California Senators Advance Bill to Legalize Psychedelic Treatment Centers

California senators voted on Tuesday to advance a bill that would establish treatment centers in the state where adults aged 21 or older could access psychedelics including psilocybin, psilocyn, DMT, MDMA, and mescaline while under supervision, Marijuana Moment reports.

The “Regulated Therapeutic Access to Psychedelics Act” passed the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee earlier this month, and the Public Safety Committee voted 3-2 this week to advance the proposal to the Appropriations Committee for consideration.

Sponsored by Sen. Scott Wiener (D), the proposal creates regulated access points for psychedelic substances but would not remove criminal penalties outside of that environment. Additionally, participants in the program would need to submit to a health and safety screening. Other provisions of the bill include training and licensing requirements for those who would facilitate psychedelics, the creation of a “Division of Regulated Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy” that would regulate the program, and new licensing procedures for the program’s producers and testing labs. The bill would also fund public education initiatives covering the safe use of psychedelics and their potential risks and benefits.

“People are using psychedelics today. There is incredible potential in terms of treating mental health and substance use disorders. And we should bring

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Cresco Labs Cultivation Employees Leave Massachusetts Labor Union

Workers at a Cresco Labs cannabis cultivation facility in Massachusetts have voted to de-unionize in what is believed to be the first instance of unionized cannabis workers departing from organized labor, MJBizDaily reports.

Workers at the multi-state operator’s Fall Rivers cultivation site signed with the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 328 in November 2020, and their contract was set to expire this June.

Wyatt Brissette, the Cresco employee who initiated the de-unionization vote, said the benefits from belonging to the union didn’t justify its $40 monthly fees. “We felt as if (the union) didn’t match what we needed,” Brissette said in the report. Ultimately, 18 of the location’s 20 cultivation workers supported the move to de-certify.

Lindsey Dadourian, the senior vice president of employee and labor relations for Cresco Labs, said the company was “very proud” of the employees’ “trust in Cresco.”

“We have always supported our employees’ choice to decide about organized representation, and that goes both ways. We will continue to support our employees while also working to maintain positive and productive relationships with the local unions that continue to represent some of our employees elsewhere.” — Dadourian, via MJBizDaily

The de-certification vote presents a setback for

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Software crash hit Michigan marijuana dispensaries on 4/20 – Green Market Report

This story was republished with permission from Crain’s Detroit and written by Dustin Walsh.

Business was humming on Saturday at Bazonzoes’ three marijuana dispensary locations. Hundreds were in line to take advantage of the retailer’s large 42% discount to celebrate the 4/20 holiday.

Then it all started to fall apart as Bazonzoes’ point-of-sale system, Dutchie, began to experience outages. The cannabis retailer quickly adjusted by handwriting sales, calculating taxes and discounts using a calculator. Pandemonium.

“We were out for about two hours total,” said Erin McCann-Sabo, operations director for Bazonzoes, which has two locations in Lansing and one in Walled Lake. “We were already at a backup of 35 minutes to an hour and a half due to the sheer volume of people in line. We had to rely on our budtenders to quickly do math and transcribe METRC numbers (the state’s product tracking system). For people to hand-write METRC, excise and sales tax on a subtotal with various discounts is an exercise in not only math skills and patience, but in perseverance. Especially in front of 400 angry customers.”

The Dutchie point-of-sale system outages began at about 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, about 30 minutes after the west coast of the

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Midnight Greens Retail Dispensary Is Open In Washington Twp. Cancer Survivor To Business Owner – 42freeway.com

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Midnight Greens is a new dispensary which opened last week in Washington Township (Gloucester County) on the Black Horse Pike (Rt 42).  

The new dispensary is located on the northbound side of Black Horse Pike not too far past the Whitman Diner and Garfield Ave, in a small strip of stores… with Midnight Greens positioned on the left side of the building.

Midnight Greens is owned by local resident Cindy Ortiz, who didn’t even try marijuana until her early 40s! Battling breast cancer at the time, a friend suggested she try marijuana to see if it would help Cindy cope with the pain and side effects of surgeries and chemotherapy.

Cindy was so happy with the benefits of marijuana, she decided to open a dispensary so that she could help others!

To be clear, Midnight Greens is an Adult-use recreational dispensary… anyone can walk in and purchase from the Washington Township dispensary.  You do not need a medical card to purchase.

Cindy is one of the first female dispensary owners in New Jersey, and realizing a woman walking into a dispensary

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Philadelphia shop curbing cravings with new 24/7 ‘cheese dispensary’ – FOX 29 Philadelphia

24/7 cheese vending machine opens in Kensington

Perrystead Dairy in Old Kensington has opened a new cheese vending machine that is open 24/7!

PHILADELPHIA – Say cheese! A unique vending machine in Philadelphia was crafted with cheese lovers in mind.

Perrystead Dairy has opened what they are calling a “cheese dispensary” outside their North Hancock Street shop on the border of Kensington and Fishtown.

The machine is cashless, and open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

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But it’s not just cheese, the machine is also filled with meats, jams and crackers.

So, whether you need to build a charcuterie board, or grab a late-night snack, your cheese needs are covered!

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Theory Wellness to open 1st dispensary in New Jersey’s state capital – ROI-NJ.com

After years of planning in close partnership with municipal leaders, the Garden State’s capital will become much greener. Theory Wellness will open Trenton’s first cannabis dispensary for medical sales April 25.

Located at 461 New York Ave., a redevelopment district right off Route 1, the company will begin with medical cannabis sales only, but plans to expand its offering to recreational sales in the coming weeks. As part of its commitment to the city, Theory will be engaging locally with nonprofits, including a generous annual donation to drug and alcohol abuse prevention programs, and will be supporting the city through added employment, tourism and tax revenue.

Theory said it has invested significantly in the local area, redeveloping a vacant building, providing significant green space and adding ample parking for easy and convenient access for customers.

“The planning and development of this project spans several years, and we’re grateful to the city for their continued partnership in making this vision a reality,” Brandon Pollock, CEO of Theory Wellness, said. “We’ve built a reputation on the East Coast by offering a very high level of service to our customers, and we are excited to bring our experience and hospitality to New Jersey.”

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Theory Wellness to Open First Dispensary in New Jersey State Capital – AccessWire

This Trenton dispensary will be the first of its kind, resulting from years of partnership with local officials and significant investment in the Garden State’s capital.

TRENTON, NJ / ACCESSWIRE / April 24, 2024 / The Garden State’s capital will become much greener with the opening of the first dispensary in Trenton, as Theory Wellness opens for medical sales this Thursday, April 25th. After years of planning in close partnership with municipal leaders, Theory will open its doors at 461 New York Avenue at 10 a.m.

Trenton Dispensary
Theory Wellness to open the first dispensary in NJ state capital.

The store is located in a redevelopment district right off Route 1. Theory has invested significantly in the local area, redeveloping a vacant building, providing significant green space to the area, and adding ample parking for easy and convenient access for customers.

“The planning and development of this project spans several years, and we’re grateful to the city for their continued partnership in making this vision a reality,” shared Brandon Pollock, CEO of Theory Wellness. “We’ve built a reputation on the East Coast by offering a very high level of service to our customers, and we are excited to bring our experience and hospitality to

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Missouri dispensaries lost sales due to statewide tech glitches on April 20 – STLPR

April 20 is a day recognized globally for celebrating cannabis culture, but it’s also like the cannabis industry’s Black Friday.

Dispensaries offer deals designed to inspire people to flood their stores to stock up.

However on Saturday, dispensaries across the state using an inventory platform called Dutchie were hamstrung for hours by technical challenges, which caused many of their registers to go down or move at snail pace.

It was the second year in a row that a 4/20 sales surge caused the system to crash.

“Imagine running a restaurant where you have one burner working and you normally have 20 stoves operating,” said Nick Rinella, CEO of Hippos Cannabis dispensaries. “We had one burner going.”

Each Hippos location went from selling around 500 items per hour to less than 100 because of the issues the outages were causing, he said.

Dutchie is similar to the platforms major stores, such as Home Depot and Walmart, use to scan items at check out. However, Dutchie also has the special function of communicating with the state’s seed-to-sale tracking system called Metrc.

It keeps the stores compliant with the state’s stringent tracking requirements of marijuana products.

Rinella said all three Hippos dispensaries in Springfield, Chesterfield and Columbia faced delays all day

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Theory Wellness to Open First Dispensary in New Jersey State Capital – Newswire

This Trenton dispensary will be the first of its kind, resulting from years of partnership with local officials and significant investment in the Garden State’s capital.

The Garden State’s capital will become much greener with the opening of the first dispensary in Trenton, as Theory Wellness opens for medical sales this Thursday, April 25th. After years of planning in close partnership with municipal leaders, Theory will open its doors at 461 New York Avenue at 10 a.m.

The store is located in a redevelopment district right off Route 1. Theory has invested significantly in the local area, redeveloping a vacant building, providing significant green space to the area, and adding ample parking for easy and convenient access for customers. 

“The planning and development of this project spans several years, and we’re grateful to the city for their continued partnership in making this vision a reality,” shared Brandon Pollock, CEO of Theory Wellness. “We’ve built a reputation on the East Coast by offering a very high level of service to our customers, and we are excited to bring our experience and hospitality to New Jersey.” 

Their impact is welcomed by leaders, including Mayor Gusciora,

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Joint Operations marijuana dispensary opens in North Central Mass. – The Gardner News

A second recreational marijuana dispensary has opened its doors in Gardner.

Joint Operations, a veteran co-owned business with stores in Mendon and Rowley, officially opened its newest location at 320 West Broadway in Timpany Crossroads Plaza on Sunday.

The establishment was hoping to open its doors one day earlier, on the coveted 4/20 date, but Daniel Lencioni said delays with the state Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) meant they would have to settle for the later date.

“The CCC delayed so we were just waiting for a very long time to open way before 4/20,” he said. “We were supposed to open on April 10, but here we are on 4/21. And I do believe that everything happens for a reason.”

The dispensary, which specializes in flowers, pre-roll, vaporizers, edibles and topicals, will be open daily 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., except for Friday and Saturday, when the shop will remain open until 10 p.m. each night. A daily blog on the Joint Operations website covers topics like “A Beginner’s Guide to Cannabis Consumption,” “Influential Women Within the Massachusetts Cannabis Industry,” and the “Surprising Health Benefits of Cannabis.”