U.S. Pot Earnings Shine as Canada Struggles
The top U.S. cannabis companies are notably outperforming their struggling Canadian counterparts, yet valuations are still held back by their inability to list on the big American exchanges. The divergence was well illustrated by several large companies that reported earnings this month. “I think this is an inflection point where the U.S. market is becoming the dominant market in the global marijuana space,” said Mark Noble, executive vice president of strategy at Horizons ETFs Management Inc., which offers exchange-traded funds that track both the Canadian and U.S. pot sectors.
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Most Members Of New Biden-Sanders Criminal Justice Task Force Back Marijuana Legalization
Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Wednesday announced the names of members of several new task forces they formed to explore policies in six major areas, including a criminal justice reform panel that is stacked with cannabis legalization supporters. Drug policy reform advocates have been particularly interested to learn who would comprise the criminal justice group since it was first announced last month, with some holding out hope that members will push Biden—the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee—to support marijuana legalization.
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Illinois legal weed sales during the first full month of coronavirus lockdown amount to almost $37.3 million
Legal weed sales during Illinois’ first full month of coronavirus lockdown amounted to almost $37.3 million, surpassing every month of recreational marijuana sales in Illinois so far except January. April’s sales bring the state total to about $147.5 million in legal weed sales over the last four months, according to data from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, which regulates dispensaries.
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Illinois adult-use marijuana stores sell $110 million in first three months
In March, stores sold 812,203 marijuana products for a total of $35.9 million, according to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulations. That total comes on the heels of $34.8 million in adult-use sales in February, the Chicago-Sun Times reported, and $39.2 million in January. “Three straight months of consistent adult-use cannabis sales show there is – and will continue to be – strong support and demand from consumers,” Toi Hutchinson, senior adviser to the governor on cannabis control in Illinois, said in a statement.
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Is Marijuana an ‘Essential’ Like Milk or Bread? Some States Say Yes
Over the past week, more than a dozen states have agreed that while “nonessential” stores had to close, pot shops and medical marijuana dispensaries could remain open — official recognition that for some Americans, cannabis is as necessary as milk and bread.
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Illinois sells $1 million in legal cannabis—per day
Just two months into adult-use legalization and Illinois dispensaries are selling more than a million dollars of legal cannabis—per day. 'Today marks another milestone in the successful launch of Illinois’ legal cannabis industry.' Toi Hutchinson, senior advisor, Governor Pritzker for cannabis control That number is based off revenue from steep taxes on legal sales. The state reported $10 million in cannabis tax revenue for the month of January, Gov. JB Pritzker’s office reported Feb. 24. The report shows how legalization is off to a roaring start in the Land of Lincoln.
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Customers bought nearly $40 million in recreational marijuana during the first month of sales in Illinois
Customers spent more than $39.2 million on recreational marijuana during the first month of legal weed sales in Illinois, and about a quarter of that came from out-of-state residents.
Sales to Illinois residents totaled more than $30.6 million, according to numbers from the state’s Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Out-of-state residents spent more than $8.6 million.
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‘It’s a lot happening all at once’: Illinois shops run out of marijuana just six days after start of legalization
The numbers have been staggering: Fifty-five dispensaries in the state sold more than $3 million in THC-imbued products on day one, matching Oregon’s record-setting opening for recreational sales in 2015. By Sunday, Illinois’s cannabis customers had bought nearly $11 million worth of recreational marijuana in the first five days, making more than 271,000 purchases.
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Long waits and some sticker shock, but Illinois recreational marijuana market launches with a roar, nearly $3.2M in sales
Thousands of marijuana enthusiasts – including Illinois’ lieutenant governor – turned out on a cold New Year’s Day to mark the historic start of adult-use cannabis sales in what could become one of the biggest U.S. recreational markets in the nation.
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Landmark bill legalizing marijuana at the federal level passes House committee
The House Judiciary Committee passed a bill on Wednesday that could decriminalize marijuana use at the federal level, giving states more room to craft unique regulations. The "Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2019" -- also called the MORE Act -- could officially remove cannabis from the list of federally controlled substances, expunge federal marijuana convictions and arrests, and approve allocation of resources for communities affected by the war on drugs, according to the bill's text.
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Illinois could grow over 1 million pounds of legal pot by 2025, report says
Illinois’ budding legal pot industry could grow more than one million pounds of weed by 2025 to meet demand, a new report says.
But the report’s lead author acknowledges the state will have to permit legal growers to vastly scale up production to reach that level, which is more than 14 times the amount Illinois grows now.
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Support for marijuana legalization is at an all-time high in a new poll
Two-thirds of Americans support marijuana legalization, according to two recent polls.
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Gallup survey: Most Americans support legal marijuana despite vape crisis
The vaping crisis hasn’t dimmed Americans’ support to legalize marijuana, according to a recent Gallup poll. Roughly 66% of those polled continue to support legalizing marijuana, based on Gallup’s annual crime survey, conducted earlier this month.
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Number of pot jobs in Illinois to grow to 63,000 by 2025, report says
A new report estimates the state’s legal cannabis industry will employ more than 63,000 people by 2025, about the same number of elementary school teachers in the state. The projection is included in a report published earlier this month by a cannabis research firm that predicts total pot jobs in the country could hit nearly 745,000 that year — if the drug remains illegal on the federal level and no additional states legalize it for recreational or medical use.
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Historic day: US House passes cannabis banking bill with strong bipartisan support
In a landmark move, U.S. House lawmakers on Wednesday approved overwhelmingly by a 321-103 vote legislation that would pave the way for financial institutions and insurance companies to serve state-legal marijuana businesses without fear of federal reprisal.
Ninety-one Republicans voted for the measure, in a showing of strong bipartisan support.
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New Cannabis Report Predicts Legal Sales To Reach Nearly $30 Billion By 2025
Total legal sales of cannabis in current legal states are projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14% over the next six years, reaching nearly $30 billion by 2025. This figure takes into account the likely projection that more states will legalize. Currently, 33 states and D.C. have legal medical marijuana markets while 10 states (plus D.C.) have legal recreational markets.
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The Cannabis Market Is Looking Up, Even If Cannabis Stocks Aren’t
But this dampened enthusiasm for marijuana stocks does not necessarily reflect fading prospects for the marijuana market, which still has promise. Instead, it is related to short-term challenges associated with a bumpy rollout of legal marijuana in Canada, which are making it hard for winners to quickly emerge.
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Exclusive: One Of The Largest Pharma Companies In The World Has Made A Big Move In Cannabis
According to information procured exclusively ahead of a formal announcement Friday, a subsidiary of NYSE-traded giant Teva Pharmaceuticals has signed a deal with medical cannabis company Canndoc to distribute its GMP products to pharma customers, including hospitals, health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and all pharmacies in Israel.
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How marijuana is poised for a North American takeover
The United States is feeling some North American peer pressure to get in on the cannabis boom.
Producers in Canada, where marijuana is legal for medicinal and recreational uses, are already planning for a future where pot is a globally traded commodity, and some are setting themselves up to profit if it is legalized in the U.S.
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Study on cannabis chemical as a treatment for pancreatic cancer may have 'major impact,' Harvard researcher says
In their study, published in the journal Frontiers of Oncology on July 23, the researchers revealed that a chemical found in cannabis has demonstrated “significant therapy potential” in treatment of pancreatic cancer.
The specific drug, called FBL-03G, is a derivative of a cannabis “flavonoid” — the name for a naturally-occurring compound found in plants, vegetables and fruits which, among other purposes, provides their vibrant color.
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