Welcome to this Week in Cannabis News for Friday, May 26, 2023.
While we have been following the adult-use roll out in New Jersey, a new milestone has been reached. The state’s first adult-use only cannabis dispensaries are now open. Recall that all previous adult-use dispensaries were first medical dispensaries - according to MJ Biz Daily.
Last week, we shared a series of main-stream media stories about cannabis legalization. Of note was an Opinion piece by conservative writer Ross Douthat talking about the ills of legalization titled: “Call Me Square, but Facts Show the Error of Legalizing Weed”.
Well, New York Times’ readers responded this week.
There was a Letters to the Editor that streamed in the New York Times, but one worth pointing out came from Paul Armentano, the Deputy Director of NORML, which is the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Armentano noted,
“Adolescent cannabis use has not risen in parallel with legalization, despite what many critics feared. According to a new C.D.C. report, the percentage of high schoolers who have ever tried marijuana fell 30 percent between 2011 and 2021.”
Earlier in the year, the North Carolina State Senate has approved a medical cannabis bill. Now, the legislation is set for discussion in the State House. As in all not-yet-medical states, there appears to be some strong resistance to the cannabis conversation, but we will update accordingly when more emerges from North Carolina. Here’s the story from Fox 8 in High Point.
This week, South Dakota surpassed 10,000 medical cannabis patients. And, we held a webinar not too long ago about South Dakota cannabis. A link to that webinar is below, including a conversation with the first dispensary operator in Sioux Falls, Peter Dikun from The Flower Shop.
The State of Nevada has officially passed a bill calling on the federal government to deschedule cannabis. Citing medical benefits, the state is putting its weight behind the issue.
This week’s Cannabis Expert conversation is with Rami Kassis of the Russian Hill Cannabis Club in San Francisco. We connected with Kassis in person during our recent trip to California for Hall of Flowers. Russian Hill Cannabis Club is, well in the Russian Hill neighborhood in San Francisco.
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