Two charts explain how New York’s cannabis market has shifted 📊

NY, NY
The evolving New York cannabis market

Driving the news: These charts from New York’s Office of Cannabis Management’s Annual Market Report for 2024 show how Registered Organizations (ROs) are impacting the market for cannabis flower:

Six Registered Organizations, who are authorized to produce for both the medical and adult-use markets, produce about 1/5 of all cannabis flower for the state’s recreational market in the state.

Ounces make up a larger share of the flower that ROs sell, which is the inverse of other cannabis producers who tend to sell more eighths than anything else. 

-ZH

“I just think that it divides the coalition, right? You obviously have a winning coalition with libertarian-leaning Republicans like me and Democrats who favor legalization,” said former Congressman and now television show host Matt Gaetz while discussing the prospects for federal cannabis reform with Mason Tvert of Strategies 64 on One American News Network. 

“But when you insist upon marijuana legalization laws also doing as some have insisted — which is giving licenses to certain Black farmers or making sure that the revenue from taxation goes into Black communities more than into white communities — then you lose the libertarians, and I think that’s one of the reasons why we don’t have the Safe Banking law.”

Read more from Marjiuana Moment.

Ghost Drops sues Health Canada over marketing regs 🧑‍⚖️

Canadian cannabis brand Ghost Drops is suing Health Canada for policies that the company says infringes on its rights to free speech under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Health Canada recently fined Ghost Drops $500,000 for allegedly violating the nation's marketing rules. Ghost Drops argues that they use common marketing practices that other cannabis companies take part in without facing penalties. 

Dems want to allow White House drug czar to advocate for cannabis 📜

House Democrats announced a bill that would remove restrictions that prevent the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy from advocating for scheduling reform. The bill comes amid a stalled cannabis rescheduling effort and ongoing debate over the extent of the Trump administration's willingness to pursue reform.

Nebraska senators plan medical cannabis public hearing series 📢

Three Nebraska state senators will host a series of public forums to discuss the upcoming legalization in medical cannabis in the Cornhusker State. Nebraska voters approved medical cannabis last fall with 71% in support. Since then the state House and Senate have struggled to pass cannabis reform legislation.

A majority of New Hampshire residents want legal weed 🙋

A new poll from the University of New Hampshire's State of Opinion Project found that 70% of residents in the state support the legalization of adult-use cannabis. Those in favor included Democrats, independents and Republicans, at 84%, 72% and 55%, respectively. Support in New Hampshire has remained strong even as the legislature has repeatedly failed to send a legalization bill to the governor's desk. 

Ohio prices are dropping, but still more expensive than Michigan 💳

Prices in Ohio might be dropping from where they were last August when adult-use sales launched, but consumers continue to head north into Michigan where flower prices are among the lowest in the country. Prices in Ohio have dropped from about $9.40 per gram in August, 2024 to about $6.30 per gram, according to the Ohio Division of Cannabis Control. Meanwhile, Michigan customers can pay as little as $2.29 per gram. 

Arizona sales drop for second year in a row 📉

Arizona sales in 2024 hit $1.25 billion for both medical and adult-use cannabis, reflecting a second consecutive annual drop since adult-use launched in January 2021. Medical sales dropped 31% to $244 million of total sales, while adult-use dropped 4.5%, but still narrowly crossed the $1 billion threshold.

New York Cider Company launches Hemp line 🍎

Ayrloom, an offshoot of New York hard cider producers Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards, is bringing THC cider to the Empire State's market and beyond. The company also has a hemp-derived variant of their ciders allowing them to be distributed across the country. 

Cultivated stopped by Ayrloom during Cultivated’s Summer Roadtrip 2024. Check it out:

The Panther Group CEO Jordan Tritt will now also serve as CEO of cannabis data firm BDSA he said on LinkedIn, following the departure of CEO and co-founder Roy Bingham. Tritt was on Cultivated Live last year, in case you missed it.

My fight to unlock cannabis and psychedelic drugs for use in medical research | Nature