Category: Marijuana News

Quick Take

Kris Munro, Santa Cruz City Schools superintendent, and Faris Sabbah, Santa Cruz County superintendent of schools, believe a proposal to put a cannabis dispensary close to local schools is a mistake and could be detrimental to students’ health and safety. They urge city planning commissioners to reject the proposal Thursday and they urge city leaders to “reevaluate current zoning regulations and expand designated areas where dispensaries are prohibited near schools.”

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As educational leaders deeply committed to the well-being and success of our students, we are gravely concerned about the proposed establishment of a cannabis dispensary at Mission and Laurel streets in Santa Cruz at the former Emily’s Bakery location. It’s too close to our local schools. 

Amid a nationwide uptick in underage marijuana usage on school campuses, the prospect of a dispensary two blocks away from Santa Cruz High School in an established path of travel for students presents a troubling threat to the safety and development of our youth.

Research unequivocally underscores the detrimental effects of cannabis use on adolescent brain development, academic performance and overall mental health.

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NYCBUD just opened its doors on Feb. 16, making the Long Island City dispensary a new kid in a town with overwhelming demand for weed.

The company has a business plan and an idea of its target demographic, but as a store that’s been in business less than a month, NYCBUD is still feeling out the market, and tracking data on what customers are buying.

In a Q&A with NY Cannabis Insider, NYCBUD co-founder Jonpaul Pezzo answered questions about what customers are buying, how things have been going in the store’s first few weeks in business and the company’s long-term plans.

About how many customers are you seeing on weekdays and weekends?

Since we officially opened our doors a few weeks ago it’s simply too soon to tell. This is such a new industry, and every neighborhood and store are fundamentally different, so no number of projections or estimations can compare to the real thing. With that said, we were smart about our demographic and projected estimates and feel comfortable where we are.

How many full-time and part-time workers do you employ?

About 10 full-time and 15 part-time.

What kinds of products are selling the most?

According to data from our first few days, name-brand flower like Sour

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The Eastern Band of Cherokee’s cannabis dispensary will open April 20th.

The Great Smoky Cannabis Company, operated by Qualla Enterprises on the Qualla Boundary has been in limbo as tribal leadership have been discussing the funding for the organization, solving transportation of crops and discussing adult use for tribal members.

Lee Griffin is human resources director of Qualla Enterprises. He said the open date is a business decision.

“That’s the National Cannabis holiday,” he said, “Nationally it’s the biggest revenue day of the year. It’s like New Years Eve at the casino.”

Griffin said at the work session that he hopes tribal council will approve an adult use ordinance before April.

The tribe voted to support legalizing the possession and use of cannabis by people 21 or older in 2023. The tribe approved medical cannabis in 2021.

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Both suppliers and dispensaries said the changes are difficult and will take a lot of time to implement.

ST. PETERS, Mo. — Missouri marijuana suppliers and dispensaries are in the process of making some big changes to packaging, specifically for the edibles they make and carry.

This comes after an extra effort on the state’s part to keep gummies out of the hands of kids.

According to data released last year, there was a big increase in the number of kids exposed to edible cannabis, like gummies. In 2017, there were only 207 cases across the country, but in 2021 it went up to more than 3,000.

RELATED: ‘A slope that keeps getting higher’: Missouri sees spike in cannabis exposure among young children

“No one in this industry wants these products to be in the hands of children, just like alcohol. It’s the same difference,” Camp Cannabis Compliance Director Chris LeGrand said.

To combat the issue in Missouri, regulators made updates to packaging rules including:

The packages can only be one color.They can have up to two logos of different colors.The word marijuana must be prominently printed on

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During a recent community forum, the school received anonymous information that the business was selling cannabis to students.

GRAND ISLAND, N.Y. — On February 27,  the Erie Co. Sheriff’s Office seized cannabis and cash from an illegal dispensary on Grand Island Boulevard. 

Thomas Muscoreil, 23, was charged with criminal possession of cannabis 2nd degree, which is a Class E Felony, for selling cannabis concentrate, cannabis edibles, and cannabis flower. 

Muscoreil operates the Island Smoke Shop, and Island Smoke Shop 2 on Grand Island Boulevard. 

Despite the seizure of cannabis by the sheriff’s office, the business remains open. 

The investigation into the activities at the two illegal dispensaries started after ESCO received a tip from Grand Island Central School District Superintendent Dr. Brian Graham. 

During a recent community forum, the school received anonymous information that the business was selling cannabis to students.

“We did our own internal investigation, gathered more information, and then we turned that information over to the sheriff’s department,” Dr. Graham said. 

Graham says the district has been confiscating cannabis products from students on campus, much of it being synthetic. 

His

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Henrietta, N.Y. — Talks of a third legal cannabis dispensary in Monroe County continued Monday night.

The Henrietta Town Board considered whether to allow Capital Cannabis to move into South Town Plaza on Jefferson Road.

The main concern is its proximity to Altitude Trampoline Park. Town officials said the dispensary would be the necessary 1,000 feet away from the park.

“Henrietta has already two operating cannabis retailers; we have the first two in the county,” said Stephen Schultz, town supervisor, Henrietta. “We’ve seen zero issues with the legal sites; we’ve been having problems with the illegal sites.”

There will be a public hearing on Thursday to help determine the final approval. The business would still need a license from the Office of Cannabis Management.

MORE: New settlement will allow more cannabis dispensaries to open across NYS| First legal cannabis dispensary in Rochester-Finger Lakes region opens| Licensed cannabis retailers are free to open new businesses in the state|First legal cannabis store opens in Ontario County| NYS to hold first public hearing on adult-use cannabis |Prospective dispensary owners left in limbo over delayed settlement vote on adult-use licenses

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Curio Wellness was recently fined $26,000 by the state of Maryland after regulators discovered that employees at the company’s Far & Dotter dispensary in Timonium had put more than 200 grams of pre-packaged cannabis into a dumpster, retrieved the products two days later, and eventually sold the products, the Baltimore Banner reports.

The placing of the products in the dumpster, the retrieval of the products, and the repackaging of the products from the dumpster were all captured on video surveillance. An employee who was interviewed by officials said they repackaged the products after finding a “liquid substance” from the dumpster on the products’ original packaging. 

Curio, which says it conducted an internal investigation of the incident, told the Baltimore Banner that it does not tolerate regulatory noncompliance. The company ALSO noted that the products in question were “inside sealed jars, within sealed boxes, and it is undisputed that no outside material ever breached the jars or touched the product.”

Regulators said in a consent order that the cannabis products’ dumping and subsequent retrieval — which took place in July 2023 — had only been discovered after the person working as the store’s inventory manager at the time reported the incident.

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Curio Wellness was recently fined $26,000 by the state of Maryland after regulators discovered that employees at the company’s Far & Dotter dispensary in Timonium had put more than 200 grams of pre-packaged cannabis into a dumpster, retrieved the products two days later, and eventually sold the products, the Baltimore Banner reports.

The placing of the products in the dumpster, the retrieval of the products, and the repackaging of the products from the dumpster were all captured on video surveillance. An employee who was interviewed by officials said they repackaged the products after finding a “liquid substance” from the dumpster on the products’ original packaging. 

Curio, which says it conducted an internal investigation of the incident, told the Baltimore Banner that it does not tolerate regulatory noncompliance. The company ALSO noted that the products in question were “inside sealed jars, within sealed boxes, and it is undisputed that no outside material ever breached the jars or touched the product.”

Regulators said in a consent order that the cannabis products’ dumping and subsequent retrieval — which took place in July 2023 — had only been discovered after the person working as the store’s inventory manager at the time reported the incident.

Read More Here...

Curio Wellness was recently fined $26,000 by the state of Maryland after regulators discovered that employees at the company’s Far & Dotter dispensary in Timonium had put more than 200 grams of pre-packaged cannabis into a dumpster, retrieved the products two days later, and eventually sold the products, the Baltimore Banner reports.

The placing of the products in the dumpster, the retrieval of the products, and the repackaging of the products from the dumpster were all captured on video surveillance. An employee who was interviewed by officials said they repackaged the products after finding a “liquid substance” from the dumpster on the products’ original packaging. 

Curio, which says it conducted an internal investigation of the incident, told the Baltimore Banner that it does not tolerate regulatory noncompliance. The company ALSO noted that the products in question were “inside sealed jars, within sealed boxes, and it is undisputed that no outside material ever breached the jars or touched the product.”

Regulators said in a consent order that the cannabis products’ dumping and subsequent retrieval — which took place in July 2023 — had only been discovered after the person working as the store’s inventory manager at the time reported the incident.

Read More Here...

A bill proposed in Kansas would reduce licensing fees for hemp businesses from $1,200 to $500 which would reduce the barrier to entry for farmers to cultivate the crop, KSNW reports. State Rep. Tory Marie Blew (R), the bill’s co-sponsor in the House, told KSNW that “Lowering the barrier… is really gonna be appeasing to farmers to wanna get started and learn how to grow this crop and hopefully have more acreage in it in years to come.” 

State Rep. Webster Roth added that “At one point there were a large number of farmers wanting to farm this product, but the fees were so high that the licensure was high that they could not.” 

The measure passed the House 105-6 on February 14 and was referred to the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources. The measure was opposed by Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kelsey Olson who said that reducing the fee cap to $500 would require the agency to seek additional funding to cover an operating deficit in the future, according to supplemental notes on the proposal.  

Olson also expressed concerns regarding provisions of the bill that would allow for

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