MONEY MAKER
Medical cannabis in Mississippi brings in $6 million before sales have started
With the medical marijuana program still in its infancy in Mississippi, the state is already raking in revenue, reports Marijuana Moment.
The state has culled nearly $6 million in license and one-time application fees from dispensaries, cultivators, transportation companies, processors, and testing operations in the state, according to information posted on the state’s Department of Health website.
While sales aren’t expected to begin until November, there are already 113 licensed dispensaries on file with the state’s Department of Revenue, the entity collecting fees and taxes.
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TRY HARDER
New Jersey not doing enough to provide an equitable cannabis industry
New Jersey enacted cannabis legalization in 2021, promising to create a recreational cannabis market grounded in social equity and racial justice, reports The Daily Princetonian.
After decades of criminalizing cannabis and disproportionately arresting people from Black and Brown communities, the state promised to make amends.
Eighteen months later, the state has made big profits: $4.6 million in tax revenue during the first 10 weeks of cannabis sales. But on its promises of social equity and racial justice? It’s a mixed record, at best. While the state has succeeded at drastically curbing arrests, it has much more to do to open the legal cannabis business to the communities it promised to benefit.
COMPETITIVE EDGE
Canadian cannabis stores hope new law review will help them compete with illicit sales
The federal government has launched a review of the Cannabis Act that came into existence four years ago legalizing cannabis in Canada. The review is supposed to determine if the legislation is meeting with the needs and expectations of Canadians, reports Global News CA.
George Smitherman, president and CEO of the Cannabis Council of Canada said they welcome the review but want to see urgent relief from the tax and regulatory burden on legal cannabis producers to enable competition with the illicit cannabis industry.
“Some areas where we’re really in need of reform to compete better with the Illicit market are to restore some order of financial viability for licensed participants, to give us some more flexibility to communicate with our consumers and to reduce some of the regulatory burden that we’re experiencing,” Smitherman said.
REFORM DELAYS
France could postpone the legalization of medical cannabis by one year
In a short note sent to deputies seen by NewsWeed, Santé France Cannabis, an association which brings together several representative players in the future sector of medical cannabis in France, recommends ‘planning the postponement’ of the legalization of medical cannabis by one year, reports BusinessCann.
A report produced by an entity external to the Ministry of Health must be presented to Parliament today (Monday, September 26) to evaluate the system and fuel the debate on how to proceed.
As reported last week, the extension of the medical cannabis pilot program, which Santé France Cannabis supports, would see customers no longer receive products for free.
