Cannabis Briefs for March 14, 2023
March 14, 2023•Oklahoma voters rejected a ballot measure to legalize recreational cannabis in a rare setback for the movement. The proposal was voted down by a margin of 62% to 38%, or approximately 350,000 no votes to 216,000 yes votes. The special election was the result of legal tangling that prevented the issue from appearing on the ballot last November. The state legalized medical marijuana in 2018. The 15% tax on recreational sales was projected to generate more than $100 million in state revenue annually.
•California’s Department of Cannabis Control is launching a grant program to expand cannabis retail. The Local Jurisdiction Retail Access Grant will allocate $20 million to local governments to fund licensing programs and other administrative steps needed to bring cannabis retail to underserved parts of the state. It will prioritize areas where consumers have little to no access to the legal market, which the DCC notes threatens consumer safety and perpetuates the illicit market. There are 33 counties in California that currently do not offer cannabis licenses.
•Nevada’s cannabis market totaled $825 million in 2022, down 14.5% from 2021, according to a report from the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board. That decrease was due in part to falling prices across categories including flower (down 19% to around $7 a gram), concentrates (down 9%), edibles (down 6%), and pre-rolls (down 10% to $9 each). Flower makes up 69% of wholesale volume in the state. Nevada currently has 100 active cannabis retail locations.
•Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro is echoing his predecessor in calling for recreational cannabis legalization in the state. Shapiro included legalization in his recent budget proposal, hopefully projecting that legislative action will set the stage for sales to begin at the beginning of 2025. He proposes a 20% tax on the wholesale price, which the budget predicts would generate $64 million in tax revenue in 2025 and $188 million in 2028.
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