🇩🇪 The final cannabis hurdle in Germany is cleared

GERMANY
The final cannabis hurdle in Germany is cleared

Driving the news: Germany’s legalization bill had one final hurdle to clear to get the official thumbs up – and that happened on Friday. The reactions were swift – from both cannabis leaders and cannabis capital markets. 

What they’re saying: Among many others, Curaleaf’s Boris Jordan had this to say on Friday about legalization in Germany - complete with shots across “U.S. politicians” bow. “Today’s passage of the Cannabis Act in Germany represents a watershed moment for patients and adult-use consumers alike. This legislation has set the standard for future cannabis regulatory programs across all of Europe and serves as a wakeup call to U.S. politicians and our regulatory agencies who continue to stall progress.”

And the markets: While home grows will go live on April 1, and cannabis clubs kicking off in July, it was Canopy Growth stock that got kickstarted on Friday - going up 68%+ in Friday’s trading day. 

Will Barclay, leader of the New York State Assembly Republican Conference, posted on X on Friday his displeasure with both the roll-out of the cannabis market in New York, as well as Governor Kathy Hochul’s approach to reform. In his linked statement, he said: 

“...New York is one of many states to permit the sale of cannabis. Yet instead of prioritizing applicants with the qualifications and experience required to succeed, the OCM priorities applicants with drug offenses and criminal histories. Only in New York are criminal records more appealing than records of proven success. Too many strong applicants have been boxed out due to this system, and the cracks are beginning to show…”

PRO POT POLITICS
From advocacy in the halls of Congress to shouting from the rooftops

What’s happening: While cannabis reform is always on the front burner for the cannabis industry, cannabis reform has (finally) taken a front burner in the nation’s capital. So much so, that prominent politicians are using their pro-cannabis reform platform to sign up political followers (and potential donors). On Friday, it was Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s turn to hit politicos’ inboxes.

Rewind a bit: In the past month, it’s been a race to seem as pro-cannabis reform as possible for Washington insiders. We had 12 Democratic Senators pushing the DEA to deschedule cannabis. We had Senator Schumer saying he was making it a priority to pass SAFER Banking before the November election. The President had a 12-second cannabis reform mention in the State of the Union. The Vice President held a cannabis justice roundtable at the White House. 

What Schumer said: In appeal to supporters and others, Schumer is looking to get cannabis reform voters to sign a petition on SAFER Banking, with an appeal that says: “Can you imagine running a business without being able to deposit your money anywhere? That's the reality for law-abiding marijuana businesses across the country. In states where marijuana is legal, these businesses have extremely limited access to basic banking services like deposits or lines of credit. They're forced to keep massive amounts of cash on hand -- a danger for everyone involved.”

Why it matters: There appears to be a shift from cannabis reform advocates in Congress being vocal on specific policies in specific settings - namely the halls of Washington. Now, cannabis reform advocates in Congress are much, much louder. Could it be that our leaders in Washington read the same polls we do, that 70% of voters support legalization?

What’s next? We are all eagerly awaiting the DEA’s rescheduling decision, obviously. Perhaps SAFER Banking is coming up in the Senate soon. But whether those two things happen quickly or not, one thing is certain: cannabis will be front-and-center on the campaign trail between now and November - and the Cultivated team is here for it.

-JR

On Friday, New York’s Office of Cannabis Management met for the first time after Governor Hochul called for a top-down review of their activities to date. Want to know what happened on Friday? Check out the New York Times’ Ashley Southall’s X thread.

Not, if you are a government agency that is under review (and tons of scrutiny) this might be the last thing you want to Tweet during the meeting:

The International Journal of Drug Policy has a research paper looking at the trends in cannabis uses pre- and post-legalization in Canada in 2018. One the highlights worth other markets looking at? Legal purchasing is displacing the illicit cannabis market in Canada.

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