Lawmakers question Trump's cannabis pivot

TRUMP
Bipartisan lawmakers don’t buy Trump’s cannabis pivot 🍊

What happened: Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle — and both sides of the cannabis legalization question — don’t seem to believe that former President Donald Trump’s recent endorsement of cannabis reform is serious.

What they’re saying: “He’s been dithering on this since 2016,” Rep. Earl Blumenauer told Marijuana Moment. “It doesn’t make that much difference.” 

And: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Trump’s cannabis reform endorsement “sounds like a Hail Mary to me,” and added that she doesn’t think “he’s serious” about it.

Why it matters: Look, if more politicians — outside of the core Congressional Cannabis Caucus — were actually serious about cannabis reform, we’d already have multiple laws on the books.

Around 70% of Americans and both presidential candidates support reform. That popularity means the lack of progress is squarely on lawmakers, not voters. 

Congressional Democrats not named Earl Blumenauer (and yes, a few others) don’t have much of a leg to stand on to criticize Trump’s seriousness on cannabis. 

Democrats have held the Senate and the White House, but little substantive cannabis reform has become law. President Joe Biden had to direct federal agencies to do the work on reclassifying cannabis to a less dangerous drug that Congress should have been doing. 

And Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is certainly good at publicly posturing on social media and in front of the press that he cares about reform. But the support in Congress mostly seems a mile wide and inch deep — and truth be told, there are just not enough Republican votes for legislation like the SAFE Banking Act, a cannabis banking bill, for it to be rational for Schumer to bring it to a full vote.

So spare us the act that Trump’s not serious. It’s true, he might not be. Knowing him and his slippery relationship with the truth and his predilection to grovel for votes, he probably isn’t.

But we’d say that Democrats aren’t either. Otherwise, something would’ve gotten done. 

-JB

“The city could solve this issue … being like a bank for us, since privately owned banks are not interested in helping us, and we had to have someone like a Chicago Atlantic come in,” Roland Conner, the owner of New York dispensary Smacked LLC, told Green Market Report. “That would help us float the whole situation, where we’re not always living hand to mouth.”

Conner’s business is being sued by a Boston law firm over unpaid legal bills. Conner, a social equity license-holder, says New York state regulators' decisions to push him to open more quickly led to mounting debt. 

Read the whole story.

Indiana governor’s race 🌽

Indiana’s Democratic candidate for governor, Jennifer McCormick, outlined her plan to legalize cannabis in the Hoosier state. She would start with medical cannabis, and build a full adult-use market from there, reports the Indiana Capital Chronicle. “We’re on an island,” she said, alluding to the fact that multiple neighboring states have legalized it. 

California groups push for DTC sales 🌿

A group of California cannabis groups, including Supernova Women and Origins Council, are urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign into law a bill that would allow cannabis farms to sell directly to consumers. The bill, AB-1111, was passed by the state’s legislature in August but has yet to be enacted. 

Jefferies drops cannabis 📉

The investment bank Jefferies announced it is stopping its coverage of cannabis companies due to an analyst leaving. The bank was one of the few in the US still covering the sector — the only sell-side coverage remaining is in Canadian investment banks like Canaccord Genuity and Eight Capital. 

Massachusetts chaos 👩‍⚖️

Shannon O’Brien, the recently ousted chair of the state’s Cannabis Control Commission, said she plans to challenge her firing in court, reports the Commonwealth Beacon.

Illinois cannabis firm Green Thumb Industries refinanced its debt, closing a five-year credit facility for $150 million at the Secured Overnight Financing Rate plus 5%, bringing the interest rate to 10.33%. Pretty cheap money for cannabis!

Las Vegas cannabis retailer Planet 13 said it is acquiring another dispensary in its hometown for $6.9 million plus the value of the cannabis inventory. 

Verano is opening two more dispensaries in Florida under the MUV brand.

A new poll conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan found that 27% of Michigan residents over the age of 50 have used cannabis in the last month — well above the national average of 21%. Check out the full poll results here.

Rapper and Cookies CEO Berner produced a new documentary on two families — one in the weed and one in the wine industry — about protecting their legacy. Check out the trailer here:

Could America’s divide on marijuana be coming to an end? | Associated Press

'Just smoke': Why one Bay Area doctor says you should never use pot vapes | SF Gate

My ailing mom hates pot. Do I tell her what’s in her gummies? | The New York Times