Several states could legalize cannabis sales in 2020 as marijuana industry eyes lucrative East Coast market
Here are three factors to keep in mind as states address either recreational or medical legalization this year:
Here are three factors to keep in mind as states address either recreational or medical legalization this year:
The largest local police force in Vermont is reporting that traffic searches are down 70 percent since the state legalized marijuana.
A report from the Burlington Police Department set to be released next week will detail the declining searches, which law enforcement officials are attributing to the fact that possession of up to one ounce of cannabis became legal for adults last summer. According to a report from WCAX, the data shows that traffic searches plummeted for individuals of all races.
The legal marijuana movement, which in recent years has flourished in coastal states, is taking up new roots in the Midwest even as efforts have stalled in nearly a dozen other states this year.
Lawmakers in Illinois approved a measure Friday to legalize the sale of marijuana to anyone over the age of 21, making it the second state in the nation’s interior to legalize pot, after Michigan.
After the movement to legalize marijuana scored several victories in New England, pot proponents have come up against unexpected stumbling blocks in New Hampshire and Vermont.
After years of steady growth, Vermont’s medical marijuana registry is shrinking.
Since hitting a high of 5,662 patients on June 7, 2018, the state-run program had shed about 400 people by March 19, according to data provided by Vermont marijuana program administrator Lindsey Wells.
That means that the number of patients has wilted in the months since Vermont legalized possession and home growing of cannabis for adults as of July 1, 2018.
“We were having a very steady growth,” Wells told Seven Days. “We’re definitely not having the growth anymore.”
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.
We're now just over two weeks away from closing the door on 2018, and when we do, we'll likely look back on what was the biggest year ever for the marijuana industry.
In Canada, lawmakers passed the Cannabis Act in June, and officially ended nine decades of recreational weed prohibition on Oct. 17. As the first industrialized country to legalize recreational marijuana use, Canada has paved a path for other countries to follow, as well as given its legal weed companies an opportunity to generate billions of dollars in added sales.
Lawmakers across the Northeast watched closely this week as adult-use sales kicked off in Massachusetts. Judging from their reactions, it seems Massachusetts won’t be alone for long.
As polls show record support for marijuana legalization, advocates say the midterm elections could mark the point of no return for a movement that has been gathering steam for years.
"The train has left the station," said Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., a leading marijuana reform advocate in Congress. "I see all the pieces coming together... It's the same arc we saw two generations ago with the prohibitions of alcohol."
Multistate marijuana firm iAnthus Capital agreed to acquire the U.S. assets of Toronto-based cannabis company MPX Bioceutical Corp. in an all-stock deal valued at 835 million Canadian dollars ($640 million), the second mega-acquisition in the American MJ industry in less than a week.
The acquisition positions New York-based iAnthus as one the largest U.S. cannabis operators and expands the firm’s footprint to 10 states, nearly doubling its reach.
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