HOLD YOUR NOSE
Strange bedfellows on legalization
They say politics makes strange bedfellows, but few political issues draw more disparate bedfellows than cannabis legalization. A write up from MJBiz tells the tale.
Who’s in bed?
We know that Congress has some cannabis allies from polar ends of the political spectrum. Think Representatives Nancy Mace (R-SD) and Ed Perlmutter (D-CO. The former has a 29% voting record by the American Civil Liberties Union and the latter a 100% voting record. But it isn’t just members of Congress. Advocates as far apart as billionaire Charles Koch and Minority Cannabis Business Association’s Amber Littlejohon on on-side with legalization.
Tell it like it is
Littlejohn told MJBiz, “While I may have to hold my nose at times, if I can help people get out of jail by leveraging resources of an organization I don’t holistically agree with, I’m going to try to get people out of jail.”
Enjoy Cannabis Daily each morning at 7 a.m.
WE’RE WAITING…
Slow going in New Jersey
One thing is for sure about New Jersey’s legalization effort, it doesn’t move quickly. And there appears to be even more delays afoot.
What’s the timeline again?
This week, Governor Murphy indicated that he’d rather get the legalization framework right than fast – noting that the state may blow through the February 22nd deadline for recreational sales – according to NJ.com.
The takeaway
In New Jersey (and New York and Connecticut…) legalization moves slowly. Sometimes really slowly. Governor Murphy had a promising first weeks on the job in 2018 when it comes to legalization – in fact, Business of Cannabis President wrote this way back when: What We Learned from New Jersey, June 20, 2018. So, we continue to wait.
TOUGH SLEDDING
Cannabis operators seek banking reform (and profit)
A new report from Whitney Economics aimed to gauge the cannabis sector’s current state of affairs – and the picture is challenging, according to a news release.
Banking + Profit
72 percent of operators in the Whitney Economics’ report noted that banking was their biggest overall concern – followed by market volatility, big business competition and taxes. But perhaps more intriguing is that only 42% of respondents to the survey report being profitable.
The takeaway
The cannabis industry is not for the faint of heart. In addition to the tax and regulatory burdens, there is real, quantifiable competition for a legacy market free of many of the regulatory and tax burdens (obviously). So much so, that California has seen a resurgence of the legacy market – causing added headaches to the challenged industry.
