This Week in Cannabis News: August 26, 2022

Welcome to our wrap-up of Episode 6 of This Week in Cannabis News.

Here’s what you need to know this week

Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAUD) Licenses take off in New York

New York State has started receiving applications for the Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) Licenses, which will be the first adult-use retail dispensary licenses issued in New York State. There's already been some excellent coverage of this week’s happenings in New York. Check out the below resources for additional context on all things CAURD Licenses:

• New York’s accepting dispensary applications this week, but it’s still unclear how the program will work (via Grown In)
• New York Marijuana Officials Are Now Accepting Applications For The First Recreational Dispensary Licenses (via Marijuana Moment)‍
• NY cannabis regulators release number of first-round dispensaries by region (via Syracuse.com)

To legalize, or not to legalize: where cannabis is on the ballot in the U.S.

• ‍Two cannabis legalization ballot measures in Nebraska failed to qualify for this year’s election in November.
• In Arkansas and Missouri, anti-cannabis prohibitionists are trying to block ballot measures this fall.

For a full rundown of elections coming up this November, take a read through this piece in Cannabis Business Executive.

News from Canada

Sundial Cannabis (SNDL) recently announced their acquisition of Valens.

Why does this matter, you ask? Well, because Valens is a producer and brand builder, this means that SNDL is now the owner of two of the largest cannabis retail chains in the country: Value Buds and Spirit Leaf.

On August 19, we hosted a live webinar to discuss the ongoing service disruptions in both Ontario and British Columbia, Canada. In Ontario, an Ontario Cannabis Store vendor endured a cyberattack that ultimately impacted all wholesale deliveries to retailers; in British Columbia, a job action is halting shipments to private retailers. Ontario appears to be on the mend, but in British Columbia, what was to be a glimmer of hope in the form of some producers being able to deliver directly to retailers has been halted, according to StratCann.

Featured guest: Jason Tasarek, Founder of Minnesota Cannabis Law

In July 2022, WaPo published a story titled “Minnesota legalizes cannabis edibles, catching some Republicans off guard”. And while the article garnered a lot of press—particularly cannabis press—the inclusion of language in an omnibus bill that passed the Minnesota legislature has led to some  interesting twists and turns.

To get a deeper perspective, I connected with Jason Tarasek of Minnesota Cannabis Law.

A warm thank you to Jason for making time and sharing what has been going on in Minnesota! We will continue to touch base on all things cannabis in the state moving forward.