This Week in Cannabis News | February 21, 2025

Welcome to our new Friday program, This Week in Cannabis News, powered by Dutchie.

Each Friday at 10 a. m. Eastern, we'll deliver an overview of this week's cannabis news.

We will be quick, we'll be comprehensive, we'll send you into the weekend as a more informed cannabis professional, and it's all made possible by our friends at Dutchie. You can find and connect with the team there through our link in the show notes.

Let's get to it.

Cannabis employment is up and to the right

The cannabis industry has set to employ nearly 800,000 people by 2029, according to a new report from Cannabiz Media. You can download the report at cultivated.news.

New York OCM has launches a Trade Practices Bureau

New York's Office of Cannabis Management has launched a Trade Practices Bureau to investigate fraud illegal product sourcing, financial violations, and sourcing abuses. More again on cultivated.news 

New Hampshire’s path to cannabis legalization

Those that follow Cultivated know that New Hampshire is the lone New England state without legal cannabis.

This week, New Hampshire's House passed a Republican led bill that would legalize cannabis consumption and possession in the state while stopping short of establishing a regulated market.

Even still, Republican Governor Kelly Ayotte, who took office earlier this month, said she would veto any cannabis legalization that crossed her desk.

So, back to the pushing the legalization rock up the hill in the Granite State.

Trump Administration appointments and cannabis

On Tuesday, President Trump tapped Mike Stewart as the lead attorney for the Department of Health and Human Services, an agency crucial to federal cannabis policy change. Stewart, however, appears to be an opponent of cannabis.

In 2018, he said this. “Today's marijuana is not naturally grown plant, but genetically engineered hard drug. That's just a fact.”

Canada’s cannabis market insight

The Canadian cannabis market decreased from 2023 to 2024 according to a new report from Custom Cones USA using Headset data. However, pre-rolls remain a bright spot with sales growing. And of note, Millennials continue to dominate cannabis purchases in Canada, accounting for a full 45 percent of sales.

Russian detention for alleged cannabis possession

Just days after the release of American schoolteacher Mark Fogel from a Russian prison for alleged cannabis possession, another American, Kaleb Wayne Byers, was detained last week for CBD gummies, and then later released. This comes after the detention of WNBA legend Brittany Griner’s for alleged cannabis possession in Russia. So, be very careful when you travel to and through Russia. The geopolitical landscape is not your friend, and we're glad to see Byers returned to the US.

And one fun cannabis thing this week

We brought you the news that ex Navy SEAL Robert O'Neill, perhaps most famous for being part of the team that killed Osama Bin Laden, started his own cannabis brand. We thought you might find his latest tweet, or zeet, if you will, interesting.