Rep. Jake Wheatley, D-Allegheny, reintroduced updated adult-use cannabis legislation that he had first sponsored last September.
“For too long we have allowed myths and ignorance to prevent a realistic and thoughtful discussion regarding the legalization of adult-use cannabis,” Wheatley said at a press conference on Monday. “In 2016, we passed a law allowing medical cannabis in Pennsylvania. That law was the right step, the first step, but we need to do more."
New Jersey saw immense progress in 2018, though no certain milestones have been reached just yet. The year began with staunchly anti-cannabis Governor Chris Christie succeeded by a pro-cannabis governor, Phil Murphy. Murphy swore to legalize adult use within the first 100 days of his term. This did not occur.
Pennsylvania lawmakers are pushing ahead with plans to fully legalize marijuana this legislative session.
On Thursday, Rep. Jake Wheatley Jr. (D) released a co-sponsorship memo seeking support for a forthcoming House bill that he described as “the most comprehensive legalization legislation to date.” The bill would permit adults 21 and older to purchase, possess and consume cannabis, and tax revenue from retail sales would be invested in programs like student debt forgiveness and affordable housing.
Pennsylvania and New Jersey took steps to open more MMJ dispensaries, the latest sign that the East Coast cannabis market, in particular, is gathering momentum.
While Pennsylvania’s new permits are simply regulators fulfilling what that state’s original 2016 MMJ law intended, New Jersey’s move is a distinct expansion of a system that has been in place since 2010.
Both developments underscore how the cannabis industry is ballooning as patients and doctors continue to realize the medical benefits of marijuana.
The latest phase consolidates the hold some of America’s mightiest cannabis companies have on the state.
PharmaCann, which was recently acquired by MedMen (the so-called Tiffany’s of Cannabis) in a blockbuster $682 million deal, added two permits, bringing its total number of retail outlets in the state to nine.
“The states to watch are New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Florida, with New York and New Jersey really being the ones that are more likely, I think, to go recreational in the next year or so,” said Ian Stewart, partner at Wilson Elser and speaker at the Cannabis Cover Masterclass Denver in March 2019.
A new complaint in Commonwealth Court seeks again to stop the state's much-vaunted cannabis research program before it can get off the ground.
The filing Tuesday by a group of current medical marijuana growers and dispensary operators raises several concerns about appearances of pay-to-play and says the participants in the research program won't be required to do more than promise to conduct scientific studies.
In both Pennsylvania and New Jersey, recent state Supreme Court rulings have made it markedly easier for police to search for marijuana. The high courts in both states have decreed that police only need smell the pungent odor of weed to conduct an immediate search — without the need for a warrant from the judge. "It opened the floodgates," said Eric Morrell, a defense lawyer based in New Brunswick, N.J.
Some police commanders say they have stepped up drug enforcement overall to tackle the opioid epidemic, and marijuana arrests are up accordingly.
For mom-and-pop investors, the options may be riskier, given that retail investors can access the marijuana market mostly through volatile Canadian stocks such as Tilray, a Canadian marijuana producer that went public in July at $17 a share. Speculators drove Tilray up to $300 in mid-September before it slumped to $140 or so on Friday. Beware this overhyped weed stock.
The Securities and Exchange Commission also issued a stern alert about marijuana stocks in early September, warning of fraud and market manipulation.
Philly locals
Green Leaf Medical’s CEO Philip Goldberg expects to submit a medical marijuana dispensary application by Aug. 31, the final day for submissions as allowed by the New Jersey Department of Health Division of Medicinal Marijuana’s Request For Applications, announced on July 16.
In its current fundraising efforts to support expansion, the company has raised $6 million toward an $18 million goal.