Bipartisan lawmakers push federal reform 📈

Bipartisan lawmakers introduce another cannabis bill 👀

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) introduced the Preparing Regulators Effectively for a Post-Prohibition Adult-Use Regulated Environment Act (PREPARE) Act last week, which would direct the Justice Department to establish a framework for regulating cannabis like alcohol. “Currently, nearly all 50 states have legalized or enacted cannabis to some degree, bringing us closer to the inevitable end to federal cannabis prohibition,” Joyce, the co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, said. 

Green Market Report shuts down 👎

Cannabis financial media publication Green Market Report is shutting down. Debra Borchardt, the site’s executive editor, said on LinkedIn that Crain Communications, the ownership group, decided to pull the plug. The entire team will be laid off outside of reporter John Schroyer, who will stay on at Crain’s to cover cannabis and other topics, he said. Borchardt founded GMR in 2017 and led it to become a cannabis media powerhouse — the industry will be worse off without it. “It is truly heartbreaking. I had an amazing team and we left it all on the field,” Borchardt said.

Utah’s medical program hits 100k 📈

Deep-Red Utah’s medical cannabis program — launched in 2020 — is on track to hit 100,000 cardholders by the end of April, Axios reports. The state generated about $157 in revenue from medical cannabis sales last year.

California towns slash cannabis taxes 💰

Some towns and counties in California are voting to slash cannabis taxes in order to help the flailing industry, SF Gate reports. Many dispensaries and cultivation sites in California are going out of business, in no small part due to onerous city and state taxes. 

NYC mayoral candidate Brad Lander buys cannabis 🗽

Progressive mayoral candidate Brad Lander dropped by Tetra, East Harlem’s first legal cannabis dispensary, and became what we think is the first NYC mayoral candidate to buy legal cannabis. Watch it.

Doctors group drops DEA lawsuit 🧑‍⚖️

Doctors for Drug Policy Reform, a group of doctors who support rescheduling cannabis, dropped its lawsuit against the Drug Enforcement Administration that alleged improper communication and witness selection during the now-paused hearings to reclassify cannabis, in an effort to avoid “further delay,” Marijuana Moment reports.

We thought this was a smart post from cannabis industry consultant David Kram on why EBITDA is a meaningless metric for cannabis companies, given the 280E tax: 

Cannabis and traffic safety 🚓

A new study from Ohio State University’s Drug Policy Enforcement Center found that there is "modest evidence" to show that legalization of cannabis sales did not lead to an uptick in car crashes in Columbus, Ohio. Traffic safety is one of the key reasons why many police departments and lawmakers don’t support legalization. Read the full study. 

Canadian cannabis firm Village Farms International received a 180-day extension to bring its share price back up to $1 to maintain its Nasdaq listing. As of Monday afternoon, shares were about 60 cents.

John Svoboda said on LinkedIn he is the new Vice President of Business Development at GreenLists, a Colorado cannabis marketplace. 

Joel Hill announced on LinkedIn that he was getting promoted to VP of Customer Success at Sweed.

The average potency of cannabis seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration has quadrupled since 1995, according to this chart from Axios:

Snoop Dogg dropped a new music video on 4/20, a whimsical (if slightly ominous) cover of Tom Petty’s Last Dance with Mary Jane, about Snoop’s multi-decade love affair with the plant. 

Watch it:

On the cannabis agenda this week: New York’s Cannabis Control Board will hold its next public meeting on Thursday at 10 AM. Details here. 

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Inside Stiiizy, The World’s Best-Selling Weed Brand | Forbes

'This is freaking crazy!': The rise and fall of a San Francisco party that changed the world | SF Gate

One year after rollout, Las Vegas cannabis consumption lounges still face challenges | Las Vegas Weekly

The short history of cannabis in NYC | Discovering NYC

How has 420 changed in Canada since legalization? | StratCann

As D.C. Transitions to a Medical Cannabis Market, the Gifting Market Still Lingers | Washington City Paper