Month: November 2023

The price of medical cannabis in Virginia is “categorically higher” than prices in other states, which has resulted in 90% of the state’s patients purchasing products from outside the state’s medical cannabis market, according to a Cannabis Public Policy Consulting (CPPC) report authored at the request of the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority.

The report, which surveyed 1,827 cannabis consumers in Virginia, 476 of whom are registered medical cannabis patients, found patients on average spent $19 per gram for flower; however, publicly available price data from the state dispensaries suggests prices are about $14 per gram. Comparatively, CPPC found the average price per gram in Washington, D.C. was $8.73 per gram and a $9.27 average per gram price in Maryland. The CPPC found that 12% of Virginia medical cannabis patients traveled to D.C. or Maryland to obtain medical cannabis products.

The firm also found that about 57% of Virginia medical cannabis patients grew their own cannabis and that 65.2% of patients obtained cannabis from friends or family.

The report suggests that the high prices of medical cannabis in Virginia “are likely necessary for Pharmaceutical Processors to remain solvent given the current market and policy conditions

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A bipartisan bill in Wisconsin aims to make it easier for researchers to treat patients with acute post-traumatic stress disorder with psilocybin, WPR reports. The measure would create a trust fund called the “medicinal psilocybin treatment program” that would be administered by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which launched a center for studying psychedelics to treat PTSD in 2021.

State Sen. Jesse James (R), one of the bill’s sponsors, told WPR that the “federal government has failed us when it comes to marijuana and the psilocybin and all these other variants that are out there in doing these studies.”

James and State Rep. Clinton Anderson (D), the measure’s co-sponsor, said they hope to include $100,000 in state funds to establish a trust that can be used for psilocybin research in the state.

“Let’s try to find some alternatives to treatment for our veterans who serve our country. And I think that’s something we should all be able to get behind. Otherwise, we’re just playing political theater when we talk about how important our veterans are.” — Anderson to WPR 

Ander added that the bipartisan nature of the legislation shows lawmakers are “serious”

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Over 300 concerned residents packed into the cafeteria at St. Helen Catholic Academy in Howard Beach for the Howard Beach Lindenwood Civic’s meeting to discuss a topic making the rounds at civic groups all over Queens: marijuana dispensaries.

Specifically, the meeting called into question a dispensary application for 157-02 Cross Bay Blvd., which is currently shared by multiple establishments, including medical offices and a European Wax Center. The location is about a 10-minute walk from three schools: PS 146, PS 207 and St. Helen Catholic Academy.

The applicant, Andray Sukhu, initially agreed to attend the meeting, the civic said, but later decided against it. He could not be reached for comment.

“We wanted to give the owner the chance to be transparent with us,” said Barbara McNamara, the group’s co-president, in a press release.

“We gave him the option, he chose not to take it and is already showing us what type of community partner and business owner he potentially will be by refusing to be transparent and show up in good faith for our residents,” Phyllis Inserillo, the civic’s other co-president, said.

At the meeting, Inserillo asked for a show of hands to see how many people in the crowd, whose

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SAN JOSE — A successful weed dispensary plans to open a store at a high-profile downtown San Jose location, a retail outlet that could help revitalize the city’s urban core.

Purple Lotus, which is the No. 1 weed dispensary in San Jose, has struck a deal to lease a prominent ground-floor space at 66 West Santa Clara Street, a prominent location in the downtown.

“We really believe in downtown San Jose,” said Matt Krishnamachari, founder of family-owned Purple Lotus, a cannabis dispensary that for roughly 14 years has operated out of a north San Jose site near the corner of Commercial Street and Old Oakland Road.

For several years, the downtown San Jose location that Purple Lotus has leased was the site of a Peet’s Coffee shop and then a Verizon store, according to Mark Ritchie, president of Ritchie Commercial, a real estate firm that arranged the lease for Purple Lotus.

“This location is retail-ready for us,” Krishnamachari said.

Purple Lotus has leased 2,100 square feet on the ground floor of a commercial building at the corner of West Santa Clara Street and Lightson Alley, according to Ritchie. That’s a section of the downtown near bustling San Pedro Square.

“This store

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(George Avalos/Bay Area News Group) Purple Lotus cannabis dispensary store site at 66 West Santa Clara Street in downtown San Jose.

SAN JOSE — A successful weed dispensary plans to open a store at a high-profile downtown San Jose location, a retail outlet that could help revitalize the city’s urban core.

Purple Lotus, which is the No. 1 weed dispensary in San Jose, has struck a deal to lease a prominent ground-floor space at 66 West Santa Clara Street, a prominent location in the downtown.

“We really believe in downtown San Jose,” said Matt Krishnamachari, founder of family-owned Purple Lotus, a cannabis dispensary that for roughly 14 years has operated out of a north San Jose site near the corner of Commercial Street and Old Oakland Road.

For several years, the downtown San Jose location that Purple Lotus has leased was the site of a Peet’s Coffee shop and then a Verizon store, according to Mark Ritchie, president of Ritchie Commercial, a real estate firm that arranged the lease for Purple Lotus.

“This location is retail-ready for us,” Krishnamachari said.

Purple Lotus has leased 2,100 square feet on the ground floor of a commercial

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Kane County officials this week revealed, for the first time, how much the county collects from local dispensaries since instituting a marijuana sales tax in 2019.

The county imposes a 3.75% tax on adult-use cannabis sales, the highest allowed by state law. Since April, when the fifth dispensary opened — Consume Cannabis in St. Charles — tax collections averaged about $120,000 every month through the end of the year. The county also gets a cut of the state tax on cannabis operations, amounting to about $7,000 per month.

If those totals endure for an entire year, the county would receive $1.5 million annually in cannabis tax revenue. In comparison, state cannabis tax collections on retail sales totaled $1.3 billion through October.

State law initially blocked the county from disclosing tax data because there were fewer than five dispensaries operating there, which could make it easy to tie specific tax collections to a single business. That could make a dispensary showing particularly high volumes of business an attractive crime target.

In addition to Consume Cannabis in St. Charles, Kane County’s other dispensaries include Zen Leaf in St. Charles, Verilife in North Aurora, and nuEra and

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Proposed Union City dispensary met with backlash

Plans for a marijuana dispensary is prompting protest from nearby neighbors. More than 2,000 people are pulling together to petition city leaders.

UNION CITY, Calif. – Residents in Union City are banding together to prevent a cannabis dispensary from taking root in their neighborhood amid fears that the pot shop would bring more traffic, crime and violence to their quiet community.

Embarc Cannabis wants to open a marijuana dispensary at the Cherrywood Center along Decoto Road, but neighborhood organizers have gathered more than 2,000 signatures to snuff out the plan.

“From our bedroom door to this shopping center is 36 feet,” said Mike Garcia, whose backyard is directly behind the back wall of the strip mall. “This is just not right. We don’t need this.”

Over the objections of neighbors, the city council voted to approve moving forward with the permit process in July. Since then, the fight to stop the plans to open the third recreational pot dispensary in Union City has picked up speed.

Dozens of yard signs are on display along Cherrywood neighborhood streets and outside of homes with the words “no recreational marijuana shops

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UNION CITY, Calif. – Residents in Union City are banding together to prevent a cannabis dispensary from taking root in their neighborhood amid fears that the pot shop would bring more traffic, crime and violence to their quiet community.

Embarc Cannabis wants to open a marijuana dispensary at the Cherrywood Center along Decoto Road, but neighborhood organizers have gathered more than 2,000 signatures to snuff out the plan.

“From our bedroom door to this shopping center is 36 feet,” said Mike Garcia, whose backyard is directly behind the back wall of the strip mall. “This is just not right. We don’t need this.”

Over the objections of neighbors, the city council voted to approve moving forward with the permit process in July. Since then, the fight to stop the plans to open the third recreational pot dispensary in Union City has picked up speed.

Dozens of yard signs are on display along Cherrywood neighborhood streets and outside of homes with the words “no recreational marijuana shops near our kids” and “enough.”

“It’s absolutely a bad idea,” said resident Lakshmi Pati. “Something happens [there], they can jump into our backyard, so it’s a big, big problem for us.”

Residents said that with James Logan High School close

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CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – While recreational marijuana will become legal in Ohio on December 7th, sales will not begin until at least the fall of 2024.

This is due to the lengthy process of creating and implementing the rules and regulations for the recreational marijuana industry.

The Ohio Department of Commerce’s newly formed Cannabis Control Division will be responsible for overseeing the licensing process for cultivators, processors, and dispensaries.

The approval process for licenses is lengthy and competitive, and there’s only a limited number of licenses available.

The division will have nine months to start issuing licenses, which will be categorized into three levels: Level 1 and Level 2 Adult Use Cultivator Licenses, Adult Use Processor Licenses, and Adult Use Dispensary Licenses.

Level 1 and Level 2 Adult Use Cultivator Licenses allow licensees to either grow and distribute marijuana to other cannabis operators or acquire seeds, clone plants, and other cultivation materials. However, licensees can only choose one of these options.

Level 3 Adult Use Cultivator Licenses, on the other hand, allow licensees to engage in all of these activities.

Adult Use Processor Licenses allow licensees to purchase marijuana from licensed operators and process it into edibles and other consumable products for distribution.

Adult Use Dispensary Licenses allow

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New Jersey gains another cannabis dispensary while Hoboken opens its first store.

In New Jersey, cannabis is legal for both recreational and medical use. The cannabis industry in the state has been slow to develop but a new cannabis dispensary for medical cannabis opened in October 2023 and is the first cannabis dispensary for Hoboken, New Jersey (1).

Known as “The Station”, the medical cannabis dispensary is placed two blocks from the Hoboken train station and is located at River and Newark streets (1). The dispensary hopes to be able to offer recreational cannabis in the future. The Station is owned by Joseph Castelo who also owns the building the dispensary is located in, as well as two other enterprises that reside within the same building (1). The medical cannabis dispensary did not come to fruition overnight, Castelo told The Patch, that it had taken almost 5 years to get The Station up and running due to local and state approvals (1). The Station owner plans to be able to open for recreational used and is waiting on approval from the Hoboken Cannabis Review Board (1).

The decor for the new medical dispensary is inspired by the 1907 Erie Lackawana Train Station not

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