North Dakota tries cannabis again

NORTH DAKOTA
Third time’s a charm?

What happened: A ballot initiative to legalize cannabis in North Dakota will be put before voters in November, the Associated Press reports.

Michael Howe, the Secretary of State, said on Monday that nearly 19,000 signatures had been collected — much more than required. 

If passed, the ballot measure would legalize the use and possession of up to one ounce of cannabis for adults over the age of 21, approve retail cannabis sales, and direct state agencies to establish regulations guiding the market. 

Adults would also be permitted to grow up to three cannabis plants at home. 

Why it matters: This will be the third time North Dakotans vote on legalization. The state legalized medical cannabis in 2016, though full fledged recreational cannabis failed in 2018 and 2022. 

And, in 2021, lawmakers passed a bill to regulate cannabis sales — but the bill was struck down in the Senate. 

What’s next: Both Dakotas and Florida will have cannabis on the ballot this fall.

While North Dakota is relatively small state by population, we’ll be interested to see how cannabis fares in a red state during an election year, and whether cannabis legalization outpaces the vote count for former President Donald Trump. 

-JB

“Regardless of how someone feels about abortion or marijuana, I don’t believe that those issues should be resolved in the state Constitution,” Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz said of Amendment 3, the ballot measure that would legalize cannabis in the state if passed, per Florida Politics. 

“I think when you ensconce abortion policy or marijuana policy in the Constitution, you limit the ability to appropriately tailor policy to evolving circumstances and evolving technologies.” 

Gaetz has long pushed cannabis reform legislation while in Congress, though he seems to be signaling he won’t support Amendment 3. He’s a campaign surrogate of former President Donald Trump, who indicated last week that he’ll publicize his position on legalization in the near future.

WM Technology, better known as WeedMaps, reported $1.2 million of net income on $45.9 million of revenue. 

Up today, we’ve got: Organigram, Glass House Brands, and Lowell Farms.

Curio Wellness and Ascend Wellness announced a manufacturing and distribution partnership. Ascend will manufacture and distribute Curio’s products in Illinois, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, and Curio will manufacture and distribute Ascend’s products in Maryland and Missouri.

The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission’s director of licensing, Kyle Potvin, and director of testing, James Kocis have left their jobs.

MedMen founder and former CEO Adam Bierman is writing a tell-all book for Simon & Schuster, called Weed Empire. It’s set to be released in April of next year. MedMen was once worth nearly $3 billion and hailed as the future of the legal cannabis industry — before it all came crashing down. The company declared bankruptcy in April.

About 77% of people in a poll of 473 cannabis consumers say they get all or most of their cannabis from licensed, legal dispensaries, per a new poll from NuggMD.

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