Regulators reject Curaleaf’s renewal for adult use operations.
One year ago, New Jersey’s adult use industry went live with 7 medical cannabis licensees who expanded into adult use, as Cannabis Wire reported at the time. This group included some of the country’s largest cannabis companies, like Acreage, Curaleaf, and GTI.
At the Cannabis Regulatory Commission’s meeting on Thursday, these seven entities were up for annual renewal. And, ultimately, each of them was approved — except for Curaleaf. (However, Chair Dianna Houenou warned Columbia Care to better document its social equity efforts so they can be clearly communicated to the CRC.) The Curaleaf vote came down to 2 nos, 2 abstentions, and 1 yes.
Commissioner Maria Del Cid-Kosso called out Curaleaf for not clearly communicating the closure of its Bellmawr cultivation facility last month. And, when it came time to vote, Houenou flagged that the company conducted layoffs amid this closure without communicating with the Commission, adding that it is important to have “proper insight and timely notice of major changes to a facility’s operations” and that information should be provided in a way that is “forthcoming and transparent.”
What, exactly, comes next remains up in the air, but Curaleaf’s current annual adult use license (which applies to 2 cultivation sites, 1 manufacturing site, and 2 shops) runs out in a matter of days.
+ More: we reported in this newsletter back in November that Houenou flagged other concerns related to Curaleaf, with a focus on the company’s “labor provisions.”
Former president’s cannabis connections under investigation.
Well, this is a mouthful:
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced this week, during one of his daily press briefings, that his government is investigating the issuance of dozens of medical cannabis licenses to companies linked to former President Vicente Fox, who left office in 2006, under the administration of former president Enrique Peña Nieto, who left office in 2018.
AMLO provided few details, other than that the director of Cofepris (Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks), which is the regulatory body that oversees the country’s medical cannabis program, told AMLO that he is “discovering things” in the “basement.”
The bit about Fox was only a short part of a two-hour-plus briefing, but news reports quickly zeroed in on it. And Fox quickly called AMLO a “liar.”
What, exactly, is happening with cannabis in Virginia?
After yet another legislative session during which lawmakers failed to establish a framework for adult use sales in the state, they have, on the other hand, managed to find a sliver of common ground on hemp.
First, some context on the adult use front, in case you missed some of the road to this moment: former Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration led a dedicated effort to decriminalize cannabis and establish regulated adult use sales, culminating in legislation signed in April 2021. However, that legislation called on lawmakers to pass a separate bill to craft adult use regulations, with the goal of launching sales in 2024. But then, Gov. Glenn Youngkin took office in January 2022, and both he and his fellow Republicans in the legislature refused to budge last year, as Cannabis Wire reported at the time.
Fast forward to today, they didn’t budge on adult use again this year. What did move forward, however, both last year and this year were conversations around how to rein in hemp products. Last year, Youngkin included a task force in his budget that would, by Nov 2022, provide him with a report on intoxicating hemp products. This year, legislation (HB 2294/SB 903) landed on his desk.
This week, after some back and forth, Youngkin and lawmakers agreed on that legislation.
So, what’s in it? Lawmakers initially agreed on a 2 mg THC package limit for hemp-derived products, but Youngkin proposed an amendment that changes the limit to a 25:1 ratio of CBD to THC.
