Author: News Room

Editor’s note: This editorial was contributed by Christine De La Rosa, co-founder and CEO of The People’s Ecosystem, a California-based and equity-focused multistate cannabis operator. Pharmaceutical, agriculture, wind power, solar power, electric cars, steel, banks, airlines, and railroads — what do all of these industries have in common? They have all been subsidized by the federal government at the onset, during the growth phase, or during downturns in their industry. Trillions of dollars have been poured into these industries to stand them up or to save them from failing. Yet the U.S. government has done very little to assist in…

Pennsylvania officials are calling for proposals from nonprofit marketing and promotion organizations for projects aimed at increasing sales, export, or consumer awareness of the state’s hemp products. The state Agriculture Department plans to award $200,000 in matching funds to reimburse up to half of the project costs with a minimum grant of $1,000.   Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said the grants “will feed a new industry that was once a staple of Pennsylvania’s economy and is again presenting opportunities for farm income and jobs as well as new possibilities for climate-friendly, environmentally beneficial products.”     “Hemp has presented a unique opportunity…

Video marketing has officially gone viral. With the onset of TikTok during the pandemic, short-form video content has rocket-launched into popularity with nearly every app coming up with some version of it: Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, Pinterest Idea Pins, and so on. As video becomes entrenched in marketing, brands are feeling the pressure to churn out quality video content. Not to mention, it improves SEO, enables easy content repurposing, and increases customer engagement. For cannabis businesses, in particular, video marketing comes with unease. If social media antagonizes brands for images of flower or people smoking, how can video be safely…

A cadre of New York and New Jersey cannabis businesses last week sent a letter to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) urging him to bring the SAFE Banking Act up for a vote and include “potential restorative justice provisions” in the bill.   The letter, which includes 50 businesses as signatories, applauds Schumer’s leadership, along with Sens. Corey Booker (D-NJ) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), in introducing the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA) but rightly warns that “the current political environment in Congress will preclude the CAOA from becoming law before the end of the year.”  “Therefore, we ask…

For the third time in 2022, Michigan saw a record-breaking month of marijuana sales, reaching $212 million in September, state data shows. The state saw $195,349,995 worth of adult-use marijuana purchases and $16,629,957 in medical cannabis sales last month. That total is about $2 million greater than the previous record in July and $17 million more than the earlier April record. As has been the ongoing trend, most of the marijuana purchases for both medical and recreational use were for flower products, followed by vape cartridges. The data also shows a continuation of a sales trend in Michigan’s marijuana market, with medical…

Steve DeAngelo — the Founder of Harborside, Founder of The Last Prisoner Project, author of ‘The Cannabis Manifesto,’ and a long-time cannabis advocate, entrepreneur, and investor — released an op-ed this week across multiple cannabis publications calling for the industry to reject the pyramid-shaped business model prioritized by large cannabis corporations and multistate operators. Titled Save the Cannabis Industry: Topple The Pyramids!, the article describes the blissful pre-legalization era of the California medical market — a time when the industry “worked in its basic purpose of providing high quality cannabis at affordable prices, and providing all of its participants with…

More than twice as many Americans think that marijuana has a positive impact on its consumers and society at large than say the same about alcohol, according to a new Gallup poll. And perhaps more revealing, people who have actually used cannabis are far more likely to tout its positive impacts compared to just a small fraction of alcohol drinkers who feel the same way about their drug of choice Overall, the marijuana poll found that Americans are evenly divided when it comes to questions about the effects of cannabis on individual consumers and society overall. Fifty-three percent of respondents…

While infused edibles make up a larger cannabis market share year after year, gummies, chocolates, and candies still frequently dominate dispensary shelves. TSUMo Snacks chose to go another route with the release of savory edibles including zesty ranch chips, hint-of-lime chips, fiery hot and cheese crunchers, and now Uncle Snoop’s Snazzle-Os — because Snoop is “more of a Funyuns guy.” Co-founder and CEO Caroline Yeh worked in the cannabis industry for more than six years before launching TSUMo — prior to that, she had a seasoned run in edible CPG. This interview dives into what led Caroline to start her…

Voters in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin on Election Day passed an advisory referendum backing the legalization of cannabis in the state, the Milwaukee Journal reports. Voters in the county were asked: “Do you favor allowing adults 21 years of age and older to engage in the personal use of marijuana, while also regulating commercial marijuana-related activities, and imposing a tax on the sale of marijuana?”  In all, more than 74% of voters backed the referendum, which is nonbinding.  In September, Gov. Tony Evers (D) said that were he to be reelected, he would include adult-use cannabis legalization in his next state…

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) said during a radio appearance last week that the state could pass cannabis legalization reforms as soon as the next session after the election saw Democrats take control over both chambers of the legislature and Walz was reelected, CBS Minnesota reports.   During a podcast last Thursday, former Gov. Jesse Ventura said Walz has indicated cannabis legalization would be one of the first bills passed by the new Democratic-led legislature. “It just makes sense. Prohibition didn’t work. We get better regulation. I just mentioned that I think it would be important to recognize [Ventura], asked…