indian Nation is a federally recognized Indian nation in central New York, consisting of about 1,000 enrolled tribal members. The Oneida Indian Nation’s enterprises, which employ more than 4,500 people, include hotels, casinos, retail shops, an RV Park, and three boat marinas. Proceeds from these enterprises are used to develop the tribe’s economic base and provide essential services to its members, including housing, health care, and education incentives and programs.

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