Show Me a powerhouse cannabis market

THE BIG MO
Missouri joining the cannabis big boys

Driving the news: It’s no surprise to those in the industry that Missouri is already a top-tier ($1B+/year) market. But others are noticing too. Missouri got the attention of the Wall Street Journal this week due to its relative market size coupled with the state’s unique political make up. Read the WSJ’s How Missouri Became a Cannabis Mecca. 

Missouri’s politics: Cannabis and politics often go hand-in-hand — but the trend has been cannabis being legalized in very Blue states. Even in Red states when public opinion overwhelmingly wants legalization, we see Republican Governors voice their opposition to cannabis legalization (DeSantis/Florida) or continue to veto legalization measures (Youngkin/Virginia). But in Missouri, voters had their voice heard and approved legalization in November 2022. 

How Red is MO? In case you're wondering just how Red Missouri is: the last Democratic Presidential candidate to win in Missouri was Bill Clinton in 1996 and Donald Trump won Missouri with 58.49% of the vote last year.

Fast to market: Not only did Missouri legalize at the ballot in November 2022, the state then sprinted to get the legal market up-and-running. From the November 2022 election to the initial adult-use licenses being approved was a lightning-fast three months. 

What others can learn: There are some important lessons from Missouri’s cannabis experience. Limiting the time gap between legalizing cannabis and opening a legal market can kick-start a legal market, providing easy access for consumers while limiting delays for businesses anxious to join the fray. 

-JR

This month, we’ve seen leading cannabis brand Wana launch hemp-derived THC beverages into nine US markets through Total Wine & More, but launching Wana hemp-derived THC edibles into Texas seems maybe even a bigger deal. Joe Hodas, President of Wana said:

Read the full Wana release. 

CDC releases Cannabis Strategic Plan 🚀

It isn’t often that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) talks about cannabis, but when it does — it seems to want to do so very quietly. As noted in Green State, the CDC released a Cannabis Strategic Plan. Here’s why the CDC released a plan, according to their website: “Recognizing the need to understand changes in cannabis use patterns, the potential health and social consequences of cannabis use, and public health strategies to monitor and respond have led to the development of a CDC Cannabis Strategic Plan.”

Governor Josh Shapiro reiterates support and need for PA legalization ✍️

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is continuing his public push to legalize cannabis in the Keystone State. And we can’t help but notice that he may be the nation’s most high-profile Tweeter on the subject. This weekend he Tweeted: “Let’s legalize adult-use cannabis and expunge the records of people who have been convicted for nonviolent possession of small amounts of marijuana”. Follow Governor Shapiro and see for yourself. 

Minnesota’s licensing portal goes down at the worst possible time ⌚

Would-be applicants to Minnesota’s cannabis program that waited until the very end to submit their application ran into the ultimate nightmare scenario — the state’s application portal went down with about three hours left to submit. It went back up and the deadline was extended. There’s a lesson for all of us in this story from KMSP.

Canadian cannabis retail brand High Tide released their quarterly earnings this week. And things are still up and to the right for the retailer. Revenue increased to $142.5 million for last quarter, an increase of 11% year over year and 3% more than last quarter.

Cannabis tech/marketing company springbig announced that they acquired VICE CRM — and appointed VICE CRMS’s founder as their next CEO starting April 1. More about springbig’s moves.

Cool job alert: Avicanna is hiring for a Medical Science Liaison in Toronto.

It isn’t just the Governor that’s pushing for legalization in Pennsylvania. As Spotlight PA noted, cannabis companies are spending big on lobbyists to influence the legislature and the process. Here’s a chart of the biggest spenders:

Dear Congress: 280E isn’t a tax break for cannabis companies | MJBizDaily