Cannabis Briefs for January 2, 2024

•New Jersey cannabis sales are expected to reach $1 billion this year, according to Jeff Brown, executive director of the state’s cannabis agency. Through three quarters of 2023, sales totaled $578 million, with full-year figures expected this month. The Garden State has been aggressive in approving new retail operators lately, with only 22 open as of the start of 2023, but nearly 80 now online across 18 counties. In 2024, Brown added, “we should see rules adopted on consumption areas and that will potentially present additional growth opportunity for cannabis businesses.”

•Tilray is introducing two new offerings to its Canadian edible brand Chowie Wowie. The two newcomers are Soft Caramel and Crunchy Praline, both including 10mg THC and 10mg CBD. They join Balanced Milk Chocolate and THC Milk Chocolate in Chowie Wowie’s chocolates portfolio, which is available across Canada, including Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. Tilray says Chowie Wowie has become #2 cannabis infused chocolate brand nationally in Canada, having grown at 12% month over month since last May.

•California attorney general Rob Bonta recently poured cold water on the Golden State’s hopes to leverage interstate cannabis commerce. In a letter to the state’s Department of Cannabis Control (DCC), Bonta said transactions between California businesses and out of state entities would carry “significant legal risk to the State of California under the federal Controlled Substances Act,” absent federal legalization. In September of 2022, California governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill allowing interstate transactions from the state, but the law is contingent upon federal legalization and approval of the Justice Department, among other things. Still, the DCC had asked Bonta early last year for more guidance on the matter.

Tagged : cannabis

GET YOUR FIRST LOOK AT 2025 ESTIMATES AND 2030 PROJECTIONS FOR THE WINE AND SPIRITS INDUSTRIES. ORDER YOUR 2025 IMPACT DATABANK REPORTS. CLICK HERE.