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Oregon cannabis regulators rebrand.
The Oregon Liquor Control Commission is now the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission.
“The industries we regulate matter, they matter a lot to the state of Oregon’s economy,” said Paul Rosenbaum, chair of the OLCC, in the announcement. “The cannabis industry in Oregon has become a billion dollar business and changing our agency name reflects our role in generating revenue to fund state programs.”
In Illinois, sales to those from out-of-state continue to climb.
Adult use cannabis sales in Illinois are well on their way to hitting a 2021 total above $1 billion, according to the latest data released by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
But what is equally noteworthy in looking at the latest sales figures is the portion of sales to out-of-state residents. In July, for example, the state’s residents spent around $85 million on cannabis, while non-residents spent around $40 million.
Non-residents’ total spend so far in 2021? Over $230 million (up from a full year total of $173 million in 2020).
Illinois’ equity license rollout continues.
First, the context: As Cannabis Wire recently reported, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law a bill to award nearly 200 licenses through three lotteries, with a focus on social equity applicants.
In late July, the state’s Department of Financial and Professional Regulation held the first lottery, selecting 55 “conditional adult use cannabis dispensary” licensees from a pool of 626 applicants.
On August 5, another 55 were selected, from a pool of 589. You can see who was selected here.
The final lottery will be on August 19th, and will be for 75 licenses that were allocated in the original adult use law, but were held up due to lawsuits. (The two lotteries for 55 licenses each were part of the recently signed law.)
Compliance on underage cannabis sales is up in Washington.
During the worst of the pandemic, Washington’s Liquor and Cannabis Board paused underage sales compliance checks for its alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis retailers. This May, the Board announced it would start again, and the first findings are out.
Compliance among cannabis retailers has increased since 2019, from 95 percent to 96 percent.
However, that is not the case for tobacco and alcohol retailers. Alcohol compliance fell from 85 percent to 75 percent, while tobacco compliance fell from 90 percent to 75 percent.
