Cannabis Briefs for March 5, 2024
March 5, 2024•Washington, D.C.’s District Cannabis has made new appointments to its executive leadership team, naming drinks industry veteran Bethany Frick as CEO and Bryce Freeman as COO. Frick joins District with over two decades of experience, including tenures at Total Wine and Diageo. Freeman comes to the company with experience in the consumer packaged goods industry—at Procter & Gamble and McCormick & Co.—and will help District scale up production as the cultivator aims to expand. As part of that effort, District plans to open a dispensary in Washington, D.C.’s Union Market in May, as well as a 5,000-square-foot dispensary in Maryland later this year.
•A new bill to bring cannabis retail sales to Virginia is heading to the governor’s desk. The bill, passed by both the state senate and house of delegates, would start retail sales on May 1, 2025. While possession, use, and some growing have been legal in Virginia since 2021, Republicans in the state’s government have blocked previous attempts to bring adult-use sales to the state. While the bill has passed, it’s unclear whether Governor Youngkin will sign the bill. In the past, he has stated that he would not sign the plans proposed by Virginia Democrats, but he has not explicitly stated that he would veto this bill.
•Despite continued infighting in Ohio’s state government over the adult-use cannabis rollout, Ohio’s top regulator has said that licenses will be issued by September 7. Director of Ohio Cannabis Control, Jim Canepa, recently told a Columbus news network that his office is ready to issue between 300 and 350 licenses even if the Ohio legislature has not entirely finalized the state’s retail cannabis laws. At this time, Governor Mike DeWine is pushing for immediate licensing, but the holdup is more conservative figures in the state senate pushing for substantial restrictions on retailers.
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