Latest news with #legalization
CBS News
18 hours ago
- Business
- CBS News
Albert Lea City Council blocks Minnesota's first non-tribal cannabis dispensary
It's been a long road toward the legalization of cannabis in Minnesota. Now, that road might be getting a little longer. There have already been a lot of complications in the rollout of the Office of Cannabis Management. From botched lotteries and lawsuits to leadership changes, it's been a chaotic ride from the start. Marijuana was legalized in August of 2023, with sales expected to begin in 2025. Now eight months into the year, that deadline keeps getting pushed back. A new decision from the Albert Lea City Council could be a sign of more difficulties for the industry ahead. The first non-tribal dispensary was finally supposed to open up there this year. But during a council meeting this week, city leaders voted that down. The decision is halting a Minnesota legal cannabis market milestone, but it also could shake up things for other budding businesses. According to state law, business applicants must work with local government to ensure law compliance, but cities also can't prohibit the sale of cannabis. This could mean more lawsuits, a loss of funding and dragging out an already long rollout. The Smoking Tree in Albert Lea was on track to open the first retail, non-tribally owned dispensary off tribal land in a matter of weeks. WCCO spoke with the owner earlier this month after he passed a state inspection, a key hurdle to secure an official license to operate. Now, he faces another hurdle. In a meeting Monday night, after heavy debate, City Council members rejected the business license. Those who voted in favor of the business say they can't afford to fight it. Those opposing questioned the morality of the legal drug and government control. When pleading his case, the Smoking Tree's owner said he got into the business for a reason. "I had to bury over half a dozen of my friends due to a bad batch of heroin going around Austin. Southern Minnesota is my home. And I take it very personally, all these concerns that everyone brings up. And I want them all to be known," Jacob Schlichter said. "I hear you all and I will keep that in the forefront of my mind moving forward." According to Minnesota's Guide for Local Governments for adult cannabis use, local governments aren't required to seek out cannabis businesses, but they also can't reject them if the requirements for a cannabis store aren't already met.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Legal cannabis blooms in Morocco but black market still beckons
Legal cannabis blooms in Morocco but black market still beckons By Ahmed Eljechtimi BAB BERRED, Morocco (Reuters) -Beneath the blazing summer sun, Abderrahman Talbi surveyed the neat rows of flourishing cannabis blooms in compact fields, reflecting on how his life has changed since he joined Morocco's burgeoning legal cannabis industry two years ago. Like many farmers in the northern Rif mountains who have long grown the crop illegally, Talbi is relieved that raids and seizures by the authorities are no longer a worry. "I can now say I am a cannabis farmer without fear," Talbi told Reuters. "Peace of mind has no price." Talbi's pivot to legal farming is an example of what Morocco, one of the world's biggest cannabis producers, hoped to achieve when it legalised cultivation for medical and industrial use, but not for recreational purposes, in 2022. Regulating cannabis farming brought with it hopes for fresh revenue and economic revitalisation in the impoverished Rif region. The step made Morocco a forerunner among major producing countries and the first in the Middle East and North Africa to join a global trend that has seen countries like Canada, Germany and Uruguay legalise production and use. It also hoped to lure farmers away from the illegal economy in the restive Rif mountains, where cannabis production has long been tolerated to facilitate social peace. Al Hoceima, a major city in Rif, saw the largest protests in Morocco in 2016-17 over economic and social conditions. BLACK MARKET'S LURE PERSISTS Legalisation efforts have gained traction, with about 5,000 farmers joining the industry this year, from just 430 in 2023, says Morocco's cannabis regulator, or ANRAC. And legal production surged to nearly 4,200 tonnes last year, a 14-fold increase over the first harvest in 2023. Still, the black market remains dominant and lucrative due to demand for recreational use from Europe and regionally in Africa, potentially undermining efforts to fully regulate the sector. Morocco has 5,800 hectares (14,300 acres) of legally planted land, according to ANRAC. That's dwarfed by illegal cultivation spanning over 27,100 hectares, Interior Ministry data shows. While many farmers still choose illicit cultivation, they face the risk of increased crackdowns by authorities, which led to the seizure of 249 tonnes of cannabis resin by September last year, up 48% from all of 2023, according to the Interior Ministry. Mohammed Azzouzi, 52, spent three years in hiding for cannabis-related charges before receiving a royal pardon along with over 4,800 others last year. Now, he is preparing for his first legal harvest and hopes to earn more than the 10,000 dirhams ($1,100) he used to make in the illegal economy each year. RED TAPE The country's prohibition on growing cannabis for leisure use, along with bureaucratic red tape, limit legal farming, with every stage of the supply chain requiring a specific license from ANRAC, discouraging many a farmer from making the switch. A grower who wants to cultivate legally needs to join a licensed cooperative, which buys the farmer's product and processes it into derivatives or sells the resin to other licensed manufacturers. Talbi's cooperative, Biocannat, near the town of Bab Berred, 300 km (186 miles) north of Rabat, bought about 200 tonnes of cannabis last year from some 200 farmers, processing it into resin, supplements, capsules, oils and powders for medical and cosmetic purposes. About 60 km east of Biocannat, in the main producing area of Issaguen, farmer Mohamed El Mourabit was initially hopeful about the legalisation plan in 2021, but is less so now. "The process is too complicated," he said. And money talks, as well, for many farmers, who are lured by the higher rewards of the black market, despite its risks. While cooperatives take months to pay farmers about 50 dirhams per kilogram for the raw plant, on the illicit market, processed cannabis resin can fetch up to 2,500 dirhams per kilogram, farmers and activists say. To close that gap, legalisation advocates say growing for recreational use should be allowed, too. But it's not clear whether that will happen soon. Mohamed Guerrouj, head of ANRAC, said legalising recreational use would only be considered within a medical framework. "The goal is to develop Morocco's pharmaceutical industry ... not coffee shops," he said. Solve the daily Crossword
Fast Company
2 days ago
- Business
- Fast Company
A fight over a ban on hemp in Texas is pitting Republicans against Republicans
In recent months in Texas, hemp—and the state's $5.5 billion hemp industry—has become a flashpoint in state politics and the wider cultural war. A successful push by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick earlier this year to have the Legislature ban hemp and hemp-derived THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive ingredient in hemp and marijuana) was temporarily thwarted by Gov. Greg Abbott's veto of Senate Bill 3 on June 23. But just this week, a special 30-day legislative session was called by the governor, with THC as a top agenda item. A new bill, Senate Bill 5, nearly identical to the vetoed bill, is on the docket for legislators to consider. Texas, by dint of its size and stature among red states, can be seen as a bellwether for how Republican lawmakers are going to handle the hemp and marijuana markets. The state legalized hemp products in 2019, modeling it after the federal Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, which kick-started the contemporary hemp industry and cultivation across the country. But the Texas law concerned itself more with agriculture and regulating the growing of hemp, which led to some oversights in terms of consumer regulation, said Katharine Harris, a drug policy expert at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. Products made with THC derived from hemp became legal, even while THC derived from marijuana plants remained banned. That's led to rapid growth and a consistent push—including from the industry itself—for more regulations. 'Texas has the potential to be the second-largest cannabis market in the country,' said Lukas Gilkey, founder of Hometown Hero CBD, a prominent advocate for the industry who previously launched ongoing legal action against state regulators to prevent them from banning hemp-derived TCH products in 2021. 'You used to be sent to jail for having a joint, but the numbers for this industry are staggering for an industry that isn't even six years old.' A sudden multibillion-dollar industry In the six years the hemp industry has existed in Texas, it's been on a speedrun toward becoming a sizable sector of the economy, according to a March 2025 Whitney Economics analysis. The industry now generates $267 million in state tax revenue, employing 53,000 workers who receive $2.1 billion in wages. Hometown Hero's revenues expanded five times over during the first six months after the law was passed. Recreational marijuana is not legal to sell in the state—although Texas does have a small medical marijuana program —but possession of small amounts is starting to be decriminalized in some cities. However, since hemp is legal, the hemp industry in Texas can conduct transactions that pot sellers cannot, such as take credit card payments and engage in interstate commerce. The growth of hemp in the state has garnered quite a constituency of small-business owners, entrepreneurs, and recreational users, as well as a sizable community of military veterans who utilize hemp goods for medicinal purposes. Many farmers have made hemp a main crop and were outraged that the industry was on the verge of closure. 'Throw the lowlifes in jail if you want to stop the bad actors,' Ann Gauger, co-owner of Caprock Family Farms in Lubbock, told The Texas Tribune. 'But don't take out the American farmers. Don't take out the ag producers.' A battle for what Texas means The battle over hemp in Texas can be cast as a battle about the personality of the frontier state itself: a no-nonsense, freedom-loving, self-made sense of pride in building a business with your bare hands versus a well-earned reputation as a right-wing policy incubator with deeply religious leaders. There have been other attempts to regulate and reform hemp laws during other legislative sessions. (Texas has biannual sessions that last six months every other year.) But over the course of the last few years, the industry has grown substantially, to the point where it's quite visible, Harris said. That has simply made some of the regulatory issues more obvious. For instance, manufacturing smokable hemp products was outlawed, but the sale of such items wasn't prohibited. The state's regulations also lacked more concrete restrictions around potency and age limits, and had few restrictions on where items could be sold: A retail license cost just $155 per location. 'One of the issues that we have right now is that there are a lot of unsafe products on the market because we don't have the oversight necessary,' Harris said. 'That's one of the things that they really need to fix.' George Medici, a spokesperson for the Texas Hemp Business Council, said the industry itself has been advocating for new regulations—childproof packaging, age limits, setbacks to keep sales away from schools—so far, to no avail. Advocates have been busy lobbying in Austin during the special session, and they feel somewhat positive about the future. 'I think we're optimistic; it's kind of hard to tell,' Medici said. 'Polling suggests, and always has, that people want these products on the market, and want them regulated. The momentum is positive. What that'll look like making the sausage, I don't know.' There are also efforts to push production of more industrial hemp, according to state Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, but that's just getting started. Miller believes that regardless of what happens with the regulation of products with THC, Texas will be a national leader in the hemp industry. The potential for a full ban It's also clear that the clash around hemp will continue. During a press conference about the issue, Lt. Gov. Patrick suggested that hemp producers might be part of a 'terrorist money-laundering scheme' and asked if the state really wanted everybody to get high. Patrick and his allies in the Texas Legislature feel that hemp products have become too common, are too hard to police, and should be banned instead of regulated. Rice University's Harris believes the current special session will likely deal with additional regulations around prohibiting access to minors and addressing additional regulations for the industry. She argues that any kind of ban would just push buyers to the illicit market, which would end up being more dangerous. Hometown Hero's Gilkey believes Senate Bill 5 will pass in the Senate but says that even if it does end up getting signed by the governor in the special session, he 'has a team of lawyers ready to sue them into oblivion.' In the long term, the Texas hemp industry will have to adapt to a changing landscape and likely face a little more regulation, akin to what's already seen in many of the legal marijuana states, Harris said. She'd like to see an effort toward self-regulation and legislation that encourages better behavior within the industry, as far as guaranteeing the safety profiles of their products (as do many in the industry). 'The problem is that there's an industry and a market for these products that exists, so it becomes a lot harder to make it all go away,' she said.
Forbes
3 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Texas Lawmaker Files Recreational Cannabis Legalization Bill
A Texas lawmaker has introduced a bill to legalize marijuana as the legislature reconvenes for a ... More special legislative session called by Gov. Greg Abbott. A Texas lawmaker last week introduced legislation to legalize recreational cannabis for adults. The measure, HB 195, was filed in the Texas House of Representatives by Democratic Rep. Jessica González on July 24. González filed the new bill as the Texas legislature met in a special session called by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. The governor called for the special session last month to renew deliberations on several issues from this year's regular legislative session, including the regulation of hemp products marketed for human consumption. HB 195 Legalizes Weed For Adults If passed by the legislature and signed into law, HB 195 would legalize recreational marijuana in Texas for adults aged 21 and older, online cannabis news source Marijuana Moment reported on Thursday. The measure would allow adults to possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis, including up to 15 grams of marijuana concentrates. Adults would also be permitted to share the same quantities of cannabis, provided such exchanges are not advertised, promoted or paid for. Adults would be permitted to keep up to 10 ounces of cannabis at home, although amounts over 2.5 ounces would have to be kept in a locked or secured area. The measure does not legalize home cannabis cultivation, however. Legislation Authorizes Regulated Sales Of Recreational Marijuana The legislation also legalizes commercial production and sales of recreational cannabis, which would be regulated by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (DLR). The agency would be tasked with issuing licenses for cannabis growers, transporters, testing facilities, processors and retailers, beginning no later than November 1, 2026. The Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation, which oversees the DLR, would be responsible for drafting regulations to govern the cannabis industry. The bill mandates the adoption of regulations covering several issues, including requirements for child-resistant packaging. Marijuana product packaging would also be required to be labeled as cannabis and would be barred from resembling the packaging of commercial candy products. The commission would also be required to develop regulations for a track-and-trace system to monitor cannabis products as they travel through the supply chain. The legislation also mandates rules covering the security of cannabis facilities, restricting dangerous pesticides, and the advertising and display of cannabis products. HB 195 also mandates the distribution of taxes and fees collected from the legal cannabis industry. The DLR would receive 10% of revenue to oversee and administer the state's legal cannabis program. Another 10% would go to the Texas Department of Safety to oversee cannabis laboratory testing, while 20% would go to municipalities and counties with at least one licensed cannabis business. The remainder of revenue collected would be earmarked for the Texas Education Agency's Foundation School Program. The Texas State Capitol in Austin. Bill Gives Local Governments Some Control Over Cannabis Businesses Cannabis businesses would only be permitted in jurisdictions where the local government has authorized commercial cannabis activity. Local governments would also be allowed to set rules governing the number, operating hours and location of cannabis businesses in their jurisdiction. The legislation allows property owners to ban cannabis smoking on the premises. However, bans on other forms of cannabis consumption, cannabis possession or marijuana paraphernalia are not permitted. The bill does not legalize consuming cannabis in a motor vehicle, watercraft or aircraft. Consuming cannabis in a public place would also remain illegal except in areas authorized by local governments. Texas Cannabis Activists Laud New Legalization Bill Heather Fazio, director of the Texas Cannabis Policy Center, applauded the introduction of HB 195. 'As we continue the conversation about hemp regulation, we appreciate Rep. Gonzalez's bill to simply legalize and regulate cannabis across the board,' Fazio told Marijuana Moment. 'Her bill cuts to the chase: cannabis should be legal for adult use. Not more arrests. No more criminal records. And no more confusing policies. Just safe, legal cannabis in Texas.' HB 195 is awaiting assignment to a legislative committee in the Texas House of Representatives. If the measure is passed and signed into law, Texas will join the 24 states that have legalized recreational marijuana. Last month, lawmakers significantly expanded the state's medical cannabis program, making the Lone Star State the 40th state to adopt comprehensive medical marijuana legalization.
Forbes
5 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Beyond The Hype: What It Takes To Win In Cannabis This Year
cannabis, marijuana in America has just slowly been legalized and used for medicinal and medical ... More purposes Despite continuing federal roadblocks, 2025 is still an exciting time to be a cannabis entrepreneur. Half of all U.S. states now allow recreational cannabis use and nearly all states allow medical cannabis use. But the industry is complicated, with each state rolling out different rules, regulations, and tax structures. Greg James, publisher of Marijuana Venture, a business magazine dedicated to the industry, and founder of the Interchange business to business cannabis trade show, has advice for those ready to dive in. 1. Examine how the market in your state is being created. Know how many licenses are being awarded. 'If your state awards 1200 grower's licenses to supply 450 licensed stores, for example, you'll inevitably have a big oversupply of cannabis,' said James. Testing, tracking and packaging rules vary from state to state and require a detail-oriented focus for compliance. Know the tax structures to help determine your profitability, and understand that due to federal law, you cannot write off business expenses like other industries can said James. A farmer holds a low-THC hemp plant .Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. A Photographer: Valeria ... More Mongelli/Bloomberg 2. Visit growers or store owners in states like Washington, Oregon and Colorado that have had legal cannabis sales for years to see the realities of day-to-day operations and challenges owners face. 'Too many people just rush headlong into the business without talking to people who have been through it,' James said. The unanticipated problems and lessons learned in the early legal states, often crop up again in states that legalize cannabis later. 3. If you plan to grow cannabis, decide if you'll grow it indoors or outdoors said James. Indoor grows are more expensive to run, but offer better control when it comes to wind, water, light and pests. 'Indoor buds turn out prettier,' said James, 'so they command a premium price.' Outdoors, 'the sun is free,' he said, and other costs can be lower, but you are at the mercy of nature. Typically, outdoor grows produce a higher volume of cannabis, but the market for it will likely be wholesalers and processors who will pay a bit less and use it to process into oil for edibles said James. The strains and potency of the plants can be the same indoors or out. Cannabis strains (Photo by Bob Riha, Jr./Getty Images) 4. Hire professional, experienced staff. 'Hire a real CFO and accountant, know your cost of goods,' said James. Don't go into business with your friends because you think it will be an easy way to make money, he said. You will need agricultural, retail, financial, logistics or packaging experts – don't skimp here. 'They have these things called Ag Universities for a reason, and they're pretty good at turning out folks with degrees that are focused on how to make horticulture more productive and profitable,' he said. 5. Use the latest technology. That includes modern growing techniques like LED lighting and aeroponics. Climate control systems can monitor and regulate all the inputs in modern greenhouses and hoop houses. Decades of research and studies in agriculture have increased production across all crops in the U.S., said James, and cannabis can adopt those same technologies. farmer using tablet to monitor control cannabis plantation in greenhouse. 6. If you are selling cannabis products into stores or dispensaries, put your salespeople in front of buyers often. 'Once you've gotten your goods into a store, that's the beginning of your relationship, not the end,' James said. Your sales force has to follow up and see how the products are moving, maintain relationships, and brainstorm what other products the stores' customers might like. Just because they stock you once, does not meant they will automatically reorder forever, he said. James said he has seen growers and processors who were successful initially, but found themselves failing once their competitors spent more time refining their offerings with new ideas and price points. Cannabis is a constantly evolving business so keep evolving your offerings. Cannabis shop (Photo by Bob Riha, Jr./Getty Images) 7. Retailers, your store may be an exciting destination when it opens, said James, but as soon as a more convenient shop appears, "no one will drive out of their way, so choose a location with good foot traffic and lots of parking.' It may seem basic, but parking can make or break a store's success he said. Hire friendly, approachable budtenders who can make people feel comfortable, whether they are a frat bro or a soccer mom. And like any retail store, good lighting, attractive displays and a good selection of products that are easy to find are key.
