Rhode Island will offer a cannabis training program that prepares workers for industry, providing the skills they will need to thrive in the workforce.

According to a May 29 announcement, Rhode Island’s labor department will fund a cannabis training program to accommodate the bustling industry. The Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) is launching an eight-week Cannabis Training Program, working together with the state’s Division of Workforce Partnerships.

This 45-hour training program is free of charge, and it’s funded by the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training’s Real Jobs RI initiative. The training program begins Tuesday, July 9 at CCRI’s Liston Campus in Providence. Classes are held online and in person with curriculum taught by skilled teachers to provide students with a foundational knowledge of the entry-level jobs. The classes will provide students with the skills they need, and the applicable regulations. Students can also visit local businesses and receive employment assistance. 

The pilot cohort program will first enroll 15 students. Those interested can sign up for an interview by filling out the program inquiry form. The flexibility of the course scheduling and free tuition ensures the program is “equitable and accessible to those from communities that have been impacted by the criminalization of cannabis,” according to CCRI Director of Industry Partnerships Stacy Sullivan. 

“CCRI’s Division of Workforce Partnerships is always looking to be responsive to employer needs and we are proud and excited to create a training for this emerging industry,” said Division of Workforce Partnerships Vice President Jennie Johnson. “We look forward to having a hand in creating a robust cannabis workforce.”

More community colleges and four-year schools are offering cannabis certificates, so CCRI plans to help people interested in the state’s cannabis workforce industry. The United States’ cannabis labor market has grown exponentially each year since 2017 with the number of cannabis jobs increasing from 321,000 in 2021 to 428,059 in 2022. After adult-use recreational cannabis was legalized in Rhode Island in 2022, the number of available cannabis jobs in the state increased by 45 percent to 1,649 in 2023. There’s also 118 jobs in Rhode Island that list “familiarity with the cannabis industry” as a required skill with more than 100 cannabis-adjacent businesses, including CBD retailers, and 62 licensed cannabis cultivators currently in the market. By next year, cannabis is projected to become a $45 billion industry in the United States.

Founder and CEO of EZHire Cannabis Jacob Carlson and Certified Commercial Cannabis Expert Melissa Rutherford were instrumental in developing the curriculum and will teach courses in the program’s pilot cohort.

“Having the ability to learn job skills in a new industry is important and having CCRI embrace cannabis education is a boon to Rhode Island residents interested in determining if this emerging marketplace is right for them,” Rutherford said. “The class will introduce students to the legal cannabis industry and discuss how skills as varied as culinary, customer service, and risk management can all be applied in this growing field.”

“The question of how people are supposed to learn skills about jobs that didn’t exist legally in a highly-regulated industry always puzzled me. How are legal cannabis businesses supposed to find trained employees? That’s why this partnership with CCRI makes sense for us at EzHire Cannabis,” Carlson said. “We are seeing more need for entry-level workers, which aligns well with community college programs, both from a cost and training level.”

Rhode Island’s Cannabis Industry Grows

Adult-use cannabis sales in Rhode Island have been surging. During the state’s first year of adult-use sales, which ended last December, the Office of Cannabis Regulation says that sales “have steadily increased almost monthly over the past year, and the estimated sales for Fiscal Year 2024 is $76 million.”

“That sales estimate, if met, would translate into more than $15 million in state and local revenue: $7.6 million from the state’s 10% cannabis tax, $5.3 million from the 7% sales tax and $2.3 million from the 3% local tax,” the station reported, noting that the Office of Cannabis Regulation “estimates that, in October alone, more than $7 million worth of recreational cannabis products were sold statewide.”

Rhode Island lawmakers passed a bill in 2022 that legalized adult-use cannabis for people ages 21 and older, and it became the 19th state in the U.S. to do so.

The bill, which legalized possession of up to one ounce of cannabis for adults and also permitted possession by adults of up to 10 ounces is permitted in a private home, was approved by members of the state General Assembly in May of 2022. The measure also established the framework for legal, regulated recreational cannabis sales in Rhode Island. The new training program will help people decide where they fit in the industry.

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Green isn’t just the color of cannabis, but cash, too. And thanks to your valiant efforts of consumption, the industry is looking to help out the economy. Info from the newly released MJBiz Factbook reveals that the economic impact of regulated marijuana sales in the U.S. could exceed a whopping $112.4 billion in 2024. That’s a 12% growth compared to last year. 

Overall, the Congressional Budget Office forecasts a slowdown in economic growth for 2024 due to higher unemployment levels and reduced inflation. As a result, the Federal Reserve is likely to lower interest rates starting in mid-2024. After this, economic growth is expected to rebound in 2025 (mark the year in your calendars hopefully you’ll have extra money for weed) and then level off in the following years. So, while 2024 isn’t likely going to be one of the best economic years on record, that’s not the cannabis industry’s fault. Without it, we’d be $112.4 billion poorer as a nation. And as new cannabis markets emerge, the industry is projected to contribute over $200 billion in additional spending to the U.S. economy by 2030.

While there were sales dips in established western markets (licensed retailers in California reported taxable sales exceeding $5.1 billion in 2023), marking a 4.7% decline from the previous year, according to the latest year-end data from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, you may have read about the California mass extinction), the cannabis industry continues to see growth through the expansion of new recreational and medical marijuana facilities in states like Maryland, Missouri, and New York. 

While it’s exciting to see that the cannabis industry is going to add hundreds of billions of dollars to the economy, keep in mind that MJBiz’s date doesn’t account for potential U.S. government actions like federal rescheduling or legalization, each of which could boost revenue and economic impact. While Biden has said he’d reschedule cannabis and expunge more cannabis convictions, he hasn’t turned out to be the great liberal hero who legalizes marijuana for all. Donald Trump has been all over the place when it comes to cannabis. Thirty years ago, he said drugs should be legal, but he has backpedaled in modern years to appeal to his conservative voter base. Twenty-five years later, at the Conservative Political Action Conference, he said that he thinks marijuana legalization is “bad” and that he feels “strongly about that.”

To come to the figure of $112.4 billion of economic impact, MJBizDaily applied some epic math by looking at comparable industries. Then, they used a standard multiplier to estimate projected sales for recreational and medical marijuana. The economic multiplier illustrates the broader economic impact of the cannabis industry. It suggests that for every dollar spent by consumers and patients at adult-use stores and medical marijuana dispensaries, an additional $2.50 is circulated into the economy. This money primarily benefits the local economies that sell the cannabis in the first place. 

Keep in mind that the economic impact of the marijuana industry is different from supply-chain revenue, which is commonly utilized to gauge an industry’s ‘total size.’ According to the MJBiz Factbook, total U.S. sales for adult-use and medical cannabis are projected to hit $32.1 billion in 2024 and rise to $58 billion by 2030. 

The term “economic impact” describes the effect of an industry (or an event) on the economy of the corresponding region or country. This includes economic growth, employment, wages, and overall economic activity changes. The economic impact includes direct impacts, such as the immediate benefits from business spending and salaries; indirect impacts, such as additional economic activity from local suppliers fulfilling new demands; and induced impacts, which happen from employees spending their paychecks locally. Knowing the economic impact helps stakeholders understand the economic value of different industries and make corresponding decisions. 

The projections represent the best estimates available for the ever-evolving marijuana industry, which is different from others as it operates under a complicated and ever-changing set of state regulations yet is still illegal federally (until, of course, we elect someone down to make some real progress). The cannabis industry is vast and includes agricultural, manufacturing, and retail sectors, as well as businesses that don’t sell weed but help the cause, like lighting suppliers and cannabis-friendly accounting firms. The number even includes 420-friendly events and hospitality businesses, which can really improve our economy, per the data, and make you feel good about taking part in your local cannabis community. 

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Amid declining revenues and plunging prices, officials in one California county are considering a proposal that would ease some of the financial stress currently felt by area cannabis cultivators. 

The Press Democrat reports that officials in Sonoma County, California on Tuesday recommended that the “Board of Supervisors approve new tax rates based on a model that would reduce the tax burden for most cannabis growers.”

“Reduced tax rates may be in store for struggling cannabis cultivators and manufacturers in unincorporated Sonoma County, driven in part by decreasing prices affecting the industry…Under the proposal, cultivation tax rates would be reduced from $0.75 per square foot to $0.69 per square foot for outdoor cultivation, $3 per square foot to $2.51 per square foot for mixed light cultivation and $12.50 per square foot to $7.58 for indoor cultivation,” the newspaper reported. 

“The tax rate for manufacturers would also drop from 3% to 1.5%, while retailers would see an increase from 2% to 3%. The proposed changes come as the county sees a decline in the number of cultivators, dwindling prices driven in part by a glut of product and competition from large-scale growers and a projected long-term decrease in industry-driven revenue for its cannabis program.”

It isn’t the first time that officials in Sonoma County, located in northern California, have moved to alleviate the burden shouldered by local marijuana farmers. 

Last year, the county’s Board of Supervisors approved a tax reduction for certain cannabis growers. 

The North Bay Business Journal reported at the time that the board “voted 4 to 1…to change how the tax on cannabis cultivation is set, lowering the amount some growers will pay while raising it for others,” which ensured that “cannabis growers in the county’s jurisdiction will be taxed based on which of the size of their operations categorized into three different methods, calculated on a gross receipt tax rate of 2.5%.”

James Gore, chair of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, told High Times in 2022 that he favored the tax reductions because it was “in line with the market impacts that cannabis producers are encountering right now with a precipitous drop in wholesale price-per-pound.” 

“The reason that this was justified, merited, warranted is that our cannabis tax, like many other jurisdictions, was based on coverage—square feet. It was intended to be one and 5% of gross receipts, but when you have a drop in wholesale price, and you’re still taxing based on square footage, all of a sudden that potential 3-5% grows into not just 15 or 20—but upwards of that,” Gore said.

“We were putting people out of business with our policy, so this is the right thing to do,” he added. “The reduced cultivation tax rates are needed to account for changes in the market and our Board’s policy direction. The revenue surplus in our cannabis program will support operational costs for two years as we transition to a new tax model and policy framework. We’re committed to getting this issue right for Sonoma County, and that means continuing to work between neighborhoods and industry advocates, learning from other counties, and finding local solutions that are fair and sustainable for both communities and the environment.” 

McCall Miller, the cannabis program coordinator for Sonoma County, said that the reason behind latest tax change being considered this week “is to remain responsive to market changes and whatever those market changes entail.”

Per the Press Democrat, “Sonoma County is seeing a decline in cannabis cultivators.”

“The moves came under mounting pressure from cannabis industry representatives, who pressed for greater relief from taxes and fees they said were squeezing smaller operators out of business or into the illicit market…There are five manufacturers, six retailers and 75 cannabis cultivators in unincorporated Sonoma County, according to Miller,” the outlet explained. 

“In May 2023, there were 155 cultivators operating in unincorporated Sonoma County. Dropping prices may be one of the factors driving out cultivators, Miller said. But, she added that some cultivators have also said the county’s permitting process and backlog of applications is another factor.”

According to the Press Democrat, the county’s “cannabis tax revenue is projected to decrease from $1.6 million this fiscal year, to $1.4 million in fiscal year 2024-2025.”

“Factoring in departmental costs, the county’s long-awaited environmental impact study, launched in mid-2021 to streamline permitting and other costs, the program’s end balance is expected to decrease from around $3.7 million this fiscal year to about $2 million by fiscal year 2026-27, according to a staff presentation,” the paper reported. 

“The industry has struggled to compete with the illicit cannabis market that has undercut legal cultivators in price and fueled the supply glut,” it continued. “The recommended tax rate changes are based the results of an annual analysis completed by HdL Companies, a consultant based in Brea, California.”

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A recent property tax relief bill in Nebraska is seeking to create new income opportunities for the state, including a variety of sales tax exemptions. This includes adding sales taxes for products like candy and soda, as well as services such as pet care and grooming, but most importantly, adding a 100% tax to CBD and hemp products.

Legislative Bill 388 was recently passed by the Nebraska Legislature’s Revenue Committee on March 21 in a seven to 10 vote. The bill was initially introduced by Sen. Lou Ann Linehan in January, who is also the chair of the Revenue Committee. “Sales tax exemptions will be removed on pop and candy, on pet services, on advertising revenue over $1 billion dollars, increased taxes on games of skill to 20%, and lottery tickets,” Linehan wrote in an outline. “Taxes on cigarettes will increase from 63 cents to one dollar and on vaping by 20%. We are going to tax hemp and CBD at 100%. This will result in new revenue of $182 million dollars.”

Overall, Linehan estimated that this would allow approximately $560 million in property tax credit funds that would be granted to schools, providing $3,000 per student in foundational aid. It would also create $650 million in property tax relief. The outline also describes “essentials” such as electricity, natural gas, or propane, as things that should not be taxed. “We are in a time of great revenue growth,” the outline concluded. “We have the revenues to pay for this now and for the foreseeable future.”

These proposals have created a rift among Nebraskan legislators. Gov. Jim Pillen approved the committee’s work on approving the bill so it can proceed to the floor for debate. “I want to congratulate the members of the Revenue Committee on advancing historic and transformational property tax relief and reform out of committee on a 7-0 vote,” Pillen said in a statement. “Thank you for delivering once in a lifetime transformational property tax relief plan to all Nebraskans.”

Many others, such as Sen. Julie Slama, expressed shock regarding the CBD and hemp tax increase. “I’m 100% opposed to LB-388, which is the largest tax increase in Nebraska history,” Slama said.

John Gage, state director of Americans for Prosperity, criticized the bill. “There’s nothing innovative about raising taxes on Nebraskans. This bill does not solve our property tax problem and will result in a higher tax bill for hardworking families,” Gage said, according to KETV. “This is the kind of big government nonsense you expect in California, not Nebraska. Legislators will be held accountable if they choose to vote for the largest tax increase in state history.”

Platte Institute CEO Jim Vokal called LB-388 a bad tax policy. “In recent years, the legislature has repeatedly succeeded and shown the best path to lowering taxes is to constrain all sources of revenue and spending growth,” said Vokal. “Such constraints need to be imposed upon local governments. We believe that constraining state and local revenue and spending growth is the best path forward rather than raising new sales tax revenues to lower property tax revenues.”

Cannabis is illegal in Nebraska, although sales of hemp-derived cannabinoid products continue to thrive. In January, Legislature Bill 199 was introduced by Sen. Teresa Ibach which, if passed, would ban the sale, possession, and consumption of such products. “While a product could be advertised as delta-8 or delta-10, these products could—and most likely do—contain chemicals, compounds and other impurities that are not listed on the label,” Ibach explained.

Meanwhile, advocates with Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana (NMM) are hard at work collecting signatures to qualify their medical cannabis initiative for the 2024 ballot later this year. The group needs to collect signatures from 7% of voters in the state and 5% of voters in 38 of the state’s 98 counties (with approximately 125,000 raw signatures in total) by July 3.

As of March 15, NMM said on social media that it has collected more than 72,000 signatures from voters in nearly all Nebraska counties (with the exception of Grant, Keya Paha, McPherson, Sheridan, and Wheeler). NMM has attempted to get medical cannabis legalized since 2020. Back then, they only collected 14,212 signatures in three qualified counties, followed by 16,328 signatures in four counties in 2022. 

Recent polling conducted by the Neilan Strategy Group in February revealed that 70% of participants want to see medical cannabis legalization. “Nebraskans are clearly ready to legalize medical marijuana,” the Neilan Strategy Group stated.

NMM held its own poll in 2022 and found that 80% of participants said they approved of medical cannabis legalization. “Nebraskans are obviously ready to legalize medicinal cannabis,” said NMM campaign manager Crista Eggers, who explained how excited advocates are to be making so much progress this year. “We’re very excited about where we’re at. This time, we’re going to get it done or it is not going to happen,” Eggers said.

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Glass bongs, money counters, a La-Z-Boy recliner and a snow cone machine were among the goods auctioned off Friday at an auction hosted by the CHP and CDTFA to raise money for unpaid taxes on cannabis businesses.

The California Department of Taxes and Fee Administration released a notice last week about the auction, held Friday, February 16 in Los Angeles. The notice said that the property to be sold had been seized from 10 cannabis businesses in the Los Angeles area, nine of which were operating illegally according to the CDTFA. One was a legal dispensary that hadn’t paid its taxes. In total, the 10 businesses owed more than $14.4 million in unpaid taxes.

“Seizing and auctioning property from cannabis businesses that evade the law is a tool to recover the taxes owed to the state,” said CDTFA Director Nick Maduros in a statement.

Public notices of sale for the seized property to be sold Friday have been issued by the CHP and they are readily available online at the CDTFA website. The list of items to be sold can be described as varied at best and bizarre at worst, given who will be selling them.

Some notable items included multiple boxes of glass bongs, speakers, refrigerators, the aforementioned snow cone machine and La-Z-Boy recliner, cameras, televisions, sandwich boards, framed art and other miscellaneous items.

Proceeds from the auction will be put towards the unpaid liabilities owed by these ten businesses. This is the first such time that California government entities have auctioned off seized items from cannabis businesses, and it certainly marks the first time the California Highway Patrol has ever sold bongs to anybody that I’m aware of. 

That said, commercial properties seized from delinquent California cannabis businesses have been auctioned off in the past. In March of 2022 the CDTFA released a notice about the auction of a property in Whitter associated with a cannabis business, accused at the time of illegal sales, which owed over $850,000 in unpaid taxes. The CDTFA said at the time they hoped to recover at least $220,000 from the sale of this property.

“Unlicensed cannabis operators not only undercut legitimate businesses, but they also cheat California communities out of revenue for vital programs,” Director Maduros said in 2022. “These businesses are not licensed under the laws approved by California voters, and many of their products are unregulated.”

California has ramped up enforcement of illegal cannabis businesses in recent years with the introduction of the Unified Cannabis Enforcement Taskforce in late 2022. Since its creation by Governor Gavin Newsom, UCETF has seized over $317 million in unlicensed cannabis as the result of serving 218 search warrants across .

“Since its inception in late 2022, California’s Unified Cannabis Enforcement Taskforce has hit the ground running with year-round operations that spanned from the Oregon state line all the way down to San Diego,” said California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Director Charlton H. Bonham. “We’ve sent a strong message that illegal operations that harm our natural resources, threaten the safety of workers, and put consumer health at risk have no place in California. While there is more work to be done, we made progress last year and I look forward to going further alongside our county, state, and federal partners.”

Since its inception, UCETF has also seized 128 firearms during raids on cannabis businesses. They have seized and eradicated 347,321 illegal cannabis plants in their history and seized over 189,000 pounds of dried cannabis bud in 2023 alone.

“California is effectively decreasing the illegal cannabis market by leveraging the strengths and knowledge of over 20 state agencies and departments alongside our local and federal partners. The UCETF’s progress in 2023 reflects California’s ongoing commitment to disrupting  and dismantling illegal cannabis activity,” stated Director Nicole Elliott of Department of Cannabis Control (DCC). “I look forward to working with all our partners in 2024 to build on this progress.”

The CDTFA and CHP auction took place at the CHP parking lot at 777 W. Washington Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90015 Friday, February 16. You can call 1-951-880-1990 for more information. Neither the CDTFA or CHP have yet indicated if they plan to auction off more bongs in the future.

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The Virginia Senate and House of Delegates have approved competing bills to regulate and tax recreational marijuana sales, more than two years after the state legalized the possession of cannabis by adults. Each bill now heads to the other chamber of the state legislature, where lawmakers are expected to make several amendments to the measures.

Both bills legalize retail sales of cannabis to adults aged 21 and older with a scheduled start date of January 1, 2025, according to a report from the nonprofit cannabis advocacy group the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). In the House, HB 698 from Delegate Paul Krizek would levy a tax of 9% on cannabis sales, which would be exempt from normal state and local retail sales taxes. A separate bill from state Senator Aaron Rouse, SB 448, would add a 16% tax to cannabis sales on top of the regular state and local retail sales taxes.

NORML Development Director JM Pedini, who uses the pronoun they, testified before both chambers of the legislature in support of the bills. In the Senate, they asked lawmakers to amend SB 448 to remove penalties for people who make cannabis products such as baked goods or tinctures that are intended for personal use and for possessing legal amounts in public.

HB 698 was passed by delegates in the House on Monday by a vote of 52-48. In the Senate, SB 488 was approved by a vote of 21-18 on Tuesday. The two bills will each now head to the other legislative chamber for consideration.

Lawmakers in both the House and Senate are expected to amend the bills by substituting the version each chamber has already passed. The legislation would then head to a conference committee where representatives of each chamber will work to come to a consensus on a compromise measure.

“The real work will be done in conference committee, at which point conferees must decide if these are simply messaging bills, or if they intend to send Governor Youngkin something palatable enough for him to even consider not vetoing,” said NORML’s Pedini, who also serves as the executive director of Virginia NORML.

Weed Possession Legalized in 2021

Legislation passed in July 2021 legalized the possession of cannabis by adults aged 21 and older, but a reenactment clause requiring a second vote to authorize retail sales was not taken up after Republicans took control of the state legislature later in 2021. Last year, Republican Glenn Youngkin said that he was not interested in legalizing cannabis sales.

“Governor Youngkin has stated that he is not interested in any further moves towards legalization of adult recreational-use marijuana, so I wouldn’t expect that during his administration,” Joseph Guthrie, commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, said at a public meeting in June 2023, according to a report from the Washington Post.

Lawmakers also heard from opponents of legalizing sales of recreational weed in Virginia including, as might be expected, representatives of law enforcement. In a letter to the legislature from the Virginia Sheriff’s Association, the Virginia State Police Association, the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police and the Virginia Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, police officials told lawmakers that they are opposed to a regulated adult-use cannabis market.

“Legalizing retail sales will undermine the work Gov. Youngkin’s administration has undertaken to improve behavioral health in the Commonwealth,” the letter states, according to a report from local media. “We collectively appreciate the focus on the ‘Right Help Right Now Plan’ and the strides we have made in better serving our communities with additional behavioral-health resources.”

The letter also warned that a legal recreational marijuana market will not eliminate illicit sales of marijuana in Virginia.

“States with legal retail cannabis have failed to extinguish the cannabis black market,” the letter states, “while also seeing that cannabis tourism creates a nexus for the international drug trade that is dominated by organized crime, and an increase in illegal operation following legalization.”

But Pedini argues that since the possession of cannabis was legalized, the unlicensed cannabis market has increased significantly.

“Absent a legal marketplace, Virginia’s illicit market has since ballooned from $1.8 billion in 2021 to $2.4 billion in 2023,” said Pedini. “Unfortunately, consumers don’t know whether they’re getting a safe product or one contaminated with potentially dangerous adulterants. Unregulated marijuana isn’t lab tested for purity and it isn’t sold in packaging that is both childproof and not appealing to children.”

“Ultimately, Governor Youngkin will have to decide if he’s more interested in allowing unlicensed, unregulated operators to continue controlling cannabis in the Commonwealth or if he’s finally ready to extend the same commonsense provisions already used to regulate the legal sale of medical cannabis in Virginia to adult-use retail,” they added.

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As New Jersey approaches the two-year anniversary of its recreational cannabis market launch this April and adult-use revenue continues to rise, regulators recently announced a new incentive for residents to secure their medical cards.

The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJ-CRC) announced last week that signup and renewal for its new digital medical cards will be free. According to the commission, the new digital cards will begin rolling out in a few weeks and were introduced to prioritize patient accessibility and convenience.

The digital cards can be presented on a mobile device, eliminating the risk of losing or damaging a physical card while also enhancing accessibility, the commission says.

Changes to New Jersey’s Medical Cannabis Program

Those who would still like a physical medical card are still in for a bargain, as the NJ-CRC also recently reduced its physical registration fees to $10 — they will not be required to pay again until renewal two years later, which is also a $10 fee.

The entire announcement touches on a number of other topics related to New Jersey medical cannabis, with the last header hitting on “Satisfaction Among Program Participants.” It notes a recent survey, conducted by the commission, that found less than 9% of 1,000 surveyed patients said they were unsatisfied with the service they received after contacting Patient Services at the NJ-CRC.

“While many respondents shared concerns about the health care provider fees, product prices, and product availability, more than half said they participate in the program to enjoy the lower price they get from regular patient discounts and not having to pay state taxes, and to have access to the strains and products available only to patients,” the commission states in the announcement.

It also encourages readers to look out for dates for medical cannabis program registration clinics, which are set to be held across New Jersey in the coming months.

New Jersey’s Declining Medical Cannabis Market

Looking at New Jersey cannabis sales trends, the reduction in registration and renewal fees may not come as a shock. New York similarly waived its $50 medical cannabis fee in 2022, the year after it legalized recreational cannabis.

And as New Jersey’s recreational cannabis market has continued to blossom, boosting overall sales numbers, its medical sales are gradually declining.

In April 2022, when recreational sales launched in New Jersey, there were 128,548 total patients in the state. That number in January 2024 was only 88,670, approximately a 31% decrease in less than two years.

While medical sales numbers for 2023 Q4 are not yet available, looking at year-over-year comparisons of Q3 also provides some context for just how stark this change is. Medical sales for 2022 Q3 came to about $61.1 million, while 2023 Q3 was less than half that amount at approximately $29.2 million. 

Conversely, recreational sales year-over-year for the same periods increased from approximately $177.7 million to $206.1 million, for 2022 and 2023’s third quarters respectively.

Potential Incentive for Patient Enrollment

While the NJ-CRC did not make any explicit mentions of sales trends and the decline of medical cannabis sales numbers, it’s likely that these moves were made in part to encourage more residents to take advantage of the state’s medical cannabis program.

As regions introduce their own legal recreational cannabis markets, allowing access for anyone over 21 years old with a valid ID, consumers in legal cannabis states often wonder about the need for a medical card. 

One of the main perks for many is avoiding the taxes levied on recreational products, as mentioned by the commission in their announcement. 

In New Jersey, recreational cannabis products are subject to the standard 6.625% sales tax, along with the Social Equity Excise Fee which changes based on the average price of cannabis — as of Jan. 1, 2024, the fee was updated to $1.24 per ounce. Municipalities can also charge a 2% transfer fee on cannabis sales that occur within their borders.

These taxes may not seem extreme given the additional taxes in some other states — Washington State has the highest cannabis taxes in the continental U.S. with its 37% excise tax, for example.

While the tax rates may not be the highest, New Jersey infamously has some of the most expensive recreational cannabis in the country. Aside from the tax relief, medical programs tend to have cheaper pricing along with specialized products, higher dosage options and more. 

Whether these efforts will actually reverse New Jersey’s medical cannabis market trends remains to be seen; the decline in medical sales and program enrollment numbers tends to be a recurring theme in medical-only states that legalize recreational cannabis.

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Long Beach, California is on track to establish an ordinance that will give cannabis retailers a minor tax break and reward the ones in good standing on their payments with a bigger tax break, cutting their local tax in half.

At a Jan. 23 meeting, Long Beach City Council members voted to request an ordinance be drafted to lower rates for businesses that meet hiring and compensation markers and are up to date with their current tax payments.

City leadership has been aware about the significant tax burden impacting cannabis businesses across California. Not only in Long Beach, but California’s entire cannabis supply chain faces a chronic debt problem, and the SF Gate called it an “extinction event” last year. In one move, state law recently shifted the burden of excise taxes from distributors to retailers. Over a dozen cities and counties in the state cut taxes to assist retailers with this dilemma.

The tax break fulfills a goal set on April 20, 2023, when the Long Beach City Council vowed to lower tax rates as part of the 2024 annual budget, the Signal-Tribune reported. “We should be aiming to create a positive feedback loop: reduce the tax burden on local operators, allow them to be competitive and expand their businesses, while rewarding those high road employers and operators who make investments back into our community, all while nurturing a new revenue source for the city,” said Councilmember Joni Ricks-Oddie, who brought the item forward.

As of the last count available in 2023, Long Beach was home to 32 retail cannabis stores and 37 cultivators. During the Prop. 215 era, the city was home to even more medical cannabis dispensaries.

Long Beach Post News reports that Tuesday’s vote advanced a cut at 1 percentage point for retailers with the opportunity to qualify for an additional 3 percentage-point drop if they meet “good standing requirements.” Cannabis cultivators would also get a similar tax break. Their square-footage tax was cut from $14.96 to $13.09, the equivalent of a 1 percentage point cut.

The Tax Burden Imposed on California Cannabis Businesses

A tax break couldn’t come sooner. The city of Long Beach currently imposes a 6% excise tax on medical cannabis transactions and 8% on recreational adult-use cannabis sales, on top of the city’s sales tax of 10.25% and the state’s excise tax of 15%. The state taxes have been imposed since adult-use cannabis use became legal in California in 2016

Long Beach adult-use cannabis sales generated $9 million tax revenue of around $13 million in cannabis tax revenue the city expected to collect in 2023. Several city council members expressed concern over the unpaid taxes, preferring to bring those payments up to date before giving businesses any kind of special tax breaks.

“I do think we should have a heavy hand for those businesses that haven’t been compliant with our taxes,” Councilmember Al Austin said at Tuesday’s meeting. “The city needs that revenue.”

In order to be eligible for the larger tax breaks, retailers would have to be up to date with licensing and tax payments, and they would have to meet several other requirements. They would also have to ensure that at least 40% of their staff are Long Beach residents and that they are paying their employees between 110% and 115% of the state’s minimum wage. Retailers would also have to support equity businesses by keeping their products on shelves or providing mentoring and incubation support for equity operators.

If the changes are fully implemented, the tax cuts are projected to cost the city about $3 million annually.  The 1 percentage point cut for retailers across the board is expected to cost the city just over $1 million, according to data presented to the council.

Many local residents complained in recent months that the equity program to support cannabis stores from low-income, justice-impacted residents has resulted in just one successful equity applicant and asked the city to do better.  Others said there’s a great opportunity in the city. Long Beach Green Room owner Adam Hijazi, for instance, said that Long Beach could cut tax rates in order to support legal cannabis businesses and create a cannabis destination in the city. 

The city hopes to follow in the footsteps of other California cities like Santa Ana, in providing tax relief by prioritizing businesses that are in good standing, and the ones that give their employees more than minimum wage or provide career opportunities. 

Santa Ana took a similar step and implemented a 1% tax cut for most cannabis stores in the city and an additional 2% for “high road” employers. 

The council will still have to vote on the ordinance twice before the changes take effect, something that’s expected to happen in the coming months.

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Hemp growers and retailers in Tennessee say that newly proposed regulations threaten the viability of businesses in the industry and vow to challenge the rules before they go into effect, according to media reports.

In April, the Tennessee General Assembly passed legislation to regulate and tax hemp products grown, manufactured and sold in the state. Under the bill, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture is tasked with drafting rules to govern the industry, including regulations for product testing, compliance and enforcement. Earlier this month, the Agriculture Department released a draft of proposed new regulations for the hemp industry, which are slated to go into effect next year.

Five years ago, the U.S. Congress legalized hemp agriculture with the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill. The legislation defines hemp as cannabis plants with less than 0.3% delta-9 THC. 

Tennessee’s hemp laws follow the Farm Bill’s definition, but the proposed rules from the Department of Agriculture would require products to have less than 0.3% THC in all its forms, including THCA and delta-8 THC. The proposed regulations would make many of the hemp products currently available in Tennessee illegal. Representatives of hemp businesses say the new rules go too far and threaten the viability of the industry. 

“Unfortunately, they are regulating it out of business,” Kelley Hess, executive director of the Tennessee Growers Coalition, told the Chattanooga Times Free Press. “They are creating law in the rules and are exceeding their authority in creating a new definition of hemp in the rules outside of the law.”

Chris Sumrell, a hemp grower and the owner of Chattanooga’s FarmtoMed, said that he worked with lawmakers to help draft the bill to protect the reputation of the Tennessee hemp industry, fearing that untested and unreliable products would tarnish its image. 

“We all got together and put our two cents in to try to create a program along the lines of some programs running in other states that were successful,” Sumrell said, “and it really was going to get a lot of these products off gas station shelves.”

However, after the department released the proposed rules for enforcing the law, Sumrell pulled all dry flower products from his stores, a move that affected his sales during the holiday season. If the rules went into effect as currently written, he said, about 90% of his sales would be threatened. 

Rules Allow Random Inspections

The Department of Agriculture’s proposed rules would also allow it to conduct random inspections and test products being sold by retailers. Hemp advocates argue that by the time the products have been manufactured and received by retailers, some THCA may have decarboxylated, making them contain more than 0.3% delta-9. Hess says that the rule would “wipe out” the industry for THCA and CBD flower in Tennessee.

“There is practically no way that a farmer or grower could meet all the rigorous standards on the growing side in addition to all of the standards they have put on for their products to be put on the shelf,” Hess said.

Kim Doddridge, a spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture, said in a statement that the new rules are scheduled to go into effect in July. However, it could be later if the regulations are not finalized by that date. A hearing on the proposal will be held on February 6, and the department is currently accepting public comments on the proposed rules.

“I think the public comment period is going to see thousands and thousands and thousands of comments, not only from the industry, but from consumers of this industry who rely on these products as a matter of their personal wellness,” said John Kerns, the head of the Chattanooga-based testing facility New Bloom Labs.

The Department of Agriculture reports that 319 growers have been licensed to grow hemp in the state. The Tennessee Growers Association estimates that the state’s hemp industry now generates about $200 million per year in sales. But businesses in the industry say the proposed regulations put all of that in jeopardy.

“The way that the department is defining quote-unquote ‘compliance’ is so restrictive and such a gross misinterpretation that these products are never going to make it,” Kerns said. “They won’t be manufactured. They won’t be tested, and they won’t be sold.”

Tennessee’s hemp businesses have an ally in the state legislature who is monitoring the situation with the proposed regulations. State Representative Chris Hurt, a member of the Agriculture Committee who grew hemp for two years, said he has concerns about the new rules as they are written.

“It’s kind of changing the rules in the middle of the game, ” Hurt told local media.

Hurt has agreed to sponsor new legislation in 2024 to clarify the intent of the law passed earlier this year. Hess said that if the proposed rules go into effect as currently written, the Tennessee Growers Association will consider litigation to challenge the regulations.

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Sales of cannabis in Arizona have exceeded $1 billion this year, according to data from the state Department of Revenue. Total marijuana sales eclipsed the billion-dollar mark in September, marking the third straight year the state’s weed sales have reached the seven-digit milestone. 

So far this year, Arizona’s sales of adult-use cannabis have totaled $797 million, while medical marijuana sales reached $267 million, bringing the total for 2023 through September to $1.1 billion. The state’s overall cannabis volume since recreational marijuana sales began in January 2021 has now reached $4 billion, with sales of adult-use cannabis contributing $2.5 billion to the total.

Arizona voters legalized the medical use of marijuana in Arizona in 2010 with the approval of Proposition 203, which received just over half of the vote. The first licensed medical marijuana dispensary in the state began serving patients on December 6, 2012. 

Recreational marijuana was then legalized in the state with the passage of Proposition 207 in 2020. Known as the Smart and Safe Act, the ballot measure was approved by 60% of voters. Regulated sales of recreational marijuana began on January 21, 2021, less than three months after the ballot measure succeeded at the polls.

Arizona Department of Revenue (ADOR) cannabis sales data from August and September of this year show that medical marijuana accounted for about one-third of the state’s total sales, according to a report from the Arizona Mirror. The ratio of medical marijuana sales to sales of adult-use cannabis continues a trend the state has seen over the last year, leading to the lowest total recorded sales of medical marijuana ever.

Sales of medical marijuana in September were just under $27 million, down from $28.7 million the previous month. September’s figure marks the lowest monthly total for medical cannabis sales since regulated sales of adult-use cannabis began nearly three years ago. The last time monthly medical marijuana sales topped $30 million was in June. Medical marijuana sales have steadily declined in Arizona since the peak of $73.4 million in April 2021. Total medical weed sales have not exceeded $40 million in a single month since June.

Sales of adult-use cannabis totaled $85.8 million in August and just over $80 million in September. Recreational cannabis sales hit their highest monthly total in March of this year at $100 million. Sales of recreational pot have exceeded $80 million per month since dropping below $90 million in May. Since first reaching $80 million in March 2022, sales of adult-use cannabis have only failed to reach that level twice—in May 2022 at $79.3 million and June 2022 at $77.2 million.

Eivan Shahara, the CEO of Mint Cannabis, a multistate operator that opened its sixth dispensary in Arizona last week, says that the state’s dip in cannabis sales coincided with changes in the way consumers are shopping.

“In terms of consumer spending, we’re seeing cannabis customers visit our dispensaries more frequently with smaller basket sizes. During the pandemic, we saw customers visit less frequently but with larger basket sizes,” Shahara writes in an email to High Times. “We’re responding to this trend by continuing to offer day-of-the-week deals, stock up and save promotions, giveaways, and buy-one-get-one offers to drive additional traffic and sales at our locations. We have also responded by incorporating more conveniences like online ordering and drive-thru pick up.”

Weed Taxes Generate Millions

Arizona levies a 16% tax on recreational marijuana sales in addition to approximately 6% in sales tax. Medical marijuana patients pay only sales tax on their purchases of cannabis. Local jurisdictions add additional taxes of about 2% to recreational marijuana sales.

About a third of cannabis tax revenue collected in Arizona is dedicated to community college and provisional community college districts, while 31% is dedicated to law enforcement, fire departments, fire districts and other emergency first responders. A quarter of state marijuana taxes go to the Arizona Highway User Revenue Fund, while 10% is reserved for the justice reinvestment fund, which supports public health services, counseling, job training and other social services for communities that have been adversely affected and disproportionately impacted by nearly a century of cannabis prohibition.

So far for 2023, the state has collected $174.5 million in excise taxes on recreational marijuana. During the 11 months of regulated sales in 2021, taxes on adult-use cannabis generated $32.9 million for the state’s coffers. The total spiked the following year, with the excise tax on recreational weed jumping to $132.8 million. Overall, the excise tax has generated more than $391 million in revenue for Arizona since regulated sales of adult-use cannabis began.

Arizona collected $13.7 million in August and $12.8 million in September from taxes on recreational marijuana sales. So far in 2023, the excise tax on adult-use cannabis has generated $174.5 million in revenue. Tax revenue on medical marijuana came to $2.4 million in August and $2.2 million in September.

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